Encourage and inspire others

In Crown Heights, there was a Jewish man named Yankel, who owned a bakery. He survived the concentration camps, and always said, "You know why it is that I’m alive today?"

"I was a kid, just a teenager at the time. We were on the train being taken to Auschwitz. Night came and it was deathly cold in that boxcar. The Germans would leave the cars on the side of the tracks overnight, sometimes for days on end without any food, and no blankets to keep us warm," he said.

"Sitting next to me was this beloved elderly Jewish man from my hometown. He was shivering from head to toe, and looked terrible. So I wrapped my arms around him to warm him up. I rubbed his arms, his legs, his face, his neck. I begged him to hang on. All night long, I kept the man warm this way.

"I was tired, and freezing cold myself. My fingers were numb, but I didn’t stop rubbing heat into that old man’s body. Hours and hours went by until finally, morning came and the sun began to shine. When there was some light in the boxcar, I looked around to see the other people. To my horror, all I could see were frozen bodies. All I could hear was deathly silence.

"Nobody else in that cabin made it through the night. They died from the cold. Only two people survived: the old man and me. The old man survived because somebody kept him warm...and I survived because I was warming someone else.

"Can I tell you the secret to survival in this world? When you warm other people’s hearts, you remain warm yourself. When you seek to support, encourage and inspire others, then you discover support, encouragement and inspiration in your own life as well. That is the secret to life."

Don’t ever forget it

A popular speaker started off a seminar by holding up a Re 100 note.  A crowd of 200 had gathered to hear him speak. He asked, “Who would like this 100 rupees note?”

200 hands went up.

He said, “I am going to give this to one of you but first, let me do this.” He crumpled the note.

He then asked, “Who still wants it?”

All 200 hands were still raised.

“Well,” he replied, “What if I do this?” Then he dropped the note on the ground and stomped on it with his shoes.

He picked it up, and showed it to the crowd. The note was all crumpled and dirty.

“Now who still wants it?”

All the hands still went up.

“My friends, I have just shown you a very important lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth Rs 100. 

Many times in our lives, life crumples us and grinds us into the dirt. We make bad decisions or deal with poor circumstances. We feel worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special – Don’t ever forget it!

#workfromhome

Should the Corporates Invade our Homes?

A youngster was attending a video conference with his Manager who was upset over the background noises. The Youngster turned around and told his grandmother to keep quiet. 

She walked towards the youngster, to take a look into what he was doing and saw a person on the Monitor and asked, “Who is he?”

The youngster muted his audio and video and said, “He is my Manager”.

She said, “I want to talk to your Manager”. But the youngster denied. By the time the Manager started pinging the youngster and the youngster unmuted to talk and his grandmother shouted, “Manager I want to talk to you".

The Manager agreed and the youngster unmuted the video. The grandmother, with a smile said, “Vanakkam” and introduced herself and the Manager also greeted her.

She said, “You look upset”. 

The Manager said, “Yeah, some kind of work tension, a lot of noise around your house and we are not able to complete the meeting in time”.

The Grand Mother asked, “May I help solve your problem?”

Her grandson was stopping her and telling her to keep quiet.

The Manager said, “It’s ok, let her speak”.

The Grandmother narrated, “Once there was a Young man, who sat under a tree for taking rest. He was continuously hearing a bird’s sound. He lifted his head and seeing a bird, started chasing it, so that he could peacefully take some rest. The bird came closer to him and said, “You are taking rest under my nest. I will not ask you to leave this place but you should learn to co-exist with us”.

The Grandmother looked at both of them and said, “Your Home is your nest” where you are supposed to take rest and bond with your dear and near ones. I do understand the Covid-19 situation, but you should also understand that our home is not your office. 

*When we come to visit our family members at your office place, we are expected to behave professionally or maintain a certain decorum.*

Similarly, when you are using our home for your office work, you should understand the situation at our home.

There is nothing wrong with working from home, but remember, it is the family members benevolent nature, that is keeping the corporate world functioning today and the economy running.

She looked at the manager and asked, “Am I correct ?”

*The Manager’s mother peeped and said "You are absolutely right”.*