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THE WAY OF LIFE
activities of life. For the performance of every action, there is a proper place and a proper time. Men should have a knowledge of these proprieties. THE PROPRIETY OF PLACE ALSO IS ESSENTIAL
Noble people do not eat anything standing on a road. They do not pick quarrels with people on roads. They do not stand laughing on the streets. They do not converse much with other women. For these actions, that place is not proper. You may eat food but you must eat food at home. You may have to speak harshly but you must do that at home. You may laugh as you like but you should do that at home.
Even at home you have to think of the propriety of place. You may have to take your wife to task but not in the presence of your children. You can complain against any personal wrong and take her to task only when the children are not at home. That too, you must not shout in a manner that your neighbours come rushing to your house. Your voice should not be heard outside the four walls of your house. If you want to speak to your grown-up children strongly giving a piece of your mind, you do so, when they are alone. Do not chide them in the presence of your friends or the other members of your family. Taking someone to task for a mistake committed is an action that should be carried out in the proper place.
Do not give publicity to the actions which you have to perform secretly. Do not perform secretly those actions that ought to be carried out in the presence of others. Intelligent and noble people act with a sense of the propriety of place. If you do not practise this principle at least cannot you admire these virtues in others ? People may not be able to adhere to the principle of the propriety of place in large cities like Bombay, Ahmedabad, Delhi where thousands of families live in single room flats. They have to carry out all their actions in the same room. The limits between parents and children cannot be maintained when the whole family lives in a single room. In the case of such families, children may see certain things which they ought not to see and that may create distortions in their minds.
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