Jessie Duarte was Nelson Mandela’s personal assi- stant. He was touched by Mandela’s lot of small but sharp activities & lifestyle. One of them in his own words- ‘Mr. Mandela always made his own bed, no matter where we traveled. I remember we were in Shanghai, in a very fancy hotel, and the Chinese hospitality requi- res that the person who cleans    your    room    &

provides you with your food, does exactly that. If you do it for yourself, it could even be regarded as an insult. So in Shanghai I tried to say to him, ‘Please don’t make your own bed, because there’s this custom here.’ And he said, ‘Call them, bring them to me.’ So I did. I asked the hotel manager to bring the ladies who would be cleaning the room, so that he could explain why he himself has to make his own bed, and that they not feel insulted. He didn’t ever want to hurt people’s feelings. He never really cared about what great big people think of him, but he did care about what small people thought of him. Sometimes an inspiring story helps us find out the strength within us. An inspiring story helps you inspire yourself and motivate yourself. It also helps find out what you can do and what you cannot. There are hundreds you may have read in your life. But how many of them actually made changes in your mind is a question.

Wiseland: Some people are mines-like the mines of gold

& silver