A 'story' in reply to an email

The response to our last week’s article (Ye Shahar Kiska Hai?) has been heartwarming. Not just in terms of the number of responses we got, but also about what people wrote. Thanks a lot DehraDun for believing that something can be done to avoid further defacement of this town. I also got a very interesting comment from a lady; and I quote from her mail …“there are many before you guys that have tried and failed to improve this town. You guys just write in a ‘classified paper’. This town is run by people that don’t care about the place anymore. Believe me! Nothing will change”.

I’m not sure.

My first reaction was to write back to the lady and advocate a more positive outlook. But then again, maybe she is just voicing what a lot of us feel. Her truth is as ‘true’ as ours. The following words are not mine. I have used the story below a hundred times in my training classes and haven’t been able to write a better one that says the same thing. So to whoever wrote this (and do let me know if you find out)… the story still inspires us. Maybe it would help a few others. Here it is.

‘The Starfish Story’ by Anonymous

One morning, I went out for my daily sunrise walk on the beach. Off in the distance, I could see someone pick something up off the beach, walk a little way into the ocean, and then toss the object into the water.

Then, the person, who appeared to be a small boy, picked up another object and tossed it also into the sea. He continued to do this as I walked. As I approached, I saw that he was picking up starfish. I stopped and asked him why he was doing this. The boy explained that the starfish were stranded and that in another hour or two they would dry up and die. He was saving their lives.

The innocence of youth, I thought. I told him that there were thousands of starfish on the beach, and he couldn't possibly make a difference. The kid stopped and looked down, as if to study the water that washed over our bare feet. Then he walked over and picked up another starfish, walked into the sea and tossed it in.

"Sir," he said, "It made a difference for that one."

End of Story.

The question to really ask is; “Yeh Shahar Kiska Hai?” and maybe
the answer to that, has some solutions for our town.

Till next week…have a great buildup to Diwali.

Vineet Panchhi owns and runs Audio Wagon, his lifelong passion and now a music company. He blogs at Unplanned Journeys , and can be reached at: vineet.panchhi@audiowagon.com