Guest Column | All of us must give back to society - Hindustan Times
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Guest Column | All of us must give back to society

ByCol DS Cheema (Retd)
Oct 17, 2021 01:53 AM IST

Some philanthropists may feel happy by simply signing a cheque to get rid of the guilt of their luxurious lifestyles, but this may mean little unless they accept bringing social change as their personal responsibility

Every individual can make a unique contribution, positive or negative, to society.

Those with a beautiful mind can become a tool of social change if they adopt the mission of spreading goodness and happiness. (Ravi Kumar/HT)
Those with a beautiful mind can become a tool of social change if they adopt the mission of spreading goodness and happiness. (Ravi Kumar/HT)

Those who have much to give in terms of knowledge and skill decide to shut themselves and live in a cocoon due to reasons best known to them, which deprives society of a chance to make a difference in the lives of those in need.

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It is the responsibility of every person to share the knowledge they have acquired as it not only helps others but also the person sharing the knowledge. They must let their skills help others let the unique fragrance of their personality to pervade society.

Personality is a complex and confusing word. It is generally understood, especially in this part of the country, in a rather narrow sense of the word. Most perceive it to imply certain evident traits such as physical attributes, charm, smartness, communication skills, social acceptability and so on. However, in truth, personality is to a person what fragrance is to a flower. Just as a big and beautiful flower is useless unless its fragrance saturates the air, similarly a handsome man or a beautiful woman needs to let their personality shine through.

Those with a beautiful mind can become a tool of social change if they adopt the mission of spreading goodness and happiness.

The tricity, because of its quaint charm, is a home to many people who are blessed with a unique power to give in diverse fields such as art and culture, business, education, or sports, but most of them are indifferent to the fate of others as they are comfortable in their own locked jails.

Fortunately, there are some who are proactive and have taken upon themselves to make a positive difference and are changing many lives through their interventions.

Some philanthropists may feel happy by simply signing a cheque to get rid of the guilt of their luxurious lifestyles, but this may mean little unless they accept bringing social change as their personal responsibility.

I am lucky to be working with some who want to make the tricity beautiful in every possible way. During my close association with some of them, I have realized that they are not doing it for photo-ops and are genuinely concerned about certain issues that deserve urgent attention.

It may be in as diverse fields as generating ideas to help administration, motivating the youth or encouraging young writers, and sportspersons or helping preserve our culture and heritage.

My personal focus is om efforts to stop the sharp decline in moral values of the youth. Gifted achievers such as general VP Malik (retd), VK Kapoor, IPS(retd), Vivek Atray (IAS,retd), BN Goswami, NishaLuthra, and many others have dedicated themselves to the common good to improve the lot of others.

Though silent personal examples of such achievers have inspired and influenced many lives when they were in position of authority, they are now devoting quality time to various organisations for a better reach. Because of their concerted efforts many organisations such as the think tank Suvichar, Chandigarh Literary Society, Vibrant Networking Forum, PlayWrite, Chandigarh Chapter of Indian National Trust for Culture and Heritage, and The Narrators to name a few are doing an admirable work and more and more responsible citizens are supporting the noble causes.

There is need to create a shared awareness among the fortunate and gifted citizens, necessary for collective action for improving individuals, especially the youth, who are trustees of posterity and functioning of government and private organisations.

I hope it will motivate otherwise indifferent and unconcerned achievers who have the choice of expanding their lives and becoming nobler than themselves to celebrate the sheer joy of giving.

colcheema1942@gmail.com

(The writer is a Panchkula-based freelance contributor)

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