My father was driving around F-8 the other day, and he saw some cars taking the wrong route, so he opened his window and asked one such driver about the shortcut he was taking and his reply was a very simple “Mai Akela nai hoon” (I am not alone). This statement may seem harmless, but this is an ideology, a way of life. We think it’s our obligation to do what everyone else is doing, without even realizing whether the said act is right or wrong. Usually, the wrong ones are easy to follow.

Every snowflake thinks that it’s not responsible for the avalanche, but then again who would take the blame for the massive downslide. This is the same mindset that most of us have incorporated into our daily lives. Many don’t even bother to think before taking a wrong step, because in the end no one is going to be held liable. A chain of blame is set into motion and eventually one is left wondering if the action was even wrong in the first place.

Repeating someone’s mistake often deludes the lesson that needs to be learnt, but the persisting issue is that there is no guilt. When a person makes a mistake for the first time, the cognitive sense tries to defend the action. But when that action becomes a regularity, there is no justification required for it. A voice in the head that differentiates right from wrong gradually fades away. After we successfully silence our inner voices, there is no guilt left.

This brings me to a certain rogue ideology that most of us follow. From educational institutes to offices to the government, there is something seriously wrong with the reasoning we give ourselves for doing something erroneous. Just a simple “wo bhi tou yahi ker raha hai” (He is doing the same) is a good enough explanation.

We are a very competitive nation, everything that we do has to be better. It makes me happy to mention that everything does indeed mean literally everything. The thought process is quite simple actually, if someone else can do it why can’t I? Too bad for us that we have taken and used this statement in the most adverse form. It’s like a competition of who can do the most obnoxious acts and get away with them. Maybe, the pressure is too much to take, because going through a wrong route will earn you applauses for being a smart ass. And this is what drives us to do anything we want without even realizing the implications.

A close friend of mine humiliates people for throwing the trash wherever they deem suitable, and to create an example he would walk for 15 minutes in search of a dustbin if he has to. In all honesty though, he is just a loser for wasting his time in finding a dustbin, when you can enjoy the luxury of throwing your garbage wherever you want. The point that I am trying to make is that good acts are hard to follow, so they don’t have much appeal about them. On the other hand, the wrong ones succeed in providing us comfort. The inclination towards them comes naturally, Why in the hell should I look for a U-Turn 0.5 Km away from me when I can use a shortcut? The worse that can happen is that I’ll have to bribe my way out of the situation.

What baffles me the most is that there are people who know that two wrongs don’t make a right. In return they get criticized for doing something good. Fact of the matter is that the easy way out will always be in our minds as it has been incorporated in our heads by years and years of practice. So maybe it’s about time we start listening to our inner voices instead of suppressing them, because once the guilt is gone, wrong prevails.