Thus 'Ticks On' Time endlessly!

“Oh! Dear! It’s Great! Come, walk…. Yes! Yes! one two three…come…. come…. Oh! You have done it!” the Mom screamed out of her excitement.... The one year old little one thus beautifully put his 'First Step' forward with all round watch from his Mom….

"A for Apple, B for............" the Mom was explaining the Alphabets.... The two and half yr Old was repeating the letters / words with broken accent.... 

“Aakash! Wait here and don't go anywhere…. I'll be back in a minute!” ordered the Mom who had to just divert her attention from her little son.... The 7 yr child waited there holding her bag till his Mom returned….

“I want you to learn this…. Now try to repeat it and you soon will be an expert here!” the dad said.... The 12 yr old Aakash repeated that and became conversant with it soon….

“Just go and get these items from the Market!” the 18 yr old son was instructed....“Dad can I go after 15 minutes?  The Match is going to end now!” pleaded the Cricket Fan son....

“We are going out…. Are you coming?’ the 23 yr grown-up son was asked…. “No, Mom and Dad! you go ahead…. My friends are coming home… We've planned…..” mustered certain courage and hinted his interest the grown up young man....

“Should we look into any issues of yours?” the 28 old son was enquired....  “Nope…. I am OK! Dad….. Let me see!” was the brief answer of the son who was making terms with a personal issue of his life....

“How is the job going on?…. Any issues?” the son of mid thirties was enquired.... “It’s OK, Dad….. Too much pressure…. Some issues are there…. I think I can manage!” was the quick answer from the Manager turned son....

Soon, the 45 old matured son was heard talking to a Colleague…. “My father, will not understand all this… I have to help him out in teaching the fundamentals and make him accustomed to these Computers a little so that he can spend sometime daily browsing……”

In his early fifties, heard the same man of all responsibilities around saying to some one…. “Mom needs some help to walk a few yards daily in our Compound Yard…. I just have to guide her so that she will have her evening breeze for a while and thus can relax herself…. And I purchased the latest Tablet for dad.... I need to make him learn the Operation.... It's already 5 PM.... See you tomorrow!”

Choice-less Actions….

“I don’t know in which direction I should act…. If I am taking care in one direction, certain problems I foresee…. Leaving that path, if I stick to another route, there are other problems…. If I simply stop doing all these, it is still a bigger problem.... I am confused on how to go ahead in my situation…. I need some advice!”

“Dear! You have presently certain basic issues in front of you, the issues surely have to be resolved at any cost and here keeping quite is never the right way…. Further, it is doubtless to say that these issues have to be resolved to the best of your abilities too….

In the first instance, I advise you not to decide your actions at the back of such a confused mind presently with you....,  A confused mind or an agitated mind never can perceive the right actions of life…. The best way here is to sit in a corner and ponder over for a while with a sincere question pointed at you alone…. Why am I here in this situation at this point of time?

If I spend a little time thus, it will be quickly evident to me that I am in this situation today, because I constantly deviated from my ‘Right Actions’ over a long period and it is high time I stop deviating thus and start living in the right way….

And that right way forever is…. Constantly remembering the 'Original Purpose' of all my actions; the more deeper I can perceive this 'Original Requirement'; the better would be the situation.... Thus, it is evident to me that I am for a purpose here this moment at this place…. Why not I start doing that 'Particular Action' straight away let what protests may come from around…. Here, I should manage all these hurdles nicely without yielding and at the same time without arguing on that….

If more protest comes from outside, I should be more strict in sticking to my actions till it is point of balance where in I perceive immediate physical threats…. If physical threats are imminent, let me pause till the threats subside and start actions once again with full vigor…. As I proceed thus in this direction, more and more grip I will have on the situation with every bit of 'Right Action' and soon in time the very initial protestors alone will be appreciating this 'My Royal Path!'

Thus alone you should be progressing in your life, with the discharge of these 'Choice-less Actions' all the time and that way, whatever may be the end result, Peace is sure the Gain!”

Taking Care in the Right Spirit....

A man in his mid forties was an active man.... He was doing well in his job and had a good family life.... He was further managing his finances reasonably good and was active in his investments.... He was ready for any amount of exertion both physical and mental as he had a strong conviction that serving the people involved and working hard in his profession were the best ways of living in the world as then he would be the man of real freedom.... No doubt, he was correct! But there was a problem that was simmering for quite some time for which he could never find a right answer.... His problem was….

• His boss always pointed him out, often thrust more work at him and thus was never satisfied.... 
• His family, often expected him to be giving out and doing more.... 
• His friends and relatives expected him to be more careful and thoughtful in all investments as he was not in pace with his contemporaries.... 

Thus, he was sad….

During this time, once he happened to meet one of his close friends who was a man of certain clarity and who understood life in the right spirit.... Naturally, in the discussions the man came out voluntarily with his problem and further, at the insistence of his friend explained the same in detail…. The friend heard all of that, smiled at him and said, “Dear!  A simple issue which you could have resolved long back and thus could have been at peace all these days, you really missed all these days….” The man looked at his friend unable to understand what he was speaking....

The friend continued….

“Look my dear! You have a life….True life in front…. And you have to live that at Base Level at all costs! That is what Mother Nature expects you to do and that is your bounden duty....  Please live for yourself first at that Base Level, not for anyone else…. Then only for others as per your duty and thus you can really help them.... Further, while discharging your duties, please forever remember that....

• You can do only one work at a time.... 
• You are not working to satisfy the whims and fancies of people with whom you are interacting..... 
• In certain intervals of all your bounden duties, your own take care and relaxation ride over any priority people are talking of....  
• Where, all of you have to share something during discharge of your bounden duties, you are neither less nor a written off personality!” 

While leaving, the friend smiled and quipped, “But, while doing all this, never ascertain your right verbally at anytime as that is not at all required; instead simply live through it, that’s all!”

The man at last found a Right Solution to his Perennial Problem!

It is worth a 'Trial' in this direction!

I heard this story in my childhood.... 

Once a horse race was conducted between two horse owners in a peculiar way, the condition being the owner whose horse loses by trailing behind will get a prize!  May be a peculiar proposal but the problem is how to conduct the race? Both horses do not move at all when the start signal goes! As the organisers were struggling in finding a solution, a wise man gave a suggestion…. Exchange the owners of horses on the horses…. Now the race became practical and there was one winner, the other loser!

The inference here is.... I always want to win and I will do the best under the 'Ownership' feeling!

The same Concept is further stressed here …. 

Give a garden to a man and say that it is not his own, he soon turns that into a graveyard; but give him a graveyard and say that it is his own, he turns it into a garden!

It is right that we have to do the 'Best' all the time, but it is equally known that while doing in this way, we often suffer from the problems of fear, worry, anxiety and tension in us.… To say in simple words….’We are constantly stressed!’  Because of this again the 'Best' from us stops or the 'Quality' waters down.... It is truly a sad state…. Then what is the solution?

Now, for a while, why not we think the other way? i.e., If a garden is given to me, I try to maintain it in the 'Best' possible way and take care.... Here, my energies continuously go in the direction of betterment around instead of destruction and in this process definitely no stress is felt in me most of the time....

The reason behind this gain is the force of the fact in Nature that ‘Nothing belongs to me!’  As I am made of belongingness, this disowning is not easy.... But it is worth make a trial of disowning something for some time!

When a miser felt that why not he carry his gold with him when he leaves the world, some one remarked that there is no way as that melts....

The fact is that we cannot carry anything with us.... May be, a few times, what I build or accumulate here will be utilized by my own so called opponent after I leave!

If that is all my hold, why should be I so much determined in calling ‘My own’ all the time, and accumulate every where?

It is said that a cow is worshipped because it gives while living!

And where disowning starts, giving invariably follows....

We embrace Democracy with all jest and shun Dictatorship or Authoritarian Rule, because in Dictatorship the Ownership exists where as in Democracy there is no True Owner!

The understanding should be…. Let my thoughts of doing towards winning, gaining and accumulating be constantly replaced by a single thought of doing the 'Best' in the given situation and lighten the 'Rest' if not zeroed!

This way the Stress is sure 'Out' and Peace is 'In' without a say!  

Meaningful Life....

When it is truly understood by me that

• Nothing was great done by me in the past 
• Nothing great can be done by me in the present and 
• Nothing great will be done by me in future.... 

I will straight away start doing ‘The Right' in my life.... Else I can never locate this 'Right!'

What does it mean?

I always have a task in front of me to be done…. And the discharge of my basic responsibility is forever associated with that Work…. It can be a Work that is naturally taken up by me as part of my liking, tradition, unique position, luck or the one taken up for my earning and living….

Let me put a question to myself daily when I begin this very Work….

'Can I do this One in the Right Way?'  

Here, the Right Way is basically nothing but doing the Work for which the job is created in this world or exists by itself…. If this much is done, the best is sure done by me in this life and confidently I can raise my head above all as the Owner of reasonable Peace and Happiness in my life coming up....

The Great Saint had said,

“Whenever we go to a new place on a visit, we first take a lodging accommodation, set up ourselves there and go round the town / city for sight-seeing, as when it becomes dark, we have a place secured for rest and stay in the night…. It should not be the other way…. 'It is already night and I have no place to rest!'  

In the same way, we have to first secure ourselves in life when we start living…. The 'Right Way' of doing our Work is nothing but securing against all future turmoils of life which form the dark part of our life including a few times, the evening of life too!”

Have we surely secured ourselves here?  If not, WHY NOT THIS MOMENT?

The 'Naughty Child'....

### The First Grade child was showing proudly all his Certificates he got till then to the visitor to their house.... The visitor counted the Certificates, smiled, patted him and said, “Oh! You already have six Certificates of yours! Nice….” The little one, wide eyed exclaimed, “No, I have one more Certificate of mine!” The visitor asked curiously, “What is it?” The child replied, “It is my Birth Certificate but dad always keeps it with himself….”

### A father sitting in his car told his 9 yr old son to get down, go and make use of the Rest Room facilities which were a little away and come back....  “Don’t touch any thing there.... It is a nuisance and costs dearly with that hygiene around!” he strictly instructed his son.... The boy finished his work, returned with a beaming face and said, “Dad! I exactly followed your advice and touched only all the points where it is clearly written ‘Touch Free!'"

### An elderly gentleman said to his friend, “I love my grand child very much!” 

The friend said, “What greatness is there in that? Every one likes his / her grand child....”

The elderly with a smile said softly, “There is another reason for that…. See! I have my own personal needs due to my age and the related health problems and whenever we as a family are out, often it becomes difficult to search for the facilities or make others wait for me.... But when I go out along with my grand child, all these are easily available at my convenience as the little one too needs them often!”

###  An elderly man was narrating 'A Life Event' of a well known Personality to his friend.... "This distant Relative of mine, you know.... Got engaged on Monday, married on Tuesday, fell sick on wednesday, died on Thursday and buried on Friday.... The Week days in Order.... I still remember all these Chronological Happenings!"

The 7 yr old grand child with him listening to what his Grand Pa had said, instantly asked him with a big doubt on his face, "Dadaji! I understand, the first two and last two happening immediately but how is that the middle three too happened on the consecutive days?"

###  The Grand Father was out with his one and half yr old Grand child in his Apartment Complex.... The child slowly walked ahead a little distance away from him....

"Dear!  don't go away like that.... Come back" he said controlling the movement of the child....

To his surprise, the child started slowly walking backwards....

Each is a 'Gem' around in his / her 'Own Way!'

A man was a weird personality and that was what everyone around talked of.... He never used to do one work straight…. Further he used to be indisciplined, rough in his dealings and used to cause certain nuisance around…. He was thus branded as an irresponsible and unsocial personality.... And people used to criticize his actions most of the times..... Thus all around him had written him off as not at all a useful Personality at any point of time….

Suddenly, there was a requirement of attending to a person who had become seriously sick and certain Special Works had to be done in respect of the sick man.... The man had to be handled in a way that many around found too sensitive to do....

The so called weird man all the while standing there suddenly asked, “What is the requirement?”

Someone said sarcastically, “What is the use of you asking this question? You cannot do one straight work in normal times.... Can you handle him in this grave situation?”  Rest, all around kept silence showing their concurrence to the sarcastic remark made....

The man without a wait, straight away went to the sick man, started doing that very basic Work which was very much required at that point of time and thus was of a Great Help to the sick man in no time.....

All were aghast with that Work so nicely handled by the written of man which they thought that an experienced man in that line alone could do.... But they conveniently forgot the simple Truth there that for such sensitive works more than experience the 'Will Power' was very much needed....

Observing this Unique Activity, a wise man thought, “God always bestows a Special Capability on each individual that becomes truly useful in times of certain crisis which most of the times never felt at all.... Further, the Almighty always positions all individuals in such a way that the 'Right Help' comes from such a man to the man requiring that 'Help' and nothing less.... And here, all around so well trained by man made mechanisms waiting to help out would never match with that particular individual’s Skill.... A Unique Built-in Mechanism in Nature!" 

The 'Little One' around….

• A child faces the world next through his / her own appearance and expression.... These are original to each child and he / she never modifies the same easily for surroundings except for self protection.... 

• The child is all inquisitive to learn the maximum when he / she thus faces the world.... The opinions / beliefs are the least mostly for existence and he / she is all open to learn from the surroundings through questioning, questioning and only questioning…. Nature is invariably the Right Teacher in this Scenario.... 

• The child never forms opinions about good and bad.... He / she knows only to smile at all around him / her and that smile is a natural outcome of the feeling of Oneness in Nature.... A thief who came to the house to rob, having finished the job by keeping the inmates under threat and was leaving the place, when happened to glance at the child among the inmates, the little one in no time extended a broad smile at him.... 

• The child is amidst various forces around which may be protective or a threat, but moves freely without an iota of knowledge of these beyond except for the immediate need and safety requirements.... 

• The child is the Future Promise to the Nation and would be a Ruler tomorrow at one of the various Levels in the Society around.... And that Future Ruler does the job in front with dedication and love only when he / she as child receives the same from the Caretaker and others at large.... 

So, the next time.... Whatever may be the problems with me / the turmoil in me, however busy I may be and wherever I may be, whenever I come across a child with an explicit innate curiosity, let me spend a moment in reciprocating that through a smile and a wish in my heart for the betterment of the little one in his / her future life and truly speaking out, it costs nothing for me!

What is my 'True Contribution' here?

To a comment that being a Great Personality He was having a small addiction, the Great Saint said, “Let it be there in this life…. Else what is the interest for this body to continue living on this earth?”

That was the 'Simplicity' of the Master who accepted the deficiency in Him ‘AS IS’ never speaking of Himself as great….

The Contemporary Philosopher was approached by his disciples for His acceptance to form an Association of them with He, as the Head but the Great Saint refused permission for the same saying instead of good, evil may prevail around such Associations…. Subsequently, when the disciples had gone ahead with their proposal as their own Right of Expression and formed the Association, He instantly proclaimed, “As the Official Head, I hereby dissolve the Association!”

That was the 'Openness' and 'No Ownership' feeling of the Great Man as he preached the same….

Another Great Personality said…. "If all living beings of the Universe stand in a queue in the descending order as per their skills and strengths, I would like to stand behind the smallest and the weakest….”

That was the 'Humility of Expression' with the Great Man….

When I thus hear about the simple Proclamations and Assertions of the Great People, let it be.... either in accepting their own short comings, showing their 'No Possessive Attitude' or 'Worldly Interest' etc all of them ultimately leading to the Unique Way of expressing the 'Selfless Attitude', let me too contribute 'My Bit' in this direction without an exception and further be ready to do more if possible and thus be 'Blessed' in this life!

The Missing Link in all Welfare Activities....

A king thought thus…

“There is no point in saying that my people in my Kingdom should prosper when I do not allocate money for their welfare and development in sufficient amounts.... There is always a tendency on behalf of Rulers to allocate meager amounts for the welfare and development and expect people to grow and prosper.... This can happen only when the King truly allots a big chunk of budget for these activities.…

But where big amounts are involved, invariably there will be corruption and misuse and these amounts are likely to be diverted into personal pockets unless proper checks are kept on spending and the corrupt Officials are booked in time and punished mercilessly….

The picture thus being crstal clear, I will allocate sizable amounts towards these programs in this year and follow up the spending simultaneously proclaiming stringent punishments for those who try to pocket these funds so that the monies go into the right hands!”

The king discussed the matter with the Minister who cautioned him on the likely failure of the ambitious plan in some quarters even if followed up with all vigor..... The King felt bad for the Minister's pessimistic approach but paying no heed to the advice, simply had gone ahead with his proposal....

Some time had passed....

Slowly, the King noticed that at the back of the whole process, certain groups of people were quite relaxing with the funds released where as certain other groups were starving without any development at their end…. And he could not understand why it happened….

The Minister made some quick enquiries and presented the details to the King.... He said, “Your Highness! All the time, Your Majesty had strictly ensured that huge sums are allocated and no one can pocket the funds; that's all! Here, the funds were available for the Programs and the Officials could not touch them for their personal use as they were strictly monitored for any misuse of these amounts....  In the process, they became dull and took no interest in proper distribution of the funds.... So when the year end approached and they have to tally the accounts through spending, they simply dumped the funds in easy areas close to them on excess welfare and development…. Meaning…. The people in these areas were given everything plenty and thus they started relaxing with the excess.... The groups with meager release of funds were suffering with the shortages as usual…. Your Highness had for gotten to ensure the proper distribution among all which surely needs taking certain definite pains by the Officials and doing the related activities beyond their own self interests and that devotion was missing!”

A Comedy of Errors....

###  A serious class was being conducted for the Commerce Students on Stock Markets.... The topic of discussion for the day was IPOs....The Instructor initiated the lecture and just casually asked the class, “Any one knows when a Company goes for an IPO?”

“When the Company funds are mis-used and spent away by the unscrupulous Management beyond a limit, to get the required Working Capital for running the minimum day to day business of the Company in the Financial Year, the Promoters go in for an IPO and raise funds from the public” was the instantaneous answer….

###  The members of a Management Office had a novel idea of improving their image.... Accordingly, a ‘Complaint Box’ was set up in front of their Office with a Caption, 'You are requested to give your Complaints without any hesitation.... We wish to genuinely attend to all of them and give you a trouble free Service!'

In a few days the box was full.... The Committee Members when glanced through the complaints made, soon found that they really had no idea of resolving the different issues brought out for a solution.... To circumvent this deficiency, they had another great idea, “Why not take suggestions from them to correct all these and capture the ideas?”; indeed a clever motive!

Accordingly a 'Suggestion Box' was set up by the side with a Caption, 'Your Valuable Suggestions for improvement are needed!' Next day itself the box was full…. When the Committee Members happily opened the Box, all the suggestions had one common message, 'We suggest change of the present Management!'

###  An Orator was invited to speak on the promotion of a Standard Sanitary Product which essentially was a replica of purity as the Manufacturers' claimed….He was given a paper just to read out as he might not know the subject in detail.... The man kept the same in his pocket, relaxed for a while and approached the dais....

As usual he made his beginning…. “…….Your good health forever is our primary concern.... For the same reason, our Product is made totally in a pure uncontaminated environment where we pay the highest attention for the basic hygiene…. In our ultra clean Laboratories where you do not find a speck of dust, we diligently….” and took out the chit given to him from his pocket and started reading.…"collect the dirty garbage from all the corners, segregate the same into the dry and the wet garbages, keep the dry one in a corner to dispose off at the end of the week, take the wet and further segregate all the green smelly portions…..”

At this point of time, the Manager ran to the dais, pulled the Speaker from there and saved the situation.... On enquiry, it was found that the Speaker carried a similar chit in his pocket to be given to his servant boy in his house before leaving which he forgot to do....

The 'Help' around....

A young man had a tough problem in life.... As he was trying his best to resolve the issue, his elder brother happened to visit him and helped him in that process.... The young man was highly relieved.... Subsequently, he encountered another conflicting issue.... That too had got his brother’s help in time!  Life went on that way and a few years passed by....

Suddenly the young man had the toughest problem with him and he thought that he was gone forever.... But strangely, the brother did not turn up but only made a verbal enquiry in respect of the difficulty the young man encountered.... The young man was really sad and felt that his brother did not really care for him.... He could somehow resolve the issue himself and was recovering from the damage.... After a few weeks, his brother visited him and made a personal enquiry regarding the problem....

The young man was really annoyed.... He straight away shot at him,  “You helped me so nicely on two occasions, what prevented you from coming to my rescue on this occasion which every one around felt as the toughest problem of my life?”

The brother smiled and told him thus, “Dear! You are totally mistaken.... We are only doing our jobs independently all the time and have to continue doing that way only.... Meaning, I never came to you to help you in a special way.... I was continuously doing my duty.... On two occasions, I happened to be with you, on the third; somewhere else....  And when I was with you, I did what was required at that moment; that's all.... Neither less nor more! 

If you truly understand, life is like a journey going on continuously.... Imagine, we are on an urgent errand and are traveling by train.... Suppose on the way, a co-passenger falls sick and the train is to be detained there for some time....   We still whole heartedly extend all our help required in that direction and never think of reaching our destination in time by neglecting the sick passenger!  But at the same time, none of the passengers will get off specially at an intermediate station to help out some one in need on the platform....  In a similar way I was doing my actions all these days and continue to do even now....” 

The young man was taken aback by the openness and clarity of thoughts of his brother!

'Zero' Conflict Zones….

Broadly, all my actions at any point of time of my life towards my people can be grouped into three categories…. 

• Actions which I have to perform without an exception and if I do not do them, never in life can any other substitute action from my side or from others truly make up for the deficiency generated and the regret for ever stays.... Meaning, a life or a few lives involved including mine are once for all permanently get affected or damaged.... All welfare works from my side towards me as well as towards my people come under this category and it is never wisdom on my behalf to say a 'No' to these actions, postpone them or go slow there at any point of time in my life.... 

• Actions which I have to begin with my involvement but gradually and quickly should taper off so that after a while, the people for whom I have initiated these actions will only be doing them all by themselves.... It is basically the responsibility of streamlining the lives of my people and leaving them into the world as the right matured individuals.... 

• The third type actions are those which I need not and should not propose at any point of time or aid myself for the same but totally leave them to my people whatever may be the outcome except for a minor advising here and there.... In case I am pulled into these actions, I should sincerely be trying to come out at the earliest and be off from the scene.... Here the motto is 'Non Intervention' all the time.... 

Thus, if I can truly recognize each of 'my Action' and do that in the way stated, the 'Conflict in my life' is surely minimized or eliminated and my 'Peace of mind' forever stays....

The Sanctity of a strong 'Customer Base'....

A man of mid thirties had worked hard in his own small business he started at a young age after graduation and brought it to a success.... He used to pay utmost attention to his Customers and it became a habit with him.... Day and night, holiday or a working day and ultimately himself well or not well the man used to take certain attention, sincerely answer the Customer, see that his / her immediate need was taken care.... This attitude in him continued without a stop and his business flourished without a let down….

“I am ready to serve my Customer at an extra cost.... If required, I don’t mind spending more than what I receive in the process but want to regain the his / her satisfaction and you know one satisfied Customer brings you ten future Customers….” thus he used to say.... His devotion to Customer was so unique and unmatched that the other Contenders in the field were automatically kept off without a say....

Such a personality too slowly started thinking different…. It happens…. It is said that we are different roughly at every five year stages of life.... Thus, the man of mid thirties as he entered forties, was a dissatisfied man who felt that his ambition in life was different and some how he got into this unending working…. Soon it gained momentum, he could no more control himself and on one of the days met an elderly well-wisher who was known for his wisdom and sincerely sought his advice on winding up the business.... “I want to do some thing extra ordinary in life and that way monies are never a problem with me.... I feel that I got into a wrong line of this business….” said the man....

The elderly looked at him, smiled and said, “My dear! As I know, you are doing an honest business and you are not after money.... Had these not been the reasons with you, I would have straight away told you to pursue what you liked to do.... But you know….” the elderly paused a while and continued, “You have built an Empire in time through your dedication, hard work and with a ‘Never mind attitude....’ The outcome of these three entities is always sacred and that has to be respected for ever.... If you get away from this Empire, soon unscrupulous and money minded people surely occupy the field and instead of devotion and dedication, greed and looting would prevail everywhere which bring in untold miseries and unhappiness all around.... And the Customers here thus suffer and of course at large, the people too....”

“Let me tell you.... Your dissatisfaction should never bring down this Empire!   Let your Customers alone say that they would be happy if you do this.... Till that time what has gained momentum should continue and that way alone you are doing the best in / for your life...” concluded the gentleman....