An Urdu Cuplet
Gratitude and congratulations..
Don’t just learn, experience.
Don’t just read, absorb.
Don’t just change, transform.
Don’t just relate, advocate.
Don’t just promise, prove.
Don’t just criticize, encourage.
Don’t just think, ponder.
Don’t just take, give.
Don’t just see, feel.
Don’t just dream, do.
Don’t just hear, listen.
Don’t just talk about ethics, act.
Don’t just tell people about values, show.
Don’t just exist, live.
People will perceive your character by how you walk your talk. Many people who preach from the podium in various meetings do not carry conviction since those who hear the speech know that the person does not follow an iota of what he or she is preaching.
To be ethical or not? This question is very relevant today. We live in the midst of great technological advances, great progress in many spheres of life and yet we do not seem to have made progress in living our daily life ethically. This attitude can destroy all that we have achieved.
Business and society need Ethics. One of the aim and contribution of Rotary to the world is ethics. Society is built on economic progress that comes through following ethical standards in business. History has shown us the lives of big business people and their downfall within decades just because they failed to adhere to the natural principle of
ethics.
Rotary stands for Honesty. But we have seen some unfair practices followed by some members and this is being set right.
It is ironic that in the age of great advances, some people are traveling in the opposite direction of Ethics. No development can survive if people resort to unethical practices in what they do.
We are seeing this in many spheres of our life when we confront bad roads, bad quality of products and bad service. What people tend to do is to blame the government when they should be blaming the people who are delivering the products and services to the public on behalf of the government. In the long run people have been trained to put up with unethical people. This must change now.
Peace is a product of high thinking and this thinking process comes only to people who value their life, the life of the people worldwide and the animals and plant kingdom which are part of the eco system. You cannot bring peace by unethical practices and this includes destroying natural resources for your own development.
Are we Ethical? It may be a difficult question to answer. The point is we cannot be good in parts. That is what is called as living with ethics.
Can a person be one hundred percent ethical and survive in today’s world? Many may say it is difficult. I say that it is possible. This alone differentiates you from a cheat and scoundrel.
Would you be liked to be known as a cheat? Even those who are absconding today because of their unlawful and unethical actions, dread being called and known as criminal for the rest of their life if they roam outside freely.
How to make the world a better place?
If every Rotarian takes just a step or two towards Honesty in all the dealings and behaviour, it would be a tremendous gain. Many a times, we ignore the philosophy behind our 4-Way test. It is indeed highly valuable Ethical yardstick still applicable in today’s world. Just by using the 4-Way test as a guide we can improve ourselves and become better persons.
How do we begin? It has been rightly said that mankind must put an end to dishonesty, or dishonesty will swallow you one day or the other.
Let’s begin, therefore with even small resolve to be more honest, more ethical. A former State Governor of Maharashtra Shri Prakash, once said, “Even as an ordinary person, I will not give bribe to a railway official for a railway ticket to visit my son who is seriously ill and is in hospital.”
Is this not illustrative? If every Rotarian can take but one step towards more Ethics, the results would be phenomenal.
We can then, turn into our colleagues and business partners, our customers, our agents and even our community and exhort them to be more honest than they have been. One step at a time can make a world of difference. Let’s walk this path together.
Our lives are to be used and thus to be lived as fully as possible, and truly it seems that we are never as alive as when we concern ourselves with other people. That is why an ethical behaviour is needed in whatever we do.
If we lead a life where we ourselves feel ashamed one day about the way we lived with hatred, deceit and other dirty stuff we carried within ourselves our end will not be peaceful.
Regardless of what is going on around you, make the best of what is within your power, and take the rest as it occurs. You will find that what happens around you will not affect you since within yourself you have decided to be ethical and reflect that with sincerity.
Rotary believes very much in high ethical standards and all our actions are centered around the 4 Way Test. This 4 Way Test, given to us by Rotarian Herbert J Taylor in 1932 still guides our organisation and the 1.2 million members in what they think, say and do.
There are many people who choose to live in any way which suits them and the occasion. There are some people who choose the way in which they wish to live and adhere by that in any circumstance. Such people may encounter many defeats, but they are never defeated.
They know who they are and what they can raise from. Their mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with ethics in the way they handle every day. Every person who joins Rotary is inducted into this philosophy and if the organisation has been doing good in this world for over 113 years, it is because of our unshakable faith in ethics and high value.
It was this philosophy which made Rotarian Herbert J Taylor to frame the 4 Way Test in 1932. Every Rotarian knows the 4 Way Test. People understand that the test is important to maintain harmony and peace within themselves and in the community.
If you lead a life without following the 4 Way Test, it will become like a tree without blossom and fruit. My advice to Rotarians is that they should practice this way of living in whatever they do.
No man is an island. We are all walking each other home. The 4 Way Test is probably the best guide to take you along the long path which is from your head to your heart.
Following the test is like planting a garden – you believe in tomorrow. The 4 Way Test makes you a complete person, good in all aspects. Remember, no person was ever honoured for what they received, but for how they lived.
You don’t teach ethics and values in the schools. You teach them at home and children learn by example. When your values are clear to you, making decisions become easier.
Educating the children without ethics and values will only make them a clever devil. People who claim to be highly educated from famous institutions fail to understand that the aim of their education is knowledge, not of facts and figures but of values. If you have the right kind of people who have culture, ethics and high values around you, you can accomplish great things.
So what do you mean by ethics? At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and lead their lives. Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy.
So what is the purpose of ethics? The purpose of ethics is to define acceptable human behavior through knowing the types of actions, its consequences and the limits of humans in their actions, as well as their acceptability.
So what are human values and ethics? Basic human values refer to those values which are at the core of being human. The values which are considered basic inherent values in humans include truth, honesty, loyalty, love, peace, etc. because they bring out the fundamental goodness of human beings and society at large.
So what is an ethical behaviour? Acting in ways consistent with what society and individuals typically think are good values. Ethical behavior tends to be good for business and involves demonstrating respect for key moral principles that include honesty, fairness, equality, dignity, diversity and individual rights.
If someone tells you that you should be ethical what does it mean? Being ethical means applying standards of behaviour to the way we live our lives. This covers both our personal lives and our working lives.
So the important factor here is the intention to be ethical. Being ethical is not the same as following the law. When men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are broken.
An ethical society is one that values a commitment to do the right thing regardless of personal costs. It’s not an easy standard to live by but one worth pursuing. I certainly try to follow this principle.
An URDU CUPLETE