Travellers

Two young men were traveling in company along when one of them picked up a good looking purse with valuables.

“Oh, what a lucky day for me!” he said. “I have found the purse filled with gems and gold.”

“Do not say ‘I’ have found a purse,’” said his companion. “ Rather say  ‘we’ have found a purse and ‘how lucky we are.’ Travelers are ought to share alike the fortunes or misfortunes of the road.”

“No, no,” disagreed the other angrily. “I found and picked the purse so it is only me who is going to keep it.”

As the two men were discussing the ownership of the fortune, they heard a shout “Stop, thief! Catch the thief”. When the men looked behind they saw a  mob of people armed with clubs angrily coming down the road.

The man with the purse fell into a panic.

“We are in trouble if they find the purse with us,” he cried.

“No, no,” replied the other, “You did not say ‘we’ before when you had to share your fortune, so now stick to your ‘I’. Say ‘I am in trouble.’ Don’t try to share your misfortune now, when you were not ready to share your fortune  earlier.

Moral of the story: We cannot expect anyone to share our misfortunes unless we are willing to share our fortune also.

Dog

Once a highly successful businessman, running a health insurance company was getting ready to go to his office. When he reached into his car and opened a door, a stray dog sleeping under his car suddenly came out and bit on his leg! The businessman got very angry and quickly picked up a few rocks and threw at the dog but none hit the dog. The dog ran away.

Upon reaching his office, the businessman calls a meeting of his managers and during the meeting he puts the anger of dog on them. The managers also get upset by the anger of their boss and they put their anger to the employees working under them. The chain of this reaction keeps going till the lower level of employees and finally, the anger reaches to the office peon.

Now, there was no one working under the peon! So, after the office time is over, he reaches his home, and wife opens the door. She asked him, “Why are you so late today?” The peon upset due to anger threw at him by the staff, gives one slap to his wife! And says, “I didn’t go to the office to play football, I went to work so don’t irritate me with your stupid questions!”

So, now the wife got upset that she got a scolding plus a slap for no reason. She puts her anger on his son who was watching tv and give him a slap, “This is all you do, you have no interest in studying! Turn off the TV now!”

The son gets upset now! He walks out of his house and sees a dog passing by looking at him. He picks up a rock and hits the dog in his anger and frustration. The dog, getting hit by a rock, runs away barking in pain.

This was the same dog that bit the businessman early morning.

Moral: This was bound to happen. Reap as one has sown. This is how the life works. While we all worry about hell and heaven based on our deeds, we should concentrate more on how we are living and behaving. Do good, Good will come, Do Wrong, Wrong will come.

Sister

After I got married, I lived in the city. Many times my husband invited my parents to come and live with us, but they didn’t want. They said once they left the village, they wouldn’t know what to do. My brother agreed with them. He said, “Sis, you just take care of your parents-in-law. I will take care of Mom and Dad here.”

My husband became the directors of his factory. We asked my brother to accept the offer of being the manager in the maintenance department. But my brother rejected the offer. He insisted on working as a repairman instead for a start.

One day, my brother was on the top of a ladder repairing a cable, when he got electrocuted, and was sent to the hospital. My husband and I visited him at the hospital. Looking at the plaster cast on his leg, I grumbled, “Why did you reject the offer of being a manager? Managers won’t do something dangerous like that. Now look at you – you are suffering a serious injury. Why didn’t you just listen to us?”

With a serious expression on his face, he defended his decision, “Think of your brother-in-law, he just became the director. If I, being uneducated, would become a manager, what kind of rumors would fly around?” My husband’s eyes filled up with tears, and then I said, “But you lack in education only because of me!”

“Why do you talk about the past?” he said and then he held my hand. That year, he was 26 years old and I was 29 years old. My brother was 30 years old when he married a farmer girl from the village. During the wedding reception, the master of ceremonies asked him, “Who is the one person you respect and love the most?”

Without even taking a time to think, he answered, “My sister.” He continued by telling a story I could not even remember. “When I was in primary school, the school was in a different village. Everyday, my sister and I would walk for 2 hours to school and back home. One day, I lost one of my gloves. My sister gave me one of hers. She wore only one glove and she had to walk far. When we got home, her hands were trembling because of the cold weather. She could not even hold her chopsticks. From that day on, I swore that as long as I lived, I would take care of my sister and would always be good to her.”

Applause filled up the room. All guests turned their attention to me. I found it hard to speak, “In my whole life, the one I would like to thank most is my brother,” And in this happy occasion, in front of the crowd, tears were rolling down my face again.

Moral: Love and care for the one you love every single day of your life. You may think what you did is just a small deed, but to that someone, it may mean a lot. Some relations are made to be last longer but they still need to be nurtured with love and care.

2 Apples

A Father and his Daughter were playing in the park.  His young daughter spotted an apple vendor.  She asked her father to buy her an apple.  Father didn’t bring much money with him, but it was enough to purchase two apple.  So, he bought two apples and gave his daughter.

His daughter held one apple each in her two hands.  Then a father asked her if she can share one apple with him.  Upon hearing this, his daughter quickly took a bite from one apple.  And before her father could speak, she also took a bite from the second apple.

A Father was surprised.  He wondered what mistake he made raising her daughter that she acted in such a greedy way.  His mind was lost in thoughts, that perhaps he is just thinking too much, his daughter is too young to understand about sharing and giving.  A smile had disappeared from his face.

And suddenly his daughter with an apple in her one hand  said, “Father have this one, this one is much juiciest and sweeter”.  Her father was speechless.  He felt bad about reaching to the judgement so quickly about a small child.  But, his smile came back now knowing why his daughter quickly took a bite from each apple.

Moral:  Don’t Judge anything too quickly or reach a conclusion.  Always spare a time to understand things better.

House on fire

A man who has gone out of his town comes back and finds that his house is on fire. It was one of the most beautiful houses in the town, and the man loved the house the most! Many were ready to give a double price for the house, but he had never agreed for any price and now it is just burning before his eyes. And thousands of people have gathered, but nothing can be done, the fire has spread so far that even if you try to put it out, nothing will be saved. So he became very sad.

His son comes running and whispers something in his ear, “Don’t be worried. I sold it yesterday and at a very good price. The offer was so good, I could not wait for you. Forgive me.”

The Father said, “thank God, it’s not ours now!” Then he became relaxed and stood as a silent watcher, just like 1000s of other watchers.

Then the second son comes running, and he says to the father, “What are you doing? the house is on fire and you are only watching it burn?” The father said, “Don’t you know, your brother has sold it.”

He said, “we have taken only advance amount, not settled fully. I doubt now that the man is going to purchase it now.”

Tears which had disappeared came back to the father’s eyes, his heart started to beat fast. And then the third son comes, and he says, “That man is a man of his word. I have just come from him.” He said, “It doesn’t matter whether the house is burnt or not, it is mine. And I am going to pay the price that I have settled for. Neither you knew, nor I knew that the house would catch on fire.”

Then all just stood and watched the house burn without a worry.

Moral:  This is a very complicated human nature to describe. Even though person here loved his house which he lost, became relaxed knowing it was not his anymore. He never wanted to give it away till it was beautiful but, as soon as it started to lose its beauty, he didn’t mind letting it go for a profit.   Sorrow and Happiness followed after each son came with their advice. But, most important thing to understand is, how his feeling changed.  How the ratio of loss and profit changed his feelings towards a house, which he loved the most.  This is how in present time we have come to give a priority to our relations and friendship – based on loss or profit ratio.  Everyone should understand this story and put their own moral.

100 Gold Coins

The wisdom of Birbal was unparalleled during the reign of Emperor Akbar. But Akbar’s brother in law was extremely jealous of him. He asked the Emperor to dispense with Birbal’s services and appoint him in his place. He gave ample assurance that he would prove to be more efficient and capable than Birbal. Before Akbar could take a decision on this matter, this news reached Birbal.

Birbal resigned and left. Akbar’s brother in law was made the minister in place of Birbal. Akbar decided to test the new minister. He gave three hundred gold coins to him and said, “Spend these gold coins such that, I get a hundred gold coins here in this life; a hundred gold coins in the other world and another hundred gold coins neither here nor there.”

The minister found the entire situation to be a maze of confusion and hopelessness. He spent sleepless nights worrying how he would get himself out of this mess. Thinking in circles was making him go crazy. Eventually, on the advice of his wife, he sought Birbals help. Birbal said, “Just give me the gold coins. I shall handle the rest.”

Birbal walked the streets of the city holding the bag of gold coins in his hand. He noticed a rich merchant celebrating his son’s wedding. Birbal gave a hundred gold coins to him and bowed courteously saying, “Emperor Akbar sends you his good wishes and blessings for the wedding of your son. Please accept the gift he has sent.” The merchant felt honored that the king had sent a special messenger with such a precious gift. He honored Birbal and gave him a large number of expensive gifts and a bag of gold coins as a return gift for the king.

Next, Birbal went to the area of the city where the poor people lived. There he bought food and clothing in exchange for a hundred gold coins and distributed them in the name of the Emperor.

When he came back to town he organized a concert of music and dance. He spent a hundred gold coins on it.

The next day Birbal entered Akbar’s darbar and announced that he had done all that the king had asked his brother-in-law to do. The Emperor wanted to know how he had done it. Birbal repeated the sequences of all the events and then said, “The money I gave to the merchant for the wedding of his son – you have got back while on this earth. The money I spent on buying food and clothing for the poor – you will get it in the other world. The money I spent on the musical concert – you will get neither here nor there.” Akbar’s brother in law understood his mistake and resigned. Birbal got his place back.

Moral: The money you spend on friends is returned or reciprocated in some form or the other. The money spent on charity gets converted into blessings from God which will be your eternal property. The money spent on pleasures is just frittered away. So when you spend your money, think a little, if not a lot.

Finding peace

The proprietor of a coffee shop had been busy all day. Being Saturday, it was very crowded and the customers were just unending. He had been on his toes since morning.

Towards the evening he felt a splitting headache surfacing. As the clock ticked away, his headache worsened. Unable to bear it, he stepped out of the shop leaving his staff to look after the sales.

He walked across the street to the Chemist, to buy himself a painkiller to relieve his headache. He swallowed the pill and felt relieved. He knew that in a few minutes he would feel better.

As he strolled out of the shop, he casually asked the salesgirl, "Where is Mr Bhatwadekar (the Chemist)? He's not at the cash counter today!" The girl replied, "Sir, Mr. Bhatwadekar had a splitting headache and said he was going across to the coffee shop. He said a cup of hot coffee would relieve him of his headache."

The man's mouth went dry and he mumbled, "Oh! I see."

*This is a typical case of looking outside ourselves for something that we have within us*.

How strange but true!

The chemist relieves his headache by drinking coffee and the coffee shop owner finds relief in a pain relieving pill!

A man hunts across the lengths and breadths of the universe to find peace.

Eventually he finds it in his himself and realizes that peace is really a state of mind.

MOST OF THE RESOURCES ARE WITHIN OURSELVES

Collecting Pieces

I was walking in the supermarket and suddenly I heard a noise of things breaking. I turned down an aisle and saw a group of people staring at an older lady who had hit a shelf containing plates and glasses with her cart. Many had fallen to the ground and broken.

Kneeling on the floor embarrassed, the lady was frantically picking up the shattered pieces, while her husband peeled off each bar code saying: "We have to pay for all this."

What a sad scene. Someone has a mishap, and all eyes were on her. When I knelt beside her to help a man also knelt beside us and said, "Leave it, we will pick this up. Let’s get your information, so you can go to the hospital and have that wound in your hand looked at."

The lady looked at him and said, "But I have to pay for this."

The man said, "No ma'am, I'm the Manager & we have insurance for this. You don't have to pay anything. Let's get you taken care of."

For you who have read this far, I'd like you to close your eyes and imagine God doing the same for you. Collecting the pieces of your broken heart from all the misteps and blows that life has thrown at you.

God will heal your wounds and your sins and mistakes will be forgiven.

This is the warranty called grace, that when you accept God as your only savior, the manager of the existence of the universe (GOD) will tell you: "Everything is already paid for ... go on your way!"