The Importance of Being Simple

The Importance of Being Simple

1985 7 July 5 The Importance of Being Simple (329) In a BBC film documentary on Lord Mountbatten; one of the many interesting incidents concerns Queen Elizabeth. On the occasion of her marriage with Prince Philips, Gandhiji sent her a gift-a table cover woven from the yarn he himself had spun. Obviously it must have been like a coarse mat, but the Queen graciously accepted it.

Some years later Mountbatten wanted it to be displayed in an, exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi in the National Gallery. In spite of having it searched for everywhere he failed to find it in the collections of the gallery. It then occurred to him that perhaps, for security purposes, it might have been preserved in the Tower of London. But it was not available even there.

One day, in the course of conversation with Queen Elizabeth, Lord Mountbatten casually mentioned its loss. The Queen immediately opened her special drawer, and said while taking it out: “Oh, why did you not ask me, I let nobody else touch that. I keep that to myself.”

What prompted her to take such special care of it? It perhaps struck her as a symbol of simplicity, in which she perceived a certain spiritual quality.

In a similar vein, once a group of Tablighi Jama’at (a religious party) went to England. They were clad in coarse long shirts, three quarter length trousers and round caps. This unusual appearance gave them a look of holiness. One day they said their prayers in a park and sat down there for a while. An Englishman approached them, touched their backs and then kissed his hand. Friends of his who saw this spectacle, asked him what had prompted him act in that way. He replied; “They are just like Jesus and Moses.”

Both the incidents show that living which is obviously simple is as valuable as conforming to the high material standards of society. In fact, when simple living is accompanied with holiness, it commands much more respect than an opulent luxurious life-style.