Civilisation & Education

At the outset, it is clarified that the two are not synonymous. Many civilised persons may not be formally educated & many "educated" persons are far from being civilised. For example, the egregious "dog walking couple" in recent news, despite being educated & having cracked the difficult UPSC exam, behaved in a way, which can hardly be called civilised. In contrast, Salumarada Timmakka despite being un-educated is highly civilised. Education without civilisation, will only produce jumped-up little upstarts who become tin-pot tyrants.

The hallmark of a truly civilised person is the way in which he/she behaves towards those who are hold a difference of opinion with them.

1. No personal invective to be used.

2. No raising of voices at any cost.

3. Semantically correct words to be used. For example, in a case of road rage, the other is neither a fool or an idiot, but only a careless driver at the worst.

4. Only the differences to be pointed out without using intemperate language or in any way offending the other.

5. Always make only accurate, factual statements, which one can write down & authenticate with a signature.

6. In case of irreconcilable differences, one should agree to disagree, without grudges or subsequent ill-will.

7. Respect for human dignity to be always preserved even in case of those not agreeing with one.

8. This can be considered as an extension of the Hippocratic Oath sworn by doctors, (where they swear to treat even their sworn enemies like their own loved ones), being extended to all fellow humans in all circumstances.

It is unfortunate that many politicians, guardians of the law & even sportspersons, in spite of being "educated", now fall quite short of being labelled civilised by these criteria.

A noted industrialist, groomed a man to be his successor. They fell out later & the industrialist was the only man not to condole even the accidental death of his one time protege. A badminton star was the only one not to congratulate the international win of her one time junior.

Respecting human rights is an essential part of being civilised. It may be noted in this context that even the accused is seated in a chair while giving his/her testimony in U.S.A. courts, whereas the accused is made to stand in Indian courts.