Mahatma Gandhi
2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948
“I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny ? In other words, will it lead to Swaraj (i.e. self-rule) for the hungry and spiritually starving millions ?
Then you will find your doubts and your self melting away.”
7 comments:
That's very good advice. I kind of do this instinctively now. For instance my comment here on someone's blog.
Or to quote from that comment: "I measure human life against the extreme benchmark of certain congenitally brain-damaged children I encountered at the Mustardseed community in Jamaica . . . "
I am moved by the words and i appreciate the collection of photographs on ur blog.
I'm thinking of Mahatma Gandhi today, and listening to this song in tribute to him, in Hindi: Anju Bhatt: Hey Ram! Kaha aur chale gaye…
wonderful quote!
Amen Gandhi!
I was at the office Christmas party the other day and I started talking about Nehru. A colleague, who is an ex Royal Navy Commander says "is he the guy who wears funny glasses and a rag?"
I was quite upset and should have kept quiet. However, I retorted, "No, but the guy with the funny glasses and a rag kicked your arse".
The next day I felt quite sad that in the name of Gandhiji, I retorted in anger!
What would any of you have done in a similar situation? I am keen to know.
Hullo Dr Gopinath, many thanks for sharing this. You are right of course. Reacting angrily - needs to be controlled. And that's the lesson I trust you carried away, and I'm sure in a similar situation you would react differently. But you did what you did, and perhaps were a means for that boorish person to learn somethin about sensitivity and being better-informed.
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