Great Quotes

I would like to share some Quotes which were shared by some Great People of our life..

Mother Teresa told her superiors-"I have three pennies and a dream of God to build an orphanage". Her superiors chided her "You cannot do anything with just three pennies". "I know that", the Mother replied. "But with God and three pennies, I can no anything!". The rest is history.

When asked, "What in your leadership enabled you to create so many millionaires,". Andrew Carnegie replied, "You get what you seek in liefe. If you seek filth, you find filth. I sought gold in my people and they turned out to be my gold mines."

During his tenure as the Finance Minister, our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh drew a salary of just Rs 2.- per day. He said, "In my own way, I have tried to repay whatever I could do to the country. A perfect day is the one when I have made moves that would satisfy my conscience."

After three failed attempts, Sir Edmund Hillary looked at Mount Everest and said with a clenched fist, "You have defeated me again. But I will return and I will defeat you because even as Everest you cannot grow any further, but I, as a human being can."

Socrates said, "Before you talk to me about anybody, take a triple filter test. The first filter-are you certain that it is true ? The second filter- is it something good ? The third filter- will it be useful to me ? If it is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tel it to me at all ? "

Abraham Lincold once saw a pig in the marshes. The president soild his clothes and saved the pig. He later said, "I was pained to see the suffering of the pig. By helping the pig, I had only relieved myslef of my affliction. I was actuall helping myself and not the pig."

The rains failed. Where 100 loads would be harvested, just half a load could be reaped. Robert H. Schuller prayed, "Thank you Lord for giving me back my seeds." He told his son, "Never look at what you have lost. Look at what you are left with. Gratitude gives you the surviving power."

While boarding a train, one of Mahatma Gandhi's sandals slipped and fell on the track. As the train had started moving, without hesitation he took off his other sandal, threw it out and said, "Now some poor man walking along the track will ahve the fortune of finding two."

Victor Frankl said, "We who survived the concentration camps offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man, but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

Semmangudi-My Village

Think of this village, my childhood days flash in front of me. Huh, Golden days as for everone. Iam always proud to be born in this village enjoying the greenery, beautiful temples, village unique functions like Pongal, Aadi 18 (18th day of Aadi the 4th Tamil Month) and village-trimmed Dramas viz., Terukkoottu and Bommalattam etc.,



I studied upto 10th Standard. Village of around 100 Brahmin houses surrounded by West Street and East Street in between tanks. For getting a bus to the nearest town (Tiruvarur), we had to walk for 30 minutes. Facing East is Varadaraja Swamy Temple and facing south is Ananthavalli (Sametha Agastheeswarar). These are two important temple in my life, which sowed the seed of Bhakthi within me


Among the houses in Brahmin Streets, 2 houses merit mention. One is our Pitahamaha and second is the Head Master's.

My maternal Grandfather's house, where I lived, was in front of Pitamaha's house which helped me to appreciate Carnatic Music at a later stage. I was not not interested in Music in my childhood days thouth I had a wealth of Music sitting opposite of our house. Destiny had it all, as an average student in the school and not a great Music lover/listener, my childhood days were sort of go-go. But two important people in my life who merit mentioning here.

1) Murugan Patti (MP)-

To go to my elementary school, which is in the southern end of our Street, I had to pass her house. I still do not know why she got this name, MP. Normal days, we did not care much about her and rarely went to her house. But, when exams started, we made it a point to go to her house and give our pen. She chants some mantra and rolled it at the feet of Murugan. She also gives a spoon of milk as a prasad to all. I do not remember whether I got very good marks in the subjects but not doing this, probably, I would have failed !!! who knows..

I still remember some slokas, chanted by her. When I taughter these to my kids, I thanked her and could not stop tears rolling down....

2) Head Master-Sri.Vishwanathan.

His house is situated in the centre part of the street. No one could avoid, passing-by his house. We always walk at the other end of the street, when we pass-by his house. Such a respect, we had for our HM. Respect has to be earned, not to be forced is very true, here. Such a simple man with abundance of knowledge. My Mother, Uncle and some of my Mom's sisters got prizes and awards for their exemplary performances from HM but I could not, even one. I missed to touch this great man's hand by not receiving an award. But, he taught me discipline, how to fight and become a man ouf your own.

There are some teachers in school,

1) Hindi Pundit- who taught me Vishnu Sahasranamam which is my daily chanting.

2) Iyengar Sir- who took tuition and a great man with values.

3) PS Sir- who was always ragged by students but a great man

4) Tirumalai Sir- A Terror among the teachers.

5) SSB Sir- Excellant Tamil teacher.

6) La La and Vee.Gee- Excellant Science Teachers.

and some more, I can never forget in my life. I pay tributes to them through this blog for shaping me to this level. Namaskarams to all. Aacharya Devo Bhava...

If God asks me to tell 5 wishes I have, I will not hesitate to put "go back to school and live those beautifuly days" as my first wish..