My Articles

There are two seasons in a year for me: Football season and waiting for football season !! I watched with keen interest the football match between Portugal and Uruguay in the FIFA 18 world cup. A win would ensure Portugal play the quarters. Unfortunately they lost 2 - 1. The Portugal football captain Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the greatest players in the game, ever who happens to be my favorite star too, could not win the crucial match for Portugal in this world cup. Ronaldo happens to be my favorite not just in the field, but outside the field as well !! We have seen sports people win substantial amounts as prize money amounting to a few hundred million dollars year after year in addition to receiving sponsorship from so many more brand agencies... but how many of them give anything back as charity? Possibly one could count with the help of their left hand !! Leave alone that. I have heard of sports icons attend functions conducted by NGO's. Some of the NGO's have schools with special children, disabled children and the like. The least the icons could do is to shake hands, take selfies, sign autographs but most of them don't even do this small gesture.  Ronaldo is an exception. He gives back to the community and the rest of the world. That's why he is a shining star !! He has given millions of dollars in charity to flood affected areas, tsunami affected areas, plenty of hospitals, terminally ill people, cancer patients for their treatment and many more. Ronaldo is looking for new and creative ways to make the world a better place to live and we all can learn from it. He has not tattooed his body for he donates blood on a regular basis.

An other lesson from Ronaldo

When he received one of his awards recently, Ronaldo dedicated it to a certain ... Alberto Fantrau. Then said: "Yes I am a great footballer and all my success is thanks to my friend Alberto" People looked at each other and said, "Who is this Mr. Fantrau?" Then Ronaldo went on: "We played together in a youth team. When Sporting of Lisbon recruiters came to observe us, they told us that the striker who scored the most goals will be recruited into the sports academy.

That day we won 3-0. I scored the first goal and then Albert scored the 2nd with the head. And then the 3rd goal was the one that impressed everyone. Alberto started from the wing, then found himself face to face with the keeper, dribbled the goalkeeper and all he had to do was push the ball into the empty goal. In the meantime I was running to his side. And instead of shooting into the empty goal, Alberto decided to pass the ball to me and I scored. This is how I find myself at the Sporting Lisbon Academy. After the game I went to him, and asked him "why did you do that?" And he replied, "Because I know that you are better than I" Curious to know more, the journalists began to investigate and were able to meet this Alberto Fantrau to ask him if the story told by Ronaldo is true, and he confirmed it, adding that his career as a footballer ended after this match as it was the only opportunity to become professional and since that time he has remained unemployed.

However, journalists, observing his luxurious house and his Mercedes parked in the garage asked Alberto "but being unemployed how could you have such a house and car and living so luxuriously? You seem rather comfortable physically " Alberto's answer: "All that? .. is a gift from Ronaldo

Moral of this story:

Let us ask ourselves the following question: How many of us have ever done something like Ronaldo and Alberto? On the contrary, many of us show the opposite of this story showing selfishness and ingratitude to their mates.

Friends! Let's help each other so that we are proud of the success of our brothers / sisters / friends / relatives and when we help a person succeed, the latter must never forget those who contributed to this success in his life. Above all, we should never forget what LIFE'S given us and there's someone who's watching and judging us.

Be part of another person's success

Everyone is interested in always looking for the key to success. What is the one thing that makes one immensely successful?  What is the one thing that has enabled you to become successful? It takes a lot of things to be successful, not just one thing. The learned men say that out of the lot of things that enable one to have an overall success, the one thing that is prescribed is "Generosity." Generosity means the readiness to give and Charity means voluntary giving of any type of help, typically money to those who need. How can generosity be a key to massive success? Let me narrate a fact.

There are two lakes in Israel, The sea of Galilee and The Dead sea. Both are lakes and are fed by River Jordan. The sea of Galilee feeds back to the river and other streams besides nourishing most of Israel while giving life to many and looks awesome.

The Dead sea on the other hand goes nowhere. The Dead sea does not feed anything and keeps all the water it is fed by River Jordan. The Dead sea as the name indicates is barren and lifeless. Any life that tries to live in it dies. 

Do you see the difference? Both the lakes are given life by the same source. Lake Galilee gives back and so there is Life. Dead sea holds back everything and consequently it is dead in real sense.  Most people do not understand the meaning of the word generosity though, particularly in this material world, but if you want to ever grow, you need to give. Give your time. Give your money. Give your Love. Give encouragement. Give a lending hand. Listen intently and empathize always. Smile from the heart and do it more often. Be compassionate. Give way to elders, children, women. Offer solutions to problems. Be kind. Pass on your knowledge and wisdom to people who need. Be there in the hour of need to your near and dear. Make this life you are living meaningful by being generous. 

When i was young i always used to pray to God to make the poor people rich !! Not that i could offer much, then but I was always concerned about the economic inequality that is existing, the divide between the rich and the poor. Nearly half of the world's population - more than 3 billion people - live on less than $2.5 a day. More than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty - less than $1.25 a day. 1 billion children worldwide are living in poverty out of the world population of 7.6 billion. The richest 1% of the population have more than 50% of the world's wealth. The combined wealth of all the people in the world is roughly $250 trillion. We cannot do as individuals much about the growing inequality round the world but we can always touch the hearts, minds and stomachs of people.

Too many people will just shove their business cards in others faces, add strangers on Facebook and then pitch their businesses to fall their laps. This is not how successful people act nor is it a successful way to conduct business. If you want to sustain growth, be generous. Period !! This point has led to a world wide Corporate consideration called CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility. Social responsibility is important to a business because it demonstrates to both consumers and the media in large that the company takes an interest in wider social issues that have no direct impact on profit margins. This, in turn can lead to greater profits for a business. A Win - Win situation. Some of the projects taken through the CSR initiative are Early childhood care and education, health and nutrition for children, skill development initiatives, Vocational skill training, promoting Indian sports for the differently abled, promotion of Indian music, rural development projects, mid day meal programme, mobility aids to differently abled, cancer patients care, palliative care. geriatric care, contribution to PM's National relief fund, old age homes. Some of the companies have a budget of 2% of its average net profit as per the average of its last 3 years financial statement. In India most of the Tata companies, Infosys, HCL, L & T, Toyota, IOC, BPCL, Ambuja cements, GAIL India Ltd, Coca cola, Maruti Suzuki, Wipro, HDFC and many more contribute to CSR every year. Many of our auetaan's are entrepreneurs and have their own companies. It would be great if they would also contribute toward CSR. Our Annamalai Chettiar and Rajah Muthiah Chettiar were great philatropists. Philanthropy is a much more strategic focus on providing education and we are all beneficiaries. Let's contribute in our own way and "be the change we want to see in this world" as M.K. Gandhi said.

In Hinduism, for Hindus (Daan) Giving, is an important part of one's Dharma (Religious duty) To the Muslims, the act of Giving is one of the 5 tenets that include Faith, Prayer, annual fasting in the month of Ramzan, a journey to Mecca and the last one is Charity - Giving. The Bible says Charity means Love, Compassion, full of good deeds, works and Giving.

In all our acts we should be kind and generous. We are all doing well in this life time by God's Grace. Let's uplift those who need our physical, mental, emotional, intellectual and financial help. If you think you can, You Can...