A Good Life

As I left for work one day I realized something poking inside my right shoe. I twisted my leg to see what's there but saw nothing, being in a hurry I decided to make a move and check it later. I reached office and removed my shoe to check and still found nothing visible. "It must be a nail I can't see, maybe I'll have to remove the insole and check or may be go to a cobbler", I thought and wore the shoe again. Not having got the time to get it checked I continued to wear it everyday. In due time I got used to it. I knew how to adjust my foot inside the shoe, my stride and the angles at which, when I place my foot down,  it hurts and adjusted accordingly so it wouldn't bother me.  After about a week or so while sitting in the train and looking at the shoe I realised how in life we adjust when something isn't right. Like the nail in the shoe, in life we have such situations, relationships, people, memories etc which do us no help and only keep 'pok...

A couple took their kids to the park to play. They went frequently to that park and people knew them there. As they entered the park the watchman and gardener walked up to the man to shake hands but he backed off, waved and moved on. As the kids went about playing, the man who wasn't in a good mood started complaining to his wife about how he was not being treated well at office and among friends. Somewhere others were respected more because of their better financial status and somewhere others were looked up to more for their contacts. "People are not treated on merit these days", he said,  feeling frustrated as he spoke. His wife smiled and said, "Do you see our children play?" he also smiled and said "yes, they are having a great time with the other kids!". "Do you know why they are having a great time?" she asked and went on to answer "Children are innocent, they do not care about who the other kid is. If they like playing with ...

A group of climbers had gathered at the base of a mountain. They were staring at a peak that was difficult to climb, many would make it to the top but many wouldn't. As they gazed at the mountain top they noticed a man swiftly climbing up taking in his stride the steep slopes and the near vertical cliff. "He's awesome and lucky to have such skills", they murmured. Their guide on hearing said, "Awesome for sure, but lucky, no, he's worked very hard to hone his skills", he said. "His name is Karan, let me tell you his story". "Many years ago Karan came here as an amateur climber. With neither the knowledge nor the endurance to scale the mountain he injured himself at the first attempt. He returned six months later, fit again and ready to go. This time also he failed. His stamina was just not enough to take him to the top, he was forced to turn back midway. But he did not give up. He returned again in another six months and yet again was n...

In a small village lived some children who loved going to a newly opened school just outside the village. They would merrily walk to school and back home. Their route took them through some farmlands and some forests. Along their route, in a small Hut lived an old man who loved to see the kids going to school. He was sure that proper education would be the path to success for these children. To encourage them he would often give them some sweets to eat when they were on their way back home. While all the kids sat in a group to enjoy their delicacies one would prefer to sit alone and have. One day as he was seated under a tree, he got surrounded by a troop of monkeys. They rushed down grabbed the sweets and dashed off into the trees. For the next few days this episode repeated itself. The desperate boy tried to different things like sitting under a different tree or trying to run away as soon as he saw the monkeys, but all in vain. The more he tried to run away or avoid, the more e...

A young boy wanted to learn swimming and enrolled himself at a class. He started training in a shallow pool with his instructor and soon learnt how to swim. He thoroughly enjoyed it, though he always remained on the shallow side where he was comfortable. He would often look at the deeper side of the pool contemplating whether he should go there. "I am comfortable here, I don't know how deep that side of the pool is. Am I that good a swimmer?" he would think to himself. With these cloud of doubt he would never venture to the deeper side. One day his coach told him. "You will never know how deep it is unless you go there. Also it's not about how deep the pool is, it's how well you can swim. Have faith in your abilities and then you always have your coach looking after you!". The boy swam to the deeper side with confidence in his ability and trust and faith in his coach. The boy also learnt the lesson for life. You never know how difficult a situatio...