Small Story which shows that virtues pay

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to
chose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing
one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something
different.

He called all the young executives in his company together.

"It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO," he said.
"I have decided to choose one of you."

The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am
going to give each one of you a seed today - a very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from
today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I
will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose
will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others,
received a seed.

He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped
him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown.
After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk
about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By
now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a
plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by - still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he
had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he
had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He
just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the
seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the
company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be
honest about what happened.

Jim felt sick at his stomach. It was going to be the most
embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was
amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives.
They were beautiful--in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed. A few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young
executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back.

"My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said
the CEO.

"Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with
his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the
front.

Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe
he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to
his seed. Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim,
and then announced to the young executives, "Here is your next Chief
Executive! His name is Jim!"

Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. How
could he be the new CEO the others said?

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this
room a seed.

I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back
to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it
was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and
flowers.

"When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted
another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive!"

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.

If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.

If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment

If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.

If you plant hard work, you will reap success.

If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will
reap later.

Sand and Stone

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE."
They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After the friend recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE."
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?"
The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."
LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND, AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE

A Very Touching Job Interview Story...

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year when he did not score.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth answered "none".

The director asked, " Was it your father who paid for your school fees?" The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.

The director asked, " Where did your mother work?" The youth answered, "My mother worked as clothes cleaner. The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth 'n perfect.

The director asked, " Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?" The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study 'n read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me.

The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go 'n clean your mother's hands, 'n then see me tomorrow morning.

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, 'n there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence 'n his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

That night, mother 'n son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: "Can you tell me what have you done 'n learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered," I cleaned my mother's hand, 'n also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes'

The Director asked,"please tell me your feelings."

The youth said, Number 1, I know now what is appreciation. Without my mother, there would not the successful me today. Number 2, by working together 'n helping my mother, only I now realize how difficult 'n tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance 'n value of family relationship.

The director said, "This is what I am looking for to be my manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, 'n a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired. Later on, this young person worked very hard, 'n received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently 'n as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously.

A child, who has been protected 'n habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop "entitlement mentality" 'n would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, 'n when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees 'n would always blame others. For this kind of people, who may be good academically, may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel sense of achievement. He will grumble 'n be full of hatred 'n fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?

You can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates 'n bowls together with their brothers 'n sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young person. The most important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort 'n experience the difficulty 'n learns the ability to work with others to get things done.

Dreams...........

छिप छिप अश्रु बहाने वालो
मोती व्यर्थ लुटाने वालो
कुछ सपनो के मर जाने से
जीवन नही मरा करता है

सपना क्या है, नयन सेज पर
सोया हुआ आंख का पानी
और टूटना है उसका ज्यों
जागे कच्ची नींद जवानी

गीली उमर बनाने वालो
डूबे बिना नहाने वालो
कुछ पानी के बह जाने से
सावन नही मरा करता है

माला बिखर गई तो क्या
खुद ही हल हो गई समस्या
आँसू ग़र नीलाम हुए तो
समझो पूरी हुई तपस्या

रूठे दिवस मनाने वालो
फटी कमीज़ सिलाने वालो
कुछ दीपों के बुझ जाने से
आंगन नही मरा करता है

खोता कुछ भी नहीं यहाँ पर
के़वल जिल्द बदलती पोथी
जैसे रात उतार चांदनी
पहने सुबह धूप की धोती

वस्त्र बदलकर आने वालो
चाल बदलकर जाने वालो
चंद खिलौनों के खोने से
बचपन नही मरा करता है

लाखों बार गगरियां फूटीं
शि़क़न न आई पर पनघट पर
लाखों बार कश्तियां डूबीं
चहल पहल वोही है तट पर

तम की उम्र बढाने वालो
लौ की आयु घटाने वालो
लाख करे पतझर कोशिश पर
उपवन नही मरा करता है

लूट लिया माली ने उपवन
लुटी न लेकिन गंध फूल की
तूफानों तक ने छेड़ा पर
खिड़की बंद न हुई धूल की

नफरत गले लगाने वालो
सब पर धूल उडाने वालो
कुछ मुखडों की नाराज़ी से
दर्पन नही मरा करता है

We Think Too Much And Feel Too Little

Life is not always the roads of petals and when life become tough, there are some quotes and speeches that always boost the soul and lift up the spirit, give us hope to fight the odds of life and my all time favorite is Chaplin final speech of "The Great Dictator". I hope you will too like it.

Final Speech of "The Great Dictator" (also known as "Look Up, Hannah" ) by Charlie Chaplin




The Jewish Barber (Charlie Chaplin's character): Hope... I'm sorry but I don't want to be an Emperor - that's not my business - I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that.
We all want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone.
The way of life can be free and beautiful.
But we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned men's souls - has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.
We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little: More than machinery we need humanity; More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.


The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say "Do not despair".
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish...
Soldiers - don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you - who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder.
Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate - only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers - don't fight for slavery, fight for liberty.
In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written " the kingdom of God is within man " - not one man, nor a group of men - but in all men - in you, the people.
You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let's use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfil their promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness.
Soldiers - in the name of democracy, let us all unite!
Look up! Look up! The clouds are lifting - the sun is breaking through. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world. A kind new world where men will rise above their hate and brutality.
The soul of man has been given wings - and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow - into the light of hope - into the future, that glorious future that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up. Look up."