6/20/2019

''HONOURING DEVELOPING WORLD VOCATIONS'' : 1/3


''THERE are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes'' - Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

When we think of work, what more is it than an activity that involves putting in physical or mental effort in certain tasks to achieve desirable results.

A good example would be that of any beautiful architectural splendour that happens to be the  brainchild of an adept architect who spends hours in conceiving a design and putting it on paper.

However, without the expertise of a mason and his helpers his idea can never materialize into reality, yet we praise the architect highly without as much acknowledging the efforts of the labourers, whose  work to our mind is nothing more than menial.

Similarly, there are many jobs that do not invoke our appreciation nor regard for the one doing them yet they are indispensable.

Until the time that modern day plumbing was introduced in the Sub-continent, the middle-class homes had a unique system of sanitation. Open-toilets were built on the roof tops of small houses or in the secluded area of courtyards in fairly large ones.

They were regularly cleared by members of the so-called ''low-caste'' who carried away the waste in large baskets placed on their heads to be disposed of adequately.

One can just imagine the level of hygiene and cleanliness had it not been for these glorious persons who were regarded with contempt and declared untouchable by those very people whose faeces were removed.

Such is the honor that we give to cleaners, sweepers, domestic, helpers, etc. Instead of admitting their contributions, they ate considered lowly, having no self-respect. Other vocations are also no exception.

We are quick to pass judgments on account of the work people do even if they are otherwise honest and sincere. Cobblers, barbers, tailors, peons, receptionists, carpenters, gardeners, electricians, labourers, are all part of that proletarian community which cannot be done away with but at the same time is too base to be looked up with respect.

Thus a manipulative smart alec from the upper stratum of society having a five-figure salary is bound to draw attention as well as 'friends' while a clerk may be working with more diligence could be respected but is considered low class and unfit to be made an acquaintance.

Jokes are cracked about their laziness or low IQ levels and sarcasm is expressed about their low'  birth if one point is that of late Muhammad Rafi, a singer who was second to none in united and divided India and a well-known Pakistani politician, both originally belonging to families of barbers,.

In our society, getting simple education is not everyone's forte let alone achieving very high academic degrees.

Since, colleges and universities are expensive there are many enthusiasts who are willing to take up  ''low skill jobs'' in order to to find their studies.

The honor and serving of the latest operational research on society, vocations. and the developing world, continues. The World Students Society thanks author Huzaima Bukhari, adjunct faculty Lahore University of Management Sciences. [LUMS]

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