Long  time  ago there  lived  a  great king  and  two beggars  who always  stood  at the  gate  of  his  palace  everyday.

As  the  king  rode by  everyday,  the 1st beggar would say 'blessed  is  he whom  the  king helps' while  the 2nd beggar would say 'blessed is he whom God helps'.

The  king  always felt  pleased  to hear  the  praise  of the 1st  beggar.

One  evening  the king  decided  to reward  the  1st beggar  for  all  the praise;  he  ordered his  baker  to  bake a  cake  and  wrapped gold inside  the  cake.

The  next day  as  he  rode  by, he gave  the  cake  to the  1st beggar  as he  hailed  him  as usual.

The 1st beggar  who  was  in  dire need  of  cash  sold  the  cake  to  the 2nd beggar at  a cheap  price.

When the 2nd beggar cut open the cake he saw the gold, sold them and became a wealthy man.

He did not return back to the kings gate the next day.

As  the  king  rode out  of  his  palace the  next day,  he saw  the  1st beggar  still  begging for money  and stopped  to  ask him  if  he  ate  the cake  he  gave  him.

The  1st beggar replied  and  said  no  sir,  I  sold  it  to my  friend  who  was  here  with  me yesterday;  I  have not  seen  him today.

The  king shook his head highly disappointed and confessed silently to himself that

"Indeed Blessed is he Who God helps"

Our  God  is  the  all knowing  God, HE has  not  forgotten you. God  always does His work just  in  time.

Be  blessed  and  Trust  God  even  when  you  don't understand  His WILL. Someday your blessings shall be in abundance.

Make it a great week ahead!!

Constraint: A real constraint or a trigger to explore new possibilities?

The journey of life unfolds sequence of events at times imposing constraints in various aspects of our lives. Sometimes physical, sometimes mental. Sometimes financial and sometimes interpersonal…

And they appear like Tsunami, without much warning. Therefore we cannot plan to tackle them with a business continuity plan or a well-thought-out personal backup plan. At best we can chose not to get overwhelmed, display courage and agility instead to endure them gracefully. And who knows? An impulsive reaction to an imposed constraint may throw up interesting outcomes, and may be, sometime, pleasant surprises!

Don’t believe? Read this story…

I was in my early 40’s and was beginning to get conscious about my stamina, form and shape. So I started jogging every morning. That did some trick, but I was not content. My daughter was getting into her teens and was spending too much time secretly reading some books. I was not too worried about that part, till I noticed, she was completely ignoring her fitness. So I tried to get her out of bed and cajoled her to play badminton with me. Soon another responsibility came up when I as the Father assumed the role of a coach, which required me to bowl regularly to improve hand-eye coordination of my son, who had shown symptoms of dyslexia early in his childhood. This is not all, there were few more activities too. You can imagine… all this added up; it was too much of responsibility for my right shoulder to shoulder! I ignored early warning signals till it showed signs of rebellion. I felt acute pain in my right shoulder. I tried to ease it a bit by stopping some easy ones first, like, stopping playing tabla, stopping playing table tennis and so on. Didn’t help much. I stopped jogging, thinking reduced oscillation and vibration induced at the neck shoulder joint would bring some relief. Situation didn’t improve still. Before considering stopping playing badminton with my daughter and bowling to my son I consulted a doctor in Manipal Hospital, Bangalore. He looked at the X-ray report, advised complete prohibition of activities involving right shoulder, be on pain killer, begin physiotherapy and so on. From a state of hyperactivity to a state of grinding halt in a span of less than a week; it felt like an imposed imprisonment!

Midway through physiotherapy routine one fine morning I paused while brushing my teeth. “This is an activity I can try in my left hand!” – I thought, and switched to brushing using my left hand. It felt awkward for a moment no doubt, but not awful. I felt a sense of achievement when the tooth brush could be guided by the left hand to brush all around my jaw. I saw a new ray of hope. Same morning I bowled, rather threw, few balls at my son. Curiosity grew. In office I tried playing table tennis with a close colleague using my left hand. The forehand serve while serving using left hand made the table tennis ball land in the left hand corner of the table making it really difficult for the opponent who had a relatively weak back hand. I did not win a game, but created enough trouble for this colleague of mine. I felt encouraged. In the evening I continued my pursuit and played badminton with my daughter. Next day morning I began brushing with my left hand. Switched from underarm bowling to round-arm bowling. When I pushed a bit I discovered the well-rested, but not so well tested left arm bowling faster than the right hand! Continuing my curiosity I surprised few more colleagues at work that day while playing table tennis using my left hand. The journey continued. I started loving and concentrating on my left hand more than I cared about my right hand any time before. The pain in right hand was not bothering me that much anymore. By the time I found my right arm back to normal I had literally discovered a backup for doing most of my day-to-day activities using left hand!

Friends, post this self-discovery I began using my left hand for many activities as a conscious choice giving rest to my right hand. Gradually I discovered, certain activities that have potential to stretch both hands equally, like gardening, swimming, and moving heavier things around, felt easier. I discovered and put into active use a significant part of my body that I was not very conscious about and never thought could be so important!

"At times we obsess and drive ourselves to a point of suffocation or helplessness over what we lost temporarily or what we never had, instead of exploring the possibility and making best use of what we already have!"

So friends, this was an anecdote from my personal life... do you have a similar one to share?

The Real Rich

Some incidents in life teach a lesson or two that remain etched in the mind forever.

April 1992, It was the last working day of my first year in college. I was studying Science where as my best friend from School was studying Commerce in the same college. We bumped into each other while picking up our bicycles at the cycle stand. It was indeed a pleasant surprise for both of us as our class timings were different and we hardly got to meet each other during the entire year. We decided to spend some time at the Juice store outside the college before heading home. We started discussing our plans for summer vacation over some refreshing watermelon juice. While I had nothing much planned other than going to my native place for few days, he had planned for getting inducted into his father's business of medicine wholesaling during the holiday time. He already had an assignment for the next day and asked me whether I could join him for few hours to go to a village some 100 kms away from our city.

We decided to meet at the bus stand a little before noon the next day (provided I got permission from my family). Since it was the first day of vacation, my mother agreed and we went ahead as per plan. My friend explained his first assignment was to recover an outstanding of few thousand rupees from a small medicine retailer in that village. My friend had planned every detail. We would reach the village by 3 pm, get the job done in 2 hrs and take the bus at 5:30 pm and get back home by 8:30 pm.

We reached before 3 pm and had little issues locating the address of that medicine store. To our surprise that store was closed while the other small shops in the surrounding area were open. To beat the summer heat, I ordered two soft drinks while my friend checked with few shop owners in that area. As he came back with a grumpy face, I could sense something was not right. He gulped down the entire bottle of cola in one sip and then told me that the medicine shop was shut for over a month. The owner had gathered a lot of debt and fled the village to escape from the lenders. Since we still had more than 2 hrs before we started our return journey, we decided go inside the village and get further clues on the whereabouts of the absconding person. Asking few locals, we could locate the shop owner's house but it was locked. The neighbors could not share any information that could be of further help.

Tired and dejected, we started walking towards the bus stop. After waiting for more than an hour, it was close to 6 pm but there was no sign of the bus. We got to know that the bus had broken down at the previous stop and could not be repaired that night. To our bad luck, that was the last bus for the day and there was no other option available. Since it was a remote village with no restaurants or lodgings, we stocked up on some biscuits and bananas and searched for a place to spend the night. We came across a big banyan tree in front of the village temple and that seemed like a good place to rest for the night. As we sat down under the tree, another middle aged man resting under the tree with his bullock looked at us curiously. He soon figured out that we were not the typical village folks and asked what brought us to the village. After hearing our ordeal, he invited us to his house to spend the night which we politely refused. He kept insisting saying it was not safe to spend the night in the open and finally we had to agree. During the 10 minute walk to his humble thatched mud house, he introduced himself as ".. Sahu" (I don't recall his first name).

As we entered his house, I could see there was no furniture other than two small rope cots and a torn mat on the floor. The kitchen was towards one end of the same room and his wife was already cooking something on wooden fire. Sahu switched on the rickety old table fan at the corner of the room to make ourselves comfortable . His two sons probably around 10 and 8 were playing outside the house. He introduced us to his family and said we would be their guest for the night. As his wife went back to preparing dinner, we engaged in a long conversation with Sahu starting with the medicine shop owner, his life as a farmer and many other challenges he faced in everyday life. Our conversation was interrupted when his wife signaled that dinner was ready.Dinner was simple roti and potato fry and the portion of potato in our plates was more generous than theirs. They also made sure we finished our dinner before they started eating. After dinner, when it was time to go to bed, Sahu insisted that we slept inside the house on the two rope cots and the family slept on the mat outside the house.

Next morning, when we woke up, Sahu had already kept a bucket of water for us to freshen up, and I could also smell tea. It did not take long to figure out that tea was not a regular routine and was specially made for us. As we were sipping on the freshly made tea, his sons were happily rolling a bicycle tire with a small wooden stick. Sahu reminded that the bus would arrive in 15 minutes. As we bid good bye to his wife and kids, we handed over the biscuits and bananas to his sons, the least we could do. The bus was on time, Sahu personally came to the bus stop and waited till we boarded the bus. I moved over to a window seat and looked outside the window to say good bye to Sahu for one last time. As the driver pressed on the gas, the black diesel smog spread behind the bus. By the time it cleared, Sahu was no more to be seen.

"What a waste of time ? My dad is going to be really upset" said my friend as we were settling down in our seats. 

I just smiled at him ,closed my eyes and thought about Sahu and his family. Despite living in such hardship, this man with a small pocket and big heart taught me an important lesson in life. 

"Real rich people are not those who have the most, but those who need the least. You don't need to have too much to give away a little"

A young girl and her father were walking along a forest path.
At some point, they came across a large tree branch on the ground in front of them.

The girl asked her father, “If I try, do you think I could move that branch?”
Her father replied, “I am sure you can, if you use all your strength.”

The girl tried her best to lift or push the branch, but she was not strong enough and she couldn't move it.

She said, with disappointment, “You were wrong, dad. I can't move it.”

“Try again with all your strength,” replied her father.

Again, the girl tried hard to push the branch. She struggled but it did not move.

“Dad, I cannot do it,” said the girl.

Finally her father said, “Young lady, I advised you to use 'all your strength'. You didn’t ask for my help."

Moral:
Our real strength lies not in independence, but in interdependence.
No individual person has all the strengths, all the resources and all the stamina required for the complete blossoming of their vision.

To ask for help and support when we need it is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of wisdom..
Make it a great week ahead...

10 Inspiring thoughts for life

1. Don’t educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be Happy. So when they grow up they will know the value of things not the price…

2. Eat your food as your medicines. Otherwise you have to eat medicines as your food

3. The One who loves you will never leave you because even if there are .. 100 reasons to give up he will find one reason to hold on

4. There is a lot of difference between human being and being human. A Few understand it.

5. You are loved when you are born. You will be loved when you die. In between You have to manage…!

6. If u want to Walk Fast, Walk Alone..! But if u want to Walk Far, Walk Together..!!

7. Six Best Doctors in the World- Sunlight – .Rest – Exercise – .Diet – Self Confidence .Friends …..Maintain them in all stages of Life and enjoy healthy life

8. If you see the moon ….. You see the beauty of God ….. If you see the Sun ….. You see the power of God ….. And …. If you see the Mirror ….. You see the best Creation of GOD …. So Believe in YOURSELF…..

9. Enjoy the little things in life … Because one day you’ll look back and realise they were the big things…

10. We all have two lives… The second one starts when we REALISE that we have only one….

Love...as you know it!

Well, with Valentine's celebrations coming to the end and me wondering of what could I write on 'Love' for this year. I give you the most common way love is revealed to us from teenage, as we grow up until we finally find out that we can never really completely know, what love exactly is!

Finally I am growing up,
Exploring emotions from the ocean, swimming in a cup.
I have dreamt of love and a perfect romance,
believing that at it, you have just a single chance.

Its all about the sparkling eyes and stolen glances,
Especially on valentines, love does look simple
From holding hands and cute talks,
Falling for a sweet smile and an even sweeter dimple.

As expected is it from a fluttering teenager's heart,
I willingly so, did fall for it all,
the rosy moments seemed to last forever,
until we had that heated conversation on an untimely call.

It was fun to convince and be convinced
Believing in the unconditional love even then,
And out of nowhere did a third person come,
knowing us better than us, I wondered- "since when?"

Everything now was easily conveyed to Number 3,
To the Gods was sent back, all our magic
The seperation, the distance, the uncontrollable urge to call,
I never knew things could get so tragic.

It took quite a long time, to get over the first,
Thanks to the new girl with a sweet smile and no dimple,
She made all the hard times easy, keeping me busy,
and until we broke up, love was again 'simple'.

That was rough too, no doubt,
but the fault in this story was mine,
understanding the myth of love's simplicity,
I ended up laughing on breaking up for the third time.

The fourth one was like a calm river
One I could manage, being experienced in cups,
So, this time I got hitched and it does feel,
that downs will be down, as along as you learn to climb up.

I learned cuteness from one, understanding from second,
third one taught me, its about not being scared to struggle,
Now I understand that love is a rather complicated verb,
with hurt and patience it does like to snuggle.

All wells that ends well, but is it really an ending,
For now I have a 13 year old, waiting for her bit,
there is no particular advice and no warnings that I could frame,
To tell her of the 'love' as we all know it!

The smile on your face, really does suits you. Happy Valentines day lovely readers! ;)

One once-in-a-lifetime event and value lesson of a lifetime…

Every discussion or article on food wastage reminds me of this childhood incident…

Regular meals at home comprised of rice, dal, plus some vegetable fry. Rice being home grown, did not have a quantity cap. Dal was on monthly ration, hence was portion controlled, diluted enough to seamlessly seep through the small pile of rice. Pouring of dal by mom would continue at the top until it oozes out at the base of the pile culminating with a gratifying smile or a gentle shout… ‘baas’! Vegetable was seasonal and home grown and when there, occasionally, was distinctly noticeable from a distance.

Few words about the meal setting. We used to sit cross-legged on the mud floor to eat. Even now we don’t have a dining table at my village home. But at least we have tiled floor. Spoons or forks were beyond imagination. Hand was and continues to be the best spork for me.

While eating, I had this habit of dragging the rice to the edge of the plate while scooping out a portion, causing some rice to fall over the edge onto the floor. My father had noticed this quite a few times. One day he made me sit opposite him and eat from his plate. That day I ate extremely carefully without dropping a single grain of rice. He patted my back with parting remark, “I am sure, from tomorrow you will not waste any food”!

But old habits die hard. On this fateful day, he again noticed me dropping food over on the floor. Giving me a scary look, he just dragged my plate away from me and showed me the extent of wasted food. I was frightened looking at the mound of rice shaped like crescent moon. My father raised his hand to slap, but was stopped half way by my mother’s words… “It is not customary to punish while eating food. Forgive him this last time. He won’t waste food again.” However, I wasn’t spared so easily. I was made to eat the dropped food. And my father ensured that I picked up the last grain of rice from the mud floor…

Friends, I was seven years old then. I have never wasted food since. Ever. Neither at home, nor in hostels or office canteen, nor in restaurants. I have lunch with a different colleague at work every day and most of those who I dine with, have noticed this habit of mine as well… The principle has also been driven home to my family members.

Who wastes food? It is not limited to those who are fortunate enough to have surplus or those who somehow get it for free. It is almost always those who have not been brought up with a strong value system! Period.

We didn’t know how to eat by ourselves when we were born. We picked up eating as a habit by observing our parents and elder siblings. Growing up, if we constantly see them wasting food, we imbibe that too!

In my view, slogans on food wastage in canteens or restaurant are meaningless if not put into practice. I see more people preparing posters on food wastage to gain popularity and win awards rather than practising the same in life. If you genuinely believe wasting food is a social evil, then first kill this habit yourself. Make it a virtue of your own. Extend it to make it a tradition in your family. Influence immediate colleagues around you. Soon you will see yourself at the center of a group of sensible and responsible people around you… A lot is said with doing rather than just saying!

A gentle caution at the end. If you notice me chewing drumstick and curry leaves, wiping the plate to pick up that last grain of samber soaked rice, and licking my fingers before dipping in the finger bowl, please don’t hate me. By and large I am not that disgusting; it is just that old habits die hard, especially if it is a nurtured one…

A  small  story  which  beautifully  illustrates that  what  you  sow,  you  reap.

" Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  small time  business  man  from  a  small  village who  used  to  sell butter  in  the  nearby town.  A  big  shop  owner  in  the  town  was his  regular  customer.

The  villager  used  to  deliver  every  month the  shop  owner  the  required  butter  in  1 Kg.  Blocks  and  in turn  he  used  to  get grocery  items  like  sugar,  pulses  etc  from the  big  shop  owner.

Once  the  shop  owner  decided  to  weigh the  butter  and  to  his  surprise  every  block of  butter weighed  900  gms.  instead  of  1kg.

Next  month  when  the  villager  came  to supply   Butter,  the  shop  owner  was  very angry  at  him  and told  to  leave  the  shop, to  this  the  villager  replied  him  courteously " Sir,  I  am  a  very  poor  villager,
 I  don't  have  enough  money  to  even  buy the  required  weights  for  weighing  the butter,  I  usually  put the  1Kg  sugar  you give  me  on  one  side  of  Weighing  scale and  weigh  butter  on  another  side"

This beautifully  illustrates that  what  we  give  to  others  comes  back to  us.

Ponder over and make it a great week ahead...

A  small  story  which  beautifully  illustrates that  what  you  sow,  you  reap.

" Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  small time  business  man  from  a  small  village who  used  to  sell butter  in  the  nearby town.  A  big  shop  owner  in  the  town  was his  regular  customer.

The  villager  used  to  deliver  every  month the  shop  owner  the  required  butter  in  1 Kg.  Blocks  and  in turn  he  used  to  get grocery  items  like  sugar,  pulses  etc  from the  big  shop  owner.

Once  the  shop  owner  decided  to  weigh the  butter  and  to  his  surprise  every  block of  butter weighed  900  gms.  instead  of  1kg.

Next  month  when  the  villager  came  to supply   Butter,  the  shop  owner  was  very angry  at  him  and told  to  leave  the  shop, to  this  the  villager  replied  him  courteously " Sir,  I  am  a  very  poor  villager,
 I  don't  have  enough  money  to  even  buy the  required  weights  for  weighing  the butter,  I  usually  put the  1Kg  sugar  you give  me  on  one  side  of  Weighing  scale and  weigh  butter  on  another  side"

This beautifully  illustrates that  what  we  give  to  others  comes  back to  us.

Ponder over and make it a great week ahead...

One day a school teacher wrote on the board the following:

 9×1=7
 9×2=18
 9×3=27
 9×4=36
 9×5=45
 9×6=54
 9×7=63
 9×8=72
 9×9=81
 9×10=90

When she was done, she looked to the students and they were all laughing at her, because of the first equation which was wrong, and then the teacher said the following,

"I wrote that first one wrong on purpose, because I wanted you to learn something important. This was for you to know how the world out there will treat you. You can see that I wrote RIGHT 9 times, but none of you congratulated me for it; you all laughed and criticized me because of one wrong thing I did. So this is the lesson...:

The world will never appreciate the good you do a million times, but will criticize the one wrong thing you do...

But don't get discouraged,

ALWAYS RISE ABOVE ALL THE LAUGHTER AND CRITICISM

STAY STRONG and make it a great week ahead..

How can I increase my Own Value ?

Michael Jordan was born in 1963, in the slums of Brooklyn, New York.

He had four siblings and his father's earnings were not sufficient to provide for the whole family.

He grew up in a poor neighbourhood. Exposed to mindless violence and heavy discrimination in the slums, he saw for himself only a hopeless future.

His father saw in Michael, a lost soul and decided to do something.

He gave Michael, who was 13 years old, a piece of used clothing and asked: "What do you think the value of this outfit would be?"

Jordan replied,"Maybe one dollar."

His father asked, "Can you sell it for two dollars? If you can sell it, it would mean that you are a big help to your family."

Jordan nodded his head, "I'll try, but no guarantee that I'll be successful."

Jordan carefully washed the cloth clean. Because they didn't have an iron, to smoothen the cloth, he levelled it with a clothes brush on a flat board, then kept it in the sun to dry. The next day, he brought the clothes to a crowded underground station. After offering it for more than six hours. Jordan finally managed to sell it for $2. He took the two dollar bill and ran home.

After that, everyday he looked for used clothing, washed and ironed it, and sold it in the crowd.

More than ten days later, his father again gave him a piece of used clothing, "Can you think of a way you can sell this for 20 bucks?"

Aghast, Jordan said, "How is it possible? This outfit can only fetch two dollars at the most."

His father replied, "Why don't you try it first? There might be a way."

After breaking his head for a few hours, finally, Jordan got an idea.

He asked for cousin's help to paint a picture of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse on the garment. Then he tried to sell it in the school where the children of the rich study.

Soon a housekeeper, who was there to pick his master, bought that outfit for his master. The master was a little boy of only 10 years. He loved it so much and he gave a five dollar tip. 25 dollars was a huge amount for Jordan, the equivalent of a month's salary of his father.

When he got home, his father gave him yet another piece of used clothing, "Are you able to resell it at a price of 200 dollars?" Jordan's eyes lit up.

This time, Jordan accepted the clothes without the slightest doubt. Two months later a popular movie actress from the movie "Charlie's Angels", Farah Fawcett came to New York for her Movie promos. After the press conference, Jordan made his way through the security forces to reach the side of Farah Fawcett and requested her autograph on the piece of clothing. When Fawcett saw this innocent child asking for her autograph, she gladly signed it.

Jordan was shouting very excitedly, "This is a jersey signed by Miss Farah Fawcett, the selling price is 200 dollars!" He auctioned off the clothes, to a businessman for a price of 1,200 dollars!

Upon returning home, his father by broke into TEARS and said, "I am amazed that you did it My child! You're really great! "

That night, Jordan slept alongside his father. His father said, "Son, in your experience selling these three pieces of clothing, what did you learn about success?"

Jordan replied, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

His father nodded his head, then shook his head, "What you say is not entirely wrong! But that was not my intention. I just wanted to show you that a piece of used clothing which is worth only a dollar can also be increased in value, Then how about us - living & thinking humans? We may be darker and poorer, but what if we CAN increase our VALUE."

This thought enlightened young Jordan. Even a piece of used clothing could be made dignified, then why not me? There is absolutely no reason to underestimate myself.

From then on, Michael Jordan felt that his future would be beautiful and full of hope.

He went on to become the greatest basketball player of all times.

How can I increase my own value? I am finding it a very interesting thought.. I am sure, you too will.....

Ponder over the thought and make it a great week ahead..

How can I increase my Own Value ?

Michael Jordan was born in 1963, in the slums of Brooklyn, New York.

He had four siblings and his father's earnings were not sufficient to provide for the whole family.

He grew up in a poor neighbourhood. Exposed to mindless violence and heavy discrimination in the slums, he saw for himself only a hopeless future.

His father saw in Michael, a lost soul and decided to do something.

He gave Michael, who was 13 years old, a piece of used clothing and asked: "What do you think the value of this outfit would be?"

Jordan replied,"Maybe one dollar."

His father asked, "Can you sell it for two dollars? If you can sell it, it would mean that you are a big help to your family."

Jordan nodded his head, "I'll try, but no guarantee that I'll be successful."

Jordan carefully washed the cloth clean. Because they didn't have an iron, to smoothen the cloth, he levelled it with a clothes brush on a flat board, then kept it in the sun to dry. The next day, he brought the clothes to a crowded underground station. After offering it for more than six hours. Jordan finally managed to sell it for $2. He took the two dollar bill and ran home.

After that, everyday he looked for used clothing, washed and ironed it, and sold it in the crowd.

More than ten days later, his father again gave him a piece of used clothing, "Can you think of a way you can sell this for 20 bucks?"

Aghast, Jordan said, "How is it possible? This outfit can only fetch two dollars at the most."

His father replied, "Why don't you try it first? There might be a way."

After breaking his head for a few hours, finally, Jordan got an idea.

He asked for cousin's help to paint a picture of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse on the garment. Then he tried to sell it in the school where the children of the rich study.

Soon a housekeeper, who was there to pick his master, bought that outfit for his master. The master was a little boy of only 10 years. He loved it so much and he gave a five dollar tip. 25 dollars was a huge amount for Jordan, the equivalent of a month's salary of his father.

When he got home, his father gave him yet another piece of used clothing, "Are you able to resell it at a price of 200 dollars?" Jordan's eyes lit up.

This time, Jordan accepted the clothes without the slightest doubt. Two months later a popular movie actress from the movie "Charlie's Angels", Farah Fawcett came to New York for her Movie promos. After the press conference, Jordan made his way through the security forces to reach the side of Farah Fawcett and requested her autograph on the piece of clothing. When Fawcett saw this innocent child asking for her autograph, she gladly signed it.

Jordan was shouting very excitedly, "This is a jersey signed by Miss Farah Fawcett, the selling price is 200 dollars!" He auctioned off the clothes, to a businessman for a price of 1,200 dollars!

Upon returning home, his father by broke into TEARS and said, "I am amazed that you did it My child! You're really great! "

That night, Jordan slept alongside his father. His father said, "Son, in your experience selling these three pieces of clothing, what did you learn about success?"

Jordan replied, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

His father nodded his head, then shook his head, "What you say is not entirely wrong! But that was not my intention. I just wanted to show you that a piece of used clothing which is worth only a dollar can also be increased in value, Then how about us - living & thinking humans? We may be darker and poorer, but what if we CAN increase our VALUE."

This thought enlightened young Jordan. Even a piece of used clothing could be made dignified, then why not me? There is absolutely no reason to underestimate myself.

From then on, Michael Jordan felt that his future would be beautiful and full of hope.

He went on to become the greatest basketball player of all times.

How can I increase my own value? I am finding it a very interesting thought.. I am sure, you too will.....

Ponder over the thought and make it a great week ahead..

Once, a man was walking on a mountain when he found an incredible cave. Stored inside were all kinds of treasure and precious stones, and when he saw it, the man concealed the cave entrance and stayed there, guarding it.

From that day on, the man would hide all his valuables in the cave, and to avoid anyone suspecting he was rich, he gave up his job, his home, and his friends. He constantly watched the approaches to his cave, wanting no one to find out about it, and fearing thieves, he guarded the cave the whole night through.

He was so dedicated to the cave that he hardly ate or drank. Before long, he fell ill. Many days passed, and he got thinner and sicker, losing all his strength, until he was on the point of dying. One day, when he could hardly move at all, he realised that it was his greed which had brought him to this extreme end. He now understood that guarding his treasure had been of no use and no good whatsoever. Just before he died, he decided to share it with others.

He crawled into the cave to get a handful of jewels, but discovered, to his horror, that the cave was almost empty. All he could find was a small emerald, which had only a dull sheen to it. The man took it, and left the cave, intending to give it to the first person to come by. Soon a woman approached, and she accepted the emerald with great joy. The man said to her, "I would have given you many more treasures, my dear, but I don't know where they went. This is all I have left."

"Are you sure there's nothing else?" replied the woman. The man shook his head, and pointed to the cave. Now he could see that there were, indeed, some treasures still there; he saw some gold coins. "Take them with you," the woman took both the emerald and the coins, and went away happy.

In a while, an old man came by and asked the man what he was doing there. "What bad luck! Just a moment ago I gave a woman the few riches left from the fabulous hoard of treasure I was guarding."

"Are you sure there is nothing left?", The old man asked him.
The man showed him the cave, and they found a chest filled with jewels and some bags of gold. The man was shocked, and the old man explained to him,
"At last! At last someone has freed himself from the spell of this cave. You see, this is the Cave Of A Thousand Treasures, and you're the first to pass its great test. Many are they that have dedicated their lives to this cave, only to end up realising there was nothing here..."

"And why does this happen?" said the man, "Why do these treasures appear and disappear?"
"My son, this magic cave has as many riches as does your own heart. When someone discovers it, the cave fills with the treasure they bring with them, but later, when they all devoted themselves to guarding the treasure, their hearts begin emptying, and so does the cave. The only way to fill it is by filling your heart with all that is good, as you did by giving that last jewel to the woman. Didn't you feel better for having done it? That was because the cave was filling up again..."

And so, the man understood it was better to share than to keep things to yourself. And, from that day, thanks to the cave and the old man, the man became ever noble and generous.

Ponder over the thought and make it a great week ahead..

At the point of death, a man, Tom Smith, called his children and he advised them to follow his footsteps so that they can have peace of mind in all that they do..

His daughter, Sara, said,
 "Daddy, its unfortunate you are dying without a penny in your bank..
 Other fathers' that you tag as being corrupt, thieves of public funds left houses and properties for their children; even this house we live in is a rented apartment..
 Sorry, I can't emulate you, just go, let's chart our own course..

Few moments later, their father gave up the spirit..

Three years later, Sara went for an interview in a multinational company..
 At interview the Chairman of the committee asked,
 "Which Smith are you..??"

Sara replied,
 "I am Sara Smith. My Dad Tom Smith is now late.."

Chairman cuts in,
 "O my God, you are Tom Smith's daughter..?"

He turned to the  other members and said,
 "This Smith man was the one that signed my membership form into the Institute of Administrators and his recommendation earned me where I am today. He did all these free. I didn't even know his address, he never knew me. He just did it for me.."
 He turned to Sara,
 "I have no questions for you, consider yourself as having gotten this job, come tomorrow, your letter will be waiting for you.."

Sara Smith became the Corporate Affairs Manager of the company with two Cars with Drivers, A duplex attached to the office, and a salary of £1,00,000 per month excluding allowances and other costs..

After two years of working in the company, the MD of the company came from America to announce his intention to resign and needed a replacement. A personality with high integrity was sought after, again the company's Consultant nominated Sara Smith..

In an interview, she was asked the secret of her success,,

With tears, she replied, "My Daddy paved these ways for me. It was after he died that I knew that he was financially poor but stinkingly rich in integrity, discipline and honesty".

She was asked again, why she is weeping since she is no longer a kid as to miss her dad still after a long time..

She replied, "At the point of death, I insulted my dad for being an honest man of integrity. I hope he will forgive me in his grave now. I didn't work for all these, he did it for me to just walk in".

So, finally she was asked, "Will you follow your father's foot steps as he requested ?"

And her simple answer was, "l now adore the man, I have a big picture of him in my living room and at the entrance of my house. He deserves whatever I have after God".


Are you like Tom Smith..?
 It pays to build a name, the reward doesn't come quickly but it will come however long it may take and it lasts longer..

Integrity, discipline, self control and fear of God makes a man wealthy, not the fat bank account..

Leave a good heritage for your children.. and make it a great week ahead !!!

Shiv Khera, a renowned author and management trainer writes about his experience in Singapore :

"Six years ago in Singapore I gave a taxi driver a business card to take me to a particular address.

At the last point he circled round the building. His meter read 11$, but he took only 10.

I said Henry, your meter reads 11$ how come you are taking only 10.

He said Sir, I am a taxi driver, I am supposed to be bringing you straight to the destination. Since I did not know the last spot, I had to circle around the building. Had I brought you straight here, the meter would have read 10$.

Why should you be paying for my ignorance ?

He said Sir, legally, I can claim 11$ but Honestly and ethically I am entitled to only 10.

He further added that Singapore is a tourist destination and many people come here for three or four days. After clearing the immigrations and customs, the first experience is always with the taxi driver and if that is not good, the balance three to four days are not pleasant either.

He said Sir I am not a taxi driver, I am the Ambassador of Singapore without a diplomatic passport.

In my opinion he probably did not go to school beyond the 8th grade, but to me he was a professional. To me his behavior reflected pride in performance and character.

That day I learnt that one needs more than professional qualification to be a professional.

In one line be a "Professional with a human touch and Values " that makes all the more difference.

Knowledge, skill, money, education, all comes later. First comes Human Values, Honesty and Integrity

Professionalism: It’s NOT the job you DO, It’s HOW you DO the job.”

Ponder over this thought and make it a great week ahead...

Once, a 7 year old boy was in the market with his 4 year old sister. Suddenly, the boy found that his sister was lagging behind. He stopped and looked back. His sister was standing in front of a toy shop and was watching something with great interest. The boy went back to her and asked," Do you want something?" The sister pointed at a doll. The boy held her hand and like a responsible elder brother, gave that doll to her. The sister was very happy. The shopkeeper was watching everything and was amused to see the matured behaviour of the boy. Then the boy came to the counter and asked the shopkeeper, "What is the cost of this doll, Sir!" The shopkeeper was a cool man and had experienced the odds of life. So he asked the boy, "Well, What can you pay?"

The boy took out all the shells that he had collected from the seashore and gave them to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper took the shells and started counting as if he was counting the currency. The boy asked him worriedly, "Is it less?" The shopkeeper said," No, these are more than the cost so I will return the remaining." Saying so, he kept only 4 shells with him and returned the remaining shells to the boy. The boy very happily kept those shells back in his pocket and went away with his sister.

An employee in that shop got surprised watching all these. He asked his master," Sir! You gave away such a costly doll just for 4 shells?" The shopkeeper said with a smile, "Well, for us these are mere shells. But for that boy, these shells are very precious. And at this age he does not understand what money is, but when he will grow up, he definitely will. And when he would remember that he purchased a doll with the shells instead of money, he will remember me and think that world is full of good people. He will develop positive thinking."

So, always think positive even in the most difficult times and make it a great week ahead…

Once, a young army man was on a mission and his commander made a squad of three with two new people along with him but he did not trust them.

Their mission started and they were fighting in the enemy line.

He started moving ahead and fired without discussing the plan with his squad members.

He killed three enemies but was injured by a bullet, which hit his right leg.

After that sudden attack, one of his squad mate picked him up and took him to the safe zone.

Due to lack of faith, the young army man put his as well as his squad’s life in danger.

The young army man was guilty.

After a while, they fought as a team and before sunset won the battle.

Always have faith in your team with whom you cannot only share glory but also the toughest moments to reach towards the glory together...

…and make it a great week ahead !!!

A doctor quickly entered the hospital after being called in for an urgent surgery. He changed his clothes and went directly to the surgery block.

He saw the boy’s father walking back and forth in the hall waiting for the doctor. On seeing the doctor, the father yelled:

“Why did you take all this time to come ? Don’t you know that my son’s life is in danger ? Don’t you have the sense of responsibility ?”

The doctor smiled and said: “I am sorry, I wasn’t in the hospital and I came the fastest I could… Now, I wish you’d calm down so that I can do my work.”

“Calm down? What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down ? If your own son dies now what will you do?” said the father angrily.

The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy, “Thank God! Your son is saved!”

And without waiting for the father’s reply he carried on his way running. “If you have any question, ask the nurse.”

“Why is he so arrogant ? He couldn’t wait some minutes so that I ask about my son’s state ?” commented the father

The nurse answered: “His son died yesterday in a road accident, he was in the burial when we called him for your son’s surgery.”

So, don’t arrive to a conclusion without being fully aware, always be thankful for somebody’s efforts towards you and make it a great week ahead…