![]() ![]() I shall certainly help to the extent I can if you will accept my choice. It does not cause me pain that your thoughts are turning towards marriage. You will have received my previous letters. Mahatma Gandhi wrote a letter to his son Ramdas on dated 28 August 1917 that I still have two of your letters to answer. Still, if you do not wish to continue in the press, you may do what you want after consulting Ch. It has to depend for its ventures entirely on subscriptions. Now Phoenix will not get help from the public. I see no difficulty in your taking a salary from Phoenix. I have no desire to put any kind of pressure on you. You need not feel shy in writing to me freely. Mahatma Gandhi wrote a letter to his son Ramdas on dated 13 July 1913 that I have your letter. Mahatma Gandhi wrote a letter to his son Ramdas on dated 14 March 1913 that Ramdas and Devdas also study fairly well, but they have developed no interest in their studies. I must live there even for the sake of the struggle. Do not be upset if I go to jail rather you should rejoice. I shall explain to you in detail when we meet. The people of Europe are good, but their way of life is not good. What could I do if nothing European appealed to me? I like everything Indian. Do not be angry with me if I have not brought anything for you. Mahatma Gandhi wrote a letter to his son Ramdas on dated 27 November 1909 that I write this letter to you as I do not know when we shall meet. He had taken part in Indian independence movement. ![]() He took part in the cremation of Mahatma Gandhi with his brother Devdas Gandhi. He never adjusted to the idealistic poverty imposed by his father. He was very different his parents and his brothers. *No sugar was consumed in the writing of this newsletter.Ramdas Gandhi was the third son of Mahatma Gandhi. “As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.” It’s fitting to give Gandhi the last word: Plus, it gives others the role modeling and permission to keep challenging themselves and growing. ![]() Be honest about what you’re not doing well, and be courageous in taking steps to improve this. Your team, your kids – everyone will only respect you more. ![]() No one likes being guided or led by a hypocrite! Instead, master the behaviour, or at least be transparent in your commitment to get on top of it. Don’t use the authority you have to demand behaviours that you yourself don’t do.It’s harder to see when we are doing the same thing! Walk the talk, don’t just talk the talk. When you’re telling someone to do something, first check – am I doing this in my own life? It’s always easy to see where others can improve.If you want to be a great team leader, parent, boss, or co-worker, here are some suggestions: If we keep coming back to leading by example, we find the right action is easier to take. Which is why Gandhi’s sugar story is such a good guide. Blamey and whiney instead of responsible and accountable. We all sometimes fall short of how we would like to be. Life occurs in the margins, as we try to be our best possible selves – adorably and imperfectly human. Most of life isn’t as binary as giving up sugar*, which has a clear yes I am/no I’m not answer to it. At an energetic level, Gandhi’s words also had the impact that comes when one lives what one speaks. Yet he took on first giving up sugar himself, and then spoke from this position of understanding and integrity. Gandhi could have used his position to command the boy, and the boy would have listened. I love this story! It speaks to me about being honest with yourself, and not telling others to do what you’re not doing yourself. “Why couldn’t you have told him this 2 weeks ago?” To which he replied, “Madam, two weeks ago I was still eating sugar”. He looked at the boy and said “stop eating sugar”. Two weeks later the woman and her child sat in front of Gandhi. “Please tell him to stop.” Gandhi listened to her, and then asked her to come back in two weeks. “My son won’t stop eating sugar”, she told Gandhi. She complained about her child’s addiction to sugar. A woman and her young son had come to the ashram to speak to Gandhi. It was from them that I heard one of my now favourite Gandhi stories. There I spoke to a lot of old Gandhians who were part of the liberation movement in the 1940’s. I was staying nearby at Gujarat Vidyapith, a university dedicated to non violence founded in 1920 by Gandhi. Gandhi’s message of peace made more sense to me than ever. I was working in India at the time, and I felt drawn to the ashram to make sense of what was happening. War had not yet been declared – it was a moment between breaths as the world scrambled for answers and responses to that horrific attack. US naval ships were steaming toward the Indian Gulf. In September 2001 I visited Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram in Gujurat India. ![]()
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