even keel.

 In a philosophical debate at Saharsa in present-day Bihar, Mandan Mishra was reluctant to concede defeat at the hands of Adi Shankara, who was young enough to be Mandan’s son. Mandan Mishra’s wife Ubhaya Bharati, who was a mediator, politely told her husband that he lost the debate to Adi Shankara. She admonished her husband, the delusion that he could never be wrong had made him reluctant to accept that Shankara was right. Right to be right doesn’t make one upright and ethical. It fills you with arrogance. Camus’ insistence on not being right has a greater and deeper significance. In his book The Rebel, Camus wrote that a genuine rebel or revolutionary couldn’t succeed in his rebellious ways unless he accepted his opponents to be right occasionally because then only could he fight with them on an even keel. “Giving equal opportunities even to the foes and then fighting is a sign of a rebel. A rebel thrives in dissensions. He’s a man of principles. So, he doesn’t insist on being right each and every time. To be a rebel is to be ethical,” wrote Camus. He also believed that a rebel is never judgmental. Only those who’re judgmental, don’t allow others to be right. Just like retreat is a strategy in warfare, accepting that one’s not right at a specific time or moment is also a sign of evolution. It helps one rejig his strategies and assess the strengths and weaknesses of others. Acceptance of being wrong is symptomatic of a healthy mind and a broad outlook.

Vidur told Dhritrashtra that the battle of Kurukshetra broke out because not just Kauravas, even Pandavas insisted on being right and were never ready to accept their weaknesses and wrongs. If either of them forfeited the ‘right’ to be right every time, such destruction could have been averted. Accepting that you can be wrong ennobles and enlightens you. Walt Whitman said, “I’m conscientious and not condescending, because I’m least bothered about being right and infallible, for, I’m a human.”