Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Pin Drop Silence

I am sure every one of us should have heard the phrase "Pin drop silence" at some point of time in our lives. I have always tried to make a figurative meaning out of this phrase but couldn't. Finally, I came across some real life situations, where at the end there was stark silence.....a silence that spoke much more than words could have.....Situations in which the heart sinks to levels from where one can hear nothing else but their own heart beat and probably the sound of a pin drop.....

Situation 1:
Field Marshal Sam Bahadur Maneckshaw once started addressing a public meeting at Ahmedabad in English. 
The crowd started chanting, "Speak in Gujarati. We will hear you only if you speak in Gujarati." 
Field Marshal Sam Bahadur Maneckshaw stopped. Swept the audience with a hard stare and replied, "Friends, I have fought many a battle in my long career. I have learned Punjabi from men of the Sikh Regiment; Marathi from the Maratha Regiment; Tamil from the men of the Madras Sappers; Bengali from the men of the Bengal Sappers, Hindi from the Bihar Regiment; and even Nepali from the Gurkha Regiment. Unfortunately there was no soldier from Gujarat from whom I could have learned Gujarati.".............
You could hear a pin drop....
Situation 2:
Robert Whiting, an elderly US gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane.
At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.
"You have been to France before, Monsieur ?", the Customs officer asked sarcastically.
Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.
"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."
The American said, “The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."
"Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !", the Customs officer sneered.
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long, hard look.
Then he quietly explained ...
"Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach, at 4:40am, on D-Day in 1944, to help liberate your country, I couldn't find a single Frenchman to show a passport to.... "
You could hear a pin drop....
Situation 3:
Soon after getting freedom from British rule in 1947, the de-facto prime minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru called a meeting of senior Army Officers to select the first General of the Indian army.
Nehru proposed, "I think we should appoint a British officer as a General of The Indian Army, as we don't have enough experience to lead the same."
Having learned under the British, only to serve and rarely to lead, all the civilians and men in uniform present nodded their heads in agreement.
However one senior officer, Nathu Singh Rathore, asked for permission to speak. Nehru was a bit taken aback by the independent streak of the officer, though, he asked him to speak freely.
Rathore said, "You see, sir, we don't have enough experience to lead a nation too, so shouldn't we appoint a British person as the first Prime Minister of India?"
You could hear a pin drop....
After a pregnant pause, Nehru asked Rathore, "Are you ready to be the first General of The Indian Army?"........
Rathore declined the offer saying "Sir, we have a very talented army officer, my senior, Gen. Cariappa, who is the most deserving among us."

This is how the brilliant Gen. Cariappa became the first General and Rathore the first ever Lt. General of the Indian Army.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Balance

A man often bought oranges from an old lady. 

After they were weighed, paid for and put in his bag, he would always pick one from his bag, peel it, put a segment in his mouth, complain it is sour and pass on the orange to the seller.

The old lady would put one segment in her mouth and retort, “why it is sweet”, but by then he was gone with his bag.

One day his wife asked, “The oranges have always sweet but then why do you do this to the poor lady every time”.

The Man replied with a smile, “The old mother sells sweet oranges but never eats them herself. This way I get her to eat one, without losing her money.”

The Vegetable seller next to the Old lady saw this and chided, “Mother, Every time this man purchases your oranges, I see that you weigh a few extra for him. Why?

The old lady smiled. “I know that he does this to feed me an orange. Only that he thinks I don’t understand.”

She continued, “I never weigh extra. It’s just that his love tilts the balance a bit in his favor every time”

Saturday, March 12, 2016

The Branch

Once there was a King who received a gift of two magnificent Falcons from Arabia.

He gave his precious birds to his Head Falconer to get them trained. Months passed and one day the Head Falconer informed the King that though one of the Falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the Sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it arrived.

The King summoned healers and sorcerers from all over the land to tend to the Falcon, but no one could make the bird fly. 

He presented the task to the members of his court but in vain. The King saw through the palace window that the bird had still not moved from its branch.

Having tried everything else, the King thought to himself, “May be I need someone who is more familiar with the countryside to understand the nature if this problem”.

So he ordered his Court, “Go and get some Farmers”.

In the morning the King was thrilled to see the Falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. He said to his court, “Bring me the doer of this miracle”.

The Court quickly located the Farmer, who came and stood before the King.

The Kind asked him, “How did you make the Falcon fly?”

The Farmer bowed before the Kind and replied,” It was easy my lord….I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting”…

We are all made to fly…to realise our incredible potential as human beings. But at times we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but for most of us they remain undiscovered. We confine ourselves to the familiar “Comfort Zones”, making our lives mediocre..

Break free from your mediocrity…cut off the branches you are clinging to…New horizons will unfold in front of you….