PRICELESS

A doctor was addressing a large audience in Oxford ........... "The material we put into our stomachs should have killed most of us sitting here, years ago. Red meat is full of steroids and dye. Soft drinks corrode your stomach lining. Chinese food is loaded with MSG. High transfat diets can be disastrous and none of us realizes the long-term harm caused by the germs in our drinking water. But, there is one thing that is the most dangerous of all and most of us have, or will eat it. Can anyone here tell me what food it is that causes the most grief and suffering for years after eating it?" After several seconds of quiet, a 70-year-old man in the front row raised his hand, and softly said, "Wedding Cake."

Awaaz Do!

It’s now your opportunity to make a difference.

The more the people read about ‘Awaaz Do’, talk about it, the better chance of a child receiving his/her education.
The facts about the Right to Education Act, its significance and a lot more is given as part of the zip file. Refer to these facts and share the information with your readers. Provide them with information which they can use and further spread the message.

So first,

What Is AWAAZ DO & How Can I A Make A Difference?

All children 6 to 14 years old have the right to free and quality education under the recently passed Right to Education Act.

The RTE Act specifies minimum norms in government schools. It requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats for children from poor families (to be reimbursed by the state as part of the public-private partnership plan).

The Act also provides that no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. There is also a provision for special training of school drop-outs to bring them up to par with students of the same age.

The RTE Act is the first legislation in the world that puts the responsibility of ensuring enrolment, attendance and completion on the Government.

The Right to Education of persons with disabilities until 18 years of age has also been made a fundamental right. A number of other provisions regarding improvement of school infrastructure, teacher-student ratio and faculty are made in the Act.

To make the Right to Education Act successful, it is important that each one of us knows about it so that every child who is not in school can be sent back for free and quality education.The time is NOW!Make A Difference.

Stand up and make some noise! Join the Awaaz Do movement by signing up now for India's children. Ask your friends to be a part of getting every single girl and boy into school. Do it now for India's future.

Come forward and donate to UNICEF to help change 8 million lives.

Spread the word to your family and friends. You can SMS, e-mail or just talk to them and ask them to speak up and raise their voice for children. One voice makes a difference but together we can help change the fate of 8 million children. The time to begin is NOW! Find a school near you and make a visit. Check if the school has:

• Separate toilets for boys and girls.
• Drinking water and places for students to wash their hands with soap.
• Playgrounds for playing sports and having fun.
• A school library for students and their teachers.
• Mid-day meals for children.

You can meet the school head, teachers, community members and even the parents of children enrolled there and talk to them about the RTE Act. Let them know about the highlights and let them know how every child can benefit.

Awaaz Do!

JAPAN: 10 things to learn from, EXEMPLARY!!!

10 things to learn from Japan. 1. THE CALM      Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated. 2. THE DIGNITY      Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture. 3. THE ABILITY      The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn't fall. 4. THE GRACE     People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something. 5. THE ORDER     No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding. 6. THE SACRIFICE     Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid? 7. THE TENDERNESS     Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak. 8. THE TRAINING      The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that. 9. THE MEDIA      They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.   10. THE CONSCIENCE       When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly!

IT'S CALLED MINDSET...

We are a confused Nation!!!!

 

I am in full agreement with the views expressed here.

ANDHER NAGARI...........?

• It's a confused nation we live in........

 

•  where a policeman kills a leopard that is actually attacking a villager, and instead of being felicitated he is booked for the crime of saving a human being at the insistence of some Wildlife Organisations.! 

 

• A nation where Rice is Rs.40/- per kg and SIM Card is free.

 

• Where a pizza you have ordered reaches home faster than an ambulance or police, even if you were being murdered or having a heart attack!

 

• Where a car loan is charged at 5% but an education loan, so necessary for our youth is charged an interest of 12%!

 

• A nation where students with 45% get into elite institutions through the quota system and those with 90% are sent away because of merit.

 

• Where a millionaire buys a cricket team, spending crores instead of donating the money to any charity. Where two IPL teams were auctioned at 3300 crores, yet still a poor country where people starve for two square meals per day.

 

• A country where footwear is sold in AC showrooms, but the vegetables we eat, are sold on the footpath and very often next to garbage dumps!

 

• Where everybody wants to be famous, not by doing good for others, but by looting others and finally getting their names in the newspapers through some scam or other!

 

• It's a strange nation we live in, where assembly complex buildings get ready within a year while public bridges, flyovers and sea links take several years even to get off the drawing board and another decade to be completed.

 

• We are a nation where two brothers fight with each other for the nation's spoils, but the nation doesn't know that the two of them are cleverly looting the nation while we watch their mock battles.

 

• We have malls, and sky-rises, with slums forming their boundary wall.

 

• A country where men and women squat on railway tracks, with no where else to go while watching them from windows, are couples with three bathrooms and one for the guests. 

 

• A country where politicians who are supposed to serve the people accept money from the same people they are supposed to serve, then take a salary from the government for their services to the people!

 

• We are a nation where we talk in hushed whispers about the corruption in the country and then dig into our pockets to bribe a cop when we are caught cutting a red light.

 

• Think about it; we are a confused nation, aren't we?

 

--
Be good,compassionate & benovelent.

 

100 Benefits of Meditation.

Dear Ones, 100 Benefits of Meditation Physiological benefits:  1.  It lowers oxygen consumption. 2.  It decreases respiratory rate. 3.  It increases blood flow and slows the heart rate. 4.  Increases exercise tolerance. 5.  Leads to a deeper level of physical relaxation. 6.  Good for people with high blood pressure. 7.  Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate. 8.  Decreases muscle tension 9.  Helps in chronic diseases like allergies, arthritis etc. 10.  Reduces Pre-menstrual Syndrome symptoms. 11.  Helps in post-operative healing. 12.  Enhances the immune system. 13.  Reduces activity of viruses and emotional distress 14.  Enhances energy, strength and vigour. 15.  Helps with weight loss 16.  Reduction of free radicals, less tissue damage 17.  Higher skin resistance 18.  Drop in cholesterol levels, lowers risk of cardiovascular disease. 19.  Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing. 20.  Decreases the aging process. 21.  Higher levels of DHEAS (Dehydroepiandrosterone) 22.  Prevented, slowed or controlled pain of chronic diseases 23.  Makes you sweat less 24.  Cure headaches & migraines 25.  Greater Orderliness of Brain Functioning 26.  Reduced Need for Medical Care 27.  Less energy wasted 28.  More inclined to sports, activities 29.  Significant relief from asthma 30.  Improved performance in athletic events 31.  Normalizes to your ideal weight 32.  Harmonizes our endocrine system 33.  Relaxes our nervous system 34.  Produce lasting beneficial changes in brain electrical activity 35.  Helps cure infertility (the stresses of infertility can interfere with the release of hormones that regulate ovulation). Psychological benefits:  36.  Builds self-confidence. 37.  Increases serotonin level, influences mood and behaviour. 38.  Resolve phobias & fears 39.  Helps control own thoughts 40.  Helps with focus & concentration 41.  Increase creativity 42.  Increased brain wave coherence. 43.  Improved learning ability and memory. 44.  Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation. 45.  Increased emotional stability. 46.  improved relationships 47.  Mind ages at slower rate 48.  Easier to remove bad habits 49.  Develops intuition 50.  Increased Productivity 51.  Improved relations at home & at work 52.  Able to see the larger picture in a given situation 53.  Helps ignore petty issues 54.  Increased ability to solve complex problems 55.  Purifies your character 56.  Develop will power 57.  Greater communication between the two brain hemispheres 58.  Respond more quickly and more effectively to a stressful event. 59.  increases one's perceptual ability and motor performance 60.  Higher intelligence growth rate 61.  Increased job satisfaction 62.  Increase in the capacity for intimate contact with loved ones 63.  Decrease in potential mental illness 64.  Better, more sociable behaviour 65.  Less aggressiveness 66.  Helps in quitting smoking, alcohol addiction 67.  Reduces need and dependency on drugs, pills & pharmaceuticals 68.  Need less sleep to recover from sleep deprivation 69.  Require less time to fall asleep, helps cure insomnia 70.  Increases sense of responsibility 71.  Reduces road rage 72.  Decrease in restless thinking 73.  Decreased tendency to worry 74.  Increases listening skills and empathy 75.  Helps make more accurate judgments 76.  Greater tolerance 77.  Gives composure to act in considered & constructive ways 78.  Grows a stable, more balanced personality 79.  Develops emotional maturity Spiritual benefits:  80.  Helps keep things in perspective 81.  Provides peace of mind, happiness 82.  Helps you discover your purpose in life 83.  Increased self-actualization. 84.  Increased compassion 85.  Growing wisdom 86.  Deeper understanding of yourself and others 87.  Brings body, mind, and spirit in harmony 88.  Deeper Level of spiritual relaxation 89.  Increased acceptance of one self 90.  Helps learn forgiveness 91.  Changes attitude toward life 92.  Creates a deeper relationship with your God 93.  Increases the synchronicity in your life 94.  Greater inner-directedness 95.  Helps living in the present moment 96.  Creates a widening, deepening capacity for love 97.  Discovery of the power and consciousness beyond the ego 98.  Experience an inner sense of "Assurance or Knowingness" 99.  Experience a sense of "Oneness" 100. Leads to enlightenment To top it off, meditation has NO negative side effects. Start Where U R.   Keep Smiling.

Correcting Mistakes

                                         A very touching story one would like to go through.

Correcting Mistakes 

Monica married Hitesh the oher day. At the end of the wedding party, Monica's mother gave her a newly opened bank saving passbook. With a Rs.1000 deposit amount.

Mother : "Monica, take this passbook. Keep it as a record of your married life. When there's something happy and memorable happened in your new life, put some money in. Write down what it's about next to that line. The more memorable the event is, the more money you can put in. I've done the first one for you today. Do the others with Hitesh.When you look back after a few years, you can know how much happiness you've had."

Monica shared this with Hitesh when he came home. They both thought it was a great idea and were anxious to know when the second deposit could be made.

This was what they did after some time:

- 7 Feb: Rs.100, first birthday celebration for Hitesh after marriage

- 1 Mar: Rs. 300, salary raise for Monica

- 20 Mar: Rs. 200, vacation trip to Bali

- 15 Apr: Rs. 2000, Monica got pregnant

- 1 Jun: Rs. 1000, Hitesh got promoted

..... and so on...

However, after some years, they started fighting and arguing over trivial things.

They didn't talk much. They regretted that they had married the most nasty people in the world .... no more love... Kind of typical of nowadays, huh?

One day Monica talked to her Mother: "Mom, we can't stand it anymore. We've agreed to divorce. I can't imagine how I decided to marry this guy !!!'

Mother: 'Sure, girl, that's no big deal. Just do whatever you want if you really can't stand it. But before that, do one thing first. Remember the savings passbook I gave you on your wedding day? Take out all the money and spend it first. You shouldn't keep any record of such a poor marriage." 

Monica thought it was true. So she went to the bank, waiting at the queue and planning to cancel the account.

While she was waiting, she took a look at the passbook record. She looked, and looked, and looked. Then the memory of all the previous joy and happiness just came up to her mind. Her eyes were then filled with tears. She left and went home. 

When she was home, she handed the passbook to Hitesh, and asked him to spend the money before getting the divorce.

The next day, Hitesh gave the passbook back to Monica. She found a new deposit of Rs. 5000. And a line next to the record: 'This is the day I noticed how much I've loved you throughout all these years. How much happiness you've brought me.'

They hugged and cried, putting the passbook back into the safe.

Do you know how much money they had saved when they retired?

I did not ask. I believe the money did not matter any more after they had gone through all the good years in their life.

"When you fall, in any way, Don't see the place where you fell, Instead see the place from where you slipped.

Life is about correcting mistakes.

Story: Crack pots!!!

A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots Had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always Delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the House, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, Perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was Ashamed of its own imperfection. And miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.       After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. I have been able to Deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes Water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my Flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.       The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw. So I Planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.       Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. Remember to appreciate all the different people in your life

Excellent one.... Think About It....

U.S. 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 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, 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 hunger strike along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during
winter.   
  
Amnesty International 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.   
  
The opposition stages a walkout in Parliament and demands an apology from Sonia Gandhi.   
  
Left parties call for a "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.   
  
CPM in West Bengal immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and
Grasshoppers.   
  
Mamata Banerjee 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-Mulayam call it "Socialistic Justice."   
  
CPM calls it the "Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden."   
  
The Grasshopper is invited 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.   
  
100's of Grasshoppers still die of starvation . 
  
As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the Grasshoppers, India is still a developing country!!! 
 

Have a Great Day....
Keep Smiling...

Just in case you were still wondering as to why India lost the final of the 2003 world cup after playing so well in the league games, probably here lies the answer.. J 

The teams that qualified for the super six stage: India, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. 

Note there are two teams each from the continents of Asia, Australia & Africa respectively.. 
  
  
  
  
The teams that have the last alphabet 'a' in their names qualified for the semifinals viz.
Indi'a' , Australi'a' , Keny'a' & Sri Lank'a' 
The teams that have alphabets 'ia' at the last of their name qualified for the Final i.e
Ind 'ia' & Austral'ia'  
Now,
Kisne World Cup 'lia' Austra'lia'
Kisne World Cup 'dia' In'dia' 
Simple hai mamu. 
  

THE SEED........................

The Seed

A successful business man was growing old and
knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children,
he decided to do something different. He called all the young
executives in his company together. 

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO.
I have decided to choose one of you. "The young executives were
shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one
of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant
the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with
what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then
judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be
the next CEO." 

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others,
received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the
story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted
the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had
grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began
to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have
a plant and he felt like a failure. 

Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he
had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but
he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however.
He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the
seed to grow. 

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company
brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. 

Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot.
But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick
to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment
of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot
to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety
of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- 
in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and
many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him! 

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young
executives. 

Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees,
and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will
be appointed the next CEO!" 

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with
his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to
the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a
failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened
to his seed - Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim,
and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next
Chief Executive Officer!

His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow
his seed. 

"How could he be the new CEO?" the others said. 

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this
room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it,
and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds;
they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow. 

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and
flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you
substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the
only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with
my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new
Chief Executive Officer!" 

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends 

* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness 

* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment 

* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective 

* If you plant hard work, you will reap success 

* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation 

* If you plant faith, you will reap a harvest 

So, be careful what you plant now; 
it will determine what you will reap later. 


"Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back"

Life is beautiful..

*Life is beautiful!!!** **

**20 years back - School bag.
Today                - Office bag.

20 years back - Lekhak Note book.
Today               - HP Note book.

20 years back - Hero Ranger.
Today               - Hero Honda.

20 years back - Half pants.
Today               - Full pants.

20 years back - Playing with plastic car running on battery and remote.
Today               - Playing with metal car running on petrol and gear.

20 years back - Scared of Teachers and exams.
Today               - Scared of Managers and targets.

20 years back - Wanting to be class topper.
Today               - Wanting to be 'Employee of the month'.

20 years back - Quarterly exams.
Today               - Quarterly results.

20 years back - Annual School Magazine.
Today              - Company Annual Report.

20 years back - Annual exams.
Today              - Annual appraisals.

20 years back - Pocket money.
Today               - Salary.

20 years back - Waiting for Diwali crackers.
Today               - Waiting for Diwali bonus.

20 years back - Running for grades and prize cups.
Today               - Running for incentives and promotions.

20 years back - Craving for the latest toy in the market.
Today               - Craving for the latest gadget in the market

20 years back - Eager to watch the latest cartoon show.
Today              - Eager to watch the latest blockbuster.

20 years back - Fruity.
Today              - Brandy.

20 years back - Crush on class mate.
Today              - Crush on colleague.

So essentially nothing has changed!!*
 
 

Time moves on..

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said I love you but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you. The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. "What's wrong, are you well," she asked? My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. "I thought that it would be pleasant to be with you," I responded. "Just the two of us." She thought about it for a moment, and then said, "I would like that very much." That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's. "I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed, "she said, as she got into the car. "They can't wait to hear about our meeting". We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips "It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small," she said. "Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor," I responded. During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation - nothing extraordinary, but catching up on recent events of each other's life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, "I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you." I agreed. "How was your dinner date?" asked my wife when I got home. "Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined," I answered. A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I did to not get to do anything for her. Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: "I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates - one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son." At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: "I LOVE YOU!" and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till "some other time." *Here's hoping today is better than yesterday and tomorrow.*

Parents!!!!!!!!!!!

This was narrated by an IAF pilot to IIT students during a Seminar on Human Relations:

Venkatesh Balasubramaniam (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 (Venkatesh) 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 to 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 would 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.

KEEP THIS MESSAGE GOING BY SENDING IT TO YOUR FRIENDS As I Did......... .

Indian Republic Of Scams

Indian Republic Of Scams

Total Scam Money (approx) Since 1948

INR 80000000000000/-
(Approx. 80 Lakh Crore i.e. Trillion)

Hard to digest ?
Not forgetting the current Telecom Scams, just check SOME of our scamsters -

India's biggest scams 1. Ramalinga Raju, Rs. 50.4 billion
India's biggest scams 2. Harshad Mehta, Rs. 40 billion
India's biggest scams 3. Ketan Parekh, Rs. 10 billion
India's biggest scams 4. C R Bhansali, Rs. 12 billion
India's biggest scams 5. Cobbler scam
India's biggest scams 6. IPO Scam
India's biggest scams 7. Dinesh Dalmia, Rs. 5.95 billion
India's biggest scams 8. Abdul Karim Telgi, Rs. 1.71 billion
India's biggest scams 9. Virendra Rastogi, Rs. 430 million
India's biggest scams 10 The UTI Scam, Rs. 320 million
India's biggest scams 11. Uday Goyal, Rs. 2.1 billion
India's biggest scams 12. Sanjay Agarwal, Rs. 6 billion
India's biggest scams 13. Dinesh Singhania, Rs. 1.2 billion

What India Could Do With Rs 73 Lakh Crore?

Build: 2.4 crore primary healthcare centres. That抯 at least 3 for every village, at a cost of Rs 30 lakh each.

Build: 24.1 lakh Kendriya Vidyalayas at a cost of Rs 3.02 crore each, with two sections from cl-ass VI to XII.

Construct: 14.6 crore low-cost houses assuming a cost of Rs 5 lakh a unit. Set up: 2,703 coal-based power plants of 600 MW each. Each costs Rs 2,700 crore.

Supply: 12 lakh CFL bulbs. That抯 enough light for each of India抯 6 lakh villages

Construct: 14.6 lakh km of two-lane highways. That抯 a road around India抯 perimeter 97 times over.

Clean up: 50 major rivers for the next 121 years, at Rs 1,200 crore a river every year.

Launch: 90 NREGA-style schemes, each worth roughly Rs 81,111 crore. Announce: 121 more loan waiver schemes. All of them worth Rs 60,000 crore.

Give: Rs 56,000 to every Indian. Even better, give Rs 1.82 lakh to 40 crore Indians living BPL.

Hand out: 60.8 crore Tata Nanos to 60.8 crore people. Or four times as many laptops.

Grow the GDP: The scam money is 27% more than our GDP of Rs 53 lakh crore."

Greed, graft, politics, bribery, dirty money. Just another day in the life of a nation still rated among the most corrupt in the world. Scams that have grabbed headlines, destroyed reputations and left many people poorer.

Now Guess if this Money (US$ 1.8 T) & Swiss Bank money (US$ 1.5 T) comes back to India, who will be the Super power?

Some Details:

1. Jeep Purchase (1948) :- Free India's corruption graph begins. V. K. Krishna Menon, then the Indian high commissioner to Britain, bypassed protocol to sign a deal worth Rs 80 lakh with a foreign firm for the
purchase of army jeeps. The case was closed in 1955 and soon after Menon joined the Nehru cabinet.

2. Cycle Imports (1951) :- S.A. Venkataraman, then the secretary, ministry of commerce and industry, was jailed for accepting a bribe in lieu of granting a cycle import quota to a company.

3. BHU Funds (1956) :- In one of the first instances of corruption in educational institutions, Benaras Hindu University officials were accused of misappropriation of funds worth Rs 50 lakh.

4. MUNDHRA SCANDAL (1957):- It was the media that first hinted there might be a scam involving the sale of shares to LIC, Feroz Gandhi sources the confidential correspondence between the then Finance Minister T.T. Krishnamachari and his principal finance secretary, and raised a question in Parliament on the sale of 'fraudulent' shares to LIC by a Calcutta-based Marwari businessman named Haridas Mundhra. The then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, set up a one-man commission headed by Justice M.C.Chagla to investigate the matter when it becomes evident that there was a prima facie case. Chagla concluded that Mundhra had sold fictitious shares to LIC, thereby defrauding the insurance behemoth to the tune of Rs. 1.25 crore. Mundhra was sentenced to 22 years in prison. The scam also forced the resignation of T.T.Krishnamachari.

6. Teja Loans (1960):- Shipping magnate Jayant Dharma Teja took loans worth Rs 22 crore to establish the Jayanti Shipping Company. In 1960, the authorities discovered that he was actually siphoning off money to his own account, after which Teja fled the country.

7. Kairon Scam (1963):- Pratap Singh Kairon became the first Indian chief minister to be accused of abusing his power for his own benefit and that of his sons and relatives. He quit a year later.

8. Patnaik's Own Goal (1965) :- Orissa Chief Minister Biju Patnaik was forced to resign after it was discovered that he had favoured his privately-held company Kalinga Tubes in awarding a government contract.

9. Maruti Scandal (1974) :- Well before the company was set up, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's name came up in the first Maruti scandal, where her son Sanjay Gandhi was favoured with a license to make passenger cars.

10. Solanki Exposé (1992) :- At the World Economic Forum, Madhavsinh Solanki, then the external affairs minister, slipped a letter to his Swiss counterpart asking their government to stop the probe into the Bofors
kickbacks. Solanki resigned when India Today broke the story.

11. Kuo Oil Deal (1976):- The Indian Oil Corporation signed an Rs 2.2-crore oil contract with a non-existent firm in Hong Kong and a kickback was given. The petroleum and chemicals minister was directed to make the purchase.

12. Antulay Trust (1981) :- With the exposure of this scandal concerning A.R. Antulay, then the chief minister of Maharashtra, The Indian Express was reborn. Antulay had garnered Rs 30 crore from businesses dependent on state resources like cement and kept the money in a private trust.

13. HDW Commissions (1987) :- HDW, the German submarine maker, was blacklisted after allegations that commissions worth Rs 20 crore had been paid. In 2005, the case was finally closed, in HDW's favour.

14. Bofors Pay-Off (1987) :- A Swedish firm was accused of paying Rs 64 crore to Indian bigwigs, including Rajiv Gandhi, then the prime minister, to secure the purchase of the Bofors gun.

15. St Kitts Forgery (1989) :- An attempt was made to sully V.P. Singh's Mr Clean image by forging documents to allege that he was a beneficiary of his son Ajeya Singh's account in the First Trust Corp. at St Kitts, with a deposit of $21 million.

16. Airbus Scandal (1990) :- Indian Airlines's (IA) signing of the Rs 2,000-crore deal with Airbus instead of Boeing caused a furore following the crash of an A-320. New planes were grounded, causing IA a weekly loss of Rs 2.5 crore.

17. Securities Scam (1992) :- Harshad Mehta manipulated banks to siphon off money and invested the funds in the stock market, leading to a crash. Theloss: Rs 5,000 crore.

18. Indian Bank Rip-off (1992) :- Aided by M. Gopalakrishnan, then the chairman of the Indian Bank, borrowers-mostly small corporates and exporters from the south-were lent a total of over Rs 1,300 crore, which they never paid back.

19. Sugar Import (1994) :- As food minister, Kalpnath Rai presided over the import of sugar at a price higher than that of the market, causing a loss of Rs 650 crore to the exchequer. He resigned following the allegations.

20. MS SHOES SCAM (1994) :- Anyone who war old enough in 1994 to read will remember the advertisements- tens of them intriguingly headlined: 'Who is Pawan Sachdeva?' For the record, it was the peak of the public issued-led advertising boom and the ads were created by the Delhi branch of Rediffusion. Sachdeva, the promoter of MS Shoes, allegedly used company funds to buy shares (of his own company) and rig prices, prior to a public issue. He is alleged to have colluded with officials in the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and SBI Caps, which lead-managed the issue, to dupe the public into investing in his Rs. 699-crore public-***-rights issue. Sachdeva was later acquitted.

21. JMM Bribes (1995) :- Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shailendra Mahato testified that he and three party members received bribes of Rs 30 lakh to bail out the P.V. Narasimha Rao government in the 1993 no-confidence motion.

22. In a Pickle (1996) :- Pickle baron Lakhubhai Pathak raised a stink when he accused former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and godman Chandraswami of accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from him for securing a paper pulp contract.

23. Telecom Scam (1996) :- Former minister of state for communication Sukh Ram was accused of causing a loss of Rs 1.6 crore to the exchequer by favouring a Hyderabad- based private firm in the purchase of telecom equipment. He, along with two others, was convicted in 2002.

24. Fodder Scam (1996) :- The accountant general's concerns about the withdrawal of excess funds by Bihar's animal husbandry department unveiled a Rs 950-crore scam involving Lalu Prasad Yadav, then the state chief minister. He resigned a year later.

25. Urea Deal (1996) :- C.S. Ramakrishnan, MD, National Fertiliser, and a group of businessmen close to the P.V. Narasimha Rao regime fleeced the government and took Rs 133 crore from the import of two lakh tonne of urea, which was never delivered.

26. Hawala Diaries (1996) :- The scandal surfaced following CBI raids on hawala operators in Delhi in 1991. But it was S.K. Jain's diaries that had heads rolling.

27. CRB SCAM (1997) :- Another scam forged by greed and discovered through accident. Chain Roop Bhansali, a smart-talking entrepreneur, created a pyramid financial empire based on high-cost financing. At its peak, his Rs. 1,000-crore financial conglomerate had in its ranks a mutual fund, a financial services company into fixed deposits, and a merchant bank. That Bhansali knew how to work the system became evident when he also managed to secure a provisional banking license. Then his luck ran out. An executive in the State Bank of India Inadvertently discovered that some interest warrants issued by Bhansali were not backed by cash. The bubble finally burst in May 1997, but by that time investors had lost over Rs. 1,000 crore. This was among the first retail scams in India and it was played out, in smaller avatars, across the country-especially in the South where financial services companies promised returns in excess of 20 per cent and decamped with the principal. Bhansali was arrested for a few weeks and released later on bail.

28. MEHTA'S SECOND COMING (1998) :- The Big Bull returned to the bourses. This time, he allegedly colluded with the promoters of BPL, Videocon International, and Sterile Industries to rig the share prices of these companies. The inevitable collapse happened sooner than planned, Harshad Mehta orchestrated a cover-up operation that included a high=jinks effort by officials of Bombay Stock Exchange to (illegally ) open the trading system in the middle of the night to set things right, but the damage had been done. SEBI finally passed its ruling on the scam in 2001, banning the three companies concerned from tapping the market-BPL, for two years. Mehta was debarred for life form dealing in Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in October 2001

29. VANISHING COMPANIES SCAM (1998) :- A passing remark heard by then Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram resulted in a furore over what was badly-kept secret on Dalal street. Chidambaram was told that hundreds of companies had disappeared after raising moneys form the public. An informal scrutiny revealed that perhaps over 600 companies were missing. Chidambaram ordered a probe by SEBI. The SEBI probe conducted in May 1998 revealed that while many companies are not traded on the bourses at least 80 companies that had rises Rs.330.78 crore were simply missing. Later that year, the Department of Company Affairs (DCA) was asked to probe and penalize these companies. DCA still investigating. Investigations continue to this day.

30. PLANTATION COMPANIES SCAM (1999) :- It was as innovative a swindle as any effected in the world. Savvy entrepreneurs convinced gullible investors that given the right irrigation and fertilizer inputs, teak, strawberries, and anything else that could be grown, would grow anywhere in the country. The promoters could afford to collect money from investors and not worry about retribution (or returns, for that matter). For, plantation companies fell under the purview of neither SEBI nor Reserve Bank of India. Indeed, they didn't even come under the scope of the Department decided to change things in 1999, enough investors had been gulled: 653 companies, between them, had raised Rs. 2,563 crore from investors. To date, not many investors have got their principals back, just another affirmation of the old saying about money not growing on trees.

31. Match Fixing (2000) :- Mohammed Azharuddin, till then India's cricket captain, was accused of match-fixing. He and Ajay Sharma were banned from playing, while Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar were suspended for five years.

32. KETAN PAREKH SCAM (2001) :- Ketan Parekh's modus operandi wasn't very different from Harshad Mehta's. If Mehta used banker's receipts, then Parekh used pay orders to ramp up the prices of his favourite scrips (the K-10). Apart from money form the banking system Parekh also rerouted money from corporated like HFCL (Rs. 425 crore), and Zee (Rs. 340 crore) to good effect. He was caught when pay-orders issued by Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank bounced. Although the total amount involved in the scam was just Rs. 137 crore, the impact was far greater.

Apparently, when a bear cartel sensed Parekh was in trouble, it stepped in and leveraged a dip in the NASDAQ to bear down stock prices. The resultant slump in the markets happened soon after Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha presented what he considered his best budget ever. Under pressure from the government, SEBI investigated the scam and heads began to roll. Among them: the entire management team of BSE, including its president Anand Rathi, CSFB, First Global, and, in an indirect connection, P.S.Subramanyam, the Chairman of UTL Evidently, for the 18 months that PSS was Chairman of UTI, the Trust had mirrored the actions of the bull cartel. The result? When the market tanked, so did the NAV of its holy cow, the US-64.

33. Tehelka Sting (2001) :- Tehelka, an online news portal, used spycams to.catch army officers and politicians accepting bribes, in their sting.operation called Operation Westend. Investigative journalism turned another.corner in the country.

34. Stockmarket Scam (2001) :- The mayhem that wiped off over Rs 1,15,000.crore in the markets in March 2001 was masterminded by the Pentafour bull.Ketan Parekh. He was arrested in December 2002 and banned from acccessing.the capital market for 14 years.

35. Home Trade Scam (2002) :- Under the pretext of gilt trading, Rs 600.crore was swindled from over 25 cooperative banks in Maharashtra and Gujarat.by a Navi Mumbai-based brokerage firm Home Trade. Sanjay Agarwal, CEO of the firm, was arrested in May 2002.

36. Stamp Paper Scam (2003) :- The sheer magnitude of the racket was shocking-it caused a loss of Rs 30,000 crore to the exchequer. Disclosures of the mastermind behind it, Abdul Karim Telgi, implicated top police officers and bureaucrats.

37. Oil-for-Food Scandal (2005) :- K. Natwar Singh was unceremoniously dropped from the Cabinet when his name surfaced in the Volcker Report on the Iraq oil-for-food scam.

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