Pravinder and Habib

Parvinder and Habib are beggars. They beg in different areas of London.

Habib begs just as long as Parvinder but only collects £2 to £3 every day.

Parvinder brings home a suitcase FULL of £10 notes, drives a Mercedes, lives in a mortgage-free house and has a lot of money to spend.

Habib says to Parvinder 'I work just as long and hard as you do but how do you bring home a suitcase full of £10 notes every day?'

Parvinder says, 'Look at your sign, what does it say'?

Habib's sign reads 'I have no work, a wife and 6 kids to support'.

Parvinder says 'No wonder you only get £2- £3

Habib says... 'So what does your sign say'?

Parvinder shows Habib his sign....

It reads, 'I only need another £10 to move back to Pakistan'.

What do they expect of you and what age?

Men! Beware!!
1. Handsome
2. Charming

3.Financially
4. A caring listener
5. Witty
6. In good shape

7. Dresses with style
8.Appreciates finer things

9. Full of thoughtful surprises.
10. An imaginative, romantic lover
What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 32)

1. Nice looking
2. Opens car doors, holds chairs
3. Has enough money for a nice dinner
4. Listens more than talks
5. Laughs at my jokes
6. Carries bags of groceries with ease
7. Owns at least one tie
8. Appreciates a good home-cooked meal
9. Remembers birthdays and anniversaries
10. Seeks romance at least once a week

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 52)

1. Not too ugly
2. Doesn't drive off until I'm in the car
3. Works steady - splurges on dinner out occasionally
4. Nods head when I'm talking
5. Usually remembers punch lines of jokes
6. Is in good enough shape to rearrange the furniture
7. Wears a shirt that covers his stomach
8. Knows not to buy champagne with screw-top lids
9. Remembers to put the toilet seat down
10. Shaves most weekends

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 62)


1. Keeps hair in nose and ears trimmed
2. Doesn't belch or scratch in public
3. Doesn't borrow money too often
4. Doesn't nod off to sleep when I'm venting
5. Doesn't retell the same joke too many times
6. Is in good enough shape to get off couch on weekends
7. Usually wears matching socks and fresh underwear
8. Appreciates a good TV dinner
9. Remembers your name on occasion
10. Shaves some weekends

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 72)
1. Doesn't scare small children
2. Remembers where bathroom is
3. Doesn't require much money for upkeep
4. Only snores lightly when asleep
5. Remembers why he's laughing
6. Is in good enough shape to stand up by himself
7. Usually wears some clothes
8. Likes soft foods
9. Remembers where he left his teeth
10. Remembers that it's the weekend

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 82)

1. Breathing
2. Doesn't miss the toilet.

When many ask me "why do you do it?"

Discover Your Reason for Being

What are your greatest gifts? How can you best serve mankind? These are questions you must answer to find your true purpose in life.

Who am I?

What am I meant to do here?

What am I trying to do with my life?

These are powerful questions that can be difficult to answer. They sometimes surface during major life transitions such as family strife, job loss, spiritual awakenings, or the death of a loved one.

I feel fortunate to have found my purpose in life. I have that reason to get up in the morning and it fuels my passion. In one of the greatest compliments I ever received, someone said to me, “Hari, when you speak you’ve been blessed with the ability to connect with others…soul to soul.” I thought about those words and have chosen to shape my life around that gift. My purpose through speaking and writing is to “bring ideas to life” that will encourage and motivate people.

Every person is a unique being. There is only one of you in the universe. You have many obvious gifts and other gifts still waiting to be discovered.

I truly believe, however, that one of the most important questions you can ask yourself in your journey to find your purpose is, “How can I serve others?” Albert Schweitzer said it well: “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

A person's Character

A man's character is his fate." - Heraclitus (c. 540 - c. 480 BC) - Greek
philosopher

No amount of books and no amount of diplomas can produce integrity.
Integrity is not something that can be achieved in school, regardless of the
school's fame. But it is integrity that we need the most - especially in
positions of great responsibility.

Here are two real-life stories that I think is a must-read for all of us.
It's a little long but it's worth it.

*The First Story*

Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. Al Capone wasn't famous
for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in
everything from bootlegged booze to murder. Capone had a lawyer nicknamed
"Easy Eddie." He was his lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In
fact, Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long
time.

To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money
big, but also Eddie got special dividends. For instance, he and his family
occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences
of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City
block. Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little
consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.

Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly.
Eddie saw to it that his young son had the best of everything: clothes, cars
and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object. And,
despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him
right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.

Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't
give his son; he couldn't pass on a good name and a good example. One day,
Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs
he had done. He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth
about Al "Scarface" Capone, clean up his tarnished name and offer his son
some semblance of integrity.

To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the
cost would be great. So, he testified. Within the year, Easy Eddie's life
ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street, but not before he
finally passed on a good name to his son.



*The Second Story*

World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander
Butch O'Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier
Lexington in the South Pacific. One day his entire squadron was sent on a
mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized
that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank He would not have enough
fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship. His flight leader
told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation
and headed back to the fleet.

As he was returning to the mother ship he saw something that turned his
blood cold, a squadron of Japanese aircraft were speeding their way toward
the American fleet. The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the
fleet was all but defenseless He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them
back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the
approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert
them from the fleet.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of
Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he charged in,
attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out
of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until
all his ammunition was finally spent. Undaunted, he continued the assault.
He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as
many enemy planes as possible and rendering them unfit to fly. Finally, the
exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.

Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the
carrier. Upon arrival he reported in and related the event surrounding His
return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It
showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet He had in
fact destroyed five enemy aircraft.

This took place on February 20, 1942, and for that action Butch became The
Navy's first Ace of World War II, and the first Naval aviator to win the
Congressional Medal of Honor. A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat
at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II
hero to fade, and today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to
the courage of this great man.

So the next time you find yourself at O'Hare International, give some
thought to visiting Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of
Honor. It's located between Terminals 1 and 2.
.

So, what do these two stories have to do with each other? ……Butch O'Hare was
Easy Eddie's son.

Live like Bamboo

One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank.

There I would enjoy the peace and quiet, watch the water rush downstream, and listen to the chirps of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees. I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their upright or original position after the wind had died down.

When I think about the bamboo tree's ability to bounce back or return to it's original position, the word resilience comes to mind. When used in reference to a person this word means the ability to readily recover from shock, depression or any other situation that stretches the limits of a person's emotions.

Have you ever felt like you are about to snap? Have you ever felt like you are at your breaking point?

Thankfully, you have survived the experience to live to talk about it.

During the experience you probably felt a mix of emotions that threatened your health. You felt emotionally drained, mentally exhausted and you most likely endured unpleasant physical symptoms.

Life is a mixture of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one of those bad times or unhappy moments that take you close to your breaking point, bend but don't break. Try your best not to let the situation get the best of you.

A measure of hope will take you through the unpleasant ordeal. With hope for a better tomorrow or a better situation, things may not be as bad as they seem to be. The unpleasant ordeal may be easier to deal with if the end result is worth having.

If the going gets tough and you are at your breaking point, show resilience.

Like the bamboo tree, bend, but don't break.

Between You and God

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see...in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

My mother also lied

The person who send me this mail was reminded of his father.

This story begins when I was a child: I was born poor. Often we hadn't enough to eat. Whenever we had some food, Mother often gave me her portion of rice. While she was transferring her rice into my bowl, she would say 'Eat this rice, son! I'm not hungry.'
This was Mother's First Lie.

As I grew, Mother gave up her spare time to fish in a river near our house; she hoped that from the fish she caught, she could give me a little bit more nutritious food for my growth. Once she had caught just two fish, she would make fish soup. While I was eating the soup, mother would sit beside me and eat what was still left on the bone of the fish I had eaten; My heart was touched when I saw it. Once I gave the other fish to her on my chopstick but she immediately refused it and said, 'Eat this fish, son! I don't really like fish.'
This was Mother's second lie.


Then, in order to fund my education, Mother went to a Match Factory to bring home some used matchboxes which she filled with fresh matchsticks. This helped her get some money to cover our needs. One wintry night I awoke to find Mother filling the matchboxes by candlelight. So I said, 'Mother, go to sleep; it's late: you can continue working tomorrow morning.' Mother smiled and said 'Go to sleep, son! I'm not tired.'
This was Mother's Third Lie.

When I had to sit my Final Examination, Mother accompanied me. After dawn, Mother waited for me for hours in the heat of the sun. When the bell rang, I ran to meet her. Mother embraced me and poured me a glass of tea that she had prepared in a thermos. The tea was not as strong as my Mother's love, Seeing Mother covered with perspiration; I at once gave her my glass and asked her to drink too. Mother said 'Drink, son! I'm not thirsty!
This was Mother's Fourth Lie.

After Father's death, Mother had to play the role of a single parent. She held on to her former job; she had to fund our needs alone. Our family's life was more complicated. We suffered from starvation. Seeing our family's condition worsening, my kind Uncle who lived near my house came to help us solve our problems big and small. Our other neighbors saw that we were poverty stricken so they often advised my mother to marry again. But Mother refused to remarry saying 'I don't need love.'
This was Mother's Fifth Lie.

After I had finished my studies and gotten a job, it was time for my old Mother to retire but she carried on going to the market every morning just to sell a few vegetables. I kept sending her money but she was steadfast and even sent the money back to me. She said, 'I have enough money.'
That was Mother's Sixth Lie.

I continued my part-time studies for my Master's Degree. Funded by the American Corporation for which I worked, I succeeded in my studies. With a big jump in my salary, I decided to bring Mother to enjoy life in America but Mother didn't want to bother her son; she said to me 'I'm not used to high living.'
That was Mother's Seventh Lie.

In her dotage, Mother was attacked by cancer and had to be hospitalized. Now living far across the ocean, I went home to visit Mother who was bedridden after an operation. Mother tried to smile but I was heartbroken because she was so thin and feeble but Mother said, 'Don't cry, son! I'm not in pain.'
That was Mother's Eighth Lie.

Telling me this, her eighth lie, she died.
YES, MOTHER WAS AN ANGEL!

M - O - T - H - E - R
'M' is for the Million things she gave me, 'O' means Only that she's growing old, 'T' is for the Tears she shed to save me, 'H' is for her Heart of gold, 'E' is for her Eyes with love-light shining in them, 'R' means Right, and right she'll always be, Put them all together, they spell 'MOTHER' a word that means the world to me. For those of you who are lucky to be still blessed with your Mom's presence on Earth, this story is beautiful. For those who aren't so blessed, this is even more beautiful.

some thing to chew

You’re not the only person in the world, so don’t act like it. Instead, enhance your success at work by building a reputation for being a thoughtful, considerate coworker. How? By doing things like…

• Cleaning up after yourself.
  
• Sharing – not monopolizing – equipment and resources.
  
• Filling the copy machine with paper for the next person – even though there were a few sheets left when you finished.
  
• Restocking (or letting the appropriate person know) when you take the last of the supplies.
  
• Keeping your music and your voice down.
  
• Respecting others’ time by not interrupting them – and not expecting them to serve your every need “on the spot.”
  
• Immediately stopping behaviors that coworkers tell you are disturbing.

What is "They" and " We"

Ever wonder who THEY are? THEY seem to be everywhere. THEY must be a big and powerful group with a great deal of influence, because we sure do talk about them a lot:

“They should know better!”

“That’s their problem!"

“They need to do something about this!”

“It’s all because of them!”

“They’re the ones who fouled things up!”

No need to ask if those sound familiar. Who among us hasn’t pointed a finger at THEM before? “They” and “them” are common pronouns – part of normal, everyday speech. We utter them all the time. And when it comes to building good character and walking the talk, they may be the absolute worst words in our language. Why? Just look at what “they” and “them” mean: OTHER PEOPLE, SOMEONE ELSE. You don’t have to be a genius to know that those words are dripping with non-responsibility.

Maybe it’s time we all did some word switching. Imagine what would happen – think of how our perspectives might change – if we stopped using “they,” “them,” and “their” altogether, and instead used “we,” “us,” and “our.”

Let’s see:

“THEY WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!”

“THAT’S THEIR OUR PROBLEM!”

“IT’S UP TO THEM US!”

“THEY WE NEED TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT!”

See and feel the difference?

So, the next time you catch yourself starting to say or think the T-word (“they”), use “we” instead. After all, the first step in meeting our responsibilities as adults is acknowledging that we have them. You know, pointing the finger at them probably is a waste of time, anyway. We’re beginning to think they don’t exist. Because…

Every time we’ve gone looking for “them,” all we’ve found is US!

My kids corner - 7

Below is the link given for a book published in 1864, for children. It can also be read by parents, to make their kids develop reading habits. It will be interesting experience to read a book of 340 years old page by page in computer, without the fear of page getting torn. Try it for the fancy of knowing how they were writing 300 years back for children.

http://www.archive.org/stream/whatmoonsawother00andeiala


Knowing the past will help to build the future

What the moon saw : and other tales (1866)

Author: Andersen, H. C. (Hans Christian), 1805-1875
Digitizing Sponsor: msn
Book Contributor: University of California Libraries
Language: English
Keywords: Children's stories, Danish

Hemalatha said...

Sir, Is it possible to download the book ? Thanks & Regards. Hemalatha

September 9, 2010 11:27 PM

hvaidya said...

You can read the book as it is page by page. Try the link and I think you may be able to save it and then read it. I am not very sure about it,because I did not try it. I just read the book on line.

September 11, 2010 9:12 PM