For Amma, every person matters, and no one’s problem is too small for her attention. Despite giving darshan to thousands of people, guiding the ashram residents in both spiritual and practical matters, and personally guiding the many humanitarian projects of Embracing the World, Amma still finds time to listen to three little girls explain their sides of the story after a spat: it’s difficult to say who hit whom first, and after hearing them out, Amma makes clear that’s not the important point. Rather, Amma gently admonishes all three of them, while showering love and affection on them each in turn. To the girl who wished to be called “Chechi” (a respectful term for “older sister”) Amma gently explains that respect needs to be earned, not demanded. She also teaches them about the importance of being truthful, and de-escalates the conflict by offering to mediate future disagreements as soon as they arise. Watch the video to see Amma interact with each of these girls as if she has all the time in the world.
This incident happened in the last week of August 2015 at Amritapuri.