Where does evil stem from? Is it written into us at birth, or carved into us by the circumstances we endure? This question has followed me for a while -sometimes through books, sometimes just while wandering the streets and observing life. I was recently reading Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance , a novel that depicts ordinary people caught between cruelty and kindness. But the book is only a trigger. What really matters is what it reflects: the unsettling complexity of human nature. The Problem of Judgment Every action, when viewed in isolation, can be interpreted in multiple ways. A friend who walks past you on the street without acknowledgment-one person sees it as rejection, another as simple absentmindedness. The action is identical, but the meaning is colored by the insecurities, expectations, and stories in the observer’s mind. This raises a bigger question: how do we judge a person? Many repeat the phrase, “Judge a man by his actions, not his words.” ...