Can I Borrow $25...???

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.  

SON: 'Daddy, may I ask you a question?'  

DAD: 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the man...  

SON: 'Daddy, how much do you make an hour?'  

DAD: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the man said angrily.  

SON: 'I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'  

DAD: 'If you must know, I make $50 an hour.'  

SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.  

SON: 'Daddy, may I please borrow $25?'  

The father was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.'  

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.  

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?  

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down , and started to think:  

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.  

'Are you asleep, son?' He asked.  

'No daddy, I'm awake,' replied the boy.  

'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the man. 'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $25 you asked for.'  

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you daddy!' he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.  

The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.  

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.  

'Why do you want more money if you already have some?' the father grumbled.

'Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied.  

'Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you..!'  

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.  

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love.  

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind feel the loss for the rest of their lives..!

Parents are Precious!!

This was narrated by an IAF pilot at a Seminar recently on Human Relations:

A guy (who works for IIT) describes how his gesture of booking an air ticket for his father, his maiden flight, brought forth a rush of emotions and made him realize that how much we all take for granted when it comes to our parents.

My parents left for our native place on Thursday and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father had never traveled by air before, so I just took this opportunity to make him experience the same. In spite of being asked to book tickets by train, I got them tickets on Jet Airways. The moment I handed over the tickets to him, he was surprised to see that I had booked them by air. The excitement was very apparent on his face, waiting for the time of travel. Just like a school boy, he was preparing himself on that day and we all went to the airport, right from using the trolley for his luggage, the baggage check-in and asking for a window seat and waiting restlessly for the security check-in to happen. He was thoroughly enjoying himself and I, too, was overcome with joy watching him experience all these things.

As they were about to go in for the security check-in, he walked up to me with tears in his eyes and thanked me. He became very emotional and it was not as if I had done something great but the fact that this meant a great deal to him. When he said thanks, I told him there was no need to thank me. But later, thinking about the entire incident, I looked back at my life. As a child, how many dreams our parents have made come true. Without understanding the financial situation, we ask for cricket bats, dresses, toys, outings, etc. Irrespective of their affordability, they have catered to all our needs. Did we ever think about the sacrifices they had to make to accommodate many of our wishes? Did we ever say thanks for all that they have done for us? Same way, today when it comes to our children, we always think that we should put them in a good school. Regardless of the amount of donation, we will ensure that we will have t give the child the best, theme parks, toys, etc. But we tend to forget that our parents have sacrificed a lot for our sake to see us happy, so it is our responsibility to ensure that their dreams are realized and what they failed to see when they were young. It is our responsibility to ensure that they experience all those and their life is complete.

Many times, when my parents had asked me some questions, I have actually answered back without patience. When my daughter asks me something, I have been very polite in answering. Now I realize how they would have felt at those moments. Let us realize that old age is a second childhood and just as we take care of our children, the same attention and same care needs to be given to our parents and elders. Rather than my dad saying thank you to me, I woul want to say sorry for making him wait so long for this small dream. I do realize how much he has sacrificed for my sake and I will do my best to give the best possible attention to all their wishes.

Just because they are old does not mean that they will have to give up everything and keep sacrificing for their grandchildren also. They have wishes, too.

Take care of your parents. THEY ARE PRECIOUS.

The Hot Chocolate Thought

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.

During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives.

Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate.. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.

What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups.

They are just tools to hold and contain life.

The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.

Great Narayan Murthy ' s views on late Sitting at office

Mail sent by Narayan Murthy to all Infosys staff:

It ' s half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on...
PCs still running, coffee machines still buzzing...
And who ' s at work? Most of them ??? Take a closer look...

All or most specimens are ??
Something male species of the human race...

Look closer... again all or most of them are bachelors...

And why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!!!
Any guesses???
Let ' s ask one of them...
Here ' s what he says... ' What ' s there 2 do after going home...Here we get to surf, AC, phone, food, coffee that is why I am working late...Importantly no bossssssss!!!!!!!!!!! '

This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and other off-shore offices.

Bachelors ' Passing-Time ' during late hours in the office just bcoz they say they ' ve nothing else to do...
Now what r the consequences...

' Working ' (for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the institute or company culture.

With bosses more than eager to provide support to those ' working ' late in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good feedback, (oh, he ' s a hard worker... goes home only to change..!!).
They aren ' t helping things too...

To hell with bosses who don ' t understand the difference between ' sitting ' late and ' working ' late!!!

Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra working hours.

So, My dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married and start having a family... office is no longer a priority, family is... and
That ' s when the problem starts... b ' coz u start having commitments at home too.

For your boss, the earlier ' hardworking ' guy suddenly seems to become a ' early leaver ' even if u leave an hour after regular time... after doing the same amount of work.

People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labelled as work-shirkers...

Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays... though) leave on time are labelled as ' not up to it ' . All the while, the bachelors pat their own backs and carry on ' working ' not realizing that they r spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realize that they would have to regret at one point of time.

So what ' s the moral of the story?? 
* Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!!
* Never put in extra time ' unless really needed '
* Don ' t stay back unnecessarily and spoil your company work culture which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues.

There are hundred other things to do in the evening..

Learn music...

Learn a foreign language...

Try a sport... TT, cricket.........

Importantly,get a girl friend or boy friend, take him/her around town...

* And for heaven ' s sake, net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low (plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change.

Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: * ' Life ' s calling, where are you?? ' *

Please pass on this message to all those colleagues and please do it before leaving time, don ' t stay back till midnight to forward this!!!

IT ' S A TYPICAL INDIAN MENTALITY THAT WORKING FOR LONG HOURS MEANS VERY HARD WORKING & 100% COMMITMENT ETC.

PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DON ' T KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME. SIMPLE !

Regards,
NARAYAN MURTHY