“I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet”

“I was sad because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet. So I said, "Got any shoes you’re not using?”

“I had no shoes, and I felt sorry for myself until I met a man who had no feet. I took his shoes. Now I feel better.”

“I had no shoes and I pitied myself. Then I met a man who had no feet,
so I took his shoes.”

“I felt very sorry that I had not met this man.”

“This great man, Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra, a Padmashri and Padma Bhushan, would clean the gutter outside his house. He used to beat me. One slap from my dad and I had left the house. And my guru slapped me a couple of times because I was arrogant. I would be so angry I would pack my bags. But I knew I was there because I wanted to be there not because he wanted me to be there. And when I touched his feet it was not by rote. When I touched his feet he and I both cried because he had waited long enough for me to come to that.”

“I pitied myself for having no door until I met a man with no dividers.”

“But if I wanted shoes, and you had given me a piece of leather to make myself shoes, I should be laughed at if I took it.”

“I still have my feet on the ground, I just wear better shoes.”

“Even a child with normal feet was in love with the world after he had got a new pair of shoes.”