DO YOUR DUTY AND A LITTLE MORE

[Guest guest]

DO YOUR DUTY AND A LITTLE MORE

 

Baba said, “Shri Hari (God) will be certainly pleased, if you give water to the

thirsty, bread to the hungry, clothes to the naked, and your verandah to

strangers for sitting and resting” in Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. XVIII & XIX.

 

This is the true story of a humble night clerk named George who worked in a

small hotel. Night after night, he attended to his humdrum duties, but he was

no ordinary man. There was something extraordinary about him. He worked with

integrity. He was honest in his dealings. He was affable, kind, considerate,

and obliging by nature. His sincerity was absolute. He went out of his way to

help as many as he could.

 

One dark and rainy night, there came to the hotel, an old couple. They asked for

a room. But no room was vacant.

 

The clerk could easily have said, “We do not have a single vacant room in the

hotel.” He could even have said, “How can you expect to get a room in this

hotel without prior reservation? We are almost always full.” But being the

person he was, the clerk responded to the situation differently.

 

He looked at the old couple and he looked out into the dark, rainy night. He

thought to himself, how could this old couple go hunting for a room in such

inclement weather?

 

So he said to them, “We do not have a vacant room in the hotel right now, but if

you could wait for a while, I shall see what I can do for you.”

 

He called the maid and said to her, “Mary, go and fix my room. Make it tidy and

comfortable. I want an old couple to use my room for the night.”

 

Within fifteen minutes, the maid returned, saying, “Sir, the room is ready.”

 

As the night clerk took the old couple to the room, he said to them, “I am

taking you to a room which surely is not the best room in the hotel. But I do

hope you will find it cozy and comfortable, neat and clean. Make yourself at

home, and I shall send you two cups of hot tea which you may take before you

retire for the night.”

 

Several months passed. The night clerk completely forgot this incident. It was

one of the several incidents that occurred in his life, time and again.

 

A big hotel was built in New York – the famous Waldorf Astoria. It was built by

a man named John Jacob Astor. When the time came to advertise for the post of a

Manager for the hotel, he said, “I do not need to advertise the post, because I

have already a man in view.”

 

Who was that man? None other than the night clerk, who, on a dark and rainy

night, had obliged the couple, Mr. and Mrs. Astor, when they wanted a room in

his hotel. At that time, he had no idea as to whom he was obliging. It was

natural for him to go out of his way, to bring comfort into the lives of those

who needed it.

 

The night clerk, who worked in that small hotel, now attained instant success.

He found himself in charge of a huge, world famous hotel. He became successful

only because he went out of his way to oblige people.

 

Om Sai Sri Sai Jaya Jaya Sai

 

Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya…..

 

One day, I went to the Master and said, “Full of faults and failings am I, and

many weaknesses lurk within me. Tell me, Blessed Master, if there is a way for

me.”

 

And the Master said, “Sing the Holy Name with deep longing of the heart and give

the service of love to all, and you will be saved!”

 

 

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