Have added a new story to my 'Dadi Nani ki Kahaani' (Granny's stories) sequel.

MOTHER TERESA

Dear Children,
Today I am going to tell you how love, faith and service can bring joy to so many human beings. For that I will have to introduce you to Mother Teresa.
Mother Teresa was given the name Agnes Gonxha when she was born on 27th August 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia.
Young Agnes left her parental home at the age of 18 years and became a nun.
She joined the Sisters of Loreto.
She came to Calcutta. When she saw the poverty and suffering outside the convent walls, she devoted herself to work for ‘the poorest of the poor’.
She had no money, but she had faith that God would help her and He did!
Soon, voluntary helpers and financial help poured in and she steadily increased her good work. She extended her care for people who had nobody to look after them.
She looked after the homeless, alcoholics, lepers and people with aids and other incurable diseases.
Mother Teresa received many awards.
She received the Peace Prize from Pope John XXIII in 1971 and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972).
She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards.
Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997.
Dear Children,
During the month of November, in the year 1981, I had gone to Calcutta and I had a strong desire to meet Mother Teresa. So I set out.
Very strangely people, after having directed me to the right street, could not point out the exact location. So I paced back and forth several times. I finally discovered that the Mother lived on a street behind the one on which I was looking for her. I went inside. Mother was busy with a couple who was looking for a child to adopt. Soon after I was asked to enter. As soon as I saw Mother I fell on my knees and kissed her hand.
I said " I will not take much of your time, I just wanted to have the privilege of being in your presence."
Mother gently told me: "We are all born for a purpose, What I can do, maybe you cannot. But what you are meant to do, I may not be able to".
Listen to your inner voice and follow what it tells you. Everyone in this life is born to accomplish a mission. Hence follow the inner command and you will always be happy"
Mother Teresa knew that everyone cannot lift a leper or a dying child from the street to look after. Everyone cannot do this...
However we all could do our bit, by at least looking after the elderly members of our own family or/and sponsoring some needs of a needy child.
When you grow up, promise yourself that in your hurry-scurry to make fast bucks you do not reject your responsibility towards your old parents or your elderly parents in-law...
With love,
Dadi Ma Nani Ma

www.dalsabzi.com

I have read that :
The deepest of all human needs is the need to live for something more important than ourselves.
My ‘more important’ thing is to spread peace and love, and one of the ways to spread communal harmony is through my book: ‘Dadi Nani ki Kahaani’
Do go through it. Send me your comments, suggestions, corrections etc…since I am revising it before I come out with a new edition.
The url of the microsite is:
http://dalsabzi.com/Books/kids_kahaani/kahaani_intro.htm

I received a lot of emails with inspiring notes on Mothers.
Am sending you excerpts from the notes that I received…

The Mother

When you were 1 year old, she fed you and bathed you.
You thanked her by crying all the night…


When you were 6 years old, she walked you into school.
You thanked her by screaming, "I'M NOT GOING".

When you were 9 years old, she paid for piano lessons.
You thanked her by never even bothering to practice it.

When you were 11 years old, she took you and your friends to the movies.
You thanked her by asking to sit in the different row.

When you were 15, she came home from work, looking for a hug.
You thanked her by having your bedroom door locked.

When you were 19, she paid for your college tuition, drove you to campus, carried your bags.
You thanked her by saying good-bye outside the dorm so you wouldn't be embarrassed in front of you friends.
When you were 20, she asked whether you were seeing anyone.
You thanked her by saying "It's none of you business".

When you were 23, she gave you furniture for your first apartment.
You thanked her by telling your friend it was ugly.

When you were 25, she helped to pay for your wedding, and she cried and told how deeply she loved you.
You thanked her by moving halfway across the country.

When you were 40, she called to remind you of a relative's birthday.
You thanked her by saying you were "really busy right now."

And then, one day, she quietly died. And everything you never did, came crashing down like thunder on your heart.


2) A mom is God's love in action.She looks with her heart and feels with her eyes. A mom is the bank where her children deposit all their worries and hurts. A mum is the cement that keeps her family together and her love lasts a lifetime...

3) Mean Moms

Someday when my children are old enough ,to understand the logic that motivates a parent,I will tell them, as my Mean Mom told me:

I loved you enough . . . to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.

I loved you enough to be silent and let ,you discover that your new best friend was a creep.

I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while,you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes.

I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes.

Children must learn that their parents aren't perfect.I loved you enough to let you assume the responsibility for your,actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.

But most of all, I loved you enough to say NO when I knew you would hate me for it.

Those were the most difficult battles of all.I'm glad I won them, because in the end you won, too.

And someday when your children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them.Was your Mom mean?I know mine was.

We had the meanest mother in the whole world.

While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.

When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches.

And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times.You'd think we were convicts in a prison.

We,had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor,do laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs.

None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other' property or ever arrested for any crime.It was all her fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults.We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what's wrong with the world today.

It just doesn't have enough mean moms!

Read a 'Thought on Destiny'
Click or paste to browser:
http://dalsabzi.com/Wisdom_Scrip/destiny.htm

The best miracles are the ones that are unseen.

If our prayers remain unanswered, let us not lose faith but believe that unanswered prayers are part of a much bigger plan.
Why are you reading this blog at this moment?
Maybe it is the Lord speaking with you.

PS Read some of my previous posted blogs about my experiences with God speaking with me or coming into my life...through all, and different mouths!

Also read 'Paths to the Highway'
Click:
http://dalsabzi.com/Wisdom_Scrip/paths_to_the_highway.htm

Every day is Mother's Day.
Happy Mother's Day.
Do read:
A mother, my mother
Click :

http://dalsabzi.com/Articles/a_mother.htm

Whether your MOM is with you or not!!!
Your Mother is always with you.
She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street, she's the smell of certain foods you remember, flowers you pick and perfume that she wore,

she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not feeling well, she's your breath in the air on a cold winter's day. She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep, the colors of a rainbow, she is Christmas morning.

Your Mother lives inside your laughter.
And she's crystallized in every tear drop.

A mother shows every emotion...
Happiness, sadness, fear, jealousy, love, hate, anger, helplessness, excitement, joy, sorrow...and all the while, hoping and praying you will only know the Good feelings in life.

She's the place you came from, your first home, and she's the map you follow with every step you take. She's your first love, your first friend, even your first enemy, but nothing on earth can separate you. Not time, not space...not even death!

"The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched - they must be felt with the heart."

~Helen Keller~

BALAJI
As I have said earlier, I like to write about miracles in my life…increases my faith and probably yours (the readers') too…Some people feel that talking about 'A million in one chance happenings' in your life, increase the ego…but I have read somewhere:Record your proud moments. Share them. Engage in a little brag time. It will keep you motivated and energized as you move confidently in the direction of your dream.
Ramsukhdasji claims: Conceit of good is the root of all evil. The divine qualities are all God's - where is the question of any conceit?

I had done a ‘mannat’ that I would climb up the steps and hill that lead to Balaji, if my wish comes true.
It did.
(At this point let me say that I do not think that God enjoys making deals with one…it is our own understanding that makes us have an increase in ‘faith’ when one makes such bargains and it is that faith that maybe allows the desire to be fulfilled).

Anyway to come back to the story in question, the car dropped me at the foot of the hill. The only way to go, was up. Those days mobiles had not been invented!
I saw big posters asking one to be cautious of pick-pockets and advised one against speaking with strangers and yet cautioned about going up alone…
I sat confused on the steps of the temple. I saw a few decent looking groups going up but decided against it, as I am not a fast walker and I would only delay them.
I met a sweet looking plump woman and asked her if she was planning on climbing up (I figured that because she was a little on the heavier side, she would be a slow climber…) but no luck. She said she was not climbing, but suggested that I ask the temple pujari. I asked. The priest’s name was Ramchand, and he seemed like a gentle sweet soul. I told him that I would pay him a certain amount to which he readily agreed.

He was wonderful, he helped me with my water bottle and did not hurry me. At one point a young boy of 12 joined us. I presumed he was with my guide. I remember telling myself that I have a Guru in the form of the pujari and Krishna as the young boy on my pilgrimage.

I reached the summit, paid my guide and was so satisfied that I asked him if he would accompany me if/when I decided to climb again. The pujari said that I could ask anyone in the temple as all knew him, I insisted on a Tel No or address, but he said that anyone in the temple will contact him if he is no more the pujari…

When, I next went to Balaji, I went to the temple and asked for Ramchand the temple pujari. They insisted that there had never been a pujari by that name in the temple…

Morari Bapu was in town (Bombay) for a Katha.
I love listening to him.
Let me tell you one of the interesting things that he has said in one of his previous kathas that has 'stuck' to me and helped me!


According to Morari Bapu in order to eradicate a problem,

three requisites are important.

1) The one who is willing to help must understand the true nature of the problem.

2) He (the one who one goes to for help and may be willing) must have the compassion to try and eradicate the problem.

3) And he must have the capacity of getting rid of the problem.

When observed closely it will be noticed that one of the three points is mostly always missing in the personality of the helper. The one to help may know the nature of the problem. but he may not have the capacity to get rid of It. or alternatively, he may be capable of alleviating your problem, but he does not have the compassion to do so or he may have the compassion and the capability, but he may not understand the real nature of the problem.

Morari Bapu urges us not to put all our energies into the world to achieve happiness. Go to the Lord — Pray, he says. The Lord understands your problem — He has the compassion and is capable of getting rid of it.
When God listens to your prayer consider It His Prasad, His Grace; if he does not answer your prayer know that "NO" can sometimes be an answer.
In fact Morari Bapu implores his audience to stop making a choice. Make happiness and unhappiness your friend and there will be no problem. If happiness comes, consider it a laddu (sweet), given by your mother. If unhappiness, then the medicine given by the same loving hands.

The above is an excerpt from my book : In Touch with Masters
It is up on my website (Free)
Click:
http://dalsabzi.com/Books/In_touch_with_masters/preface_index.htm