Casting the first stone.

I have lived across the world and in high and middle-level society long enough to tell you this:

Every one of the people I met, with a rare exception here and there, will cut corners, engage in illegal and illicit activities, commit crimes and sins, and do things that they will KNOW to be wrong if they get the opportunity, have the required resources, and some kind of self-confidence that they won’t get caught.

I have lived in Dubai for 12 years and had literally every single (and I mean this as a numerical indicator, not a relationship status) male, with the sole exception of my father, who visited me ask me where the whorehouses and dance bars were (and not for enhancing their general knowledge about local customs, I can assure you). Every single male.

Every single Indian who has bought or sold a home till the early 2000s has been complicit in the generation, circulation, and perpetuation of black money. Even today, the percentage of those who conduct such transactions in all-white is rather less than the ideal 100%.

Every single jeweller, hotelier, restaurateur, filmmaker, artist, doctor, lawyer, CA, architect, real estate professional, builder, contractor, shopkeeper, wholesale trader, amongst hundreds of other professions and trades, as well as every single public servant who deals in anything that demands his/her discretionary powers has had unaccounted for money pass through their hands.

Every single driver of a vehicle, any vehicle in India is guilty of breaking the law, in letter and in spirit. Mostly on a daily basis.

Every single person who went abroad on their own before 1994 (when the amount of forex you were allowed was ridiculous even by the standards then) broke the law. Every single person who returned from a ‘foreign trip’ with whatever goodies (even if chocolates and soaps, which were popular till the 1990s for some reason) before the Baggage Rules were amended in 2006 has broken the law, even willingly.

I know of more people than I am comfortable with who have used sonography to determine the sex of their unborn child, even gone abroad to make this happen, and then aborted it if the child was female.

I am aquainted with many people who would rather take steroids and hormonal injections to get a 6-pack than to work for it in the gym and on the dining table.

I know too many people who cheat on their spouses, on their taxes, on their business partners, on their friends, on their diets, and everyone and everything that they think they can get away with. And some that they know they can’t.

I know dishonest people, frauds, cheats, liars, tricksters, manipulators, criminals, sociopaths, and substance abusers, none of whom, despite knowing that they do is wrong, feel guilt or shame, because they believe that everyone else, given half the opportunity, would do the exact same thing to them.

I am sure there are some who will bristle at this insinuation, but ask yourself with a calm mind, three questions:

1. Are you sure you have not been part of breaking any laws, of man or God (your God, just to make this simple) either as a perpetrator or an accomplice, at any point in your life?

And if the answer to that is yes, then

2. Are you sure you are the norm and not the rarest of rare exceptions?

And most importantly,

3. Did you not do anything ‘bad’ because you had the opportunity and the ability, but chose not to, or did you lack one or both of the above?

I don’t care to know the answers to the questions above. But I am sure you do know them. And you are not proud of them, because deep inside you, you know you did what you did because you could, and thought that the tiny bit of short-term fun, adventure, excitement, break from boredom, sense of purpose, or even a petty advantage you received over whoever you perceived to be your competitors, was worth it (and of course, with the belief that a smart person like you would never get caught).

So, easy on the judgemental tone. OK?

P.S: This is not, as it is bound to be misread, about the arrests of some film actor’s son or whatever. This is about a conversation I had recently with a friend who claimed the moral high ground on a rather tenuously hanging thread.

P.P.S: Apparently, some well-wishers enquired if this means that ‘…by that standard, nobody should criticize the wrongdoings of those in power too?’ I get where they are coming from. So, let me answer that here:

I did not say that. I am speaking of the personal failing of people. For example, let us take a hypothetical case of Sachin Tendulkar’s hidden wealth abroad. To be fair, we have elected and appointed representatives to look into it. And if anyone, it is them we should take to task, while of course, calling out Tendulkar, and ensuring that those that we have appointed to uphold the law do their job of investigating, prosecuting, and punishing the guilty. But let us also accept that given half a chance, at least 99,999 out of 100,000 of us, if not more, would have stolen taxes.

How do I know that? Because I have seen those 99,999 stealing a few tens of thousands or lakhs. So, I have no reason to believe that if the opportunity and resources were present, these ten-thousand-or-lakhs-of-rupee-tax-evaders would do the very same with crores. The point is, we should be less moralising about his money.

This does not apply, of course, to public authority or public finances. I thought this was obvious. Nor do I mean they should not be brought to justice and made to face the consequences of their actions. All I am saying is that we should stop bloody moralising about it.

By the way, who is the 100,000th person in that list where 99,999 will grab the opportunity to use unfair means to get ahead if only they could? That’d be you, dear reader. You, as you know, are the epitome of morality, righteousness, and saintly behaviour. You are the 100,000th person. Each one of you readers. Clearly, this diatribe does not refer to your actions, or even thoughts. You have never uttered the wrong word, or conducted yourself badly. Ever. Nor will you in the future. Ever. Right? Right.

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