A Donkey and The Untied String

A man had 3 donkeys. Once he was travelling with them to a distant place. He came across a river and wanted to get refreshed but he had a problem. He had only 2 ropes to tie his animals to a nearby tree. There was every chance that the 3rd one could go astray.

A Wise man was travelling by and seeing his dilemma offered to give an advice. He said pretend that you are tying the 3rd one to the tree - just make sure that donkey is facing you.

The man did the same and went to get refreshed. When he came back, he was surprised and happy to see the 3rd one still holding on to the tree.

He untied the other 2 donkeys and started his journey. There was one problem. The 3rd one would not budge an inch from the tree. He tried all his tricks but no respite.

The Wise man comes back to the scene and answers the riddle. You have forgot to pretend that 3rd one's rope has not been untied. A gasp of disbelief came upon the man after he saw that pretending to untie made the donkey move freely around.

A beautiful story where untied strings signify our apprehensions, dilemmas, worries, stress, uncertainties and all such similar attributes that deny us invariably to move forward in our life.

No one can teach us how to untie these strings. We need to figure that out as most of the times they are our own creation and for some reason, we keep these in our minds for quite long, than needed.

Sometimes, we suffer much more in imagination than in reality. This Realization is the first step to untie the string.

Words are powerful and have energy

Words are said to be very powerful. It represents what we think and feel from core. What comes from our mouth and what we in turn hear does in fact makes a huge impact on our subconsciousness.

Imagine a person feeling sick and he chose to speak in negative words while speaking to the outside world. By negative words I mean like I am sick, I have so much work to do, I am always unhealthy, I have so much tension and now I fell sick again.
Feeling sick means our energy balance is disturbed - negative is more than positive. Now on top of it, if we say negative words do you think that our balance will be restored faster or delayed.

Contrary, imagine thinking positive and choosing to speak positive words like I will be healthy soon, let me find out ways to bring back the balance by eating right and thinking right. Say good things to near ones and appreciate their kindness and help for taking care of you. Talk to your family and get advice. Chances are you will hit the equilibrium sooner.

Thinking and speaking positive when negatives are all around us is something which may feel bookish and not worthy to believe for, but if it does have an effect, I think it is worth trying out. Not sure if it is worth believing in but sometimes you tend to feel the righteousness even though there is no logical proof towards it.

Words are always free to use, it's how we chose to use it, which will decide the energy that follows.

Falcon and Comfort Zone

There was a king who received a very special gift - two beautiful, magnificent, peregrine falcons. He handed them over to a man, who was expert in training falcons. After a couple of months, the trainer informed the King that one of the falcons was doing really well - Flying majestically ! Soaring into heights of the sky ! But the other one - it had not moved at all from its branch - from the very day he had started training them.

The King brought healers and sorcerers from all over the place to try and get the falcon to move, but the bird just wouldn't fly. Having tried everything he could, the frustrated king said to his minister - "Maybe we need someone more familiar with nature. Someone who understands animals and birds. I think only such a person can solve this problem. Go. Look for someone like this from the countryside and assign the task to him."

The next morning, the king was thrilled to see the 2nd falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. Delighted, he called his minister and asked him to get the doer of this miracle to him. The minister brought a simple farmer to the King. The King asked the farmer - "How did you make this falcon fly?" The farmer replied - "It was very easy, Your Royal Highness. I simply cut the branch on which the bird was sitting."

Falcon = We
Branch = Comfort Zone
Fly = Growth

We all tend to slowly and unknowingly slip into our self-made comfort zone - a zone where we limit ourselves of all possibilities and probabilities, keeping ourselves tied to our notions of knowledge about everything out there. It is the journey with experience that helps us grow to be a better person, than we are in the previous moment.

Feeding our Minds - It's our choice

It's interesting how our minds sometimes bowls a decent googly to us and we are found wanted and adjudged out plump. It has been said that our minds are sponge and they take on whatever we see and interpret.

Now this also means that if we see something bad or not worthy in its true sense, chances are our minds start adapting our behavioural patterns with respect to them. And knowingly or unknowingly it will affect our cognitive abilities - we start reacting to situations rather than responding to them.

Let's take a glance on the other side of this aspect. We see things which are Good, noteworthy, meaningful and motivational - our minds subconsciously paves way for positive frequencies which in turn affects our response to situations and moments with a balance.

Well, we have around 16 hrs a day - what we see, what we do, what we say, what we listen to, what we interpret,what we think - all of them matters. Changes or positive vibes may not be felt by naked eyes readily - maybe or may not be.

For some unknown reason which only our consciousness knows why, I do believe that this could be true - i.e. seeing good things bring positivity and anything remotely bad sheds positivity.

Point is do we believe it or not. And if we do believe, let's atleast try to make an attempt to make a choice next time round - As someone famously said,

"Mind is a good servant but a very bad master"

Remembering National Anthem

The other day, i was in cinema hall and before the movie commenced, we had this sentence flashed on the screen, which said - Please stand up for the National Anthem.

Jana Gana Mana...the song which we sang every day during morning school assembly. I remember that we used to get punishment, if we were found to be moving during the anthem. It brought a level of discipline and honour for the national flag, though I must say that fledgelings, that we were, it was just like a normal school routine for us, and nothing more than that.

In the theatre, when everyone - parents, children, couples, aged alike were all standing up and listening to the rashtragaan, i could see that there were few people, who came late, were standing in the Entry gate during the anthem. There was this sense of nostalgia and at the same time, i felt a sense of pride to remember ourselves as children of our homeland.

More than anything else, i was flown years back and came forth to present, and that traversal is what was precious for me to relive and cherish the remembrance and present.

Going An Extra Mile

It was the usual travel to office on Monday morning, walking past the jam packed road, full with four wheelers and two wheelers giving horns to make their way free. As usual, no one paid heed to them, including me, as vehicles in front of us, were also moving at a snail pace.

After going some distance, the road got widened, and we were able to move faster. However, there was a biker behind me who was giving horn every now and then. At first, i thought he wanted a way and i gladly gave as well. But the main surprise for me was to come next .

He went past me but while moving ahead, he signalled his back pack and a thumbs up sign. For a moment, i did not get the thing, but then after a sec, things got clear.

To confirm the same, i parked my bike side and yes, as i had thought, my bag zip was open.

I know, this does not qualify for something which is worth mentioning- but what striked me was the simple gesture and the way it was given to me. For some reason, it brought a sense of serenity and smile inside me - the feeling which we get when someone goes that extra mile to make things right - to us or to anyone else, selflessly.

Internet - A Place to Become or Unbecome

Recently, i was thinking about the way everything around us is changing at bludgeoning speed. Whatever is latest today becomes old in the next moment with a better, improved and never thought of ideas coming into limelight. It is a boon as well as a curse to live in this time of the world.

Consider having access to all information about anything in a split second as everything is out there in the web. Now comes the weird and to-be- understood part.

A person can use the web to propel himself or herself to the ultimate realm by constantly and diligently foraying into the knowledge available to comprehend in its entirety. A person can start from scratch in any subject and can feed himself information from the best possible minds in the world. We can elevate ourselves to a place where we cant even imagine at this point of time.

Now, imagine the opposite - web out there is also a place where we have the darkest things easily available. There is all possible chance to get deviated from the righteous and get attracted to the forbidden path. Children are the easiest prey where their brains are like sponge where everything is taken in without filteration. Even adults fall prey and by the time they realise, damage would have been done - deep inside.

Solution is to find out how to filter the best and unworthy from your choices. There is no clear cut one-liner that can be followed to do it but atleast give it a thought before beginning.

Spiderman movie's last scene dialogue "With great power comes great responsibility". Let's understand its gist and then move ahead. After all, ultimate goal is to be the best that we can be - always.

Worth Trying !!

When you think of it, of how we waste our lives at an incredible pace, it is humorous at the first thought but then later you feel jittery about it. Have we ever thought the main motive of we here is not about living and surviving but to learn, improve, excel in ourselves and then reach the zenith of our abilities.

Mere giving a thought albeit seriously would give us a jolt and for a second, few of us may start affirming inside, but wait for 2 minutes and then we all will drift in the daily chores of our busy, monotonous life.

Irony is we all at some point of time, have this inner voice which makes us strive more than we are for a jiffy, but how many of us do something about it. Even if we, we come back to original tone, sooner or later.

One thing which everyone will agree and there would be no second thought to it, is that we all will feel happy and satisfied, if we strive for what we want. How to go about it - and more about it how do we sustain it - is our own game & war, worth trying. Think about it !!

Coffee Vs Cups

This came to me as an Whatsapp forward but had a simple message to ponder upon for a minute.
Read on to get the message, which has always been there, to be considered in our daily lives.


Once a group of students highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Suddenly their conversation turned into complaints about stress in Work and Life.

The Professor offered the students coffee and went to the kitchen, returning with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups : Plastic/Glass/Crystal - Some were plain looking, some were expensive, some exquisite.

The Professor told them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in their hand, the professor said : "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress."

"Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups...and then you began eyeing each other's cups."

"Life is the Coffee. The jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define us, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee that life has provided us."

Enjoy your coffee !!

"The Happiest persons dont have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.."

Buddha Explains Peace Of Mind Example

One day when Buddha and his followers were passing a lake, Buddha told one of his disciples, "I am thirsty, do get some water from the lake". At that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy and turbid.

The Disciple thought, "How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?". So he came back and told Buddha, "The water in there is very muddy I don't think it is fit to drink". After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake. The disciple went back, and found that the water was still muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same.

After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back. This time, the disciple found the mud has settled down, and the water was clean and clear. So, he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, "See what you did to make the water clean". You let it be, and the mud settled down in its own and you have clear water". "Your mind is like that too! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. Having 'Peace of mind' is not a strenuous job, it is an effortless process to keep your mind cool and have a great life ahead."