The Violin Player...

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 40 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. Then another few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 40 minutes the musician played, only 7 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $59. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.

The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Read the news HERE and HERE

Joshua Bell Site

Interesting Aspects of the 2nd richest man in the world!

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Edward Buffett, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity. Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:-

1. He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!

2. He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.

3. He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.

4. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.

5. He never travels by private jet , although he owns the world's largest private jet company.

6. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. He has given his CEO's only two rules. Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

7. He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television.

8. Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.

9. Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

His advice to young people: "Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and Remember:

A. Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.

B. Live your life as simple as you are.

C. Don't do what others say, just listen them , but do what you feel good.

D. Don't go on brand name; just wear those things in which u feel comfortable.

E. Don't waste your money on unnecessary things ; just spend on them who really in need rather.

F. After all it's your life then why give chance to others to rule our life."

Warren Edward Buffett (born August 30, 1930) is an American investor and businessman. Nicknamed the 'Oracle of Omaha' or the 'Sage of Omaha,' Buffett has amassed an enormous fortune from astute investments, particularly through his company Berkshire Hathaway, in which he holds a greater than 38% stake. With an estimated current net worth of around $42 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the second-richest person in the world, behind only Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. In June 2006, he made the commitment to give away 85% of his fortune, most of which would be going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This is the largest act ever of charitable giving in United States history.

MUST READ!!! - A Story of the Mouse...

Mouse Story: A message!

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

“What food might this contain?” The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning.

“There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the goat and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The goat sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house — like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the goat.

The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember — when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

You see, everyone seems to be going on about free speech, but that’s not the only issue here. There is also the issue about respect, courtesy, circumspection and discernment. Perhaps those editors ought to have been given a course in cross-cultural understanding and communication. They were supposed to be trying to show who were the enlightened ones. It is really silly of them to deliberately taunt and provoke those who just do not understand the West’s worship of liberty rights. Those who are championing the editors and cartoonists for their free speech rights have missed the point. Those who blame every Islam itself for the extremism of a few have fallen into the trap of gross generalization.

The problem with making generalized judgments over media reports, photos and newsreels is that these visions may portray a generalization that does not represent the view of the majority. Especially if you do not know anyone who is Muslim, and have never lived among Muslims. Maybe you think they are all like that.

And, those who think this is their problem, (whether they refer to the Muslims or the Europeans) need to rethink and see that we are all in this together. Whatever is going on, it is not going to be good for any one of us. May we learn the lesson from the story of the mouse.