An old forward but still brings smile.

You know you are from Delhi when…

• Living in the most posh colonies, you get to hear, "Aloo, Bhindi Pyaaz, Tamatar le lo"… And you hear women asking the vegetable vendor "Bhaiyaa aapne free dhaniya nehi diya!" [Even with Half a kilo Carrot]
• You have seen your relative or family member bribing a policeman at-least once.
• You have been to Big Chill at-least once.
• In the 90’s you have been to India Gate and around 2000-2002 you have been to Ansal Plaza more times than you can count!
• Mocha, CCD, Barista, Hookah, 24×7 are like your favorite hangouts.
• You speak or hear the word "setting" or "jugad" at-least once a day.
• This is the place when you actually feel like slapping the same traffic policeman who caught you yesterday… Because today he’s on his bike without helmet or talking on the phone…
• Qutub Minar, Red Fort, Lotus Temple are just for tourists. You haven’t been to more than two of these.
• You won’t be surprised if you find some old lady bargaining at a SALE .
• Young or Old, You have played street football in the rains and have ended up breaking some glass.
• Your Dad’s really good friends with at least one Public Figure.
• Library is virtually non-existent unless you go to British council or American Library or Max Mueller Bhavan.
• Deepavali means every house is illuminated to such an extent that you wonder if its a competition of illumination and cracker bursting is so continuous that it is difficult to imagine one moment of silence on Diwali.
• You’ve had a ride on the cycle rickshaw – have haggled over the price but pity the rickshaw wallas’ condition.
• You glare at people who call Gol-Guppas- Pani Puri!
• And you always ask the vendor "Bhaiya yeh Gol-Guppe Aate ki hai ya Sooji ke?"
• If in school, your conty (short for ‘contributory party’) got busted by cops, teachers or a combination of both.
• You’ve had school cancelled due to cold, summer vacations postponed due to heat and have at least thrice evacuated your school building after tremors.
• You’ve hit 120 kmph at Nelson Mandela Marg. And after crossing it, you might end up saying "FEEL AA GAYEE".
• You have been to a wedding in a Mehrauli/ Chhatarpur farmhouse.
• You have taken the 10 rupee Call Center cab/ Qualis from anywhere to Gurgaon/Noida.
• Almost every Delhite understands Punjabi to an extent. May he belong to any region, PUNJABI unites everyone.
• You call the waiter in the restaurant "boss" & tack on "yaar"/ "bhai" to almost every sentence.
• Rajender Da Dhaba got better chicken than Taj. You’ve at least tried it once! And you just might see a BMW, a Porsche OR a Peugeot parked outside it!

Quote goes like -

No matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a cup of coffee with a friend.

And the story goes like -

"When things in your life seem almost too much to handle. When 24 Hours in a day is not enough, remember the story of the empty jar and 2 cups of coffee.”

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, If the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.

He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.

He then asked The students again If the jar was full.. 

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full. 

The students responded with an unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents Into the jar, effectively filling the Empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

‘Now,’ said the professor, As the laughter subsided,

‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things – God, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.
The sand is everything else — the small stuff.’

‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ He continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. So…

Pay attention to the things That are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
Take care of the golf balls first — The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.’

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.

‘I’m glad you asked’.

NEVER CRY FOR ANY RELATION IN LIFE

BECAUSE FOR THE ONE WHOM YOU CRY

DOES NOT DESERVE YOUR TEARS

AND THE ONE WHO DESERVES

WILL NEVER LET YOU CRY

***

TREAT EVERYONE WITH POLITENESS

EVEN THOSE WHO ARE RUDE TO YOU,

NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT NICE

BUT BECAUSE YOU ARE NICE

***

NEVER SEARCH YOUR HAPPINESS

IN OTHERS

WHICH WILL MAKE YOU

FEEL ALONE,

RATHER SEARCH IT IN YOURSELF

YOU WILL FEEL HAPPY

EVEN IF YOU ARE LEFT ALONE

***

ALWAYS HAVE

A POSITIVE ATTITUDE IN LIFE.

***

THERE IS SOMETHING POSITIVE

IN EVERY PERSON.

EVEN A STOPPED WATCH IS RIGHT

TWICE A DAY

***

HAPPINESS ALWAYS LOOKS SMALL

WHEN WE HOLD IT IN OUR HANDS.

BUT WHEN WE LEARN TO

SHARE IT,

WE REALIZE HOW BIG AND PRECIOUS IT IS!

Thank you, Manoj

A forward but thought provoking -

It is August. In a small town on the South Coast of France, holiday season is in full swing, but it is raining so there is not too much business happening. Everyone is heavily in debt.

Luckily, a rich Russian tourist arrives in the foyer of the small local hotel. He asks for a room and puts a Euro100 note on the reception counter, takes a key and goes to inspect the room located up the stairs on the third floor.

The hotel owner takes the banknote in hurry and rushes to his meat supplier to whom he owes E100.
The butcher takes the money and races to his supplier to pay his debt.
The wholesaler rushes to the farmer to pay E100 for pigs he purchased some time ago.
The farmer triumphantly gives the E100 note to a local prostitute who gave him her services on credit.
The prostitute goes quickly to the hotel, as she owed the hotel for her hourly room use to entertain clients.
At that moment, the rich Russian is coming down to reception and informs the hotel owner that the proposed room is unsatisfactory and takes his E100 back and departs.

There was no profit or income. But everyone no longer has any debt and the small town people look optimistically towards their future.

COULD THIS BE THE SOLUTION TO THE Global Financial Crisis? Or, is there a catch here?

PS: It isn’t  a new solution but something which has been in play for centuries. The only difference in game at this stage is that the owners of game have changed and new owners aren’t ready to play by old rules but old owners are equally adamant. Someone will have to continue the game.

A forward that I received last week and appeared quite true for most of the Software Professionals, if not worldwide, at least for Indian IT Service Industry Professionals.

There was a contest in a company to write a fictional story for 500 words max which would start with the line "On a dark and foggy night, a small figure lay huddled on the railway tracks leading to the Bangalore station". This is what a guy wrote for the contest and surprisingly, it was adjudged the best short story )

On a dark and foggy night, a small figure lay huddled on the railway tracks leading to the Bangalore station. At once I was held back to see someone in that position during midnight with no one around. With curiosity taking the front seat, I went near the body and tried to investigate it. There was blood all over the body which was lying face down. It seemed that a ruthless blow by the last train could have caused the end of this body which seemed to be that of a guy of around my age. Amidst the gory blood flow, I could see a folded white envelope which was fluttering in the midnight wind. Carefully I took the blood stained envelope and was surprised to see the phrase "appraisal letter" on it. With curiosity rising every moment, I wasted no time in opening the envelope to see if I can find some details about the dead guy. The tag around the body’s neck and the jazzy appraisal cover gave me the hint that he might be a software engineer. I opened the envelope to find a shining paper on which the appraisal details where typed in flying colors. Thunders broke into my ears and lightening struck my heart when I saw the appraisal amount of the dead guy!!!!! My God, it was not even, as much as the cost of the letter on which the appraisal details were printed…. My heart poured out for the guy and huge calls were heard inside my mind saying "no wonder, this guy died such a miserable death"… As a fellow worker in the same industry, I thought I should mourn for him for the sake of respect and stood there with a heavy heart thinking of the shock that he would have experienced when his manager had placed the appraisal letter in his hand. I am sure his heart would have stopped and eyes would have gone blank for few seconds looking at the near to nothing increment in his salary.