Greetings Readers!

Hope you all are keeping in healthy and happy spirits since the last post. It has been a fairly long time!

While I go ahead with this one, I remember an anecdote pertinent to share with you all in subject context. Would be ice breaking for this post.

Once there were two friends since childhood. Let’s name them “Tom” and ” Jerry” for the sake of understanding. When they grew up, both of them went to different cities for studies but still remained in touch. Jerry happened to become a startup owner which in a few years entered the unicorn club. Tom also ended up doing a fairly paid job. Both remained in touch until this day when during pandemic, Tom lost his job and in lieu of it began his startup coincidentally in the same field as that of Jerry. He arranged a team (obviously Jerry wasn’t on the team not because of him being a potential rival but because, he was already engaged with his own business!) Tom announced the beginning over social media pages. Thereafter, he called up Jerry to share with him the news and seek guidance in establishing his business, however he got a lame response. His startup began attracting customers soon and slowly his business took pace, but he had no idea what lay ahead!

Few days later, on the social media page of Tom’s company some 1000s negative comments appeared overnight mentioning his company as fraud/scam/cheats/ harrasing etc. comments were from 1000 different IDs. Jerry called up Tom asking what’s happening on his social media page, whether he has actually committed some fraud, why those comments. At that time, he just lost temper and disconnected. He caught hold of his social media manager and asked how the comments got posted without an approval to which the manager replied that their account had been hacked!

While he lodged a cyber crime complaint, he started getting threatening emails and notes to wind up his business failing which he might have to face life threatening consequences. He shared this thing with Jerry amd Jerry calmly advised him to shut his business down in that case. Tom was naive but not insane! He somehow felt in the composed voice of Jerry that somewhere he might be involved in whatever’s happening. He continued his business replying to each and every comment with the fact. Side by side he got in touch anonymously with some team members of Jerry’s firm and asking feedback on differences between his and their company, why to enrol with them. All those Jerry’s team members spoke badly against Tom’s firm. Tom had understood now!

He called up Jerry and straight away asked whether their 25 years long friendship had turned into rivalry for this business! Jerry gave a plain YES and answered “How did you even dare think to step into my domain! ” His SADDISTIC EGO burst out! Tom still asked him, why he hadn’t discussed it with him if he had an issue with his business as they were very good friends, to which he responded, “you were supposed to discuss before starting it!” Tom did try to explain him that what he was doing was purely UNETHICAL to which he heard back “All is fair in Love, War and Business!“

A week later Tom was found dead in his apartment and was declared a COVID victim. No one since then knows what actually happened! While the only thing known is Jerry is no more in the chair of a CxO but on the bed of a rehabilitation centre for reasons best known to him!

The only thing we comprehend is EGO had eaten up all ETHICS of which we talk about a lot these days! Everywhere around we talk of ethics, but the truth is, we just talk! Most of us remain in a “To Reply” mode rather than “Listen, Understand and Respond”. It has just become a matter of esteem in every communication and action. People are whirling in this vicious circle of winning a fight which has actually no purpose!

Before we go to ethics, we need to understand what Ego is. Ego, friends, is not always a negative emotion! Ego is just a feeling of personal existence and a sense of self esteem or established identity. This layer between Self esteem and Egotism is a thin line and people often tend to align their actions towards any one of these.

I see people around both in businesses and in family ending up or hampering relationships over matters that were tackled not by them but their egotism!

Friends, we need to first sit back, relax and introspect the whole purpose of our action, if it is to attain a set goal or it is to let down someone else! Is it for the development or in interest of a particular objective or is it simply to earn a “fake win” for yourself while you see someone else lose! Is it to promote a mission or to demote someone else’s!

While you have time to plan up the ways to satisfy your SUPEREGO, it’s better to utilize that time introspecting on the PURPOSE of it. Genuinely question yourself that Is my action worthwhile a meaningful result fo rthe common good or is it just for me to satisfy my immature conscience for having won a pseudo war with someone.

Before you prioritize the second one, remember all your actions are cyclic in nature. “What you sow, so shall you reap!” I just wanna add “sooner or later” into that saying! This is the only world, the only life (unless you find life on Mars!) to stay and spend in harmony both internal and external. Let’s stop expecting people to drop down on their knees to fulfill our desires, rather help someone rise!

In my experience, even elderly, grown ups and so called Mature people have held their egos high so much so that they are ready to bear some of their own loss to see someone else lose more! They are ready to sacrifice to the extent of insanity for deep drowning others and still feel dissatisfied! What’s the use of such an ESTEEM that is built on the foundation of someone else’s grave!

And my most important concern is about the values we are transferring to our next generation in form of agression, misinterpreted ego, the cut throat win approach instead of altruism, empathy, trust and building relationships.

The ETHICAL sayings we read in the school Moral Values book like “Honesty is the best policy”, “A friend in need is a friend in deed”, “Be kind to others”, “Patience is a virtue”, “Hardwork is the key to success”, “Respect everyone” have lost somewhere in those inked pages whose ink also seems to have faded!

All the negativity and stress that is seen increasing all around is mainly due to people engaged in getting their egos satisfied by hook or by crook. And that’s not an epitome of courage, a simple symbol of weakness rather!

Revisit some situation in the recent past when you have acted thinking ” How dare he/she”, “I’ll teach him/her a lesson” and ask yourself if you have had a sound sleep the night you thought this! Now just try thinking the other way round “I think he/she has made a mistake, let me guide him/her”

The mere scene changes with our attitude towards the situation! It’s for you to choose which way to follow. Ego begets Ego while Love begets Love and Respect begets Respect! Let’s try and stay rooted to the Moral Values Book thoughts instead of sticking to what they say over the OTT- “All is fair in Love, war and business”

BECAUSE…. IT’S SIMPLY NOT FAIR!

No one can find real happiness in the sorrows of others, it’s either an illusion or simply a myth! Even the long lived EAGLE HAS TO SHED SOME OF HER OLD GROWN WINGS AND OVERGROWN BEAK TO CONTINUE LIVING WITH HEAD HELD HIGH!AND WE THE HUMANS ARE DEFINITELY SUPERIOR TO THE EAGLES ATLEAST!

Shed your Egos away, you won’t be able to carry them a long way! Most importantly the Gen Z that we are preparing for bearing the torch of life, need be aware of what actual ETHICS are! Let’s not teach them “Hand for Hand approach”, let’s teach them the forgotton rules of life and encourage them to act judiciously and not judgementally!

Ultimately, Egos will die and what’ll survive is the ETHICS you leave behind for keeping your essence alive eternally!

So next time you plan or think of letting someone down just to satisfy your false and absolutely meaningless ego, just remember that you are the SUPREME MOST CREATION OF GOD and you are born to do better things than this! Play your role and let others play theirs. If EGOs continue to grill ETHICS, a gloomy future awaits. And it’s not me who is saying that, it’s what is evident from our History and bound to repeat itself unless our thoughts and actions are RE-ENGINEERED!

Vision And Mission statements of people and industry look extremely inspiring with a statement on Ethics in it, but they remain confined to mere statements. I recently heard about SMART goals ( Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). I want to make them SMARTER, by adding an ER (Ethical and Radical).

The contentment of climbing upto the top of the ladder on the strength of ETHICS is much more real than the Direct flight to the top throwing others down on the way!

Wishing you all an ETHICAL JOURNEY towards success and prosperity…Happiness and Contentment follow…

Yours Ethically

Shru!