My encounters with portraits of humility
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less,” said writer CS Lewis. In today’s world, everybody is running after money, fame and power but few know how to handle it.
A friend who recently got promoted to a prestigious position in her company has been bragging about it to the extent of being irksome. It made me recall my meetings with the three powerful yet the most humble people I have ever come across.
While I was studying at a prominent college in Amritsar, the then President APJ Abdul Kalam visited our campus. I wonder if there has been a man more humble than him to have walked this planet! Compassion for all was conveyed in his disposition and bent humbly, he stood among the students with folded hands, asking them about their future plans. I was attired in traditional Gidha gear to welcome him. I enthusiastically answered that I dreamt of being a pilot in the Indian Air Force and had applied for the same. Though my temporary dream died shortly after, his simplicity, warm smile and the spark evident in his eyes still live on in my memories.
Another opportunity I reminisce was to meet Daman Singh, the erudite daughter of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, last year. She had come to our town to speak about her book, Strictly Personal, based on Manmohan Singh’s non-political life and her mother, Gursharan Kaur. She showed no attitude about being a former PM’S daughter and seemed oblivious to the powerful tag attached to her name.
Her humility made me feel embarrassed for every single time I had ever mentioned about my dad’s prestigious postings or my mother’s academic achievements.
The third most recent meeting was this year with a 90-year-old man who had visited the college I teach in for an alumni meet. The gentleman, RS Swarup Gupta, a retired Indian Administrative Service officer and an alumnus of the institution, had donated Rs 25 lakh to his alma mater for the renovation of the library.
He had been an avid reader. During his college years from 1945-49, he had read all books available then in the library. His parents could not financially support his college education so a philanthropist from a nearby village volunteered to sponsor him by paying Rs 10 per month as his fee. During his speech, he cited the worth of those 10 rupees given to him because of which he became successful much more than a whopping sum of Rs 25 lakh that he had bestowed.
So touched was everyone with his humility that I could see many colleagues around wiping their tears. He wasn’t ready to take any credit and indeed was grateful to God for giving him an opportunity to give back to society.
Let us all try to embrace this rare and dying virtue named humility. A heart-touching rendition of Bahadur Shah Zafar comes to mind: “Naa kisi ki aankh ka noor hu, na kisi ke dil ka karaar hu, jo kise ke kaam na aa sake, mein woh ek mushthe gubar hu (Not the light of anyone’s eyes, nor the solace for anyone’s heart, of no use to anyone, I am that one fistful of dust)”.
HIS SIMPLICITY, WARM SMILE AND THE SPARK IN THE EYES LIVE ON IN MY MEMORIES