moral science

Everyday in the newspapers I read about horrendous crimes. It makes me wonder whether people even know that there is something called conscience inside them. As ordinary people too we are taught moral values by so many around us(although it is at a sharp decline), but hardly anyone pays attention to it. It is one thing to admire & preach moral values and quite another to apply them in our lives. However, the most wonderful thing about us human beings is that even though we commit a lot of sins and crimes, if we ask our own selves whether we are actually that bad, the answer is an invariable no. I am absolutely sure that the two boys who shot their classmate dead in Euro International School a few months back were normal people like all of us, and see how they have had to repent for a few moments of madness! In fact, even the professional robbers and killers must have had a prick of conscience the first time they were drawn into the criminal business.

There is never a wrong time to do right things-this we forget. Moreover, God is always ready to forgive us if we repent to our sins, ask for forgiveness and surrender ourselves totally to him. But no, here we can see the ruthless world of fear, dominance, hatred, jealousy and insecurity. Sinners are proud of their sins, 'inspire' other people to commit sins and crimes. There are people too who opt to use the wrong path as it gives them instant pleasure. For example, it can be as simple as cheating in an examination hall.

Most of the times, we also see in our daily life that people respect success more than anything else. Today an Andrew Symonds is a hit; even after all the controversies he has had. Why? merely because he plays well. Ishaan Awasthi was treated badly by the whole world in the movie 'Taare Zameen Par'- not because he was a bad person but because he was a failure. Is this the criteria to judge a person? People forget that success should be valued only as long as the goodness of a person is not doubted.

It is true that people become more and more mature as they increase in age. It is also wonderful to say, then, that even in old age people try to make the right use of their lives. The biggest example is that of Mr. Pierre Pean, a French national who lived in Paris as a travel agent, in his retired life now spends the day teaching poor students free of cost sitting in a not-so-comfortable stool in a ram shackled bus in Malad, Bombay. What made him do so? In fact, the only article that makes my day is that called 'Essential India', which speaks of the people who have in their own ways made the country proud.

Not all is lost. We need to be taught moral values in a different way, which tells us how to apply them in our lives. The world is changing for the better. Let us hope that we contribute a small part to it.