THREE SENSIBLE DON’TS

          THREE SENSIBLE DON’TS

1.     Never make anybody feel ignorant.  Reason: Such a feeling hurts the listener’s psyche.  It even humiliates him or her.  The person whom you call ignorant is not completely so.  He/she may be lacking specific information about something, but may be he/she is having more overall knowledge about it.   The fact is that nobody in this world is completely ignorant.  Even those people who are uneducated are not ignorant.  Some of them are rather more knowledgeable than the educated ones because they have learnt their lessons in the practical school of life.  Unschooled men and women have studied life directly.  They are not book worms, yet they do not lack the wisdom which they need to run their affairs efficiently.   Quite possible that those whom we call ignorant are wiser than those whom we call intellectuals. If the word` ignorant’ is used in the sense of rude or ill-mannered, it will be discourteous use of the word and will betray lack of etiquette on the part of the speaker.

2.      Never make anybody feel inferior. Remember that in the eyes of God and the laws of many countries all human beings are equal.  None is inferior or superior. It is egotistic to feel yourself f superior to the person before you.  Moreover, inferior as well as superior is a relative term. One who is inferior in one area may not be so in another.  So where is the question of calling anybody inferior? In a dialogue between the mountain and the squirrel, it was the mountain who had to feel ashamed because it was very big, regarded itself superior but could not break even a small nut which the squirrel could do so naturally.    

3.     Be respectful even to those who do not agree with you. We live in a diverse world.  Every human being is unique.  There can be no uniform thinking among the millions of people who inhabit this world.  Each person has his/her own way of thinking, acting, judging and liking or disliking.  Agreement on every point is unimaginable.  Disagreement is more natural and should be acceptable.  To show disrespect to those who do not agree with you is to show that you do not believe in the individuality of other men and women. Moreover, remember that if respect breeds respect, disrespect breeds disrespect.  

31^st January 2020                                                  G. R. KANWAL