humility

I had a very interesting conversation with a very close friend of mine today. The topic of discussion was the positive attitude of one of her acquaintances… the amount of energy and confidence she exudes in her various interactions etc. During the course of her statements I observed that we were talking about a senior artiste. Only then it stuck me to write about the topic below :

HUMILITY


What a wonderful word ! What exactly does this mean – HUMBLENESS - Webster’s Dictionary specifies the meaning as -“ the quality or condition of being humble; modest sense of one’s own importance” . Who needs to be humble….. since it is a ‘modest sense of one’s own importance’ it follows that it is a quality which needs to be present in people who are considered important.

A man acquires a sense of importance when he is an achiever in a particular field, he has performed acts of high excellence. For a primary school student – the teacher is utmost important . In the eyes of the kindergarden school teacher is someone who is revered/ the ultimate authority. Whatever she says/requests/directs needs to be followed implicitly. A request made once becomes a matter of great importance for the child and the same is not forgotten easily. It might be something as simple as a ‘ thank you’ for fetching the duster or a warning ‘to sit down and not walk about’ .

How do children react? If the expression of gratitude or warning is made with a smiling and approachable manner , the result will be more positive . Not all situations can a teacher or any other person expected to be at their polite or pleasing best … But only when the request or observations are made in the most appealing manner there comes a very positive and effective result.

You might wonder why I have taken up the above topic for discussion. Our country is a land of a lot of great achievers in various fields – science, politics , music, dance, drama, cinema, business etc., Whenever, an incident connected with the personality is related , the information is conveyed in the defense of the artist.

Let us take the case of musicians – A number of musicians in south India are considered as exemplary. When we read the interviews or reviews of these artistes – the tone of such articles indicates the attitude of the personality. While reading such reviews and articles I find that most of the artistes consider themselves an authority on the topic which they speak . I am not suggesting that all articles reflect it …. I only said most. What is the defense for such a reflection --- the common reason attributed for such a defense is ‘ he/she is a man of substance and he is confident in his subject so there is nothing wrong when the tone of authority is evident.’ I agree , of course there is nothing wrong in the fact that the confidence of a person over his area of pursuit is reflected in his speech/interview/article – but will it be inappropriate if the same person is slightly /very slightly humble.

When we go to meet a doctor, specially a specialist we are made to wait for hours – after which we get an audience of hardly few minutes wherein after a few moments of inspection the doctor puts forth his/her diagnosis and you are dispensed with – I do not say that humility needs to come into play…. But it will definitely considered an almost unknown phenomena if such doctors spend an extra 2 seconds with the patient in a kind manner making it appear that you are thought of as a person and not another case with ……disease/problem.

Similarly, a great artiste – when encountered with a member of the public/student/ interviewer will only attain more greatness if he is considerate enough to consider or lend his ear to the person. The recipient will only feel – ‘really this person is wonderful…. Even with such talent he is so considerate …….’ Creating a need in the recipient to only emulate the great artiste…. I think the word ‘humility’ comes into play here only.

In our day to day life we meet people from various walks of life.. They hold various positions either by virtue of their qualifications/ post or knowledge etc., Very often , we excuse their attitude by way of the statement ‘ Oh! He is got substance hence, he can afford to be a snob/arrogant/feel important/authoritative etc…..’ But I feel that if such people could be slightly humble and consider us lesser mortals even if we are found wanting from their point of view… it is possible for us to improve ourselves for we should always like to improve ourselves..

Not many of you might agree with me… but then I feel in today’s world each and every small achievement is considered a Himalayan achievement thereby bringing into the personality a tint of arrogance.