A Special Birthday Gift
I feel blessed and I have countless reasons to say so :-). Few days back I met a bunch of souls who not only talk of kindness, service, prayer or gratitude, but I saw them breathing, feeling and living all those words that they spoke, creating those ripples which moved me and my loved ones to do something special for our super special sister Jigi who has a heart like a child and interestingly shares her birthday on children’s day :-) 14th November. She was away for an event in Mumbai and so I thought of doing 14 random acts of kindness on her birthday and the journey started. Couple of friends got together and had a fun filled day.
While driving on the roads I see those traffic police who stand there for hours in sun, rains, cold no matter what the season and guides us so that we are safe on roads. At times I see many people breaking the rules even though they stand there for long hours to ensure order on the roads. So a thought came why not to serve them with tender coconut for doing such tender job :-)
So we went to the coconut wala who I call chacha as he resembles a lot with people staying in my old neighborhood where I spent all my childhood where the most talked community, the Hindus and the Muslims shared a beautiful space is what I experienced. When we told him about the plan he tried to find sweetest coconuts from what he had with love twinkling in his eyes. Though we started the act everyone joined us in full spirit with their full heart.
On our way ahead we thought of the security guards outside the malls and buildings who guard’s us from??? still thinking :-) As soon as I started walking towards them they all sat in an attention position with no expressions, as soon as we offered them sweets which came as a gift from a very dear soul Mayuree didi, I could see smiles flowing down along with warm wishes saying, “Tum Jiyo Hazaro saal” (May you live a 1000 years!).
Out next special person was “Masi”. In her glass of tea which she serves the most prominent flavor anyone will find is of love and compassion. Her day starts around 6 am and ends till the Venus rises but that smile on her face never fades. This Masi of ours and my mother shares a very similar trait of smiling whatever it takes and so I picked up one of my mom’s saree and tagged her. I could see her eyes sparkling with joy and the very same smile of my mother which took me down the memory lane with all the time spent with her.
Then came a thought of why not anonymously decorate a friend’s house with rangoli who is soon going to get married. And with the nature at its best, we got some leaves and flowers from the surroundings itself and created art with heart :-)
Jigi had brought this traditional string instrument few months back. The day she got it, she instantly felt to gift it to our Yoga teacher but that had not happened so far. So thought of doing that today. Our yoga teacher is surprised and may be thinking of pursing a new hobby now :-)
That day was a blessing for us as we had that opportunity to serve ourselves, interact and share some beautiful moments with random people like kids staying in our lane, my street dog, guards, traffic police, people living on the streets, grannies at Kamatibag, some of our friends and many more who not only blessed the birthday girl but even us with loads of luv, smiles, prayers and good wishes. Different people were celebrating her birthday at varied places but everything seemed all in-tuned and inter-connected in synergy.
"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."
Posted by Trupti Pandya on Nov 25, 2013 | permalink
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Meghna wrote ...
Tapu :) :) This is so so special! It felt like I was Jigi for a moment :) So awesome and thank you for sharing the love with all of us!
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Anupreet wrote ...
Wahh Trupti :)
Your blog has inspired me to do something similar :) Thanks for the inspiration :) -
ashima wrote ...
Wah wah!!! love you trupti :) Thanks for sharing... Sheetal has already said but I was so moved to read you tagging masi with your mom's saree.. I can only imagine how much love it must have meant :) feeling a lot of love and gratitude for you right now..
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Harsh wrote ...
Wow. Thanks for sharing. So beautiful the thought, so loving the flow. Thank you.
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Aparna wrote ...
Awesomeness! all of it! Hope you touch many more lives! Stay blessed. :)
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Shivani wrote ...
Trupti...god bless! Beautiful idea! .your story inspired me! It was my sister's 50th bday last week. So, I chose to take up my sister's favourite food items and reach out to known and unknown people in some parts of the city. Some of them were people on the streets, auramates and my family. It was a beautiful experience to receive. Im touched. Thanks for sharing your story.
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Nikita wrote ...
Its incredible what you did trupti..very happy to read this.I am in vadodara till may 2014 and i became part of the MBL family last may. from then on i have been wanting to offer a day of sharing handwork , had connected witha friend in chennai Anita Balasubramanuim but had to cancle because of health reasons.i would also llike to do that with strangers on the road..i have been thinking to set up a stall in the busiest of places in city..invite people to try weaving, braiding, any craft that i know and gift it back to them. i feel i want to do this.i feel it will for a few mins put a smile on people's face and help them slow down..I am a little stuck because m 7 mnths pregnant due in march and unable to run around on my own.Siddharth tagged me to the blog and it will be nice if i could do something till i am here in vadodara.
lots of love.nikita.call me if you feel we could do something or even if i can attend some ofthe things you are doing.7567619864.
Sheetal wrote ...
this is an incredibly heartwarming story.. My favourite part was tagging Masi with your mother s sari.. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.. Love