Disabled But Not Disheartened...

Savitri was a very active woman till she was struck by paralysis.  Her movements were confined to her home.  She felt she was a burden to her daughter-in-law Rani, who was a widow.  Rani was working as a housemaid in a nearby house.  She had a pretty daughter - Vidya who was born dumb.  She was admitted in a special school where training was given to deaf and dumb children.

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Savithri was able to get a wheelchair by the generosity of a Lions Club.  After deep thinking, she decided to buy flowers, make pretty garlands and sell.

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Savithri had a pet dog.  She named it 'Leader'.  Leader was so much attached to Savithri that she followed her like a shadow.  Leader was trained to pick up a basket containing a note and money, go to a flower merchant and bring flowers.  Leader's help was a great relief to the disabled Savithri.

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Nearby Savithri's house there was a park.  A small Ganesh Temple was located just opposite to the entrance of the part.  She used to sit at the entrance of the park and prepare flower garlands while having the darshan of Lord Ganesh. She used to spend few hours to sell the flower garlands.  Before she left the place in the night, she handedover the remaining garlands to the priest to adom Lord Ganesh.

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Savithri was able to earn about Rs. 100/- per day after meeting the cost of the flowers.  She was contented and grateful to God for keeping her active and useful inspite of her disability.

./././././././././././././././././././././MORAL... Contentment is a continuous feast.

Old King Who Wanted To Becom Young

There was once an intelligent but greedy King. Though he had done much for the betterment of the people, he was selfish in his desires.

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As years passed, the King grew old and lost his physical strength. He had a strong desire that he should become young once again. He was prepared to offer half the kingdom to any person who can make him young by any means. He called the minister and said, "Go in search of someone who can give formula or medicine to make me young once again".
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The minister was amused. He knew that birth, groth, decay and death are natural. But he had to carry out the order of the king. The minister, with a group of soldiers, went in search of a person who could make the king young. He went through villages, towns and even forests. Some people laughed at the idea, some kept quiet out of fear and some felt that the king might have become mentally unsound.
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As the minister was going through a forest, he came across a sait doing penance under a banyan tree. His face was radiating divine light and grace. After some time the saint opened his eyes and observed the minister standing in front of him. With a smiling gesture, he questioned him the purpose of his visit.
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The minister with all humility touched the feet of the holyman and explained, "Respected holyman, our king is keen to regain his lost youth. I request you to make him young with your powers".
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The saint softly laughed. After thinking for a minute he said in a very pleasant voice, "With the grace of God and with the power I have acquired through long penance I can make your king young once again. But on one condition".
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The minister was surprised at the unexpected assurance given by the holyman. With all earnestness he bowed and said prayerfully, "King holyman, I am happy to know that my king's desire would be fulfilled. He will cooperate in every respect. He is even prepared to offer half the kingdom to anyone who can make him young. Kindly tell me what is to be done by my king".
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The saint smiled once again and replied, "What can I do with the kingdom? I am a saint living in that small hut spending time in prayers. I have no expectation. But I will give you a medicine. Every day your king should stand before a mirror and apply the medicine on his face. While applying the medicine, he should not think of a monkey. If this condition is fulfilled, within a week's time young king will become young once again".
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The minister was over joyed and said, "Swamiji, this is a very simple condition. My king will definately follow your instructions and receive your blessings".
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With the belssings of the saint, the minister carried the medicine to the king. To the great delight of the king he narrated how the saint was kind enough to give the medicine ona simple condition.
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The king very much pleased. He ordered the minister to announce a week's festivities throughout the kingdom hoping that he would become young once again.
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The king started using the medicine. The moment he took the medicine to apply on his face, he thought of a monkey. He tried his best not to think of a monkey. But he was unable to drive away the image of monkey from his mind.
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At last he became desparate and threw away the medicine. He realised that it was impossible for him to use the medicine without thinking of a monkey. He understood that the saint made him wise that youth once lost cannot be regained. He also learnt that the age is to the mind but not to the body... Moral...:-- The most difficult thing in life is to control one's mind...
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Tomorrow is another day__Rupali Nayar

It was a cold evening and the young man hurried along clutching his coat tightly around him. He had to get hime on time. He had promised to take his children out for the movie and he wanted to be in time to take a quick bath before they set off. Too bad that his car had broken down.

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His wife constantly told him that his children never saw enough of him and today the young man was in some way trying to make up for all the time he spent at work. But what could he do? He was the sole bread - earner in the family and that meant working twice as hard. Sometimes when he came home he was so exhausted that all he wanted was to crawl into bed without even talking to anyone, leave alone having dinner. He was lucky, he thought, to have a wife like Rita. She never complained about his late hourse and she looked after the home and the children very well.

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She had once been a famous dancer but had met with an accident that had seen her permanently in a wheel chair. Yet, she took her fate in her stide and never said a word about her life before her accident. Yes, the young man thought, he was lucky to have her and their beautiful kids. Their home was lovely too, thought the man as he walked one more rapidly. By now the wind was howling around him and the first drops of rain had begun to fall. Almost running, the man thought of the disappointment on his children's faces if he did not make it back on time. He looked at his watch. He had all of 10 minutes to get back home. By now the rain was almost blinding him. He was soaked to the skin, but his efforts at getting home doubled. Running across the road he narrowly missed being hit by a car. But this did not deter the man. Now he could see the lights of his home and when he opened the gate he found that he was completely out of breath. Pausing for a while he looked at his watch. It had stopped! It still showed that he had 10 minutes to get back home if he wanted to make it to the movies.

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As it happened he was late. His wife had been waiting and so had the children. Trey hurled themselves into his arms and he began to tell them about his difficulty in reaching the house, of his near accident and of the rain.

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Then he asked his wife what the time was. And when she told him, he was stunned. It had taken him more than two hourse to get back! He turned to his wfie and apologised. He should have started out earlier. But his wife looked at him and then at herself on the wheelchair. "I Was so worried about you. I couldn't have managed the house if anything had happened to you," she said. "We can always go for the movies, after all tomorrow is another day."

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