Vazirsingh’s Weblog

Time and again, I see loyalty being rated as a top pre-requisite in the list of desirable qualities.This is true for friendship,relationship and even in the work environment.

Loyalty is listed as the top reason for engendering trust. Any show of disloyalty is seen as a personal attack, even a stab in the back. “Et Tu Brute”

Loyalty to an individual demands that we suspend judgment on his/her acts and  are  unequivocally  receptive to all  their actions.  Or  even if  we are not receptive, we  would  not  voice  opposition  as it would  be seen  as a  disloyal act.

This loyalty may require you to overlook your bigger role towards society or organization.So is loyalty to an individual a higher desirable quality than the bigger entity?

I guess relationships demand this kind of suspension of judgment, if the original fervour has to be retained. Or put in another fashion, the attachment of a relationship overrides judgment. The heart wins over the head.

It starts with the backyard you live in,loyalty to the state you belong to, or the country or the language, or the caste, or the religion. Same suspension of judgment are programmed from early age. Loyalty to your kind of people.

So when “Neeraj” espoused the cause of humanity over the divisions of state, or religion, it was a radical idea. It challenged loyalty as a concept. With his poetry, patriotism, religious identity, caste,language etc. were subject to new evaluation.His hindi poetry was part of our curriculum in the 6th standard when I was growing up.He had a profound effect on me.

And suspending judgment is never going to be a wise thing as then evolution,change, growth,improvement would also be not possible.

So I would rather have critical people in my company, who could challenge my actions,beliefs and thoughts. For me the traditional definition of loyalty would mean surrendering the power of reasoning in a way. It would probably assuage the ego, but stunt thought and growth. No one can afford to be right all the time, as mistakes are  the tools  necessary  for  learning.

But then this is my view.