Life is filled with Precious Memories.   Those are the moments when you look back on an event and say, “Wow, what a great moment that was.”  It might be something as simple as when you received an educational degree, where you had to really struggle to make it. There is one event in my life that helped me deeply understand that very few things in life are truly unreachable – if you have a vision, are willing to risk being laughed at, and are prepared for the consequences if you fail.  It happened to me in India in 1982.

I was invited to go to India for a month, sponsored by the Indo-American Society in Bombay, India.  My two-day seminar programs were for Indian sales executives on advanced sales strategies.  My preparation and research for this trip was extensive, and covered much of a year.  I read books about India and I talked with people who had been.  This was my first major international assignment in many years.  If I wanted my sales training programs taken seriously, I had to be well prepared to understand the cross cultural differences.

During that research time I gained a strong admiration for the leader of that huge country with more than 800 million people.  It was a woman leader, Prime Minister Indira Ghandi!   I had never been in a situation before where I might be able to see, or possibly even meet such a powerful, dynamic woman.  Yet the society in India was such a male dominated culture, it was confusing to me how she came to have such incredible power. Men must constantly surround her, I thought.   I wanted to see if she would have any interest in being a part of prestigious, elite world-wide women’s organization that was begun in the United States.  Perhaps no one had every asked her before!

About two months before my journey, I thought it would be terrific if I could meet Mrs. Gandhi!  No one I knew could advise me how I could go about this. Actually, many friends sort of laughed and thought I had “gone over the edge”.  So, I did the most logical thing that I live and teach.  I wrote to her and asked for an appointment!  In my letter, I described the purpose of my trip, and included several additional things in the mail package: biographical data, publicity about my work, and some brief information about the women’s organization.  Naturally, I included credentials from both the Mayor of Atlanta and the Governor of Georgia (neither of whom I knew prior to that – I just called and explained the circumstances and asked for their help).  I took a duplicate set of everything with me when I left for India.

Upon my arrival in Bombay, India, I mentioned to my host, Mr. Krishnan, what I had done, and asked if he would be so kind as to mail my duplicate letter set to Mrs. Gandhi in New Delhi.  I asked if he would add a note saying I was now in India for a month, and really looking forward to meeting with her.  In my letter I had requested an appointment on a specific day and time; I thought if I am going to be presumptuous, I might as well go all the way!  My request was on the day that I had my program in New Delhi, one day before my return to the United States– after my month of seminars and travel throughout India.

Mr. Krishnan, needless to say, thought I was out of my mind.  While trying to be polite, he asked if I knew how many hundreds of people tried to see the Prime Minister EVERY DAY?  In their 10 years of experience of visiting “experts” coming to India, NO one had EVER gotten an appointment with the Prime Minister.  I assured him that I did understand, that I would not be disappointed, and asked if he would please send the package.  He was probably questioning his own judgment for inviting me!

About a week later, Mr. Krishnan came into my program, wearing a huge smile on his face, and waving a telegram.  It was confirming my appointment with Mrs. Gandhi on the day that I asked; and, at the time that I requested.  From that moment forward, I was a HERO in India.  My seminar attendance grew and grew all over India; almost everyone had heard my story.
The day before my return to Atlanta was my scheduled meeting, at her private residence.  I knew that anything might happen to prevent this meeting, or that it would be a sixty second “so glad to have met you” fleeting moment.  It was a far cry from that.

I was ushered into her dining room, (they did not even search me for weapons, which I thought was curious), bypassing hundreds of people on the lawn and many seated in outer rooms in her home. I had no idea of their business or political purpose to see her; nor of their importance. Moments later she arrived, and we were left totally alone.  Our meeting lasted almost thirty minutes! The conversation was incredibly diverse, poignant, revealing and all for me.  We spoke about my trip, my book and work, my interest in mentoring and teaching women worldwide, of the women’s organization, of her grandchildren, and of her concern about nuclear weapons.  And finally, I listened, enthralled, at Mrs. Ghandi describe what was like to govern a huge nation with the diversity and enormous mushrooming population of India, with the majority of the population living in tiny rural villages. Those moments were magical.  At times I felt like I was off in a corner watching the scene.  It couldn’t be me.  I was “just” a career woman from Atlanta, Georgia.  I had no political connections, agenda, nor favors to ask, or benefits to present to this great lady.  But here I was.  This moment became real because I had an idea, believed it could happen, and made a plan to make it happen.

Before leaving, I asked if it would be possible to have a photograph taken of the two of us; that I had a tiny camera in my purse.  She reached under the table, pressed a button, and within less than two seconds someone entered the room.  A photographer was summoned, and the photo was taken – with their camera, and of course, with mine.

For me, it was a life changing experience and adventure.  One year later, Indira Gandhi was assassinated in India by one of her own guards, in the very home where we had met.  On the wall in my home I have a framed memory of that event: the telegram, the photograph, and the cover of TIME Magazine, her face on the cover with these words:  “If I were to die tomorrow, not a drop of my blood would have been spilled in vain.”

If you believe in yourself, anything is possible.  The joy of life is not in reaching the destination; the joy is in the journey, and how you choose to live that life.  After all, It’s Your Life, Isn’t It?