TREAT FAMILY, FRIENDS, GUESTS WITH COURTESY

Hospitality has been an important part of the Indian tradition. Being hospitable to your guests and friends gives you home an environment of purity and stability, in which positive qualities can flourish. Our epics are full of stories about how the poorest and most deprived people can win the heart of god through selfless hospitality and devotion. The stories of Shabari, the tribal woman who won the grace of Ram by offering him the berries growing wild in the forest and of Sudama, the poor friend of Krishna, who received divine love in return for a handful of rice, which he gave with love to Krishna, are becons, of guidance for us. Courtesy and hospitality are graceful qualities bestowed on the fortunate. The homes of such people are blessed and joyous. They never suffer from want of any kind. They remain unaffected by possessiveness and extreme greed.