This was the moot question that nearly 300 Rotarians from all over our District 3080 converged to discuss at Chandigarh Judicial Academy, Sector 43, Chandigarh.
It was an Intercity meet with a difference. The agenda, the format, the line up of speakers distinguished it from a normal intercity format, and rather made every participant look within and probe one's conscience and ask, am I walking the right way?
The Rotary Colloquium on "Living Your Values: Do Values of Life Change with Changing Times?” concluded successfully with everyone affirming a commitment deep within themselves, "I must do something about it?"
Though not all questions were answered. It could not be in a half day session. But the learned speakers provided different perspectives on how one can leave a better world for our children just by following ethical values.
Addressing the Colloquium Hon'ble Mr. Justice
Rajive Bhalla of Punjab and Haryana High Court said that values need to be
looked at from the personal, societal and global angle and though these may
differ from person to person, values must bring to the fore the humane aspect of one’s
life.
However, he lamented at the societal "values" of female foeticide which
continues as a practice since centuries till today in the northern region and the only change had been in the mechanism of
killing the girl child. Mr Justice Bhalla also questioned the value systems
of the relentless development of colonies wiping away the greenery and rivulets
from our midst and impacting the entire ecosystem, leaving a barren land for the next generation. Everyone has its own value proposition, but what is right from a wider perspective is what one need to look at, he added.
Brahmchari Suvir Chaitanya of Chinnmaya Mission Patiala, a young B.Tech from Delhi
College of Engineering who decided to take the Vedanta route, said that the
real transformation of the society, the nation and the world begins with the
transformation within us. Responding to a question from a student of Bhavan
Vidyalaya he said that the values as conceived after much deliberations by
great thinkers, rishis and philosophers, continue to be relevant as these
transcend time and space, and relate more to one’s behavior.
KPMG India’s partner and head of
risk consulting Mr. Deepankar Salwalka, and has investigated most of large white
collar crime cases including Satyam and Commonwealth Games, admitted
that under pressure of business performance, business ethics and values are
getting compromised, but corporate India should take heart since our ability to
better detect, build public opinion and development of counter-balancing forces
like social media are eventually bringing guilty to justice.
Neville D. Gandhi, Regional Compliance Officer of Siemens Ltd, asserted that it is possible to do
business with ethics without any dilemma provided one is determined to follow
the ethical way. He presented the case study of world’s largest German
company Siemens Ltd, which till 2006 became one of the worst companies to work
with losing credibility and being hauled up in US courts for rigging and
bribery to obtain contracts, decided to proactively transform the organization
and adopted strict discipline based on transparency, honesty, and ethical work
practices. Siemens, he said has become today one of the world’s best
ethical companies.
Past Rotary
International President
Rajendra K. Saboo, who had been the thought leader of this Colloquium said that the
objective of the colloquium had been to revive interest amongst the youth,
business and professional people, about the simple values of life that can only
create a better world. The best way to inculcate the values of honorable ethical living is for the present generation to walk the talk and be a role model to them.
Past District Governor of District 3140, Dr Bharat Pandya, underlined the need for personal integrity and
doing the right things when no one is looking. As a passionate speaker he cited numerous challenges that face any person whether it is societal, peer or superior's pressure, or the desire to earn quick money, an unethical act would remain unacceptable. He said that the value-based living is best reflected in relentless pursuit of good conduct even when no one is looking.
District Governor Manmohan Singh quoted the scriptures where value-based living is well defined and that the best way for anyone to excel in life is to follow the right course and earn one's living honestly.
He also explained that Rotary Colloquium on values system was organised since October is the Rotary’s focus area for promoting ethical practices in one’s vocation.
Later CNN-IBN’s senior editor, Jyoti Kamal, conducted an interesting interactive session and moderated
the questions from the audience that further focussed on personal or professional value system whether it was a question of euthanasia amongst the
medical professionals, or miscarriage of justice or outdated laws, or even the
media assault on the sensibilities of the people.
I wish to thank all the Rotarians of Rotary Club of Chandigarh under the leadership of President Rtn. Vivek Gupta, with the wise counsel of Past Rotary International President Rajendra K. Saboo, past district governors Kawal Bedi and Madhukar Malhotra, the co-chairs in past president Man Mohan Singh Kohli, and Hassen S. Mejie, assisted by Secretary I.D. Shukla, Kewal K. Seth, Praveen C. Goyal, Baldev Aggarwal, Arvind Mehan, D.P. Singh, Jatinder Kapoor, Sukhjit Singh Gill, Darpan Kapoor, Shuchita Luthra, AP Singh, Manju Chaudhary, Anil Khanna, and of course the staff of Rotary House, that made it a memorable event.
With diverse perspectives at the fore, the seeds were sown in the minds of the people who attended. To transform the world for the better, the transformation must begin from within...from ourselves. Post this colloquium, if each one of us take the topic on our dinner tables and take the first step...WITHIN...the miracle of change would start happening.
