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What are some transformative short stories?

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Navin Nikunj

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99 Tiny Stories to Make You Think, Smile and Cry:

1. Today, its been ten years since my abusive ex-fianc sold my favorite

guitar. He sold it on the day I left him. When I went to claim my

belongings, he was proud that he ha d sold it to a pawn shop. Luckily, I

managed to track down the guy who bought it from the pawn shop. Hewas really sweet, and gave it back to me for free, on the cond ition that I

accompany him on his front porch for an hour to play guitar with him. He

grabbed a second guitar and we ended up sitting there on his porch for the

rest of the afternoon playing music, talking, and smiling. Hes been my

husband for nine years now. MMT

2. Today would have been the 127th day in a row that I visited her at the

hospital as she rested in a coma. But last night I had a dream that she

died, and I woke up in tears this morning and couldnt bring myself to

drive to the hospital to see her lying there like that. So I stayed in bed,staring at the ceiling, and thinking of how I was going to have to learn to

Pranav Tripathi, Fitness Lover, Software Engineer, Biker and a Gym

freak

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live without her for the rest of my life. And then my phone rang, and it was

her. MMT

3. Today, about an hour after I lost my wallet, a man showed up at my front

door with it. Everything was intact including the $200 in cash. As I

expressed my gratitude, he explained to me that he hopes doing the right

thing pays off for him. Oddly enough, I lost my wallet sometime this

morning too, he said. I had about the same amount of cash in there thatyou h ave and all my c ards and IDs. Without thinking a bout it, I pulled

out $100 and handed it to him. Take this, I insist, I said. Just in case

you d ont find your wa llet, well split the cash. He gratefully accepted the

money and left. This evening he knocked on my door again. Heres your

$100 back, he said. A woman found my wallet and returned it and all my

cash about an hour ago. MMT

4. Today, while I was browsing in a secondhand bookshop, I found a c opy of

a book that had been stolen from me when I was a kid. I opened it and

saw, on the first page, in familiar hand writing, my own name. It had beena gift from my (now late) grandfather. Next to my name my grandfather

wrote, I hope you rediscover this book someday when youre older, and it

makes you think about the important things in life. MMT

5. Today, a week after I donated three bags of clothes to a local homeless

shelter, I saw a homeless woman sitting on a park bench wearing a tye-

dyeshirt I made when I was a teenager. I walked by her and said, I love

your shirt! She smiled a nd said, Thank you! I really d o too! MMT

6. Today at 7AM, I pu lled over on my way to work to help a lady change a

flat tire. At 4PM, she saved my life when she randomly saw me downtown

and yanked me backward out of a crosswalk as a car ran the red light.

MMT

7. Today, its been five years since my mom was in a car acc ident that resulted

in her losing all of her long-term memory from before the crash. When I

was little, my mom and I u sed to quote a Winnie the Pooh book as an

inside joke. One of us would ask, Have you ever seen a dragon fly? And

the other would reply, I have, I have seen a dragon fly! This evening I

was sitting with her while we were watching TV and I ra ndomly asked,

Have you ever seen a dragon fly? And she responded with, I have, I


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Upvote Downvote Comments 24+ Share 2

have seen a dragon fly! We stared at each other for a prolonged moment,

and then she jumped out of her seat and exclaimed, Oh my god, I

remember! MMT

8. Today, I have a disorder which frequently makes me faint for a few

seconds, making it hard for me to be independent and hold down a steady

job. I u sed to be really depressed about it, but my family and friends

turned my illness into a game, seeing who could make me laugh thehardest when I returned to consciousness. They have also turned catching

me into a sport. Believe it or not, I havent hit the floor once in the past two

years. Someone has a lways been ther...

(more)

322

Originally Answered: Stories: What are some life-changing, motivational stories?

This is the story ofNawazuddin Siddiqui. Most of you would have started

noticing him after the movies such asKahaani and Gangs of Wasseypurbut

he is in the industry from long back doing menial roles which anyone would

hardly notice.

He gradu ated from National School of Drama and came to Mumbai wherehe thought that his incredible acting skills will lead him towards his goal in no

Anonymous

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Upvote Downvote Comments 1+ Share

time. But he was wrong. In Indian film industry there are two questions which

you h ave to answer in affirmation before becoming a success-"Was/Is your

father/grandfather/mother/uncle an actor/actress/director?"

AND"Do you have a good looking face and a six pack/zero figure?"

He didn't have any one of the above mentioned two. He said- "Sir,I know

acting" and they laughed off-"Hah! Even we don't know what acting

is.How can you know that?"

But he didn't give up. He started doing roles where he was part of a crowd or

he had dialogues which you can miss if you look down to see where the

popcorn ha s fallen from your food-tub. But even in those small roles he made

an effect. He was noticed by a few people who have struggled just like him and

one such person isIrrfan Khan. He praisedNawazuddin 's acting when he was

doing a small role in the movie New York.

With motivations like these and a 'never-say-never' spirit, he h as achievedsuccess which everyone imagines if he looks towards acting as a career.

Courtesy : Varun Upadhyay

Written 25 Jun View Upvotes

72

Tsunami surviovor Martunis signed for Sporting Lisbon.

2004, young Martunis was playing football when tsunami waves struck Banda

Aceh, Indonesia. He lost his mother and both his sisters in the d isaster. He

survived for 20 days on food washed into water. Footage of boy attracted the

attention of Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo paid for Martunis's education and

helped rebuild his home.

Brijesh Chandrakar, evolving theist

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After completing his educa tion, he joined the youth a cademy of Sporting

Lisbon.

And now few days ago, Sporting Lisbon officially announced the signing of

Martunis Ronaldo. Yes, he adopted surname from Cristiano as he considers

himself to be his adopted son. Martunis Ronaldo
https://twitter.com/MartunisCR8


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Tsunami survivor helped by Cristiano Ronaldo signs with Sporting Lisbon

Written 5 Jul View Upvotes

42

Source: Bai Fangli, A Rickshaw Puller

Pingaksh Sharma, Digital Marketing at ZO Rooms and Zostel

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In 1987, a 74-year old rickshaw puller by the name of Bai Fangli came back to

his hometown planning to retire from his backbreaking job. There, he saw

children working in the fields, because they were too poor to afford school fees.

Bai returned to Tianjin and went back to work as a rickshaw puller, taking a

modest accommodation next to the railway station. He waited for clients 24

hours a day, ate simple food and wore discarded second-hand clothes he

found. He gave all of his hard-earned earnings to support children who could

not afford education.

In 2001, he drove his rickshaw to Tianjin YaoHua Middle School, to deliver his

last installment of money. Nearly 90 years old, he told the students that he

couldnt work any more. All of the students and teachers were moved to tears.

In total, Bai had donated a total of 350,000 yuan to help more than 300 poor

students continue with their studies. In 2005, Bai passed away leaving behind

an inspiring legacy.

If a rickshaw-puller who wore used clothes and had no education can support

300 children to go to school, imagine what you and I can do with the resources

we have to bring about p ositive chang e in our world!

After this from May 2015 onward, I support education of 2 girl child. Believe


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me when I say this, do something for other, it will give you inner peace.

Updated 15 Sep View Upvotes

821

I was waiting at the bus-stop one evening for my usual 4 o'clock ride. After a

long and exhausting day, I generally sub-consciously think of the refreshing

shower with cold water once I reach home. Since that was a Friday evening I

was thinking about the weekend movie plans with friends.

Then I saw him. He looked like a well fed and pampered adolescent boy like

me. He was also dressed like a boy from a well-off family. He was holding out a

polythene cover and trying to convey something through hand gestures to a

man standing next to me who looked like he was in his early forties. The manwho although looked confu sed fetched out an INR 10 note from his pocket

and placed it in the polythene bag. I understood that the boy could not speak.

Then the boy approached me with a smile. He pointed at something on the

other side of the road and then held out the bag. I could see some INR 10 and

20 notes in the bag. Although I could not understand what he was trying to say

or what he was pointing to, I thought he must have some genuine reason for

asking money. I too dropped in an INR 20 note. He thanked me with a smile

and went on to the next person. Almost everyone present there gave him a 10or 20 because he looked decent and I observed there were only 10's and 20's in

the bag.

He thanked everyone with the same smile. He then crossed the road. All this

while everyone was observing him. He then fetched out a n INR 20 from his

pocket, put it in the bag and gave the bag to a physically disadvantaged

woman sitting on the foot path beside the bus-stop on the opp osite side of the

road. Even from the distance I could see that her face lit up with absolute

gratitude. And then he walked away gracefully.

Avinash Vijjapu, My aspirations are in Brownian motion.

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I was absolutely dumbstruck. So were the people around me. These people who

would've at the most g iven her 1 or 2 rupee c oins gave th e boy at least 10

rupees. And as for me I may not even have acknowledged her presence and

may have been engrossed in my own thoughts. That actions of the boy put

every one of us present there to shame and guilty of the way we treat others

who are less advanta geous than us. I was still deep in my thoughts when my

bus came. And I boarded it with tears rolling down my cheeks and a smile on

my lips.

At that moment itse lf I knew that his endearing smile and her

glinting eyes would forever be etched in my memory and would

never let me lose hope in humanity.

Edit: Thank you Jayant Patodia, Harish Reddy,Angsuman Hazarika, Praveen

Kumar,Aditya AsthanaandAkshay Gup tafor the promotion!

Updated 18 Jun View Upvotes Not for Reproduction

1.4k

Sky full of stars

Last year in June 2014 , I got call from my mom saying mickey(my younger

brother) is not keeping well so she is taking him to the hospital.I thought maybe Mickey got normal fever,will be okay in a day or two.Next day my mom

again called saying that something is happening to Mickey.Even after 4 bottles

of glucose drip , he is very sick and is looking very tired and pale.Then my mom

just told me 'neurological problem' and she started crying on p hone.I just stood

silently completely stunned.I rushed to my native place(Durg,Chhattisgarh)

from Bangalore(where i work).Next morning,i reached the hospital. My

brother was in ICU. I was desperately waiting to see Mickey and was hop ing

that he will be 'all ok' .Mickey was also very eager to see me ,"his brother

coming to meet him so quickly from so far". And then i saw mickey..he had losthalf his weight.I was happy(to see mickey) and sad(in that condition) at the

Pranjal Sahu, Yet another IT guy !

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same moment.Acting normally , i asked about his health.He wanted to say a lot

but he was not able to !.He was suffering from a neurological disease ' guillain

barre syndrome ' .Forget about moving hands and legs , mickey wa s not able to

raise his eyebrows and open his mouth.

His medications were started , some 20 bottles of globulin drip and so

on.Though he was out of danger,he was unable to do anything on his own !

(My mom used to feed him as mickey was not able to hold a spoon).We

brought mickey home after a week.The thing that astonished me was Mickey'swillpower and determination.He tackled th is whole incidence with such ease

that everybody was shocked. He smiled,laughed(as much he could since he

wasn't able to !).He used to joke with the people who came to see him.

His physiotherapy sessions started.I came back to Bangalore hoping my

younger brother recovers quickly. After 4 da ys , a gain Mickey's health started

deteriorating,this time he was taken to Nagpur to a bigger hospital.They

started all the medications again and also his physiotherapy sessions.I was

helplessly seeing everything cursing myself why i am away from my family at

this moment of time.Again,mickey came out of the danger with the samewillpower and determination !


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Mickey started recovering slowly. Doctors had said he will take years to recover

and even then won't be 100% fit.But mickey had other plans.He worked hard


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with his p hysiotherapist who used to come da ily to home in the morning.For

the first few months mickey was just sitting at home.One day I called him and

asked 'how are you tackling all this !' , he just smiled and said , there is nothing

to tackle , i am just living my childhood all over again.Everyday i am learning

new things.One day i lifted my fingers after so many days,the other day i was

able to turn around all by myself !.

I was amazed by Mickey's determination and willpower.

After few more months ,again Mickey amazed me.He wa s on a wheel chair for

some time.Mickey started to go to his college (on his wheel chair),not giving a

rat's ass to what people would think !.I thought how could this boy do all this !

Felt like this boy is something different.

Now , mickey is fitter than most of the people around him(including me :P).

He exercises daily,works in accenture,is a enthusiatic blogger and much

more.Though he has not achieved something big but fighting the disease (a

rare one happens to 1 in 1000000 people) with that level of willpower,determination and coming back to a normal routine even after what doctors

said is nothing but magical.


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Checkout his blog here :-www.srijalism.com - Love what you do !!!

In short my younger brother has changed my and my family's life forever.

We a re now more confident,less afraid and are read y to take any ch allenges

head on.Mickey keeps inspiring everyone around with his ever lasting radiating

life !!!.

P.S(In this whole scenario , my mom was the unsung hero who kept on ...(more)

211

I love this one from Swami Vivekananda.

One morning in Sarnath, after visiting the temple of Mother Durga, the Swami

Karunamoorthi Palanisamy, Moorthi, IIMA Alumni!

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Upvote Downvote Comments 2 Share 2

was passing throug h a place, where there was a large tank of water on one side

and a high wall on the other. Here, he was surrounded by a troop of large

monkeys. They were not willing to allow him to pass and there was no other

way. As he tried to walk past th em, they howled and shrieked and clutched at

his feet. As they pressed closer, he began to run but the faster he ran, the

bolder the monkeys got and they attempted to bite at him. When it seemed

impossible for him to escape, he heard an old sannyasi calling out to him:

"Face the brutes"

. The words brought him to his senses. He stopped runningand turned majestically to boldly face the irate monkeys. As soon as he did

that, they fell back and fled! With reverence and gratitude he gave the

traditional greeting to the sannyasi, who smilingly responded with the same,

and walked away.

Be Bold.. Be Strong.. Be Heroes..

Source:Amazing Life incidents of Swami Vivekananda

Written 10 Nov, 2014 View Upvotes

85

I study at a local JEE Coaching Class . Our teacher usually tells us encouraging

stories after class once in a month . He told us this story few months ago . I will

try my best in remembering and translating it to you .

The Loser who never gave up

There was a boy named sparky who only faced failure in every work he did .

Everyone treated him like a loser . He was not good in studies . He got bad

marks in every subject . He failed the 8th grade in all subjects . He once tried

his luck in football but his team lost championship due to him . The only thing

he could do well was drawing . He used to draw funny cartoons and showed

them to others .

Prem Gupta Request Bio

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Upvote Downvote Comments 3 Share 6

Sparky thought of submitting his drawings in school yearly magazine . He

worked very ha rd and made some drawings . Bu t he was rejected there also .

Then after some days he saw an ad for learning graphic design . He submitted

one of his school drawings there and he was fortunately accepted there to learn

. Sparky worked hard to learn cartooning as he was the only child, his parents

decided to pay high tuition fee of course. Sparky passed the Art Instruction

School course.

Sparky now applied to Walt Disney Art Studios . He wanted to make cartoons

for disney and was confident that he will not be rejected this time . Sparky

submitted his cartoon but he was rejected again and he was not even admitted

to school . He failed again . Because of his failures he was sent to work for the

army . During World War 2 , he only had one opportunity to fire his machine

gun but forgot to load it . He was able to save his life because the german

soldier he was firing surrended .

Now sparky started making a comic strip . He decided to tell his own storythrough comics . The main character in comic strip was a loser boy who failed

in everything he tried . He tried to published his story in a local newspaper and

gave money for publishing it . After sometime his comic started getting popular

. Now newspaper asked him to make more comics . His comics became so

popular that it published daily from October 1950 to Janurary 2000 .

Sparky the man who never gave up after failing so many times was

Charles Schulz and the World famous comic name is Peanuts .

Peanuts ran in over 2,600 newspapers, with a readership of 355million in 75 countries, and was translated into 21 languages.

Edit : Thanks to Jaishankar Eshwarappa Subhadrafor edit :)

Edit 2 : Thanks to The Logical Indian team on facebook , just came to know

they published my post with proper credits and it could reach more than 10k

people :) Timeline Photos - The Logical Indian | Facebook

Updated 30 Mar, 2015 View Upvotes

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Story #1: All the Difference in The World

Every Sunda y morning I take a light jog around a park near my home. Theres

a lake located in one corner of the pa rk. Each time I jog by this lake, I see the

same elderly woman sitting at the waters edge with a small metal cage sitting

beside her.

This past Sunday my curiosity got the best of me, so I stopped jogging and

walked over to her. As I got closer, I realized that the metal c age was in fact a

small trap. There were three turtles, unharmed, slowly walking around the

base of th e trap. She had a fourth turtle in her lap that she was c arefully

scrubbing with a spongy brush.

Hello, I said. I see you here every Sunda y morning. If you dont mind my

nosiness, Id love to know what youre doing with these turtles.

She smiled. Im cleaning off their shells, she replied. Anything on a turtles

shell, like algae or scum, reduces the turtles ability to absorb heat and impedesits ability to swim. It can also corrode and weaken the shell over time.

Wow! Thats really nice of you! I exclaimed.

She went on: I spend a couple of hours each Sunday morning, relaxing by this

lake and helping these little guys out. Its my own strange way of making a

difference.

But dont most freshwater turtles live their whole lives with algae and scum

hanging from their shells? I asked.

Yep, sadly, they do, she replied.

I scratched my head. Well then, dont you think your time could be betterspent? I mean, I think your efforts are kind and all, but there are fresh water

turtles living in lakes all around the world. And 99% of these turtles dont have

kind people like you to help them clean off their shells. So, no offense but

how exactly are your localized efforts here truly making a difference?

The woman giggled aloud. She then looked down at the turtle in her lap,

scrubbed off the last piece of algae from its shell, and said, Sweetie, if this little

guy could talk, hed tell you I just made all the difference in the world.

The moral: You can chang e the world maybe not all at once, but one

person, one animal, and one good deed at a time. Wake up every morning andpretend like what you do makes a difference. It does.

Akshat Gupta, Has no idea what he is doing

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Story #2: The Weight of the Glass

Once upon a time a psychology professor walked around on a stage while

teaching stress management principles to an auditorium filled with students.

As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected theyd be asked the typical

glass half empty or glass half full question. Instead, with a smile on her face,

the professor asked, How heavy is this glass of water Im holding?

Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a couple pounds.

She replied, From my perspective, the absolute weight of this glass doesn'tmatter. It all depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute or two,

its fairly light. If I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm

ache a little. If I hold it for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up and feel

completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor. In

each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the

heavier it feels to me.

As the class shook their h eads in agreement, she continued, Your stresses and

worries in life are very much like this glass of water. Think about them for a

while and nothing happ ens. Think about them a bit longer and you begin toache a little. Think about them all day long, and you will feel completely numb

and paralyzed incapable of doing anything else until you drop them.

The moral: Its important to remember to let go of your stresses and worries.

No matter what happens during the day, as early in the evening as you can,

put all your burdens down. Dont carry them through the night and into the

next day with you. If you still feel the weight of yesterdays stress, its a strong

sign that its time to put the glass down.

Story #3: Shark Bait

During a research experiment a marine biologist placed a shark into a largeholding tank and then released several small bait fish into the tank.

As you would expect, th e shark quickly swam around the tank, attacked and

ate the smaller fish.

The marine biologist then inserted a strong piece of clear fiberglass into the

tank, creating two separate partitions. She then put the shark on one side of

the fiberglass and a new set of bait fish on the other.

Again, the shark quickly attacked. This time, however, the shark slammed into

the fiberglass divider and bounced off. Undeterred, the shark kept repeating

this behavior every few minutes to no avail. Meanwhile, the bait fish swam

around u nharmed in the second partition. Eventually, about an hour into the


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experiment, the shark gave up.

This experiment was repeated several dozen times over the next few weeks.

Each time, the shark got less aggressive and made fewer attempts to attack the

bait fish, until eventually the shark got tired of hitting the fiberglass divider a nd

simply stopped attacking altogether.

The marine biologist then removed the fiberglass divider, but the shark didn't

attack. The shark was trained to believe a barrier existed between it and the

bait fish, so th e bait f ish swam wherever they wished, free from harm.The moral: Many of us, after experiencing setbacks and failures, emotionally

give up and stop trying. Like the shark in the story, we believe that because we

were unsucc essful in the pa st, we will always be unsucc essful. In other words,

we continue to see a barrier in our heads, even when no real barrier exists

between wh ere we a re and where we want to go.

Story #4: Being and Breathing

One warm evening many years ago

After spending nearly every waking minute with Angel for eight straight days, I

knew that I had to tell her just one thing. So late at night, just before she fellasleep, I whispered it in her ear. She smiled the kind of smile that makes me

smile back and she said, When Im seventy-five and I think about my life

and what it was like to be young, I hope that I can remember this very

moment.

A few seconds later she closed her eyes and fell asleep. The room was peaceful

almost silent. All I could hear was the soft purr of her breathing. I stayed

awake thinking about the time wed spent together and all the choices in our

lives that made this moment possible. And at some point, I realized that it

didnt matter what wed done or where wed gone. Nor did the future hold anysignificance.

All that mattered was the serenity of th e moment.

Just being with her and breathing with her.

The moral: We must not allow the clock, the calendar, and external

pressures to rule our lives and blind us to the fact that each individual moment

of our lives is a beautiful mystery and a miracle especially those moments we

spend in the presence of a loved one.

Source - 4 Short Stories that Will Change the Way You Think

Written 2 Dec, 2014 View Upvotes

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19/24




I was sitting in a shop sipping tea in the beautiful town of Harsil along with my

friend. There came a lovely old foreign couple who were sitting right next to

our table and I just greeted them. They responded back by saying "Namaste"

and we started a chit chat. After our introduction, when I said I am from Tamil

Nadu, the old man asked me to forgive him and he said "Vanakkam" (Tamil

equivalent of Namaste) pronounced perfectly. I was bit surprised and asked

him if he had visited Tamil Nadu before. He said "My first visit was around

1990 with our first kid. My son lost his balance at the sea in Mahabalipuram

due to a big wave and was taken into it. We thought we had lost him but one of

the fisherman went after him and saved his life. From then on, we come to

Tamil Nadu every year and we also have a Trust fund now to help that

fisherman's village in what ever small way we can." After that story, he startedtelling about his love for South Indian food and about the places he had visited

in TN which I have heard but never seen till now. When I jokingly commented

about it, saying, "You seem to have seen more of my state than me" , he then

told me "Son, you are so lucky to be born & living in this country. We save every

penny of our pensions to visit India every year and we aren't still tired of this

beautiful land . You should try to see it too"

PS: This story happened in May 2012 and it gave me the final push to quit my

job in N ov 2012 and do the K2K trip across the 29 states of India in the last 2years.

Hamid Shah, Backpacked the 29 states of India

145k Views Upvoted by Ishavasyam Dash Ankur Warikoo
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Updated 19 Nov, 2014 View Upvotes

7k

Teacher: "What do you wanna be when you grow up?"

Kid:"I wanna be always happy!"

Teacher:"I think you didn't understand the question."

Kid:"Well, ma'am, I think you didn't quite understand life!"

The kid was a 5-year-old boy who was later known as John Lennon,

who started The Beatle s.

Harsh Khandelwal, Thinker, Here to Write.

44.5k Views Upvoted by Poorvisha Ravi
https://www.quora.com/Poorvisha-Ravihttps://www.quora.com/Harsh-Khandelwal-12https://www.quora.com/Harsh-Khandelwal-12https://www.quora.com/api/mobile_expanded_voter_list?type=answer&key=LYUR6JF1VhZhttps://www.quora.com/What-are-some-transformative-short-stories/answer/Hamid-Shah-1


21/24



EDIT: Thanks for the overwhelming response, people my first answer to get

1K upvotes... and then 2K.... I've written over a hundred answers till date onQuora, and definitely not for external appreciation but for my own Platonic

joy & pleasure of expression in written thou ght and gratification driven out of

lending my proverbial glasses (here, words) to help someone see clearer

through the haze!

But I'm not gonna lie, external validation feels pretty good!

{Pardon me I write long!}

Thanks for promoting the answer to no less than 100 people, Akshatha

Keshava Reddy, and Mutwa Kaigi, for tweeting the same!
https://www.quora.com/Mutwa-Kaigihttps://www.quora.com/Akshatha-Keshava-Reddy


22/24




EDIT2: It's been brought to my light that there is considerable doubt

whether Lennon actually said this, and whether this occurrence actually

took place - such doubts of the skeptics are well-founded I've premised my

standing on such doubts in a rather elaborate replyto Michael Dixon's

comment, below. Should you harbour doubts and be interested enough, kindly

go through the same!

Updated 25 Apr View Upvotes

2.8k

Club 99

Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was

neither happy nor content.One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing ha ppily while he

worked. This fa scinated the King wh y was he, the Supreme Ru ler of th e Land,

unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy. The King asked

the servant, 'Why are you so happ y?'

The man replied, 'Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family

and I don't need too much - just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill

our tummies.'

The King was not satisfied with that reply. Later in the day, he sought the

advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the King's woes and the

servant's story, the advisor said, 'Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has

not been made part of The Club 99.'

'The Club 99? And what exactly is that?' the King inquired.

The advisor replied, 'Your Majesty, to truly know what The Club 99 is, place

99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's doorstep.' The King did as

advised by his advisor.

When the servant saw the bag, he took it into h is house. Wh en he opened the

bag, he let ou t a great shout of joy... So many gold coins! He began to count

them. After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were 99 coins.

He wondered, 'What could've happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one

Harsha Bharadwaj Request Bio

10.2k Views
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10/10/2015 (12) What are some transformati ve short stories? - Quora


Upvote Downvote Comment Share 2

would leave 99 coins!' He looked everywhere he could, but that final coin was

elusive. Finally, exhausted he decided that he was going to have to work

harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection. From that

day, the servant's life was chang ed. He was overworked, horribly grumpy, and

castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin. He

stopped singing while he worked.

Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled. When he sough t

his advisor's help, the advisor said, 'Your Majesty, the servant ha s nowofficia lly joined The Club 99.'

He continued, 'The Club 99 is a name given to those people who have enough

to be happy but are never contented, because they're always yearning and

striving for that extra 1, saying to themselves: 'Let me get that one final thing

and then I will be happ y for life.'

Moral

We can be happy, even with very little in our lives. But the minute we're given

something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose our sleep, our

happ iness, we hurt the people around us all these as a price for our growingneeds and d esires. And we stop living life then! Are you a member of The Club

99?

Written 26 Nov, 2014 View Upvotes

173

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