Rules and Habits

The two photographs, one of  a policeman and the other of several travelling in two wheelers without wearing helmets in  a city, where rules require every two wheeler rider  to use a helmet, tell us a lot about habits that cannot be regulated by rules. The, on the spot fine, for violating the rule is a large amount and it is neither enforced nor does it exert pressure on people to wear helmet.

I am told by advocates and police officers that there are too many laws and rules in India, the first impression of which makes every one feel good about the noble intentions. But the violation of    the rules is so common that it is not just  an exception. We accommodate, tolerate and even justify violation of rules. 

What if we make a shift from framing rules, enforcing them, and condoning every violation, to focussing on building character of our young people. The youth of India is a community who seem to show some inclination to look at the collective responsibility we share to make a difference. 

It can begin in our place of work, where we can engage our colleagues to make a small beginning. I have found initiatives such as keeping the environment clean, arriving on time for work, being diligent at work, showing courtesies towards others, going out of one's ways to help others, offering hospitality, consideration towards who suffer from disadvantages, etc. as starters of a dialogue about human behaviour and relationships. 

I am currently working in a setting where these issues come up for conversation almost every day. I realise how, each time we show forth good practices, it gets noticed and appreciated. It is when we can share acts of kindness, we create an atmosphere to talk about value based living where practicing personal ethics and acting because of conviction are esteemed. 

I remember a eight year old child telling me few days back, 'if you want to stop children from walking across the road except at the Zebra crossing, let the adults show the way'. I heard from a government official in Singapore that the government introduced fine for littering the street after making successive generations of children aware about the value of clean environment for two decades. No wonder, the on the spot fine became a restraint for littering, as the people were educated about it during the school years. 

People change their habits not by force but through sensitising them  to foster conviction and character.  

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)