Being Eccentric What is the point of Being alive if you don't try to do something remarkable?? -John Green

BEING ECCENTRIC

A Broken Wing: Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover

I met T. J. for the first time at a weekend leadership retreat. All the students at school had been invited to sign up for ACE training, a program designed to have students become more involved in their communities. T. J. was one of 405 students who signed up.

When I showed up to lead their first retreat, the community leaders gave me this overview of the attending students: "We have a total spectrum represented today, from the student body president to T. J. Ware, the boy with the longest arrest record in the history of town." Somehow, I knew that I wasn't the first to hear about T. J.'s darker side as the first words of introduction.

At the start of the retreat, T. J. was literally standing outside the circle of students, against the back wall, with that "go ahead, impress me" look on his face. He didn't readily join the discussion groups, didn't seem to have much to say. But slowly, the interactive games drew him in.

The ice really melted when the groups started building a list of positive and negative things that had occurred at school that year. T. J. had some definite thoughts on those situations. The other students in T. J.'s group welcomed his comments. All of a sudden T. J. felt like a part of the group, and before long he was being treated like a leader. He was saying things that made a lot of sense, and everyone was listening. T. J. was a smart guy, and he had some great ideas.

The next day, T. J. was very active in all the sessions. By the end of the retreat, he had joined the Homeless Project team. He knew something about poverty, hunger and hopelessness. The other students on the team were impressed with his passionate concern and ideas. They elected T. J. co-chairman of the team. The student council president would be taking his instruction from T. J. Ware.

When T. J. showed up at school on Monday morning, he arrived to a firestorm. A group of teachers were protesting to the school principal about his being elected co-chairman. The very first community wide service project was to be a giant food drive, organized by the Homeless Project team. These teachers couldn't believe that the principal would allow this crucial beginning to a prestigious, three-year action plan to stay in the incapable hands of T. J. Ware.

They reminded the principal, "He has an arrest record as long as your arm. He'll probably steal half the food." Mr. Coggshall reminded them that the purpose of the ACE program was to uncover any positive passion that a student had and reinforce its practice until true change can take place. The teachers left the meeting shaking their heads in disgust, firmly convinced that failure was imminent.

Two weeks later, T. J. and his friends led a group of 70 students in a drive to collect food. They collected a school record: 2,854 cans of food in just two hours. It was enough to fill the empty shelves in two neighborhood centers, and the food took care of needy families in the area for 75 days.

The local newspaper covered the event with a full-page article the next day. That newspaper story was posted on the main bulletin board at school, where everyone could see it. T. J.'s picture was up there for doing something great, for leading a record-setting food drive. Every day he was reminded about what he did. He was being acknowledged as leadership material.

T. J. started showing up at school every day and answered questions from teachers for the first time. He led a second project, collecting 300 blankets and 1,000 pairs of shoes for the homeless shelter. The event he started now yields 9,000 cans of food in one day, taking care of 70 percent of the need for food for one year.

T. J. reminds us that a bird with a broken wing only needs mending. But once it has healed, it can fly higher than the rest. T. J. got a job. He became productive. He is flying quite nicely these days.

Being Eccentric

Being Eccentric

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam 4 Inspiring Life Incidents That Reflect How Inspiring He Was..!!!!

As he breathed his last, people all over India were overcome with grief.
Suitably named 'the People's President,' Dr Kalam's humility and dedication to public service served as an inspiration to millions of Indians and admirers around the world. Here are 4 inspirational stories that made him the most loved, admired and inspiring person that he was.

DR A.P.J ABDUL KALAM

1. Once, the missile man rejected the suggestion to put broken glass on the wall of a building that needed protection because broken glass could be harmful to birds!

This happened when Dr Kalam was with the Defence Research and Development organization (DRDO) and his team was discussing options to secure the perimeter of a building that needed protection. Dr Kalam reportedly said: “If we do that, birds will not be able to perch on the wall. Think of something else. ”

2. When a teammate of President Kalam at DRDO couldn’t take his children to an exhibition due to workload , Kalam surprised him and took the children instead!

uring a significant project, the workload was high . One of the 70 scientists working on it asked him if he could leave at 5.30 pm that evening as he had promised to take his kids to an exhibition. Dr Kalam granted the permission. However, the scientist got busy with work only to realise that it was 8.30 pm. When he looked for his boss, he wasn’t there. Guilty for having disappointed his kids, he went back home only to find that his kids weren’t there. When he asked his wife where they were, she replied, “You don’t know? Your manager came here at 5.15 pm and took the children to the exhibition.”

Dr Kalam had been observing the scientist and he realized that he was too busy with the work and might forget to reach home at time. So, he decided to take the kids to the exhibition instead.

3. The Man who didn’t accept gifts or favor

Once Dr Kalam went to Erode to attend a function sponsored by Sowbhagya wet grinders . On that occasion, they gave him a grinder as a gift.
He refused to accept it but since he needed it he insisted on paying for it . He then sent a person to the shop with a cheque for Rs 4,850 dated August 25, 2014.
The Managing Director of the company was reluctant to receive money from Kalam and did not encash the cheque for over a month. A month later , they received a call from Kalam’s office asking why the cheque has not been deposited. Further, Kalam directed them to deposit the cheque to avoid returning the grinder. The company agreed to deposit it. But they did not want to let go of the treasure and decided to keep a copy of the cheque.
They got it scanned and have framed it. The very next day they deposited the cheque and received a message from Kalam’s office thanking them for doing so.

4.President Kalam used to write his own thank you cards.

“It was the year 2005 and I was braving the onslaught of class 6’s academic pressure.
I happened to come across a book recommended by my elder brother. It was ‘Wings of Fire’ by the missile man.A short and inspiring book. After completing it, I picked up my sketching pad. That book had Kalam’s face sketched on it. And my immediate inspiration was this sketch. Within half an hour, I had sketched the exact image and was proudly showing it off to my family. My mother got super excited (even more than me!) and asked me to mail it to the President. I didn’t take her seriously. In my defense, I sarcastically said ‘ya right, he is your father and he would be happy to get a sketch from his grandchild’ and walked away.
BOOM-BOOM-BAM. 30 min later, I was trotting along my mother to post the sketch to the best address in this country: Rashtrapati Bhawan, Delhi.



20 days later, a letter from The President of India with my name on the envelope was delivered. A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA WITH MY NAME ON THE ENVELOPE WAS DELIVERED! Being on ‘cloud infinity’ is how I would define the feeling. Jumping and shouting I ran to my mother. Tears of joy started trickling down her face. I opened the prized-envelope with utmost care and took out a small note.
It said ‘Dear Naman Narain, Thank you for your nice drawing. With best wishes from, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam’. It was personally written and signed by him!”

These incidents prove why Dr Kalam is widely loved and respected by everyone ! You will continue to inspire us, sir!.

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"Aurora hail, and all the thousand dies,
Which deck thy progress through the vaulted skies:
The morn awakes, and wide extends her rays,
On ev'ry leaf the gentle zephyr plays;
Harmonious lays the feather'd race resume,
Dart the bright eye, and shake the painted plume."-  Phyllis Wheatley,