SHORT STORIES

Thanksgiving

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students
and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he
stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, Okay, time for a quiz

Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide mouth mason jar and set it on the table in front of
him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at
a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside,
he asked, Is this jar full? Everyone in the class said, Yes.

Then he said, “Really?” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel.
Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work
themselves down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once
more, Is the jar full? By this time the class was on to him. Probably not, one of them
answered.

Good he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He
started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the
rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, Is this jar full? No the class
shouted.

Once again he said, Good. Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in
until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, What is the
point of this illustration? One eager beaver raised his hand and said, The point is, no
matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more
things in it. No, the speaker replied, that’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches
us is: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.

What are the big rocks in your life?

Time with your loved ones, faith, education, your dreams, a worthy cause? Teaching or
mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them
in at all. So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask
yourself this question: What are the big rocks in my life?

Then, put those in your jar first.

I LOVE YOU, PAPA

Devyani was sitting beside her ailing father. He had contracted Pneumonia, after being
out on a chilly winter evening in January. She read out short stories from a book to him.
He listened with attention as she read the author's description of a garden in a valley,
abloom with flowers of various hues. He said, “Devyani, it's time to sow the seeds for the
spring flowers. I don't think I'll be able to do it this year. Would you do it for me?” “Yes,
Papa,” said Devyani happily.

For the next few days, Devyani organized her work so that she would be free to work
with the gardener, when he came at four in the afternoon. She supervised the sowing of
the seeds. She made careful considerations of the height and colour of the flowers that
would bloom. She reported to her father what she had been organizing in his beloved
garden. Father's eyes shone with paternal pride as he saw his lovely daughter working
responsibly with the gardener. “Papa, the garden will be in full bloom in March. It's your
birthday on March 30th. You know what; we'll have you fit as a fiddle by then. We'll invite
all your friends and have a feast together.” Father smiled happily and nodded in
agreement. Come February, but father was not better. He contracted a chest infection.
Some days later it spread to his lungs. All the antibiotics seemed to have no effect.

Father coughed and wheezed day and night. There was an array of cough syrups,
tablets, steamers etc on his bed side table. Devyani and her mother nursed him lovingly
and tirelessly. But day by day, he deteriorated. He became weaker and weaker, till on
March 20th, he passed away in his sleep.

Devyani and mother bade a tearful goodbye to the man they loved so much. On the 28th
of March, Devyani called up all her father's friends and invited them to a garden party to
celebrate her father's sixtieth birthday. They were surprised, yet intrigued.

Devyani baked a cake and iced it with a “Kiss.” She placed it on a table in the centre of
the garden. Some other eats were also organized. But it was not the iced kiss on the
cake that caught their attention. The flowers took everyone's breath away! The flowers
were planted in such a way that the pattern made by their height and colours read as 'I
love you Papa!'

As Devyani sang “Happy Birthday to you, dear Papa' she raised her tear filled eyes to
the heavens and said, “Papa, I know you can see your garden of flowers, I love you, and
I always will. Happy Birthday to you!”

THE FAVOURITE CHILD

The woman had three sons and six daughters. Her day was full of chores to fulfill the
numerous demands of her growing troop. She was always busy with cooking, washing,
cleaning, dusting ironing and also counselling! One day her youngest son fell sick. She
called up the doctor and requested him to drop by and examine him.

As he checked the boy’s throat, he asked the lady, “Madam, how many children do you
have?” She hesitated for a moment, then said, “As many as I can take care of!” The man
watched her as she sat beside her five year old son, who was burning with high fever.
She dipped small hand towels into a basin of water, turn by turn and used them to wipe
the boy’s burning brow.

From the doorway, her teenaged daughter, called out, “Mama, where are my hairpins?”
“They’re in the brown box on the console, honey.” Just then her other son popped in, “I
have to stay back after school for football today, I need an extra Tiffin, Mom.” She smiled
and said, “Yes, darling I remember you have a football match today. I’ve packed an extra
sandwich in the white box along with your Tiffin. It’s lying on the table, next to your
breakfast. Now, run along and let me talk to the doctor.”

The doctor admired the ease with which she was in command of everything around her.
He asked her, “Which one of them is your favourite?”

She said simply, “The one who needs me most.” “Which one?” he asked in surprise.

She said, “The one who is sick; the one who is sad; the one who is lonely.... the one who
needs me most ... That is my favourite child!”

Mrs. Thompson and Teddy

Her name was Mrs. Thompson and his was 'Teddy'.

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the
children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved
them all the same. But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in
his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well
with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a
bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant.

It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his
papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his
papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past
records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was
in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does
his work neatly and has good manners ... He is a joy to be around."

His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his
classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home
must be a struggle."

His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death had been hard on him. He tries to do
his best, but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him
if some steps aren't taken."

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest
in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class".
By now, Mrs Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt
even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful
ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the
heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs Thompson took pains to open it
in the middle of the other presents.

Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of
the stones missing, and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the
children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and
dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson,
today you smelled just like my Mom used to." After the children left she cried for at least
an hour.

On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she
began to teach children.

Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind
seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the
end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and,
despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her
"teacher's pets."

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still
the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Six years went by before she got another
note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and
she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at
times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college
with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs.Thompson that she was still the best and
favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that
after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained
that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a
little longer - The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy
said he'd met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died
a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the
place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course,
Mrs Thompson did.

And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And
she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother
wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard
whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me.
Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a
difference”.

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all
wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know
how to teach until I met you."

Warm someone's heart today and pass this along. Please remember that wherever you
go, and whatever you do, you will have the opportunity to touch and/or change a
person's outlook. And please try to do it in a positive way.

COMFORT–A RARE COMMODITY

Being a mother of two very active boys, ages seven and one, I am sometimes worried
abut their making a shambles of my carefully decorated home. In their innocence and
play, they occasionally knock over my favourite lamp or upset my well designed
arrangements. In these moments when nothing feels sacred, I remember the lesson I
learned from my wise mother-in-law.

This wise old lady is the mother of 6 and grandmother of 13. She is the embodiment of
gentleness, patience and love.

One Christmas, all the children and grandchildren were gathered as usual at her Home.
Just the month before, Grandma had bought beautiful new white carpeting after living
with the “Same Old Carpet” for over 25 years. She was overjoyed with the new look it
gave her home.

My brother-in-law, Arnie, had just distributed his gifts for all the nieces and nephews –
prized homemade honey from his beehives. They were excited. But as fate would have
it, eight year old Sheena spilled her tub of honey on grandma’s new carpeting and
trailed it throughout the entire groundfloor of the house.

Crying, Sheena ran into the kitchen and into grandma’s arms. “Grandma, I’ve spilled my
honey all over your brand new carpet” Grandma knelt down, looked tenderly into
Sheena’s tearful eyes and said, “Don’t worry sweetheart. We can get you more honey.”

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AND FEEDBACK

A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a soda carton and pulled it over to the
telephone. He climbed onto the carton so that he could reach the buttons on the phone
and proceeded to punch in seven digits. The store owner listened to the following
conversation.
The boy asked, "Lady, can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?" The woman
replied, "I already have someone to cut my lawn." "Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the
price of the person who cuts your lawn now." The woman responded that she was very
satisfied with the person who was presently cutting her lawn.

The little boy found more perseverance and offered, "Lady, I'll even sweep your curb and
your sidewalk, so on Sunday you will have the prettiest lawn in all of North Palm Beach,
Florida." Again the woman answered in the negative. With a smile on his face, the little
boy replaced the receiver. The druggist, who was listening to all this, walked over to the
boy and said, "Son... I like your attitude; I like that positive spirit and would like to offer
you a job."

The little boy replied, "No thanks. I was just checking on the job I already have!"

Kiss in a Box!

The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting
a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child
tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.

Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This
is for you, Daddy. He was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared
again when he found the box was empty. He yelled at her, "Don't you know that when
you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside it?"

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, Daddy, it is not
empty. I blew kisses into the box. All for you, Daddy." The father was crushed. He put his
arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.

It is told that the man kept that gold box by his bed for years and whenever he was
discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child
who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us as humans have been given a gold container filled with
unconditional love and kisses from our children, friends, family or God. There is no more
precious possession anyone could hold.

OUR BABY HAS GONE

A couple had been married for ten years, but they had no child. Then one day, the wife
was overjoyed to know that soon she would be a mother. The couple shared the joy of
the baby growing in her tummy all through the nine months. The beautiful baby boy was
born. Needless to say, he was the apple of his parent’s eyes.

When the boy turned three, he seemed to have a fascination for electric plugs and
sockets. He would try to stick his little fingers into the sockets in the walls. Father took
some cello-tape and covered all the sockets in the house. Every time they needed to use
a socket, they would carefully remove the tape and restore it back after the work was
done. One day, the mother used the vacuum cleaner at one of the sockets. After that
she forgot to cover the socket with tape.

When she went in for a bath, the child was asleep in his baby cot. A minute or two later
the baby got up and incidentally, found his way to the uncovered socket in the wall. He
picked up a small pair of scissors and stuck its prongs into the socket. Playfully he
pressed the switch with his other hand. It took only a few seconds. Mother heard the
baby scream as the powerful current shot through his little body. By the time she
reached him, it was already too late.

Unable to control herself she called her husband and cried bitterly, “It’s all over. He’s
gone, he’s left us, our baby as gone” The man drove home like the wind. Do you think he
rebuked his wife for her negligence?

No, he held her in his arms for she had also lost her only child. He said, “Honey, its
okay. That’s what destiny had in store for us. Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because
it happened. He gave us the beautiful experience of being mother and father. But
perhaps the joy was meant to be short lived. We have to accept God’s will.”

Their child was not going to come back. But, they still had each other to live for. Love is
unconditional. It’s a package deal. All the virtues and vices of your partner come
packaged in one capsule. A successful relationship needs falling in love over and over
again many times with the same person!

THE JUNGLE

A king once got separated from his kinsmen while chasing a deer. He wandered alone in
the forest. As dusk fell, he knocked at the door of a tiny cottage in the jungle. It was
opened by a poor woodcutter who gave the 'stranger' a warm welcome. He offered him
his own bed to sleep along with some simple but tasty food.

In the morning, while taking leave of the wood cutter, the king disclosed his real identity
and asked him, what he could give in return for his hospitality. The wood cutter being a
simpleton asked, “Can you give me a place where I can cut trees and sell them?” The
king took him far away to the edge of another jungle and said, “This is yours from today.
Do what you like with it.”

The wood cutter would cut trees and burn them to make coal, because they were too
heavy for him to carry to the market place. Several months passed. The woodcutter was
very happy. When the monsoon season started, there was heavy rainfall and the wood
became wet. The ground was full of slush, so it was impossible to burn the wood to
make coal. He had no choice but to carry the wet logs of wood to the market to sell it.
When he showed the wood to the buyer, the buyer offered a sum that was a hundred
times more than he was paying earlier. The wood cutter was confused! Earlier he was
supplying coal whereas now it was wood and that too, wet wood! Where was the catch?
The buyer told him that the wood that he had brought was no ordinary wood, it was real
Sandalwood! The wood cutter realised what a fool he had been. He had cut and burnt
hundreds of Sandalwood trees to make coal, little realizing the value of this precious
wood. Had he known, by now he could have been a very, very rich man.

Let us understand the value of the human body given to us by the Almighty. We actually
burn our bodies at both ends. Most of us indulge in burning our energies in doing futile
things that eventually have no value nor meaning. But, by the time we realise that we are
wasting our lives, it is perhaps too late. The sooner we realize, the better chance we
shall have to put to good use our bodies as well as our lives.

I LOVE MY PARENTS

Shashi and her husband were the proud parents of two young boys. They lived in
Mumbai. In the normal course of growing up and pursuing their higher education, both
the boys went abroad.

The older one, one day told his parents, “Mom and Dad, I have something to share with
you. I met a girl while I was in the United States and wish to marry her.” The parents
were pleased but apprehensive. “Who is she? What does she do?” asked Shashi
anxiously. The son chose his words carefully, “Mom, she is a white girl!” Now, that was
something, they did not expect. They were an orthodox Hindu family. But, the son was
very sure that he wanted to marry, the girl.

Well! They got married and lived in the United States. Many years later, Shashi was told
by a friend, “Shashi, I met your daughter-in-law recently, at a party. She told me a
strange thing. She said that your son, although, madly in love with her, had laid a
condition before he had married her.” “Oh! What was it?” asked Shashi in surprise. “He
had said to his fiancé, “I have a condition. You have to promise me that you shall not
question or object to anything that I may wish to do for my parents or any expenditure
that I may ever wish to make for them. I have a strong relationship with them and the
very fact that I love you does not mean that I do not love them!”

What a revelation! Shashi and her husband were both lawyers. They were earning well
enough to have a very comfortable life. But, those words that her son had said touched
her heart.

Many of the senior members of our society may not be financially independent. They
may have to extend a palm in front of their children for their daily needs and expenses.
Young men and women! Whether or not your parents are in need of financial help, make
it a point to give them something out of what you earn. They shall bless you for it!

Incidentally, last year, we had gone to Singapore for a vacation. During one of our
sightseeing tours, we had an elderly tourist guide, called Kim. She was an absolute
tomboy full of vim and vigour. She said to all the children in the coach, including ours.
“Children, your parents have brought you to Singapore, for a holiday. Are you having
fun?” “Yes,” Chorused the fifteen odd children in the coach. “Good, now all of you
promise me, that when you are all grown up and your parents are old, you shall bring
them for a holiday to Singapore!”

What a beautiful thought!

Our parents give us their best, to the best of their ability. In turn, it is our duty to give
them our best, to the best of our ability. Yes, FAMILY means, Father And Mother I Love
You!

POSITIVE CRITICISM

Rawatji was the eighty years old clerk in the office of Ahmed. Ahmed was the head of a
reputed business organization. One day a client was sitting in a meeting with Ahmed.
They were tabulating the terms of the new agreement for the purchase of steel for the
new plant. Rawatji listened quietly in a corner. Suddenly he said in a stern, authoritative
voice, “Ahmed, you are miscalculating the overheads. This amount is ridiculous. Go over
it again.” The client raised his eye brows and said, “Who is that old man? Tell him to
mind his own business.” Ahmed paused for a moment and then said, “He is my father!”

Ahmed looked into the detail of the calculation and realized that his junior staff had
indeed made a mistake.

The meeting being over, the client sat with Ahmed in an easy mood. He said, “Ahmed, I
believe you lost father when you were young. Who was that old man and why did you
allow him to speak to you like that? As the head of the organization, I wouldn’t allow
anyone to use that tone with me. When I am the boss, everyone better know it!” Ahmed
said, “My father had started this business house with Rawatji as his clerk. Father passed
away when I was only eighteen. Rawatji managed everything passionately as if it were
his own. He groomed me the way my father would have. At this age, he attends office
everyday. Fifteen years ago, he even stopped taking his salary. He is my worst critic
and yet my best friend. He is my mentor. Pobody’s Nerfect. I mean, Nobody’s Perfect; so
how can I be? He sees through the mistakes I make. He has an uncanny sixth sense.
Besides, his experience far outweighs ours. You know, in business, howsoever well
qualified you may be, but it is good old commonsense, experience and values that are at
the root of all good decisions. And for commonsense, experience and values, who else
can I turn to but Rawatji? Even Baba says, “Age should think and Youth should do.”

The learned Fakir Kabir said, Nindak neare rakhiye, angan kuti chhawye! Bin pani,
sabun bina, Nirmal kare subhaye!!

This means, keep a critic tucked away in the courtyard of your house, for he can clean
up your character without the use of soap or water! If you really pause to hear what a
critic has to say about you, you can see your picture as the other guy sees it. It is only
when you are able to identify your faults and acknowledge them that you can do
something to improve yourself.

Take criticism in a positive light, use it to introspect and improve yourself. Steer clear of
flatterers. All they do is massage your ego!
 THE OTHER SIDE

A Father was reading a magazine and his little daughter every now and then distracted
him. To keep her busy, he tore one page on which was printed the map of the world. He
tore it into pieces and asked her to go to her room and put them together to make the
map again.

He was sure she would take the whole day to get it done. But the little one came back
within minutes with a perfect map. When he asked how she could do it so quickly, she
said, "Oh... Dad, there is a man's face on the other side of the paper... I made the face
perfect to get the map right." She ran outside to play, leaving the father surprised.

There is always the other side to whatever you experience in this world. Whenever we
come across a challenge or a puzzling situation, look at the other side... You will be
surprised to see an easy way to tackle the problem.

THE POOR MAN

A man, who was full of self-pity, went to a priest and said, “I am very poor. I am totally
disillusioned because I have nothing. I want to die. Please help me to become rich, or I
do not wish to live.” The priest thought for a moment and said, “Alright, give me a day to
think what I can do to help you to become rich. Come back tomorrow.”

The next day this poor man went to the priest's house again. The priest introduced him
to a blind man and said, “This man would happily pay you two lacs of rupees, if you
would donate one of your eyes to him. You can earn this money today. You only have to
say, 'Yes'.” The poor man shook his head and said, “That shall disfigure my handsome
face. I do not wish to give him my eye.”

The priest shrugged his shoulders and said, “If you are so concerned about your good
looks, come again tomorrow, I shall think of something else.”

The following day, the priest had another guest sitting by his side. He said “This man is
suffering from kidney failure. If you want, you can sell one of your kidneys to him for a
fair sum of rupees three lacs. This deal shall not even hamper your good looks.
“No,” said the man. “I don't want to go through the pain.”

Then the priest said, “My dear, God has given you a perfect body. You are richer than
many thousands of people who are disabled, old, sick and suffering. This is your
greatest wealth. You do not know its value. Make use of your limbs. Seek out work.
There is no dearth of jobs. Good establishments are in fact, in search of good workers. If
you work and prove your worth to your employer, he shall surely value you. Get up and
get to work. The world is waiting for you.”

This reminds me of what my mother once told me. She said that whenever a baby was
born in the family (it was an extended family). My late grand-mother never asked,
whether it was a boy or a girl. All she asked was, “Is the child normal? Are all the limbs
complete? Is the mother alright?”
In a society obsessed with male progeny, this was a great attitude. A normal healthy
child is all she asked for. The sex of the child was very secondary.

So, all of us who are lucky to be blessed with normal healthy bodies are indeed wealthy.
We just need to understand that this is the greatest wealth that God could bestow upon
us and so, we should value it and put it to good use. Contentment they say, is not
achieving all that you dreamt of, it is valuing and appreciating the things you already
have.

THE NIGHT LIGHT

An old couple was building a small house for themselves. All their lives they had spent
on their children's upbringing. Now they had discharged all their liabilities, so they
decided to build a small cottage for themselves.

One bright sunny day they set out to buy light fittings for their dream house. The
salesman showed them a lovely chandelier for the drawing room. It was made of crystal
and had candle bulbs in it. It was delicate and beautiful. But it was expensive. After
much contemplation they decided to buy it. They selected some simple fittings for the
kitchen and the bathrooms. They indulged themselves with a lovely set of bed side
lamps for their bedroom. They then proceeded with the porch lights and the garden
lights. Finally every thing was finalized and the order was placed.

As the old man was about to sign the cheque for the total amount, the salesman said,
“Sir, you have not taken a look at our range of 'the most important light' for your house.”
The old man raised his eyebrows, as the salesman led him to a corner where there was
a delightful array of night lights. Well, they selected a simple and inexpensive one and
made their way home.

When the house was ready, they moved in. As they were about to settle down into their
cosy bed for the night, the lady switched on the night light.

Soon they slept. At midnight the old man woke to answer nature's call. He got up and
was pleasantly surprised to note that the light emitted by the tiny night bulb was enough
for him to find his way to the washroom without any apprehension. He silently sent a
blessing to the salesman who had reminded him to buy what he had tagged, 'the most
important light.'

So too, it is with the small things in life that make the path of our life comfortable and
pleasant. They are insignificant and inexpensive, yet most significant and valuable. They
are family, love, laughter, kindness, empathy, sacrifice etc. They cost precious little, but
they are the most important things in our lives. In fact the most important things in our
lives are not actually 'things'. Let's not overlook them and start valuing them, lest we
have to regret in retrospect for missing out on them.

Your family and friends are like the night light that provides light when all other lights are
off!
GOOD HEALTH

There was a king called Sheelbhadra. He along with a number of ministers and courtiers
was on a pilgrimage. En route they stopped at many temples. The king offered his
prayers at each of the temples. Some days passed like this.

One evening as dusk fell, the king's party looked around for a place to spend the night.
They found the hermitage of a sage. They stopped over for the night. During the night
the king became sick. The sage's people brought a Vaidya (Ayurvedic doctor) to attend
to the King. The king recovered in a couple of days. During his stay at the ashram, he
saw from close quarters, the hard life style of the residents of the ashram. To express
his gratitude, he asked the sage to keep the Vaidya there on a permanent basis. He said
that he would provide for a monthly sum to be paid as salary to the Vaidya.

Accordingly, the Vaidya was put up in the Ashram. Months passed. The Vaidya had to
sit idle all the time because no body seemed to fall sick there. One day the Vaidya got
fed up of his idleness and said, “Oh sage! I really don't think that I am needed here; I am
fed up of sitting idle all the time. Please ask the King to relieve me of my services.”

The sage smiled. The Vaidya went on, “Tell me, Oh Holy one! How is it that nobody falls
sick here? Is it because you have a tantra-mantra of protection over them?” The sage
laughed and said, “Let me tell you the mantra of our good health. All of us here wake up
at the break of day. We work hard from dawn to dusk. We eat frugally because we eat to
live; not live to eat. This place has fresh air and sunlight. Our rooms are cooled by the
breeze of trees we have planted all around. Where is there room for any illness to creep
in?”

What a profound statement! Living close to nature, eating simple food and working hard
are the three legs of the tripod of good health. In today's world we want to satisfy our
taste buds with pizzas and burgers; pakoras and rasmalais; pastries and cheese puffs.
We use gadgets to execute all the menial jobs around us, but when it comes to eating,
we want to eat all the rich food that is loaded with calories that we don't know how to
burn!

MY WATER

There was a small hermitage in the mountains. The air was cool and clean. Some
young sadhus lived there. They lived simply. They ate mostly wild fruits and berries.
They slept on jute mats on the floor. They brought water from the nearby stream to cook,
wash and clean the hermitage. They bathed in the stream. Most importantly, they spent
most of their time in meditation. They had left behind their families to meditate and free
themselves from worldly attachments.

One day, two of the Sadhus went to the stream to fetch water. They filled a bucket each
and set them near the hermitage. They then went to collect fire wood. It was a very cold
day, so they thought that they would heat some water for bathing. After collecting some
dried wood, they got back. A little sparrow was sitting on the edge of one of the buckets;
her beak was in the water. One of the Sadhus ran forward to scare it away, “Hush!
Hush!” he cried out. The tiny bird flew away.
When they reached the buckets, the first Sadhu reached out to pick up the bucket that
had not been touched by the sparrow. The other sage said, “Wait a minute that was my
bucket.”

“Of course not, that one is mine.”

“I put mine, on this side. That one is yours. Leave my bucket alone.”

“Why should I leave it, it is mine.”

The argument went on, till they caught hold of each other's neck. They had a scuffle and
one of the sadhus, being more able bodied, was able to physically lift the other one and
throw him further. The sadhu landed with a thud and his foot hit the same bucket over
which they had been fighting. All the water spilled out!

Let us look at this objectively -

Firstly, how much water could the sparrow possibly have drunk, that the quantity of
water was reduced?

Secondly, had the water become impure due to the sparrow's touch? It was drawn from
the stream. All wild birds and animals would be drinking from it all the time!

Thirdly, the water was going to be used for just bathing. Neither the quantity nor the
purity of the bathing water had been affected

GOD HEARD YOU

A Preacher was delivering a discourse to a large gathering on the importance of reciting

prayers in the praise of the Lord. A young man, called Gopa, got up and said rudely,
"Panditji, what proof do you have that this so called God of yours, listens to our prayers?
These are all a means of earning for you Brahmins. Who knows what reaches God? You
are just wasting our time. Why don't you just wind up your talk now? Enough is enough."
The Preacher asked the youngster to sit down and meet him later after the session was
over. The fellow continued to interrupt and disturb the session. When he did it for the fifth
time, the Preacher raised his voice and said, "What an insolent brat you are! Didn't your
mother ever teach you any manners? Sit down quietly or I'll beat the daylights out of
you."

That was the last straw. Gopa sprang up to the stage and caught the Preacher by the
neck and said, "Keep my mother out of this. Hold your tongue or I'll kill you." Then
Panditji said, "Kill me if you must, but let me ask you something first. Does your mother
sleep with her doors and windows closed?" Gopa looked at him angrily and said, "Of
course she does! But how does that concern you? The Preacher repeated, "She sleeps
with her doors and windows tightly shut, isn't it?" "Yes, she does," shouted Gopa. "Then
do you think she would have heard my abuses?" "Of course she would have and I'm
going to kill you for that," he shrieked. "Well, if you are sure that my words of abuse
could penetrate through closed doors and windows, to reach your mother, then how is it
that my words of prayer would not reach the Lord who is omnipresent?"
Gopa's jaw dropped. He released the Preacher from his hold. He was at a loss for
words. The Preacher got up and put his hands on Gopa's shoulders, "My friend, I'm
sorry, I used those words. But that was the only way I could have made you understand.
Be sure that God listens to every word that you utter in His praise. Not only that, He also
listens to every word that you utter for anything and to anyone. He even reads your
thoughts!"

Many a times when you stand in front of the deity in a temple, you pray within your heart;
you utter no words; but He hears you no matter what!

HARE AND TORTOISE (OLD STORY RETOLD)

The moral of the old story of the hare and the tortoise is that slow and steady wins the
race. That is the version of the story that we've all grown up with. But then recently,
someone told me a more interesting version of this story. It continues:

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He
realized that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and
lax. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed. This time, the
hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won.

The moral of the story is fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. If you
have two people in your organization, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other
fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb
the organizational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap. It's good to be slow and
steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.

But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realized that
there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. He
thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly
different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made
commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came
to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the
river. The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise
trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and
finished the race.

The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing
field to suit your core competency. In an organization, if you are a good speaker, make
sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management
to notice you. If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make
a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but
will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.

The story still hasn't ended. The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty
good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realized that the last race
could have been run much better. So they decided to do the last race again, but to run
as a team this time. They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the
riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On
the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line
together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.

The moral of the story, “It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core
competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core
competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at
which you'll do poorly and someone else does well. Teamwork is mainly about
situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a
situation take leadership”.

There are more lessons to be learnt from this story. Note that neither the hare nor the
tortoise gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort
after his failure. The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as
hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work
harder and put in more effort. Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try
something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both. The hare and the
tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we stop competing against a rival and
instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better.

ATTITUDE

The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning
by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even
though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many
hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told
her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual
description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her
window.

“I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been
presented with a new puppy. "Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room just wait." "That
doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on
ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is
arranged, it's how I arrange my mind. “I already decided to love it ...It's a decision I
make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed
recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out
of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes
open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away .just for this
time in my life.”

Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to
you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you
for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing.
 LOVE

Once upon a time there was an island where all the feelings lived. Happiness, sadness,
knowledge and all the others, including love. One day it was announced to all of the
feelings that the island was going to sink to the bottom of the ocean. So all the feelings
prepared their boats to leave.

Love was the only one that stayed. She wanted to preserve the island paradise until the
last possible moment. When the island was almost totally under, love decided it was
time to leave. She began looking for someone to ask for help. Just then Richness was
passing by in a grand boat. Love asked, "Richness, Can I come with you on your boat?"

Richness answered, "I'm sorry, but there is a lot of silver and gold on my boat and there
would be no room for you anywhere." Then Love decided to ask Vanity for help who was
passing in a beautiful vessel. Love cried out, "Vanity, help me please." "I can't help you",
Vanity said, "You are all wet and will damage my beautiful boat."

Next, Love saw Sadness passing. Love said, "Sadness, please let me go with you."
Sadness answered, "Love, I'm sorry but I just need to be alone now." Then, Love saw
Happiness and cried out, "Happiness, please take me with you." But Happiness was so
over overjoyed that he didn't hear Love calling to him.

Love began to cry. Then she heard a voice say, "Come Love, I will take you with me." It
was an elder. Love felt so blessed and overjoyed that she forgot to ask the elder his
name. When they arrived on land the elder went on his way. Love realized how much
she owed the elder.

Love then found Knowledge and asked thename of the saviour "It was Time",
Knowledge answered. "But why did Time help me when no one else would?", Love
asked. Knowledge smiled and with deep wisdom and sincerity and answered, "Because
only Time is capable of understanding how great Love is."

PICKLE JAR

The pickle jar as far back as I can remember sat on the floor beside the dresser in my
parents' bedroom. When he got ready for bed, Dad would empty his pockets and toss
his coins into the jar. As a small boy I was always fascinated at the sounds the coins
made as they were dropped into the jar.

They landed with a merry jingle when the jar was almost empty. Then the tones
gradually muted to a dull thud as the jar was filled. I used to squat on the floor in front of
the jar and admire the copper and silver circles that glinted like a pirate's treasure when
the sun poured through the bedroom window. When the jar was filled, Dad would sit at
the kitchen table and roll the coins before taking them to the bank. Taking the coins to
the bank was always a big production. Stacked neatly in a small cardboard box, the
coins were placed between Dad and me on the seat of his old truck.

Each and every time, as we drove to the bank, Dad would look at me hopefully. "Those
coins are going to keep you out of the textile mill, son. You're going to do better than me.
This old town's mill not going to hold you back."
Also, each and every time, as he slid the box of rolled coins across the counter at the
bank toward the cashier, he would grin proudly. "These are for my son's college fund.
He'll never work at the mill all his life like me."

We would always celebrate each deposit by stopping for an ice cream cone. I always got
chocolate. Dad always got vanilla. When the clerk at the ice cream parlor handed Dad
his change, he would show me the few coins nestled in his palm. "When we get home,
we'll start filling the jar again." He always let me drop the first coins into the empty jar. As
they rattled around with a brief, happy jingle, we grinned at each other. "You'll get to
college on pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters," he said. "But you'll get there. I'll see to
that."

The years passed, and I finished college and took a job in another town.

When I married, I told my wife Susan about the significant part the lowly pickle jar had
played in my life as a boy. In my mind, it defined, more than anything else, how much my
dad had loved me.

"The first Christmas after our daughter Jessica was born, we spent the holiday with my
parents. After dinner, Mom and Dad sat next to each other on the sofa, taking turns
cuddling their first grandchild.

After dinner Susan noticed something and beckoned me to join her. "Look," she said
softly, her eyes directing me to a spot on the floor beside the dresser. To my
amazement, as if it had never been removed, stood the old pickle jar, the bottom already
covered with coins. I walked over to the pickle jar, dug down into my pocket, and pulled
out a fistful of coins. With a gamut of emotions choking me, I dropped the coins into the
jar.

POWER OF POSITIVE WORDS

As a kid, I was always climbing trees, poles, and literally hanging around upside down
from the rafters of our lake house. So, it came to no surprise for my dad to find me at the
top of a 30-foot tree swinging back and forth. My little eight-year-old brain didn't realize
the tree could break or I could get hurt. I just thought it was fun to be up so high.

My older cousin, Tammy, was also in the same tree. She was hanging on the first big
limb, about ten feet below me. Tammy's mother also noticed us at the exact time my dad
did. About that time a huge gust of wind came over the tree. I could hear the leaves start
to rattle and the tree begin to sway. I remember my dad's voice over the wind yell, "Bart,
Hold on tightly." So I did. The next thing I know, I heard Tammy screaming at the top of
her lungs, laying flat on the ground. She had fallen out of the tree. I scampered down
the tree to safety. My dad later told me why she fell and I did not. Apparently, when
Tammy's mother felt the gust of wind, she yelled out, "Tammy, don't fall!" And Tammy
did fall.

My dad then explained to me that the mind has a very difficult time processing a
negative image. In fact, people who rely on internal pictures cannot see a negative at all.
In order for Tammy to process the command of not falling, her nine-year-old brain had to
first imagine falling, then try to tell the brain not to do what it just imagined. Whereas, my
eight-year-old brain instantly had an internal image of me hanging on tightly. Usage of
negative words has a toxic effect.

Here is a list of Toxic Vocabulary words. Notice when you or other people use them.

But: Negates any words that are stated before it.

Try: Presupposes failure.

If: Presupposes that you may not.

Might: It does nothing definite. It leaves options for your listener

Would Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen.

Should Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen (and
implies guilt.)

Could Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen but the
person tries to take credit as if it did happen.

Can't/Don't: These words force the listener to focus on exactly the opposite of what you
want. This is a classic mistake that parents and coaches make without knowing the
damage of this linguistic error.

Examples:

Toxic phrase: "Don' t drop the ball!"

Likely result: Drops the ball

Better language: "Catch the ball!"

Toxic phrase: "You shouldn't ' t watch so much television."

Likely result: Watches more television.

Better language: "I read too much television makes people stupid. You might find
yourself turning that TV off and picking up one of those books more often!"

Exercise: Take a moment to write down all the phrases you use on a daily basis or any
Toxic self-talk that you have noticed yourself using. Write these phrases down so you
will begin to catch yourself as they occur and change them.

Please spread the positivity!

 THE TEA CUP

Love this story or not, you will not be able to have tea in a tea cup again without thinking
of this.

There was a couple who took a trip to England to shop in a beautiful antique store to
celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and
especially teacups. Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked "May we see that? We've
never seen a cup quite so beautiful."

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't understand. I have
not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My
master took me and rolled me, pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out,
"Don't do that."

"I don't like it!" "Let me alone," but he only smiled, and gently said; "Not yet!"

Then WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and
around and around. "Stop it! I'm getting so dizzy! I'm going to be sick!" I screamed. But
the master only nodded and said, quietly; 'Not yet.'

He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself and then
he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the
door. "Help! Get me out of here!" I could see him through the opening and I could read
his lips as he shook his head from side to side, 'Not yet'.

When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me
out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good! "Ah, this is much
better," I thought.

But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes
were horrible. I thought I would gag. ‘Oh, please, Stop it, Stop', I cried. He only shook his
head and said. 'Not yet!'

Then suddenly he put me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was
twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I
was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened
and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and
waited, wondering "What's he going to do to me next?"

An hour later he handed me a mirror and said 'Look at yourself.' And I did. I said, ‘That's
not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!!!' Quietly he spoke: 'I want you to
remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I
just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the
wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.

I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there,
you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all
over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had
any color in your life.
If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because
the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I
had in mind when I first began with you.'

The moral of this story is this: God knows what He's doing for each of us. He is the
potter, and we are His clay. He will mould us and make us and expose us to just enough
pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to
fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect will. So when life seems hard, and you are being
pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to
be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life
seems to "stink", try this.

Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest tea cup, sit down and reflect on this story
and then, have a little talk with the 'Potter'. You'll be glad you did.

GIVE UP ONE VICE

The younger generation of today has by and large, a deficiency of values. A large
number of youngsters are into drinking, smoking, drugs etc. The prevalent life style
encourages youngsters to throw tantrums, get angry, go to nightclubs, tell lies to
parents, have pre-marital sex, cheat and even kill for the thrill! Going to a temple, a
church, a gurudwara or a mosque is sacrilegious!

One such young boy called Alex went to the church, one Sunday. The preacher
delivered a sermon on how the vices bring about our downfall. He said, “Children, it is
very difficult to correct yourself. But if you can bring yourself to give up just one of your
vices, you can make a start towards a good life. One by one, all your vices shall
automatically leave you. When are you going to stop bothering about what the world
thinks and start bothering about what GOD thinks about you?”

Alex heard the sermon. He happened to be very disturbed that day. He decided to try
out the advice of the preacher. After the service was over, he went to the confession
box and said softly, “I have many vices. I promise to give up one of them. I am addicted
to alcohol and cigarettes and doubt if I can give them up. I have no control over my
anger. But from today, I shall stop telling lies. Please help me God!”

Alex made a beginning. Later in the day, he was out with his friends. They asked him,
“Alex, where were you this morning? All of us went to the Café.” Alex opened his mouth,
“Oh! I went to” How could he tell them that he had gone to Church? They would laugh at
him! But he had made a promise, not to lie.

“I went to the Church,” he said demurely. “The what?” they chorused. “The Church,” he
said firmly. Some of them guffawed. Others sniggered and looked amused. Alex looked
the other way and managed to swallow his pride.

In the evening, his mother asked him how much he had spent that week. She usually
asked for an account of his weekly expenses over petrol, food, stationery, etc. Alex was
in the habit of giving her an account with inflated figures. Every week he would hike up
the account a little so that he could buy himself some alcohol and a couple of cigarettes.
Mom never suspected anything. Now, she was asking for the week's account. What
should he do? How should he give her the wrong figures? He was under oath not to lie.
For the first time, he gave her the correct amount. She raised her eyebrows, “Alex,
you've been very thrifty this week. That's wonderful son!” She gave him the amount he
had spent and a hug too! That unnerved him!

Now, there was no extra money with him. So the following week, he had no money to
buy himself a single alcoholic drink. No money for cigarettes too! He found that he was
sleeping better. As a result, he was not getting cranky and had no cause for
throwing tantrums.

Two months later, a much happier Alex stood outside the confession box again. He said,
“I have come to thank you, for making me a different person. I didn't know that all it took
was giving up just one vice. The rest of them just walked out of the doorway. I just had to
show the way out to the first one, the rest of them followed suit.”

MEDITATION

There was a hermit who lived in the forest a little away from a village. He had a small hut
made from mud with a thatched roof. The villagers would some times visit him and he
would tell them about the purpose and value of human birth. “We should concentrate on
the Lord's design of sending us on this earth and try to learn to concentrate on the
eternal truths of life and death,” he would say. He would tell them that the mind needs to
learn to concentrate, that is the first step towards God realization. The villagers would
ask him to teach them meditation, but he would insist that they would have to spend
more time with him than just a couple of minutes, if they wished to learn meditation.

Tatia was a mischievous teenager who had endeared himself to the hermit by his
naughty yet loving ways. The boy would dance around the hermit and sing village songs
for him. The hermit would ask him to sit still and repeat the Gayatri Mantra after him, but
the boy would keep on fidgeting. He would want to giggle or scratch his nose just when
he had been told to sit still.

One day, the hermit told the villagers about Jyoti meditation i.e. meditation on light. He
told them that it was one of the simplest ways to meditate. Some of the villagers learnt
how to do it too. Tatia tried too, but his mind would travel at a thousand miles per hour.
During one meditation session, Tatia was busy looking at the ant that was climbing on to
the sleeve of his father; he noticed the bald patch on the head of the man sitting in front
of him. He also opened his eyes to make a note of the facial expressions of all those in
the meditation class and giggled at their serious faces. The hermit saw it all. When the
group was about to disperse, the hermit asked Tatia to come alone the next day.

The next day, the hermit was waiting under the Banyan tree for Tatia. There was a lamp
lying next to him along with some cotton, oil and a matchbox. It was a little windy. The
hermit said, “Tatia, do you really want to learn meditation?” “Yes,” said the boy
somewhat meekly. He was sure the hermit would punish him for his antics yesterday.
“Alright make a wick out of this cotton wool. Twist it well between your fingers and make
it tight. That's right. Good. Now put it into this little brass lamp and spread out its cotton
base well. Now pour in the oil.” Tatia followed instructions. “Now light the lamp with a
matchstick.” Tatia struck the match, but the wind blew it out before he could so much as
touch the matchstick to the wick. He tried again with the other matchstick. The wind was
faster than him again. He tried a third time; he managed to bring the match to the wick,
but it went out again. Again and again Tatia lit the match, but each time it went out
before he could light the lamp. Strangely the wind became stronger, almost as if it was
determined to defy. The hermit said, “I'll try and shelter the match as you light it. Perhaps
we can do it together.” The hermit cupped his palms on either side of the match stick
and the boy was able to light the wick. But as soon as the hermit moved his hands away,
the lamp went out. There were only a couple of match sticks left in the box. Tatia looked
confused and nervous. The hermit smiled knowingly and said, “Let's go into the hut, it's
impossible to light the lamp in the wind.”

So they went inside the hut. Tatia was able to light the lamp with the first matchstick he
had struck. The hermit smiled and said, “Likewise, the mind too has to be taken away
from the hustle and bustle and the noises of life. It has to be sheltered from the cobweb
of thoughts and desires. The mind has to go to a quiet place, to withdraw from worldly
thoughts before it can experience the light of God.”

The boy said, “Can we go out now?” The hermit shook his head and said, “The flame is
too gentle and weak; if we go out again the wind shall blow it out. Similarly a person
may learn something about God, but if he exposes his knowledge to the world before it
is strong enough, it shall be erased by the tensions, idiosyncrasies, whims and fancies,
jealousies, desires etc of the world.

Tatia said, “Does that mean that I can never take this lamp outside?” The hermit picked
up a log, rolled a strip of cloth over one end and dipped it in oil. He proceeded to set fire
to that end of the log by holding it over the little brass lamp. When the fire was burning
strongly the hermit said, “Now Tatia, if we take this flame to the woods and the wind
catches the flame, it shall be strong enough to set the whole jungle ablaze!”

THE RIPPLES

A man was sitting by a lake. He was throwing small pebbles into it from time to time. A
young boy happened to cross by. He was intrigued to see that after every few minutes or
so, the man would toss a pebble into the lake. The boy went up to the man and said,
"Good pastime, this stone throwing, eh?" "Hmmm,” said the man. He seemed to be
deep in thought and obviously did not wish to be disturbed.

Some time later, the man said softly, "Look at the water, it is absolutely still." The boy
said, "Yeah, it is." The man tossed a pebble into the water and continued, "Only till I toss
a pebble into it now do you see the ripples?" "Yeah," said the boy, "they spread further
and further."

"And soon, the water is still again," offered the man.

The boy said, "Sure, it becomes quiet, after a while."

The man continued, “What if we want to stop the ripples? The root cause of the ripples is
the stone. Lets take the stone out. Go ahead and look for it.” The boy put his hand into
the water and tried to take the stone out. But he only succeeded in making more ripples.
He was able to take the stone out, but the number of ripples that were made in the
process were a lot more than before.
The wise man said, “It is not possible to stop the movement of the water once a pebble
has been thrown into it. But if we can stop ourselves from throwing the pebble in the first
place, the ripples can be avoided altogether! So too, it is with our minds. If a thought
enters into it, it creates ripples. The only way to save the mind from getting disturbed is
to block and ban the entry of every superfluous thought that could be a potential cause
for disturbance. If a disturbance has entered into the mind, it will take its own time to die
down. Too many conflicting thoughts just cause more and more disturbances. Once the
disturbance has been caused it takes time to ebb out. Even trying to forcibly remove the
thought may further increase the turmoil in the mind. Time surely is a great healer, but
prevention is always better than cure.”

Before you allow a thought or a piece of information to enter your mind, put it through the
triple filter test of authenticity, goodness and value.

THE LAST DAY OF MY LIFE

At the age of thirty, Trivedi suffered a heart attack. He was sent home with a long list of
do's and don'ts, medicines, life style changes, diet restrictions etc. For a couple of
months, Trivedi followed everything religiously. No drinking, no smoking, no non-
vegetarian food, no tensions, regular walks etc. Slowly, he started feeling better and
better.

As time went by, one by one the restrictions started slipping. Rich food, long hours at
work, tensions, smoking etc. all played havoc with his health. Four years later, he
suffered another stroke. While he was convalescing, a friend gave him a book to read,
about the purpose of life. That started a series of thoughts. He stayed at the hospital for
a month. He came home, a completely changed man. The doctors had told him in no
uncertain terms that if he did not behave himself he could start counting his days.

He looked at his beautiful wife and two little daughters. What would happen to them, if
he were to die? He followed the directions of the doctors. Most important of all he
developed an attitude of love towards all. He fostered love on who ever came his way.
Slowly and surely he regained his health. His attitude was always positive, helpful and
loving. Understandably, friends, relatives and neighbours started seeking his help and
advice on various issues for he seemed to be wiser than his contemporaries.

At the age of seventy four, he sat with his grand daughter one evening. She asked,
“Grandpa, how are you so good? How do you manage to love so many people?” The old
man smiled, revealing the crow's feet at the corners of his twinkling eyes. “My dearest
baby, I had a close brush with death when I was thirty four. It was then that I learnt how
life should be lived. A friend gave me a book. It had a poem in it. This is what it said,

I expect to pass

Through life but once,

If therefore there be,

Any kindness
I can show,

Or any good things

I can do to any fellow being,

Let me do it now.

For I shall not pass

This way again.

For I shall not pass

This way again.

He recited the poem boisterously without faltering. He had obviously learnt and lived it
over and over.

Then he said, “My precious child, I live each day as if it were my last. Each morning
when I wake up, I thank God, for being alive. I live each moment as if it were my last. So
I try to do only that, what I would do on the last day of my life.”

THE SOAP BOXES

A lady bought some bathing soaps from a shop. When she opened one of the packets,
she found that it was empty. There was no soap in there; it was just an empty wrapper!
She lodged a complaint against the manufacturer and got her claim. That being
settled, there was a task before the management of the soap factory. How had this
happened? How could they ensure that the incident did not occur again? They had
suffered enough bad publicity besides having to pay the compensation to the lady.

After a detailed investigation, it was discovered, that during the process of wrapping, it
so happened that inevitably, one or two wrappers did get through, having no bar of soap
in them! There was no way to make out the difference between a full wrapper and an
empty one. The process of handling each one separately for this purpose seemed to be
very cumbersome. So, the technical head was given the job of devising a method to
overcome the problem. The man prepared a detailed report and proposed the setting up
of a computer based system that would weigh and scan each bar, for the empty packs
would not get detected by a normal x-ray machine. He proposed an expenditure of a
large amount to put this system into place.

The management heard him out and passed the order to release the funds and to buy
the machinery that he had proposed. An uneducated worker said, “Excuse me Sir, for
my impertinence, but I have a solution that shall cost a fraction of what you are planning
to go in for.”

The management hesitated initially. But eventually they heard him out and agreed to try
out his proposal. The next day, the worker brought a strong industrial fan. He put it at an
angle near the conveyor belt on which the packed soap bars were coming through and
switched it on. The few empty wrappers that came through got blown off by the fan! The
rest of them went past easily.

A simple solution, for a complex problem! This goes to prove that ideas are not the
monopoly of the educated. Common sense is seldom common!

THE POWER OF LOVE

A mighty King was marching home after being victorious in a gruesome battle. He
had captured the crown prince of the neighbouring kingdom and killed the King. The
King was crossing through a jungle. He wanted to rest. The army halted there for the
evening. Nearby was a hermitage. The king decided to pay his respects to the sage
there. He sent his Minister and some soldiers to seek an audience. They told the
disciples there, “Maharaj wants to meet the sage.” The disciples said, “Guruji has retired
for the day, you can come tomorrow.” The next morning the King came to the hermitage
dressed in his royal finery, accompanied by his ministers and attendants. The sage was
sitting under a tree and scattering bajra seeds all around. Hundreds of birds of different
kinds were eating and the sound of their twittering filled the air. The King walked up to
the sage. The sage did not look up.

The king said, “Pranam, Guruji!”

No answer.

He spoke louder, “Pranam, Guruji!”

Still, no answer.

“Guruji, I said Pranam!” he said in an angry voice.

The sage looked up and said, “Stop shouting, you are scaring the birds.”

That made the king even more furious. “Do you know who I am?” he shouted. The sage
said calmly, “Yes, I do. You are the one who kills for the love of power. You are the one
who knows not that this power is temporary. One day another King shall kill you in the
same way. The love of power shall bring about your downfall.”

The king was beside himself with rage. He said, “Your impertinence is intolerable. I shall
behead you just now!” He drew out his sword and raised it to strike the sage. In an
instant, hundreds of birds flew up and attacked the king. They poked their beaks into his
face, his eyes and his arms and all over. The king moved his arms up and around to
ward off the birds. But the birds wouldn't leave him. The sage said, “Leave him!
Leave him! Come to me my dears!” All at once, the birds quietened down and sat
meekly at the feet of the sage.

The sage said, “All I ever gave these birds is love. Oh King! Realize the power of love.
The love of power has blinded you and brought you to the level of a killer. These birds
would have killed you, but that's because they love me. I rule over them like a king too,
but the only power I ever exercise over them is the power of love and it is greatest power
on this Earth.”

It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!

KILL THE ENEMY

Two countries were at war for the last so many days. Many soldiers had died in both the
armies. The border areas were scenes of death and destruction. Each night the soldiers
would return to their barracks, some wounded, some disillusioned and some vengeful.
Others were dead and never did return.

One such night, a wounded soldier, knocked at a lonesome cottage in the sinister
darkness. An old woman opened the door. Without any questions, hesitations or
semblance of fear she let the young fellow in. He said brusquely, “I have a bullet in my
arm. I need help.” She said, “Look son, I am all alone here. My son too is in the army,
but he is not here. I'll do whatever I can to help you. Sit down by the log fire and make
yourself warm. She brought him some hot tea and a few slices of bread. “Eat,” she said
simply.

The young man sipped the tea, looking around uneasily. He wasn't even sure, if he was
in his own territory. Should he ask the old woman? If it was enemy territory, she would
surely find a way to kill him! Poison him perhaps! He was totally helpless. He had lost a
lot of blood.

The old lady said, “Shall I help you to take that shirt off, maybe I could look at the
wound.” The young soldier winced and said, “Nothing you can do; let it be.” But he knew
that he needed help and soon. An hour later there was another knock at the door.
Another young soldier walked in, “Mama!” he called. “Oh! It's you my son. It's been so
many days. I'm so happy to have you home.” The son saw the other soldier and said,
“Mama! Who is that?” She replied, “Sssh! He's just slept. Be careful, lest you wake him
up.” The boy said tersely, “He's the enemy Mama! You put us all into danger by letting
him in.”

The mother said, “But, he's wounded badly. Look son, enemy or not, you have to help
him.”

The boy spoke some angry words but she stuck to her stand. The heated exchange of
words woke up the soldier. In an instant he saw the new entrant and realized that he
was at the mercy of the enemy.

The woman said, “This is my son, I'm sure together we can do something for you.” The
old woman motioned to her son and together they unbuttoned the stranger's torn shirt.
Against his wishes, the son, upon his mother's insistence, dug out the bullet amidst a
continuous flow of blood. He cleaned it up, applied some ointment and bandaged it.
“That's the best I can do. You need to see a doctor.” “I'll be on my way now,” said the
soldier, making an attempt to get up, but not succeeding.

The old woman said firmly, “No way. You're not going anywhere. In the morning, you
may go if you wish to. But right now, you are under my care. Sleep now!”
In the morning after eating a wholesome breakfast of hot porridge, the soldier said to the
old woman, “How can I ever thank you?” She replied, “By Killing the enmity; not the
enemy.”

The soldier was unnerved. He didn't know what to say. Finally he said, “I'll try my best,”
he extended his hand towards the son, but instantaneously changed the hand-shake into
an embrace. The soldier said, “We all need someone like your mother, to tell us that it's
the enmity that has to be killed, not the enemy. The ‘enemy' is also made of flesh and
blood like us and some of them have hearts of gold. I promise to try my best. I hope you
will too.”

The soldier left, but that night he understood the meaning of the term ‘brotherhood of
man.' He knew that only one weapon was needed to kill all enmities. And that weapon
was LOVE.

TEMPTATION

Father was working on his laptop. It was a holiday, but he had lots of mails to clear so he
had brought his laptop home. His little son Sirish was watching him. He was waiting
eagerly for father to complete his work for he was hoping that he would be able to ask
for the favour of playing a game of Pinball on the laptop. As father opened one e-mail,
after the other, Sirish noticed that for a large number of mails, father pressed the ‘delete’
key as soon as the e-mail was displayed on his screen. For some of them he did not
even open the attachments clipped on. He just deleted them. Only a few of them, father
read through and typed replies to. Sirish watched curiously as father pressed the ‘delete’
key over and over again. Finally, he couldn’t contain himself and asked, “Papa, what are
you deleting?”

Father smiled mysteriously and answered, “Temptation!” Sirish asked, “Temptation?

What do you mean by that?” Father sat the innocent little boy in his lap and said,
“Temptation, my child is something that tries to incite you into doing something or buying
stuff that we don’t really need. These mails are called spam mails. They are sent by
people who wish to tempt us to buy stuff that is not really good for us. You see it’s better
to delete it as soon as it comes up. If you study the whole write up, the chances are you
may get lured into buying it and it’s always easier to stay away from temptation than to
get out of it!”

The boy was reasonably satisfied and got busy with eating the apple slices that Mummy
had just handed to him.

A short while later, the door bell rang and father said, “Sirish would you get that, I’m
caught up.” “Yes, Papa,” said Sirish as he rose to open the door. He was back in a
minute. Father asked “Who’s it, son?” Sirish said, “It’s okay Papa, it was just
Temptation.” It was Father’s turn to ask, “Temptation? What do you mean by that?” The
little boy smiled and said, “There was a lady selling chocolates at a discount. Mummy
told me that they are just not good for my teeth, so I sent her away!” He continued,
“Papa didn’t you tell me that when Temptation comes calling, don’t reason out, just send
it right back. That’s just what I did!”
Setting an example is not just one of the ways of teaching your children. It’s the only
way!

THE PAINTING ON THE WALL

There was a king who was a great admirer of art. He encouraged artists from all over his
country and gave them valuable gifts. One day an artist came and said to the king, “Oh
King! Give me a blank wall in your palace and let me paint a picture on it. It will be more
beautiful than anything you have ever seen before. I promise you shall not be
disappointed.”

Now, the king happened to be constructing a big hall at the rear end of the palace. So he
said, “Alright you may work on one of the walls in the new hall.” So the artist was given
the job and he was very pleased indeed. Just then, another young man said, “Oh King!
Please allow me to work on the opposite wall. I too am an artist.” The king said, “What
would you like to make?” The man said, “My Lord, I shall make exactly what that man
will make on the opposite wall. Moreover, I shall do so, without looking at his work. I
would even request you to have a thick curtain put up between the two walls so that
either of us can not see the other.”

Now, that was a tall statement. Everyone in the king’s court, including the king and the
first artist were intrigued. But the king loved surprises and he decided to give the young
fellow a chance.

The following day a thick curtain was put into place and both the artists got to work. The
first artist brought in a regular supply of paint, oil, water etc. The second one would some
with a cloth and a bucket of water every day. After a month the first artist told the king
that his work was complete and he would like to show it to the king. The king sent for the
second artist and asked him, “Young man, when would your work be ready? I am
coming to see the first wall this evening.” The man said, “My Lord, my wall is ready too!”

The king went to see the first artist’s wall. He was very, very impressed with the painting
and gave a hefty sum as a reward to the artist. He then asked for the curtain to be
opened up. Lo and behold! The same painting was to be seen on the opposite wall too!
Amazing! But true! Each line, each minor detail was exactly as it was on the first wall.
But this man had not been seeing what was going on, on the other side of the curtain.
So how had he done it?

The king wanted to know the secret. He gave a double reward to the fellow. Then he
said, “Young man, I am indeed very happy with your work. But you must tell me; how did
you do it?”

The lad said simply, “It’s very easy! I just polished the wall every day!”

It was a wall made of white marble! The fellow polished it till it shone like a mirror. The
reflection of the painting across the room, showed up in it!

That is what it means to polish your self. For when we polish our hearts and souls we
see God’s reflection within. It is said that the world is a reflection of you. Whatever you
are, the world will seem to be that too. If you are happy, the world will look to be happy.
If you are sad; jealous; dejected; angry; restless ... that is what the world will seem to be
to you

THE BEAUTIFUL HEART

Arushi was only seven years old. Her cousin Rajat who was twenty years old, was
studying medicine. Arushi thought he was already a doctor, so she called him Doctor
Bhayia (brother).

One day she went to his room and found him studying a big book. She climbed onto his
lap and asked, "Doctor Bhayia, what is this?" He said, "This is a picture of the human
heart. There is one like that in all of us." She looked at it curiously, as if trying to
understand everything! He caught her little hand to place over his heart and said, "Can
you feel how its beating? It works hard all day to pump blood. I am writing an article on
the heart for my presentation."

"May I help you?" asked Arushi, her eyes shining.

Rajat looked at her, hiding his smile and said, "Sure, you write something for me and I'll
put it into my work. Off you go now."

Arushi sat down to work seriously. She wrote her article and gave it to Doctor Bhayia.
On the day of the presentation, he read out his article that was a very good piece on the
functioning of the heart. Then he said, "Sir, I seek your permission, to speak for another
minute, to share with you, what my seven year old sister has to say on this topic."

The Professor in-charge was baffled, but all the same he nodded his head in assent.
This is what Rajat read out:

1 All of us have biiiig hearts. My heart does dhak-dhak all the time. My heart is
red.

2 It is in circolatury system and pumps all the blood.

3 My heart loves all parts of my body. If my heart did not give love I would die.

4 My heart is cracked and breaked when people say a bad things to it.

5 When Raju break my dolly, a part of my heart cried and died.

6 When I get new toys my heart jumps.

7 My heart is soooo big, that I can put so many people into it.

8 Only God knows how to make new hearts so we should try not to break them.

9 Mama says God lives in all hearts. Then why do people fight?
There was pin-drop silence. Then the Professor rose up from his seat and started
clapping One by one, everyone stood up to give a standing ovation. Little Arushi had
seen beyond what doctors see. She had seen beyond the mechanics, the flesh and the
blood. Truly she had understood the real functioning of the heart!

THE MUSIC COMPETITION

A talent search competition was being conducted by a music company for young
budding singers. Twenty two entries had been selected from the hundreds of entries
received. The contestants had sung in front of three eminent judges; men who had made
a name for themselves in the world of music. The first round being one of elimination
brought the number down to ten.

The second round, started with bated breaths and pounding hearts. All the young
participants put forward their best. It was a rare honour to get a chance to sing on this
platform, in front of such a voluminous audience and in the midst of so much talent. At
the end of the second round, only five contestants were short-listed. Those that did not
make it, wept openly, for they could not hold back the tears of disappointment.

The lucky five sang in the final round. Soon the singing part was over. There was a
thunderous applause from the audience. The crowd was going berserk with enthusiasm.
The singers had excelled. They had the audience literally dancing to their tunes.

It was time for the final verdict. The first judge called one of contestants, Meera, centre-
stage and said to her, “I wonder what prompted you to choose such a difficult
composition to sing. You have sung it terribly! I cannot even count the number of
mistakes you have made. You youngsters think that by singing a few numbers here and
there you can become singers of repute. Let me tell you, you have to practice day and
night. You have to train under the grand maestros. Come out of your Utopia.” He went
on to sing a line from the same song to show this bewildered contestant, just how it
should have been sung. Tears streamed down the girls cheeks. She fought to hold them
back, but her eyelids were not strong enough to hold in control the flood of emotions that
besieged her.

The mike was passed on to the second judge. He said, “Well, young lady, you were
brave to have chosen that song. But you have a lot to learn yet. You need to train for
longer hours. But don’t worry; you can make it if you practice consistently. Good luck to
you.”

It was the turn of the third judge to speak now. He said, “First of all young lady I wish to
congratulate you for having reached the final round, having proved your mettle in such a
sea of talent. You have immense potential in you; you just need to garner it right. Do you
think that people like us who have made a name in the world of music are any different
from you? No, we are also like you; the only difference is that you are yet to become
famous. Lady luck shall surely smile on you if you continue to persevere. Don’t give up.
In this field, one is always a learner; even we are still learning. The road is tough but it’s
not impossible to conquer. I wish you luck. You have my blessings, be happy.”

The rest of the contestants went through their turns of listening to the opinions of the
judges on their respective performances. What struck the audience was not the final
result, but the attitude of the judges. As the audience walked out of the auditorium, a few
were discussing the participants and the results. Do you know what most of them were
discussing? They were discussing who the best judge was!

Encouragement and appreciation are tonics that are always in short supply.

It is not the critic who is important. Important are those who have had the guts to enter
the arena. There is no greatness in pointing out where and how great men stumbled. For
not all people have the guts to try; make mistakes and then get up and try again! A
winner is one who after a long journey of sweat and perspiration has the strength to
make it to the end. Even if he fails, at least he has had the experience of the journey. He
has had the spirit of adventure. He has had the strength to submit himself to a verdict of
success or failure.

Life they say is a rocky road. The challenge is to let it not grind you into dust, but polish
you into a brilliant gem!

THE VILLAGE SARPANCH

The villages in India have a head-man called Sarpanch. Inderpal was the Sarpanch of a
village. He had become very old and was failing health. So, he told the village elders that
he wanted to retire from the post of Sarpanch. A couple of names were suggested.
They zeroed down on the names of two men, Karam and Mahipal. Both of them were
considered to be capable young men. Having discussed the pros and cons of having
either of the two as Sarpanch, the elders were unable to make a final selection. The old
Sarpanch decided to put both of them to test.

The village was about a mile away on either side from two different highways. The
Sarpanch gave both Karam and Mahipal an equal amount of money from the village
funds and asked each of them to get Kuchha roads made to connect the village to the
highway on either side.

Karam set to work the very next day. He employed a contractor who came with a large
team of labourers. They cleared the track of bushes and trees and beat down the mud to
settle it. The track cut through the play ground where some boys played Kabaddi. The
funds were not enough for making a proper road. In a couple of days the contractor
reported to Karam that the road was ready.

Mahipal on the other hand, recruited only a few labourers. He also got together all the
young boys in the village and asked them to lend a hand in clearing the path to make a
road for ‘our village’. Half way through they came across an old Banyan tree. Mahipal
said, “We shall not cut it, we shall divert the path a little to go by its side.” All the young
men helped to level out the land. They even erected small banks of mud on either side.
When the road was ready, Mahipal still had some money left over. He bought a hundred
saplings of mulberry. Together the boys planted them on either side of the road. The
small amount that was left over, Mahipal used to buy some sweets and distributed them
amongst his spirited team of youngsters.
The completion of work was reported to the old Sarpanch. The Sarpanch went to see
both the roads. He was impressed by the perfection with which Karam had done the job.
It looked quite professional and meticulously done. The Sarpanch was happy.

Later he went to see the other road. He was greeted by a whole group of youngsters,
eager to see the reaction of the Sarpanch. They showed him the saplings that they had
planted. The Sarpanch was especially touched by the gesture of side tracking the old
Banyan tree and not axing it.

He named Mahipal as the new Sarpanch saying, “The most essential quality of a leader
is not perfection. It is his dedication, credibility and his ability to create a team. Mahipal
has been able to win the trust of all these youngsters that is why they have followed him.
He has been honest to the cause and has shed sweat to involve people and make a
team. A leader is never a leader alone, he is a leader of people and that because he and
his word are worthy of trust. Moreover, only one who serves is fit to become a leader.”

THE RAT BRIDE

It is good to be ambitious, but being over ambitious can lead to disappointment.

Sometimes it can be funny too!

A pretty, young she-rat was eligible for marriage. Her mother was somewhat over
ambitious and decided that she must find a very powerful husband for her darling
daughter. She went to the Sun God and said to him, “My daughter is extremely beautiful
and your power is unmatched. She would be a perfect bride for you. Please accept her
as your wife.” The Sun God smiled warmly and said, “I am honoured by your proposal.
But if you are looking for a powerful husband, let me tell you that the Rain God is
mightier than me, for when he comes with his army of clouds, I am completely
overshadowed.”

The mother rat rushed to the Rain God and said, “Dear Rain God, please marry my
daughter. She shall make a very suitable bride for you. Your power and her beauty shall
make a great alliance.” The Rain God replied with a twinkle in his eye, “Lady, don’t you
know that the God of Wind is more powerful than me! He can blow my clouds to
smithereens if he wants to. Why don’t you propose to him?” So, the ambitious mother
scurried away to the God of Wind and swiftly proposed to him, “Oh mighty God of wind!
Please marry my lovely daughter.” The wind God chuckled and said, “Perhaps you don’t
know that the Mountain God is more powerful than me. When I bump into him, I try hard
but I cannot move him. I have to change my track, for he is immovable.”

The tired mother rat hobbled up to the Mountain God and proposed to him, “Please dear
Mountain God, will you have my charming daughter for a bride?” The Mountain God
spoke in a grating voice, “Madam, I am indeed moved that you thought of me as a good
match for your daughter, but let me tell you that the king of rats is more powerful than
me. He along with his caravan of rats digs into my body. They make holes and
burrows wherever they please. There is no way that I can defend myself against their
sharp teeth.”

So the mother rat went to the king of rats and said wearily, “Oh King! I offer my beautiful
daughter to you; please make her your wife.”
The king of rats blushed from ear to ear and said, “Gladly!” So the king of rats married
the pretty young lady. They had a grand wedding and the rest they say is history!

Finally, the ambitious mother rat realized that her beautiful daughter was fit to be a bride
only for a rat. In life too, it’s good to dream but only if you keep your feet planted firmly
on the ground!

HOME OF PEACEFUL EMPATHY

The ‘Home Of Peaceful Empathy’ or HOPE as it was popularly known was a home for
the aged. It had about thirty residents. Some were sick, others were healthy. Some were
active, others were confined to wheelchairs. Two things they all had in common: Their
children didn’t want to keep them and they all had a limited lease of life left!

Every evening, all the residents would sit outside in the garden. The management would
put cane chairs outside. Tea and biscuits would be served to them. It was a daily routine
that these elderly people looked forward to. Next door lived a young couple and their ten
year old son, Bunty. The little boy was very thin and weak. He seemed to have no
friends of his age. Every evening he would come to the old age home and chat with the
residents. Sometimes he would bring yellow daisies for them. He would put the daisies
into the hair of the old women and into the button holes of the old men’s jackets. He
called all the women ‘Grandma’, and all the men ‘Grandpa’. They looked forward to
Bunty’s visits just as much as he looked forward to them.

Sometimes Bunty would play the guitar and sing songs for them. One day he told them
about the drama that they had at school. He enacted the various roles all by himself. He
loved these old people and he loved to see them laugh. Another day he brought his
cricket bat and played cricket with them. He loved to see the Grandpa’s turn into little
boys.

Bunty’s mother was usually busy with her household chores, but sometimes she would
come along with Bunty and chat with these oldies. They would often ask her why Bunty
had no friends of his age. She would simply say, “He’s happier playing with you.
Perhaps he has got something in common with you.”

One evening the residents waited for Bunty, but he didn’t turn up. The next day too,
there was no sign of him. On the fourth day, one old man who was really missing Bunty,
pressed the door bell of Bunty’s house. A worried looking mother opened the door.
“Good evening ma’am! I was wondering if Bunty is well, we haven’t seen him around for
some days. Is everything alright?” The woman hesitated, “Yes, I mean, no, it isn’t. Bunty
is sick. Would you like to come to his room?”

The old man followed the lady to Bunty’s room. The sight he saw stopped him in his
tracks. A bottle of blood was being transfused into the boy. Next to his bed was a trolley
laden with bottles of glucose and dextrose. There were numerous bottles of medicine.
There was a nurse on duty. She signalled for them to be quiet. She got up and motioned
them to come out of the room. “He has just gone to sleep. He’s been struggling with the
pain. Please don’t disturb him.”
The lady said, “Grandpa, Bunty is thalasemmic.” She swallowed to hide her tears, “Every
month we take him to the hospital for his blood transfusion. Three days back he
contracted a viral. He got a chest infection and had very high fever. We requested
the doctor to give him the blood transfusion at home. He has very low immunity. It will
take a while for him to get well. The old man said, “He never told us. He came to see us
everyday, but he never let us know. Come to think of it, even you never let us know!”

“Grandpa, Bunty’s a strong willed boy. He’d be heart broken if all of you were to pity him.
He never wanted to discuss his disease. He’s not able to match up with his peers at
school, while playing games, so he opts to play with all of you. It makes him happy, so I
allow him to see you every evening.”

The old man was speechless. All the little acts of love; all that sharing and caring; all that
concern and laughter from a child who was thalasemmic!

The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who
learn to live with things that are less than perfect!

THE APPLE TRUCK

A man owned many trucks. He used to let them out for the transport of apples
from Himachal Pradesh to the plains. In the wee hours of the morning he got the
message that one of his trucks had skidded and overturned on the highway. At dawn the
truck owner went to the site of the accident, to look in to the matter.

He was pained to see the truck laid upside down on the roadside. Most of the apple
boxes had split open and the apples were strewn all over the road. Luckily there was no
loss of life. The Insurance company executives had come to assess the loss. The
contractor who owned the apples came to retrieve what ever he could. A crane was
called to put the truck back on its wheels. Many hours passed, each professional, doing
his job to get things back into the streamline.

It was late in the evening when the truck owner returned home, tired and weary. He told
his elder sister, “In the hurry, I left my wallet at home. I’ve not had a bite all day. I’m
really hungry. Get me some food quickly.”

As she served him food, she said, “Didn’t you say that there were apples strewn all over
the road? Why didn’t you pick up a couple of those and eat them? Why did you go
hungry all day?”

He said simply, “How could I? They didn’t belong to me!”

How true! We are answerable to others later; first and foremost we are answerable to
our own conscience!

FIND YOUR WAY BACK HOME

The father of a teenager usually tries to teach him life skills in an attempt to prepare him
for the proverbial ‘Big-bad world’. One such father was on a business tour to a foreign
country. He had taken his fourteen year old son with him. They were staying at a small
hotel. They went out in the day. They were walking on a busy road. Suddenly the boy
realized that the father was no where around. He looked around for him desperately, but
to no avail. The boy looked in the restrooms; the shops; the restaurants and the
corridors. But no where could he find his father. The boy was scared. He felt tears
brimming in his eyes, but he fought them back. He walked the street up and down
several times but could not find his father.

As the sun began to set, the boy decided that the best thing he could do was to make his
way back to the hotel. He rummaged through his pockets, only to find that he did not
have enough money to pay for his fare back to the hotel. Anyways, he did not even know
the way back. So, he tactfully asked the traffic policeman to guide him on how to get
there, without letting him know his actual predicament. He took a bus to a place that was
half way to the hotel, for that was the farthest he could pay for. The other half, he
walked. He read the directions from the site maps on the way. Many times he had to ask
for directions from strangers. It was late in the night when he finally trudged into the hotel
tired, hungry and weary. He marched up the stairs to their room, hoping to find father
inside, but he was disappointed. He sat down and thought, ‘What next? What should I
do? How will I find him in this alien land, with no money in my pocket?’

Just then he heard the key turn in the door and father walked in! “Dad, Where were you?
I’ve been looking for you all over? Why did you leave me alone and go away?” The
father eased himself out of his shoes and stretched himself onto the bed, “I was only a
few steps away from you, all the time!” “What do you mean?” asked the boy
incredulously. “I wanted to see, if you could fend for yourself. I was testing you to see
whether you could find your way back to me.”

“Oh! Really? Then why did you follow me all the time?”

“I had to be sure you were safe. I must say, you did rather well. I’m quite proud of you!”

Years passed. The boy grew up to be a man and the father became old. One quiet
evening, the old man sat in the garden, looking at the sunset. He was talking to God,
“Lord, I am old now. I’ve gone through so many ups and downs in life. Do you even
know what I have been through? As I sit in this armchair in the twilight of my life, I
wonder what life is all about. I wonder why you created me and then left me alone in this
world to fend for my self. Why do you not guide me? Why don’t you talk to me
sometimes?”

Then God replied, “Do you remember the day, you decided to test your son?”

“Yes.”

“Did you let him out of your sight, even for a moment?”

“No.”

“Neither did I! If only you had looked around carefully, you would have seen me. I too
expect you to find your way home. Your son did well; he found his way back to his
father! I too expect you to find your way back to your eternal father; to your eternal
home! Come my child, I am waiting for you to find your way back to me because you
belong to me.”

SPACE RESEARCH

A senior scientist was doing space research. He had a group of young scientists to
assist him. For his research, he needed a big piece of land a little far away from the city.
He along with one of his students called Abdul, approached the Municipal Officer
concerned and put in a request for allotment of land for scientific research. The first
response was, “No!” The officer explained that the land that they were asking for was
home to a number of fishermen. In addition there was a church on that land. It would not
be possible to give it. The scientist requested the officer with a smile saying, “Officer,
perhaps we could request the church management, if they could shift to another suitable
place.” Ironically, the officer smiled and said, “Well, you could ask Father Peter Peirera.
Try your luck!” So, the scientist and his students went to request Father Peter Peirera,
who was in charge of the church. Father said, “Well scientific research is much required
for our country. But this is God’s home. This church belongs to the people. I shall have
to ask them.”

The following Sunday, after the service was over, Father Peter Peirera addressed the
gathering and conveyed the request of the scientists. Then he asked, “Well! Can we give
them the church for the benefit of our country?”

Slowly, very slowly, the people started saying ‘yes’, ‘yes’, ‘yes’, till the entire crowed
agreed unanimously to give up their place of worship, for a nationalistic cause. Another
space was allotted and a new church was built for Father Peter Peirera and his people.

As for the old church, it was used as a workshop for the research programme by the
scientist and his team. Abdul made his first rocket there. Incidentally, the scientists
name was Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. And Abdul.... is none other than Dr. A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam, Former President of India! All that, thanks to the large heartedness and vision of
a nationalist called Father Peter Peirera.

THE TWINS

A young woman labourer assisted in building roads. She was lying behind a bush, in a
pool of blood, numb with pain. She had just given birth to twin daughters. The only
person attending to her was an old woman who was also part of the road building team.
The old woman put one of the wailing babies to the breast of the young mother. The
other baby slept peacefully by her mother’s side. The woman was weak and miserably
poor.

The God of death hovered around her and soon her painful life drew to an end. The old
woman looked at the newly born girls and beseeched the Lord, “Oh God! What is the
crime committed by these poor souls! Who will look after them? Have mercy on them!”

Out of compulsion, the old woman looked after the babies for the night. She had to
forego her own dinner to buy some milk for them. She fed it to them, drop by drop. The
next day the road contractor came. He was told that one of the woman labourers had
died leaving behind two little babies. The contractor went to the house of the old woman
to see the girls. He noticed that they both had a mole on the left cheek and looked very,
very similar. He handed out some money to the old woman and mumbled something
under his breath. He rushed out of the room, for he could not bear the stench of the
damp walls mixing with the smell of urine and stale milk.

Twenty years later, the young son of the contractor brought home a beautiful girl. He told
his father that he wanted to marry her. The contractor asked the girl to bring her family.
The next day, the girl brought her parents and sister. The contractor was much
impressed by the sisters. The wedding was fixed. The girl’s father asked to talk to the
contractor alone. He said, “Sir, I want to tell you that Anubha is my daughter in every
sense except the biological one. A very old woman died in a dirty cottage. These two
girls were crying by her side. They were probably just a few days old. My wife and I were
passing by. We tried our best to find out about their family but to no avail. Finally we
brought them up as our own.”

Then it came back to him! He looked at the girls closely and saw the black moles on
their left cheeks. He knew who they were! But, he chose to keep quiet. The secret that
had been guarded by the couple from their own ‘daughters’ should remain a secret.

Had the young mother not died, these girls would surely have become labourers too.

Had the mother not died, the old woman would not have come forward to care for them.

And had the old woman not died.....

God alone knows what is good for each one of us.

When one door closes,

Another one opens.

When God answers your Prayer,

He confirms that He loves you.

When God denies you your wishes,

He confirms that you made the wrong choice.

When God keeps you waiting,

He confirms that He is waiting for the right time to give you the right thing.

THE LAST JOURNEY

A rich old man was very ill and was on his ‘death-bed’. His four sons stood around him.
The eldest son said, “Father has only a few breaths left now. Soon he will die. Let us
arrange for a beautiful open-jeep carriage to take the body to the funeral ground. One of
you go and talk to the flower girl to deliver fifty garlands of fresh balsam flowers so that
we can decorate the arthi nicely. Also order a set of new clothes for him. Our father has
lived like a king. So, he must go too, like a King.”

The second son said, “Why to order the flowers? They shall rot in this heat anyways.
The carriage shall cost us dear. Why don’t we just ask for the ambulance from the
‘Jeevan Hospital’, down the road? It shall not cost as much as the jeep carriage. And, do
we really need the new clothes? He is going to be dead anyways. He won’t even know.”

The third son was even thriftier. He said, “Of what use is the ambulance from Jeevan
Hospital? We can request for an ambulance from the Government Hospital or from the
Red Cross Society. Surely that should be more economical. After all what does it matter
to a dead man, whether his last journey is in a fancy carriage or in an ordinary
ambulance?”

The youngest son was craftier still. He said, “Why bother with the ambulance and the
flowers? The funeral ground is just behind our house anyway. We are four of us; we can
put him on a cot and carry him on our shoulders. It’s only a short distance from our
house to the crematorium.”

The old man happened to be listening to this conversation between his sons. The very
sons for whose sake he had toiled all his life! For them he had scrimped and scraped for
years to give them a good life. He wanted to leave behind enough wealth to make them
comfortable for a long, long time. What was this they were saying? His sons! His dearly
beloved sons! His own flesh and blood!

With a surge of energy he sprang up from the bed and said, “If one of you will kindly
bring my shoes, I’ll just go by myself. I don’t need a carriage, an ambulance or a cot. I
think my shoes are enough for me to walk out of here. I don’t need help from anyone of
you.”

THE ROSE GARDEN

Spring had brought new life to this beautiful rose garden. Each bush was abloom with
roses of different hues, shapes and sizes. The roses on three of the bushes got talking.

The roses on the first bush were blood red in colour. The second bush had roses in
yellow with pink streaks, but their unique selling point was their shape. Each one of them
was exquisitely formed. Each fold and each petal was a sculpted masterpiece. The third
bush had soft light pink roses known as desi-gulab or wild roses. They were not at all
pretty to look at, but they were extremely fragrant.
The red roses said, “We wish we could be given to a beloved, for red roses are the
ultimate expression of love.”
The roses on the second bush said, “We are so perfect, we should be displayed for
people to see and admire.”
The roses on the third bush said softly, “We hope to be able to spread our fragrance to
more and more people.”
The next day, the gardener came and cut the rose stalks. He sent them to a florist.

The red roses were bought by a rich old lady who passed them on to an expert garland
stringer. The garland stringer chopped off the stalks and leaves. She strung the roses
into an exquisite garland, adding some asparagus ferns and silver strings. Two beautiful
garlands were made and delivered to the rich old lady. She offered them with devotion to
Radha and Krishna at the temple. The red roses were happy for they had been used by
the lady as an offering of love, to none other than Radha-Krishna the proverbial lovers.
Many devotees saw the exquisite garlands and wowed at them. The red roses swelled
with vanity. The next day the priest removed the garlands from the deities and cast them
away in a corner of the temple. The red roses cried, “Oh Krishna! Oh Radha! We are
sorry for being vain. We were too caught up in pride to enjoy our closeness with you.
Please Lord! Give us another chance to serve you. Please do not caste us away.” The
roses beseeched the Lord, but no one came forward to listen to their cries.

Meanwhile the perfect yellow roses were bought by an interior decorator and were used
to design an enormous flower arrangement along with various types of greens. The
entire set up was placed on the centre table of the entrance of a hotel. The roses were
proud for they were the centre of attraction for all to see. Busy executives rushed past,
holding their cell phones, deep in conversation. Others hurried past, glancing at their
expensive wrist watches and talking sixteen miles to a dozen. The yellow roses preened
and smiled, but only a few people had time to stop by and admire their perfection.

Let us pause for a moment to look into the fate of the little pink roses. That bunch was
left sitting in the shop of the florist for days, for no one seemed to want to buy them.
Eventually the florist gave them away for free to the girl who worked in the shop. The
roses wept for they felt dejected and useless. They were almost beginning to rot and
their dreams of giving fragrance to people seemed to be quite impossible to realize. The
girl took the roses home and gave them to her mother. The mother shook off all the
petals into a huge basin of water. The petals lay immersed in the water for days. They
added some powder to the water now and then so that it would not start stinking due to
stagnation. Some days later she carefully removed the petals and pure rose water was
left behind! She bottled the rose water and gave it to the priest in the temple. The priest
used the fragrant rose water to wash the feet of the Lord and also to sprinkle on
devotees to shower blessings on them. The roses were so happy that they literally wept
in devotion!

In the corner of the temple the repentance of the proud red roses had finally touched the
heart of the Lord. A man saw the wilting red garlands. He picked them up and put them
in the sun to dry along with many other flowers that had been laid out for drying. When
the flowers were totally dry, they were crushed to a fine powder and some glue like
substance and some oils were added to them. A group of young workers were deputed
to hand roll the mixture onto fine sticks. Aggarbattis were made! They were used in the
temple to sanctify the area with their aroma. The red roses’ vanity was burnt away and
they were reduced to nothing, but they were happy!

What about the perfect yellow roses? They spent all their life waiting for recognition and
admiration. Eventually they wilted and the hotel cleaner dumped them into the garbage
along with the rotting peels of vegetables, egg shells and chicken bones. Even their cries
could be heard by no one.

Here is some food for thought. The end that you eventually meet with depends upon the
road you choose to take for the journey. The red roses suffered a setback to their vanity
but made up for it because they soon realised their folly. The wild roses were focussed
right from day one, whereas the yellow roses thought about nothing, but the physical and
the mundane. Find your focus, that is of utmost importance. Perhaps you could identify
with either of the roses and in case you are on the wrong track, this could just be the
right time for you to change your track. Do you want to end up giving fragrance to the
world or do you want to end up in a dustbin? The choice is yours!

When you came into this world, you were crying and all those around you were smiling.
Live your life such that when you are to go, you are smiling and others are crying

THE SON’S PORTRAIT

Kripa had become old. His body had become infirm and weak. Sorrow and age had
wrought havoc on his face and dulled his vision. He had lost his only son in a battle. The
pain had been too much to bear and he had lost the will to live. One afternoon, a visitor
knocked at his door and said “Sir, I was also a soldier in your son’s army regiment. I was
with him when he died. The bullet that was meant for me, actually hit him, because he
came in the way. I owe my life to him. I have painted a portrait of your son; please
accept it as a gift.” Kripa was a connoisseur of art. The walls of his beautiful house were
adorned with masterpieces of great value, but this one touched his heart. It was put
above the mantelpiece in a place of honour.

Many years later, Kripa passed away. His lawyer had a letter that was to be read out
after the cremation. The lawyer said, “Before I read out the Will regarding the inheritance
of the property, I have special instructions regarding his most valuable property, i.e. his
collection of master pieces. I must auction out the vast collection of paintings and utilize
the sum as directed in the letter. I have been directed to put up for auction, this portrait
of his son first of all.” So saying, the old lawyer put up the portrait of the deceased son
that had been presented by the soldier. There were no takers. Again and again the
lawyer called out for someone to name a price, but no one wanted the crudely painted
picture.

The old family gardener came forward; rummaged through his worn out pockets and
said, “I can pay Rs.27/- for it.” The lawyer counted “One ... Two ... Three ... Gone. The
portrait is yours.” Then he reached into his pocket and took out an envelope, cut it open
and pulled out the Will. It said, “The entire collection of paintings shall be inherited by the
buyer of my son’s portrait. The rest of the property may be auctioned and the proceeds
used for setting up an orphanage for the orphans of war.” That was the end of the
auction.

So it is with the Lord. If only we show love towards those whom He loves; He showers
upon us His choicest treasures and blesses us with His grace

LORD THY WILL BE DONE

Marina’s husband had just passed away to a terminal illness. Their savings had been
spent to the last penny in trying to save him. She had a fourteen year old daughter and
an eleven year old son. Marina’s world had just crumbled to bits. She had no work
experience; she was totally a home-bird.

Friends and relatives came to console her. Most of them offered, “If there is anything
that we can do to help, do let us know”; “You are not alone, we will stand by you.”....
A month later, Marina requested one of these friends to help her get a job as a
receptionist at a local school. The friend said, “Actually Marina, they really won’t listen to
anyone. I would have spoken to the Principal for you, but she is just not the obliging
type....”

A week later Marina applied for a job as a salesgirl, in a women’s garments store and
asked a relative to put in a word for her. “You see Marina, the owner is my friend no
doubt, but you are really not the type, I mean, you have to have a certain personality to
look after such a job; but if there is anything else, I’m always willing to help.” This went
on.... hollow words, meaningless endearments and lame excuses.
Till one night, Marina broke down. The next instalment for the school fees of her children
was due in a fortnight. The house rent was grossly overdue. Her expenses seemed to
soar whereas her resources dwindled. She cried her heart out and prayed, “Oh God!
Why did you do this to us? How shall I tend to my children? Please help me for I am
absolutely alone.” She cried herself to sleep. In her dream she saw God smiling at her
and blessing her.

The next morning she found an advertisement in the newspaper for a walk-in-interview
to fill the post of a warden for a Boarding school. She walked into the interview room with
the confidence that stems only from God’s presence in you. She was offered the job,
provided she could move into a residence at the hostel premises, for the warden was
supposed to be present all day. The school provided free education to the wards of their
employees! The school mess would also provide free meals to her wards and herself.
With one stroke, all her problems were solved!

It is only God who stands by His words, when He asks you to surrender your problems
to Him and forget about them. But, if you continue to worry about them, He does not take
over. To surrender means, to turn your thoughts away from all your problems and leave
everything into His hands saying, “Lord, Thy will be done.”

When at last you realize that God is all you have left; it is then that you realize that God
is all that you really needed!

BALD HEADED

There was tension in the air as mother stood behind her daughter’s chair in the dinning
room. Today’s menu for lunch was jackfruit and curd with Roti. The little girl had her
eyes and her plate full. She refused to eat the jackfruit. Mother was equally adamant.
She would have to eat it! There was no way that mother was going to let the girl leave
the table without eating the much detested vegetable. How else would she learn to eat
all kinds of vegetables? The father had promised his wife that he would let her take the
forefront when it came to discipline, so he watched in silence. Grandma looked
disgusted at the attitude of the mother. The tension was unnerving.

The poor child looked at the revolting mass in her plate and felt that if she ate it, she
would definitely throw up. Suddenly she said, “Okay, if I eat it, will you grant me a wish?”
Father grabbed the opportunity to resolve the situation and said quickly, “Yes honey,
whatever you say. Just finish it fast and tell me what you want. I’ll get it for you.” The girl
said, “It may not be a ‘thing’. It may be something else.” Father said, “Don’t worry; I’ve
given you my promise. Now gobble it up.” The girl put a spoonful of jackfruit into her
mouth and made a face as if she was tasting poison. The mother said, “See that you
don’t go overboard in asking for a wish. After all, it’s just a bowl of jackfruit. It’s not such
a big deal after all!”

The girl ate it all up, washed it down with a whole glass of water and then said quickly, “I
want to get my head shaved!”

Mother’s spoon fell from her hand, with a clatter and grandma almost fainted. “What
rubbish! That’s impossible; don’t even dream about it. Silly girl!” said mother. For once
Grandma seemed to see eye to eye with her daughter in law but chose to keep silent.
Father said, “Look my child, this is quite a ridiculous thing to ask for; be reasonable and I
shall surely let you have your way.” But the girl was adamant. “Daddy you promised me.
You gave me your word. It was a bargain.” Daddy said, “But darling you shall look
obnoxious. Why don’t we buy you a nice Barbie doll instead?” “But I don’t want a doll; I
just want to get my head shaved. You have always taught me about the value of
honouring your word, what about that now? You are going back on your word. It’s so
unfair!” she said in a trembling voice.

Looking at the little girl’s tear filled eyes, Daddy’s heart melted, although he could not
make out head or tail of why she wanted to do such a weird thing. He said, “She has
done her part. If we do not honour our word, she will never learn to honour hers. And
how does it matter anyway? Its just hair! It will grow back. What’s the big deal about it?”
Mother said, “Who ever heard of a girl getting her head shaved? I will not allow it.”
Father stood his ground. “No,” he said. “You had your way; now don’t be unfair to her
and stop making a fuss!”

Father took the girl to the barber and got the job done. Later in the evening, he took her
to the park to play as he did every evening. A short while later a boy came to the park.
Father was surprised to note that the boy too had no hair on his head. He did not
understand, was this the latest fashion or what? Just then a lady, apparently the bald
boy’s mother came up to him and said, “You have quite a daughter. She promised my
son that she would get her head shaved, so that the other children at the park would not
jeer at him. But I never thought she would actually live up to it.”

The man was even more confused now, “But, why did your son have to get his head
shaved?” he asked. She tried to smile bravely and said, “Oh no! My son did not have to
get his head shaved. You see he has leukaemia. During the chemotherapy he lost all his
hair and was refusing to come out of the house. He was afraid that the other children
would make fun of him. But your daughter coaxed him on the phone to come today,
saying that she too would come with her head shaved to make sure that no body
laughed at him!”

That is love! Pure and simple! No strings attached! Truly, the most precious things in life
can not be made or bought, they are gifted to us by God; we just have to realize how
precious they are.

THE ROSE BUD

A young boy wanted to learn music. He had a good voice and he wanted to train to
become an Indian classical singer. He visited a renowned music teacher and expressed
his desire to him. The teacher conducted a preliminary test on him to guage his talent
and decided to give him a try. The boy asked, “Guruji, how much time would I need to
train under your guidance, how soon can I become a singer?”

The teacher said, “Well, that depends upon how much work you are able to put into it.
But one thing you can be sure of, its not going to be a short time, because singing is
about learning more and more each day, even as long as you live.” The boy, smiled
inwardly and thought, “I’ll soon learn everything there is to learn. I am determined.” A few
months later, the boy asked the same question, “Guruji, how much time....?”

The teacher said, “Do you see that rose bud on the bush outside. The number of days it
takes to unfold its petals to become a full grown flower, that’s the number of years you’ll
take to learn.”

That evening, the boy went and squatted near the bush. Slowly and carefully he tried to
open up the petals of the rose bud to make it look like a flower. However, hard he tried,
some of the petals got torn and mutilated; others fell off. The inner most that were just
beginning to form; got crushed into the stamen. The next morning the teacher saw the
plight of the rose bud and understood what had happened. He called the boy and said,
“Look son, this bud, it seems, was in a hurry to bloom from a bud into a flower overnight.
It seems to have outdone its potential to grow. Just look at the state of its petals; it shall
never become a perfect rose flower now. Hurry has now become a cause for worry. Had
the bud grown naturally it would have been beautiful at each stage of its life. It would
have spread fragrance all around and its beauty would have lent splendour to our
garden. But, perhaps the bud was in too much of a hurry... ”

By now, the boy was in tears. He wept, “Guruji, it’s not the buds fault. I pried it open. I
am the cause of its present state. I have made a mistake. I cannot give back its
babyhood to the bud, but I promise to let you shape me as you wish. Please unfold me
petal by petal at your own pace and will.”

TREKKING IN THE MOUNTAINS

Spring was in the air. The flowers in the valley and on the mountain were in full bloom.
A man decided to go for a trek to the top of the mountain.

The young man filled up his haversack and strapped it on to his back. He started his trek
uphill, whistling a merry tune to himself. The spring in his step matched the spring in the
air. He walked up slowly but surely. Every now and then he stopped to admire the
flowers and the trees. Everything around him looked so happy. He stopped to feed the
squirrels and the birds. He took out his packed lunch and ate it; he threw some tidbits to
the rabbits too. A stray dog ventured near him, whining. The man noticed that the dog
was bleeding. It had hurt its leg. He took out his first aid kit and carefully reached out for
the poor mongrel. He washed the wound and dressed it up.

The man continued his trek up the mountain. He met some village children on the way.
He gave them some toffees and chatted with them. They skipped along with him and
showed him the best path to take. They showed him the rarest species of mountain
undergrowth that only the locals know of. The children plucked wild berries off the trees
and offered them to the man. He was wary of eating them, lest they are poisonous, but
seeing the children eat, he ate them too. He went on further uphill, till he reached the
top. The lovely spruce trees looked rich and green. The pine cones looked like
nuggets of gold hanging on the trees. The air was cool and pure. He basked in the sun
for a while.

As the sun went down he realized that it was time to go back. He started his descent.
Half way down, he slipped and fell. He yelped in pain as his ankle got twisted. He was all
alone. Now what? He applied some balm to his ankle and tied it up, but he just couldn’t
walk. He realized that he may have to spend the night there. Just then he saw the stray
dog looking at him. He saw the bandage that he had earlier applied to him. The dog
seemed to understand that the man needed help. He licked the foot of the man and then
limped away. Some time later the dog was back, followed by a group of children. The
children recognized him as the toffee-man.

Together, the children helped him to hobble back, all the way down the mountain.

His little acts of kindness and love had won him enough friends to help him when he was
making his descent. So too it is in life. It is important to be nice to people on our way up
for we may need them on our way down.

CONCENTRATION

Tarun was always unhappy, because he was fed up with his studies. His favourite pass
time was day dreaming. He would sit on his study desk, with his books open in front of
him, but his mind would wander from friends, to foes, to food, to films, to games, to
holidays and so on. He lacked concentration, so he could never hold his mind onto the
subject that he was supposed to be studying. One day his father asked him, “Son, what
would you like to be when you grow up?” He answered, “I don’t know father, I never
thought about it.”

“Well,” said father, “Today wherever you go, look around at different people working in
different vocations and try to plan your future.”

That afternoon the doorbell rang and Tarun opened the door to a carpenter. His father
had called him to repair a window that had broken in the storm last week. Tarun watched
the carpenter with fascination as the latter sawed and nailed the wood together. Tarun
asked, “Please, can I hammer the nails in?” “Sure, try your hand,” beamed the
carpenter. Tarun hammered in a nail and then went into a reverie. He was making
masterpieces of furniture in teak and mahogany. How grand those armchairs looked! Till
“Ooow!” he yelled! He had banged his thumb with the hammer! He mumbled “Sorry,”
and went outside, nursing his swollen thumb.

In the evening they went to the temple. New idols of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Vishnu
were being installed. How beautiful they looked! The sculptor was fixing the pedestal as
many people looked on in awe! Tarun asked the sculptor, “Will you teach me how to
make statues?” “Why not!” said the sculptor. “Here, take this stone and try to cut a
straight line through it with my chisel and hammer.” Tarun started excitedly. He placed
the stone between his feet and carefully wielded the chisel and hammer.

Soon he was transported into a world of exquisite marble statues that he had sculpted.
But the day-dream came to a rude halt as the chisel went into his heel, causing it to
bleed. Tarun yelped in pain, like an injured puppy.
He eyed the temple priest’s large belly and thought to himself, “Surely I can become a
priest. All that these people have to do is to offer food to the Lord and shake the bell.
And they get so many nice things to eat in return.” So, he went up to the priest and
asked “Panditji, can I work with you?” “Of course,” said the fat Brahmin. “I shall give you
a book of the shalokas that you need to recite for yajnas, prayers, offerings, fasts,
festivals etc. You shall have to report to me at 5 a.m. in the morning after having
completed your morning ablutions...”

Poor Tarun, there was no respite in any profession. How on earth could he possibly
learn all those mantras? He could not concentrate on the answers in his science book.
What should he do? Concentration was required for being a carpenter or a sculptor or
even a temple priest.

Just then he heard his father, “Hey Tarun! Have you thought about what I asked you?”
“Yes father,” said Tarun earnestly.
“I’m going to be a good student.”
Sure! If you are a good student, any vocation is good for you. If you are a hardworking
person and can work in earnest, you can master any trade!

Sand and Stone

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point
of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the
face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in
the sand: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE."

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The
one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend
saved him. After the friend recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:
"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE."

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you
wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?"

The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand
where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something
good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

Johnny the Bagger (A True Story)

Barbara Glanz is a speaker and author. A few years ago, she spoke at a convention for
a large grocery chain with over 3,000 people attending. Her talk was on creating
memories for the customers so they would want to come back. At the end of her speech,
she gave out her email address and phone number, and said, "If you have any great
service stories, I'd like to hear them.”Well, about a month later, Barbara gets a call from
a young man who introduces himself as Johnny. He said,
"Barbara, I heard what you had to say about service, and I like it! I'm just a bagger in the
store and I have Downs’s syndrome, but I wanted to think of a way I could make a
difference.

I decided that I like sayings, so each day I'm going to pick out one that I like, and my dad
and I will print it out on the computer. I'll cut out the quote in strips and sign my name on
the back of each one. The next day when customers come through, I'll just drop a strip
right in their bags and say, 'I hope you enjoy my quote of the day.' What do you think,
Barbara?"

Barbara said, "Johnny, I think that's a wonderful idea!"

A few weeks later, Barbara gets another call…this time from the store manager. He
says, “Barbara, you won't believe what's happened at our store. I went out into the store
and noticed that one line was three times longer than the others. I went to the back of
the line and suggested that customers move to another checkout, and they wouldn't
budge—they wanted to see Johnny's quote of the day!

In fact, one lady said, 'I used to come here once a week, but now I come 2-3 times just
to see the smile on Johnny's face when he drops in his favorite quote.'
So the next day, I round up my team and tell them what Johnny has done to give our
customers more than they expected. That afternoon, I see the lady in the floral
department cutting off her broken flowers and pinning them on the elderly women in our
store. Our guy in the meat department loves Snoopy, so he was putting his favorite
Snoopy stickers on the packages, and talking to his customers.
In fact, everybody in our store is finding creative ways to put their mark on service.
We're having the time of our lives, and it seems like everyone in town is talking about us!
And you know what, Barbara? It happened for one reason…Johnny decided to do
something!” When it comes to service, we all have our unique gifts to give; however we'll
never make the emotional connection with the customer unless it begins in our heart.

A Inspirational and Motivational Story - ACRES OF DAIMONDS

There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he
was content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came to him
and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The
wise man said, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own
city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own
country." And then he went away. That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He was unhappy
and he was discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and discontent
because he was unhappy.

The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and
went in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He looked
all through Europe and couldn't find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally,
physically and financially broke. He got so disheartened that he threw himself into the
Barcelona River and committed suicide.

Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream
that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and
made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it would look good on the mantle piece. He
picked up the stone and put it in the living room.
That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, "Is Hafiz
back?" The new owner said, "No, why do you ask?" The wise man said, "Because that is
a diamond. I recognize one when I see one." The man said, no, that's just a stone I
picked up from the stream. Come, I'll show you.

There are many more." They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis.
Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered
with acres and acres of diamonds.*

What is the moral of this story? There are five morals:

1. When our attitude is right, we realize that we are all walking on acres and acres of
diamonds. Opportunity is always under our feet. We don't have to go anywhere. All we
need to do is recognize it.

2. The grass on the other side always looks greener.

3. While we are dyeing the grass on the other side, there are others who are dyeing the
grass on our side. They would be happy to trade places with us.

4. When people don't know how to recognize opportunity, they complain of noise when it
knocks.

5. The same opportunity never knocks twice. The next one may be better or worse, but
it is never the same one.

A Story to Share - True Friend

Horror gripped the heart of the World War 1 soldier as he saw his lifelong friend fall in
battle. Caught in a trench with continuous gunfire whizzing over his head, the soldier
asked his lieutenant if he might go out into the "no man's land" between the trenches to
bring his fallen comrade back.

"You can go," said the lieutenant, "but i don't think it will be worth it. Your friend is
probably dead and you may throw your life away." The lieutenant's advice didn't matter,
and the soldier went anyway. Miraculously he managed to reach his friend, hoist him
onto his shoulder and bring him back to their company's trench. As the two of them
tumbled in together to the bottom of the trench, the officer checked the wounded soldier,
and then looked kindly at his friend.

"I told you it wouldn't be worth it," he said. "Your friend is dead and you are mortally
wounded." "It was worth it, though, sir," said the soldier. "What do you mean; worth it?"
responded the Lieutenant. "Your friend is dead" "YES, Sir" the private answered. "But it
was worth it because when i got to him, he was still alive and i had the satisfaction of
hearing him say, "JIM........, I KNEW YOU'D COME."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Worth Reading…

A business executive was deep in debt and could see no way out. Creditors were
closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment.

He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company
from bankruptcy. Suddenly an old man appeared before him. "I can see that something
is troubling you," he said. After listening to the executive's woes, the old man said, "I
believe I can help you." He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it
into his hand saying, "Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and
you can pay me back at that time."

Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come. The business executive
saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the
richest men in the world!

"I can erase my money worries in an instant!" he realized. But instead, the executive
decided to put the un cashed check in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give him
the strength to workout a way to save his business, he thought.

With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment. He
closed several big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money
once again. Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the un cashed check. At
the agreed-upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to
hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and
grabbed the old man.

"I'm so glad I caught him!" she cried. "I hope he hasn't been bothering you. He's always
escaping from the rest home and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller.” And she led
the old man away by the arm. The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All
year long he'd been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a
million dollars behind him. Suddenly, he realized that it wasn't the money, real or
imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence that gave
him the power to achieve anything he went after.

From the above story we can make out that Confidence is nothing but vision held
positively no matter what. It comes from ones own commitment and dedication to ones
vision! Seeing ourselves having what we want and feeling it with us all the time
increases our confidence enormously. Whether actually it is there or not doesn't matter.

It all lies in what we see it as.

A kindergarten teacher has decided to let her class play a game. The teacher told each
child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato will
be given a name of a person that the child hates, so the number of potatoes that a child
will put in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she hates. So
when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people
he/she hated. Some had 2 potatoes; some 3 while some up to 5 potatoes.

The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag
wherever they go (even to the toilet) for 1 week. Days after days passed by, and the
children started to complain due to the unpleasant smell let out by the rotten potatoes.
Besides, those having 5 potatoes also had to carry heavier bags. After 1 week, the
children were relieved because the game had finally ended.

The teacher asked: "How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for 1 week?"
The children let out their frustrations and started complaining of the trouble that they had
to go through having to carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go. Then the
teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game. The teacher said: "This is
exactly the situation when you carry your hatred for somebody inside your heart.

The stench of hatred will contaminate your heart and you will carry it with you wherever
you go. If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just 1 week, can you
imagine what is it like to have the stench of hatred in your heart for your lifetime?"

Moral of the Story:

Throw away any hatred for anyone from your heart so that you will not carry sins for a
lifetime. Forgiving others is the best attitude to take. "Learn to Forgive and Forget."

Touching life story.....

A young man was getting ready to graduate college. For many months he had admired a
beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it,
he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had
purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his
private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him
how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.

Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a lovely,
leather-bound Bible. Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, "With all your
money you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a
beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought
perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he
could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed
away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home
immediately and take care things. When he arrived at his father's house, sudden
sadness and regret filled his heart.
He began to search his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he
had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As
he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the Bible.
It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had
desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words...PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we
expected?

The Seven Wonders of the World

Junior high school students in Chicago were studying the Seven Wonders of the World.
At the end of the lesson, the students were asked to list what they considered to be the
Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following
received the most votes:

1. Egypt's Great Pyramids

2. The Taj Mahal in India
3. The Grand Canyon in Arizona
4. The Panama Canal
5. The Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, hadn't turned
in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The quiet
girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so
many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help."

The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:

1. to touch...
2. to taste...
3. to see...
4. to hear... (She hesitated a little, and then added...)
5. to feel...
6. to laugh...
7. and to love.

The room was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop.

May this story serve as a gentle reminder to all of us that the things we overlook as
simple and ordinary are often the most wonderful - and we don't have to travel anywhere
special to experience them.

Enjoy your gifts!

A Story worth Reading . . .

I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose husband died
suddenly of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her insight
with a classroom of students. As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through
the classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on
the edge of her desk and sat down there. With a gentle look of reflection on her face,
she paused and said, "Class is over. I would like to share with all of you, a thought that is
unrelated to class, but which I feel is very important.

"Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves.
None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any
moment. Perhaps this is the Powers way of telling us that we must make the most out of
every single day."

Her eyes beginning to water, she went on, "So I would like you all to make me a
promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something
beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be something you see, it could be a scent, perhaps
of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the
breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning light catches one
autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground.

"Please look for these things, and cherish them. For, although it may sound trite to
some, these things are the 'stuff' of life. The little things we are put here on earth to
enjoy. The things we often take for granted. We must make it important to notice them,
for at anytime it can all be taken away."

The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and filed out of the room
silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had
that whole semester.

Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she
made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all
overlook.

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today. Go barefoot, or walk
on the beach at sunset. Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double dip ice cream
cone. For as we get older, is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we
didn't do.

Remember, life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments
that take our breath away.

Another one…

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in
Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco. "Mom and Dad, I'm coming home,
but I've a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me." "Sure," they
replied, "we'd love to meet him."
"There's something you should know the son continued, "he was hurt pretty badly in the
fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to
go, and I want him to come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."

"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."

"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a
handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't
let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and
forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A
few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son
had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide.
The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to
identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also
discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-
looking or fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us
feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy,
beautiful, or smart as we are. Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way.

Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever
family, regardless of how messed up we are.

What do we work for ??

Son: "Daddy, may I ask you a question"

Daddy: "Yeah sure, what it is?"

Son: "Dad, how much do you make an hour"

Daddy: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"

Son: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"

Daddy: "I make Rs. 500 an hour"

"Oh", the little boy replied, with his head down.

Looking up, he said, "Dad, may I please borrow Rs. 300?"

The father was furious, "if the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some
money to buy a silly toy or other nonsense, then march yourself to your room and go to
bed.
Think why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior"

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions.

How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:

"May be there was something he really needed to buy with that

Rs. 300 and he really didn't ask for money very often!"

The man went to the door of little boy's room and opened the door.
"Are you asleep, son?" He asked.
"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, may be I was too hard on you earlier", said the man, "It's been a long
day and I took out my aggravation on you.
Here's the Rs.300 you asked for"

The little boy sat straight up, smiling "oh thank you dad!" He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled some crippled up notes.

The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want money if you already had some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy I have Rs. 500 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?

Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you"

MORAL OF THE STORY

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip
through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us,
those close to our hearts. If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could
easily replace us in a matter of days.

But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family....

Have a nice day.

"It takes a minute to have a crush an hour to like someone and a day to love someone
but it takes a lifetime to forget someone"
Be in touch..
A small thought…..

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which
said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the
hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back
so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That
afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy
recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this
morning? What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way."
What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy
was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.
Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think
differently and positively. Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no
excuse and love with no regrets. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that
you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with
confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.

Great men say, "Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of
discarding evil and developing goodness…. In the journey of life, if you want to travel
without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience."

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling…

And even more beautiful is, knowing that you are the reason behind it!!

Amazing Story:

Monica married Hitesh this day. At the end of the wedding party,

Monica's mother gave her a newly opened bank saving passbook. With Rs.1000 deposit
amount.

Mother: 'Monica, take this passbook. Keep it as a record of your marriage life.

When there's something happy and memorable happened in your new life, put some
money in.

Write down what it's about next to the line.

The more memorable the event is, the more money you can put in.

I've done the first one for you today.

Do the others with Hitesh.

When you look back after years, you can know how much happiness you've had.'

Monica shared this with Hitesh when getting home.

They both thought it was a great idea and were anxious to know when the second
deposit can be made.

This was what they did after certain time:

- 7 Feb: Rs.100, first birthday celebration for Hitesh after marriage

- 1 Mar: Rs.300, salary raise for Monica

- 20 Mar: Rs.200, vacation trip to Bali

- 15 Apr: Rs.2000, Monica got pregnant

- 1 Jun: Rs.1000, Hitesh got promoted...... and so on...

However, after years, they started fighting and arguing for trivial things.

They didn't talk much.

They regretted that they had married the most nasty people in the world....

no more love...Kind of typical nowadays, huh?

One day Monica talked to her Mother:

'Mom, we can't stand it anymore. We agree to divorce.

I can't imagine how I decided to marry this guy!!!'

Mother: 'Sure, girl, that's no big deal.

Just do whatever you want if you really can't stand it. But before that, do one thing first.

Remember the saving passbook I gave you on your wedding day?

Take out all money and spend it first.

You shouldn't keep any record of such a poor marriage.'

Monica thought it was true.

So she went to the bank, waiting at the queue and planning to cancel the account.

While she was waiting, she took a look at the passbook record.

She looked, and looked, and looked.

Then the memory of all the previous joy and happiness just came up her mind.

Her eyes were then filled with tears. She left and went home.

When she was home, she handed the passbook to Hitesh, asked him to spend the
money before getting divorce.

The next day, Hitesh gave the passbook back to Monica.

She found a new deposit of Rs.5000.

And a line next to the record: 'This is the day I notice how much I've loved you thru out
all these years.
How much happiness you've brought me.'

They hugged and cried, putting the passbook back to the safe.

Do you know how much money they had saved when they retired? I did not ask.

I believe the money did not matter anymore after they had gone thru all the good years
in their life.

"When you fall, in any way,

Don't see the place where you fell, Instead see the place from where you slipped.

Life is about correcting mistakes