Motivational

Genuine love and kindness is desperately needed in this world. It comes from appreciating the object, and rejoicing in the object, wanting the object to be happy and well, but holding it lightly, not tightly. And this goes for possessions too. You are in an extremely materialistic society in which the possession of more and bigger and better is held up as the total criteria for being happy. […]

What we own is not the problem, it's our attitude towards our possessions. If we have something and we enjoy it, that's fine. If we lose it, then that's OK. But if we lose it and we are very attached to it in our heart, then that's not fine. It doesn't matter what the object is, because it's not the object which is the problem. The problem is our own inner grasping mind that keeps us bound to the wheel, and keeps us suffering. If our mind was open and could just let things flow naturally, there would be no pain. Do you understand? We need our everyday life to work on this, to really begin to see the greed of attachment in the mind and gradually begin to lessen and lessen it.

in India to catch monkeys. People take a coconut and make a little hole just big enough for a monkey to put its paw through. And inside the coconut, which is nailed to a tree, they have put something sweet. So the monkey comes along, sees the coconut, smells something nice inside, and he puts his hand in. He catches hold of the sweet inside, so now he has a fist. But the hole is too small for the fist to get out. When the hunters come back, the monkey's caught. But of course, all the monkey has to do is let go. Nobody's holding the monkey except the monkey's grasping greedy mind. Nobody is holding us on the wheel, we are clinging to it ourselves. There are no chains on this wheel. We can jump off any time. But we cling. And clinging causes the pain.

--Tenzin Palmo

Transfer of Property Act_2

Arjun transfers his property to Bhanu for life and after Bhanu’s death to that of his unborn sons as shall first attain the age of 25 years and if no son of Bhanu shall attain that age, to Chandan who is living at the time of the transfer. Decide the validity of this transfer.

As per Section 13 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, transfer of property to an unborn person can only take place if before such a transfer; a life estate is transferred to a person existing at the date of transfer. Moreover, it should not be a partial interest, but the entire interest that is transferred to the unborn. The vesting of absolute interest in favour of an unborn person may be postponed until he attains full age. Such an unborn person should get full rights to that property, and no further rights can be created to that property after those of the unborn. Hence, the transfer is valid till it pertains to the transfer in favour of Bhanu, but the transfer to Chandan is not valid, as he is living at the time of the tranfer, while the sons of Bhanu are as yet unborn.

Limitation Act_1

Arpit took a debt of Rs.10,000 from Bharat on January, 1998 and promised to pay by 31st December, 2003. He could not pay such debt within the stipulated time. On 1st December, 2006, Arpit paid Rs.500 as interest against such debt to Bharat against receipt. Bharat filed a suit against Arpit to recover such debt on 15th December, 2008. Whether the suit filed by Bharat is within the period of limitation ? Decide with reasons citing relevant provisions of the law.

As per section 19 of the Limitation Act, 1963, where part payment of debt or interest on debt is made, then a fresh period of limitation begins from that date. The limitation period for loans and contracts is three years. Since the interest is paid on 1st December, 2006, and the suit against Arpit to recover such debt is filed on 15th December, 2008, it is within the limitation period.

Indian Evidence Act_1

On 20th March, Kamal told his wife that he was going to Berhampore, as Pankaj’s wife has written a letter and asked him to come and receive payments due to him. On 21st March, Kamal left his house in time to catch a train for Berhmpore, where Pankaj lived with his wife. On 23rd March, Kamal’s dismembered body was found in a box which had been purchased for Pankaj. Decide whether on the trial of Pankaj for the murder of Kamal, the statement made by Kamal to his wife was admissible in evidence. If so, on what grounds ?

As per the Indian Evidence Act, Section 122, “ No person who is or has been married, shall be compelled to disclose any communication made to him during marriage by any person to whom he is or has been married; nor shall he be permitted to disclose any such communication, unless the person who made it, or his representative in interest, consents, except in suits between married persons, or proceedings in which one married person is prosecuted for any crime committed against the other.” Hence, in this case, if the statement is willingly given by his wife, it is admissible as evidence.

Constitution of India_1

In a case, Hamid was terminated from the police service. Hamid filed a writ petition against termination order on the ground that a reasonable opportunity of being heard was not given to him by the government. The writ petition was dismissed by the court as the government proved that reasonable opportunity of being heard had been given to the petitioner. Afterwards, Hamid filed another writ petition on the ground that as he was appointed by the Director General of Police, termination by the order of Deputy Inspector General of Police was in violation of Article 311(1) of the Constitution of India. Decide the validity of the second writ petition.

Once the court has dismissed a writ petition, the same may not be presented again to the same court. In this case, the court has dismissed the petition as the government proved that reasonable opportunity of being heard had been given to the petitioner. The second writ Hamid filed, on the ground that as he was appointed by the Director General of Police, and that the termination by the order of Deputy Inspector General of Police was in violation of Article 311(1) of the Constitution of India, hence, is not valid.

Perception

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children.. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest 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, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true 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 people's priorities. The questions raised: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made..... How many other things are we missing?

The Two Pots

Two Pots, one of brass and the other of clay, stood together on the hearthstone. One day the Brass Pot proposed to the Earthen Pot that they go out into the world together. But the Earthen Pot excused himself, saying that it would be wiser for him to stay in the corner by the fire.

“It would take so little to break me,” he said. “You know how fragile I am. The least shock is sure to shatter me!”

“Don't let that keep you at home,” urged the Brass Pot.

“I shall take very good care of you. If we should happen to meet anything hard I will step between and save you.”

So the Earthen Pot at last consented, and the two set out side byside, jolting along on three stubby legs first to this side, then to that, and bumping into each other at every step.

The Earthen Pot could not survive that sort of companionship very long. They had not gone ten paces before the Earthen Pot cracked, and at the next jolt he flew into a thousand pieces.

Moral:The strong and the weak cannot keep company. Equals make the best friends. A small difference can lead to major consequences.