Acts of kindness
Last week, I came across one of my old diaries while cleaning my cupboard. It was a small pocket diary. When we were in school, we used to get previous year’s diary as bonus. We used them as notes, rough books, lyrics books, and whatever writing need of the moment.
This pocket diary, which I got, had a list of something like this.
1. Watered plants in the garden
2. Helped Amma in the kitchen
3. Gave seat to an old person in the bus
4. Helped sister by answering her query on homework
5. Put waste paper on the road to dustbin
6. Helped an old man to cross the road
7. Gave money to a beggar
8. Answered a friend’s doubt on some topic
The list reminded me of my Scouts and Guides time at school. We were asked to maintain a diary of good things we did. According to me the above list was some great deeds of kindness. There were a lot more of these sort in that diary. Some of them gave me a good laugh too.
Today, I happened to read Shri Shri Ravishankar’s article on 25 ways to be happy. One of them was Random acts of kindness. It was an eye-opener to sit back and think of recent acts of kindness in my day books. During the past few days, did I do anything to be called as an act of kindness? The answer was a fluctuating No to the Yes side.
But, there were times, when I had answered my colleague’s queries, watered plants, gave money to a beggar. But, those were nowhere in my book of acts of kindness. Now, I doubt whether they were really the acts of kindness or am I not doing anything of that sort at all. Has the definition of the act of kindness changed over time? If so, what are the acts of kindness
- Sending Rs. 100/- to the SOS Children’s village notice came along with my credit card bill and claim it for income tax exemption?
- Not denying to the one day’s contribution from salary for some recent natural calamity
- Donating Rs. 100/- for ‘Annadaanam’ venture of some temple
These few were qualified for the entry to the good books. But, the common factor in this new definition is money and money only unlike my earlier ones; but the willingness to do cannot be ruled out.
Still, I wonder which one of my definitions for acts of kindness is finer. The answer is left to all those who still retains the traces of childhood innocence.
posted by Lekshmi @ 5:26 AM
3 Comments:
Leks....Seriously Beautiful post. Well...Fuel for thought!
I think its just like the movie "Pay It Forward". You dont do charity, you dont do acts of kindness. You just forward all the good that you get, that you see. And it just keeps triggers new acts of goodness, honesty and truth. Nice concept. hard to implement!
Hi Madhavan uncle..
Nice article at the outset..A thought provoking one indeed..The definition of kindness/generosity has changed in due course of time..During childhood we had restricted access to the use of money directly..Hence even small acts of goodness like helping a blind cross the road made us feel good..But now equation is different.But i strongly feel money cant bring in that personal touch...This is because the feeling of goodness is an emotional thing which cannot be created by a materialistic object like money!!!
HI Madhavan Ankil...
Nice post indeed..Lots of thoughts into it ..
The feeling of goodness is relative at the outset.Having said that all of we have all metamorphasised in the way we go about doing charity..A small act of kindness like helping an old man cross the road made us feel good in the good old "doordharshan days"..But this might have been transformed into handing over of an ICICI check to a charity house now..But i wonder whether money would equate to those small acts of kindness although undoubtedly it might be a more directly beneficial act...I guess charity is a mutual feeling of goodness which both the donor and recepient enjoys and money hardly does matter!!
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