TA...?

A wise old gentleman retired and purchased a modest home near a junior high school. He spent the first few weeks of his retirement in peace and contentment. Then a new school year began.

The very next afternoon three young boys, full of youthful, after-school enthusiasm, came down his street, beating merrily on every trash can they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day, until finally the wise old man decided it was time to take some action.

The next afternoon, he walked out to meet the young percussionists as they banged their way down the street. Stopping them, he said, "You kids are a lot of fun. I like to see you express your exuberance like that. In fact, I used to do the same thing when I was your age. Will you do me a favor? I'll give you each a dollar if you'll promise to come around every day and do your thing."

The kids were elated and continued to do a bang-up job on the trash cans. After a few days, the old-timer greeted the kids again, but this time he had a sad smile on his face. "This recession's really putting a big dent in my income," he told them. "From now on, I'll only be able to pay you 50 cents to beat on the cans." The noisemakers were obviously displeased, but they did accept his offer and continued their afternoon ruckus. A few days later, the wily retiree approached them again as they drummed their way down the street.

"Look," he said, "I haven't received my Social Security cheque yet, so I'm not going to be able to give you more than 20 cents. Will that be okay?"

"A lousy 20 cents?" the drum leader exclaimed. "If you think we're going to waste our time, beating these cans around for 20 cents, you're nuts! No way, mister. We quit!"

And then the old man enjoyed peace.

"This is good...!"

The other day we tried to learn about a considerate king. Today let us entertain ourselves with a self-centred king and his equally clever friend.

A king in Africa had a close friend he grew up with. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"
 
One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.
 
Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and had his friend sent to jail.
 
About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took them to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb.

Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way. As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend.
 
He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right" he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell his friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."
 
"No," his friend replied, "This is good!"
 
"What do you mean, 'This is good?!'" How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year."
 
"If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you...!?!"

A Just Ruler...!

Today is Shiv Jayanti, Birth Anniversary of the Great Maratha ruler Kshatriya Kulavantas Sinhasanadheeshwar Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. On this occasion let us try to learn few lessons from his timeless character as a Janata Raja - The Considerate King!

 Democratic

The pattern of administration, Shivaji followed was democratic. In his time period, the concept of "democracy" was at least 100 years in the future. Nonetheless, his policies were clearly promoting welfare of the common people at the expense of the entrenched feudal system.

Paternalistic

He also showcased paternalistic leadership. Shivaji is known for his protective and fatherly attitude towards his citizens. He is remembered till date as a hero who worked for the welfare of his subjects and state. This kind of a leader knows what is hurting his people and then devises a strategy that will help them achieve their goals against seemingly insurmountable odds. This is how he worked his "magic". Shivaji inspired common people to succeed against overwhelming odds. In Shivaji’s times, 90% of the civilians were farmers. They lived in constant fear of losing their income, their property, their life or their women’s dignity to the whims of their rulers. Shivaji was well-tuned to the aspirations and fears of these common people

Treated Women with Dignity

He protected women’s dignity, especially against those in power, by swiftly and severely punishing those found to be guilty of such crimes. When he was only 15, prior to winning even his first fort, he severely punished a "Patil" a village chief for raping a farmer’s daughter in his town. Shivaji’s last known act of women’s protection occurred when he punished his chief of a military campaign for raping his enemy commander.

Fair administration

Shivaji established a fair system of taxation on farm incomes and employed civilians to collect taxes. This act established supremacy of civilians over military might. He also established a series of granaries and a system of affordable loans for farmers in need.

Despised Discrimination

Shivaji promoted common people based on their qualifications. Naturally a majority of his officers were Hindus, but a number of Muslims also held key positions: chief of artillery, chief of navy as well as diplomats. When Shivaji visited Agra to attend Aurangzeb’s 50th birthday celebration, his most trusted body guard was Madari Mehtar a Muslim teenager! What was the result of all this? Common citizen had much to gain by helping Shivaji and theyfought for their cause against two mighty but tyrannical empires with valor and tenacity. A large majority of Shivaji’s "jewels" were "commoners" with little or no prior military experience barbers, farmers, clerks and so on.

Ahead of time Thinking

A manager knows his people’s strengths and weaknesses, and ensures to utilize these for furthering his vision. As defined by a very capable diplomat, Arya Chanakya, Shivaji was a "true king" since he was forever striving to further the welfare of his people.Examples: In any organization, now as well as then, there are two kinds of people: those who work and those who occupy chairs. In Shivaji’s times, the chair occupiers, called Vatanadar, ruled by accident of birth. They were often tyrannical. Shivaji labelled them "enemies of the nation", that is, rajyache dayadach. He wrote a special chapter on techniques for dealing with them in his book of policies, called adnyapatre.

Support to traders

Shivaji promoted commerce by providing businessmen with choice locations at discount prices as well as tax concessions. His motto was, Sahukar he to rajyache bhushan (Business people are jewels of a nation).

Origin of the cabinet

Shivaji was an efficient ruler and administrator and ruled with a just and firm hand. His government had concepts that we know of now like the Cabinet known as Ashtapradhan Mandal, foreign affairs known as Dabir and also an internal intelligence wing.

Naval Force

Shivaji was the first Indian king to cultivate navy in addition to acquiring land. He had 3shipyards, hundreds of frigates and many sea forts. He controlled over 300 miles of coastline. Shivaji gave detailed instructions for running a safe military camp just a few months before his coronation. The very first shopping mall in the world is in Raigad. It was a drive-through mall except, of course, you rode a horse.

All these Character Traits and Administrative Principles are more relevant today than around 400 years ago, aren’t they? Will our Politicians learn some lessons...!?!

Ref.: http://www.scribd.com/doc/64401335/Shivaji-Maharaj-and-His-Management-by-Hite...

Valentine Day...!

We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering and instead of letting them all go and allowing ourselves to be stress-free and happy, we cling on to them. Well, not anymore. Starting today, on the apt occasion of ‘Valentine Day’, because we can be lovable only when we know what pure love is, we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace CHANGE. Here is a list of 15 things, which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and you'll feel much, much happier. Ready? Here we go!

1. Give up your need to always be right.

There are so many of us who can't stand the idea of being wrong wanting to always be right even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain for us and for others. It's just not worth it. Whenever you feel the 'urgent' need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question from Dr. Wayne Dyer: 'Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?' What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?

2. Give up your need for control.

Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, co-workers, or just strangers you meet on the street just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.

'By letting it go, it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.' Lao Tzu

3. Give up on blame.

Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don't have, for what you feel or don't feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.

4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk.

Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don't believe everything that your mind is telling you especially if it's negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.

'The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.' Eckhart Tolle

5. Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!

'A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind.' Elly Roselle

6. Give up complaining. Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things people, situations and events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It's not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.

7. Give up the luxury of criticism. Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.

8. Give up your need to impress others. Stop trying so hard to be something that you're not just to make others like you. It doesn't work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you're not, the moment you take of all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

9. Give up your resistance to change. Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change don't resist it.

'Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.' Joseph Campbell

10. Give up labels. Stop labelling the things, people or events that you don't understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open.

‘The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about.' Dr. Wayne Dyer

11. Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn't exist you created it. It's all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.

'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.' Franklin D. Roosevelt

12. Give up your excuses. . A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck and lie to ourselves, using all kind of excuses that 99.9% of the time, are not even real.

13. Give up the past. I know, I know. This one's hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening. But, you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for the past that you are now dreaming about was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all, life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.

14. Give up living your life to other people's expectations. Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them; they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them; to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people's expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need and eventually, they forget about themselves. You have one life this one right now you must live it, own it, and especially don't let other people's opinions distract you from your path.

And the last, most difficult one and that's why extremely blissful that I love the most...

15. Give up attachment. This is a concept that, for most of us, is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too (it still is), but it's not impossible. You get better and better at it with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things and that doesn't mean you give up your love for them because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another. Attachment comes from a place of fear, while love well, real love is pure, kind, and selfless; where there is love there can't be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot co-exist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying... A state beyond words!

Happy Valentine Day...!