Sanjana Tarra

The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, “This is for you, Daddy.” The man was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found out the box was empty. He yelled at her, stating, “Don’t you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside? The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, “Oh, Daddy, it’s not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They’re all for you, Daddy.” The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness. Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child. It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years an...

Put a frog in a vessel of water and start heating the water… As the temperature of the water rises, the frog is able to adjust its body temperature accordingly… The frog keeps on adjusting with increase in temperature… Just when the water is about to reach boiling point, the frog is not able to adjust anymore. At that point the frog decides to jump out… The frog tries to jump but is unable to do so, because it lost all its strength in adjusting with the water temperature… Very soon the frog dies. What killed the frog? Many of us would say the boiling water… But the truth is what killed the frog was its own inability to decide when it had to jump out… We all need to adjust with people and situations, but we need to be sure when we need to adjust and when we need to confront / face.. There are times when we need to face the situation and take the appropriate action… If we allow people to exploit us physically, mentally, emotionally or financially, they ...

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love. Love was the only one who stayed because Love wanted to hold out until the very last possible moment. When the island had almost sunk, Love decided that it was about time to try to escape before it was too late. Love called out to various feelings that were floating about on their boats. Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, “Richness, can you take me with you?” Richness answered, “No, I can’t. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is just not enough room for you here.” Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. “Vanity, please help me!” “I can’t help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat,” Vanity answered. Sadness also passed close...

There was a blind girl who hated herself just because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry her boyfriend. One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her and then she could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, “now that you can see the world, will you marry me?” The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying:  “Just take care of my eyes dear.”  This is how human brain changes when the status changed. Only few remember what life was before, and who’s always been there even in the most painful situations. But, they change their attitude after they get what they wanted. They take others for granted. They show their true side, at the right moment. They become so blind that they don't even care for...

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing. He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars.” The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.” He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers. As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, “Yes, please! You can take me to my mother.” She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave. The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s house. Life is Short. Spend much time as you can loving and caring people who love you. Enjoy each moment with them before it’s too late. There is nothing important than fam...

Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?” The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.” The old man replie...

Creation is neither good nor bad; it is as it is. It is the human mind which puts all sorts of constructions on it, seeing things from its own angle and interpreting them to suit its own interests. A woman is just a woman, but one mind calls her "mother," another "sister," and still another "aunt" and so on. Men love women, hate snakes, and are indifferent to the grass and stones by the roadside. These value-judgments are the cause of all the misery in the world. Creation is like a peepul tree: birds come to eat its fruit, or take shelter in its branches, men cool themselves in its shade, but some may hang themselves on it. Yet the tree continues to lead its quiet life, unconcerned with and unaware of all the uses it is put to. It is the human mind that creates its own difficulties and then cries for help. Is God so partial as to give peace to one person and sorrow to another? In creation there is room for everything, but man refuses to see the good, ...

A man’s favorite donkey falls into a deep precipice; He can’t pull it out no matter how hard he tries; He therefore decides to bury it alive. Soil is poured onto the donkey from above. The donkey feels the load, shakes it off, and steps on it; More soil is poured and poured. It shakes it off and steps up; The more the load was poured, the higher it rose; By noon, the donkey was grazing in green pastures. After much shaking off (of problems) And stepping up (learning from them), One will graze in Green Pastures...

Once upon a time, there was a very strong woodcutter looking for a job. He ran into a timber merchant who was hiring and the woodcutter got the position. The pay depended on how much wood was cut down. So long as the woodcutter cut a lot of wood, he would get paid a lot of money. The work conditions were also great as were the hours. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.  His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work.  On the first day, the woodcutter worked diligently; cutting as many trees as he could. Drenched in the sweat of his determination and hard work, he brought 22 trees to his boss!  “Congratulations,” the boss said. “Keep going on that way and keep up the great work!”  Very motivated by the boss’ words, the woodcutter came back the next day revitalized and determined to cut down more trees than he had the day before. Although he worked harder and longer than he did before, ...

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father one morning, that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father, who was a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied. “Look close...

On the evening of 15th November, 2014 my aunt phoned me. I thought she called me on a routine to know how my day was, but to my surprise she said "We are going to Thiruvannamalai ! ". I was so elated upon hearing her words. The very next day we started to our destination Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu. Temples are always fascinating. They are such huge ancient, historic monuments that they  fill one's mind with curiosity. How did such astounding masterpieces were built at that ancient time, when there was no technology and machinery? Ofcourse, it's one of the reasons why they are so fascinating. And such historical monuments always create interest in it's visitors. The ancient temples always created enthusiasm in me. The stories behind their construction, the archaeological records about them, the style of their designs, the intense religious beliefs of people related to that area and the sacred rituals of that place, always created some sort of amusement. ...