Murungai Elai Essence – Drumstick Leaves Juice

Pluck a few branches from the Murungai Maram – Drumstick Tree.

Wrap them in a wet towel and leave the roll overnight. 

The leaves will fall of the branches.

Gather a fistful of leaves.

Wash and rinse the leaves in plain water.

Boil plain water in a vessel.

Put the leaves in boiling water. Boiling will stop.

Let the water with the leaves boil again.

Remove the vessel from the fire and let it simmer for few minutes.

Strain the leaves and throw the leaves away.

Do not add any salt or sugar or any other item to the essence.

The warm essence of drumstick leaves is ready for you to drink and enjoy the taste.

Generally Murungai Leaves are readily available in most localities. If the leaves are tender, the colour of the drink is pale yellow, if the leaves are more mature, then the colour is dark yellowish green. The drink is refreshing, tasty and very healthy.

The juice is very easy to prepare, very good to drink and is very nice to serve to guests at any time.

If you do not get fresh leaves, then you can buy the powder of Murungai Leaves from authentic herbal shop.

The powder is prepared by sun drying the leaves. The leaves will have to be separated from the stem. Only leaves can be used to make a dry powder, not with the stalk/stem or twigs.

You can use 2 teaspoonful powder to prepare 2 glasses of the drink. After boiling the water, add the powder, let it boil again, then take the vessel off the fire, let it simmer for a few minute, then strain/filter through thin clean cloth and drink the warm juice.

Benefits of this healthy drink:

Enhances your body strength, stamina and energy.  

Helps your eyes, bones and nerves.

Helps normalize, balance and maintain blood pressure and corrects Hypertensiveness.

What is so special about a drumstick tree?

Most of you may know that even if you plant a twig of this tree in a good soil, it will take roots and grow very fast. This tree knows only growth. It grows very straight and strong. The essence that pervades its tiny multitude of leaves is very good for giving you strength and stamina.

Since the twigs/stalk and stem are not fit for human consumption, the leaves must be properly separated.

In olden days, the home makers were using Muram to sift the leaves and separate the unwanted twigs/spikes from the bare leaves.

It is very interesting to note that in many plants, one part will be edible and some other part will not be edible/poisonous. For example in betel leaves, the Kambu is to be discarded. In Arugan Pul, the white stem must be discarded and only the green blade of grass must be used to powder it and use as  medicine. Likewise in Murungai, the kutchi has to be discarded and only clean leaves must be used when you make a dry powder.

The authentic source of medicinal values of most plants can be studied from Dravya Guna Shastram.

A Conversation With: E. Sreedharan

Conversation of The New York Times correspondents Heather Timmons & Pamposh Raina with Sreedharan in question-answer form is reproduced below. It is an interesting read.

 

A Conversation With: E. Sreedharan

By HEATHER TIMMONS AND PAMPOSH RAINA

 

E. Sreedharan, on the platform of the Indraprastha station of the Delhi Metro.

At a time when corruption seems to stalk nearly every corner of the Indian government, the Delhi Metro’s star shines brighter than ever. Under Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, the 9-year-old Metro provides stellar service, completes projects on time and under budget, and is making a profit, despite having the lowest fares of any metro system in the world outside of Kolkata.

The Delhi Metro’s more than 200 clean, comfortable trains now carry 2 million passengers a day, and it has embarked on a third phase of expansion, a new line that will ring Delhi, connecting suburbs like Gurgaon with Dwarka.

Mr. Sreedharan, 79, a life-long bureaucrat with more than three decades in the country’s railways, has been the architect of this Metro’s success, building a 7,000-person organization that, to all appearances, is corruption-free, from the ground up.

Ahead of his retirement at the end of this year, he spoke to India Ink about how Indian society and government need to change, and the ways his spirituality makes him a better manager.

Q.  The Delhi Metro has continued to be a success at a time when many other agencies are mired in corruption. What did you do to keep this agency on the straight and narrow?

 

A.  That’s a big question that cannot be answered in one or two sentences.

When we wanted to build the Delhi Metro, we said we would do it in a different way, creating a new organization and a new company with a lot of freedom for taking decisions.

The board of directors is supreme in taking decisions, we depend on the government only for only two or three items like funding and land acquisition, and the rest is entirely left to us.

We have built up a team here drawn from the Indian Railways which is highly motivated and professionally competitive, a very competent team. The whole credit should go to the team backing me.

Q.  How did you pick the team?

 

A.  I was with Indian Railways for 36 years so I knew a lot of people. So I could hand pick, choose the right person for the right job and then get him trained.

The main thing was the reputation for integrity, then the reputation for hard work, professional competence and the knowledge and the aptitude to work in a team. If they work as a lone worker, that is not going to help us.

Q.  Could you apply these same principles to an existing organization? If someone said to you, “Go fix Air India,” would that be possible?

 

A.  It is possible. What is required is the right work culture of the organization, the values of the organization, the way the team is built up and the way they are motivated. You need to define the roles and the goals, very precisely.

 

Q.  What’s the best way to motivate people? Is it praise, or salary or something else?

 

A.  The best way to motivate people is to set an example for them. I can’t sit in an air-conditioned room and make others do all the work. Here I try to set an example in all manners, everything, whether it is punctuality or inspections or the standards for specifications, finishing of the work, anything.

 

Q.  Does this organization pay more than other government jobs?

 

A.  We pay exactly the same, these are government salaries. What is a motivation is the good work environment that they have, and a good environment for learning things. Once people work in Delhi Metro for five or six years, their market value is so high, they are in demand by everyone afterwards.

 

Q. Yet, many say a reason for corruption in government agencies is that salaries are too low?

A. It is not true. No one can say that government salaries are low, so they have to be corrupt. It is totally wrong. Today the government salaries are very decent. It may not compare well with the private sector, but it is very, very comfortable.

Corruption has become a part of public life in this country mainly because of a lot of black money going around.

There are many laws, regulations, agencies and institutions already set up to prevent corruption, but they are not effective. We have an anti-corruption bureau, a vigilance organization, a big strong audit organization, we have got a huge police force, but the police themselves are corrupt, so what is the use?

Q.  How do you fix that?

 

A.  Some basic transformation is required. I would start with the police themselves. We have been talking about police reform in this country for the last so many years. The Supreme Court has given a directive to the governments in 2001 to implement these reforms, but not even one state government or central government has implemented these reforms.

Why? Because it does not suit the politicians, it does not suit the police, themselves.

Corruption has somehow spread into the national fabric, and it takes time to get rid of it.

People want to make easy money, particularly the politicians, and they are the people who are breeding corruption in this country.

Q.  What is one rule or regulation that should change to curb black money, and hence corruption?

 

A.  A simple thing — most of the black money is coming today through property dealings. The government knows very well that a particular property has a certain market value, but it is registered at one-third the market value, so two-thirds goes as black money. Why can’t the government insist that the registration be at the market value?

And when people are caught for corruption, why are they not punished immediately? It takes years and years. It takes years to get justice.

But this has nothing to do with the Delhi Metro. We have had tried to have a very clean organization. When we suspect anybody is indulging in unethical matters, immediately he is sacked.

Q.  Can you tell us about bringing spirituality into this organization – you give copies of the “Bhagavad Gita” (a Hindu scripture) to all managers. How does that help you and them?

 

A.  You see, spirituality has no religious overtones. The essence of spirituality is to make a person pure in his mind and his thoughts.

When I started reading our old scriptures, like the “Baghavad Gita,” I found it was useful for day-to-day life, so I started practicing it.

I consider it an administrative gospel, one that will help you in doing things like running an organization like this.

Q.  Do you have a favorite quote you share with employees?

 

A.  Mainly I tell them “Do your work without expecting any return out of it.” It is called Asangathu Vaa*. You do it for the sake of the society, of the organization you work for.

 * I think there is an error in  reproducing the word

Q.  You’ll be serving as an adviser on the Indian Railways safety committee. What else is in your future after you retire?

 

A.  No particular plan, except to retire really and spend more time on spirituality.

 

Q.  Would you sit on the Lokpal board if asked?

 

A.  No, no I would not like to take up any of these responsibilities. I am in the fag end of my life.

AN AMAZING INTERVIEW WITH TRAVANCORE RAJA ( AN EX COLONEL TOO!!)

The head of a former royal family renounced any personal claim to billions of dollars' worth of ancient treasure discovered in a temple in Thiruvanantharam, the kingdom his ancestors once ruled. Excerpts of an interview with Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Verma, the former King of Tranvancore by *Padma Rao Sudarji*. *(Padma Rao Sundarji is South Asia bureau chief of Der Spiegel)*

PRS: What is your family's connection with the Padmanabhaswamy temple?

VARMA: We are the Cheras, one of the four erstwhile royal families of South India and have a long and dynastic family tree. By 1750 Travancore had become rich and big. So my ancestor, the then king, made a unique spiritual and historical contribution. He decided to surrender all his riches to the temple - Padmanabhaswamy is also our family deity. He said our family would look after that wealth, the temple and the kingdom forever. But he did want the ego that comes with possessing it. He was influenced by Emperor Ashoka's catharsis in the killing fields of Kalinga. So he declared our family to be Padmanabha's 'dasas', devotees. A servant can resign his job, but a dasa can do so only when he dies.

 

PRS: You are one of the wealthiest families in India and yet, you live in a spartan way, unlike many other ex-royals. Why?

VARMA: I have to go back a bit in time, to explain why. Everybody thinks that we Indians first rose against British colonial rule in 1857. Wrong. In 1741, Travancore was the only Asian power to defeat the Dutch when they arrived here. After the battle, all the Dutch soldiers kneeled before my ancestors. One Dutchman, Benedictus Eustachius, even joined our army. We called him the Great Kapitan. Later, I learned that he was [US president] Franklin Roosevelt's ancestor when the latter's grandson came to look at our
historical records.Then in 1839, almost two decades before the mutiny, we rose against the British. Our punishment was severe. They disbanded our police and army of 50,000, transferred our capital to Kollam, dumped two British regiments on us, and ordered us to pay for their upkeep. Thomas Munroe named himself  Diwan of Travancore. When our spirit still did not flag, they brought in missionaries. But we did not get gobbled up by Western thought. We travel abroad occasionally, but it has not affected or changed our simple way of life. Why am I telling you this? So that you get an idea of how much our life has revolved around our faith, despite so many outside influences and kept us going. 

PRS: How do you feel about what is happening around the temple right now - its cellars being opened up, your donations being discussed around the world, the criticism, the furore?

VARMA: Sorry, I cannot comment on what is happening there - the matter is sub-judice. But this much I will say. I have no problem with the inventory and additional security being provided by the state to the temple. But please don't remove those objects from the temple. They belong to nobody, certainly not to our family. They belong to god and our law permits that. All these debates swirling around the riches is unfortunate. That's all I can say - I have to listen to my doctor, lawyer and auditor. Our family has been donating objects to the temple for centuries. As chief patron of the temple, I go there every day. If I miss a day, I am fined Rs 166.35 - an old Travancore tradition.

 

PRS: But you cannot deny that such wealth could be put to better use for the poor.

VARMA: We Indians are more educated now. But this reaction to donations inside a temple is anything but progressive. We are slowly losing our Indian identity. Money has become everything. But I am not surprised. I would rather be philosophical than disillusioned because I can't change the world.

 

PRS: Then there is the rationalist argument that this is blind faith.

VARMA: Please think of England's Henry VIII in the late 1500s. He had two passions. Wives and money. So he pillaged churches. Finally, he ran into a problem because he wanted a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. The church refused, because she was a zealous Spanish Catholic. His cardinal advised him to invent his own church. So he did that - just to get a divorce. Is that rational?

It is rather difficult to explain our faith to the new world where people have none anymore. When selfishness grows, everything you do seems right, and everything others do seems wrong. It's all about what do I get, not about what do I do. I like the memory of my trip to a game reserve South Africa. After seeing many wild animals, I asked the guide which was the most rapacious and fearsome. He showed me a mirror.

 

PRS: What is your source of income? What does your family live off ?

VARMA: We have travel and hotel businesses. I am chairman of a former British company that exports various items from Kerala - but no, not pepper to Buckingham Palace, as reported. We also run seven trusts. We spend R5-8 lakh a year on education, health and housing for the poor. We pay good salaries. And the family itself contributes money every month. No government has acknowledged our work but that is all right. We do it because we want to do it.

 

PRS: Gold statues studded with rubies and diamonds, saphhires, gold coins of the Napoleonic era and the East India Company. Is all that true?

VARMA: I have never been inside those cellars. Our philosophy has always been not to look at such objects and get tempted. But of course I know what  is inside them.

 

PRS: Are the younger members of your family angrier than you about the heated public debate?

VARMA: I am the most hot-blooded in this family but on this matter, we all feel the same. I was a soldier - a colonel for 15 years in the Madras Regiment. I would like to ask those criticizing us for donating these objects: why are they bothered about what someone else has done? What are they doing in the name of faith themselves ? Why the hot gossip over a donation to God?

 

 

PRS: At 90, you don't even use a walking stick. What is your daily routine ?

VARMA: We have all been brought up very strictly and frugally. My day starts at 4 am with yoga. I only drink milk, I am a vegetarian and a teetotaler. I read the Vedas everyday. I go the temple for a ten-minute private audience with the deity every morning. After that, I indulge in one of my hobbies - "media surgery." I read the newspapers and clip articles over breakfast. I have a collection of the past 30 years. I will give those to the Trust because my children may not be interested. People come to meet me, they invite me to inaugurate functions. I speak extempore. I go from vertical to horizontal for about 20 minutes in the afternoon. I am in bed by 945. I have always slept well. Since there is nothing on my conscience, sleep comes swiftly.

 

 

PRS: Are you now thinking of insuring those treasures, now that the whole world is talking about them, or are they already insured ?

VARMA: (laughs) I am least worried that they will be stolen. If that happens, then it was the Lord's will.

 

 

PRS: Among your ancestors were famous Carnatic musician Swati Thirunal and painter Raja Ravi Varma. What are your passions?

VARMA: Those two ancestors gave music and art divinity and humanity respectively. That continues. I love art. I once saw a piece of exquisite china in Venice. It was a girl on a swing with the sand looking worn just where her feet touched the ground each time. It cost 100 pounds, I could only afford 40, as foreign exchange was limited those days. So I went away. The dealer called me back and gave it to me. He said he could tell that I was not one of those who ordered 200 pieces of one kind, that I valued minute details.

 

 

PRS: Kerala has been a Communist bastion for more than 50 years. Don't you find it peculiar that people here still flurry around you, they respect you, they still call you Your Highness.

VARMA: Yes, that is quite amazing because I am a simple man, I don't expect it at all. At religious gatherings in Haridwar where one of my two gurus lives, I always sit in the last row and am always dressed like this - mundu and bush-shirt. People who don't know me come looking for the Raja of the South. When I raise my hand, they don't believe me.

 

PRS: How wealthy is your family, compared to the other - and internationally more famous - royals of Rajasthan and elsewhere?

VARMA: That is a mere technicality and has never been relevant to me. But I'll tell you a story which will give you an idea. There used to be a British gun salute for the princely states of India: 21, the highest for the richest ruler, 11 for the poorest. When Tranvancore refused to contribute soldiers to the British Army in World War I, our slipped from 21 to 19.

 

 

PRS: Who is your heir?

VARMA: We have a matriarchal system of inheritance. I have a daughter and a son but it is my sister's son who will be king after me. I remember a European lady visiting us. I explained this complicated law of succession to her. When she went back, she told her friends that she had not understood a word, but only knew that whatever it was, it was good for women. Kerala is slowly turning patriarchal again. That is not good. Overall in our country, we treat women as second-class citizens. When you look at a man, you are looking at a human being, when you look at a woman, you are looking at a family.

 

 

PRS: What is the feeling you get, when you spend those ten minutes at the Padmanabha shrine ? The daily communion between ruler and master, as you put it ?

VARMA: Gooseflesh. Everything is surrendered. It is a great, elating feeling. My hair stands on end with joy. Each and every time.

You cannot change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying over the future".

On September 18, 2007, computer science professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told his audience about the cancer that is devouring his pancreas and that will claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, handsome, often cheerfully, darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But this was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged.


Randy’s lecture has become a phenomenon, as has the book he wrote based on the same principles, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. Sadly, Randy lost his battle to pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008, but his legacy will continue to inspire us all, for generations to come.

This is amazing, he died of pancreatic cancer in 2008, but wrote a book ‘The last lecture” before then, one of the bestsellers in 2007. What a legacy to leave behind…

In a letter to his wife Jai and his children, Dylan, Logan , and Chloe, he wrote this beautiful "guide to a better life" for his wife and children to follow.
 

POINTS ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE

Personality:

1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
3. Don't overdo; keep your limits
4. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/ her mistakes of the past.  That  will ruin your present happiness.

9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the  curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more
14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community: 

15. Call your family often
16. Each day give something good to others
17. Forgive everyone for everything
18. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
19. Try to make at least three people smile each day
20. What other people think of you is none of your business
21. Your job will not take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

22. Put GOD first in anything and everything that you think, say and do.
23. GOD heals everything
24. Do the right things
25. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
26. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
27. The best is yet to come
28. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
29. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
30. If you know GOD, you will always be happy. So, be happy.

While you practice all of the above, share this knowledge with the people you love, people you school with, people you play with, people you work with and people you live with.
Not only will it enrich YOUR life, but also that of those around you

Life-Lesson-from a glass of water

A chemistry professor decided to teach his students a different lesson one day. Holding a glass of water in his hand, he asked the students, “How much do you think this glass of water weighs?” “500 grams!” came a voice from the back. “600,” said another student. “I don’t really know!” said the professor, holding the glass up to make sure everyone could see it. “And unless we weigh it, we won’t know.” With the glass still in his outstretched hand, the professor continued, “What will happen if I hold it like this for a few minutes?”
“Nothing!” came the reply. “Right, and if I hold it for an hour like this, what might happen?” “Your hand will begin to hurt,” said a student. “Indeed. And what would happen if I held the glass in my hand like this for 24 hours?”
“You would be in tremendous pain,” said one student. “Your hand will probably go numb,” said another. “Your arm will be paralysed and we’ll need to rush you to the hospital!” said a student on the last bench.
“True,” said the professor. “But notice that through all this, the weight of the glass did not change. What then causes the pain?”
The class went quiet. The students seemed puzzled.“What should I do to avoid the pain?” asked the professor. “Put the glass down!” said a student.

“Well said!” exclaimed the professor. “And that’s a lesson I want you to remember. The problems and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. But think about it a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralysed – incapable of doing anything. It’s important to remember to let go of your problems. Remember to put the glass down!”

We may not have been in that classroom that day, but it’s a lesson we would all do well to remember. Put the glass down! Always. It’s not just problems and worries. Sometimes, we feel hurt and betrayed by a friend. And we carry that grudge through our lives. It grows and causes us anguish and pain. Learning to forgive – and forget – is not just good for the other people, it’s great for you. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail and when he was finally freed, you can understand how angry and vengeful he must have felt. But guess what? When he became President, he invited his jailers to be present at the inauguration – in the VIP seats! If he could forgive after 27 years of suffering, surely we can too.

It is the same with our fears too. A failure or an incident in early childhood becomes a deeply entrenched fear over time. Fear of public speaking, fear of Maths, fear of rejection. You name it, and chances are, we have it. Someone gave us that glass to hold when we were little kids – ‘you are clumsy, you are no good, you can’t do it’ - and we have faithfully held on to it all our lives. ‘I can’t’ - becomes a thought that stays in our mind and grows – leading us to complete paralysis. Time to put the glass down!

The story goes that there was a hardworking man who lived a contented life with his wife and children. Every evening when he returned from work, he’d follow a ritual. Outside the door to his house were three nails. On the first one, he’d put his hat. On the second he’d hang his coat. And on the third nail, he’d unwrap an imaginary turban from his head and ‘put’ it there. A friend happened to see this and enquired what he was putting on the third nail every day.
“Those are my problems, my worries and my anger,” said the man. “I have lots of that at work, but when I come home, I remember to take it off – and leave them outside. I don’t take them home with me.” Maybe you should learn to do that too. Starting today. Put the glass down. And see the difference!

God has plans and justice for everyone....

Once there was a sweeper in a well known temple and he was very sincere and devoted.

Every time he saw thousands of devotees coming to take darshan of the Lord,  he thought that the Lord is standing all the time and giving darshan and He must be feeling very tired.
 
So one day very innocently he asked the Lord whether he can take the place of the Lord for a day so that the Lord can have some relief and rest.

The Deity of Temple replied, "I do not mind taking a break.

I will transform you like Myself, but you must do one thing.  you must just stand here like Me, smile at everyone and just give benedictions.  Do not interfere with anything and do not say anything.  Remember you are the deity and you just have faith that I have a master plan for everything.

" The sweeper agreed to this.
The next day the sweeper took the position of the deity and a rich man came and prayed to the Lord.

He offered a nice donation and prayed that his business should be prosperous.  While going, the rich man inadvertently left his wallet full of money right there.   Now the sweeper in the form of deity could not call him and  so he decided to control himself and keep quiet.

Just then a poor man came and he put one coin in the Hundi and  said that it was all he could afford and he prayed to the Lord  that he should continue to be engaged in the Lord's service.  He also said that his family was in dire need of some basic needs but he left it to the good hands of the Lord to give some solution.   When he opened his eyes, he saw the wallet left by the rich man.  The poor man thanked the Lord for His kindness and took the wallet very innocently.  The sweeper in the form of the Deity could not say anything and he had to just keep smiling.

At that point a sailor walked in. He prayed for his safe journey as he was going on a long trip.  Just then the rich man came with the police and said that somebody has stolen his wallet  and seeing the sailor there, he asked the police to arrest him thinking that he might have taken it.  Now the sweeper in the form of Deity wanted to say that the sailor is not the thief but he could not say so and he became greatly frustrated. The sailor looked at the Lord and asked why he, an innocent person, is being punished.  The rich man looked at the Lord and thanked Him for finding the thief. The sweeper in the deity form could no more tolerate and he thought that even if the real Lord had been here, he would have definitely interfered and hence he started speaking and said that the sailor is not the thief but it was the poor man who took away the wallet. The rich man was very thankful as also the sailor. 

In the night, the real Lord came and He asked the sweeper how the day was.  The sweeper said, "I thought it would be easy, but now I know that Your days are not easy, but I did one good thing." Then he explained the whole episode to the Lord. The Lord became very upset on hearing this whereas the sweeper thought the Lord would appreciate him for the good deed done.

The Lord asked, "Why did you not just stick to the plan?
You had no faith in Me. Do you think that I do not understand the hearts of all those who come here?
All the donation which the rich man gave was all stolen money and it is only a fraction of what he really has and he wants Me to reciprocate unlimitedly.  The single coin offered by the poor man was the last coin he was having and he gave it to Me out of faith.  The sailor might not have done anything wrong, but if the sailor were to go in the ship that night he was about to die because of bad weather and instead if he is arrested he would be in the jail and he would have been saved form a greater calamity.
The wallet should go to the poor man because he will use it in My service.  I was going to reduce the rich man's karma also by doing this and save the sailor also.  But you cancelled everything because you thought you know My plan and you made your own plans."

Moral: God has plans and justice for everyone....
We just have to have patience!!!!!

Fabulous Compilation

Napoleon said.. 

"The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people !"

Michael Paul said.. 

I wrote on the door of heart, "Please do not enter"
Love came smiling and said: "Sorry I am an illiterate."

Einstein said.. 

"I am thankful to all those who said NO to me
It’s Because of them I did it myself.

Abraham Lincoln said.. 

"If friendship is your weakest point then you are the strongest person in the world."

Shakespeare said.. 

"Laughing Faces Do Not Mean That There Is Absence Of Sorrow !
But It Means That They Have The Ability To Deal With It."

Shakespeare said..
"In The Times Of Crisis I Was Not Hurt By The Harsh Words Of My Enemies,
But By The Silence Of My Friends."

Shakespeare said..

"Never Play With The Feelings Of Others Because You May Win The Game.
But You Will Surely Lose The Person For Life Time."

Shakespeare said.. 

"Coin Always Makes Sound, But The Currency Notes Are Always Silent.
So When Your Value Increases Keep Yourself Calm Silent."

William Arthur said.. 

"Opportunities Are Like Sunrises, If You Wait Too Long You Can Miss Them."

Hitler said.. 

"When You Are In The Light, Everything Follows You,
But When You Enter Into The Dark, Even Your Own Shadow Doesn’t Follow You."

John Keats said..

"It Is Very Easy To Defeat Someone, But It Is Very Hard To Win Someone."

HOW TO SELL?‏ - Salesman Of the Millennium

Salesman Of the Millennium

A keen immigrant Indian Marwadi lad applied for a salesman's job at London 's premier downtown department store. In fact, it was the biggest store in the world - you could get anything there.

The boss asked him, "Have you ever been a salesman before?" "Yes sir, I was a salesman in India ", replied the lad. The boss liked the cut of him and said, "You can start tomorrow and I'll come and see you."


The day was long and arduous for the young man, but he got through it. And finally 6:00 PM came around. The boss duly fronted up and asked, "How many sales did you make today?" "Sir, Just ONE sale." said the young salesman. "Only one sale?" blurted the boss. "No! No! You see here, most of my staff make 20 or 30 sales a day. "If you want to keep this job, you'd better be doing better than just one sale.
 
By the way "How much was the sale worth?"
= 93300534.00 pounds" said the young Marwadi. "What"," How did you manage that?" asked the flabbergasted boss.

"Well", said the salesman, "This man came in and I sold him a small fish hook, then a medium hook and finally a really large hook. Then I sell him new fishing rod and some fishing gear. Then I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down the coast. So I told him he'd be needing a boat, so I took him down to the boat department and sold him that twenty-foot schooner with the twin engines. Then he said his Volkswagen probably wouldn't be able to pull it, so I took him to our automotive department and sold him that new Deluxe 4X4 Blazer.

I then asked him where he'll be staying, and since he had no accommodation, I took him to camping department and sold him one of those new igloo 6-sleeper camper tents. Then the guy said, while we're at it, I should throw in about $100 worth of groceries and two cases of beer.

The boss took two steps back and asked in astonishment, "You sold all that to a guy who came in for a fish hook!!"

"No" answered the salesman, "he came in to buy a headache relief tablet and I said to him, "Sir, fishing is best headache removal"

Boss - "You sit in my chair”.......
 

HOW TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS Without Fighting

STEPS:
1. STOP. Don't let the conflict get worse. The less angry you are the easier it will be to solve the problem.
2. SAY what the conflict is about. What is causing the disagreement? What does each of you want or not want?
3. THINK of positive options. How could you meet each other's needs and be fair?
4. CHOOSE a positive option each of you can agree on.
If you still can't agree, ask someone else (an outsider) to help resolve the conflict.

RULES:
Agree to resolve the conflict.
No name calling.
Take turns talking. Don't interrupt.
Be clear and truthful about what is bothering you and what you really need.
Listen to the other person. Be sure you understand how he or she sees the problem.
Use your brains, not your hands.
Be willing to compromise (if that's appropriate).

Author: Shivashankar Krishnaiyer Pisupaati 

The Boss-Employee story

The Boss-Employee story has two sides.

While one side tells about the bitter experiences of the employees with their bosses, and the other side says that the employees are not the only ones having a beef about their bosses.

Bosses too get sick of their employees at times.

Listing the Top 10 peeves below:

Arrive late and leave early:

If you one of those who arrive late at the last second, but leave early or first at the end of the day, you're not certainly in your boss's good book. It'll only show your disinterest in your job which your boss doesn't like.

Abuse of sick leave:

You are sick and taking leave, that's fine. You are not sick, but you are taking leave telling that you are sick - a really annoying thing that your boss simply hates. As per recent studies, one out of three employees who calls in sick really isn't. About 32 percent of U.S. employees called in sick when they really weren't in 2009, as per CareerBuilder's annual absenteeism survey of 4,700 workers.

Intolerable cell phone behavior:

You are in a meeting and your cell phone rings again and again. It can be the major contributor to your boss's dislike towards you. Adding to it, receiving multiple phone calls at work is never appropriate. Bosses also hate employees peeping on their cell phones while at work.

Not communicating things properly:

Proper communication between the bosses and employees is the key to success for every organization. Employees should have good communicating skills otherwise chances are there for the boss to get irritated. If you are not able to complete your task within the deadline, rather than ignoring your bosses reminder mails communicate the reason why you are not able to meet the deadline.

Lousy table manners:

Bosses obviously develop a dislike to those employees who display poor table manners during a luncheon meeting with a client. Always be very careful while you are in a meeting as a lousy table can cause embarrassment in front of your clients.

Over eagerness:

Bosses don't like those employees who are overeager. Very often people think that by showing over eagerness they can attract their boss's attention and can impress them with their new ideas. But on the contrary it is likely to generate disliking in their boss's mind towards them.

Unreliable:

Employees who say one thing, but end up doing the other and those who cannot complete the assigned task and give excuses are certainly not in their boss's good book. Very often they create headaches for bosses.

Argumentative to the boss:

If you think you should argue for your right with your boss, think twice. This could be a good incentive for disliking you. Even arguing with your co-workers can also create trouble for you. Being argumentative is a big no-no.

Clumsy appearance:

Always maintain a good hygiene while coming to office. Dress up yourself properly. Bosses don't like those employees who don't maintain proper hygiene.

Talk about personal problems:

Bosses tend to hate employees talking endlessly about their personal problems to them or even to the co-workers. Stop doing that or it will create disliking in your boss's mind towards you.

Author:  Shivashankar Krishnaiyer Pisupaati

Let’s begin the day with few good thoughts…

Let’s begin the day with few good thoughts…

1. Stay Positive. You can listen to the cynics and doubters and believe that success is impossible or you can know that with faith and an optimistic attitude all things are possible.

2. Take a morning walk of gratitude. It will create a fertile mind ready for success.

3. Instead of being disappointed about where you are, think optimistically about where you are going.

4. Remember that adversity is not a dead-end but a detour to a better outcome.

5. Focus on learning, loving, growing and serving.

6. Believe that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out of challenging experiences.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.

9. Live with the 3 E's. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.

10. Remember there’s no substitute for hard work.

11. Zoom Focus. Each day when you wake up in the morning ask: “What are the three most important things I need to do today that will help me create the success I desire?” Then tune out all the distractions and focus on these actions.

12. Implement the No Complaining Rule. Complaining is like vomiting. Afterwards you feel better but everyone around you feels sick.

13. Read more books than you did in 2010.

14. Get more sleep. You can’t replace sleep with a double latte.

15. Focus on “Get to” vs “Have to.” Each day focus on what you get to do, not what you have to do. Life is a gift not an obligation.

16. Smile and laugh more. They are natural anti-depressants.

17. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.

18. Do not be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

19. Do not dismiss your dreams. To be without dreams is to be without hope; to be without hope is to be without purpose.

20. Do not run through life so fast that you forget not only where you have been, but also where you are going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

Have a wonderful day.

Author: Shivashankar Krishnaiyer Pisupaati

Compassion, the virtue to realise the GOD

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons.

The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.

The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.

Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?


"He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? God's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"


Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked," Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added," You know, he's much younger than I expected."


Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

Embrace all equally!