Interesting Anecdotes

Chanakya's Quotes - Worth reading a million times…


"A person should not be too honest.
Straight trees are cut first
and Honest people are victimised first."


"Even if a snake is not poisonous,
it should pretend to be venomous."


";The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody. ! It will destroy you."


"There is some self-interest behind every friendship.
There is no Friendship without self-interests.
This is a bitter truth."



"Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply
and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."



";As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it."



"Once you start to work on something,
don't be afraid of failure and
don't abandon it.
People who work sincerely are the happiest."



";The fragrance of flowers spreads
only in the direction of the wind.
But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction."



";A man is great by deeds, not by birth."


";Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them.
By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend.
Your grown up children are your best friends."


";Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person."


";Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere.
Education beats the beauty and the youth."

The man who Hindered my Growth.




One day all the employees reached the office and they saw a big advice on the door on which it was written:
"Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym".

In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who was that man who hindered the growth of his colleagues and the company itself.

The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room.

The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up.

Everyone thought: "Who is this guy who was hindering my progress? Well, at least he died!".

One by one the thrilled employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless. They stood nearby the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul.

There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see himself.

There was also a sign next to the mirror that said: "There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth: it is YOU.
You are the only person who can revolutionize your life. You are the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your success. You are the only person who can help yourself.

Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents change, when your partner changes, when your company changes. Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life.

"The most important relationship you can have, is the one you have with yourself"

Examine yourself, watch yourself. Don't be afraid of difficulties, impossibilities and losses: be a winner, build yourself and your reality.

The world is like a mirror: it gives back to anyone the reflection of the thoughts in which one has strongly believed.

The world and your reality are like mirrors lying in a coffin, which show to any individual the death of his divine capability to imagine and create his happiness and his success.

It's the way you face Life that makes the difference.

Once upon a time there was this girl who had four boyfriends.

She loved the 4th boyfriend the most and adorned him with rich robes and treated him to the finest of delicacies. She gave him nothing but the very best.

She also loved the 3rd boyfriend very much and was always showing him off to neighboring kingdoms. However, she feared that one day he would leave her for another.

She also loved her 2nd boyfriend. He was her confidant and was always kind, considerate and patient with her. Whenever this girl faced a problem, she could confide in him, and he would help her get through the difficult times.

The girls 1st boyfriend was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining her wealth and kingdom. However, she did not love the first boyfriend. Although he loved her deeply, she hardly took notice of him!

One day, the girl fell ill and she knew her time was short. She thought of her luxurious life and wondered, I now have four boyfriends with me, but when I die, I'll be all alone."

Thus, she asked the 4th boyfriend, "I loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?"

"No way!", replied the 4th boyfriend, and he walked away without another word.

His answer cut like a sharp knife right into her heart.

The sad girl then asked the 3rd boyfriend, "I loved you all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?"

"No!", replied the 3rd boyfriend. "Life is too good! When you die, I'm going to marry someone else!"

Her heart sank and turned cold.

She then asked the 2nd boyfriend, "I have always turned to you for help and you've always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?"

"I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!", replied the 2nd boyfriend. "At the very most, I can only walk with you to your grave."

His answer struck her like a bolt of lightning, and the girl was devastated.

Then a voice called out: "I'll go with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go."

The girl looked up, and there was her first boyfriend. He was very skinny as he suffered from malnutrition and neglect.

Greatly grieved, the girl said, "I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance!"

In truth, you have 4 boy friends in your lives:

Your 4th boyfriend is your body. No matter how much time and effort you lavish in making it look good, it will leave you when you die.

Your 3rd boyfriend is your possessions, status and wealth. When you die, it will all go to others.

Your 2nd boyfriend is your family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for you, the furthest they can stay by you is up to the grave.

And your 1st boyfriend is your Soul. Often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power and pleasures of the world.

However, your Soul is the only thing that will follow you where ever you go. Cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, for it is the only part of you that will follow you to the throne of God and continue with you throughout Eternity.

The train has started moving. It is packed with people of all ages, mostly with the working men and women and young college guys and gals. Near the window, seated a old man with his 30 year old son. As the train moves by, the son is overwhelmed with joy as he was thrilled with the scenery outside..

" See dad, the scenery of green trees moving away is very beautiful"

This behavior from a thirty year old son made the other people feel strange about him. Every one started murmuring something or other about this son."This guy seems to be a krack.." newly married Anup whispered to his wife.

Suddenly it started raining... Rain drops fell on the travelers through the opened window. The Thirty year old son , filled with joy " see dad, how beautiful the rain is .."

Anup's wife got irritated with the rain drops spoiling her new suit.

Anup ," cant you see its raining, you old man, if ur son is not feeling well get him soon to a mental asylum..and dont disturb public henceforth"


The old man hesitated first and then in a low tone replied " we are on the way back from hospital, my son got discharged today morning , he was a blind by birth, last week only he got his vision, these rain and nature are new to his eyes.. Please forgive us for the inconvenience caused..."


The things we see may be right from our perspective until we know the truth. But when we know the truth our reaction to that will hurt even us. So try to understand the problem better before taking a harsh action.

One bedroom flat




As the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in Software
Engineering and joined a company based in USA, the land of braves and
opportunity.

When I arrived in the USA, it was as if a dream had come true. Here at
last I was in the place where I want to be. I decided I would be staying in
this country for about Five years in which time I would have earned enough
money to settle down in India.


My father was a government employee and after his retirement, the only
asset he could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat.
I wanted to do something more than him. I started feeling homesick and
lonely as the time passed. I used to call home and speak to my parents
every week using cheap international phone cards. Two years passed, two
years of Burgers at McDonald's and pizzas and discos and 2 years watching
the foreign exchange rate getting happy whenever the Rupee value went down.

Finally I decided to get married. I told my parents that I have only 10
days of holidays and everything must be done within these 10 days. I got my
ticket booked in the cheapest flight. Was jubilant and was actually
enjoying hopping for gifts for all my friends back home.? If I miss anyone
then there will be talks. After reaching home I spent home one week going
through all the photographs of girls and as the time was getting shorter I
was forced to select one candidate.


In-laws told me, to my surprise, that I would have to get married in 2-3
days, as I will not get anymore holidays. After the marriage, it was time
to return to USA, after giving some money to my parents and telling the
neighbours to look after them, we returned to USA.
My wife enjoyed this country for about two months and then she started
feeling lonely. The frequency of calling India increased to twice in a
week sometimes 3 times a week. Our savings started diminishing.
After two more years we started to have kids. Two lovely kids, a boy and a
girl, were gifted to us by the almighty. Every time I spoke to my parents,
they asked me to come to India so that they can see their grand-children.
Every year I decide to go to India. But part work part monetary conditions
prevented it. Years went by and visiting India was a distant dream. Then
suddenly one day I got a message that my parents were seriously sick. I
tried but I couldn't get any holidays and thus could not go to India. The
next message I got was my parents had passed away and as there was no one
to do the last rights the society members had done whatever they could. I
was depressed. My parents had passed away without seeing their grand
children.


After couple more years passed away, much to my children's dislike and my
wife's joy we returned to India to settle down. I started to look for a
suitable property, but to my dismay my savings were short and the property
prices had gone up during all these years. I had to return to the USA.
My wife refused to come back with me and my children refused to stay in
India. My 2 children and I returned to USA after promising my wife I would
be back for good after two years.
Time passed by, my daughter decided to get married to an American and my
son was happy living in USA. I decided that had enough and wound-up every
thing and returned to India. I had just enough money to buy a decent 02
bedroom flat in a well-developed locality.
Now I am 60 years old and the only time I go out of the flat is for the
routine visit to the nearby temple. My faithful wife has also left me and
gone to the holy abode.


Sometimes I wondered was it worth all this? My father, even after staying
in India, had a house to his name and I too have the same nothing more.
I LOST MY PARENTS AND CHILDREN FOR JUST ONE EXTRA BEDROOM.
Looking out from the window I see a lot of children dancing. This damned
cable TV has spoiled our new generation and these children are losing their
values and culture because of it. I get occasional cards from my children
asking I am alright. Well at least they remember me.
Now perhaps after I die it will be the neighbours again who will be
performing my last rights, God Bless them. But the question still remains
'was all this worth it?' I am still searching for an
answer...... ......... .!!!!

Three women die together in an accident and go to heaven.

When they get there, St. Peter says, "We only have one rule here in heaven: don't step on the ducks!"

So they enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their best to avoid them, the first woman accidentally steps on one.

Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest man she had ever seen.

St. Peter chains them together and says, "Your punishment for stepping on a duck is to spend eternity chained to this ugly man!"

The next day, the second woman steps accidentally on a duck and along comes St. Peter, who doesn't miss a thing. With him is another extremely ugly man. He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first woman.

The third woman has observed all this and, not wanting to be chained for all eternity to an ugly man, is very, VERY careful where she steps.

She manages to go months without stepping on any ducks, but one day St. Peter comes up to her with the most handsome man she has ever laid eyes on ... very tall, long eyelashes, muscular, and thin.

St. Peter chains them together without saying a word.

The happy woman says, "I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all of eternity?"

The guy says, "I don't know about you, but I stepped on a duck!"

Readers Digest finds that Mumbai is the rudest city in the world. I think it does not know the difference between manners and mannerisms. Recently, when the local train services in Mumbai were down after the bomb blasts, many commuters had to walk home. People living along those roads came out and gave food and water to the weary commuters, throughout the night. If I were in trouble, I would definitely prefer to have such rude Mumbaikers around.


Let me tell a story, which illustrates how a salt-of-the-earth desi behaves. This is a true story. There is no falsification or exaggeration whatsoever.

A few years ago my brother, Vinayak, was traveling from Vadodara to Mumbai. His train terminated at Valsad late in the evening. He got off, and went to buy another ticket to Mumbai. But, when he put his hand in his pocket, he found that his wallet was missing.

He did have some loose change in the pocket, but it was not enough to pay for a Mumbai ticket. He sat on a bench on the platform, not knowing what to do next. And, it was already past midnight.

Soon, an elderly Mr Bhagwatkar approached him. They got talking and Bhagwatkar found about his predicament. He immediately gave him enough money to get home. Vinayak thanked him profusely. After returning to Pune, he returned the money, cancelled his lost credit cards and forgot about the incident.

A few weeks later, Vinayak got a postcard. It was from one Mr Mehta, who stayed 'above Shreeji Oil Mills' in Navasari. This is a small town on the Vadodara-Valsad route. Mehta explained, in battered English, that he had found the wallet and obtained the address from a visiting card in it. He had made two attempts to return the wallet by courier, but the courier could not locate Vinayak. Mehta now invited him to collect the wallet at anytime.

Vinayak did not go to Navasari right away. The wallet did not have much money, and he did not have any other business in Navasari. He filed away this information in his mind and forgot about it again.

Three months later, Vinayak was again traveling on the same route. It was late afternoon, and he had a couple of hours to spare. So, he decided to visit the Mehtas and got down at Navasari. He saw Shreeji Oil mills in the distance, and began walking towards it. As he approached, he met - and was welcomed by - one of the Mehtas.

Mehta was delighted to see him, and escorted him to their residence. It consisted of a single large room and a kitchen. It was, obviously, an impecunious family. There were about ten people at home. Vinayak, as the guest of honour, was offered the only chair to sit on. Everyone else sat on the floor around him. Messages were sent out quickly to various cousins, uncles and aunts who lived nearby. In a short while, around twenty-five people had assembled to welcome him.

Tea was served. Vinayak, again as the guest of honour, was served in a cup. Rest of the clan was given a saucer each, and they passed the teakettle around. Pleasantries were exchanged. An aspiring commerce student solicited Vinayak's advice on career moves. The wallet had been preserved at one of the cousin's homes. It was brought and returned, completely intact. After a while, Vinayak asked for their leave.

"But, how could you possibly go without having dinner with us? " they asked. So, Vinayak stayed on for dinner. It was simple Gujarati food, but with a sweet-dish specially prepared for him. Finally, dinner over, he again asked for their leave.

"But, it is already quite late. Why would you want to spend the night on an uncomfortable train to Mumbai?", they asked, "Stay the night with us and take the first train tomorrow." So, he stayed on again.

There was a problem though - the house did not have a bed and everyone slept on the floor. The Mehtas felt this would not befit a honoured guest. So, he was taken to a cousin's home, which had a bed. In the morning, Vinayak had a bath, breakfast and was personally seen off at the station by his host. They were still waving goodbye when the train finally pulled out of the station.

Nandu Madhekar
18 July 2006

THE 4 WIVES ---Nice Story


There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.

He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant's confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.

Now, the merchant's 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, "Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll be!"

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No way!" replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word.

The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant's heart. The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No!" replied the 3rd wife. "Life is so good over here! I'm going to remarry when you die!" The merchant's heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I always turned to you for help and you've always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?" "I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only send you to your grave." The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.

Then a voice called out : "I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go." The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, "I should have taken much better care of you while I could have !"

Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives

a. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.

b. Our 3rd wife ? Our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.

c. The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we're alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

d. The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of material, wealth and sensual pleasure.

Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it's a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until we're on our deathbed to lament

[tscii]
This is a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others?


He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor—a veritable sea of milk!


When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said, "Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?"


Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, "You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you prefer?" He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk.


His mother then said, "You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let's go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it." The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson!



This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment "doesn't work," we usually learn something valuable from it.

"The white man said, "Colored people are not allowed here." The black man turned around and stood up. He then said: "Listen sir....when I was born I was BLACK, " "When I grew up I was BLACK, " "When I'm sick I'm BLACK, " "When I go in the sun I'm BLACK, " "When I'm cold I'm BLACK, " "When I die I'll be BLACK." "But you sir." "When you're born you're pink, " "When you grow up you're white, " "When you're sick, you're green, " "When you go in the sun you turn red, " "When you're cold you turn blue, " "And when you die you turn purple." "And you have the nerve to call me colored?" The black man then sat back down and the white man walked away.... Pass it on if you HATE racism