Intern 1: I’m craving for a pizza!
Intern 2: Ooohh pizza! Let’s call this place from where we ordered last time.
Intern 1: I already did, but they are accepting only cash now and I don’t carry cash around with me these days.
Intern 2: Me neither. Oh wait, I have a few bucks remaining from the fund we collected for our college anniversary celebrations. Let’s use that.
Ajay: Umm…sorry for overhearing. But do you think it’s a good idea to use money earmarked for something else for your personal needs?
Intern 2: Well.. Sir
We didn’t happen to have cash right now. I can replace it as soon as I reach home. Moreover, it’s just two pizzas. Not a big sum anyway.
Ajay: Okay.. but if your cravings can wait for a few minutes, shall I interest you in a story?
Intern 1: Of course!
Ajay: Once a king appointed a new minister. He then assigned another person to keep an eye on the minister. One day the person approached the minister to test him and told him he wanted to discuss something that was beneficial to the minister. The minister asked the man to return in the evening as it was his working hours. So the man came back after it became dark to see the minister still engrossed in work. When he was done finally, the minister snuffed the oil lamp, took it inside and came back with another lamp. Curious to see this, the other person enquired why he changed the lamps.
Intern 1: I’m curious too.
Ajay: “I received the first lamp from the king for professional use. But now since we are about to discuss personal matters, I would only use my personal lamp,” said the minister.
Intern 2: Wow! A man of integrity!
Ajay: Exactly my point. If you use a few bucks from the money reserved for something else, probably it’s not going to make any difference. But, although small, you make a compromise on your integrity. Eventually such compromises will grow in size and ultimately would undermine your personal as well as professional growth.
Intern 2: I get your point.
Ajay: Great! Now who wants some pizza? This time it’s on me!
