Duty Over Convenience: A New Year’s Resolution Worth Keeping

January 1, 2026

Dr sharad S chauhan IPS
DGP and Managing Director, Punjab Police Housing Corporation

Any law-abiding officer, or for that matter, anyone who has tried to live by rules, will agree with this observation: human beings are experts at holding two sets of principles. One is for ourselves, and another for everyone else. This is not a judgment; it includes me too. We are all part of this pattern, shifting our sense of right and wrong depending on which side of the situation we stand.

If there is a theft in our home, we demand swift action and strict punishment. But when a relative is accused of something similar, our tone softens. We speak of mercy, of mistakes, of understanding. The same person who wants justice in one case seeks forgiveness in another. When the rule applies to others, it feels like justice. When it applies to us, it feels unfair.
The same happens on the road. We expect others to follow every traffic signal, but when we are stopped for a violation, we always have a reason. We were in a hurry. The signal was too short. Everyone else was doing the same. We want discipline from others but leniency for ourselves. This gap between expectation and action is not limited to the streets; it runs through our workplaces, homes, and public life.
Psychology calls this the self-serving bias, our tendency to explain our own actions with kindness while judging others harshly. Sociology calls it moral elasticity, the quiet stretching of ethics to suit convenience. But names aside, the reality is simple: we all want a world governed by fairness, but we often excuse ourselves from following the same standards.
The irony is that no law, no rulebook, can correct this double vision. It begins in the mind. The law outside can punish a crime, but only the law within can prevent it. Justice becomes meaningful only when it is applied equally, especially when it hurts us.
This principle is beautifully reflected in Japanese culture through the idea of Giri . Giri means duty, obligation, and moral responsibility, the invisible bond that keeps society stable. It is the quiet voice that says, “I must do what is right, even when I do not want to.” In Japan, Giri is often paired with Ninjo, which represents human emotion or desire. Life is a constant negotiation between these two forces: duty and feeling, principle and preference.
For the police, who are entrusted as the upkeepers of conscience in society, this balance between duty and emotion carries an even deeper meaning. Every officer faces moments when personal feeling or pressure tempts them to bend the rule, to treat one person differently from another, or to look away from what is uncomfortable. Yet true duty begins only when we apply the same standard to all, regardless of who they are. Justice cannot depend on status, power, or proximity. It must flow from inner discipline. When those who uphold the law practise fairness in spirit as well as in action, they renew society’s faith in justice itself.
Examples from Japan are striking. Even during natural disasters, citizens queue calmly for food and water. They clean their surroundings and help strangers without being told. There is no panic, not because they fear punishment, but because Giri reminds them that order is a shared responsibility. They live by one principle for all, not one for themselves and another for others.
Mahatma Gandhi often spoke of this same truth, though in very different words. He believed that the real test of character was not how we behave when watched, but how we behave when unseen. His timeless message, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” captures the very heart of this principle. Gandhi lived by one rule for all, and it was that consistency that gave him moral authority far beyond power or position. For him, discipline and self-restraint were not burdens; they were forms of freedom. He reminded us that we cannot demand honesty, justice, or order from others unless we first practise them ourselves.

If we want our own society to grow stronger, this is the mindset we must rediscover. Fairness cannot be built from the top down; it must grow from within. When a parent follows the same rule he sets for his child, when a leader abides by the same discipline he expects from citizens, when a citizen follows the law even when no one is watching, that is duty over convenience. That is Giri.
As a police officer, I have seen that enforcement can only do so much. True order is not created by fear of penalty, but by pride in fairness. A nation progresses not when its laws become harsher, but when its people become more self-disciplined. The uniform may symbolise this idea, but the real uniform of a good society is conscience.

As we begin a new year, perhaps this can be our shared New Year’s resolution: to live by one principle, not two. To hold ourselves to the same standard we expect of others. To replace convenience with consistency. It may sound simple, but if even a few people begin to do it, the ripple effect will change the tone of our cities and the trust within our communities. When we live by one measure for all, we move closer to harmony. When duty outweighs convenience, nations rise. And when discipline becomes habit, peace follows naturally.
The Gyan: A society truly grows when conscience becomes its first uniform.