Right and Wrong

Right is something which is said to be ‘socially correct’. Some others may define right as something that is in conformance with the law and the order of the land. Right has come to be believed as something that the society deems correct, the society agrees with and that with which the societal values coincide. So in short it is thus safe to come to the conclusion that right is something that is accepted by the society and thus can be said to be morally, ethically and socially right. I will come to the part about society later.

Wrong is something which is not in accord with established code of conduct. It can also be said to be something that is contrary to the conscience or morality of law. Wrong is in simpler words the exact opposite of right. Here we take wrong in a negative connotation.

Now one question that crops up in my mind and I am sure in each of our minds is that when we say a particular thing/path/action is 'right' while the other is 'wrong', why do we say so? Who determines this? Who distinguishes them and why do we take things as acceptable and unacceptable? What makes the human psyche think in such a manner and how 'right' or 'wrong' really are the things?

Most say it is the society that decides but then comes my above point which I didn’t deal with then, who is this 'society' and how does it decide? Why does the so called ‘society’, assuming such a body exists, decide and differentiate between these things?

Society can be taken to be a group of individuals that are primarily characterized by common interests, needs and goals. It is also said to be a totality of all human relationships and organisations. If we take this to be true then it is safe to assume that every living being would be a part of society per se and hence be involved in the decision making process of right and wrong. However this is not so since objectively speaking no person would do something he himself has christened as wrong. Assuming such a society does decide the right and wrong, the question now arises that on what basis is the punishment decided for committing a wrong?

“Society is one vast conspiracy for carving one into the kind of statue it likes and then placing it in the most convenient niche it has”

- Randolph Bourne

Some say that humans are born with an innate sense of moral responsibility and a sense of justice, a sense of right and wrong. Now the question arises that are some more fortunate than others in this gift and thus some go on the ‘right path’ and some on the ‘wrong path’? Also it is important to note that many a times what is considered right in some parts/places is considered wrong in the others. What is the reason for that? Does this sense we possess differ so much? Why is say for example abortion or mercy killing legal or ‘right’ in some countries while illegal or ‘wrong’ in the others?

Many also say that it is the society we live in that grooms us, teaches us and influences our decisions of right and wrong. If that is so does this merely increase our innate sense and give it meaning or does it over write what we were supposed to be born with?

The last point that I come to is that is there even a society that exists or is it a fragment of our imagination, something we can blame our faults upon. Does there exist this amalgamation of bodies, of humans, of organisations that decides or is instrumental in the way we think and analyze or are we our own people, merely individuals, who decide for ourselves?

‘Society exists only as a mental concept, in the real world there are only individuals’

- Oscar Wilde

The End of an Era

She came and she conquered. She succeeded when few thought she would. She stood out among the crowd but not because of a loud, over the top attitude or because of publicity and fame garnered from elsewhere. She stood out because of her grace, her dignity, her passion and her technique. She is Justine Henin. She had the grace we don’t get to see anymore, she had the dignity to rise above the mishaps and the misgivings; she had the passion which defines the game of tennis and she had the technique, as John McEnroe himself said the best single backhand in men and women’s tennis today. An end to the era of graceful tennis.

Justine Henin, for me, is the last of the tennis players who can make history, who can make a place for themselves in the history of the game. It will be long before another comes. Having won an Olympic gold, 7 Grand Slam titles and just short a win at Wimbledon, she has had a career few can boost of.

According to me she never really got the respect and adulation she deserved off the court, from people who aren’t tennis fanatics. Few know what she has done and what she was capable of. She had the power to intimidate her opponents and they knew that on a good day, which was almost always since the past few years, she was hard to beat.

When one thinks of retirement it is because of injury, of losing the touch or because of age. She retired, at 25, when she was No. 1 and when no one was close to taking that tag, that rank away from her. She retired because the emotion she had towards her game, the game of tennis had diminished. Very few have the courage to do that, those very few are the Champions of their game.

Today is a sad day in the world of tennis. A day that a fan wishes never comes. The day a player retires, puts an end to a wonderful career. I am yet surprised at why she took this step but she must be having her reasons. The first thought that came into my mind was why now? There is the Roland Garros coming up, her slam, her domain. She will be missed, at every tournament, at every slam.

Blame

Blame is an easy way out, to clear your name, the doubt.
But what the consequence is, no one comprehends
Fights it causes, makes matters worse,
No end reached but still the end it is for all.
Why can’t things be said as they are,
Accepted and moved on with, make a fresh start?
Is it so tough to make the relationships work?
To be humans who accept their errs?
Let’s leave the scorn aside for a while and say what’s in the heart,
Make a new beginning of this disgraceful debated last part.

© Shruti Chopra

Freedom Writers: A Marvel

Sometimes I wonder where do people get the courage, the motivation and the will to make themselves absolutely secondary and do good or at least try to better lives of other people from. It amazes me that people can be so selfless in nature. We all try and do our bit for the other and none of us – or at least most of us aren’t completely selfish in nature but we can’t also claim to be completely selfless. Some people are lucky that their calling happens to be selflessness, some people are lucky that they get the chance, but what is most appealing to me as a person is that someone so ordinary, like you and me, takes the chance given, goes out of their comfort zone as we call it, do what they like and do it their way and still make such a marked difference.

Privileges are something most of us take for granted. We don’t always realize that at some parts of this world there is an entirely different world! We don’t always think that there are people out their fighting a war, a battle for survival everyday and I don’t mean the soldiers of our country. Many a times these battles are forced, are ‘man-made’ and honestly need not even be there. Privileges aren’t something materialistic, something money buys but it is basic things like freedom, a family, an education, a job, a meal, a roof.

I call Freedom Writers a marvel because of the truth there is in it, because of the reality it shows and it changes, because of the good it strives to bring about without preaching. Freedom writers is about giving a voice, about giving a future and about giving hope. Freedom writers as an organization is about making one realize that nothing is impossible and that fighting without a reason, just because you are told to is baseless. Freedom writers the movie made me aware, made me realize, it inspired. It showed, at least me, that many a times we don’t know what we are up against and why we are up against it. Do we go after things or people just because we have been told to or because we have a reason backing our actions? Is following the norm essential even if it is the wrong way or being the first one to get up and make a change because it is the right thing to do?

Erin Gruwell, on whom the movie is based, as a character in the movie, is on the face of it just like you and I, a young person wanting to become a teacher because she likes the aspect and the idea of it, married young and happy with her life but wanting to make a change. You dwell a little deeper and you realize that she has the innate quality of putting someone else before her, for a better good even if that means letting go of her life, of her pleasures. She has the will to go those extra steps to make this step a successful one. She has the determination of doing things the right way but her way, about getting things done even if that means bending the rules a little. This is what I mean by courage. Courage isn’t merely going out there and showing how brave you are, courage isn’t not being scared, courage is having the will and the nerves to do what you believe in and make it happen. It is putting everything else on stand – even you if required to make a difference, however big or small it may be.

“With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.”
- Keshavan Nair

Choices

'Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices.'

Choices are a part of life. Every minute you are to make a choice. To either do this or to do that, but what happens when the choices are such that don’t just change the moment but the life ahead of you? Such are choices that scare people, which bring about confusion, anticipation and a gamut of other emotions? Thinking about a few things and the choices that have been made till now and the choices that will have to be made in the future, got me thinking and dwelling into deeper issues and reasoning’s. The two main choices, we assume that change the way our life goes, the way we lead it, depends upon our academic (career) choices, and our choices in relationships.

What does our tomorrow bring, what does it hold for us and what is the reason for tomorrow happening the way it does? Our life is based broadly on joys and sorrows, on happiness and sadness, on loss and gain, on belief and disbelief, on right and on wrong.

'We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them'

Everything that transpires in our life is ultimately because of our choice. Some people may blame their decision on someone else or say they were influenced but it still remains their choice, because it was their decision, them choosing to go by the others decision. Subconsciously or consciously we are always deciding the path for tomorrow, whether it is the way we want it to be or the complete opposite.

Each morning is a new day and each morning we choose whether we want to take a decision, make the choice to move forward or to just let it all go, like a river that will never again touch the shore. There are many moments in our lives when we find ourselves at a crossroad, at the T junction, anxious, perplexed, without a roadmap. The choices we make then, in that very moment, set path for everything ahead.

The most important thing in life, and maybe even the simplest but contradictorily one that is toughest to do is to stand by your choices, to accept them and to honor them. To think through them so that tomorrow, when things don’t work out there might be disappointment but no regret.