Inspirational and Motivational short stories #3

This is a collection of inspiring and motivational short stories which I have posted on my Facebook page. Every story gives a distinctly positive message. Enjoy reading the volume #3 of this collection.

1.

According to a survey conducted recently by a leading recruitment agency, the starting salary of an Electrician is more than the starting salary of an Engineer. Moreover, because of similar increments in their respective salary structures, an Electrician earns much more than an Engineer after say 5 or 8 years of service.

Following could be the probable reasons for this anomaly.

• There have been abnormal increase in the number of private Engineering Colleges all over India in the last two three decades, which increased the supply much more than the demand.
• The quality of education has steadily dropped over the years. Now only the premium institutes provide quality education, while others just provide degrees.
• There is an unnoticed increasing scarcity for trade technicians like Electricians, Plumbers, and Fitters etc. Naturally, their demand rises and so do their salaries.
• An average Technician is more hard working than an average Engineer.

My sincere apologies, if any Engineer is hurt by these findings. I am an Engineer myself…! 

2.

Every time an Indian excels in any field outside India, it is a moment of pride for all Indians. Our country has celebrated many such moments all through the history, with many names being added to this illustrious list in the last two-three decades. 

Recently, one more name was added to this list – Antara Haldar. She is the FIRST non-European lecturer of Law at the University of Cambridge. With this, not only has she won laurels for herself, but also for the country.

Looks like India is now poised for a significant contribution on various fronts in the global arena …!

3.

How often do we find well-educated people occupying senior positions in the government spending time for social work without any remuneration? Well, rarely. Because it requires a strong will and courage of conviction to serve our society. And when someone does it, he or she instantly stands out among the crowd.

There is no better example than Aradhana Patnaik, the HRD secretary in Jharkhand government, to prove this point. She is an IAS officer who is also an Engineer. During her regular inspection duty in various government schools, she observed that the students faced various difficulties including lack of teachers, lack of proper guidance etc. She found that with a little effort from her side, she could make some difference.

Therefore, to overcome these challenges to some extent, she started taking classes every time she went for any inspection. She is happy to see that these random classes are actually helping the children to understand basic concepts of Mathematics. She is now urging all retired government officials and academicians to come forward voluntarily for this noble cause.

After all, ‘Vidya-Daan’ ranks very high among all types of Daan.

4.

In a rare gesture of courage and altruism, Akash, Sayali and Jui, the three children of late Hemant Karkare and Kavita Karkare have shown to the world, how one can be useful to the society even after death.

Hemant Karkare laid down his life while protecting the lives of citizens of Mumbai on 26 November 2008, when terrorists had gone on a rampage, causing one of the biggest mayhems in the history of Mumbai.

Recently, Kavita Karkare died due to a brain hemorrhage. And she too, like her husband, saved the life of some unknown people while dying.

In an exemplary behavior, her three children decided to donate her vital organs to the needy patients. Accordingly, her one Kidney was donated to a 48-year-old person, who was on Dialysis for last 10 years. Her second Kidney was donated to a 59-year-old patient, who was waiting for a Kidney for last 7 years. Her Liver was donated to a 49-year-old person who was battling for his life for a Liver transplant for last 2 years.

The entire Karkare family is worthy of sincere appreciation and respect from everyone.

5.

Recently, in one of the interviews, Akshay Kumar mentioned that he no longer visits the Vaishno Devi temple, though he continues to be a staunch bhakt of Mata Vaishno Devi, and had visited the temple many times before.

The reason he cites for this decision is that, his travel cost including lodging and boarding, along with his bodyguards for the entire journey comes to around Rs. 2.5 Lakhs.

So, whenever he thinks of visiting Vaishno Devi temple now, he just closes his eyes, thinks about the deity and then donates this amount to a charitable trust. He says that this way, the money is utilized in a better way than actually spending it for the journey.

Is he right in doing so? Would he still get the same blessings from Mata Vaishno Devi? Or more, or less?

Well, this is a very personal matter pertaining to religious faith, and opinions are very likely to differ from person to person.  

6.

We often see the celebrities basking in glory after their success, but we know little about the sacrifices they make on the way to that success.

Recently, Sardara Singh led the Indian Hockey team to a stunning victory in the finals of the Asian Games, winning a Gold medal in Hockey for India after 16 years. Incidentally, he was also the flag bearer for the Indian contingent in the opening ceremony held on 19^th September, proudly carrying the Indian flag across the stadium.

What many of us do not know is that his grandfather had passed away just 4 days before the opening ceremony. His family did not reveal the news to him, as he was highly attached to his grandfather, who always motivated and encouraged him to perform better with every tournament. They did not want this news to affect his performance in the game.

Another such celebrity who made big sacrifice was Shekhar Suman. In early 90s, he shot into fame with the hugely popular TV serial ‘Dekh Bhai Dekh’ on Doordarshan. At that time, his young son was suffering from Cancer and was hospitalized for many weeks before his untimely death. In those days, Shekhar Suman was caught in a dilemma, whether to further his career by hectic shooting schedules or spend time with his ailing son. And he regrets even today that he did not give enough time for his son.

Sachin Tendulkar also mentioned on his retirement day that because of his cricket tours for 24 years, he missed out on several special moments like his children’s birthdays, their school functions, appreciating their small achievements etc. These moments shall never come back ever.  

No wonder, sometimes being just a common man is a big blessing…which often we do not realize!

7.

Success is never permanent and failure is never fatal.

Therefore, whenever we see someone successful, we should draw inspiration from that, and appreciate the efforts gone into that success. Because, success usually comes with lot of hard work, proper planning and a bit of luck.

There was a period of almost 5 years in 1990s, when Kumar Shanu won all the male playback singer awards in all the Bollywood award functions, making all other singers irrelevant. Later, he had requested the judges not to nominate him, so that other singers too can get a chance to win awards and recognition.

There was a period in the last decade, when the Australian Cricket team won all the matches in all the tournaments, making all other countries’ teams of that period irrelevant.

Now we are witnessing a period, when Narendra Modi is singularly winning all the elections, making all other political parties irrelevant. The number of casualties because of his juggernaut is rising by the day. The prominent names in this illustrious list are Nitish Kumar, Uddhav Thakre, Rahul Gandhi and Sharad Pawar. 

We all know that this phenomenon too will have an end date, sooner or later.

But then, so long as it lasts, one should rise above the party ideologies and enjoy it…! We may not get another opportunity of seeing such stellar performance from another political leader in near future.

8.

For any employee working in a company, ‘recognition’ by the employer is the most precious gift. What could be a better way to show the recognition, which is based on loyalty, and which results in the company doling out Rs. 500 crores worth of gifts as Bonus to its staff for this Diwali?

Yes, it sounds unbelievable, but it is true.

Savjibhai Dholakiya, a Diamond exporter based in Surat has recently presented his loyal employees with Cars, homes and jewelry as Diwali Bonus.

The human resource is the most precious asset any company can have, and if the management is able to utilize this potentially limitless resource efficiently, then it can achieve great heights in its field. Unfortunately, not many companies understand this logic and in order to save a few pennies, they often forego pounds. In the bargain, not only the employee loses, but the company too loses to tap the employee’s enthusiasm, creativity and belongingness, which has the power to boost the work efficiency tremendously.

Dholakiya has undoubtedly set new benchmarks in the industry, in terms of rewarding the loyal employees.

His employees are surely going to have a very Happy Diwali…!

9.

In his autobiography to be released next week, Tendulkar mentions about the lean patch of his career, when as a captain, he was not successful for a prolonged period. During those days, he felt that he was already giving his 100% to the game and there was nothing extra that he could do to improve the situation. He even thought of QUITTING the game altogether…

This tells us five important points:

Even great and successful celebrities face momentary setbacks. Yet, they don’t lose their heart and continue to put in their best.

There is nothing wrong in failing. What is wrong is, not pulling ourselves up after every fall.

Many times, big victories await us after the toughest phases. One needs to manage these hard days.

In spite of our best efforts, results are never guaranteed. There is a bit of luck needed in every success.

Our true character is not seen by how we celebrate success. It is reflected in how we behave in failures.

10.

What is the similarity between SRK, Indra Nooyi, Indira Gandhi, Narendra Modi and Mahatma Gandhi?

Well … they all sleep for less than 4 hours a day.

It says many things about them.

All these personalities are/were highly successful in their respective fields. For them, work is worship. They worked for extra hours regularly to accomplish their goals.

Usually, many of us say that ‘we do not have sufficient time’ to do certain things. But these abovementioned people show us that by reducing our sleep, we can increase our productivity by at least 15 – 20% per day, by way of increased ‘available working hours’.

Time is the only resource, which is available in equal measure to all living beings. No one has less and no one has more. Not even a single minute.

Time is also something that can never be recovered, however rich or powerful we are. Once it is gone, it is gone.

Therefore, as we are witnessing the future convert itself into past, every second, right in front of us, let us strive to make use of the present very well. That takes care of everything else.

***

Coming soon … Volume #4