With a professor of forestry in The Espirito Santos State, Brazil.

Mama I celebrate you for giving birth to me today 72 years ago.

A good reminder that we should never judge people too quickly. Everyone has a story we may not know.

A 24 year old boy seeing out from the train’s window shouted… “Dad, look the trees are going behind!” Dad smiled and a young couple sitting nearby, looked at the 24 year old’s childish behavior with pity, suddenly he again exclaimed… “Dad, look the clouds are running with us!” The couple couldn’t resist and said to the old man… “Why don’t you take your son to a good doctor?” The old man smiled and said…“I did and we are just coming from the hospital, my son was blind from birth, he just got his eyes today.”

Somewhere in a war-torn country, there is a boy smarter than me, more disciplined, resilient, and with more potential than I have. My burnout is a luxury he cannot afford; his only goal is to make it through another day. The only difference between us is geographical luck.

Lately, I’ve found myself thinking about the countless business dinners and social meals my parents attended during their early years in America. Before ordering, my mother would invariably tell the server: “We are strictly vegetarian. No meat, no chicken, no fish, no eggs.” She might then remind them—no beef stock, no gelatin…and list all the ways in which meat might be hidden in our food. As a child, I often felt a twinge of embarrassment when she said it. I worried that we were making things difficult, creating extra work for the wait staff, drawing attention to ourselves in a way I wished we wouldn’t. What I didn’t appreciate then was how much courage that simple sentence required. Especially when social pressures and convention would invite conformity. Instead they were often forced to answer a set of uncomfortable, sometimes ignorant questions: “Have you always been a vegetarian?” “How do you get protein?” “Have you ever tried meat?” “Don’t you know you’re missing out?” And then they quietly would use the moment to share our belief system. My parents arrived in a country where fitting in would have been easier than standing apart. They could have quietly relaxed their commitments. They could have decided that some traditions were not worth carrying across an ocean. Instead, they held fast to a faith and culture rooted in nonviolence, one that called them to remain strictly vegetarian even when it was inconvenient, awkward, or misunderstood. I don’t judge those who made different choices. Every immigrant family navigates these questions in its own way. But looking back, I see that what embarrassed me as a child was actually an expression of conviction. Every child of immigrants, I suspect, wants their parents to adapt a little more, to blend in a little better. We feel the friction when they don’t. Yet now, whenever my wife and I sit down with friends or colleagues and hear ourselves say, “We are strictly vegetarian. No meat, no chicken, no fish, no eggs,” I feel something entirely different. I feel gratitude. What once sounded to me like a dietary restriction now sounds like an inheritance. A small sentence. A quiet act of conviction. A reminder that my parents carried more than suitcases when they came to this country—they carried their beliefs. And they had the courage to keep carrying them.

A man gambled in a casino in Nepal. Unfortunately, he lost everything. Dejected, he headed for the restroom, only to find that the toilet door opened with a one-rupee coin. Distressed, he stood in front of the door. Another man noticed his predicament and gave him a one-rupee coin. The defeated gambler was grateful. He insisted on noting down the name and address of his benefactor and promised that, no matter what, he would repay his debt someday. After the donor left, when he tried to open the door by putting the money in the crack, he found that the door was already open – coincidentally, when someone else had passed by, the door had not closed behind him. Anyway, when he came out of the restroom and reached the lobby, he still had the one rupee he had borrowed. Driven by habit, the gambler put that rupee on the line, winning forty rupees. His fortunes took a turn, and that very night he not only made up for his lost one lakh rupees, but also won another five and a half lakh rupees. He then boarded a plane and flew to Bombay, where he used the money to open a fast food restaurant. That restaurant was so successful that within a few years, he opened fifteen similar restaurants across India and purchased a five-star deluxe hotel. Then two hotels, then three hotels, then hotels abroad – In his old age, he once narrated his success story in a meeting of his board of directors and said in a very emotional voice, "This miracle that happened to me happened because of one man, just one man. If I meet that man today, I would weigh him in gold and diamonds and jewels." "That guy," said a director, "who gave you one rupee to put in the toilet at a casino in Nepal?" "No, not him. I have his address. I'm looking for the man who left the toilet door open." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I thought the USA was a top First World country, but what happened? No such issues in South Africa, Russia, or Qatar World Cups, yet it’s happening here. The stealing incident with England proves the US isn’t what it claims to be it’s just like any other nation like Uganda . Their security works in wars, but domestically, it’s a complete disaster.

England’s World Cup kit gets stolen in Kansas City. Now imagine the exact same thing happened in Qatar, Brazil or South Africa. The outrage would be wall-to-wall. Questions about security. Questions about the host nation. Questions about whether the tournament should even be there. Why does the US always seem to get a free pass when it comes to safety and security concerns?

"I never had children of my own, but God gave me thousands. If you were ever helped by me, promise me one thing—help someone else when you can." By the end of the reading, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. The woman everyone thought lived an ordinary life had quietly built a legacy that would continue long after she was gone.

. "Paid her school fees in 1998." "Bought us food when we had nothing." "Helped me start my first business." "Paid for my mother's surgery." As the lawyer continued, people realized the woman had spent decades secretly helping strangers. No one knew because she never told anyone. Then came the final surprise. The lawyer revealed that she had left behind a large savings account. In her will, she instructed that the money be used to create scholarships for children from struggling families. At the bottom of her letter were the words:

Instead, the lawyer opened the box and pulled out hundreds of photographs. The moment people saw the faces in those pictures, the entire room fell silent. Because the woman nobody seemed to know had quietly changed more lives than anyone could have imagined. And what they discovered next completely changed the way the town remembered her. The photographs showed children, families, college graduates, newly married couples, and successful business owners. Attached to each photo was a small note

A woman in my aunt's neighborhood pass£d away at 82. She lived alone, never married, never had children, and rarely spoke to anyone. Most people thought she was lonely. After her funeral, a lawyer arrived with a locked box and a letter she had left behind. The letter began: "If you're reading this, it means I've been keeping a secret for over 50 years." Everyone expected a confession.

I thought the boda boda riders of Kitale, Busia and Kakamega were the most daring. Then I came across those in Kericho Town. They are on another level!

Dear South African brothers, losing 2-0 is not the end! In 2006, Poland lost 2-0 at the opening match and went ahead to be eliminated from group stages without a point

Wednesday Motivation quote by Mark Twain: 'The man with a new idea is a crank until the...' - The Economic Times share.google/ofBGLRJfVyhniQI…

Quote of the day by ‘A Farewell To Arms’ writer Ernest Hemingway: ‘When people talk listen completely. Don't be thinking what you're going to say..’ ; lessons on art of hearing from American literary icon - The Economic Times share.google/bcNqr11FQIPQMHw…

The most advanced technologies in the world are trees, mycelium networks, river systems, and entire ecosystems. I’m personally tired of idolizing human made technology that destroys the very systems that actually sustain life and hold real wisdom.

Hating on South Africa is one thing but the hate Morocco is going to receive will be one for the books

Tonight night, an 18-year-old server came to me looking scared. A table of older guys kept making creepy comments, and one of them tried to grab her waist when she dropped off drinks. I walked over, took his half-full beer, dumped it into a bus tub, and told him his tab was closed. He said it was just a joke. I told him not to touch my staff and to leave. He demanded the owner. I offered the police instead.

I got a nine-year-old dog with arthritis and abandonment issues. I was furious. To make matters worse, Duke spent the first week growling every time I entered a room. The second week he chewed up one of my shoes. By the third week, I was convinced my uncle had left me the world's most expensive headache. Then something strange happened. Every evening around sunset, Duke would sit by the front door and whine.