Professional Practices

Assignment-II

Personal code of Ethics

Submitted by:
Bikash Pathak (09)

Apparel Production-VII
It was a dreary December night; pitch black darkness and the haunting fog that descended from
the hills had engulfed the outskirts of Guwahati. And the intermittent gun shots fired from the
killer Kalashnikovs ripped the eerie silence from time to time.

Back in the mid 90s, insurgency was at its peak, wreaking havoc, threatening the very existence
of any form of potent government. Rebels were running wild, guiltlessly butchering innocent
civilians and security forces alike. That night was no different. Rebels had ambushed a police
convoy, led by the then deputy superintendent of police, who incidentally happened to be my
uncle. Fierce gun-battle ensued. Soon rebels were being over-powered by the gritty policemen.
Realizing their grim situation, they rushed into a nearby hut, taking the inhabitants hostage,
including a helpless child. The bloody tussle continued; amidst the chaos, the mother and her
child slipped out and ran across the paddy field, desperate for escape. The rebels mercilessly
fired on them…the mother collapsed in a pool of blood. However the child, miraculously, was
still alive, clutching onto dear life and crying for help. Nobody dared to advance, as one would
end up being mere target-practice in the open field.

But perhaps these are the situations that lead ordinary men to do extra-ordinary things. When
logic releases its grip and primitive instinct takes over. Uncle ran across the field, zigzag,
dodging the bullets, without any cover. He managed to reach the child, shielding her from the
flurry of gun-shots, he ran back, as fast as nature allowed. Yet you can’t out speed bullets.
Three of them hit the bulls-eye; piercing his left leg and punching two holes above the
diaphragm.

The child survived, my dear uncle did not.

Why am I narrating this utterly personal and brutal incident? Because over the years, it has
shaped my inner persona, my attitude towards life, my actions and my reactions.

People termed his actions as heroic yet foolhardy. I neither agree nor disagree with them.
Everyone has his own ideals and pointers for life, uncle had his. I know, if he would not have
done that, something inside him would have died everyday for the rest of his years. That was
his ethics.

Ethics is too subjective and intangible to be expressed within the realms of a scientific
definition. It perhaps is a set of principles and ideals that is unique to an individual, like DNA is.

It is very relative and there can be no absolutes. Yes, social customs and prevailing norms do
tend to classify actions, intents and people as ethical or unethical. But what’s accepted by the
majority does not necessarily mean it is right or ethical for that matter. What is wrong for one
person or society may not be wrong for another. Like the old proverb goes, “One man’s meat
can be another man’s poison.” So is ethics; it is relative.

It is easy to churn out idealistic lectures, pretending high moral grounds, but following them in
actions is a totally different ball-game. Ultimately what matters is that one is true to himself and
his set of beliefs. So that when we are in our last breathe, we can sign off without any guilt,
without any regret. That would be ethics at its best.

I am not perfect; nobody is. Therefore I cannot claim my place amongst the most ethical people
around. Shadow-fighting the demons within me, I have made my mistakes, bore my crosses. If I
go by common perceptions, I might score below average in the ethical index. But one cannot
live life according to other men’s image. As Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) aptly said, “Trying to be
someone else is a waste of the person you are.”

My life is not exemplary. But I have some guiding principles, which can be termed as my
personal code of ethics, from which I have not deviated, in the best and in the worst of times. I
don’t know if I am right or wrong, but I can, till now, look at myself in the mirror, without any
shadow crossing over my face.

If I have to state my personal code of ethics in words, they would broadly be the following
cornerstones:

a) Pull down the walls, break free from the chains: I have been a non-conformist; but
having said that, I am not a mindless rebel without a cause. For me, ethics lies in the
courage to break free from the chains that limit us, the walls that create dead ends.
Most of us are in some way or the other trapped; trapped in a messy relation that has
become an obligation; trapped by guilt, by fear, by others’ perceptions about us, by
illogical and dogmatic social customs. I have always lived my life defying these. Yes there
have been times when I have had to retreat my stand. But more often than not, I have
managed to shed the extra baggage. Stamp over prevailing status quo and let winds of
change flow.

b) No door is way better than the back door: I am not a brilliant man with endless
reservoir of talent. I know my capabilities and limits, giving my best in what I can do.
Pulling strings and buttering one’s way to success is not my cup of tea. I don’t bear any
personal grudge against those who have. But it is something I truly despise. Due to the
actions of a few camouflaging parasites, a lot many deserving individuals have been
deprived of opportunities. Personally speaking, I am the captain of the college soccer
 team; I have always put my weight behind people who can make a difference in the
team, who have the dedication to sweat it out. No place for any biasness on the basis of
personal relationship, batch or region. But world is an unfair place and it will always be
so. But I would take rejection rather than sweet-talking my way to glory, any given day.

c) If you can’t beat them, don’t join them, just ignore them: It takes courage to walk
alone. Never in my life have I joined hands with people who are on the wrong side by
my yardsticks, just for the sake of company and a place in the pack. I cannot just be a
part of the majority for the fear of being a cast away. There have been times when I
have been isolated due to my rigidity with respect to some aspects in life. But too much
flexibility makes a man spineless. I am happy to ignore and walk away. I would prefer
solitude to mindless cacophony without an iota of self-doubt.

d) Say NO to hypocrisy: We need to be tactful in dealing with the intricate complexities of

people and situations. Head-on collision and blunt confrontation cause more harm than
good. Agreed. But there is a limit to diplomacy and after a point one has to call a spade a
‘spade’. Fear of repercussions should not over-shadow our ability to stand up against
things that are flawed. Unfortunately we have become so acutely anxious about
consequences that we simply refuse to act. I firmly believe that it is better to take on the
bruises rather than being numb and voiceless.

e) Banish the taboos: Taboos-the epitomes of mindless stereotyping by a handful of

zealots. People are matured enough to choose what is best for them. What our
preachers and moral fundamentalists don’t realize that nothing in this world can be
truly “bad”. That would be against the very principle of nature. Carnal pleasures is a
sinful taboo; but we have the greatest work of art, the khajuraho temples and
kamasutra dedicated to it, created by visionaries millennia ago. They say marijuana is a
destructive drug. Yet we have visionaries ahead of their times like Picasso, Jack Kerouac,
Hendrix etc using it and creating magic. And yes, Lord Shiva too. I am not advocating for
them, but choices should be left upon the individuals, rather then enforcing juvenile
censorships.

f) Be selfish, but not at another man’s cost: Life is supposed to be a gift, a celebration. I
believe in living it to the maximum without compromises. Anyone who portrays himself
as a self-sacrificing angel has to be a fake imposter. Because deep down, we all want the
best for ourselves. I am selfish and I see nothing to be ashamed of. At the same time, I
do not believe in stepping over other people in the pursuit of my holy grail. Empires
built of ruins of others is indeed as hollow as a house of cards.
g) Cold-blooded revenge is bad, but retribution is not: At some point we all have to let go
of the bitterness and the grudges. Nothing heals wounds better than sands of time.
However some scars run so deep that they deserve the balm of righteous vengeance. At
times it is necessary to payback in equal measures. May be the last resort, but
retribution does bring tranquility and inner peace and is the final form of closure.

h) Keep the love alive: Perhaps the most important thing that this world lacks that we can
give. In our lives people come and go, things change, yet the moment love is gone
everything is as good as dead. I have lost people I loved- at times left and abandoned, at
times I myself moved on. But I have always carefully picked up the fragments happy
memories and the love that once blossomed, treasuring them, cherishing them.