Thursday, February 21, 2008

Read Till the End

The train has started moving. It is packed with people of all ages, mostly with the working men and women and young college guys and gals.

Near the window, seated a old man with his 30 year old son. As the train moves by, the son is overwhelmed with joy as he was thrilled with the scenery outside..

"See dad, the scenery of green trees moving away is very beautiful"

This behavior from a thirty year old son made the other people feel strange about him. Every one started murmuring something or other about this son."

This guy seems to be a krack.." newly married Anup whispered to his wife.

Suddenly it started raining... Rain drops fell on the travelers through the opened window. The Thirty year old son , filled with joy " see dad, how beautiful the rain is .."

Anup's wife got irritated with the rain drops spoiling her new suit.

Anup ," cant you see its raining, you old man, if ur son is not feeling well get him soon to a mental asylum..and dont disturb public henceforth"

The old man hesitated first and then in a low tone replied " we are on the way back from hospital, my son got discharged today morning , he was a blind by birth,
last week only he got his vision, these rain and nature are new to his eyes.. Please forgive us for the inconvenience caused..."

What we see may not always be right !! Hence try to know the truth before you react.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

All about Parenting !!!

Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the
M.K.Gandhi

Institute for Non-violence, in his June 9 lecture at the University of

Puerto Rico, shared the following story as an example of"non-violence in

parenting":


"I was 16 years old and living with my parents at the institute my

grandfather had founded 18 miles outside of Durban, South Africa, in

the middle of the sugar plantations. We were deep in the country and had no

neighbors, so my two sisters and I would always look forward to

going to town to visit friends or go to the movies.


One day, my father asked me to drive him to town for an all-day conference,

and I jumped at the chance. Since I was going to town, my

mother gave me a list of groceries she needed and, since I had all day in

town, my father ask me to take care of several pending chores, such

as getting the car serviced. When I dropped my father off that morning, he

said, 'I will meet you here at 5:00 p.m., and we will go home together.'


After hurriedly completing my chores, I went straight to the nearest movie

theatre. I got so engrossed in a John Wayne double-feature that I forgot the

time. It was 5:30 before I remembered. By the time I ran to the garage and

got the car and hurried to where my father was waiting for me, it was

almost 6:00.


He anxiously asked me, 'Why were you late?' I was so ashamed of telling him

I was watching a John Wayne western movie that I said, 'The car wasn't

ready, so I had to wait,' not realizing that he had already called the

garage. When he caught me in the lie, he said: 'There's something wrong in

the way I brought you up that didn't give you the confidence to tell me the

truth. In order to figure out where I went wrong with you, I'm going to walk

home 18 miles and think about it.'


So, dressed in his suit and dress shoes, he began to walk home in the dark

on mostly unpaved, unlit roads. I couldn't leave him, so for five-and-a-half

hours I drove behind him, watching my father go through this agony for a

stupid lie that I uttered.


I decided then and there that I was never going to lie again. I often think

about that episode and wonder, if he had punished me the way we punish our

children, whether I would have learned a lesson at all. I don't think so. I

would have suffered the punishment and gone on doing the same thing. But

this single non-violent action was so powerful that it is still as if it

happened yesterday. That is the power of non-violence."