A discontented man prays every night, “God, I am the unhappiest man on the Earth! No sooner do I sort one problem, another one pops up. I beg you to exchange my worries with someone else – anyone will do!” Then one night, God comes in his dream, “Gather all of your miseries into a bag and bring it to the temple hall.” When the man wakes(..)
Once, a wise man goes to a Zen master – “I want to master the art of living; please teach me.” The master asks the man to join him for a cup of tea first. His disciple brings a tray of empty cups with a tea kettle. Most of the cups are a random mix of ordinary cups, however, a few look exquisite. The man picks one of the exquisite ones.(..)
During the 1960s, an American psychologist, Walter Mischel, conducted “the marshmallow test” at Stanford University. Working with four-year-olds from a preschool, he assessed their abilities to delay gratification. Each pre-schooler was given one marshmallow. The four-year-olds were told that they could eat it immediately or, if they waited until(..)
In 2005, the US National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets were looking for a talented player to add to their roster. The usual scouting reports and analyses delivered a list of names. Some of them were unavailable or too expensive, and others did not seem like the right fit for the team. Then, using advanced analytics capabilities, the(..)
Two college friends go to a bistro. One of them orders a large cup of coffee, takes a couple of sips, and then leaves the rest. Annoyed, the second one questions him, “Why did you waste it?” The boastful youngster replies, “I bought this cup not to consume but to do my bit to create employment.” When we are young, frivolous ideologies often drive(..)
Once a young man meets a well-traveled man. The traveler tells him great tales of his explorations and talks about a country that had no onions. “No onions!” exclaims the man, “How can anyone enjoy the true pleasure of food without onions?” Without further thought, he buys onions, fills his cart, and sets his journey towards this whimsical(..)
Once a young professional approached a successful man to seek guidance on the secret of excellence. The man asked, “But why do you wish to pursue excellence?” The youngster replied, “So that my seniors notice my work, and I am rewarded accordingly.” The man smiled and beckoned the young man to accompany him on a short road trip. They drove down(..)
Once upon a time, there was a contractor who built wooden houses along the seashore. He constantly advertised for carpenters. However, most people refused to work near the coast as they dreaded the awful raging storms that would wreak havoc on new construction. Finally, a middle-aged applicant approached the contractor. “Are you a responsible(..)
On a cold, misty morning in 2007, a man started playing the violin at Washington DC Metro Station. It had been three minutes, when a middle-aged man noticed the violinist. He slowed his pace, stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule. Four minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar—a woman threw the money in the hat and,(..)
One day a young boy went to the store with his mother. The shopkeeper looked at the small boy, showed him a jar full of candy and said, “Dear boy, you can take some of this candy.” But the young boy didn’t take any. He just stood there and kept looking at the jar full of candy. The shopkeeper was surprised that the boy did not take any candy from(..)
A traveler notices an aged man tending to the fields along the road, he stops there and asks him, "I am traveling from the village in the mountains to the village in the valley. And I was wondering if you know what it is like there?" "Tell me," said the aged man, "What was your experience of the village in the mountains?" "Dreadful!" replied the(..)
A teenage girl walked up to her mother demanding money to buy a fancy watch. Puzzled, her mother asked, “Why do you want a fancy watch?” The girl replied, “Because it will help me fit in the social circle.” Without a pause, the mother took out a crease-free INR 2000 note and questioned her daughter if it would be enough to buy the watch.(..)
A father asks his 12-year-old son to go into the backyard and remove a tree stump. The boy, eager to show his dad his ability to execute this manly task, runs out and begins to push the stump with all his might. After about 20 minutes of huffing and puffing, the stump stood there without a change in position. Soon, the boy realizes that his dad was(..)
A young man shopping in a supermarket noticed an old lady following him around. If he stopped, she stopped. Furthermore, she kept staring at him. She finally overtook him at the checkout and turned to him to say, "I hope I haven't made you feel ill at ease. It's just that you look so much like my late son." To which the man replied, "That's okay."(..)
A math teacher took a bag of cookies out of her purse and asked a little boy, “If I give you two cookies, and then another two cookies, how many cookies will you have?” “Five cookies,” he replied. She was surprised by his reply. So, she used her fingers to help him count. “Look, if I give you one, two—TWO cookies—and another one,(..)
Once there lived a man who was always scared and would run away from everything he feared. Tired of living a scared life, he went to a wise man for guidance, “Master, I have been a coward all my life. Please teach me to be brave.” “Sure, but only on one condition,” Master replied. “For one month, every stranger who crosses your path, tell(..)
Once a man was riding a cycle and noticed another rider about half a mile ahead of him. The man realized that the rider was traveling at a speed slightly lower than him, and decided to overtake the latter. The man had about a mile to go on the road before taking his intended turn. So, he started cycling faster and with every block inched closer to the(..)
One day a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. On their desk was a question paper with the text facing down, as usual. The students turned the page to begin their test. To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions, just a black dot in the centre of the page. The professor, on seeing the expressions(..)
Once during a famine, a desperate man stepped out of his house to earn a living. He came across a fruit farm. Hungry, he decided to steal some fruits. But, as he started plucking, the farmer came chasing after him with a stick. The man ran into a nearby forest and climbed a tree to evade the farmer. From his vantage point, the man witnessed a(..)
A large farm in Goa was famous for its watermelons. Every year, the(..)
A little boy went into a grocery store and reached for a soda carton. He, then, pulled it towards a payphone. Back in the day cell phones had not invaded our lives as much as it has today—few places still had payphones. The boy climbed onto the carton to reach the phone buttons and punched in the digits. The store owner quietly observed and(..)
