प्यास

एक बार किसी रेलवे प्लैटफॉर्म पर जब गाड़ी रुकी तो एक लड़का पानी बेचता हुआ निकला।

 ट्रेन में बैठे एक सेठ ने उसे आवाज दी, "ऐ लड़के इधर आ।"

 लड़का दौड़कर आया।

 उसने पानी का गिलास भरकर सेठ  की ओर बढ़ाया तो सेठ ने पूछा, "कितने पैसे में?"

लड़के ने कहा, "पच्चीस पैसे।"

 सेठ ने उससे कहा कि पंदह पैसे में देगा क्या?

यह सुनकर लड़का हल्की मुस्कान दबाए पानी वापस घड़े में उड़ेलता हुआ आगे बढ़ गया।

 उसी डिब्बे में एक महात्मा बैठे थे, जिन्होंने यह नजारा देखा था कि लड़का मुस्कराय मौन रहा।

जरूर कोई रहस्य उसके मन में होगा।

 महात्मा नीचे उतरकर उस लड़के के  पीछे- पीछे गए।

 बोले : ऐ लड़के ठहर जरा, यह तो बता तू हंसा क्यों?

वह लड़का बोला, "महाराज, मुझे हंसी इसलिए आई कि सेठजी को प्यास तो लगी ही नहीं थी। वे तो केवल पानी के गिलास का रेट पूछ रहे थे।"

 महात्मा ने पूछा - "लड़के, तुझे ऐसा क्यों लगा कि सेठजी को प्यास लगी ही नहीं थी।"

 लड़के ने जवाब दिया, "महाराज, जिसे वाकई प्यास लगी हो वह कभी रेट नहीं पूछता। वह तो गिलास लेकर पहले पानी पीता है।  फिर बाद में पूछेगा कि कितने पैसे देने हैं? पहले कीमत पूछने का अर्थ हुआ कि प्यास लगी ही नहीं है।"

 वास्तव में जिन्हें ईश्वर और जीवन में  कुछ पाने की तमन्ना होती है, वे वाद-विवाद में नहीं पड़ते।

 पर जिनकी प्यास सच्ची नहीं होती, वे ही वाद-विवाद में पड़े रहते हैं। वे साधना के पथ पर आगे नहीं बढ़ते.

अगर भगवान नहीं हे तो उसका ज़िक्र क्यो??
और अगर भगवान हे तो फिर फिक्र क्यों ???

 मंज़िलों से गुमराह भी ,कर देते हैं कुछ लोग,  हर किसी से रास्ता पूछना अच्छा नहीं होता..

अगर कोई पूछे जिंदगी में क्या खोया और क्या पाया...तो बेशक कहना...जो कुछ खोया वो मेरी नादानी थी और जो भी पाया वो रब की मेहेरबानी थी!

खुबसूरत रिश्ता है मेरा और भगवान के बीच में ज्यादा मैं मांगता नहीं और कम वो देता नही।

The Choice

At our age,  we  may have already crossed this " Bridge " in o ur life. But, this is worth passing onto the youngsters , who are busy building their careers in a "Dog Eats Dog" world.


EVERY moment in life, we are faced with a choice.

Which should command our preference? The demands of our job or the duties to our family?

If there is a board meeting today at the same hours that our son graduates from school, where should we go, to the boardroom or to the graduation ceremony?

If we have to make a very important presentation tomorrow, so as to advance our career, but our wife says she has to see the doctor on a suspicion of cancer, which appointment should we keep?

These are the daily battles of conscience we have to wage, trying to keep a balance between our responsibility to earn a living and our opportunity to live a life.
 

And our choices invariably reveal who we really are. Our preferences indicate our true character. Our priorities are the best indicators of our real identity.

What profits success?

I know that many of you out there would go for career on the pretension that after all, you are doing all these for the family.

Many of you, dear readers, would rather become outstanding employees, model personnel instead of being doting fathers or loving husbands.

Many of you would opt to perform exceedingly well in the office even if you work 12 to 16 hours a day, going home only to change clothes or catch a few hours of sleep.

But what for? At the end of the day, what have you accomplished?

What profits a highly successful professional or wealthy businessman if ultimately, he loses his family, wrecks his marriage or dishonors the name he will leave to his children?

What has a rich man accomplished if he has built a fortune and founded conglomerates of highly profitable companies and yet drives his own wife to vices or infidelity, his children to drugs and delinquency and himself to spiritual decay and total burnout?

What matters most?

Look around you. The evidence is overwhelming and irreversible. Families are shattered. Marriages are broken. Lives are reduced to utter emptiness.

Even as man advances in wealth and success, he deteriorates on the basic standards of joy, peace and serenity. As we all compete and struggle for power and possessions, we often neglect what really matters most. In our insatiable mania for supremacy over the rest, we often forget the most important things in life.

I will respect your choice. But as for me, my priorities are clear. Between career and family, I will always go for family.

I can forego that board meeting and earn the ire of my boss or make a bad impression on my peers. But I shall not inflict a lifetime trauma on my son by sending him alone to graduate without his dad. I can forget that business presentation and lose a valued client or waste a career promotion, but I cannot leave my wife alone in her moments of anxiety.

Meaningless?

Why should a well-known public figure commit suicide given all his fame and fortune?  Can his wealth and wisdom compensate for ruptures in his relationships?

Why should a wife of a famous politician commit adultery with the family driver?  Is it lust or vain fixation for the pleasures of the flesh?  Or is it the pain of being neglected and ignored by the husband she used to adore?

Why should a son cut his wrist or a daughter drink poison despite all the luxuries and pleasures they are showered with?

Can money replace love? Can pleasure take the place of affections?

In this age of top line technology and convenience gadgets, why are humans talking to computers rather than with each other? Why are we retrenching people and replacing them with robots and machines?

Why have we lost the simple joys of nurturing relationships with bank tellers because we have replaced them with ATMs?

Why, with all our cells, e-mails, Internets, websites or the endemic texting, are we no longer communicating? Why are family members no longer talking to each other?

The ultimate hell?

To succeed in career and fail in the family is, to me, the ultimate hell.

John Grisham, that famous author of legal fictions wrote "The Testament," which tells of a highly successful industrialist who made billions of dollars but lost his family.

In the first 10 pages of the novel, he jumped to his death from his multi-story building in front of his self-centered children. By his will, he disinherited all of them and bequeathed his entire estate to an illegitimate daughter who refused to accept it. That is the ultimate irony; those who lusted for money lost it. Those who were given all the money refused it.

In all his dozen masterpieces, Grisham tells us about the importance of family. "A Time to Kill" tells of a father who went to jail for killing his daughter's rapists.

Indeed, we who are simple folks should learn from the mistakes of others. We should straighten our lives and put our priorities in order.

I don't know about you.

But as for me and my house, our credo is: There is no success in a career that can make up for a failure in the family.

                                            
By Atty. Josephus Jimenez (Writer for the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Are You Happy?

After years of hard and dedicated service to his Company, Ajay was being appointed at an elegant reception as the new Director.

It was a small function where his wife Anita , a Home Executive and some of the wives of the other persons in top management were also present.

In an adjacent room, Ann, the wife of the CEO of the Company, asked Ajay's wife a very odd and usual question, "Does your  husband make you  happy?"

The husband, Ajay, who at that moment was not at her side, but was sufficiently near to hear the question, paid attention to the conversation, sitting up slightly, feeling secure, even filling his chest lightly in pride and hope,  that his wife would definitely not publicly lower or degrade her husband, would answer affirmatively, since she had always been there for him during their marriage and generally in life.

Nevertheless, to both his and the others' surprise, she replied simply, "No, no he doesn't make me happy."

The room became uncomfortably silent, as if everyone were listening to the spouse's response. There was a sudden coldness in the air. The husband was petrified. A frown appeared on his face.
 

He couldn't believe what his wife was saying, especially at such an important occasion for him. 

Then, to the amazement of her husband and of everyone!  Anita sat up firmly and explained in a modest but stern tone to the other wives who were present, "No, he doesn't make me happy… I AM HAPPY. The fact that I am happy or not doesn't depend on him, but on me. GOD has granted each of us intellect and discretion to reason, interpret and decide. GOD made me the person upon which my happiness depends."

"I make the choice to be happy in each situation and in each moment of my life. If my happiness were to depend on other people, on other things or circumstances on the face of this earth, I would be in serious trouble!"

"Over my life I have learned a couple of things. I decide to be happy and the rest is a matter of 'experiences or circumstances' like helping, understanding, accepting, listening, consoling, and with my spouse I have lived and practiced this many times."

"Honestly true happiness lies in being content."

Relieved and reassured, a smile was clearly noticed on Ajay's face.

Happiness will always be found in contentment, forgiveness and in loving ourselves & others. To truly love is difficult, it is to forgive unconditionally, to live, to take the "experiences or  circumstances" as they are, facing them together and being happy with conviction.

There are those who say I cannot be happy  :
· Because I am sick.
· Because I have no money.
· Because it's too cold.
· Because they insulted me.
· Because someone stopped loving me.
· Because someone didn't appreciate me.

But what they don't know is that they can be happy even though sick, whether it is too hot, whether they have money or not, whether someone has insulted them, or someone didn't love or hasn't valued them.

Being Happy is an attitude about life and each one of us must decide!

Being Happy, depends on us!

It Depends on Me. I fall. I rise. I make mistakes. I live. I learn. I've been hurt but I'm alive. I'm human. I'm not perfect but I'm Thankful to Lord Almighty

सज्जनता का काढ़ा

यदि आप सज्जन बनना चाहते हैं, तो निम्नलिखित काढ़े का सेवन करने से अपने आप सज्जनता आते देर नहीं लगेगी :-

-: आवश्यक सामग्री :-

१. सच्चाई के पत्ते - १ तोला
२. ईमानदारी की जड़ - ३ तोला
३. उदारता का अर्क - ३ तोला
४. परोपकार का बीज - ५ तोला
५. सत्संगत का रस - १ तोला
६. रहम दिल का छिलका - ४ तोला
७. स्वदेश प्रेम का रस - ५ तोला
८. दान - शीलता का सिरका - ७ तोला

-: बनाने की विधि :-

उपर्युक्त सभी चीजों को एक साथ मिलाकर, परमात्मा की हाँडी में डालकर, स्नेह भाव के चूल्हे पर रख कर प्रेम की अग्नि में पकाये, फिर अच्छी तरह से पक जाने पर निचे उतार कर ठण्डा करें, फिर शुद्ध मन के कपडे से छान कर मस्तिष्क की शीशी में भर लें !

-: सेवन विधि :-

इसको प्रतिदिन संतोष के गुलकंद के साथ इन्साफ की चम्मच से तीन बार - सुबह, दोपहर एवं शाम को सेवन करें !

-: परहेज रखना अनिवार्य :-

क्रोध की मिर्च, अहंकार का तेल, लोभ की मिठाई, स्वार्थ का घी, धोखे का पापड़, इन सब से सावधान एवं दुराचरण की भावना से बचना........

Attendance

Name of school : Life

Class: 40th Std (All students are above 40 years)

Anger : Present sir
 

Anxiety : Present sir
 

Boredom : Present sir
 

Desires : Present sir  (in full volume)
 

Frustration : Present sir
 

Monthly EMI : Present sir (in full volume)
 

Tension : Present sir
 

Sadness : Present sir
 

Worries : Present sir
 

Uncertainties : Present sir
 

Happiness : ???  (no sound)
 

Happiness : ??? 

Happiness : Absent sir
 

Peace of mind : Absent sir
 

Contentment : Absent sir

Moral of story:
In life, there is nothing called sadness. Either Happiness Present or Happiness Absent.
 

Life is very simple to live, but many find it difficult to be simple. Make it Simple! Make it large....

And please remember.....

"The amount of money that's in your bank at the time of death, is the extra work you did which was not necessary"

भाग्य से ज्यादा और समय से पहले

भाग्य से ज्यादा और समय से पहले, न किसी को मिला है और न मिलेगा......
 

एक सेठ जी थे जिनके पास काफी दौलत थी और सेठ जी ने उस धन से निर्धनों की सहायता की, अनाथ आश्रम एवं धर्मशाला आदि बनवाये। इस दानशीलता के कारण सेठ जी की नगर में काफी ख्याति थी।
 

सेठ जी ने अपनी बेटी की शादी एक बड़े घर में की थी परन्तु बेटी के भाग्य में सुख न होने के कारण उसका पति जुआरी, शराबी, सट्टेबाज निकल गया जिससे सब धन समाप्त हो गया।
 

बेटी की यह हालत देखकर सेठानी जी रोज सेठ जी से कहती कि आप दुनिया की मदद करते हो मगर अपनी बेटी परेशानी में होते हुए उसकी मदद क्यों नहीं करते हो।
 

सेठ जी कहते कि भाग्यवान जब तक बेटी-दामाद का भाग्य उदय नहीं होगा तब तक मैं उनकी कीतनी भी मदद भी करूं तो भी कोई फायदा नहीं। जब उनका भाग्य उदय होगा तो अपने आप सब मदद करने को तैयार हो जायेंगे।
 

परन्तु मां तो मां होती है, बेटी परेशानी में हो तो मां को कैसे चैन आयेगा। इसी सोच-विचार में सेठानी रहती थी कि किस तरह बेटी की आर्थिक मदद करूं।
 

एक दिन सेठ जी घर से बाहर गये थे कि तभी उनका दामाद घर आ गया। सास ने दामाद का आदर-सत्कार किया और बेटी की मदद करने का विचार उसके मन में आया कि क्यों न मोतीचूर के लड्डूओं में अर्शफिया रख दी जाये जिससे बेटी की मदद भी हो जायेगी और दामाद को पता भी नही चलेगा। यह सोचकर सास ने लड्डूओ के बीच में अर्शफिया दबा कर रख दी और दामाद को टीका लगा कर विदा करते समय पांच किलों शुद्ध देशी घी के लड्डू जिनमे अर्शफिया थी वह दामाद को दिये।
 

दामाद लड्डू लेकर घर से चला। दामाद ने सोचा कि इतना वजन कौन लेकर जाये क्यों न यहीं मिठाई की दुकान पर बेच दिये जायें। और दामाद ने वह लड्डुयों का पैकेट मिठाई वाले को बेच दिया और पैसे जेब में डालकर चला गया।
 

उधर सेठ जी बाहर से आये तो उन्होंने सोचा घर के लिये मिठाई की दुकान से मोतीचूर के लड्डू लेता चलू और सेठ जी ने दुकानदार से लड्डू मांगे मिठाई वाले ने वही लड्डू का पैकेट सेठ जी को वापिस बेच दिया जो उनके दामाद को उसकी सास ने दिया थे।
 

सेठ जी लड्डू लेकर घर आये सेठानी ने जब लड्डूओ का वही पैकेट देखा तो सेठानी ने लड्डू फोडकर देखे अर्शफिया देख कर अपना माथा पीट लिया।
 

सेठानी ने सेठ जी को दामाद के आने से लेकर जाने तक और लड्डुओं में अर्शफिया छिपाने की बात सेठ जी से कह डाली। सेठ जी बोले कि भाग्यवान मैंनें पहले ही समझाया था कि अभी उनका भाग्य नहीं जागा। देखा मोहरें ना तो दामाद के भाग्य में थी और न ही मिठाई वाले के भाग्य में।
 

इसलिये कहते हैं कि भाग्य से ज्यादा और समय से पहले न किसी को न कुछ मिला है और न मिलेगा।

Very Short Stories

Some of the shortest stories with beautiful meaning.. Must read-

1) Those who had coins, enjoyed in the rain. Those who had notes, were busy looking for shelter.

2) Man and God both met somewhere, Both exclaimed-"My creator"

3) He asked are you-"Hindu or Muslim". Response came- I am hungry

4) The fool didn't know it was impossible - So he did it.

5) "Wrong number"- Said a familiar voice.

6) What if God asks you after you die - "So how was heaven??"

7) "They told me that to make her fall in love I had to make her laugh. But every time she laughs, I am the one who falls in love."

8) We do not make friends anymore, We add them.

अपनी श्रेष्ठता का अभिमान

महाभारत का युद्ध चल रहा था।
अर्जुन के सारथी श्रीकृष्ण थे।

जैसे ही अर्जुन का बाण छूटता,
कर्ण का रथ दूर तक पीछे चला जाता।

जब कर्ण का बाण छूटता,
तो अर्जुन का रथ सात कदम पीछे चला जाता।

श्रीकृष्ण ने अर्जुन की प्रशंसा के स्थान पर
कर्ण के लिए हर बार कहा...
कितना वीर है यह कर्ण?
जो उनके रथ को सात कदम पीछे धकेल देता है।

अर्जुन बड़े परेशान हुए।
असमंजस की स्थिति में पूछ बैठे...
हे वासुदेव! यह पक्षपात क्यों?
मेरे पराक्रम की आप प्रशंसा नहीं करते...
एवं मात्र सात कदम पीछे धकेल देने वाले कर्ण को बारम्बार वाहवाही देते है।

श्रीकृष्ण बोले-अर्जुन तुम जानते नहीं...
तुम्हारे रथ में महावीर हनुमान...
एवं स्वयं मैं वासुदेव कृष्ण विराजमान् हैं।
यदि हम दोनों न होते...
तो तुम्हारे रथ का अभी अस्तित्व भी नहीं होता।

इस रथ को सात कदम भी पीछे हटा देना कर्ण के महाबली होने का परिचायक हैं।

अर्जुन को यह सुनकर अपनी क्षुद्रता पर ग्लानि हुई।
इस तथ्य को अर्जुन और भी अच्छी तरह तब समझ पाए जब युद्ध समाप्त हुआ।

प्रत्येक दिन अर्जुन जब युद्ध से लौटते...
श्रीकृष्ण पहले उतरते,
फिर सारथी धर्म के नाते अर्जुन को उतारते।
अंतिम दिन वे बोले-अर्जुन...
तुम पहले उतरो रथ से व थोड़ी दूर जाओ।
भगवान के उतरते ही रथ भस्म हो गया।

अर्जुन आश्चर्यचकित थे।
भगवान बोले-पार्थ...
तुम्हारा रथ तो कब का भस्म हो चुका था।
भीष्म, कृपाचार्य, द्रोणाचार्य व कर्ण के
दिव्यास्त्रों से यह नष्ट हो चुका था।
मेरे संकल्प ने इसे युद्ध समापन तक जीवित रखा था।

अपनी श्रेष्ठता के मद में चूर अर्जुन का अभिमान चूर-चूर हो गया था। अपना सर्वस्व त्यागकर वे प्रभू के चरणों पर नतमस्तक हो गए। अभिमान का व्यर्थ बोझ उतारकर हल्का महसूस कर रहे थे...गीता श्रवण के बाद इससे बढ़कर और क्या उपदेश हो सकता था कि सब भगवान का किया हुआ है। हम तो निमित्त मात्र है। काश हमारे अंदर का अर्जुन इसे समझ पायें।

The English Grammar

The English language isn't the easiest language to figure out.
 

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
 
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
 
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
 
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
 
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
 
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren, 
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
 
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;  
Neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.

We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
We find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing,
Grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them,
What do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
Should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?

We ship by truck but send cargo by ship...
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
While a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
In which your house can burn up as it burns down,
In which you fill in a form by filling it out,
And in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And in closing..........

If Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop????