"A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so" - Mahatma Gandhi
So much has been written about Gandhi that I don’t expect this blog to do more justice to his character, I am simply writing this as an ode. He was assassinated on 30th January 1948 and as we draw away from that date, I find myself thinking of him and his words a lot more. I had my share of insecure college days, the jitters of a new marriage, the shakes of a new job and lately the ultimate paranoia of being a new mom. Gandhi had words for me through each phase of my life. Words that felt like they were written only for me and my situation. Did Gandhi know a girl like me? Well he probably did, his entourage could beat Britney Spears hollow, if only we chased his ideals the way we chase her shopping sprees!
The words that stayed with me through the hardest parts of my life were -
"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 [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melt away."
It worked every time. It’s not that I looked for happiness in the misery of others, never! The principle was so evident, ‘I, me, myself” maybe the main components of my life but in the general scheme of things, I am too minute to consider, I am actually a ‘one’ that is a part of millions. These words were inspiring and what our generation needs the most, they were humbling. These words always make me realize how fortunate I am and that my existence should not be for me alone. I should ‘counter’ enrich the lives of people that enrich my life. My teen years were governed by one of my favourite quotes – “I want freedom for the full expression of my personality”, I felt that was such sweet liberation. In a world where real icons are hard to find, Gandhi remains relevant and contemporary even after 60 years of passing on. Before I knew it, the teen years were over and I was bang in the middle of my first job. I didn’t have a very forgiving boss and he didn’t have the word ‘naïve’ in his vocabulary, making my work environment highly volatile from day one. It was into the third week that my brother gave me a little purple print out that said – “Nobody can hurt me without my permission”. Oh God, it was so simple!
My list of favourite Gandhi quotes is actually running into page 3 and I don’t think it’s fair to burden you with them all. I will leave you with two priceless ones consider them a ‘mantra’ and find that ‘true peace’ we all seem to be chasing.
“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems”
“We must be the change we wish to see” - Mahatma Gandhi
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