The Indians Abroad

Find the ‘helping’ voice within, that often goes unheard

“There is no witness so terrible, no accuser so powerful as conscience which dwells within us.” ~ Sophocles

Remember a time when someone needed help and you passed by?
Recall an incident where something felt wrong and thought you should do something and yet, you could not find the courage?
Or, may be it was none of your business, but did you feel bad or guilty walking away?…

In our daily lives, what do we do when we find something wrong, when someone is acting against what we believe is right or moral or ethical?
More often, the answer is ‘nothing’.
We let so many things slide by, it is amazing!
We are often telling our family and friends as to what we believe in, we have our opinions and we are not shy about voicing them. However, the same voice is lost somewhere when we step out of our social or family circle. The opinions get suppressed when we are out of our comfort zone.

If something is wrong or immoral, it will eventually get exposed. The question is not if, but when. Unfortunately, our lack of actions, the absence of voicing out what we believe in, is just slowing it down.

Walking down the road, wandering around the neighborhood, or sitting in a meeting,… if we see something that does not add up, if it does not make sense, or if it is plain wrong – we should point it out or help out in some way to correct the situation. This oversight is an often overlooked norm of the society. It is a commonsense to point out the obvious; it is common courtesy to ourselves- our own conscious- and to others impacted by the wrong or unfair acts we witness.

In our daily life, we are much more pragmatic than we realize. We don’t object to or complain about anything unless it hits us home; unless it affects us directly. This is not procrastination but cowardice- lack of courage.

The world is far from perfect we all know; there is always ugly stuff around us. One of the reasons for so much ugliness is our routine failure to support the commonsense. So many evils- big or small, so many bad habits, so many unfair acts…. don’t get nipped in the bud because of us. Just think about it, a simple lack of action can result in so many ugly incidents, or unsavory outcomes.

Next time if you see something wrong, something that should stop or end, or something that needs to be exposed,… make sure to stand up. Make sure to raise your voice or raise your hand. If nothing else, do it anonymously.

Don’t forget it is good for you, your own conscience – you will feel better about yourself.
For the sake of a better tomorrow, for a better society at home or abroad, for your own sake - say something.
After all, someone has to say it!

.