Archive for April, 2010
I am sure every person who has heard of Ramayan the famous Indian epic, must have heard of a little squirrel who helped the army of Sugreev build the bridge in her own little way.
For the benefit of those who haven’t: When the great army of Sugreev was building a bridge to cross the Indian Ocean into Lanka to attack the demon king Ravan, they lifted great boulders, huge stones, Hanuman wrote “Ram” on each of them and then immersed them into the waters. Due to Ram’s name these boulders floated instead of drowning, but it was becoming difficult to get them to stick to each other instead of drifting away. A tiny squirrel noticed their plight and came to the rescue. She brought grains of sand, as many as she could carry on her back and put them on the bridge cementing, sealing the gaps and making each boulder stick to the other. In recognition for her efforts, Ram patted her back lovingly. Even today you can see three dark lines on her back that his fingers made when then ruffled her fur.
Our society today has several of these “squirrels” waiting for Ram to pat their back. Seemingly insignificant everyday people, with no big name or great fame, who are helping in several little ways that go a great length to make a difference in other people’s lives.
Take for example, Mrs. Chahar, a school principal who started a practice of her own early in her career. Each year she would help 5 children financially – sponsor their school uniforms and books and help them study. Over the last couple decades several people have reaped benefits of her generousness. Each of these students who were helped by Mrs. Chahar through their school years, have completed college and further education. One is an officer in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
Another example is my own mom-in-law. Each summer she’ll fill earthen pots with water and leave it outside for the thirsty animals. Birds, cats and dogs drink from these cool pots. Agreed, she can’t change the world with her little efforts. But if you could tell that to the thirsty animals who get respite from parching heat, I am sure they wouldn’t care less about the difference it made to global warming so long as they were saved from death.
If you have a will to make a difference, you can do so no matter what your own circumstances are. You need not necessarily be affiliated with famous NGO’s or be a highly paid movie actor to bring your own little pile of sand, your own little contribution to make this country, this world a better place for everyone.
Think about it. If you know anyone who is also doing such good deeds, do send us their information. We’ll be happy to get in touch and spread the word. The least we can do to motivate others 
Who does not want to be a leader these days? From young kids in kindergarten to high powered professionals, everyone wants to be the authority, be the leader in their game. But are getting first rank in class or being promoted to the next level only ways to make your mark as a leader?
“No.”, says, Robin Sharma – leadership guru for million’s of people over the globe including yours truly. He teaches us to be good human beings above all else. To inculcate greatness in our daily lives, to reach out to others and make a difference in their lives. After all we all want someone to cry when we die, don’t we?
I am averse to most newsletters / subscriptions since after a while you tend to ignore them or get tired of them. However there’s one exception to this – Robin Sharma’s monthly newsletter. It comes as a breath of fresh air and fills your mind with positive energy every month. You can check out Robin’s thoughts by subscribing yourself. Or if you are more interested in listening to him speak, he also has a free leadership audio program download.
Over time I’ve become a great fan of his books. “Who will cry when you die?”, “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari”, “The Greatness Guide” – each one is a gem. Have built a collection for myself as well as gifted few copies to others. You can grab your copies here.
Check these out for yourself. And don’t forget to share your thoughts with us.
Happy journey to your new life as a leader
As you must’ve learnt by now, I delivered my second little princess, Siya, on 10th Feb. This means my older one, Diya, has now been promoted to the status of “Jiji” (“Didi” or elder sister).
* When Diya first learned that we were expecting, she made it a point to talk to my tummy each night and kiss Chotu good night.
* Everyone in our locality, Diya’s school, her school-bus stop friends everyone knew that a little someone would come in our family long before the due date.
* She practiced things like collecting her stuff for bath, taking a bath, brushing etc. so she could teach the same to Siya.
* She is also giving up on some bad habits like not-washing-hands-after-playing, because she wants Siya to learn good habits. This is still work-in-progress.
* The first day Diya met Siya, she had just returned from school and then she came to visit us in the hospital. Boy, was she thrilled!!! Beyond words! An hour later when she went back she kept telling each person on her way that her little sister had come. The little one would call her, ’Diya-didi’ and the little one was so pink like a tomato and the little one was so tiny like a doll. From them on for the four days I remained hospitalized after c-section, she made it a point to come daily and talk to Siya. And yes, BTW, it was Diya who decided to name her “Siya”.
* Even now when Siya cries for anything, Diya is the first one to reach her. She’ll sit besides her and talk to her, sing rhymes etc trying to console her…
Looking at all this I am often wet-eyed (officially I am blaming it on postpartum-stress!) and I silently pray to Lord Krishna to make them love each other unconditionally like this forever. Amen.
Our society today has several of these “squirrels” waiting for Ram to pat their back. Seemingly insignificant everyday people, with no big name or great fame, who are helping in several little ways that go a great length to make a difference in other people’s lives.
