Inspirational Stories #114 - Aesop's tales # 1 - A Council of Mice

As promised, the subsequent posts will have a collection of tales from the Greek story teller, Aesop. Aesop was a slave in ancient Greece. Not much is known about his life. Most of the characters in his stories are animals, and Aesop uses the natural tendencies of animals to focus on human traits and wisdom. Each story has a moral to be learned from it.

Here is the first one.

The mice, frustrated by the constant dangers of the cat, meet in council to determine a solution to their tiring challenge. They discussed, and equally rejected, plan after plan. Eventually, a very young mouse raised up on his hind legs, and proposed that a bell should be hung around the cat's neck.

"What a splendid idea!" they cried.

"Excellent suggestion!"

"Oh yes, that would very well warn of the cat's presence in time to escape!"

They were accepting the proposal with great enthusiasm and applause, until a quiet old mouse stood up to speak.

"This is, indeed, a very good suggestion, and would no doubt solve our problems, he said. "Now, which one of us will put the bell around the cat's neck?"

Moral: It is one thing to propose. It is something else to carry it out.

Inspirational Stories #113 - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

There are two days in every week that we should not worry about, two days that should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed, forever beyond our control.

All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. Nor can we erase a single word we've said - yesterday is gone!

The other day we shouldn't worry about is tomorrow, with its impossible adversaries, its burden, its hopeful promise and poor performance. Tomorrow is beyond our control.

Tomorrow's sun will rise either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds - but it will rise, and until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn.

This leaves only one day - today. Any person can fight the battles of just one day - it is only when we add the burdens of yesterday and tomorrow that we break down.

It is not the experience of today that drives people mad - it is the remorse of bitterness for something which happened yesterday, and the dread of what tomorrow may bring.

Let us, therefore, live one day at a time!

                                    - Author Unknown

Inspirational Stories #112 - Old Man and his Son

There was an old man who lived alone. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, who would have helped him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son about his situation.

Dear Son,

I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my potato garden this year. I hate to miss doing the garden because your mother always loved planting time. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me, if you weren’t in prison. Love, Dad. 

Shortly, the old man received this telegram: ‘For heaven’s sake, dad, don’t dig up the garden!! That’s where I buried the guns!!’

Early next morning, a dozen police officers showed up and dug up the entire garden without finding any guns. Confused, the old man wrote another note to his son telling him what had happened, and asked him what to do next.

His son’s reply was: ‘Go ahead and plant your potatoes, dad. It’s the best I could do for you, from here.’

Moral: No matter where you are in the world, if you have decided to do something deep from your heart, you can do it. It is the thought that matters, not where you are or where the person is.

Inspirational Stories #111 - This too will pass

Once a king called upon all of his wise men and asked them, "Is there a mantra or suggestion which works in every situation, in every circumstance, in every place and in every time. Something which can help me when none of you is available to advise me. Tell me, is there any such mantra?"

All the wise men were puzzled. How could there be one answer for all questions-in every joy, sorrow, defeat or victory. Finally, one wise old man walked up to the king and gave him a something written on a piece of paper. But the condition was that the king was not to see it out of curiosity. Only in extreme danger, when the king finds himself alone and there seems to be no other solution, he will have to see it. The king agreed and put the paper under his diamond ring.

Shortly, the neighboring states attacked his kingdom. It was a surprise attack. Although the king and his army fought bravely, they lost the battle. The king had to flee on his horse. The enemies were following him. His horse took him far away in the jungle. He could hear the enemoies on their horse back closer to him. Suddenly, the king founf himself standing at the end of the road. Beneath, there was a rocky valley thousand feet deep. It he jumped, he would definitely die, and if he recturend, his enemies will surely capture him.

There seemed to be no way to go. Suddenly, he saw his diamond ring shining in the sun, and he remembered the message hidden inside the ring. He opened the diamond and read the message.

It read "This too will pass".

The king read it over and over again.Suddenly something struck  his mind. Yes!, it too will pass. He calmed down and kept standing where he was. After sometime, he realised that the noise of the horses were receding. Perhaps his enemies moved into some other part of the mountains.

The king was very brave. He re-organised his army and fought again bravely. He defeated the enemy and regained his lost empire. When he returned to his empire victorious, he was received with much fan fare, and all his people were rejoicing in the victory. People were dancing and singing merrily. For a moment, the king said to himself, 'I am one of the bravest and greatest. It is not so easy to defeat me". With the reception and celebration he got, he saw an ego emerging in him.

Suddenly, his diamond ring flashed in the sunlight and reminded him of the message. He opened it and read it again. "This too will pass".

He became silent. His face went through a total change - from the egoist, he moved to a state of utter humbleness.

Moral: There is nothing permanent in this world. Everything changes except the law of change. Think it over from your own perspective. You have seen all the changes. You have survived all setbacks, all defeats and all sorrows. All have passed away. If there are problems in the present, they too will pass away. Nothing remains forever. Joy and sorry are the two faces of the same coin. They too will pass away.

Inspirational Stories #110 - Essence of Trust

A little girl and her father were crossing a bridge. The concerned father asked his little daughter, "Sweetheart, hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river." The little girl said, "No, dad. You hold my hand." "What's the difference?", asked the puzzled father...

"There's a big difference," replied the little girl. "If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go."

MORAL: In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond. So hold the hand of the person whom you love rather than expecting them to hold yours.

Inspirational Stories #109 - I Smiled at them!

The Sultan of Arabia had grown very fond of Mulla Nasruddin and often took him along on his travels. Once, while on a journey, the royal caravan approached a small non-descriptive town in the desert.

On a whim the Sultan said to the Mulla, "I wonder if people would know  me in this small place. Let us stop my entourage here and enter the town on foot, and then we will know if they can recognize  me".

They dismounted and walked down the main road of the town. The Sultan was surprised to see that many people smiled at Nasruddin but ignored him completely.

Irritated and a trifle angry, he said, "The people seem to know you here pretty well, but they don't know me!".

"They don't know me either, your excellency", replied the Mulla.

"Then, why did they smile at you only", questioned the Sultan.

"Because I smiled at them", said Nasruddin, smiling.

MORAL: Courtesy and respect are mutually reinforcing. Even if someone does not greet you, be sure to greet them. You have nothing to lose anyway.

Inspirational Stories #108 - Learning from Mistakes

Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, “All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing.”

Edison replied very confidently, “Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb.”

Moral: We can also learn from our mistakes.

Inspirational Stories #107 - What's for Dinner

A man feared his wife wasn’t hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family doctor to discuss the problem. The doctor told him there is a simple test the husband could perform to give the doctor a better idea about her hearing loss.

Here’s what you should do,” said the doctor, “stand about 40 feet away from her, and  speak in a normal   tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response.”

That evening, the wife was in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in the  basement. He said to himself, “I’m about 40 feet away, let’s see what happens.” Then in a normal tone he asks, ‘Honey, what’s for dinner?” No response.

So the husband moved closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeatse ,“Honey, what’s for dinner tonight?” Still no response.

Next he moved into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his wife and asked, Honey, what’s for dinner?”

Again he gets no response so, He walks up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away. “Honey, what’s for dinner?” Again there is no response.

So he walks right up behind her. “Honey, what’s for dinner?”

“Peter, for the FIFTH time I’ve said, CHICKEN!”

Moral: The problem may not be with the other person as we would always think, could be very much within us..!

Inspirational Stories #106 - Two frogs

One day, some tiny frogs arranged a running competition between them. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer the contestants. The race began. No one in the crowd truly believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. Some said, "They will never make it to the top. They will never succeed. The tower is too high!"

The tiny frogs began collapsing, one by one, except for a few who kept climbing higher and higher. The crowd continued to scream, "It's very difficult! No one will  make it to the top!".

More tiny frogs got tired, and gave up, but one continued higher and higher. This one would simple not give up! At the end, everyone else had given up climbing the tower, except one tiny frog. After a big effort, he was the only one who reached the top! All the other frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?

A contestant asked the tiny frog how he found the strength to succeed and reach the goal.

It turned out that the winner was deaf !! He had thought that the crowd was encouraging him the entire time!

Moral: An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day. So be careful of what you say to those who cross your path. The power of words… it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way.

Inspirational Stories #105 - Having a Best Friend

Two friends were walking through a forest. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand “Today my best friend slapped me in the face”. 

They kept on walking until they found a small  river, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped suddenly started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered  he wrote on a stone “Today my best friend saved my life”.

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?” The other friend replied “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

Moral: Do not value the material things you have in your life. But value the people you have in your life.

Inspirational Stories #104 - Five more Minutes

At the park one day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground.  “That’s my son over there,” she said, pointing to a little boy in a blue sweater who was gliding down the slide.  “He’s a fine looking boy” the man said. “That’s my daughter on the bicycle in the red dress.”

Then, looking at his watch, he called to his daughter. “What do you say we go,  sweatheart?”  The girl pleaded, “Just five more minutes, dad. Please? Just five more minutes.”  The man nodded and the girl continued to ride her bicycle to her heart’s content. Minutes passed and the father stood and called again to his daughter. “Time to go now?” 

Again the girl begged, “Five more minutes, dad. Just five more minutes.”  The man smiled and said, “OK.” 

“My, you certainly are a patient father,” the woman sitting next to him responded.

The man smiled and then said, “Her older brother was killed by a drunk driver last year while he was riding his bicycle in this same place. I never spent much time with  my son and now I’d give anything for just five more minutes with him. I’ve vowed not to make the same mistake with  my daughter. She thinks she has five more minutes to ride her bicycle. The truth is, I get five more minutes to watch her play.”

MORAL: Life is all about making priorities, and family and close friends are  more important that the others, so spend all the time you can with those you love and who love you.

Inspirational Stories #103 - Strength or Weakness

This story is about a 10-year old boy who wanted to learn judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he could'nt understand why that even after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move. "Master, the boy finally asked, shouldn't I be learning more moves now?'. 

'This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know", the master replied. Not quite understanding, but trusting his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the master took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after sometime, his opponent became impatient, and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. 

This time, his opponenet was bigger, stronger and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned about the boy, the refree was about to stop the match. but the master insisted that the  match continue. Soon after the match resumed, his opponenet made a critical mistake. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy was the champion of the tournament. On the way back home, the boy asked, "Master, how did I win the touranament with one only move?".

You won for two reasons, the master answered. First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. Second, the only known defence for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm."

The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

Moral: Sometimes we feel that we have certain weaknesses and we blame God, the circumstances or ourselves for it but we never know that our weaknesses can become our strengths one day. Each of us is special and important, so never think you have any weakness, never think of pride or pain, just live your life to its fullest and extract the best out of it.

Inspirational Stories #102 - A Box full of Kisses

A man punished his 4-year old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became furious when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, daddy".

The man was embarrassed by his earlier reaction, but he got angry again when he found out that the box was empty. He screamed at her, "Don't you know when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside?". The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, "Oh daddy, it's not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They are all for you daddy".  

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.

A few months later, an accident look the life of the child. It is told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and whenever he was upset or discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

MORAL: Each one of us have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses... from our parents, children, family, friends, and god. There is simply no other possession anyone could hold, more precious than this.

Inspirational Stories #101 - Rose for Mother

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be sent to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sobbing near the doorstep of the flower shop. He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars.” 

The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.” He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers. As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, “Yes, please! You can take me to my mother.” She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.

Inspirational Stories #100 - Are Birthday parties really needed?

This is purely my personal opinion. I have always hated to waste food, and I somehow cannot tolerate food being wasted in parties, weddings, etc.

I feel all this is just an ugly display of one's ego and wealth.

I have lived in big apartment complexes (still do) where almost everyday, there is one birthday celebration or the other. The kids and the parents start preparing atleast a week in advance - inviting friends, neighbours, organizing games, selecting the huge cake, choosing gifts for the other children attending the party, and ofcourse, buying lots and lots of food and drink. As always, children don't eat all the food that is served, and most of it is thrown into the garbage.

Inspirational Stories #99 - Why do we shout when we are angry?

I read this story somewhere and found it really made sense.  Here it goes:

A Hindu saint who was bathing in river Ganges saw a family on the bank, shouting at each other. The saint turned to his disciples with a gentle smile and asked, "Why do people shout when they are angry at each other?'.

The disciples thought for a while, and one of them said, ‘We shout because we lose our calm.’

"But, why shout when the other person is just next to you?’ asked the saint. ‘Isn’t it possible to speak to him or her softly? Why do you shout at a person when you’re angry?’

The disciples gave some  answers, but none satisfied the saint. Finally he explained, ‘When two people are angry at each other, their hearts are far apart and distant from each other, and in order to cover that distance, they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the louder they will have to shout to hear each other and cover that great distance.’

Then saint then asked, ‘What happens when two people are in love? They don’t shout at each other but talk gently and softly because their hearts are very close to one another. The distance between them is either imaginary, non-existent or very small.

He then continued, ‘When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. They need to only look at each other to understand what the other person has to say. That is how close two people are when they love each other.’

MORAL : When you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words to add more fuel to the flame that distances each other further apart, else there may come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.

Inspirational Stories #98 - 30 Seconds Speech by Bryan Dyson – Former CEO of Coca-Cola

“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the Air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four Balls – Family, Health, Friends and Spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.”

Work efficiently during office hours and leave on time. Give the required time to your family, friends and have proper rest.

Value has a value only if its values is valued.

Collected From 

http://sumi-ooty.blogspot.in/

Inspirational Stories #97 - The Secret of Happiness (Collected From The Alchemist)

A merchant sent his son to learn the secret of happiness from the wisest of men.
The young man wandered through the desert for forty days until he reached a beautiful castle at the top of a mountain. There lived the sage that the young man was looking for.
However, instead of finding a holy man, our hero entered a room and saw a great deal of activity; merchants coming and going, people chatting in the corners, a small orchestra playing sweet melodies, and there was a table laden with the most delectable dishes of that part of the world.
The wise man talked to everybody, and the young man had to wait for two hours until it was time for his audience.

With considerable patience, the Sage listened attentively to the reason for the boy’s visit, but told him that at that moment he did not have the time to explain to him the Secret of Happiness.
He suggested that the young man take a stroll around his palace and come back in two hours’ time.
“However, I want to ask you a favor,” he added, handling the boy a teaspoon, in which he poured two drops of oil. “While you walk, carry this spoon and don’t let the oil spill.”
The young man began to climb up and down the palace staircases,

STRANGE,AMAZING AND INTERESTING FACTS

ü  A Blue whale's tongue weighs more than an elephant.

ü  Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to slow a film down so you could see his moves. That's the opposite of the norm.

ü  Bone is five times stronger than steel.

ü  Tiger shark embroyos fight each other in their mother's womb. The survivor is born.

ü  Longest officially recognized place name is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, has 85 letters. It's the name for a hill, 305 metres (1,000 ft) high, close to Porangahau, New Zealand.

ü  111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

ü  You grow by about 8mm (O.3in) every night when you are asleep, but shrink to your former height the following day.

ü  Over 4 million cars in Brazil are now running on gasohol instead of petrol. Gasohol is a fuel made from sugar cane.

o   Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, never telephoned His wife or mother because they were both deaf.

ü  "Bookkeeper" is the only word in English language with three consecutive Double letters.

ü  If you ate too many carrots, you'd turn orange.

ü  When glass breaks, the cracks move at speeds of up to 3,000 miles per hour.

ü  The world's first University was established in Takshila, India in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

ü  There are as many chickens on earth as there are humans.

ü  250 people have fallen off the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

ü  315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.

ü  Sharks can live up to 100 years.

ü  Due to gravitational effects, your weigh slightly less when the moon is directly overhead.

ü  American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.

o   A normal person will die from total lack of sleep sooner than from starvation. Death will occur about 10 days without sleep, while starvation takes a Few weeks.

ü  Bamboo can grow up to 3 ft in 24 hours.

ü  It would take 1,200,000 mosquitoes, each sucking once, to completely drain the average human of blood.

ü  According to German researchers, the risk of heart attack is higher on Monday than any other day of the week.

ü  About 75 acres of pizza are eaten in in the U.S. Everyday.

ü  Indians have been biting into juicy mangoes for 3,000 years. But the western world came to know about it only 300 years ago!

ü  If you are locked in a completely sealed room, you will die of carbon dioxide poisoning first before you will die of oxygen deprivation.

ü  All the planets in our solar system rotate anticlockwise, except Venus. It is the only planet that rotates clockwise.

ü  Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

ü  The cockroach is the fastest animal on 6 legs covering a meter a second.

ü  Google, with a brand value of $86 billion, is the world's most powerful brand.

ü  The creosote bush, which grows in the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan deserts, has been shown by radiocarbon dating to have lived since the birth of Christ. Some of these plants may endure 10,000 years, scientists say. If only they could talk.

ü  40 percent of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.

ü  The most beautiful and incredible gift of love is the monument Taj Mahal in India. Built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan as a memorial to his wife it stands as the emblem of the eternal love story. Work on the Taj Mahal began in 1634 and continued for almost 22 years and required the labor of 20,000 workers from all over India and Central Asia.

ü  The word "listen" contains the same letters as the word "silent".

ü  The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning it's head are the rabbit and the parrot.

ü  Cat's urine glows under a black light.

ü  60% North Indians are pure vegetarian & in whole India 36%.

ü  Many fish can change sex during the course of their lives. Others, especially rare deep-sea fish, have both male and female sex organs.

ü  During the 2,475,576,000 seconds of the average length life, averagely we speak 123,205,750 words, have sex 4,239 times, shed 121 pints of tears.

ü  If you go blind in one eye, you'll only lose about one-fifth of your vision (but all your depth perception.)

ü  Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

ü  The Statue of Liberty's index finger is eight feet and one inch long.

ü  Polar bears have more problems with overheating than they do with cold. Even in very cold weather, they quickly overheat when they try to run.

ü  The 73% of people who buy Valentine's Day flowers are men, while only 27 percent are women.

ü  Venice in Italy is built on 118 sea islets joined by 400 bridges. It is gradually sinking into the water.

ü  Bananas grow pointing upwards.

ü  ELEPHANT teeth can weigh as much as 9 pounds.

ü  A normal person laughs five times in a day.

ü  By age sixty, most people have lost half of their taste buds.

ü  The most powerful laser in the world, the Nova laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA, USA, generates a pulse of energy equal to 100,000,000,000,000 watts of power for .000000001 second to a target the size of a grain of sand.

ü  The world's population has been increased 3.1 billion in last 40 years.

ü  Giraffes can not swim.

ü  Human use 14 muscles to smile and 43 to frown.

ü  The heaviest human brain ever recorded weighed 5 lb. 1.1 oz. (2.3 kg.).

ü  POLAR BEAR can look clumsy & slow but during chase on ice, can reach 25 miles / hr of speed.

ü  The average person spends two weeks waiting for a traffic light to change.

ü  The focusing muscles of the eye move about 100,000 times a day. To give the leg muscles the same exercise would involve walking 80km (50 miles) a day.

ü  In the late 19th century, millions of human mummies were used as fuel for locomotives in Egypt where wood and coal was scarce, but mummies were plentiful.

ü  KIWIS are the only birds, which hunt by sense of smell.

ü  Hummingbirds are the only animal that can also fly backwards.

ü  Due to a metal shortage during World War II, Oscars were made of painted plaster for three years. Following the war, the Academy invited recipients to redeem the plaster figures for gold-plated metal ones.

ü  The word 'set ' has the most number of definitions in the English language: 192.

ü  A Blue Whale can eat as much as 3 tones of food everyday, but at the same time can live without food for 6 months.

ü  Bird Feeding: Do not feed avocado as it is toxic to birds!

ü  The average person has 100,000 hairs on his/her head. Each hair grows about 5 inches (12.7 cm) every year.

ü  After spending hours working at a computer display, look at a blank piece of white paper. It will probably appear pink.

ü  An average human move 25.4 times during sleep in a day.

ü  An average human speak 4,800 words in 24 hours.

ü  The Jules Undersea Lodge is an underwater hotel in Key Largo, Florida and is the only such hotel in the United States. It is 30 feet (9 m) deep on the ocean floor and guests have to scuba dive to get to their rooms.

ü  OWL is the only bird, which can rotate its head to 270 degrees.

ü  By the time you turn 70, your heart will have beat some two-and-a-half billion times (figuring on an average of 70 beats per minute.)

ü  Girls however are slightly more likely than boys to use home computers for e-mail, word processing and completing school assignments than playing games.

ü  Humans have 46 chromosomes, peas have 14 and crayfish have 200.

ü  An eyeball weighs about 1 ounce

ü  The cosmos contains approximately 50,000,000,000 galaxies.

ü  The polar bear's compact ears and small tail also help prevent heat loss.

ü  A cough releases an explosive charge of air that moves at speeds up to 60 mph.

ü  Women produce half the world's food, but own only one percent of its farmland.

ü  OSTRICH eats pebbles to help digestion by grinding up the ingested food.

ü  The oldest existing newspaper in India is Bombay Samachar.

ü  The USA uses 29% of the world's petrol and 33% of the world's electricity.

ü  The retina inside the eye covers about 650mm2 (1 sq in) and contains 137 million light-sensitive cells: 130 million rod cells for black-and-white vision and 7 million cone cells for colour vision.

ü  Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (TUS)'s [the 52nd Dai al-Mutlaq of Dawoodi Bohras] voice at the age of 98 is so clear that a computer analysis in Germany interpreted it to be the voice of a 40 year old.

ü  An average person uses the bathroom 6 times per day.

ü  Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (TUS) [the 52nd Dai al-Mutlaq of Dawoodi Bohras] built the Raudat Tahera in Mumbai (India) over the qabr mubarak of his father. The mausoleum is the only one of its kind to have the entire Quran inscribed on its walls.

ü  Global Positioning System (GPS) is the only system today that can show your exact position on the Earth anytime, in any weather, no matter where you are!

ü  Of the more than 600 million school-age children in the developing world, 120 million primary school-age children are not in school, 53 percent are girls.

ü  When you sneeze air rushes out your nose at a rate of 100 miles per hour.

ü  The height of Mt. Everest (29,035 feet) was revised upward by 7 feet based on measurements made in 1999 using the satellite-based Global Positioning System.

ü  If you could throw a snowball fast enough, it would totally vaporize when it hit a brick wall.

ü  A 'geep' is the resulting offspring of a sheep and a goat.

ü  There are roughly 4,000 known minerals, although only about 200 are of major importance.

ü  Traffic lights are being used before the invention of motor car.

ü  The Hubble Space Telescope weighs 12 tons (10,896 kilograms), is 43 feet (13.1 meters) long, and cost $2.1 billion to originally build.

ü  An average human produce 1.43 pints sweat in a day.

ü  Butterflies are the second largest group of pollinators, next to bees.

ü  Vitamin K is necessary for clotting of blood.

ü  At the deepest part of the ocean (35,813 feet/10,916 meters) in the Mariana Trench, that depth the pressure is 18,000 pounds (9172 kilograms) per square inch.

ü  An average human's breathe 438 cubic feet AIR in 24 hours.

ü  A camel's hump is not used for water storage, but camels can go for long periods of time without water. They drink large amounts of water up to 20 gallons at a time. This water is stored in the animal's bloodstream.

ü  The most commonest English word in writing around the world is "the".

ü  Polar bears have two layers of fur for further protection from the cold.

ü  At least 300,000 people have been killed by volcanoes during the last 500 years.

ü  More artists live in California than any other state in the United States. There are 10,000 arts organizations in California.

ü  8.7 million of United State residents who were born in Asia.

ü  Polar bears know how to pack on the fat, a single bear can consume 100 pounds of blubber at one sitting.

ü  Like a bat, dolphins use echolocation to navigate and hunt, bouncing high-pitched sounds off of objects, and listening for the echoes.

ü  Some scientists call Greenland an island, others say it's a continent, but it's only about one-third the size of Australia.

ü  Brahmi script were the edicts of Ashoka inscribed.

ü  It takes 17 muscles to smile & 43 to frown.

ü  In a lifetime the marrow creates about half a tonne of red corpuscles.

ü  The SWAN has over 25,000 feathers in its body.

ü  Bill Clinton considered repealing the Twenty Second Constitutional Amendment, which limits presidents to two elected terms, in the event of a terrorist attack.

ü  Monarchs have been known to migrate over 3000km. In fact a Monarch tagged at Presqu'ile, here in southern Ontario, was recovered in Mexico and is on record as being the longest insect migration.

ü  CASSOWARY is one of the dangerous BIRD, that can kill a man or animal by tearing off with its dagger like claw.

ü  Alfred Southwick inventing the first electric chair & Professionally he was a Dentist (MDS, DDS).

ü  Lab tests can detect traces of alcohol in urine 6 to 12 hours after a person has stopped drinking.

ü  The leg muscles of a locust are about 1000 times more powerful than an equal weight of human muscle.

ü  In 2004, Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev and Sophia Loren won a grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for narrating the Russian National Orchestra's "Peter and the Wolf/Wolf Tracks."

ü  Dolphins are of the aquatic mammal family Delphinidae. It is estimated there are between 30 to 40 species of dolphins.

ü  Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (TUS) [the 52nd Dai al-Mutlaq of Dawoodi Bohras] memorized the Quran at the age of 21 & built the Mahad uz Zahra, Surat (India) the first of its kind in the world for the study of the Quran.

ü  Chocolate can be killed dogs. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system. A few ounces is enough to kill a small sized dog.

ü  The largest quantity of fish in the world is produced by Japan & Russia.

ü  Mini-lops were derived from German lops called "Kleine Widder" lops. Mini lops were recognized as their own breed in 1982.

ü  It can easily learn about any cat's present state of mind by observing the posture of his tail.

ü  An average human's take 2.9 pounds WATER (including all liquids) in 24 hours.

ü  The United Nations University is located in Tokyo.

ü  In Britain 70% mothers go for work.

ü  The top selling Christmas Trees are: balsam fir, Douglas-fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine.

ü  More than 50 million Americans said they had a disability; for 32.5 million of them, the disability was severe.

ü  The most prominent topographic feature on Earth is the immense volcanic mountain chain that encircles the planet beneath the sea, the chain is more than 30,000 miles (48,000 kilometers) long and rises an average of 18,000 feet (5.5 kilometers) above the seafloor.

ü  North American Real Christmas Trees are grown in all 50 states and Canada. Eighty-five percent (85%) of artificial trees sold in the U.S. are manufactured in China.

ü  An average human's take of 3.25 pounds FOOD in a day.

ü  First Stock Exchange of America was in Philadelphia & it was established in 1791.

ü  The compound carotene gives the carrot its color.

ü  Every year around 1 billion Valentine cards are sent across. After Christmas it's a single largest seasonal card-sending occasion.

ü  Children between ages 6 to 10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine's cards with teachers, classmates, and family members.

ü  India's first television center was set up at Delhi.

ü  Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Greek mythology, guarded the gates to the underworld.

ü  Insects do not make noises with their voices. The noise of bees, mosquitoes and other buzzing insects is caused by rapidly moving their wings.

ü  The chemical pectin, found in ripe fruit, causes jam to set when cooling.

ü  African Greys enter into a lifelong monogamous bond when sexually mature. Like macaws, they pick their mates carefully!

ü  It is said that Hatchetfish will break the surface of the water and "fly" after their prey using their large pectoral fins as "wings".

ü  Harvester larvae are carnivorous. They feed on aphids not plants.

ü  In a lifetime the average US resident eats more than 50 tons of food and drinks more than 13,000 gallons of liquid.

ü  In the year 1935 the United States Congress announced the first Sunday of August as the National Friendship Day. It was initially declared a holiday in honor of friends.

ü  The most commonest English nouns are time, person, and year.

ü  The most prominent topographic feature on Earth is the immense volcanic mountain chain that encircles the planet beneath the sea -- the chain is more than 30,000 miles (48,000 kilometers) long and rises an average of 18,000 feet (5.5 kilometers) above the seafloor.

ü  When a Norwegian scientist, Nils Oritsland, studied a polar bear on a treadmill, he found that his subject would move off for short periods of time at higher speeds and would sometimes lie down and refuse to walk at all!

ü  Russia is the largest country in area.

ü  3,467 Nos. of confectionery nut stores in the United States, they are among the best sources of sweets for Valentine's Day.

ü  Clinton's Presidential Library, the largest in the United State, is located in Little Rock, Arkansas.

ü  Some butterflies, such as the Northern Pearly Eye, will fly at night.

ü  Buddha delivered his first sermon at Sarnath.

ü  The first electronic digital computer (called ENIAC - the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) was developed in 1946 and contained over 18,000 vacuum tubes.

ü  An estimated 175,000 Real Christmas Trees are sold via e-commerce or catalogue and shipped mail-order.

ü  Canaries were introduced to Spain in 1478 when the Spaniards conquered the Canary Islands.

ü  When curled up in a ball, polar bears sometimes cover their muzzles - which radiate heat - with one of their thickly furred paws.

ü  Cockatoos are one of the most long-lived parrots.

ü  There are 292 species of butterflies in Canada. Most of which are found in British Columbia (176) and the fewest on Prince Edward Island (42). In Ontario we have 142 species.

ü  180 million nos. of Valentine's Day cards exchanged annually, making Valentine's Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion.

ü  For over 100 years, until the 16th century, the Spaniards maintained control of Canaries, selling only males to other European countries. Then, due to a shipping accident, a large cargo of canaries escaped and flew to the Island of Elba. They soon were sold all over Europe.

ü  4% people drink cold drink daily.

ü  Debris flows are like mud avalanches that can move at speeds in excess of 100 mph (160 kph).

ü  Mass production of toothbrushes began in America around 1885. The first American to patent a toothbrush was H. N. Wadsworth, (patent number 18,653,) on Nov. 7, 1857.

ü  90% of the Vitamin C present in Brussel Sprouts are lost in cooking.

ü  Canaries were classified for by their shape and the geographic areas in which they were developed while others are named and classified for their plumage, song, or color. Different countries became known for the classification they bred, for example, the Germans bred for song while the English and French bred for coloration.

ü  All domestic canaries available today originated from the Island Canary, Serinus canaria.

ü  Self-employment, part-time and home-based work have expanded opportunities for women's participation in the labor force but are characterized by lack of security, lack of benefits and low income.

ü  Father's Day was first observed in Spokane, Washington, in 1910. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd,of Washington, first proposed the idea of a "father's day" in 1909.

ü  There are approximately 30-35 million Real Christmas Trees sold in the U.S. every year.

ü  About 40% Proportion of all Valentine card purchases which parents account for.

ü  Oils from the orange roughy, Hoplostethus atlanticus, a deep-sea fish from New Zealand, are used in making shampoo.

ü  "The Boston Tea Party" took place in 1773, that was an act of direct action protest by the American colonists against British Government in which they destroyed many crates of tea bricks belonging to the British East India Company on ships in Boston Harbor.

ü  A Boeing 747's wing span is longer than the Wright brother's first flight.(the Wright brother's invented the airplane).

ü  Alginates, derived from the cell walls of brown algae, are used in beer, frozen desserts, pickles, adhesives, boiler compounds, ceramics, explosives, paper and toys.

ü  Alfred Southwick developed the idea of using electric current & Professionally he was a Dentist (MDS, DDS).

ü  Half of the world's refugees and displaced people are women and girls. As refugees, they are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence while in flight, in refugee camps and during resettlement.

ü  Kandla port has a free trade zone.

ü  Cotton, rags and paper take 6 months to break down.

ü  An average human Lose 85.60, body temperature in a day.