Motivational and Inspirational Stories & Articles

A Tribute to Kejriwal

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 10:18:00 +0000

Kejriwal, tum jio hazaaro saal

Allah, Ishwar, Christ, Waahe Guru sabko hai tumaraha khayal, tum jiyo hazaaro saal.

Dilli se kam karo corruption ka bawaal, tum jiyo hazaaro saal.

Aab nahi uthega kabhi koi scam ya ched-chaad ka sawaal, tum jiyo hazaaro saal.

Ek imandar politicial ki ban gaye ho tum misaal, tum jiyo hazaaro saal.

Tumme kuch naya le ke aaya hai ye saal, Kejriwal, tum jiyo hazaaro saal.

Aab har mushkil ka humko mil gaya hai dhaal, tum jiyo hazaaro saal.

Tumhi ho wo 'wall', tumhi ho wo 'wall', Kejriwal, tum jiya hazaaro saal.

Learn to Manage Time

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 17:19:00 +0000

A juggler was once asked, how he could manage so many balls at one time, to which he was quick to point that it wasn't about managing so many balls at one time; it was all about fixing and shifting of priorities, while effectively managing and utilising the time that he gets while he throws a ball up in the air!

How true! Your willingness, mood and prioritizing skills have much to do with how you manage and use your time. The more willing you are, the lesser time you will take to finish a work. Similarly, the healthier is your mood, the more productive you will be.

The End

Mind Your Words

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 17:34:00 +0000

Words, whether good or bad, in appreciation or oppression, leave an indelible mark on others. Blessed are we to have the power to communicate but still many a time we fail to take advantage of it or communicate in the most unwanted way.

It is said that words are the sharpest of all weapons, for the wounds they cause never heal perfectly. Spoken words cannot be retrieved; what returns only is their after effect which causes the speaker as much suffering as it causes to the person they are hurled at. So choose your words judiciously, for they have the power to make or mar a situation and influence people for good or evil.

Don’t speak whatever you mind; just mind whatever you speak.

Materialism: How Justified Is Its Observance in Today’s Time?

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Mon, 27 May 2013 10:44:00 +0000

Materialism is all about having an excessive desire (read greed) for money and possessions. It is said that today’s society is materialistic, but then, when it wasn’t? Every era—be it relates to the time when possessing a car was a luxury or, the time when flashing a mobile phone was purely a privilege of super-rich—had something to offer, an enjoyment of which was beyond the imagination of many of us. But as time went by, most of us were able to own and use such possessions—all because of our desire, hard work and perseverance.

Although the basic tenet of materialism remains same everywhere, its meaning cannot be restrained to a few words. Different people, depending upon their ideologies, observations and social upbringing, may perceive it differently. For instance, some parents may perceive giving of pocket money to their children from an early age as a means to propagate the sense of materialism into them, and hence may altogether deprive them of this privilege. On the other hand, others may start giving pocket money to their kids from an early age in order to hold their attention and educate them about money while their mind is still free from any kind of external conditioning.

Possessing more than what is required is being materialistic, and requirements differ from people to people. A common man may do well with one house, but the same scenario may not apply to a famed actor who may have a long list of guests visiting him on a daily basis.

One serious question which needs a mention here is, “Can one relieve himself of his worldly duties if he has succeeded in gaining sufficient means for his survival?” The answer is no, because had this been the case, all of us had, at one point or the other, stopped working and become functionally redundant. In this way we would have deprived our upcoming generations of our experiences and achievements, and might also have failed to inspire them to strive, excel and achieve more in their lives.

Acquiring possessions and spending money is a vital source of meaning and happiness in our time. But as has been said, excess of everything is bad, excessive greed often becomes the source of our unhappiness. In fact, unnecessary greed and longing for one thing after another has been the prime cause behind our unhappiness. It is our never ending greed only which makes our happiness quotient change every time. Our greed reinforces our false belief that happiness is just a ‘thing’ away, which we never arrive at. And even if we somehow manage to arrive at it, we replace it with something other every time, thus finding ourselves trapped forever into the vicious cycle of greed.

Is materialism per se wrong?

Materialism per se is not wrong, after all it encourages us to better ourselves and reap the benefits that modern society has for us to offer. But at the same time, we should be watchful of our weakness for materialistic things, for we might be unknowingly breeding the seeds of greed inside us. Remember, more is not always the better, but knowing that we have enough is. Control your greed and you will be in true control of your life.

The End

Be More of What You Are

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 05:20:00 +0000

Are you a parent, a husband, a wife, a son, a daughter, a friend, an employee, an employer, or whatever for that matter—just be more of what you are. Much of our unhappiness is the resultant of our failure to effectively portray the role of the person we are in a given situation.

We play so many roles in our entire life, why not to play them effectively and wholeheartedly, after all in the end it all just reduces to how we feel or make others feel in a relationship.

When we are in office we are an employee (or an employer) but when we reach our home we are more of a father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, husband or wife, or whatever the situation demands of us. The conflict and unhappiness starts in our life the moment we exceed or retract ourselves from the role we are playing in a given situation. Just as a parent we cannot wish to act as a young child; as a child we cannot encroach upon the role of our parents and so on and so forth.

Start Your Day Well

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:44:00 +0000

There is something with the way you start your day, for it determines the way you will spend the rest of your day. I have often found that if you start your day on a happy note you are much likely to have a positive day ahead.

Morning time is a time when so many activities demand our attention in the shortest given time which makes it for the fastest moving period of the day. It often leads to unnecessary chaos and a tension filled life. If daily one goes through this amount of inconvenience, one can only imagine the pressure he is exposing himself to in his daily life. What’s the solution? The solution lies in simplifying and managing the things.

A good night’s sleep precedes our new day. It is essential that we take optimum sleep and get up at a pre-designated time. Morning activities can be planned in advance with a fixed time slot allotted to each activity so that we don’t feel any kind of strain in the morning. If we could set aside just fifteen minutes for ourselves in the morning, it would help us to rejuvenate and to be at ease with ourselves besides making us feel the calmness from within.

The idea is to start your day in a good mood. Make those activities a part of your daily morning life which enhances your mood and make you feel happy. You may get up early to make time for those activities which are closer to your heart, like walking bare foot on grass, reading newspaper, listening to music, reading something inspirational or anything that gives you a sense of peace and happiness in the morning.

Why Are We Busy All The Time?

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:43:00 +0000

Last week, while I was on a twelve hour journey on train, I came across this gentleman who sat comfortably with his eyes glued to his laptop. He was engrossed on social networking sites, selecting the ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ button with each post. No matter what the post says he kept his opinion limited to hitting of like or dislike button.

After having scanned all the posts he shut off his laptop and entered into a conversation on his smart phone with someone. After his elaborate conversation which lasted for more than a quarter of an hour, he pulled out his tablet and started playing his favourite game. As if all these had tired him, he put off all his gadgets and went to sleep. With his eyes wide open and mind wandering he was unable to fall asleep, and then came the gadget from the side chain of his travel bag: an ebook reader, to soothe his mind with the words, which only he can make out its effectiveness in making him fall asleep.

All this sight was enough for me to think about our growing nature to want to remain ever busy. Has it become so difficult to let go of a moment for sometime, or keep ourselves detached from everything?

MUFNWW4W58NK

Life And Its various Motivating Hues

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 12:27:00 +0000

Life is a Challenge—Face it

Life is a Sorrow—Accept it

Life is a Duty—Fulfill it

Life is a Game—Play it

Life is a Mystery—Solve it

Life is a Music—Enjoy it

Life is a Bliss—Taste it

Life is a Tragedy—Face it

Life is an Opportunity—Use it

Life is a Dream—Feel it

Life is a Journey—Complete it

Life is a Promise –Keep it

Life is a Beauty—Maintain it

Life is a Struggle—Continue it

Life is a Target—Achieve it

THE END
© Anchit Barnwal

Acknowledge Your Greatness

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:07:00 +0000

A few days back I read in a national newspaper that robots—with flawless precision—have increasingly started replacing human work-force around the globe—which forced me to revisit the same–old debate, are robots (or machines) superior to most unique (supreme) creation of God on this planet. Or, in other words, are we about to lose our supremacy in the near future?

No doubt, robots are exact replicas of human beings, in fact what we can take whole day or even months to complete, like doing a calculation or building an infrastructure may be completed by non-stop working robots in a fraction of time taken by us. So, to some extent we can say that robots can replace human beings in work place. However, this is not all true.

What makes us unique is not our capacity to talk, walk, run or even sing but our ability to choose between the good and bad, to indulge into intricate thinking and to make a decision with utmost clarity and precision. Robots, on the other hand, are simply man-made machines with no or very little power to indulge into intricate thinking.

The following cute little story would aptly reflect on our superiority: An employer asked his newly appointed staff, a robot, to visit the market. As the robot got ready and had just stepped out of the office, he was stopped from behind by his employer who enquired as to where was he going. “I am going to market, sir”, the robot made his point vocally. “Agreed that you are going to market, but what would you do going there?” the employer enquired in discontentment. “Yes sir, you did not tell me what I would do there”, the robot concluded realizing his mistake of moving without a purpose. This made the employer realize that robots are in no way a guaranteed replacement of a human brain.

Another acknowledgement of the potential of human brain is that it can feel and make out the meaning of instructions used/given in a context, thus making it clear that he is blessed with creative faculties that are beyond the realm of any other living or non-living creature existing on this planet.

But to continue this supremacy man must not forget or get slow, as he often do being in his comfort zone, in exercising his creative faculties. Let not become robotic in our approaches and behave in a non desirable or pre-programmed way. All that is required on our part is our continuous acknowledgement and effort to make the best possible use of our brains, and then the question that will robots ever be able to overtake our supremacy, will itself lose its very existence!

THE END

Kargil Vijay Diwas: A Salute To Our War Heroes

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 10:39:00 +0000

This day reminds us of the sacrifice of our people who fought the battle of Kargil with Pakistan on the icy heights of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Today, July 26 marks as 12th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, the day when India showed its bold face to Pakistani insurgents and relegated them to their homeland. The fight was fought for more than two months and had resulted in the loss of lives on both the sides.

We salute our war heroes for the sacrifice they made for this nation. The valiant display of their exemplary effort, courage and selfless devotion to this nation is today as fresh in our minds as it was on the day of July 26, 1999, the official day of the declaration of eviction of all the intruders from the Indian soil. The sacrifice they made with their lives will always be honored by every Indian, and will continue to inspire us to show our love for our motherland in every possible way.

This day also reminds us that while we as a nation stand as an embodiment of peace, we also have a capability to not only safely protect our citizens but also fight and win a war that is forced upon us. Let The Fire Of Patriotism Remain Ever Ignited.

Jai Hind Jai Bharat

Winners' Podium--Everyone Fits On It (Video)

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 05:45:00 +0000

Learn to manage time

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:57:00 +0000

“Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time.”

—Margaret Bonnano

Time is a resource which we all have in equal measure and yet we never seem to have our fair share of it. It is the only factor which works as a limitation to every activity and has no substitute.

There are infinite ways to spend or even lose it, but not a single way to retrieve a lost hour. It openly makes us aware of its speed and yet we never seem to catch up with it.

An old adage says, “Health is wealth,” but, if today, I am permitted to re-modify it, it would be: “Time and health is wealth.”

For success, effective time management is inevitable.

A juggler was once asked, how he could manage so many balls at one time, to which he was quick to point that it wasn’t about managing so many balls at one time; it was all about fixing and shifting of priorities, while effectively managing and utilising the time that he gets while he throws a ball up in the air!

How true! Your willingness, mood and prioritising skills have much to do with how you manage and use your time. The more willing you are, the lesser time you will take to finish a work. Similarly, the healthier is your mood, the more productive you will be.

THE END
© Anchit Barnwal

The King’s Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Thu, 31 May 2012 08:16:00 +0000

In the kingdom of Vijaynagar, King Virendra Pratap was on a lookout for a person who could be appointed as a managing head for his agriculture department.

“Your majesty, you can select one of your farmers to hold the post,” suggested Veermal, the young, skinny adviser to the king.

The king who sat, listening to Veermal, on his exquisite throne with his chin resting on the palm of his right hand, said “Veermal, go and fetch me the list of the farmers who are willing to hold the post.”

Veermal went away and laid the king’s proposal before the farmers, who were more than happy to apply for the post as it would get them a seat in the kingdom.

After two days, Veermal presented himself before the king and revealed, pointing at the long list he held in his hand, “Your highness, I have returned with the names, but the matter of concern is that more than four hundred farmers are willing to fill in the coveted post.”

“More than four hundred!” the king exclaimed. “We need to devise a way to further sift the best from the rest.” He called upon his gardener and asked him to draw a one meter wide circle in the backyard of his garden.

Next day, he invited all the four hundred applicants to the marked place. The applicants, all farmers, looked pleased in their tidy, colourful dresses.

“Is everyone interested in holding the highest post for agriculture?” the king inquired in a loud voice.

A quick ‘yes’ reverberated in the arena for a moment.

“Is everyone ready to face the challenge of burrowing a six-foot deep pit inside this marked circle before the day ends?” the king squealed, pointing his finger at the marked place.

Again, cheers and hoots with a resounding ‘yes’ enveloped the air, as burrowing a six-feet deep pit was a child’s play for any farmer.

“But the burrowing is not to be done with a spade but with a fork and spoon!” the king continued, raising his right hand in anticipation of seeing someone raise his hand to confirm his acceptance of proposal.

An air of silence and gloom engulfed the atmosphere. Not only wasn’t a raised hand to be seen, the hitherto giggling crowd had suddenly cut a long face. Each head had turned down with some sneakily trying to notice the person coming up with a ‘yes’ to the proposal. A big chaos was evident on everyone’s face.

“Is anyone coming forward to take up the challenge?” the king repeated with a worried frown.

But again no ‘yes’ was to be heard.

By the end of the day just two persons, Ramprasad and Kripanath showed their willingness to go ahead with the challenge. The king was happy to see the flood of applicants being reduced to just two with the condition of ‘a spoon and fork’ acting as a barrier to many.

The king asked both the applicants to come prepared at the same place on Sunday, a holiday, so that more and more people could see them working their way out to the esteemed post.

In the farmer’s circle everyone was mocking at Ramprasad and Kripanath, who had accepted to accomplish a seemingly impossible task setup by the king. Some even wanted to call them fools, for what they had chosen to do was only a fool can choose.

There was so much negativity and criticism in the air that by Sunday, Ramprasad was sufficiently convinced that the task he had agreed to accomplish was an impossible one, so accordingly he decided to quit the competition.

Now it was all left to Kripanath to prove everybody wrong. On the appointed day, he was up before a thousand people, who had gathered there for the much awaited event they had ever seen in their lives.

Kripanath, who arrived at the scene clad in a white dhoti, looked calm as he took an overview of the crowd assembled there. By now all eyes were carefully set upon him. After the king gave a go-ahead, Kripanath started poking the earth with a fork. The soft earth was easily getting poked but the biggest hindrance was to move away the loosened soil, which Kripanath moved with the spoon he had brought with him. His incessant effort made him look committed to his goal.

Half the day passed and he had not even managed to dig a two-foot deep pit; time was running out, but he kept with his efforts, applying harder with each passing hour. All the calculations showed that he would not make it in any probability. Again a quarter day passed and he had barely managed to touch the mark of three-feet. But so devoted was he, that he continued without fail.

While he was poking and moving the earth at around four-feet, a sound of a metal, that he had accidently hit, made him come to an abrupt halt. He thought that some useless iron pieces were hit.

He curiously looked inside the pit, only to notice that a yellow glow was sprouting beneath the earth he was poking. A few more poking and moving of earth led him to realize that he had accidently hit upon a gold brick!

The king who was watching all this for a while, asked him to come to his chamber. “Have you found anything?” he enquired.

“Yes, yes your majesty, I have found a gold brick. I don’t know how it came there,” Kripanath answered showing the dug gold.

The king began, “Your hitting at gold brick was not an accident! I had intentionally got it buried there at a level slightly above four feet. My intention was never to see a man who could dig a six-foot deep pit with a spoon and fork, but a man who is willing to tackle a demanding, arduous task head-on; I just wanted to find a courageous man who is not afraid of the magnitude of his goal.”

“But why did you choose to place the brick at around four feet only?” Kripanath, who was listening to king with rapt attention, enquired in a lower tone.

The king pointed, “I wanted to see a man dig four-foot deep pit only and not six, which was not feasible. I fixed it at four only because by the time a person digs four-foot deep pit, he would have proved his love for his work, however demanding. The high-sound of six-feet was just to sift the committed ones from the herd, and it turned out that only you were committed!” Looking at Kripanath, he continued, “The other, Ramprasad who opted to quit at the last moment was no better than the rest as he willfully ignored the opportunity to enter into a competition which had just two competitors — this all because he believed the misguiding people more than he believed in himself.”

Kripanath was not only made the head of state for agriculture but was also rewarded with the dug gold.

Moral: Luck favours only the willing, deserving and striving. It never shines upon the non-performers. Opportunities come to everyone but those who fail to recognize it call it their ill-luck. Remember, at the end, it’s always luck following the hard work and never the other way round.

END

Belief in a thing makes that thing happen.

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:50:00 +0000

The distance between a problem and its solution often depends on our ability to try. There are no standard methods to solve life’s problems, but the moment we choose to try we clinch our deal with success.

When John Roebling, Chief Engineer of Brooklyn Bridge, wanted to build the bridge, experts worldwide asked him to forget the idea because they considered it impossible. But both Roebling and his son Washington just would not give up! The project started well, but in a series of tragic accidents, Roebling passed away and Washington was incapacitated. Washington was not able to walk, talk or even move.

All he could do was to move one finger. Gradually, using his one finger, he developed a code of communication with his wife. He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating his intention to call the engineers again. He used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. For thirteen years, he tapped out his instructions with his one finger, directing operations at the site, until the bridge was finally completed.

Washington’s inabilities did not deter him from following his dream. The reason the bridge stands today is because in the face of adversity he did not give up trying. His life teaches us that when we are going through a problem, or are not able to realize our dreams or achieve what we want, we don’t always have to do anything extraordinary…we just have to try harder!

THE END

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:14:00 +0000

Morning time is a time when so many activities demand our attention in the shortest given time which makes it for the fastest moving period of the day. It often leads to unnecessary chaos and a tension filled life. If daily one goes through this amount of inconvenience, one can only imagine the pressure he is exposing himself to in his daily life. What’s the solution? The solution lies in simplifying and managing the things.

A good night’s sleep precedes our new day. It is essential that we take optimum sleep and get up at a pre-designated time. Morning activities can be planned in advance with a fixed time slot allotted to each activity so that we don’t feel any kind of strain in the morning. If we could set aside just fifteen minutes for ourselves in the morning, it would help us to rejuvenate and to be at ease with ourselves besides making us feel the calmness from within.

The idea is to start your day in a good mood. Make those activities a part of your daily morning life which enhances your mood and make you feel happy. You may get up early to make time for those activities which are closer to your heart, like walking bare foot on grass, reading newspaper, listening to music, reading something inspirational or anything that gives you a sense of peace and happiness in the morning.

Arrange the motivational and inspirational list according to your preference.

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:25:00 +0000

Arrange the following in order of your preference, i.e. starting from the most preferable thing you have to gradually go down to pick the thing which you prefer the least. Though all entries in the list have much relevance to anyone’s life, not everyone’s final list will tally exactly with that of others.

· Time

· Health

· Money

· Love

· Freedom

You can compare one thing with every other in the list to determine that thing’s importance according to you, like what I have done here:

· Time

If you have time you can:

Ø Look after your health.

Ø Earn money.

Ø Pursue your love; and

Ø Enjoy your freedom.

· Health

If you have health you can:

Ø Work more number of hours and save time.

Ø Work more number of hours and earn accordingly.

Ø Losing your health means losing your freedom.

Ø However, no sound health can even remotely guarantee you love.

· Money

If you have money you can:

Ø Have ten people to do your work and yet the work done could not be of your liking. So it doesn’t mean more money means more time.

Ø Money also doesn’t guarantee you health. Money can get you the most expensive treatment but not before you lose your health.

Ø Money can give you the means and ways to pursue your love but still it doesn’t guarantee you love.

Ø More money doesn’t equals to more freedom.

· Love

Ø Love cannot guarantee you time.

Ø Love can make you work harder for your health.

Ø It can also make you work harder for money.

Ø However, it cannot guarantee you freedom.

· Freedom

Ø Freedom means having time and enjoying it too.

Ø Freedom doesn’t necessarily transform into a good health.

Ø Freedom can allow you to make money by your means and wishes.

Ø Like time, freedom also means that you can pursue your love for anything.

So, for me ‘time' is the best contender among all five, as it allows you to have everything viz. health, money, love and freedom.

Second best to me is ‘freedom,’ as it allows you to have a bit of everything. It loses the top slot only because ‘time’ fair better when it comes to looking after your health.

The third place is safely being held by ‘health,’ as it can guarantee you ‘time’ and ‘money,’ but it loses its strength when it comes to securing ‘love’ and ‘freedom’. Meet any celebrity, they are in their best shapes, but are they free or, have they always been reciprocated by their love? May be not.

The fourth slot is being held by ‘love’ which is clueless about ‘time’ and ‘freedom,’ the crucial ones.

At fifth and last position is ‘money,’ damn… it doesn’t guarantee you anything, not even love or freedom.

THE END

Inner cleansing is a must

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 07:41:00 +0000

Whenever we form excess saliva in our mouth, we immediately spit it out, or eagerly look for the ways to get rid of it. Similarly, we are quick to shake, dust and wipe ourselves off, when our skin or clothes get smeared with dirt. The point here common is our eagerness in getting what we consider filth, away from us.

Have we ever tried to make out the reason behind this quickness in cleaning ourselves from outside, or to find out as to why do we take so long in cleansing ourselves from within?

When a new bride does a mistake in her new home, the in-laws try to chide her parents for not teaching her accordingly, but the same in-laws never even think of blaming themselves for the wrong of their own children! Why such a contrast in our attitudes?

All these differences in our attitudes boil down to our acknowledgement and affirmations. What we readily acknowledge as good or bad, we react to it accordingly. But we remain clueless about what we fail to acknowledge altogether. The purpose of acknowledgement is to make us self aware of the baggage that we constantly carry with us around; to get rid of our unwanted behaviours and attitudes.

The process of inner cleansing starts with our believing that, since we are the generator of our emotions, we can be their destroyer as well. Taking an overall view of ourselves help us to acknowledge our negativities and sort-out their root causes. It’s primarily our inner qualities that manifest themselves in our daily lives. So we must think seriously where we stand today and where we would be tomorrow. Looking deep into ourselves mean working upon our beliefs, attitudes and actions, and eventually clearing ourselves of our negative emotions.

The best way, therefore, to deal with our negative feelings is to make a room to accommodate more positive changes in our lives by accentuating our positive behaviour, while recognizing, correcting and giving a positive vent to our negative emotions. This will result in having the reins of our life fully settled in our hands.

END

Ever thought...

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:16:00 +0000

· We enjoy simplicity but we ourselves fall short of meeting its standards.

· We never tell our customers that s/he really needs no solution.

· We know the cost of many things yet the value of nothing.

· We go to exotic locations—with bag and baggage—and yet we fail to free up our minds.

· We boast of being well connected and yet people complain of us being inaccessible.

· We know time is money and yet we fail to decipher its calculation.

· We want the right answers but get settled with the comfortable ones.

· We complain of an inconvenience even after we had willfully let go an opportunity to undo the things which made us complain in the first place.

· We hold strong positions and do great businesses but get afraid of competition from a newbie or a roadside vendor.

· We are concerned about our outward beauty but fail to cleanse ourselves from within.

· We never compete with our competitors in paying more to our staff but we surely remain competitive in paying them less than our competitors.

· When our health takes a beating we treat it as if there is nothing more important, but after regaining it, we neglect it as if there is nothing more useless.

· We wear costly watches but fail to keep an appointment.

· We watch movies more attentively than any other thing but forget its message right after it gets over.

· We get an increase in our earnings that never lead to a proportionate increase in our happiness.

· We know the cost of getting educated but lack in knowing the value of education.

· We put more hours at work but fail to realize the coordination required between the mind and hand.

· We never teach our children how to react, only not to revolt.

· We are getting richer by money but poorer by time.

THE END

Do we need a special time to laugh?

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:15:00 +0000

See today’s scenario, no astrologer had ever predicted that in future people will designate a specific hour from their daily schedule—only to laugh! Nowadays, we eagerly wait for clock to struck 8.30 or 9 or whatever time that may be, so that we could expose ourselves to a virtual guy on an idiot box, who will assist us in laughing! And at times I have found people are laughing just because they have to for being on the show directly or indirectly. Why to force ourselves to laugh?

My question is why do we require a foreign factor daily in our life to laugh? Are we not self reliant and capable enough to find humour in our daily life? Remember, no two days are same, and so are life situations. There are umpteen opportunities for every one of us to see the funnier side of the situations we might find ourselves in. Now don’t tell me that you have really forgotten how to laugh—for that can never be the case.

Laughing, like any other emotion is a natural one which should make our facial muscles and bones move automatically.

My idea is not to snub stand up comedians, who in fact are much better placed than us to see things differently from others, but to tell everyone that in the humdrum of daily life we should not let go of an opportunity to not only smile our self but make others smile as well.

And in the end, as I always say if you are stuck with a situation crack a joke on yourself, it’ll relieve you of that situation.

END

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:20:00 +0000

A 2 Z of inspiration

Anger is a letter away from danger—control it.

Beauty is skin deep—realize it.

Crime is punishable—abstain it.

Democracy is worth having—privilege it.

Ego is to: Eliminate God Out—extinguish it.

Friendships are limited—enjoy them.

Greed is a vice—overcome it.

Human life is for once—live it.

Ideas are abundant—unleash them.

Joy is a must—share it.

Knowledge is worthless—have it.

Love is hard to find—preserve it.

Marriage is an investment—value it.

Nature is truth—accept it.

Opportunities are rare—cease them.

Problems are teachers in disguise—love them.

Questions are meaningful—raise them.

Relationships are fragile—maintain them.

Success is a journey—travel it.

Talent is a gift—nurture it.

Unique you are—celebrate it.

Vision is foresightedness—believe it.

Work is worship—adore it.

XL is extra large—utilise it.

Youth is for once—bless it.

Zoo: a place to realize your own behavior from animals point of view—visit it.

END

Test of patience

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:17:00 +0000

Krishna was a young man employed in a government job. He had a severe liking for delicious mangoes. But of late his town was falling short of supply of good quality mangoes.

A year Krishna decided to raise a mango tree. He planted the saplings of mango in his farm and nurtured it to see it grew into a big tree.

The season came but the tree remained fruitless, which disappointed Krishna, yet he did not lose his hope and continued nurturing it. The next year he was delighted to see the flowers, but in season they all got infected and rotted without any apparent reason. This made Krishna angry and sad at the same time, still he managed to keep his love for the tree. The third year, again the tree remained fruitless.

Krishna, out of frustration, thought the tree to be a bad omen. He cursed his luck and decided to sell the tree along with the farm and not to further waste his time, money and energy on it. He also decided not to pay heed to the tree for the rest of his life. A nearby farmer bought the farm and the tree.

Meanwhile Krishna got a transfer of his job and shifted to a new, bigger town which had a good supply of excellent quality mangoes. He relished it everyday.

Years passed, one day he overheard a mango seller shouting, “Ranchpuri mangoes, Ranchpuri mangoes!” he became excited as he was not only familiar with the mangoes, which he used to relish daily, but also with the town Ranchpur, where he had come from, which never had a good supply of quality mangoes. He was curious to know, how and when Ranchpur started producing such an extraordinary kind of mangoes.

Next morning he boarded a bus for Ranchpur and, through an enquiry reached the place of origin of such mangoes. He was astonished to see and know that the mangoes were coming from none other than his own farm which he had sold a long ago.

He went on to meet the owner of the farm. The owner turned out to be the same farmer whom he had sold his tree along with the farm. The owner, now a wealthy person, immediately recognized the man and thanked him for his tree which had encouraged him to plant more of such trees.

The farmer told him, “The year you had sold me your tree, was a drought year. That year the tree had remained fruitless. I had purchased your farm with an intention to do farming but the next year I found the tree to be densely loaded with plump mangoes, whose superior taste and quality made me get the farm’s soil tested. Through report I came to know that such soil was very conducive for mango trees. I, immediately, sowed the whole farm with such saplings. It is my farm’s mangoes which are famous far and wide.”

Listening to the words of the farmer, Krishna was in tears. He had realized his mistake of missing the opportunity right at the place it had started.

Moral: Never undermine patience, it has a sweet fruit. Have patience and you will conquer the desirable.

THE END

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:37:00 +0000

Continuity is life

Is satisfaction the beginning of stagnation in one's liife? I don't think so, as it is satisfaction which gets reflected in our love and devotion towards our work which keep us going. Instead, it's a general sense of complacency which devoid us of our vision for a positive movement.

Complacency comes from a lack of motivation and desire to grow. When we get complacent our productivity suffers and we stop striving for the better. On the other hand, our devotion towards our work reflects our love and appetite for it which grows up with each of our achievements, the achievements which in turn acts as a catalyst in motivating us to pursue our work persistently. As Tendulkar had pointed out earlier that he is happy with his career but not satisfied, which just underscores his appetite and devotion towards his game.

Satisfaction is inherent in one’s happiness but to be satisfied to a level where one ceases to practice and enjoy his work is to script one’s own stagnation. To avoid coming to a stand still we must continue to love and learn from our work. Learning being a life long process, any thought of having learned enough would make us stop growing and moving forward. Learning regularly is the only way to stay happy and focused. To continue learning we must continue striving and practicing our work.

Stagnation robs us of our potency and makes us pointless in our approach, just as the still water which gets contaminated after a while and becomes useless. Swami Vivekanand said, “Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached.” Does that mean we can stop when we reach our goal? No. Every time we reach a goal, a newer progressive goal worth achieving awaits our attention, pursuing which becomes a natural way forward for us. Attainment of worthy progressive goals is a continuous process; any decisive halt on our part before or after the attainment of a particular goal will result in our stagnation.

We should not get disheartened by the obstacles that we may face in reaching our every goal, nor should we flinch ourselves from the hard work. Remember, if we aim right, there would not come a moment of us seeing ourselves coming to an abrupt halt.

Love your work; any work done without enthusiasm and passion will never bear the result it should have been otherwise.

We should, therefore, consciously continue making efforts and let our thoughts remain engaged to our work to avoid stagnation at any stage of our life. The idea is to have a control on our work and not let our work control us. Remember that our efforts may fail, but never fail to make efforts, for they will keep you moving and will surely fetch you results if not today, definitely tomorrow.

END

THE IMPORTANCE OF BROTHERHOOD

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 08:07:00 +0000

“I will not settle for anything less than the first position in my school marathon this time,” thought, Piyush, a tall, skinny student of a residential school, which housed students from various countries across Asia. Piyush had been preparing hard for the last few months to better his performance of last year when he had missed the gold medal by a whisker to Ibomcha, a non residential Indian. The sports day came; Piyush sat behind the curtains with bated breath to hear the official announcement for his event being made. After a few minutes, as the announcements for athletes to assemble for marathon started, Piyush stood up, stretched himself and moved towards the starting line. So excited was he that he had reached the tracks while announcements were still being made.

“Piyush, this time you not only have to win a gold medal but also represent our school at district level,” said Raviraj, the bald headed instructor, who was watching him from behind. “Yes, I will try my best,” Piyush squeaked, adjusting his hair which were obstructing his view of the track. He looked around, only to realize that a small crowd of runners of all types, from medium built to short heighted to plump figures had suddenly adorned the starting line. The crowd wished each other as it waited to hear the whistle announcing the start of the race. Suddenly, a quick loud whistle set all the athletes into motion. The atmosphere had come alive with the sounds of cheers, claps, and hoots.

The first lap of the marathon saw all the runners running in close proximity to each other as no one wanted to be left behind. But after the first lap, the running crowd, with their fluctuating energy levels, steadily started spreading over a larger area of track with some lagging way behind. The third lap saw Piyush, Ibomcha and one Purshottam leaving others far, far behind. All three now nearing the penultimate lap had a tough time to make a lead over the other as none of them showed any sign of slowing down. It went for a while that all three ran in tandem keeping an eye over the other, but in the penultimate lap, Piyush and Purshottam started to feel a dip in their stamina, which made Ibomcha come much ahead of them — so ahead that he was almost out of their sight.

It was in the last lap when Piyush and Purshottam were just around a quarter kilometer away from the finishing line that they noticed Ibomcha lying unconscious on the track. “Purshottam, see Ibomcha is lying unconscious in the middle of the track! What has happened to him?” asked Piyush tugging Ibomcha, wishing him to get up. Purshottam who was happy seeing Ibomcha lying flat on the ground, quickly put, “I don’t know, let’s go and finish the race first; we are nearing the finishing line.” “I am not coming, I cannot leave Ibomcha unattended, if you wish, you can go,” retorted Piyush, picking up unconscious Ibomcha into his both hands. Meanwhile, Purshottam went ahead running, feeling himself to be lucky enough to have got a chance to win the race. Piyush, on the other hand moved off the tracks carrying Ibomcha’s body to hand it over to the nearest first aid booth.

Piyush had tears in his eyes as he had missed his dream of coming first but he was content from inside for having helped a fellow human being in need and thus living up to his expectation of being a responsible citizen.

Though Piyush lost the race that year, his kind deed made him a winner for his life in everyone’s eyes. He stood head and shoulders above the other runners for what he had achieved was phenomenal; what others could only think of. He had proved that he believed in a life built around values, ethics and a sense of common brotherhood.

END

Be always grateful

noreply@blogger.com (anchitbarnwal) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Anchit Barnwal, Hindustan Times
August 11, 2011

With the rush and constant chasing of new frontiers of life, there often comes a moment when we fail to acknowledge the beauty and essence of what we already have.

There is a cute little story on how we fail to realise our own worth. A magician called upon a person and made a 10-rupee note disappear from his pocket. The person thought that he would get his money back after the show but that did not happen. By the time the show got over, the man grew impatient and went straight to the magician to enquire about his note.

Seeing the sad, dejected face of the person, the magician returned his note and asked, “Are you happy, now?” “Yes, content and happy,” the man replied.“Did you notice, you haven’t gained anything more than what you had come here with? The only change occurred is that now you are going out with a cheerful face and not with a long one with which you had entered this place,” the magician enquired. “Yes, I understand, our source of happiness lies within us; we need not look for it anywhere else,” the man exclaimed.

“Yes, it’s not that you were not happy earlier, you were. But earlier just because you did not acknowledge the value of what you already possessed, you had also failed to notice your happiness,” said the magician.

That is it. We always want to have more and more of everything without realising that we already have enough to be happy, but we keep harbouring the false notion that we are just one ‘thing’ away from our happiness. And we get entangled with this thought forever, just replacing our demands every time.

It’s in our interest that from time to time we willfully cut ourselves off from the humdrum of our daily life and stop taking a note of everything that we have or have gained with pain and effort, and thus appreciate a thing for its intrinsic value.