The experienced customs officer based in New Delhi and elsewhere, had got to know many people very well. People of all sorts—honest, mediocre, corrupt, crooked. He had seen influential people go after bribes on a huge scale, smuggle gold and other valuables, expect gifts before they did their duty. Corruption seemed to be the order of the day. The normal assumption in the country seemed to be that, if you wanted to get something done, and done quickly, you had to bribe—or use other crooked ways.
So, he could not at first figure out this Defense officer who would not bribe or accept bribes, who would not make money by smuggling, who would not expect, nor accept, gifts from favour-seekers.
The customs officer was a Sikh. The defense officer was a Catholic from South India. The former observed the latter carefully. He noticed more and more admirable traits in the man. He did not look for compliments. He lived honestly, by his salary. He did not seek, nor get, freebies for anything he did.
They became closer. Admiration led to deep friendship. One day, the customs officer told the defense officer, “I have been observing you for years. When I paid you a compliment for something, you often gave the credit to someone else. What if I tell you this: You are the finest human being I have ever come across.”
I knew this defense officer very well. What the customs officer told him is something I myself would say about him. He died years ago, but his memory still inspires me—and many others who knew him well.
When he was the officer in charge of recruiting for the army and navy in the Northeastern States, he noticed that some who worked under him were dishonest. They wanted to get bribes, and used tricks for that. Young men from far away hill sides would come to be recruited. The lower-level office staff working under the honest officer would not tell them what documents were missing in their application, and make them go home and come back again and again—which at times meant walking for days. The crooks in the office did this—unless the applicant bribed them.
When the honest officer came to know this, he put this notice on the board: “If you are asked to come back more than once, report to me.” With that one notice, the disinformation and bribe-seeking of the lower staff stopped.
When he was headmaster of the Sainik School in Andhra, he found that most of the boys came from villages, and needed to be coached to get selected for NDA. He told them that they could come to his residence at five in the morning. He would spend the next few hours coaching them. He wife would make breakfast for the boys. They did this free—not for any payment. No wonder, years later, when two young officers saw their former headmaster and wife walking on a road, they prostrated before them out of respect. He told them, “Get up! Your uniforms will get dirty.” Their reply, “Sir, we can wash our uniforms, but when will we get a chance like this to see you?”
Many of them not only became smart and capable officers, but also picked up his values of integrity, respect for all and sincere hard work.
They belonged to different religions, the majority being Hindus. He was a Catholic. They treated one another like brothers. Religion never became a point of division or rivalry.
Who are the finest human beings you have known?
What will those who know you best say about you?
Will your children, or students or formees or parishioners say about you, “He/she is the finest human being I have ever met”?
Or at least that you were/are an excellent human being.
If not, what is the whole point of joining special groups, spending long years and much money on so-called formation and having special robes and titles?
May you and I at least try to be like the finest human beings we have known.
Fr Joe Mannath SDB
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