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.

Story

Lazy Meena

Once upon a time there lived a young girl called Meena who was very, very lazy. She did not want to do any work at all. Whenever her mother called her to help with household chores, she pretended that she had not heard her.

Meena’s mother was disgusted with her laziness and prayed to the Lord, “ My Lord, let Meena understand how bad it is to be lazy!” Hearing her mother’s prayer, Meena laughed aloud, “Mummy, how silly you are! How nice it would be if none of us ever had to work! You don’t even now what to pray for. Let me pray instead!”. Then she closed her eyes in mock devotion and prayed, “ My God, let me have no occasion to ever work at all. Let all my work be done automatically without my having to do anything!

God was shocked to hear her prayer. He felt Meena needed to be taught a lesson. So he appeared in her dream that night and said, “Meena, your wish is granted. Hereafter you won’t have to do anything at all. All your work will be done automatically.” Meena was overjoyed to hear this.

The next morning when she woke up, she remembered her dream. Was it only a dream or will it come true? She climbed out of her bed wondering whether her dream would come true. But this dream did! The moment she got up from her bed. The bedsheet rose up in the air, dusted and neatly folded itself, and settled back on the bed. “Oh! My dream is coming true!” thought Meena in great excitement. As she walked towards the bathroom, the toothpaste tube opened by itself and the toothpaste came out and spread itself on her toothbrush. Then ,the toothbrush rose in the air and flying to her teeth, cleaned them perfectly. Next ,a thin jet of water rose from the tap and rinsed her mouth. How wonderful! Meena did not have to do anything at all, except keep her mouth open.

THer homework finished by itself. Her shoes and clothes cleaned themselves. Meena was in ecstasy. Hot water was ready for her in the bathroom without her having to carry it. Amazing! She thought. When she started to bathe, hot water rose by itself and fell all over her. Meena screamed as the hot water scalded her back. “Not so fast. Not so fast. Wait until I mix some cold water,” she cried out in vain. The hot water continued to rise and wash her. Crying in fear and pain, she rushed out of the bathroom. She wasn’t even clean, but she did not dare go back to the bathroom and finish her bath. Meena reached out for her clothes, but an ugly torn, old frock jumped out of the cupboard and draped itself around her. Meena hated that old frock. “Not you, not you,” shouted Meena and tried to pull the frock off. But no, the frock would not come off. Poor Meena was in tears. How could she go to school in such shabby old frock! Her classmates would laugh at her. But she was helpless.

When she came to the dining table for breakfast, Meena’s mother was surprised to see her in the old frock. “ What made you wear that frock?” she asked. Meena grew red in face. She could not admit that her lazy wish not to work had come true, but it was giving her pain not joy. She bent her head and started eating. But no, she did not have to eat at all. The rice, the dal and the sambhar and the chutney all got mixed up with one another and formed round balls. Before she could stop them, the balls rose one by one and entered her mouth.She liked eating her food separately, enjoying the different tastes, but today there was no chance to enjoy food at all. The balls flew up into her mouth so fast, that she had no time to even chew her food. Choking, she souttered, “Hey! Stop. Let me chew at least.” But there was no stopping the food. It flew like tennis balls straight into her mouth if it was open; otherwise it struck her on the nose, on the chin or on the cheek, smearing her whole face. Unable to swallow all the food balls, she stretched out her hand for some water. The glass of water suddenly shot up striking her on the teeth, splashing the water on her face, her and clothes.

“What is the matter with you today?” shouted her mother angrily. “Can’t you eat your food in a decent way?” Meena was speechless. She got up and left the table in helpless tears.

While combing her hair. there was more trouble. She usually took half an hour to do her hair in two beautiful plaits, tying the end with ribbons. All her classmates envied her rich, dark naturally curl hair. But today the comb rose by itself, combed the hair and knotted it into a bun at the nape of her neck like the hair of an old woman. Meena was horrified. “That’s not the way, I make my plaits,” she cried and tried to undo the knot and plait her hair in the usual way. But no, the knot wouldn’t open! Poor Meena had to start for school looking lie a miserable old hag. She cried all the way to school and her face was red with weeping by the tie she reached. Her friends were surprised at her strange appearance. “Why are you looking so odd today?” her classmates asked, but what could she say? She dared not tell them that her wish to be lazy had come true, with such disastrous consequences!

Her misery was not over yet. When the bell rang and the class started, she found herself unable to write notes. The notebooks opened by themselves, and the ink pot danced a jig, sprinkling ink on her text books. Her pen scribbled on all the pages by itself. “Don’t do that. You are spoiling my note,” she whispered in a scared voice. Her teacher noticed Meena’s restlessness and scolded her for not being attentive in the class. The maths teacher was very angry because instead of sums, the pen wrote a song in her maths copy. She shouted at Meena, “Stand on the bench till recess!” Meena was the cleverest student in her class, and so far had never been punished in any class. Today she had to stand on the bench while the whole class looked at her and smiled. What a shame!

When it was time for recess, she was so ashamed that she could not meet any of her friends. She ran all by herself to a lonely corner, and sat near the pond. Brooding over her predicament, she stretched her hand out to theclear water. Immediately the water rose up and splashed all over the place, wetting Meena thoroughly. Shivering in her wet, old frock, she tried to sit on a swing in the playground. The moment she sat, the swing moved so violently to and fro and swung so high that Meena was terrified. “Not so high, not so high. Stop! Please stop.” It rose higher and higher. Meena felt so dizzy that she could not hold on to the swing and fell down, scraping her knee badly.

Now. Meena understood why her mother said that laziness was wicked. If she did not work by herself, and allowed things to work automatically, she could neither enjoy herself, nor play, nor eat, nor dress properly. Meena realised that she had been very wicked. She closed her eyes and sincerely prayed to God, “Oh God! Please let things be as before. I promise not to be lazy any more.”

God was satisfied that she had learnt her lesson at last. He withdrew His boon. Now things stopped happening automatically. Meena was relieved and grateful to see that she could do her work by herself once again. God had answered her sincere prayer. Now she always hard and takes good care to never be lazy.

Activity

Story

The Great Wild Car Race

In a far away land there was once a type of small wild car that would drive freely around the countryside. They didn’t need motorways or gasoline, since all they needed to be able to move was good thoughts and desires – a rather original idea of their eccentric inventor.

Those cars became really famous, and the wild car races were everyone’s favourite pastime. Every boy dreamt about driving one, as their light weight and their honesty and sincerity made them ideal drivers. And as it was difficult to find light children with such good hearts that they could maintain good thoughts throughout an entire race, there were often tests to discover new talent, during which every boy would have a unique opportunity to demonstrate his ability with the wild cars.

So, one day, the testing team arrived at the small town where Nicky lived. Nicky was a good kid who, like many others, didn’t sleep that night, while queuing up, waiting his turn to drive one of the cars. During the wait, many boys rehearsed and practiced their good wishes and thoughts, but as soon as the gates were opened, a great lot of elbowing and pushing revealed that not all were as good as they appeared. However,the organisers expected this kind of thing, and after a few simple tests such as thanking someone for giving you a chocolate, helping to prepare the races, and respectfully attending to a rather annoying little old lady, there was only a small group of really good children left. Nicky was among them.

So, those children took turns to get into the cars and do a few laps of the circuit. Nicky would go last, but it didn’t bother him much, since he enjoyed seeing up close how the cars accelerated. When his turn came, his heart was beating ten to the dozen. Due to the excitement, he could hardly run, and so was about the last to get into his car. He was so happy, that he was a little late in realising that there was one last boy yet to get into his car; a boy who walked using crutches, and who hadn’t been able to reach the car earlier. Nicky could hear the head of testing say: “I’m very sorry, my boy, there are no cars left, and this is the last test of the day. The cars have to be rested soon. Come on, you’ll get your opportunity some other day…” Seeing the shine of excitement disappear from that boy’s face, and witnessing his deep sadness, Nicky took a deep breath, got out of his car and said: -“It’s OK, he can have my car.”

The engine of that car roared like never before, while the injured boy got in, filled with joy. Nicky was happy at what he had done, though a little bit disappointed. But before setting off, the other boy saw the hint of sadness in Nicky’s face and, grateful to him, reached out his hand, saying: -“Get in. We’ll go together, even though it’ll make us a bit slower.”

Nicky leapt in. The two happily embraced, but they hardly managed to do anything else. Their car thundered like a rocket, and made off at the speed of light! That race broke all known records, and during that season Nicky and his friend won every competition they entered, becoming the idols of all, spreading their friendship and good wishes to every corner of the world.

Simplicity means being humble and natural. It also means being happy with what you have, without wanting something more all the time.

A simple person depends on very few things to be happy.

Simplicity in food – Simple food is healthy food. Rich, spicy food leads to many diseases

Simplicity in dress – Simple clean clothes are better than fancy ones. Dress neatly and well in comfortable clothes for the occasion.

Greatness is not in what you wear and what you own. It is in the kind of person you are.

Many great men and women dressed in a simple manner and were modest in their behaviour.

Gandhiji led a very simple life, wearing only Khadi cloth that he wove himself. He became the Father of Nation because of his character and qualities of leadership. Even after he became important and famous, his daily life was as simple as ever. He would weave his own cloth, help in the kitchen, peel and chop vegetables and clean up and do simple jobs around the house whenever he could.

Story – The ornament of Simplicity

Here is an incident in the life of Michael Faraday, the great scientist who invented the dynamo. It is this force that converts magnetic force and generates electricity.

Michael Faraday was a very simple man. He dressed simply and spoke so humbly that no one ever knew what a brilliant scientist he was.

One day, an officer of the Royal Mint of England wanted to meet Faraday.

On reaching the building of Royal society, the officer was shown to Faraday’s lab.

When the officer went in, he saw an old man in a simple dress washing bottles in a basin. The smartly dressed officer asked him, “Are you the watchman here?” “Yes” said the old man. The officer asked the old man a few questions about his wages and his work, to which the latter replied politely. Finally, the officer casually asked the old man his name.

“They call me Michael Faraday,” said the old man. The officer was full of apologies, but Faraday was not at all offended by all this. The officer thought to himself, “How simple this great man is! Or, is he even greater because he is so simple?”

Activity

Simplicity can be associated with many other qualities. Circle the qualities you think go with simplicity.

• Jealous, independent, proud, modest, naughty, hardworking, lazy, humble, greedy. content, friendly Can you find a story of any other person who was simple and great