MUMBAI DIARIES

We should seek to resolve problems by diplomatic means and by constructive strengthening of our position. Complaining about our situation and protesting over our lot in life will do us no good whatsoever. in an accident. So, what others fail to do, we have to do for them. That is, when they make a mistake, we have to cancel out their mistake by taking evasive action.” It is not worth a driver’s while to stop and argue with everyone who crosses his path as to who is in the right and who is in the wrong. By doing so, he is only putting himself in a vulnerable position. So, instead of adopting a rigid approach, he is pragmatic in his approach. Instead of arguing about the rights and wrongs of some untoward incidents, he concentrates on saving himself from the dire consequences of other’s mistakes. By unilateral action, he rectifies the mistakes committed by others. He does not even wave an accusing finger at them. Conciliatory action of this nature is called ‘avoidance’ in the Quran, which stresses that people should adopt this policy on the highways of life. And this was the thought that dominated my mind after my conversation with Heera Lal. What he said about driving on roads, I thought, is true also of life. The tactics adopted by a taxi driver as he goes on his way along the roads of a busy city should be adopted by all individuals as they proceed on the road of life. In other words, we have to make allowances for the mistakes made by others. That is how a taxi-driver avoids accidents and, in the same way, we can avoid clashes in our dealings with others. How extraordinary it is that a taxi driver realizes this secret of life, which eludes most people, who are in control of the steeringwheel of the community. Perhaps leaders are not as serious in the performance of the task entrusted to them—the guidance of the community on its course through life —as a taxi driver is in the steering of his vehicle. A taxi driver really feels for his car and for this reason he knows, without being told, exactly how he should look after it, while one who does not share such feelings cannot understand, even after being told, how he should go about looking after that which has been entrusted to his care. Final Address to the Conference In accordance with a previously arranged programme, I delivered an address at the end of the Conference. This talk lasted for one hour and I began it with these words: