My Sweet little Angel

My wife called, ‘How long will you be with that newspaper? Will you come here and make your darling daughter eat her food?’ I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My only daughter Sindu looked frightened.
Tears were welling up in her eyes. In front of her was a bowl filled to its brim with Curd Rice. Sindu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age.She has just turned eight. She particularly detested Curd Rice. My
mother and my wife are orthodox, and believe firmly in the ‘cooling effects’ of Curd Rice!
I cleared my throat, and picked up the bowl. ‘Sindu, darling,why don’t you take a few mouthful of this Curd Rice?Just for Dad’s sake, dear.
Sindu softened a bit, and wiped her tears with the back of her hands. ‘OK, Dad. I will eat – not just a few
mouthfuls, but the whole lot of this. But, you should…’ Sindu hesitated. ‘Dad, if I eat this entire curd Rice, will you give me whatever I ask for?’………..Oh sure, darling’….’Promise?’……………..
‘Promise’. I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with mine, and clinch the deal.
‘Ask Mom also to give a similar promise’, my daughter insisted.
My wife put her hand on Sindu’s, muttering ‘Promise’.
Now I became a bit anxious. ‘Sindu dear, you shouldn’t insist on getting a computer or any such expensive items.Dad does not have that kind of money right now. OK?’
‘No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive’.Slowly and painfully, she finished eating the whole quantity.
I was silently angry with my wife and my mother for forcing my child eat something that she detested.
After the ordeal was through, Sindu came to me with her eyes wide with expectation.All our attention was on her………….’Dad, I want to have my head shaved off, this Sunday!’ was her demand.
‘Atrocious!’ shouted my wife, ‘A girl child having her head shaved off? Impossible!’ ‘Never in our family!’ my mother rasp. ‘She has been watching too much of television. Our culture is getting totally spoiled with these TV programs!’
Sindu darling, why don’t you ask for something else? We will be sad seeing you with a clean-shaven head.’
‘No, Dad. I do not want anything else’, Sindu said with finality.
‘Please, Sindu, why don’t you try to understand our feelings?’ I tried to plead with her.
‘Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice’. Sindu was in tears. ‘And you promised to grant me whatever I ask for.Now, you are going back on your words. Was it not you who told me the story of King Harishchandra,and its moral that we should honor our promises no matter what?’
It was time for me to call the shots. ‘Our promise must be kept.’
‘Are you out your mind?’ chorused my mother and wife.
‘No. If we go back on our promises, she will never learn to honor her own. Sindu, your wish will be fulfilled.’
With her head clean-shaven, Sindu had a round-face, and her eyes looked big and beautiful.
On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school. It was a sight to watch my hairless Sindu walking towards her classroom.She turned around and waved. I waved back with a smile.
Just then, a boy alighted from a car, and shouted, ‘Sinduja, please wait for me!’
What struck me was the hairless head of that boy. ‘May be, that is the in-stuff’, I thought.
‘Sir, your daughter Sinduja is great indeed!’ Without introducing herself, a lady got out of the car, and continued,’ That boy who is walking along with your daughter is my son Harish.He is suffering from… … leukemia.’ She paused to muffle her sobs. Harish could not attend the school for the whole of the last month.He lost all his hair due to the side effects of the chemotherapy. He refused to come back to school fearing the unintentional but cruel teasing of the schoolmates’Sinduja visited him last week, and promised him that she will take care of the teasing issue.

But, I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my son!

Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as your daughter.’
I stood transfix. And then, I wept. ‘My little Angel, you are teaching me how self-less real love is!’
*The happiest people on this planet are not those who live on their own terms but are those who change their terms for the ones whom they love..*

A Tribute To Mother

He was a young boy who lived with his elderly mother. His mother wanted him to learn how to play the piano because she longed to hear her son play for her. She sent her son to a piano teacher who took Robby in under her guidance.

However, there was one small problem because Robby was not musically inclined and therefore was very slow in learning.

The teacher did not have much faith in the boy because of his weakness. The mother was very enthusiastic and every week she would send Robby to the teacher.

One day Robby stopped attending the piano lessons. The teacher thought that he had given up and in fact she was quite pleased since she did not give much hope to Robby. Not long after, the piano teacher was given the task to organize a piano concert in town. She sent out circulars to invite the students and public to attend the event. Suddenly, she received a call from Robby who offered to take part in the concert. The teacher told Robby that he was not good enough and that he was no longer a student since he had stopped coming for lessons.

Robby begged her to give him a chance and promised that he would not let her down.

Finally, she gave in and she put him to play last, hoping that he will change his mind at the last minute. When the big day came, the hall was packed and the children gave their best performance. Finally, it was Robby's turn to play and as his name was announced, he walked in. He was not in proper attire and his hair was not properly groomed.

The teacher was really nervous since Robby's performance could spoil the whole evening's brilliant performance.

As Robby started playing the crowd became silent and was amazed at the skill of this little boy. In fact, he gave the best performance of the evening. At the end of his presentation the crowd and the piano teacher gave him a standing ovation. The crowd asked Robby how he managed to play so brilliantly.

With a microphone in front of him, he said, "I was not able to attend the weekly piano lessons as there was no one to send me because my mother was sick with cancer. She just passed away this morning and I wanted her to hear me play. You see, this is the first time she is able to hear me play because when she was alive she was deaf and now I know she is listening to me. I have to play my best for her!"


Success Principles: This is indeed a touching story of love and excellence. When you have a
passion and a reason to do something, you will surely excel. You may not be talented or gifted but if you have a strong enough reason to do something, you will be able to tap into your inner God given potential.