The children under the neem tree

During most of my childhood vacations, my parents used to take us to our village, Mandar. One experience from those days still moves me deeply.

Whenever we finished dinner at my grandmother’s house, very poor children from the village would gather outside and sit under the big neem tree. Each of them carried a small copper bowl. They would wait patiently.

As soon as our dinner was over, my grandmother would take all the leftover food out to them and distribute it equally. I remember—no matter how little or how simple the food was—they would relish it as if it were the most delicious meal in the world.

Today, writing this story, I have tears in my eyes. I am almost 60 years old now, and when I think of those times, I wonder: How can we ever complain to God about anything? We have everything in abundance. But those children—though they had so little—were so happy and content with the smallest joys. They were always thankful to my grandmother for whatever she gave them.

The moral is this:

It is the ones who are deprived who often teach us the biggest lessons. We all have more than enough to do the work of humanity. So stop complaining. Spread love and happiness without grumbling. Love every day as if it’s a gift—because it is.