Loyalty, a rare virtue

Sometime back, on a popular daily, the lines of a print ad ran like this – “When it comes to loyalty, we are the dogs!”

Well, talking of loyalty reminds me of a joke shared by a friend recently. It seems, a silver-tongued dog-seller, slickly tries selling his pedigree dog to a person for a princely price. Launching on marketing spiel, the dog dealer explains, “My dog would fill you with bountiful delight by waggling his tail, on seeing you each time. With singular sincerity, he’d serve you eternally by safeguarding your home. In a nutshell, he epitomises acme of loyalty”.

 Bowled over by the dog dealer’s business strategy, the person instantly buys the dog. But the very next day, to his consternation, the dog buyer finds the dog missing from his home. Feeling chagrined, he calls up the dog trader on the phone to know about its whereabouts. The dealer lets out a chuckle to say, “I told you the fella is too loyal. He has come back to me!”

Well, jokes apart, loyalty is something that can be hailed as a rare virtue. But looks like the term is turning obsolete in today’s dog-eat-dog world. It seems, in earlier days, according to my elderly relatives, a sense of sublime loyalty reigned supreme among people who genuinely cared for each other. The younger siblings were loyal and forever helpful to their elder siblings who would have cocooned them in comforts in their childhood days.

And, the friends of a person displayed unimpeachable loyalty by springing to his support, whenever he got caught in a murky maze of difficult situation. Spouses showed singular loyalty by remaining committed for life and accepting each other with ‘warts and all’. People also exhibited impeccable loyalty to one’s country, too.But today, you see many people, with virtually no qualms or compunction, merrily deserting their country or company the moment they find lucrative pastures to graze on. And among siblings, in many families, instead of loyalty for one another, one finds a kind of arch-rivalry, wherein each one fiercely contends with the other to be on the top rung of the success ladder, be it any kind of success.

Among the so-called friends, too, loyalty is seen in very few genuine ones, as you find many with this playing-it-safe attitude. Apparently, breach-of-trust instances have turned common with relations sacrificed at the altar of self-image-enhancing drive. And, at marital scenario, the escalating cases of divorces and extramarital liaisons stand testimony to waning loyalty among many married couples today.

Truly, it’s time we discerned the significance of loyalty in various relationships. Since, in social fabric, loyalty is that strong thread that can bind people together. Also, it’s that essential ingredient in the recipe of successful relationships. Shorn of loyalty, any relationship instantly loses its value/meaning. So, talking of loyalty again, even if we aren’t dogs, it’s alright. Let us try not being wily foxes at least!