The happiest people are not those who live on their own terms, but those who change the terms of their lives for the ones they love

A man's story goes like this :

He says :My wife called, 'How long will you be with that newspaper? Will you please come here & make your darling daughter eat her food?’

I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene.My only daughter,Indu, looked frightened; tears were welling up in her eyes. In front of her was a bowl filled to its brim with curd (yogurt) rice. Indu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age. I cleared my throat and picked up the bowl. 'Indu darling, why don't you take a few mouthful of this curd rice? Just for Dads' sake, dear.'

Indu softened a bit and wiped her tears with the back of her hands. 'OK, Dad. I will eat it, not just a few mouthfuls, but the whole lot of it. But, you should...' Indu hesitated.'Dad, if I eat this entire curd rice, will you give me whatever I ask for?

''Promise.' I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with mine, & clinched the deal. Now I became a bit anxious. 'Indu, dear, you shouldn't insist on getting a computer or any such expensive items. Dad does not have that kind of money right now. OK?'

'No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive.' Slowly & painfully, she finished eating the curd rice. I was silently angry with my wife & my mother for forcing my child to eat something that she detested. After the ordeal was through, Indu came to me with her eyes wide with expectation.All our attention was on her. 'Dad, I want to have my head shaved off this Sunday!' was her demand.

'Atrocious!' shouted my wife, 'A girl child having her head shaved off? Impossible!' 'Never in our family!' My mother rasped. 'She has been watching too much of TV. Our culture is getting totally spoiled with these TV programs!'

'Indu, darling, why don't you ask for something else? We’ll be sad seeing you with a clean-shaved head. Please, Indu, why don't you try to understand our feelings?' I tried to plead with her. 'Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that curd rice.'Indu was in tears. 'And you promised to grant me whatever I ask for.Now, you are going back on your words. Was it not you who told me the story of King Harishchandra, its moral that we should honor our promises no matter what?'

It was time for me to call the shots.'OK promise must be kept.''Are you out of your mind?' chorused my mother and my wife. 'No. If we go back on our promises, she will never learn to honour her own. Indu, your wish will be fulfilled.' With her head clean-shaven, Indu had a round-face and her eyes looked big and beautiful.

On Monday morning, I dropped her off at her school. It was a sight to watch my hairless Indu walking towards her classroom. She turned around and waved. I waved back with a smile.. Just then, a boy alighted from a car and shouted, 'Indu, please wait for me!' What struck me was the hairless head of that boy. 'May be, that is the in-stuff', I thought.' 'Sir, your daughter Indu is great indeed!' Without introducing herself, a lady got out of a car and continued, 'that boy who is walking along with your daughter is my son, Harish. He is suffering from... leukemia.'

She paused to muffle her sobs.'Harish could not attend the school for the whole of the last month.He lost all his hair due to the side effects of the chemotherapy. He refused to come back to school fearing the unintentional but cruel teasing of the school mates. Indu visited him last week and promised him that she will take care of the teasing issue.But, I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my son! Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as your daughter.'

I stood there transfixed and then, My eyes became wet. 'My little Angel, you are teaching me what selfless real love is!'

This make us remember our commitment to the society.

I will like to end with a nice saying"To love without condition, to give without reason, to care without expectation and to miss without limitation is the heart of a true friend."

“The happiest people are not those who live on their own terms, but those who change the terms of their lives for the ones they love and for them the entire mankind comes under their loved ones.”

source : FB