What Will Jack Think

The job of teachers in the lives of their students can be profound. Like French philosopher Albert Camus, I too had kind, thoughtful and morally upright teachers whose influence guided me in my legal profession

- Justice (retd) Kamaljit Singh Garewal

THE importance of integrity, honesty and morality in everyday life cannot be underestimated. Especially for those engaged in public service like politicians, journalists and lawyers. But this is more so for judges. Judges look at the facts, and then see the evidence which proves those facts and apply the law. In difficult cases, judges seek guidance from the views of other judges given in their judgments. A judge need not say anything more. Everything that needs to be said is said in the judgment itself. This is how integrity ought to be practised in the judiciary—by quietly doing the job of judging.

Lessons in integrity and morality begin at home. Parents are great teachers who influence children. In happy homes, which are full of compassion and kindness, children learn to be compassionate and kind. But sometimes children have unhappy, unstable, unsettled childhoods.

One can’t help thinking of the children whose families went on mass migration last spring. Suddenly the head of the family became either unemployed or unemployable or deserted them or just left home to look for greener pastures in the city. Children from such homes need all the skills to survive in a hostile environment and may take to theft or bullying other children and lack compassion and love because they have not received any of it. Many children may overcome such an upbringing if they have a kind and understanding teacher.

It has been pithily said that the object of school education is to unlearn what you learn at home. And the object of college education? To unlearn what you learnt at school is the answer. And the object of college education is to prepare you for what life is going to teach you.