Inspirational Life Story True - Rosa Parks

Today's inspirational true life story showcases the life of a woman whose courage had changed the lives of so many Americans and people around the world. We are truly inspired by Rosa Parks, to whom courage was a key to success.

Rosa Parks began a movement that ended legal segregation in America, and made her an inspiration to freedom-loving people everywhere. She showed exemplary courage when she was arrested for violating a city ordinance. All she did was not to give her bus seat to a white passenger and was later arrested. Rosa Parks did not buckle up and rather she emerged stronger than ever before.

The Bus incident sowed the seeds to start up Montgomery Improvement Assocation. MIA was formed under the able guidance of then a young pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The association called for a boycott of the city-owned bus company, which lasted for 382 days and brought Mrs. Parks, Dr. King, and their cause to the attention of the world. A Supreme Court Decision struck down the Montgomery ordinance under which Mrs. Parks had been fined, and outlawed racial segregation on public transportation.

Rosa Parks later made significant contributions to the society. She founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development which educates teenagers about the history of the country and civil rights movement. She has won numerous accolade for her inspiring work.

She passed away in 2005 at the ripe age of 92.After her death, her casket was placed in the rotunda of the United States Capitol for two days. This was a huge honor considering that it was only reserved for the President of the United States and she becomes the first woman in the history of America to receive that honor.
Image source : Google Images & Hey-guess-what.com

Inspirational Life Story True - Meena Dhadha

Ms Meena Dadha, Director, MUKTI is the one to be featured in the Inspirational True Life Story Series.

Meena Dadha is the founder of MUKTI which helps amputees, polio victims and those affected by cerebral palsy. The upper, lower limbs and calipers are donated to these affected people.
These artificial limbs are made using High Density Polyethylene (HDP).The most important aspect of this donation is that a beneficiary is welcome back any number of times to have their walking aids replaced or repaired.

Meena Dadha started this activity in 1986. Starting its office from a Garage, later it moved to its present office located in Meenambakkam. Today after two decades her noble service has helped reshape the future and life of approximately one and half lakh people. The number of people approximately benefited as of today stands at:

1. Lower Limbs - 99437 amputees
   
2. Upper Limbs - 559 amputees
   
3. Braces - 59678 polio victims
   

Today Meena Dadha doesnot restrict her services to Indians alone, rather victims from Srilanka & Bangladesh are also being offered free walking aids.
Most Importantly Meena Dadha doesnot just stop in providing these free walking aids, she goes a step further through her organization and provides career guidance. She encourages the physically challenged persons to set up small industries or service centres such as data processing, telephone booth operations and marketing consumer products. Guidance in getting help from various Agencies assisting the physically challenged persons with soft loans and other means of financial support, is imparted on a regular basis.

MUKTI, is located near the Meenambakkam Railway station and the Meenambakkam bus stop. It is just 5 Minutes from my house and i have always wanted to spread the message about the good work being done by this organization. If you wish to know further about their services and if you wish to contribute to this organization just visit Mukti India

Image Source: The Hindu.

Inspirational Life Story True - Foot Prints

This story i am sharing here is a forward mail, that i have always kept in my mailbox. This story conveys lot of message. Who ever has an email id would have surely received this story, yet for those who haven't come across this story of "Foot Prints" i thought this blog would carry the message.

Last night I had a dream. I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonged to me, the other to the Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it. “Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, You’d walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”

The Lord replied, “My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of suffering, when you could see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

Inspirational Life Story True - Two Frogs

This Inspirational Life Story may not be true or real, yet the lesson it teaches is good and worth following. i received the following story as a forward mail from one of my friend. I am not sure who the author of this story is, yet it is worth sharing, because good things can be and must be shared to the world.

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?" The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

This story teaches two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them.

Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words... it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.
Source: accelerateu.org

Inspirational Life Story True - Vaishnavi & Vandana - Daringly Different

Age is never a factor to achieve your desires. It is just the determination that matters! This inspirational story is of two young girls who did something daringly different, which has helped change the lives of lot many people. Hats off to them. To serve what you need is lot of conviction, and these two youngsters just stand as an example for the word "determination".
Vandana and Vaishnavi are the two young girls, if i remember correct from Ethiraj who provide shelter to the homeless women, who faced violence in the form of physical and sexual abuse. In these 13 years that has passed by, these girls have helped atleast 1500 women, rehabilitated 700 - 800 women and continue to do the good work. Inspite of all their initial struggles, yet Banyan has stabilized and its roots have grown deep in the minds of service minded community. One should understand that to run a home of this nature costs a few lakhs every month and definitely they make all their efforts to meet the costs. If you wish to know how they help, just click here
The Seed for Banyan:
Vandana Jayakumar was a MSW ( master's of social work) student in a Chennai college. Vaishnavi Jayakumar had moved to chennai from Kolkata. she was doing her schooling then. It was the college which gave her the opporunity to know Vandana, who was her senior by a year. Both these two had similar interests and as days passed by these two turned out to be good friends.

The day began as just like any other day for Vandana Gopikumar. Just infront of her college she came across a mentally ill homeless woman, who was scantily dressed, in a state of distress. since no one was helping this woman, vandana along with her principal and vaishnavi, admitted the woman to a home. After couple of weeks they came to know that the girl had run away from that home and the home did not seem to take any responsibility. This was the incident that started the thought in the minds of the daringly different duo to take up the responsibility in their own hands, in spite of their lack of experience.

The life of Vaishnavi & Vandana just showcases some important factors which can be truly inspirational for others to follow. Lack of experience, lack of funds, lack of knowledge are not true obstacles in implementing a real good idea that has true value.

At this moment i just wish to reaffirm the fact that i would always extend my support to Banyan in ways that can make a small difference in the lives of women they take care. If you wish to contribute in whatever way you wish, please visit The BANYAN, I EXIST THEREFORE I AM

Inspirational Life Story True - The 500 Rs Note

Due to the insistance of my friend, i once attended a seminar organized by JapanLife, which was a MLM company.This story that i am sharing is no way related with MLM activities. Yet it gave an opportunity to learn one of the most important lessons of life and truly inspired me.

One of the speaker was explaining the benefits of the program and was also explaining the quality of the products that JapanLife was marketing. Suddenly, the speaker took the wallet from his pocket. Took a 500 Rs in his hand and showed it to the crowd. I was wondering what he was going to say and probably even the crowd was wondering similarly.

Then he asked a simple question that "Who would want this 500 Rs note"?
I was a bit hesitant, wondering what was the catch behind his question, because i was sure he was not going to give it anyway. Most of the hands were up. Some were even raising both their hands, showing their eagerness. He said he would give the note to one lucky winner and started to crumple the 500 Rs note.

I was wondering, has this this guy gone crazy? why is he crushing the note? What trick is he upto? All different kinds of questions were running in my mind.

Then, he asked again, "Who would want this 500 Rs note"? still every one were raising their hands.

Finally he gave the reason for his act:

"This is a very valuable lesson to remember. Inspite of me crumpling the 500 Rs. note every one wanted it just because, the value is not lost.

Similarly every one of us go through tough times, times where some one crush us, times when some one trash us and times when some one kick us.

All these things can happen. You might even think you are not worth a paisa, still the reality is that you never lose your value. Every one are special and every one should know that. All it requires is to unearth the value that is hidden in you. Remember it always".
Though i didnt join Japan Life, yet i felt that the couple of hours i spent there was worthy because this lesson that i learnt always stays in my mind.

image source : istockphoto.com

Random thoughts on contradiction

I have always had this question in mind and I have always had an answer for it too.Yet I thought I would share it here in this wonderful forum for people to share their views.

Life is full of contradictions, which I feel is what makes life interesting.

Probably is that the reason why people are also full of contradictions? This thought about contradiction started from my school days when we started learning Thirukural, a two line Tamil poem, written by the great Thiruvalluvar. I have always been a great admirer and follower of Thirukural. That’s where the problem began regarding the contradiction. Thirukural deals with lots of aspects of life, of which friendship is one of my favorite. In one of the poems, he would advise you that if you have a bad friend you should leave him at any cost, while in another poem he would say once you have made friendship, no matter what kind your friend is, you should never leave him. Ok moving ahead, then this talk of being content is something that I have always been confronted with. I love being content and at the same time I have this burning desire inside me to keep creating or exploring new things. I love to take risks about new ventures and ideas. Try the impossible, go for it and you are sure to achieve it. Now if you are content, neither can you try nor explore. If you do not explore or try, new things do not happen. If you new things do not happen, the world would be just standstill. Would we have had this Blogging? But mind does know that if you are not content you need to face the difficulties in your journey. Then comes the branding too, if you are content in an organization, the organization would brand you stating that you are not competitive and you do not possess the skills to compete. If you try for newer opportunities and switch jobs, then you would be labeled you are not sincere to an organization.

About this concept of saving, till a decade back Indians were known for their saving habits. Then consumerism came in, now we are just aping America. We have also got the mindset where on the day of salary, we have huge bills readily to be cleared. In most cases it is the case of ECS, Electronic Clearance System, where automatic deduction of the amount to be paid happens through bank. Credit Card payments, personal loans, white goods EMI’s are the culprit for this habit. Here again, if people remain content, if people do not change their goods then the companies would be bleeding. Just taking the instance of TV’s and Mobile phones, these companies keep introducing changes quite often there by tempting the customers to make a change to their product. Else the companies would not be in a position to survive.

Fashion is another word that has come to play in the minds of people that puts pressure and a reason for change.

“Oh are you holding such an old mobile phone? Oh don’t you have a Flat screen television?” are some of the common questions that can be heard today? The thought process has definitely undergone a sea change. Some say it is for good but the only question is for whose good is this change? Is it for the people or the company? It just reinforces the fact that Good and Bad co-exists and what is good for one need to be good for the other. Feel free to share your views and opinions.

Image Source : Guru Software

Inspirational Life Story True - VShanta - Magsaysay Awardee

Dr. V. Shanta, executive chair of Chennai’s Cancer Institute (WIA).

V. Shanta was born to an illustrious family and raised in a world of books, ideas, and high achievement. Resisting the conventional path for women, she studied medicine at Madras Medical College and came under the spell of Muthulakshmi Reddy, a social reformer and India’s first woman medical graduate. In 1954, under Dr. Reddy’s leadership, the Women’s Indian Association Cancer Relief Fund founded the Cancer Institute (WIA) in Madras, now Chennai. Drawn to Reddy’s vision, young Dr. Shanta spurned a more lucrative post to join the Institute. She has never left.

The fledgling institute had only twelve beds and two doctors—Shanta herself and Dr. S. Krishnamurthi, the founding director and Reddy’s son. As the Institute’s associate director, Shanta set up India’s first comprehensive pediatric cancer clinic, conducted the country’s first major cancer survey, and developed its first program for the early detection of cancer in rural areas. She became a passionate advocate of cancer prevention and opened a tobacco cessation clinic. And she conducted India’s first successful trials of combination therapy, leading to a dramatic breakthrough in the control and cure of oral cancer.

Simultaneously, Shanta conducted groundbreaking research on oral, cervical, and breast cancer and pediatric leukemia, publishing the results in international journals and establishing the Institute as India’s first Regional Cancer Research and Treatment Center in 1975. In 1984, the Institute added a postgraduate college where Shanta proceeded to train cancer specialists, more than 150 of whom now practice throughout the subcontinent.

As director from 1980, Shanta strove to make the Institute a world-class research center with institutional partners in Europe, North America, and Japan and state-of-the-art laboratory and imaging equipment. She worked tirelessly to raise donations, grants, and government subsidies and trained hundreds of village-health nurses to screen rural women for cervical abnormalities. In 2000, she opened India’s first hereditary cancer clinic.

Today, the Cancer Institute (WIA) comprises a 428-bed hospital and research center plus the Dr. Muthulakshmi College of Oncologic Sciences, with advanced specialties in medical, surgical, and radiation oncology. In an era when specialized medical care in India has become highly commercialized, Dr. Shanta strives to ensure that the Institute remains true to its ethos, "Service to all." Its services are free or subsidized for some 60 percent of its 100,000 annual patients; travel allowances make regular treatments accessible to the poor. And through a volunteer program called Sanctuary, the Institute provides hope-giving emotional support and counseling to patients and their families and to cancer-afflicted children. There are thousands who might say, as leukemia victim Delli Rao, a wageworker, has said, "I owe my life to Dr. Shanta."

Seventy-eight-year-old Shanta still sees patients, still performs surgery, and is still on call twenty-four hours a day. It disturbs her that it is so hard to raise funds for the Institute when, she says, "we seem to have enough money to construct pilgrim shelters and temples in almost every street of the city." Even so, she cautions young people against cynicism. Perhaps reflecting on her own life, she tells them: "Learn to accept that you are good and that from you a lot of good can happen."

In electing V. Shanta to receive the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service, the board of trustees recognizes her leadership of Chennai’s Cancer Institute (WIA) as a center of excellence and compassion for the study and treatment of cancer in India.

Inspirational Life Story True - Story of Ju

“This is the first lesson to learn: be determined not to curse anything outside, not to lay the blame upon anyone outside, but stand up, lay the blame on yourself. You will find that is always true. Get hold of yourself” Says Swami Vivekananda. Here is a story, which reflects those words of Swami Vivekananda.

This is the story of Ju, one of the six children; where mother was diagnosed with post depression, father a wife abuser. She had to undergo physical abuse as a child. Hence Ju’s child hood was very terrible. It so happened that her parents divorced. In order to help her mother and the other kids she had to go to work at the tender age of 15.

Teen hood had its effect on her, like most other teens, she also fell in love at the age of 18, got married and had two kids by the age of 20. It was in those two years she came across the other side of her husband. He was a guy who had the addiction to drugs, who slept with other women, who drank too much and more importantly abused her to a great extent. The only solution she had was to divorce him. Her husband took their kids and handed to his friend. That friend demanded her money in exchange of the kids. Some how she managed to get the money, got her kids and left the kids with her mother and started looking at her career. Now her teen life was also spoilt.

She got a job and life was going on smoothly. She was able to take care of her family and she was able to send them money. She was providing them with the basic amenities needed for a family. When everything seemed to be going well, at the age of 28 she had a fire accident. She suffered 2^nd degree burns.

As she lost her self confidence and her self esteem went down, which led her to depression. She attempted to kill herself many times and failed. After a major surgery and lots of counseling and support from relatives and friends, she started her life all over again even with one partly deformed hand and fingers. It was tough finding a job and this increased her anxiety. She was managing her life in spite of all these adversities.

Again a big blow stuck her in the form of cervix cancer. During one of the medical diagnosis she was found to have cervix cancer. If there was any word in the dictionary for suffering, she faced everything in life which was driving her mad. Naturally she blamed her father, her mother and everyone for what brought her sufferings. Worst, she blamed herself.

Just because she didn’t want to undergo pains, she accepted for her treatments and chemotherapy. This was when she took the time to look within her. She thought that she might not live long enough so she decided to reconnect with her children. It was not easy especially with her son who had gone through his own childhood trauma.

She turned to her family for moral support and she turned to God. Now eight years later, she is still alive. Waking up and able to breathe for another day is a gift for her. She has two grandchildren whom she adores and that give her much joy. She takes some jobs every now and then when her health permits and rests when she needs it.

Her perception has changed. Her attitude has changed. She now asks “what is it she could do to get more out of what is left?” She has understood one major point about life that it does not play any favorites, for things happen and happen to every one. All of us have a story to share. She is not the single person to undergo pains. It is only the amount of pain that varies.

It is all about the ability on how he handle these situations that matters. We do not have to wait until a major catastrophe interrupts us to think of what we should do with our lives. It is we who instruct our brain what to do. It is left to us to either make it or break it. We are responsible for all our actions. We have the power to think what we want to think. It is left with you either to forget past hurts or to linger with them.

We can decide, plan and take action on what we want to have, do or be. At least when the universe intervenes, we know that we have done our best.

Image source : Absolutestockphoto.com

Secret of Success - Power of a Minute

This Inspiring story narrated here is from Sherman Roger’s old book, FOREMAN: Leaders or Drivers? This story shows out how important the effective relationships are.

Also this story goes to show how effective managers know the importance of taking a moment to point out what a worker is doing well. But what a difference a minute of affirmation can make in any relationship!

When Rogers was in his college, he had a chance to spend one of his summers in Idaho logging camp. Roger had to take charge of the position of superintendent, when the superintendent had to take a few days off.

Rogers was very well aware that managing the logging camp would be tough. There were different kind of people and especially one by name Tony, an immigrant, was tough to handle. The reason was that he always used to growl and grumble all day.

So when he took up charge, he asked the superintendent what he should do if he had any problems with Tony.

"Fire them," the superintendent said. Then, as if reading Rogers' mind, he added, "I suppose you think you are going to fire Tony if you get the chance. I'd feel badly about that. I have been logging for 40 years. Tony is the most reliable worker I've ever had. I know he is a grouch and that he hates everybody and everything. But he comes in first and leaves last. There has not been an accident for eight years on the hill where he works."

Next day when Rogers took over, he met Tony and had a chat with him.
Rogers: “Tony, do you know I'm in charge here today?"
Tony grunted.
Rogers: "I was going to fire you the first time we tangled, but I want you to know I'm not," and also added that the superintendent had told him.

When he finished, Tony dropped the shovel ful of sand he had held and tears streamed down his face. "Why hadn’t he told me about it eight years ago?"

Tony worked started working harder than ever before.

Rogers went back to school after that summer. Twelve years later he met Tony again. He was superintendent for railroad construction for one of the largest logging companies in the West. Rogers asked him how he came to California and happened to have such success.

Tony replied, "If it not be for the one minute you talk to me back in Idaho, I kill some body someday. One minute, changed my whole life."

All it takes is just One minute. Have you got one minute to thank someone? Have you got a minute to tell someone what you sincerely like or appreciate about that person? A minute to elaborate on some thing he/she did well? One minute. It can make a difference for a lifetime.

Source : artelino.com

Secret of Success - Resilience

The secret of success tips need not be learnt only from the successful people belonging to the upper strata, businessman and thought leaders. I have always wondered about these people at the lower strata. Today's Hindu gave an absolute answer to my doubts. Resilience, the secret of survival is the article that i am presenting here. It is a nice article which definitely gives a dose of inspiration.

Inspirational Life Story True - Saudamini Deshmukh

Today's Inspirational person is Captain Saudamini Deshmukh. She is currently the Deputy General Manager of Indian, formerly Indian Airlines. She has several firsts to her credit. She has also come across some testing times to raise to the current position. So we believed it would be worth enough to feature her in this column. If her life story inspires a few other people, brings a change in them, we would really feel happy.

Some of the first that stands to her credit are :

• In 1985, to become a check-pilot on a Fokker-27.
• In 1989, became the captain of an all-woman crew on a Boeing 737 from Calcutta to Silchar.
• In 1994, she became Captain on Airbus-A-320
• In 1995, she captained the airbus with an all-woman crew.

And now to top it all, she's the first woman to occupy the chair of deputy general manager (Operations).

If you wish to know more about her and her achievements, please click here.

source and pictures: "THE HINDU".

Inspirational Life Story True - Sudha Murthy - 1

Those were the days when gender discrimination was very much prevalent. Just because you are a girl, you are denied a job that you dream of, what would be your reaction?
would you chicken out or look for another job? How was it possible? Who was this person? The person is none other than the famous Sudha Murthy, wife of Narayna Murthy, one of the visionary behind Indian IT Industry. All she did was to write a strong letter to chairman of the company, which denied her the job based on her gender, JRD TATA. She showed to the world she has arrived, because she stood apart from the normal crowd. She is an alumni of IISc Bangalore, an intelligent engineer, a caring wife, wonderful mother and symbol of sacrifices. Today after being one of the core reasons for the success of INFOSYS, she manages the INFOSYS FOUNDATION. INFOSYS Foundation helps the upliftment of the less under privileged sections. She is a true source of inspiration for millions of girls in India. We salute her simplicity and humility.

Inspirational Life Story True - The King and Shoe

I got my admission in GCE Tirunelveli. The college was located in south Tamilnadu, around 600 kms down south of Chennai. I had so far lived all my life in the chennai, which was a metropolitan city. I had a different vision about colleges. But on landing in GCE Tirunelveli, i realised that the college didnot meet my expectations. I felt it was not the place where i should study. Very reluctantly i got admitted to the college, yet i was insisting my father to get a transfer to a different college, in Erode or to a different private engineering college in Chennai. My father did put in his efforts but it did not work out. I was down. It was then my father narrated me this story, that is normally told in our villages."In the good old days, kings ruled the country. There was a king who ruled a country, which was prosperous. It was quite common in those days for the kings to disguise, make a trip and get the feeler of what the citizens feel about his rule. He went to some distant parts of his country. The general feed back was good. He was happy.He returned to his palace with a content heart, only then he realised that his feet was causing him lots of pain. He realised that it was the first time where he had taken such a long trip and the roads he had travelled were un even, rocky and rough. He thought of what to do and then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather. Since the country was prosperous he did not mind about the huge cost of the project.

Then one of his wise minister advised the king, "Why to kill so many cows and incur a huge cost, instead you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet ?"The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a "shoe" for himself."

That's how shoes were born. More than the birth of the shoes, this story has much more meaning to it. It is just that "Change your heart, then look at the world, the world would be a better place to live."

Image courtesy : Google Images

Inspirational Life Story True - Decisions

This Inspirational story that i am sharing with you was narrated by our class advisor has worked out successfully for me, when we were stuck about kick starting the placement activities in the final year, because of the bad experience the previous year. A small back ground about our college, in those days our college lacked in placements and when we were in third year of our college, our immediate seniors took up the initiative to kick start the placement activity. Since it was the first time, the activity did not generate the desired result. Next year we had the responsibility to kick start the placement activity. As most students were not so keen in supporting placement activity and we had a failure last year we were not sure whether to take up the responsibility, it was when my class advisor narrated me this story to motivate me.

Once a reporter was interviewing a Managing director of a successful organization:
Reporter : Sir, can i know your secret of success?
MD : Two words
Reporter : Sir, can i know those two words?
MD : Right Decisions
Reporter : Sir, how to make right decisions?
MD : One Word
Reporter : Sir, can i know what is it?
MD : Experience
Reporter : Sir, How do you gain experience?
MD : Two words
Reporter : Sir, can i know what is it?

MD : Wrong Decisions

Image courtesy : Google Images

Inspirational Life Story True - Age Not a factor

Ten-year-old Samrudh Canpadee's award-winning short story has a leaf as its protagonist. This article appeared in The Hindu and i felt it is a inspirational story for those aspiring writers. More over to do anything age is not a determinal factor. It is just all about application. This article goes to prove it.

When you turn ten, you perhaps develop an ability to write a story on just about anything. Ten-year-old Samrudh Canpadee has written an award-winning story which has a leaf as its central character. Samrudh's short story "Leafy and Frens" won Disney Channel's all-India "Start Your Story Contest" and free tickets for him and his family to the Disney Studios in Burbank, California.

Samrudh is a storyteller partly because his mother Geetha's sphere of influence extends beyond his playtime as well. She prevailed on him to give part of it to reading literary fiction. Although Geetha herself is a writer, Samrudh has borrowed little from her writing style.

Distinct approach

His approach to storytelling is distinct — he `draws' his ideas and based on these sketches, weaves a tale. Samrudh adopted the brush-and-pen method of storytelling, after reading stories such as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl and "The Little Prince" by Saint Antoine-Expury. He used the computer to draw the images for his prize-winning story. A drawing of a leaf with limbs complements a short biographical note on Leafy, a lazy leaf that enjoys "playing tricks on his teachers and friends". When a teacher tries to give naughty Leafy a rap over the knuckles, he flies away. Knowing his folks would be informed about his intransigent behaviour, he chooses to stay away from his house — a slanting tree with five other leaves, whom he calls "his bad cousins" and who try to keep a hold on him. This decision opens the door to a series of events that leads him to another house called Hot-N-Cold Home — where regimentation gives way to cooperation and work ceases to be a chore.

In this house live three other runaways — Reck, a remote control, Biskiti, a biscuit with four legs made of wafer and ice-cold Kulfi, all of whom are portrayed through paint and ink. Together, the four dodge Wolfy, who wants to make a meal of them.

The story is punctuated with scientific concepts — such as Leafy drinking Sun-light Soup and eating Chlorophyllie cookies and Kulfi melting when the day gets hotter and hotter and Leafy taking Kulfi to a snow-clad mountain to ensure his friend stays in shape and the life force leaving Leafy when he is stationed on the same mountain.

Samrudh says he chose the leaf because it is the least written about.

Source: The Hindu

Secret of Success - Attitude

This is again a common forward mail which we receive. For those who have not come across, i wish to share this powerful message.

This is a story about four people:

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn't do it.It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody have done.

Image courtesy: www.ictisp.com

Inspirational Life Story True - The Wood Cutter and Axe

This story that i am going to narrate might be known to those who have read Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. There was a wood cutter who went looking for job. Since he was highly skilled he got a job immediately with one of the timber merchants. He had a decent package to take care of himself and family. His work environment was also good. He liked his boss and his environment, so he felt he should give his best. He was given an axe and an area was designated to him. It was here he was suppose to chop the trees. On the first day he was able to chop 18 trees, he felt happy and so was the boss. The boss congratulated the wood cutter, which naturally motivated the wood cutter to perform better. while on the second day he was able to chop only 15 trees. He was wondering what happened. Then he thought tommorrow i can make up for the deficit. Third day he was able to chop only 12 trees. Day after day the number of trees he was able to chop was going down. He was feeling the pressure and also feeling guilty. He thought he was losing his strength and thought let him go and share with his boss. Boss listened to him carefully and asked him a simple question "When was the last time you sharpened your Axe?"

"Sharpen? i had no time to sharpen my axe. i have been very busy trying to cut trees.."

Image copy right expired : courtesy google images

Secret of Success - I Do Not Know

How does these words " I do not know" relate to secret of success?

• It infers opportunity.
• It infers a chance to learn things.
• It gives the flexibility.
• It gives one the cushion.
• It eases pressure.

When you donot know something, others donot expect from you. When there are no expectations, naturally no pressures involved. [But here the mindset should be set I must learn or I must get to know and then achieve success.] Generally people consider saying the words "i do not know" as a great mistake. Rather they end up giving some answers not minding whether it is right or wrong. When they do so, they are spoiling their reputation.
Do you get my point? They are killing the trust on them. Then how can they expect success?

Image courtesy: carrotsandcompany.com

Inspirational Life Story True - Paid in Full

This is one of the forwarded mail that i had received from one of my close friend. when i read it i felt that it should be shared with all of you here. It is a wonderful story. I am sure you all would agree on reading the story. Please feel free to share your views, even if you disagree. Thanks in advance for spending your time. Have a great day. [there might be some difference in the picture and story, bear with me]

Once there was a young man who was ready for his graduation. He was so attracted with a beautiful sports car. His father was rich and he knew that his father could very well afford him the car. So he spoke of his desire to his father and also gave him the dealer details where the car was available.

The young guy was very much expecting his father to present him the car of his desire. On the graduation day father called his son into his private study. He told him how proud he was to have him as his son and handed over a wonderfully wrapped nice gift box. He told him "I love You My son".

The young man was curious and opened to see if it contained the keys of the car, rather he found a lovely leather-bound BIBLE. Since his expectations were broken he raised his voice against his father and shouted at him stating that he was mean to present just a BIBLE and left the house. The young man started living alone and some how managed to have a successful life. As the days passed he had his own family and a beautiful home, it was then he started thinking of his father who was growing old. He made a point to himself that he should meet his father, and apologize to him. It was then he received a message stating that his father had passed away. He rushed to his house to see his father lying dead. His father had willed all his possessions to this young man. On knowing this the young man felt really guilty. The young man came across the BIBLE that his father had given him on the graduation day. It was just as he had left it years ago. He opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. He was going through the verse, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the BIBLE. It had a tag with the dealer's name mentioned by this young man. The tag carried his date of graduation and the words ---- PAID IN FULL.

Retold by Key to success:
Moral:

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?

Image source :Photodisc Royalty Free Photograph

Inspirational Life Story True - Dog and its master

A butcher watching over his shop is really surprised when he sees a dog coming inside the shop. He shoos him away. But later, the dog is back again. So, he goes over to the dog and notices it has a note in its mouth. He takes the note and it reads, "Can I have 12 sausages and a leg of lamb, please." The dog has money in its mouth, as well. The butcher looks inside and, low and behold, there is a $10 note there. So he takes the money and puts the sausages and lamb in a bag, placing it in the dog's mouth. The butcher is so impressed, and since it's about closing time, he decides to shut the shop and follow the dog. So off he goes.

The dog is walking down the street, when it comes to a level crossing the dog puts down the bag, jumps up and presses the button. Then it waits patiently, bag in mouth, for the lights to turn. They do, and it walks across the road, with the butcher following him all the way.

The dog then comes to a bus stop, and starts looking at the timetable. The butcher is in awe as the dog stops a bus by pulling its left leg up and gets in it. The butcher follows the dog into the bus.The dog then shows a ticket, which is tied to its belt to the bus conductor. The butcher is nearly fainting at this sight, so are the other passengers in the bus.

The dog then sits near the driver's seat looking outside waiting for the bus stop to come. As soon as the stop is in sight, the dog stands and wags its tail to inform the conductor. Then, without waiting for the bus to stop completely, it jumps out of the bus and runs to a house very close to the stop. It opens the big iron gate and rushes inside towards the door.

As it approaches the wooden door, the dog suddenly changes its mind and heads towards the garden. It goes to the window, and beats its head against it several times, walks back, jumps off, and waits at the door.

The butcher watches as a big guy opens the door, and starts abusing the dog, kicking him and punching him, and swearing at him.

The butcher surprised with this, runs up, and stops the guy. "What in heaven's name are you doing? The dog is a genius. He could be on TV, for the life of me!" to which the guy responds: "You call this clever? This is the second time this week that this stupid dog's forgotten his key."

Moral of the story...

You may continue to exceed onlookers' expectations but shall always fall short of the bosses' expectations.

Image courtesy: Sterlingservicedogs

Inspirational Life Story True - Mother Teresa - Angel of Mercy

Today's Inspirational True life story is about Mother Teresa. Most of us would have definitely heard of Mother Teresa. She has been a great source of inspiration for me from my child hood days. To me Mother Teresa means selflessness. This founder of "Nirmal Hriday" just showed the world how pure her heart was. I am sure just like how i was inspired by her, there may be many others who would have been inspired by her. She was the picture of simplicity. She was the mother to blind, disabled, aged and poor. Mother Teresa is aptly called "Angel of Mercy".

Image Courtesy: Google Images

Inspirational Life Story True - Brooklyn Bridge, The Inside Story

Brooklyn Bridge stands as a spectacular land mark and an Inspirational True Life Story for people who is afraid of facing obstacles.

Obstacles, ask any one whether he would love to face obstacles, 95% would say "No", Why should i be the one to face obstacles? Some even feel that it is only they who face obstacles. But the reality is different. All of us face obstacles in our day to day life. It is only the magnitude of the obstacle that varies, depending on the activity. Brooklyn Bridge, The Inside story, showcases that obstacles can be overcome with determination and persistence.

Year 1883 was a vital year in the life of Engineer John Roebling, it was in this year he came out with his idea to build a spectacular bridge to connect Long Island with New York. Since there was no other bridge of its magnitude at that point of time the experts rejected his idea saying that it was an impossible feat. The whole world was against his idea and told him to drop his plan.

Roebling's Intution kept telling him that his vision was right about the bridge. The only support he had for his idea was his son Washington, who at that time was an upcoming engineer. They together prepared a detailed plan and recruited the necessary team. Though they were well prepared for bottle necks, a tragic accident occured at the site killing Roebling. This incident happened few months after the bridge building work had started. Normally anyone would have given up. But Washington wanted his father's vision come true.

Fate was so cruel that washington suffered brain damage and was injured to an extent where he became immobile. He could neither walk nor talk or even move. Asusual the experts who claimed the bridge cannot be built started raising their view points of how they had advised Roebling to not involve in this project. Both were termed Crazy and fools. There was an uproar about scrapping the construction project terming that washington was not in a position to extend his services. But these did not deter Washington. He was clear about his objective.

He depended entirely on his wife to communicate. He used his only moving finger to communicate to her. He developed a code to make her understand his communication. Initially everyone thought he was foolish. Fast foward 13 years and his instructions were interpreted by his wife and passed on to the engineers. Brooklyn Bridge stands as a spectacular land mark and an Inspirational True Life Story for people who face obstacles. Never allow circumstances to over power you. There are lot of things to be learnt from this inspirational true life story, such as love, dedication, commitment, faith, vision Intution and more importantly NEVER GIVE UP.

Everything Is Possible....

Image courtesy : Harper's *This picture has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. This applies worldwide.

Secret of Success - Respecting Others

If one has to be successful in life, the first and foremost thing that they must do is to learn to respect others. Respecting others means acknowledging others strength and their position. How do u think this would help in your success? Its very simple, when you donot respect others strengths you tend to develop a negative attitude, and if you tend to develop a negative attitude whatever activity you indulge in would definitely affect your performance. It is very much important to understand your strength, acknowledge other's strength and then go about in your life. When god created you in this earth, he definitely has made you with some positive qualities which might not be with the other person. when you acknowledge the other person's strength you would feel free to ask his/her help, you would not mind getting tips from them and so on. So, when you start respecting others positive, then you are definitely moving a step ahead in the positive direction.

Please feel free to share your opinions

Secret of Success - forecasting

Today's secret of success deals with forecasting. This is a very vital trait that is required to be successful in this modern technological world. If you have the ability to forecast, then definitely you can be one who can be successful. If you come across the life history all the successful business men, it is this ability of forecasting that has helped him to leap ahead of the competition and emerge out successful. Tata, Birla, Ambani, Mittal or Narayana Moorthy are some real life examples where these people had the ability to forecast of how future would look like and what would the market demand. Hence they came out with products that necessarily made impact in the lives of common man and helped them consolidate their own business ahead of their competitors