"If I have a choice to do the expedient thing and win the day’s battle, or do the principled thing and lose, I will do the principled thing because in the long run it will affect other things and come back to me in different ways." (General Schwarztkopf)
How many of us think on these lines? Let’s face it. If given a choice, a majority of us would opt to win the day’s battle. Be it following the traffic signals, or bribing the traffic constable for not getting fined. Not only in this part of the world, but even at the greener pastures people follow rules out of fear and obligation.
I can never forget that moment, when we were going somewhere late at night and my little niece was with us. As soon as the driver crossed the red traffic light, we heard a tiny voice saying:
"Allah T'aalah dekh raha hai", [“God is watching us”] which was the title of a lesson she had just read in school!
"Allah T'aalah dekh raha hai", [“God is watching us”] which was the title of a lesson she had just read in school!
I also remember the verses of an urdu poem that I read when I was a child:
“Chor jab bantay ke koi dekhta, Dekhnay ko mein hi khud moujood tha” (Ismail Meirthi)
Translation: “I would have become a thief if someone saw me, but I was watching myself”.
If only we could all be as God conscious and as pure as a small child, and be brave enough to lose the battle yet do the principled thing!
But how many of us would actually do that?
But how many of us would actually do that?
