Build character, build a nation

When the Chinese decided to live in peace, they thought of building a wall to protect themselves from enemy attacks. 21,000 kms long, 30 feet wide and 50 feet high, the Great wall of China was simply impregnable.

But in the first 100 years of the walls’ existence, China was attacked three times and each time, the enemy did not even attempt to scale the walls: they just bribed the guards manning the gates and got in. The Chinese realised later that while they had built a formidable wall, they had forgotten to build character.

Character is what defines us as individuals and collectively as a Nation. No matter how high we build the walls, no nation can progress without building character – the essential part of Nation building. Unfortunately, while our literacy rate has shot up significantly, we have faltered badly in building character that would allow us the inner strength to always choose the upright path.

The other day I met a distressed looking shack owner. He hadn’t been allotted a shack this year. Another man who had applied for ten licenses under ten different names was allotted four. I inquired why he cannot convince the other man to give him one. That man, he told me, will never give one to a local as he sublets them to outsiders for a hefty amount. And how can outsiders afford to pay hefty amounts? According to the shack owner, there isn’t much money in serving food & drinks. The big money comes from serving stuff forbidden by the law. This is the prevailing state of our system: it allows the underbelly to flourish while keeping honest business in check.

Patience, discipline, hard work, perseverance and integrity can take a man far even in a rotten system. Whether we talk of inventors like Thomas Edison, statesmen like Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Theresa; they were all people of character. But how do you tell this to the young people of today and expect to be taken seriously?

Everybody is talking about harsher punishment for crimes such as rapes, but nobody is talking about the main cause of such crimes – the deterioration in the character of our society. Most of our problems at the root are character issues. One can have any number of laws, but if you don’t have men of character to enforce then, it only leads to increased corruption. If fact too many laws turn good men into criminals while bad men find a way through. The government has recently affected a very steep increase in the penalties for traffic violations, ostensibly to make our roads safer. But do we have enough honest men around to enforce such stringent laws without exploiting the situation?

Today the trust deficit between the ruled and the rulers is unprecedently high. But why then do we keep electing such worthies? The answer once again is simple: we don’t have enough character to look beyond religion, caste, personal interest, money and vote for the right person.

Many countries have incorporated character education in the learning process where good values and virtues needed to make better caliber citizens are promoted. To realise the dream of a strong prosperous nation, we need to first become a society that places high importance on character. Therefore, the need to structure an education policy that helps in moulding character besides imparting education and skills cannot be overemphasised.

Given the right environment, Indians can be world class professionals as has been proved by those who have dared to venture out. Gone are the days when Goans could be called as people of character; today it stands adulterated. In the golden Goa of yesteryears, virtues, values and beliefs that go to make better men were highly stressed upon. A good man’s word is as good as his bond – in local parlance we called it ‘Uttor’ or ‘Uttracho Munis’, which in short summed up the character of a person. Nowadays few people have ‘utor’ and still fewer have a sense of responsibility. Nobody has time and patience. The layers in our ‘bebinca’ are getting thicker. Everybody is looking for short cuts to success and success primarily means making tons of money by hook or crook.