Practice what you Preach

A woman once approached the Father of Nation

Mahatma Gandhi and requested him to please convince her son to give up the habit of eating sugar.

Gandhiji requested the woman to come with the boy next week. Precisely as advised the woman re-approached Gandhiji with her son a week later. The Mahatma looked at her son and, smilingly advised her son to give up eating sugar. Exactly the woman while leaving thanked the Mahatma for the advice and curiously enquired, why were those words not uttered to her son last week when they had initially approached him with the request as it would have saved one visit of theirs.

To, this the Mahatma grinned and replied, a week ago, even I was into the habit of eating sugar and wanted to give up the habit of eating sugar and then asked others to follow suit. How can I ask you, son, to do something which I don't do?