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Yet Another Fasinating story

Discussion in 'Stories (Fiction)' started by ASHWINRAJ, Jul 11, 2013.

  1. ASHWINRAJ

    ASHWINRAJ Gold IL'ite

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    Hi Friends,

    I came across this story in one of my mail.Felt it must be shared.


    A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly without an appointment into the president of Harvard's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge.

    She frowned. "We want to see the president," the man said softly. "He'll be busy all day," the secretary snapped. "We'll wait," the lady replied. For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't. And the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted to do. "Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they'll leave," she told him. And he sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office. The president, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady told him, "We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."

    The president was not touched; he was shocked. "Madam," he said gruffly. "We can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery". "Oh, no," the lady explained quickly. "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard." The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard." For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. And the lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a University? Why don't we just start our own?" Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. And Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, travelling to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

    "You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them."
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2013
    peddadas, upfsabari, aara and 7 others like this.
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  2. Deepu04

    Deepu04 IL Hall of Fame

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    Very true...
     
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  3. vidhya3b

    vidhya3b IL Hall of Fame

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    I came across this as well.. Its a very good one..
     
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  4. anurar20

    anurar20 IL Hall of Fame

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    good one ashwin..........very true
     
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  5. rakinya

    rakinya Platinum IL'ite

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    That's good one. Thanks for sharing.
     
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  6. shashiv

    shashiv Gold IL'ite

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    A very good pne...
    Thanks for sharing



    Shanti
     
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  7. VIJAYALAKSHMI06

    VIJAYALAKSHMI06 Platinum IL'ite

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    A gud one Ashwin!!
    Thanks for sharing.
     
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  8. ASHWINRAJ

    ASHWINRAJ Gold IL'ite

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    Yea Deepu!
     
  9. ASHWINRAJ

    ASHWINRAJ Gold IL'ite

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    Hmmm.
    Thanks Vidhya!!
     
  10. ASHWINRAJ

    ASHWINRAJ Gold IL'ite

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    Thanks Anu.
    yea a true fact!!
     

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