Experience teaches the Essence of Life…

Here is a conversation I have framed between a mother and her child and this is particularly directed to those parents who care for their infant children excessively…

When it started raining outside dear mother, you said, “Don’t go out dear, if you get drenched in the rain, you will catch cold”. I followed your words mother, but I never knew how the touch of a cool rain droplet felt like…

When the southern breeze blew through the window dear mother, you said, “Close the window panes dear, dust will settle on your throat and cough will bother you”. I followed your words mother, but I never knew how it felt when the moisture in the wind caresses the cheeks…

On the first day of my summer vacation dear mother, you said, “Stay indoors dear, the hot sun rays will burn your skin”. I followed your words mother, but I never knew how the warmth of a sun ray feels like…

When I was about to lay hands on the novel beside my pillow dear mother, you said, “Sleep dear, if you go on reading till late night, your eyes will strain and your sight gets shorter”. I followed your words mother, but I never experienced the thrill in finishing an interesting novel within a short period…

As long as I was in your lap, it was like heaven my dear mother but as I grew up, one fine day, you stopped suddenly and told me to go ahead and face the outside World on my own. But mother; the path in front is full of storms, full of heat, full of heavy wind and full of stresses and strains.

The child starts questioning now:

You never allowed me to know the rain mother, now how do you think I can face storms?”

You never allowed me to know the warmth of a sun ray mother, now how do you think I can face the heat?

You never allowed me to know the touch of gentle breeze mother, now how do you think I can face the heavy wind?

You never allowed me to strain my eyes for a few minutes mother, now how do you think I can face the bigger stresses and strains of life?

The mother gets tears, hugs her child, plants a kiss on the forehead and says, “Yes dear, I should have given you one chance to know the minimum basic realities of life which would have given you confidence to boldly face the World today…

Few kind words heal a tired heart…

Here is an experience of mine which is quite lengthy and I could have easily trimmed it and made it short but I feel it is worth sharing every bit of it with all my readers…

Well, my dear reader, please read it only at your leisure...

On a hot summer evening, I sat relaxed, having a sip of orange juice and reading the newspaper. Just as the clock ticked 6:30pm, the door bell rang. As I was alone at home, I stepped forward and opened the door; a young salesman stood right in front of the door. He had a huge bag hanging down his shoulders and was fully drenched in sweat.

“A very good evening to you sir, this is Siddharth from the company ‘X’, your good name please”. Saying so he offered me a shake hand; “Well hi, I’m Sai Charan”, we shook hands. “Sir, I have a very special product waiting for you“. He immediately put his hands in the bag and pulled out a box. He put the box in my hands and said, “Take a look at it sir, I will explain you the features”.

I interrupted, “Man, this is a mixer grinder, my mom does the cooking work, she just went out, go round the other flats and come back later”. He continued, “A brand new design, new technology with special multi-blade arrangement…” I took it over from him, “Stop it right now, it’s no use explaining it to me, my mom is the kitchen in charge, she will look into all these kind of stuff. But I’m afraid you can’t be lucky here as we always go for established brands and products from recognized companies”.

He calmed down, “OK, you need not buy, it’s enough if you people just know it; I will wait till your mother returns back”. After a small gap, he spoke again, but this time his voice trembled, “Sir, can I have a glass of water please, just one good glass of water”. I looked at him, my goodness he is crying, tears started rolling down his cheeks.

I stepped forward, put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Leave your shoes outside and come in”. I then made him sit right underneath the fan and brought him a glass of water along with a glass of the same orange juice I was having. He drank the water as his sweat slowly started to dry. But he refused to take the juice, I said, “Give me company, I’m having the same”; I showed him my glass.

After few minutes, he looked much better, I went on to ask, “Don’t I look like a person who can give you at least one good glass of water? What made tears roll in your eyes?”. He spoke silently, “I had a very bad day today, I couldn't sell even one product and I’m getting severe pain in my stomach as I skipped both my breakfast and lunch to cover more houses but luck is just not on my way. I got vexed up doing this job, but it is the only source I have to get my bread and butter."

I went in and brought him some biscuits in a tray. “It’s not right to roam around in hot sun without taking food, do you think a hungry man can convince or sell anything?” He spoke out, “I’m giving you a lot of trouble, why do you offer biscuits to just a passing salesman?” “Now, stay at peace, loosen your tie and remove that tag of yours, look, you were not born a salesman, right now, I can only see a tired soul in you, not a salesman”.

After ten minutes, he stood up from the chair “I take your leave dear Charan, it was pleasure meeting a person like you, you know wherever I go, everyone slam their doors right on my face but I feel proud, you treated me not like a dog, but a human”. I asked him, “But, I believe, you wanted to explain something to my mother, she may be here any minute”.

He laughed as he said, “Forget about this my friend, I will never sell it to people like you, it’s not a good product, there are a lot of customer complaints on this one, even I don’t like it myself but unfortunately, I have been into advertising this one right from its launch”.

I shook hands with him again, “OK, take care then, maybe I will find you with a different product the next time, you look really fresh now, a few refreshments changed you, be cautious, don’t think of skipping meals next time, you may even faint, it’ll put you down”.

“No, it’s not the refreshments you gave which worked for me but those few kind words you spoke yes they healed my tired heart, they poured into me a new lease of life, I’ll not go home just yet, I will try my luck a few more hours, I feel confident now. Today I'm with company "X" and tomorrow I may be with company "Y" but I will not forget you, I’ll visit you every time I pass through this place, not to tell you about a product but to see your smile and say a “Hi” to you. Saying so, he walked away waving his hand to me.

Really, a few good and kind words can heal a tired heart… leaving a big bundle of joy to cherish for rest of the day…

My First Blogger Award :)

Margaret gave me this "I Love your Blog" award. Thanks a million Margaret for choosing me as one of the recipients of this prestigious award.

Right from the day I started this blog, you have always extended your support and encouragement with your kind and ever inspiring words. You were my first blogger friend, you were the first follower of this blog and now it's my pleasure to receive my first blogger award from you for Beyond Barriers...

Keep writing more and more poems and continue this good work of encouraging new bloggers by guiding them like a teacher with your inspiring words.

Now for the rules:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs (Only if you like).
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blog.

I'd like to nominate:

R.Ramesh because his writings are out of ordinary and makes the reader laugh his heart out. He is a famous blogger and has received many prestigious awards but this one is just a token of friendship from my side.

Magenta Fire because she shares quite interesting writings and tips on pets like horses, dogs, etc and also shares fascinating photographs, excellent recipes and writes remarkable poems on nature's beauty, seasonal changes, etc.

Sandhya because she shares thought provoking news articles, experiences at popular musical events, tasty and excellent recipes, cooking tips and tricks, nice movie reviews, pilgrimage visits, etc.

Soul Searcher because he writes about his experiences which are quite attention-grabbing and at the end, after narrating the experience to the readers, he derives very clear and useful morals out of them.

Onkar because he has that smart technique of handling even complex topics with utmost ease and also writes excellent poems. Every message he puts across the table is strong and appealing.

I also take this as an opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all the readers of this blog and special thanks to those who leave their signatures on my posts in the form of comments and opinions.

Thank You...

Uncontrollable Laughing…

One of my best friends from high school has this gift of laughing continuously, without a gap. Whatever may be the reason, however simple the joke might be, he just laughs out loud.

Once when we were in sixth standard, during a mathematics class, when the teacher was busy solving a problem on the black board, there was a tiny joke cracked in the back benches. The joke soon spread to the whole class. This friend of mine, who was sitting beside me, started laughing loudly, uncontrollably and in full volume of his throat.

The teacher turned back, came running towards our bench and gave him a tight slap and told him to get out of the class. The slap was so hard that his face turned red and one could clearly spot four big finger marks on his fair cheek. After the class, I went in search of him; I expected him to be sad and guilty and prepared myself to comfort him.

Just then, I heard loud laughing, so loud that the person who was laughing might have definitely heard the best joke of this millennium or the joke of a lifetime. I turned round the corridor and found a group of students. Among them, I spotted this same old friend of mine, who was again into loud uncontrollable laughing. It was a nice move that he managed to not only forget the pain of the slap but he got himself into happy mood again.

Laughing is considered to be the best exercise for both the heart and the brain. Once you start to smile and laugh, there is joy coming from your heart, which is the most effective way to supply oxygen to the brain.

Laughter, along with a healthy sense of humor is good for our heart. Yes, it is definitely the best medicine to our body and a regular, hearty laughter should be added to the list of our daily activities.

So friends, the next time you hear a funny joke, just go ahead to fully flex your facial muscles by laughing out loud uncontrollably...