The Ant & the 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:**
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, TIMES NOW, CNN IBN,AAJTAK 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?
Arundhat 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.
Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.
Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize 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 ' Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Inquiry. 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.
Mamta 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.
Kapil Sibal 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 all TV channels.
Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice'.
Mamta calls it 'Socialistic Justice '.
CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '
Koffi Annan 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 ,

AND
As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the grasshoppers, India is still a developing country.

Buddha

Buddha, one day, was in deep thought about the worldly activities and the ways of instilling goodness in human beings. One of his disciples approached him and said humbly " Oh my teacher! While you are so much concerned about the world and others, why don't you look in to the welfare and needs of your own disciples also."

Buddha : "OK.. Tell me how I can help you"

Disciple : "Master! My attire is worn out and is beyond the decency to wear the same. Can I get a new one, please?"

Buddha found the robe indeed was in a bad condition and needed replacement. He asked the store keeper to give the disciple a new robe to wear on. The disciple thanked Buddha and retired to his room. A while later, he went to his disciple's place and asked him "Is your new attire comfortable? Do you need anything more ?"

Disciple : "Thank you my Master. The attire is indeed very comfortable. I need nothing more"

Buddha : "Having got the new one, what did you do with your old attire?"

Disciple : "I am using it as my bed spread"

Buddha : "Then.. hope you have disposed off your old bed spread"

Disciple : " No.. no.. master. I am using my old bedspread as my window curtain"

Buddha : " What about your old Curtain? "

Disciple : "Being used to handle hot utensils in the kitchen "

Buddha : "Oh.. I see.. Can you tell me what did they do with the old cloth they used in Kitchen "

Disciple : "They are being used to wash the floor. "

Buddha : " Then, the old rug being used to wash the floor...? "

Disciple: " Master, since they were torn off so much, we could not find any better use, but to use as a twig in the oil lamp, which is right now lit in your study room.... "

Buddha smiled in contentment and left for his room.

If not to this degree of utilization, can we at least attempt to find the best use of all our resources at home and in office?

We need to handle wisely, all the resources earth has bestowed us with both natural and material so that they can be saved for the generations to come.

Extremely wellsaid

EXTREMELY WELL SAID. WORDS FULL OF WISDOM


Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this!


This should be posted in all schools and work places

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things
they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good,
politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept
of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1:Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem.
The world will expect you to accomplish something
BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school.
You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.
Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping:
they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault,
so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now.
They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes
and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were.
So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of
your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers,
but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades
and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer.
This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and
very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF.
Do that on your own time..

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually
have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

If you can read this - Thank a teacher!

Marketing Funda

This is all about marketing funda , as explained by a professor at I.I.M.> Enjoy it
1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up toher and say: "I am very rich."Marry me!" - That's Direct Marketing"
2. You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see agorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her andpointing at you says: "He's very rich."Marry him." -That's Advertising"
3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up toher and get her telephone number. The next day, youcall and say: "Hi, I'm very rich."Marry me - That's Telemarketing"
4. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get upand straighten your tie, youwalk up to her and pourher a drink, you open the door (of the car)for her,pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride andthen say:"By the way, I'm rich. Will you"Marry Me?" - That's Public Relations"
5. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. She walksup to you and says:"You are very rich!"Can you marry ! me?" - That's Brand Recognition"
6. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up toher and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" She gives youa nice hard slap on your face. -"That's Customer Feedback"
7. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up toher and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" And sheintroduces you to her husband. -"That's demand and supply gap"
8. You see a gorgeous girl at aparty. You go up toher and before you say anything, another person comeand tell her: "I'm rich. Will you marry me?" and shegoes with him -"That's competition eating into your market share"
9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up toher and before you say: "I'm rich, Marry me!" yourwife arrives. -"That's restriction for entering new markets"was explaining marketing concepts to the Students:A Professor at one of the IIM's

Embracing Imperfection

A touching story by a girl."When I was a little girl, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she hadmade breakfast after a long, hard day at work.On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of fruits and extremely burned toast in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see ifanyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his toast, smile at my mom, and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told himthat night, but I do remember Watching him smear butter and jelly on that toast and eat every bite!When I got Up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad For burning the toast. And I'll never forget what he said: 'Baby, I love burned toast.'Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if He really liked his toast burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, 'Debbie, your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides-a little burnt toast never hurt anyone!' You know, life is full of imperfect things.....and imperfect people. I'm not the best housekeeper or cook.What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each other's differences - is the one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting marriage relationship.And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your married life and lay them at the feet of GOD. Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a marriage where burnt toast isn't a deal-breaker! We could extend this to any relationship in fact - as understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!! ""Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket." Keep Smiling.