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Showing posts from May, 2011

Don't Abandon your Dream

There were once 2 brothers who lived on the 80th level. On coming home one day, they realized to their dismay that the lifts were not working and that they have to climb the stairs home. After struggling to the 20th level, panting and tired, they decided to abandon their bags and come back for them the next day. They left their bags then and climbed on. When they have struggled to the 40th level, the younger brother started to grumble and both of them began to quarrel. They continued to climb the flights of steps, quarreling all the way to the 60th floor. They then realized that they have only 20 levels more to climb and decided to stop quarreling and continue climbing in peace. They silently climbed on and reached their home at long last. Each stood calmly before the door and waited for the other to open the door. And they realized that the key was in their bags which was left on the 20th floor This story is reflecting on our life...many of us live under the exp...

The Plan of the Lord

Once there was a sweeper in a well known temple and he was very sincere and devoted. Every time he saw thousands of devotees coming to take darshan of the Lord, he thought that the Lord is standing all the time and giving darshan and He must be feeling very tired. So one day very innocently he asked the Lord whether he can take the place of the Lord for a day so that the Lord can have some relief and rest. The Deity of Temple replied, "I do not mind taking a break. I will transform you like Myself, but you must do one thing. You must just stand here like Me, smile at everyone and just give benedictions. Do not interfere with anything and do not say anything. Remember you are the deity and you just have faith that I have a master plan for everything." The sweeper agreed to this. The next day the sweeper took the position of the deity and a rich man came and prayed to the Lord. He offered a nice donation and prayed that his business should be prosperous. While...

The Emperor

An emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided something different. He called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here after one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!" One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see ...

Be Willing To Learn Throughout The Life

One truck driver was doing his usual load delivery at a mental hospital, by parking his vehicle beside an open drain. He discovered a flat tyre when he was about to return from the mental hospital.He jacked up the truck and removed the flat tyre to fix the spare tyre. When he was about to fix the spare tyre, he accidentally dropped all the 4 bolts in the open drain. As he cannot fish the bolts in the open drain, he started to panic as to what should be done? Just then, one patient happened to walk past him and asked the driver as to why he was looking troubled. The driver thought to himself, since there is nothing much he can do or this mental joker can.Just to keep the bugging away, the truck driver informed the whole episode to the mental patient and gave a helpless look. The patient just laughed at the truck driver and said you just cannot even fix such a simple problem? "No wonder you are destined to remain a truck driver for life". The truck drive...

Important Bricks Thrown at you

About ten years ago, a young and very successful executive named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his sleek, black, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child darted out, but a brick sailed out and - WHUMP! - it smashed Into the Jag's shiny black side door! SCREECH..!!!! Brakes slammed! Gears ground into reverse, and tires madly spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown. Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he went on. "That's my new Jaguar, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?" "Please, mist...

Spilt Milk

Have you heard of the story - spilt milk? Well, we all know there is no use crying over spilt milk. But this story is different. I would hope all parents would respond in this manner. I recently heard a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others? He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor - a veritable sea of milk! When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said, "Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! ...

Never Give Up

One day a young lady was driving along with her father. They came upon a storm, and the young lady asked her father, What should I do?" He said "keep driving". Cars began to pull over to the side, the storm was Getting worse. "What should I do." The young lady asked? "Keep driving," her father replied. On up a few feet, she noticed that eighteen wheelers were also pulling over. She told her dad, "I must pull over, I can barely see ahead. It is Terrible, and everyone is pulling over!" Her father told her, "Don't give up, just keep driving!" Now the storm was terrible, but she never stopped driving, and soon she Could see a little more clearly. After a couple of miles she was again on Dry land, and the sun came out. Her father said, "Now you can pull over and get out." She said "But why now?" He said "When you get out, look back at all the people that gave up and are Still in t...

What Could You Do If You Believed You Couldn’t Fail?

I’ve thought about that question a lot. What could you do if you believed you couldn’t fail? I have seen many times that it is not the challenge that holds us back but ourselves. I want to share a cool story to illustrate my point – hope you enjoy. 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 thinking 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 cheque, 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 cheque for $500,000, signed by John D.Rockefeller, one of the richest m...

The 4 Wives

There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best. He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men. He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant's confidante.  Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times. Now, the merchant's 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her. One day, the merchant fe...

Mountain Story

"A son and his father were walking on the mountains.Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself and screams:"AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"  To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain:  "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"  Curious, he yells:"Who are you?"  He receives the answer:"Who are you?" And then he screams to the mountain: "Iadmire you!"  The voice answers: "Iadmire you!" Angered at the response, he screams:  "Coward!"  He receives the answer:"Coward!"  He looks to his father and asks:"What's going on?"  The father smiles and says:"My son, pay attention." Again the man screams:"You are a champion!" The voice answers:"You are a champion!"  The boy is surprised, but does not understand.Then the father explains: "People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do.Our lif...

10 things to learn from Japan

1. THE CALM Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated. 2. THE DIGNITY Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture. 3. THE ABILITY The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall. 4. THE GRACE People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something. 5. THE ORDER No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding. 6. THE SACRIFICE Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid? 7. THE TENDERNESS Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak. 8. THE TRAINING The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that. 9. THE MEDIA They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No sensationalizing. Only calm reportage. 10. THE CONSCIENCE When the power went off in a store, ...

GREATEST MAGICIAN

Three world famous magicians were in the bar drinking and boasting about their achievements. The first one said," During my latest show, I made three women from the audience disappear, it was so convincing that their relatives started panicking, no one could find the trick" . The second one said, " Hey, that is nothing, during one of my open air shows I made the Municipality building disappear and the entire town was searching for it". The third one sighed and said," Both of you are so local, I went to Paris and made the Eiffel Tower disappear for a full one hour, it was live on the TV, entire France was searching for the building & no one had a clue". Just then an Indian walked into the bar and the three magicians suddenly turned quiet, gave each other fugitive glances and started to slip towards the door. A Bartender watching this got curious and asked one of the magicians, "Hey what happened ? Who is that guy ? " One of the ...

Resource utilization

Buddha, one day, was in deep thought about the worldly activities and the ways of instilling goodness in human beings. One of his disciples approached him and said humbly " Oh my teacher ! While you are so much concerned about the world and others, why don't you look in to the welfare and needs of your own disciples also." Buddha : "OK.. Tell me how I can help you" Disciple : "Master! My attire is worn out and is beyond the decency to wear the same. Can I get a new one, please?" Buddha found the robe indeed was in a bad condition and needed replacement. He asked the store keeper to give the disciple a new robe to wear on. The disciple thanked Buddha and retired to his room. A while later, he went to his disciple's place and asked him "Is your new attire comfortable? Do you need anything more ?" Disciple : "Thank you my Master. The attire is indeed very comfortable. I need nothing more" Buddha : "Having got...

Difference between gold and copper

Long times ago, in Egypt lived a famous mystical person name Zun-Nun. A young man came to visit him and asked "Teacher, I do not understand why people like you dress in such a way and very simple, isn't in this era was necessary to dress neatly, not only for performance but also for other reasons? The mystical only smiled and took his ring from one of his fingers, and said "Young friend, I will answer your question, but first do one thing for me, take this ring and go to the market across this street, can you sell this for one chip of gold? Having looked at Zun-Nun's dirty ring, the young man became doubtful. "One chip of gold, I am not sure this ring could be sold at that price." "Try first, young man, who knows you did it." The Young man went to the market quickly. He offered the ring to the textile, vegetable, meat, fish traders, and the others. The fact was that no body was willing to pay for a chip of Gold. He went back to Zun-Nun re...

Keep Knocking

When Colonel Harland Sanders retired at the age of 65, he had little to show for himself, except an old Caddie roadster, a $105 monthly pension check, and a recipe for chicken. Knowing he couldn't live on his pension, he took his chicken recipe in hand, got behind the wheel of his van, and set out to make his fortune. His first plan was to sell his chicken recipe to restaurant owners, who would in turn give him a residual for every piece of chicken they sold--5 cents per chicken. The first restaurateur he called on turned him down. So did the second. So did the third. In fact, the first 1008 sales calls Colonel Sanders made ended in rejection. Still, he continued to call on owners as he traveled across the USA, sleeping in his car to save money. Prospect number 1009 gave him his first "yes." After two years of making daily sales he had signed up a total of five restaurants. Still the Colonel pressed on, knowing that he had a great chicken recipe and that some...

Secret Of Success

A young man asked Socrates the secret of Success. Socrates told the young man to meet him near the river the next morning. They met. Socrates asked the young man to walk with him towards the river. When the water got up to their neck, Socrates took the young man by surprise and ducked him into the water. The man struggled to get out but Socrates was strong and kept him there until he started turning blue. The young man struggled hard and finally managed to get out and the first thing he did was to gasp and take deep breath. Socrates asked 'What you wanted the most when you were there?' The man replied 'Air'. Socrates said 'that's the secret to success. When you want success as badly as you wanted air, you will get it. There is no other secret'

Effiecency

Timeless lesson on how consultants can make a difference for an organization. . ... Last week, we took some friends out to a new restaurant, and noticed that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket. It seemed a little strange. When the busboy brought our water and utensils, I noticed he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket. Then I looked around and saw that all the staff had spoons in their pockets.. When the waiter came back to serve our soup I asked, 'Why the spoon?' 'Well,' he explained, 'the restaurant's owners hired Mckinsey & Co., to revamp all our processes. After several months of analysis, they concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped utensil. It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3 spoons per table per hour.. If our personnel are better prepared, we can reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 115.27 man-hours per shift.' As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and...

Helping yourself

Well my story starts 3 years ago. I was working in a retail store; I like to talk to everybody and know what's going on in there lives. I remember this one girl who started working there a few moths after me. I I remember always seeing her. I don't know why but for a weird reason we would never talk. We would just see each other and smile. She would always smile in a really happy way until one day when we got to work in the same department again. She smiled as if she was the happiest girl in the world. I went up to her and asked "What's wrong with you?" She answered "Why?" I said, "I could feel you're very sad and you're always trying to hide it." Her mouth just dropped as if I had discovered her deepest secret, so we started talking. She told me why she was feeling like that and why she was trying to hide it. Time went by and we became good friends. She'd always tell me I had changed her life in so many ways. I could not im...

The Love of Parents

An 80 year old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45 years old highly educated son. Suddenly a crow perched on their window. The Father asked his Son, "What is this?" The Son replied "It is a crow". After a few minutes, the Father asked his Son the 2nd time, "What is this?" The Son said "Father, I have just now told you "It's a crow". After a little while, the old Father again asked his Son the 3rd time, What is this?" At this time some expression of irritation was felt in the Son's tone when he said to his Father with a rebuff. "It's a crow, a crow". A little after, the Father again asked his Son t he 4th time, "What is this?" This time the Son shouted at his Father, "Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again, although I have told you so many times 'IT IS A CROW'. Are you not able to understand this?" A little later the Father w...

DON'T WE ALL

I was parked in front of the mall wiping off my car. I had just come from the car wash and was waiting for my wife to get out of work. Coming my way from across the parking lot was what society would consider a bum. From the looks of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no money. There are times when you feel generous but there are other times that you just don't want to be bothered. This was one of those "don't want to be bothered times." "I hope he doesn't ask me for any money," I thought. He didn't. He came and sat on the curb in front of the bus stop but he didn't look like he could have enough money to even ride the bus. After a few minutes he spoke. "That's a very pretty car," he said. He was ragged but he had an air of dignity around him. His scraggly blond beard keep more than his face warm. I said, "thanks," and continued wiping off my car. He sat there quietly as I worked. The expect...

What Happens in Heaven

This is one of the nicest e-mails I have seen and is so true: I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, 'This Is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to GOD said in prayer are Received..' I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.. Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section. The angel then said to me, 'This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them.' I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to E...

The Duck and the Devil

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with, out in the woods. He Practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target. Getting A little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was Walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck Square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see His sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch the next day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the Dishes." But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen." Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go Fishing and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make Supper." Sally just smiled and said," ...

The Wall of Resentment

A story tells of a merchant in a small town who had identical twin sons. The boys worked for their father in the department store he owned and, when he Died, they took over the store. Everything went well until the day a twenty-dollar bill disappeared. One of the brothers had left the bill on the cash register and walked outside with A customer. When he returned, the money was gone. He asked his brother, "Did you see that twenty-dollar bill on the cash register?" His brother replied that he had not. But the young man kept probing and Questioning. He would not let it alone. "Twenty-dollar bills just don't get up and walk away! Surely you must have seen it!" There was subtle accusation In his voice. Tempers began to rise. Resentment set in. Before long, a deep and bitter chasm divided the young men. They refused to speak. They finally Decided they could no longer work together and a dividing wall was built down the center of the store. For twenty years h...

The Wallet

As I walked home one freezing day, I stumbled on a wallet someone had lost in the street. I picked it up and looked inside to find some identification so I could call the owner. But the wallet contained only three dollars and a crumpled letter that looked as if it had been in there for years. The envelope was worn and the only thing that was legible on it was the return address. I started to open the letter, hoping to find some clue. Then I saw the dateline--1924. The letter had been written almost sixty years ago. It was written in a beautiful feminine handwriting on powder blue stationery with a little flower in the left-hand corner. It was a "Dear John" letter that told the recipient, whose name appeared to be Michael, that the writer could not see him any more because her mother forbade it. Even so, she wrote that she would always love him. It was signed, Hannah. It was a beautiful letter, but there was no way except for the name Michael, that the owner could be...

Words of Wisdom..!

1. Rise with the sun to pray. Pray alone. Pray often. The Great Spirit will listen, if you only speak. 2. Be tolerant of those who are lost on their path. Ignorance, conceit, anger, jealousy and greed stem from a lost soul. Pray that they will find guidance. 3. Search for yourself, by yourself. Do not allow others to make your path for you. It is your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you. 4. Treat the guests in your home with much consideration. Serve them the best food, give them the best bed and treat them with respect and honor. 5. Do not take what is not yours whether from a person, a community, the wilderness or from a culture. If it was not earned or given, it is not yours. 6. Respect all things that are placed upon this earth - whether it be people or plant. 7. Honor other people's thoughts, wishes and words. Never interrupt another or mock or rudely mimic them. Allow each person the right to personal expressio...

The Power of the Words

A group of frogs were travelling through the woods. By misfortune, two of them fell in a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they called out to the frogs that they were good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they will never be able to succeed in their efforts. Finally , one of the frogs took heed of what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He soon dropped dead. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. But the frog kept trying, jumping even harder and finally made it out of the well. When he got out, the other frogs said, “ did you not hear us?” the frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were actually encouraging him all the time. Moral of the Story : - An Encouraging Word to someone who is down can...

Work can speak better than words

A man once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work. "Where are you going to install the idol?" The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. "If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked. The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it." The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else...

Actions speak louder than words

A gossip between a passenger and Software Engineer in Shatabdi Train ...........An interesting and a must read! Vivek Pradhan was not a happy man.. Even the plush comfort of the air-conditioned compartment of the Shatabdi express could not cool his frayed nerves. He was the Project Manager and still not entitled to air travel. It was not the prestige he sought, he had tried to reason with the admin person, it was the savings in time. As PM, he had so many things to do!! He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time to some good use. 'Are you from the software industry sir?' the man beside him was staring appreciatively at the laptop. Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in affirmation, handling the laptop now with exaggerated care and importance as if it were an expensive car. 'You people have brought so much advancement to the country, Sir. Today everything is getting computerized.' 'Thanks,' smiled Vivek, turning around to ...

Hearing the unheard

"Can I see my baby?" the happy new mother asked. When the bundle was nestled in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor turned quickly and looked out the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears. Time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was marred. When he rushed home from school one day and flung himself into his mother's arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be a succession of heartbreaks. He blurted out the tragedy. "A boy, a big boy... called me a freak." He grew up, handsome for his misfortune. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music. "But, you might mingle with other young people," his mother reproved him, but felt a kindness in her heart. The boy's father had a session with the family physician. Could not...

Refining Silver

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on...

Rights and Wrongs for a Salesman

Aman Singh was appointed sales person at a local General Dealer's store in Chandhigarh While on one of his shifts, a lady approached him and asked if they had peach jam to which he bluntly replied, "Out of stock." At this, the lady immediately turned to leave the shop in disgruntlement.         It was then that the shopkeeper, who had been looking on, called Aman Singh aside and told him, "When a customer asks for a product that is out of stock, you apologize for its unavailability, and then offer other types of the same product. For instance in this case it was peach jam; offer other types of jam like plum jam, guava jam and so on."         Next, came in another lady who asked for toilet paper and Aman Singh politely replied, "I am sorry ma'am, we do not have any toilet paper right now but you could try may be some sand paper

The Story about Love and Life

My husband is S/W Engineer by profession, I love him for his steady nature and I love the warm feeling when I lean against his broad shoulders. Two years of courtship and now, five years into marriage, I would have to admit, that I am getting tired of it. The reasons of me loving him before, has now transformed into the cause of all my restlessness.   I am a sentimental woman and extremely sensitive when it comes to a relationship and my feelings. I yearn for the romantic moments, like a little girl yearning for candy. My husband is my complete opposite; his lack of sensitivity, and the inability of bringing romantic moments into our marriage has disheartened me about LOVE. One day, I finally decided to tell him my decision, that I wanted a divorce. "Why?" he asked, shocked.   "I am tired. There are no reasons for everything in the world!" I answered. He kept silent the whole night, seemingly in deep thought. My feeling of disappointment only incr...