The Pencil Story

Once Gandhi lost a small pencil. He asked the members of his Ashram to look for it. But they brought a new pencil for him. Gandhi didn't like this. He said," I want the old, the small one that was lost ". And he was very happy when his men searched for it and brought him the old small pencil.

This is what Arun Gandhi, his grandson says about a similar incident in his life. 'Once I lost my pencil. I was then studying in a school. When I asked my grandfather to give me a new pencil, he asked, "Where is the old one I gave you ?" I said, " I lost it ". " Go back and look for it," my grandfather said. I then said, " It is a very dark grandfather. I'll not be able to find it in the darkness". But my grandfather did not give in. He said, "Take this torchlight and look for it". I took the torchlight, searched for the pencil, and got it.'

Just not with pencils, Gandhiji did not want to waste anything. He wrote letters on the backside of old letters. He made notes on the backside of old bills. This was also true of time. He was very punctual and never wasted a minute or even a second.