​Likhita Japa: The Power of Writing the Divine Name in a Digital World!!

 In 2012, I wrote about the technical and spiritual significance of the Taraka Mantra—Sree Ram Ram Ramethi Rame Rame manorame, sahashra nama tathulyam Rama naama varanane . I explored how the syllables of "Ra" and "Ma" are the life-giving seeds of our existence. But as we approach Ram Navami in 2026, I find myself looking at this ancient practice through a new lens: The Lens of the Architect.

We live in a world of "Command Centers." We are constantly bombarded by digital screens, office tasks, and the endless scroll of social media. Our minds have become "Scrambled." This is where Likhita Japa—the spiritual practice of writing the Name—becomes our ultimate "Sovereign" tool for peace.

1. The Triple-Lock of Consciousness

Chanting a mantra is powerful, but in the chaos of daily life, the tongue can move while the mind wanders to a "Secret Loan" or a technical glitch. Likhita Japa is different. It creates a "Triple-Lock":

The Eye must focus on the script.

The Hand must coordinate the movement.

The Mind must stay present to complete the letter.

You cannot write "Ram" while your mind is in 2001. It forces you into the Now.

2. Neurology Meets Spirituality

Modern science is finally catching up to what our sages knew. The act of handwriting (especially in beautiful, curved scripts like ( Devanagari, telugu, odia or kannad) activates the Reticular Activating System (RAS) in the brain. It filters out the "Non-Living" noise of the world and tells your nervous system: "Everything is secure. You are at peace."

3. Building a "Spiritual Battery"

When you fill a page with the Name, you aren't just wasting ink. You are creating a physical asset. A completed Jaap journal is like a "Spiritual Battery" for your home. I believe that the energy we put into our writing and jaapa—stays in our environment. It becomes a fortress of "Nectar" that protects our family.

4. A Digital Detox for the Modern Soul

We spend our days as "Invisible Architects" behind screens. Likhita Japa is our analog rebellion. It costs nothing but 15 minutes of your time, yet the "ROI" (Return on Investment) is a calm heart and a sharp, logical mind.

Whether you are writing in Hindi, Telugu, or English, the vibration of the Name remains the same. It is the original "Deep Work."

In 2012, I understood the math of the mantra. In 2026, I understand its medicine. Writing the Name isn't just an act of devotion; it is the process of rebuilding your internal architecture, one letter at a time. Put down the screen, pick up a pen, and let your hand lead your heart back home.

How to Win at Losing: The Legend of Uniform Number 67!!

 If you ever feel like you’re failing at life, let me tell you about Ranatunge Karunananda. In 1964, this man became a national hero in Japan by being officially, objectively, and painfully the worst runner on the track.

The Setup: Tokyo, 1964

It’s the Tokyo Olympics. 70,000 people are in the stands. The event is the 10,000 meters—which is basically 25 laps of “why did I agree to this?”

Karunananda is representing Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He’s wearing Uniform Number 67. He’s also been sick for a week and has no business being on a track, let alone an Olympic one.

The starting gun goes off. Thirty-eight elite athletes sprint away. Karunananda... does his best.

The "Wait, Why Is He Still There?" Moment

The race ends. The winners get their medals. The crowd starts packing up their snacks to beat the traffic. But then, people notice something moving on the track.

It’s Number 67.

He is an entire lap behind. He is clutching his side like he’s trying to keep his internal organs from escaping. He is in absolute agony.

The crowd’s initial reaction? Classic human jerkiness. They started booing. They jeered. "Hey buddy, the race is over! Go home! You’re embarrassing us!"

But Karunananda didn't stop. He just kept shuffling. Left foot, pain, right foot, more pain.

The Great Vibe Shift

Slowly, the stadium realized something. Nine other guys—perfectly healthy, world-class athletes—had quit because they weren't going to win. But this guy? This guy was dying in slow motion just to finish 25th out of 25.

The jeers turned into awkward silence, then a few claps, and then—BAM. 70,000 people stood up. They started screaming for him like he was prime Usain Bolt. He crossed the finish line in dead last to a standing ovation that lasted longer than the actual race.

When reporters asked him why he didn't just crawl into a hole and hide, he gave the ultimate "Dad" answer:

"I have a little daughter. One day I’ll tell her her father went to the Olympics and finished the race."

Translation: I’m not fast, but I’m not a quitter.

The 50-Year Plot Twist

Karunananda’s story became legendary in Japan. He was put into elementary school textbooks. For decades, Japanese kids were taught: "Don't be the guy who quits; be the guy in Number 67."

Fast forward to 2016. A Sri Lankan grad student named Oshadi moves to Japan. She’s struggling. The language is hard, the school is stressful, and she’s ready to pack it in and go home.

Then she finds out her grandfather was a celebrity in Japan. Specifically, he was that guy.

She watches the video of her granddad stumbling around that track while 70,000 strangers lose their minds. She remembers her family’s motto: "Finish what you started."

The Moral of the Story

Oshadi didn't quit. She stayed, learned Japanese, and became a care worker for the elderly in Japan. She’s now taking those skills back to Sri Lanka to help her own country.

So, the next time you’re "lapping" everyone else in the wrong direction:

Don't stop.

Clutch your side for dramatic effect.

Remember that finishing last with dignity is way cooler than quitting because you aren't first.

Sometimes the biggest standing ovation isn't for the guy with the gold medal—it’s for the guy who refused to get off the track.

Expectations and reality!!

 Often we attach our expectations 

From others which ruins our peace.

Having a de tached attachment 

Brings about more joy...

Realising that in this ever changing world

Everything is transient and nothing lasts forever 

Brings out the best in your.

Detachment from the outcome of our deeds,

Detachment from material things

Detachment from finding stability 

Detachment from success or failure 

Brings our true self out..

We understand the pain after going through it

Life is practical not just theory 

It teaches everything after going through it 

Accepting reality, living just in now and reducing expectations from others brings us closer to ourselves. 

Chasing a snake!!

 Imagine two friends walking in woods.

One of them gets bitten by snake.

And this person instead of crying for help

goes behind the snake to find answers to 

why it bite them. 

This is what we normally do when we are 

hurt by someone.

All we need to do is focus on our healing 

than focusing on why this happened??

Saying is always easy and doing this takes 

lots of courage. 

The snake will never come back and

 apologize or give you that answer why they 

did that to you. 

If at all they give also it won't matter much 

because the hurt is done. 

So, always we need to stop thinking about 

the people who hurt and focus our energy on 

other things that can still give us happiness.

Someday if that answer has to come back it 

will come on its own. Don't chase the 

answers that you seek. Focus on yourself and 

your surroundings.  Learning this takes time. 

Keep faith and hope. 

Donkey in Pit

Hi Readers,

I am back after a long pause with another short story. May be most of you already know about it. However, I am still sharing it.

A Man's favorite donkey fell into a pit. The man tried his best to pull the donkey. However, he could not pull it out, no matter how hard he tries. So, decided to bury the donkey alive. He kept pouring soil from above. The donkey feels soil, shakes the soil and steps on it. More soil is poured on donkey and he shakes it off and steps up. The more load was poured the higher it raised. By following same process, finally the donkey was out of the pit and grazing in green pasture.

The moral is after shaking off(shaking problems), and rising up or stepping up(learning from problems) one would graze in Green Pasture( lead a better life).

This story is really very small one, with a good message to convey. 

The journey of Ratnakar to Valmiki

Valmiki the saint who narrated epic Ramayan and who was the guru of Lav and Kush (Rama's son),used be a well known bandit named Ratnakar.

Though born in to a bhramin family, Ratnakar had turned bandit by being with bad company of others. He used to loot the people who would travel through the lonely paths of wood. He was destined to become the great sage Valmiki, the transformation of Ratnakar to sage Valmiki is an well known and inspirational story that motivates one to give up all the bad qualities and become a better person. The story of transformation of Ratnakar bandit to sage Valmiki is as below :-

One day, Narada Munni was crossing by the wood where Ratnakar used to reside and loot people. When he saw Narada, he challenged Narada to stop. Unafraid by him, Narada turned to him and said, " Look brother, I do not possess anything that you would like to take.Why are you engage in killing innocent people. There is no sin greater than killing another fellow mate. And for whom you are committing such heinous crime?

Ratnakar was accustomed of watching frightened faces that used to cry and beg for his mercy. Ratnakar, was astonished to see Narada, he was not bit afraid and moreover had courage to question him. He was impressed by Narada and answered, to feed my large family, I loot people and take their wealth.

Narada replied: " Brother, go and ask them, if they are willing to share your sins for whom you are committing these sinful actions. And don't think that I would run away, if you don't believe me then you an tie me with this rope to the tree. Remember, everyone repents for their part of sin after death."


Ratnakar after tying Narad with the rope went to his home and asked everybody the same question: " Is anybody ready to share my sins?" The same reply came from each member of his family:" It is your duty to look after me, to feed us. It is not my concern as to by which method you earn wealth, so why should I share your sins?"

Ratnakar was disillusioned. He who was toiling, committing sins, taking risks, day and night for them and here they were not even ready to share his sins. He saw the futility of his actions he had been committing. Ratnakar went back to the forest and untying Narada fell at his feet and started crying and said: O learned man ,how can a mean person like me achieve salvation?

Narada after thinking for a while asked him to chant the name of God Rama but for Ratnakar even pronouncing it was difficult. When Narada saw that even after trying very hard, Ratnakar was not successful in his attempts to chant Rama's name, he asked him to pronounce it backwards that is 'Mara' and then Narada went away. Ratnakar started to chant 'Mara, Mara' sitting there. He continued with this chant for 4 days, months, years and even Yuga! He did not get up for a single moment, even opened his eyes. His body was so still that termites made his body their home and his whole body was covered with them. Lord Brahma after being by his penance blessed him and gave him the name Valmiki because of the termites, which are called Valmik in Sanskrit.

One, who was a cruel bandit, whose only duty was to kill became the most noble sage because of the effect of chanting God's name though backwards.

We all have enormous power inside us, if we want to perform anything we can do it, be it the most difficult task of transforming from a cruel bandit to sage with the grace of god.

A rich man and his 19 horses.

Once upon a time, a rich man owned 19 horses. In his last will and testament he had written that upon his death, half the horses he owned should go to his only son; one fourth to the village temple and one fifth to the faithful servant.

The village elders could not stop scratching their heads. How can they give half of the 19 horses to the son? They puzzled over this dilemma for more than two weeks and then decided to send for a wise man who was living in a neighboring village.

The wise man came riding on his horse and asked the villagers if he can be of any help to them. The village elders told him about the rich man's last will and testament which stated that half of the (19) horses must be given to his only son, one fourth must go to the temple and one fifth to the faithful servant.

The wise man said he will immediately solve their problem without any delay whatsoever. He had the 19 horses stand in a row next to one another. Then he added his own horse as the 20th horse. Now he went about giving half of the 20 horses – that is ten horses to the son. One fourth of 20- that is 5 horses were given to the temple committee. One fifth of twenty- that is 4 horses were given to the faithful servant. Ten plus five plus four made 19 horses. The remaining 20th horse was his own which he promptly mounted, spoke a few inspiring words, and rode back home.

The villagers were simply dumbfounded, full of disbelief and filled with admiration. And the parting words of the wise man were inscribed in their hearts and minds which they greatly cherished and passed on to their succeeding generations till today.

The wise man said: In our daily lives, in our daily affairs, simply add God’s name and then go about facing the day’s happenings. Ever come across problems in life that are seemingly insurmountable? (Like the villagers, do we feel that such problems cannot be solved?).

The wise man continued: Add the God in our daily lives and the problems will become lighter and eventually will disappear. In the manner of the ice which, with the addition of the heat principle will turn into water, and that will eventually evaporate as steam and disappear. And how do we add God’s name  in our daily lives? Through prayers, filled with true love and devotion with sincerity of purpose and dedication that only total faith can bring about. Meditation is a powerful means of directing the mind towards God.

But without true love and devotion entering into it, it remains like a boat without water. It is not difficult to push a boat that is floating in water, but extremely hard to drag the same boat on dry land. In the same way, if our life’s boat floats on the waters of true love and devotion, we can sail easily in it. The principle of love of God and devotion with total faith, (like water) makes easy the voyage of our lives. When the mind is pure and the heart full of simplicity and holiness, such a devotee becomes an instrument in the service of the Lord.

Why me???

Hi Readers,

I have been trying to convince one my dear one to deal with a difficult situation from past one month. I learnt many things in this process. Sometimes, I find it easy to console and convince someone to just look for the blessings that they have received. However, when its me who deals  with such situation, I still need someone especially my Mom to hear me and to console me as long as she can do. I do not know how best I can describe about it, she is my Mom and my best friend. She always says never to leave one alone, when they need you the most. In my family if someone is sad, then my Mom is always by his/her side. She goes on and  on explaining, convincing and consoling the person till he/she feels comfortable.

Now, as I am her daughter this attitude is also with me. I never leave my dear ones alone when they need me. They might find it stupid, silly or annoying that I go behind them, explaining and convincing stupid things to lift up their spirit. In this process, I try to read facts online, many self help tips to help others deal with difficult situation, how to pull them out of depression etc. Its really easy when you try to help others, but not yourself. I found many useful and handy quotes from famous personalities that help you and make you realize  what you have received so far. There are some things that we should not forget even if we are depressed.
I am trying to outline as many points as I could do.

1- Stop thinking "Its all my fault"- You need to ask yourself, is it really my fault? Was the situation within my control? Did I knew that I am about to make a mistake? If unknowingly you have made a mistake, then do not grudge yourself. If you feel the situation was within your control, then think I will do it differently next time. Life is not about making mistakes. Life is about how to recover from that mistake and that is what defines us.

2-Life is not perfect - Life is not perfect, nor we all are perfect. That is why there is erasers on pencil, for our mistakes. Do not try to be perfect, because that is impossible.

3- Forgive yourself - Instead of beating yourself up in mind, just tell yourself it is OK to make mistake, and everyone does.

4- Practice gratitude - When negative thoughts erupt in your mind, think of all the blessings that you have received. Stop thinking ,"Why me?" . We all think that all the problems are with us and others are simply enjoying life. Reality is everyone is suffering in one form or other. When we were born, we never selected our parents, we did not select the family we were born, the love and affection we got from our elders. We never question why we received that love, care and affection? But, when there is slightest of trouble , the first thought is "Why me?" Stop such thoughts by being grateful for all that you received.

5- Never loose your faith on Almighty - If you believe in God, then do not stop this belief when you are sad. Nobody forced you to belief, it was you who choose to believe in God, ask for his blessings. Then when its difficult time, why to stop it. In every religion, it is said that when we face difficulty, God walks holding us in his arm. So, think this way that he is carrying you in his arm so that you can feel least pain, however, he cannot stop the pain altogether. He will try his best to pull you out of this but it will certainly take some time. You need to wait patiently.

If you are atheist, then do not loose your confidence even if its too hard. You are a strong believer that there is no super natural power, but some situation are beyond your control. You have to accept the odd and move on with confidence.

6- Never be biased by others views - Sometimes, situations are really worse and others views add on to it. Stop hearing all those views. People always try to pull you down. When situation is not favoring you, it is best time for them to pull you further down. Except few of your dear ones, others especially those who are your competitors would try to take advantage of this situation. They would try to make things look larger than what it actually is. They would try giving you advise in such a way that it works against you. Keep your calm, and take any decision only on your firm belief. Never be biased by such people.

7- Be Positive - From your childhood, you would have achieved a lot. Think of all the difficult times, and think how you took those as challenge and how you came out stronger and outperforming. Those are your positive energy which molded you in right direction. Same way, your own self is going to guide you through this phase. You are going to be again outperforming, reaching new high.

8- Do things that you like - Keep my words, our mind is fool, always try to fool it by saying, "All is well". It really works. divert your attention. Think this way, I have 24hrs a day to be sad. Can I steal 1 hr to be happy? I can be sad anyway after this 1 hr. Now, decide what can make you feel happy. Day dreaming, painting, playing anything that you like.

9- Do not postpone small yet achievable goals for the bigger ones - When we are happy, we plan so many things, we plan in advance what we can achieve. Out of all those few things is under your control, if you wish you can get them done just now. Try doing them. Do not postpone these small yet achievable goals for the bigger ones.

10- Do not be envious of others - The worst part of bad times is it makes us envious of others. Stop thinking about all your friends, colleagues etc who achieved what you wanted. Stop comparing yourself with others. You are different and you are unique.

11- Always love yourself - Nobody can be like you. Nobody can walk better in your shoes. You are the best to deal with these odd situations and still you are fighting, you will not give up. So, you need to be loved,  its you who can love yourself first before others start loving you.

12- Let go  - Emotional pain is hardest to recover. But, you can let it go. Remember not to hurt anyone emotionally, it is too painful, is not it?Never give the pain to someone, which you are feeling at the moment, you know how hard it is to receive that pain. 

Calumny:- What is in our mind is uttered by our tongue for good or for evil.

Hi Readers,

Today I am going to post about Calumny or Slander. In Web I came across a story called Calumny of Apelles. It talked about how Calumny hampers someone's social image and the effect of this. Apelles after being accused by a fellow artist Antiphilos of conspiracy and false charges in front of King of Egypt was accused in Public. After Apelles had been proven innocent, he dealt with the rage for desire to revenge by painting this picture back in 15th century.

The picture depicts, an innocent man being dragged by the personification of Calumny, Malice, Fraud and Envy. They are followed to one side as Remorse as an old woman turning to face the naked truth, who is pointing towards Heaven. The nakedness of truth places her with an relationship with the youth,whose folded hands are an appeal to higher power.

On the right side of the picture, the King is sitting on the throne with large ears resembling the Donkey's ears. Two woman namely Ignorance and Suspicion are constantly whispering on to his Donkey's ears. Thus, the King here symbolizes a person of rash and foolish nature. His eyes are lowered, so as he is unable to see what is happening and thus is unable to provide justice.

This picture and its symbolic meaning is so true. Since man is a social being he absolutely needs human society in order to grow to full maturity as a man. Consequently, whatever militates against human community is contrary to man's nature, contrary to the will of God and therefore forbidden by God.


 "Lies of convenience", that is, lies told in order to extricate oneself from an embarrassing situation, normally do not damage the reputation of another. If successful, they are known only in the depths of the conscience of the one who told them. There are different kinds of statements that injure the reputation of another.


It is possible to injure another's good name either by telling lies about that person or by revealing hidden faults which should not be revealed. To tell lies about another person is called calumny or slander. To reveal the hidden faults or sins of another without sufficient cause, in such wise that the person's reputation or good name is seriously damaged, is called the sin of detraction.


A good name is something that we earn by reason or our good deeds. It concerns the public estimation of a person's intellectual and moral excellence. In a very read sense, a person's good name is his or her property — it belongs to the person concerned as a strict right. Hence the violation of a person's good name is a sin against the virtue of justice.

The good name or reputation of another can be damaged, or even totally destroyed, in a number of ways. To calumniate another is certainly to ruin his good name and so to do him an injustice.In the case of both calumny and detraction, depends upon the gravity of the injury done to the other party. The sin can be either venial or mortal, depending on the circumstances.


 A person who has lied about another can often right the wrong he has done by retracting the lie and stating the truth. In the case of detraction the situation is more difficult, since it is not a matter of lying but of revealing the hidden sins or faults of another that should not be revealed in these circumstances. Frequently little can be done in the practical order. One cannot deny the statements since they actually are true; to deny them would be to add a lie to the previous detraction. Some moralists recommend, in this situation, apologies and praise of the person's good points.

Do you know what a rash judgment is? It is an internal act of the mind by which one person attributes evil actions or motives to another without any kind of evidence for such a judgment. A rash judgment is a kind of lie to oneself. Such judgments damage another person in our own eyes, when there is no really objective reason for doing so. Because of our fallen human nature we all tend to make rash judgments about others — often without even reflecting on what we are doing. It is especially easy to judge rashly people we do not like, people who have offended us, people who differ from us in one way or another. It is unreasonable to make rash judgments. Such judgments involve a misuse of our interior faculties, especially our mind and our will.

What is in our minds is eventually uttered by our tongues. The tongue is a small member of the body, but it possesses great power — either for good or for evil.

Inner Happiness

Hi Readers,

After a long gap I have finally come up with a topic to write my views. I have read many books, articles which talk about this topic that is Inner Happiness. However, I could not realize this until I was finally put to test.

Life does not treat everyone equally. It varies to many extent how life will treat someone. For some it is like a trap always. However, our inner self is the one which remains with us through out our struggle for existence. It guides us, shows us what could be the bigger picture behind all the drama that Life unfolds. Sometimes, we follow our instinct generously, and sometimes we trust other's and put down our own instinct. 

From our childhood, we have this sixth sense which guides us towards the motive of people whom we come in contact. Our mind and soul knows very well how we get treated. Even if we come in contact with someone who is really very good to us, we still do not build the trust immediately, somehow our inner self warns us about their behavior and motive. This Inner self is our true friend, who knows before us that we are reaching something beyond our imagination. When we follow our inner self we know how to overcome problems and obstacles in life. This Inner self has immense potential and it not only guides us, but also keeps us intact. It helps us in judging and choosing our life path. It shows us the extreme limit our life can be put to test and thus helps us to be brave and encourages us to fight for the struggle of existence. 

This Inner self never tells us to be very happy nor it tells us to be too sad when life reaches its two extreme points of happiness and sorrow. It helps us to be hard to our self. When we are hard to our self,  things automatically fall in place.  This inner self guides us to increase the circle of Influence and reduce the circle of concern. When we finally, build our life with a bigger circle of influence and a smaller circle of concern, we achieve the maximum out of our own potential and we limit our hurdles. Thus, it gives us true satisfaction and motivates us to be happy when time is not going good.

Mahesh- Somesh and their Donkey

Mahesh is a simple soul who believes whatever he is told. The village boys are aware of this and exploit his simplicity for a few laughs. One day, Mahesh is on his way to the market with his son Somesh to sell their donkey. He comes across some village boys out to have fun.

Seeing the father and son duo walking with the donkey, they first suggest that the son Somesh ride on the donkey and save the effort. The son is put on the donkey’s back. The boys then ridicule the boy for riding while the father walks. The father and son switch places. The father rides while the son walks. The boys then taunt the father for making the poor son walk and advise the duo to ride the donkey together.

Thinking it a good idea they comply. The poor donkey collapses from exhaustion. The boys then express their disgust at the duo for ill treating the donkey and advice that they take the donkey to an animal doctor. The duo again follows the advice.

On the way, they come across barking stray dogs. In the confusion that ensues, the donkey falls into the flowing river. The donkey is lost forever. Mahesh loses the donkey because he follows what he is suggested without thinking for himself.

Moral:- He who listens to everybody will only become a laughing stock.

Lazy Donkey Bhola

Ramu owns a donkey called Bhola. Ramu is very tolerant and kind master. Whereas Bhola is very lazy and always keeps on finding ways to avoid work.

Once while returning with loads of salt on his back, Bhola falls in the river. He realizes that the fall has lessened the weights of the sacks as the salt has dissolved in the water.

 

The next few days Bhola purposely falls into the water everyday. Ramu is unhappy at the way Bhola is behaving because he is losing money in the process. He decides to teach Bhola a lesson.

The next day instead of salt bags he loads Bhola with bags of cotton. Bhola is unaware of the change. As planned, he falls into the water and gets the bags wet. He is surprised to find the load unbearable. His otherwise master also starts beating him.

Bhola learns his lesson and starts behaving.

Moral:- 

Work with honesty and sincerity because laziness will ruin you.

Farmer's Donkey

Hi Readers,

Today, I am going to share few stories, that are based on donkey. These stories are infact my favourite moral stories.

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.
Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.
A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.
Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.
Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
Free your mind from worries - Most never happen
Live simply and appreciate what you have.
Give more.
Expect less

Touchstone

When the great library of England burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers.The book wasn't very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the "Touchstone"!

The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.

So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles.

He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.

The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about midafternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it's easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it's just as easy to throw it away.We need to be vigilant to recognise all the oppertunity that falls into our hand and grab the oppertunity at right time and make best possible use of it. 

Determination and Persistence

This is real life story of an engineer. John A Roebling the designer of Brooklyn Bridge and his son Washigton Roebling and daughter in law Emily Warren Roebling.

A  creative engineer John A Roebling was inspired by an idea to built the wire rope suspension bridge connecting New York with Long Island. However, bridge building experts in those time considered  this as an impossible task. This just could not be done. This is impractical and had never been attempted before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision of this bridge in his mind. He thought about it and knew that this could be done.He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washigton, that the bridge could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well in 1869, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. John was standing on the dock and was fixing a location where the bridge could be built, when his feet were crushed by an arriving ferry. His injured toes were amputated and he refused to take further medication. He took water therapy which caused infection that lead to Tetanus and resulted with his death.

In 1870, another accident that broke out fire on the site, left  Washington  injured and he was left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to talk or walk.This made it impossible for him to visit the site.His wife Emily Warren Roebling becoming his nurse, companion, and confidant took over the day-to-day supervision and site visits, and successfully lobbied for retention of him as chief engineer.

All Washigton could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.

Setting priorities in life

Hi Readers,
Just now, I read a beautiful message which spoke about balance in life and priorities in life. Based on this line, I remembered a story once my Aunt shared with me. Now, let me first narrate the same story for you.

Once, a teacher carried some objects to her class. When the class began, she took a open jar and wordlessly started filling it up with rocks of about 2 mm in diameter.

She then asked the class if the jar was full, and they all agreed it was.

Then she took handful of small pebbles and put it inside the jar. She shook ed the jar gently. The pebbles settled inside the small spaces between rocks. Then once again she asked to the class, is it full? The class unanimously answered back "YES".

Now, she took sand and poured it inside the jar and shook it. The sand settled in every corner that was left free. She then asked again," Is it full?". The students agreed it was.

 

Now, the teacher turned back to the class and said," I want you to recognize,this jar as your life. The rocks as your family, your partner,your health and your children. The pebbles as your house,job,vehicle etc. And the sand as other minute things. "

" If everything is lost expect the rocks in the jar, the jar remains full. Same is true in life. If your family,partner,health and children are with you, then life remains full. They are the ones to be given highest priority over other materialistic things, like job, house etc. The sand is everything else- the small stuffs. If you spend all your time and energy in gathering these small stuffs, you will miss out with the one which is important. So, pay attention to things that are critical for your happiness and be easy on others. Take your time with your spouse,spend Sundays with family and children and worry less for achieving other things."

Someone is proud of you

This young boy loved football, though he never played it. He lived with his father and never missed a single football match in his school. The father son duo had a special bondage. Even though the son never made to play football,his father kept inspiring him,cheering him and always made it to watch the football matches with him. The young boy was so fond of football that he decided to try his best at every practice session.


When this young boy went to high school, he decided to try even harder. He came to all the practice sessions and matches without any fail. Everyone was sure he could never make it to a cut,but he did. The coach admitted that he has put him on the list,as he puts his heart and soul to the game. Moreover, he provides every member with moral booster that they badly needed.

The news of surviving the cut was so thrilling that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father. His father shared his excitement and made up to attend all the high school football matches.This young boy never played an actual match in his 4 yrs of high school. He practiced hard before the match commenced.Shortly, before the play off game, the coach met him with a telegram in his hand. The young boy read the telegram and became deathly silent. He showed the telegram to the coach and asked him politely if its OK for him to miss the match of the day. The coach put his arm around him and said,"Take the rest of the week off and don't even plan to come back to the game on Saturday."


In the final quarter of the game when the team was 10 points behind, a silent young boy entered the locker room. He put his football gear on and came down to the coach. The boy requested the coach to allow him to play. The coach at first didn't even notice him. He tried to best ignore the boy's request,as he feared losing the match. However, he finally gave up to the boys request and allowed him to play. Before,long the coach and other players could not believe their eyes,as this boy made his way to goal post. The opposing team could not stop him,as he ran,passed and tackled like a star. Soon, the game was tied and in closing few seconds, the boy hit the final goal that lead to victory. His teammates hoisted him to the shoulders,and such cheering that never before was heard.


After, the stands have been emptied, team had showered and left the locker room, the coach noticed the young boy sitting quietly at the corner. The coach came to him and said,"I am proud of you,you were fantastic." Tell me what got into you? How did you do it?" He looked at the coach, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Well, you knew my dad died, but did you know that my dad was blind?" The young man swallowed hard and forced a smile, "Dad came to all my games, but today was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to show him I could do it!"

Brick and Scorpio

One day, Mr Shyam a young and very successful executive was travelling in neighbourhood Delhi street. He was going a bit too fast in his black VLX Automatic mHawk Diesel Scorpio, which was only a couple of days old.

He was watching for kids and animals darting out and slowed down when he saw something.As his Scorpio passed no child darted out. He made his way to a lonely road so that he could explore his new Scorpio and its speed. When he reached a bit lonely residential area he increased his speed and enjoyed his drive along a near by garden. Suddenly, a brick smashed into the Scorpio's black shiny left door. Brakes slammed! Gears ground into reverse and tires madly spun the Scorpio back into the spot where the brick smashed onto it. Shyam jumped out of his Scorpio, grabbed the kid and pushed him against the Scorpio. He shouted at the kid,"What was that about and Who are you? What the heck are you doing?" He screamed,"That's my new Scorpio,and the brick that you threw gonna cost a huge sum.Why did you do that?"

The kid with a trembling voice pleaded," I am sorry,sir! Please listen to me first.... I am really sorry,but i was not knowing what else to do." Tears were dripping down the boy's cheek as he pointed out to the road side parked car. "He is my brother sir, he rolled along that small pit and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up." The boy then gathered enough courage and requested the executive," Could you please help me, to get him back on his wheelchair, he is too heavy for me and is also hurt."

Moved beyond words, the young executive rapidly swallow the lump in his throat. He then lifted the young man back onto his wheel chair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the cuts and bruises.He then kept watching, when the little young boy pushed his elder brother back towards their home.

It was then a long walk back onto his Black VLX Automatic mHawk Diesel Scorpio. Shyam never fixed the left door of his Black Scorpio in order to remind him that he should not move too fast in life,that someone needs to throw brick on him to get noticed.

Some bricks are softer and some are too hard, feel for each brick that comes your way. For every half empty glass,we have to remind our self that the glass is half full.

Critic's and Criticism

To start with an original sentence, I have no good topic today to put forward my thoughts. Few days back an old friend of mine suggested me to put my thoughts about the criticism and critics that I have met so far. However, I am not someone who thinks of revenge and is revengeful. It will be like criticising a critic about his/her art. Artists never think of critics and critics never bother how artist react to it.

Now, coming to the point what I think about criticism. People criticise you on two things, when you are successful and when you are a failure. They don't criticise someone who does not make any attempt. If you are so much worried about, society, criticism , then just answer to yourself one question. Is there someone who will come to help you when you are in need? If still you value them then answer yourself who was standing with you when you broke down with tears.The people who put forward their views with respect to society never will come to wipe your tears,but will condemn and criticise each and every action of yours in the name of society.

Criticism is an indirect act of Self-boasting. When people criticise they think they are better than you. Had they been better than you, they would never require to criticise. It hurts when your near and dear ones criticise. When they do it, you see the real politics of life in them. They become silent when they had to put a step forward and stand with you, yet they leave not a single chance to criticise you for your decision and action.

My answer to all criticism is simple, come wear my shoes and walk, and tell me what would have been your decision? Critic's never have full knowledge, and half hazard knowledge of anything will never give the right decision.

When you pass through bad phase of life, even sincere advise sometimes appear as criticism. You need to have patience to see the depth meaning of people who care. Sometimes, the people who don't walk by you, does not necessarily mean don't love you anymore. Its just the fact that they don't have what you need at the moment, however they still love you. They might not express their love,trust or concern for you, but that don't mean they have stopped caring for you.

I most conclude with one thing, sometimes criticism really helps. Believe me, it gives you the boost that you require to keep going. So, Instead of thinking who will criticise or how this society will react, do what is right, and humanitarian. And most importantly, the older generation always criticises and condemns the younger one's, forgetting the fact that they have raised them. Older generation always compels you to be bound to their decision, they emotionally blackmail you, sometime just because they have insecurity complex. But, your desire and passion should not be obstructed by some one's insecurity feeling.

Stand for your own decision, and don't feel let down by criticism. After all, you have your mind and decision making capacity to make the right choice for you.

The Japanese Fish Story

The Japanese always loved fresh fish. However, the water near Japan did not held enough fish for consumption for decades. To solve this problem and feed the population with fresh fishes, the fishing companies in Japan started to hire bigger boats. Boats got bigger and went far to get more fishes. The farther the fisher men went the longer it took for them to bring back the fishes. The process took several days, hence, by the time the boats return, fishes started to rot. The Japanese people did not like the taste.

Now, the companies started carrying freezer in the boats. They started freezing the fishes after the catch so that they don't rot by the time they reach the shore. However, the difference of the taste was still marked. And Japanese did not like the frozen fish over fresh fish.And the frozen fish got lower price.

In order to solve this problem, the fishing companies got tankers. They started stuffing the tanks with fishes,fin to fin. After a little thrashing around the fishes stopped making any movement.They were tired and dumb but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference and did not like this either.

So, how did the Japanese fishing company solve this problem?How would they get fresh tasting fish to Japan? If you were consulting one of these Japanese fish company what would you suggest ?

How Japanese fish stay fresh:- The fish companies now added one one shark for each tanker. The shark would eat up a few fishes. However, the fishes would remain active in the fear of shark.Thus, they delivered very lively and fresh fishes to Japan.

Moral:- We all live in some short of ponds, very tired and dull. We all need sharks to make us lively and keep moving. Basically, Sharks here refers to the challenges, small or big that we face in day to day life. If you are getting right size and amount of challenges to face everyday, you think of ways to overcome them and thus get energized.