Humility is a quality that we all wish to have. But these days it is a quality that is fast disappearing….

The greatest inspiration I drew in life on this unique quality is a person, who was a close friend of my father. Someone who I admired from the time I met him. He was always an embodiment of humility and my interactions with him for a few years and several occasions helped me to realize the worth and value of this noble quality.

Mr. Nandan, was a senior executive in a Bank, when we first met, whilst he was posted in the city that we lived. I shared some great moments with him when we visited each other. I also had the opportunity of meeting several of his colleagues, when I visited him at work.

As the General Manager of the Bank, he could summon any of his staff for the most trivial of his needs but he would choose to go to the desk of his staff and request for the support that he needed.

He would walk through the office-way, speaking to all and sundry, exchanging jokes, sharing a happy moment, greeting people. He was so gracious and yet so simple. He joked with his staff and never let on who he was!!

It is from him that I learnt that it is important to go down and meet the people who worked for you. He used to find solutions to many complex problems just by going down and meeting the members of his staff.

He was never authoritarian he always built consensus and let the ideas and solutions emerge from the ideas of his team members rather than passing orders or imposing his views.

He became an endearing boss for all his subordinates and an affable colleague to all his peers. It is this quality that helped him transform the Bank, where ever he went and in any capacity that he worked.

He carried his humility with him, where ever he went…even when he went home, after a tiring and stressful day, he still would have an extremely cheerful disposition. He would quickly change into home clothes, head straight into the kitchen, donning a different “avatar” of a doting husband, to help his wife with the cooking.

I have strived and am still trying to emulate his example. I spend time meeting colleagues at their desks or workplace; I take the initiative of staying in touch with friends although they are miles apart and visit them whenever I can…just to keep that warmth going. I strive to support my wife with her work in the kitchen and now have become an adept in cooking myself!! I strive to relate to the kids and spend quality time with them, so that we can nurture that “bonding’- that vital connection!

I feel immensely grateful to Nandan Uncle and many like him who were ordinary people but extra-ordinary human beings, who inspired me to imbibe this great quality.

Yes friends, it is important to develop a mindset that brings happiness and it is our humility that helps to bring that happiness to us and those around us.

Indeed! Humility is an essential element in creating a beautiful legacy!!