Two young boys, very much less than the age of teens had been singing nice songs in a bus and collected money from the passengers. One of them was tall and lean while the next was very small and young with an innocent looking, handsome face. May be attracted by his nature and appearance, an old passenger called the small boy closer to him and asked whether he would like to come with him to work in his house and he would be paid double the earning that he obtained from this work, singing in the bus.
The boy abruptly refused and said that he was going to study. He further said that he wanted to be a scientist like Abdul Kalam. Not only the passenger but also others around the place laughed at him and ridiculed for his words.
When everything subsided I called the boy and asked whether he knew the things that he should do to become Abdul kalam. He said “NO “. I took him along with me to my working place and told him this is called University and you should study here to become a scientist and if he wanted to come here he should study in the school and should get very good marks.
He was looking around the office with cupboards, files and books and felt sad. He went away with sad face as he did not expect his desire was so much hard to achieve.
Tracing his house through my assistant and knowing the details of this ill-fated boy, I arranged a job for his mother in the canteen of the university. With the help of Up Country Traders Woman Forum in Bambalapitya, I was able to find him a good school, provided good clothes needed and made arrangements to go to the school.
After a couple of weeks, I was waiting with my daughter in the car to see the boy while entering the school. I saw him coming like a rich child carries a nice bag and walking briskly into the gate of the school. My daughter asked me who that boy is. I said “Abdul kalam”.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
No Problem
Alice was the only child to her parents. From her days as a baby she knows no pain and the parents had never allowed her to cry for any reason. In spite of all the efforts to make her fat and gloomy, she was lean, pale, but strong. Her time to marry also came and she got married and started a joyful life. The first year of the married life got interrupted by a series of fever at critical times and got wasted.
However, the second year was excellent and she became pregnant delighting her parents and other close relatives of the family. The months successfully passed and have reached the fourth one. Alice began to get symptoms of pain here and there. At one stage she has got the problems uncontrollable and wanted to meet the doctor for investigation and treatment.
Listening to the complaints made by Alice, the doctor requested for seven or eight tests and Alice was happy to see the attempts of the doctor to investigate her problems to make her free from all pains and sufferings. The tests went on for a long time and Alice patiently tolerated all those trouble as it was all for her good.
But when the final report was given to Alice she got flabbergasted as it read “No problem found and everything is in good order”
However, the second year was excellent and she became pregnant delighting her parents and other close relatives of the family. The months successfully passed and have reached the fourth one. Alice began to get symptoms of pain here and there. At one stage she has got the problems uncontrollable and wanted to meet the doctor for investigation and treatment.
Listening to the complaints made by Alice, the doctor requested for seven or eight tests and Alice was happy to see the attempts of the doctor to investigate her problems to make her free from all pains and sufferings. The tests went on for a long time and Alice patiently tolerated all those trouble as it was all for her good.
But when the final report was given to Alice she got flabbergasted as it read “No problem found and everything is in good order”
Pampered pets.
During my return from Nigeria through Paris, I was offered an opportunity to stay in Paris for more than four days with some of the officers of Taylor Woodrow in a place which had some connections with the company.
In the building where I lived there were 12 flats and 10 dogs all together not including the security personnel? Each morning and evening the lift fills up with greyhounds, schnauzers and one thumping great Labrador. Swaddled in wooly caps and layers of fleece, their granite faced owners lead them to a dog run a few streets away. There, in an area of size of a tennis court, the hounds frolic.
At first all seemed pitiable, how the dogs offered slivers of companionship in city of Millions strangers from all parts of the globe. It appeared rather very cruel to see how they raise an animal in this unnatural sophistication and comfort which dogs can hardly recognize and understand.
Then I met Jake, another Engineer from Siemens and everything began to make sense. I was astonished at how lavishly Frenchmen treat their dogs. They smoother them, like guilty parents making even dog fanatics of England look negligent. In the American designer boutiques such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, dogs were given treats while Gucci began selling a cashmere dog sweater complete with designer Logo.
Pet chauffeur, a minivan service provided touring facilities to the dogs and all sort of treatments utilizing acupuncture methods, continuous sessions with psychiatrists and friendly visits to other dogs in places of England living in luxury kennels. They have also provided lessons together with the provision of expensive biscuits specially imported from Switzerland, and admitted to classes at a very high cost to be trained under experts in the trade who can understand even the barking language of the dog precisely.
I was wondering the depth of humanity among human as children and woman of Africa walk miles to fetch a pail of water and standing in long queues to obtain their daily provisions of dry ration, men and women lives not so much far from them are treating dogs like this. When I told Jake my burning heart of pain to see these activities he said “In spite of hunger and pain those people sleep peacefully in the night while these people in Paris cry in the nights without even a person to talk to them in normal human language”.
In the building where I lived there were 12 flats and 10 dogs all together not including the security personnel? Each morning and evening the lift fills up with greyhounds, schnauzers and one thumping great Labrador. Swaddled in wooly caps and layers of fleece, their granite faced owners lead them to a dog run a few streets away. There, in an area of size of a tennis court, the hounds frolic.
At first all seemed pitiable, how the dogs offered slivers of companionship in city of Millions strangers from all parts of the globe. It appeared rather very cruel to see how they raise an animal in this unnatural sophistication and comfort which dogs can hardly recognize and understand.
Then I met Jake, another Engineer from Siemens and everything began to make sense. I was astonished at how lavishly Frenchmen treat their dogs. They smoother them, like guilty parents making even dog fanatics of England look negligent. In the American designer boutiques such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, dogs were given treats while Gucci began selling a cashmere dog sweater complete with designer Logo.
Pet chauffeur, a minivan service provided touring facilities to the dogs and all sort of treatments utilizing acupuncture methods, continuous sessions with psychiatrists and friendly visits to other dogs in places of England living in luxury kennels. They have also provided lessons together with the provision of expensive biscuits specially imported from Switzerland, and admitted to classes at a very high cost to be trained under experts in the trade who can understand even the barking language of the dog precisely.
I was wondering the depth of humanity among human as children and woman of Africa walk miles to fetch a pail of water and standing in long queues to obtain their daily provisions of dry ration, men and women lives not so much far from them are treating dogs like this. When I told Jake my burning heart of pain to see these activities he said “In spite of hunger and pain those people sleep peacefully in the night while these people in Paris cry in the nights without even a person to talk to them in normal human language”.
Another great soul on the earth
Mother Theresa had been one of those who committed her life for the underprivileged. Not only the systems created by the human for the governance of themselves had produced a kind people named underprivileged, even the god, the creator had brought many people with defects in their organs and thus grouped as under privileged. It could the reason that people of same nature as Mother Theresa those who worked for such mistakes of the god had been praised by all. In this list, not only Mother Theresa but there was many without much known to the world.
Jane was only seven years old when she visited a shabby street nearby town and seeing ragged children there, announced that she wanted to build a house so the poor children would have a place to play. As a young adult, Jane and a friend, Ellen Starr, visited Toynbee Hall in London where they saw many educated people help the poor by living among them.
She and Ellen returned to the slums of Chicago, restored an old Hull mansion and moved in. There they cared for children of working mothers, and held sewing and cooking classes. An art gallery, play ground, and public music, reading and rooms were created in the mansion there by her dreams had come true to a great extent.
She also fought against the labour laws, and campaigned for adult education, day nurseries, better housing, and woman suffrage.
She was offered a university degree by the Yale and was also called as the “America’s most useful citizen” by the President Theodore Roosevelt, and finally was given Nobel Prize for peace.
No matter how famous she became, however, Jane Addams remained a resident of Hull house. She died a resident of Halsted Street in the heart of the slum she had come to call home.
She should be a great soul sent by god to correct his mistakes.
Jane was only seven years old when she visited a shabby street nearby town and seeing ragged children there, announced that she wanted to build a house so the poor children would have a place to play. As a young adult, Jane and a friend, Ellen Starr, visited Toynbee Hall in London where they saw many educated people help the poor by living among them.
She and Ellen returned to the slums of Chicago, restored an old Hull mansion and moved in. There they cared for children of working mothers, and held sewing and cooking classes. An art gallery, play ground, and public music, reading and rooms were created in the mansion there by her dreams had come true to a great extent.
She also fought against the labour laws, and campaigned for adult education, day nurseries, better housing, and woman suffrage.
She was offered a university degree by the Yale and was also called as the “America’s most useful citizen” by the President Theodore Roosevelt, and finally was given Nobel Prize for peace.
No matter how famous she became, however, Jane Addams remained a resident of Hull house. She died a resident of Halsted Street in the heart of the slum she had come to call home.
She should be a great soul sent by god to correct his mistakes.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
To the Atheist
The story is told of a colony of mice that made their home at the bottom of a large upright piano. To them, the music was frequent, even routine. It filled all the dark spaces with lovely melodies and harmonies.
At first the mice were very much impressed by the music. They drew comfort and wonder from the thought that someone made the music, though the person concerned was invisible to them, yet should be very close to them. They loved to tell stories about the great unseen player who had been playing and could not be seen by any ways.
Then one day as adventuresome mouse climbed to the upper part of the piano and returned with an elaborate explanation how the music was made. Tightly stretched wires of various lengths that vibrated and trembled from time to time. In the same way, another mouse too ventured little further and came back telling hammers dancing and leaping on the wires.
The theories that they developed were complicated, unrealistic but complete with evidences. At the end the mice concluded that they live in a mechanical and mathematical world and their stories were merely myths.
But the unseen player continued to play nevertheless.
At first the mice were very much impressed by the music. They drew comfort and wonder from the thought that someone made the music, though the person concerned was invisible to them, yet should be very close to them. They loved to tell stories about the great unseen player who had been playing and could not be seen by any ways.
Then one day as adventuresome mouse climbed to the upper part of the piano and returned with an elaborate explanation how the music was made. Tightly stretched wires of various lengths that vibrated and trembled from time to time. In the same way, another mouse too ventured little further and came back telling hammers dancing and leaping on the wires.
The theories that they developed were complicated, unrealistic but complete with evidences. At the end the mice concluded that they live in a mechanical and mathematical world and their stories were merely myths.
But the unseen player continued to play nevertheless.
Language of the heart
Although the North American Indians had no written alphabets before they met the people from Europe, their language was nothing but primitive. The vocabulary of many Indian languages was as larger as their French and English conquerors. Often, their expressions were far more elegant than the intruders’ languages. In an Indian tongue, for example, the concept for the word friend is beautifully stated as “one who carried my sorrows on his back.”
A friend or a family member who comes to you for solace or seeking your advice wants nothing more than your presence, your listening ear, and your quiet caring of sorrow. A person who provides shelter to the heart both at the time of trouble and happiness as well is the person for life. .
A friend or a family member who comes to you for solace or seeking your advice wants nothing more than your presence, your listening ear, and your quiet caring of sorrow. A person who provides shelter to the heart both at the time of trouble and happiness as well is the person for life. .
Her father, the light of life
A young woman relates that when she was a little girl, her father, an artist would often be busy at his easel, mixing oils and painting on his big canvass while she sat nearby on the floor, working just as hard as he was with her own set of crayons and colouring tools.
Many a time, he would set his time brushes aside, reach down, and lift her onto his lap. Then he’d curl her little hand around one of his brushes, enfolding it with his own larger and stronger hand. And ever so gently, he would guide her hand and the brush, dipping it into the palette and mixing the burnt umbers and raw siennas, and then stroke the wet, shiny paint onto the canvass before them both.
The little girl had been watching in amazement as, together, they made something beautiful.
Little did this father know that he was giving his daughter skills that would bring great fulfillment to her life?
Today, Ioni Tada, the daughter a quadriplegic since a diving accident during her teen years is still painting, but this time with the paint brush in her mouth. Most of her earning is channeled into the organizations to help others. Her compassion, too, is a reflection of that shown by a loving, tender father.
Many a time, he would set his time brushes aside, reach down, and lift her onto his lap. Then he’d curl her little hand around one of his brushes, enfolding it with his own larger and stronger hand. And ever so gently, he would guide her hand and the brush, dipping it into the palette and mixing the burnt umbers and raw siennas, and then stroke the wet, shiny paint onto the canvass before them both.
The little girl had been watching in amazement as, together, they made something beautiful.
Little did this father know that he was giving his daughter skills that would bring great fulfillment to her life?
Today, Ioni Tada, the daughter a quadriplegic since a diving accident during her teen years is still painting, but this time with the paint brush in her mouth. Most of her earning is channeled into the organizations to help others. Her compassion, too, is a reflection of that shown by a loving, tender father.
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