By: Dr. Satyawan Saurabh
There are often discussions about honesty and dishonesty in our society. Even a dishonest person tries to prove himself honest till the last breath. When we try to take away the rights of others, the seeds of dishonesty are automatically born in us. Being mad after money is responsible for such a situation. Honesty isn’t just about telling the truth. It’s about being real with yourself and others about who you are, what you want, and how you need to live your life. Honesty fosters openness, empowers us, and enables us to develop consistency in the way we present facts. Sincerity sharpens our perception and allows us to see everything around us with clarity.
Honesty instils confidence, and trust empowers our willpower, and represents us in the best possible way for others to look up to and see our example. Honesty improves our vitality. Integrity is one of the key components of character and one of the most admirable qualities of any successful, responsible person. Honesty is a fundamental factor, it helps in building one’s character. An honest person is always successful in his practical and spiritual life. The reality is that needy people don’t run after money. While struggling for their minimum needs, they just want to earn so that all the tasks of their life can be completed from time to time. Maybe they have some desire to earn more money, but there is positivity in this desire.
Even telling small lie risks damaging our reputation, but also reduces others’ tendency to trust us. Furthermore, one lie often leads to the need to tell another, more significant lie, which risks even more negative consequences if discovered. Finally, we cannot necessarily predict the consequences of telling even a small lie, and if such consequences turn out to be more significantly adverse than we anticipate, our sense of responsibility and therefore guilt may affect us. Can disturb more than imagination etc.
The question is, how do we get pulled from honesty to dishonesty? Society sees dishonesty as a great evil, yet a large section of society is inclined toward dishonesty. Dishonesty has nothing to do with poverty and richness. Yes, it is definitely that we start looking for dishonesty in the poor but we do not see dishonesty in the rich. We are never satisfied with our financial condition. It allows people to feel better about themselves, presents themselves better in the eyes of others, and maintain good relationships. Cheating is a good strategy for someone who is trying to maximize short-term profit.
We pay more attention to the economic condition of others. Dissatisfaction with our position only pushes us toward dishonesty. Poor people want to get everything in a rush to become rich and rich people take shortcuts to become richer. The seedling of the short way itself becomes the plant of dishonesty in the future. Whether it is land-property disputes in villages or people fighting with their neighbors in cities over small things, everywhere we want to take away the rights of others. It sometimes helps material gain; It helps to avoid punishment etc. At the same time, lying can also create trouble. Lying can be cognitively debilitating, it can increase the risk that people will be punished, it can threaten people’s self-worth by preventing them from seeing themselves as good people, and it Can destroy trust in society in general. When you lie, you deceive yourself into believing what you are saying.
The good thing in this atmosphere is that the basic spirit of society is honesty. Today, no father who does wrong does not teach dishonesty to his children. Despite this fact, there is a conflict going on in our minds regarding dishonesty and honesty. We have to believe that because of honesty, a lot of good things are happening in the country and the world. This world is running because of honesty. It is up to us to decide what kind of world we want in the future. Honesty means being truthful and open. It is an aspect of moral character that refers to positive and virtuous qualities including integrity, truthfulness, simplicity of conduct, absence of lying, cheating, stealing, etc. It is said that honesty as a policy always comes with a price. It is true. Honesty demands sacrifice and courage to face the obstacles created by society and the system in the way of honesty. But it is also true that a truly honest person keeps moving forward despite all the obstacles.
The writer is Research scholar, poet, freelance journalist and columnist, All India Radio and TV panellist.
