Coming through the busy MG Road of the Bangalore City Center yesterday, we were passing through the neon-lit billboards that were plentiful around almost all the buildings. One advertisement caught my eye and stuck to my mind. It read: Live a life of self-respect and dignity. It was an advert of a bank.
Our car stopped at the next red light. A young young boy ran between the moving vehicles that were coming to a halt, to sell the evening papers and some 2006 calendars. I wondered what self-respect and dignity would mean to this young man's life . I certainly hold him in high respect for his enterprising though somewhat reckless behaviour to earn a living.
Even after I reached home, I kept thinking to myself whether society could do more to help those at the lowest tier of society who peddle and push sometimes risking their own lives, just in order to survive.
The answers do not easily follow the questions, but I decided to put my pen to paper hoping to capture my trend of thought before my imagination takes flight into the other mundane matters of life.
I wrote effortlessly upto this point and began to falter when the complexity of the problems we face became clearer in my mind. The advert that raced in front of my eyes was probably not meant to evoke any of these emotions. The advert was out to sell a package of services since we know banks take your money and invest for higher returns. So no big deal, it's just business ; big business.
Does big business have a social responsibilty to help others live a life of self-respect and dignity? I think they do. I agree that the prime motive of any business is first to make money for the people who invest in the business. But since business is done in a community, it has a responsibilty to contribute to the well-being of the community thereby helping it's members to live a life self-respect and dignity.
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