Ultimate...

See the end.. its  toooo good

As a daily habit, the 10-year Old Pintu was reading newspaper.Suddenly he
asked his father, " Dad! What does it mean by 'Governance System' ? "
" Its Like....", father said while thinking, " See! I earn and bring money to
home, mean's I am a 'Money Holder'. Your mother decides where and how to
spend that money and that means she is 'Government'. That maid in our home
is doing all the household works, so she will be 'Labour Class'.. You are a
'Common man' or 'Public'. Your kid brother is 'Future' or the 'Next
Generation', understand?".

That day Pintu slept with all those thoughts. In the middle of the night he
woke-up because his kid brother was crying. He wetted the matrices so he was
crying. Pintu went to woke-up his mother. She was in deep sleep so Pintu
went to the Maiden's room to wake her up. But there his father was sleeping
with the maid. So he came back with frustration. Next morning father asked
Pintu, " Hey Pintu Darling! You understood the 'Governance System'? ". Pintu
replied, " Yeah Dad, I understood! When money Holder is exploiting Labour
Class, our Government is sleeping. Future of our nation is crying for not
getting their basic needs fulfilled and in all this Common Man is
suffering!"

Software Engineer and Soldier

A conversation between a soldier and software engineer in Shatabdi Train.

Mr. Vivek Pradhan was not a happy man. He was the project manager and still not entitled to air travel. It was not the prestige he sought, he had tried to reason with the admin person, it was the savings in time. He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time to some good use.

'Are you from the software industry sir,' the man beside him was staring appreciatively at the laptop.

Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in affirmation, handling the laptop now with exaggerated care and importance as if it were an expensive car.

'You people have brought so much advancement to the country, Sir. Today everything is getting computerized.'

'Thanks,' smiled Vivek, turning around to give the man a look. He always found it difficult to resist appreciation.

'You people always amaze me,' the man continued, 'You sit in an office and write something on a computer and it does so many big things outside.'

Vivek smiled deprecatingly. Naiveness demanded reasoning not anger. 'It is not as simple as that, my friend. It is not just a question of writing a few lines. There is a lot of process that goes behind it.' 'It is complex, very complex.'

'It has to be. No wonder you people are so highly paid,' came the reply.

This was not turning out as Vivek had thought. A hint of belligerence crept into his so far affable, persuasive tone. ' Everyone just sees the money. No one sees the amount of hard work we have to put in.

'Let me give you an example. Take this train. The entire railway reservation system is computerized. You can book a train ticket between any two stations from any of the hundreds of computerized booking centers across the country. Thousands of transactions accessing a single database, at a time concurrently; data integrity, locking, data security. Do you understand the complexity in designing and coding such a system?'

The man was awestuck; quite like a child at a planetarium. 'You design and code such things'.

'I used to,' Vivek paused for effect, 'but now I am the project manager.'

'Oh!' sighed the man, as if the storm had passed over, 'so your life is easy now.'

This was like the last straw for Vivek. He retorted, 'Oh come on, does life ever get easy as you go up the ladder. Responsibility only brings more work..

Design and coding! That is the easier part. Now I do not do it, but I am responsible for it and believe me, that is far more stressful. My job is to get the work done in time and with the highest quality. To tell you about the pressures, there is the customer at one end, always changing his requirements, the user at the other, wanting something else, and your boss, always expecting you to have finished it yesterday.' 'My friend,' he concluded triumphantly, 'you don't know what it is to be in the Line of Fire'.

The man sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as if in realization. When he spoke after sometime, it was with a calm certainty that surprised Vivek.

'I know sir. I know what it is to be in the Line of Fire'. He was staring blankly, as if no passenger, no train existed, just a vast expanse of time.

'There were 30 of us when we were ordered to capture Point 4875 in the cover of the night. The enemy was firing from the top. There was no knowing where the next bullet was going to come from and for whom.In the morning when we finally hoisted the Tricolour at the top only 4 of us were alive.'

'You are a...?'

'I am Subhedar Sushant from the 13 J&K Rifles on duty at Peak 4875 in kargil. They tell me I have completed my term and can opt for a soft assignment. But, tell me sir, can one give up duty just because it makes life easier. On the dawn of that capture, one of my colleagues lay injured in the snow, open to enemy fire while we were hiding behind a bunker. It was my job to go and fetch that soldier to safety. But my captain sahib refused me permission and went ahead himself. He said that the first pledge he had taken as a Gentleman Cadet was to put the "Safety and Welfare of the Nation foremost followed by the Safety and Welfare of the Men" he commanded and his own personal safety came last, always and every time.' 'He was killed as he shielded and brought that injured soldier into the bunker. Every morning thereafter, as we stood guard, I could see him taking all those bullets, which were actually meant for me. I know sir. I know, what it is to be in the Line of Fire.'

Vivek looked at him in disbelief not sure of how to respond. Abruptly, he switched off the laptop. It seemed trivial, even insulting to edit a Word document in the presence of a man for whom valour and duty was a daily part of life; valour and sense of duty which he had so far attributed only to epical heroes. The train slowed down as it pulled into the station, and Subhedar Sushant picked up his bags to alight.

'It was nice meeting you sir.'

Vivek fumbled with the handshake. This hand had climbed mountains, pressed the trigger, and hoisted the tricolour. Suddenly, as if by impulse, he stood up at attention and his right hand went up in an impromptu salute. It was the least he felt he could do for the country.

PS: The incident he narrated during the capture of Peak 4875 is a true-life incident during the Kargil war. Capt. Batra sacrificed his life while trying to save one of the men he commanded, as victory was within sight. For this and various other acts of bravery, he was awarded Param Vir Chakra, the nation's highest military award, and after that as is known about this nation, all such sacrifices of our soldiers are conveniently forgotten and that's the saddest part.

Please live humbly, there are great people around us, let us learn, winners are .....

• too busy to be sad,

• too positive to be doubtful,

• too optimistic to be fearful

• and too determined to be defeated

• Self-trust is the first secret of success.

HAPPINESS HANDBOOK

HAPPINESS HANDBOOK

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

5. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer.

6. Play more games.

7. Read more books than you did in 2009.

8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

9. Sleep for 7 hours.

10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

11. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

13. Don't overdo. Keep your limits.

14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

16. Dream more while you are awake.

17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

23. Smile and laugh more.

24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

25. Call your family often.

26. Each day give something good to others.

27. Forgive everyone for everything.

28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

30. What other people think of you is none of your business.

31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

32. Do the right thing!

33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

34. GOD heals everything.

35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

37. The best is yet to come.

38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.

39. Your Inner most self is always happy. So, be happy.

A memorial to son

A lady in a faded grey dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun suit walked in timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods , country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Harvard.

"We want to see the President "the man said softly.

"He'll be busy all day "the secretary snapped.

"We'll wait" the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them , hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president..

"Maybe if you see them for a few minutes , they'll leave" she said to him. The President , stern faced and with dignity , strutted toward the couple.

The lady told him "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago , he was accidentally killed.. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him , somewhere on campus."

The president wasn't touched....He was shocked. "Madam "he said , gruffly , " we can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did , this place would look like a cemetery."

"Oh , no , " the lady explained quickly "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard."

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit , and then exclaimed , "A building ! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard."

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly , "Is that all it costs to start a university ? Why don't we just start our own?"

Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away , traveling to Palo Alto , California where they established the University that bears their name. Stanford University , a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

Most of the time we judge people by their outer appearance , which can be misleading.. And in this impression , we tend to treat people badly by thinking they can do nothing for us. Thus we tend to lose our potential good friends , employees or customers.

Remember In our Life , we seldom get people with whom we want to share & grow our thought process. But because of our inner EGO we miss them forever.

It is you who have to decide with whom you are getting associated in day to day life.

I end this beautiful story with a note: Small people talk about others , Average people talk about things , Great people talk about ideas.

Buffalo & the Horse

Once upon a time a horse and a buffalo lived in a beautiful meadow up in the mountains.

There was plenty of grass to eat and water to drink, and the two had become good friends. But one year, there was no rain. The meadow stream dried up and the grass turned brown.

Soon the horse and buffalo found themselves fighting over the scarce water and grass. One day, their daily fight became violent. The buffalo jabbed the horse with her sharp horns. The badly injured horse had no option but to flee.

A few days passed and the horse started feeling much better. He still had not forgotten how the buffalo had hurt him, and started planning his revenge. After much thought, he decided to approach a man and ask for his help. On hearing the horse’s tale, the man shrugged and said, "Well, you fought with each other, and you lost. Why should I get into this? Anyway, the buffalo has sharp horns. If she can hurt you, she will definitely kill me." With that the man told the horse to leave him so he could get on with his work.

Once again the horse pleaded with the man. He said, "If you help me, I will help you capture the buffalo. Then you can keep her, and I get to have the meadow all to myself."

The man laughed and said, "What will I do with a captured buffalo; it is of no use to me."

The horse then told the man about the buffalo’s sweet milk. "It not only tastes very good, it is also very healthy. If you were to drink it every day you will become more powerful than all the animals in the jungle." The man seemed impressed and agreed to help the horse. But the buffalo’s horns still worried him.

But the horse had a plan. "What you need," he said, "is a big fat stick. Just climb onto my back and every time I run past the buffalo, you hit her with the stick. She cannot run as fast as me so she will not be able to catch us." The plan sounded good so the man decided to go along with it.

Next morning the man climbed onto the horse’s back, holding a big fat stick. When they found the buffalo in the meadow, the horse started to run past the buffalo. The plan was working. After a few hard hits with the stick, the buffalo fell to the ground. The man captured the buffalo and tied her to a tree next to his hut.

The horse was really happy now that he had got rid of the buffalo from the meadow. He thanked the man and was about to leave when he found that he too was tied to the tree. The horse turned to the man and said, "Dear friend, now that our work is over, you can release me. I can enjoy the meadow and you can enjoy the buffalo’s milk.

The man in turn said, "My dear friend, you have been of such help to me. You have not just taught me how to capture a buffalo but also taught me how to ride horses. Now that I know how useful the two of you are, how can I possibly let either of you go? I promise I will take good care of you."

The sad horse felt betrayed. But after thinking for some time he realised that he was suffering because he had been petty and vengeful. By telling the secret of the buffalo’s milk to the man, he had betrayed his friend, the buffalo. From that day on, he decided he would never again betray anybody’s trust, not even his captor’s, the man. Perhaps that is why horses are known as man’s trusted friends.

The Fork ( Good Story )

There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things "in order", she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in.

The woman also requested to be buried with her favorite Bible.

Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

"There's one more thing," she said excitedly.

"What's that?" came the pastor's reply.

"This is very important," the woman continued. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."

The pastor didn't know what to say. "That surprises you, doesn't it?" the woman asked.

"Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request," said the pastor.

The woman explained. "In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork'.

It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming...

Like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance. So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder, 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them : "Keep your fork...the best is yet to come".

The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman the last time he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She KNEW that something better was coming.

At the funeral people were walking by the woman's casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing, her favorite Bible and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over, the pastor heard the question, "What's with the fork?" And over and over he smiled. During his message, the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the woman about what it symbolized to her.

The pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right.

So the next time you reach down for your fork let it remind you, oh so gently, that the best is yet to come.

Value of Knowledge

A giant ship's engine failed. The ship's owners tried many experts, bt none of them could figure how 2 fix it.

Then they brought an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a young.. He carried a large bag of tools with him, & when he arrived, he immediately went 2 work. He inspected engine very carefully.

2 of d ship owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what 2 do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!

A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for 10,000 dollars.

"What?!"the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"

So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."

The man sent a bill that read: Tapping with a hammer: $2 Knowing where 2 tap: $9,998


Moral of story is:Effort is important, but knowing where 2 make an effort makes all the difference.