On Character

As a kid, one of the important lessons about life that was often taught to us was to build character. The word was never defined clearly and at best we were given examples from the Ramayana or the Aesop’s fables or fighters and martyrs of the freedom struggle to identify who a person of character was. I was never a smart kid and therefore such vague lessons in those days used to confuse me more. Had it not been for the interesting stories, the attempts of my school teachers would have gone down the drain because the stories left an everlasting impact on my impressionable mind that character is some sort of ideal state of mind to aim for.  

As an adolescent the word became more intriguing to me with regard to the vagaries of meanings and its spread in terms of permitted and not permitted behavioral norms. To tell a lie was still considered bad but a lie told with an intention to help another was accepted as good. To kill a man was also considered bad but to kill with an intention to save oneself or another was considered good. Overnight money became the focus of all activity which was never ever mentioned in our school texts. Most of my friends felt privileged to be admitted into an ordinary school but many parents were stressed about admission of their wards into privileged school which would ensure a bright i.e. rich future for them. Every previous acceptable behavior all of a sudden underwent subtle changes. Smartness and competitiveness was expected from every youngster because ominous signs were visible that the economic cake was not big enough for all to enjoy. Character was slowly getting merged into economics.

I too was bitten by the money bug and took up CA course without verifying my compatibility to the profession. The childhood imagination about character was literally murdered and a new meaning took its place as new fundas became acceptable to society. To dream big is good but the jury is still not decided on how much one can stoop to achieve the dreams. To make a strong impression on another is acceptable and there cannot be any boundaries for the means to such ends because then for that you have a concept called Caveat Emptor or Buyers Beware. To convince and convert another into ones line of thought is a legitimate economic exercise and one is permitted to use argument, quid-pro-quo, force or discriminatory policies to achieve the goal. Maybe it was my fertile imagination that privileges both positive and negative was meant to be based on merits and specific criteria because over a period of time they became economic tools in the hands of the powerful and wealthy to retain and amass more power and wealth. Greed, power, strong image and wealth have now become the new synonyms for character. Even where rules are enacted a modern person of character explores loop holes or bends them to an extent acceptable and possible so as to justify a certain image.