All of you have grown up reading inspirational stories, heart-touching real-life stories, listening to bedtime stories, going through some terrifying ones even though they haunt you at nights, and also living stories! They have the power to convey things excitingly, keeping us intrigued till the end.
However, growing up, we forget most of them, and in times when we are nervous, sad, or stressed, values from the stories we have already heard can help out a lot! Here are some heart-touching real-life stories that share some essential learnings we as people need to adopt in our lives…
Top 10 Heart-Touching Real-Life Stories That Will Take You On An Emotional Roller Coaster Ride
1. An Act of Kindness
Vikas Khanna, who is a renowned chef, cookbook writer, a filmmaker, restaurateur, and humanitarian but most popularly known as the judge of MasterChef India, has a huge fanbase.
Seven years back in 2013, Vikas Khanna was on a flight from Mumbai to New York via London. On the same plane, an air hostess came up to him requesting to meet a woman for a few minutes, who was eager to speak to him.
Khanna instantly agreed (we all know how generous he is), and an older woman in her 60s wearing a beautiful saree, with flowers in her hair, came to see him. He respectfully bowed down and said, “pairi painna,” which is a practice to touch the feet of your elders as a sign of respect.
The woman in her lovely Maharashtrian accent said that she saw him boarding the plane and so wanted to see him. Khanna asked her where she hailed from, and she replied that he might not have heard of the place as it is a tiny village, and she was married there in Kolhapur. His instant reaction was, “Yes, it is one of my favorite cities. The contrast of best jaggery to the best chilies.”
She smiled and asked him to laugh, too, just like a mother making her child greet. Khanna smiled, and she looked at him with watery eyes and then thanked him.
The woman then stood up to leave and told him that she watches all the episodes of MasterChef India only to see him smile because it reminds her of her late son, and it feels like his smile brings her son to life again.
Vikas Khanna froze. She gave him blessings and then left. Khanna then shared that whenever he feels low or under pressure, he thinks of the woman’s words and smiles to bring a smile to her face.
This is what kindness is all about. You don’t realize the importance of doing something good knowingly or unknowingly for someone, but it positively affects you too!
2. Where Two Ends Meet
This is one of those heart-touching real-life stories that depicts the power of true love. It is the story of Dr. Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia, who hails from India and Charlotte Von Schedvin, who belongs to Sweden.
Pradyumna Kumar, born to a low-income family of untouchables in Orissa, was a gifted artist. But his family could not fund his education due to lack of money. He was always insulted due to the cruelty of the caste system.
He was later able to join the College of Arts in New Delhi in the year 1971. He gained a lot of popularity there for his beautiful portraits.
Four years later, a 19-year-old student Charlotte Von Schedvin who was a student in London, came to learn of his skills and traveled to India to get her portrait made. During the period of making the portrait, Pradyumna Kumar fell in love with her beauty and she, with his simplicity.
Charlotte changed her name to Charulata and married Kumar following Indian traditions and rituals. It was then time for Charlotte to leave for Sweden, and she wanted her husband Pradyumna to come along, but he intended to finish his studies.
She also offered to send him air tickets later, to which he refused to say that he would come to see her on his own. The two kept expressing love through letters. The distance wasn’t a barrier for them.
Kumar had made a promise, but in reality, he had no money. He could not give up on his love, and it was then he did the impossible. He sold all that he had, bought a second-hand bicycle, took all his brushes along, and set for a voyage to the far west to reunite with his love. It sounds like a dream, doesn’t it?
His cycle broke down on the way a few times. He even had to go without food for days due to a shortage of money but was determined to reach Sweden. After four months and three weeks of more than just a tiring journey, he finally reached Gothenburg, Sweden.
Upon being questioned by the immigration officers there, he told them the reason for his visit and showed them the pictures of his marriage. The authorities were stunned that how could someone from a royal family marry a poor man, that too an Indian.
When Charlotte came to learn of it, her joy knew no bounds. She drove to Gothenburg to receive her husband. Her family accepted and welcomed Pradyumna in their family.
It has been 40 years of their marriage, and Pradyumna lives in Sweden with his wife and two children. He is a celebrated artist in Sweden and works as an advisor of Art and Culture under the Swedish Government. His village that once always shunned him now welcomes him lovingly each time he visits India.
This is life! It is unpredictable! Because you have the power to exercise your full potential to get all you deserve! This is the most heart touching love story.
3. Learning Has No Age
It is indeed true that age is not a barrier to learning.
Priscilla Sitienei, a 90-year-old woman, has proved it and is an inspiration to all of us who tend to give up so easily.
Priscilla, as a young girl, did not have the opportunity to read and write. What she could not do then did not stop her from dreaming and persevering to making those dreams come true.
She has attended Leaders Vision Preparatory School in her village in Kenya for the past five years. What is even more interesting is that she attends the school with her great-grandchildren!
She says that she has big goals and that she’d like to be able to read the Bible. She also wants to inspire children to get educated and to follow their dreams.
Her day at school is the same as any other student’s. She wears her uniform to school and attends English, Maths, Drama, Singing, Physical Education, and Dance classes. Above that, she lives in one of the school dormitories, where she shares the room with her great-great-grandchild.
All pupils love her and want to play with her. She is an inspiration to those who have kids and think they are too old to get educated. She says, ” Well, I am at school, and so should you!”
4. A Real Fighter
This is one of the heart-touching real-life stories of a soldier of the Indian army that is a true inspiration to all the patriots out there!
Major General Ian Cardozo was a young major in 5 Gorkha Rifles in the war of 1971 with Pakistan. During the war, he was making his way to aid a soldier who was wounded.
Unaware of the fact that he was walking on a minefield, he stepped onto a landmine that blew off his leg. He was immediately taken to the battalion camp hospital.
He asked the doctor there if he had some morphine or pethidine, but they didn’t have it at the hospital. He then asked the doctor to chop off his leg to which the doctor refused.
Major then took his khukuri ( a steel knife with a sharp edge used in combat by Gurkhas), chopped off his leg, and asked the doctor to bury it. The amputated leg was then replaced with a wooden one, and he remained firm, thinking that he still has two legs.
He started training his mind and body for commanding a battalion, something he had always dreamt of. Major then took a regular fitness test in which he performed better than and left behind seven non-disabled officers.
He was asked to accompany the Vice Chief of Jammu and Kashmir. The helicopter landed 6000 feet above the base camp. The Vice Chief was surprised how a man like him could climb 6000 ft. to the helipad, that too unaided.
It indeed depicted pure dedication and the spirit of not giving up. He soon got promoted, with a command of a battalion and a brigade! This is indeed one of the inspiring heart-touching real-life stories.
5. Ang Lee: A Never-Ending Dream
In 1978, Ang Lee had applied to study film at the University of Illinois to which his father objected as a large number of people would apply for the few available roles. Going against his advice, Ang Lee flew to the U.S., which affected his relationship with his father.
It was a few years later when he graduated that he understood why his father tried to stop him. It was nearly impossible for a Chinese newcomer to make it big in the American film industry.
The next six years were full of struggles for him. All he would do is support the film crew with the equipment, work as the editor’s assistant or any other miscellaneous duty. Moreover, what hurt him the most was shopping screenplay at more than 30 different production companies, only to get rejected each time. He turned 30 that year.
In Chinese, they say, “At 30, one stands firm.” However, he was clueless about what to do. His wife was his only and the most robust support he had.
The household was run on her income. Ang Lee felt guilty as this kind of life was undignified for any other man.
When nothing worked, he decided to face reality and enrolled himself in a computer course. He believed that only knowledge of computers could make him employable now. His wife noticed a timetable in his bag though she didn’t comment on it.
The next morning right before she went to work, she turned back and said, “Ang, don’t forget your dream.” It was this one sentence that brought his dreams back to life.
He slowly began to get funding for his screenplay and made his films. He has been nominated for 9 Academy Awards. His film ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’ won the Best Foreign Language Film award and he also won the Best Director award for the films ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and ‘Life of Pi’.
The rest is history!
6. Shared Friendship
This is again one of the heart-touching real-life stories. Ibrahim, a Turkish Muslim aged 50, owned a ration shop in an area in France, where they also lived a Jewish family. This was in 1957.
Every morning, Jade, who was the youngest one in the Jewish family, would come to Ibrahim’s shop to buy stuff, but also used to steal chocolate.
One day, he bought things from his shop but forgot to steal chocolate. Ibrahim called out to him and said, ” You forgot the packet of chocolates today.” Scared but curious, Jay asked him if he kept an eye on him every day. Ibrahim said yes and gave him the chocolate for that day.
This touched Jade, and he promised to give up stealing. With time, their relationship became intense, and Jade opened up to him about his problems and shared his secrets. Ibrahim used to quietly listen to him, pull out a wooden box that contained a book and asked Jade to hold any two pages with his eyes closed.
He then used to read out those two pages and discuss them with Jade. This carried on regularly. Their relationship grew even more strong until the day when Ibrahim died. In his will, Ibrahim had ordered his sons to give the wooden box to Jade, and they did as they were instructed.
Jade had got a swollen face that day due to excessive crying. However, he did not pay attention to the wooden box.
One day when he was disturbed and was remembering Uncle Ibrahim, it struck him that he should go and read that book in the wooden box. When he opened the box, he found a note asking him to reach out to a Tunisian friend who would read it out to him.
Jade asked this friend about the book, only to find out that it was ‘Al Quraan Al Kareem.’ Jade later converted to Islam and changed his name to Jaddallah Al Quraani. He also converted over 6000 Jews.
This is what Jade said: ” When I convert someone to Islam, I feel I have compensated for all the good Uncle Ibrahim did to me. He stayed with me for 17 years and never told made me feel that religions separated us. He also never told me that the book he read out to me was Quraan. His motto was, ‘We must struggle, and it is not a must to succeed.”
7. The One Who Gave His Heart and Stole Those of Others
In 2008, Hithendran, who was a young man, went to see his friends on his father’s bike and while returning met with an accident. The people there knew him. They informed his parents, who rushed him to Apollo hospital.
The doctors, after thoroughly examining him, said that his brain had lost his senses, and he couldn’t be brought back to life. His parents were themselves doctors who were taken over by grief but understood the fact and decided to donate his organs.
His eyes were donated to Sankara Netralaya, and his kidneys were given to Apollo hospital for a transplant. This was not all. His parents gave his heart to a 6-year-old boy who needed it, even though that meant covering a distance of 20 km in 30 minutes just after their son had passed away.
This is an example of humanity that everyone should learn from and is one of the best heart-touching real-life stories recently. Hats off to Hithendran’s parents! They ensured Hithendran continues to live through others.
8. Peng Shuilin: We Should Not Have Excuses in Our Life
When something doesn’t work out, all of us tend to blame our environment or the circumstances in which we are. The grass is always greener on the other side. This story will undoubtedly change your perspective of the same.
Peng Shuilin, born in Hunan China, is just 78 cms tall. In 1983, a truck sliced his body in two halves. His lower body couldn’t be repaired.
Doctors sewed up his torso and kept him in hospital for two years. All the nerves of his major organs were carefully re-routed.
Peng was not defeated at all. He built his muscle strength, was able to wash his face, and brush his teeth at the most. He survived.
The doctors at China Rehabilitation Research Centre, considering his situation, designed an egg cup-like case to hold him with two bionic legs attached to it. After nearly a decade, Peng Shuilin had finally started walking again.
The vice president Lin Liu said, “We have just given him a check-up, and he is fitter than most men of his age.”
This is the power of having faith, the strength of believing in yourself!
9. You Deserve to Live
This was back in 2015. It was a typical day. Neena worked at Birmingham New Street train station as a part of the train dispatch team.
While doing her duties around the station, she noticed a young woman at the far end of one of the platforms. What made her see the woman was that she was standing on the far edge of the platform, and her gaze was fixed below.
Concerned, Neena had the feeling that something was wrong and decided to go and check on her. Mustering up courage, she went up to her, not knowing how to start a conversation.
Neena started by introducing herself, talked about how beautiful her makeup was, but got no response from her. Worried, she could jump anytime, Neena kept on trying.
Neena signaled her co-workers who had called the British Transport Police for assistance and also called the signal box asking them to turn it off.
Meanwhile, Neena kept on trying, and finally, the woman burst into tears. She finally opened up about how she had lost her father and was unable to cope up with the situation. Neena comforted her and managed to take her away from the tracks.
This is one of those heart-touching real-life stories that has a very essential message attached to it. If you know or see someone who is suicidal or mentally disturbed, try to interact with them, be there for them and keep checking on them. Sometimes all one needs is someone to share their feelings with.
10. Mother And a Merciless Son
This is one of the most heart touching stories. Chaganti Koteswara Rao, an Indian speaker, known for his discourses in Sanatana Dharma, narrated this story to his followers.
One beautiful day, Chaganti Rao visited a nursing home to spend time with people residing there. When he entered the place, he noticed an old woman at the gate who was happy and excited, as if she was waiting for someone to take her home.
After spending time with the people there, when he was returning, he saw the same woman and was surprised. He then asked the gatekeeper about her.
The gatekeeper told her that she had no children at the age of 40. She prayed day and night, and finally, her prayers got answered. She was blessed with a baby boy.
But when he grew up, he brought her here saying that it is a temple and she could give fruits to the people and spend time with them. He then left, saying he’ll be back to pick her up. He registered her name here and left a fake contact and a fake ID.
He never returned. The lady went into a state of shock. Her love for her son is immense.
If anybody ever utters something terrible about him, she starts beating up the person. Every day she waits for her son to take her back home.
Our parents spend about half of their lives, sometimes much more, shower us with all their love, give us all we want and nurture us with their warmth. They deserve a lot more than love. When we needed them, they were always there for us, and so should we be there for them!
These are some heart touching real-life stories that have critical messages to convey. Share them as much as you can. They can be a hope of light for someone who is depressed or a source of motivation to keep moving on during the harsh struggles of life.
Share with us your heart-touching real-life stories, too, in the comment section below!
Last Updated on by kalidaspandian
