I strongly believe in random acts of kindness and practice them often. These acts are selfless actions done to help or cheer up people, for no reason other than to make them happier. I do not expect or want any return favors, except for maybe seeing a smile on their face. 🙂
In practice
Both stories below are from my September 2023 India trip.
Saturday. The day started with giving dollar bills to the construction workers at the house we’ve been building. It was the first time that they had seen any other currency than the Indian National Rupee. The amazement and curiosity were streaming through their eyes. Next, it was time to make my friends happy with some Dabeli. They were working to paint a wall at one of friends place, so I bought them bunch of tasty Dabelis. I ended the day with visiting my mom’s school. This time, it was time to make all those 50 kids happy with Kit-Kats.
Another memorable story was when I helped sponsor 3 snack items at a free school run by my uncle and aunty. This felt different because the potential impact radius was increased to ~1000 students and staff members of the school and hostel.
I wanted the students to try out 3 of my favorite items.
As I lived for about 5 years in the high-cost-of-living western world, now the cost of things in India amazes me. This kind gentleman offered Dabeli to 1000 people at a cost of INR 10,000. Equivalent to $120. $120 could probably buy 10 sandwiches in Seattle where I live.
Buying or gifting material things to people is not the only way. It could be as simple as just visiting the elderly and chatting with them. I wanted to share the examples above because they’re the most memorable for me due to the number of people involved.
Why I do it
A plain answer to this would be – it’s just my personality and it makes me happy.
Part of that personality has formed because I’ve been helped selflessly by multitudinous people. It is my strong belief that life’s not a zero-sum game and doing such acts increases the overall sum of economy/happiness/well-being.
A single act can inspire the recipient to pass on the kindness, leading to a chain reaction of goodwill. It’s like throwing a pebble into a pond; the ripples spread out, touching more and more lives. Everyone around me should prosper and be happy when I do.
So why not.
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