BRUSH YOUR TEETH TO PREVENT HEART ATTACKS
Dear Kids,
This link is a surprise! The title above may be a bit of an exaggeration, but apparently is broadly true. Take a look at this link:
And, Brush your teeth!!!
Regards,
Uncle N
ps: I've also posted it at http://somethingtosmile.blogspot.com/ - a rare post which is relevant for both blogs!
Dear Kids,
You must be smart and should be able to "think on the go" in order to survive in today's world where lots of people are constantly trying to overtake you and beat you to achieve the same goals. Read this short story to get an idea of how Mullaa Nasruddin did it once!
One day, when Mullaa Nasruddin was going back after having an audience with the Emperor, a single one Rupee coin fell down from his pocket. Immediately he started looking for it eagerly.
Muraad, who was his one of his bitterest enemies at the court, said, "See Your Majesty, how miser he is? You have bestowed so much money on him, still he is after a single rupee copper coin."
Mullaa said quickly, "It is not because of the value of the coin, Your Majesty, that I am looking for it. I am looking for it because one side of that coin bears your resemblance, and I don't want people trampling on it."
Akbar was so pleased to hear this reply that he pulled off his diamond ring from his finger and gave it to the Mullaa.Happy reading!
Uncle N
GANDHI AND A COFFEE DRINKER
Dear Kids,
All of you must have been sick at some points of time and would have been taken care of by your mom or dad. In a similar way, you should learn how to take care of sick people.
Even if you are not old enough to actually nurse them and serve them, you can at least learn to be pleasant to them with a smiling face. Read this short story from Gandhiji's life to get an idea of how to take care of sick people!
Gandhi was a first-class nurse to the sick. Where he picked up nursing is a mystery. He certainly did not pass through a nursing school. As many other things, when nursing became necessary to him in life, he learned it the hard way, through experience.
In the Ashram at Sabarmati all sick persons came directly under his eye and care. Doctors were, of course, consulted, but the care of the sick person was arranged by Gandhi. It was a joke, especially among young people in the Ashram, that if you wanted to see Gandhi everyday and talk to him and hear him crack jokes you had only to be ill and get into bed! For, Gandhi visited the sick everyday, spent a few minutes at every bed-side, himself saw to things carefully and never failed to crack joke or two with the patient. There was no day too busy for this interlude.
There was once a young lad who went down with dysentery. He had done his best to get to terms with the hard Ashram dietary, but failed. He was an inveterate addict to coffee.
But in the Ashram there was no coffee for him - coffee was taboo. In good time he got rid of his dysentery, and was convalescing. Gandhi visited him for a few minutes everyday during his usual rounds. Those few minutes were like a tonic to the poor lad.
During his convalescence he pined for a cup of hot coffee. One day he was lying on his back dreaming of that glorious rich brown beverage to which he was accustomed in his distant South Indian home. Just then he heard the welcome, click-click of the wooden sandals of Gandhi approaching. A minute later, he entered with his never-failing smiling and cheering word.
He looked at the lad and said: 'Now you are decidedly better. You must be getting your appetite back. What would you like to eat? Ah! Some good Uppuma or Dosa?'
Gandhi evidently knew all about the lad's partiality for these two good old items of the South Indian menu. Gandhi was laughing. The youngster had a sudden brain-wave.
'Could I have a cup of coffee?' he blurted out. Gandhi answered with a peel of laughter - 'Oh, you unrepentant sinner, that is what you want!
And then seeing the disturbed look on the lad's face, he added: You certainly shall have your cup of coffee. Yes, light coffee will soothe your stomach. And what will you have with the coffee? I don't think we can make Uppuma or Dosa but warm toast would go well with coffee. I shall send you a tray.'
With that, and a kind parting word, Gandhi left the room. The lad was patiently waiting. He could not believe his good luck. Coffee in Sabarmati Ashram! And Gandhi himself was offering to send it in to him! Well, the 'Old Governor' was no fanatic; he was a dear, thought the grateful and expectant lad.
Gandhi's cottage was at the other end of the Ashram, a good way across the road. The lad could imagine what would happen. Gandhi would go to Kasturba in her kitchen and ask for coffee and toast. But it was an untimely hour. The kitchen would be closed. Ba herself would be taking her rest. Had he caused Gandhi too much botheration? Some twenty minutes passed. Hark! What was that sound? The click-click of Gandhi's wooden sandals again. Why was Gandhi coming back? Had the coffee been called off as an after-thought? But there was Gandhi carrying a tray covered with a white Khadi napkin. The lad was dazed. What had really happened?
Gandhi was speaking, 'Now here is your coffee and toast. And, mind you, I made you, coffee myself. Now like a good South Indian, will you certify I can make a good coffee?"
'But,' whispered the lad, 'why did you not ask someone else to bring this in to me?' I am so very sorry I put you to this trouble.'
'Now, now,' said Gandhi, 'do not ruin your coffee. Cold coffee is bad coffee. You see Ba was resting, and I did not care to disturb her,' And then brusquely, 'Well, I shall leave now. Someone will come for the tray.' With that off he went.
The coffee was light, but excellent. The lad sipped it as if it were nectar. But he was troubled. His mind's eye saw Gandhi opening the kitchen, lighting the stove, making the coffee and toast, and carrying it in to him all in order not to disturb others at that untimely hour. He was overwhelmed. There was always some coffee and tea kept in Kasturba's kitchen for guests, tea especially for Rajagopalachari from
Happy reading!
Uncle N
Airplane Conversation
Dear Kids,
You must have read a lot about the "123 Agreement" about "Nuclear Cooperation" between India & USA. In all this talk, a lot of adults have forgotten about you kids and what is relevant or interesting for you.
Here's a joke that I saw somewhere on the Net some time back (sorry - I don't remember the exact website) which you can go and tell your parents to make them spend more time chatting with you, telling stories that you can enjoy:
A stranger was seated next to Little Ramu on the plane when the stranger turned to the Little Ramu and said, "Let's talk. I've heard that flights will go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."
Little Ramu, who had just opened his book, closed it slowly, and said to the stranger, "What would you like to discuss?"
"Oh, I don't know," said the stranger. "How about nuclear power?"
"OK," said Little Ramu. "That could be an interesting topic.
But, said Little Ramu, Let me ask you a question first. "A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat grass. The same stuff. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?"
"Jeez," said the stranger. "I have no idea."
"Well, then," said Little Ramu, "How is it that you feel qualified to discuss nuclear power when you don't know shit?"
Happy reading!
Uncle N
Dear Kids,
All of you are familiar with Gandhiji's passion for truth. Here's an interesting anecdote illustrating the same:
Gandhi could never tolerate a lie. Unlike intellectual high-brows who will say they can tolerate a scoundrel but not a fool, he would bear with a fool sometimes, but never with a liar. In his Satyagraha Ashram he had set up very exacting standards of rectitude, and even children had to conform to them.
This little event happened in 1926. A certain young man who had just passed out of the University had come to stay at the Ashram. Gandhi, as a first step in his Ashram course, had prescribed three months expert scavenging for him. The young fellow was fond of children, and he became a general favourite with them. One day he started having some fun with a little Ashram girl, she was eight years of age. This little girl was trying to snatch a big round yellow lemon that he held temptingly before her. He led her a perfect dance, and she screamed with laughter as she jumped about in vain to get at the golden fruit. The child, however, suddenly grew tired of the game and burst into tears. The young man who was taking the lemon to a patient in the Ashram had to find a way out; he made as if he were throwing the lemon away into the Sabarmati River and deftly thrust it into his pocket.
The child quickly brightened up and inquired, 'Now, what will happen to the lemon in the river'? She wanted to run out into the shallow waters and look for it.
But the young man said, 'No, it has drowned.' In a moment they were friends again and walked off together to the patients' room. On the way as the young man pulled out his handkerchief, the lemon rolled out on the ground. But to his astonishment the little girl, instead of dashing to seize the lemon stood rooted to the spot looking at him with childish indignation.
She said , 'So you told me a lie! You hid the lemon in your pocket and told me that you threw it into the river. All right, I will tell Bapu you are a liar.'
And with that she marched away. She went straight to Gandhi, who was at work in his room overlooking the river, and unburdened the story of the lie to him.Gandhiji promised her he would look into the matter.
Later in the evening after prayers Gandhi spoke to the young man. The latter related the story, taking care to justify himself on the score that the whole thing had been pure fun.
Gandhi too enjoyed the joke, but he said smilingly, 'You had better be warned, young man. Let the children have no lies even in fun. What is begun in fun may continue as an easy habit with children and once they take lies lightly, then the thing will become serious.'
But the matter did not end there. The young like most University graduates was argumentative. He discussed the ethics of 'Lies' uttered in pure fun with a number of members of the Ashram. There was a subdued controversy among the teachers of the Ashram school. Some one asked, if innocent lies were to be taboo, how could one tell children fairy tales or even stories from the Ramayana or the Mahabharata. Kaka Kalelkar got wind of the controversy and clinched the issue in his characteristic way.
He said, 'Do not mix the question of lies in daily life with mythology and legend. If University graduates will think more and talk less, they will see at once that it is better to tell no lie to a child and to accustom children to speak the truth in everything.'
Happy reading!
Uncle N
Lessons from Rajaji
Dear Kids,
Recently, many of you might have heard about the bandh which was not a bandh in Chennai, and all the "hullabaloo" that was created by various political parties. My dear friends, Indian politics has not always been like this. There used to be leaders who were not only humble and simple, but they could also recognise the merits of actions by ordinary people and appreciate the same.
Here's an instance from the life of Rajaji, which would be of interest not only to you but also to your parents!
Long back, when Rajaji was the Governor General of India, it so happened that at a railway crossing on the way the gate was found closed as a train was about to pass through.
On learning that the train would take some time in coming, a senior official accompanying Rajaji approached the gateman and told him that it was the Governor General who was in the car. If the railway gates could be opened for a few moments, the country's first citizen could reach the venue on time.
The gateman politely replied that there could not be two sets of rules, one for the " big men and another for the rest of us".
As it turned out, Rajaji had to wait for the train to pass through before he could proceed for his function.
Rajaji, who came to know all that was going on at the gate, asked the official to find out the name of the gateman. The very next day Rajaji wrote a letter to the Home Ministry commending the gateman's devotion to duty and recommended to honour him with a suitable reward.
Let's hope that all of us grow up to see an India where all politicians are like Rajaji (and most others of his period)
Happy reading!
Uncle N
Nehru's love for children
Dear Kids,
All of you must have heard of Pandit Nehru's love for children. Here's an interesting anecdote from his life, especially for you:
Pandit Nehru was on a tour of Tamil Nadu. (then known as Madras). Large crowds lined the roads to have his darshan. Many children had climbed up the trees that lined the roads to get a glimpse of their beloved Chacha.
Set behind the crowd was a balloon seller. The strings of the balloons were gathered in his hand, but the balloons, of all shapes and sizes provided a colorful panorama, a sport of drifting halo behind the crowd.
On an impulse, Pandit Nehru instructed the motorcade to stop. He jumped out of the open jeep, signaled to the balloon seller to his side. The man came, hesitantly. Had he earned the wrath of the Prime Minister? What would happen to him now? He bowed, held his head bent. "Buy up all his balloons. Give them to the children," Nehru told his aide who new Tamil.
The news was conveyed to the balloon seller. He could not believe his ears. He bowed again, ran back, distributing the balloons among the children.
Nehru walked to a plump girl, happily watching the balloon in her hand soar far above her head, pinched her cheek gently and returned to the jeep. The children screamed, happily, "Chacha Nehru, Chacha Nehru."
The word Chacha had crossed linguistic barriers. It had found a place in the vocabulary of all Indian children. And they used it every time they addressed Pandit Nehru.
Happy reading!
Uncle N
