Have you ever experienced a moment in your life when you just ran out of words and you go…
                                        S i l e n t ???

Let me assist you in recalling…

…. the moment when you left your home for the first time and you look
back at your parents who are worried that their son/daughter are
leaving them yet happy that their child took the first step towards
independence.

….. the moment when the girl/boy you like most.. smiled back at you!
You don’t say anything.. you just smile back..

….. the moment when you get better marks than you expected… those
"numb" moments of ecstasy n surprise "is that true?"…

….. the moment when you are parting with your old friend(s) and the
train has just started… and you are standing on the door of the
wagon.. waving "bye-bye" with your heart beating fast…

… .. the moment after the HR manager has just called you and told you,
"You are through! Congrats!"

….. the moment when you sit alone in your room after having told
everyone that you cleared that exam you prepared for 6 months!!

You can go on remembering your "special" moments!

I had always wondered why I never said anything to myself at those
moments.. as if it was "understood"… happiness, joy, pain.. all
feelings just flowed ceaselessly in the ‘years’ that passed in those
flash moments!

They say.. the best way to communicate is through "silence".

Love. Joy. Grief. Surprise. Anger. Hope. Expectations. Support.
Non-cooperation…

Can you imagine the importance of a silent moment in a song??

When Bryan Adams stops for a while along with music, before he goes
on in his husky voice…
….. Please forgive me. I can’t stop loving you!

Ever had those moments when you thought you were tired enough that
you reach for your bed after dinner.. but find yourself wide awake
looking at the roof of your room silently…

But you sure are ‘thinking’… those moments of self-talk are the
most important in our lives. Those moments when we listen to our own
hearts! Those promises… those decisions… those are the moments
when we make our destinies!

Next time you go silent… listen carefully to what your heart is
saying.. listen to its joy…listen to its pain.. listen to its
fears.. listen to its desires..

and Be in touch with your true self…

If you don’t like movies with somewhat unbelievable premises justified by a dashing leading man, hilarious supporting characters, and tear-jerking moments that will make you cry , than stay away from P.S. I Love You. For all of you saps out there, prepare for a film that’s so surprisingly endearing, you’ll start wondering why you can’t have a husband who will love you enough to die young and then send you letters posthumously.

Based on the best-selling novel by Cecilia Ahern, P.S. I Love You is an uplifting ballad about love and loss. The film opens with Holly Kennedy (Hilary Swank) and her goofy Irish husband Gerry (Gerard Butler) fighting over a

seemingly innocuous comment Gerry made to Holly’s mother. Just when the couple realizes how much they need one another, the film cuts ahead several months to Gerry’s funeral, where Holly is absolutely devastated. Fortunately, during his battle with a brain tumor, Gerry composed a series of letters to be delivered to Holly after his death, each encouraging her to live her life, each ending with the phrase “P.S. I Love You.” As the letters pile up, Holly struggles with memories of her past as her two best friends Denise (Lisa Kudrow) and Sharon (Gina Gershon), and the shamelessly blunt bartender Daniel (Harry Connick Jr.), all struggle to get her to start anew.
P.S. I Love You is one of those painful films that makes you cry right off the bat, then lifts you up with some choice comedy (courtesy of Lisa Kudrow) only to slap you in the face with a heart-breaking flashback. But despite the extremely depressing subject matter, the film still emanates an aura of hope, which keeps it from sinking into Lifetime: Movie of the Week territory. Ultimately, the film serves to prove that annoying adage you hear after every break-up, “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.”

P.S. I Love You – Trailer

What’s most impressive about P.S. I Love You is that the actors managed to feel like real people, despite the script’s gimmicky premise. Borrowing some delivery tactics from her days as Phoebe Buffet, Lisa Kudrow will have single women everywhere exploding in laughter as she searches for a man who is single, straight, employed and knows how to kiss. Meanwhile, Gina Gershon shines as the more grounded best friend and Kathy Bates gives her standard powerful performance as Holly’s frosty mother. The true standout of the film though is Gerard Butler, which is pretty impressive considering he dies within the first ten minutes. Not only is he a gorgeous man with an accent who sings (try to compete with that boys), but he also has this amazing chemistry on screen that makes you crave him more and more after every scene.

Even though the depressing plotline is right up her alley, Hilary Swank makes a real departure from her typical Oscar winners here, drawing from her 90210 days as the waitress who won Steve’s heart and then lost it to bad ratings. Swank does best in scenes where she’s responding to her cast mates, but has trouble embracing the leading romantic female role. Meanwhile, Harry Connick Jr. does well enough with his brutal honesty but somehow doesn’t manage to make Daniel seem endearing enough to forgive his quirks. The biggest casting misstep is with singer Nellie McKay as Holly’s younger sister Ciara. Though it’s only a bit part, McKay is just too offbeat for the generally down-to-earth tone of the film and is painful to watch.
P.S. I Love You isn’t going to break the chick-flick barrier but it packs a powerful two hours into a concept that on face value seems pretty cliché and corny. P.S. don’t forget to check out the phenomenal soundtrack featuring the heart-wrenching song “Love you till the end” that will keep you in your state of blissful depression for days after seeing the film.

[audio:love you till the end.mp3]

I absolutely LOVED this movie. I went to see it alone and honestly I thought it was amazing. It made me realize that life is short…when you are so in love that you can’t imagine your life without the other person…. you must live each day to it’s fullest. Leave the petty stuff alone and enjoy every moment you have with the one God has blessed you with. I laughed, I cried, I felt like falling in love all over again…corny, but true .. but I don’t think that you should feel bad for leaving an honest review…everyone sees things differently.

It was quarter to one at night when I hit the door bell. My wife opened the door. She had been awake as usual. Waiting for me had become a daily routine for her. Unlike I expected, the house looked normal. I put my laptop on the recliner and went straight into my bedroom, freshened up and got busy with the book – "An autobiography of a yogi."

My wife came in with a piece of cake in her hand. "We waited for you till 9. But it was getting late and your parents pushed to carry on and finish", she said handing over that cake to me. Something stung me deeply for it was my daughter"s first birthday. I had almost forgotten that I had a daughter and a feeling of guilt told me that I did not deserve that piece of cake; it felt heavy when the first bite went down my throat.

"Karthik," she used to call me by name, "look at me", she said. I turned my gaze away from the book onto her face. I saw tears in her eyes. "Have I, in the last two years, ever asked you why you come home late every day? Have I ever asked you to take me out with you, even to the temple that you go alone every weekend? Have I ever told
you how it feels to attend family functions without you?" I turned back to the book. "Karthik, please look at me, will you? I need an answer today."

I always knew that I would have to face this sometime. "No, you wouldn"t understand even if I tell", I replied. "Really? What is it? Please tell me. I know that you agreed to our marriage only because you did not want to disappoint your parents. I know that I"m your wife only for the sake of it. But why should Gaargi suffer because of all this? Doesn"t she deserve to be called your daughter? What is her fault?" my wife asked with tears running down. She had never cried in front of me. I looked at my one year old daughter; Gaargi was special to me, for her name reminded me of a very special person in my life.

"Srishti, I am really very sorry. I don"t know how to tell all this and I"m not sure how you"ll take it. You are not my first love. I had never liked any girl in my life until I met a very nice person who, I decided, would not only be my first love but also the only love in my entire life", my eyes started to fill up, "I can never imagine my life without…" "Your mother told me. I know everything but I wanted you to tell", she interrupted. I wasn"t surprised; two years is a very long time for a secret to be kept in a family. It looked like
she wanted me to somehow raise this and then she started.

"Karthik, have I ever made you feel that I had been betrayed by someone who I thought would be the only person in my life?" Her question confused me for a moment, "Is she talking about me?" I asked myself. "He, not you, was the first man in my life and I too had dreamt that he will be the only one ever. But our relationship collapsed after 5 months of our engagement when I came to know that he was already married. My parents were more than broken when they found this out, for they were the ones who had found this person through some marriage bureau. I went into depression and had attempted suicide twice, but somehow survived. See, even God does not want me. So I decided to live on as life takes me, although I knew that I will not be able to forget
any bit of it."

It took some time for all this to sink in. I was perplexed.

"Karthik, I know that you too had given all the love of your life to her. I also know that she never reciprocated your love and that she was never ready to accept you as her man even though you were ready to sacrifice yourself for her. But don"t you think it should always flow both ways? Don"t you think that it is not worth crying over someone who cannot feel your love? Is it fair on your part to ignore someone who is craving for your love and actually deserves it? Look into my eyes. Don"t you see anything which suggests that I deserve to be loved by you? I know Karthik, I know that there"s some space in your heart that has been made for me. I can see it in your eyes too. When I look into them I do not feel sad that there"s a lot of pain in it. Instead I see that part of it which tells me that I"m not completely unwanted. So I ask you the same thing that you had asked her, "Please give me a chance". Don"t tell me that you cannot love me even a little. I know you do and Gaargi is the proof."

I could not speak more. Srishti too could not. She rested her head on my shoulder. For the first time I kissed on her forehead.

I guess that is what one has to learn. First love is very special. It is something to be remembered for a lifetime but not something for which an entire life can be wasted in grieving over it.

I opened Akshay’s diary and I leafed through the pages.

The initial pages…

‘This is the third year Akshay. For three years, we have been in love’ Megha said, and continued, ‘I couldn’t have asked for more. You have been a great source of inspiration and help for me. You have been my best friend and you are the reason for shaping my career, my life and my happiness as well….’

The engineering final semester results are out and Megha as well as I passed out with flying colors. Megha always had problems with her studies since the time she’s joined engineering stream.

I was always with her in all walks of life. Life after college. Be it ragging or be it studies or be it extracurricular activities or be it life…

And finally a day after our first year examinations Megha proposed to me, and I accepted her whole heartedly. In fact I always said ‘I dint propose her, neither did she propose me… Love just happened between us’

A few pages later on…

She lay her head on my shoulder and gripped my arm firmly. ‘Please don’t go, please, I will do whatever you want me to, don’t leave me and go’ she said, even as her tears wet my shirt. I put my hand over her shoulder pinching her cheeks and said, ‘I love you’. There was a slight smile on her face and she burst crying once again. We alighted down the taxi and walked towards the platform.

The train was already standing on the platform and I docked my luggage underneath the seat and got down from the train. ‘Where is she’ I thought when she ran to me and hugged me from behind. I slowly turned back and hugged her close to my heart with my chin reaching her head and I kissed her ‘smooch’ on her forehead. There were tears in her eyes as I was about to leave in another few minutes. I held her shoulders and bent down a little and said, ‘Don’t cry, look into my eyes’, I said even when she I wiped the tears off her brows and she came close to me again and hugged me.

‘I am gonna miss you’ she said and I replied, ‘so am I’ when a loud blare interrupted our conversation. ‘I think it’s time for me to leave. Take care of yourself. I will talk to you over the phone. I will come now and then to see you’ I said and I pulled her close to me once again and I kissed her on her forehead. And….

Even as I flipped more pages…

‘Megha’, I Called her over the phone ‘I secured a good score in GMAT…’ I told her, ‘perhaps I may get a call from Harvard in a month or two, I have already applied.’

‘Congrats Akshay’ Megha said.

‘I love you, Megha…’ I told her and she replied by kissing over the phone which would remind me of her wet lip marks on my cheek when she kissed me for real.

I called her after few days again. ‘Megha, I need some work experience man. Perhaps a year or two. So I was asked to re-apply after that. Since the score is valid for five years….’ I told her.

I flipped few more pages…

I have reached Megha’s home to talk to her parents about our marriage. Her mom hated me from the beginning. She looked at me as if I was a pest in her house. I wanted to talk to their parents initially before I bring my parents for further talks. Any kinda ego clashes and mine and Megha’s future‘s gone.

Even though her dad was kinda ok with my job and my future plans, her mom wasn’t ready to offer her daughter’s hand in marriage.

Caste issues, love and society, birth stars and astrology… what not … all this shit hindered our marriage. And her mom simply said, ‘Get out’.

I never took it to heart. I will also become a dad in the future and if my daughter says that she loves some one, I will also certainly not be happy with her decision. But at least I would give it a thought. And with the same hope, I never stopped trying. I was always behind her. I begged her. I requested her. I tried to convince her. No avail.

One day, I finally received a call from Megha. ‘Akshay’, she was in tears. ‘My mom strictly cautioned me that she would end her life, if I still think about our marriage… you temme what I should do…’

I had no words. There’s no point in building a love palace over the dead bodies of our parents.

And that was the last time I spoke to Megha…..

Flipping few more pages…

For more than a year, I wasn’t able to forget her. I raved like a lunatic on the roads. At times felt like killing myself. I have seen Megha donating alms to a beggar. ‘Poor guy’ she used to tell. ‘What about me…’ I cried out loud falling onto my knees even as it rained along the beach and my tears drained along with the dripping droplets.

The sun would rise from deep within the sea only to remind me of the actual horror I am facing from deep within my heart. ‘Why did you introduce me to her, God?’ I shouted at him, ‘When you knew that we wouldn’t get married…’

A few months later, I came to know that Megha was married to a well to do guy from Harvard’s. And my heart broke like a piece of delicate glass when dropped onto a floor.

It took me one full year to recover. Five years of love has fetched me nothing but pain. Pain which I will never be able to forget throughout my life. Pain which will never make Akshay the same again. Pain which took my life away from me. Pain which I never wish would happen to some one else. Pain Pain Pain… There’s nothing left in my life…

Two total years I have suffered. Two years I have done nothing in my life. Two years I was jobless and spent them in pain and suffering. And I missed the opportunity to study at Harvard’s. My career’s spoiled too.

As I write this part of the diary, my heart is weeping even after 10 years she’s married. Out of my parents pressure I too married another girl. After all life has to go on. I was living just because my body was alive, but my soul was already dead long back. I had a daughter and I named her Megha in the fond memory of my dead love and my beloved Megha.

How was a child born to me and my wife? Yes I had no interest in the intercourse and the kid was a result of the subconscious male instincts, not love. I had no interest in the woman who married me. Even if I touch her or see her, I could only see Megha in her. Instead of me cheating her and cheating myself, it’s better that I remain far away from her. I was never happy with her. My heart burdened with the feeling that I have wasted the life of a beautiful and a considerate woman. And the kid, I was always reminded of the fact that my ex-lover Megha wanted me to name the kid with my name if it’s a male and I wished to have her named Megha, if it’s a female. I am worried about her future too. I will never ever be a good husband or a good dad, and thanks to you Megha for gifting me this in return for all the love, I have lighted the wick of my heart which ultimately burnt my heart and melted it.

Why have you done this to me Megha? Life hurts. I haven’t dreamt of this kind of life. Ten years I have wasted raving and craving about you. You came, you loved and then you broke and left. But it will take a life time for me to repair that broken heart…….

The diary ended…

There were tears in my eyes as I finished reading the diary. I was at a marriage when I met Akshay again after 10 long years. He came to me and when I asked about his well being, he handed over a diary after opening his bag.

‘Megha’ a voice called me out. ‘Let’s go to the beach and enjoy…’ he said. That’s Nikhil, my husband.

Life is totally different now Akshay after the sharp turn which it took separating us forever. You might have suffered for 2 years or 10 years. I was suffering and will be suffering for the rest of my life; in fact lives to come by. Nikhil is a nice man. I have spoiled his life too. He had always been a very good friend and a good husband. But I have never been a good wife. And my son, I love him, cos he’s Akshay.

And what all pain and suffering you have undergone, I underwent umpteen times the same.

Lost in thoughts, I began to draw, with my finger the symbol of love and wrote ‘Akshay & Megha’ and was looking at those words in deep thought when I felt a hand fell over my shoulder. It was my son Akshay. ‘Just like you Akshay, I have named my kid after you’ I thought when a huge wave made its way towards us, even as I pulled my son away from it.

The wave erased the symbol of love and the words written inside it, on these sands of separation….

My name is Amisha, Amisha Bhatnagar. I am 31 years old born and brought up in Mumbai. I have done my PhD. in psychology but currently, I am a housewife. I love painting, music, cooking etc and etc. No. this isn’t an excerpt from my curriculum vitae but an excerpt from my life. An incident that changed my life forever.

I was married to Rohan Bhatnagar for almost seven years. We have a kid who’s three year old. And I am a happy to do house wife, with god’s grace, as I have a loving husband and the apple of my eyes, my small kid.

Born and brought up in Mumbai, I had to travel all this way from the west coast of Arabian to this beach stretch on the Bay of Bengal as my husband is based in Chennai.

Except for the scorching heat of Mr. Helios in the summer, I very much like this place. Classes and masses apart, Chennai reflects a unique blend of cultures and traditions just like Mumbai.

We stay in an apartment near the Besant Nagar beach. And we have made it a habit to take a stroll along the beach every morning. As usual we were sauntering with the wet sand touching our senses, Chinnu (that’s how I address my kid as) came running to me shouting under that childish delight when you find something odd or strange.

“Momma, look what I have found,” he was spoke with the kiddy accent, stressing the ‘m’ from Momma and ‘k’ from look. I embosomed him with my arms and took the odd thing in my hands. It was a bottle, a corked bottle with a letter inside it.

I hail from a very orthodox family. My mom and dad were liberal, in the sense that they allowed me to study till this point, considering the orthodoxy of my ancestors.

“Boys flirt a lot. I am not saying all boys are bad, but most of them are. Even if you are confronted by Mr. Right, he may be of a different caste and you will bring disgrace to your family, your very own dad and mom who loved you so much and brought you up,” my mom was always skeptical about me having male friends. And true to their expectations I never even looked at a guy, in fact never spoken to anyone else from outside.

Call me narrow-minded or immature or whatever. For me, my parents are everything. They are my world. Juts for the sake of something called love, I can’t wreak havoc in my beautiful family. Of course many of my friends as well as you may beg to differ with me. But you can’t make me shift preferences or my way of thinking.

I was doing my PhD in psychology at Bhavan’s in Mumbai. There was this certain guy who used to follow me, everyday to my home whenever it was late at night. Initially I thought somebody was trying to stalk me, but later on I came to know that he was kinda protecting me.

Of all jobs in this world, I thought he was jobless to follow me around and save me. But still I never hated him. I admired him, for he liked me and yet he never spoke to me. There were days when I walked along the deserted roads of Juhu beach road in the wake of midnight under the cover of the moon. But I never felt I was lonely or insecure, thanks to that guy.

All these days I have been so selfish. Probably he’s thinking that one day I might yield to his sincerity or whatsoever. One fine day, it was late at night as usual I was walking down the road when he followed me. I stopped and looked behind and gave him an angry stare that would have reduced him to ashes. But somehow he survived and perhaps he understood the meaning of that stare.

He stopped following me.

Every night I walked down these roads of Mumbai from Juhu to my home, my eyes involuntarily groped for him quite inexplicably.

Nobody can understand the depth of a woman’s convoluted mind. As long as some one follows you or loves you, we neglect him and once he’s away we know how much he meant for us.

And one day, all of a sudden, from nowhere he appeared before me and said this in a low voice, “Hi Amisha, I have known you since the time you are in college. That’s more than four and half years from now. I loved you at first sight. But had I told you at that time, you wouldn’t have believed me. And so I took my time to realize whether it’s true love or not…” and he paused for a while.

“I love you…” he finished.

God!!! I never expected this from him, I thought with that girlish meanness. I never thought he’s like every one else, every other guy on the streets. What all impression I had about him seemed to have vanished into thin air. The idolatrousness for him doesn’t exist anymore.

What big mistake did he make? He just proposed me. He hasn’t committed any heinous crime after all. But why I think this way? Perhaps the milieu enwombing me under which I was brought up. Or ….

I never said ‘Yes’ and at the same time, I never said a ‘NO’. Perhaps that meant a probable affirmation to him that he proposed three more times.

And the last time I met him, I said, “Look, I don’t know anything about you. You are a perfect stranger. Even if you were friends, I wouldn’t have loved you perhaps. Even if I loved you, my parents would anyways reject this love and of course me too. I know you have wasted so much precious time of yours.  Don’t any more. Please ….” I stood in front of him with my hands clasped close as if I were praying, in fact urging him.

It was an earnest request. I should have told him the same long back. Nevertheless, it’s not too late for anything.

He just gave me a smile. A smile which probably meant ‘Do you know what love means or do you know what it feels like to love or to be loved?’

“Ok. Forget all these things, can you atleast prove that you love me? More than anyone else in this world, even more than my parents?”

He was quiet for some time. He looked around and then picked up a bottle. He wrote a letter, and then pushed the letter into the bottle and flung it far into the sea.

“The message will reach you, and then you will understand how much….” he stopped.

That was the last time I ever saw him again.

Then I was married to Rohan.

And today Chinnu found a bottle with a message in it, which read, “I love you…. Chikku” (Chikku, that’s how he used to call me)

My feet trembled and the whole world shattered right infront of me. Thousands of miles, the bottle travelled and reaching its destination might not be a fluke or a mere coincidence. It’s just love, pure love. Probably the greatest of them all. Tears inadvertently cascaded down my cheeks. He loved me so much? I asked myself….

I am proud to have been loved by a great man who proved his love. And at the same time, I missed him. I missed him so much and all for a bottle of love.

“I love you too” I replied to that letter and signed Chikku and sealed it in the same bottle and flung it far into the sea.

Life has to go on. And I am already married. But perhaps I will never forget my paramour throughout my life.

My name is Amisha, and this is my story, a story worth the pages in my diary called life.

The Story of Ant & Grasshopper

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

Indian Version of the Story….

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant’s a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this

poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant’s house.

Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding

that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Unite Nations criticizes the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) .

Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for ‘Bharat Bandh’ in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the ‘Grasshopper Rath’.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ‘Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act’ [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.

Arjun Singh makes ‘Special Reservation ‘ for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services. The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing

left to pay his retroactive taxes, it’s home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it ‘A Triumph of Justice’. Lalu calls it ‘Socialistic Justice ‘. CPM calls it the ‘ Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden’ The United Nations invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly….

Many years later…

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley ..

100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ..

American Version of the Story….

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America’s stunned by the sharp contrast.

Later that night, undercover operatives that are still safely under cover, apprehend the Grasshopper and whisk him off to Guantanimo Bay, where he is held indefinitely as an enemy combatant.

Since the writ of Habeus Corpus has been suspended, the Grasshopper stays at Gitmo without any opportunity to defend himself. When he refuses to recant his statement concerning the ant, he is waterboarded and sent back to his cell, which he shares with a computer programmer from Nebraska named Kareem.

Senator John McCain co-authors a bill with Joe Lieberman to grant equal rights to grasshoppers, then votes against it on the Senate floor.

Later in the week, Justice Scalia issues a statement saying the Grasshopper just needs to get over it.

The Ant digs a new wing in his colony using illegal immigrant carpenter ants from Tijuana. Several of the carpenter ants are tragically electrocuted while taking showers installed by KBR in the new wing. When an ultra-liberal website tries to break the story, the ant and all the surviving carpenter ants go on a team-building hunting trip with VP Cheney.

Moral of the story: Go back to sleep, everything’s just hunky-dory!

Click on the attached file to download it. You will need Microsoft PowerPoint to view this.

What does it take to move forward in life? One of the key things needed to move forward is the ability to focus. The mind must be clear about what it needs to focus on. There are times when it is critical to focus on what is taking place at that time. My advice is to focus on what is most important or that appears to be the priority. If you do not focus on what is most important; you could be in real trouble in the near or not to distance future.

Another key point to moving forward in life is having the ability see success. If someone is unable to see success then they may never feel inspired to seek greater achievements in life. There must be inside the heart something that enables one to see success. If we look at most people who have done well moving forward in life; we will see that they all had the ability to see success.

Well, if you have not watched the movie, “Meet the Robinsons” then do so. It is such a lovely movie.

What I love about the movie is its message, which is: Keep moving forward. No matter how many times you fail, keep trying because eventually you’ll succeed. There’s even a quote at the end of the movie from Walt Disney himself that contains the phrase in it. [If you're the cynical type, don’t be so quick to dismiss the message as trite. Even if you’re not an animated film fan, check out the movie for a dose of inspiration.]

The message is so simple and yet so profound. It’s easy for all of us to develop a bit of an inferiority complex as we struggle to find a career we love and pursue it. I experienced many failures myself as I was making my transition—from exploring lots of possibilities and feeling like none of them was the right one, to trying to create a financial plan for how to make it happen and not seeing a way out, to trying to be grateful for what I already had and feeling miserable instead.

If your goal is precious, and it is, Walt Disney’s words are poignant, inspirational, and on point. Here’s what he said:

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Life can hit hard. Sometimes you get knocked down when you don’t even see it coming. Some are cheap shots, some are glancing blows and some can bring you to your knees. When this happens, it’s not about how hard you get hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, but still find the strength to keep moving forward. It’s about having the will to continue in spite of the obstacles.

When you get hit, do you stay down? Or do you reach down somewhere deep inside of you and pull up the courage that lifts you back on your feet to keep moving forward? You do have a choice. Consider these Nine Ways to Keep Moving Forward when you are faced with this choice again.

Forget Regret

Leave your mistakes and regret in the past. They don’t define your value, then or now. When you stay in the past you become stuck and unable to move forward. We all have made mistakes with our job choices, friends and relationships. The consequences can hit us pretty hard. However, to begin learning how to put these experiences behind us – by letting them go, we can begin to live in the here and now. Give yourself the gift of forgiveness and keep moving forward.

Learn from Failure

Learning from failure and having regret are two separate things. Regret is an emotion; a feeling of disappointment along with a modest amount of shame or guilt. But to look back at a circumstance and figure out what went wrong gives you some very important information. This review allows you to evaluate what worked and what didn’t, and more importantly, why. Often when you are removed from a situation, you can look at it more objectively which will allow you to make better choices to keep moving forward.

Ask for Help

You are not alone. It may feel that way sometimes, but there are many people who would extend their hand and lift you up if asked. All you have to do is ask. Consider co-workers, neighbors, or your church. Often times we are afraid to ask because we don’t believe we are worthy to receive the help. Think about this: we are surrounded by millions and millions of people by design – for a purpose. A hand to grasp, a shoulder to cling, and a face to radiate hope can help you to keep moving forward.

Believe You are Worthy

Whatever your goal, your dream, or your desire, you are worthy of achieving it. The closer you get to it is when the enemy of you soul will begin putting doubt in your mind by playing the self-limiting tapes that say you are not worthy. Replace these old tapes with a newer one that contains the truth – you are worthy to have your heart’s true desire and to keep moving forward.

Take 100% Responsibility

Except in rare and unfortunate circumstances, you are responsible for the quality and condition of your life. Your career, your relationships and your happiness are all under your direct control. Sometimes we choose to do nothing when we get hit hard because it’s just easier and less painful that way. But the real pain is only deferred. You have to live with yourself. You have to live with the voice in your gut, your inner wisdowm, that says you gave up too soon or didn’t try hard enough. When you hear this inner voice speaking to you, it’s usually right. It’s you choice, then, to get up and keep moving forward.

Know What You Want

This isn’t about the how, only the what. In order to move forward in life, you need a firm foundation to step from. Understanding what and where you want to go in life will provide your vision and spirit – your foundation. The how will figure itself out when you know you want to keep moving forward.

Trust

There are no accidents without value. When you get hit hard and land on your back, look for the reasons and for the value in this. Open your heart and trust this happened for a reason. Perhaps it was to test your determination or to alert you to the fact you were on the wrong path. Either way, trust the experience is happening for a reason and be open to making adjustments in order to keep moving forward.

Want it More

How badly do you want it? How badly do you really want to achieve what you are working so hard to accomplish? When you get hit hard, you have an opportunity to answer this question. It’s one thing to say you want to do something, or to be something. But to walk through the pain; to get up and keep moving forward knowing there may be more pain ahead, is a test of your determination and resolve. When you find yourself getting back on your feet, you have indeed answered this question and there’s no doubt you will keep moving forward.

Keep the Faith

Faith: A strong belief in something without proof or evidence
At the end of the day when you are weary from all of the effort and energy you have expended and you are sore and tired from being hit hard so many times, but the dream is not realized, the one thing that tells you to keep going; to get up tomorrow and to keep moving forward, is your faith. Honor this and cherish it. Faith is what makes you human. It gives you energy and hope. And if you let it, your faith will deliver you to wherever you want to go in life.

I hope that helps you all.

As you move forward in life, occasionally look ahead to your next horizon. The next challenge you see will give you the drive to keep moving forward. Looking forward will hone your ability to achieve success.

Cheers!! and

Keep moving forward.

In a culture full of reasons to say “no,” it takes a lot of courage to find ways to say “yes.”

We’re taught to say “no” from a very young age, after all. For most of us, our first word was “no”, and it quickly became our favorite word. As toddlers and teenagers, we used “no” to differentiate ourselves from our parents, peers, and surroundings. It’s how we began to control what was happening around us, or at least, how we tried to control that. It helped us over those early developmental hurdles, and gave us our earliest sense of our personal boundaries — and that’s a lot of significance bound up in such a tiny word!

The problem isn’t that “no” in and of itself is somehow bad; indeed, giving yourself permission to say “no” as an adult can keep you out of an awful lot of trouble.

The problem is that “No” begins to take on a life of its own. Too often, that life is yours.

Life is change, and “no” becomes a way of slowing down that change, or trying to stop it altogether. It is a shield we use to protect ourselves from having to experience anything new or different. Rather than riding the wave of change into a life full of exhilarating possibilities, we use “no” as a tether to keep us safely confined to the kiddie pool.

Using “no” to protect ourselves from change is like a kitten poking its head under covers, assuming it’s completely hidden. Change is going to happen, whether you say “no” to it or not. And, just like that kitten, assuming that “no” protects you from change is one sure way to have it pounce on you and bite your tail.

Let’s be honest here: We usually say “no” out of fear, and some fears are entirely reasonable. I’t's sensible to say “no” to jumping off a bridge or “no” to cake if you are diabetic. These “no’s” aren’t the ones that keep us from living lives of incredible satisfaction and happiness. It’s those silly, neurotic fears like fearing rejection, or of looking stupid, or being wrong. It’s the fear of commitment, the fear of speaking out, and the fear of facing our truest, deepest desires. The list is nauseatingly long, and we’ve all bought into some of these at least once. These fears have shaped our lives, often to our detriment and sometimes to the detriment of those around us.

So the next time you’re faced with something new and exciting and all those little neurotic fears start rioting inside you, what does it take to fight down a “no” and say “yes” instead?

In a word: Courage.

Like the Cowardly Lion (an archetype for the fear-ridden) we need to find our courage. Unlike him, we know that we have to face our fears, and find our courage within. Inside each of us beats a brave, fiercely courageous heart, willing to take on a challenge if it means that life afterward will be more authentic, happier, and freer. What better challenges to tackle than the fears that keep us chained to our tiny, boring, closeted little lives?

Do yourself a favor: Right now, identify and tackle at least one of those inner fears. Find a reason to say “yes” today, and every day. You’ve only your inner coward to lose!

A crorepati who lives in a hut!

His story is an inspiration for millions. A self-made entrepreneur, his mission is to help the poor through job creation. E Sarathbabu hit the headlines after he rejected several high profile job offers from various MNCs after he passed out of IIM, Ahmadabad two years ago.

He instead started a catering business of his own, inspired by his mother who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai, worked as an ayah in an Anganvadi to educate him and his siblings. As a child, he also sold idlis in the slum where he lived. “We talk about India shining and India growing, but we should ensure that people do not die of hunger. We c an be a developed country but we should not leave the poor people behind. I am worried for them because I know what hunger is and I still remember the days I was hungry,” says Sarathbabu.

In August 2006, Sarathbabu’s entrepreneurial dream came true with Foodking. He had no personal ambition but w anted to buy a house and a car for his mother. He has bought a car but is yet to buy a house for his mother. The “foodking” still lives in the same hut in Madipakkam in Chennai. Today, Foodking has six units and 200 employees, and the turnover of the comp any is Rs.32 lakh a month. But it has not been a bed of roses for Sarathbabu. After struggling and making losses in the first year, he managed a turnaround in 2007.

How has his experience as a ‘Foodking’ been in the last two years? Sarathbabu shares the trial and tribulations of an exciting and challenging job in an interview..

A tough beginning
As I am a first generation entrepreneur, the first year was very challenging. I had a loan of Rs 20 lakh by the end of first year. I had no experience in handling people in business, and it was difficult to identify the right people. Though I made losses in the first year, not even once did I regret my decision of not accepting the offers from MNCs and starting an enterprise of my own. I looked at my losses as a learning experience. I was confident that I would be successful one day.

Sleeping on the railway platform

April 29, 2008

My first unit was at IIM, Ahmadabad. When we started our second unit in October 2006, I thought now I would start making money. But I made losses of around Rs 2000 a day. A first generation entrepreneur cannot afford such a loss. But I worked really hard, working till 3 a.m. in the morning. What reduced my losses were the birthday party offers.

I started the third unit again in Ahmadabad but it also made losses. All my units were cafeteria and I understood then that the small cafeterias do not work; I needed huge volumes to work. My friends who were extremely supportive in the first year when things were difficult for me. I had taken lo ans from my IIM-A friends. They were earning very well.

In December 2006, an IIM Ahmadabad alumni event took place in Mumbai and I decided to go there mainly to get a contract. I was hopeful of getting it. I also knew that if I got the huge contract, I would come out of all the losses I had been incurring.

I booked my train ticket from Ahmadabad to Mumbai for Rs 300 and I had Rs 200 in my hand. As the meet went on till late at night, I could reach the station only at midnight. I missed the train. I decided to sit on the platform till the morning and travel by the next train in the morning. I didn’t have the money to check into a hotel. I didn’t want to disturb any of my friends so late at night.

It was an unforgettable night as I was even shoved off by policemen from the platform. It was quite insulting and embarrassing. After two hours, people started moving in, I also went in.

A man who sat next to me on the platform gave me a newspaper so that I could sleep. I spread the newspaper and slept on the platform! I sleep well. I got my ticket refund in the morning and went back to Ahmadabad. And, luck did not favour me, I didn’t get the contract.

In March 2007, I got an offer to start a unit at BITS, Pilani (Sarathbabu was an alumnus of BITS, Pilani). That was the first medium break for me. For the first time, I started making profits there though the other units continued to make losses. The reason for our success at BITS, Pilani was the volume; there were more students and there was a need for a unit like ours while in Ahmadabad, they have at least a hundred options.

If I made Rs 5000 a day at Ahmadabad in two shifts, here I made Rs 15,000 a day. BITS, Pilani unit gave me the confidence to move on. Unless you make money, you can’t be confident in business.

What changed my fortune

April 29, 2008

When all my friends who worked for various MNCs made good money every month and I made losses with my venture. But I kept telling myself, I am moving in the right direction to reach my ambition and vision. My dream was to provide employment and I was doing just that. I continued to work till 3 a.m. but I never felt tired.

Through BITS, Pilani, I got the BITS, Goa contract and that was the biggest break for me. It was not a cafeteria like the earlier ones but the dining hall that we got. We had to feed 1300 students. We started our operations in July 2007. At Rs 50, for 1300 students, our sale was Rs 65,000 per day. We soon started making a profit of Rs 10 to 15,000 a day. Around 60 to 70 people work there. I gave the charge of the Ahmadabad operations to one of my managers and moved to Goa.

I was still in debt by Rs 15-20 lakhs but I knew BITS, Goa would keep my dream alive. Within six months of starting our operations in Goa, I repaid all my debt.

I was called to give a speech at the SRM Deemed University. After the speech, I asked the Chancellor, can you give me an opportunity to serve in your campus?? He said, “If not you, to whom will I give such an opportunity?” It’s a food court but a big one, similar to the one at BITS, Pilani. There are around 17,000 students there.

Now, I have the BITS, Hyderabad contract, ready to start in July 2008. Other than the six units, I have approached a few more universities and corporate houses too. In the first year, I had made a loss of Rs 25 lakh. Right now, we have a turnover of Rs 32 lakh every month, which works out to 3.5 crore (Rs 35 million) a year.

I have hired about 200 people. Indirectly, we touch the lives of around 1000 people. By this year end, we will have 500 people working for us. Only 10% of my workers are educated, the rest are uneducated. I want to make a change in their lives. If they have any problem, I will take care of it. We support the marriages and education of poor families. We are paying more to the employees as the comp any is doing well. Now that the foundation is strong, I pl an to have ten units and a turnover of Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million) turnover by next year.

His advice: Never give up!

April 29, 2008

In the last two years, I have given more than 120 lectures in various institutions in India. When I got the first opportunity to speak, I thought God had given me an opportunity to encourage or inspire entrepreneurs. When youngsters tell me they are inspired, I feel good.

When you just dish out the theory, nobody believes you. But when you do it, they believe you. What I tell them is based on my own experiences.

When I thought of starting a company, I felt India needed 100 people like Narayana Murthy and Ambani. If 100 such people support 2 lakh people each, imagine how many Indians get supported.

Entrepreneurship is needed to uplift the poor. It is not easy to be an entrepreneur, especially a first generation entrepreneur.

There will be lots of challenges in the beginning but you should learn to look for the light at the end of the tunnel.

Never give up even if there are hurdles. There are many who give up within a week.

You need determination and a tough mind to cross the initial hurdles.

If you are starting without much money, you should not have any overhead expenses.

He still lives in the same hut

As I am in the food business, I know how much the price of every food item has gone up. Many people will languish in poverty because of inflation. Had my mother been working as an Anganvadi ayah today and earning Rs 1500, she would not have been able to feed us and educate us.

On the one side, we talk about India shining and India growing, but we should ensure that people do not die of hunger. We can be a developed country but we should not leave the poor people behind.. I am worried for them because I know what hunger is and I still remember the days I was hungry. That is why I feel it is our responsibility to take care of them.

I wanted to buy a car and a house for my mother. I bought a car first, not a house. I still live in the same house, the same hut. I can build a house right now but I want my business to grow a little more. I feel good in the hut; that’s where I get my energy, that’s where I lived 25 years of my life. I want to remind myself that the money and fame should not take me away from what I want to achieve.

But within six months, I will build a good house for my mother. Her only advice to me is, don’t waste money.

Till I was in the 10th, there was no electricity in my house. I had to sit near the kerosene lamp and concentrate hard. That’s how I learnt to concentrate.

The two year journey has been very enriching. It seems like a 20-year journey for me. I was living every moment of the two years, from sleeping on the Mumbai railway station platform to this level.