Rays of Wisdom

By Dilip J. Karnik

This book, Rays of Wisdom, follows in the footsteps of that mode of learning, by offering a variety of stories with underlying meaning. Many of these stories are based on day-to-day life that happens right in front of us. No matter how painful the experience may have been, it has a purpose, which is to teach us something and make us stronger.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479757299

Dilip J. Karnik

Dilip Karnik is a writer, public speaker, and a prominent neurologist practicing for over thirty years. He has been selected on many occasions as a best teacher, and included in the list of best physicians in the USA, and selected as a Super Doctor by fellow physicians for many years in a row. He started many successful programs, businesses and is highly sought out public speaker. He grew up in impoverished family in Mumbai, India. Due to extreme poverty during his childhood, his parents could only afford single meal per day made up of of broken rice and discarded vegetables. He lived in a shed made up of tin walls and asbestos roof without electricity or running water and studied buying old text books bought from street hawkers reading in kerosene lamp, walked miles to school without shoes in hot Indian summers on concrete or tar roads and obtained graduate degree from a very prestigious university with honors and topping the graduate list in final orals. He enjoys spending time with his family and two dogs and pursue mission of helping children with disability.

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RAYS OF WISDOM

Dilip J. Karnik

Copyright © 2012 by Dilip J. Karnik.

Library of Congress Control Number:                   2012922477

ISBN:               Hardcover                   978-1-4797-5728-2

                       Softcover                       978-1-4797-5727-5

                       Ebook                             978-1-4797-5729-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

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without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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CONTENTS

Introduction

You May Have Plans For Life, But—

Happiness Is All Near You, So Why Are You Looking Around?

Never, Ever Underestimate The Power Of Anyone

Never Ever, Ever, Ever, Ever Give Up!

Be Like A Weed

Success Is Not What You Have But It Is How You Got There

Life May Play A Trick On You

Being Polite And Kind Will Go Long Way

Cut Your Worry Almonds At Once!

Sparrows Can Fly But Only Eagles Can Touch A Cloud—Therefore, Always Try To Be An Eagle

One Smile Is Worth Millions

Words Do Have Meaning

Do Not Underestimate Your Ability

Let Your Sound Angel Speak For You

You Can See Better In The Dark

Banish Cruelty From Your Life

Time Is Always Unidirectional, So Don’t Waste It

Understanding People’s Actions Before Judging Them

It Is Time For Yin

There Always Was Yesterday But Tomorrow Is Another Story

The People You Think Will Never Betray You—Will!

Have Goals In Life

No Matter How Bad It Appears, Hang In. Things Will Get Better

If You Have A Bad Day, Just Tough It Out And Get Over It!

Don’t Do Something Today If You Cannot Do It Well—Tomorrow You May Come Out With Better Plans

How Many Eyes Do You Have?

Be Thankful To Those Who Help You

There’s A Difference Between A Mother And Mom, A Father And A Dad

Do Not Betray Someone’s Trust

Life Is Not About Being Compulsive And Always Right

You Can Do It—So Just Do It!

When You Want To Give, Just Give

Be Good All The Time

When A Wise Man Gives Some Advice, Keep Your Ears Open!

Be Like A Lotus

Focus On The Goal And Not The Distractions

You Have The Powerful Lineage With Unlimited Massive Potential, So What Are You Waiting For?

You Are The Balancer

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my parents, my dad and mom who worked so hard so the children would learn and have a better life than they had without any expectations, who helped me get up every time I was down, think, and do the right things; to my six siblings, for helping in every way; and to my other big parents, the Sun and Mother Earth, without whom nothing is possible.

There are no words to describe my gratitude towards all of them.

INTRODUCTION

In the past, scriptures were written to give us directions on how to live our lives. They were intended to teach us about divinity and virtue, and used very effective spoken medium of stories related to the points they wished to emphasize. They were remembered and carried on further from one generation to the other with appropriate modifications. Later, they were written as pictographs, symbols, cuneiform, hieroglyphics, and eventually in current form written words. They offered a vast array of knowledge that went beyond the books or scriptures and many of these ideologies came with no name or a face. For most part, no one knows who wrote them. This collective wisdom still remains a guiding light to the world after thousands of years.

This teaching was often done under a large tree in places, away from towns or cities, and many times on the banks of rivers. The information was given in the form of stories that had hidden meaning, which was sometimes explained to the students; and at other times, it was left for the seekers’ imagination. The most perceptive listeners were able to grasp it, while for many others, it was nothing but an entertaining story.

This book, Rays of Wisdom, follows in the footsteps of that mode of learning, by offering a variety of stories with underlying meaning. Many of these stories are based on day-to-day life that happens right in front of us. No matter how painful the experience may have been, it has a purpose, which is to teach us something and make us stronger.

Writing this book was not an easy task; and it took way longer than I expected, due to many tough problems I faced, as if someone was trying to test how much one can take. My strong faith in God helped me to go through it along with scriptures and other spiritual books.

Tough time in life is not a bad thing. It appears in our way to make us stronger. It changes the direction of our life and makes us look at new and a better path forward.

Many folks help me in the process of writing this book. It would have been very difficult to complete this book without constant encouragement of my wife, Shubha. She was the best cheerleader and a critic for me, being a psychiatrist, and spiritually enlightened soul; she made sure that these pages had some real meaning. My daughter Doctor Anita Karnik and sons Doctor Jay Karnik and Doctor Mittun Patel provided the constant encouragement throughout, and I am in their debt for the help. I thank my two other children, Soni and Bonnie, the little Maltese angels who taught me how to love without boundaries and gave all the inspiration I needed. I give lots of credit of my success to my six siblings who were always there when I needed them. They gave a great start for my progression, and taught me the importance of hard work and family values.

I thank my staff members, Mrs. Sharon Ash and Mrs. Tina Torres for their support throughout this project and my father-in-law, Doctor Sidhanath Amodkar for many suggestions.

YOU MAY HAVE PLANS FOR LIFE, BUT—

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.

—John Lennon

If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.

—Woody Allen

Mike just finished attending to his last surgical case. He was tired and was running late for his Friday night date to the symphony with his wife. The evening was planned by him after carefully thinking and getting many things ready, including staying on his schedule, calling his nurse and appointment secretary on numerous occasions, and checking his call schedule among other things. It had become an ordeal just to go out for one evening together—something that many people take for granted. Yes, it was difficult because after all he was Dr. Wilson, the best cardiac surgeon in the state. Not only he had a sound reputation, but his staff and patients considered him to be just little short of being a God. They loved this handsome, kind, and compassionate man for the care he had for his patients. It was a dream come true for young doctors who would attend his surgeries. He was a unit of standard by which other doctors were compared at the hospital. Not a single difficult case was operated without consulting him in some manner or the other. He was always humble, polite, and eager to help. He even knew the names of everyone from the cleaning lady to a new waiter in the cafeteria. He was a pacemaker of enthusiasm and energy at the facility.

This day he was running late had been a busy one. It seemed like everyone had a problem and they all needed him. This was nothing new to him, as he was even known to work through his lunch period just to accommodate visits. This day was no exception. After caring for his patients at the clinic, he rushed to finish procedures at the hospital. As usual, there was an emergency. Someone was operating on a child and a complication arose; in the middle of surgery, he received a stat page. He literally had to run to save that boy.

By six in the evening and after many procedures, he was tired. He was happy to wash his hands, take off his scrubs and leave the operating room. He left the hospital in his brand-new Porsche, which was his baby. That was the only fun he had in his busy life, other than the times he shared with his wife. To him, she was his goddess. His every thought and pleasures were some way or the other always connected to her.

Driving fast was something he always got excited over in his Porsche. On this particular evening, it was already dark as he made his way home when his cell phone began to ring. He saw it was the hospital operator, but he quickly realized he was not on call. He knew he had taken care of everything before he left the hospital, and had talked to the on-call doctor and brought him up to speed on all his cases.

Deciding against spoiling his evening with his wife, he decided not to pick up the phone. The phone rang again a few times. However, his decision was firm—no matter what, he was not going to answer it. As he kept on driving, he looked at his watch, and noticed he had only half an hour left to get to the symphony hall, so he sped up.

After just a short distance, he saw that the highway was blocked by cars. As it frequently happened on this curvy highway, there was a big accident—this time, number of cars were involved, piling one on the other, some overturned and smoking.

Quickly looking at the accident scene, he realized that it must have just happened, because no emergency vehicles were in sight yet. Some drivers had stopped to help the victims. Often, he made a point to stop and help any victims of highway accidents, but today he was in a rush and decided to keep on driving.

Although he had dashed to the symphony hall, he still arrived late. The performance had already started. The people were all seated and clapping. The usher showed him to his seat and much to his surprise, the seat next to his was empty. Oddly enough, she was not there, and as it turned out, he wasn’t the one who was late this time.

As he sat alone for about half an hour waiting for her, he decided to call her cell, but there was no answer. He called home, and again it just rang. Both times he heard the same voice mail informing him to call the exchange; he chose not to leave a message.

After many more tries, he decided to call the hospital exchange to see if she had called them and left any information for him.

When the operator heard his voice, she almost screamed on the phone.

Doctor Wilson, I am so glad you called. We were looking for you all over for the past half hour.

He cut her off, and said, Wait a minute, you know I am not on call today.

It is not about patients, it is your wife. She had a terrible accident.