On Dussehra, I went to my brother's place. It was quite an enjoyful experience. Would like to narrate one small incident which happened in the midst of all the hue and cry. We all went to Ayyappa temple on the occasion of Dussehra to get the much needed and never-ending yearning of blessings.
After paying our homages to the God, we went straight or rather our bikes paved itself to the Idli-Dosa stall nearby. We ordered masala dosas and were engulfed into tasting the yummy-crispy food in our plates. Just then this guy came and ordered for himself the same menu as was ours. Nothing unusual uptil now.
Here comes a lady who was begging for some alms. She went to this guy asking for some favours and without a hesitation guess-what this guy did. He asked her as to whether she wants something to eat. She said she wanted to have some vada-sambar. He promptly gave the order and gave the vada-sambar plate to the lady.
That was quite a different aspect of helping street beggars. In this way, you feel happy and the receiver is also happy. Had it been a child (God forbid) then giving a small chocolate to him/her would be the best thing you would feel about yourself. Its just a way of taking things in a different way. If you really wanna help, give them something to remember or something to cherish....you may never know it could bring the much needed smile to their lips and the best part -- it would bring smile to your lips....think about it and try it
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Underestimate At Your Own Risk
A lady, in a faded gingham dress and her husband, in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the Boston train. They were to meet the President of Harvard University. When they reached the venue, by seeing their simple attire, the secretary was in a dilemma as to whether she should pave them in to meet her boss.
For hours the secretary ignored them but their determination of not-to-budge-until-meet-the-President attitude finally took them inside the The Cabin. The President obviously was not entertained by seeing them in such a simple and un-sophisticated look but gave them some time to listen to their say.
The parents had a son who had attended Harvard for 1 year. But was accidentally killed in a mishap. As as he was very happy during his short stay in Harvard, so they wanted to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on the campus.
The President was shocked. And said "We can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.” The lady said "Oh no, we were thinking of giving a building to Harvard in his memory". The President rolled his eyes and said "“A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have overseven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.” The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all itcosts to start a university? Why don’t we just start our own?”Her husband nodded.
Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away traveling to California where they established the memorial of their son and you guessed it right...it is Stanford University.
For hours the secretary ignored them but their determination of not-to-budge-until-meet-the-President attitude finally took them inside the The Cabin. The President obviously was not entertained by seeing them in such a simple and un-sophisticated look but gave them some time to listen to their say.
The parents had a son who had attended Harvard for 1 year. But was accidentally killed in a mishap. As as he was very happy during his short stay in Harvard, so they wanted to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on the campus.
The President was shocked. And said "We can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.” The lady said "Oh no, we were thinking of giving a building to Harvard in his memory". The President rolled his eyes and said "“A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have overseven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.” The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all itcosts to start a university? Why don’t we just start our own?”Her husband nodded.
Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away traveling to California where they established the memorial of their son and you guessed it right...it is Stanford University.
The authenticity of this story is still debated but whether fake or real, it indeed is a good story for us to consider that no matter how small or insignificant a person may look like or be in his nature, Never ever can anyone in this universe estimate the true self of simplicity. For if you do so you would end up surprising yourself more often than not.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Carrying Things In Paradise
Sometimes, we carry things for more time than we should. Quite a simple story to illustrate this:
Two traveling monks reached a river where they met a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank. She thanked him and departed.
As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!"
"Brother," the second monk replied, "I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her."
You see the woman could be replaced by virtually anything in this world ---- all depending on the way we take and perceive things. We have our own way of living life. Now the main thing which I am trying to stress is as to how much time we keep less-important things in our paradise(Our Mind) and for how long. Because the more we keep it, the more we delve into unnecessary chasms of irregularities
Two traveling monks reached a river where they met a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank. She thanked him and departed.
As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!"
"Brother," the second monk replied, "I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her."
You see the woman could be replaced by virtually anything in this world ---- all depending on the way we take and perceive things. We have our own way of living life. Now the main thing which I am trying to stress is as to how much time we keep less-important things in our paradise(Our Mind) and for how long. Because the more we keep it, the more we delve into unnecessary chasms of irregularities
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Just Another Unbelievable Story
We all love commentaries...be it cricket or football or tennis (they are the livewires who makes our adrenaline rush to its allowed limits though it often crosses while watching).....the likes of geoffrey boycott, harsha bhogle are many....and we have Dean du plessis.
Now who on earth is this guy --- I am quite sure that until today you would have joined me on the whereabouts of this hitherto anonymous name. This guy is a superb and brilliant commentator, he is one of his genre....the way he comments with precision and accuracy about the ongoing live cricket war on field is unbelievable.....the last word is not a typo because--- he is blind
Dean du plessis - a Zimbabawean commentator is all about self-belief and what it could do to your inner self. Wired up to the stump microphones, he can tell who is bowling from the footfalls and grunts, a medium or fast delivery by the length of time between the bowler's foot coming down and the impact of the ball on the pitch. He picks up a yorker from the sound of the bat rumming down on the ball, can tell whether the ball is in on-side or off-side and when it has hit pad rather than bat.
He cant deliver bowl by ball passage but works with the anchor. He has already shared the podium with Ravi Shastri, Geofrey Boycott, Tony Cozier and Bruce Yardley. This is quite an ardent display of believing what you are and to pursue your dream to the end and keeping that come-what-may-i-will-damn-reach-the goal attitude. Time to look inside us and rejuvenate those latent or made latent dreams to prop up and see the light of the day with some never to die vigors.
Now who on earth is this guy --- I am quite sure that until today you would have joined me on the whereabouts of this hitherto anonymous name. This guy is a superb and brilliant commentator, he is one of his genre....the way he comments with precision and accuracy about the ongoing live cricket war on field is unbelievable.....the last word is not a typo because--- he is blind
Dean du plessis - a Zimbabawean commentator is all about self-belief and what it could do to your inner self. Wired up to the stump microphones, he can tell who is bowling from the footfalls and grunts, a medium or fast delivery by the length of time between the bowler's foot coming down and the impact of the ball on the pitch. He picks up a yorker from the sound of the bat rumming down on the ball, can tell whether the ball is in on-side or off-side and when it has hit pad rather than bat.
He cant deliver bowl by ball passage but works with the anchor. He has already shared the podium with Ravi Shastri, Geofrey Boycott, Tony Cozier and Bruce Yardley. This is quite an ardent display of believing what you are and to pursue your dream to the end and keeping that come-what-may-i-will-damn-reach-the goal attitude. Time to look inside us and rejuvenate those latent or made latent dreams to prop up and see the light of the day with some never to die vigors.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Making a Difference
Sometimes we come up with a brilliant and noble idea but when it comes to the execution part, which unfortunately is the most difficult part, we start thinking that we as individuals would not carry a say or for that sake, it doesn’t make any difference to others because that act may not be big enough to come into view. But in the larger sense, it is.
A beautiful story to keep up our momento intact, in doing good all the time, howsoever small the magnitude of the action may appear to be as it does a invaluable difference in the long run---to someone else.
My friend was walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset. As he walked along, he began to see another man in the distance. As he grew nearer, he noticed that the local native kept leaning down, picking something up and throwing it out into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things out into the ocean. As my friend approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had washed up on the beach, and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water. My friend was puzzled.
He approached the man and said. “Good evening, friend. I was wondering what you are doing.”
“I’m throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see its low tide right now and all of these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don’t throw them back into the sea, they’ll die up here from lack of oxygen.”
“I understand,” my friend replied, “but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can’t possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many. And don’t you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. Can’t you see that you can’t possibly make a difference?”
The local native smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, “Made a difference to that one!”
A beautiful story to keep up our momento intact, in doing good all the time, howsoever small the magnitude of the action may appear to be as it does a invaluable difference in the long run---to someone else.
My friend was walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset. As he walked along, he began to see another man in the distance. As he grew nearer, he noticed that the local native kept leaning down, picking something up and throwing it out into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things out into the ocean. As my friend approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had washed up on the beach, and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water. My friend was puzzled.
He approached the man and said. “Good evening, friend. I was wondering what you are doing.”
“I’m throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see its low tide right now and all of these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don’t throw them back into the sea, they’ll die up here from lack of oxygen.”
“I understand,” my friend replied, “but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can’t possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many. And don’t you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. Can’t you see that you can’t possibly make a difference?”
The local native smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, “Made a difference to that one!”
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Life is too short to hate anybody....Trust me!!!
We are born humans....we die humans. But during all the phases of our life, most of the times, we tend to be what we are not. We become what we should not. We become what is not right. And then everything just doesn't fit the things.
It is but natural that at the times of adversity, we become arrogant and we drift ourselves from the right....so much that we hurt others who are in contact with us. I would just say one thing : Remember that life is too short for keeping angst or hurting others. It may not be evident at present but when you are old, when you would have grandchildren's and when you look back in your life-canvas, you would see that there could have been instances where we could have made life more colorful, more meaningful, more joyful, and more less-painful for others.
So, during the most extreme times of the life, just keep this in mind.....no matter how bad the situation may be, there is always room for us to behave in the right sense and the right way. Just ask your heart and stick to its decisions. Things would surely see the light of the day sooner or later, but atleast you could be sure that no-one is hurt during the transition.
If we could practice this throughout our life, we would be making our small yet valuable contribution towards making Life, and indeed it is, a Miracle.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Sands and Stones
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."
That's how life is all about. Goodness should be kept close to our heart and badness, in any form, should be kept out of our heart's periphery.
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."
That's how life is all about. Goodness should be kept close to our heart and badness, in any form, should be kept out of our heart's periphery.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Nature returns everything with Interest
A farmer in Scotland, by the name of Fleming, heard a voice calling for help. He immediately ran towards the call for help, and there he saw a boy neck-deep in quicksand. Fleming struggled to pull the boy up; he affectionaltely patted him and told him to go home. Then he returned to his farming job again.
Next day, a well dressed gentleman visited the farmer and thanked him for saving his son. He wished to reward the farmer but he declined saying that it was his duty. Looking at a little boy, the gentleman asked Fleming if that was his son. Fleming nodded and was told:"This boy, one day will make you proud!"
Then on, the gentleman took full responsibility for the upbringing and education of that boy. He grew up to become a world-renowned scientist. He was Alexander Fleming - inventer of Penicillin. A few months after his invention, the son of that gentleman was hit by a severe attack of pneumonia! His life was saved (the second time) with penicillin! He was Winston Churchill.
Nature has a wonderful and marvellous way of returning our goodness in mysterious ways....sometimes evident and logically fitting in our thinking and sometimes not. What goes around, comes around. Nature doesn't retain anything. It returns everything with interest.
Next day, a well dressed gentleman visited the farmer and thanked him for saving his son. He wished to reward the farmer but he declined saying that it was his duty. Looking at a little boy, the gentleman asked Fleming if that was his son. Fleming nodded and was told:"This boy, one day will make you proud!"
Then on, the gentleman took full responsibility for the upbringing and education of that boy. He grew up to become a world-renowned scientist. He was Alexander Fleming - inventer of Penicillin. A few months after his invention, the son of that gentleman was hit by a severe attack of pneumonia! His life was saved (the second time) with penicillin! He was Winston Churchill.
Nature has a wonderful and marvellous way of returning our goodness in mysterious ways....sometimes evident and logically fitting in our thinking and sometimes not. What goes around, comes around. Nature doesn't retain anything. It returns everything with interest.
Friday, July 31, 2009
He Gave Me Everything I Needed
This poem, by Swami Vivekananda, is so simple and beautiful in its content and context that the reader almost connects himself at one point or the other to it. And at last, quite amicably or rather surprisingly, you find everything that went before in this poem or in your life, falling in its place nicely.
WHEN I ASKED GOD FOR STRENGTH ,
HE GAVE ME DIFFICULT SITUATIONS TO FACE .
WHEN I ASKED GOD FOR BRAIN & BROWN ,
HE GAVE ME PUZZLES IN LIFE TO SOLVE .
WHEN I ASKED GOD FOR HAPPINESS ,
HE SHOWED ME SOME UNHAPPY PEOPLE .
WHEN I ASKED GOD FOR WEALTH ,
HE SHOWED ME HOW TO WORK HARD .
WHEN I ASKED GOD FOR FAVORS,
HE SHOWED ME OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK HARD.
WHEN I ASKED GOD FOR PEACE ,
HE SHOWED ME HOW TO HELP OTHERS.
GOD GAVE ME NOTHING I WANTED ,
HE GAVE ME EVERYTHING I NEEDED
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Hachiko : The World's most loyal dog
This real life story stands as an epitome of loyalty, whose measures are beyond the limits of any scales. The story is about a dog named, Hachiko (an Akita breed), who is remembered for his loyality to his owner even many years after his owner's death.
In 1924, Hachiko was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor at University of Tokyo. During his owner's life, Hachikō saw him off from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day, at the nearby Shibuya Station. Within a short span of time, the owner and his pet had developed quite an amicable bondage.
In 1924, Hachiko was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor at University of Tokyo. During his owner's life, Hachikō saw him off from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day, at the nearby Shibuya Station. Within a short span of time, the owner and his pet had developed quite an amicable bondage.
One evening, the professor didn't return on the usual train. He had suffered a stroke at the university on that day. His friend waited for the master thinking that he may come one day or the other. But as days passed, he could not find his master's face among the commuters. Efforts to bring him into a new home went in vain.
Commuters who knew Hachikō brought treats and food to nourish him during his wait. This continued for 10 years with Hachikō appearing only in the evening time, precisely when the train was due at the station. He died on 1935.
In Japan, Hachiko's faithfulness is regarded as a national symbol of loyalty. A bronze statue has been erected in his likeness at Shibuya station and guess who was the guest of honour at the time of unveiling --- Hachiko himself.
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