Good Morning friends…..Today’s blog is a direct cut-copy-paste from the whatsapp forwards I receive. The author of the piece is not known to me otherwise I would definitely seek his / her permission to reproduce the same in my blog verbatim. But the piece of writing is so touching that I just can’t resist the temptation of sharing it with you my readers. So to the original author of the piece, full credit to you and with your permission in absentia I am reproducing your piece of work below for the benefit of my readers as well. I haven’t verified the stories as to their authencity but I really feel they are worth sharing.
This is a valuable lesson in humility and humbleness which we all need to learn and master and practice in our daily lives as these things can add to the greatness of your personality and these are your personal assets which are invaluable.
It goes like that cricketer Rahul Dravid was awarded with a doctorate degree by the University of Bangalore, which Rahul Dravid gracefully returned. Not only did he give back the degree, but he also gave a wonderful speech, he said “My wife is a doctor; she has spent countless sleepless nights and days to get this degree. My mother is a professor of arts; she has waited a long fifty years for her degree with perseverance. I worked hard to play cricket, but I didn’t study that much, so how can I accept this degree?”
Einstein was offered the Prime Ministership by the Israeli government in 1952. Einstein politely said, “I am an inexperienced student of physics. What do I understand about the governance and administration of a state!!!”
*Grigori Perelman, the world-renowned mathematician, returned the Field Medals in 2006 and a large sum of money, regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the field of Mathematics. He said “We had a poverty driven childhood in our family. We had to manage in a very calculative manner to save our mother’s earnings. Maybe that’s the reason why I was able to develop a little skill in mathematics since childhood. Since that phase of poverty is not there anymore in my life, what do I do with so much money?”
Seeing the humility of these people, one has to bow down one’s head in respect and shame as well. When we look at ourselves and introspect, what do we see? The image of Disobedience, of arrogance…when compared to the philosophy of these achievers. These humble and down to earth people remind us over and over again that being humble does not mean one gets less dignified in the eyes of the society; rather it portrays in them a much larger than life image. Because we only become mean by our unruly arrogance, while we grow up real big by our repeated efforts in trying to become humble and true to ourselves.
The strongest truth in the world is that one has to be humble and simple to achieve greatness but there is no need for any efforts at all to become selfish and self-centred. As there is a saying ‘Sky is the limit for humbleness while there is no limit at all to stoop down to any level ‘
So friends let us learn a valuable lesson today from such great and humble personalities who did not let their own name and fame hamper them in their journey of humility. If they can do it, so can we……all we need to do is try.
Dr. Rajesh Mankani
