Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine but we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim
Just to show that I'm thinking of him."
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away,
"Here's a telegram sir," "Jim died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.
Remember to always say what you mean.
If you love someone, tell them.
Don't be afraid to express yourself. Reach out and tell someone what
they mean to you. Because when you decide that it is the right time it
might be too late.
Seize the day. Never have regrets. And most importantly, stay close to
your friends and family, for they have helped make you the person that
you are today.
Vivek Pradhan wasn't a happy man. Even the plush comfort of the First
Class air-conditioned compartment of the Shatabdi Express couldn't cool
his frayed nerves. He was the Project Manager and entitled to air travel.
It was not the prestige he sought, he had tried to reason with the admin
guy, it was the savings in time.
A PM had so many things to do!
He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time to
some good use.
"Are you from the software industry sir," the man beside him was staring
appreciatively at the laptop.
Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in affirmation, handling the laptop now
with exaggerated care and importance as if it were an expensive car.
"You people have brought so much advancement to the country sir. Today
everything is getting computerized."
'Thanks," smiled Vivek, turning around to give the man a detailed look. He
always found it difficult to resist appreciation. The man was young and
stocky like a sportsman. He looked simple and strangely out of place in
that little lap of luxury like a small town boy in a prep school. He probably
was a Railway sportsman making the most of his free traveling pass.
"You people always amaze me," the man continued, "You sit in an office
and write something on a computer and it does so many big things
outside."
Vivek smiled deprecatingly. Naivety demanded reasoning not anger. "It is
not as simple as that my friend. It is not just a question of writing a few
lines. There is a lot of process that goes behind it." For a moment he was
tempted to explain the entire Software Development Lifecycle but
restrained himself to a single statement.
"It is complex, very complex."
"It has to be. No wonder you people are so highly paid," came the reply.
This was not turning out as Vivek had thought. A hint of belligerence came
into his so far affable, persuasive tone.
"Everyone just sees the money. No one sees the amount of hard work we
have to put in." "Hard work!" "Indians have such a narrow concept of
hard work.
Just because we sit in an air-conditioned office doesn't mean our brows
don't sweat. You exercise the muscle; we exercise the mind and believe
me that is no less taxing."
He had the man where he wanted him and it was time to drive home the point.
"Let me give you an example. Take this train. The entire railway
reservation system is computerized. You can book a train ticket between
any two stations from any of the hundreds of computerized booking
centers across the country.
Thousands of transactions accessing a single database at a given time;
concurrency, data integrity, locking, data security.
Do you understand the complexity in designing and coding such a system?"
The man was stuck with amazement, like a child at a planetarium. This
was something big and beyond his imagination.
"You design and code such things."
"I used to," Vivek paused for effect, "But now I am the project manager,"
"Oh!" sighed the man, as if the storm had passed over, "so your life is
easy now."
It was like being told the fire was better than the frying pan. The man had
to be given a feel of the heat.
"Oh come on, does life ever get easy as you go up the ladder.
Responsibility only brings more work. Design and coding! That is the
easier part. Now I don't do it, but I am responsible for it and believe me,
that is far more stressful. My job is to get the work done in time and with the highest quality. And to tell you about the pressures! There is the customer at one end always changing his requirements, the user wanting something else and your boss always expecting you to have finished it yesterday."
Vivek paused in his diatribe, his belligerence fading with self-realization.
What he had said was not merely the outburst of a wronged man, it was the truth. And one need not get angry while defending the truth.
"My friend," he concluded triumphantly, "you don't know what it is to be in
the line of fire."
The man sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as if in realization. When he
spoke after sometime, it was with a calm certainty that surprised Vivek.
"I know sir, I know what it is to be in the line of fire," He was staring
blankly as if no passenger, no train existed, just a vast expanse of time.
"There were 30 of us when we were ordered to capture Point 4875 in the
cover of the night. The enemy was firing from the top. There was no
knowing where the next bullet was going to come from and for whom. In
the morning when we finally hoisted the tricolor at the top only 4 of us were alive."
"You are a..."
"I am Subedar Sushant Singh from the 13 J&K Rifles on duty at Peak
4875 in Kargil. They tell me I have completed my term and can opt for a
land assignment.
But tell me sir, can one give up duty just because it makes life easier. On the dawn of that capture one of my colleagues lay injured in the snow, open to enemy fire while we were hiding behind a bunker.
It was my job to go and fetch that soldier to safety. But my captain
refused me permission and went ahead himself. He said that the first
pledge he had taken as a Gentleman Cadet was to put the safety and
welfare of the nation foremost followed by the safety and welfare of the men he commanded.
His own personal safety came last, always and every time. He was killed
as he shielded that soldier into the bunker. Every morning now as I stand
guard I can see him taking all those bullets, which were actually meant
for me. I know sir, I know what it is to be in the line of fire."
Vivek looked at him in disbelief not sure of his reply. Abruptly he switched
off the laptop. It seemed trivial, even insulting to edit a word document in
the presence of a man for whom valor and duty was a daily part of life;
a valor and sense of duty which he had so far attributed only to epical
heroes.
The train slowed down as it pulled into the station and Subedar Sushant
Singh picked up his bags to alight.
"It was nice meeting you sir."
Vivek fumbled with the handshake. This was the hand that had climbed
mountains, pressed the trigger and hoisted the tricolor. Suddenly as if by
impulse he stood at attention, and his right hand went up in an impromptu
salute.
It was the least he felt he could do for the country.
PS: The incident he narrates during the capture of Peak 4875 is a true
life incident during the Kargil war. Major Vikram Batra sacrificed his life
while trying to save one of the men he commanded, as victory was within sight.
For this and his various other acts of bravery he was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra - the nation's highest military award
In 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first record
audition for the executives of the Decca recording Company. The
executives were not impressed. While turning down this group of
musicians,one executives said, "We don't like their sound. Groups of
guitars are on the way out."
The group was called The Beatles.
In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book Modelling Agency,
told modeling hopeful Norma Jean Baker, "You'd better learn secretarial
work or else get married."
She went on and became Marilyn Monroe.
In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, Fired a Singer
after one performance. He told him, "You ain't goin' nowhere....son.You
ought to go back to drivin' a truck."
He went on to become the most popular singer in America named Elvis
Presley.
When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, it did not
ring off the hook with calls from potential backers. After making a
demonstration call, President Rutherford Hayes said, "That's an amazing
invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?"
When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over 2000
experiments before he got it to work. A young reporter asked him how it
felt to fail so many times. He said, "I never failed once. I invented the
light bulb. It just happened to be a 2000-step process."
In the 1940s, another young inventor named Chester Carlson took his
idea to 20 corporations, including some of the biggest in the country.
They all turned him down. In 1947 - after seven long years of
rejections! He finally got a tiny company in Rochester, New York, the
Haloid Company, to purchase the rights to his invention - an electrostatic
paper-copying process.
Haloid became Xerox Corporation we know today.
Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. She was born prematurely
and her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, she contacted
double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralysed left
leg. At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent
on and began to walk without it.By 13 she had developed a rhythmic
walk, which doctors said was a miracle.
That same year she decided to become a runner.She entered a race and
came in last. For the next few years every race she entered, she came
in last.
Everyone told her to quit, but She kept on running. One day she
actually won a race. And then another.From then on she won every race
she etered.
Eventually this little girl, who was told she would never walk again, went
on to win three Olympic gold medals.
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through
experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision
cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved. You gain strength,
experience and confidence by every experience where you really stop to
look fear in the face....
You must do the thing you cannot do. And remember, the finest steel
gets sent through the hottest furnace.
Champion is not one who never fails, but one who NEVER QUITS.....
1. Regular naps prevent old age... especially if you take them while driving.
2. Having one child makes you a parent; having two makes you a referee.
3. Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and the other is the husband!
4. They said we should all pay our tax with a smile. I tried - but they wanted cash.
5. A child's greatest period of growth is the month after you've purchased new school uniforms.
6. Don't feel bad. A lot of people have no talent.
7. Don't marry the person you want to live with, marry the one you cannot live without... but whatever you do, you'll regret it later.
8. You can't buy love . . but you pay heavily for it.
9. True friends stab you in the front.
10. Forgiveness is giving up my right to hate you for hurting me.
11. Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.
12. Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.
13. My wife and I always compromise. I admit I'm wrong and she agrees with me.
14. Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.
15. Ladies first. Pretty ladies sooner.
16. It doesn't matter how often a married man changes his job, he still ends up with the same boss.
17. They call our language the mother tongue because the father seldom gets to speak.
18. Saving is the best thing. Especially when your parents have done it for you.
19. Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something.
20. Real friends are the ones who survive transitions between address book.
A long time ago, before the world was created and humans set foot on it, God
had put all the human "qualities" in a separate room. Since all the
qualities were bored they decided to play hide & seek.
"Madness" was one of the qualities and he shouted: "I want to count, I want
to count!" And since nobody was crazy enough to want to seek "Madness", all
the other qualities agreed. So "Madness" leaned against a tree and started
to count:
One, two, three..." As "Madness" counted, the qualities went hiding.
"Treason" hid in a pile of garbage.. "Lie " said that it would hide under a
stone, but hid at the bottom of the lake. And Madness continued to count
"... seventy nine, eighty, eighty one..." By this time, all the qualities
were already hidden-except "Love ".
For stupid as "Love " is, he could not decide where to hide.
And this should not surprise us, because we all know how difficult it is to
hide "Love".
"Madness": "...ninety five, ninety six, ninety seven..." Just when "Madness"
got to one hundred..... ...."Love" jumped into a rose bush where he hid.
And Madness turned around and shouted: "I'm coming, I'm coming!" As Madness
turned around, "Laziness" was the first to be found, because "Laziness" was
too lazy to hide. "Madness" searched madly and found "Lie" at the bottom of
the lake. One by one, Madness found them all - except Love. Madness was
getting desperate, unable to find Love.
Envious of Love, "Envy" whispered to "Madness ": "You only need to find
Love, and Love is hiding in the rose bush."
"Madness" Jumped on the rose bush and he heard loud cry. The thorns in the
bush had pierced "Loves" eyes.
Hearing the commotion God came into the room and saw what had happened. He
got very angry and cursed "Madness" and said since "Love" has become blind
because of u... ..u shall always be with him"
And so it came about that from that day on, Love is blind and is always
accompanied by
Madness...!
An old man lived alone in Minnesota. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, who would have helped him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and mentioned his situation:
Dear Son,
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I hate to miss doing the garden because your mother always loved planting time. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me, if you weren't in prison.
Love,
Dad
Shortly, the old man received this telegram: 'For Heaven's sake, Dad, don't dig up the garden!! That's where I buried the GUNS!!'
At 4 a.m. the next morning, a dozen FBI agents and local police officers showed up and dug up the entire garden without finding any guns.
Confused, the old man wrote another note to his son telling him what happened, and asked him what to do next.
His son's reply was: ' Go ahead and plant your potatoes, Dad. It's the best I could do for you from here.'
MORAL: NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE IN THE WORLD, IF YOU HAVE DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING DEEP FROM YOUR HEART YOU CAN DO IT. IT IS THE THOUGHT THAT MATTERS NOT WHERE YOU ARE OR WHERE THE PERSON IS.
A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door.
It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls,
career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the
country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack
had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his
wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, 'Mr. Belser died last night. The
funeral is Wednesday.' Memories flashed through his mind like an old
newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
'Jack, did you hear me?'
'Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him.
I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago,' Jack said.
'Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were
doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the
fence' as he put it,' Mom told him.
'I loved that old house he lived in,' Jack said.
'You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure
you had a man's influence in your life,' she said
'He's the one who taught me carpentry,' he said. 'I wouldn't be in this
business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he
thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral,' Jack said.
As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his
hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no chil dren
of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see
the old house next door one more time.
Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over
into another dimension, a leap through space and time The house was exactly
as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of
furniture....Jack stopped suddenly.
'What's wrong, Jack?' his Mom asked.
'The box is gone,' he said
'What box?' Mom asked.
'There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must
have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was
'the thing I value most ,'' Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it,
except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.
'Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him,' Jack said. 'I better get
some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom.'
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work
one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. 'Signature required on a
package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next
three days,' the note read.
Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and
looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was
difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. 'Mr. Harold
Belser' it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the
package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook
as he read the note inside.
'Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett.
It's the thing I valued most in my life.' A small key was taped to the
letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked
the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.
Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the
cover. Inside he found these words engraved:
'Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser.'
'The thing he valued most was...my time'
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared
his appointments for the next two days. 'Why?' Janet, his assistant asked.
'I need some time to spend with my son,' he said.
'Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!'
'Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments
that take our breath away,'
Think about this. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.
1. At least 2 people in this world love you so much they would die for you.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3! .. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't
like you.
4. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
5. You mean the world to someone.
6. If not for you, someone may not be living.
7. You are special and unique.
8. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you prob ably
won't get it, but if you trust God to do what's best, and wait on His time,
sooner or later, you will get it or something better.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good can still come
from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look: you
most likely turned your back on the world.
11. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
12. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude
remarks.
13 . Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better
when they know and you'll both be happy.
14. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they
are great.
One day a father and his rich family took his son to a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night in the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their trip the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"Very good Dad!" replied his son.
"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.
"Yeah!"
"And what did you learn?"
The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden; they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden; they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, they have a whole horizon." When the little boy was finishing, his father was speechless.
His son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are!"
Our outlook on life depends on the way you look at things. What others may think as riches, others may want. The most important things in life are your friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude towards life. If you have these then you have everything!
A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.
As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study.
His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautifully wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible. Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, With all your money, you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book.
Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business.
He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day.
Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.
When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired.
On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words ... "PAID IN FULL".
How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?
A group of salespeople left town for a meeting and told their families they would be
back home Friday evening for supper. But as with meetings the way they are, one
thing leads to another and they didn't finish on time. They were delayed and had to
catch a flight. They came to the airport just at the last minute, with tickets in hand, and
ran, hoping the plane hadn't departed. While running, one of them hit a table and on
the table was a fruit basket. All the fruit got scattered and bruised but they didn't have
time to stop. They kept running and made it to the plane and all of them breathed a
sigh of relief that they had made it, except one. He got in touch with his feelings, got
up, said good-bye to his friends and went. What he saw made him glad that he came
out. He went to the table that was knocked down and behind the table was a ten-yearold
blind girl who was selling the fruits to make a living. He said, "I hope we haven't
ruined your day." He pulled out $10 from his pocket, handed it to her and said, "This
will take care of the fruits," and he left. The girl couldn't see what was going on; all she
could hear was the footsteps leaving. As the footsteps faded away, she shouted from
behind, "Are you God?" He missed his flight but was he a winner? You bet. One can
be a winner without a medal and one can be a loser with a medal if winning is not kept
in perspective
