Just read straight through, and you’ll get the point, an awesome one. …..

Take this quiz:
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel, appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you. Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care. Pass this on to those people who have made a difference in your life.

Testing Links

Close to 3000 shops and property and goods worth 200 crore has burned in last 48 hours.

We say Kolkata has modernized in last decade or so. Lot of new industries has come up, IT sectors have been booming. But do you really think that’s the case. Either they don’t have it or they don’t know how to use it.

BurraBazar has been burning for more than 48 hours now and our fire fighters don’t have the infrastructure to stop that and the biggest thing that they don’t have is intention. New technologies, equipments have come up.

Although the biggest shock was the way ruling party has taken this matter. Most of the big leaders of CPI(M) were just 4 kilometers away from the place of action but nobody bothered to visit that place. SHOCKING

And our honorable West Bengal Fire Services Minister Mr. Pratim Chatterjee says “Am I a astrologer who can say when will fire come under control.” But sir let me tell you one thing you are one of them who have been elected by and us and you are definitely answerable to every question we ask.

They had time for that fake rally, but not for the people who have elected them.

As a citizen of Kolkata I feel ashamed of not able to do anything but helplessly stand and see goods and shops burning.

Traditional traders, conventional mangers were baffled by his business logic and not many believed in his Ideas. But Kishore Biyani followed his own nose and made the most of the latent opportunities of the booming Indian consumer market. He transformed retail market in India with a “bania company” that even hard core pundits of Dalal street feared to touch… he is one the biggest revolutionaries of India. Just finished reading this… and must say this is one of my best reads.

Although this whole book is thought provoking, but one point I liked most is. “Even when every investor or traditional traders wrote off his Ideas, he did not loose heart. Instead it made him more determined and confirmed that he and his team were actually doing something different”

He believes in a simple philosophy “Rewrite Rules, Retain Values”

Guys I received this mail a few days back and could not resist my self form sharing this with you all.

Why is the media here so negative?
Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?

We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.

Look at Dr. Sudarshan he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit.

There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke upto. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.

In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE?

Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India . For her, you and I will have to build this developed India . You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation;it is a highly developed nation. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.
Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.

YOU say that our government is inefficient.

YOU say that our laws are too old.

YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.

YOU say that the phones don’t work, the railways are a joke, the airline is the worst in the world, and mails never reach their destination.

YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.

YOU say, say and say.

What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don’t throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores.

YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60)to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road)between 5 PM and 8 PM.

YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don’t say anything, DO YOU?

YOU wouldn’t dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai (True).

YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.

YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, ’see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else

‘YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, ‘Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so’s son. Take your two bucks and get lost.’

YOU wouldn’t chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand .

Why don’t YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ?

Why don’t YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in nBoston ???We are still talking of the same YOU.

YOU, who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own, You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India ?

Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay , Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. ‘Rich people’s dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,’ he said.

‘And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?

In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan Will the Indian citizen do that here?’ He’s right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.

We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staffs who are known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? ‘It’s the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons’ rights to a dowry.’ So who’s going to change the system?

What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.

Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government (Absolute truth).

Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system.

Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one’s conscience too…. I am echoing what J.F. Kennedy’s words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians…..

‘ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY’

Lets do what India needs from us.

Thank you,
Dr. Abdul Kalaam
(EX-PRESIDENT OF INDIA )

1. We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.- Winston Churchill

2. If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done. - Ludwig Wittgenstein

3. I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.- Thomas Alva Edison

4. Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. - Frank Outlaw

5. Love Your Self

Flirt with your understanding

Romance with your dreams

Get engaged with Simplicity

Marry Genuineness

Divorce The Ego

Thats Life - Unknown

6. A good friend can tell you what is the matter with you in a minute. He may not seem such a good friend after telling. - Unknown

7. Deserve Before You Desire - Unknown

8. Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience. - Victoria Holt, writer

9. Everything is okay in the end, if it’s not ok, then it’s not the end. - Unknown

10. When Going Gets Tough, Tough Gets Going - Unknown