“If one’s life is simple, contentment has to come. Simplicity is extremely important for happiness”
-Dalai Lama
India is a country that truly believes in finding divine energy in simple living. Worldly successes, fame, honor, glories appear very inviting, but they turn out to be mirages in the end. Here are few prominent Indian leaders and business tycoons who have happily worshipped the concept of ‘Simple Living and High Thinking’. Let’s take a look:
Sudha Murthy- Indian Author and Chairperson of Infosys Foundation
Sudha Murthy, wife of Narayana Murthy, Author and Philanthropist- is a truly inspiring Indian who has marked her space in the world through her writing, her simple approach to life and her ideals. The picture below clearly depicts her simplicity and her humility.
This above picture shows Sudha Murthy sitting amidst assorted vegetables which went viral on the social media platforms. This picture was misinterpreted by the netizens claiming that the Infosys Foundation chairperson was trying to sell vegetables to get rid of her Ego.
Sudha Murthy came on record and cleared the air by saying the she was not actually selling vegetables, instead she was sitting amid the assorted vegetables to choose the good ones. These chosen vegetables are then used to prepare meals during the three- day annual ritual that takes place at the Raghavendra Swamy Temple kitchen. Sudha Murthy follows this ritual every year as a form of service to the temple and the devotees.
Sudha Murthy has drawn attention to the biases that prevail in today’s society through her book Three Thousand Stitches and she has clearly written that
“Class does not mean huge possession of money. Mother Teresa was a classy woman. So is Manjula Bhargava, a great mathematician of Indian origin. The concept that you automatically gain class by acquiring money is an outdated thought process,”
It is said that ‘A picture speaks thousand words’, but it is totally up to us when it comes to interpreting the words that the picture speaks. This Padma Shri award winner is a proven personification of ‘Simple Living… High Thinking’.
Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar-Chief Minister of Goa (2000-2005) and Minister of Defence (2014-2017)
We shall introduce the simplicity of Manohar Parrikar with a light episode that happened between Upendra Joshi (Upendra Joshi was the officer on Special Duty to the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar) and a journalist.
The journalist once heard Upendra Joshi giving the following instructions to his staff
“Boss wants four ACs, please get it done fast.”
When journalist enquired further, Upendra Joshi laughed and said that Parrikar’s staff addressed him as “Boss” and according to him when Manohar Parrikar found out that his official residence had 12 Air Conditioners, he immediately instructed his staff to reduce the number of Air Conditioners to four.
The above picture shows Manohar Parrikar enjoying rosomelette and roadside food from the gados near Alankar Cinema.
Should more be said about this person’s humility and his simple approach to life?
Ratan Naval Tata- Indian Industrialist and Former Chairman of Tata and Sons
Ratan Tata has literally become a household name of every Indian family. People use his surname to refer to richness and wealth directly. The moment a child demands an expensive item from his or her father, the next dialogue that plops out of every father’s mouth is that ‘I am not as rich as Tata to buy you such an expensive gift’.
But do you know for a fact the Ratan Tata who is literally referred to as the business icon of India has proved to be one of the simplest men through his thoughts and actions.
Few incidents and photographs easily show how an amazing and a simple human being Ratan Tata is:
The above picture was taken in the economic class of the Air Asia Goa flight that was inaugurated in the year 2014. Can you imagine a wealthy icon in the economic class of a flight? Unbelievable simplicity.
Here’s another picture where the business icon shows no hesitation to sit on the floor and is also pleased to get a photo clicked of him.
Truly a Billionaire by wealth and a Trillionaire at Heart!
Nirmala Sitharaman- Minister of Finance of India
Nirmala Sitharaman, the current Finance Minister of India surely has to handle one of the toughest battles every single day but at the end of the day she is a simple Indian woman at heart and this picture below says it all:
The above picture shows the Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman making Avakkaya pickles with her sister in law. A simple household picture involving one of the most responsible political icons of the country.
Rajnath Singh- The Union Defence Minister of India
Rajnath Singh, the current Defence Minister of India showed true respect and compassion towards the jawans who laid their lives during the Pulwama attack on February 14, 2019.
The above picture shows Rajnath Singh carrying the coffin of one of the CRPF personnel who died during the Pulwama attack in Kashmir. This act of our Defence minister is definitely praiseworthy, commendable and one that is usually not expected from a cabinet minister. This not only shows the simplicity of his character, but also displays the amount of respect he has for his countrymen and as well as for his country.
APJ Abdul Kalam Azad- President of India (2002 to 2007)
APJ Abdul Kalam Azad famously known as the ‘Missile Man of India’ and also the Indian president from the year 2002 to 2007 is one of the most composed and humble human being the world has ever witnessed. His simplicity lies not only in his lifestyle, but also in the way he handles himself in the public.
Many incidents and episodes can be cited to prove this man’s humble nature and humility. And one of them was narrated by his close aide and senior scientist V. Ponraj.
As per Mr.Ponraj, during his presidential rules, Kalam used to retire for the night after listening to his favourite music on an outdated two-in-one tape recorder. Somewhere during the year 2007, MrPonraj recalls, a cassette getting entangled in the tape recorder and the President insisted on getting the recorder repaired instead of replacing the same with a modern iPad or iPod. Finally the officials had to find a tiny shop in Karol Bagh to repair the tape recorder.
In the above picture, one can see the President seated on the floor whereas the journalists Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai are seated on chairs. This happened to be one of the most controversial pictures, however the truth is that Kalam became so involved in the conversation that he seated himself on the floor to make himself comfortable during the discussion/debate.
Not for a minute did he think that he was the Honorable President of India or a world famous scientist. Here he simply displayed the character of a common Indian.
A simple man with a precious soul and an amazing source of inspiration for all the generations to come. That was APJ Abdul Kalam Azad for you.
“Simplicity is the key to brilliance”- Bruce Lee
