A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.
"Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
"Yeah sure, what is it?" replied the man.
"Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?"
"That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said, angrily.
"I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
"If you must know, I make $50 an hour."
"Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down...
"Daddy, may I please borrow $25?"
The father was furious! "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money--to buy a silly toy--or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish--I don't work hard everyday forchildish frivolities!"
The little boy went quietly to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions--How darehe ask such questions only to get some money?
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:
Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00. He really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of his son's room and opened the door.
"Are you asleep, son?" he asked.
"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.
"I've been thinking, maybe 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 $25 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.
The man saw that the boy already had money, & started to get angry again.
The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.
"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled.
"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.
"Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.
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. Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love.
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But, the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Never Complain, Never Explain..
Never Complain, Never Explain - By Greg Hickman
"Never complain; never explain. Don't justify the error; fix it." ~ Henry Ford II
Quite a number of years ago, I stumbled across a phrase in a magazine that really piqued my interest. The phrase simply said "never complain, never explain.” From the moment I read it, those four words really hit home with me. To my way of thinking, they summed up the philosophy of all winners. A winner should never waste his or her valuable time complaining or making excuses.
I decided to tape a piece of paper containing this phrase to a wall in my office along with an accompanying challenge. As soon as I went an entire day without voicing a complaint or offering up an excuse, I could take the message down.
I have always enjoyed a good challenge and I figured this phrase could provide a tough test of my will for a day or so. The first day or two quickly passed without me accomplishing my goal. "All I need to do is toughen up a little and I'll get the job done. No problem," I confidently reassured myself. A month later, the piece of paper was still taped to my wall.
I couldn't believe it, I still had not gone just one day without making a complaint or offering up some sort of excuse. In fact, I had complained about something and made an excuse about something else at least one time every single day for a month. Not one or the other - but both!
I was disappointed that I had failed to accomplish what had originally seemed like such an easy goal. But more than that, I was embarrassed. Now I was really motivated to answer the challenge and get this message off my wall once and for all. Make no mistake about it, I would get the job done this time for sure!
Five years later that torn, tattered, yellowed piece of paper with the simple little message was still hanging defiantly on my office wall.
How could this have happened to me? I really gave it a good shot, but one way or another, I would always find a way to slip up at some point during each and every day and start complaining or explaining about something or another. One thing I learned from this challenge was we all complain a lot more than we think we do and we make excuses left and right.
We blame people and things and circumstances for just about everything. If you think not, go ahead and put the phrase up on your wall and see if you can go one entire day without offering up one single excuse and without making one single complaint of any kind. No blaming, no complaining, no criticizing, no excuses – for one entire day.
I know what you're probably thinking right about now. You think it will be easy, don't you? Ha! I thought so too. I now realize that the fulfillment of that simple little pledge will be a lifelong pursuit of mine.
Even if you and I fail to live a single day devoid of any personal complaining or explaining, we can still significantly cut down on the amount of complaints and excuses we make and that is indeed a very good start, isn't it? When you take on this challenge, you will begin eliminating a lot of negative feelings and destructive actions from your life and consequently will become a much better person to be around.
There is no better time for you to get to work on your very own "never complain, never explain" challenge than right now. All you have to do is stop complaining and quit explaining and get started today.
"Never complain; never explain. Don't justify the error; fix it." ~ Henry Ford II
Quite a number of years ago, I stumbled across a phrase in a magazine that really piqued my interest. The phrase simply said "never complain, never explain.” From the moment I read it, those four words really hit home with me. To my way of thinking, they summed up the philosophy of all winners. A winner should never waste his or her valuable time complaining or making excuses.
I decided to tape a piece of paper containing this phrase to a wall in my office along with an accompanying challenge. As soon as I went an entire day without voicing a complaint or offering up an excuse, I could take the message down.
I have always enjoyed a good challenge and I figured this phrase could provide a tough test of my will for a day or so. The first day or two quickly passed without me accomplishing my goal. "All I need to do is toughen up a little and I'll get the job done. No problem," I confidently reassured myself. A month later, the piece of paper was still taped to my wall.
I couldn't believe it, I still had not gone just one day without making a complaint or offering up some sort of excuse. In fact, I had complained about something and made an excuse about something else at least one time every single day for a month. Not one or the other - but both!
I was disappointed that I had failed to accomplish what had originally seemed like such an easy goal. But more than that, I was embarrassed. Now I was really motivated to answer the challenge and get this message off my wall once and for all. Make no mistake about it, I would get the job done this time for sure!
Five years later that torn, tattered, yellowed piece of paper with the simple little message was still hanging defiantly on my office wall.
How could this have happened to me? I really gave it a good shot, but one way or another, I would always find a way to slip up at some point during each and every day and start complaining or explaining about something or another. One thing I learned from this challenge was we all complain a lot more than we think we do and we make excuses left and right.
We blame people and things and circumstances for just about everything. If you think not, go ahead and put the phrase up on your wall and see if you can go one entire day without offering up one single excuse and without making one single complaint of any kind. No blaming, no complaining, no criticizing, no excuses – for one entire day.
I know what you're probably thinking right about now. You think it will be easy, don't you? Ha! I thought so too. I now realize that the fulfillment of that simple little pledge will be a lifelong pursuit of mine.
Even if you and I fail to live a single day devoid of any personal complaining or explaining, we can still significantly cut down on the amount of complaints and excuses we make and that is indeed a very good start, isn't it? When you take on this challenge, you will begin eliminating a lot of negative feelings and destructive actions from your life and consequently will become a much better person to be around.
There is no better time for you to get to work on your very own "never complain, never explain" challenge than right now. All you have to do is stop complaining and quit explaining and get started today.
Quote of the Day..
The happiest people on this planet are NOT those who live on their own terms, but those who change their terms for the ones they love and care for.
WHY MEN LIE?
"One day, while a woodcutter was cutting a branch of a tree above a river, his axe fell into the river. When he cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "Why are you crying?"
The woodcutter replied that his axe has fallen into water, and he needed the axe to make his living. The Lord went down into the water and reappeared with a golden axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked. The woodcutter replied, "No."
The Lord again went down and came up with a silver axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.
Again, the woodcutter replied, "No."
The Lord went down again and came up with an iron axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.
The woodcutter replied, "Yes."
The Lord was pleased with the man's honesty and gave him all three axes to keep, and the woodcutter went home happy.
Some time later the woodcutter was walking with his wife along the riverbank, and his wife fell into the river.
When he cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked him,
"Why are you crying?"
"Oh Lord, my wife has fallen into the water!"
The Lord went down into the water and came up with Angelina Jolie.
"Is this your wife?" the Lord asked.
"Yes," cried the woodcutter.
The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is an untruth!"
The woodcutter replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to Angelina Jolie, you would have come up with Jennifer Aniston. Then if I said 'no' to her, you would have come up with my wife. Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I am a poor man, and I wont be able to take care of all three wives, THAT'S why I said yes to Angelina Jolie."
The moral of this story is: Whenever a man lies, it is for a good and honorable reason, and for the benefit of others.
The woodcutter replied that his axe has fallen into water, and he needed the axe to make his living. The Lord went down into the water and reappeared with a golden axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked. The woodcutter replied, "No."
The Lord again went down and came up with a silver axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.
Again, the woodcutter replied, "No."
The Lord went down again and came up with an iron axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.
The woodcutter replied, "Yes."
The Lord was pleased with the man's honesty and gave him all three axes to keep, and the woodcutter went home happy.
Some time later the woodcutter was walking with his wife along the riverbank, and his wife fell into the river.
When he cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked him,
"Why are you crying?"
"Oh Lord, my wife has fallen into the water!"
The Lord went down into the water and came up with Angelina Jolie.
"Is this your wife?" the Lord asked.
"Yes," cried the woodcutter.
The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is an untruth!"
The woodcutter replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to Angelina Jolie, you would have come up with Jennifer Aniston. Then if I said 'no' to her, you would have come up with my wife. Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I am a poor man, and I wont be able to take care of all three wives, THAT'S why I said yes to Angelina Jolie."
The moral of this story is: Whenever a man lies, it is for a good and honorable reason, and for the benefit of others.
Secret of A Happily Married Life
Here's the untold secret of married life... !!!
A couple was celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. Their domestic tranquility had long been the talk of the town. What a peaceful & loving couple". A local newspaper reporter was inquiring as to the secret of their long and happy marriage.
"Well, it dates back to our honeymoon," explained the man. "We visited the Grand Canyon and took a trip down to the bottom on the canyon by horse.
We hadn't gone too far when my wife's horse stumbled.
My wife quietly said, "That's once".
"We proceeded a little further and the horse stumbled again. Once more my wife quietly said, 'That's twice."
"We hadn't gone a half-mile when the horse stumbled the third time. My wife quietly removed a revolver from her purse and shot the horse dead.
"I started an angry protest over her treatment of the horse, while I was shouting;
She looked at me, and quietly said, 'That's once'.
"And we lived happily ever after ".
A couple was celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. Their domestic tranquility had long been the talk of the town. What a peaceful & loving couple". A local newspaper reporter was inquiring as to the secret of their long and happy marriage.
"Well, it dates back to our honeymoon," explained the man. "We visited the Grand Canyon and took a trip down to the bottom on the canyon by horse.
We hadn't gone too far when my wife's horse stumbled.
My wife quietly said, "That's once".
"We proceeded a little further and the horse stumbled again. Once more my wife quietly said, 'That's twice."
"We hadn't gone a half-mile when the horse stumbled the third time. My wife quietly removed a revolver from her purse and shot the horse dead.
"I started an angry protest over her treatment of the horse, while I was shouting;
She looked at me, and quietly said, 'That's once'.
"And we lived happily ever after ".
Friday, October 29, 2010
Once a rising star, chef now feeds hungry..
A truly remarkable person. (Courtsey CNN)
------
Narayanan Krishnan was a bright, young, award-winning chef with a five-star hotel group, short-listed for an elite job in Switzerland. But a quick family visit home before heading to Europe changed everything.
"I saw a very old man eating his own human waste for food," Krishnan said. "It really hurt me so much. I was literally shocked for a second. After that, I started feeding that man and decided this is what I should do the rest of my lifetime."
Krishnan was visiting a temple in the south Indian city of Madurai in 2002 when he saw the man under a bridge. Haunted by the image, Krishnan quit his job within the week and returned home for good, convinced of his new destiny.
"That spark and that inspiration is a driving force still inside me as a flame -- to serve all the mentally ill destitutes and people who cannot take care of themselves," Krishnan said.
Krishnan founded his nonprofit Akshaya Trust in 2003. Now 29, he has served more than 1.2 million meals -- breakfast, lunch and dinner -- to India's homeless and destitute, mostly elderly people abandoned by their families and often abused.
"Because of the poverty India faces, so many mentally ill people have been ... left uncared [for] on the roadside of the city," he said.
Krishnan said the name Akshaya is Sanskrit for "undecaying" or "imperishable," and was chosen "to signify [that] human compassion should never decay or perish. ... The spirit of helping others must prevail for ever." Also, in Hindu mythology, Goddess Annapoorani's "Akshaya bowl" fed the hungry endlessly, never depleting its resources.
Krishnan's day begins at 4 a.m. He and his team cover nearly 125 miles in a donated van, routinely working in temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
He seeks out the homeless under bridges and in the nooks and crannies between the city's temples. The hot meals he delivers are simple, tasty vegetarian fare he personally prepares, packs and often hand-feeds to nearly 400 clients each day.
Krishnan carries a comb, scissors and razor and is trained in eight haircut styles that, along with a fresh shave, provide extra dignity to those he serves.
He says many of the homeless seldom know their names or origins, and none has the capacity to beg, ask for help or offer thanks. They may be paranoid and hostile because of their conditions, but Krishnan says this only steadies his resolve to offer help.
"The panic, suffering of the human hunger is the driving force of me and my team members of Akshaya," he said. "I get this energy from the people. The food which I cook ... the enjoyment which they get is the energy. I see the soul. I want to save my people."
The group's operations cost about $327 a day, but sponsored donations only cover 22 days a month. Krishnan subsidizes the shortfall with $88 he receives in monthly rent from a home his grandfather gave him.
Krishnan sleeps in Akshaya's modest kitchen with his few co-workers. Since investing his entire savings of $2,500 in 2002, he has taken no salary and subsists with the help of his once-unsupportive parents.
"They had a lot of pain because they had spent a lot on my education," he said. "I asked my mother, 'Please come with me, see what I am doing.' After coming back home, my mother said, 'You feed all those people, the rest of the lifetime I am there, I will feed you.' I'm living for Akshaya. My parents are taking care of me."
For lack of funding, the organization has been forced to halt construction on Akshaya Home, Krishnan's vision of a dormitory where he can provide shelter for the people he helps. Despite the demands and few comforts his lifestyle affords, Krishnan says he's enjoying his life.
"Now I am feeling so comfortable and so happy," he says. "I have a passion, I enjoy my work. I want to live with my people."
Krishnan is nominated as one of the 2010 CNN Heroes.
Want to get involved? Check out the Akshaya Trust Web site and see how to help.
------
Narayanan Krishnan was a bright, young, award-winning chef with a five-star hotel group, short-listed for an elite job in Switzerland. But a quick family visit home before heading to Europe changed everything.
"I saw a very old man eating his own human waste for food," Krishnan said. "It really hurt me so much. I was literally shocked for a second. After that, I started feeding that man and decided this is what I should do the rest of my lifetime."
Krishnan was visiting a temple in the south Indian city of Madurai in 2002 when he saw the man under a bridge. Haunted by the image, Krishnan quit his job within the week and returned home for good, convinced of his new destiny.
"That spark and that inspiration is a driving force still inside me as a flame -- to serve all the mentally ill destitutes and people who cannot take care of themselves," Krishnan said.
Krishnan founded his nonprofit Akshaya Trust in 2003. Now 29, he has served more than 1.2 million meals -- breakfast, lunch and dinner -- to India's homeless and destitute, mostly elderly people abandoned by their families and often abused.
"Because of the poverty India faces, so many mentally ill people have been ... left uncared [for] on the roadside of the city," he said.
Krishnan said the name Akshaya is Sanskrit for "undecaying" or "imperishable," and was chosen "to signify [that] human compassion should never decay or perish. ... The spirit of helping others must prevail for ever." Also, in Hindu mythology, Goddess Annapoorani's "Akshaya bowl" fed the hungry endlessly, never depleting its resources.
Krishnan's day begins at 4 a.m. He and his team cover nearly 125 miles in a donated van, routinely working in temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
He seeks out the homeless under bridges and in the nooks and crannies between the city's temples. The hot meals he delivers are simple, tasty vegetarian fare he personally prepares, packs and often hand-feeds to nearly 400 clients each day.
Krishnan carries a comb, scissors and razor and is trained in eight haircut styles that, along with a fresh shave, provide extra dignity to those he serves.
He says many of the homeless seldom know their names or origins, and none has the capacity to beg, ask for help or offer thanks. They may be paranoid and hostile because of their conditions, but Krishnan says this only steadies his resolve to offer help.
"The panic, suffering of the human hunger is the driving force of me and my team members of Akshaya," he said. "I get this energy from the people. The food which I cook ... the enjoyment which they get is the energy. I see the soul. I want to save my people."
The group's operations cost about $327 a day, but sponsored donations only cover 22 days a month. Krishnan subsidizes the shortfall with $88 he receives in monthly rent from a home his grandfather gave him.
Krishnan sleeps in Akshaya's modest kitchen with his few co-workers. Since investing his entire savings of $2,500 in 2002, he has taken no salary and subsists with the help of his once-unsupportive parents.
"They had a lot of pain because they had spent a lot on my education," he said. "I asked my mother, 'Please come with me, see what I am doing.' After coming back home, my mother said, 'You feed all those people, the rest of the lifetime I am there, I will feed you.' I'm living for Akshaya. My parents are taking care of me."
For lack of funding, the organization has been forced to halt construction on Akshaya Home, Krishnan's vision of a dormitory where he can provide shelter for the people he helps. Despite the demands and few comforts his lifestyle affords, Krishnan says he's enjoying his life.
"Now I am feeling so comfortable and so happy," he says. "I have a passion, I enjoy my work. I want to live with my people."
Krishnan is nominated as one of the 2010 CNN Heroes.
Want to get involved? Check out the Akshaya Trust Web site and see how to help.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Two hearts!
Someone asked God - “Lord, you gave me two eyes, two ears, two arms, but why only one heart?”
God said - “Son, I did give you two hearts. You have to look for the other!”
God said - “Son, I did give you two hearts. You have to look for the other!”
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future
Lawyers. Accountants. Computer programmers. That’s what our parents encouraged us to become when we grew up. But Mom and Dad were wrong. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind. The era of “left brain” dominance, and the Information Age that it engendered, are giving way to a new world in which “right brain” qualities-inventiveness, empathy, meaning-predominate. That’s the argument at the center of this provocative and original book, which uses the two sides of our brains as a metaphor for understanding the contours of our times.
In this insightful and entertaining book, which has been translated into 20 languages, Daniel H. Pink offers a fresh look at what it takes to excel. A Whole New Mind reveals the six essential aptitudes on which professional success and personal fulfillment now depend, and includes a series of hands-on exercises culled from experts around the world to help readers sharpen the necessary abilities. This book will change not only how we see the world but how we experience it as well.
Here are the you tube clips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVFQ78HbJK0&feature=&p=4CBB362AEF9C9976&index=0&playnext=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI3gkwxc_Ds&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqvCj-J8noE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePUwc2wFlq4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u45s8hk-zf0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KCZzSKT-HE&feature=related
In this insightful and entertaining book, which has been translated into 20 languages, Daniel H. Pink offers a fresh look at what it takes to excel. A Whole New Mind reveals the six essential aptitudes on which professional success and personal fulfillment now depend, and includes a series of hands-on exercises culled from experts around the world to help readers sharpen the necessary abilities. This book will change not only how we see the world but how we experience it as well.
Here are the you tube clips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVFQ78HbJK0&feature=&p=4CBB362AEF9C9976&index=0&playnext=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI3gkwxc_Ds&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqvCj-J8noE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePUwc2wFlq4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u45s8hk-zf0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KCZzSKT-HE&feature=related
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Respond instead of reacting: Azim Premji
February 10, 2004
I am very happy to be here with you. It is always wonderful to be with young people. The funny thing about life is that you realize the value of something only when it begins to leave you. As my hair turned from black, to salt and pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to realize the importance of youth. At the same time, I have begun to truly appreciate some of the lessons I have leant along the way. I hope you will find them useful when you plan your own career and life.
The first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with our strengths. From the earliest years of our schooling, everyone focuses on what is wrong with us. There is an imaginary story of a rabbit. The rabbit was enrolled in a rabbit school. Like all rabbits, it could hop very well but could not swim. At the end of the year, the rabbit got high marks in hopping but failed in swimming. The parents were concerned. They said, "Forget about hopping. You are anyway good at it. Concentrate on swimming."
They sent the rabbit for tuitions in swimming. And guess what happened? The rabbit forgot how to hop! As for swimming, have you ever seen a rabbit swim? While it is important for us to know what we are not good at, we must also cherish what is good in us. That is because it is only our strengths that can give us the energy to correct our weaknesses.
The second lesson I have learnt is that a rupee earned is of far more value than five found. My friend was sharing me the story of his eight year-old niece. She would always complain about the breakfast. The cook tried everything possible, but the child remained unhappy. Finally, my friend took the child to a supermarket and brought one of those ready-to-cook packets. The child had to cut the packet and pour water in the dish. After that, it took two minutes in the microwave to be ready. The child found the food to be absolutely delicious? The difference was that she has cooked it!
In my own life, I have found that nothing gives as much satisfaction as earning our rewards. In fact, what is gifted or inherited follows the old rule of come easy, go easy. I guess we only know the value of what we have if we have struggled to earn it.
The third lesson I have learnt is no one bats a hundred every time. Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the head. The moment it does, you are already on your way to failure. And if you do encounter failure along the way, treat it as an equally natural phenomenon. Don’t beat yourself for it or any one else for that matter! Accept it, look at your own share in the problem, learn from it and move on. The important thing is, when you lose, do not lose the lesson.
The fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility. Sometimes, when you get so much in life, you really start wondering whether you deserve all of it. This brings me to the value of gratitude. We have so much to be grateful for. Our parents, our teachers and our seniors have done so much for us that we can never repay them. Many people focus on the short comings, because obviously no one can be perfect. But it is important to first acknowledge what we have received. Nothing in life is permanent but when a relationship ends, rather than becoming bitter, we must learn to savour the memory of the good things while they lasted.
The fifth lesson I learnt is that we must always strive for excellence. One way of achieving excellence is by looking at those better than ourselves. Keep learning what they do differently. Emulate it. But excellence cannot be imposed from the outside. We must also feel the need from within. It must become an obsession. It must involve not only our mind but also our heart and soul. Excellence is not an act but a habit. I remember the inspiring lines of a poem which says that your reach must always exceed your grasp. That is heaven on earth. Ultimately, your only competition is yourself.
The sixth lesson I have learnt is never give up in the face of adversity. It comes on you suddenly without warning. One can either succumb to self-pity, wring your hands in despair or decide to deal with the situation with courage and dignity. Always keep in mind that it is only the test of fire that makes fine steel. A friend of mine shared this incident with me. His eight-year old daughter was struggling away at a jigsaw puzzle. She kept at it for hours but could not succeed. Finally, it went beyond her bedtime. My friend told her, "Look, why don’t you just give up? I don’t think you will complete it tonight. Look at it another day." The daughter looked with a strange look in her eyes, "But, dad, why should I give up? All the pieces are there! I have just got to put them together!" If we persevere long enough, we can put any problem into its perspective.
The seventh lesson I have learnt is that while you must be open to change, do not compromise on your values. Mahatma Gandhiji often said that you must open the windows of your mind, but you must not be swept off your feet by the breeze. You must define what your core values are and what you stand for. And these values are not so difficult to define. Values like honesty, integrity, consideration and humility have survived for generations. Values are not in the words used to describe them as much as in the simple acts. At the end of the day, it is values that define a person more than the achievements. Because it is the means of achievement that decide how long the achievements will sustain. Do not be tempted by short cuts. The short cut can make you lose your way and end up becoming the longest way to the destination.
And the final lesson I learnt is that we must have faith in our own ideas even if everyone tells us that we are wrong. There was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude customer. Every morning, the Customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab the paper off the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pick up the money, smile politely and say, "Thank you, Sir." One day, the vendor’s assistant asked him, "Why are you always so polite with him when he is so rude to you? Why don’t you throw the newspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow?" The vendor smiled and replied, "He can’t help being rude and I can’t help being polite. Why should I let his rude behaviour dictate my politeness?
In my youth, I thought of myself as a rebel and was many times, a rebel without a cause. Today, I realize that my rebellion was another kind of conformity. We defied our elders to fall in line with our peers! Ultimately, we must learn to respond instead of reacting. When we respond, we evaluate with a calm mind and do whatever is most appropriate. We are in control of our actions. When we react, we are still doing what the other person wants us to do.
I wish you all the best in your life and career. I hope you achieve success in whatever way you define it and what gives you the maximum happiness in life. Remember, those who win are those who believe they can.
-----
Address by Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Corporation, in the "Shaping Young Minds Program" (SYMP) organized by the All India Management Association (AIMA) in collaboration with the Bombay Management Association (BMA) on February 9, 2004 at NCPA in Mumbai on " My Lessons in Life".
I am very happy to be here with you. It is always wonderful to be with young people. The funny thing about life is that you realize the value of something only when it begins to leave you. As my hair turned from black, to salt and pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to realize the importance of youth. At the same time, I have begun to truly appreciate some of the lessons I have leant along the way. I hope you will find them useful when you plan your own career and life.
The first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with our strengths. From the earliest years of our schooling, everyone focuses on what is wrong with us. There is an imaginary story of a rabbit. The rabbit was enrolled in a rabbit school. Like all rabbits, it could hop very well but could not swim. At the end of the year, the rabbit got high marks in hopping but failed in swimming. The parents were concerned. They said, "Forget about hopping. You are anyway good at it. Concentrate on swimming."
They sent the rabbit for tuitions in swimming. And guess what happened? The rabbit forgot how to hop! As for swimming, have you ever seen a rabbit swim? While it is important for us to know what we are not good at, we must also cherish what is good in us. That is because it is only our strengths that can give us the energy to correct our weaknesses.
The second lesson I have learnt is that a rupee earned is of far more value than five found. My friend was sharing me the story of his eight year-old niece. She would always complain about the breakfast. The cook tried everything possible, but the child remained unhappy. Finally, my friend took the child to a supermarket and brought one of those ready-to-cook packets. The child had to cut the packet and pour water in the dish. After that, it took two minutes in the microwave to be ready. The child found the food to be absolutely delicious? The difference was that she has cooked it!
In my own life, I have found that nothing gives as much satisfaction as earning our rewards. In fact, what is gifted or inherited follows the old rule of come easy, go easy. I guess we only know the value of what we have if we have struggled to earn it.
The third lesson I have learnt is no one bats a hundred every time. Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the head. The moment it does, you are already on your way to failure. And if you do encounter failure along the way, treat it as an equally natural phenomenon. Don’t beat yourself for it or any one else for that matter! Accept it, look at your own share in the problem, learn from it and move on. The important thing is, when you lose, do not lose the lesson.
The fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility. Sometimes, when you get so much in life, you really start wondering whether you deserve all of it. This brings me to the value of gratitude. We have so much to be grateful for. Our parents, our teachers and our seniors have done so much for us that we can never repay them. Many people focus on the short comings, because obviously no one can be perfect. But it is important to first acknowledge what we have received. Nothing in life is permanent but when a relationship ends, rather than becoming bitter, we must learn to savour the memory of the good things while they lasted.
The fifth lesson I learnt is that we must always strive for excellence. One way of achieving excellence is by looking at those better than ourselves. Keep learning what they do differently. Emulate it. But excellence cannot be imposed from the outside. We must also feel the need from within. It must become an obsession. It must involve not only our mind but also our heart and soul. Excellence is not an act but a habit. I remember the inspiring lines of a poem which says that your reach must always exceed your grasp. That is heaven on earth. Ultimately, your only competition is yourself.
The sixth lesson I have learnt is never give up in the face of adversity. It comes on you suddenly without warning. One can either succumb to self-pity, wring your hands in despair or decide to deal with the situation with courage and dignity. Always keep in mind that it is only the test of fire that makes fine steel. A friend of mine shared this incident with me. His eight-year old daughter was struggling away at a jigsaw puzzle. She kept at it for hours but could not succeed. Finally, it went beyond her bedtime. My friend told her, "Look, why don’t you just give up? I don’t think you will complete it tonight. Look at it another day." The daughter looked with a strange look in her eyes, "But, dad, why should I give up? All the pieces are there! I have just got to put them together!" If we persevere long enough, we can put any problem into its perspective.
The seventh lesson I have learnt is that while you must be open to change, do not compromise on your values. Mahatma Gandhiji often said that you must open the windows of your mind, but you must not be swept off your feet by the breeze. You must define what your core values are and what you stand for. And these values are not so difficult to define. Values like honesty, integrity, consideration and humility have survived for generations. Values are not in the words used to describe them as much as in the simple acts. At the end of the day, it is values that define a person more than the achievements. Because it is the means of achievement that decide how long the achievements will sustain. Do not be tempted by short cuts. The short cut can make you lose your way and end up becoming the longest way to the destination.
And the final lesson I learnt is that we must have faith in our own ideas even if everyone tells us that we are wrong. There was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude customer. Every morning, the Customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab the paper off the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pick up the money, smile politely and say, "Thank you, Sir." One day, the vendor’s assistant asked him, "Why are you always so polite with him when he is so rude to you? Why don’t you throw the newspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow?" The vendor smiled and replied, "He can’t help being rude and I can’t help being polite. Why should I let his rude behaviour dictate my politeness?
In my youth, I thought of myself as a rebel and was many times, a rebel without a cause. Today, I realize that my rebellion was another kind of conformity. We defied our elders to fall in line with our peers! Ultimately, we must learn to respond instead of reacting. When we respond, we evaluate with a calm mind and do whatever is most appropriate. We are in control of our actions. When we react, we are still doing what the other person wants us to do.
I wish you all the best in your life and career. I hope you achieve success in whatever way you define it and what gives you the maximum happiness in life. Remember, those who win are those who believe they can.
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Address by Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Corporation, in the "Shaping Young Minds Program" (SYMP) organized by the All India Management Association (AIMA) in collaboration with the Bombay Management Association (BMA) on February 9, 2004 at NCPA in Mumbai on " My Lessons in Life".
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Daniel H. Pink provides concrete examples of how intrinsic motivation functions both at home and in the workplace.
From Daniel H. Pink, the author of the bestselling A Whole New Mind, comes a paradigm-shattering look at what truly motivates us and how we can use that knowledge to work smarter and live better. An excellent read.
Most of us believe that the best way to motivate ourselves and others is with external rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That’s a mistake, Daniel H. Pink says in, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, his provocative and persuasive new book. The secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He demonstrates that while carrots and sticks worked successfully in the twentieth century, that’s precisely the wrong way to motivate people for today’s challenges. In Drive, he examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose—and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action. Along the way, he takes us to companies that are enlisting new approaches to motivation and introduces us to the scientists and entrepreneurs who are pointing a bold way forward.
Drive is bursting with big ideas—the rare book that will change how you think and transform how you live.
From Daniel H. Pink, the author of the bestselling A Whole New Mind, comes a paradigm-shattering look at what truly motivates us and how we can use that knowledge to work smarter and live better. An excellent read.
Most of us believe that the best way to motivate ourselves and others is with external rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That’s a mistake, Daniel H. Pink says in, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, his provocative and persuasive new book. The secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He demonstrates that while carrots and sticks worked successfully in the twentieth century, that’s precisely the wrong way to motivate people for today’s challenges. In Drive, he examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose—and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action. Along the way, he takes us to companies that are enlisting new approaches to motivation and introduces us to the scientists and entrepreneurs who are pointing a bold way forward.
Drive is bursting with big ideas—the rare book that will change how you think and transform how you live.
Krishna: History or Myth..
Very Informative and Inspirational.
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A unique documentary which proves the existence of Krishna and shows the scientific proof of Mahabharata with exact year of Kurukshetra war.
http://www.saraswatifilms.org/movies.php
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A unique documentary which proves the existence of Krishna and shows the scientific proof of Mahabharata with exact year of Kurukshetra war.
http://www.saraswatifilms.org/movies.php
Thursday, October 21, 2010
જીવતી માનું શ્રાદ્ધ કરતો દીકરો..
એક મિત્ર મીઠાઈની દુકાને મળી ગયા. મને કહે - આજે માનું શ્રાદ્ધ છે. માને લાડુ બહુ બહવે એથી લાડુ લેવા આવ્યો છુ.' મારા અશ્ચર્યન પાર ન રહ્યો. હજી પાંચ મિનિટ પહેલાં તો હું એમની માને શાકમાર્કેટમાં મળ્યો હતો. હું કાંઈ બોલું તે પહેલા ખુદ એ માતાજી જ હાથમાં થેલી લઈને ત્યાં આવી પહોંચ્યા. મેં મિત્રના બરડે ધબ્બો લગાવતા પુછ્યુ - 'ભલા માણસ, આ શી મજાક માંડી છે...! માજી તો આ રહ્યા તારી બાજુમા..! મિત્રએ માતાના બન્ને ખભા પર હાથ મુક્યો અને હસીને કહ્યુ : 'દીનેશભાઈ, વાત એમ છે કે માના મર્યા બાદ ગાય-કાગડાને વાસમાં લાડુ મુકવાને બદલે હુ માના ભાણામાં લાડુ મુકી એમને જીવતાજીવત જ તૃપ્ત કરવા માંગુ છુ, હું માનુ છુ કે જીવતાજીવત જ માબાપને સર્વે વાતે સુખી કરો એ જ સાચું શ્રાદ્ધ ગણાય !'
એમની ભાવતી આઈટમ છે. તે બધું જ હુ એમને ખવડાવું છુ. શ્રદ્ધાળુઓ મંદિરે જઈ અગરબત્તી સળગાવે છે. હુ મંદિરે જતો નથી. પણ માના સુવાના ઓરડામાં કાચબાછાપ અગરબત્તી સળગાવી આપું છુ. સવારે મા ગીતા વાંચવા બેસે ત્યારે માનાં ચશ્મા જાતે સાફ કરી આપુ છુ. મને લાગે છે કે ભગવાનનો ફોટો કે મૂર્તિ સાહ કરવા કરતા ઘરડી માનાં ચશ્મા સાફ કરવાથી વધુ પુણ્ય મળે છે !'
મિત્રની વાત શ્રધ્ધાળુઓને ખૂંચે એવી છે પણ વાતમાં વજૂદ છે. આપણે વૃદ્ધોના મૃત્યુ બાદ શ્રાદ્ધ કરીએ છીએ. જ્ઞાતીને લાડુ-દૂધપાકનુ જમણ જમાડીએ છીએ. રિવાજ ખાતર ભલે તેમ કરવુ પડતુ હોય પણ યાદ રહે ગાય-કાગડાને ખવડાવેલું કદી ઉપર પહોંચતુ અંથી. અમેરિકા અને જાપાનમાં પણ સ્વર્ગ માટેની કોઈ 'ટીફિનસેવા' હજી શરૂ થઈ નથી. માવતરને જીવતાજીવત જ બધા સુખો આપીએ તે ઉત્તમ શ્રાદ્ધ ગણાય.
એક સત્ય સમજી લેવા જેવુ છે, દીકરાઓ ગમે તેટલા શાણા, સમજુ અને પ્રેમાળ હોય તો પણ ઘડપણની લાચારી, પીડા અને અસહાયતાનો તેમને ખ્યાલ આવી શકતો નથી. આંખે દેખાતુ બંધ થયા પછી જ અંધાપાની લાચારી સમજાય છે. એ સંજોગોમાં વૃદ્ધોને પૈસા કરતા પ્રેમની અને ટીકા કરતા ટેકાની વધુ જરૂર પડે છે. આજના તણાવયુક્ત જીવનમાં દીકરાઓને માથે પણ ઘણા ટેંશનો અને જવાબદારીનુ ભારણ હોય છે. તેઓ ઈચ્છવા છતાં માબાપની પુરી કાળજી લઈ શકતા નથી. એવા દીકરાઓએ કંઈકે માફ કરી શકાય. પરંતુ કેટલાક યુવાનો પત્ની અને સંતાનોની કાળજી લે છે તેટલી ઘરડાં માબાપોને નથી લેતા. સમાજના મોટાભગના વૃધ્ધો અને કે પ્રકારની અવહેલના ઝીલી (હોઠી ભીડીને)જીવે છે. એવા દીકરાઓ માબાપને પાશેર ખમણ ખવડાવતાં નથી અને મર્યા બાદ હજારો રૂપિયા ખર્ચીને જ્ઞાતીને જમાડે છે. ભાતમાં વહુ અડધી પળી ઘી મુકી નથી આપતી; પણ સ્મશાને ચીતા પર તેના શરીરે ઘી ચોળવામાં આવે છે. મર્યા પછી બ્રાહ્મણોને દાન આપવામાં આવે.. તીર્થસ્થળોએ જઈ શ્રાદ્ધ કરવામાં આવે. આ બધી અનપ્રોડક્ટીવ એક્ટીવીટી છે. જુની પેઢીના લોકોની એ જર્જરીત મનોદશામાં કોઈ પરિવર્તન આવવાનુ નથી. પરંતુ આજના યુવાનો એવા ખોખલા રિવાજને તીલાંજલી આપે તે જરૂરી છે.
હમણા જાણીતા શાયર દેવદાસ - 'અમીર'ની એક પુસ્તીકા હાથે ચડી ગઈ. એમા રમેશ જોશીનું એક વાક્ય વાંચવા મળ્યુ - જ્યારે હુ નાનો હતો અને આંખમાં આંસુ આવતા હતા ત્યારે મા યાદ આવતી, આજે મા યાદ આવે છે ત્યારે આંખમાં આંસુ આવે છે.. ! સંતો કહે છે, 'નાનપણમાં આપણે ચાલી નહોતા શકતા ત્યારે માબાપ આપણી આંગણી ઝાલતા, હવે તેઓ ચાલી નથી શકતા ત્યારે તેમનો હાથ ઝાલવો જોઈએ !'
વારંવાર એક વાત સમજાય છે. ઘરડા માંબાપને તીર્થયાત્રા કરવા ન લઈ જાઓ તો ચાલશે; પણ તેમનો હાથ ઝાલીને આદરપૂર્વક સંડાસ સુધી દોરી જશો તો અડસઠ તીર્થનુ પુણ્ય મળશે. કહે છે માબાપ તે વખત રડે છે. એક દીકરી ઘર છોડે ત્યારે.. અને બીજું દીકરા તરછોડે ત્યારે. પણ માએ તો જીંદગીભર રડવાનુ જ હોય છે. છોકરા નાના હોય અને જમે નહી એટલે મા રડે અને છોકરાં મોટા થઈને જમાડે નહી ત્યારે મા રડે છે ! સંજોગોની એ વિચિત્ર વિટંબણા છે કે જે બાળકને માએ બોલતાં શીખવ્યુ હોય એ દીકરો મોટો થઈને માને ચુપ રહેવાનું કહે છે (જો કે વ્યવ્હારુતા એમાં છે કે સંતાનો પુછે નહી ત્યાં સુધી તેમને કોઈ સલાહ જ ના આપવી. એમ કરવું એ ઘડપણની શોભા પણ છે અને જરૂરિયાત પણ)
માતૃપ્રેમ વિશે લોકકવીઓએ ઘણું લખ્યુ છે. કવી ધરમશીએ લખ્યુ છે - 'પહેલાં રે માતા.. પછી રે પિતા... પછી લેવુ પ્રભુનું નામ.. મારે નથી જાવું તીરથધામ...! પણ હવે સમય અને સમાજ બંને બદલાયા છે. લોકોના વાણી, વર્તન અને જીવનશૈલી પર પશ્ચિમની અસર થઈ છે, જે મા દીકરાને ગર્ભમાં રાખે છે. તેને દીકરા ઘરમાં રાખવા માંગતા નથી. કવી ગુલાબદાન કહે છે; 'ગરીબ માની ઝૂંપડીમાં કોઈ દી' સાંકડ નહોતી થાતી... આજે પાંચ પુત્રોના પાંચ બંગલામાં એક માવડી નથી સચવાતી.. તો શરમ, મરજાદ અને સંસ્કૃતિ ક્યં ગઈ જે ગૌરવ આપણુ ગણાતી...? આલીશાન બંગલામાં પોસાય આલ્સેશીયન.. એમ માવડી નથી પોસાતી..!
અમારા બચુભાઈ કહે છે : 'આણંદના ગોટા અમદાવાદ સ્ટેશને ખાવા મળતા નથી. તેમ જુવાનીમાં સ્ટેશન પર ઘડપણનાં દુ:ખોનો અંદાજ આવી શકતો નથી. નર્કની પીડા આપણે અનુભવી નથી; પરંતુ નર્કની ભયાનકતાથી બચવા આપણે નિયમિત ભગવાનની ભક્તિ કરીએ છીએ, તેમ ઘડપણની યાતનાનો ખ્યાલ ભલે આજે ન આવે પણ તે દુ:ખોની કલ્પના કરીને આપણે વૃદ્ધોની પ્રેમથી સાર સંભાળ રાખવી જોઈએ. માર્ગ પરથી કોઈનુ મૈયત જઈ રહ્યુ હોય ત્યારે ઘણા રાહદારીઓ હાથ જોડીન પગે લાગે છે. તેઓ મરનારને ઓળખતા હોતા નથી. પણ મૃત્યુની અદબ જાળવવા નમન કરે છે.સંસારનો દરેક વૃદ્ધ આદરને પાત્ર હોય કે ન હોય પણ વૃદ્ધાવસ્થા એ જ જીવનયાત્રાનુ અંતિમ સ્ટેશન છે. જીવનભરનાં તમામ કર્મોનો હિસાબ કરીને માનસ અનંતની યાત્રાએ ઉપડી જાય છે. એથી પ્રત્યેક દીકરાએ માબાપની પુરી કાળજી લેવી જોઈએ. લોકકવી ભીખુદાન ગઢવી લખે છે - 'અંતવેળા જેના માબાપ ના ઠર્યા.. સાત જનમ તેના બુરા ઠર્યા...!
ધૂંપછાંવ
દીકરાઓ દુનિયાની દોડમાં હાંફી રહ્યા છે, તેમની પાસે સમય નથી. ઘરડાં માબાપ એ વાત સમજે છે, છતાં ઘડપણમાં તેમને દીકરા જોડે બેસીને વાત કરવાની ઈચ્છા થતી હોય છે. ઘડપણની આ પણ એક જરૂરિયાત છે, ઘરડાં થયા વિના એ સમજી શકાતી નથી, વિદેશમાં એક મા દીકરાને પુછે છે : 'બેટા તુ એક કલાક નોકરી પર મોદો જાય તો કેટલો પગાર કપાય ?' દીકરો કહે છે : 'એક કલાક મોડો જાઉં તો મારા પચાસ ડોલર કપાઈ જાય !' મા કહે છે : 'બેટા, મેં થોડા દિવસ મહેનત કરીને પચાસ ડોલર ભેગા કર્યા છે, તુ પચાસ ડોલર લઈ લે અને મને તારો એક કલાક આપ...!
એમની ભાવતી આઈટમ છે. તે બધું જ હુ એમને ખવડાવું છુ. શ્રદ્ધાળુઓ મંદિરે જઈ અગરબત્તી સળગાવે છે. હુ મંદિરે જતો નથી. પણ માના સુવાના ઓરડામાં કાચબાછાપ અગરબત્તી સળગાવી આપું છુ. સવારે મા ગીતા વાંચવા બેસે ત્યારે માનાં ચશ્મા જાતે સાફ કરી આપુ છુ. મને લાગે છે કે ભગવાનનો ફોટો કે મૂર્તિ સાહ કરવા કરતા ઘરડી માનાં ચશ્મા સાફ કરવાથી વધુ પુણ્ય મળે છે !'
મિત્રની વાત શ્રધ્ધાળુઓને ખૂંચે એવી છે પણ વાતમાં વજૂદ છે. આપણે વૃદ્ધોના મૃત્યુ બાદ શ્રાદ્ધ કરીએ છીએ. જ્ઞાતીને લાડુ-દૂધપાકનુ જમણ જમાડીએ છીએ. રિવાજ ખાતર ભલે તેમ કરવુ પડતુ હોય પણ યાદ રહે ગાય-કાગડાને ખવડાવેલું કદી ઉપર પહોંચતુ અંથી. અમેરિકા અને જાપાનમાં પણ સ્વર્ગ માટેની કોઈ 'ટીફિનસેવા' હજી શરૂ થઈ નથી. માવતરને જીવતાજીવત જ બધા સુખો આપીએ તે ઉત્તમ શ્રાદ્ધ ગણાય.
એક સત્ય સમજી લેવા જેવુ છે, દીકરાઓ ગમે તેટલા શાણા, સમજુ અને પ્રેમાળ હોય તો પણ ઘડપણની લાચારી, પીડા અને અસહાયતાનો તેમને ખ્યાલ આવી શકતો નથી. આંખે દેખાતુ બંધ થયા પછી જ અંધાપાની લાચારી સમજાય છે. એ સંજોગોમાં વૃદ્ધોને પૈસા કરતા પ્રેમની અને ટીકા કરતા ટેકાની વધુ જરૂર પડે છે. આજના તણાવયુક્ત જીવનમાં દીકરાઓને માથે પણ ઘણા ટેંશનો અને જવાબદારીનુ ભારણ હોય છે. તેઓ ઈચ્છવા છતાં માબાપની પુરી કાળજી લઈ શકતા નથી. એવા દીકરાઓએ કંઈકે માફ કરી શકાય. પરંતુ કેટલાક યુવાનો પત્ની અને સંતાનોની કાળજી લે છે તેટલી ઘરડાં માબાપોને નથી લેતા. સમાજના મોટાભગના વૃધ્ધો અને કે પ્રકારની અવહેલના ઝીલી (હોઠી ભીડીને)જીવે છે. એવા દીકરાઓ માબાપને પાશેર ખમણ ખવડાવતાં નથી અને મર્યા બાદ હજારો રૂપિયા ખર્ચીને જ્ઞાતીને જમાડે છે. ભાતમાં વહુ અડધી પળી ઘી મુકી નથી આપતી; પણ સ્મશાને ચીતા પર તેના શરીરે ઘી ચોળવામાં આવે છે. મર્યા પછી બ્રાહ્મણોને દાન આપવામાં આવે.. તીર્થસ્થળોએ જઈ શ્રાદ્ધ કરવામાં આવે. આ બધી અનપ્રોડક્ટીવ એક્ટીવીટી છે. જુની પેઢીના લોકોની એ જર્જરીત મનોદશામાં કોઈ પરિવર્તન આવવાનુ નથી. પરંતુ આજના યુવાનો એવા ખોખલા રિવાજને તીલાંજલી આપે તે જરૂરી છે.
હમણા જાણીતા શાયર દેવદાસ - 'અમીર'ની એક પુસ્તીકા હાથે ચડી ગઈ. એમા રમેશ જોશીનું એક વાક્ય વાંચવા મળ્યુ - જ્યારે હુ નાનો હતો અને આંખમાં આંસુ આવતા હતા ત્યારે મા યાદ આવતી, આજે મા યાદ આવે છે ત્યારે આંખમાં આંસુ આવે છે.. ! સંતો કહે છે, 'નાનપણમાં આપણે ચાલી નહોતા શકતા ત્યારે માબાપ આપણી આંગણી ઝાલતા, હવે તેઓ ચાલી નથી શકતા ત્યારે તેમનો હાથ ઝાલવો જોઈએ !'
વારંવાર એક વાત સમજાય છે. ઘરડા માંબાપને તીર્થયાત્રા કરવા ન લઈ જાઓ તો ચાલશે; પણ તેમનો હાથ ઝાલીને આદરપૂર્વક સંડાસ સુધી દોરી જશો તો અડસઠ તીર્થનુ પુણ્ય મળશે. કહે છે માબાપ તે વખત રડે છે. એક દીકરી ઘર છોડે ત્યારે.. અને બીજું દીકરા તરછોડે ત્યારે. પણ માએ તો જીંદગીભર રડવાનુ જ હોય છે. છોકરા નાના હોય અને જમે નહી એટલે મા રડે અને છોકરાં મોટા થઈને જમાડે નહી ત્યારે મા રડે છે ! સંજોગોની એ વિચિત્ર વિટંબણા છે કે જે બાળકને માએ બોલતાં શીખવ્યુ હોય એ દીકરો મોટો થઈને માને ચુપ રહેવાનું કહે છે (જો કે વ્યવ્હારુતા એમાં છે કે સંતાનો પુછે નહી ત્યાં સુધી તેમને કોઈ સલાહ જ ના આપવી. એમ કરવું એ ઘડપણની શોભા પણ છે અને જરૂરિયાત પણ)
માતૃપ્રેમ વિશે લોકકવીઓએ ઘણું લખ્યુ છે. કવી ધરમશીએ લખ્યુ છે - 'પહેલાં રે માતા.. પછી રે પિતા... પછી લેવુ પ્રભુનું નામ.. મારે નથી જાવું તીરથધામ...! પણ હવે સમય અને સમાજ બંને બદલાયા છે. લોકોના વાણી, વર્તન અને જીવનશૈલી પર પશ્ચિમની અસર થઈ છે, જે મા દીકરાને ગર્ભમાં રાખે છે. તેને દીકરા ઘરમાં રાખવા માંગતા નથી. કવી ગુલાબદાન કહે છે; 'ગરીબ માની ઝૂંપડીમાં કોઈ દી' સાંકડ નહોતી થાતી... આજે પાંચ પુત્રોના પાંચ બંગલામાં એક માવડી નથી સચવાતી.. તો શરમ, મરજાદ અને સંસ્કૃતિ ક્યં ગઈ જે ગૌરવ આપણુ ગણાતી...? આલીશાન બંગલામાં પોસાય આલ્સેશીયન.. એમ માવડી નથી પોસાતી..!
અમારા બચુભાઈ કહે છે : 'આણંદના ગોટા અમદાવાદ સ્ટેશને ખાવા મળતા નથી. તેમ જુવાનીમાં સ્ટેશન પર ઘડપણનાં દુ:ખોનો અંદાજ આવી શકતો નથી. નર્કની પીડા આપણે અનુભવી નથી; પરંતુ નર્કની ભયાનકતાથી બચવા આપણે નિયમિત ભગવાનની ભક્તિ કરીએ છીએ, તેમ ઘડપણની યાતનાનો ખ્યાલ ભલે આજે ન આવે પણ તે દુ:ખોની કલ્પના કરીને આપણે વૃદ્ધોની પ્રેમથી સાર સંભાળ રાખવી જોઈએ. માર્ગ પરથી કોઈનુ મૈયત જઈ રહ્યુ હોય ત્યારે ઘણા રાહદારીઓ હાથ જોડીન પગે લાગે છે. તેઓ મરનારને ઓળખતા હોતા નથી. પણ મૃત્યુની અદબ જાળવવા નમન કરે છે.સંસારનો દરેક વૃદ્ધ આદરને પાત્ર હોય કે ન હોય પણ વૃદ્ધાવસ્થા એ જ જીવનયાત્રાનુ અંતિમ સ્ટેશન છે. જીવનભરનાં તમામ કર્મોનો હિસાબ કરીને માનસ અનંતની યાત્રાએ ઉપડી જાય છે. એથી પ્રત્યેક દીકરાએ માબાપની પુરી કાળજી લેવી જોઈએ. લોકકવી ભીખુદાન ગઢવી લખે છે - 'અંતવેળા જેના માબાપ ના ઠર્યા.. સાત જનમ તેના બુરા ઠર્યા...!
ધૂંપછાંવ
દીકરાઓ દુનિયાની દોડમાં હાંફી રહ્યા છે, તેમની પાસે સમય નથી. ઘરડાં માબાપ એ વાત સમજે છે, છતાં ઘડપણમાં તેમને દીકરા જોડે બેસીને વાત કરવાની ઈચ્છા થતી હોય છે. ઘડપણની આ પણ એક જરૂરિયાત છે, ઘરડાં થયા વિના એ સમજી શકાતી નથી, વિદેશમાં એક મા દીકરાને પુછે છે : 'બેટા તુ એક કલાક નોકરી પર મોદો જાય તો કેટલો પગાર કપાય ?' દીકરો કહે છે : 'એક કલાક મોડો જાઉં તો મારા પચાસ ડોલર કપાઈ જાય !' મા કહે છે : 'બેટા, મેં થોડા દિવસ મહેનત કરીને પચાસ ડોલર ભેગા કર્યા છે, તુ પચાસ ડોલર લઈ લે અને મને તારો એક કલાક આપ...!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Gone are the days........ but not the memories..
A beautiful poem to reminisce school days.
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Gone are the days
When the school reopened in June,
And we settled in our new desks and benches.
Gone are the days
When we queued up in book depot,
And got our new books and notes.
Gone are the days
When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays, yet
Managed to line up daily for the morning prayers.
Gone are the days
When we chased one another in the corridors in Intervals,
And returned to the classrooms drenched in sweat.
Gone are the days
When we had lunch in classrooms, corridors,
Playgrounds, under the trees and even in cycle sheds.
Gone are the days
When a single P.T. period in the week's Time Table,
Was awaited more eagerly than the monsoons.
Gone are the days
Of fights but no conspiracies,
Of Competitions but seldom jealousy.
Gone are the days
When we used to watch Live Cricket telecast,
In the opposite house in Intervals and Lunch breaks.
Gone are the days
When few rushed at 5:30 to
"Conquer" window seats in our School bus.
Gone are the days
Of Sports Day, and the annual School Day,
And the one-month long preparations for them.
Gone are the days
Of the stressful Quarterly, Half Yearly and Annual Exams,
And the most enjoyed holidays after them.
Gone are the days
We learnt, we enjoyed, we played, we won, we lost, We laughed, we cried,
we fought, we thought.
Gone are the days
With so much fun in them, so many friends,
So much experience, all this and more.
Gone are the days
But not the memories, which will be
Lingering in our hearts for ever and ever and
Ever and ever and Ever.
I hope you went back to your Golden Olden days........ ..
For a while....... ...as I DID!!
Didnt You????
Saturday, October 16, 2010
This is something we should all read at least once a week! Thanks Rita for sharing.
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Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the local newspaper "The Plain Dealer", Cleveland , Ohio.
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written." My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
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Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the local newspaper "The Plain Dealer", Cleveland , Ohio.
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written." My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
- Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
- When in doubt, just take the next small step.
- Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
- Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
- Pay off your credit cards every month.
- You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
- Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
- It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
- Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
- When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
- Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
- It's OK to let your children see you cry.
- Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
- If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
- Everything can change in the blink of an eye.
- Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
- Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
- Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
- It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
- When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
- Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
- Over prepare, then go with the flow.
- Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
- The most important sex organ is the brain.
- No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
- Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
- Always choose life.
- Forgive everyone everything.
- What other people think of you is none of your business.
- Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
- However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
- Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
- Believe in miracles.
- God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
- Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
- Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
- Your children get only one childhood.
- All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
- Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
- If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
- Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
- The best is yet to come.
- No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
- Yield.
- Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
Friday, October 15, 2010
કાને અથડાતા શબ્દો..
થોડા સમય પહેલાં ઇ-મેઇલમાં પાંચ દેડકાંની વાર્તા મળેલી. વાર્તા કંઇક આવી હતી: એક વાર પાંચ દેડકાંઓએ નક્કી કર્યું કે આપણે પાંચેય વચ્ચે હરીફાઇ કરીએ. સામે જે ઊંચો પર્વત દેખાય છે, તેના ઉપર દોડીને જે સૌથી પહેલો ચડી જાય તે વિજેતા. બીજા દિવસે સવારે હરીફાઇ શરૂ કરવાનું નક્કી થયું. જંગલનાં બીજા બધા પ્રાણીઓ પણ બીજા દિવસે સવારે હરીફાઈ જોવા માટે કુતૂહલવશ હાજર થઇ ગયા.
સસલાએ સીટી મારી અને દોડ થઇ ગઇ શરૂ. પાંચેય દેડકાં કૂદકા મારતાં આગળ વધવા લાગ્યા. શિયાળ, હાથી, સિંહ અને બીજા બધાં પ્રાણીઓને આ તમાશો જોઇને હસવું આવી રહ્યું હતું. અન્ય પ્રાણીઓનું ટોળું એમની પાછળ અને આસપાસ દોડી રહ્યું હતું. સૌ દેડકાંને કહી રહ્યાં હતાં કે ‘તમે તો દેડકાંઓ છો, તમે આટલા ઊંચા પર્વત ઉપર કેવી રીતે ચડી શકશો?’ છતાં દેડકાંઓ દોડતાં રહ્યા. ફરી પાછું કોઇ બોલ્યું, ‘રહેવા દો આ દોડવાનું... મરી જશો...’ એક દેડકો થાકીને અટકી ગયો.
ફરીથી કોઇનો અવાજ આવ્યો, ‘હાં, હવે બરાબર- જો આ એક દેડકો સમજી ગયો એટલે બિચારો બચી ગયો. તમે પણ અટકી જાઓ... આટલો ઊંચો પર્વત ન ચડી શકાય.’થોડી વારમાં બીજા બે દેડકાં અટકી ગયા. ફરી પાછા અવાજ આવવા લાગ્યા, ‘અલ્યા પાગલ થઇ ગયા છો કે શું? હવે તો અટકો, નહીંતર શ્ચાસ ચડશે તો પેટ ફાટી જશે.’ મહામહેનતે પર્વત ચડી રહેલા બેમાંથી એક દેડકો હાંફીને ત્યાં જ મરી ગયો.
છેલ્લો દેડકો હજુ પર્વત ચડી રહ્યો હતો. પ્રાણીઓએ કહ્યું, ‘હજુ સમજી જા, પાછો વળી જા.’ દેડકો ચડતો રહ્યો. કોઇએ કહ્યું ‘ટોચ ઉપર ન પહોંચી શકાય, તારા દોસ્તની જેમ તું પણ મરી જઇશ, અટકી જા.’ છતાં દેડકો પર્વતની ટોચ તરફ આગળ વધતો રહ્યો. પ્રાણીઓએ કહ્યું ‘તમારી સાત પેઢીમાં કોઇ આટલું ઊંચે નથી પહોંચી શક્યું...’ દેડકો છતાંયે ચડતો રહ્યો. પ્રાણીઓએ મજાક શરૂ કરી, ‘હમણાં મરી જશે!’ ‘હમણાં નીચે પડશે!’
પણ દેડકો ચડતો રહ્યો અને આખરે પર્વતની ટોચ ઉપર પહોંચી ગયો. બધા પ્રાણીઓ ચૂપ થઇ ગયા. જંગલમાં હાહાકાર થઇ ગયો. એક નાનકડો દેડકો પર્વતની ટોચ ઉપર પહોંચી ગયો! સૌએ દેડકાનું મેડિકલ ચેક અપ કરાવ્યું ત્યારે ખ્યાલ આવ્યો કે દેડકો તો બહેરો છે!
આ વાર્તા પરથી કાને અથડાતા શબ્દોની શક્તિનો ખ્યાલ આવે છે. દેડકાને ખબર જ નહતી કે મને કોઇ રોકી રહ્યું છે. એને નાસીપાસ કરે એવા શબ્દો એને સંભળાયા જ નહોતા. માટે એના ઉપર વિચાર કરવાનો સવાલ ન હતો. એટલે જ એનો ડર ન હતો અને એટલા માટે જ ટોચે પહોંચી શકાયું. દેડકાનું નેગેટિવ પ્રોગ્રામિંગ કરવાના જાણ્યે અજાણ્યે થયેલા તમામ પ્રયાસો નિષ્ફળ નીવડ્યા, કારણ કે દેડકો બહેરો હતો.
શક્ય છે કે તમને પણ લોકોના અવાજો સંભળાય, કે ‘હમણાં મંદી છે, સાહસ ન કર,’ ‘તારાથી બિઝનેસ ન થઇ શકે,’ ‘છોડ, એ તારું કામ નથી- તને નહીં ફાવે’, ‘આપણી સાત પેઢીમાં કોઇએ આવું રસ્કિ નથી લીધું’ વગેરે. તો શું કરશો એ વખતે? આપણે તો બહેરા નથી! અને સંભળાય છે માટે અસર પણ કરે છે.. તો શું કરવું? એનો ઉપાય છે, ‘અવેરનેસ’ એટલે કે જાગ્રતતા. ‘હું શું સાંભળી રહ્યો છું.’ એના પર સતત ધ્યાન રાખશો એટલે વણજોઇતા તમામ શબ્દોને પકડી શકશો. જેવા એ શબ્દો પકડાય એટલે મનમાં. એક રટણ ચાલુ કરો કે, ‘દેડકો તો બહેરો છે..’ તમને એ શબ્દો સંભળાતા હોવા છતાં તમને એ અસર કરી નહીં શકે... બસ, કાનમાં ‘અવેરનેસ’ નામ.
"Words are used to express feelings not to impress others".
સસલાએ સીટી મારી અને દોડ થઇ ગઇ શરૂ. પાંચેય દેડકાં કૂદકા મારતાં આગળ વધવા લાગ્યા. શિયાળ, હાથી, સિંહ અને બીજા બધાં પ્રાણીઓને આ તમાશો જોઇને હસવું આવી રહ્યું હતું. અન્ય પ્રાણીઓનું ટોળું એમની પાછળ અને આસપાસ દોડી રહ્યું હતું. સૌ દેડકાંને કહી રહ્યાં હતાં કે ‘તમે તો દેડકાંઓ છો, તમે આટલા ઊંચા પર્વત ઉપર કેવી રીતે ચડી શકશો?’ છતાં દેડકાંઓ દોડતાં રહ્યા. ફરી પાછું કોઇ બોલ્યું, ‘રહેવા દો આ દોડવાનું... મરી જશો...’ એક દેડકો થાકીને અટકી ગયો.
ફરીથી કોઇનો અવાજ આવ્યો, ‘હાં, હવે બરાબર- જો આ એક દેડકો સમજી ગયો એટલે બિચારો બચી ગયો. તમે પણ અટકી જાઓ... આટલો ઊંચો પર્વત ન ચડી શકાય.’થોડી વારમાં બીજા બે દેડકાં અટકી ગયા. ફરી પાછા અવાજ આવવા લાગ્યા, ‘અલ્યા પાગલ થઇ ગયા છો કે શું? હવે તો અટકો, નહીંતર શ્ચાસ ચડશે તો પેટ ફાટી જશે.’ મહામહેનતે પર્વત ચડી રહેલા બેમાંથી એક દેડકો હાંફીને ત્યાં જ મરી ગયો.
છેલ્લો દેડકો હજુ પર્વત ચડી રહ્યો હતો. પ્રાણીઓએ કહ્યું, ‘હજુ સમજી જા, પાછો વળી જા.’ દેડકો ચડતો રહ્યો. કોઇએ કહ્યું ‘ટોચ ઉપર ન પહોંચી શકાય, તારા દોસ્તની જેમ તું પણ મરી જઇશ, અટકી જા.’ છતાં દેડકો પર્વતની ટોચ તરફ આગળ વધતો રહ્યો. પ્રાણીઓએ કહ્યું ‘તમારી સાત પેઢીમાં કોઇ આટલું ઊંચે નથી પહોંચી શક્યું...’ દેડકો છતાંયે ચડતો રહ્યો. પ્રાણીઓએ મજાક શરૂ કરી, ‘હમણાં મરી જશે!’ ‘હમણાં નીચે પડશે!’
પણ દેડકો ચડતો રહ્યો અને આખરે પર્વતની ટોચ ઉપર પહોંચી ગયો. બધા પ્રાણીઓ ચૂપ થઇ ગયા. જંગલમાં હાહાકાર થઇ ગયો. એક નાનકડો દેડકો પર્વતની ટોચ ઉપર પહોંચી ગયો! સૌએ દેડકાનું મેડિકલ ચેક અપ કરાવ્યું ત્યારે ખ્યાલ આવ્યો કે દેડકો તો બહેરો છે!
આ વાર્તા પરથી કાને અથડાતા શબ્દોની શક્તિનો ખ્યાલ આવે છે. દેડકાને ખબર જ નહતી કે મને કોઇ રોકી રહ્યું છે. એને નાસીપાસ કરે એવા શબ્દો એને સંભળાયા જ નહોતા. માટે એના ઉપર વિચાર કરવાનો સવાલ ન હતો. એટલે જ એનો ડર ન હતો અને એટલા માટે જ ટોચે પહોંચી શકાયું. દેડકાનું નેગેટિવ પ્રોગ્રામિંગ કરવાના જાણ્યે અજાણ્યે થયેલા તમામ પ્રયાસો નિષ્ફળ નીવડ્યા, કારણ કે દેડકો બહેરો હતો.
શક્ય છે કે તમને પણ લોકોના અવાજો સંભળાય, કે ‘હમણાં મંદી છે, સાહસ ન કર,’ ‘તારાથી બિઝનેસ ન થઇ શકે,’ ‘છોડ, એ તારું કામ નથી- તને નહીં ફાવે’, ‘આપણી સાત પેઢીમાં કોઇએ આવું રસ્કિ નથી લીધું’ વગેરે. તો શું કરશો એ વખતે? આપણે તો બહેરા નથી! અને સંભળાય છે માટે અસર પણ કરે છે.. તો શું કરવું? એનો ઉપાય છે, ‘અવેરનેસ’ એટલે કે જાગ્રતતા. ‘હું શું સાંભળી રહ્યો છું.’ એના પર સતત ધ્યાન રાખશો એટલે વણજોઇતા તમામ શબ્દોને પકડી શકશો. જેવા એ શબ્દો પકડાય એટલે મનમાં. એક રટણ ચાલુ કરો કે, ‘દેડકો તો બહેરો છે..’ તમને એ શબ્દો સંભળાતા હોવા છતાં તમને એ અસર કરી નહીં શકે... બસ, કાનમાં ‘અવેરનેસ’ નામ.
"Words are used to express feelings not to impress others".
Thursday, October 14, 2010
સમય નથી..
દરેક ખુશી છે અહિ લોકો પાસે, પણ હસવા માટે સમય નથી
દિવસ-રાત દોડતી દુનિયા મા, જિંદગી માટે પણ સમય નથી
માંના હાલરડાનો અહેસાસ છે, પણ માંની મમતા માટે સમય નથી
બધા નામ મોબાઈલમા છે પણ, મિત્રતા માટે સમય નથી
આંખોમા છે ઊંઘ ઘણીયે, પણ સુવા માટે સમય નથી
પારકાઓની શું વાત કરવી, પોતાના માટે પણ સમય નથી
પૈસાની દોડમા એવા દોડયા, કે થાક્વાનો પણ સમય નથી
પારકા અહેસાનોની શું કદર કરીએ, જ્યાં પોતન સપનાની જ કદર નથી
તુ જ કહે મને, શું થશે આ જિંદગીનુ
જ્યાં દરેક પળે મરવાવાળાને, જિવવા માટે પણ સમય નથી
આ મારા પુત્ર માટેઃ
સમય છે પાસે, પણ સમય સાથે સમય કાઢવાનો સમય નથી
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
એક સુંદર કવિતા..
નાનપણમાં બોરાં વીણવા જતા.
કાતરા પણ વીણતા.
કો’કની વાડીમાં ઘૂસી ચીભડાં ચોરતા.
ટેટા પાડતા.
બધા ભાઇબંધોપોતાનાં ખિસ્સામાંથી
ઢગલી કરતા ને ભાગ પાડતા-
-આ ભાગ ટીંકુનો.
-આ ભાગ દીપુનો.
-આ ભાગ ભનિયાનો, કનિયાનો…
છેવટે એક વધારાની ઢગલી કરી કહેતા-
‘આ ભાગ ભગવાનનો !’ સૌ પોતપોતાની ઢગલી
ખિસ્સામાં ભરતા,
ને ભગવાનની ઢગલી ત્યાં જ મૂકી
રમવા દોડી જતા. ભગવાન રાતે આવે, છાનામાના
ને પોતાનો ભાગ ખાઇ જાય-એમ અમે કહેતા. પછી મોટા થયા.
બે હાથે ઘણું ય ભેગું કર્યું;
ભાગ પાડ્યા-ઘરના, ઘરવખરીના,
ગાય, ભેંસ, બકરીના.
અને ભગવાનનો ભાગ જુદો કાઢ્યો? રબીશ! ભગવાનનો ભાગ?
ભગવાન તે વળી કઇ ચીજ છે ? સુખ, ઉમંગ, સપનાં, સગાઇ, પ્રેમ-
હાથમાં ઘણું ઘણું આવ્યું… અચાનક ગઇ કાલે ભગવાન આવ્યા;
કહે : લાવ, મારો ભાગ… મેં પાનખરની ડાળી જેવા
મારા બે હાથ જોયા- ઉજ્જ્ડ.
એકાદ સુકું તરણું યે નહીં.
શેના ભાગ પાડું ભગવાન સાથે?
આંખમાં ઝળઝળિયાં આવ્યાં,
તે અડધાં ઝળઝળિયાં આપ્યાં ભગવાનને. વાહ !- કહી ભગવાન મને અડ્યા,
ખભે હાથ મૂક્યો,
મારી ઉજ્જ્ડતાને પંપાળી,
મારા ખાલીપાને ભરી દીધો અજાણ્યા મંત્રથી. તેણે પૂછ્યું : ‘કેટલા વરસનો થયો તું’
‘પચાસનો’ હું બોલ્યો
’અચ્છા…’ ભગવાન બોલ્યા : ‘૧૦૦ માંથી
અડધાં તો તેં ખરચી નાખ્યાં…
હવે લાવ મારો ભાગ !’
ને મેં બાકીનાં પચાસ વરસ
ટપ્પ દઇને મૂકી દીધાં ભગવાનના હાથમાં !
ભગવાન છાનામાના રાતે એનો ભાગ ખાય. હું હવે તો ભગવાનનો ભાગ બની પડ્યો છું અહીં.
જોઉં છું રાહ- કે ક્યારે રાત પડે
ને ક્યારે આવે છાનામાના ભગવાન
ને ક્યારે આરોગે ભાગ બનેલા મને
ને ક્યારે હું ભગવાનનાં મોંમાં ઓગળતો ઓગળતો…
કવિ - રમેશ પારેખ
Monday, October 11, 2010
Osho Quotes and Sayings
- Your mind is a constant traffic of thoughts, and it is always rush hour, day in, day out. Meditation means to watch the movement of thoughts in the mind.
- Sannyas is not a question of doing: it is a question of awareness, understanding, observation, witnessing.
- To be total is a basic thing for any seeker, for anyone in search of silence and truth.
- Love is the door, it is irrelevant with whom you have fallen in love. Love redeems, neither Jesus, nor Krishna. Love redeems. Fall in love. Love is the only redeeming force. Love is the savior.
- Whenever you are surrendered to existence, whenever you live in trust, love, prayer, joy, celebration, you are in heaven.
- Silence is the inner health; mind is the inner disease, inner disturbance.
- Man has nothing else to do but surrender — in deep trust, in deep love. Don’t be a doer, just surrender. Let there be a let-go.
- Compassion is a shadow of meditation; a meditative mind is a compassionate mind.
- The whole play of existence is so beautiful that laughter can be the only response to it. Only laughter can be the real prayer, gratitude.
- A prayer rooted in any motive is ugly, a prayer addressed to somebody is ugly.
- Just see the point! Just be yourself and remember you cannot be anything else, whatsoever you do. All effort is futile. You have to be just yourself.
- The first thing to remember is how to drop thoughts and become thoughtless — thoughtless but alert.
- Remember: ego can create misery, ego can create anguish, ego can create hate, ego can create jealousy. Ego can never become a vehicle for the divine, it can never become the passage for the beyond.
- Life is only a school and unless you learn enlightenment, you will go on moving into the circle of life and death.
- Relaxation is the point. And if you can relax with an enlightened person his enlightenment will start penetrating you, because when you are relaxed you become porous. When you are tense you are closed; when you relax he will enter.
- The ego of the politician wants nobody to be higher than him. But whether you want it or not, the religious person is higher than you. You cannot bring transformation into people's consciousness -- he can.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Heart of Gratitude!!!
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."
I wrote: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it."
Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that 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.
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.
The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling…
And even more beautiful is, knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!
Enjoy your day with a heart of gratitude.
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."
I wrote: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it."
Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that 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.
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.
The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling…
And even more beautiful is, knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!
Enjoy your day with a heart of gratitude.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
મહાન વ્યક્તિઓ દ્વારા અપાયેલા સુવિચારો
- જેનામાં નમ્રતા નથી આવતી તેઓ વિદ્યાનો સદુપયોગ નથી કરી શકતા, નમ્રતાનો અર્થ અહમભાવનો અત્યંત ક્ષય. – ગાંધીજી
- જેવી રીતે ખેતરનું રક્ષણ કરવા માટે વાડ ઊભી કરવામાં આવે છે તે જ પ્રમાણે નિજભાવ માટે નિયમ રૂપી વાડ કરી લેવી જરૂરી છે. - પ્રણવાનંદજી
- તપ દ્વારા આપણામાં રહેલી દુર્બળતાનું શક્તિમાં તથા અજ્ઞાનનું જ્ઞાનમાં રૂપાંતર થાય છે. – ડૉ. રાધાકૃષ્ણન
- અનેક શાસ્ત્રો જાણકારા, બીજાઓની શંકાઓનું સમાધાન કરનારા બહુશ્રુત પંડિતો પણ ઘણી વખત લોભને વશ થઈ સંસારમાં દુઃખ પામે છે. – મહાભારત
- આવેશ અને ક્રોધને વશમાં કરી લેવાથી શક્તિમાં વધારો થાય છે. આવેશને આત્મબળના રૂપમાં જ પરિવર્તિત કરી શકાય છે. – ગાંધીજી
- લગ્ન હોય ત્યાં મર્યાદા હોય, મર્યાદા હોય ત્યાં સદાચાર, શિષ્ટતા તેમ જ નીતિ હોય છે અને નીતિ હોય ત્યાં ધર્મની પ્રાપ્તિ હોઈ શકે. – મુક્તિપ્રભાજી
- સ્વસ્થ શરીર, પ્રાણવાન આત્મા, મનોબળથી ભરપૂર સ્વરૂપ, જ્ઞાની, બુદ્ધિમાન તથા સમજદાર વ્યક્તિ બનવાનો સંકલ્પ કરશો તો જીવનમાં આવનારી મુશ્કેલીઓનો આપોઆપ રસ્તો નીકળશ. - જવાહરલાલ નહેરુ
- પ્રભુએ જેનો સ્વીકાર કર્યો છે તે અવંદનીય પણ વંદનીય થઈ જાય છે. આજનો સુવિચાર:- ધર્મનું સર્વશ્રેષ્ઠ લક્ષણ આચરણમાં છે. -સ્વામી પ્રણવાનંદજી
- માણસ પોતે પોતાનો મિત્ર છે તેમજ શત્રુ છે, શું થવું તેણે નક્કી કરવાનું છે. -શ્રી ગીતાજી 6 , 5-6
- તૃષ્ણામાં જે આનંદ છે, તે તૃપ્તિમાં નથી. – જ્યોતિન્દ્ર દવે
- સામા પક્ષને ન્યાય કરવાથી આપણને ન્યાય વહેલો મળે છે. —ગાંધીજી
- ન હો જો કશું તો, અભાવો નડે છે, મળે જો બધું તો, સ્વભાવો નડે છે. અહિંસા સત્યની શોધનો આધાર છે. - ગાંધીજી
- નિષ્ઠામાં સ્થિર થવું એ મોટામાં મોટું તપ છે. - મોરારી બાપુ
- કોઈપણ મનુષ્યના હાસ્ય પરથી ઘણીવાર તેનાં ગુણ અવગુણ અને પ્રકૃતિ પારખી શકાય. - દત્તકૃષ્ણાનંદ
- મૌનમાં નિષ્ક્રિયતા નથી, પૂર્ણતા છે. મૌનમાં નિવૃતિ નથી, જાગૃતિ છે. - ધૂમકેતુ
- મન કાળની જાળમાંથી મુક્ત થાય ત્યારે જ ઈશ્વરનો આવિર્ભાવ થાય. - ટોલ્સ્ટૉય
- જ્ઞાન કરતાં કલ્પના વધારે અગત્યની છે. -આલ્બર્ટ આઈંસ્ટાઈન
- શીખવા જેવી એક કળા છે અને તે છે ‘જે નથી તે નહિ જોવાની’ કળા. - મારીયા મિશેલ
- હેતુ વગર હેત કરનાર માત્ર હરિ જ હોય છે. પહેલાં કદાપિ થયું નથી અને ફરીથી ક્યારે થવાનું નથી એવાં શુભ કાર્ય કરવાને માટેની પોતાની તક ન લાવે એવો કોઈ દિવસ ક્યારે ઊગ્યો નથી. - ડબલ્યુ.એચ.બર્લીહ
- ‘સત્ય’ અને ‘ઈશ્વર’ જો ભિન્ન હોય તો હું માત્ર ‘સત્ય’ને વળગી રહું. – ગાંધીજી
- જેણે પોતાના મનને જીત્યું નથી તે પોતે પોતાના પ્રત્યે શત્રુની જેમ વર્તે છે. -ગીતાજી [6 અધ્યાય- 6 શ્લોક]
- તું બધાં જ કર્મોનો ત્યાગ કરીને મારે શરણે આવ, કર્મોનો ત્યાગ કરવાથી પાપ થશે. તેની ચિંતા છોડ. હું તને બધાં જ પાપોમાંથી મુક્ત કરીશ. - શ્રીમદ ભગવતગીતા
- અવલોકનદૃષ્ટિ ગરૂડ જેવી બનાવો જે વિશ્વપદાર્થોનાં ઉપરછલ્લાં સ્વરૂપોને,ભીતરનાં ભંડારને બહાર લાવી શકે છે. એના ખરા સ્વરૂપને અનાવૃત્ત કરી શકે છે. – ગાંધીજી
- બધે જ ગુણની પૂજા થાય છે, સંપત્તિની નહિ. પૂનમના ચંદ્ર કરતાં બીજનો ક્ષીણ ચંદ્ર જ વંદનીય ગણાય છે. –ચાણક્ય
- દરેક મનુષ્યમાં ખામી હોય છે. જો કોઈ ખામી વિનાનો મિત્ર શોધવા જાય તો તે મિત્ર વિનાનો રહે. આપણે જેમ ખામીથી ભરેલા છીએ છતાં આપણી જાતને ચાહીએ છીએ તેમ આપણા મિત્રોને પણ પ્રેમ કરવો જોઈએ. - સાયરસ
- પ્રસાદ એટલે શું? પ્ર -એટલે પ્રભુ, સા -એટલે સાક્ષાત, દ -એટલે દર્શન. માટે જે આરોગવાથી પ્રભુના સાક્ષાત દર્શન થાય તે સાચો પ્રસાદ અને પ્રસાદ આરોગતી વેળાએ હૃદયમાં પ્રભુના મુખારવિંદની ઝાંખી થાય તે મહાપ્રસાદ
- યુવાનીનો બધો સમય ઘડતરનો, વિકાસનો અને સભાનતાનો છે. એમાંનો એક કલાક પણ એવો નથી જે નિયમિત ધબકતો ન હોય, એમાંની એક પળ પણ જો વીતી ગઈ તો નિશ્ચિત થયેલું કામ ક્યારે થઈ શકતું નથી. — રસ્કિન
- સંયમ અને પરિશ્રમ માનવીના બે વૈદ્ય છે. - રૂસો
- આપણે જુદા જુદા લોકોને મળી તેમનો અભ્યાસ કરીએ તે એક પ્રકારનું શિક્ષણ છે જેને કારણે આપણી નિરીક્ષણ શક્તિ વધે છે અને સમજણશક્તિ સુધારી શકીએ છીએ. - સ્વામી સચ્ચિદાનંદ
- ઓ ઈશ્વર ! મને હાજરજવાબી જીભ આપવાને બદલે મને હાજરજવાબી હાથ આપો. જેટલા દિવસ જીવો તેટલા દિવસ ફૂલ બની જીવો કાંટા બનીને નહી. - મહાદેવી વર્મા
- તાપને તપમાં બદલી શકે તે જ્ઞાની. - ગાંધીજી
- એક સપનું પડી ભાંગે અને હજારો ટૂકડામાં વેરાઈ જાય તો એ ટૂકડાઓને વીણી ફરીથી પ્રારંભ કરવાનો ડર કદી રાખો નહીં., – રૂલેવી આબીડન
- હૃદય પાસે એવા કારણો હોય છે કે જે બુદ્ધિ સમજતી નથી. –બેસંટ
- હકનો ભાવ છોડો. -મુનિ તરુણસાગરજી
- ભગવાન કસોટી કરે ત્યારે હિંમત ટકાવી રાખે તે જ સાચો વિશ્વાસુ ભક્ત. – હરીભાઈ કોઠારી
- તણખલુ ઊડીને આંખમાં પડે તો ડુંગર પણ ઢંકાઈ જાય. તણખલું એક પછી એક સુગરીની ચાંચમાં ચઢે તો કળાત્મક માળો રચાઈ જાય. જીવન તણખલું બનીને ઊડે તો એ ખુદ પરમાત્મા બની જાય. આપણે જ્યારે સાંભળવા જેટલા સ્થિર- શાંત હોઈએ છીએ ત્યારે જ ભગવાન બોલે છે. - તથાગત બુદ્ધ
- કોઈ તરફ આંગળી ચીંધતા પહેલા વિચારજો બાકીની ત્રણ આંગળી તમારી તરફ ચીંધાય છે. - પૂ. પાંડુરંગ શાસ્ત્રી
- હિંમત એ નથી કે જ્યારે તમારી પાસે આગળ જવા શક્તિ હોય પણ એ છે કે જ્યારે તમારી પાસે શક્તિ ન હોય ને આગળ વધો તે છે. - નેપોલીયન બોનાપાટ
- કામનો યશ કોને મળશે એ જોય વિના કામ કરવું એ કામ પતાવવાની અને યશસ્વી થવાની સારામાં સારી રીત છે. -બેંજામિન જોવટ
- મને ભવિષ્યમાં રસ છે કારણ કે મારી બાકીની જિંદગી હું ત્યાં જીવવાનો છું. - ચાર્લ્સ કેટરીંગ
- આપણે સમજીએ કે આપને ભોગ આપીએ છીએ, પણ ખરેખર તો ભોગ આપણને ભોગવતા હોય છે. - ભર્તૃહરિ
- મન એક સારું દર્પણ છે એના પર ધૂળ ન લાગે તેને માટે આપણે સતત પ્રયત્નશીલ રહેવું જરૂરી છે. આપની પાસે પૂરી માહિતી ન હોય ત્યાં સુધી મનને શાંત રાખવું અને ઉતાવળે નિર્ણય ન લેવો. – વેદ
- આભ ગમે તેટલું ઊંચું હોય, નદી ગમે તેટલી પહોળી હોય, પર્વત ગમે તેટલો વિરાટ હોય, પવન ગમે તેટલા સુસવાટા મારતો હોયપણ એક વાત ધ્યાનમાં રાખો, આપણે આ બધા સાથે શું લેવા દેવા? માણસની અંદર જે જે શક્તિ, જ્ઞાન અને પ્રેમરૂપે છે તે માત્ર અર્થ અને કામ એ બે પુરુષાર્થથી ખીલતી નથી, ધર્મથી ખીલે છે. – વિશ્વામિત્ર
- શ્રવણ અને મનનની ટેવ પાડો. આપણે કોણ છીએ? શું છીએ? ક્યાં છીએ? આ વિશ્વ ક્યાં છે? વિચારો. વાસ્તવમાં તમે ઈશ્વરથી જુદા નથી. - સાંઈબાબા
- સમાજમાં સજ્જન અને દુર્જન સાથે જ રહેતા હોય છે. જો દુર્જન પોતાનો સ્વભાવ છોડી શકતા ન હોય તો સજ્જને પોતાનો સ્વભાવ શા માટે છોડી દેવો જોઈએ? - શંકરાચાર્ય
- મિત્રતા એ એક નાજુક જવાબદારી છે. – રત્નસુંદરવિજયજી
- આપણી સંસ્કૃતિમાં માનું સૌથી ઊંચું સ્થાન હોવાને કારણે જ આપણી સંસ્કૃતિ આટલી ઊંચાઈએ પહોંચી છે. - પાંડુરંગ શાસ્ત્રી
- પ્રાર્થના ઈશ્વરને બદલતી નથી, પણ જે પ્રાર્થે છે એ માણસને બદલે છે. -સોરેન કિર્કગાર્ડ
- રોગનો મિત્ર વૈદ્ય, રાજાનો મિત્ર મીઠાં વચન બોલનારો, સંસારથી પીડિત માનસનો મિત્ર સંત તેમજ લક્ષ્મી ખોઈ બેઠેલાનો મિત્ર જોષી છે. - કવિ નિકોલસ
- યૌવન ચાલ્યું જાય છે, પ્રેમ ઓસરી જાય છે, મિત્રતા ખરી પડે છે પરંતુ માતાનો પ્રેમ સદાય વધતો જાય છે એ જગતમાં શાશ્વત હકીકત છે. - પાંડુરંગ શાસ્ત્રી
- અંધારામાં રસ્તો બનાવવો મુશ્કિલ છે. તોફાનમાં દીવો પ્રગટાવવો મુશ્કિલ છે. કોઈની સાથે દોસ્તી કરવી મુશ્કિલ નથી, પરંતુ દોસ્તીને ટકાવવી મુશ્કિલ છે. કર્યા વગર મળતું નથી, કરેલું ફોગટ જતું નથી. કરવાની શક્તિ તારામાં છે., કામ કરતો જા, હાક મારતો જા, મદદ તૈયાર છે. - પાંડુરંગ શાસ્ત્રી
- ત્રણ વાતનું હંમેશા ધ્યાન રાખો. [1] કામ વગર બેસી ન રહો. [2] ખોટું કામ ન કરો. [3] કેવળ પોતાના સ્વાર્થ માટે કામ ન કરો.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Creative Puns for Educated Minds..
- The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was -- Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
- I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, -- but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
- She was only a whisky maker, -- but he loved her still.
- A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class -- because it was a weapon of math disruption.
- The butcher backed into the meat grinder -- and got a little behind in his work..
- No matter how much you push the envelope, -- it'll still be stationery.
- A dog gave birth to puppies near the road -- and was cited for littering.
- A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France -- would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
- Two silk worms had a race. -- They ended up in a tie.
- Time flies like an arrow. -- Fruit flies like a banana.
- A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. -- The police are looking into it..
- Atheism -- is a non-prophet organization.
- Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. -- One hat said to the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a head.'
- I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger.-- Then, it hit me.
- A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said, -- 'Keep off the Grass.'
- A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital.-- His grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'
- A chicken crossing the road -- is poultry in motion.
- The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison -- was a small medium at large.
- The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray -- is now a seasoned veteran.
- A backward poet -- writes inverse.
- In democracy, it's your vote that counts. -- In feudalism, it's your count that votes.
- When cannibals ate a missionary, -- they got a taste of religion.
- Don't join dangerous cults: -- Practice safe sects!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Too Busy for a Friend..
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another.. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.
'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'
Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'
'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary.'
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists.'
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important.. Tell them, before it is too late.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another.. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.
'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'
Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'
'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary.'
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists.'
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important.. Tell them, before it is too late.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
જો કોલંબસ ને પત્ની હોત તો....??
જો કોલંબસ ને પત્ની હોત તો,
મને વિશ્વાશ છે કે એ ક્યારેય અમેરિકા ના શોધી શકત....!
કારણ જાણો છો? કેમ?
કેમ કે જો એને પત્નિ હોત તો એની વચ્ચે આ સંવાદ હોત જ.....
પત્ની :
પત્ની એને પૂછતી?
તમે ક્યા જાઓ છો?
કોની સાથે જાઓ છો?
શા માટે જાઓ છો?
શુ શોધવા જાઓ છો?
એનાથી શુ થશે?
ફક્ત તમે જ કેમ?
બીજા નથી?
તમે જશો પછી હુ શુ કરીશ?
શુ હુ તમારી સાથે આવુ?
તમે પાછા ક્યારે આવશો?
તમે રહેશો ક્યા?
તમે ખાશો ક્યા?
તમે પીશો ક્યા?
તમે મને યાદ કરશો ને?
ભૂલી નહી જાઓ ને?
બસ પછી કોલંબસ શુ બોલ્યો હોત!
કોલંબસ :
લે, મારી મા! નથી જતો ખુશ !!!!!!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Four Stages of Life..
- You believe in Santa Claus.
- You don't believe in Santa Claus.
- You are Santa Claus.
- You look like Santa Claus.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Great Truths About Getting Old..
- Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
- Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
- When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.
- You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.
- It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.
- Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.
- Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Great Truths That Adults Have Learned..
- Raising teenagers is like nailing jelly to a tree.
- Wrinkles don't hurt.
- Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.
- Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
- Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.
- Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Mother Theresa's Prayer
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Most beautiful rainbow
As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back. Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.
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