DIFFICULT TO BE HONEST

Human beings would like to boast themselves to be honest. One should have conviction to be honest, it is difficult to be honest.
'Rich honesty dwells like a miser in a poor house, as pearl in foul oyster' - Shakespeare

Karl Marx, a German philosopher, a great theoretician of Marxism, author of the famous Das Capital and Communist Manifesto faced lot of sufferings throughout his life. He was not allowed to continue to stay in one country due to the orders of his deportation by the respective governments on account of his research and writings to find a solution for the emancipation of the people from exploitation. Marx did not deter. He continued his writings. On one occasion, the country of his stay, Prussia, did exert pressure on him to move out of the country, Marx declared himself a stateless person, not belonging to any country. Subsequently he moved to London and stayed there till his death. He suffered from poverty. His children died of malnutrition. His wife Jenny, most supportive to him, also died in the midst of poverty. At last, the end came to Marx also. His close friend Frederick Engels declared his death as Marx stopped his thinking. He was honest in thinking differently and did not compromise. Only eleven people attended his funeral procession and buried him in High gate cemetery, London.

The great tamil poet, Mahakavi Bharathi faced so many hardships in his life. He was fierce in his utterance against the British colonial rule through his immortal writings. He was driven by British police, Bharathi stayed in Puducherry, then under French rule, and continued his propagation against the British. His wife Chellamal was supportive to him and managed the family with meagre income. Bharathi did not live long, but in his short span of life he had given a treasure of his writings to the society. It is sad that the history had recorded with shame that the funeral procession of such a revolutionary poet was attended by eleven people only. Bharathi did not mind the difficulties, he continued his work, history remembers.

Mahatma Gandhi adopted nonviolence as a philosophy and an an ideal way of life. Gandhi had a strong belief on nonviolence and converted it into a movement against British rule to achieve freedom. Gandhi was very honest in adhering to the principles of non-violence. He didn't deviate from it despite the pressures he faced. One more example for his honesty. A mother brought her young son to Gandhiji's ashram and requested Gandhiji to advise her son to stop eating too much of sweets. Gandhi wanted her to meet him after forty days. She puzzled why Bapuji required forty days to advise her son. After forty days she along with her son met Gandhiji and Gandhiji suitably advised the boy about the harms of taking too much of sweets. He further explained to the mother that he required forty days to offer advice, as he had to stop taking sweets and practice it. He wanted to be honest.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded Brahmo Samaj in 1828. He fought against the practice of Sati, the wife of the deceased was forced to commit Sati on the death of her husband. Roy had to face the wrath of the orthodox religious people. He continued to organise against this cruelty and succeeded in legally abolishing the practice of Sati in 1829. He stood firm against the difficulties for the committed cause.

When we speak about the difficulties to maintain honesty, we cannot forget the name of Harichandra. If he would have spoken one lie, there would not have been any necessity for him to face any hardship. But he wanted to be true to his commitment. Hence history quotes Harichandra as a great person.

Speech and action should synchronise. Most of the politicians speak to the gallery with a flowery language, but do not follow in action.
It is an integrity gap. His video is not congruent with his audio. But history remembers only those people, who are honest without any compromise.
'No legacy is so rich as honesty.' Shakespeare.