whiff of fresh air

One more from my collection………….. author unknown.

 

आलोचना

आज तक इस धरती पर ऐसा कोई  आदमी नही हुआ जिसकी उसकी समकालीन लोगोने निंदा और आलोचना नही की !  सुकरात, ईसा,  बुद्ध और गाँधी  - कोई भी आलोचना से नही बचा.

आलोचना से वही बच सकता है जो बिलकुल निकम्मा और निरुपयोगी आदमी है !  फलवाले वृक्षों पर ही पत्थर फेंके जाते है - कंटीली झाडियों पर नही! लोगों द्वारा आलोचना किया जाना आप के सक्षम और सफल व्यक्तित्वा का प्रमाणपत्र है - आप निश्चिंत होकर वही कीजिये जिसे आप उचित समझते है और लोकनिंदा की परवाह न कीजिये !

Was just remembering a few lines of Ruskin Bond

"Such moments come to most of us - moments when we feel deeply moved or inspired, and when time seems to stand still so that we may savor and preserve in our minds a glimpse of eternity.

They come but rarely, these glimmers - raindrops  on a sunflower, or the fragrance of the first summer rain on parched earth, the song of the whistling thrush emerging like a sweet secret from a dark forest.

Or the joy after hearing a child’s laughter: Moments when heaven is here, compensating for the irritations and petty disasters humans create around themselves.

When all the wars are done, a butterfly will still be beautiful ."

Will a butterfly  still be beautiful, to those who survived and left to mourn those whom they lost?

A folk story from India says that once upon a time all animals looked the same. It is true that some were fat and some were thin, some tall and some short, but for everything else they were identical. The animals found themselves in a quandary. They could not recognise one another… each one looked the same. No relationship could be built for the partners making the relationship could never be all identified. A solution had to be found.

One more from my collection ..wonderful words of Honest Abe!

I dedicate this, with a smile, to a friend on iland, with whom I talked about it recently. She made me smile today!

A letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the Headmaster of a school in which his son was studying.

He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero. That for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader. Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend.

Steer him away from envy, if you can. Teach him the secret of quiet laughter.

Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick. Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books. But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him it is far honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas even if everyone tells him they are wrong. Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the band wagon. Teach him to listen to all men. But teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through. Teach him if you can, how to laugh when he is sad. Teach him there is no shame in tears.

Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness. Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders but never to put a price-tag on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and fight if he thinks he’s right. Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him because only the test of fire makes fine steel

Let him have the courage to be impatient. Let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself because then he will have sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order, but see what you can do. He is such a fine fellow, my son !.

This is a very old song from the malayalam movie “Bhaktha Kuchela” (1961). Another of my favourites. An English translation is given below for my friends who cannot follow the language.

In this world, to man, thoughts of God are the only eternal thing. It blesses anyone in this world and other world. (Life and after death). Thoughts of God liberate the soul from worldliness.

.

When you get ten, you yearn for hundred,

When you get hundred, you yearn for a thousand,

Thousand, however, should become ten thousand,

Is there a limit to one's desires in this world?

Not satisfied with what we get

Do not long for what we did not get.

Do your karma (duty) that's our goal

The reward will be given by God.

What we see before our eyes disappears like a delusion (Will-o-the-wisp)

How do we know about what we do not see?

We mistake one thing for another.

This world is illusory like a drama.

Albert Einstein,  in one of his lighter moments………….

“If ‘A’ is a success in life, then A = x + y + z. Work is x, y is play, and z is keeping your mouth shut.” 

“ ..God doth not need

 Either man’s work or his own gifts. Who best

Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best."

                             -John  Milton, On His Blindness

Life

Man comes into this world without his consent and leaves it against his will; on earth he is misjudged and misunderstood. In infancy he is an angel; in boyhood he is a fool. If he has a wife and family he is a chum. If he is a bachelor he is inhuman and mean. If he enters a public-house he is a drunkard.  If he stays out he is a fanatic and a miser.  If he is poor he has no brains. If he is rich he has all the luck in this world and a crook.  If he has brains he is considered too smart. If he goes to church he is a hypocrite; if he stays away he is a sinful man.  If he gives to charity or does a good turn it is for advertisement, if he does not, he is stingy and mean.  When he comes into the world everyone wants to kiss him, before he goes out everybody wants to kick him.  If he dies young there was a great future before him, if he lives to a ripe old age everyone hopes he has made a will.

It is therefore impossible to please everyone.  So do your own duty and be fearless, use your commonsense and even if you do make a mistake it is better than doing nothing. KEEP SMILING J as nobody wants to hear your troubles, they have wagon-loads of their own. 

                                                                                                                - (Source Unknown) 

“Since we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our minds, our one duty is to furnish it well.”

~Peter Ustinov