Sweetness of Sour Oranges

He often bought oranges from an old lady.

After they were weighed, paid for and put in his bag, he would always pick one from his bag, peel it, put a segment in his mouth, complain it's sour and pass on the orange to the seller.

The old lady would put one segment in her mouth and retort, "why, it's sweet," but by then he was gone with his bag.

His wife, always with him, asked, "the oranges are always sweet, then why this drama every time?"

He smiled, "the old mother sells sweet oranges but never eats them herself. This way I get her to eat one, without losing her money. That's all."

The vegetable seller next to the old lady, saw this everyday.

She chided, "every time this man fusses over your oranges, and I see that you always weigh a few extra for him. Why?"

The old lady smiled, "I know he does this to feed me an orange, he thinks I don't understand..... I never weigh extra. His love tilts the scale slightly every time."

Life's joys are in these sweet little gestures of love and respect for our fellow beings.....

Hope our life be Happy...

Human Touch

Friends this is a True Story.  Do read on: The on-duty nurse took the anxious young Army Major to the bedside.

"Your son is here," she said softly, to the old man lying there on the bed.

She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.

Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Major standing outside the oxygen tent.

He reached out his hand.

The Major wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse, observing the touching moments, brought a chair so that the Major could sit beside the bed.

"Thank you Ma'am!" a polite acknowledgement followed.

All through the night, the young Major sat there in the poorly lit ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the officer move away and rest awhile.

He graciously refused.

Whenever the nurse came into the ward, he was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.

Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Major released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse.

While she did what she had to do, he waited...

Finally, she returned &  started to offer words of sympathy, but the Major interrupted her
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"Who was that man?" he asked.

The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered.

"No, he wasn't," the Major replied. "I never saw him before in my life."

"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"

"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here!"

The nurse listened on, confused.

"When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed."

"So then what was the purpose of your visit here, at the hospital, Sir?",  the nurse queried of him.

"I came here tonight to find a Mr. Vikram Salaria. His son was Killed in J&K last night, and I was sent to inform him."

'But the man whose hand you kept holding whole night was Mr. Vikram Salaria!'

They stood in complete silence. There couldn't be anything more assuring for a dying man than his son's hand!

The next time someone needs you ... just be there! & Just stay!!!


WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE, WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

MARIA'S NEW HAT!!!

Maria lived with her mother in a small apartment in NYC.

She wasn't too young or too old not too short or too tall not particularly beautiful nor ugly She was just an average woman.

She worked as a secretary at a large company, and her life was pretty much boring and mundane.

No one at work paid any attention to her those that did considered her to be as boring as her life was.

One morning, on her way to work, Maria saw a new hat shop that opened down the street.

In a spur of curiosity she walked in!

In the shop was a little girl and her mother, who came to pick the girl a hat,  and another customer who was trying on hats.

Maria also tried on a few hats, until she found one she liked. She put it on and It looked nice!

First to notice was the little girl : "Mommy, look how pretty that woman looks with the hat on!"

The mother said:"Ma'am, I must say, this hat just looks wonderful on you!"
The second buyer also came to look : "Ma'am, you look lovely with that hat on!"

Maria went to the mirror she looked at herself and for the first time in her adult life she liked what she saw.

Smiling, she went to the counter and bought the hat.

As she walked outside a new world revealed itself to her.

She never before noticed the colors of the flowers or the scent of the fresh air,the sound of the cars and the people sounded like an harmonious melody she walked as if drifting on a cloud with a song in her heart.

When she passed by the coffee shop she walked by every morning, one of the young handsome man called out to her:"Hey darling..looking good! Are you new here? Can I buy you a cup of coffee? "

She smiled shyly and kept walking floating on her cloud...

When she got to the office building, the doorman opened the door and wished her Good Morning..

Never before had he even noticed her! The people in the elevator asked her the floor she needed and pressed the button for her, the people at the office, as if seen her for the first time Flattered her on how lovely she looked today.

The manager asked her out to lunch to talk about how she felt at work!

When this magical workday was over she decided to take a cab home instead of the bus.
As soon as she put her hand up 2 taxis stopped!

She took the first one and sat in the back seat thinking about the miraculous day she had and how her life changed thanks to the new hat!

When she got home, her mom opened the door, the sight of Maria took her breath away!
"Maria" she said surprised "How beautiful you look! Your eyes are all lit up like when you were a little girl! "

"Yes, mother" Said Maria, "It's all thanks to my new hat, I had the most marvelous day!"

"Maria" said her mother "What hat??"

Maria panicked.

She touched her head and saw that the hat that changed her life was not there.. She didn't remember taking it off in the cab..Or at lunch..Or at the office..

She thought back to the store where she had bought it..How she noticed it for the first time..
She put it on..Paying for it at the cashier's...

And she remembered painfully now how she put it on the counter to get her purse out to pay and how she forgot the hat right there on the counter...

Then she walked out to the street..
Hat-less yet glowing!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
It wasn't the hat that freed Maria,
it was the quality of her thoughts!

Our thoughts can enslave us into a horrible bondage or liberate us towards sweet freedom : to be, do, or have anything we wish for!!!

"A LEAP OF FAITH"

There was once a man who got lost in the desert. The water in his flask ran out two days ago, and he was on his last legs. He knew that if he didn't get some water soon, he would surely perish. The man saw a shack ahead of him. He thought it might be a mirage or hallucination, but having no other option, he moved toward it. As he got closer he realized it was quite real, so he dragged his weary body to the door with the last of his strength.

The shack was not occupied and seemed like it had been abandoned for quite some time. The man gained entrance, hoping against hope that he might find water inside.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw what was in the shack: a water pump..It had a pipe going down through the floor, perhaps tapping a source of water deep under-ground.

He began working the pump, but no water came out. He kept at it and still nothing happened. Finally he gave up from exhaustion and frustration. He threw up his hands in despair. It looked as if he was going to die after all.

Then the man noticed a bottle in one corner of the shack. It was filled with water and corked up to prevent evaporation.

He uncorked the bottle and was about to gulp down the sweet life-giving water when he noticed a piece of paper attached to it. Handwriting on the paper read: "Use this water to start the pump. Don't forget to fill the bottle when you're done."

He had a dilemma. He could follow the instruction and pour the water into the pump, or he could ignore it and just drink the water.

What to do? If he let the water go into the pump, what assurance did he have that it would work? What if the pump malfunctioned? What if the pipe had a leak? What if the underground reservoir had long dried up?

But then... maybe the instruction was correct. Should he risk it? If it turned out to be false, he would be throwing away the last water he would ever see.

Hands trembling, he poured the water into the pump. Then he closed his eyes, said a prayer, and started working the pump.

He heard a gurgling sound, and then water came gushing out, more than he could possibly use. He luxuriated in the cool and refreshing stream. He was going to live!

After drinking his fill and feeling much better, he looked around the shack. He found a pencil and a map of the region. The map showed that he was still far away from civilization, but at least now he knew where he was and which direction to go.

He filled his flask for the journey ahead. He also filled the bottle and put the cork back in. Before leaving the shack, he added his own writing below the instruction: "Believe me, it works!"

This story is all about life. It teaches us that we must give before we can receive abundantly. More importantly, it also teaches that faith plays an important role in giving. The man did not know if his action would be rewarded, but he proceeded regardless. Without knowing what to expect, he made a leap of faith.

Water in this story represents the good things in life. Something that brings a smile to your face. It can be  intangible knowledge or it can represent money, love, family, friendship, happiness, respect, or any number of other things you value. Whatever it is that you would like to get out of life, that's water.

The water pump represents the workings of the karmic mechanism. Give it some water to work with, and it will return far more than you put in.

Look Inside

One night Rabia, a noble Sufi saint, was desperately searching for something on the street outside her small hut. When Hasan, returned back from work, he saw this and curiously asked, “Rabia, my dear, what are you looking for, here on the street, at this hour?”

Rabia replied, “I lost my needle.”

Hasan joined her in the search, but after searching for a while, he asked, “Can you try and recollect where you might have dropped it?”

Rabia said, “Of course, I remember. I dropped it near the bed, in our hut.”

Hasan mocked her, “Are you insane? You lost it inside the house, then why are we looking for it outside?”

Rabia innocently replied, “There was no oil left in our lamp. It was pitch dark inside the house to search for it. Hence I thought of searching for it outside, since there was enough streetlight here.”

While holding his laugh, Hasan said, “You are really acting weird. If you lost your needle inside the house, how could you even expect to find it outside?”

Rabia simply smiled back at Hasan and Hasan got the beautiful moral behind her silly act. We are all seeking outside, what we have lost inside us. Why, just because it is pitch dark inside? Silly, aren’t we? Light the lamp inside you. Find your lost treasure.

Nothing in this world outside will make us happy, if we are unhappy from inside. Many a times, people who have much less than us are much happier than us. Happiness is self generated. You are not expected to be unrealistically happy when your life may be miserable. When life is harsh on you, stay at peace and wait for happy days peacefully. This too shall pass. When your peace of mind is lost, remember where to look for it, INSIDE.