Mahmudur Rahman

Time-tested wisdom is so glaringly apparent that it is often overlooked. To this day the words of the very well known Bangla poem, 'Paache Loke Kichu Bole, continues to be one of the most enduring pieces of reality checks. Doubtless, they will continue long into the future. But even the best of astuteness requires some adaptation, some modification to make a perfect fit with existing reality.

Going by the words of the poem, everyone hesitates to do something for fear of lack of approbation or even arced eyebrows of others. That's where moral fibre tends to buckle under. In today's world perhaps a slight change in the sentence might be more appropriate. A social fabric that has over time blurred the clear distinction between right and wrong, moral and immoral does to a certain degree make the famous words somewhat redundant. For now one worries more about the consequences rather than a hemming and hawing of action.

So the Prime Minister has point to make when she openly states that the moral fibre of the individual differs especially when it comes to withstanding apparently insurmountable pressures. Those that give in will obviously have something to say in defence. But it is those who don't give in to principles that make up the limited few, banking on whom the lesser among us look up to.

It's somewhat laughable that so many speeches are made advising the new generation to be imbued with patriotism and righteousness in conducting themselves as they prepare for the future. The word laughable is used in the sense that the words more often than not emanate from those who probably never lived by the ideals.

The two enduring images of really good citizens that spring to mind are the ones that are quickly forgotten. There was nine-year old Abul Khair who, five years ago prevented a major train accident by taking his shirt off, sticking it on to a tree-branch and then running in the direction of the approaching train to make it stop. Then, just a few of days ago there is the instance of the rickshaw puller Rupchan who actually went to the police station to return a packet containing over two lac taka in it.

In both cases there were immediate headlines. Some organisation promised to look after Abul Khair's education. Rupchan was instantly awarded Tk 50,000 by the owner of the money and another Tk 5000 by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). ATN Bangla made a film out of Abul Khair and it won a prestigious award. Interestingly, the UNICEF news that described the award does not mention the child by name.

Where is Abul Khair today? Where will Rupchan go tomorrow? Perhaps these are the cases that we really do need to follow-up. People of this kind of moral fibre do not deserve to be lost in the corridors of history. They are the true Shada Moner Manush. (The writer is a former head of corporate & regulatory affairs, British American Tobacco, Bangladesh and former CEO of Bangladesh Cricket Board. He may be reached at e-mail: mahmudrahman@gmail.co)