Kashmir is traditionally known for hospitality andcordiality. We are the people who treat others with love and respect. But I think those values seem tohave disappeared. I am a Kashmiri and I have a strong belief in my ethos andculture, but of late what I have observed has utterly disappointed me.
I am on a visit to Kashmir as I live abroad. Recently I wasin one of the busiest markets of our Srinagar city. What I encountered reallycreated a bad taste in me. While being on a shop on the Residency Road, Iwitnessed some salesmen behaving in such an uncivilised manner with somecustomers. They were so rude that I – for a moment – thought that is this the same Kashmir thatI had seen and experienced decades back. `If you want to take it, take it,otherwise leave it’. Is this the way you talk to your own people. Is this thebusiness ethic, the work ethic, the social and cultural ethic that we have beentaught by our elders and teachers.
Is it the same place where a shopkeeper would stand inrespect for a customer in general and for a female customer in particular.Though we may not have all such black sheep in our community, but the merepresence of some elements gives a bad name to our culture and to our communityas well.
Who is responsible for this downfall of manners andcivility. On my way back home, I was asking this question to myself. We have aquestion to answer. If we belong to a civilised and sophisticated nation, thenthat demands a different approach. We have to learn to be decent with our fellowbeings. Though I am not sermonising, but I am narrating the pain I felt onseeing these ill-mannered people extending their ill-manners to others.
It’s not enough that we brag of being an abode of saints. Wehave to live up to that standard also. For that we need a drastic change in ourattitude. Ethics apart, it’s not good for their business too. Business alsodemands cordiality. As better business people we have to learn to be nice tothe people we meet. But when you humiliate your own customer base you arelosers. On social, moral and cultural front, you have already lost, but on theeconomic front also you have suffered a loss. We can only prosper when we knowthe value of decency. Economic prosperity is not the only key to thedevelopment of a nation, it’s the cultural and social emancipation and decencythat counts more than anything else. Let’s make a pledge with ourselves that wemake decency a hallmark of our character. That will not only make us betterbusinessmen, better citizens, better social reformers, better teachers, betterdoctors, better professionals, but above all better human beings.