True Story: Pune Station, 2018
There was a Tea Stall just outside Pune Railway Station.
The owner was Ramesh Anna, a 62 years old, with one disabled leg.
He would open his stall every morning at 5:00 AM and close it at 11:00 PM.
A cup of tea cost 5 rupees... and came with a complimentary a 'smile'.
People would come, drink tea, talk for 10 minutes, and leave with a much lighter heart.
People would tell him, "Anna, you are a psychiatrist."
He would just smile and say, "No, my child, I am just a tea vendor. But I have seen suffering, and that's why I put less sugar and more love into my tea."
One day, a 25-year-old boy arrived. An Engineer. He was dressed in a suit, but his eyes were swollen as if he had been crying all night.
He asked Anna for a cutting chai and asked him to make it strong.
Anna served him the tea. The boy finished it in a single gulp, pulled out a 100-rupee note from his pocket, placed it on the table, and said, "Anna, keep the change.This is my last cup of tea."
Anna’s hands trembled. He stopped washing the cups and
asked the young man, where he was heading for?
The boy smiled, a hollow, dry smile. "Under a train. I lost my job. My girlfriend left me. My family is drowning in debt. What is the point of living?"
Anna stepped out of the stall, limping, took the boy by his hand and led him behind the stall.
There lay an old, tattered diary.
Anna said to the boy, "Read this."
The First Page of Anna’s Diary - 1985
Today, my leg got crushed under a truck. The doctors said, 'We have to amputate.'
My wife was 8 months pregnant. We had exactly 23 rupees in the house. That night, I went up to the hospital roof, intending to jump. Just then, my wife called, 'Listen, the baby is kicking. It's telling it's father to fight.'
I broke down in tears and came back down.
The next day I lost my leg... but I didn't lose my courage.
I sat outside the station with two pots and a kettle. I shouted, 'CHAI!'
First day - I earned 17 rupees. I cried... but I survived."
The Second Page of Anna's Diary - 1993
Today, my wife passed away from Cancer. I was left with a 6 year old son. People told me to put the child in an orphanage.
I told them that may have lost a leg, but I won't lose my fatherhood.
I sold tea day and night.I educated my son and made him an engineer. Today, my son is in America. He tells me, 'Dad, come live with me.'
I tell him, 'Son, who will look after my customers? Who will listen to their sorrows?'
The Last Page of Anna's Diary - 2018
Today, I turned 62. I am missing a leg. My wife is gone. My son is far away.
Yet, every day, 200 people call me 'Anna.'
I listen to their grief, serve them tea, and tell them, 'Live, my child.'
I have never met God... but I meet the Divine, within every human, every single day.
That is why I am still alive, and I am happy because I still have something to 'GIVE' - 'tea and time'.
The boy began to cry uncontrollably like a little child after reading the diary.
Anna said to him, "My child, you have two hands, two legs, and a degree... and yet you want to die?
What did I have? 23 rupees and a severed leg...yet I didn't sit around crying over what I didn't have; I kept using what I did have.
You must do the same. Lost your job? Find another. The girl left? A better one will come along.
...but once life is gone, it never returns."
Anna returned his 100-rupee note and gave him a free cup of tea and said, "This is the 'tea of life.'" Don't finish it in a gulp... sip it slowly."
Today, that boy is a manager at a major company in Bangalore.
He calls Anna every single month... and whenever he visits Pune, his very first stop is Anna's stall.
He orders two cups of tea, one for himself, and one for Anna.
... he always tells Anna, "your 5-rupee cup of tea saved my 5-million-rupee life."
5 Life Lessons from this True Story.
Etch them on your ❤️
1. Everyone faces challenges... it's not about the problem, it's about the perspective.
Anna lost a leg, but he didn't lose his vision. You may lose a job, but you didn't lose your life.
Stop counting what is GONE... start using what is LEFT.
2. A person who attempts suicide isn't 'weak'... they are ALONE.
That boy just needed someone to listen to him. Anna gave him 10 minutes, and the boy gained 10 years. Sometimes, 1 cup of tea = 1 life saved. Learn to LISTEN.
3. God comes to help in the form of a human being.
The Divine itself manifested through Anna.
Recognize the God within Human Beings before looking for one in temples. It could be a tea vendor, an auto driver, a postman... anyone.
4. The one who "gives" is never poor.
Anna is missing a leg, yet he makes 200 people smile every day.
You have everything, yet you don't bring joy to a single soul. Wealth isn't in your wallet... it's in your behavior.
5. There is no such thing as a 'last cup of tea'.
You are the one calling it the END ~ God has only written an "Interval" so far.
As long as you Breathe, there is a chance for a NEW BEGINNING.
Anna’s Final Message gor each one of us.
"My children, life is like a cutting CHAI...
Sometimes it will taste bitter, sometimes it will taste sweet...
But don't throw it away; sip it slowly...
Because the very last sip is always the sweetest...
It is called experience.