The Bucket List

Things To Do:

ü Been in a rain forest

ü Been lost

ü Been on a plane

ü Blown bubbles

ü Cried yourself to sleep

ü Done something you told yourself you would not

ü Gone on a blind date

ü Gone to the movies

ü Hit someone on the face with your fist

ü Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your mouth

ü Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets

ü Lived in more than one country

ü Made prank phone calls

ü Met with an accident in a vehicle

ü Paid for a meal with coins only

ü Played cops and robbers

ü Recently colored with crayons

ü Ridden on a cable car

ü Sang Karaoke

ü Seen whales in the ocean

ü Skipped school

ü Swam in the ocean

ü Traveled by motorcycle

ü Traveled by train

ü Watched someone die

ü Watched the sunrise with someone

ü Written a letter to Santa Claus

Been bitten by a spider

Been deep sea fishing

Been horseback riding

Been in a hot air balloon

Been kissed under the mistletoe

Been on a cruise

Been on a helicopter

Been sky diving

Been snow-skiing

Been to a wax museum

Been to the Olympics

Been water-skiing

Caught a snake with your bare hands

Caught a snowflake on your tongue

Danced in the rain naked

Gone bungee jumping

Gone ice-skating

Gone snowmobiling

Gone scuba diving

Had porcupine meat for Lunch

Ridden on an elephant

Seen a falling star and made a wish

Taken a close up picture with a celebrity

Watched a turtle lay eggs

A Letter from Abraham Lincoln to His Son’s Head Master

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States of America (1861 – 1865) is one of the world’s great statesmen for all time. Here is a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the Head Master of his school in which his son was studying, a letter so typical of the man who bore malice towards none and had charity for all.

My son starts school today. It is all going to be strange and new to him for a while and I wish you would treat him gently. It is an adventure that might take him across continents. All adventures that probably include wars, tragedy and sorrow. To live this life will require faith, love and courage.

So dear Teacher, will you please take him by his hand and teach him things he will have to know, teaching him - but gently, if you can. Teach him that for every enemy, there is a friend. He will have to know that all men are not just, that all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero, that for every crooked politician, there is a dedicated leader.

Teach him if you can that 10 cents earned is of far more value than a dollar found. In school, teacher, it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to learn how to gracefully lose, and enjoy winning when he does win.

Teach him to be gentle with people, tough with tough people. Steer him away from envy if you can and teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Teach him if you can - how to laugh when he is sad, teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him there can be glory in failure and despair in success. Teach him to scoff at cynics.

Teach him if you can the wonders of books, but also give time to ponder the extreme mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hill. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if every one tell him they are wrong.

Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone else is doing it. Teach him to listen to every one, but teach him also to filters all that he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.

Teach him to sell his talents and brains to the highest bidder but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patient to be brave. Teach him to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind, in God.

This is the order, teacher but see what best you can do. He is such a nice little boy and he is my son.

Robby's Night - True Story Worth Reading

At the prodding of my friends, I am writing this story. My name is Mildred Hondorf. I am a former elementary school music teacher from Des Moines , Iowa . I've always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons-something I've done for over 30 years. Over the years I found that children have many levels of musical ability... I've never had the pleasure of having a prodigy though I have taught some talented students.

However I've also had my share of what I call 'musically challenged' pupils. One such student was Robby. Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single Mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson.. I prefer that students (especially boys!) begin at an earlier age, which I explained to Robby.

But Robby said that it had always been his mother's dream to hear him play the piano. So I took him as a student. Well, Robby began with his piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopeless endeavor. As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm needed to excel but he dutifully reviewed his scales and some elementary pieces that I require all my students to learn.

Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed and tried to encourage him. At the end of each weekly lesson he'd always say, 'My mom's going to hear me play someday.' But it seemed hopeless. He just did not have any inborn ability. I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. She always waved and smiled but never stopped in.

Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons.

I thought about calling him but assumed because of his lack of ability, that he had decided to pursue something else. I also was glad that he stopped coming. He was a bad advertisement for my teaching!

Several weeks later I mailed to the student's homes a flyer on the upcoming recital.. To my surprise Robby (who received a flyer) asked me if he could be in the recital. � I told him that the recital was for current pupils and because he had dropped out he really did not qualify. He said that his mother had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons but he was still practicing. 'Miss Hondorf, I've just got to play!' he insisted.

I don't know what led me to allow him to play in the recital. Maybe it was his persistence or maybe it was something inside of me saying that it would be all right. The night for the recital came. The high school gymnasium was packed with parents, friends and relatives. I put Robby up last in the program before I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he would do would come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor performance through my 'curtain closer.'

Well, the recital went off without a hitch. The students had been practicing and it showed, then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked like he'd run an eggbeater through it. 'Why didn't he dress up like the other students?' I thought. 'Why didn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?'

Robby pulled out the piano bench and he began. I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen Mozart's Concerto #21 in C Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were light on the keys, they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He went from pianissimo to fortissimo. From allegro to virtuoso. His suspended chords that Mozart demands were magnificent! Never had I heard Mozart played so well by people his age. After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo and everyone was on their feet in wild applause.

Overcome and in tears I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby in joy. 'I've never heard you play like that Robby! How'd you do it? '

Through the microphone Robby explained: 'Well, Miss Hondorf, Remember I told you my Mom was sick? Well, actually she had cancer and passed away this morning and well. .. She was born deaf so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special.'

There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening.. As the people from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into foster care, I noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy and I thought to myself how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil.

No, I've never had a prodigy but that night I became a prodigy . . Of Robby's. He was the teacher and I was the pupil for it is he that taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself and maybe even taking a chance in someone and you don't know why.

Robby was killed in the senseless bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April of 1995...

Quarter-Life Crisis

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like.You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. You want to settle down for good because now all of a sudden that becomes top priority. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.You begin to think a companion for life is better than a hundred in the shack and for once you would not mind standing tall for that special someone which otherwise you had never thought of until now.You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it.We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out. Send this to your twenty-something friends.... maybe it will help someone feel like they aren't alone in their state of confusion...

We call it the "Quarter-life Crisis"!

"Don't be Serious, be Sincere" - A Speech by Chetan Bhagat at Symbiosis

Don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

"Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same is with life where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. Life is not meant to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up?

It's ok, bunk a few classes, scoring low in couple of papers, goof up a few interviews, take leave from work, fall in love, little fights with your spouse. We are people, not programmed devices"

"Don't be Serious, be Sincere"

Globalization - A Joke

Question : What is globalization?

Answer : Princess Diana's Death

Question : How come?

Answer :

English princess with an

Egyptian boyfriend, crashes in a

French tunnel, driving a

German car, with a

Dutch engine, driven by a

Belgian who was high on

Scottish whiskey, followed closely by

Italian Paparazzi, on

Japanese motorcycles, treated by an

American doctor, using

Brazilian medicines!

This was written by a

Canadian, using

American (Bill Gates') technology, which he got from the

Japanese.

And you are probably reading this on one of the IBM clones that use

Philippine / Taiwanese made chips, and

Korean made monitors, assembled by

Bangladeshi workers, in a

Singapore plant, transported by lorries driven by

Indians, hijacked by

Indonesians, unloaded by

Sicilian longshoremen, and trucked to your retailer by

Mexican illegals, and finally sold to you by

Chinese!


That's Globalization!!!

Parents Are Precious!!!

This was narrated by an IAF pilot at a Seminar recently on Human Relations:

Venkatesh Balasubramaniam (who works for IIT) describes how his gesture of booking an air ticket for his father, his maiden flight, brought forth a rush of emotions and made him (Venkatesh) realize that how much we all take for granted when it comes to our parents.

My parents left for our native place on Thursday and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father had never traveled by air before, so I just took this opportunity to make him experience the same. In spite of being asked to book tickets by train, I got them tickets on Jet Airways. The moment I handed over the tickets

to him, he was surprised to see that I had booked them by air. The excitement was very apparent on his face, waiting for the time of travel. Just like a school boy, he was preparing himself on that day and we all went to the airport, right from using the trolley for his luggage, the baggage check-in and asking for a window seat and waiting restlessly for the security check-in to happen. He was thoroughly enjoying himself and I, too, was overcome with joy watching him experience all these things.

As they were about to go in for the security check-in, he walked up to me with tears in his eyes and thanked me. He became very emotional and it was not as if I had done something great but the fact that this meant a great deal to him. When he said thanks, I told him there was no need to thank me. But later, thinking about the entire incident, I looked back at my life. As a child, how many dreams our parents have made come true. Without understanding the financial situation, we ask for cricket bats, dresses, toys, outings, etc. Irrespective of their affordability, they have catered to all our needs. Did we ever think about the sacrifices they had to make to accommodate many of our wishes? Did we ever say thanks for all that they have done for us? Same way, today when it comes to our children, we always think that we should put them in a good school. Regardless of the amount of donation, we will ensure that we will have to give the child the best, theme parks, toys, etc.. But we tend to forget that our parents have sacrificed a lot for our sake to see us happy, so it is our responsibility to ensure that their dreams are realized and what they failed to see when they were young. It is our responsibility to ensure that they experience all those and their life is complete.

Many times, when my parents had asked me some questions, I have actually answered back without patience. When my daughter asks me something, I have been very polite in answering. Now I realize how they would have felt at those moments. Let us realize that old age is a second childhood and just as we take care of our children, the same attention and same care needs to be given to our parents and elders. Rather than my dad saying thank you to me, I would want to say sorry for making him wait so long for this small dream. I do realize how much he has sacrificed for my sake and I will do my best to give the best possible attention to all their wishes.

Just because they are old does not mean that they will have to give up everything and keep sacrificing for their grandchildren also. They have wishes, too.

Take care of your parents. THEY ARE PRECIOUS.

Nothingness!!!

Have you ever looked at yourself and asked why are all these problems happening to me??? Well, Im just after a workshop on Discovering Oneself and it was just so amazing!!! We just do not realize that all the problems we face in our lives are created not by any one else, but is simply the creation of it by our own hands. The solution to these problems is very simple, and that is to operate from "Nothingness" which means, that do not judge the situation or the problem from any angle, in terms of right/wrong, blaming on others, because this would not solve the situation but further increase it. Hence, I am not going to judge any situation or any person and going to work on the principle of "Nothingness" and right now, this is just grrrrrrrrrrr88888888!!!!

The Feel Good Factor!!!

Subsequent too the various situations and changes in my life for a moment I had thought my world had come to a complete halt and didnt seem to see any kind of good happening for the rest of my life. I was feeling down in the dumps, no motivation to excel in anything, all I wanted to do was just to make it through the day and that would be enough for me. Just when all these were continuously running through my mind, my boss arrived in the country from where he was and calls a special meeting with our team at work. He goes on with the meeting and just before we finish he comes to this really important part of it and he goes lyk: "Hisham, now I want you to play a strategic role in this important project we are carrrying and you have to travel to all these countries anf he goes on giving me this really detailed list of countries, and he askes me to prepare the plan and send it to him for approval and stuff, annd he goes like you are going to be the team leader, so I want your best in this"!!!! WOW WOW WOW, is all I could say... So after all my life that aint bad and the Feel Good Factor was simply awsum!!!!

Back to Base...

Just when I thought everything was back to normal and was enjoying life, some idiot had to come and spoil all the happiness we were having. One sometimes wonders why do some people try and destroy friendships and try and be imposing and actually gain a pleasure out of it, I just don't get it!!! Anyways, I told my friend to go fly a kite with the new BFF and to bother me ever again!!! I guess being single, lonely and friendless is the best solution inlife, no one to bother you, no one to interfere with you nor with your life no one you need to think of a second time and the list continues... I am sooooooooooooooooooooo enjoying this period of my life!!!!

D Most Awsumest Day!!!! hehehehehe...

Today ws nt d kinda day dat i expctd... actually i ws dreadin n cursin d day... never expctd God to turn it into a day dat i wud luv and cherish sooooooooo much.. right, right, right.. k... let me nt keep u in suspense any more... well to strt off wit, i had an exam today, and exam dat i had to re-do thank 2 ONE BIG DUMB IDIOT of a lecturer!!!! I ws expectin it to b really hard, cos dats wat they say abt re-sit exams, dey try to make it hardr dan d 1st one...any ways...mine jst turned out 2 b d other way arnd, it was waaaaaaaaaaaay easier and bttr dan d original exam i sat fr... i prayd to God thoughput to make it easy fr me and so He did, I thnk u alone God and no one else!!!! So i came home really elated and ws feelin really on top f d moon...

A month bak i sent my Final Year Thesis (an abstract) to a University in Sri Lanka where they had requested fr such Thesis abstracts dat wud finally end up being research papers aftr a long process of approvals n stuff and dey said they'll notify us within a month... so i ws nt havin much hope of it being accptd since mine ws jst an undergraduate thesis... and today aftr da 1st happy situ, here cums d next "Your Abstract has been Conditionally Acceptd for the next Stage"!!!! WOW!!! WOW!! WOW!!! wat more cud i say, wat an awsum day i am havin!!!!

WOW, I am Really Recoverin Nw!!!!

hey ppl, wts up??? lyk my title says, im finally movin on nw wit my lyf, witout sum worthless creatures frm our planet Earth!!!! ystrday, ws my b'day, wich in my view i jst didnt wanna celebrate @ all @ 1st cos i ws jst in no mood to do so, bt thnx to sum f my best buddiz, they dragged me out and took me out fr dinner and fr sum lil fun("nw dnt get me wrong here, i t ws pure, clean fun")... durin d day wat really kept me busy ws respondin to d many wishes dat i received fr my b'day mostly on FB and d msgs on my fone, and everytime dat either one f dem came, i thought i ws hopin n paryin dat it wud b frm dat person, bt nt even one, intially i ws very upset abt it bt thn i ws lyk wat d hell, nw v have nutin more to do wit each other so i expect anytin!!!! guess dats d spirit i will hav to liv wit frm nw on!!!! God pls help me to stay dis way witout me jst ruinin my lyf....

Finally I am Moving ON!!!!

Hey ppl, im bak and felelin muuuuuuuuuuuuch bttr !!!! aftr much thought put into these problems dt i hav been facin lately, i ws lyk wat d hell, y shud i suffer jst fr one worthless and ungrateful wretch who dsnt giv a damn abt frnship.... initially wen I called it all off and dat it ws d end, i jst cudnt bear it no more, cos once gain dat person told me stuff dat ws really nt very pleasent fr me to hear.... so once i gt home i ws feelin sooooo terrible, i ws plannin on stuff dat were extremely drastic, cos i jst cudnt face d next day...dat ws d end, i had jst lost my best buddy cos f sum damned bitches in btwn, who basically ruined r frnship!!! todate i dispise all those bitches, may they rott to d MAXIMUM in dis wrld as wel as in d hereafter.....

Bt then again i ws thinking, wat goes arnd comes arnd too, so i basically left all des probs in Gods hands and told Him to shw me a solution to des worris, cos i jst cudnt think str8 fr a moment and told Him to shw ppl who each and every one of us are and to expose all those fake ones out there and to shw ppl who d real ones r!!!! and may He guide all of us to d correct ppl and may He shower wisdom on d foolish ppl arnd us...

until den!!!!

Cheers....

jst dnt knw wat to do wit my lyf!!!!

im still tryin to figure out wat to do and more so wat to do wit my lyf... i thot even aftr speakin wit dat certain individual everytin wud b OK... at times i jst sit and wondr y d hell am i sufferin wit all dis and lets put everytin in d past and move on, bt there r certain UNPLEASENT things dis indv said dat todate still rings in my ears and den i go in to dis mad+bad mood again, which basically ruins d rest f my days!!!! bt fr dat person, lyf is lyk a rollercoaster and is enjoyin every moment of it.... well any ways ppl, im tryin my level best to curb dis situation bt i guess dats gonna take a way long time to com to it!!!! so until den...

cheers!!!

p.s. well nt exactly "cheers", i dnt knw wat 2 call it....

Jst cnt seem to understand!!!

i jst cnt seem to understand sumtimes y ppl hav to b so difficult @ times!!! Lately me n a frnd hav been havin quite a few conflicts over a certain person.. what i really cnt understand is why do ppl hav to be so stubborn, nt that im sayin that i am free of fault, we all are in some way or another.. But wen a person specially a frnd is advicing u sincerely, abt a certain mattr r abt a person, y is it so difficult to @least consider their advice even a lil bit??? i jst dnt seem to understand dis attitude??? so instead wat iv dun is, adjustd my mind as the sayin goez - u cn take the horse to da water bt u cnt make it to drink it, and iv let dis person do wa eva he wishes, its a pure situation of jumping frm da frying pan in to the fire!!! And i hereafter shall nt interfere in watever he wants to do wit his life, cos i feel dat im jst no suitable person to giv advice to any person!!!! dats da end f it!!!

My Facebook!!!

the 1st ever real interview and exam experience!!!

hey, ppl!!! welcome bak aftr sum time.. well iv been busy wit an interview @ a selected bank f my choice!!! wow, it jst went gr8, cudnt beleive it... Sometimes gttin into places is soooo easy wen uv gt contacts (specially very influential contacts!!!)... well da 1st stage, which ws da interview or rather i wud call it a discussion ws overall nt bad, actually very gud... wel da nest day, dats ystrday ws pretty shitty though, cos I had the aptitude test, and i jst hate answering these tests, cos time is never enough to answer those papers, anywys i gav my best shot @ it... and fingers r crossed and jst hopin n prayin that i gt selcted.. until they. adios amigos!!!!

Y is it Soooooooooooooo Difficult ?????

Hav u ever been in a situation where u were asked to describe oneself in a few wrds either in writng r in speaking??? well if u havnt, i guess u shud wile u r reading this post!!! iv found it to be the most toughest things one cud do in a short space of time... today i ws faced wit a similar situation.. i am a member f a Toastmasters club, and they usually have this session knwn as the ice breaker, where uv gt 2 describe oneself in 2-3 minutes... i jst didnt knw wat to put in to my speech, bt since i ws super free, i jst wrote sum stuff.... it tuk me soooooooooooooo long to write it, dat i myself cudnt believe how long i tuk to write it!!! well if u call dat difficult, then u shud try speakin dat out, gosh!!! i suffrd, bt some hw managed to get it dun!!! i ws shokd as to hw well i had dun it!! it ws gr8 and useful all together i shud say!!

It's Finally Over!!!!

hey ppl its gr8 to have finally finished all of it... The projects, submissions, presentations, vivas', etc... im sooooooooooo relieved on one hand and on the other im gonna miss it... 4 years of continuous wrk lik dis, am sure gonna miss it, im even missin it rite nw as i type dis post!!! so nw im jst wonderin wat do i do frm nw on.. well to me the best is to jst chill it out n wait patienly fr the grades to come to decide my next move... until den... tada!! bye.. tc n KIT everyone!!!

The PRESENTATION!!!!

hey, y da hell am i so freakd out abt dis presentation... iv dun so much f public speakin n yet im freakin out so much every day... gues cos it entirely depends on wat i get fr my degree... God pls hav mercy on me, n pls make my assessor to nt ask too many questions n fr my supervisor to save me throughout. the freakiness is only until u get up there to speak, but once i start, it all jst vanishes away, it simply disappears to God knws where!!!! so i hope it will b lik dat dis time too...