With so many things coming back in style, I can't wait until morals, respect and intelligence become a trend again.
Denzel Washington
(For Representation Purpose: Crane Origami)
On November 23, 2022, something unprecedented happened in the locker room at Khalifa International Stadium, Qatar during the FIFA World Cup. Japanese team, till then ranking 24th, had just clinched a historic victory against four times champion, Germany. Instead of celebrating it with Champagne as is de rigeur, the winners did something else. They impeccably cleaned up the changing room and then kept crane origami to express gratitude and spirit for soccer games. Their fans too cleaned up the stadium. FIFA thanked the Japanese team.
When FIFA shared this on its Twitter handle with a picture of crane origami, it was flooded with appreciations. There were some queries too on the reason behind this behaviour. One Japanese twitted the reason explaining that kids were taught cleanliness from elementary school. They clean their classrooms.
Thus, 'when leaving a place, leave it cleaner than what it was when you came' - this attitude/outlook is ingrained in their system.
Imagine this happening in some Indian schools. Either the authorities will lack the courage/wisdom to prompt the kids to clean up and/or some parents will create a chaos. Hence, when such things are not taught at the elementary level, the dirt piles up in landfills, roads and at times, even in trains.
In fact, not just cleanliness, Japanese people are known for being extremely polite and punctual. I should know. I visited the country over a decade ago.
Japan, among the countries I have visited, is the most 'developed' nation. Why? Because, whomsoever, I interacted with, whether it is someone amidst the self-absorbed animated crowd on a Thursday evening celebrating Octoberfest at the oldest Lion Beer Hall, in glamorous Ginza, lined with swanky stores; the lanky fellow passionately playing a violin on the street outside; a group of all-women senior citizens raising a toast at the strike of midnight at a cosy sushi bar; the comparatively loud audience at the Kabuki-za theatre; the silent and disciplined commuters inside Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Kyoto or in the bus ride to the Yakult plant near Mt. Fuji or inside Tokyo Tower or down an alley in Osaka...wherever I walked, I only met graciousness. Not once did I hear a raised voice even when I mistakenly crossed a road as the traffic light turned red!
I am told then that this uniform cordiality of the citizens is primarily thanks to its education system.
In Japanese schools, till fourth grade, there is no examination. The kids are made to learn their manners in the initial three years. They are made to learn the importance of being gentle and kind, compassionate and empathetic to all life forms, be it humans, birds, animals or trees. Constant harping on human qualities at an impressionistic age goes a long way in creating an affable community for an obliging world.
Well, my dear readers, do you feel manners maketh man? I do believe.
Pl share your thoughts on this.
The more, the merrier.
Ciao for now!!
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