Words for Life

Came across this beautiful story while browsing. Couldn't stop sharing...


A young man asked Socrates the secret to success. Socrates told the young man to meet him near the river next morning. They met. Socrates asked the young man to walk with him towards the river. When the water got up to their neck, Socrates took the young man by surprise and ducked him into the water. The boy struggled to get out but Socrates was strong and kept him there until the boy started turning blue. Socrates pulled his head out of the water and the first thing the young man did was to gasp and take a deep breathe of air. Socrates asked, 'What did you want the most when you were there?'.The boy replied "Air." Socrates said, "This is the secret to success. When you want success as badly as you wanted the air, then you will get it". There is no other secret.

A burning desire is the starting point of all accomplishment.

Just like a small  fire cannot give much heat, a weak desire cannot produce great results... 

Does RTI mean anything to him ?

Ask any of the students ,faculty,staff or alumni , Tikka is one of the most prominent places in IIT , Kharagpur.......... 

           There is a sense of antiquity to the famous eatery on the campus.Dosa is still available at Rs.20 a piece and bhada chai costs an exiguous Rs.7 . Life is slow-paced in West Bengal , slower in Kharagpur and quite close to standstill in that old,ram-shackle shop at TIKKA . The wooden benches have weathered all heat and rain for years.The plastic chairs have broken but they continue to exist at the very same place.A Kendriya Vidyalaya stands on the IIT campus just  opposite to TIKKA.

            Mornings at TIKKA can be an eerie juxtaposition of three parallel worlds. Faculty members of the prestigious institute can be seen reading newspaper while sipping tea.They discuss their homes ,departments, head of  departments , the institute ad the nation.On the table a bit far away,are students ,on their way to classes or on their way back from the Tata sports Complex after a morning session of football,enjoying puri sabzi  and rasagullas.They talk about their halls , GC's(general champions) ,fests,mass bunks and so on. The second world belongs to students of the kendriya vidyalaya.Girls in their blue and white uniforms,their hair well-oiled , combed and exhibiting an assortment of multi-coloured ribbons,riding bicycle to school.

               Come back to TIKKA to find the third world. A young body in ragged clothes ,tattered slippers and unkempt hair holds four glasses of bada chai in each of his hands.All except the little finger inside the glasses at a slender distance away from the hot tea,which bubbles and probably touches those fingers and gets soiled on the way to the table of the faculty.The little finger is in the perpendicular direction ,quite poignantly,pointing to the kendriya vidyalaya.The tea glasses,all four touching one another at the center and slanting away from one another at the other end . Ask this kid ,  representing the metaphorical and actual Third world - a term coined by Alfred Sauvy , a member of the First World -   about the Right To Education Act 2009 and , I bet, he will be speechless............    

Indirect Guidance - Zen

A gem of a story from Anand Zen

It happened in Upanishadic days that one young boy ,Svetaketu , was sent by his father to Gurukul , to a family of an enlightened master ,to learn . He learned every thing that could be learned , he memorized all the vedas and science that is available in those days.He became proficient in them, he became a great scholar, his fame started spreading all over the country.Then , there was nothing else to be taught , so the master said,"you have learnt all that can be taught.Now u can go home".

Thinking that he has learnt everything and there is nothing left , Since the master has taught him every thing he knows- Svetaketu went home.Of course , with great pride and ego , he came back to his father . When he was entering the village , his father , uddalak,looked out in the window at his son coming  back from the University.He saw the way he was walking - very proudly,the way he was holding his head- in a very egoistic way , the way he was looking all around-very self-conscious that he knew.

The father became sad and depressed , because this is not the way  of one  who really knows, this is not the way of one who has come to know the supreme knowledge.The son entered the house , he was thinking that his father would be very happy - he has become one of the suprememost  scholars of the country,he was known everywhere , respected every where , but he saw that the father was sad,so he asked ,"why are u sad"

The father asked, " Only one question I have to ask u.Have u learned that by learning which there is no need to learn  anything any more?Have u known that by learning which all suffering ceases?Have u been taught which cannot be taught?"

The boy also became sad.And said, "no,whatsoever I have know has been taught to me,and  I can teach it to anyone who is ready to learn." 

The father said,"Then u go back and ask ur master that u be taught that which cannot be taught".

The boy said,"But , that is absurd.If it cannot be taught,how can the master teach me"

The father said,"That is the art of master , he can teach u that cannot be taught.You go back".

He went back .Bowing down his master's feet, he said,"My father has sent me for an absolutely absurd thing .Noe I don't know where I am and what I am asking u.My father has told me to come back only when I have been taught that which cannot be taught.What is it?Is there anything like that?You never told me about it."

The master said, "Unless one inquires ,that cannot be told,u never inquired about it .But now u r starting a totally different journey.And remember,it cannot be taught,so it is very delicate, only indirectly will I help u.Do one thing , take all the animals of my Gurukul -there were at least 400 cows,bulls and other animals- and go to the deepest forest possible where nobody ever comes and moves .Live with these animals in silence.Don't talk , because these animals cannot understand any language.So remain silent, and when just by reproduction these 400 animals turn into 1000,then come back.

It was going to be a long time- until 400 animals turn into 1000 .And he was to go with out saying anything,without arguing,without asking,"what are u telling me to do?Where will it lead?" He was to just live with animals and trees , not talking and forgetting the human world completely.Because ur mind is a human creation,if u live with human beings the mind is continuously fed.They say something, u say something - the mind goes on learning , it goes on revolving.

"So, go" , the master said,"to the hills,to the forest.Live alone.Don't talk.And there is no use of thinking, because these animals won't  understand even if u r thinking.Drop all ur scholarship here.

Svetaketu followed.He went to the forest and lived with the animals for many years.For a few days , thoughts remained in his mind - the same thoughts repeating themselves again and again.Then it became boring.

If new thoughts are not felt , then u will become aware that the mind is just repetitive,just a mechanical repetition, it goes on in a rut.And there was no way to get new knowledge.With new knowledge the mind is always happy,because there is again something to grind,something again to work out,the mechanism goes on moving. 

Svetaketu became aware.There were 400 animals , birds,other wild animals , trees,rocks,rivers,streams, but no man and no possibility of any human communication.There was no use in being egoistic,because these animals didn't know what type of great scholar this svetaketu was.They didn't consider him at all,they didn't  look at him with respect, so by and by the pride disappeared , because it was futile and it even looked foolish to walk in a prideful way with the animals. 

Even , Svetaketu started feeling,"If I remain egoistic , these animals will laugh at me- so what am I doing?"Sitting under the trees,sleeping near the streams,by and by his mind became silent.The story is beautiful ,years passed and his mind became so silent that he completely forgot when he had to return.He became so silent that even this idea was not there.The past dropped completely, with the dropping of the past  the future drops,because the future this nothing but a projection of past- just the past reaching the future.

So, he forgot what the master had said and when to return.There was no when and where,he was just here and now.He lived in the moment just like the animals, he became a cow.The story says that when the animals became 1000,they started felling uncomfortable.There were waiting for Svetaketu to take them back to the ashram and he had forgotten, so one day the cows decided to speak to Svetaketu and said,   "Now It's time to remember what the master had said- u must come back when the animals became 1000, and u have completely forgotten.Now it's time to go back..We have become 1000."

So, Svetaketi went back with the animals.The master looked from the door of his hut at Svetaketu coming with 1000 animals and he said to his other disciples,"Look , 1001 animals are coming",Svetaketu had become such a silent being-no ego, no self-consciousness , just moving with animals as one among them.

The master came to receive him.The master was dancing,ecstatic.He embraced Svetaketu and said,"Now there is nothing to say to you- you have already known.Why have u come?There is no need to come now,there is no need to be taught.You have already known."

Svetaketu said,"Just to pay my respects,just to touch ur feet,just to be grateful.It has happened and u have  taught me which cannot be taught."

This is what a master is to do: Create a situation in which the things happen.So only indirect effort can be made,indirect help,indirect guidance.And where ever direct guidance is given,where ever ur mind is taught,it is not religion .It may be theology but not religion, it may be philosophy  , but not religion.  

Eyes see the world,Mind see the eyes,The inner soul  perceives the working of the mind............

One of the greatest stories from the  scriptures............

Cup Of Coffee From / To The Wall

It's a real and a great story that has been told to me by a friend of mine.............

I sat with my friend in a in a well-known coffee shop in a neighboring town .As we enjoyed our coffee, a man entered and sat on empty table beside us.He called the waiter and  placed his order saying , "Two cups Of Coffee, One of them on the wall ". We heard this order with rather interest and observed that he was served with one cup of coffee but he paid for two. As soon as he left, waiter pasted a piece of paper on the wall saying , " One Cup Of Coffee"While we were still there, two other men came and ordered three cups of coffee,two on the table and one on the wall.They had two cups of coffee.but paid for two and left.This time also waiter did the same , he pasted a piece of paper on the wall saying, " A Cup Of Coffee".

It seemed that this type of gesture was a norm at this place.However it was some what unique and perplexing for us.Since we had nothing to do with the matter , we finished our coffee , paid the bill and left.After a few days,we again had a chance to go to this coffee shop.While we were enjoying our coffee, a man entered.The way this man was dressed doesn't match the standard nor the atmosphere of the coffee shop .Poverty was evident from the looks of his face.As he seated himself , he looked at the wall and said , "one cup of coffee from the wall " .The waiter served to this man with the customary respect and dignity. The man had his coffee and left without paying.We were amazed to watch this when the waiter took off a piece of paper from the wall and threw it in the dustbin.Now it was no surprise for us -The matter was very clear .The great respect for the needy shown by the inhabitants of this town welled up our eyes with tears.

Coffee is not a need of our society neither a necessity of life for us.The point to note is that when we take pleasure in blessing. may be we also need to think about those people who appreciate that specific blessing  as much as we do but they cannot afford to have it.Note the character  of this waiter ,who is playing a consistent and generous role to get the communication going between the affording and the needy with a smile on his face.Ponder upon this man in need....... he enters the coffee shop without having to lower his self-esteem........ he has  no need for a free cup of coffee..... without asking or knowing about  the one who is giving this cup of coffee to him......... he only looked at the wall ,placed an order himself , enjoyed  his coffee and left.When we analyse this story , along with other characters , we need to remember the role played by the wall that reflects the generosity and care of the dwellers of this town.

                       How about ur town?Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a cup of coffee for the needy in ur town also...............