In search of men of integrity...

Recently I had the pleasure of reading up in the Sinhala print media on two men of the previous generation - men who had lived by a code of integrity and honesty. They were ordinary people from everyday, not celebrities but men who had lived their lives the old fashioned way. The stories were not the kind of news making, ground breaking tales but they made me sit down and think - these men belonged to a generation or two before us. They lived by a different way of living. They still believed in good old -fashioned values and principles. One of them was a man who had lost his job in the famous July strike in 1980.

Up to now as he struggled to make ends meet with only his wife working, his concern was for the families of other strikers and their well being, over and above his own. His cause was still as fresh as it was all those years ago.

He was still committed to it, still believed in it and still was able to inspire others with it. Having watched two small children of a fellow striker beg on a train, he says he was moved to do something for the families that were suffering as a result of the men who lost their jobs. His efforts resulted in a fund that reaches out to the families and children of his fellow strikers.

Young generations

The other story was about a man who used to be Sri Lanka’s finest flautists. His flute had been featured in so many of the songs of Sinhala cinema - it had mesmerized so many of the songs sung by leading artistes of yesteryear.

He played the flute for the kind of soul stirring music we used to hear in days gone by.

He would have been devastated if he were to be asked to lend his talent for the kind of garbage that passes for music today. Today, in his eighties, he is unable to play his beloved flute anymore because his arm was slashed a few years ago by someone who didn’t like his talent, the man of integrity that he was.

These are the kind of stories that I tell my son he should read..to know that there are still men of courage, honesty and integrity around, men could be excellent role models for growing up children. Men who haven’t and will not sell their souls to the devil in exchange for money or favours.

Men who do not occupy any position of authority or importance but men who have set fine examples for young generations, if they care enough, to follow.

These were men who haven’t given up what they believed in just because they have got older or feeble.

What is right is still right in their eyes and what is wrong will always remain that way. Age may have clouded their eyes but their vision is clear as ever.

They may not have written great books or achieved the kind of success venerated in today’s society but they have left a legacy rich in values.

They are the kind of men about whom stories must be written and movies must be made.

Environmental rights

Erin Brockovich was one such ordinary woman, a legal clerk without a formal legal education and a stellar legal career but she believed in doing the right thing. She was able to singe handedly bring a large company that was engaged in committing environmental crimes against the community, to justice.

Her story is told in the 2000 movie Erin Brockovich, for which leading Hollywood actress Julia Roberts won the Academy Award.

Today, Erin champions environmental rights throughout the USA. An ordinary woman’s story of courage and determination made it to Hollywood and to stardom.

The stories of the men who inspired in their own small way maybe not Hollywood material but it certainly made my day to be able to read about them. On life’s broad canvass, these are the stories that warm our hearts and enrich us with the kind of experience only life can teach. If only many were willing to listen.

There are so many others out there, men and women of courage, integrity and honesty whose lives stand testimony to their way of living - living, walking lessons that the younger generations could learn so much from.

If only they care to. Before their time runs out, let us seek them out. Hear their stories and learn from their experiences. And hopefully, such stories maybe able to inspire at least one to do things differently. Someday.