Musings on Travel

I found these quotes on travel on the book markers distributed by the travel magazine 'Lonely Planet' with this month's issue. They stimulate one's urge to travel and see the world, the thrill and the anticipation of journeys, new places and things:

• The important thing is to go - Versace
• Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do - Mark Twain
• The traveller sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see - G K Chesterton
• Tourists don't know where they have been, travellers don't know where they are going - Paul Theroux

Love

Mohandeep Sandhu

http://www.crcindia.co.in/

Desiderata

Desiderata by Max Ehrman is sublime and full of wisdom. I first came across it many years ago in the office of my then Managing Director, Mr. David Rose (Gujarat Guardian Limited-Modiguard) who kept a beautifully inscribed and framed print of it  on a side cabinet. Here is how it goes:

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth, quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant, they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements, as well as your plans. Keep interested in your career, however humble, it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But not let this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and every where life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imagining. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be Cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

I am sure it inspires everybody who reads it. There is a misconception that  'Desiderata' was found in St. Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland. Actually it is the work of Max Ehrmann, a poet and lawyer from Terre Haute, Indiana, who lived from 1872 to 1945. Desiderata is Latin for 'Things to be Desired'.

Love
Mohandeep Sandhu
http://www.crcindia.co.in/

Day 21 - The Questions That Matter

Did I do something constructive today?

Did I make someone's life easy today?

Is my health better than yesterday because of what I did?

Did I spare some thought or time for those around me?

Did I conduct myself as if this was the first day of the rest of my life? (Particularly for those of us who carry to much historical baggage)

If we conduct ourselves in such a way that the answers to all these questions are in the affirmative, I am sure we will have a more pleasant existence and a fulfilling life.

Love

Mohandeep Sandhu

http://www.crcindia.co.in/

Day 20 - Bumper Stickers

Some bumper stickers that I liked:

1. Be nice to America or we'll bring democracy to your country
2. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
3. If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished.
4. When all else fails manipulate the data
5. I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.
6. If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?
7. How is it possible to have a civil war?
8. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?
9. Alcohol and calculus don't mix. Never drink and derive.
10. With my life I could be on all of Oprah's shows.
11. Is life a sexually transmitted disease?
12. Warning: Dates in Calendar are closer than they appear.
13. Contraceptives should be used on every conceivable occasion.
14. My wife's other car is a broom!
15. Avenge Yourself - Be a problem to your children

Love
Mohandeep Sandhu
http://www.crcindia.co.in/

 

Day 19 - Anger

Yesterday when I was sitting with my mother and we were reminiscing  about her late father and my grandfather, she recollected the advice which he gave her on one occasion when she was extremely angry at something even though her temper was completely justified. He said:

If you are in the right you need not lose your temper and if you are in the wrong you cannot afford to lose your temper.

Words of wisdom well spoken, wouldn't you agree? Here is what some others have said about anger:

• Speak when you are angry and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret - Dr. Laurence J. Peter, Amwerican educator, writer.
• Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one - Benjamin Franklin, American statesman, philosopher.
• Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten - Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 BC.
• In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move - Douglas Adams, British comic writer. 
• Anger blows out the lamp of the mind - Robert Green Ingersoll, American statesman.

Love

MohandeepSandhu

http://www.crcindia.co.in/

Day 18 - Fitness Corner

Is 'Fitness Corner' on Zee Cafe at 6.30 AM ( Channel 213 on Tatasky DTH) about fitness? Check out and let me know.

Why don't we have more such fitness programmes? They are supposed to be very good for the eyes and maybe for for the health as well.

Love
Mohandeep Sandhu
http://www.crcindia.co.in/

Day 17 - Withholding Information

An elderly Italian man went to his parish priest and asked if the priest would hear his confession.

"Of course, my son," said the priest.

"Well, Father, at the beginning of World War Two, a beautiful woman knocked on my door and asked me to hide her from the Germans; I hid her in my attic, and they never found her."

"That's a wonderful thing, my son, and nothing that you need to confess," said the priest.

"It's worse, Father; I was weak, and told her that she had to pay for rent of the attic with her bodily favors," continued the old man.

"Well, it was a very difficult time, and you took a large risk - you would have suffered terribly at their hands if the Germans had found you hiding her; I know that God, in his wisdom and mercy, will balance the good and the evil, and judge you kindly," said the priest.

"Thanks, Father," said the old man. "That's a load off of my mind. Can I ask another question?"

"Of course, my son," said the priest.

The old man asked, "Do I need to tell her that the war is over?"

Love

Mohandeep Sandhu