Letter of the day - K
Thought of the day - Kindness
The act of kindness is not something that is to be taught
rather it is to be learnt by the kids themselves. The kids observe their parents
a lot in terms of how they treat others. Kindness need not be just giving food
or money to beggars but it is the act of giving something to someone even those
unknown. It should not come out of compulsion rather it should come from
within.
Ok with all the above about the act of kindness, I would
like to share the way my son acted and reacted. There are two incidents that happened
recently and I am so proud of him and my daughter.
Incident 1: It happened during Deepavali time. (I had been
planning to write about that from that time, but somehow I kept procrastinating).
We went on a shopping spree just two to three days to Deepavali to get a jean
for my son and to get some fireworks. We went in an auto and that auto driver
was a new person sent by our regular auto driver as he could not come to pick
us up. Though the auto driver had another regular pick up he ensured that we
finish our shopping without any hindrance. Before I stepped out to get into the
cracker shop, my son asked me in a hushed tone, amma- antha uncle phone la
pesarache ketten, avar innum avaroda kozhanthaigalukku ethuvum vaangalayaam,
naama avarukku konjam mathappu etc. apparam sweets vaangi tharalaama? (Amma, I
heard when that uncle was talking over phone, that he has not purchased
anything for his kids, can we get some fireworks and sweets for his kids?) I
agreed and we got a box of few fireworks and some sweets and gave it to him.
The joy and gleam that I saw in the auto driver's eyes and the happiness I saw
in my son made me realize yes I am bringing him up as a compassionate person.
Incident 2 - My helper (I don’t want to call her my maid)
was diagnosed of some disease and ailment in stomach She is not a person to ask
for advance or ask for extra money and when she was telling me about her
experience with the doctor, my daughter asked her whether she is taking milk
and buttermilk regularly as suggested by the doctor and when my helper replied
in affirmative my daughter asked me amma can we give her a packet of milk and a
cup of curd to her every day. It was a pleasant surprise for me as I was also
thinking about it and I wanted to ask her whether she would like to get it from
us. I agreed immediately and when my helper started refusing my daughter
insisted and convinced her. And also every day she ensures that a packet of
milk and a cup (allocated for her) of buttermilk is taken by her.
I realized that moment that kids observe us elders
especially parents and parents are their first teachers when it comes to such
acts of kindness, patience and perseverance. Don’t preach just show them what
is to be done by actions and they learn it fast.
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