The concept of something being good or bad is only materialistic. It doesn't exist as such like rock, water, sky, trees, humans, animals etc. When you point to a rock, people around the globe will agree with you. Water here and everywhere is the same. You see a tiger and the world sees a tiger with you. But what you consider is good may not be the same for others. What you consider as bad and forbidden may not be the same for others. In-fact others may find it good and accepting.
To make you the thing more lucid let me tell you a recent incident that happened with my family.
We own a top floor flat in an apartment back home in Bhubaneswar. We have rented the flat since my mom got transfered to a place on the outskirt of bhubaneswar. One day I got a call from my mom who said that she had come to know of the apartment society authorities nod to construct a mobile tower on the rooftop of the apartment. She then explained to me all of it.
It so happened that the like every apartment, our's also has a society and there is a president and general secretary of the society who are responsible for the maintainence and upkeep of the apartment and fellow owners. Recently an upcoming mobile company approached the society for construction of a 1.5 tonne mobile tower on the rooftop and paying a rent per month for the same. The society president had circulated a notice asking about the reaction of owners on the same and found out that majority of the owners have no prejudice regarding the tower. So they gave their nod to the mobile company who stashed the steel struts on the roof and started laying out the earthing. While all these construction activities were going on on the roof, our tenant called my mom and informed her about the case. Mom was surprised as she was never apprised of the same. Mom then called me and asked how will the mobile tower affect us.
First of all, its a 1.5 tonne ponderous structure and the apartment is already 15 yrs old. A mobile tower of such magnitude is definitely going to affect the stability of the apartment. The average life of the building will reduce by 10-15 yrs. The building is already deteriorating and this tower would be a complete disaster.
Secondly, the mobile towers emit deleterious radiations. They impose severe health risks esp for pregnant women and senior citizens. Building a tower in the middle of a thriving city life is no less than a disaster.
Thirdly, the mobile tower would need a generator to power it 24hrs a day. The generator would be put in the rooftop also its also enormous putting an addition load of half ton on the building. Also the generator would be vibrating all the time and with it, the apartment. Imagine the safety threat from the apartment when it carries a 2 tonne weight on its head and all the time vibrating. The vibration would further reduce its life to another 5-8 yrs.
There were other issues also. We were all shocked as how could they allow this inspite of the severe life risks it confronts us with. Are the president and general secretary unaware of the repercussions? Isn't there anyone owner who is educated enough to assess the danger? More shocking was that none of the top floor owners were aware of the circulation and only came to know about it when they(mobile company) were punching holes in the roof. All the top floor owners decided to oppose the move vehemently. I flew down to Bhubaneswar for some days to assess the situation myself. I attended a meeting called by the society members to sort out the issues. I came to know a lot about the inside story of the case in that one meeting. Everything was already there and I just had to observe the people to know whats going on in their mind. The general secretary esp was strongly in favor of the construction and was repeatedly stating that they allowed the construction only after having the consent of the majority. Some people were just sitting idle. The mobile company's representative were mute spectators and only hoped that the constructions to go smoothly without roadblocks like us.
Well here's the inside story that I believe.
The mobile company saw a good move to stand a tower on our apartment chiefly because it was in the middle of the city and a very posh area. They approached the society authorities. The president may be reluctant. They then apprached the general seretary and must have paid him some money to become a supporter. He then persuaded the President. It may be true that he circulated a notice asking for consent of flat owners. The owners living in the lower floors must be apathetic towards the construction since they are not going to be affected directly and moreover they found a reduction in maintenance money a good deal and thereby gave their consent. Before the notice reach the top floor they already have the majority so they thought worthless to ask the rest who infact would actually be affected with the construction. Nothing much is left after you have the majority consent. Now we come into the picture and we don't allow the construction to go on so they are pissed off esp the general secretary who has already enjoyed the bribe and must now see to it that the tower is erected else he would have to cough up the money he took which is impossible for him.
Amid all these things I was constantly vexed by the thought that why someone would go ahead with the construction when it clearly seems fatal. It is a bad thing to do. But if it is a bad thing then why would any one do it. If I were in place of the general secretary I would not have done it then why did he do it. Then I came to realise a universal truth. There is nothing called a bad thing or good thing. What I consider is bad may be for one thing or the other , the general secretary believes is good thing. He has his own reasons and I have mine. My whole family thought its bad and general secretary's family thought it is good. The perception of what os good or bad varies with people to people. If suppose I beat you and you may think that beating someone is bad but if I think the same then why would I beat you in the first place and since I beat you that definitely suggest that I didn't consider it bad.
I may think that extortion is bad, the police may think the same, many others may think the same and I am sure a Don also thinks the same but still he does it. Why? Because he thinks it is good! If you were a gangster and you realise that killing and looting is bad then you are no more a gangster, right? Thats what makes people different.
Imagine the chaos it would bring. The superficial concept of good or bad. To eradicate such chaos, judiciary is created. The task of a judiciary is to distinguish between a good and a bad. The judiciary comes to a decision looking into various things like the repurcussions, the cause and result of an action.
well, thats the thing!
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