Moral Ambivalence
“Integrity is not measured by the noise of virtue, but by the quiet insistence of effort.” A lbert Camus (?) What do we do when doing the right thing costs too much? Not in theory—but in the messy, human ways that shake our lives. This is a reflection on those quiet, everyday negotiations we make with our conscience, and what it means to hold a line in a system that continually pushes us to let go. Recently, in a WhatsApp group of old friends, veterinarians, mostly retired, we drifted into one of those painful conversations that reveal more than intended. It began with a few practical comments about retirement paperwork, legal battles, and the many steps required to receive pensions from public institutions in India. And then someone said plainly, "I had to pay ₹25,000 to get what I had already earned." Another friend added, "In India, nothing moves without bribes." Someone else spoke of fighting a legal battle for over two decades, spending lakhs on fees and un...