Category Archives: anecdote

anecdote, creativity, imagination

The same Ramayana story but this time twisted with the imagination of a child who was given freedom of thoughts

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👍
A story in one of the schools in Chennai where admission is considered impossible!!!

To get UKG admission for my friend’s daughter I too went there. For that admission my friend had studied a lot than his daughter …!

The child could not understand why they brought her there..

When we all were standing, the school principal started to converse with the child….yes…in English only! This is one of the most memorable interview I have ever witnessed in my life..
Here goes..

“What’s your name?”

“Sarithra”

“Good. Tell me something you know”

“I know many things. Tell me what you want…!”

Alas, there is no better point for not getting the admission!

Sarithra’s mother was trying to make up the situation but the principal stopped her..

Turning to child, she said.. “Tell any rhyme or story which you know..”

Again,”Which one you want.. Rhyme or Story!?”

“Ok. Plz tell me a story..”

“Do uou want to hear what I studied or what I wrote..!?”

Taken to surprise, she asked “Oh! you write stories…???”

“Why should I not write..?”

Now even I was taken aback But she was impressed with the answer. She ( including us) would have not heard such a story in our life…

Ok, tell me story which you have written-?

Sarithra said “Ravanan kidnapped Sita & took her to Srilanka”

The opening scene failed to impress but still she encouraged the child to continue..

“Rama asked Hanumans help to rescue Sita. Hanuman too agreed to help Rama …”

“Then?”

“Now, Hanuman called his friend Spider man.” No one expected this twist in the story!!

“Why?”

“Because there are lot of mountains between India and Srilanka.. but if we have Spiderman we can go easily with his rope…”

“But Hanuman can fly isn’t it.. ?”

“Yes. But he is having Sanjeevi Mountain on one hand so he cannot fly very fast.!”

All is quiet, after a while Sarithra asked “Should I continue or not?.”.

“Ok plz continue!”

“Hanuman and Spiderman flew to Srilanka and rescued Sita. Sita said Thanks to both!”

“Why”

“When you are helped you should say Thanks!” So “Hanuman is now called Hulk…”

All were surprised.She realized our curiosity and said ” Now Sita is there, so to take her safely back to Rama she called Hulk”

“What??? “Hanuman can carry Sita right?”

“Yes. But he has Sanjeevi Mountain in one hand and has to hold spider man on the other”

No one could control thier smiles. ” So when they all started to India they met my friend Akshay! ”

“How come Akshay there now?”

“Because its my story and I can bring any one there!”

The principal didn’t get angry but waited for the next twist

Then all started to India and landed at Chennai Velechery bus stop!

Now I asked,”Why they have landed In Velechery bus stop?

“Because they forgot the way..& Hulk got an idea and called Dora!”

I came to know about Dora only there…!

“Dora came and she took Sita to Velechery Venus Colony…that’s all!”

She finished the story with a smile.. :mrgreen:

The principal asks “Why venus Colony…?”

“Because sita is there & iam Sita!!!”

The principal was impressed and embraced the child. She has been admitted in UKG & was gifted with a Dora doll…
😂😂😂

Kids can really amaze… but we clip their wings (creativity) expecting them to do things as we see it right & not from their viewpoint..

Let’s give every child freedom to do their own thing & watch their dreams come true..

anecdote, inspiration

Rag to riches stories… These bollywood celebrities will tell you that nothing is impossible if you have the determination and will power…

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anecdote, happier life, inspiration, positive living, wisdom

Don’t be a Duck, be an Eagle – The story of the Power of Choice

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I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me.

He handed me a laminated card and said: ‘I’m Wasu, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.’

Taken aback, I read the card. It said: Wasu’s Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew me away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wasu said, ‘Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.’

I said jokingly, ‘No, I’d prefer a soft drink.’

Wasu smiled and said, ‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water and orange juice.’

Almost stuttering, I said, ‘I’ll take a Lassi.’

Handing me my drink, Wasu said, ‘If you’d like something to read, I have The Hindu, Times  of India, ET and India Today.’

As they were pulling away, Wasu handed me another laminated card, ‘These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.’

And as if that weren’t enough, Wasu told me that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.

Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know that he’d be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.

‘Tell me, Wasu,’ I was amazed and asked him, ‘have you always served customers like this?’

Wasu smiled into the rear view mirror. ‘No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I  spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about power of choice one day.’

‘Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle.’

‘If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining!’

‘Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.’

‘That hit me right,’ said Wasu.

‘It is about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were
unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.’

‘I take it that has paid off for you,’ I said.

‘It sure has,’ Wasu replied. ‘My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.’

Wasu made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

Have an eagle week..next week… And next…And….
😀
A great Thought..

“You don’t die if you fall in water, you die only if you don’t swim.

Thats the real meaning of life .
GOOD DAY Eagles..👍

anecdote, inspirational, wisdom

Do you know what changed Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam’s life after his failure?

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“Defeat the defeatist tendency” are the words from a monk which changed Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam’s life after his greatest failure.

“Motivation is temporary and inspiration is permanent because motivation passes away after some time, while inspiration stays for the lifetime.”

The lines proves true in respect of the real life story of Dr. Abdul Kalam which is also penned down in his book #WingsOfFire.

The mentor who changed Dr. Kalam’s life is none other than Rishikesh Swami Sivananda who was born at Pathamadai in Tirunelveli district, but settled in Rishikesh.

Kalam was fond of flying high since his childhood and wanted to become a pilot. He took up aeronautical engineering and graduated in 1957. Kalam applied to the Air Force and completed his interview at the Air Force Selection Board at Dehradun in 1958. Out of 24 applicants, eight were to be shortlisted but after four days of difficult tasks, nine were selected — the ninth being Kalam. Since the Air Force wanted only eight, Kalam was left out.

A highly dejected Kalam decided to take a bus to Delhi via Rishikesh and Haridwar. At Rishikesh, some intuitive force made him take a dip in the River Ganges, and spotted an ashram. Kalam sat at the last row as Swami Sivananda, the founder of the ashram, was giving a discourse on Bhagavad Gita.

After his speech, the Swami chose two persons from the audience to ask questions and Kalam was one of them. In his book Wings of Fire, the former President recorded the moment — I introduced myself to Swamiji. My Muslim name aroused no reaction in him. Before I could speak any further, he enquired about the source of my sorrow.

In a deep voice, the Swami said, “Accept your destiny and go ahead with your life… Forget this failure, as it was essential to lead you to your destined path. Search, instead, for the true purpose of your existence. Become one with yourself, my son! Surrender yourself to the wish of God,” the Swamiji said.

Further, quoting ‘Bhagavad Gita’, the Swami recalled the advice of Lord Krishna to Arjuna when the latter was afraid of fighting in the Kurukshetra war — “Defeat the defeatist tendency.” That is a great message. The mantra “Defeat the defeatist tendency” is always with me and it comes to me whenever I’m in trouble, he wrote.

Originally Published at: Indian Express

Kalam was really a great source of Inspiration and his teachings will last forever inspiring the future generations.

Some of his greatest inspiring teachings are:

  • To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.
  • Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident.
  • Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.
  • Life is a difficult game. You can win it only by retaining your birthright to be a person.
  • One of the very important characteristics of a student is to question. Let the students ask questions.
  • Life is a difficult game. You can win it only by retaining your birthright to be a person.
  • Unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. In this world, fear has no place. Only strength respects strength.
  • You have to dream before your dreams can come true.
  • Don’t take rest after your first victory because if you fail in second, more lips are waiting to say that your first victory was just luck.
  • If you want to shine like a sun. First burn like a sun.
  • It is very easy to defeat someone, but it is very hard to win someone
  • Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life.
  • Without your involvement you can’t succeed. With your involvement you can’t fail.
  • Dream transforms in to thoughts. And thoughts result in action.
  • For great men, religion is a way of making friends; small people make religion a fighting tool.
  • Success is when your signature changes into an autograph.

Kalam Sir you will always stay in our memories and ignite a bulb of inspiration in the coming generations for the centuries.

anecdote, inspiration

True Giver – A tale of Krishna and Arjuna

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Once Krishna and Arjuna were walking towards a village. Arjuna was pestering Krishna, asking him why Karna should be considered an unparallelled Donor & not him ?

Krishna, turned two mountains into gold.

Then said, “Arjuna, distribute these two gold mountains among villagers, but you must donate every bit of it “.

Arjuna went into the village, and proclaimed he was going to donate gold to every villager, and asked them to gather near the mountain. The villagers sang his praises and Arjuna walked towards the mountains with a huffed up chest.

For two days and two nights Arjuna shovelled gold from the mountain and donated to each villager. The mountains did not diminish in the slightest.

Most villagers came back and stood in queue within minutes. Now Arjuna was exhausted, but not ready to let go of his Ego, told Krishna he couldn’t go on any longer without rest.

Then Krishna called Karna and told him to donate every bit of the two gold mountains.

Karna called the villagers, and said “Those two Gold mountains are yours. ” and walked away.

Arjuna sat dumbfounded. Why hadn’t this thought occurred to him?

Krishna smiled mischievously and told him “Arjuna, subconsciously, you were attracted to the gold, you regretfully gave it away to each villager, giving them what you thought was a generous amount. Thus the size of your donation to each villager depended only on your imagination.

Karna holds no such reservations. Look at him walking away after giving away a fortune, he doesn’t expect people to sing his praises, he doesn’t even care if people talk good or bad about him behind his back. That is the sign of a man already on the path of enlightenment”.

Giving with an Expectation of a Return in the form of a Compliment or Thanks is not a Gift, then it becomes a Trade.

“Give without expecting anything in Return.”

anecdote, inspiration, motivation

The Unforgettable Gift

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“Apologizing does not mean that you are wrong and the other one is right. It simply means that you value the relationship much more than your ego.”

Some time ago a man punished his 5 year old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became even more upset when the child used the gold paper to decorate the box to put under the Christmas tree.
Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her father the next morning and said, this is for you Daddy. The father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found the box was empty. He spoke to her in a harsh manner, don’t you know, young lady, when you give someone a present there’s supposed to be something inside the package?

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, Oh, Daddy, it’s not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was full. The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his little girl, and he begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later and it is told that the father kept that gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. And whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems he would open the box and take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

Lesson: In a very real sense, each of us as human beings have been given a golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and God. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.