Story

Guru Ram Dass, the fourth Sikh Guru, had several disciples. Every disciple remained busy doing his duty. One of the disciples war Arjun Dev. His particular quality was that he devotedly kept himself busy with the duty assigned to him. Ever since he became the Guru’s disciple, he was given the work of scrubbing the utensils.

Other disciples used to ask him, “Arjun Dev you are always busy in cleaning utensils, you should serve the Guru also sometimes.”

Arjun Dev replied, “This work of cleaning the utensils, I do with Guru’s orders.”

They said, “But only cleaning the utensils does not comprise the whole service. The Guru will not be pleased in this manner.”

Arjun Dev said, “I do not try to please the Guru. My duty is to obey him.”

The other disciples were quiet. They though, it was wasting time to advise him.

The time passed on. Whenever there was a sermon or religious congregation, Arjun Dev was always busy in doing his duty. Guru Ram Dass’s end neared. Every disciple thought that he had the right to succeed the Guru because he had all the qualities of service and devotion in him. The Guru had written down the ‘will’ for the announcement of his successor. The ‘will’ was to be opened after his death.

Guru Ram Dass died. Everybody was eager to hear what was written in the ‘will’ so that he might know his fortune. When the ‘will’ was opened, Arjun Dev had been declared the successor. Everyone, particularly those who had built up high hopes, were greatly surprised. Some put up a question that how was Arjun Dev made the successor even though he had no better qualities than other disciples.

The wise men said, “In the Guru’s views Arjun Dev was the only deserving successor to him.”

The disciples asked, “But he never said his prayers. He never took part in the religious discourses. He was only cleaning utensils. Nothing else did he do. Then where lies the justification in making him the successor”.

The answer was – faith and discipline are the only prime qualities.

In fact the touch stone of eligibility is one’s innate faith, absolute devotion and discipline, not his knowledge and wisdom.

Discuss with children examples of Discipline in nature – sun – sunrise and sunset, seasons, solar system. Human body – temperature (98.6 F), heartbeat, breathing etc

Game

All the kids stand in a line. When the person who is traffic police says “Green” the children run towards finish, and when he says “Red” they stop where they are. Whoever doesn’t stop is out.

Story

Great Attitude

Once a bird asked a Bee, after a continuous hard-work, you prepare the honey. But a man steals the honey. Do you not feel sad? Then the Bee replied: Never… Because a man can only steal my honey not the art of making honey..!!

Story

Each One Can Make A Difference

There was a man taking a morning walk at or the beach. He saw that along with the morning tide came hundreds of starfish and when the tide receded, they were left behind and with the morning sun rays, they would die. The tide was fresh and the starfish were alive. The man took a few steps, picked one and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly. Right behind him there was another person who couldn’t understand what this man was doing. He caught up with him and asked, “What are you doing? There are hundreds of starfish. How many can you help? What difference does it make?” This man did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water, and said, “It makes a difference to this one.”

What difference are we making? Big or small, it does not matter. If everyone made a small difference, we’d end up with a big difference, wouldn’t we?

Power of ONE : Each of us is but one person: limited, burdened with our own cares and responsibilities. We may feel there is so much to be done, and we have so little to give. We’re usually short of everything, especially time and money.

When we leave this shore, there will still be millions of starfish stranded on the beach. Maybe we can’t change the whole world, but there isn’t one of us who can’t help change one person’s whole world. One at a time. We can make a difference.

Story

Raindrop – Snowflake

Once upon a time there was a little drop of water who dreamed of becoming a snowflake and turning the landscape white. Years passed, and then there was a great drought which evaporated the little drop from the lake where he lived. When he reached the sky, he became part of a small cloud. As soon as the weather turned cold, the little drop looked for a nice bit of countryside where he could fall, and help cover the place in snow.

But only a little bit of snow fell, and as soon as it touched the ground, it melted. And there the little drop had to remain, waiting for the sun’s rays to shine again, and send him back up to the clouds. When the sun shone, the little drop ascended once more, turned to snow again, and down he fell. Again, just after landing, he melted.

This happened several times. Finally, the little drop went and joined a great big cloud, where millions of other drops had crowded together. Despite being gigantic, conditions in that cloud were rather uncomfortable. A few of the drops were ordering everyone else around, making them squash up together, amid a great racket.

”Biggest drops at the bottom! Smallest drops at the top! Come on, come on! There’s no time to waste…”

Our little drop wasn’t keen on all this, and he considered falling down to Earth again, but a nice, friendly drop next to him managed to talk him out of it.

”Where are you going?! You don’t want to take part?”

Seeing how surprised our little drop looked, the friendly drop explained they were preparing for a big snowfall.

”All of us here love being snow, and covering the land for days; that’s why we’ve all gathered together here. Years ago I would try doing it on my own, but I learned I couldn’t manage it without help. I found this nice cloud, where we all help each other a little. And thanks to our teamwork, we’ve made some of the best snowfalls ever!”

A little later, both drops were flying down through the sky as snowflakes, surrounded by millions and millions of other flakes, turning the green fields white.

And with great joy, our little drop realised that when everyone worked together they could achieve what had at first seemed impossible.

Story

The Singing Birds

When we have a disagreement with others we can usually sort it out by talking about it and helping each other to find a solution. (An answer)

Long, long ago, all the birds sang very loudly because they were so happy. Each bird thought his song was the best and each bird sang louder and louder. “Peeu, peeu! Ask father, ask father! Cark, cark! Twitter, twitter! Tweet, tweet! Warble, warble!” Oh, there was such a loud noise all day and all night! None of the birds could sleep! At last the sparrow and the cuckoo said, “We must do something about this!” “Yes, yes!” said the dove and the crow. “Let’s go and talk to the owl. He is very wise.” All the birds went along to the owl’s tree and found him sitting on a branch with his eyes closed. “Excuse me, Mr. Owl” said the sparrow, very politely. “May we talk to you?” Mr. Owl opened one eye but did not say anything. “Excuse me, Mr. Owl,” said the cuckoo. “We birds have a big problem. We have come to you because you are very wise.” “What is the problem?” asked the Owl. “This is the problem,” said the sparrow. “All the birds were very happy and we began to sing louder and louder. Now we are singing so loudly, day and night that we can’t get any sleep!” “Why don’t they just do what I do when I’m happy? I whisper “Hoo-hoo” and I don’t disturb anyone.” At that the birds sang their own songs again. What a noise! “Stop! Stop!” said the Owl. “Now I know what the problem is. All the birds are very happy so they want to sing, but everything has its time and place. It’s fine to sing during the day when everyone is awake, but you must stop singing at night so the you can sleep. That is except for the nightjar and me. We sing at night but we sing so quietly that we don’t disturb anyone. Hoo-hoo.” So from that day to this most birds sing in the daytime, except for the owl and the nightjar, who sing very quietly at night.

Just as the birds sorted out their problem, God wants us to get together to solve our problems by talking things through and not by quarreling with anyone. God is with us all the time. He knows and understands our problems. He is sad when He sees us quarreling. He is happy when He sees us working or playing happily together.

Story

Listen to the sound of silence

There once was a farmer who discovered that he had lost his watch in the barn. It was no ordinary watch because it had sentimental value for him.

After searching high and low among the hay for a long while; he gave up and enlisted the help of a group of children playing outside the barn.

He promised them that the person who found it would be rewarded.

Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn, went through and around the entire stack of hay but still could not find the watch. Just when the farmer was about to give up looking for his watch, a little boy went up to him and asked to be given another chance. The farmer looked at him and thought, “Why not? After all, this kid looks sincere enough.”

So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn. After a while the little boy came out with the watch in his hand! The farmer was both happy and surprised and so he asked the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed.

The boy replied, “I did nothing but sit on the ground and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the watch and just looked for it in that direction.”

Moral

• A peaceful mind can think better than a worked up mind. Allow a few minutes of silence to your mind every day, and see, how sharply it helps you to set your life the way you expect it to be! ~ The soul always knows what to do to heal itself..The challenge is to silence the mind….

Story

A POUND OF BUTTER

There was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to the baker. One day the baker decided to weigh the butter to see if he was getting a pound and he found that he was not. This angered him and he took the farmer to court. The judge asked the farmer if he was using any measure. The farmer replied, amour Honor, I am primitive. I don’t have a proper measure, but I do have a scale.” The judge asked, “Then how do you weigh the butter?” The farmer replied “Your Honor, long before the baker started buying butter from me, I have been buying a pound loaf of bread from him. Every day when the baker brings the bread, I put it on the scale and give him the same weight in butter. If anyone is to be blamed, it is the baker.”

What is the moral of the story?

“ We get back in life what we give to others.”

Whenever you take an action, ask yourself this question: Am I giving fair value for the wages or money I hope to make? Honesty and dishonesty become a habit. Some people practice dishonesty and can lie with a straight face. Others lie so much that they don’t even know what the truth is anymore. But who are they deceiving? Themselves.

Story

Success: Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was a gifted child who possessed a spirit of enquiry – he wished to know the how and why of things around him by asking others and then by conducting experiments. No one could believe what all he wanted to do. But his patience and self effort won him success and fame as a great inventor.

One day little Thomas Alva came home from school crying. He handed over a note to his mother and gave a paper to his mother. He told her, “My teacher gave this paper to me and told me to only give it to my mother.”

On the note was written, “Your son cannot attend school. He pesters his teachers by asking silly questions. He is a fool.”

Little Thomas Alva was labeled a fool. But his mother was not worried. His mother’s eyes were tearful as she read the letter out loud to her child: “Your son is a genius. This school is too small for him and doesn’t have enough good teachers for training him. Please teach him yourself.”

She consoled him and said, “Don’t cry son. I will be your teacher.” She knew that her son was not a fool. He was only curious to know that how and why of things.

She remembered, how he had once sat on some eggs like a hen, thinking that the eggs would hatch and chickens would come out. But instead of hatching the eggs got squashed.

He had also once set aflame the barn just to watch the power of fire. Once he crushed some worms into milk and made his maid servant drink it.

Sound’s bad doesn’t it? Must have tasted bad too. Little Thomas Alva had seen birds eating worms and thought that he could make his maid servant flap her hands and fly away, by making her eat worms.

These incidents may sound queer but they threw light on Thomas Alva’s inquisitive nature, his curiosity to know how things happened, why things happened. He performed many experiments striving hard to find out answers to the many questions arising in his mind. This very little boy, who was called fool by his classmates and a dreamer by the society grew up to become the great inventor Thomas Alva Edison.

After many, many years, after Edison’s mother died and he was now one of the greatest inventors of the century, one day he was looking through old family things. Suddenly he saw a folded paper in the corner of a drawer in a desk. He took it and opened it up.

Edison cried for hours and then he wrote in his diary: “Thomas Alva Edison was an addled child that, by a hero mother, became the genius of the century.”Thomas Alva Edison was a gifted child who possessed a spirit of enquiry – he wished to know the how and why of things around him by asking others and then by conducting experiments. No one could believe what all he wanted to do. But his patience and self effort won him success and fame as a great inventor.

One day little Thomas Alva came home from school crying. He handed over a note to his mother and gave a paper to his mother. He told her, “My teacher gave this paper to me and told me to only give it to my mother.”

On the note was written, “Your son cannot attend school. He pesters his teachers by asking silly questions. He is a fool.”

Little Thomas Alva was labeled a fool. But his mother was not worried. His mother’s eyes were tearful as she read the letter out loud to her child: “Your son is a genius. This school is too small for him and doesn’t have enough good teachers for training him. Please teach him yourself.”

She consoled him and said, “Don’t cry son. I will be your teacher.” She knew that her son was not a fool. He was only curious to know that how and why of things.

She remembered, how he had once sat on some eggs like a hen, thinking that the eggs would hatch and chickens would come out. But instead of hatching the eggs got squashed.

He had also once set aflame the barn just to watch the power of fire. Once he crushed some worms into milk and made his maid servant drink it.

Sound’s bad doesn’t it? Must have tasted bad too. Little Thomas Alva had seen birds eating worms and thought that he could make his maid servant flap her hands and fly away, by making her eat worms.

These incidents may sound queer but they threw light on Thomas Alva’s inquisitive nature, his curiosity to know how things happened, why things happened. He performed many experiments striving hard to find out answers to the many questions arising in his mind. This very little boy, who was called fool by his classmates and a dreamer by the society grew up to become the great inventor Thomas Alva Edison.

After many, many years, after Edison’s mother died and he was now one of the greatest inventors of the century, one day he was looking through old family things. Suddenly he saw a folded paper in the corner of a drawer in a desk. He took it and opened it up.

Edison cried for hours and then he wrote in his diary: “Thomas Alva Edison was an addled child that, by a hero mother, became the genius of the century.”

Never Give up. Be confident. Remember – (be it life, sports, career or any competition) – any battle is won twice – FIRST IN YOUR HEAD…….

Story

To Complete Any Task Use All Your Strength

A young boy and his father were walking along a forest path. At some point, they came across a large tree branch on the ground in front of them.

The boy asked his father, “If I try, do you think I could move that branch?” His father replied, “I am sure you can, if you use all your strength.”

The boy tried his best to lift or push the branch, but he was not strong enough and he couldn’t move it.

He said, with disappointment, “You were wrong, dad. I can’t move it.”

“Try again,” replied his father.

Again, the boy tried hard to push the branch. He struggled but it did not move.

“Dad, I cannot do it,” said the boy.

Finally his father said, “Son, I advised you to use all your strength. You didn’t. You didn’t ask for my help.”

Some reflections on this story…

We haven’t used all our strength until we have recognized, appreciated and galvanized the strength and support of those who love and surround us, and those who care about our purpose.

Our real strength lies not in independence, but in interdependence.

No individual person has all the strengths, all the resources and all the stamina required for the complete blossoming of their vision.

That requires the inspired collaboration of many like-hearted beings.

To ask for help and support when we need it is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of wisdom.

It is a call for the greater strength that lives in our togetherness.

When we ask for help and we are refused, it just means we have to ask at another time, or ask in another way, or ask another person.

It helps to remember SWSWSWSW. Some will, some won’t, so what, someone’s waiting!

When by yourself You cannot manage To complete any task Use ALL your strength Turn around and ASK!

Your parents, teachers, elders as well as your friends do many things for you. at times, they do things to please you and make you happy. More often than not, they go through a lot of trouble trying to make you comfortable.

We should thank people for the favours they do for us. We should be grateful to them. Thanking others is a way of showing our gratitude. People who do not feel thankful for an act of favour or kindness are called ungrateful.

Story

Be Thankful For Everything

Once Veena bought a pen for her friend Neha’s birthday. And she had taken great pain to select a lovely blue fountain pen with smooth nib for Neha. She had got Neha’s name inscribed on the pen. It had taken Veena two hours to find a pen that she thought Neha would like. Then she bought a pretty yellow wrapping paper to wrap the gift. She also purchased a birthday card and wrote loving birthday greeting to Neha in it. Veena was sure that Neha would like her present very much.

Veena gave the gift to Neha on her birthday. Neha opened the present and said, “Oh, I have already got two pens, Veena”. She put Veena’s gift away and dragged Veena to the garden to play some games. Neha did not even bother to thank Veena or say a few kind words to her. Veena was hurt and disappointed. She had spent all her pocket money to buy the present for Neha

Discussion :

Don’t you think it was wrong of Neha not to say “Thank You” to her friend for the presents she gave her? Even if she already had two fountain pens, Neha should have thanked Veena . Neha should have thought of all the trouble Veena must have taken over her present. Neha should have also thought of the money Veena must have spent on her. We must be thankful to others for what they give us or do for us. Have you ever wondered how many things God has given you?

Thank you God for the world so sweet
Thank you God for the food we eat
Thank you God for the birds that sing
Thank you God for everything.

Remember that God would like you to thank Him for all that he has given you. You can thank him in your daily prayers. You should not take for granted the things that God has given you. God will be pleased if remember to thank Him every day. You must consider yourself fortunate to be able to enjoy the benefits of a good family, home, health and fun of life. Children who can laugh and have fun are so happy. Think of some poor unhappy children who are deaf or dumb or who are sick and lonely. If you do so you will realise how much there is to thank God for. We must also thank God before we sit down to eat our meals.

All of you have a lot to be grateful for. You must try to do things which show how thankful you are. Try and return this favour or kindness done to you by doing something for the other person also.

If you were in place of Neha what would you have done?

Would it not have been nice if Neha had kissed her friend and given her the best piece of cake to show her how much she had liked her present.

Song

If you have a kind word to say, say it now
If you’ve something to give, give it now
If you can make someone glad, or another less sad
Do it now, Do it now, Do it now.

Story

The Greedy Cloud

Once upon a time lived on a cloud that was grown up over a very beautiful country. One day, she saw another much bigger cloud and she felt so much envy, than the cloud decided that in order to get bigger and grow more, her water would never abandon her, and will never start raining again. Indeed, the cloud grew up, while his country was getting dried. First, rivers dried up, then people, animals, plants, and finally, the whole country became a desert. The cloud did not care much, but she also did not realize that by being over a desert there was no place where she could obtain new water to keep growing. So slowly, the cloud began to lose size, and was unable to do anything to stop it .

The cloud then realized her mistake, and that her greed and selfishness were the cause of her vanishing;but just before evaporating, when she was just a sigh of cotton, there started blowing a gentle breeze. The cloud was so small and weighed so little that the wind took her far away, to a faraway beautiful country, where once again she recovered her original size.

Having learned this lesson, our cloud remained small and modest, but she became so generous when raining, that her new country became even greener, giving away to all people there the most beautiful rainbow in the world.