Saturday Story from Siva (21): Story of a Student and His Honesty

Hi,
Good morning! Hope you are doing great. Hope you are able to manage to spare a couple of minutes every week to read the Saturday stories. I would also like to thank all of you who have been mailing me your comments. This week, I would like to share with you a true story that has happened recently with an Indian student in the US. Here it is…
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The Story of Aditya Makhija and His Honesty
Aditya Makhija, a lad from Haryana, is a final year student of an undergrad program at Illinois Institute of Technology in the US. This year, on one of the days when his parents were also with him on their vacation, he received a call from one of the Universities where he applied for a summer internship. He was offered an internship with a stipend of US$ 18 per hour, which he immediately agreed and accepted to join them for his internship. Within an hour of this, he received another phone call from another organization with a more exciting offer of internship that included not only US$ 35 per hour stipend but also accommodation and boarding facilities. He did not accept it, and requested them for time to decide and get back to them. His dad who was listening to all this said, “Why did you not tell them that you would not be able to join as you had just accepted another offer? How could you go back on your word? Call them and inform them of your inability to join them.”
When Aditya immediately called up the concerned officer and told him of his inability, the officer asked him, “You have just now requested for time to decide, and what made you to call us back so soon and reject such a good offer?” Aditya replied, “Though yours is a much better offer, I am unable to accept it as I have given a word to someone else just a few minutes before talking to you. My dad advises me that it is proper to keep up my word and lose than to lose my word and gain a benefit, and accordingly to inform you so that you need not wait for my decision and you could make your own plans.”
Soon after this conversation, the General Manager of the company called up Aditya and told him, “We appreciate your decision. We will be glad to have you in our company. Anytime in future, you wish to join us, please contact me.”
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Honesty and sincerity are two great virtues of a person. At times, it might seem that one might have lost out on account of them. But in the long run, they pay rich dividends.
With love and regards,
Siva --------------------------------
B. Sivaprasad
Corporate Trainer and Motivational Speaker
SS Technologies, 401, Rajya Lakshmi Nivas
5-2-26/1, Kukatpally, Hyderabad 500072, India
value4value@gmail.com
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Saturday Story from Siva (20): Story of The Wolf and His Loss

Hi,

Last Saturday I mailed the Saturday Story, but missed posting it on my blog. Here it is...

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Story of The Wolf and His Loss

An Excerpt from Panchatantra by Vishnu Sharma

One day, a wolf was wandering in the forest with a piece of meat in his mouth. When he saw a fish in the river water, he put down the piece of meat and ran to catch the fish. Just then, an owl swooped down upon the piece of meat and flew away with it. On the other hand, the fish too swam back deep into the river. The wolf lost both and had nothing to eat.
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There is also a saying, “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.” It is important to take a look at what we already possess in our hand. It is perhaps time to sit down and make an inventory of what we have at hand as of now: the property we earned (both cash and kind), the skills we learned, the accomplishments we made, the good things we did, the best friends we made, the work contacts and partnerships we developed, the virtues we imbibed, etc., This weekend, I would like to sit down and make a list of all these and possibly develop a plan on how to preserve so as not to lose them. How about you??
Wishing you The Best always!
With love and regards,
Siva

Saturday Story from Siva (19): The Story of a Buzzard, a Bat, and a Bumble Bee and their Flight Vs. Plight

Hi,

Hope you have had a great week. Today, I would be sharing with you some facts in the form of a story. Here goes the story of the three interesting creatures: The Buzzard, The Bat, and The Bumble Bee...

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A Buzzard, a Bat, and a Bumble Bee: Their Flight vs. Plight
Anonymous
Buzzard is a large bird of prey with a good wingspan that gives the bird the ability to fly at great heights. However, if you put a buzzard in a pen of six or eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of his ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of ten or twelve feet. Without space to run, as is his habit, he will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.
Second, the ordinary bat that flies around at night is a remarkable nimble creature in the air. However, it cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.
The third, a Bumblebee! He is one of the busiest guys around flying several kilometres of distance every single day. However, if dropped into an open tumbler, it will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way at a place where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.
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In many ways, like the buzzard, the bat and the bee, we the people also encounter similar situations struggling to find a way out of problems and frustrations. Perhaps, an effort to think out of the box or changing a habit and trying to do it differently helps. The answer often lies there itself...very close.
Wishing you The Best always!
With love and regards,
Siva
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Saturday Story from Siva (18): The Story of a carpenter and the way he built the house

Hi,

This week, I would like to share with you the story of a carpenter and the efforts he had put in to build a house.......

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The Carpenter and The Way He Built The House Anonymous (Source: Internet Info) There lived a carpenter who worked for several years under a contractor. Having no satisfaction in what did, he wanted to quit his job. So, he told his employer that he wanted to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour. The carpenter agreed, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way, but he could not put in his best efforts. When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the keys of the house to the carpenter and said, "This is your house... my gift to you."

The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently. But, we cannot go back. We are the carpenter, and every day we hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, "Life is a do-it-yourself project. Your attitude and the choices you make today help build the 'house' you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, build wisely.”

To your continued SUCCESS,

With love and regards,

Siva