GROWTH BEGINS AT THE END OF COMFORT ZONE

              Growth begins at the end of the comfort zone

 There was a king who received a very special gift, two beautiful, magnificent, and peregrine falcons.

He handed them over to a man who was expert in training falcons.

After a couple of months, the trainer informed the king that one of the two falcons was doing really well. Flying majestically! Soaring into the heights of the sky!

But the other one had not moved at all from its branch from the very day that he had started training them.

The king brought healers and sorcerers from all over the place to try and get the falcon to move but the bird just wouldn’t fly.

Having tried everything he could, the frustrated king said to his minister, “Maybe we need someone more familiar with nature, someone who understands animals and birds. I think only such a person can solve this problem. Go. Look for someone like this from the countryside and assign this task to him.”

The next morning, the king was thrilled to see the second falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. Delighted he called his minister and asked him to get the doer of this miracle to him.

The minister brought a simple farmer to the king. The king asked the farmer, “How did you make this falcon fly?”

The farmer replied, “It was very easy your royal highness. I simply cut the branch on which the bird was sitting.”

We are all created to fly, to live by the incredible potential that we have all been invested with. But often we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us, remaining stuck in our comfort zones not willing to venture out, not willing to take risks. The possibilities are endless, but for most of us, they remain undiscovered because we continue to confirm to the familiar, to the comfortable, to the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling.

What is the branch that is holding you back?

 

Kartavya Path

 

Rajpath is now Kartavya Path

The new name of New Delhi’s historic Rajpath is ‘Kartavya Path’.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Kartavya Path on 8 September 2022.

He also unveiled a statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate, where a statue of King George V stood till 1968. Both events were in line with PM’s address to the nation on 76th Independence Day when he highlighted removing all signs and symbols relating to the colonial mindset.

What is Rajpath?

Rajpath is a ceremonial road in New Delhi, India.

It runs from Rashtrapati Bhavan to Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

India Gate and Vijay Chowk are on this road.

It is where the annual Republic Day parade takes place on 26 January.

The history of Rajpath:

In 1911, the British Indian Government decided to move the capital from Calcutta to Delhi.

The government appointed Edwin Lutyens (a British Architect) to construct the new city (now known as New Delhi), where all government offices were to be built.

He designed the city and offices around a grand boulevard (road).

The road was named King’s Way (or Kingsway) in honour of King George V, who visited Delhi in 1911.

After the Independence of India, the road was given its Hindi name – ‘Rajpath’.

Rajpath in Hindi means ‘path of the state (country or government)’.

However, some say it broadly means ‘path of the king’. Hence, it should be changed.

The newly developed Kartavya Path:

The name Kartavya Path in Hindi means ‘the path of duty’. Hence, it shows a change in the emphasis from rights to duties.

However, it is not just the name change.

The area has been redeveloped as part of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project.

The newly developed Kartavya Path exhibits beautified landscapes, lawns with walkways, added green spaces, new amenity blocks, and improved parking spaces. Further, upgraded night lighting, solid waste management, recycling of used water, and rainwater harvesting are some other features that will enhance the public experience.

 

Story of Anaesthesia

         16^th October, World Anaesthesia Day

World Anesthesia Day or World Anaesthesia Day, also known in some countries as National Anaesthesia Day or Ether Day, is an annual event celebrated around the world on 16^th October to commemorate the first successful demonstration of diethyl ether anesthesia by William T. G. Morton on that day in 1846.

William Thomas Green Morton who was an American dentist and physician first publicly demonstrated the use of inhaled ether as a surgical anaesthetic in 1846.

Anaesthesia is the use of medicines to prevent pain during surgery and other procedures. These medicines are called anaesthetics. They may be given by injection, inhalation, topical lotion, spray, eye drops or skin patch. They cause you to have loss of feeling or awareness.

 There is one interesting narrated by the writer Sudha Murthy in her book “How I taught my grandmother to read and other stories” about anaethesia.

The story of anaesthesia

 Many years ago, in England, there was a father – and-  son pair who were doctors. The father was very famous and innovative, and the son was young and enthusiastic.  

In those days there was no concept of anaesthesia and whenever a patient was to be operated on, chloroform was given. The  senior  doctor  did many experiments in this field  and developed a  medicine , which  when injected in the area  where the operation  was to be done,  made only that part  numb. There was no need to make the patient unconscious. Today we call this local anaesthesia. He performed several experiments and was convinced by adding different chemicals that this medicine was effective. 

But there was one problem. No one would offer himself for the experiment. Without experimenting on a human being this medicine could not be officially released in the market. 

Now, the doctor’s son had six fingers on his left hand. One day, he suggested to his father, “I know your medicine is very good. You inject it to my sixth finger and operate and remove the finger. Anyway I wanted to get rid of that finger. Let us perform this operation in front of other doctors. No man can stand the pain of surgery without anaesthesia.  When they look at  my face  they will  come to know that  your medicine  has made the area  numb  and I am not  experiencing  any pain." 

The suggestion was very  good. The father  conveyed a  message  to the members of the academy  of medical  science, who  were the  final authority  for allowing this  medicine  to be used in public . 

The day  of the operation came  and several scientists ,  doctors and  other public  figures  assembled  to watch the  effect  of this miracle  injection. The father exhibited his son’s sixth finger, and injected the medicine. He said, “Now I will start the operation. You can observe the patients face.” There was a smile on the young man’s face.

The operation was performed and was a success. Throughout, the smile remained on the sons face. Everybody was amazed by what they saw and congratulated the senior doctor for his work. 

After they left, the young doctor was dressing his wound. His father had tears in his eyes. He embraced his son and started sobbing uncontrollably. “Sorry, my son, I knew what pain you were undergoing during the operation, you never showed it to the public.” 

The injection had to be  prepared  by adding four  chemicals,  but in this hurry and  tension before the  operation ,  the father forgot  to add the fourth . Because of that the injection was not at all effective.  

There was uncontrollable pain during the operation. However the son realized there was something his father had forgotten.  If he showed his pain his father’s experiment would fail. He knew how hard his father had worked to develop this medicine. He himself was aware that it was effective. It was unfortunate that something was not making it work now. 

In the middle of the operation the father too realized the fourth chemical was missing and the medicine was not working. But he was unable to tell this in public. He knew what agony his son was undergoing inspite of the smile on his face. That was why, when everyone left, he broke down crying. The son consoled his father.  “Father, don’t worry. For the welfare of others, I controlled my own pain.”

BLACK OR WHITE

 

Black or White

When I was in elementary school, I got into a major argument with a boy in my class. I have forgotten what the argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson I learned that day.

I was convinced that “I” was right and “he” was wrong – and he was just as convinced that “I” was wrong and “he” was right. The teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson.

She brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly see that it was black. She asked the boy what colour the object was. “White,” he answered.

I couldn’t believe that he said the object was white, when it was obviously black! Another argument started between my classmate and me, this time about the colour of the object.

The teacher told me to go and stand where the boy was standing and told him to come and stand where I had been. We changed places, and now she asked me what the colour of the object was. I had to answer, “White.”

It was an object with two differently coloured sides, and from his viewpoint it was white. Only from my side it was black.

Sometimes we need to look at the problem from the other person’s view in order to truly understand his/her perspective.

COFFEE ON THE WALL

 

                      Coffee On The Wall

I sat with my friend in a well-known coffee shop in a neighbouring town of Venice, Italy, the city of lights and water.

As we enjoyed our coffee, a man entered and sat at an empty table beside us. He called the waiter and placed his order saying, “Two cups of coffee, one of them there on the wall.”

We heard this order with rather interest and observed that he was served with one cup of coffee but he paid for two.

When he left, the waiter put a piece of paper on the wall saying “A Cup of Coffee”.

While we were still there, two other men entered and ordered three cups of coffee, two on the table and one on the wall. They had two cups of coffee but paid for three and left. This time also, the waiter did the same; he put a piece of paper on the wall saying, “A Cup of Coffee”.

It was something unique and perplexing for us. We finished our coffee, paid the bill and left.

After a few days, we had a chance to go to this coffee shop again. While we were enjoying our coffee, a man poorly dressed entered. As he seated himself, he looked at the wall and said, “One cup of coffee from the wall.”

The waiter served coffee to this man with the customary respect and dignity. The man had his coffee and left without paying.

We were amazed to watch all this, as the waiter took off a piece of paper from the wall and threw it in the trash bin.

Now it was no surprise for us – the matter was very clear. The great respect for the needy shown by the inhabitants of this town made our eyes well up in tears.

Ponder upon the need of what this man wanted. He enters the coffee shop without having to lower his self-esteem… he has no need to ask for a free cup of coffee… without asking or knowing about the one who is giving this cup of coffee to him… he only looked at the wall, placed an order for himself, enjoyed his coffee and left.

A truly beautiful thought. Probably the most beautiful wall you may ever see anywhere!

 

BLESSING OR MISFORTUNE

 

                        Blessing or misfortune

Once there lived a wise old man in a village. Although he was poor, the king was jealous of him because he owned a beautiful white horse. He was offered extravagant amounts of money for the horse, but the man always refused saying, “This is not just a horse to me but a person and a friend. Could you sell your friend? No, absolutely not.”

One morning he woke up and found his horse gone. As the news spread, the whole village gathered at his house.

“You old, foolish man! It was just a matter of time before your horse was stolen. You could have been rich had you sold it. What a misfortune!”

“We’ll see,” replied the old man “It’s true that the horse is not in the stable but how do you know whether it’s a misfortune or not?”

The villagers laughed at him and said, “Don’t try to fool us, you silly man!”

A few days later, the horse returned and with it came several wild horses. Again the villagers came to the man’s house.

“Old man, you are right. We are sorry for what we said. Now you have more beautiful horses. You can train them and sell them to earn money. What a blessing!”

The man replied, “We’ll see, who knows whether it is a blessing or not?”

This time people kept silent.

A couple of days later, the man’s only son fell off one of the wild horses while trying to ride and broke his leg. Upon hearing this, the villagers gathered again and told the old man, “You were right. Having more horses isn’t a blessing. Now your only son is injured. What a misfortune!”

Again the old man replied, “We’ll see.”

One month later, war broke out and all young people of the village were forced to join the military.

The villagers all gathered and cried, “Our sons are gone forever. Your son’s injury indeed turned out to be a blessing.”

The old man replied, “Whether it is a blessing or a misfortune, nobody knows. Only God knows.”

 

Life reveals itself to us in fragments. Sometimes when something happens, it’s better not to jump to conclusions but to let it be and wait.

A seeming misfortune may be a blessing in disguise and vice versa. There’s always a higher plan unfolding.

SHAKEN INTO REALISATION

 SHAKEN INTO REALISATION

Two friends named Max and Tim met after a long time.

“I have a huge house with a pool,” Max boasted while drinking his tea.

“I have 30 cars and a garden in front of my house,” Tim said.

Soon they started fighting over who was richer.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking, and they realised it was an earthquake.

Tim quickly hid under the table and pulled Max down with him.

Max took his handkerchief and wrapped Tim’s bleeding hand that he hurt while pulling him down.

The bamboos and bricks the hotel was made of started falling down.

But Max and Tim were safe.

They realised that none of their wealth helped them.

Friendship and kindness did.