Humbly Giving The Only Shawl She Had
ServiceSpace
--Anuj Pandey
2 minute read
May 11, 2017

 

[Beautiful story that Shalini (Sharma) shared in the overflowing Awakin Circle yesterday.]

Hi everyone. I'm very happy to be here. This week's passage on humitliy reminded me of a recent conversation I had with my mother.

One of my life's greatest joys is to talk to my mother about her life experiences, especially in her childhood. My mom grew up in a big family of nine siblings, with a father who was a principled Gandhian. The moral values were always placed on a pedestal and you can see that value system alive in the whole family.

Last December, when I was visiting my mom in India, she shared a story about her relationship with her aunt, in a small village of India.

When my grand aunt was almost on her deathbed, my mom had an opportunity to visit her. It was a cold winter month, my grand aunt was bed ridden, and she was shivering a little bit. My mom was wearing a shawl, just to keep herself warm -- but as a teacher, she had saved money for a long time to buy that shawl. But when she saw her aunt in that condition, she immediately took that shawl off and gave it to her dying aunt. Then she tells me that when she came back to New Delhi, she didn't have her shawl and used a bed sheet to keep herself warm throughout that winter.

What really amazed me was my mom's telling of the story.  The focus of her narration was on her aunt, her deathbed, the joy of their connection, and how happy she was to see her in her last few days. She hardly put any emphasis on her own act of generosity.

I was really humbled to learn about her act of humility. 

 

Posted by Anuj Pandey on May 11, 2017


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