Monday, July 30, 2007

TOPIC OF THE WEEK - NEED AND LOVE

We care for what we shouldn't and neglect what we shouldn't. How ? Read futher.
MY COMMENTS

Its human to discriminate between the two. How ? Let's have a story to support it.
Once upon a time there lived a big Landlord. He had a a big mansion. He had hundreds of acres of cultivating land. He had money in abundance. He had servants galore to work for him. He had, most importantly, peace of mind. He had cows, buffaloes, bulls, donkeys to work for him in the fields. He had .......... Well, the list is endless. He had almost all the material pleasures. Like all humans this landlord too had a week point, and it was dogs. Yes, he was very much fond of dogs. He would not care to spend like anything for their simples needs. He had a host of breeds of dogs. He had the Australian Shepherd, Bloodhound, Bulldog, Doberman etc. But the one that he most liked was the Curly-Coated Retriever. It was as dark as night. It had an unusually straight tail, (that always stood up) of which the landlord was very fond. He loved all the dogs like his family member. He did never discriminate between the two.
He fondly called his Curly-Coated Retriever "Tiger." This Tiger could always be found lingering around his master or in his lap. Whenever he would see his master coming his way, he would stand on his hind legs, with his paws rested on his belly and would bark at him. This would send tingles down his master's belly. Tiger loved this and would bark even loudly and scratch the master's tummy, lick it and do all such things. Even when the landlord had to go somewhere for work, their servants would have to make arrangements for Tiger too. After seeing Tiger so lucky, the other pets and working animals felt jealous of Tiger. They would always dream of themselves as Tiger and being pampered by their master.
But among all these pets, a donkey was always more curious than jealous about Tiger. "Why is he so dear to the master ?", the donkey always wondered. "What if I do the same to my master?! He will pat on my head like he does to Tiger." Thinking thus, the donkey decided to act Tiger.
And see the donkeys luck !(donkeys too are lucky now-a-days). He got the chance to play Tiger right away. So he thought to himself, that even time is with him. Then what to care about the master (if he likes it or not.)
As soon as the donkey saw the master come his way, he gave a loud bark (imitating the dog), ran up to him and stood on his rear legs. As the height of the donkey was much more as compared to the dog. So the donkey's fore legs hit the head of the landlord pretty hard. His forehead became black and blue, and he turned red with temper. "A donkey that you are and remain one. Don't try to get in anyone else's shoes." He got a big long rod and beat down the donkey to his heart's content as he shouted at the unruly beast. The donkey was remained alive only because some other servants intervened. That day the donkey did not get any food. The dog was watching all this and felt for the donkey.
When the donkey met the dog and asked why all things went wrong, the dog answered: "My friend you dialled the wrong number. You went to seek pity from a human. A human who is fickle minded. He loves me and loves you not. In that neither is am lucky neither are you unlucky. When I grow old he may no hesitate to do that to me, what he did to you. And one more thing, presently he loves me and needs you."
"Man always takes care of the things that he doesn't need. He looks after them well and find. But on the other hand, always neglects them whom and what he should care for, who work for him. Life is like that my friend."

The landlord should take care of the donkey because his work is more laborious than that of the dog. Which means the donkey needs more maintenance. But exactly the opposite is happening.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

TOPIC OF THE WEEK - HONESTY

Is man going away from honesty ?
MY COMMENTS
Well, to answer that question is a largely a personal issue. But whatever, there are some human values that always remain. They are here to stay. Some stories are very famous about this in the Indian context.
Once upon a time, there was a poor woodcutter. He was so poor that, if any day he failed to cut wood and sell it, then he would have to go to bed empty-stomuched. It was difficult to make both ends meet for him. But this poor man was a man of ethics. He sold wood at reaonable rates in spite of his poor economic condition. He would never lie for his benefit. This continued for days together, but still his condition would not improve. One day when he was cutting wood near a river, his iron axe happened to fall in the river. He was stunned. He saw darkness in front him. He saw his wife going hungry. He saw his children crying for food. He saw, that he was in no condition to provide them with their necessities. As he sat under the tree crying, from the river imerged WaterGod and asked him the reason for his helplessness. He was surprised to the the God, but related to Him all that had happened.
The Lord was sympathetic towards him. He on His own offered him His services. So down went He and came up with a golden axe. "Is this your axe my good man ?" The poor man replied in the negative. So the Lord went down again and this time came up with a golden axe studded with diamonds. "Is this your axe my good man ?" The Lord repeated his question. The poor man again refused. The Lord was observing all this. He went down the third time and this time came up with an iron axe. As soon as the poor man saw his good old axe, he was overjoyed. His joys knew no bounds. He sprang up and requested the Lord to give him his axe.
The WaterGod was very impressed with the poor man's honesty. And as a reward for his honesty, gave him all the three axes.
The moral of the story is -- HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY.
In this wonderful world don't be surprised if you come across people like this. The good Lord above has made all kinds of men. So always see the glass half full.

Monday, July 16, 2007

TOPIC OF THE WEEK - READING HABITS

Is the kid today going away from reading ?
MY COMMENTS
The 21rst century has changed the habits of the man. He is now addicted to computer, games, Internet, chatting, travelling,..... The list is endless. He will do everything except reading. In short, he is all dependent on machine, technology etc.And no one seems to be an exception to this. But the kids, do need to read. At least, as long as they are students. They need to. And even if, unwillingly, they do read it. And that's true.But the idea of reading for fun, pleasure is quite a distant reality. Because, one may read for fun, when he needs relaxation, when mentally fatigued. But reading for fun, is not necessary now-a-days. The reason is that there are more means to relax. Like go out with friends, go for long drives, use your i-pod, your mobile for taking pictures, listen to online songs, play online games, chat --- . The list goes on. "Do everything, but don't read", seems to be the motto of the kid today.
But then came Harry Potter. The first of the Harry Potter series - "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" - made the young and the old read alike. They became voracious readers. 325 million copies worldwide. 700 pages finished in just a matter of days. Children were really reading. And yes, they were reading for fun and only fun and nothing else. The tension, the curiosity and the excitement made them read it on and on. Kids didn't then need chatting, computer, games, internet for passing their time. They just needed their hero. The spell was cast. It was cast worldwide. It was cast on one and all. It was cast on the young and the old alike. With the Potter series being translated in almost all the major languages of the world, it showed how popular it was. And not only popular, it also showed how all were glued to the books.
But believe it or not, the habit decreased a bit when the Harry Potter series was taken up for film-making. That surely lessoned the current crop of readers.But whatever, and whoever tries it, it is now pretty difficult to make one read again. and read passionately.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

TOPIC OF THE WEEK 7/11

REMEMBERING THE DARK DAY 7/11
MY COMMENTS
The whole world is with you through thick and thin,
Someone of you might have really lost a kin !
The vacuum created is really sad,
Because no terrorism is good or bad !
It's our duty to stop this bloody thing,
And to rescue ourselves from Osama - the underworld King !
Each one of us should come forward to uproot terrorism,
Because God has really made the earth a good place to live !
Let us not spoil this God-gift,
And not let them create between us a rift !
The tears, the sorrow, the crest fallen faces,
This has been experienced by many races !
This shows, safe that we are not,
This battle, now really needs to be fought !
India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka;
Australia, UK, America,
Who have been spared ?
But many a terrorist have dared !
So, let's pledge not to make another 7/11
I'll fight terror, this at least tell one !
(Dedicated to the victims of the 7/11 rail attacks on Mumbai)

Monday, July 9, 2007

The 7 Wonders !

The new 7 Wonders of the world have just been declared. It's really heartning to see that our very own Taj has won it hands down. The ancient wonders that the Greeks had given the world were :


  • The Temple of Artmis
  • The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
  • The Colossus of Rhodes
  • The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
  • The Lighthouse at Alexandria
  • The Pyramids at Giza and finally
  • The Statue of Zeus

The experts selected a bunch of man-made structures. Then came in the common man to have his say. And then came the list of the New 7 Wonders of the modern world.

But how many of us have ever wondered that there are wonders galore around us and in us too. In fact, the human itself is a wonder. A wonder that no one can deny. But there are some more and actually important wonders.

  • To Feel
  • To Hear
  • To See
  • To Smell
  • To Touch
  • To Taste
  • To Love

Aren't these all wonderful emotions ? These are all in you and me. Come and nurture these. And then world will be a place to live in - a place known as HEAVEN.