“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”
–Dalai Lama
In his last lecture delivered at Carnegie
Mellon, Randy Pausch shared an anecdote from his childhood: his sister and he
bought a ten dollar salt shaker from Disneyland, which, in his excitement, he
dropped and broke. The duo went back to the shop and told the seller about this
incident. To their surprise and delight, the shop exchanged it for a new piece
completely free of cost, and even said it was their fault they hadn’t packed it
that well! They took the blame for the excitement of a ten-year old child.
Imagine the same scenario today. Would you
get another piece? Would you give
another item? I bet the answer is in negative.
In today’s fast-paced and materialistic
world, kindness is just another lost art. While we pride ourselves on being
scholars of mathematics and science, we lack the quality that makes people like
us, in addition to respect. Since preschool we’re taught values, but how is it
that in high school we forget the textbook of life while focusing on social
studies and languages? Why is it that kindness isn’t used to measure a person,
but instead their grades and interests decide their life?
Kindness doesn’t have to be donations to an
organization; goodness starts at home. Help your mother in the kitchen,
surprise your parents with a gift or even a card, ask your brother, “how was
your day?” or just smile at a stranger you cross.
Instead of thinking ‘what’s in it for me?’
think of how you can make someone else’s day better– and that is kindness. And
remember, no kind deed is ever wasted. When Randy told his parents about the
saltshaker incident, they were so impressed that they made multiple trips to
Disneyland thereafter, which generated about 1,00,000 dollars worth revenue for
the theme park. Exchanging a ten dollar memento earned them a lakh more. A kind
deed is all it took.
Amen
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