When I was told to write a paragraph on kindness, it gave me a chance to reflect deeply on this seemingly simple word, but yet which defines the very basic trait of humanity. How often we use words like honesty, kindness, gentleness, empathy, and sympathy in our day to day interactions, but in this fast-paced world of today, where competition, anxiety and “me-first attitude” and now covid related stress rules the world, we have lost the essence of the words like kindness.
So I thank Aidbees, for giving me a chance to write to its audiences, who I believe will be primarily children and youth, and express my thoughts to them and address them as my friends. So dear friends, I would like to tell you first to be kind to yourself, your friends, family, neighbors, animals, and birds that live in our neighborhood. And be kind to strangers the lone beggar who comes into our neighborhood in tattered clothes and dirty. Give them something to eat or some clothes which are in good condition and not used by you or other family members anymore. Offer them to wash their face and refresh themselves.
I know my dear young friends that you are innocent more than the grown-ups like us and you speak and act from your heart. So I wish you could keep that innocence with you all the time even when you grow up and become the part of this mad rat race that we find ourselves in.
Sometimes we find ourselves in a bad mood and if some needy person or child asks for help, we are angry with them and shout at them. But we should always try to keep ourselves calm in all situations and we should practice this art. Remaining calm and cool defines us as humans in times of adversities and again makes us kind.
Dear children just remember that sometimes you will have to unlearn some lessons we as adults at the level of family or society teach you, or you imbibe on your own from us, observing our actions and how we react to situations. We the grown-ups cannot be right always we are humans and commit mistakes, so dear children just always go by your instincts. Like for example, everything in this world cannot be counted through the lens of profit or gain, everything cannot be black and white, there are always shades of grey in between.
So when we have got time from our studies or our routine work at home, we can take time to clean our neighborhood with our friends and of course with consent from our parents. We can help the weak, the frail, and the vulnerable people. If nothing we can babysit a small child of the maid who comes to wash our dishes and clean the house till her mother is busy. We can nurse the injured bird who has fallen from the nest or ponder on the affection and care a mother dog shows for her puppies ensuring they are protected and properly fed.
So when animals can have love and affection for their kind, we humans need to walk an extra mile to show kindness not only to our kind but the whole world around us. So let us simply practice our own basic quality. Let us practice humanity, show kindness to our environment, to our trees, mountains, animals, and to the whole universe. Let us be gentle, warm-hearted, friendly, and kind. Friends our kindness and gentleness will always be celebrated and cherished and because of these qualities, we will be remembered.
About the Author: Mrs Nighat Shafi Pandit is the chairperson of a leading non- governmental organization, Human Effort for Love and Peace (HELP) Foundation in J & K. With few like-minded people, she founded it in 1997 with the primary objective of organizing a social response to the growing destitution and distress resulting from the decades long turmoil prevailing in the Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir State.
