The One You Cannot Have

This love, it is a funny thing. It can elevate you to the highest peak and plunge you to a bottomless pit.  The path we plan for ourselves meanders in ways we can never imagine. Life never ceases to throw us googlies. It is how we handle them that makes all the difference. Sometimes you have to take control of it and, at other times, it is best to let go. And the wisest of persons is the one who knows which option to choose.

 - Sanjeev Advani, in Preeti Shenoy's 'The One You Cannot Have'

The One You Cannot Have

No matter how much you try, no matter how much you want to love somebody else, no matter how much you convince yourself that you have moved on, deep down you know the truth. If you are deliriously happy when you think about someone and a smile creeps up on you, even when you are in the worst of moods, if even a mere thought your weary body, then it is nothing by love. You can try to squish it, pretend that it does not exist, ignore it, try to make it go away, but it never entirely does. 

It always finds a way back.

 - Shruti, in Preeti Shenoy's 'The One You Cannot Have' 

A Conversation from ForgettableMemories

She: I miss you
He: You said, you couldn't accept my love
She: but surely, can't I miss you as a friend?

He: I don't live in a world with identity crisis, love & friendship cannot exist together unless they reciprocate.
 

She: But, that's selfish
He: & a healthy too
 

She: You're hurting me & my honest friendship
He: Nope, I am just ensuring that the fragility of friendship and purity of love is preserved.

- a conversation from #ForgettableMemories

Friday Read : કોઈ સજ્જન માણસ પણ છે

એક ચાર વર્ષનો ભાઈ અને એની છ વર્ષની બહેન
બંને ભાઇ બહેન બજાર મા ફરવા નીકળ્યા છે
નાનો ભાઈ છટા થી આગળ ચાલે છે
અને બહેન પાછળ છે

થોડી થોડી વારે ભાઈ પાછળ જોતો જાય છે કે બહેન આવે છે કે નહીં

રમકડા ની એક દુકાન આગળ બહેન ઊભી રહી જાય છે
ભાઈ નજીક આવી ને પૂછે છે
"કેમ તારે કાંઇ લેવુ છે ?"

બહેને ઢીંગલી સામે આંગળી ચીંધીને બતાવ્યું
ભાઈ એ બહેન ની આંગળી પકડી
અને એક વડીલ ની અદા થી
બહેન ને એ ઢીંગલી હાથ મા આપી
બહેન ખુબ જ ખુશ થઇ

કાઉન્ટર પર બેઠેલો વેપારી
આ ભાઈ બહેન ને બહાર થી જોતા હતા
અને ભાઈ ના માસુમ વડપણ ને નીરખી ને મનમાં મુસ્કુરાતા હતા

કાઉન્ટર પાસે આવીને ચાર વર્ષનો એ બાળક બોલ્યો
'આ ઢીંગલી નુ શું છે ?'

"જીવતર ને ઘોળીને પી ગયેલા" એ વેપારી એ કહ્યું
'તમારી પાસે શું છે ?'

બાળકે ચડ્ડી ના ખીસ્સામાં થી સમુદ્ર ના છીપલા કાઢ્યા અને કાઉન્ટર પર મુક્યા
પેલા વેપારીએ એ જ માર્મિક હાસ્ય સાથે બાળક ઉપર અમીભરી દ્રષ્ટિ કરી
અને જેમ રુપિયા ગણે એમ છીપલા ગણ્યા

બાળકે કહ્યું 'કેમ ઓછા છે ?'
વેપારી કહે 'ના આમાંથી તો વધશે'

વધેલા છીપલા ફરી ખીસ્સામાં નાખી અને ઢીંગલી રમાડતાં એ બાળકો તો જતાં રહ્યાં પણ

એના ગયા પછી વેપારી ને એના માણસે પૂછ્યું
'આવી કિંમતી ઢીંગલી તમે છીપલા ના બદલા મા આપી દીધી ?'

વેપારી એ કહ્યું
 

'ભાઈ, આપણે મન આ છીપલા છે
એને મન તો એની સંપતિ છે અને અત્યારે એને ભલે ના સમજાય
પણ એ મોટા થશે ત્યારે તો એને સમજાશ નેે

કે છીપ ના બદલે આપણે ઢીંગલી લઈ આવેલા ત્યાંરે એ મને યાદ કરશે
અને એ વિચારશે કે દુનિયામાં સજ્જન માણસો પણ છે.

- A WhatsApp forward, to remember.

Remembered and Forgotten

She: you remember so much.

He: I haven’t forgotten at all

She: That’s why you are my friend

He: Indeed, you are the only best friend I have

- a simple yet a powerful conversation to walk you right through past…

Think Out of Box - Vanilla Ice Cream Puzzle

A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors:

'This is the second time I have written to you, and I don't blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we've eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. It's also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem.....

You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store my car won't start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I'm serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds "What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?" 

The Pontiac President was understandably skeptical about the letter, but sent an Engineer to check it out anyway. The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well educated man in a fine neighborhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn't start.

The Engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start.

Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man's car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc.

In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to check out the flavor.

Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn't start when it took less time. Eureka - Time was now the problem - not the vanilla ice cream!!!! The engineer quickly came up with the answer: "vapor lock".

It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavors allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, "the engine was still too hot for the vapor lock to dissipate"

Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be simple only when we find the solution, with cool thinking.

A thought on full moon night !!!

Even today looking at full moon, I wonder why it has black spots. It made me remember an old man's advice, beauty & perfection never goes together,  just as happiness & compromise. 

Accepted level of compromise brings happiness while intolerable compromise scares away happiness.

- a thought on one such full moon night

'Just one year back' is now a decade old lines :-(

10 years ago, I shared this email with my college friends and lot of people had their eyes filled with tears... I am sure, today also they will have same effect. 

Disclaimer: It's not my writing and being almost 11 years old script, have no one to give credit too.

Just one year back, we were breaking our heads to finish our projects by hook or crook.

Just one year back we were feeling bad about leaving college.

Just one year back we were regretting the dismal state of our love lives.

Just one year back most of us didn't know where we were headed.

Just one year back we hardly had any major responsibilities.

Just one year back we were justifying our selection of electives.

Just one year back, we almost lost the ability to read engineering text books. Thankfully for the exams, we got it back.

Just one year back we wanted to spend more time in college than go out bowling, or to a movie or etc.

Just one year back we wanted to go through the college routine one-last-perfect-time.

Just one year back we wanted to curse the appropriate people one last time.

Just one year back I didn't even know I would be doing this...

The most remembered place on Campus

Missing that corridor of life,

that I haven't visited for more then a decade now...

Reel life take-away - 'If I Stay'

Watched the movie 'If I Stay' (IMDb), and should I say, its one of the most touching story I have seen in recent times.  The way it shows the importance of every moment in life and a flashback is amazing...  Guys do watch out this movie if 'moment' permits...

Friday Read - Jan 16, 2015

Cut your branches so that you can fly!

Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent Arabian falcons. He handed over these precious birds to his head "falconer" to train them.

After a couple of Weeks one day the head falconer informed the king .....that though one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the other bird did not seem to be well. When the King inquired what had happened to the bird the trainer informed that the other falcon had been sitting on its branch since the day it had arrived. And seldom moved. It seemed to be eating but was very lethargic!

The king summoned healers from his country to find what had happened. None of them could find any solution. the king then summoned even the sorcerers from all the land to tend to the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly.

He presented the task of treating the bird to the wise old members of his court, but the next day, the king saw through the palace window that the bird had still not moved from its branch.

Having tried everything else, the king thought to himself... "May be I need someone more familiar with the birds and animals to understand the nature of this problem." So he cried out to his court, "Go and get a farmer."

In the morning the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. He said to his court, "Bring me the doer of this miracle."

The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the king. The king asked him, "How did you make the falcon fly?" With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, " It was very easy, your highness......I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting."
We are all capable to fly ... to realize our latent (incredible) potential as human beings..... But at times we tend to sit in our little branches of comfort like the falcon, clinging to the things that are familiar to us! 

The possibilities and latent capabilities possessed by us are endless, but for most of us, they remain undiscovered. As we confine to the familiar, 'comfort zone', so most part of our lives remain mediocre... instead of being exciting, thrilling and fulfilling... So let us learn to destroy these branches of laziness or fear or procrastination which we cling to and free ourselves to the glory of flight to new horizons a!!!

Lets Celebrate life! ... Lets Celebrate New Horizons of Success!

The story was published on LinkedIn Pulse and was authored by - Harish Aiyer. Original Content Link : cut-your-branches-so-you-can-fly-harish-aiyer  

 

No regrets !!!

I want you to promise me something, 

I want you to play life

 just like you played that game today.

So when that final buzzer of life goes off,

you'll have no regrets.

- Coach Robert "The Buzzer" Ferdinando 

from the movie Grown Ups

Pic Courtesy: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Photographer.jpg

Pic Story - Save a Girl child !

 

This is 'Rangoli' by a small girl, stating a wonderful social message of 'Save Girl Child'

Picture Story - Falling down is part of life, getting back up is living.

 

 

Falling down is part of life, getting back up is living.

- Sunanda Pushkar's (eye opener) last tweet picture

 

 

Love - A Short Story !!!

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's arrived in the hospital to have stitches removed from his thumb.

He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him.

I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On examination, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.

I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised, and asked him, 'And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?'
 

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, 'She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is.'

True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

- An WhatsApp story, I would like to share....

 

Pebble Story - Lateral Thinking !!!

Many years ago in a small Irish village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a landlord. The landlord, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmers daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the farmer’s debt if he could marry his daughter.

Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning landlord suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty moneybag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1.If she picked black pebble, she would become his wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven.
2. If she picked white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven.
3. If she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were walking on a pebble-strewn path in the farmer’s field. As they talked, the landlord bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp- eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag. Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advice her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities.

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble & let her father suffer.
2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose landlord as a cheat.
3. The girl should pick a black pebble & sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt.

Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking. The girl’s dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers. What would you recommend to the girl to do?
.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Well here is what she did, the girl put her hand into moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled a let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. However, since the landlord dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

 - got this story over Whatsapp & found it wonderful to be shared.

Value of Free...

If you are good..

If you're Good at something, 

never do it for free.

- not sure if this is from the movie, but I totally agree with the though. Free stuff doesn't carry value for others. 

 

Image found on Facebook, no copyright violations intended.

What Poverty Is?

A Father took his son to village to show what poverty is all about. After the trip, he asked his son about poverty... 

The son replied :

We have 1 dog, they had 4...

 We have a small pool, they have a long river...

We've lamps, they've stars...

We've small piece of land, they've large fields...

We buy food, they grow theirs & eat fresh...

They have friends to play, we don't have friends, we have to play with Computers & PS...

Their fathers have time for their children & our father don't have...

They have happiness, we have only money...

The boy's dad was speechless, boy still continued:

''thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are..."

Life is all about how we see, interpret & accept things..!

- Not an original writer of this incident/story. Received this story on Whatsapp

 

Chicken or Eagle - A Short Story !

Last Sunday while cleaning my closet, I found a book, ‘Collection of short stories’ revised and edited, collected from anonymous sources. My father must have bought this for me, when I was a child, and I never got time to read even a single story. This story book had a disclaimer on the first page that read: ‘Read at your own risk, you may change forever’. Well the first story goes like this…

Eagle and Chicken

Year 2040 - In the backyard of Kentucky Friend Chicken (KFC), Bangalore branch there was a mango tree. This mango tree had an eagle nest. One day the wind was blowing hard, and an eaglet fell from the nest on to the ground. Luckily the eaglet fell on the dry grass (got away with minor injuries), which was placed by the KFC kitchen staff for the pullets to feed on. The hen saw the injured eaglet, and decided to nurture the eaglet along with the other pullets. After a few weeks the eaglet regained strength, and was able to walk. The favorite time pass of the eaglet and other pullets was to play hide-and-seek, and eat baby corn 3/4 times a day. After a few months the eaglet matured into a full-fledged gorgeous eagle and looked different from others pullets. The pullets were also mature, and could feel that the eagle looked different.

Over a period of time the eagle was sick of eating corn, and one day pounced on a rat running in the backyard. The hens started shouting, “Leave the rat alone”, and the eagle had no choice but to let the rat go. The hens scolded the eagle, and told the eagle that hens didn’t eat rats. One day, while playing hide-and-seek the eagle was hiding on the roof, and while coming down managed a decent glide. The eagle started to show off his gliding skills to the other hens, and eventually the mother got fed up and told him, “Stop doing that, Chickens don’t fly”. The eagle believed this and got on with his daily routine of playing and eating corn. One day a female eagle spotted this gorgeous eagle sitting on the KFC roof top, and decided to entice him to fly with her. The eagle rejected the offer, and said, “I can’t fly, I am a chicken”. The female eagle was angry and left.  

After few weeks the female eagle saw the same eagle playing with the chickens in the barn and was shocked. The female eagle killed a rat and bought that for the eagle to eat. The female eagle convinced the eagle that it was ‘Ok’ to eat rat, and that it was very tasty. The eagle ate the rat, and thanked the female eagle. After that day, both eagles started spending time on the roof top. A few weeks passed, and female eagle said that it was time for the male eagle to fly and come with her, but the eagle was not convinced, and didn’t fly. The eagle went to the roof top everyday and waited for the female eagle. One day from the roof he spotted her, and waived at her, she shouted, “Come, fly with me”. The eagle took a leap of faith, and fluttered his wings, and soared into the sky. He glided, soared, dived, and flew with the female eagle. The eagle flew higher and higher and reached the zenith, and could see the magnificent world from greater heights.

MORAL: Do you spend time with ‘Chickens’ or do you spend time with ‘Eagles’?

Narrator of this adapted story is Vikram Dhar, a Life Coach. He can be contacted at www.nlpcoach.in

Falling Leaves - A Wonderful Poem

I was thinking of old friends today
and how many of them have slipped away.

Moved, got married, or stopped calling so much,
Found new friends, got busy, and just lost touch.

It reminded me of falling leaves.

Falling Leaves

Every autumn the leaves fall from the trees.
Some stay longer than others, but eventually -

Each leaf must fall, I'm told,
leaving the tree alone to face the cold.

Why is it that in the time of utmost need 

the leaves would seek to leave the tree?

And when we need our friends around
we look and they cannot be found?

Of course these friendships come and go
and in the spring new leaves will grow.

But I prefer autumn friends of old
with crackling laughter and colors bold.

And then I thought of you.

That one stubborn leaf that won't let go,
That clings despite the winds that blow.
 

Fighting ice, and snow, and winter's stings,
Hanging on right through till spring.

So I guess that's what you are to me -
The very last leaf to leave the tree.

I know it seems silly, but it's true. 

When I see that last leaf...I think of you.

- wonderful poem, a forward message by school time buddy, Gaurav Buddhadev

Fact about numbers & A.B.C.D.

A B C D & Counting

Some Interesting Facts about Alphabets and Numbers...

Letters 'a', 'b', 'c' & 'd' do not appear anywhere in the spellings of 1 to 99
(Letter 'd' comes for the first time in Hundred)

Letters 'a', 'b' & 'c' do not appear anywhere in the spellings of 1 to 999
(Letter 'a' comes for the first time in Thousand)

Letters 'b' & 'c' do not appear anywhere in the spellings of 1 to 999,999,999
(Letter 'b' comes for the first time in Billion)

Letter 'c' does not appear anywhere in the spellings of entire English counting...

(- a forward email from Dikesh Patel.. thanks for enlightenment)