Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Thursday, September 24, 2009

What is Empathy?

Here is a story. ponderover.My wife called, 'How long will you be with that newspaper? Will you come here & make your darling daughter eat her food?'I tossed the paper away & rushed to the scene. My only daughter, Sindu, looked frightened; tears were welling up in her eyes. In front of her was a bowl filled to its brim with curd rice.Sindu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age.I cleared my throat & picked up the bowl. 'Sindu darling, why don't you take a few mouthful of this curd rice? Just for Dad's sake dear. Sindu softened a bit & wiped her tears with the back of her hands. 'Ok, Dad.. I will eat - not just a few mouthfuls, but the whole lot of this. But, you should...' Sindu hesitated. 'Dad, if I eat this entire curd rice, will you give me whatever I ask for?' 'Promise'. I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with mine, & clinched the deal. Now I became a bit anxious.'Sindu, dear, you shouldn't insist on getting a computer or any such expensive items. Dad does not have that kind of money right now. Ok?''No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive'. Slowly & painfully, she finished eating the whole quantity. I was silently angry with my wife & my mother for forcing my child to eat something that she detested. After the ordeal was through, Sindu came to me with her eyes wide with . All our attention was on her. 'Dad, I want to have my head shaved off, this Sunday!' was her demand.'Atrocious!' shouted my wife, 'A girl child having her head shaved off?Impossible!' 'Never in our family!' My mother rasped. 'She has been watching too much of TV. Our culture is getting totally spoiled with this TV programs!''Sindu, darling, why don't you ask for something else? We'll be sad seeing you with a clean-shaven head.' 'Please, Sindu, why don't you try to>understand our feelings?' I tried to plead with her.'Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice'. Sindu was in tears. '& you promised to grant me whatever I ask for. Now, you are going back on your words. Was it not you who told me the story of King Harishchandra, its moral that we should honor our promises no matter what?' It was time for me to call the shots. 'Our promise must be kept.' 'Are you out of your mind?' chorused my mother & wife. 'No. If we go back on our promises, she will never learn to honour her own. Sindu, your wish will be fulfilled.'With her head clean-shaven, Sindu had a round-face & her eyes looked big &beautiful.On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school. It was a sight to watch myhairless Sindu walking towards her classroom. She turned around & waved.I waved back with a smile. Just then, a boy alighted from a car & shouted,'Sinduja, please wait for me!'What struck me was the hairless head of that boy. 'May be, that is thein-stuff', I thought.'Sir, your daughter Sinduja is great indeed!' Without introducing herself, a lady got out of the car, & continued, 'that boy who is walking along with your daughter is my son Harish. He is suffering from... leukemia'. She paused to muffle her sobs. 'Harish could not attend the school for the whole of the last month. He lost all his hair due to the side effects of the chemotherapy. He refused to come back to school fearing the unintentional but cruel teasing of the schoolmates. Sinduja visited him last week & promised him that she will take care of the teasing issue.But, I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my son! Sir, you & your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as your daughter..' I stood transfixed & then, I wept. 'My little Angel, you are teaching me how selfless real love is!'"The happiest people are not those who live on their own terms....but are those who change their terms for the ones whom they love"
Ajith kumar Chelote

Saturday, September 19, 2009

The Key to Happiness.

Here a small story send by my friend Latha.Ponder over it."When I was a little girl, my momused to make dinner every night. And I remember one night in particular when she had madedinner after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and extremely burned toast in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his toast, smile at my mom, and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that toast and eat every bite!When I got Up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad For burning the toast. And I'll never forget what he said: 'Baby, I love burned toast.'Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if He really liked his toast burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, 'Debbie, your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides-a little burnt toast never hurt anyone!' You know, life is full of imperfect things.....and imperfect people. I'm not the best housekeeper or cook.What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each other's differences - is the one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of GOD. Because in the end, He's the onlyone who will be able to give you a relationship where burnt toast isn't a deal-breaker! We could extend this to any relationship in fact - as understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!! " "Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket but into your own."" Sometimes, we miss the things that we really want....for they are just...what we have been having all along"..

Ajith kumar Chelote