Adversity knocks

When Adversity Knocks

Mary was a young girl. She used to get annoyed with everything. She had a negative attitude towards life.

Once, when she felt that life was unbearable, she asked her father what to do. She told him that if she was able to manage and solve one problem, another one followed quickly.

Her father consoled her and took her to the kitchen. He asked Mary to take a potato, an egg and two spoons of tea leaves. Mary was surprised, and asked her father, “Do you want me to cook?”

“No,” her father said.

He then took three vessels and poured one cup of water in each vessel. The vessels were placed on the stove. Once the water started to boil, he dropped the potato in a vessel, egg in the second one and the tea leaves in the third one.

“Why are you doing all these things?” Mary asked, really annoyed with her father.

“Just wait fifteen minutes,” said her father.

The impatient daughter managed to wait for around 15 minutes.

Father removed the potato from the pot and placed in a plate. He did the same with the eggs. He filtered the tea decoction using a cup.

Now, he placed the two plates, one with the potato and the other with the egg, and the cup of tea in front of Mary.

He asked Mary, “What do you see?”

“Potato, egg and a cup of tea,” said Mary.

“No, you are wrong,” said her father. “Look at it closely and answer me.”

Mary replied the same.

“Now touch it and answer me.”

The potato was cooked and was soft, the egg was boiled hard, and the tea carried a nice aroma.

Mary couldn’t find the correct answer.

Her father said, “The potato was so hard and strong before it was boiled; now it has turned soft and smooth. Also, the egg was delicate but after boiling it became hard. Sip the tea. It is delicious!”

Mary asked, “What does it mean father? I don’t understand!”

“Each object responded differently to water. Each object was put under the same kind of circumstances, faced similar adversities, but reacted differently. The potato, when put in boiling water, became very weak. The soft egg became very hard when we put it in boiling water. And the tea leaves are unique. It changed the water itself, giving it a unique flavour and aroma! It gave something new.”

Mary understood that we can create something new and unique even when we experience adversities.

Beautiful stories

Adversity knocks

Unknown Thursday, 12 January 2017

Real Solutions to problems

Real Solution to Problems

A group of employees was working in a software company. It was a team of 30 employees. This was a young, energetic and dynamic team with keen enthusiasm and desire to learn and grow. The management decided to teach the employees about finding real solution to the problems.  

The team was called to play a game in a banquet hall. The group was quite surprised as they were called for playing game. All reached the venue holding various thoughts. As they entered the hall, they found the hall decorated beautifully with colourful decorative papers and balloons all over the place. It was more like a kid’s play area, than a corporate meeting hall.  

Everyone was surprised and gazed at each other. Also, there was a huge box of balloons placed at the centre of the hall.  

The team leader asked everyone to pick a balloon from the box and asked them to blow it. Every one happily picked a balloon and blew it.  

Then the team leader asked them to write their names on their balloon, carefully so that the balloons didn’t blow up. All tried to write their names on the balloons, but not everyone was successful. A few balloons blew up due to pressure and they were given another chance to use another balloon.  

Those who failed to mark their names even after the second chance were ruled out of the game. After the second chance, 25 employees were qualified for the next level. All the balloons were collected and then put into a room.  

The team leader announced the employees to go to the room and pick the same balloon that had his name on it. Also, he told them that no balloon should blow up and warned them to be very careful!

All 25 employees reached the room, where the balloons carrying their names were thrown here and there. They were searching for the respective balloons carrying their names. While they were in a rush to find the respective balloons, they tried not to burst the balloons. It was almost 15 minutes and no one was able to find the balloon carrying his own name. 

The team was told that the second level of the game was over.

Now it is the third and final level. They asked the employees to pick any balloon in the room and give it to the person named on the balloon. Within a couple of minutes all balloons reached the hands of the respective employee and everyone reached the hall.  

The team leader announced; this is called real solutions to the problems. Everyone is frantically hunting for solutions to the problems without understanding the ideal ways. Many times, sharing and helping others give you real solutions to all problems. 

Beautiful stories

Real Solutions to problems

Unknown

Friends

Unhelpful Friends

Bunny rabbit lived in the forest. He had many friends. He was proud of his friends.

One day Bunny rabbit heard the loud barking of wild dogs. He was very scared. He decided to ask for help. He quickly went to his friend deer. He said, “Dear friend, some wild dogs are chasing me. Can you chase them away with your sharp antlers?”

The deer said, “That is right, I can. But now I am busy. Why don’t you ask bear for help?”

Bunny rabbit ran to the bear. “My dear friend, you are very strong. Please help me. Some wild dogs are after me. Please chase them away,” he requested to the bear.

The bear replied, “I am sorry. I am hungry and tired. I need to find some food. Please ask the monkey for help.”

Poor Bunny went to the monkey, the elephant, the goat and all his other friends. Bunny felt sad that nobody was ready to help him.

He understood that he had to think of a way out by himself. He hid under a bush. He lay very still. The wild dogs did not find the bunny. They went chasing other animals.

Bunny rabbit learnt that he had to learn to survive by himself, not depending on his unhelpful friends.

Beautiful stories

Friends

Unknown

Think and speak

Think Before You Speak

It was a sunny day, but the climate was enjoyable. Everyone in the railway station was waiting for the train to arrive. Among the crowd, there was a group of friends, youngsters who were on board for vacation.  

It was a busy station with juice shop, mobile restaurants, coffee and tea stalls, newspaper shop, restaurants, etc. The announcement regarding the arrival of the train was made and everyone prepared to get into the train to their appropriate places. 

The group of friends made loud noise to welcome the train as it entered the station. They ran to get their reserved seats before anyone could get into the train.  

The empty seats were filled and the train whistled to move. An old man with a young boy aged around 15 years came running to catch the train. They entered the train and the train started to move. They had their seats just adjacent to the friends’ group.  

The young boy was so surprised to see everything.  

He acclaimed at his father, ‘Dad, the train is moving and the things are moving backwards.’

His father smiled and nodded his head.  

As the train started moving fast, the young boy again screamed, ‘Dad the trees are green in colour and run backward very fast.’ His father said, ‘Yes dear’ and smiled.  

Just like a kid, he was watching everything with great enthusiasm and happiness loaded with tons of surprises.  

A fruit seller passed selling apples and oranges. The young boy asked his dad, ‘I want to eat apples.’ His father bought him apples. He said, ‘Oh apple looks so sweet than it tastes’ I love this colour.’  

The group was watching all the activities of this boy and asked the boy’s father ‘Is your son having any problem? Why is he behaving very differently?’

A friend from the group made fun of him and shouted, ‘His son is mad I think.’

The father of the young boy, with patience, replied to the friend-group.

‘My son was born blind. Only a few days before he was operated and got the vision. He is seeing various things in his life for the first time’

The young friends became very quiet and apologized to his father and son.

Beautiful stories

Think and speak

Unknown

Gold coins

Gold Coins and a Selfish Man

               

Sam was a greedy and selfish man. He always desired to have lots and lots of money and never hesitated to cheat others to make money. Also, he never wished to share anything with others. He paid very low wages to his servants.

However, one day, he learned a lesson that changed his life forever.

It so happened that one day, a small bag that belonged to Sam was missing. The bag had 50 gold coins in it. Sam searched high and low for the bag, but could not find it. Sam’s friends and neighbours also joined in the search, but all their efforts were in vain.

After a couple of days, the ten year old daughter of a man working for Sam found the bag. She told her father about it. Her father identified the bag as the one that was missing, and immediately decided to take it to his master.

He gave the bag back to his master Sam, and asked him to check whether the bag had 50 gold coins. Sam was exultant to get the coins back, but he decided to play a trick. He shouted at his worker, “there were 75 gold coins in this bag but you gave me only 50! Where are the other coins? You have stolen them!”

The worker was shocked to hear this and pleaded his innocence. Selfish and greedy, Sam did not accept the worker’s story, and decided to take the issue to court.

The judge heard both the sides. He questioned the daughter and the worker about the number of coins they had found in the bag, and they assured it was only 50.

He cross-examined Sam and Sam replied, “Yes my lord, I had 75 gold coins in my bag, and they gave me only 50. Hence, it is quite obvious that they have stolen 25 coins!”

The judge then asked, “Are you sure that your bag had 75 coins?”

Sam nodded vigorously.

The judge then made his judgment.

“Since Sam lost a bag of 75 gold coins and the bag found by the girl had only 50 coins, it is obvious that the bag that was found does not belong to Sam. It was lost by someone else. If anyone finds a bag of 75 gold coins, I will declare that it belongs to Sam. As there are no complaints about the loss of 50 coins, I order the girl and his father to take those 50 coins as a token of appreciation for their honesty.

Beautiful stories

Gold coins

Unknown

The happiness

The Secret of Happiness

Once upon a time, there were three brothers named Samuel, Timothy and Xander, who lived in a cottage by the woods. They were honest and hardworking. Every day, they would venture into the forest to fell wood. Later, they would sell it in the market where it would fetch a decent price. Thus, their life continued in this manner. 

However, the brothers were always sad and morose. Even though they lived a good life, they were unhappy. Each one hankered for something or the other and would pine for it. 

One day, while Samuel, Timothy and Xander were returning home from the woods carrying their bundle of logs, they saw an old haggard woman bent low with a sack on her back. As they were kind and compassionate, the brothers immediately approached the poor woman and offered to carry the sack all the way to her home. She smiled and expressed her gratefulness, while replying that the sack actually contained apples that she had collected in the forest. Samuel, Timothy and Xander took turns in carrying the sack, and at last, when they reached the woman’s home, they were very tired indeed. 

Now, this old woman was no ordinary person and had magical powers. Pleased with the brothers’ kind and selfless nature, she asked them whether there was anything she could help them with, as a reward. 

“We are not happy, and that has become our greatest cause of concern,” replied Samuel. The woman asked what would make them happy. Each brother spoke of a different thing that would please him.

“A splendid mansion with plenty of servants would make me happy. There is nothing more that I would want,” said Samuel. 

“A big farm with lots of harvest would make me happy. Then I could be rich without having to worry,” said Timothy.

“A beautiful wife would make me happy. Every day, after returning home, her sweet little face would light me up and make me forget my sorrows,” said Xander. 

“That is fine,” said the old woman, “If these things will give you happiness, you deserve them in every respect for helping a poor helpless person like me. Go home, and each of you shall find exactly what you have wished for.”

This took the brothers by surprise as they did not know about the woman’s powers. Nevertheless, they took leave and returned home. But lo behold, beside their cottage, there was a huge mansion with a doorman and other servants waiting outside! They greeted Samuel and ushered him in. At some distance, a yellow farmland showed itself. A ploughman came and announced that it belonged to Timothy. Timothy gasped. Just at that moment, a beautiful maiden approached Xander and coyly said that she was his wife. The brothers were beside themselves with joy at this new turn of events. They thanked their lucky stars and adapted to their new lifestyles. 

The days passed and soon a year was over. The situation was however, now different for Samuel, Timothy and Xander. Samuel had grown tired of owning the mansion. He became lazy and did not supervise his servants into taking proper care of the mansion. Timothy, who had built a decent house next to his farmland, found it burdensome to plough the fields and sow seeds from time to time. Xander too, grew used to his beautiful wife and no longer found any joy in keeping her company. In short, all of them were unhappy again. 

One day, the three of them met up and decided to visit the old woman at her home. “That woman has magical powers which turned our dreams into reality. However, since we are no longer happy, we must go and seek her help now. It is she who will be able to tell us the secret to attaining happiness,” said Samuel. 

When they came to the old woman, she was cooking stew in a pot. Greeting her, each of the brothers recounted how he had turned unhappy again. “Please tell us how we can once more be happy,” said Timothy. 

“Well,” replied the old woman. “It is all in your own hands. See, when each of you made his wish and it was granted, you were happy. However, happiness never lasts without a very important thing – content. Earlier, since you were happy but never really content or satisfied, boredom and misery overcame you and you became sad again. Only if you learn to be content, can you truly enjoy the bliss of happiness.”

Samuel, Timothy and Xander realized their mistake and went back home. They saw how lucky they were to have the gifts for which they had once craved. Samuel felt grateful for being the owner of a mansion and began taking good care of it. Timothy began to plough his land diligently so as to have a good harvest in time. Xander too learnt to appreciate his pretty wife’s chores in the house and her devotion towards him. Remembering that happiness and content went side by side, never again did the brothers take their blessings for granted. And thus, they lived happily ever after.

Beautiful stories

The happiness

Unknown

Money / Family

Money vs Family

Rama’s family is very big. Rama is a hard worker and he is the sole bread winner of the family. He has three kids, two sons and a daughter. He lives along with father and mother. Rama used to work too hard to feed his family.

He works for more than 16 hours a day. The kids cannot see him as he will leave home early in the morning before they wake-up and reach home around midnight when kids would sleep every day. The entire family eagerly wait to spend quality time with him and the kids miss him so much.  

The children were too curious about Sundays as his father would spend the entire day with them. Unfortunately, to meet the increasing household expenses and educational expenses, Rama took a weekend job to work even on Sundays. The kids were very shattered and even Rama’s wife and parents too!  

The typical routine continued for several weeks and year passed. All the hard work of Rama earned a lot of benefits and he was offered promotion with attractive increment.

The family moved to a new house, got better clothes and ate healthy foods. However, as usual, Rama continues to earn more and more money. One day his wife asked him ‘why are you running for money? We can be happy with what we have now.’

Rama replied, ‘I want to give the best available in the world to all of you and want you to stay happy always.’  

Two years passed and Rama hardly spent time with his family. The children yearned to have their father at home. Meanwhile, the sincere efforts of Rama reaped him a fortune. He was offered partnership and share in profits. He continued to earn more and more wealth.  

Now, Rama’s family is one of the richest families in the city. They have all the facilities and luxuries. Still, Rama’s children strove to meet their father as he was hardly seen at home.  

His children turned teens and they are no more kids. Now, Rama earned enough wealth to provide a luxurious life to his next five generations.  

Rama’s family went to their beach house to spend their vacation. His daughter asked, ‘Dad will you please spend one day at home and stay with us here?’

Rama replied, ‘Yes darling, tomorrow for sure, I will join you for the lunch and be with you all for next few days. I’m tired of work and need refreshment!’

The entire family became very happy.  

Unfortunately, the next day, none in Rama’s family were alive as they were washed out in Tsunami!  

Rama was too busy even to hear the news about Tsunami. When he tried to reach his beach house, he saw sea and water everywhere and screamed for his family, He could not even find the dead bodies of his family.  

He can never have them again, cannot even see them and even by paying millions he cannot get them back to life!  

He remembered his wife’s words, ‘Why are you running for money? We can be happy with what we have now.’

Beautiful stories

Money / Family

Unknown