Youth In You

Before leaving for abroad for the first time to preach Hinduism, Vivekanand's mother wanted to know whether he is all perfect for this mission or not, she invited him for dinner. Vivekanand enjoyed the food that had the additional flavor of his mother's special love and affection. After the delicious dinner, Vivekanand's mother offered Vivekanand a dish of fruits and a knife. Vivekanand cut the fruit, ate it and after that his mother said, "Son, can you please give me the knife, I need it." Vivekanand immediately responded by giving the knife.
Vivekanand's mother calmly said, "Son, you have passed my test and I heartily bless you for going abroad." Vivekanand surprisingly asked, "Mother, how did you test me? I did not understand."
Mother replied, "Son, when I asked for the knife, I saw how you handed it to me, you gave the knife by holding its sharp edge and kept the wooden handle of knife towards me. This way, I would not get hurt when I take it and this means you took care of me. And this was your test in which you passed.
The person who thinks of others welfare rather than thinking about self has got the right of preaching the world and you have got that right. You have all my blessings."

This was the most important mark he left in the hearts of many he met in his lifetime - to think of others before thinking for self.

Moral: There are some qualities which draw the difference between a common man & an uncommon man. To think about the welfare of everyone falls under an extraordinary quality. The true noble person is the one who thinks of others' happiness even if it is in little matters to our day to day life. The one who thinks of himself alone is considered selfish & will not be valued by the world in the long run. It is the law of nature that as the bigger hearted & noble you are, the more you will keep receiving & as the narrower minded you become, the less you will receive.

Swami Vivekananda ( Jan 12, 1863 - July 04, 1902)

National Youth Day.
Everyone is Youth, until he feels so to be old.

Never Give Up

It’s a story that Harsha Bhogle, India’s most loved cricket commentator, loves to tell, over and over again.

Making his debut in Test cricket for Sri Lanka, Marvan scored a duck in his first innings. And again, in his second innings.

They dropped him. So he went back to the nets for more practice. More first-class cricket. More runs. Waiting for that elusive call.And after twenty-one months, he got a second chance.

This time, he tried harder. His scores: 0 in the first innings, 1 in the second Dropped again, he went back to the grind. And scored tonnes of runs in first-class cricket. Runs that seemed inadequate to erase the painful memories of the Test failures. Well, seventeen months later,opportunity knocked yet again. Marvan got to bat in both innings of the Test.His scores: 0 and 0. Phew!

Back to the grind. Would the selectors ever give him another chance? They said he lacked big-match temperament. His technique wasn’t good enough at the highest level. Undaunted, Marvan kept trying.

Three years later, he got another chance. This time, he made runs. He came good. And in an illustrious career thereafter, Marvan went on to score over 5000 runs for Sri Lanka. That included sixteen centuries and six double hundreds. And he went on to captain his country. All this despite taking over six years to score his second run in Test cricket. Wow! What a guy!

How many of us can handle failure as well as he did? Six years of trying, and failing. He must have been tempted to pursue another career. Change his sport perhaps. Play county cricket. Or, oh well, just give up. But he didn’t. And that made the difference.

We all hear stories of talented people who gave up before their potential was realized. People who changed jobs and careers when success seemed elusive.

The next time you are staring at possible failure or rejection, think of Marvan. And remember this: If you don’t give up, if you believe in yourself, if you stay the course, the run will eventually come. What more you could even become captain some day.

Also he has coached the team of Canada and Singapore. From April 2014 to September 2015, he was the Head Coach of the Sri Lanka Cricket team.

It only says that....

NEVER GIVE UP .  NEVER EVER !