Commend! Don't Condemn

Commend! Don't Condemn

By

J.L. Gupta

We live in a world that has crucified Christ, assassinated Abraham Lincoln and murdered Mahatma Gandhi. It is a ruthless, unkind and an ungrateful world. What are we doing to improve it?  Nothing?

Especially these days when Campaign for Elections – 2014 is in full swing, it is obvious that we censor, complain and criticise.  We decry, detract and disparage. We hunt for blemishes. We look for faults. Like microscope experts, we magnify every mistake. We examine everything with an innate desire to pass a sentence. We do not utilise the critical faculty to correct errors but to pull down others. These traits are becoming obvious during the past few days.

The largest democracy in the world is going to elections. It is a big event. Everybody is watching us. And what are we showing them? That we are a nation of faultfinders. Making baseless complaints and circulating misleading information to incite religious sentiment. We have religious riots. We have diversity. But no unity. All parties are finding fault with the others. Using bad language. Calling the other “Maut ka saudagar.” (Dealer in death.) ‘ISI Agent.’ And so on.

 We seem to forget that the most censorious is generally the least meritorious. Detraction is basically an evidence of deficiency. It primarily indicates weakness as well as meanness. A detractor may sometimes succeed and harm others. He can never elevate himself. One who decries and disparages others shall always remain depressed himself.

         Praise may deceive, criticism can correct and reprimand can reform yet we paint everyone black with one brush. We cannot say that all the big guns in the country have a very small caliber. We cannot invade, needle and threaten everyone. We cannot continue to reciprocate hospitality by hostility and convert opportunities into difficulties. We just cannot continue deprecating and destroying.

  Facing calumny and criticism is the tax that a man pays for his eminence. The celebrities cannot escape censor. In every age and at all places in the world, men of eminence and virtue have passed through a fiery persecution. But the hottest furnace produces the brightest steel. Persecution only purifies. It brings the best out of a man.

         To continue doing one's duty is the best answer to calumny. No one can control the evil tongue. But we can close our ears against a person who opens his mouth against us. Let not envy fill our minds with evil. Let not malice make us mute. Just don't chase the lie. It would 'automatically die.

Praise is to a person what sunshine is to a sunflower. Praise is the wage for virtue. It helps a person to endure many a peril and overcome many a grief. It is a debt that a man owes to the virtues of another. It is a duty that must be performed with scrupulous justice.

In today's materialistic world, many know how to flatter. They even stoop to concur. However, not many know how to praise. Veneration to human worth undoubtedly belongs to only a few. But let us remember that he who has merit never envies others. The jealous man only poisons his own food and spoils his own system. Envy is like a fly. It does not get near anything which is clean. It only “rests upon the "sores".

Virtue shall always triumph over vice. He who applauds must be appreciated. Just as flowers bestow fragrance upon the air, life of a good man sheds light on the paths of others. It remains a monument of human virtue. It extends its influence from generation to generation.

Let us not tell the world that we are a nation of the corrupt, dishonest and inefficient only. Let them know that this nation of more than a billion is a ‘member of the select nuclear club, its satellites are circling the outer space’ because the people are capable and competent. Let us consecrate our energies to the creation of what is good. Let us bury the bad and praise the good. Let us commend. Not condemn. All Parties and Leaders. It shall be good for India and the Indians. Everywhere.