If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the earth and everything that is in it,
And-which is more- you will be a man my son!
#Rudyard Kipling
If I have to speak, it should be more generalized. This issue is not only to be constricted to a particular profession, field or even a country. In this day and age where there are so many candies and so few kids, actually able to buy them; there is bound to be someone who will attempt to snatch it. The consequence is of secondary but the tendency is of the primary concern.
Words and actions cannot be revoked. They mingle and dissolve into the minds of the people who observe us and when stacked up over the course of time; transforms into their perception of us.
This perception is what governs their behavior towards us in general circumstances. It instigates a prejudice –
“He did that ; How can I trust him with this?
“Oh! Did you see him shaking the hands of the runner up? That is why he is a winner!”
What I am suggesting here is that it is not of the essence that you forget someone’s misdoings, but it is – to forgive him/her a few times. An organization is like the cot we sleep on; if one leg is axed, even if was termite-ridden; it will take a day at least to mend it yourself or wait for the carpenter to clear his schedule. The Organizations these days don’t have the luxury of the time on their hands. Hence it is tactful and judicious to let them have a go at it ; though under vigil , for sometime to let them win the trust they once commanded ; both yours and the organization’s.
There can be nothing done to erase the past. It will always stay with us. It is like we are digging a grave with our teeth, and spitting out the soil outside. The flakes do get caught in our teeth from time to time; there are places your tongue can never reach. So what? We have a toothbrush at home; don’t we? But the fact of the matter is not so simple. Even toothbrushes don’t work on cavities, once they set in.
In case you come to the conclusion that after repeated opportune moments to prove that he/she isn’t a liability, they have failed you every time. It is time to visit the dentist……………..
P.S :Those cynics who say that the scribbles of foreign authors don’t apply in the Indian context ; let me inform you that Kipling was born in India and was here from the nascence of his writing career , its prime and its climax.