Cracked pot: Dont be afraid of your flaws.

A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and 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 master's 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 master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end 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."

"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's 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 water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father's table. Don't be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and allow Him to take advantage of them, and you, too, can be the cause of beauty in his pathway.

David Hare: writing tips

1 Write only when you have something to say.

2 Never take advice from anyone with no investment in the outcome.

3 Style is the art of getting yourself out of the way, not putting yourself in it.

4 If nobody will put your play on, put it on yourself.

5 Jokes are like hands and feet for a painter. They may not be what you want to end up doing but you have to master them in the meanwhile.

6 Theatre primarily belongs to the young.

7 No one has ever achieved consistency as a screenwriter.

8 Never go to a TV personality festival masquerading as a literary festival.

9 Never complain of being misunderstood. You can choose to be understood, or you can choose not to.

10 The two most depressing words in the English language are “literary fiction”.

An Excerpt from Goals...The 10 Rules for Achieving Success

Success is the intentional, pre-meditated use of choice and decision. Unless you choose-with certainty-what it is you want, you accept table scraps by default!

The world is plump with opportunity. With boldness and conviction, stick a fork into the goals you want by being decisive.

You are born with great capabilities, but you will not achieve your potential until you call upon yourself to fulfill it. You will rise to the occasion when it presents itself; yet, to assure self-fulfillment, you must provide occasions to rise to. Clearly defined goals allow you to travel toward another horizon that represents the end of one experience and the transition to a new and better existence. The objective is to choose the right goals, and then to create the necessary causes-the effects will follow!

The difference between what one person and another achieves depends more on goal choices than on abilities.

The profound differences between successful people and others are the goals they choose to pursue. Individuals with similar talents, intelligence, and abilities will achieve different results because they select and pursue different goals.

Each decision affects what you become. We form our decisions and our decisions form us.

There is no escaping this; the smallest choices are important because-over time-their cumulative effect is enormous.

Never overlook the obvious: The nature and direction of your life change the instant you decide what goals you want to pursue.

Once you make a decision you start down a path to a new destination. At the moment the decision is made, your decision to pursue a goal alters what you are becoming. A single choice can alter your life, your destiny, your legacy.

Think about it-your goal decisions represent and express your individuality. You seal your fate with the choices you make.

You define yourself by your decisions.

Your dialog with success is ultimately a solo one. Decisions and goals made must be your own if you are to call your life a success.

Always establish the best goals you can. Goals are the seeds of success-you become only what you plant. The quality of your harvest is a direct reflection of the quality of your seeds...your decisions!

Indecision is the big eraser of opportunity and potential. Risks and costs accompany every decision; however, the price of decision is far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction. When it comes to decisiveness, squatters have no rights.

Everyone has an official wish list of things they think are "reasonable." What about the unofficial wish list? The one that common sense tells you to ignore? The list that exists deep in your mind, the list that keeps you up at night, the that makes your toes wiggle when you think of it? Why not choose that list for a change?

How long have you dreamed of being, having, and doing what you really want? Think big, as when it comes to your goals, the size of your ambition does matter.

A decision to lose weight and keep it off must be remade every time you feel hungry.

A decision is never made only once.

What is Incredible India : A true critic

What is Incredible India - Its Sad but true
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. A Nation where Pizza reaches home Faster then Ambulance and Police!

2. A nation where you get Car Loan @ 6% but Education Loan @ 12%

3. A nation where Rice is Rs.40 but Sim card is Rs.10

4. A nation where people standing at tea stall reading an article in newspaper about child labour and saying "Yaar bacho se kaam krwane walo ko to faansi pe chada dena chahiye" and then they shout "Oye CHOTU 3 chai la!" That's INDIA our Incredible INDIA.

Adarsh Scam : A black spot on us .. FOREVER

Please forward to everyone you can. Do not expect that you will win a million dollars by doing that, or bill gates is going to pay you for each forward, or, you are going to get bad luck if you don’t forward. But, there needs to be a an increased common of pain and anger among us if want a better system for ourselves and our children in future.

Being in IT, we can not underestimate the power of this media. If Asmaa Mafouz can trigger a revolution which led to end a 30 year old regime in Egypt, just by writing “People, I am going to Tahrir Square”, we can too.

When is someone going to write on Facebook, “People: I am going to India Gate” and we will change this corrupt system .

Now read this forward:

Brilliantly written with passion by a Retired Colonel........

       The method of Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scamsters of Mumbai was disarmingly simple. They simply co-opted in their scam whoever looked like standing in the way. If we judge the strategy by its results, it was spectacularly successful. It indeed disarmed everybody. From just 30-odd members, the eventual group grew to more than a hundred. Each new entrant not only removed a roadblock on the way but also increased the size of the cake. 

       Thus, someone got the land title, someone the extra FSI. Someone got clearances, someone else made the Army and the Navy objections softer. They all became members. 

       The scary bit about the scam is not that it happened. It is that in the entire chain, there was not one man (or woman) who refused to compromise himself (or herself). There was not one person whose integrity stood its ground in face of temptation. Right from the lowly collector, to the officials in urban development department and the MMRDA, to the ministers and chief minister, everybody proved over-eager to  do his bit. About the bureaucrats and the ministers, we always knew. The really sickening part is that it went on all the way to at least three service  chiefs. 

       They all sold their souls. No whistle-blower in the entire system. Nobody thought something very gross was under way and he should put his foot down. 

       And for what? A sea-facing apartment in Mumbai, worth perhaps Rs 8 crore. So there, folks, you have the price of this country. For a combined booty of no more than Rs 800 crore, you could buy the entire system. Our enemies reading about this can now rest their weapons. The message they get is that if they face the mighty Indian Army they only need to wave the allotment letters of a plush apartment. 

       And lo! The battle is won. If the chiefs go for 1000 sq ft of Mumbai real estate, how much should the poor battlefield commander go for? A Shanghai penthouse, or a cottage in Murree? 

       I would hate to be a soldier in our armed forces at this moment. The fellow has just seen Lt Generals being prosecuted for land scam. Now, an admiral and two generals are part of a housing scam. He is expected to die on their orders. 

If, after this, a soldier winces at such an order, can he be faulted? The former chiefs have now graciously offered to return the flats, professing ignorance about the fact that land was meant for martyrs' families. As if that is the only thing wrong about the deal. It was stinking from start to finish and if the chiefs could not smell any of it, the forces have a lot to answer for the kind of persons they select for their top most posts. 

           No, gentlemen, you have let down the proud institutions you headed. You have let down your colleagues who must suffer the suspicions you have aroused. You have let down your country that decorated you so much. Worst of all, you have let down that soldier who saluted you day in and day out. You owe him an apology, 

not just a glib explanation. About others, the less said the better. They occupy some of the most plum posts and yet possess all the integrity of a pickpocket.

           It is no wonder India has climbed further in corruption ladder. Merely dispossessing these scamsters of their ill-gotten apartment would be no punishment. They need to be dismissed from service and prosecuted for being unworthy custodians of our trust  ......