Last night, cuddled in bed before closing our eyes, I shared with Raghav a beautiful, poignant story of kindness that I heard while watching a Youtube video of Pavi Mehta speaking about the power of kindness and giftivism. You can listen to that inspiring talk here. It left me with a sense of joy and peace and an overwhelming feeling of love and faith in humanity.
The story was of a young man who was walking along the road and was threatened with a knife to part with his wallet, by a young boy. The man willingly gave up his wallet, and also offered the boy his coat, which might come in handy as he roamed the streets in the cold night. The boy took it too. Then, just as he was walking away, the man asked if he had had dinner. The boy shook his head. The man then said they could go down together to the restaurant down the road and have dinner. So they went and sat down at the table opposite each other. They ordered something and ate. The waiter then came with the bill. The man looked at it and said: "I could buy you your dinner, but you have my wallet." The boy slowly pushed the wallet over to the man. He took the wallet, paid the bill and then said : " You know, I want to ask you one more thing. Can I have your knife?" The boy thought for a moment and handed over his knife to the man.
Raghav loved the story. He beamed from ear to ear; his face lit up. He didn't say a word. Nor did I. We just looked into each others' faces with a kind of knowing and being. It was beautiful to share that sacred space in silence.
Then, I went on to share with him what that story and the talk inspired me to do and think about. I wanted to make smile cards (I got the idea from here ) in English and Tamil, design them myself and pass them on to people we meet, when they least expect it. He smiled and acknowledged my idea, but went on to say this -
"It is all ok to give a smile card and be kind to people.....but then it is his choice, and up to him to be kind or not and pass it on to others."
This little soul stuns me with his casual profundities. And yes, kindness is a choice. Always.
The story was of a young man who was walking along the road and was threatened with a knife to part with his wallet, by a young boy. The man willingly gave up his wallet, and also offered the boy his coat, which might come in handy as he roamed the streets in the cold night. The boy took it too. Then, just as he was walking away, the man asked if he had had dinner. The boy shook his head. The man then said they could go down together to the restaurant down the road and have dinner. So they went and sat down at the table opposite each other. They ordered something and ate. The waiter then came with the bill. The man looked at it and said: "I could buy you your dinner, but you have my wallet." The boy slowly pushed the wallet over to the man. He took the wallet, paid the bill and then said : " You know, I want to ask you one more thing. Can I have your knife?" The boy thought for a moment and handed over his knife to the man.
Raghav loved the story. He beamed from ear to ear; his face lit up. He didn't say a word. Nor did I. We just looked into each others' faces with a kind of knowing and being. It was beautiful to share that sacred space in silence.
Then, I went on to share with him what that story and the talk inspired me to do and think about. I wanted to make smile cards (I got the idea from here ) in English and Tamil, design them myself and pass them on to people we meet, when they least expect it. He smiled and acknowledged my idea, but went on to say this -
"It is all ok to give a smile card and be kind to people.....but then it is his choice, and up to him to be kind or not and pass it on to others."
This little soul stuns me with his casual profundities. And yes, kindness is a choice. Always.
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