A small touching story mainly for professionals. ..

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his
5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"

DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?" replied the man.

SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"

DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"

the man said angrily.

SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an

hour?"

DAD: "If you must know, I make Rs.100 an hour."

SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow Rs.50?"

The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you

can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then
you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about

why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this
childish behavior."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little

boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some
money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to

think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that
Rs.50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to

the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

"Are you asleep, son?" He asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the

man.

"It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you.. Here's the

Rs.50 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He

yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.
The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry

again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up
at his father.

"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father
grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy, I have Rs.100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?

Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with
you."

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he
begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We
should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some

time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

Do remember to share that Rs.100 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily
replace us in a matter of days.

But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the
rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more
into work than to our family.

THE SEED

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different.

He called all the young executives in his company together. "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO," he said. "I have decided to choose one of you."

The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today - a very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown.

After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk, about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by - still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened.

Jim felt sick at his stomach. It was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful--in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed. A few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed. Jim told him the story. The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Here is your next Chief Executive! His name is Jim!"

Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new CEO the others said?

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive!"

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment.
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

'How long will you be pouring over that newspaper? Will you come here right
away and make your darling daughter eat her food?'

I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My only daughter Sindu
looked frightened. Tears were welling up in her eyes. In front of her was
a bowl filled to its brim with Curd Rice.

Sindu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age. She has just turned
eight. She particularly detested Curd Rice. My mother and my wife are
orthodox, and believe firmly in the 'cooling effects' of Curd Rice!

I cleared my throat, and picked up the bowl. "Sindu, darling, why don't you
take a few mouthful of this Curd Rice? Just for Dad's sake, dear. And, if
you don't, your Mom will shout at me'

I could sense my wife's scowl behind my back. Sindu softened a bit, and
wiped her tears with the back of her hands. 'OK, Dad. I will eat - not just
a few mouthfuls, but the whole lot of this. But, you should...' Sindu
hesitated. 'Dad, if I eat this entire Curd Rice, will you give me whatever I
ask for?'

'Oh sure, darling'.

'Promise?'

'Promise'. I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with mine,
and clinched the deal.

'Ask Mom also to give a similar promise', my daughter insisted. My wife
slapped her hand on Sindu's, muttering 'Promise', without any emotion.

Now I became a bit anxious. 'Sindumma, you shouldn't insist on getting a
computer or any such expensive items. Dad does not have that kind of money
right now. OK?'

'No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive'. Slowly and painfully, she
finished eating the whole quantity. I was silently angry with my wife and
my mother for forcing my child eat something that she detested.

After the ordeal was through, Sindu came to me with her eyes wide with
expectation. All our attention was on her. 'Dad, I want to have my head
shaved off, this Sunday!' was her demand!

'Atrocious!' shouted my wife, 'a girl child having her head shaved off?
Impossible!'.

'Never in our family!' my mother rasped. 'She has been watching too much of
television. Our culture is getting totally spoiled with these TV programs!'

'Sindumma, why don't you ask for something else? We will be sad seeing you
with a clean-shaven head.'

'No, Dad. I do not want anything else', Sindu said with finality.

'Please, Sindu, why don't you try to understand our feelings?' I tried to
plead with her.

'Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice'. Sindu was
in tears. 'And you promised to grant me whatever I ask for. Now, you are
going back on your words. Was it not you who told me the story of King
Harishchandra, and its moral that we should honour our promises no matter
what?'

It was time for me to call the shots. 'Our promise must be kept.'

'Are you out your mind?' chorused my mother and wife.

'No. If we go back on our promises, she will never learn to honour her own.
Sindu, your wish will be fulfilled.'

With her head clean-shaven, Sindu had a round-face, and her eyes looked big
& beautiful.

On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school. It was a sight to watch my
hairless Sindu walking towards her classroom. She turned around and waved.
I waved back with a smile. Just then, a boy alighted from a car, and
shouted, 'Sinduja, please wait for me!'

What struck me was the hairless head of that boy. 'May be, that is the
in-stuff', I thought.

'Sir, your daughter Sinduja is great indeed!' Without introducing herself,
a lady got out of the car, and continued, 'That boy who is walking along
with your daughter is my son Harish. He is suffering from ... ...
leukaemia.'

She paused to muffle her sobs. 'Harish could not attend the school for the
whole of the last month. He lost all his hair due to the side effects of
the chemotherapy. He refused to come back to school fearing the
unintentional but cruel teasing of the schoolmates. Sinduja visited him
last week, and promised him that she will take care of the teasing issue.
But, I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my
son! Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as your
daughter.'

I stood transfixed. And then, I wept.

'My little Angel, will you grant me a boon? Should there be another birth
for me, will you be my mother, and teach me what Love is?'