Dehradun, July 18 -- There is a song by Gurdaas Mann that goes, 'Roti hak di khaiye ji, paanve boot polishan kariye'. (Earn your bread honestly even if it requires polishing boots.) It articulates the spirit of dignity of labour, very native to Punjabi and Sikh philosophy. However, it is easier said than done, because there exist everywhere eco-systems that consider one or the other lifestyles as desirable and, therefore, superior to what others do.
Take, for instance, the case of the thirty-five year old man who has just been nabbed for allegedly pretending to be a senior government official and defrauding people. The son of a former Chief Secretary, he appeared for the civil services exam several times but could not get through. Consider...