Monday, November 30, 2009

A great warrior


Friends, we all have heard about Mahabharata. A great warrior is also a part of this epic. He was abandoned by his mother immediately after his birth. He was raised by a cart driver. He was destined to be the greatest warrior but throughout his life he was called as "Sut-putra". He was "Surya-putra" Karna. Eldest in Pandavas.
He was so powerful that he defeated all the Pandavas single handedly, but spared their lives because of the promise, which he gave to his mother (Kunti).
It is said that during the war if Arjuna's arrows crossed the distance of 2 miles his arrows crossed the distance of 4 miles.
Krishna always motivated Arjuna, but Shalya always demotivated Karna.
While fighting he knew that Pandavas are his own brothers, but Pandavas never knew that they were fighting against their elder brother.
His is known for his generosity. Imagine how he was tempted by Lord Krishna when he revealed Karna' true identity and told him that he will rule the whole earth as the eldest Pandav.
Even Arjuna and Krishna himself will bow before him.
But that great son of Sun refused all the delight of being king, for his friend Duryodhana. He always knew that Duryodhana was wrong and whole world will call him a villain. But Karna chose to become a villain only for the sake of friendship.

Throughout his life he faced humiliation from his own brothers but in the end he spared their lives.
Not many people know that Karna, once participated in the swamvar of a proud princess. There he defeated all the kings but when he realized that the princess is very proud of her wealth and beauty. He in stead of marrying her, married her maid. Such a great human being!
Only after his death people realized his greatness, otherwise when he was alive everyone made fun of him.
His whole life is a lesson for all of us. We usually get discouraged against small adversities, we should remember the pains and sufferings of others (I bet if you will compare, you will find out that your pain is always smaller than other's pain).

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Attitude makes the difference

ALWAYS MAINTAIN A POSITIVE ATTITUDE


Many years ago, a large American shoe manufacturer sent two sales representatives out to different parts of the Australian outback to see if they could drum up some business among the aborigines. Some time later, the company received telegrams from both agents. The first one said, "No business here...natives don't wear shoes." The second one said, "Great opportunity here...natives don't wear shoes!"

It's the attitude that makes all the difference in our thinking.


Friday, November 20, 2009

The Brick

About ten years ago, a young and very successful executive named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his sleek, black, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old.

He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child darted out, but a brick sailed out and - WHUMP! - it smashed Into the Jag's shiny black side door! SCREECH..!!!! Brakes slammed! Gears ground into reverse, and tires madly spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown. Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he went on. "That's my new Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?"

"Please, mister, please. . . I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to do!" Pleaded the youngster. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop!" Tears were dripping down the boy's chin as he pointed around the parked car. "It's my brother, mister," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up." Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."

Moved beyond words, the young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long walk back to the sleek, black, shining, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE -a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. . . Some bricks are softer than others. Feel for the bricks of life coming at to you. For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has positive answers.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Confused!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


In our life, sometimes we feel as if we are moving in total darkness, whatever happened in the past we can not see it (correct it), we can not see the future and hence we are confused about our present!!!
The catch is "What to do???"
If you believe in your abilities then adopt a “cog in the wheel” attitude and go with the flow. Many times, we give far too much importance to our self and it is this ego that gives rise to confusion. The greatest emperors and dictators that ever lived are all gone now and there are no regrets – the world did not come to a grinding halt! We are no more than “cogs in the wheel” of life and as long as we chip in doing our utmost best in our assigned roles, life moves on comfortably – no confusion whatsoever!
When we are confused on what course to pursue or job to take etc., many times the confusion is attributable to our unwillingness to stretch our capabilities.
Always remember that we are our own best friends & we should be able to put our best efforts to achieve our goals – not shirk from responsibilities by an overriding sense of laziness!
As usual I have a story for you:
There was a man who was born in a very poor family. He worked hard and at the age of 28 he emerged as a "Business Tycoon". He lived life like a monarch, but after 15 years at the age of 43 he became bankrupt!!!
He was under the debt of Rs. 50,00,000 and he did not had even Rs. 50,000.
Now try to put yourself in his shoes,
How you would have felt when your 9 year old daughter who lived like a princess, cried for a 2 rupee candy and you could not afford it.
How you would have felt when your 14 year old son got seriously ill and you don't even had Rs. 10 to pay doctor's fee.
How you would have felt when your wife had to walk 12 km daily in order to save Rs. 10.
How you would have felt when you visited a holy place (may be a temple) and you did not had even a single penny to offer as a sovereign.
In such circumstances you don't know what will happen, but this man tried his best, he never let his moral down.
He always muttered these words "All these situations can take away all my wealth but they can not take my hope, my courage and my spirit from me! I am not going to lose!!!"
This man tried one business to another but everywhere he got the same result "FAILURE".
But he kept on trying and after a "bone-crushing" struggle of 6 years, he achieved success.
Today he has regained his position as the "undisputed business tycoon".
When I asked him the secret of his success he replied
" I always had faith, faith in God, faith in my own abilities, faith that after every dark night there is a lovely morning"
So whatever be the situation, however dark and dull.
We must believe,
We must have...
FAITH

Monday, November 9, 2009

Lessons from the life of Lord Krishna





















Life of Lord Krishna, is a perfect answer to the question 'how to live in "Kaliyug"?':
He was born in a prison, his parents were imprisoned without any crime!!!
He was brought up in a small village, while he deserved to be a part of royal palace.
Daily one or the other demon was sent to take away his life.
His own uncle Kansa tried everything to turn his life into hell.
Even Lord Brahma and Indra created trouble for him.
His own nephew Sishupaal was after his life.
His childhood love Radha was married to somebody else.
In spite of all these adversities he lived his life like a festival (utsaav).
He remained the same; smiling Kanha whether circumstances were favorable or not.
He remained calm even when Gandhari cursed him, or when Narad cursed his clan.
He remained calm during Kurukshetra while being a part of the greatest war ever fought.
It was his wisdom because of which Pandavas emerged victorious against a much larger force of mighty Kouravas.
He was so generous that when Duryodhana (who tried to arrest him) asked for his army to fight against Pandavas (and Krishna himself), he gave him his whole army along with weapons.
The list is endless...
So what we can learn from him:
  1. Be the same "smiling" person (either you are happy or sad inside)
  2. Never give up (life never ends)
  3. Do not wait for any miracle, do it yourself
  4. Be calm and show respect even when your elders are scolding you
  5. Be clever not wicked
  6. Forgive your enemies but never forget their names
  7. Do not leave anything incomplete
  8. Move on in life (even when your dearest one is gone forever)
  9. Do not respond to critics, just keep on improving yourself (many people called him gwala, ranchod, etc.)
  10. Be ready to do anything (even to break your promise) if it is required in order to save dharma
  11. Ethics are flexible, use them for benefit of society
  12. Be humble, even when the whole universe is your slave (he picked "pattals" during rajsuya yagya of Yudhisthir)
  13. Punish them who deserves to be punished, Forgive them who deserve to be forgiven and teach them who value your teachings.
I will keep on writing since we can learn endless things from this Genius's life, so my final words are (I love to repeat them):
Karm kiye ja, fal ki chinta mat kar!!!

Friday, November 6, 2009

The 4 wives

There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.

He also, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant's confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.

Now, the merchant's 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, "Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll be!"

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No way!" replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word.

The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant's heart. The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No!" replied the 3rd wife. "Life is so good over here! I'm going to remarry when you die!" The merchant's heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I always turned to you for help and you've always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?" "I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only send you to your grave." The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.

Then a voice called out: "I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go." The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, "I should have taken much better care of you while I could have!”

Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives

a. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.

b. Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status, and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.

c. The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we're alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

d. The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of material, wealth and sensual pleasure.

Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it's a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until we're on our deathbed to lament

Monday, November 2, 2009

Adversity

A winner is NOT one who NEVER FAILS, but one
who NEVER QUITS!


In 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first
record audition for the executives of the Decca recording Company. The executives were not impressed. While turning down this group of musicians, one executive said, "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out." The group was called The Beatles.

In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book Modeling
Agency told modeling hopeful Norma Jean Baker, "You'd better learn secretarial work or else get married." She went on and
became Marilyn Monroe.

In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, Fired a
singer after one performance. He told him, "You ain't goin'
nowhere....son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck." He went on to become Elvis Presley.

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, it did
not ring off the hook with calls from potential backers. After making a demonstration call, President Rutherford Hayes said, "That's an amazing invention, but who would ever want to see one of them?"

When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over
2000 experiments before he got it to work. A young reporter asked
him how it felt to fail so many times. He said, "I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2000-step process."

In the 1940s, another young inventor named Chester Carlson took
his idea to 20 corporations, including some of the biggest in the
country. They all turned him down. In 1947, after 7 long years of
rejections, he finally got a tiny company in
Rochester, NY, the Haloid Company, to purchase the rights to his invention -- an electrostatic paper-copying process. Haloid became Xerox Corporation.

A little girl - the 20th of 22 children, was born prematurely
and her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, she
contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralysed left leg. At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on and began to walk without it. By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner. She entered a race and came in last. For the next few years every race she entered, she came in last. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running.

One day she actually won a race; and then another. From then on she won every race she entered. Eventually this little girl - Wilma
Rudolph, went on to win three Olympic gold medals.


A school teacher scolded a boy for not paying attention to
his mathematics and for not being able to solve simple problems. She told him that you would not become anybody in life. The boy was Albert Einstein.

Back in 1932 was out of a job and broke, and his wife was expecting a baby. Although he was a heating engineer, there were no jobs available and Darrow and his wife were just barely subsisting on the few odd jobs he could get as a handyman.

Things were bleak. Fate didn't reckon with the courage of this man and his wife, however. They laughed at it, literally. In the evenings, to take their minds off their troubles, they made a little game in which they could pretend they were millionaires, recalling pleasant vacations in nearby Atlantic City. They reconstructed the area adjoining the boardwalk. Darrow carved hotels and houses out of small pieces of wood, and they called the game Monopoly. Three years later, in 1935 the game was marketed by Parker Brothers, and Darrow and his wife became millionaires because they allowed adversity to make them instead of break them.

When you face adversity, are you going to allow it to break you
or make you? It's your choice