mo·ral·i·ty – The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct.
re·spon·si·bil·i·ty – The social force that binds you to your obligations and the courses of action demanded by that force; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty

Somebody said that we are living in the age of the common man. The age were individual right has been elevated to the pinnacle of social order in most countries. Having lived in two different countries and culture gives you perspectiverespective on the things like morality, responsibility … and other such things.

For what I have seen in my short life on this planet is that there are basically two types of cultures, one where the individual is paramount and another where the society is paramount. But underneath it all the object is the greatest common good. The western world is all about individual freedom, which – according to me – is based on the logic that if the individual is free then the society as a whole is free. While in the eastern world, its all about the society based on the assumption that if the society is free then the individual has got to beessentiallyesentially the spirit of humanity is freedom and liberty for all.

But over the centuries the underlying spirit has be curtailed. You have people in the society-centric culture indulging in killing and rape using honour as a password to do it. And then in the individual-centric world its all about me, they forget that its as much about the person next to me as it is about me. The crux of the matter is the balance between collective/individual morality and responsibility.

In the US we want and have individual freedom, but don’responsibilityponsibilty that goes with it. If you kill somebody just blame it on your childhood or the lack thereof. Or if you steal and rob just blame it on society for not listening to you and giving you their time. If get cancer from smoking … no worries … just blame it on the tobacco company that “enticed” you. If you get fat … just blame it on the restaurantsresturants. I wonder why nobody uses the same argument to jump of a bridge?

In India its the other way around … You are notonly responsible to yourself but also to everyone in your family, extendeneighbor’sneighbours, friends, school … work … the list actually goes one. The word honour is bandied about in banality!! When in school they tell you what to study. What every Indian parent want is for his kid to become either a Doctor or engineer or to join the Indian Administrative Service. Want to marry somebody you like ?? don’t even go there … got to first check if the family is of the right status, caste and community, oh ya also the amount of money they have! I have written enough on the scourge of dowry!

Do we have solution?? Well stop making the society an excuse for your actions and start taking responsibility. Across the ocean, stop taking orders from society and live according to “your” morality, ’cause men were not made for traditions but traditions for men!

“I’m a sinner, I’m a saint I do not feel ashamed”