Courteous Behavior
Courteous behaviour means cultivation of good manners. Manners denote good qualities which make us darling of others. They display good moral character also.
Rudeness and roughness are the signs of bad manners. A well behaved person spreads mirth all around. He is seldom
A well-mannered man is never short of polite expressions which are-indispensable to grease the machinery of life. An ill-mannered person is uncultured and uncivilized. He is a boor. He pollutes the environment wherever he goes. He is villainous and a social criminal who spoils happiness of-many souls.
Humility, modesty and civility are the hall-marks of courteous behaviour. A proud man thinks too low of others. He remains puffed up in false glory. People may fear him but they do not respect him. But modesty does not mean timidity.
Good manners are not inborn. They are infectious and can be acquired and in this acquisition parents, teachers and social relations play a significant part. Education is useless if it fails to teach good mannerliness.
Courteous behaviour should be natural and spontaneous and not merely a pose. It makes a man sociable, agreeable, acceptable and affable. It makes life worth-living. Above all, it costs nothing but pays rich dividends. It transforms personality and converts enemies into friends. It is ornament of human beings. Courteous behaviour, like a bee, collects honey from every herb. III nature, discourteous behaviour, like the spider, sucks poison from the sweetest flower. A well-behaved person is seldom gloomy. He soon becomes a monarch of the realm of noble hearts.
Polite expressions grease the machinery of life. They break open even the most difficult hearts. A well behaved person always gets victory over a boor. An ill-mannered person is a social criminal because he spoils happiness of many people. Courteous behaviour is always spontaneous. Affectation shows shallowness of character. Courteous behaviour adds polish and varnish to the dull existence.
Discipline means to act in life as per certain rules or norms set by society for general good. These rules relate to our social code of conduct. Discipline is indispensable for smooth sailing of life. Man’s sense of freedom touches the border of licence. To control this unbridled freedom we need discipline. The basic animal instincts in man have to be checked to prevent anarchy and disorder in society. For example, if there is no discipline in the examination hall, the result will be mass copying and complete chaos.
Nature is the best mirror of perfect discipline. There is perfect order in nature. All natural phenomena and even animals in the forest follow a certain pattern which is must to sustain life. Man is perhaps the only creature who will not follow the set pattern if some codes of conduct do not control his behaviour. Imagine, if the sun does not rise, what the condition of the world would be. The sun follows a strict pattern. Similarly if man is left to himself to do what he likes, there will be utter disorder, confusion and chaos.
Discipline is the essence of life. People have to show a sense of discipline while boarding buses or trains. If they do not do that, there would be utter chaos. Might will be right. Ladies and children will not get a chance to be in the compartment. Discipline demands citizens to follow traffic rules. If they do not do so, there will be frequent accidents and untimely deaths on the road. An indisciplined teacher will lose his credit in spite of his knowledge and scholarship.
It is said that discipline means blind submission to authority and it negates our independent judgment. This is a misconceived notion and a wrong interpretation of discipline. Discipline is not negation of personal liberty. But when one’s personal liberty hinders the personal liberty of other people discipline sets the things right. Discipline is fetters but these fetters are made of flowers and are self imposed to sustain life. It teaches us to live in harmony with fellow human beings.
Discipline is both within and without. It is a personal code of ethics and one laid by the law for the prosperity of society at large.
