आडवाणी@2009 by संजय पुगलिया, संपादक, CNBC आवाज़

उम्र एक मनोवैज्ञानिक अवस्था है इस विषय में मेरी दिलचस्पी इसलिए भी ज्यादा है कि मैं जिस उम्र का हूं उसे 40 प्लस कहा जाता है दिखता कम का हूं। ऐसे में 81 वर्ष के एक वरिष्ठ राजनीतिज्ञ के साथ घूमने निकलते हैं तो, बार-बार वो ये एहसास कराते रहते हैं कि उस वरिष्ठ राजनीतिज्ञ में आपसे ज्यादा एनर्जी है, उनमें ज्यादा ताजगी है, वो हर बात को ध्यान से सुनते हैं और उतनी ही गहराई से जवाब देते हैं।

ये 81 साल के लालकृष्ण आडवाणी हैं। ये हर दिन 3-5 बैठक करते हैं। छोटे हवाई जहाज और बड़े bell 407 से चुनावी यात्रा करते हैं। लेकिन, मुझे हर जगह वो समय पर पहुंचते दिखे। दिल्ली एयरपोर्ट से पूर्णिया, बिहार के लिए उड़ते समय आडवाणीजी अचानक खुद ही पूछ बैठते हैं- अच्छा ये दिल्ली एयरपोर्ट का नया टर्मिनल शुरू हो गया है। कैसा दिखता है- इससे कितनी सुविधाएं बढ़ेंगी। आडवाणीजी के साथ चलते हुए कई बार मुझे लगा कि मैं थक रहा हूं लेकिन, उनके चेहरे से हमेशा ताजगी दिख रही थी। मुझे लगा फिजिकल-मेंटल फिटनेस से कोई भी उम्र को मात दे सकता है।

81 साल के आडवाणीजी आईफोन ऑपरेट करते हैं। कंप्यूटर-इंटरनेट के जरिए हर ताजा जानकारी से उसी तरह अपडेट रहते हैं जैसे कोई 20-21 साल का नौजवान। और, इस सबमें उनके परिवार के साथ उनके निजी सचिव दीपक चोपड़ा अहम भूमिका निभाते हैं। मुझे तो दिन भर की यात्रा के बाद लगा कि दीपक चोपड़ा के बिना आडवाणी के बारे में सोचा भी नहीं जा सकता। दीपक चोपड़ा हमेशा इनके साथ ही होते हैं। जो, अगले दिन की यात्रा से लेकर एयर ट्रैफिक कंट्रोल परमीशन और दूसरे राज्यों के बीजेपी नेता, वहां के समीकरणों पर ध्यान देते हैं। और, फिर सबकुछ धैर्य से आडवाणी जी को बताते हैं।

जबरदस्त चुनावी व्यस्तता के बीच मीडिया से जरूरी संवाद के लिए आडवाणीजी का नुस्खा है। हर यात्रा पर वो, किसी एक इलेक्ट्रॉनिक और प्रिंट मीडिया के पत्रकार को साथ लेकर चल पड़ते हैं 9 सीटर प्लेन में। और, अच्छी याददाश्त वाले आडवाणी एयर होस्टेस-पायलट से लेकर मीडिया की टीम और दूसरे लोगों को उनके नाम से ही बुलाते हैं। खुद के लिए खाने से पहले जहाज में साथ चल रहे हर किसी के खाने का ख्याल खुद आडवाणी रखते हैं। आडवाणीजी की चले तो, पत्नी कमलाजी या फिर बेटी प्रतिभा आडवाणी किसी एक को साथ लेकर जरूर चलें। लेकिन, अहमदाबाद में प्रचार में व्यस्त होने की वजह से कमलाजी उनके साथ नहीं हैं। आडवाणीजी को कमलाजी के हाथ का बना पैक खाना अकसर ही मिल जाता है। नहीं मिला तो, वो रास्ते में कुछ भी सादा खाना खा लेते हैं। और, कुछ नहीं मिला तो, उनकी पहली पसंद फ्लेवर्ड मिल्क।

लेकिन, इतनी भारी भरकम चुनावी व्यस्तता के बीच भी आडवाणीजी 1000 Years : 1000 People जैसी किताब पूरी गहराई से पढ़ने के लिए समय निकाल लेते हैं। दिल्ली से पूर्णिया और वहां से बंगलुरू के रास्ते उन्होंने मुझे इस किताब के बारे में बताया कि इस किताब में पहला नाम है जोहनेस गुटेनबर्ग जिसने पहली प्रिंटिंग मशीन बनाई। लेकिन, किताब में ये भी लिखा है कि अगर कंप्यूटर के आविष्कार पर किसी एक आदमी का नाम लिखना होता तो, वो गुटेनबर्ग से ऊपर होता। आडवाणी कंप्यूटर, इंटरनेट को भविष्य को बेहतर बनाने का सबसे बढ़िया जरिया मानते हैं।

राजनीति

"पॉलीटिक्स" दो शब्द- पॉली और टिक्स से बना है। ‘पॉली’ का अर्थ बहुत और ‘टिक्स’ का मतलब खून चूसनेवाला परजीवी (पैरासाइट)।

- लैरी हार्डिमैन

सब कुछ बदल गया है। लोग हास्य-अभिनेता को गंभीरता से लेते हैं और राजनेता को मजाक में।

- विल रोजर्स

राजनीति में हिस्सा नहीं लेने का यह खामियाजा भुगतना पड़ता है कि आपको घटिया लोगों के हाथों शासित होना पड़ता है।

- प्लेटो

बल का सीधा प्रयोग किसी समस्या का इतना कमजोर समाधान होता है कि इसे छोटे बच्चे और बड़े देश ही अपने प्रयोग में लाते हैं।

- डेविड फ्रायडमेन। 

the five laws of gold

“the five laws of gold”

1 Money comes to those who save.

2 Money multiplies for those who invest it.

3 Money stays with the person who entrusts it to wise people.

4 Money is lost when invested in things with which you are not familiar.

5 Money is lost at a fast rate by pursuing get-rich-quick schemes.

10 percent to yourself, 20 percent

to your debtors on a pro rata basis, and the rest to live on.

means. In time, anyone who can live on 80

or 90 percent of their income can become rich.

some facts about body

Every person has a unique tongue print.

On average, you speak almost 5,000 words a day - although almost 80% of speaking is self-talk (talking to yourself).

Our eyes are always the same size from birth.

We actually do not see with our eyes - we see with our brains. The eyes basically are the cameras of the brain. One-quarter of the brain is used to control the eyes.

The length from your wrist to your elbow is the same as the length of your foot.

A person can live without food for about a month, but only about a week without water.

The muscle that lets your eye blink is the fastest muscle in your body. It allows you to blink 5 times a second. On average, you blink 15 000 times a day. Women blink twice as much as men.

IF and WHEN

IF and WHEN were friends. Every week they met and had lunch.

Their conversation usually cantered on all the things they were going

to achieve. They both had many dreams and they loved to talk about

them.

This particular Saturday when they met, WHEN sensed that IF was

not in a great mood. As usual they sat at the table reserved for them

and ordered their lunch. Once they placed their order, WHEN

questioned IF. "IF what is wrong with you? You don't seem your usual

cheery self?"

IF looked at WHEN and replied, "I'm not sure; I just don't feel like I am

making any progress. This last week I saw a course I wanted to take

if only I had the time to take it."

WHEN knew exactly how IF felt. "Yeah," replied WHEN, "I too saw a

course and I am going to register when I get enough money

together." WHEN then said, "well what about that new job you were

going to apply for. You were so excited about it last week, did you

apply?"

IF responded, "If my computer didn't break down last week, I would

have applied. But, my computer is not working, so I could not type my

resume."

"Don't worry about it IF, when you are ready another job will come

through. I have been thinking about looking for another job also, but I

will wait and when the weather gets nicer I will look then." WHEN then

went on to tell IF about his week, hoping that it would cheer him up a

bit.

The man at the next table couldn't help overhear WHEN and IF. They

both were talking about when this and if that, finally he couldn't take it

anymore. "Excuse me gentlemen," the man said. IF and WHEN both

looked at the man and wondered what he wanted. The man

continued, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help hearing your conversation. I

think I know how you could solve your problems."

IF smiled and thought, how could a complete stranger know how to

solve all of their problems? If only he knew. When he realized the

challenges they faced there was no way he could solve their

problems! Curious, IF asked the gentleman, "How do you think you

can solve our problems?"

The gentleman smiled and said, "You only need listen to yourselves.

It reminds me of an old proverb:’ If and When were planted, and

Nothing grew'."

IF and WHEN looked puzzled. The gentleman smiled and said, "Start

counting how many times you use the words 'if' and 'when'. Rather

than thinking 'if and when', start doing, take action, stop talking about

'if and when'."

IF and WHEN both looked surprised, and suddenly realized that what

the gentleman had said was so true. Both of them were guilty of

thinking, acting and living their life for the "ifs and whens". The

gentleman left and IF and WHEN's conversation changed. They

made a pact that when they met for lunch next week, there would be

no "ifs and whens"; they would only talk about what they

accomplished!

funny quotes

The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on. - Robert Bloch

Behind every successful man is a surprised woman. - Maryon Pearson

The Buzzard, the Bat, and the Bumblebee

If you put a buzzard in a pen six or eight feet square and entirely

open at the top, the bird, in spite of his ability to fly, will be an

absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight

from the ground with a run of ten or twelve feet. Without space to run,

as is his habit, he will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a

prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble

creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on

the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no

doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it

can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

A Bumblebee if dropped into an open tumbler will be there until it

dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the

top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near

the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely

destroys itself.

In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat

and the bee. They are struggling about with all their problems

and frustrations, not realizing that the answer is right there

above them.

 

Give This a Thought

A group of children are playing near two railway tracks, one still in use

while the other disused. Only one child is playing on the disused

track, the rest on the operational track. The train comes, and you are

just beside the track interchange. You could make the train change its

course to the disused track and save most of the kids. However, that

would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be

sacrificed; or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make.

Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and

sacrifice only one child.

You might think the same way, I guess.

Exactly, I thought the same way initially because to save most of the

children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most

people would make, morally and emotionally. But, have you ever

thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact

made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends

who chose to play where the danger was.

This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office,

community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the

minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter

how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and

knowledgeable the minority are.

The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track

was sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed

a tear for him.

The friend who forwarded me the story said he would not try to

change the course of the train because he believed that the

kids playing on the operational track should have known very well

that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if

they heard the train's sirens. If the train was diverted, that lone child

would definitely die because he never thought the train could come

over to that track!

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that

need to be made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may

not always be the right one.

Funny Quote of the Day

Funny Quote of the Day - 

Groucho Marx - 

"Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot."

In 10 days, India will hang up on Chinese mobiles

China-made mobile handsets that have flooded the grey markets and are seen to be a security threat are to be phased out within the next 10 days. 
    The department of telecommunication (DoT) has sent a communication to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) asking them to block services to handsets that have a 15-digit International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. While other handsets come with 16-digit IMEIs, only Chinese cellphones have 15-digit numbers. On the computers of the service providers, the Chinese handsets show up an endless list of digits as their IMEI number due to which these handsets can’t be traced using their IMEI numbers. Also, over 1,000 of these handsets share a single IMEI number. This has posed a big problem for the police, who normally track down mobile thieves through the IMEI numbers. 
    Recently, the COAI made a representation to the government explaining the problem after which the DoT asked it to stop mobile services to people having Chinese mobile phone handsets. Some of these customers have already received SMSes from the mobile operators asking them to change the handset, else their phones would be disconnected.

Your Horse Called Up!

A man was sitting reading his papers when his wife hit him round the Head with a frying pan.

"What was that for?" the man asked.

The wife replied "That was for the piece of paper with the name Julie on it that I found in your pants pocket".

The man then said "When I was at the races last week Julie was the name of the horse I bet on"

The wife apologized and went on with the housework.

Threedays later the man is watching TV when his wife bashes him on theheadwith an even bigger frying pan, knocking him unconscious.

Upon re-gaining consciousness the man asked why she had hit again.

Wife replied."Your horse called up !!!!"

some good q and a

Teacher: How old is ur father.

Sunny: As old as I am.

Teacher: How is it possible?

Sunny: He became father only after I was born. (1st Rank)

Question: What is the fullform of maths.

Answer: Mentally affected teachers harassing students

Have you seen anything like this ?

PRINCESS DIANA When you rearrange the letters: END IS A CAR SPIN

THE EYES: When you rearrange the letters: THEY SEE

A DECIMAL POINT: When you rearrange the letters: IM A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES: When you rearrange the letters: THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO: When you rearrange the letters: TWELVE PLUS ONE

AND FOR THE GRAND FINAL

MOTHER- IN-LAW: When you rearrange the letters: WOMAN - HITLER 

SETHJI TO THE CEOJI

THE LEGENDARY MAMMON alone could have scripted an ode to power. The most powerful CEOs of India Inc sure wield influence by virtue of wealth. And that’s certainly not a novelty. Money and influence have gone hand-in-hand across the millennia. In the mid-17th century, Jain jeweller-banker Shantidas Jawhari petitioned the Mughal emperor Shahjahan and got a temple restored to him that Aurangzeb (Shahjahan’s patricidal son), the then governor of Gujarat, had forcibly converted into a mosque. When Aurangzeb ultimately seized power, instead of taking revenge for the slight, it was the all-powerful emperor who had to placate Jawhari.

    Around the same time, Surat merchant Virji Vohra, counted among the world’s richest merchants, lent money to the English. The merchants of Surat were akin to the Venetians in India and used their wealth to command absolute control. When Aurangzeb, in financial doldrums, sought an interest-free loan from the Surat merchant-bankers at the imperial camp, they simply refused on the grounds that it would set a bad precedent. It wasn’t just in the Mughal era either; the power of paisa has been the power through the ages, to the extent that even when real power was perceived to be flowing from the blade of a sword, it was the lure of the lucre that was the real motivation. THROUGHOUT INDIA’S HISTORY,

power has flowed from diverse factors — class, caste, religion, and even gender — but as a separate class, the men of Mazuma have always had a special place in the various power dynamics that have emerged and evolved over the centuries. It was, nevertheless, a gradual shift. The merchants’ relationship with the ruling class and also their standing in society became stronger over a period of time as trade and commerce took centre-stage.

    Back in the Harappan culture as the gahapatis (landowning householders) transformed into setthis (entrepreneurs of trade and finance), they became more prominent, though they still had a long way to go before wielding power. Later, during the Mauryan era, the artisan associations became large and gradually metamorphed into guilds and according to Romila Thapar’s The Penguin History of Early India, these guild leaders become quite powerful. Things turned around between 200 and 300 BC when the guilds exerted power, though their heads still did not seek political will. However, the nexus with royalty provided a political edge to their activities, notes the eminent historian. It was towards

the 10th century that

shresthis (merchants)

gained power. Some

wealthy merchants of the 13th century, such as Vastupala and Jagadu, even became respected members of the urban council at Anahilapattana, the Chalukya capital.

    With the dawn of the Mughal era, the business community came of age and traders gained a place in the power hierarchy. Trade as a whole gained much more respectability as a profession. Even royalty couldn’t desist from dabbling in trade. Jehangir’s mother, Maryam Zamani, for instance, conducted extensive overseas trade and so did Nur Jahan and Jahanara. There were several others like them, says Abrahm Early in The Mughal World. Not to be left behind in profiteering and maintaining a royal monopoly in commodities like salt, the emperor too stepped in. As the power of the Mughals began to wane, the merchants slowly established power centres of their own as the Europeans began increasing their foothold. Towards the dusk of the Mughal era, emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar even had to borrow money from Delhi moneylenders — Lala Saligram, Bhawani Shanker and the richest among them, Lala Chunna Mal — for his son Prince Mirza Jawan Bakht’s wedding.

    The power pendulum started swinging towards the merchants as the British East India Company and other European colonisers started flexing their muscles. The conquest of India was determined by the wealth it had, and as the sniff game continued, the Europeans used guns and roses to get a grip over the struggling Mughals and feudal chieftains. The Battle of Plassey in 1757 set a precedent as the British East India Company came to dominate the sub-continent, a subject that gloriously comes to life in the Satyajit Ray film, Shatranj Ke Khiladi. The Mughals became irrelevant and the merchants came to be known as the new Mughals of India. In 1832, Thomas Metcalfe, announced in a letter, “I have renounced my former allegiance to the house of Timur.” In The Last Mughal, William Dalrymple writes, ‘In the year 1833, the emperor’s name was removed from East India rupees and when Lord Auckland visited Delhi, he didn’t even bother to pay a courtesy call on Akbar Shah 11, the reigning Mughal’.

    In the days of the Raj, as India shifted to the industrial mode, there emerged a set of businessmen — Parsis from Mumbai, Marwaris from Calcutta and Delhi — who would build new businesses in India under British patronage. The most prominent among them was a man who was born in 1839 in Navsari, Gujrat, who not only built India’s largest business empire but also stood tall as an astute nation builder: Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. It’s a feat that nearly two-and-a-half centuries later, his descendent Ratan Naval Tata remains India’s most powerful CEO while globally old dynasties like Rockefellers, Krupps and Agnellis are languishing or have ceased to exist.

    A few of the leading Indian businessmen, like Birlas and Bajaj, were involved closely with the freedom struggle too. Mahatma Gandhi even adopted the founder of Bajaj group, Jamnalal Bajaj, as his ‘fifth’ son. Gandhi happened to be living at the house of another businessman close to him when he was assassinated — the Birla patriarch, Ghanshyam Das Birla. In 1910, Sir Ratan Tata even supported Bapu in his struggle against apartheid in South Africa with generous donations.

    After Independence, Indian business houses like Tatas, Birlas, Godrejs, Mahindras, Modis, Dalmias and Shrirams would build businesses under the ‘licence permit raj’ that benefited the chosen few who had proximity to political parties and flourished under their patronage. Independent India’s first minister for commerce and industry, and later the finance minister, was TT Krishnamachari, the founder of the TTK Group. Politicians and prophets of profit were becoming inseparable. In the ensuing period, some notable groups emerged making money much more influential than the monarch — Dhirubhai Hirachand Ambani’s Reliance Group was one such.

    At first wave of liberalisation in 1991, Indian business witnessed another power shift — the rise of a new breed of entrepreneurs like Sunil Bharti Mittal, NR Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji, who began riding new-age businesses and became distinctive voices in the society. As revenues grew on the sails of globalisation, so did the archetypal do-gooder CEO image in a world that was increasingly becoming flat. The need for corporate governance knitted companies with the thread of transparency. And openness with vendors, shareholders and stakeholders at large made the CEO voices more voluble, whether in communities or at policy-making. Clearly, greed is not good anymore. It’s the greatest good that matters and that’s why a Tata is at the top. 

The Game of Life

In the late 1960s the English mathematician John Horton Conway introduced a game, which was best played on a computer, that was one of the first examples of a dynamic system designed for the study of complex behavior. Conway's dynamic system consisted of an infinite two-dimensional grid of square cells, and he called his game Life because each of the cells could assume one of two states: living or dead.

The game is played by following a simple rule that makes the state of each cell dependent on that of its eight neighbors (four at the corners and four at the sides). Initially a certain number of cells are alive. A clock then begins to tick. At each tick, cells either die, come alive, or stay as they are according to the following prescription: only a cell that has exactly three living neighbors will live. A living cell that has zero, one, or two living neighbors will die of loneliness, as it were, while a living cell that has four, five, six, seven, or eight living neighbors will die of overcrowding. By the same token, a cell can be born, or come alive, only if it has three living neighbors—parenting in Conway's game actually requires three people!

Conway's game of Life has shown itself to be aptly named: with the ticking of the clock, the configurations of "live" cells demonstrate an amazing range of behavior, much of it "lifelike," mimicking the process of evolution. The configurations travel across the grid, they grow, they mutate, they collide and seem to fight each other, they die.

Today little is said about catastrophe theory. More recently, the alacrity with which some of the enthusiasts of chaos theory have embraced complexity theory has prompted the more skeptical to compare these scientific theories with cultural fads.

Read It Carefully, Very Important

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5

years old son waiting for him at the door.

Son: - "Daddy, May I ask you a question?"

Daddy: - "Yeah sure, what it is?"

Son: - "Dad, how much do u make an hour?

Daddy: - "That's none of your business. Why you ask such a thing?”

that man said angrily

Son: -" I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an

hour?"

Daddy: -" If you must know, I make Rs.500 an hour." "Oh," the little

boy replied, with his head down, looking up, he said, "Dad, may I

please borrow Rs 300?

The father was furious," If the only reason u asked that is so u can

borrow some money to buy a silly toy or other nonsense, then march

yourself to your room and go to bed, Think why u are being so selfish.

I work hard everyday for such this childish behaviour."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat

down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions.

How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to

think "May be there was something he really needed to buy with that

Rs. 300 and he really didn't ask for money very often! " The man went

to the door of little boy's room and opened the door.” Are u asleep,

son?" He asked. No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

I've been thinking, may be I was too hard on you earlier," said the

man, it's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you.

Here's the Rs. 300 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh thank you dad!" He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled some crumpled up bills.

The man seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry

again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his

father.” Why do you want money if you already have some?" the

father grumbled.” Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the

little boy replied.

"Daddy, I have Rs. 500 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please

come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you”.

THE MORAL OF THIS STORY: - It's just a short reminder to all of

you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through

our fingers without having spent some time with those who

really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily

replace us in a matter of days. But the family & friends we leave

behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of

it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family. An unwise

investment indeed!!!

Refusing to Accept Failure

Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to climb Mount Everest. On May

29, 1953 he scaled the highest mountain then known to man-29, 000

feet straight up. He was knighted for his efforts. He even made

American Express card commercials because of it! However, until we

read his book, High Adventure, we don't understand that Hillary had

to grow into this success. You see, in 1952 he attempted to climb

Mount Everest, but failed. A few weeks later a group in England

asked him to address its members. Hillary walked on stage to a

thunderous applause. The audience was recognizing an attempt at

greatness, but Edmund Hillary saw himself as a failure. He moved

away from the microphone and walked to the edge of the platform. He

made a fist and pointed at a picture of the mountain. He said in a loud

voice, "Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I'll beat you the

next time because you've grown all you are going to grow... but I'm

still growing!"

Rest Smart

Once there were a group of man - a young hot-blooded guy and a big

number of old folks, doing timber job in a jungle (i.e. chopping down

trees).

This young chap is very hard working. He always continues to work

through his break time and complains that those old folks were

wasting time, having to break few times a day to drink and chat.

As times goes by, this young guy noticed that even though he worked

thru' break time and hardly took a rest... those old folks are chopping

the same amount of trees as he did and sometimes did more than he

did. It was as if those old folks work thru' the break time as he did. So

he decided to work harder the next day...unfortunately the results

were even worse.

One day, one of the old folk invited him for a drink during their break

time. That young guy refused and said he has no extra time to spend!

Then the old man smiled to him and said "It was just a waste of effort

to keep chopping trees without re-sharpening your knife. Sooner or

later you will give up or be so exhausted as you have spent too much

energy." Suddenly the young man realised that actually during break

times while those old folks were having a chat, they were also resharpening

their knife at the same time! And that's how they can chop

faster than him and yet spending lesser time! The old man said "What

we need is efficiency by making use of our skill and ability

intelligently. Only then can we have more times to do other things.

Otherwise you will always keep saying ... I have no time!"

The morale of the story: -

By taking a short break during work, it would make you feel fresher,

think well and work better after the break! (Or am I just finding excuse

to take a break?)

But by taking a break, it is not to stop work but to rest and re-think our

strategy to go about it from another angle.

Think smart, work smart and rest smart.

The Story of a Clown

A certain man made an appointment to see a psychologist. He arrived

at the psychologist's office and said to him, "Doctor, I always feel

depressed. No matter what I do I still feel depressed. I just don't know

what to do."

The psychologist looked at him and said, "Come with me to the

window."

The man followed and then the psychologist pointed outside and said,

"Do you see that tent over there in the distance? Well, there is a

circus in town and it is really good. There are lots of acts to watch;

especially the clown acts. And there is one clown in particular who is

extremely funny. He will make you rock with laughter over and over

again. Go and see that clown and I guarantee that you will not have

reason to be depressed again!"

The man turned to the psychologist with sad eyes and said, "Doctor, I

am that clown!"

Sleeping Through the Storm

A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asked

for his qualifications, he said, "I can sleep when the wind blows." This

puzzled the farmer. But he liked the young man, and hired him.

A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night

by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things out to see if all

was secure. They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been

securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the

fireplace.

The young man slept soundly.

The farmer and his wife then inspected their property. They found that

the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the

elements.

The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn was properly

locked. Even the animals were calm. All was well.

The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man's words,

"I can sleep when the wind blows."

Because the farmhand did his work loyally and faithfully when the

skies were clear, he was prepared for the storm when it broke. So

when the wind blew, he was not afraid. He could sleep in peace.

 

The Scorpion & the Turtle

A scorpion, being a very poor swimmer, asked a turtle to carry him on

his back across a river. "Are you mad?" exclaimed the turtle. "You'll

sting me while I'm swimming and I'll drown."

"My dear turtle," laughed the scorpion, "if I were to sting you, you

would drown and I would go down with you. Now where is the logic in

that?"

"You're right?" cried the turtle. "Hop on!" The scorpion climbed aboard

and halfway across the river gave the turtle a mighty sting. As they

both sank to the bottom, the turtle resignedly said:

"Do you mind if I ask you something? You said there'd be no logic in

your stinging me. Why did you do it?"

"It has nothing to do with logic," the drowning scorpion sadly replied.

"It's just in my nature."

In the last trembling moments of the turtle's existence, its life starts to

play back like a movie in fast-forward. As the movie reaches its last

frame, it freezes on the old adage "to try is to fail - not to try is to

surrender" as the river swallows both of them in an inevitable act of

nature and the soul of the turtle rejoins its creator.

Comments: - This story reflects the destructive behaviour of

living beings and illustrates how certain qualities can be very

hard to change, if not impossible. Thus, if we are to succeed in

life, we firstly must get to know ourselves - and be honest about

our inclinations, preferences, and limitations. And, secondly, in

working towards our goals should be considerate not hinder

others in theirs.

The Builder

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employercontractor

of his plans to leave the house building business and live a

more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He

would miss the pay cheque, but he needed to retire. They could get

by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he

could build just one more house as a personal favour. The carpenter

said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his

work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior

materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect

the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter.

"This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building

his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to

live in the home he had built none too well.

So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather

than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we

do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the

situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house

we have built. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day

you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is

the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day

more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The

plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Who could

say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes

and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of

your attitudes and the choices you make today.

The Little Boy Asks the Meaning of Life

An eight-year-old boy approached an old man in front of a wishing

well, looked up into his eyes, and asked:

"I understand you're a very wise man. I'd like to know the secret of

life."

The old man looked down at the youngster and replied:

"I've thought a lot in my lifetime, and the secret can be summed up in

four words

The first is to “think”. Think about the values you wish to live your life

by.

The second is to “believe”. Believe in yourself based on the thinking

you've done about the values you're going to live your life by.

The third is to “dream”. Dream about the things that can be, based

on your belief in yourself and the values you're going to live by.

The last is to “dare”. Dare to make your dreams become reality,

based on your belief in yourself and your values. "

And with that, Walter E. Disney said to the little boy, “Think, Believe,

Dream, and Dare”.