humility and pride

he was a new technician at the location, young and dedicated. from a poor family.

proud that he had made it along with 2 others from his home state to the selection process and then made it through the apprenticeship to becoming an 'employee'. proud that he was given the company 'uniform' to wear. thankful to the company for the recognition

yet humble enough to remember his roots. humble enough to note that he appreciated the company work culture that allowed him to address his managers by first name

very dedicated, very sincere

a refreshing change from the people i have been meeting of late.

Quote

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.

Henry Ward Beecher

a story

they walked in to the shelter. it was a 'home' for the aged, the mentally challenged, the abandoned... all in all, a place for the the misfortunate. he looked at his wife, and child. they opened the bags and started taking out all the materials for the donation. one by one, they were made to come in line, collect the 'gift' and go away. among them she stood... her face shriveled, her clothes torn, hair frizzy and looking lost ... her body ravaged by time and illness, her mind ravaged by the rejection and incidents of the past. his eyes fell on her..a ray of memory was about to make its way through his mind darkened by time, that would eventually remind him of who she was. her eyes fell on him too... but her mind.. was blank as ever.. ever since he had once abandoned her ten years ago....

universal truth

an idle mind is a devil's workshop.

happiness

it takes so little to be happy. yet why does happiness elude most people?

What is Life?

Harsha Bhogle said on a TV channel today .. "Real life is unscripted drama" whereas "cinema is scripted" .. and that real life therefore is much more exciting than movies. (He was talking about sport - which is real life - vs movies as entertainment avenues).

How true!

Unscripted drama - with no clue how the slog overs or the end will be :)

Saddam : Lesson from a Simple Life!

Saddam!

I met him in March 2007 … one evening after our tour of this world heritage monument.

It was 7 pm.. .. he wasn’t anything like the Saddam any of us knew at all..! His face was full of smiles and he was so cheerful!

Despite the cards life had dealt him…. I learnt a lot from him and remember him till today!

Before you wonder any further, this wasn’t Saddam Hussein - the Saddam most people in the world knew died in Dec 2006.

The Saddam I met was a little boy in class 3, selling incense sticks after school hours to make a living …..outside this monument!

"How much for one packet?" I asked him.

He smiled and replied.. "Rs. 5"

I bought one.. then I asked him.. "how many do you have in your bag".. He said "20 packets". I asked him, "When will you go home?" He replied.. "after I have sold all packets….. could be even 10pm". I felt sorry for him and told myself ‘child labor” .. so I said to him, “take Rs 100 and give them all to me so you can go home earlier today.. “

He smiled and refused .. he said “I enjoy this.. I’m having fun selling them ….” and went back to playing with his friends while waiting for the next prospective buyer ..

I learnt a lesson that day… happiness lies in enjoying whatever you do…. no matter what cards life deals you!