Have you ever come across a setting where you are well prepared to solve a full-fledged problem statement and find yourself in soup at the very first step? Well, I have been in these tight spots far too many times.

Imagine, being in full professional attire comprising a business suit with a matching tie cufflink and having your Visiting Card that states your association with a Fortune 500 organization. You come prepared to have a detailed discussion and eventually navigate your way to a consensus, however, you couldn’t pass through the very 1 st hurdle – The Security Guard, in my case, who is least bothered with my attire or my visiting card. He has only one statement for me – “Maaf kijiyega sir, allowed nahi hai” (Pardon me, sir, entry is not allowed). I’m sure such embarrassments we all must have faced in our lives in one way or the other.

In this edition of “Adventures of my Official Life”, I felt why not share some of my learnings from such incidents along with something significant that has had my mind occupied for some time. Recently, I read a newspaper article – NEET UG paper leak: Action against over 250 students, aspirants for ‘unfair practices’. The article shocked me. Although one always expects punitive action against all culprits who are involved in such unethical and immoral activities, yet to find such a large number of students involved in such acts is heartbreaking.

The only thought running in my mind was how a teenager gets involved in such immoral activities. While, as a society, we always prioritize Values, Integrity and Ethics, there is something that is leading so many of our youngsters to this misguided path.

While writing for this edition of HR Vista, I thought why not bring out an anecdote from my professional life that made me genuinely understand the meaning of the word ‘Ethics’ in its truest sense? A story that made me understand the significance of words like Trust, Integrity, Truthfulness and Ethics.

This incident took place during the initial years of my corporate life. All of you must be aware that under the aegis of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Vigilance Awareness Week is observed across the country every year during the week that includes Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birthday, which falls on October 31.

As per standard practice, the planning for the same began well in advance with many activities being planned in our office premises. However, during that year, it was decided that in addition to creating awareness within our respective workplaces, we should also try to cover nearby educational institutions like schools, colleges, universities, etc., to convey this message to the next generation of students.

Being new to the system, I was given the responsibility to lead this initiative. Accordingly, I started visiting schools and colleges to plan for suitable activities during Vigilance Awareness Week. Of course, once you go on the ground, you end up learning the beautiful nitty-gritty of life. As we were finalizing the schools, we selected one of the most prestigious schools in the city. I even tried to contact them through landline and e-mail but found no suitable response.

Finally, with all my confidence and positive attitude, I went to meet the school principal without an appointment. I had a dry run of this conversation with the School Principal in my mind several times and was confident that I would be able to convince her.

Being coming in my professional attire and from a reputed corporation, I felt the reception should be nice but, to my utter shock, the security guard was least bothered about my whereabouts and straight away denied my entry. “Sorry, sir” was his only response to all my requests, and frankly, I wasn’t angry with him as he was only following his orders in the utmost manner by not allowing any outsider inside the school premises for whatsoever reason.

I came back to my office dejected and narrated this incident to an office colleague, and to my surprise, he came up with a solution, which I personally didn’t endorse but somehow agreed as it appeared the only viable solution at that time. He introduced me to another colleague whose daughters are studying in the same school, and by virtue of this, the security guard knows him. We requested him to accompany me to the school tomorrow and somehow managed to get me on the school premises. Although reluctant, he agreed to our request.

The next day, we reached the school. My colleague somehow convinced the guard that he had been called by the class teacher of one of his daughters, and considering his regular interaction with the guard, he allowed both of us inside the premises. And thus, my first barrier was crossed. Thereafter, we somehow convinced the staff inside, and finally, we were allowed to meet the School Principal.

It was a beautiful cabin with its share of inspirational quotes on the walls, some classics on the bookshelf and a few trophies to showcase her and the school’s achievements. We sat down in front of her. From her reaction, it was evident that she had no interest in meeting any visitors but somehow, based on our request, agreed to see us. We gave our introduction, followed by our request. I informed her about the observance of Vigilance Awareness Week and requested that as an organization, we conduct an educational event in the school, including a Debate/Symposium/Panel Discussion, etc., on topics like Ethics, Values and Transparency.

I was confident that upon hearing our intent, she would straightaway agree with us. However, to my disbelief, she simply denied it and said that they don’t entertain such requests from outsiders. I was taken aback. I wondered how a school denies such an enriching opportunity for its children that too coming from an established corporation like ours.

However, her response completely stunned me. She stated that the issue is something different. We want to teach our children about ethics and values in our own subtle ways. We find that the intent of such events is usually superficial and therefore, doubt whether the children would really benefit or learn from such events. Many times, we find children come to us with unique queries like we have taught them in classes about Ethics and values however, in their daily lives, they see something completely contrasting, like how one child saw his father giving a bribe to the Traffic inspector for reducing the challan amount or how one child’s mother has jumped the red light to make him reach school on time. Such instances leave a deep imprint on children, and therefore, we want to teach and handle such sensitive topics in our own way.

Frankly, her response made a lot of sense. How in our daily lives we are caught in numerous ethical dilemmas and more than often end up on the wrong side of the rope by choosing the wrong path without even realising our mistakes.

Well, at least I’ve learnt mine, and therefore, I told her that I want to apologize for an unintentional unethical activity that we have done today. We entered the school premises by lying to the school guard and the staff. Although our intentions were right, the lie was uncalled for. Hearing this, the principal smiled. She stated that she knew what we had told at the gate and therefore, was not convinced about our intentions.

However, with me apologizing, I could sense a change in her behaviour. Thereafter, I narrated to her our whole plan and how these initiatives would benefit the children by not only having them learn the important values of life but also giving them much-needed exposure that would help them deal with the practical difficulties of life in future. Finally, she agreed, and we had a successful event that was appreciated not only by the students but also by their parents.

And this is how I learned to view these ethical dilemmas through a different lens – where we always do the right thing even when no one is watching.