Life’s Mystery: Tuesdays with Morrie

Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live:

I become a fan of “Mitch Albom” after reading his book “Tuesdays with Morrie”. The facts and lessons taught about life by a dying man cannot be explained by anyone else in this world.

This book is about a Professor/teacher “Morrie” who is suffering from a disease called ALS (amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and is going to die in few month’s time. Morrie knows the fact that death is a truth and wanted to live alive like he had lived in past. He had a student who come and met him during Morrie’s last days and they together made a commitment to meet on Tuesday’s and hence the title given as “Tuesday’s with Morrie”. On every Tuesday’s Morrie explains the facts and lessons of life with his experience which will make you realize that the motive of our lives are not to earn “money , materialistic things etc etc”, infact the purpose of life is to learn, to make relations, to love, to forgive, to spread happiness and sometimes to cry etc etc..

This book was having a special force of attraction that you can’t put it down once you start reading it. You will get lost in the book as if you are a student and Morrie is trying to show you the real facts of life. There are many instances which will make you cry specially last few chapters where in “A wife of a person knows his husband will gona die in next few months, next few days, next few hours and finally next few mins and time comes. How painful it would be to leave behind a person whom you loved more than your every single breath”. Nothing will go with anyone instead of memories and relations you have earned.

Some of the facts which I would like to share are:

Morrie is saying: I m not as alive as I used to be, but I m not yet dead. I m sort of ...... in between acting as a bridge.

Death ends a life, not a relationship.

Love is when you are as concerned about someone else’s situation as you are about your own.

When you are on bed , you are dead.

Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.

“The FLEA: Priceless - Lionel Messi”

"The Goal Machine"

Finally I completed one more biography of an extraordinary sportsperson, phenomenal footballer yet very humble, shy and down to earth “Flea: Lionel Andrés Messi” by Luca Caioli. Born on 24^th-June-1987 at Rosario, Argentina. He loves to play football since childhood and his grandmother always supported and inspired “Flea” to go and live his dreams. But the path was not easy for Leo as he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency, at the age of 11. His growth was very slow as compare to normal kids. At the age of 11 he looks like an 8 year old kid.

Here the change started for “Messi”. The local club was not able to bear the expenses for Messi’s growth hormone deficiency though they were aware of the extraordinary skills  this footballer possessed who was just a kid. This was the time when things changed for Messi. Barcelona Club was also aware of the skills of this kid and they agree to bear the cost of all treatments for Messi and offered him to come to their city and play football for them. Messi sacrified and left his family and country with his "Dad". Journey started which no one have ever dreamed of.

Struggles were not yet ended, Messi didn’t get direct entry to the club team as he was not having a citizenship for the new country. He started playing with the low grade junior teams (B, C) and showed his skills with football to the spectators, club officials and senior players who were all shocked to see the skills this kid is having unbelievable. Still it took approx. 4 to 5 year for this kid to make his entry in Barcelona Club team. Since then till now he have studded the team with many title which without “Flea: Messi” was not possible. There are no step backs for Barcelona since 2004 since Messi joined the club. For Messi “Football is his world”.

“I feel sorry for those who want to compete for Messi's throne — it’s impossible, this kid is unique.”—

Former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola.

He got full support from his team mates, coaches (speciallt Pep) and club. He is the top goal scorer for Barcelona. Once he's on a run with the ball he's unstoppable. The balls sticks to his shoes like a Glue. He dodge the ball so well that even the best players in the world have no answers to his exceptional skills. His bonding with fellow mates is simply superb “Xavi, iniesta, Messi : The three dangerous Barcelona Missiles”

Messi is the first football player in history to win four FIFA/Ballons d'Or, all of which he won consecutively, and the first to win three European Golden Shoe awards. 

“For the world of football, he [Messi] is a treasure because he is a role model for children around the world. In the space of half a metre, he can move right or left - it is like he has the ball attached to his body. Maradona was also a little bit like this, and it could be because they are both low centre of gravity.”

—Dutch legend Johan Cruyff after Messi set a new goal-scoring record for Barcelona, March 2012.

His career path with Barcelona is well written in Gloden words in “football history” and the counter will continue for many more years. But his career with Argentina was not started so well, he always struggled to show “Messi Magic” in the matches he played for his country because of the lack of the coordination, more focus of players on individual targets, wrong position in the field etc etc. This kid didn’t give up, he keep tried and changed the model of Argentina team all of his own. Now the team is having better coordination, team first mission and better understanding between players, proper planning on the field – the last FIFA is the example of that “though the Final was not went in favor of the team”.

“I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentinian football and his name is Messi.”

— Diego Maradona 

The views of friends, managers, players and people about “Flea” is – after getting so much success and money, this guy is still very simple, shy, down to earth, cry in dressing room when he don’t score goals, dedicated, football lover as he is still a kid. What else would you expect from a person who is so famous yet so humble. Respect!!...

Love With No Boundaries!

Never Before - Salman Khan “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”

If I think of any heart touching Bollywood movie than one name which instantly comes in mind is "Taare Zameen Par". Yesterday that perception got changed and the list is added with one more heart touching Bollywood movie “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”. People will say Its a movie, I do agree but "Yes" there are people in this world who still help others, who still take care of others whom they even don't know. The concept and the message Conveyed through “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” is very sound and clear.

Salman Khan simple, innocent, honest man who showed a luminous performance as Shri Hanuman bhakt who meets a speech-impaired child wandering alone, hungry and silent. Salman decides to help and return this child "Munni" to her family which is in Pakistan.

The baby girl "Munni" is so so amazing that she touches my heart every time when she comes on screen. Her innocence attracts me like a magnet like a strongest gravitational force present in the Universe.

The relationship shown between Salman and Munni is so touching that it even makes any stone hearted person to cry.  It’s not less than a father-daughter relation. A father who can do anything for his loving daughter just to see a smile on her face. The “hugs, hand-holding, back-lifts, fearless sleep on chest and counter won’t stops”…simply wow. 

The smile and tears of the baby girl makes me cry every time. Look at this great pic, how can anyone restrict his tears to see this child. I even have a very heavy heart while typing and looking into this pic. :-)

I really got lost in the relationship of Salman and Munni. I was in the imaginations in my own world during the whole movie and the feeling was as if Munni is “My Daughter”. I don’t have words to express this feeling but I would say everyone who love kids “specially baby girls”. Go and must watch this great movie and feel the relation shown.

"Save Girls"

Bhaijaan you rocks!...

Who Will Cry When You Die.

“THE TRAGEDY OF LIFE IS NOT DEATH, BUT WHAT WE LET DIE INSIDE OF US WHILE WE LIVE.”

- NORMAN COUSINS

Completed a very motivational book “Who will Cry when you die – Robin Sharma”. This book is having 101 chapters which rather I would say “rules or guidelines” to follow. The best thing about you is “You”. There will be ups and downs at every stage of Life but you have to fight with them instead of giving up. This book teaches you to spend some time on you, discover yourself, live your dreams which you dreamt of in your childhood, give Love to your Loved one’s, don’t expect anything from others, get up early, start your first 30 minutes with positive thoughts, make others smile, learn from movies, spend time in forest where you can discover yourself, go for walk, don’t think too much. One of the best thing which I personally find very useful is “give a dedicated time to your worries, say 30 mins a day”. Apart from these 30 mins don’t think about any worries and try to just think about positive things. I must admit its “easy to say but very difficult to stay”. But there is no harm giving this mantra a “Try”.

I must say one should read this book at least once as this book will guides you to keep moving even in the worst of conditions. It will ignite the positive fire in you and you will try to see the world with your own internal eyes.

In words of George Bernard Shaw:

This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose

recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a true

  force of Nature instead of a feverish little clod of

ailments and grievances complaining that the world

 will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of

      the opinion that my life belongs to the whole

community, and, as long as I live, it is my privilege

      to do for it whatever I can.

   I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For

the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for

its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It’s a sort

  of splendid torch which I’ve got to hold up for the

  moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as

possible before handing it on to future generations.

Stair case wonder!

 Met an courageous Person at stair case!!!... Lesson to learn.

Rightly said “Life Shrinks or Expands in proportion to one’s courage”

OR

“You will never do anything in this world without courage, It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor”.

I always try to use Stairs to go to my office at 08^th floor of the building. From last couple of days I pass by a person who is physically not as fit as we all are, he is having one artificial leg which he even can’t bend but this courageous man is using stairs to reach his office at 04^th floor (approx. 100 stairs) and the most important part is he is enjoying what he is doing, Respect!!!... While other so called fit people are standing and waiting for lifts/elevators to come.  Today I resist myself in front of this man, introduced myself, hands shaken, took his picture, salute him and bang go on.

What I learnt from this Great Man is “his will power and courage”. Nothing is impossible if a person is having a “desire” to go beyond his/her own limits. This is just an example of brave people who never complains to anyone about their disabilities but even take them as a challenge and prove themselves that “nothing is an obstacle unless you have burning will and courage in yourself to go beyond your own defined expectations”!!!...

This is a very positive start to a positive Morning for me, These people are setting an example for those young generation who are completely fit and fine but ruining their lives in alcohol, smoking and even low graded narcotics. This is the time to learn from such courageous people who are not as lucky as we all are but still have the burning fire to set their goals and give their best to get them.

The only thing which came in anyone’s mind is “Respect!!!...”  

“God Bless Champ”

Yogesh Raheja