The first time that I had come across the
word 'humble' was when my Pitaji had uttered it with his hand on my head to
bless: 'always be humble and bold' . He
was congratulating me on my having been awarded an All rounder Best student
award-a rare feat for a junior class student in the college. I was 18 then.
There have been numerous instances in the intervening years when I have paused
to ponder whether I have lived upto my chief Mentor's exhortation. To be
honest, more often than not the answer has been 'No'.
Humility, I feel, faces the toughest of
challenges day in and day out while traversing the domain of this one human life
that we have been blessed with. We do feel humbled by the generous appreciation
bestowed upon us or rewarding gestures; we may feel humbled by the presence of
healing aura of a sanctum sanctorum or presence of a spiritually elevated
soul; in meditative, uplifting moments by Yeats like realisation 'we are blest by everything/everything we look upon is blest' but humility to be a way of
life needs constant and persistent cajoling and coaxing.
The biggest challenge to humility is an unwelcome- situation as
anything, yes, literally a n y t h i n g which is not easily and conveniently
palatable or acceptable or say the least, agreeable instantaneously tests our
dear trait 'humility' that we generally
boast of, take a lot of pride in. The ensuing and consequential reaction or outburst in form of anger or sadness, tears or sulking faced such testing
situation or condition becomes the testimony of what we are -not humble. Once my eldest sister
Neelam di had written to me: 'one really has to be good and great not to nurse
any katuta (bitterness). The 'good' and the 'great' latent in us as
humility is the first casualty in testing times and circumstances.
Our ability to pray has ample capacity to
inculcate the trait of humility as prayer is acceptance of the all pervasive
power of God or Nature or whomsoever or whatsoever we believe in, have faith in
and trust their ability to grant what we seek. The moments of prayer -be it in sumiran
or jap or meditation are modes of surrender to Higher souls. The gratitude that we feel in moments of prayer or in normal parlance also
comes from humility.
When Shakespeare said: 'Blow blow thou
winter wind/you are not so unkind/ as man's ingratitude', he was narrating
simple, universal, most common truth about human frailty. Actually we endorse willingly to Keats' Ode to Melancholy where he refers to 'Joy whose hands are ever on his
lips/bidding adieu'. Anything and everything inconvenient or unacceptable makes
us fall in the trap of melancholy and ingratitude and in no time the citadel of
humility befalls, the facade of humility gets exposed, the disguise broken.
Sometimes we are blessed with satsang by a Guru or a pure soul, friend or a
mentor whose soft exhortation or gentle reproof facilitates and enables us acknowledge
an unagreeable situation or condition with stoicism, accept dispassionately and
to say the least, with humility.
My father's one of the favourite quotes
was: 'saaman sou baras ka/pal ki khabar nahi'- the attachment with
things, places, persons also tests our humility and submission to Higher Power.
Actually its a lifelong learning face to face with not an uncommon dilemma: 'we know and do not know/ what is to act and suffer/ we know and do not know that action suffering, suffering
action'. In the same vein three centuries before Eliot, John Milton had scribbled
the whole truth of Providence in the line: 'They also serve who only stand and
wait' when he confronted blindness and ensuing bitterness and anger ! The humility
to accept needs, indeed a lot of strength and boldness.
Thats why I often wonder whether or not I
have been able to live up to what my father urged and advised almost four
decades ago. Perhaps eternal vigilance coupled
with constant and persistent self-questioning is essential in order to guard
and safeguard the finest of human traits-humility.
