​Whether driven by a family’s basic struggle for survival, or stepping out after completing school, a bachelor’s, master’s, or a doctoral degree, our entry into the workforce varies. In my view, an entrepreneur or a business owner is no exception and they are, essentially, engaged in a job like anyone else.

​Every professional shoulders the weight of ensuring their family’s sustenance. For the sake of this reflection, let us refer to everyone earning a living as an individual engaged in a JOB.

​The reason this pursuit remains an everlasting aspect of life is its connection to money. In today’s age, the vocabulary of happiness has shifted, becoming nearly synonymous with financial wealth, completely overshadowing the significance of genuine togetherness, shared laughter, and peace of mind. We have become so fixated on purchasing synthetic happiness that we overlook the consequences of our greed and knowing that for one person to gain instantly, someone else often loses everything.

​Look at our media today; news broadcasts are replete with accounts of massive scams, financial fraud, and institutional irregularities. What prompts a person to perpetrate a scam? What drives one human being to betray another? It appears we are veering toward an overriding sense of selfishness, losing our baseline humanity in the process.

​The Architecture of Greed

​As a proud Gujarati, I love seeing our filmmakers craft splendid, thought-provoking stories. Recently, I watched the film “Chal Man Jitva Jay E.” The narrative revolves around a businessman who loses everything in a bad deal and scrambles to salvage his family’s fabricated luxuries. The manner in which his own children step up to steer him toward discerning right from wrong is genuinely commendable.

​The desperate quest for instant riches contrasts starkly with the mindset of the wealthy, who often live in dread of destitution. But one person’s unbridled greed frequently becomes another’s demise.

​The deep irony is that while we vehemently condemn corporate fraudsters, we inadvertently teach our children those exact same principles right at home. We strike transactional bargains with them and demanding a specific exam score in exchange for a toy. We instruct them to lie over the phone when we want to avoid an awkward conversation. We demonstrate the art of shifting blame onto others right in our own living rooms.

​Our children simply mirror these behaviors. They carry these learned patterns directly into their schools, friendship circles, colleges, and eventually, their own careers.

​Our true responsibility as human beings does not begin after graduation or during a financial crisis; it commences the exact moment we begin to comprehend the world around us.

​Beyond corporate taglines or grand statements, our most vital “job” is to instill noble values in our families and communities by embodying them ourselves. To enhance the beauty of the world, we must recognize our own flaws before pointing fingers at societal decay.

​Our foremost duty is to remind our loved ones that embracing our shared humanity is a full-time, lifelong responsibility and one that should endure until our last breath. Let us strive to embody authentic humanity, rather than acting as mere puppets in someone else’s narrative.