Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns

A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble. ~Charles H. Spurgeon~

Kindness and compassion is something we rarely say in this time and age. Like most good things gifted by nature including gardens of greenery, beauty of the mountains, unpolluted flowing rivers with breathtakingly beautiful wild flowers and chirping cute birds, kindness has become almost extinct. It seems that with time humans memory has faded to the extent to which they have forgotten it's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

Even at times like this we do come across people who hold on to the belief that all the people we meet are significant and deserve care and respect equally.

I am delighted to say that I have met a fair share of people we should call humane. On my trip back from Addu, I took a cab to the airport. Since I didn’t know the fare was Mrf50 I had Mrf100 bills. It turned out that the driver did not have change as well. Upon arrival to the airport the driver went over to a young man t to see if he got change. The driver came back and gave me my Mrf100 bill. When I questioned him about the fare, he pointed to the smiling young man and said he wanted to pay my fare. I was very grateful, smiled politely and headed to the terminal.

Once in the terminal, I was immediately approached by a kind staff of immigration. He volunteered to carry my luggage through immigration to be monitored and again till I was done with check in with the airline. He said how could a tiny lady like me can handle such heavy luggage. But believe me I had one luggage bag containing clothes only, a tiny box with edible leaves and my super sized travelling bag.I said I could handle but upon his insistence I gave up and thanked him for the help. Once I was done with everything, I went over to a nearby café’ to get a drink and headed to the terminal. The kind man from immigration was the one who checked me through the gate to board the flight. He had one of the biggest genuine smiles I have seen.

Some people feel that one person or a small thing can’t make a difference. But believe me a small gesture as small as a kind smile can have a great positive boost to oneself as it could be the only sunshine he/she has had the whole day. And an act of kindness from a single person does make a difference.

What this world needs is a new kind of army - the army of the kind as said by Cleveland Amory.