Build your own house

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, "This is your house... my gift to you."

The carpenter was shocked!

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.

But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the "house" you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, Build wisely!

Contributed by

-         Sri K Prakash Rao, SM-Faculty Vijaya Bank

We never get what we want we create it

A seeker of truth was told by a very wise man to go to a nearby cave, where he would find a deep well and ask the well, what is truth.

The seeker of truth went there and asked the well. . . 'What is truth'?

From the depths of the well came an answer, 'Go to the village crossroad and there you shall find what you are seeking'.

Full of hope and anticipation, he ran to the crossroad to find only three rather uninteresting shops. One shop was selling pieces of metal, another sold wood, and thin wires were for sale in the third. Nothing and no one there seemed to have much to do with the revelation of the truth.

Disappointed, he returned to the well to demand an explanation, but he was told only, 'You will understand in the future'.

Indignant for having been made a fool of, he continued his wanderings in search of truth. As the years went by, one night, while he was walking under the glow of the moonlight, the sound of guitar music caught his attention. It was the most wonderful music and it was played with great mastery and inspiration.

Profoundly moved, the seeker of truth felt drawn towards the player. He looked at the fingers dancing over the strings. He became aware of the beauty of the guitar and the music that came from it, and then suddenly he exploded in a cry of joyous recognition - the guitar was made out of thin wires, pieces of metal and wood just like those he had once seen in the three uninteresting stores many years before and had thought it to be without any particular significance.

At last he understood the message from the well . . . 

We have already been given everything we need - our task is to assemble and use it in the appropriate way. Nothing is meaningful so long as we perceive only in separate fragments. But as soon as the fragments come together, a new entity emerges, whose nature and beauty we could not have foreseen by considering the fragments alone.

We never get what we want, we create it  !!

Contributed by

-         Smt. K Balakarthika, SM-Faculty,Vijaya Bank