One of the most interesting and endearing aspects of journalism is that it provides access and opportunities to meet people in high places- the rich and famous, the popular and powerful and those who inspire humanity with their works, love, compassion, and most important of all, humility.
While some of us have the privilege and honour of meeting Kings, Queens, Presidents, Heads of State, Prime Ministers and celebrities, it is not every day that we meet people who have achieved eminence through the dint of their merit (and not inheritance).
Which is why we consider the recent visit of Gopalkrishna Gandhi to New Zealand to speak at the annual Mother Teresa Interfaith Meeting (November 18) and the Indian Newslink Indian Business Awards (November 19) as one of the most significant for New Zealand and New Zealanders. Apart from his brilliant, well-articulated views that formed a part of the two speeches (reproduced in our Homelink and Awards Special in this issue), he was a great source of admiration to thousands of people who cared to listen to him.
That he is a man of distinction, former Governor of West Bengal, a great diplomat who served in several diplomatic missions of India, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and C Rajagopalachari (first Governor General of Independent India) did not matter. All the accolades and citations that he has received and continues to receive, fade into oblivion before his humility and sincerity of purpose.
Humble people do not speak about humility but demonstrate this great quality through their conduct, the way they talk to people and react to situations. Never was he swayed by the tributes that he received at meetings, lunches and dinners that were organised in his honour in Auckland.
For those who walk tall over a few dollars they would have earned overnight or a few awards that came their way, he had a message.
Speaking of Award winners, he said, “They have achieved the award by dint of their hard work, clear aim and Divine Grace. I also commend to the award winners’ attention the award that is higher than all awards; and which comes from standing tall with pride not arrogance; with gladness not hysteria where you want to stand; not in selfish salivation over your own moment of glory but with gratitude for the colleagueship of one or more persons without which you cannot stand there; and then, acknowledging the rapture of shared achievement, mutual exhilaration, and in ecstatic recognition of that mutuality.”
Winners of our Awards have continuously demonstrated that they are team workers, ever aware of the importance and contributions of their employees. They are also aware that they cannot achieve much without their people.
That alone gives them the humility that they need to maintain their rate of progress in their lives and careers and those of others who depend on them.
With a man of erudition and distinction with us, we learnt that Mr Gandhi was an epitome of humaneness but never hesitant to proffer an honest opinion that was always polite but firm.
As we sat on the pew of Catholic Church of Christ the King in Mt Roskill and at the Sky City Convention Centre we were mesmerised by his observations.
We were convinced in the Biblical belief that as part of the sanctification process that God would like to start with each one of us – one of the first things that God will be doing, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is to either take out or prevent certain types of negative qualities from entering into our personalities.
Without question, one of the major negative qualities that God will be moving very strongly on to either prevent it from being able to enter into us to any significant degree, or to literally knock it right out of us if it has moved too far up into our personalities, is the negative quality of pride.
In that mood, we realised that arrogance results from lack of humility. It is a cancerous, lethal, and destructive quality, probably more than any other negative quality that has brought down more kingdoms, toppled more empires, caused more wars, destroyed more marriages, ruined more friendships, and led more criminals into our jail systems than all of the other negative qualities combined and put together.
The spirit of pride has to be the absolute king of all the negative and destructive qualities that can enter into our personalities – and no one is safe and immune from it.
We at Indian Newslink were as gratified as the Members of the Mother Teresa Interfaith Committee and its Chairman Wenceslaus Anthony (who arranged the visit) to receive Mr Gandhi and host him in our midst.
Such occasions, as we mentioned, do not occur every day.
