Good You Do Comes Back to You……..

A woman baked chapatti for members of her family and would always make it a point to keep an extra one for a hungry passerby.  She kept the extra chapatti on the window sill, for whosoever would take it away.  Every day, a hunchback came and took away the chapatti.  Instead of expressing gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his way: ‘The Evil you do remains with you, the Good you do comes back to you.’

This went on, day after day.  Every day, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and uttered the words: ‘The evil you do, remains with you. The good you do, comes back to you’.  The woman felt extremely irritated.  ‘Not a word of gratitude, she said to herself.  ‘Every day this hunchback utters this jingle! What does he mean?’

One day exasperated, she decided to do away with him. ‘I shall get rid of this hunchback’ she said to herself.  And what did she do? She added poison to the chapatti she prepared for him!  As she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands started trembled.  ‘What is this I am doing?’ she said.  Immediately, she threw the chapatti into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window sill.

As usual the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and muttered the same words.  Then he proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman. Every day, as the woman placed the chapatti on the window sill, she offered a prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune.  For many months, she had no news of him.  She prayed for his safe return.

That very evening there was a knock on the door.  As she opened it, she was surprised to find her son standing in the doorway.  He had grown thin and lean.  His garments were tattered and torn.  He was hungry, starved and weak.  As he saw his mother, he said, ‘Mom, it is a miracle I am here.  While I was but a mile away, I was so famished that I collapsed.  I would have died, but just then an old hunchback passed by.  I begged of him for a morsel of food, and he was kind enough to give me a whole chapatti.’

He further continued, ‘As he gave it to me, he said, ‘This is what I eat every day, today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than mine!’ As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale.  She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned chapatti that she had made that morning.  Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own son, and he would have lost his life! 

It was then that she realized the significance of the words: ‘The evil you do remains with you and the good you do, comes back to you.’  This is to show that we need to do virtuous acts and be kind to each and every one we come across and even though they do not reciprocate your feelings or your help, it is completely okay, keep on doing your good deeds and do not ever stop doing what is needed, even if it is not appreciated at that time. 

Always keep hoping for good for others. As the Chinese saying goes: ‘Keep a Green Tree in your heart, let it flower and grow with Love and Care and the singing birds will surely come to nest in them.’ Thousands of lives would be touched in so many ways by these acts of kindness and compassion.

Live Simply, Love Deeply and Enjoy Life.

 

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Help Me Find Peace………….

Help me find some Peace?

Lamented and Howled

Someone from the abysses

Tearing himself to pieces.

He smiled kindly and asked

In his genteel most tender way

“What are you willing to do for it”

‘Anything’ He said with a faint voice

His liveliness burrowed in dust.

He replied from words of insight

That fell as pearls of wisdom

‘Then let go your search for peace

And allow Peace to find you instead?

It is a divine ray of light

And is not found anywhere else

It is allowed to come forth

From deep within yourself………………….

Very Funny Short Stories…………

–THE LETTER H: When I was in class 7 I used to ask a lot of questions. One day I decided to ask one Ms. Smith this question. 

Me: Well, in pronunciation we ignore some letters eg. Letter ‘H’ in Hour, Honest, Honour etc., why?

Ms. Smith: We are not ignoring the letter H but they are considered silent.

Me: I was even more confused. After class, the teacher asked me to Heat her packed lunch for her in the microwave in the cafeteria. I ate all the food and returned an empty hotpot to her.

Ms. Smith: What happened, I told you to go and Heat my food???

Me: Hmmmm Madam, I thought ‘H’ was silent.

–CLEVER OLD MAN: An old man owned a pond on his farm, lined with fruit trees.  One day he went there with a basket to get fruits. On reaching, he found some young ladies swimming in the pond. When they saw the old man, they went very deep in water to shield themselves as they had no clothes on them and said, ‘Old man, go away from here. We will not come out until you leave.’

Old man: ‘I am not here to see you swim or to get you out of the pond. I am just here to feed the crocodile in the pond.’  All the women rushed out. The moral of this joke is that no matter the age, Men will be always men.

-ENGLISH LANGUAGE: There was an English language competition where almost 200 people were participating. They were asked to write in one sentence about Peacefulness, Happiness and Calmness. Only one person got the award out of so many who attended.

He had written: ‘My wife is sleeping’. Judges hugged him profusely with excitement and tons of laughter when presenting the award.

–A NEWLY MARRIED MAN: Alan goes to meet Father George. He greets the priest and says, ‘Father, I need to talk to you.’ The Priest asks, ‘Is it a confession, my son?’ Alan replies: ‘No, Father, I need to clarify something.’

The Priest takes Alan to his private chamber and says, ‘Tell me, Alan. What is it?’ Alan asks, ‘Father, why do the kindest of girls begin their quest to change men after marriage?’ The Priest smiles and replied, ‘Alan, my son; as the bride walks down the long aisle, her brain registers 3 stimuli. The altar, the coir and the sound of the hymn being sung. Aisle, altar and hymn. She becomes mesmerized. Aisle, altar, hymn. Aisle, altar, hymn. And finally, as she stops besides the groom, she is already saying to herself: ‘I WILL ALTER HIM.’

Laugh and be merry at all times. These fun loving short stories will make you laugh till you drop.

 

An Act of Love…………

This is a true story that happened at the World Trade Centre in the year 2011 and how this awesome Golden Retriever whose name was Daisy saved so many people. This is called a true ‘Act of Love’. The story goes like this:

“James Crane worked on the 101^st floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center.  He is blind so he has a golden retriever named Daisy.  After the plane hit 20 stories below, James knew that he was doomed, so he let Daisy go, out of An Act of Love.  She darted away into the darkened hallway. Choking on the fumes of the jet fuel and the smoke, James was just waiting to die. 

About 30 minutes later, Daisy comes back along with James’ boss, who Daisy just happened to pick up on floor 112 on her first run of the building and she leads James, James’ boss, and about 300 more people out of the doomed building.  But she was not through yet, she knew there were others who were trapped in the building.

So highly against James’ wishes she ran back in the building.  On her second run, she saved 392 lives. Again she went back in.  During this run, the building collapses.  James hears about this and falls on his knees into tears.  He says to himself, ‘Daisy why did you not listen to me, I will not see alive. God please let my Daisy come out safely. I love her so much,’ crying bitterly. Against all known odds, Daisy makes it out alive, but this time she is carried by a firefighter.  ‘She led us right to the people, before she got injured’, the fireman explained to James.  Her final run saved another 273 lives. 

Daisy suffered acute smoke inhalation, severe burns on all four paws and a broken leg, but she saved 967 lives.  Daisy is the first civilian Canine to win the Medal of Honor of New York City.  Hats off to her. What a brave Dog a true spirit of ‘An Act of Love’.”

Friends, we have so much to learn from animals who never ever distinguishes among anyone who needs their assistance. They, out of their kindness, compassion and courageousness go all out even at the cost of their lives to help others. We are all made from the Oneness of the Lord, then why as Human Beings do we feel we are much superior than others and so many times we do not reach out to our fellow brethren. We are spreading so much hatred, animosity and anger and destroying our Mother Earth out of our selfishness and for What. Why can’t we stay as one big happy family and support each other.

Those who teach us the most about being humane, loving and caring are not always humans. Be grateful for every moment of your life. Life is very precious.

Live Simply, Love Deeply and Be thankful.

What Would I Not Give………….

What would I not give

For a walk in the forest

Trees as old as memories

Murmuring in the autumn leaves

Wind that sings from its branches

Basking in the sun’s rays

Where the seasons do sing

Dancing upon the leaves

A sweet companionship forms

Of being oneself with nature

Solitude a beautiful feeling

I thirst for freedom’s breathless wings

Like the eagle that soars beautifully

Rivers that croon along their course

Flowers spreading tiny dewdrops

And I walked deep into its heart

Giving up my so called existence

To witness a thousand miracles……………..

Sweet Golden Memories…….

Sharing some of the sweet golden memories of our Growing Up and they never come back:

-Somewhere between: ‘8 toffees for 1 rupee’ and ‘1 toffee for 8 rupees’, we grew up!

-Somewhere between ‘Come and play on the grounds, parks, beaches and ‘Come Online’ we grew up!

-Somewhere between: ‘stealing chocolate from our sisters and brothers’ and ‘buying chocolate for their children’ we grew up

-Somewhere between: ‘Crying out loud just to get what we want’ and ‘holding our tears when we are broken inside’, we grew up.

Somewhere between: ‘I want to grow up as fast as I can’ and I want to be a child once again’, we grew up.

-Somewhere between: ‘let’s meet and plan’ and let’s plan and meet’, we grew up.

-Somewhere between: ‘being afraid of our parents’ and ‘praying for our parents’ we finally grew up

And as we grew up, we realized, how silently, our lives have changed. This was our childhood and our happiest journey. We were so carefree, joyous and happy. Never for one moment of our lives we thought negatively. I wish I could be a child again and have the same simplicity, honesty, love and a bit of mischievousness and mysteriousness in our actions and let go of unwanted things that are not wanted as we grow older in our lives.

A seed grows with no sound but a tree falls with a huge noise. Destruction has noise but creation is quiet and silent. This is the power of silence. Grow silently and grow strong with the golden memories that we all cherished as we were growing up.

Live Simply, Smile Often and Enjoy Life to the fullest………….

 

What You Scatter……….

I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatoes and, I all of a sudden noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily looking at a basket of freshly picked green peas.  I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes.  Pondering the peas, I could not help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the ragged boy next to me.

‘Hello Barry, how are you today?’ Hello, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank you. Just admiring them peas.  They sure look good.’  ‘They are good, Barry, How’s your Ma?’ ‘Fine, getting stronger all the time.’ ‘Good.  Anything I can help you with? ‘No, Sir. Just admiring them peas.’ ‘Would you like to take some home?’ asked Mr. Miller. ‘No, Sir. Got nothing to pay for them with.’ ‘Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?’ ‘All I got’s my prize marble here.’ ‘Is that right? Let me see it’, said Miller. ‘Here it is.  She’s a real dandy.’ ‘I can see that.  Hmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red.  Do you have a red one like this at home?’ The store owner asked.  ‘Not exactly but almost’. ‘Tell you what.  Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble.’ Mr. Miller told the boy. ‘Sure will.  Thanks Mr. Miller’. 

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me. With a smile she said, ‘There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances.  Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes or whatever.  When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he does not like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store.’

I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man.  A short time later I moved to Colorado, but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering for marbles.  Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one.  Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died. They were having his visitation that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them.  Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.

Ahead of us in line were three young men.  One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts, all very professional looking.  They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband’s casket.  Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket.  Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one; each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket.  Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes.

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller.  I told her who I was and reminded her of the story from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband’s bartering for marbles.  With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.  Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about.  They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim ‘traded’ them with.  Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about the color or size, they came to pay their debt.’

‘We have never had a great deal of the wealth of this world’, she confided, ‘but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho.’ With loving gentleness, she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband.  Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles. 

To end this beautiful story is that we will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds.  Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.  It’s not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.