Gandhi's tie¹⁶

Gandhi was once working as a lawyer in South Africa. He wanted to be economical, since everything was very expensive there. Since the washermen used to charge very high amounts, Gandhi thought of washing his clothes himself. He read a few books about how to wash clothes properly, how to iron and so forth.

One day, while he was washing his clothes, he used too much starch on a particular tie. Then he did not press it properly. That day, when he went to court, his friends noticed something funny about his tie and began laughing.

“What is wrong with you?” they asked. “Why is starch falling from your tie?”

Gandhi said, “You are making fun of me. I am giving you joy. It is not an easy task to give people joy. Right now I am learning to wash clothes. I badly want to save money and washermen are charging very high prices. Soon I will become an expert, but now I am giving you joy, so I am very happy. It is a difficult thing to give others joy, but I am doing it. Therefore, I am proud of myself.”

From:Sri Chinmoy,Great Indian meals: divinely delicious and supremely nourishing, part 9, Agni Press, 1979
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/gim_9