the art of decision making

A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track.

The train is coming, and you are just beside the track interchange. You can make the train change its course to the disused track and save most of the kids.

However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way? Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make........ .........

Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child. You might think the same way, I guess. Exactly, to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally.

But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place? Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was. This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday.

In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are. The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined.

And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him. The great critic Leo Velski Julian who told the story said he would not try to change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens..

If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe.

If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake! And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one.

'Remember that what's right isn't always popular... and what's popular isn't always right.'

Everybody makes mistakes; that's why they put erasers on pencils.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memorybut nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.

If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call.Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency?

Hence this "ICE" (In Case of Emergency)CampaignThe concept of "ICE" is catching on quickly. It is a method of contactduring emergency situations.

As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact personor persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name "ICE" (In Case Of Emergency).

The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to thescenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call.

He therefore thought that it wouldbe a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose.In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staffwould be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing thenumber you have stored as "ICE.

"For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc. Agreat idea that will make a difference!Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our Mobilephones today!

Please forward this. It won't take too many "forwards" before everybodywill know about this. It really could save your life, or put a loved one'smind at rest .

ICE will speak for you when you are not able to.

Divine discourse - Shri Sai Baba

Take an ordinary postal envelope. Upon it, in golden ink, write the address of a person in artistic calligraphy. Insert a beautiful worded letter full of amazing sentiments, and drop it into a postbox. What happens to it? It will not move even a yard away! Now take a simple post card, scribble unimpressive things with no special care, affix a stamp, an address and drop it into the box. What happens? The artistically ornamental envelope is inert, while the inartistic cheap document travels a thousand miles towards the person indicated. Therefore, whatever may be the uniqueness or importance, the furore or attractiveness, the service that you do can yield no fruit if it is done without a pure chiththa (thought or intention).

-Divine Discourse, Mar 6, 1977

good thoughts

IF GOD ANSWERS YOUR PRAYER ,

HE'S INCREASING YOUR FAITH .

IF HE DELAYS,

HE'S INCREASING YOUR PATIENCE.

IF HE DOSEN'T ANSWER,

HE KNOWS YOU CAN HANDLE IT

add less salt to avoid diseases

We all know that salt is important in cooking . How ever if it raises a bit then the taste of the food changes .

People having blood pressure complaints are advised to use less salt in their food. Well what is the amount of salt one needed daily ?

According to scientists it is 2.8 gm per day for people who are working hard , and 2.2 gram per day for others .

Though it is hard to weigh our daily salt consumption , it is better to eat less salt to avoid high blood pressure and other complaints .

some good thoughts

'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.'

When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.

The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'

There comes a point in your life when you realize:
Who matters,
Who never did,
Who won't anymore...

And who always will.

So, don't worry about people from your past,

there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.

A rare astronomical event

The world will witness a rare astronomical event- a series of triple eclipses starting July 2009. The fist in the series of triple eclipses was a lunar eclipse on July 7 which will be followed by a solar eclipse on July 22 and then a lunar eclipse on August 6.

According to astrologers the eclipses occouring at with in a month gap will have some effect .

Will History Repeat Itself?

What is strange is that if one looks back at the events that have unfolded in the past, triple eclipses have always been followed by destruction. That the first of the triple eclipses was recorded way back in 3067 BCE (Before Common Era).

Following this triple eclipse there was the Kurukshethra war which was fought between the Pandavas and Kauravas in which 47 lakh people took part. The sequence of the first triple eclipse was as follows- Lunar eclipse on 29 September 3067, Solar eclipse on 14 October 3067 and Lunar eclipse on 28 October 3067 BCE.

The second of the triple eclipses occurred in 36 years after the first one in November 3031 BCE. There was a lunar eclipse on October 20, which was followed by a solar and lunar eclipse on November 5 and November 19, 3031 BCE. Following this sequence, the city of Dwaraka was destroyed after it was submerged in water.

In the years 1913 to 1946 people have witnessed back to back triple eclipses. There were triple eclipses in the years 1915, 1916 and 1917. This was the period when the world witnessed World War I.

There was a similar event in 1933, the year when Adolf Hitler assumed charge of Germany. 1935 also witnessed a triple eclipse and the very same year, the world was horrified at the persecution of the Jews. There were triple eclipses in 1940, 1942 and 1944 when the world witnessed World War II.

Do these eclipses only fortell castastrophes or do they also have a good message ?

If we look at the events of the past, we find that along with such horrific events, there have also been some good events. Post the first triple eclipse, Krishna gave the Bhagwad Gita sermon to Arjuna. The first world war was followed by the Geneva Conference, thanks to which the concept of the League of Nations was born. After the World war II, the United Nations was born.

The 2009 eclipse:

The first of the eclipse will occur on July 7, which will be visible in Australia, the Pacific and Americas. The solar eclipse on July 22, will be visible in India, Nepal, China and Central Pacific and the lunar eclipse on August 6 will be visible in America, Europe, Africa and West Asia.