Some of you might have read this before but I have posted it as it’s worth reading again and again 😊
Motivational Story – The Bamboo Tree
A man got frustrated with life. Despite all the hard work and effort, failure was all that he learnt. Feeling defeated with life, he left everything and exiled himself in the woods. There he met a Hermit. The disappointed man shared is failure with the hermit. “Give me one good reason not to quit?”- He pleaded the Hermit
“Look”, the hermit said, pointing towards two plants. “Do you see that fern and bamboo there?
“Yes”, the man nodded.
“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them water, light and fertilizer. Within a short period of time the fern quickly grew from the earth”, the hermit continued.
“But despite the Bamboo seed being watered and nurtured for years, it did not outwardly grow as much as an inch. In fact, nothing at all happened in the first year. There was no sign of growth. But, I did not give up on the Bamboo seed and continued to water and nurture it. By the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. And within six months, the tree grew a hundred feet tall.”
“So, did the bamboo tree lie dormant for four years only to grow exponentially in the fifth?” the hermit asked. Baffled by the question the man kept quiet. “The answer is quite obvious. The little tree was growing underground, developing a root system strong enough to support its potential for outward growth in the fifth year and beyond. Had the tree not developed a strong foundation, it would not have sustained its life as it grew.”
“Did you know that all the time you had been struggling, you were growing strong roots”, remarked the hermit
The man learned his lesson that day. He learnt the value of persistence and hard work. The fern and the bamboo stood right in front of him as he walked towards his life to continue to work on his dreams
During the course of a Management Seminar, Mr. T.N.Seshan, former Chief Election Commissioner shared an experience he had while travelling in Uttar Pradesh with his wife.As they were travelling by road, they saw a large mango plantation filled with sparrow nests. Seshan’s wife decided to carry two nests to their home. The police escort called a young boy who was grazing cows and asked him to bring down two nests and offered to pay him Ten Rupees. The boy refused as Seshan raised the offer to Rupees Fifty. The boy told Seshan and his wife, “Sahib, I will not do it for whatever you will give. Inside these nests are baby sparrows. If I give those nests to you, in the evening, when the mother sparrow returns with food for the babies and does not find them there, she will cry. I do not have the heart to see that.”* Seshan and his wife were taken aback and felt small.Seshan later recounted that his position and the IAS label melted away in front of that little boy. He stood in front of the young boy feeling as small as a mustard seed. He added that after returning home, this incident continued to haunt him with guilt for several days. Education, position or social status is never a yardstick for the measure of humanity. Let’s not forget that knowledge is to know and understand the beauty of nature. We don’t achieve anything by gathering a lot of information as long as that information does not get transformed into wisdom. And wisdom is useless as long as we don’t apply it in our daily life.
To all my Care giving friends the lightworkers , the mentors and spiritual guiders, the motivators and healers on their special journey stepping in tandem with their calling! Keep going… you are on track!
Yesterday afternoon I visited the local Crosswords book shop and spent time browsing through some amazing books. I was so enjoying my Sunday me time that I hardly realized how the day had turned to late evening as I stepped out. Walking down an aisle of steps my eyes fell on a very poignant sight. There was this little boy with a little basket, sitting by a busy street selling the very colorful & delicious Java/blackplum called Jamun in India.
He looked no older than 6 or 7 years. But there he was confidently telling me a price. I went near him, to pick up some myself, but realized his entire basket was really ripe and ready. I watched how he had a little steel glass by which he measured and gave me the quantity I asked for.
I watched his tiny hands at work and I thought to myself this little boy should be holding a book to read or write and here was this child ,selling fruits.
I struck a little conversation asking him if he goes to school, he said the last few years there has been no school, although he likes to study but now he is helping him family this way and this is fun too! There was something in the way he said it, that my heart warmed up to him.
Yes he is right, the school of life has a lesson for each of us at every turn. If we choose to see it so.
Although fate has ordained his life to be so in this now, I blessed him silently from my heart for a better life in time. I salute the little boy’s budding entrepreneurial spirit.
All Fused Bulbs are the Same ! A senior executive retired and shifted from his palatial official quarters to the housing society, where he owned a flat. He considered himself big and never talked to anyone. Even while walking in the society park every evening, he ignored others, looking at them with contempt. One day, it somehow transpired that an elderly person sitting beside him started a conversation, and they continued to meet. Every conversation was mostly a monologue with the retired executive harping on his pet topic, Nobody can imagine the big post and high position I held before retirement; I came here due to compulsions”; and so on, and the other elderly person used to listen to him quietly. After many days, when the retired executive was inquisitive about others, the elderly listener opened his mouth and said, After retirement, we are all like fused bulbs. It does not matter what a bulb’s wattage was, how much light or glitter it gave, after it gets fused. He continued, “I have been living in this society for the last 5 years and have not told anyone that I was a Member of the Parliament for two terms. On your right, over there is Vermaji, who retired as General Manager in Indian Railways. Over there is Singh Saheb, who was a Major General in the Army. That person sitting on the bench in spotless white dress is Mehraji, who was the chief of ISRO before retirement. He hasn’t revealed it to anyone, not even to me, but I know.” All fused bulbs are now the same – whatever its wattage was – 0, 10, 40, 60, 100 watts – it doesn’t matter now. Neither does it matter what type of bulb it was before it got fused – LED, CFL, Halogen, Incandescent, fluorescent, or decorative. And that, my friend, applies to you too. The day you understand this, you will find peace and tranquillity even in this housing society. The rising sun as well as the setting sun are both beautiful and adorable. But, in reality, the rising sun gets more importance and adoration, and is even worshipped , whereas the setting sun is not given the same reverence. It is better to understand this sooner than later. Our current designation, title and power are not permanent. Keeping lot of emotions with these things only complicate our life when we lose this one day. Remember that when the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box. Enjoy what you have today . Have a fabulous time ahead…. 🙏🙏
My friend Ali Anani from Jordan proposed an interesting question last evening.
“As a poet dear Savvy I just wonder how much do you trust planning?”
Here are my musings…
Poets and Planning
A poet has a lot of structuring to do… The poet steps out of the box Knowing only too well that thoughts needs to align in time. Without trust in the divine plan there is no way the poet can create. And without a plan that visualizes the bigger picture as much as the little details, the verse will not make sense. So poets and planning have much to do in trustfulness.
Now speaking personally, Spontaneity seems to surge In the throes of a thought wave. Yet much is happens in following the flow. Synergies are sensed In the amalgamation and associations. Of thoughts into verses.
As words then fill the void spaces Making meaning out of matter. Spontaneity too then is preordained in the divine plan And poets are simply messengers Enriching thoughts in a meter of sorts. To make the ordinary words come alive!
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