The Secret of Harmonious Living

A certain Muslim leader once wrote to the former Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, to complain of the prejudicial treatment of and injustice to the Muslim minority by the majority in India. He issued a warning that if this state of affairs was not remedied, his party would resort to satyagraha. In due course, he received a reply from Mrs. Gandhi, one sentence of which was of special significance: “No minority could survive if their neighbours of the majority were irritated.” (Hindustan Times, February 21, 1983)

If we consider this statement from an unbiased point of view, we shall have to concede that it not only presents an accurate picture of the prevalent conditions, but also offers a practical solution to the problem.

In today’s brash, competitive world, it is inevitable that people have grievances against one another, feel jealous of others’ success, envy others their material acquisitions and become consumed by feelings of anger and vengefulness whenever they have some grievance (real or imaginary) against others. There are few households whose even tenor of existence is not marred at some point or the other by such turbulent sentiments. But, for the greater part of the time, such feelings remain hidden, the daily domestic routine acting as a deterrent to their surfacing. However, when something out of the ordinary takes place, those submerged feelings come out into the open.

Peace in society is maintained at the cost of suppressing negative emotions, for the moment they surface, the result is general unrest.

This is an immutable reality of human co-existence. In this world of keen rivalry, no society, no family is exempt from it. This being so, the wisest course to adopt is to let people’s ego lie dormant. All negativism should remain buried so that patience and tolerance may prevail. That is the great secret of a peaceful society.

A noted philosopher neatly summed up the attitude which should be generally adopted when he said, “Every man in this world should possess a huge graveyard where he can bury the faults of other people.”