A Life Lesson to Learn

In our daily life we come across many incidents which teaches us lessons at times. I have witnessed such tidy incidents since my school days; some of them happened to me as well. 

Today I am going share a very short story, which most of you will resonate with your past lives or school days. My today's story is all about 'not to bother anyone while in progress'.

And it goes.....

During a prank moment in school, a student stuck a paper on his classmate's back that said "I’m stupid"; he asked the rest of the class not to tell him. Thus the students began laughing throughout the day... 

Shortly after sometime, math class started & their professor wrote a difficult question on the board.

No one was able to answer it except that student. Amid the slight laughs, for he didn’t know why, he walked towards the board & he solved it, the teacher asked the class to clap & remove the paper on his back.

He told him “It seems that you don’t know about the paper on your back that one of your classmates put & the rest of them kept it a secret”.

Then he faced towards the rest of the class & just smiled. 

The boy's smile at that situation taught two lessons:

Number One: Throughout your life, people will put labels on your back with many bad things written on it to stop your progress.

All you have to do is ignore it. Ignore the labels people give you and use every chance you have to progress, learn & improve yourself.”

If the boy had known about the paper, he would not have answered.

Number Two: It’s clear that the boy does not have any loyal friends among his school friends to tell him about removing the paper. 

It does not matter how many friends you have, it is the Loyalty between you and your friends that matter.

Be it a personal life or professional life, when you strive for progress in life, do not bother about anything which is coming on your way, instead focus on your goal and achieve the result.

There will be obstacles, obligations, scarcity, fear and even threats, but you have to move on in life. 

Story of a Medical Discovery !!

 It is obvious to see while visiting a doctor that most of them will have hanging on their neck and that is 'Stethoscope'. It is an acoustic device to listen to the internal sounds of the body, especially the heart sound, the breath sound and the bowel sound.

Do you know how it was originated in real?

Dates back in 1816 and the credit goes to renowned French doctor Rene Laennec for this great invention. 

Doctor Rene Laennec was extremely shy to bring his ear closer to the chest of his patients and at times he felt more embarrassed to do so. To avoid such awkward situation he tried discovering something which will allow him not to bring his ear closer to the patient's chest.

And he created a cylinder 30 cm long for the purpose; it was indeed the first "Stethoscope" in any form. Of course we in modern times, the stethoscope has taken its revolutionary changes in appearance. 

Image courtesy to google.com

Decide when to jump !!

Many of us interestingly have undergone a situation in life where we wait for the right time to take decision, be it personal or professional. Some are proactive to think and decide instantly and move on, but a biggest number of people do exist who wait for the right opportunity. Although there is a saying that "Slow and steady wins the race", yet I believe that when decision taken at the right time for the given circumstances it wins the life.

Let's give an example..

Put a frog into a vessel fill with water and start heating the water. 

As the temperature of the water begins to rise, the frog adjust its body temperature accordingly. The frog keeps adjusting its body temperature with the increasing temperature of the water. Just when the water is about to reach boiling point, the frog cannot adjust anymore. At this point the frog decides to jump out. The frog tries to jump but it is unable to do so because it has lost all its strength in adjusting with the rising water temperature. Very soon the frog dies.

Now the question is what killed the frog?

Think about it!

I know many of us will say the boiling water. But the truth about what killed the frog was its own inability to decide when to jump out.

We all need to adjust with people & situations, but we need to be sure when we need to adjust & when we need to move on. There are times when we need to face the situation and take appropriate actions.

If we allow people to exploit us physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually or mentally they will continue to do so.

Let us decide when to jump! Let's jump while we still have the strength, before it's too late. 

Oh God! Why Me?......An inspirational story

Arthur Ashe, was an American professional Tennis player who won three grand slam singles titles. He was the first black player selected to the US Davis Cup Team and only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon , the US open and the Australian open.

This Legendary Wimbledon Player was dying of AIDS , which he got due to Infected Blood he received during a Heart Surgery in 1983!

He received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: "Why did God have to select you for such a bad disease??" 

To this Arthur Ashe had a beautiful reply with several thoughts flooded in it and he replied:

50 Million children started playing Tennis, 

5 Million learnt to play Tennis,

500 000 learnt Professional Tennis, 

50 Thousand came to Circuit, 

5 Thousand reached Grandslam, 

50 reached Wimbledon, 

4 reached the Semifinals,

2 reached the Finals and 

when I was holding the cup in my hand, I never asked God "Why Me?" 

So now that I'm in pain how can I ask God "Why Me?"

His words had several meaning to it, we just need to feel them. 

Happiness keeps you Sweet. Trials keeps you Strong. Sorrows keeps you Human. Failure keeps you Humble. Success keeps you Glowing. But only, Faith keeps you Going.

Sometimes we are unsatisfied with our life, while many people in this world are dreaming 

of living our life.. 

A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead & dreams of flying. But, a pilot on the plane sees 

the farmhouse & dreams of returning home.

THAT'S THE LIFE...

What is your happiness, could be nothing for someone. Again it could be dream for others as well. So enjoy your life whatever you have with you.

➥ If wealth is the secret to happiness, then the rich should be dancing on the streets. But only poor kids do that.

➥ If power ensures security, then VIPs should walk unguarded. But those who live simply, sleep soundly feel more secured.

➥ If beauty and fame bring ideal relationships, then celebrities should have the best marriages. But most of them are not.

MORAL OF THIS STORY: - 

Live simply - Walk humbly - and love genuinely.

Picture courtesy to Google.

The World is a Big Mirror | Story

I have been experiencing multiple emotional thoughts, feelings, actions, dreams which are of my own. All are happening due to my distracted mind. It wanders with my brain system every time. Sometime, I become angry, sometimes upset and at times I control myself with calmness. I try to handle my emotional intelligence in matured way whichever best I can. 

When I talk about my feelings and emotions handling, I remember a small story of a dog.

Once a street dog slipped into a museum where all the walls, the ceiling, the door and even the floor were made of mirror.

Seeing this the dog froze in surprise in the middle of the hall, a whole pack of dogs surrounded it from all sides, from above and below. It got scared for a moment and thought that many dogs are surrounded by it.

Sensing its terrible situation, the dog bared his teeth, all the reflections responded to it in the same way.

Frightened, the dog frantically barked. The reflections imitated the bark and increased it many times. The dog barked even harder and the echo was keeping up. The dog tossed from one side to another, biting the air - his reflections also tossed around snapping their teeth.

Next day in the morning, the museum security guards found the miserable dog, lifeless and surrounded by a million reflections of lifeless dogs.

There was nobody, who would make any harm to the dog.

The dog died by fighting with his own reflections.

➥ Moral : -

The world doesn't bring good or evil on its own.

Everything that is happening around us is the reflection of our own thoughts, feelings, wishes and actions. It is us who choose how to respond to them. 

The World is a big mirror.

Strike a good pose! Smile from deep within. Life is beautiful. 

Deal every day's circumstances in calm mind. You will certainly find the way to deal every situations. 

Image courtesy to Danny Deraney's video posted in twitter (a screenshot from it)

A Story of 3 Ships & the related Human Behaviors.

Past few months I was analyzing the human behaviors. I was reimagining my work place and the way I was being treated by my colleagues and superiors, and then all of sudden COVID-19 situation came into picture and I was being furloughed from my work responsibility. While I was in search of my new beginning I came across many individuals with different mentality. 

Thought of penning down the human behaviors through a well-known thrilling story. 

The story is about rescuing the Titanic survivors by three ships. 

The world was in shock to hear the news when the Titanic sank. It was believed to be the "unsinkable" ship. The "unsinkable" Titanic set sail on its ill-fated voyage with around 2,200 people aboard. It sank on its maiden voyage, losing at least 1,500 lives, making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history. 

You must be knowing that on the night of April 14, 1912 the Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. and sunk. The ship broke in two pieces at around 2.20 a.m. on April 15, and sunk, sending all remaining passengers into the "watery grave". The sinking of the Titanic shattered the faith of an age and for each generation.

When the Titanic was hit hard & started sinking it began sending out distress signals. There were three ships which were nearby before it sunk, “The Sampson”, “The Californian” & “The Carpathia”.

I )  Sampson – Sampson was merely 7 miles away from the Titanic, they saw the white flares signaling danger, but because the crew had been hunting seals illegally , didn’t want to be caught, they turned back and went the opposite direction away from the Titanic. 

Related Human Behavior - This ship represents us and people like us if we are so busy looking inward at our own sin and lives that we can’t recognize when someone else is in need. These people always choose the unlawful activities rather than being towards truthful life.

II )  Californian – The next ship was the Californian which was only 14 miles away from the Titanic, but they were surrounded by ice fields and the captain looked out and saw the white flares. He felt the conditions weren’t favorable, it was dark, he decided to go back to bed and said he would wait until morning. The crew spent time convincing themselves that nothing was happening. The conditions aren’t right for and so we wait until conditions are perfect before going out. 

Related Human Behavior - This ship represents the people who says "I can’t do anything now". These are the people of self-centered, lazy and selfish minded.

III )  Carpathia – This was the last ship named, Carpathia. This ship was actually headed in a southern direction 58 miles away from the Titanic when they heard the SOS from Titanic over the radio. It was heading in a different direction. The captain of this ship sensed the distress, prayed to God for direction and then turned the ship around and went full steam ahead through the ice fields. On the fateful night Carpathia was the first ship to respond to distress of “mighty” Titanic. It would take her approximately three and a half hours to arrive at the position of Titanic’s final distress call, a time which was only managed by Captain Arthur Rostron’s valiant efforts to speed up his nine year old ship.  The ship managed 17 knots, which far surpassed her quoted top speed.  While making their way to the last know coordinates of Titanic, Rostron’s crew were kept busy making preparations to receive the surviving passengers, in order to ensure the rescue could be both as successful and swift as possible.

This was the ship that saved the 705 survivors of the Titanic. This is one of the most heroic and perilous rescue effort . When the captain looked back at the ice fields they had come through, he said someone else hands must have been at the helm of this ship. 

Related Human Behavior - This ship represents those people who would “help people in need without worrying for waiting for the perfect conditions”. Very rarely you can find such people now a days. 

Survivors on the Carpathia                                            Arthur Rostron and his crew

Let us remember Titanic sent the distress signal to multiple ships in close proximity of which three ships were there. If the other two ships had responded all the people on-board on “Titanic” could have been saved; but that didn't happen.

In life we experience many turbulence in both our personal and professional life and there these types of people exist in our surroundings whose mentality are different. 

The rescue of Titanic survivors leaves us with lot of learnings …!

References and picture courtesies to insider.com , Mr. Rout 

Life Lessons | Story of 3 entrepreneurs from same family

 Today I am going to share a life lesson story of three entrepreneurs who eventually hailed from a single family. These 3 legends are well known by the people. They are the powerful Indian leaders.

Yes, I am talking about Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani, Mr. Anil Ambani and Mr. Mukesh Ambani.

This is a very powerful heritage picture of 3 different people together

1. One of the finest entrepreneur

2. One of the finest businessman

3. A Failed Businessman (Not a failed Individual)

Dhirubhai created Reliance from scratch and also in the time when policies did not favor new businesses and new people due to license Raj. Anil and Mukesh inherited a large empire around 2005/2006. Anil was richer than Mukesh at the time of split. In 2007, Anil had 45 Billion USD and Mukesh had 49 Billion USD.

Fast forward 13 years -Mukesh is 5th richest person in the world with 80 Billion of net worth and Anil Ambani is bankrupt with zero/negative net worth.

Mukesh Ambani’s growth is astonishing and a very proud story for all of the Indians. Anil Ambani’s failure story is also astonishing on how you can fail royally. It will be amazing to see if Anil Ambani rises from ashes now.

Now, what is the essence of learning from their life stories?

➥ Defining a vision, having perseverance and right people by your side are important ingredient of success. 

➥ Knowing your ability and being confident about it matters too. 

➥ Lot of business people define strategy but only a few are executing in the right way. 

Hence, let us not repeat same mistakes and getting an opportunity learn from others mistake. 

..

Reference acknowledgement to Mr. Hari Singh Shekhawat. 

Creative Thinking Vs. Critical Thinking | A TATA Story

The Chairman of TATA Steel was holding a weekly meeting with Tata Steel staff in Jamshedpur.

A worker took up a serious issue. He said the quality and hygiene of toilets for the workers was very bad. Whereas, he pointed that the cleanliness and the hygiene of executive toilets was always very good.

The Chairman asked his top executive how much time he needs to set it right.

The executive asked for a month to set it right.

Chairman said "I would rather do it in a day. Send me a carpenter."

Next day, when the carpenter came, he just ordered the sign boards to be swapped.

The sign board on the workers’ toilet displayed "Executives" and the Executives’ toilet displayed "Workers”.

Chairman then instructed this sign to be changed every fortnight. The quality of both the toilets came at par in the next three days. 

➥ Moral :

1. Leadership is something much more than being an Executive

2. Problem identification requires critical thinking, but solving a Problem just requires creative thinking.

This is not a story. The Chairman of Tata Steel was none other than the indomitable Mr Russi Mody.

Reference and Image courtesy to Mr. Hari Singh Shekhawat.

Hima Das | An inspiration to many | Story

 Hima Das, a girl hailed form poor family background from Assam, had many dreams to achieve success in life. Very few could know this name until 2018, when she became the world junior 400m champion for India in 2018. She came to the limelight of everyone. 

In 19 days, she bagged 6 Gold Medals for India. Many congratulated her for this amazing performance. Who is she? What kept her motivating?

Hima Das belongs to a small town of Assam in Nagano district. She was born in the family of farmers. Hima said that she had never thought of being into athletics during her childhood but she was very fond of playing football. She used to play football in the fields with other boys.

She wanted to be a well-known striker. Though by observing her potential in running, someone suggested her to make her career in athletics. Hima started with regional level competitions. 

In January 2017 during Guwahati camps, Hima came into the sight of athletics coach Nipon Das. He, with a lot of efforts, convinced Hima’s family to allow her to prepare for games by being in Guwahati. Nipon Das admitted Hima into a state level sports Academy. Earlier, Hima started with preparing for 200m race, then she engaged herself into 400m races.

Few traits she exhibits....

➥ Dreamer : She is a dreamer, who always focused on achieving dreams.

➥ Simplicity : Hailed from very simple and humble background she lives her life in very simple manner.

➥ Dedication : Being a tough sporty person, she is always dedicated to sports. In her earlier days she had a dream to achieve glory for the country, India.

➥ Kind-hearted : Claimed to be the daughter of soil, Hima has extended her support for great cause. She donated her half salary towards Assam flood in 2019. It was the time when Assam was experiencing the toughest moment by nature.

➥ Passionate : A strong believer of hard work, Hima never looked back when it came to fulfilling her career in athletes, in spite of having a challenging background. 

Image courtesy to indiatoday.in

Hima Das was inducted as Deputy Superintendent of Assam Police on 26th February 2021. Addressing the gathering after her induction, Hima revealed that she had dreamt of becoming a police officer when she was young and therefore this was a very special moment for her.

Hima said, "since my early school days, I had a wish to become a police officer one day and my mother also wished that." “She would buy a (toy) gun during Durga Puja, my mother would tell me to work in Assam police, serve the people and become a good person,” 

➥ Moral:  She is definitely an inspiration to many young talents of India. 

To achieve the success in life you don not necessarily to be from a rich family, you do not require a degree, you do not need to be a topper of the college, you do not necessary to showcase your creativity, you need not to butter the influencers, all you need is do the hard work with dedication and personal commitment. Your determination will fetch you success in your journey. 

References courtesy: oneworldnews, indiatoday, thestatesman.

The Power of Choice | A Chauffeur's Inspiration Story

 I was going through an amazing article by 'Harvey Mackay', who was eventually delivering a speech to the large audience and he was sharing a story of a Cab Driver. The story goes this way...

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 Kumar, 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: Kumar'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, Kumar 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.'

Kumar 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, Kumar said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Hindu, Times  of India, ET and India Today.'

As we were pulling away, Kumar 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, Kumar told me that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for me.

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, Kumar,' I was amazed and asked him, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Kumar 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 Kumar. 

'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 am certain that has paid off for you,' I said.

'It sure has,' Kumar 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.'

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

I give this example to my audience while delivering the customer service trainings. How all of us having a choice to do wonderful customer service. 

There are Six Powerful Lessons from the story:

1. Remove your negative mindset. It doesn't allow you to be wise.

2. There are solutions to every problems, just you need to calmly think of it.

3. Happiness starts from self, it is you who has choice to make.

4. Be as creative as the world is. Creativeness can make you happy.

5. Physical appearance matters; It helps to complete the imagination with reality in true sense.

6. Your actions and efforts reflect about you, which you actually are. 

The story is narrated in native way, originally taken from Rhonda Hamilton. Picture courtesy to Google.....

An amazing story of Problem Solving | The 18th Camel

Today what I am going to share is an interesting story, which resonates an amazing problem solving technique. Sometimes upon getting a problem we become defensive and after a little try we conclude that there is no solution to the problem; and the anxiety or irritation broods up. But what if I say that there is solution to every problem; only we need to have the peace of mind to find it. 

How?? Let's get to know the story...

 

Once there lived a wealthy merchant in the East, who passed away due to his ageing factor. In his will, the man stated equally division of his wealth to his three sons but his most treasured camels were divided in rather challenging way.

According to the will the eldest son was to be given half of the camels, the middle son was to be given one third of the camels, and the youngest son was to be given one ninth of the camels. 

The merchant had seventeen camels. As it was not possible to divide 17 camels into half, one third or even into one ninth. The three son started fighting with each other for their fair share of the camels.

Since the sons were not able distribute the camel among them, they went to a wise man for advice. The wise man patiently listened about the sons’ dilemma. After carefully understanding the situation the wise man brought one of his camels and added to the the seventeen camels of the merchant. That increased the total to eighteen (18) camels.

Now, he started reading the deceased father’s will and divided the camels. Half of eighteen is nine. So he gave the eldest son nine camels. One third of the eighteen is six, so he gave the middle son six camels. The youngest son got one ninth of the eighteen camels, so he gave him two camels.

After giving nine, six and two camels to the sons, he successfully distributed seventeen camels. The wise man took back his camel.

➥ Moral: The attitude of negotiation and problem solving is to find the 18th camel i.e. the common ground. Once a person is able to find the common ground, the issue is resolved. It is difficult at times. 

However, to reach a solution, the first step is to believe that there is a solution. If we think that there is no solution, we won’t be able to reach anywhere!

Picture courtesy to Google....

The Story of the legacy of "Nobel Prizes"

Nobel Prizes are a set of five prizes are awarded to those who, during preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to human kind. Noble Prizes are awarded in the field of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, and Peace. 

How a mistaken obituary led to the Nobel Prizes! I never knew the story behind Nobel Prizes. Here it is 

Can you imagine reading your own obituary in the newspaper? What would people say about you? 

Alfred Nobel got the chance to read his own death notice, and he didn’t like what he saw. 

Alfred Nobel was a very wealthy and successful man. He had become an expert in chemistry and invented three of the most commonly used explosives in the world - dynamite, gelignite (used in mining) and ballistite, which is still used as a rocket propellant today. 

With the huge fortune he made from these inventions, Nobel bought an engineering company called Bofors and turned it into an arms manufacturer. He made another enormous fortune designing cannons and guns and selling them around the world. 

Then, in 1888, Alfred’s brother died while visiting France. 

A French newspaper thought it was Alfred who had died and they published an obituary that began like this: THE MERCHANT OF DEATH IS DEAD. Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday…. 

Alfred Nobel was shocked. Was this what people thought of him? Was this the legacy he would leave to the world? 

That’s when he decided to use his vast wealth to make a positive difference. Nobel set up a foundation with $250 million dollars in funding. Every year the foundation would consult the leading experts in the world and hand out prizes to people who had made great contributions to humanity. There would be prizes for sciences, for literature, and for promoting peace. 

Today the Nobel Prizes are probably the best known and most prestigious awards in the world. They have been awarded to great scientists, authors and activists and helped draw attention to many outstanding works and worthy causes. 

Nobel set up his foundation in 1895: just in time to influence his own obituary. He died only a year later. The Nobel Prizes accomplished his wish; they created a very different legacy for him than a reputation as *The Merchant of Death.* 

He is not remembered as an explosives inventor or arms dealer, but as one of the greatest philanthropists of all time. He is also a great example of how it is never too late to change your life and help make the world a better place. 

That is the story of *Alfred Noble* and the legacy of *Noble Prizes*. 

Now you know.

Sardarji 12 Baj Gaye - The real Story behind this Myth !!

Since the time I used to study my Management in Bangalore, I had many best friends from Punjab, like from other cities. I noticed many times some of our friends from the same stream or other used to joke on my 'Punjabi' friends as 'Sardarji Barah Baj Gaye'. I never understood as why are they saying so? 

In fact I tried to know from one of them as why so it is called? I didn't get answer, till the time I met one of my colleague who hails from Punjab.

He said, “It’s easy to joke on a Sardar, but It's too difficult to be a Sardar". And he revealed as why people say so...

“During 17th Century, when Hindustan was ruled by Mughals, all the Hindu people were humiliated and were treated like animals. Mughals treated the Hindu women as there own property and were forcing all Hindus to accept Islam or face death. 

During this period our ninth Guru, Sri Guru Teg Bahadarji came forward, in response to a request of some Kashmir Pandits to fight against these cruel activities. So our Guruji went to the Mughal emperor and told him that if he succeeded in converting him to Islam, he would ensure that all the Hindus would accept the same. But, if he failed, he should stop all these atrocities. 

The Mughal emperor happily agreed to that but even after lots of torture to Guruji and his fellow members he failed to convert him to Islam and Guruji along with his other four fellows were tortured and sacrificed their lives in Chandni Chowk.

“Since the Mughals were unable to convert them to Islam they were assassinated. Thus our ninth Guruji sacrificed his life for the protection of the Hindu religion. In history, can you show me any instances of anybody laying down his life for the protection of another religion? 

“This is the reason he is still remembered as "Hind Ki Chaddar", shield of India. The people for whose sake he had sacrificed his life did not have the guts to come forward to lift his body, fearing that they too would also be assassinated. 

Seeing this incident our 10th Guruji, Sri Guru Gobind Singhji (Son of Guru Teg Bahadarji) founder of Khalsa (the Pure) made a resolution that he would convert his followers to such human beings who would not be able to hide themselves and could be easily identified."

“At the start, the Sikhs were very few in numbers as they were fighting against the Mughal emperors. At that time, Nadir Shah raided Delhi in the year 1739 and looted Hindustan and was carrying lot of Hindustan treasures and nearly 2200 Hindu women along with him. 

The news spread like a fire and was heard by Sardar Jassa Singh who was the Commander of the Sikh army at that time. He decided to attack Nadir Shah's Kafila on the same midnight. He did so and rescued all the Hindu women and they were safely sent to their homes."

“It didn't happen only once but thereafter whenever any Abdaalis or Iranis had attacked and looted Hindustan and were trying to carry the treasures and Hindu women along with them for selling them in Abdal markets, the Sikh army (although fewer in numbers) attacked them at midnight, 12 O'clock and rescued all the women. After that time when there was a need, people started to contact the Sikh army for their help and the Sikhs used to attack the raiders at Midnight, 12 O'clock."

“Nowadays, most people do not know the significance of this, and have spread the word that at 12 O'clock, the Sikhs go out of their senses. Yes, Sikhs did so by endangering their own lives while mounting attack on Abdaalis, Iranis and Mughals at midnight in order to save Hindu women. 

This historic fact was the reason which made me smile over that person as little did he realize that by saying 'Sardarji Barah Baj Gaye' he was asking for my help and it meant that his Mother, Sister, Wife or Daughter was in trouble!”

That is the real story behind 'Sardarji Barah Baj Gaye'

Image courtesy to Google.... 

Be the Sea | A Self-Reflection Story

Self-reflection is the habit of deliberately paying attention to your own thoughts, emotions, decisions, and behaviors. Let me share a typical example -

During your regular commute from work to home, you consider how the stress of your morning meeting might have lead to residual anger and a poor decision with your manager at the end of the day. As a result, you resolve to take time after future stressful meetings to decompress rather than jump right back into your workday.

Most of us are capable of self-reflection like this. We periodically reflect back on an event and how we handled it in hopes that we learn something from it and make better decisions in the future.

Let me share a story of how self-reflection has many ways to make decisions in future just based on the individual experiences in past or present.

There was a boy playing one day on the sea shore. There came a wave and took one of his slippers with it. He wrote on the sand, 'The sea is a thief'.

The same sea and another shore, fishermen caught a good catch of fish, and they wrote, 'The sea is our God, it feeds us.'

Another shore, a young boy dies and his mother writes on the sand, 'The sea is a murderer.'

And yet another shore, a poor old man finds a beautiful Pearl encased inside an oyster and he writes on the sand, 'The sea is a giver.'

And then all of a sudden there comes a huge wave that erases everything everyone wrote.

➥ MORAL:  No matter what people said about it, the sea is at peace and harmony with it's own waves. It chooses when to rise and when to be calm.

Be that Sea!

Image courtesy to google....

Be prepared always - A WAY OF LIFE (Story)

The culture of Story Telling is always beneficial in training. I love to express my thoughts and content through stories. The great stories are being collected from books, magazines, social media and also from the friends and colleagues while having fruitful conversations with them. 

Here is another story I am going to share today. The story is of 'being prepared always'.

Once there lived a farmer who owned a land along the coast of the Atlantic ocean. Even after letting out several advertisements for recruitment to take care of his farm, no one seemed to sign up for it.

People were reluctant to work along the Atlantic, it had frequent raging storms. These storms were cruel, violent and destroyed every building and crop-field they touched.

After months of advertising and request refusals, a man approached the farmer for the job to take care of the farm.

“Do you have any skills or experience to work on a farm like this?” the farmer asked him.

“Well, I may not have enough experience, but I can sleep when the wind blows”, replied the man.

Although the farmer wasn’t much convinced by the man’s answer, the farmer was too desperate to have someone to help him on the field that he hired him anyway. The man worked well around the farm. The farmer was pretty satisfied with the man.

Then one stormy night, the wind howled waking the farmer. The farmer immediately got off his bed, grabbed a lantern, and headed towards the quarter where his helper was sleeping.

“Wake up” the farmer yelled, throwing the soundly asleep man off the bed- “A storm is coming. Tie things down before they get blown away”.

The man sat up and said- “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.”

The farmer turned red with fury after listening to this. He controlled all his will to fire the man because at the moment it was more important to secure his fields and barn that to argue with his helper. The farmer ran out to tie the things up and was surprised by what he saw.

All of the haystacks were covered with tarpaulins. The chickens were in the coops, the cows were in the barn, the doors were closed and barred, and the shutters were firmly secured. Everything was tied down so that nothing could be blown away.

The farmer smiled as he comprehended what his employer said. Now, he understood what the man meant by when he said he could sleep when the wind blows. He went off to bed and slept soundly through the storm.

➥ MORAL : 

When you’re prepared, physically, mentally, and spiritually, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?

Image courtesy to google.

Old-aged Benefits!! A Heart Touching Story

The last phase of everyone's life is of 'Old aged' and people of long lives can not avoid it. Many says that there are no benefits being old aged, as you can not eat properly, can not walk properly, your organs do not function properly and you become burden to your family members for taking care of you. 

Once a wise man asked Dr. Tiny Nair, Chief Cardiologist of PRS Hospital that 'What is the benefit of being aged or being retired'? He gave a nice answer. Let me tell you the answer in this content today. 

He said that 'most people believe that there is no retirement benefit and old age help in India.' 'They are wrong. Here is why.'

Elderly, white hair, Fragile but looked pleasant, an elderly man came in with a complaint of chest pain previous night. The ECG showed features of severe ischemia suggestive of blocks in the heart. 

Even at the age of 82 it was too abnormal and warranted admission. The young casualty duty medical officer with his new MD degree made a correct diagnosis and dutifully arranged to admit him in the intensive coronary care unit, and send him in a trolley.

When I went to see the patient, the scene was different. The patient’s two (grown-up) children were standing on two sides of the bed, son on to his right and daughter on to his left. And both were shouting at each other at the top of their voice. Not sure as how best to tackle the situation, I decided to be a passive listener.

“It is your entire fault that dad got a heart attack”, shouted the son.

“You never looked after him properly. You just kept him with you to get hold of his property, I know”. retorted the salwar clad daughter.

“And now you want me to pay for his hospital bill”?

“My my, that from a daughter who never visits his father”

“You have to pay for his bill. I have no money; my kids are in college. And the reason for his attack is because your wife ill treats him all the time” the daughter’s verdict was clear.

I avoided them both. I smiled to the elderly man. Before I could say something, he held my hands.

“Ohh my dear son, So you are the doctor. I had some pain last night now I am fine. Meet my children, my son and daughter. Both are so attached to me that they wont leave me. They forced me to come to the hospital. By the way I am little short of hearing, if there is anything serious tell my children….”

I suddenly realized that the man was stone deaf. He could have never listened to the argument of his children. His cataract prevented him from seeing their angry faces.

That moment I could see through and appreciate Gods schemes. 

As you grow old, he turns your voltage down, which in turn dims your vision (call it cataract), he reduces your reception (nerve deafness), stiffens your joints (osteoarthritis) just to make sure that you take the bumps of life more comfortably. 

➥ Moral : The age related dementia is meant to make sure you forget traumatic past events quickly. Despite a bad environment you can be happy. 

You see less evil, hear less evil and with your restricted mobility you perhaps do very little, evil or whatever.

So take this 'old aged' related problems as advantages that God gives us as 'Retirement Benefits'.

An enlightening story | The Sun and The Cave

We all love to stay inspired every moment, be it in any way, whether interacting with the achievers or leaders, or by hearing the stories. Today I am going share an awesome story which will certainly inspire you. 

This story is about 'the Sun and the Cave'.

One day the sun and a cave struck up with a conversation. 

The sun had trouble understanding what 'dark' means and the cave didn’t quite get the hang of 'light and clear' so they decided to change places. 

The cave went up to the sun and said, “Ah, I see, this is beyond wonderful. Now come down and see where I have been living.” 

The sun went down to the cave and said, “I don’t see any difference.”

But the cave didn't understand why! 

When the sun went down, it took its light along and even the darkest corners were illuminated. That's why the sun couldn't see any difference. 

➥ Moral of the story: The enlightened ones can never be sent to hell or pushed into darkness. They carry their heaven on their shoulders all the time.

We thought that heaven is a place where were we are supposed to go; perhaps it was a state of mind we were supposed to achieve. 

If you are full of darkness within, full of negativity, fear and doubt, you become a cave unknowingly. It's a hell within and no matter how much you accumulate, you still remain hollow. 

If you are illuminated like the sun, then the darkness of the cave wouldn't matter. You could be in the worse of circumstances, you'll still be able to find a blessing somewhere. You'll be carrying your heaven with you. 

Surrender - A Positive and Inspiring Story

Today I am going to share an inspiring story of Surrender.  

Surrender - most commonly misunderstood. Surrender means, to allow life to happen as it is. It means, that you do what's required for you to do,  follow your heart and not worry about the future. Future is not under your control and will unfold as its meant to be. You can only do what needs to be done in this moment. This moment, is all that you have, so live in this moment and trust that you are taken care, as it's meant to be.

The story is taken from the face book post of DR.SOPHIA RANGWALA (no changes in description) 

--------------- Surrender --------

I will share a personal experience of total surrender, because I feel that through sharing personal stories, it's easier to understand these difficult concepts.

It was the year 2009, my father was diagnosed with recurrence of Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. It's a cancer of the lymph nodes. He had already gone through complete chemotherapy and radiotherapy in 2006 when it was diagnosed. This was a devastating news for us. Being the eldest child and a doctor, the responsibility always fell upon me to take the right medically related decisions. My father had developed so much confidence in me that he would take my decision over the best doctors also. There is a reason for this conviction that he had in me, which is another story. Anyways, so I consulted one of the best oncologists in Bangalore. His advice was to start treatment as soon as possible because with every  delay, the risk of beyond return metastasis (cancer spread all over the body) was looming dangerously. The treatment that he suggested numbed me. It would require extremely aggressive chemotherapy which would force my father to be admitted into total isolation, as along with the cancer cells, all other vital cells also would get destroyed. He would become vulnerable even to a common cold virus.

I left the good doctor's office with a heavy heart. This was at HCG, Bangalore. I had taken a cab that day. I sat numbed in the cab, with no thoughts, because I didn't even know what to think. At that moment, I surrendered to a God, I didn't understand then. I had no religion or faith, but still deep at the core of my Being, I always knew that this entire Creation and I was not a product of accident. There was a Force, even if I didn't understand it. Tears rolled through my eyes and my mind was blank. Then something happened. I knew what had to be done. 

Something, inside me told me to allow this situation to progress naturally on its own and not to opt for chemotherapy this time. I realized that death is eventual, and if not today then someday, my father, my mother and everyone that I know and my self, are going to go, so why resist this truth? Why hold on to something which is transient anyways? If my father was meant to go, then he will go while at home with all of us around him, and not leave from an isolated hospital room.

A Divine Force had taken over my mind at that time. I didn't know anything about Yoga then as I myself didn't practice any Yogic practice and yet... Read ahead what unfolded when I reached back home.. So I came home and told dad, that it's decided that we will not opt for chemotherapy this time. He will do pranayama and consume a totally vegetarian diet, and gave him a powerful visualization meditation practice. He agreed, and didn't ask a word also. He is someone who is extremely intelligent and  not someone who can be easily convinced. Yet, he just agreed easily and did exactly as I had asked him to do. Let me emphasize here, that I had no idea about Yoga, Ayurveda or meditation back then. I was a very regular person and I was pursuing MD Dermatology then, so logically I should have opted for chemotherapy but I went in a total opposite direction!

The journey of surrender began. I had left it on time and my father also began to follow my advice. My mother played most crucial role in taking care of his health and supporting him. He was so weak to do pranayam, that in the start it was only for 5-10 minutes but with consistent will power, he continued and build it up to 4 hours a day! Yes, you read it right.. 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening! He consumed certain powerful Ayurvedic herbs like giloy, neem, aloe vera, wheatgrass and plenty of green veggies daily. He remained optimistic and had strong faith in God. During this time, he dropped his attachment to his business also completely and focused only on his health. 

We would get periodic PET Scan done. Initially there was no change, but the cancer was not showing signs of spread, which itself was a huge positive. Slowly the hot spots began to disappear and in about 20 months, his cancer had totally disappeared. The last scan was done in May 2011. My father is still very much with us today, living a healthy life.

Going back in time, I had no idea what the outcome of that decision would be. It could have gone in either direction but I chose to surrender. For long, I had wondered what made me take such a decision but it's much later that I understood that it was not my decision because decisions are taken using the mind. Without being aware, I had gone beyond the mind and in that moment, the Divine took over and the rest just happened. This is the miracle of surrender. Allow yourself to surrender when all doors seem to be closed. Let Divine hold your hand and walk you through darkness. Trust me, there is light always at the end. Also, sometimes what we think should happen may not happen, but we don't realize that, that is also God's way of taking care of us.

Always trust that all is well. When you can't think what to do because mind is so limited and so foolish, meditate and you will be guided to do what needs to be done.