Modern Panchatantra !

Welcome to 29^th Monday Musings:

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Once upon a time, there was a software engineer who used to develop programs on his Pentium machine, sitting under a tree on the banks of a river. He used to earn his bread by selling those programs in the Sunday market.

One day, while he was working, his machine tumbled off the table and fell in the river.

Encouraged by the Panchatantra story of his childhood (the woodcutter and the axe),

 he started praying to the River Goddess. The River Goddess wanted to test him and so appeared only after one month of rigorous prayers. The engineer told her that he had lost his computer in the river.

As usual, the Goddess wanted to test his honesty. She showed him a match box and asked, "Is this your computer ?"

Disappointed by the Goddess' lack of computer awareness, the engineer replied, "No."

She next showed him a pocket-sized calculator and asked if that was his.

Annoyed, the engineer said "No, not at all!!"

Finally, she came up with his own Pentium machine and asked if it was his.

The engineer, left with no option, sighed and said "Yes."

The River Goddess was happy with his honesty. She was about to give him all three items, but before she could make the offer,

the engineer asked her, "Don't you know that you're supposed to show me some better computers before bringing up my own ?"

The River Goddess, angered at this, replied, "I know that, you stupid donkey! The first two things I showed you were the Trillennium and the Billennium, the latest computers from IBM !".

So saying, she disappeared with giving the Pentium!!

Moral of the story :

Always keep yourself updated with technology and If you're not up-to-date with technology trends, it's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

The ultimate principle Of Forgiveness !

Welcome to 28^th Monday Musings:

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One day, the sage gave the disciple an empty sack and a basket of potatoes. "Think of all the people who have done or said something against you in the recent past, especially those you cannot forgive.

For each of them, inscribe the name on a potato and put it in the sack."

The disciple came up quite a few names, and soon his sack was heavy with potatoes.

"Carry the sack with you wherever you go for a week," said the sage. "We'll talk after that."

At first, the disciple thought nothing of it. Carrying the sack was not particularly difficult. But after a while, it became more of a burden. It sometimes got in the way, and it seemed to require more effort to carry as time went on, even though its weight remained the same.

After a few days, the sack began to smell. The carved potatoes gave off a ripe odor. Not only were they increasingly inconvenient to carry around, they were also becoming rather unpleasant.

Finally, the week was over. The sage summoned the disciple. "Any thoughts about all this?"

"Yes, Master," the disciple replied. "When we are unable to forgive others, we carry negative feelings with us everywhere, much like these potatoes. That negativity becomes a burden to us and, after a while, it festers."

"Yes, that is exactly what happens when one holds a grudge. So, how can we lighten the load?"

"We must strive to forgive."

"Forgiving someone is the equivalent of removing the corresponding potato from the sack. How many of your transgressors are you able to forgive?"

"I've thought about it quite a bit, Master," the disciple said. "It required much effort, but I have decided to forgive all of them."

"Very well, we can remove all the potatoes. Were there any more people who transgressed against you this last week?"

The disciple thought for a while and admitted there were. Then he felt panic when he realized his empty sack was about to get filled up again.

"Master," he asked, "if we continue like this, wouldn't there always be potatoes in the sack week after week?"

"Yes, as long as people speak or act against you in some way, you will always have potatoes."

"But Master, we can never control what others do. So what good is the Tao in this case?"

"We're not at the realm of the Tao yet. Everything we have talked about so far is the conventional approach to forgiveness. It is the same thing that many philosophies and most religions preach - we must constantly strive to forgive, for it is an important virtue. This is not the Tao because there is no striving in the Tao."

"Then what is the Tao, Master?"

"You can figure it out. If the potatoes are negative feelings, then what is the sack?"

"The sack is... that which allows me to hold on to the negativity. It is something within us that makes us dwell on feeling offended.... Ah, it is my inflated sense of self-importance. "

"And what will happen if you let go of it?"

"Then... the things that people do or say against me no longer seem like such a major issue."

"In that case, you won't have any names to inscribe on potatoes. That means no more weight to carry around, and no more bad smells.

The Tao of forgiveness is the conscious decision to not just to remove some potatoes... but to relinquish the entire sack."

Moral of the story :

Forgiveness is not something we do Other People, we do it for Ourselves, to Get Well and Move forward.

We don’t forgive people because we are weak, we forgive them because we are strong enough to know people make mistakes and remember Forgiveness is almost a selfish act because of its immense benefits to the one who forgives.

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

Broken Painting !

Welcome to 27^th Monday Musings:

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Once upon a time, a well known painter was finishing his painting.

It's an incredibly beautiful painting to be shown during Princess’ marriage.

The painter was consumed by and excited  with his own painting that he unconsciously  took a few step backward while admiring  the 2 x 8 m painting. He didn't look back when he walked backward.

He kept on walking backward until it was a step away from the edge of the tall building.  Just one more step backward and  he could get himself killed.

A man saw what the painter was doing and was about to shout at him to  warn him when he realized that  his shout might have surprised  the painter and thus made  him incidentally took one step  backward and fell down.

The man then took a brush and paint and began to paint on the beautiful  painting until it was completely damaged.

Upon realizing what's happened to his painting the painter got very angry and moved forward  to hit the man. However, some other people  who were also present at the vicinity  held him and showed him his last  position which almost made him fall.

Sometimes we have painted our future with such beauty and dreamed of  beautiful days we will spend with  our loved one. But then God seemed  to destroy our beautiful painting  when He sees what danger lies ahead of us.

Moral of the story :

Sometimes we are angry and annoyed by what God has done to us, or we get angry  to our superior in our workplace.  But one thing we have to keep in our mind:  God provides only the best for us, His children.

So whenever you find your dream shattered, don’t ask GOD why is it happening with you, because god has best plan for you and anything you feel like is not as per your desire,

Just remember God has ruined the painting to give you life, new venture and God has great plans for you.

And God provides only the best for us

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

Life is a gift !

Welcome to 26^th Monday Musings:

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here was a blind girl who hated herself just because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry her boyfriend.

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her and then she could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, “now that you can see the world, will you marry me?

The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying:

Just take care of my eyes dear.

Moral of the story :

Before we discuss moral of the story we should not think who was right in above story and who was wrong,  There can be many argument like did boy discuss his intention before doing same or why did he not donate only one eye. Rather the story tells about  “how human brain changes when the status changed. Only few remember what life was before, and who’s always been there even in the most painful”

People always compromise in life based on their priority and when their priority is settled they tend to forget and next priority comes on top.

For example most often people Join a new Job because they want job on highest priority and once they are ok with everything, soon after they get the Job , they start cursing things for which they were very much fine some time back, Only few remember what life was before.

Life Is A Gift`

Today before you think of saying an unkind word , think of someone who can’t speak.

Before you complain about the taste of your food think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Before you complain about your husband or wife think of someone who is crying out to God for a companion.

Today before you complain about life think of someone who went too early to heaven.

Before you complain about your children think of someone who desires children but they’re barren.

Before you argue about your dirty house, someone didn’t clean or sweep think of the people who are living in the streets.

Before whining about the distance you drive think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.

And when you are tired and complain about your job think of the unemployed, the disabled and those who wished they had your job.

But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another remember that not one of us are without sin and we all answer to one maker.

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down put a smile on your face and thank God you’re alive and still around.

Life is a gift  ! Live it, Enjoy it,  Celebrate it,  and Fulfill it.

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

Team work - The Modern Story of hare and tortoise !

Welcome to 25^th Monday Musings:

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Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster.

They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race.

The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race

He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep

The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ

The hare woke up and realized that he'd lost the race.

The moral of the story is that ”Slow and steady wins the race.”

This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with.

The story continues …

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The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching.

He realized that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him.

So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed. 

This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.

The moral of the story?

“Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady”

If you have two people in your organization, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organizational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap.

“It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.”

But the story doesn't end here …

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The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realized that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted.

He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route.  The hare agreed.

They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river.

The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.

The moral of the story?

First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency.

Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.

The story still hasn't ended

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The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realized that the last race could have been run much better.

So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time.

They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank.

There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back.

On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier

The moral of the story?

It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.

Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.

There are more lessons to be learnt from this story.

·        Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure. The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could.

·        In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort. Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both.

The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. “When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better”

To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things:

Ø Never give up when faced with failure

Ø Fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady

Ø Work to your competencies

Ø Compete against the situation, not against a rival.

Ø Pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

Don't Judge too Quickly !

Welcome to 24^th Monday Musings:

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There was a man who had four sons.  He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly.  So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter,  The second son in the spring,  The third in summer and the fourth son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent and twisted.

The second son said, no, that it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful.  It was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them.  He said it was ripe and drooping with fruit - full of life and fulfillment

.

The man then explained to his sons that they all were right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person by only one season, and that the essence of who they are.

The pleasure, joy, and love that comes from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

Moral of the story :

Don't Judge too Quickly ! If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of spring, the beauty of your summer and the fulfillment of your fall.

Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don’t judge life by one difficult season.  Preserve through the difficult patches, and better times are sure to come in time

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

Power of encouraging words !

Welcome to 23^rd Monday Musings:

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A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead.

The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die.

He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?"

The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

Moral of the story :

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

2.  A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them.

Be careful of what you say.

Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words...  it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way.

Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

Perfect Peace !

Welcome to 22^nd Monday Musings:

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There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

Which picture do you think won the prize?

The King chose the second picture. Do you know why?

When the King saw, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest .... in perfect peace.

The King explained, "Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."

Moral of the story :

Likewise peace exists amidst noise, same way opportunity always exists in front of you. Don't wait for extraordinary situation for great opportunities. Use common occasions and make them great.

“Weak men wait for opportunities and strong men make them.”

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

The Window !

Welcome to 21^st Monday Musings:

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A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning, while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hang the wash outside.

That laundry is not very clean, she said, she doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line

and said to her husband: "Look! She has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."

The husband said: "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows!"

Moral of the story :

Our life is like a  Window, What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look

Before we give any criticism, it might be a good idea to check our state of mind and ask ourselves if we are ready to see the good rather than to be looking for something in the person we are about to judge.

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

Joy of Giving !

Welcome to 20^th Monday Musings:

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A young man, a student in one of the universities, was one day taking a walk with a professor, who was commonly called the students' friend for his kindness to those who waited on his instructions.

As they went along, they saw lying in the path a pair of old shoes, which were supposed to belong to a poor man who was working in a field close by, and who had nearly finished his day's work . . .

Student turned to the professor, saying: "Let us play the man a trick:

we will hide his shoes, and hide ourselves behind those bushes, and wait to see his perplexity when he cannot find them ..."

"My young friend," answered the professor, "We should never amuse ourselves at the expense of the poor . . . But you are rich, and may give yourself a much greater pleasure by means of this poor man.

Put a coin in each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch how this affects him." Visit: The student did so and they both placed themselves behind the bushes close by. The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes . . .

While putting on his coat he slipped his foot into one of his shoes, but feeling something hard, he stooped down to feel what it was, and found the coin. Astonishment and wonder were seen upon his countenance.

He gazed upon the coin, turned it around and looked at it again and again.

He then looked around him on all sides, but no person was to be seen. He now put the money into his pocket, and proceeded to put on the other shoe; but his surprise was doubled on finding the other coin . . .

His feelings overcame him . . . he fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven and uttered aloud a fervent thanksgiving in which he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without bread, whom this timely bounty, from some unknown hand, would save from perishing . . .

The student stood there deeply affected, and his eyes filled with tears.

"Now," said the professor, are you not much better pleased than if you had played your intended trick?"

The youth replied, "You have taught me a lesson which I will never forget. .. I feel now the truth of these words, which I never understood before:

"It's more blessed to give than to receive."

If you want happiness....For a lifetime - help someone . . .

Moral of the story :

Happiness comes to those who are moving toward something they want very much to happen, and it almost always involves making someone else happy.

Happiness is a by-product of an effort to make someone else happy

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh