Is India ready for e-commerce?

E- Commerce is the process of buying or selling products on the internet. The process of buying and selling products through the internet has become quite popular these days. E-commerce also involves activities like developing products, marketing them and also delivering them to the consumers. However, it was only in 1979 that Michael Aldrin invented online shopping. During the late 1980s and 1990s, the big companies and business houses entered the market of online shopping.

It was during the 1995-2000 that the world experienced a dot com bubble after which the face of e-commerce transformed completely. E-commerce is an amazing way of buying and selling products. E-commerce is also definitely a more comfortable way of shopping. Which is the better idea- if you have to go out to different shops and spend hours on buying things that you want? Or the idea of being able to shop for things that you need from within the comforts of your home and at prices lesser than what you would usually pay?

India is the second fastest growing economy in the world. In the last few years, Indian has developed radically. There has not only been economical development but the country has also become technologically advanced. In India, the year 1990 marked the year of science and technological advancement in the country. In the last two decades, the country has come a long way. Computer and internet have become available in almost every home. This has created a market for e-commerce in India. Also the consumers have become quite smart and are looking for ways which prove they can make profitable purchase. India is not only ready for e-commerce; e-commerce has already become quite popular in India too.

There are many reasons which make India a suitable market for e-commerce. Here are some of the reasons:

1.The mindset of consumer has changed: The consumers have become quite technological friendly these days. Earlier, consumers in India preferred going out and shopping in the markets. However, e-commerce does not only provide one with comfort but also gives them a chance to avail on various kinds of offers which helps the consumer to save money. Thus, consumers have now started developing a penchant for e-commerce rather than shopping in the markets.

2.Internet friendly users: In India, people have become quite internet friendly these days. The numbers of users have grown phenomenally over the years. According to a survey, there were only 7 million internet users in India in 2001. The number had grown to 100 million in 2010. Since people are becoming quite internet friendly these days, e-commerce is becoming a comfortable option for the people. It is believed that around 75 million household are ready for e-commerce in this nation.

3.Entry of big names in the Indian e-commerce market: Many big names have entered the market of e-commerce in India. Thus, the consumers get the best of the options while sitting at home only. These big names are investing in the e-commerce market from a long term perspective rather than small term. Thus, the e-commerce market is to grow even more bigger and better in times to come.

4.The success of the some of the sectors in the e-commerce market: Some of the sectors like travelling and retail have already proved to be quite successful in the field of e-commerce. These sectors have already made a lot of profit through the e-commerce market. The success of these sectors has incited other sectors to enter the market of e-commerce and this is precisely the reason why the e-commerce market has expanded so quickly in India.


Above mentioned are some of the reasons which make India a suitable market for e-commerce. However, there is still a slight bit of reluctance in the Indian Consumers regarding online shopping and e-commerce. Eventually this hesitation and reluctance will go with better services and offers and this is precisely the reason for believing that the market for e-commerce will only grow in India in times to come. According to a survey, it is believed that the number of e-commerce consumers will grow to 460 million individuals by 2024-2025.

Flipkart, Superbazaar.com, olx. Com, snapdeal are some of the e-commerce of online shopping websites that have already made it big in the Indian e-commerce market. With bigger and better online shopping sites like Amazon to enter the Indian e-commerce market in the near future, it would be right to say that the future of e-commerce is quite bright in India.

Think like Entrepreneur

“When the manager helps his employees
       think in terms of the big picture
           and understand the domino
              effect of every action they take,
                 he put the seed of an entrepreneurial mindset in them
                    which creates a winning and motivated  team
                        and a successful organization as a consequence”

The origin of the word “Entrepreneur” is from the French word entreprendre. French for "to undertake". It should be noticed that the word accentuate on an attempt to act, and not on the end product of that action.
Every manager of an organization should think like an entrepreneur and act like a leader by making every employee feel like a business partner as it will motivate them to do their best. It will not only bestow upon them a sense of ownership in the organization, but will make them feel as an indispensible part of the organization and you will have the most valuable asset of your organization performing their level best for the benefit of the organization.

Encouraging an entrepreneurial mindset goes beyond profits and benefits. It’s a motivating attitude instilled in others by you, the manager. A manager with an entrepreneurial mind set is a great strategist and a master at getting others excited about helping him grow the business. He should make each and every member of his team an entrepreneur who activates his intuitions and sees the entire task as a whole responsibility, who can understand the entirety of the task assigned, the oneness of it and the integrated unity of it as opposed to merely their own assigned parts to perform.

In today’s competitive and swiftly changing work environment, employees should know far more about the tasks and projects than just how to do their specific jobs. So the manager must help his team members in understanding the entire task or project and its completion process, so that they could gain a clearer perspective of how the organization operates, learn what the competition is doing and develop the ability to take intelligent risks and to be creative at the same time. By doing so, the manager helps his employees feel a sense of ownership and pride in their work and a sense of commitment to the organization and its goals.
Some more useful ways by which a manager could instill an entrepreneurial mind set in his team could be:

•To Experiment – The manager should challenge his team members to push a project forward, without analyzing it himself. And protect his team from those who may question this approach.
•By Broadcasting Results – He should share the results of this experimental project with other leaders in his company and encourage them to support the project. This will also popularize this method in the organization and other leaders and managers will also start following the pioneer.

•By Managing it closely - The manager should also observe the process throughout to ensure that the costs never exceed the organization's acceptable budget, so the team can clearly see the upside of acting fast.

When the manager helps his employees think in terms of the big picture and understand the domino effect of every action they take, he put the seed of an entrepreneurial mindset in them which creates a winning and motivated team and a successful organization as a consequence.

Entrepreneurial mind set can help the employees of, virtually, any field or profession. The currently available products and services in the area of expertise of the organization, despite of doing well, always have possibility of improvement to serve the customers better.

A true leader only can instill the entrepreneurial mind set in his team. There are some key characteristic of a true leader like he is driven to succeed, a self-starter and go-getter, i.e., he is so motivated to achieve his goals that he takes initiatives rather than waiting for someone to issue instructions. He always sees opportunities where others can see problems. He bears responsibility for his own actions, instead of playing the blame-game. He thrives on change and welcomes it.

When an organization survives and thrives, it’s generally because the managers and leaders of that organization know how to change with changing scenario. And sometimes they even keep ahead of the changes around them. That’s certainly so when they allow or even encourage innovative thinking among their employees. That means that managers need to help their employees feel motivated for developing out-of-the-box thinking.

strategy for success

Late Earl Nightingale, also known as the ‘Dean of Personal Development’, believed that there exist two types of people: RIVER PEOPLE and GOAL PEOPLE. Both experience achievement and success in life, but in different ways.

Goal people are individuals who believe in timetable approach. They write down their objectives and focus on attaining them one by one whereas River people don't follow such a structured route to success. They don’t have a concrete plan with measurable goals, but are still successful because they are so passionate about their area of interest that they only rest once they have achieved their much awaited destination.

By laying out a roadmap of future achievements in front of them, goal people provide a clear set of stimuli to their creative minds to work upon and their subconscious minds brew only those ideas and insights that will compliment their set roadmap of achievements.
River people, on the other hand, are happiest and most fulfilled individuals, who like to wade in a rich "river" of interest; a subject or profession about which they are very passionate. This helps them in recognizing breakthrough opportunities that are generally invisible from the mental radar of the more narrowly focused goal people.
From the standpoint of knowledge, river people are explorers. They continually seek out for learning opportunities and new experiences, unlike goal people for whom learning things apart from their stated objective is like a deviation from their path.

And from the standpoint of creativity, river people are more likely to benefit from serendipity, because they tend to be more open to new ideas, points of view and insights than single-minded, focused goal people.
In our day-to-day life, we encounter people who show the traits of both personalities. For instance, a creative person in a timetable job! In his full-time job, he is expected to be goal oriented. He has specific personal and departmental objectives for which he is responsible.
At the same time he gets excited about being a creative writer and wants to learn new skills and collect new information about innovation and technology for writing and nurturing his growing Web site! So at different scenario, people embody characteristics of both the personalities.

Likewise, most of us embody traits of both the personalities in different situations. To strategize success on personal and professional level, it is important for us to distinguish between our tasks and related personality, i.e., when do we need to strategize and when should we just ‘go with the wind’!
The important point is to recognize and nurture both aspects of our personality as there is so much more to explore and know that we ought to make time in our lives for both our goal and river personas. After all, both bring richness and fullness to our lives.

Thus, the basic strategy for success is not to strategize it, but to be on the lookout for new experiences and learning opportunities on a daily basis. You never know when they're going to appear -- the key is to recognize them when they do!

The Green Revolution - Facts and Fallacies

Green Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1970s that increased agriculture production around the world beginning most markedly in the late 1960s. But in India, The Green Revolution refers to the increase in food production and in production of non-food items that has significantly and steadily taken place in India since 1966. Dr. Norman Borlaug, who is hailed as the Father of the Green Revolution first introduced genetically modified high-yielding wheat to India in 1963. But the honor of being the Father of Green Revolution in India goes to Dr. M.S.Swaminathan. He is a member of the Parliament, and also heads a foundation called M.S.S.R.F (M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation) in Chennai, India.
The other name written with golden ink in the history of Green Revolution of India is of Dr. M.P. Singh. He was very instrumental in introducing High Yielding Seeds [HYS] to agricultural world of the country. The use of HYS provided the success platform for the Green Revolution in India.
Therefore, the introduction of high-yielding varieties of seeds and the increased use of fertilizers and irrigation resulted in increase in production which was much needed to make India a self-sufficient country in food grains, and thus improved agriculture in India. All these steps collectively are termed as Green Revolution.
Green Revolution not only resulted in good production but the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers reduced the negative effects on the soil and the land such as land degradation. The Green Revolution led to sizable increases in returns to land, and hence raised farmers’ incomes. Moreover, with greater income to spend, new needs for farm inputs, and milling and marketing services, farm families led a general increase in demand for goods and services. This stimulated the rural non-farm economy, which in turn grew and generated significant new income and employment of its own.
This was a general know how of Green Revolution, but of we speak technically, the Green Revolution was much more than just growing crops and using pesticides.

So, what exactly was the Green Revolution in India?
There were three basic elements in the method of the Green Revolution in India. They were:
1)Continued expansion of farming areas;
The area of land under cultivation was being increased right from 1947. But this was not enough as the demand was rising in much faster pace than supply, but still the expansion of cultivable land continued. So, the Green Revolution continued with this quantitative expansion of farmlands. However, this is NOT the most striking feature of the Revolution.
2)Double-cropping existing farmland;
This was a primary feature of the Green Revolution. Instead of one crop season per year, the decision was made to have two crop seasons per year. The one-season-per-year practice was based on the fact that there is only natural monsoon per year. This was correct. So, there had to be two "monsoons" per year. One would be the natural monsoon and the other an artificial 'monsoon.' which was to be created with the help of huge irrigation facilities. Dams were built to arrest large volumes of natural monsoon water which were earlier being wasted. Simple irrigation techniques were also adopted.
3) Using seeds with improved genetics.
This was the scientific aspect of the Green Revolution. The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (which was established by the British in 1929 but was not known to have done any significant research) was re-organized in 1965 and then again in 1973. It developed new strains of high yield value (HYV) seeds, mainly wheat and rice but also millet and corn. The most noteworthy HYV seed was the K68 variety for wheat. The credit for developing this strain goes to Dr. M.P. Singh who is also regarded as the hero of India's Green revolution.
As expected, the Green Revolution also contributed in creating plenty of jobs not only for agricultural workers but also industrial workers by the creation of lateral facilities such as factories and hydro-electric power stations as explained above. This gave better nutrition to the people by raising incomes and reducing prices, which permitted people to consume more calories and a more diversified diet.

But a revolution of this magnitude was bound to create some problems of its own. Even today, India's agricultural output sometimes falls short of demand. The Green Revolution, howsoever impressive, has thus NOT succeeded in making India totally and permanently self-sufficient in food. In 1979 and 1987, India faced severe drought conditions due to poor monsoon; this rose questions about the whether the Green Revolution was really a long-term achievement.

Also India has failed to extend the concept of high-yield value seeds to all crops or all regions. In terms of crops, it remains largely confined to food grains only, not to all kinds of agricultural produce. In regional terms, only Punjab and Haryana states showed the best results of the Green Revolution. The eastern plains of the River Ganges in West Bengal state also showed reasonably good results. But results were less impressive in other parts of India.
But we cannot deny that Green Revolution did have its positive effect on the overall agricultural production. Some of them could be:
•India is not self sufficient but is one amongst the countries with the highest agricultural production.
•It is also a food grain exporter.
•Green Revolution taught the concept and techniques of cash crops, and also adamantly pointed towards production of fruits and flowers.
•Production of Unit farmland increased by 30%, as compared to the production of 1947.
•Green Revolution provided scope for Industrial boost because together with HYS fertilizers, farmers also needed more water, more fertilizer, more pesticides, fungicides and certain other chemicals.
•With the irrigation purpose, more dams were constructed, which prompted construction of hydro electric power production and resulted in industrial growth.
Nothing like the Bengal Famine has happened in India again, but it is disturbing to see that even today, there are places like Kalahandi (in India's eastern state of Orissa) where famine-like conditions have been existing for many years and where some starvation deaths have also been reported. Of course, this is due to reasons other than availability of food in India, but the very fact that some people are still starving in India, whatever the reason may be, brings into question whether the Green Revolution has failed in its overall social objectives though it has been a resounding success in terms of agricultural production. Therefore, ‘The Green Revolution’ cannot be considered to be a 100 percent success.

miles to go before i sleep

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there's some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

-Robert Frost

नर हो न निराश करो मन को

नर हो न निराश करो मन को
कुछ काम करो कुछ काम करो
जग में रहके निज नाम करो
यह जन्म हुआ किस अर्थ अहो
समझो जिसमें यह व्यर्थ न हो
कुछ तो उपयुक्त करो तन को
नर हो न निराश करो मन को ।

संभलो कि सुयोग न जाए चला
कब व्यर्थ हुआ सदुपाय भला
समझो जग को न निरा सपना
पथ आप प्रशस्त करो अपना
अखिलेश्वर है अवलम्बन को
नर हो न निराश करो मन को ।

जब प्राप्त तुम्हें सब तत्त्व यहाँ
फिर जा सकता वह सत्त्व कहाँ
तुम स्वत्त्व सुधा रस पान करो
उठके अमरत्व विधान करो
दवरूप रहो भव कानन को
नर हो न निराश करो मन को ।

निज गौरव का नित ज्ञान रहे
हम भी कुछ हैं यह ध्यान रहे
सब जाय अभी पर मान रहे
मरणोत्तर गुंजित गान रहे
कुछ हो न तजो निज साधन को
नर हो न निराश करो मन को ।
- मैथिलीशरण गुप्त

Where the mind is without fear

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

- Rabindranath Tagore

हम पंछी उन्मुक्त गगन के

हम पंछी उन्मुक्त गगन के

पिंजरबद्ध न गा पाऍंगे
कनक-तीलियों से टकराकर
पुलकित पंख टूट जाऍंगे ।

हम बहता जल पीनेवाले
मर जाऍंगे भूखे-प्यासे
कहीं भली है कटुक निबोरी
कनक-कटोरी की मैदा से ।

स्वर्ण-श्रृंखला के बंधन में
अपनी गति, उड़ान सब भूले
बस सपनों में देख रहे हैं
तरू की फुनगी पर के झूले ।

ऐसे थे अरमान कि उड़ते
नील गगन की सीमा पाने
लाल किरण-सी चोंच खोल
चुगते तारक-अनार के दाने ।

होती सीमाहीन क्षितिज से
इन पंखों की होड़ा-होड़ी
या तो क्षितिज मिलन बन जाता
या तनती सॉंसों की डोरी ।

नीड़ न दो, चाहे टहनी का
आश्रय छिन्न-भिन्न कर डालो
लेकिन पंख दिए हैं तो
आकुल उड़ान में विघ्न न डालो ।

-शिवमंगल सिंह सुमन

कोशिश करने वालों की

लहरों से डर कर नौका पार नहीं होती,
कोशिश करने वालों की कभी हार नहीं होती।

नन्हीं चींटी जब दाना लेकर चलती है,
चढ़ती दीवारों पर, सौ बार फिसलती है।
मन का विश्वास रगों में साहस भरता है,
चढ़कर गिरना, गिरकर चढ़ना न अखरता है।
आख़िर उसकी मेहनत बेकार नहीं होती,
कोशिश करने वालों की कभी हार नहीं होती।

डुबकियां सिंधु में गोताखोर लगाता है,
जा जा कर खाली हाथ लौटकर आता है।
मिलते नहीं सहज ही मोती गहरे पानी में,
बढ़ता दुगना उत्साह इसी हैरानी में।
मुट्ठी उसकी खाली हर बार नहीं होती,
कोशिश करने वालों की कभी हार नहीं होती।

असफलता एक चुनौती है, इसे स्वीकार करो,
क्या कमी रह गई, देखो और सुधार करो।
जब तक न सफल हो, नींद चैन को त्यागो तुम,
संघर्ष का मैदान छोड़ कर मत भागो तुम।
कुछ किये बिना ही जय जय कार नहीं होती,
कोशिश करने वालों की कभी हार नहीं होती।

- हरिवंशराय बच्चन

और भी दूँ

मन समर्पित, तन समर्पित

और यह जीवन समर्पित
चाहता हूँ देश की धरती, तुझे कुछ और भी दूँ

मॉं तुम्हारा ऋण बहुत है, मैं अकिंचन
किंतु इतना कर रहा, फिर भी निवेदन
थाल में लाऊँ सजाकर भाल में जब भी
कर दया स्वीकार लेना यह समर्पण

गान अर्पित, प्राण अर्पित
रक्त का कण-कण समर्पित
चाहता हूँ देश की धरती, तुझे कुछ और भी दूँ

मॉंज दो तलवार को, लाओ न देरी
बॉंध दो कसकर, कमर पर ढाल मेरी
भाल पर मल दो, चरण की धूल थोड़ी
शीश पर आशीष की छाया धनेरी

स्वप्न अर्पित, प्रश्न अर्पित
आयु का क्षण-क्षण समर्पित।
चाहता हूँ देश की धरती, तुझे कुछ और भी दूँ

तोड़ता हूँ मोह का बंधन, क्षमा दो
गॉंव मेरी, द्वार-घर मेरी, ऑंगन, क्षमा दो
आज सीधे हाथ में तलवार दे-दो
और बाऍं हाथ में ध्‍वज को थमा दो

सुमन अर्पित, चमन अर्पित
नीड़ का तृण-तृण समर्पित
चहता हूँ देश की धरती, तुझे कुछ और भी दूँ

- रामावतार त्यागी

हम होंगे कामयाब

हम होंगे कामयाब, हम होंगे कामयाब एक दिन
हो हो हो मन मे है विश्वास, पूरा है विश्वास
हम होंगे कामयाब एक दिन

हम चलेंगे साथ-साथ डाल हाथों में हाथ
हम चलेंगे साथ-साथ एक दिन
मन में है विश्वास, पूरा है विश्वास
हम चलेंगे साथ-साथ एक दिन

होंगी शांति चारो ओर
होंगी शांति चारो ओर एक दिन
मन में है विश्वास, पूरा है विश्वास
होंगी शांति चारो ओर एक दिन

नहीं डर किसी का आज
नहीं डर किसी का आज एक दिन
मन में है विश्वास, पूरा है विश्वास
नहीं डर किसी का आज एक दिन

हो हो हो मन में है विश्वास, पूरा है विश्वास हम होंगे कामयाब एक दिन
 -गिरिजाकुमार माथुर

पुष्प की अभिलाषा

चाह नहीं मैं सुरबाला के

गहनों में गूँथा जाऊँ

चाह नहीं, प्रेमी-माला में

बिंध प्यारी को ललचाऊँ

चाह नहीं, सम्राटों के शव

पर हे हरि, डाला जाऊँ

चाह नहीं, देवों के सिर पर

चढ़ूँ भाग्य पर इठलाऊँ

मुझे तोड़ लेना वनमाली

उस पथ पर देना तुम फेंक

मातृभूमि पर शीश चढ़ाने

जिस पर जावें वीर अनेक ।।

- माखनलाल चतुर्वेदी 

वीर

सच है, विपत्ति जब आती है,
कायर को ही दहलाती है,
सूरमा नही विचलित होते,
क्षण एक नहीं धीरज खोते,
विघ्नों को गले लगाते हैं,
काँटों में राह बनाते हैं
मुँह से न कभी उफ़ कहते हैं,
संकट का चरण न गहते हैं,
जो आ पड़ता सब सहते हैं,
उद्योग-निरत नित रहते हैं,
शूलों का मूल नसाते हैं,
बढ़ खुद विपत्ति पर छाते हैं।

है कौन विघ्न ऐसा जग में,
टिक सके आदमी के मग में?
खम ठोक ठेलता है जब नर,
पर्वत के जाते पाँव उखड़,
मानव जब ज़ोर लगाता है,
पत्थर पानी बन जाता है।
गुण बड़े एक से एक प्रखर,
है छिपे मानवों के भीतर,
मेंहदी में जैसे लाली हो,
वर्तिका-बीच उजियाली हो,
बत्ती जो नही जलाता है,
रोशनी नहीं वह पाता है।
                   -रामधारी सिंह दिनकर

Everything is balance in nature

God was in the process of creating the universe.And he was explaining to his subordinates
"Look everything should be in balance".For example, after every 10 deer there should be a lion.
Look here my fellow angels, here is the country of the United States .I have blessed them with prosperity and money.But at the same time I have given them insecurity and tension....And here is Africa . I have given them beautiful nature.But at the same time, I have given them climatic extremes.And here is South America . I have given them lots of forests.But at the same time, I have given them lesser land so that they would have to cut off the forests...So you see fellows, everything should be in balance.One of the angels asked...
'God, what is this extremely beautiful country here?
God said........ 'Ahah...that is the crown piece of all. ' INDIA ',
My most precious creation.It has understanding and friendly People.Sparkling streams and serene mountains.
A culture which speaks of the great tradition that they live.Technologically brilliant and with a heart of gold.....
The angel was quite surprised: But god you said everything should be in balance.'
God replied --'Look at the neighbors, I gave them'

अकेले चला हु, अकेले चलूँगा

अकेले चला हु, अकेले चलूँगा
गगन के सितारों , न दो साथ मेरा
सहेज मिल सके जो, नहीं लक्ष्य मेरा
बहुत दूर मेरी निशा का सवेरा !!

अगर थक गए हो ,
तो तुम लौट जाओ
गर्दिश में मैं रहूँगा अकेला ....
गगन के सितारों न दो साथ मेरा ... न दो साथ मेरा !!!!

God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts

THE BRICK


A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?" The young boy was apologetic. "Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do," He pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop...." With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. "It's my brother, "he said "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me." It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: "Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!" God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It's our choice to listen or not .Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay. "Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy! push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.

You Squeeze Me Like A Lemon

You Squeeze Me Like A Lemon

By: Janina Gomes on May 13, 2012
http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-articles/science-of-spirituality/you-squeeze-me-like-a-lemon?track=1
Dear Life,
You promised me a lot. But what you have given me has surpassed all that you promised. I knew that both beauty and ugliness would come my way for nothing comes unalloyed in life. My life has encompassed both good and bad because you have made me understand only too well that nothing comes unalloyed. When I look back and also regard the present, I realise that the richness of life is in bringing all these experiences together and weaving a beautiful tapestry of them.
When I try to achieve my goals in haste, you slow me down. You teach me patience; the value of waiting for what is worthwhile. You teach me that life is ever-flowing; like the river that gets around so many bends and boulders, you also make me flow over and around obstacles and difficulties.
The trajectory I choose for myself now is different, on account of the lessons you have taught me. By choosing not to identify myself completely with difficulties that come my way, I look beyond them and myself, despite my multiple identities, to the spiritually awakened Self that’s inside me.
I had the same expectations as many others do -- marriage and family. But you showed me that there are infinite ways of reaching my full potential. There are conventional structures and landmarks, but not all of us pass by the same way.
You often squeeze me like a lemon and so stress, pain and defeat become part of my experiences. You make demands on me. I was made to take on responsibility, to care for others and to give something back to you. However, when the demands became excessive you have shown me that sometimes I have to be squeezed to give of my best.
You have also given me the chance and opportunity to recover when the feeling of being squeezed of all energy threatens to take over. There comes a healing touch – or there is sickness that forces one to stop and take stock, and helps one emerge fitter and stronger for the experience.
Looking, back, I find that you have enriched me with a gamut of experiences. You’ve let me experience the fact that being tested does not mean one has to seek escape from you. When we say ‘yes’ to life, we are really saying ‘yes’ also to surprises, setbacks and personal tragedies, and not only to happy times.
In the course of my life, so many things have happened, but not every happening was significant. I have now learned to skip and not mull over or get bogged down by happenings that could have been accidental, coincidental or negative, and therefore they do not say much to me anymore.
Life, you are a twin sister of Time. In learning to make the best use of time and putting our talents to best use in activities that are essentially time-bound, we are really living life to the full. There is time for everything under the sun. But you have impressed upon me that I should do and undertake only work and activities that promote life, not destroy it.
Yet, may I request you: Please don’t squeeze me like a lemon. I have learnt my lessons and the need to put up a good fight and keep the faith. I will celebrate you and not waste the opportunity.
And when I whisper a prayer, I will say, ‘Thank You Life, for the gift of Self to me’.

With gratitude,
Janina