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Why is it that in this gloomy, fast-paced world we don’t put in a little extra effort to make others smile more often? On World Kindness Day, this year let us try a bit harder to turn a few frowns upside down!

As children we’ve all been told on countless occasions to be kind to those around you. It sounds like such a simple and obvious idea and well, it really is! But somewhere down the road the whole concept seems to have gotten lost in its journey. We tend to forget how easy it is to be kind. Kindness is a gift which everyone can afford. So why is it that we don’t share it more often with people around us?

The single, smallest and the most random act of kindness can make a person smile. Given that we live in such a dismal and cynical society, we all can use a little cheering up. Little acts such as greeting the cab driver a good morning with a happy face can bring joy to a person in ways one never thinks. Who knows your day will turn out beautiful just by saying kind words? It’s almost saddening to see how nobody greets each other anymore.

Our lives these days are very busy. It’s as if we barely have time for ourselves, let alone others. We are so occupied in our own businesses that we ignore the others’. We fail to ensure whether those around us are doing well or not; did they smile today or not? Just a “How are you?” after a “Hey” can make a person feel special and acknowledged.  The words of Dalai Lama ring all the more true now when he said, “When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace,”

Being kind is like giving hope to someone who feels alone. We don’t realise how our words and actions impact those around us. Nobody knows what the other is going through. We casually crack jokes that often can be derogatory but are yet supposed to be “funny”. Thus, always think twice or thrice or maybe even a hundred times before being rude to someone.

It’s the best time to be nice to people around you. Kindness can be expressed in the most mundane actions, for instance, smiling at someone, offering to open the door, letting them know they look nice or maybe just making them laugh.

On asking around I received different views by others as to what they feel is an act of kindness, most people associate kindness as an act which makes them smile. This includes gestures right from sharing music, reminding your friends to ‘stay hydrated’, a random hug, marking your friend’s proxy or just recommending a good book!

What act of kindness did you do today? Did you make someone smile?

 

Feature Image Credits: Navya Jindal for DU Beat

Aditi Gutgutia

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Those In Need and Life Vest Inside collaborated to bring India’s biggest kindness flash mob ‘Dance For Kindness’ in New Delhi, on 12th November 2017.

Through this event, they wanted to spread the message of Kindness, positive human interaction, global utility, teamwork, leadership, and positive self-expression in our daily grinds of a routine life. They conveyed the idea of ‘kindness boomerang’ – one small act of kindness can manifest for you in a different form!

Held in the heart of Delhi, Connaught Place, more than 500 participants across the age groups and gender joined together to perform a Kindness Freeze-mob/Flash-mob to the same song, same dance. Imagine – this group of participants was a part of a worldwide community of more than 15,000 across 50+ countries. After the dance, the participants performed the ‘Selfie Time with Act of Kindness cards’. Every participant performed the kindness task on the card, displayed the audience the idea of spreading positivity and shared their enlightening experience.

All participants came from different parts of the community – children from different NGOs, Shades of happiness and Gavaksh, college students, school students from Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Jahangir Puri, with choreographer for the whole event being Vivek Rajput. People from different walks of life came together to embrace the positivity and kindness in them.

After the event, participants shared their own experiences with everyone and talked about how a positive change about inculcating kindness in our daily life is coming gradually but steadily. The crowd around also brimmed with happiness to see an event like this happening in Delhi.

Shreya Bhatia and Abhishek Saini, Co-founders of Lending Hands Foundation (Those In Need) said, “India may be one of the fastest growing economies in the world but there are glaring societal issues that it needs to tackle. India ranked a dismal 122 on a list of the world’s happiest countries, dropping four slots from last year (World Happiness Report, 2017). More than 50 million people suffer from depression in India (WHO, 2015) and crime rates and violence doesn’t seem to climb out of growth trajectory. The facts and figures shook us to the core and our team decided it was time to set things right.”

Tapinder Singh, a participant, said,” The purpose of World Kindness Day is to look beyond the boundaries of our country, culture, race, and religion and we realize that we are the citizens of the world and that kindness is the common thread that unites us all. The purpose of the day is to self-reflect and spread positivity and message of humanity around yourself. I am glad I was a part of such an event. These are some of the more major issues that nobody talks about. I’m glad that the Those In Need team is doing this”