A Carrot, an Egg, and a Cup of Coffee...

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...
You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil.. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.' 'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?' Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. 'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?'

Think of this:
"Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor."If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
May we all be COFFEE!!!

(Courtesy of: R Masthipuram).

AP Police Academy's distinction

By Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The prestigious Andhra Pradesh Police Academy (APPA), that has carved a niche for itself in training police officers not only from the state but also from other states and countries, will soon be elevated to the level of a University. Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has given his nod, in principle, to the proposal to upgrade the Academy into a University when APPA director C N Gopinatha Reddy came up with the proposal. Once upgraded as a University, APPA plans to award graduate and post-graduate degrees in police management not only to police officers but also to civilians who wish to pursue research studies on police affairs, according to Gopinatha Reddy. APPA is also planning to set up a Department of Management, Behavioural Sciences, Research and Evaluation Studies to train police officers in management and behavioural science. "The Department could also serve as a research centre on police affairs," the APPA director said. A Cyber Forensic Lab is also on cards to train police officers in modern crime, notably white-collar offences. The APPA was established in 1986 to serve as a nodal agency and an institution of higher learning for police and other law-enforcing agencies and grew to become a Centre of Excellence in police training. It has also won international acclaim with agencies like the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, United Nations Development Fund for Women (Unifem) besides National Human Rights Commission, National Crime Records Bureau recognising it as their regional training centre or nodal agency for training officers from India and abroad. In fact, the UNODC declared APPA as its resource, research, development and nodal training centre and granted Rs 10 lakh for infrastructure development. APPA is likely to find its place in the Guinness Book of World Records for having provided in-service training to 8475 personnel in 2006 and 8020 in 2007, spanning a staggering 2.50 lakh training days. With such accomplishments on its back, the APPA is now aiming to become a regular university and award degrees. "In fact, officials of the Osmania University visited our Academy and found it fit to be recognised as their post-graduate centre and award master of police management degree to the trainee officers," Gopinatha Reddy pointed out. With the Chief Minister promising to get university status for APPA, police authorities are now drawing a detailed blueprint to make it a reality.

DIL plans SEZs

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The state-owned Deccan Infrastructure and Land Holdings Limited (DIL) will set up 13 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) around Hyderabad. The 13 SEZs will come up in a total extent of 530 hectares. DIL, in which the Andhra Pradesh Housing Board holds 57.67 per cent equity and the Government of AndhraPradesh (GoAP) 42.33 per cent, will soon enter into a joint development agreement with private parties to develop the SEZs. The joint development partners will be chosen through a competitive bidding process, a highly-placed DIL official said. Five of the SEZs will be of information technology and information technology-enabled services and two of Free Trade Warehousing. One SEZ each will be for textile, apparels and fashion accessories, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, gems and jewellery, bio-technology, farm machinery and electronic hardware and software, according toDIL sources. The Board of Approvals under the Union Ministry of Commerce has approved the DIL's proposals to set up these SEZs. DIL is currently working on details related to the likely investments in each SEZ and the number of jobs that will be created. "Over the next two to three years, these SEZs will change the profile of Andhra Pradesh and give a major boost to the various sectors. We have further plans to develop more SEZs in collaboration with private partners," a DIL official said.The company will soon go public to raise funds from the capital market through an initial public offer. The book-building process for this is currently underway, official sources said.

Adopting a village

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The American Telugu Association (ATA) members will adopt one village each in their motherland to contribute their might for its development. ATA has about 3000 members of whom about 300 will take up this programme over two years. ATA has chosen "Adopt a village" as its biennial theme this year and its chairman Gavva Chandra Reddy has started the initiative by adopting his native Pillalamarri village in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh. "Prime emphasis of 'Adopt a village' programme will be on creating infrastructure for schools, improving sanitary conditions and providing healthcare facilities through special camps in collaboration with voluntary organisations like the Lions Club," ATA organiser Arjun Dyapa said. Another prominent ATA member P Malla Reddy has built a college building in his native village near Bhongir. "There has been a good response from our members to the initiative and many are ready to adopt their native villages and contribute to their uplift," Arjun said. Meanwhile, most of the second-generation NRI youth have been showing an inclination to return to their motherland, given the growing job and business opportunities here. With the Indian economy on a boom compared to the US, NRI youth were keen on investing in Andhra Pradesh and set up manufacturing facilities. ATA is seeking guidance from the state government on the investment prospects in Andhra Pradesh so that prospective investors could set up shop here. "Unlike in the past, we need not move lock, stock and barrel from the US to do business here. We can open our units here and do business even staying abroad," Arjun pointed out.

In Case of Emergency (ICE)

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: A public-interest campaign called ICE is fast picking up across the country. ICE is aimed at creating an awareness among mobile phone users the need to store in their phone memory card a particular phone number of their closest family members or friends who could be contacted in an emergency situation. ICE precisely stands for In Case of Emergency. Almost everyone these days carries a mobile phone with many names and numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than the phone user, knows which of these numbers belongs to his\her closest family members or friends. "If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill suddenly, the people attending on us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know whom to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the right contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency) campaign," says a campaign mailer that is currently being circulated on the Internet. ICE is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell phones are carried by majority of the population, all one needs to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name ICE. An unknown paramedic hit upon the ICE idea after he found on many an occasion that there were always mobile phones with patients at the scenes of accidents but did not know which number to call. He, therefore, thought it would be good if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose and coined ICE. In an emergency situation, emergency service personnel and hospital staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialling the number one has stored as ICE. For more than one contact name, one can simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3. A great idea that might make a difference and help save lives! "Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our mobile phones today," the e-mail exhorts. "It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind in peace. ICE will speak for you when you are not able to," the email adds. Students and software professionals -- even some journalists -- have now taken it upon themselves to take the campaign forward and ultimately make ICE a unique national emergency code. Hail the move.