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IMPRESSIONS
131
It was then that PB gave me a two-minute lecture, the longest that I had heard him speak in one go till then, on the importance of balancing one's personal accounts meticulously, preferably at the end of each day. It was a lesson he had learnt from his father, Bapaji.
He also remarked - admonishingly – that it was a lesson that my generation needed to learn. He stressed that wealth is a trust that one has to administer responsibly and that accounting is a must even for the smallest of transaction, even though you may give large amounts in charity. Hisab Kodi ka Bakshish Lakh ki.
Of course, I had often heard - and superciliously dismissed – similarsounding moralistic sermons from many of my elders since it was obvious that they were intended to be precisely that - moralistic and sermonizing - and that no one really believed that they were intended to have anything more than idealistic value. But coming from someone who sincerely believed in them - which was obvious from PB's demeanour - the advice sounded so weird to me that I remained staring at him as one would look at someone who is temporarily unbalanced. I was all of 30 then! And did really believe then that I was talking to a man entirely out of touch with the real world!
Of course, I quietly pocketed the money, despite the discomfort. However, even though I could not relate at all to his short lecture, wasn't able to dismiss it as lightly as I had wanted to. I had this feeling that there was something of significance in that exchange that I was
missing.
It was many years later that I began to recognize that PB's two-minute talk had given me my first insight into a genuine sevadari mind - something that Punjabis instinctively value - and that his talk had helped me appreciate the difference between creating an income and creating wealth.
It helped me place in better perspectives concepts that lay at the heart of Guru Nanak's teaching, "Nam japo (draw strength from prayer/humility),
Most true happiness comes from one's inner life, from the disposition of the mind and soul - William L Shirer
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