Although I left India when I was 15 years old, my mother’s philosophies have continued to greatly resonate with me.
Every day, she and I would fetch water from a nearby well. We tolerated temperatures up to 130°F and never complained.
“Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice!”, she repeatedly drilled into me.
My mother taught me the universal and verifiable truth: we come with nothing, and we leave with nothing.
Greed is the worst of human traits and we must expect no credits or rewards for our deeds.
Self-satisfaction based on reality is a great reward. Rewards will come to you without soliciting.
I have come from this kind of nurturing, deeply embedded, and personally living in a very simple style, with the exception of food.
One can work effectively in a society that has a higher element of materialism.
