Bind and Bond

Little girl and her father were crossing a bridge.
The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter,
'Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river.'
The little girl said, 'No, Dad. You hold my hand.'
'What's the difference?' Asked the puzzled father.
'There's a big difference,' replied the little girl.

'If I hold your hand and something happens to me,
chances are that I may let your hand go.
But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens,
you will never let my hand go.'


In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its
bond.

So hold the hand of the person who loves you rather than expecting them to
hold yours...

Love is the language of Giving

My wife called, 'How long will you be with that
newspaper? Will you come here and make your darling
daughter eat her food?
I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My
only daughter Sindu looked frightened; tears were
welling up in her eyes. In front of her was a bowl
filled to its brim with curd rice. Sindu is a nice
child, quite intelligent for her age.
I cleared my throat, and picked up the bowl. 'Sindu,
darling, why don't you take a few mouthful of this
curd rice? Just for Dad's sake,dear.
Sindu softened a bit, and wiped her tears with the
back of her hands.
"Ok, Dad. I will eat - not just a few mouthfuls, but
the whole lot of this. But, you should...' Sindu
hesitated. 'Dad, if I eat this
entire curd Rice, will you give me whatever I ask
for?'
'Promise'. I covered the pink soft hand extended by my
daughter with mine, and clinched the deal. Now I
became a bit anxious.
'Sindu dear,
you shouldn't insist on getting a computer or any such
expensive items. Dad does not have that kind of money
right now. Ok?'
'No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive'. Slowly
and painfully, she finished eating the whole quantity.
I was silently angry with my wife and my mother for
forcing my child to eat something that she detested.

After the ordeal was through, Sindu came to me with
her eyes wide with expectation. All our attention was
on her.

'Dad, I want to have my head shaved off, this Sunday!'
was her and.

'Atrocious!' shouted my wife, 'A girl child having her
head shaved off? Impossible!' 'Never in our family!'
My mother rasped. 'She has been watching too much of
television. Our culture is getting totally
spoiled with these TV programs!'
'Sindu darling, why don't you ask for something else?
We will be sad seeing you with a clean-shaven head.'

'Please, Sindu, why don't you try to understand our
feelings?' I tried to plead with her.

'Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that
Curd Rice'. Sindu was in tears. 'And you promised to
grant me whatever I ask for.
Now, you are going back on your words. Was it not you
who told me then story of King Harishchandra, and its
moral that we should honor ourn promises no matter
what?'
It was time for me to call the shots. 'Our promise
must be kept.
'Are you out your mind?' chorused my mother and wife.
'No. If we go back on our promises, she will never
learn to honor her own.
Sindu, your wish will be fulfilled.'
With her head clean-shaven, Sindu had a round-face,
and her eyes looked big and beautiful.

On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school. It was
a sight to watch my hairless Sindu walking towards her
classroom. She turned around and waved. I waved back
with a smile. Just then, a boy
alighted from a car, and shouted, 'Sinduja, please
wait for me!' What struck me was the hairless head of
that boy. 'May be, that is the in-
stuff', I thought.

'Sir, your daughter Sinduja is great indeed!' Without
introducing herself, a lady got out of the car, and
continued,' that boy who is walking along with your
daughter is my son Harish. He is suffering
from... Leukemia.' She paused to muffle her sobs.
Harish could not attend the school for the whole of
the last month. He lost all his hair due to the side
effects of the chemotherapy... He refused to
come back to school fearing the unintentional but
cruel teasing of the schoolmates. 'Sinduja visited him
last week, and promised him that she will take care of
the teasing issue. But, I never imagined
she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my
son! Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a
noble soul as your daughter.'

I stood transfixed and then, I wept. 'My little Angel,
you are teaching me how self-less real love is!

The happiest people on this planet are not those who
live on their own terms but are those who change their
terms for others & inspire others