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Padma Bhushan recipient S. K. Misra is Chairman of INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage)

What does spirituality mean to you?
It essentially means conducting my life according to what is best in the scriptures, meaning the basic principles of what one shall and shan’t do. It is not about adherence to ritualism, even though I believe in religions, with the conviction that all present a different path to the same end-goal.

How does it manifest in your day-to-day life?
I try to keep to the correct path in my dealings with fellow beings. My conscience is my guide. I spent more than fifty years in a variety of public responsibilities in the government, in the public sector and now in an NGO, and have often been under tremendous pressure from some who tried to corrupt me or force me to do certain things contrary to my convictions. I can proudly say that I did not bend, even though it sometimes meant great suffering and going through some really difficult times.
But I felt that taking that path pays. For instance, when I was handling Tourism in Haryana, I set up all those tourism complexes. I never took advantage of it to get free meals, bring friends etc. The result was that people down the line in the hierarchy also did not do it. And gradually a certain pride and efficiency came in, which increased the market value of all those places, as people got to know that they were “cleaner” and efficiently run.

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