In April 1994, when I was living in R.K.Puram at New Delhi, an elderly friend of mine came to stay with us for a few days. I consider him to be like my elder brother. During his stay, he desired to visit Shri Dharam Veera, an ex-ICS officer who had occupied many important positions including the Governorship of West Bengal and Karnataka. They hailed from the same village. In all his assignments, Dharam Veera had done remarkably well. A man of courage and integrity, he never compromised in matters of principles. In our student days, we used to hold him in high esteem. So when my friend expressed a desire to visit Dharam Veera, I also became interested and we both went to see him one evening.
We found him quite active even at his advanced age. He kept himself involved in many important activities. It was a matter of privilege to spend some time with him. He narrated several interesting events of his life, which gave me a lot of inspiration. Perhaps, he also developed some liking for me during our brief meeting. When our discussion was coming to an end, I asked him for a message for those who want to work with honesty and sincerity. He very happily gave me two points of advice. First of all he said, an honest person should be fearless. Not only this, he should instill fear in the wicked and confidence among the good. He used the words ‘Dangerously Honest’ while explaining what he meant. His second piece of advice was that an administrator should be as helpful as possible. He advised for positive interpretation of the rules so long as no self-interest was involved. According to him serving people is a rare opportunity and one should not lose it by looking too much into rules and regulations. I took his advice seriously and contemplated over it. I am going to share here my contemplation over the first advice.
I feel pained when people say that honesty does not pay in the present circumstances. This feeling prevails not only among civil servants but among all classes. What is more painful is that such a feeling exists even among some of already handful honest people. These so-called honest people display this feeling when they present a gloomy picture of their lives before others. This damages the system all the more. I feel that such people are either not honest in the true sense or are ignorant of the full dimensions of honesty. A person with an integrated view of honesty has no occasion to complain. For him honesty remains a source of strength and he finds no clash between his ways and the working of the system. I will give here two examples to explain what I am trying to say.
I met a businessman on board a plane while travelling from Calcutta to Delhi. He appeared to be a very simple man. He was carrying a cloth bag containing tea packets. He was a big businessman with an income running into crores. He owned tea-gardens and several other businesses. He told me that about 50 years back, he started his career on a meager salary of rupees eight per month. When asked the secret of his success, unhesitatingly he told me that it was on account of his honest hard work.
The second interaction was on Rajdhani Express when I was travelling from Calcutta to Kanpur. There I met a senior advocate of Allahabad. He had been in the legal profession for about 40 years and was one of the leading lawyers of the town. When asked whether it was possible for an honest and sincere law graduate to set up a good legal practice, he replied in the affirmative. He added that honesty and sincerity were the secrets of his success.
While it may be too simplistic to establish the strength of honesty on the basis of these two examples, they do establish my point to a great extent. There is no doubt that there are many aberrations in the system but to say that they can be taken care of by dishonest means is not at all correct. Such an approach only adds to the aberrations and least wonder that today we find ourselves in a situation which appears to be hopeless. If corrections are to be made, it is possible only through honest means. What is, perhaps, required in addition to honesty, is practical wisdom. The problem with many honest persons is that for them honesty becomes an end and not the means. After all, one has to be honest for some purpose and if the purpose is not achieved, the honesty becomes meaningless. At times an honest person may become a victim of the system but to condemn honesty on this ground is not at all justified. If we go by this criterion, surely the chances of falling victims are much more on the path of dishonesty. If we take an integrated view of life, I am sure the path of honesty will turn out to be more rewarding than the path of dishonesty.
This is perhaps what persons like Dharam Veera, the businessman I met on the plane, and the advocate I came across on the train had in mind when they advocated the path of honesty in the closing years of their lives. It is not that these persons had seen only success in life. Surely there must have been ups and downs but they grew steadily with them and refused to bow down in adverse situations. Perhaps, it is not possible for a dishonest person to understand the strength of honesty. I do not think a truly honest person has any regret in following the path of honesty. It is only those who do not take an integrated view of honesty that find themselves in pitiable conditions despite being honest. The need is to understand the difference between being honest for the sake of honesty and being honest for the sake of a cause. In the first case, honesty becomes the end while in the latter it is the means. Those who are honest for a cause gain strength and have no complaints. Not only this, they are considered to be dangerous by the dishonest. The advice of becoming ‘Dangerously Honest’ is thus literally true.
