A Beautiful Message!

Stay away from Anger ... It hurts ... You and only You!

If you are right then there is no need to get angry,

And if you are wrong then you have no right to get angry.

So never get Angry….

Patience with family is love, Patience with others is respect,

Patience with self is confidence & Patience with GOD is Faith.

So keep Patience always….

Never Think Hard about the PAST, It brings Tears...

Don't think more about the FUTURE, It brings Fear...

Live this Moment with a Smile, It brings Cheer.

So stop Thinking….

Every test in our life makes us bitter or better,

Every problem comes to make us or break us,

The choice is ours whether we become victims or victorious.

So always be brave ….

Beautiful things are not always good

But good things are always beautiful.

Happiness keeps You Sweet.

But being sweet brings happiness.

Why has God created gaps between fingers? 

So that someone who is special comes and fills those gaps by holding our hand forever.

So Be Positive ….Your life itself will be Beautiful….

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THE TRUE HAPPINESS

Rishi Thappar belonging to a wealthy family loved flaunting his father’s wealth. Most of the times he was either with his friends partying or shopping in best of the branded showrooms. His father, Mr. Thappar a well flourished businessman was very upset because of his son’s lifestyle, for the reason that despite putting his best efforts, he was unable to persuade Rishi in joining his business. One thing was for sure that if Rishi continued to adopt this kind of living, then in no time would erode he all his hard earned money and this time Rishi had crossed all his limits beyond his endurance. He wanted to celebrate his twenty first birthday in Australia and apart from this he wanted his father to also sponsor his five friend. This was nothing but unjustified waste of money which disturbed Mr. Thappar a lot, because if he was unable to make his son realise the value of money now, then probably it shall be too late.

After a deep thought and consideration, Mr. Thappar resolved with utmost determination that it was high time he should make Rishi realise that, the money he was so easily throwing away was of great value and he should spend and handle it most carefully.

It was a bright Sunday morning when Mr. Thappar came to Rishi’s room and said, “Rishi, get ready by ten as we have to go for some important work together.”

“Where, Dad?” Rishi was curious.

“Just wait and watch! Surprise!” his father smiled and walked out of the room.

The car drove on and on in a highway, quite a few kilometres ahead and Rishi was wondering as to where his father was taking him but did not have the courage to ask him. It was approximately forty two kilometres they had covered and almost an hour since they were on roads. The car was now moving amongst a heavily populated urban informal filthy area, probably with no sanitation and poor, unhealthy living conditions inevitably occupied by very poor people and their families. Rishi was taken aback. Why had his father brought him to such a dirty place? All this he had seen in films and had never realised that the reality could be so pathetic.

The vehicle stopped in front a huge gate that seemed to be of a sort of a colony. The name etched on it was a big jolt on his heart, AJAP Foundations” surprised.

“AJAP Foundations?” Rishi burst out. “Is this that trust that we are running?” Rishi enquired.

“Yes” Mr. Thappar replied proudly. “Let’s go inside.” Both, the father and son entered the huge gate. It is a walled compound had an office block on right hand side and a doctor’s dispensary on the other. There was a beautifully maintained garden with various seasonal flowers dancing around added freshness and life to the place. Seeing my father, a man from the office block, who was later on introduced as the manager, rushed out to greet and escort us into his office? A cherry desk that seemed almost superfluous, since there was no paperwork to be seen. A deep burgundy leather desk chair, that reclined to an almost obscene angle. There were only two small table lamps - one near the door above a wicker table that clashed with the rest of the room's executive motif, and another on the cherry wood desk with a long brass pull-cord. The sun rays penetrated through the glass windows brightened the room over the desk and over top the framed black-and-white pictures on the wall. The deep purple curtains drawn to one side, allowed the light from outside to paint the eastern wall in modern designs. How long will Dad take here? What is he up to?

“How are things moving Mr. Sharma?” My father broke the silence.

“All is well, Sir. The quotations for the coolers you asked have come. Would you like to go through them?” Mr. Sharma and Mr. Thappar got busy discussing some important issue while Rishi sat silently looking around. He was disappointed to know that he had cancelled his movie just to come here but at the same time he was inquisitive to find out the secret of this place. He had heard his parents talking a lot about AJAP Foundations, but never bothered to know what it was?

“Rishi,” his father turned towards him. “This is a colony for people suffering from Leprosy. It is a home to about 120 to 130 people who once used to live in live in great poverty. We try our best to provide them with all their basic necessities along with the best of medical facilities. We do not encourage any outside assistance whatsoever. Most of the homes here are clay huts built by the families themselves. These people are very poor and have no access to medical or social services and their children cannot go to school. In short, these people without any prospect of a better future.”

Rishi was astonished as to what his father was exposing. He was unaware of his own family’s such good deeds. The temptation to explore the area deeply was something he could not resist. “Can we go inside and see dad.” 

His father smiled and took him on a trip to the leprosy colony inside the campus. The view inside the campus was heart throbbing. Many men women and children were busy amongst themselves. Some men were relaxing, while some were busy playing cards. Women were cutting vegetables or gossiping in groups while children were busy playing or running around. Everyone appeared to be busy in some or the other task.

When they saw Dad, there was smile on many faces, some greeted him from a distance whereas a few came up to him. And greeted him “Sahib Namaste!”

My father greeted them back and inquired about their health as we walked ahead. Hearing them talking with such an enthusiasm and zeal was indeed surprising. His dad seemed to be a regular visitor here that is the reason he is so familiar with them. To pacify his inquisitiveness, Rishi intervened in the conversation time to time as he was busy surveying around the area.

In the centre was a courtyard was a painting competition in its full bloom, in which Rishi was asked to distribute prises to the winners. The residents had gathered around to applaud the winners and share the warmth of togetherness. The truth prevailed later that every Sunday one or the activities always took place here?

  The Prize distribution was an unforgettable moment of the day for Rishi. Children‘s artistic virtue, imagination and creativity could be easily visualised through their talent. If they were given a chance, can play and learn a lot. An open mind, a positive attitude and a little creativity is all that takes such students to integrate them into regular preschool programmes. They too have a right to learn, study and play like other children. Upon giving them the prises how innocently they, touched his feet and said thank you. They were so well disciplined and organised.

Mr. Thappar asked them to come forward as he had an announcement to make.

“I have come here to tell you that my son has decided to open a school for your children and the work shall start very soon. It is expected to finish within six to eight months.” Mr Thappar announced with pride. There was a loud applause from the gathering with a thundering sound of strong clapping. It was that particular moment that brought tears in Rishi’s eyes. Thanksgiving expressions with love, gratitude and gratefulness could be easily read in each eye as they were delighted with the additional new facility they were being offered.

Rishi lost touch with time and unknowing spent a few hours there. On their return, Mr. Thappar asked Rishi, did he like the trip.

 “Oh! It was great, dad! I have never felt this way before.” Rishi replied. “No matter, I am perturbed to see their living conditions, still there is some inner contentment within.” There was a tone of confusion in his voice.

“Did you notice, how these poor people live?” “I did” Rishi replied.

The father asked his son to tell in more details about his impressions from their trip“.

„Well, we have only one dog, and they have four of them. We‘ve got a luxurious lifestyle, but they have stars above their heads at night. We have the courtyard, and they have the whole horizon, where we waste food, there they share it, where we have high fence for protection of our property, and they don‘t need it, as they unitedly protect each other. “
Despite their dire circumstances, the people of here seemed to be living with dignity. They are so down to earth and humble whereas the more we have, the more snobbish we get.

Mr. Thappar was stunned, he could not say a word.

Then Rishi added: “Thank you, dad, for letting me see how poor we are. Instead of wasting time, money and energy, I shall feel honoured to come here on every occasion to do something constructive and share my happiness with them.”

Tears flooded in his eyes as his mission was accomplished.

This story shows that the true wealth and happiness are not measured by materialistic things, instead love, friendship and freedom are far more valuable.

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Education is Essential

Education is a Powerful weapon that can be used to change the world. It works as a crucial tool for the development of any nation and also serves as a key mechanism towards its success and prosperity. Although the educational systems of different countries are not similar but they do share a common goal to provide its citizens a suitable and proper learning. As the most valuable treasure one can possess, education has always played a key role in the society enabling it to flourish both socially and economically, helping its people to gain recognition and respect.

Education and its methods are changing and we need to follow and accept that change. Going to school and getting and education is something that many teenagers today take for granted?  We are going to be sorry if we don’t prepare our students better for the skills they need now for a better future. The process today is very tedious and boring. The child has to cram up and concentrate on getting good marks in the tests and board examinations. This goose and berry chase does not strengthen the base instead gives enormous stress and pressure which robs them of quality classroom time in between the teachers and students. Today education should be focused on how to live in the world on the basis of an idealistic ethical behaviour with a good moral code of conduct. The basics of what is required to survive and thrive in whatever field should be taught and emphasised. If a person is observant and focused success is guaranteed.

The main focus was on the basic education is to strengthen the foundation of the child, but one thing is certain: today’s generation is not receiving a quality education in most schools. Trading of schools has become a common phenomenon. Schools and colleges are just a money minting sources only. Overcrowded classrooms are of concern for it is difficult for the teachers to give proper time as well as attention to every child. Today if any teacher is teaching just because it is a profession i.e. a means to earn his daily bread and butter, there the child is also just studying because it’s the need of the hour and a normal procedure of his upbringing has to be completed. This paradox is complicated and does not help in proper upbringing at all. The child spends the entire day in school, tuitions, completing homework and then learning due to which he gets no time to play, joke and be merry, Hence all the relaxation activities and fun times is mercilessly snatched away. Since the very childhood, a child is unnecessarily burdened with the weight of his career giving a total shut down to a childhood which could have been a his memorable moments in older days to keep him up in high spirits.

Education and Knowledge, though are interrelated but are not the same. Where education gives a degree there knowledge makes a personality. Education is not all about studying and getting good marks. Marks are just numbers obtained in life but real education is the knowledge gathered by discovering new things which we don't know about and enhance it by our observation, discussion reading and many such ways. An educated and knowledgeable person has the ability to differentiate between right and wrong or good and evil. It is the foremost responsibility of a society to educate all its citizens.  Everyone is a citizen but few are responsible citizen, in the same way everyone is educated but few are knowledgeable. Special focus on women’s education is needed because the knowledge and empowerment of one woman can bring about a change in a family and then the society as a whole. It is the uneducated and illiterate people who think women are not entitled to education.

The Right to Education is the right of every individual and by education which includes a responsibility to provide basic education for individuals who have not completed primary education. In addition to this, access to education encompasses the obligation to rule out discrimination at all levels of the educational system, to set minimum standards and to improve quality of education. Better education can make a person more civilized and useful for the society. One cannot image a prosperous life without appropriate education. A person becomes perfect with education as he is not only gaining something from it, but also contributing to the growth of a nation. We all should realise the importance of education and aim to ensure that each citizen of our nation is educated.

Role of Guardian and Parents in imparting knowledge.

Today when both the parents are working, they prefer to put their loved children in a crèche or day schools ensuring that their loved one is not left neglected. This no doubt gives them both an opportunity to earn for their family and permits them the flexibility to run a home comfortably.

But, is this enough? On one hand the parents are ready to push, shove, and jostle against one another at the gates of the best schools in town to secure their child’ best education there they hardly find time to spend with their own offspring. Education not only moulds the new generation, but it also reflects a society’s fundamental assumptions.

Need and Importance of education

We need to recognize that the knowledge, skills and productivity of our growing young and dynamic work force forms the backbone of our economy. To reap the  benefits of such a young work force, we need to implement the reforms in the education system and also bring forth new factors of production, namely knowledge, skills and  technology which have the ability to unleash the productive frontiers of the economy in the most efficient and dynamic way. Besides, taking a leaf from the western hemisphere, we should try to become ‘knowledge economy’ to promote inclusive growth.  The three major areas to be focused to ensure that our education system is sustainable and meets global standards:

i.          Quality of Education – in terms of infrastructure, teachers, accreditation, etc.

ii.         Affordability of Education – ensuring poor and deserving students are not denied education.

iii.        Ethics in Education – avoiding over-commercialization of education system.

The most persistent problem is the unavailability of money or inadequate funding of education programs or systems. The concept of education faces a bleak future characterized by stagnation, insensitivity, inadequate facilities and personnel. Is this what we should be contented with for Public funds are insufficient to cover education costs, and schools throughout India experience shortages of teachers, books, and basic facilities. Retention of both students and teachers is alarmingly low, particularly in many rural areas too.

Gender discrimination also keeps attendance rates for girls far below that of boys in the same age group. For girls, the ultimate goal is often portrayed as marriage, and not the attainment of a solid educational background. Often, families cannot afford to pay for the schooling of all their children so parents frequently decide to prematurely end schooling for their daughters. For many impoverished families, schooling is viewed as an impracticable financial burden, allowing them to reserve money for more pressing needs.

Financial problems need to be overcome, legislation needs to take on a new perspective and approach to education, teachers need to grasp the changes and embrace them. We also need to understand the young generation and need to accept their individuality and uniqueness. They are different just the way we were different from our parents and we need to deal with understanding. Education is a big social responsibility of every nation where education of women should be must because the empowerment and knowledge of a woman can revolutionise her family first and then the society. 

Not only restricted to study hard and score good results, education also means to conquer new effects towards the betterment of mankind because even one educated individual can create a big difference between wrong and right or evil and good. Though the inequalities in the standards of education are still is a major issue that needs to be solved but the importance of education cannot be left.

A good education not only teaches one the essential skills of the working world, it also prepares the mind to make sane, healthy, and intelligent decisions about any situation that one may encounter on life's journey. A good education a good educating shows character traits like: discipline, commitment, sacrifice, courage and ability. Although there are several benefits to a good education but the most important aspect is that it also effects one’s personal life enabling one to interact with people, and have an "intelligent" healthy conversation. Just DON'T ever be someone who finds education unimportant. Never stop learning or think that you know it all because the fact is that whatever knowledge we acquire cannot be stolen but is enriched if taken from others.

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EGO –A Cancer that kills all Relations

A beautiful brief story I read which touched my heart:-

 Once there was an island on which
FEELINGS lived.
One day a storm came all the Feelings were scared.
Only LOVE made a boat and invited all the Feelings to escape.
All the Feelings came to the boat but One was missing.
LOVE came down to see who it was.

It was “EGO”,
LOVE tried a lot to bring EGO on the boat but couldn’t succeed.
All the other Feelings went away,
but LOVE died because of EGO.

Ego, an island surrounded by unhappiness whose sheer existence kills the internal happiness of any person. It does not exist anywhere else except in human beings and starts growing along with the growth of the child.  The parents, the schools, colleges, university, all unknowingly help to strengthen it.  As we grow up, this ego becomes strong and hard surrounding our intelligence with its thick layer of darkness blocking all positive thoughts. It feeds on fear, doubt and pain. 

To be able to truly maintain any relation, love yourself first and bury your ego and this is undeniably essential to savour the sweet fragrance of any amazing relationship for nothing can kill or burn a relationship more quickly than your own ego. Try and avoid having our ego ruin our relationship. To overcome this negativity we should be honest and true to our own self first:-

1.Love yourself first: We’re so busy waiting for someone to love us that we’ve forgotten about the one person we need to love first—ourselves We tend to be harsh on ourselves, often because the people who were supposed to love us were unusually cruel and heartless to us. We should just leave everything and focus on our strengths, abilities, and our own admirable traits that we possess. We all possess certain qualities that we tend to overlook. Don’t concentrate on others harsh judgments and comparisons to others. Never seek for Love, just love yourself as you are special.

2. Separate your ego: If love yourself and the other person, you must separate the ego: It is a very unhealthy situation to live in isolation. We are all ego-driven to some extent or another but are not ready to accept the fact. Just acknowledge the fact for any healthy relationship all we need to separate is this artificial ego from ourselves so as to cultivate and maintain a truly amazing relationship.

3. Resist the temptation: Resist the temptation of defending and sympathising yourself:  Just ponder on the number of times you’ve fought with the other person and been forgiven because whenever any argument get a little heated we, as a human being start defending ourselves. At that particular moment it seems that you are always being attacked for no cause which makes you keep on defending yourself. Have we ever realised that when in a fight, we defend our self-what’s really happening: our ego is defending itself. Why can we simply not hear them out instead of defending our self? Can’t we just try to ease the other person off and pacify the grudges held by him or her which shall always end with a healthy note maintaining a good relation?

4. Your Ego Can Ruin Any Conversation: The truth is that no matter how much you prepare, plan and hope for a good conversation with the other concerned person, this ego is the one thing that will consistently ruin any conversation in progress if not controlled upon. If someone is frustrated with us, we react in a typical manner and avoid listening to the person who in one way or another really needs to express something. It is because to listen to somebody, it’s uncomfortable but to maintain a healthy relationship you have to hear the person out and just can’t let your ego destroy it.

5. Never complain and Just Be Grateful:  Never complain and just be grateful as complaining keeps us locked in negativity. Who wants to hang out with someone who complains all the time? No one. So why complain even to yourself? We should be grateful for what we are and whatever we possess. Look down and see there are so many others those who don’t even have what you have. Be thankful for that.

“Ego is the Ultimate Self-sabotager and be very clear - your ego is not the real you!

The more we subdue and dissolve our ego, the freer we are to experience a wonderful life”

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 A QUIZ

A small quiz to identifying if you are attached to your ego: This quiz will not be effective unless it is done with honesty.

Ask yourself -

1.  Do you think and feel that outer life needs to deliver you 'things'      in order for you to be happy?

2.  Do you struggle to take responsibility that you have created the         aspects in your life which  haven't worked?

3.  Do you blame people and situations outside of yourself when things go wrong?

4.  Do you often feel needy and try to make things happen in order to feel better?

5.  Do you have trouble accepting other people's opinions and viewpoints?

6.  Do you struggle to be vulnerable and real around other people?

7.  Do you believe your happiness is dependent on how other people see you or what you have?

8.  Do you find it difficult to encourage and grant other people compliments?

9.  Do you employ competitive behaviour and feel envious and jealous of other people that may   

      have or experience things you don't?

10. Do you fear that people who love you can hurt you or control you?

11. Do you struggle to maintain peace, harmony and co-operation with people?

12. Do you have trouble trusting people and situations - and expect people and life to act in ways

      that are 'wrong'?

13. Do you put on a front around other people so that they may like you?

14. Do you often look at life as 'what can I get' rather than 'what can I give?'

15. Do you think that you are 'on your own' in life?

16. Do you feel defensive when confronted with issues?

17. Do you judge negative things that show up in your life and have trouble understanding the 

       gift?

18. Have many of your problems been replaying the same themes?

19. Do you struggle to take responsibility with humility when you make a mistake?

  

Results

15 or over

Your ego is running your life. You will be experiencing great feelings of separation from happiness and other people. You are extremely self-critical and self-judgemental (fearing other people might see this), and have to put in a lot of work to love and embrace yourself. It is likely that you experienced a hard and painful childhood. You may have undergone many painful repeat events in your life. To amend this self-work and self-healing is fundamental. Nothing will change until you do.

10-14

Even though you may experience some 'wins' in your life it is likely that these will be transient. Your life may be a roller-coaster of feeling good then feeling extremely disappointed when life isn't delivering you what you believe it should. It is time to release your need to 'make things happen' and work on your self-healing enough to 'allow things to happen'. It is necessary for you to learn how to embrace and love yourself.

5-9

Judgement of self, life and others is blocking you from reaching your full potential. By learning how to love and accept yourself and by taking responsibility that you create every incident in your life 'as a gift' - you'll be able to improve your life.

1-4

You are human, and as such may still struggle at times with your ego. Even though you have an ability to let go and trust the processes of life, you may wish to dissolve the last pieces of your ego to truly become a divine creator of love, success and happiness.

0

If you are consistently holding this space of self-reflection and responsibility for every creation in your life - you are truly blessed with an abundance of authentic love, success and happiness. Congratulations! Share this example with others and be a shining light healing the separatism of humans to wholeness, love and oneness. The world needs people like you!

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