‘Civility defines a person. Difficult times test a person’s character. A person’s conduct in the face of provocation and adversity defines the person’s upbringing, education and refinement. How a person behaves with one’s rival / nemesis / enemy / competitor during a face-off defines the humanness and dignity of that person.
Upholding the inherent dignity of the other person is paramount and must never be forgotten even when the other person has completely contradictory beliefs on a subject or many subjects. One must fight the idea or the issue, whatever it is, but never the other person. Never make any argument or discussion personal.
Civility was well defined and exemplified during the dying moments of Ravana, the mighty king of Lanka, by Lord Ram when He asked his younger brother, Lakshmana (a known firebrand) to stand hand-folded near the former’s feet (instead of head) and request him for some wise words.
Ravana was known to be a great learned person, a maha-Pandit. Lord Ram never lost respect for Ravana’s personality, self-respect and knowledge, even though he fought him till the latter’s death. Even in his victory, Lord Ram remained humble and dignified, and never ceased to be a good student. That is exactly what sports teach us – to be humble in our victory and dignified in our defeat. That is called the sportsman spirit – to take both loss and defeat in equal stride.
Even though the author does not support killing of any living being – animal or human – the author sees the civility in the manner in which Muslim butchers recite the verses of the Holy Koran at the time of slaughtering animals and praying for their salvation.
As per the Geneva Convention, army soldiers are trained to show respect to the mortal remains of the dead enemy soldiers. That is called civility! It is not only the respect towards the living; civility also means having to respect the dead.
Let us be civil!’ … Bill K Koul
The posted opinion should be made a compulsory reading for students.Being Civil is a great qualification in addition to whatever may be your education / cultural background..Being Humble when positive results comes in and an ability to be magnanimous during defeats to congratulate the winner takes courage .prime example of somebody who lost everything in his chosen field is cricketer from Kerala namely SREESANTH..what a talent wasted due to sheer absence of a stable head and common sense. .The prayer that we all have to recite every day to lord is Make us Humane and Humble to get his blessings.