The Question Of Human Dignity

One of the most famous quotes on the Internet today is that if someone does not treat you right, it is a reflection of who they are and not what you are. I used to believe that respect is something one earns but over the years I have realised that respect is a given and it is trust, which is earned. Giving respect to life, whether human or animal is my duty. It does not matter how hard I try. I still fail at it every day.

Each one of us has the fate of human dignity in our hands and most of us fail to uplift it every time we breathe. From women being subjected to gross atrocities, children ravaging bins to survive, people fleeing their destroyed worlds and countless dying of hunger each day, there is so much hanging in the balance. I don’t wish to get preachy but how can we not act right when we know a person’s dignity is our hands?

Why do we grow up believing that people who don’t have all that we have are inferior to us? How do I, an employee of an IT company, become more superior to the lady who works for me at home? When I speak to her I know I am responsible to make her feel respected and that I control her dignity in my home; but I have failed her and others. I don’t want this to define me but I have allowed this to define other people because I find that normal people uplift others, they do not question or undermine some one’s dignity.

Let me narrate an example. An old woman in the building where I live said she cooks vegetarian food and I decided to help her out. With a wish to encourage her, I ordered my food. When the food was ready she called me and asked me to bring plates and bowls as she did not have packaging material. “Fine” I thought, “she’s old, doesn’t matter.” So off I went with my plate, bowls and money to pick up my food. The lady promptly opened the door, took my dishes and my money and slammed the door. She kept me waiting in a dark corridor for over 5 minutes. By this time I was filled with an all human rage for being treated this way. When she opened the door I took my food and left without a single word.

She had my dignity in her control. If she was a normal human being, she would have invited me into her home and asked me to have a seat. But she didn’t’ and only because she is an upper caste Hindu who is unaware of what my caste is and since I live in a rented apartment, it was okay for her to treat me worse than an animal. If as human beings we are mindful of these little things or if we can just stop and think for a moment about what a particular action of ours can mean to the other person, we’d be better off.

Unfortunately, the world is filled with people who are very aware about how their actions and words undermine someone’s humanity. These sort of people is what the world is full of. Like I said earlier, equality is a war no one can ever win; similarly, ensuring human dignity is something we cannot achieve since it is not our common goal.