"Kind hearts are the gardens,
Kind thoughts are the roots,
Kind words are the blossoms,
Kind deeds are the fruits."
~19th century rhyme used in primary schools~
Click below to listen (you can also download here):
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Kinnari who loves this week's song has a beautiful anecdote around how this song "found" her:
"During the summer of 2013, I had conducted a workshop for kids on a fee basis and I remember the anxiety that putting a price tag brought me. In the bargain, I didn’t get to spend time the way I would have loved to! Come 2014, and with the introduction to Moved by Love, Vanwadi, Nimo’s music, my husband Rahul's attending the Gandhi 3.0 gathering et al, the 2014 summer camp was on the kindness theme. To ease the tension of pricing the workshop, this 10-day workshop was conducted in a pay-it forward spirit
While this camp was conceived to include any number of children who were interested, I was even prepared for a class if only one child showed up. Even when there wee only 2 confirmations, I continued the preparations with zest and energy assuming the class was already full. This was a beautiful shift in attitude as the earlier "me" would have panicked and lost all enthusiasm if a decent number of kids did'nt show up.
Since this was a pay-it-forward workshop, I was at ease. Neither me nor my work was going to be judged by money. This really let me be myself. I thoroughly loved researching for and doing the simple acts of kindness. One sunny afternoon, we went to serve cold water to people (auto-wallas, construction-workers, youth, elderly, etc.) on our street. I saw that it was because of the children that people accepted the offering. The last day, we went to a crèche for construction workers’ children. It was so overwhelming to see them and to play with them. I was in deep gratitude towards my kids to give me an opportunity to serve in small miniscule ways
On the last day though, the "scarcity" forces struck back. When people started offering me the envelopes as their contribution, I started judging them by what they offered me. I was seeing my mind sway and it took me a day to figure that the amount had no relation to the value I offered to the kids.
I notice that once your actions start following your heart, the eco-system blesses you too. Once I decided to have this Camp Kindness, magically friends and relatives who were totally unaware of my camp began posting messages, links, songs on kindness. One of the songs forwarded by my sister in law was One Day. It was pure serendipity. And once the kids had viewed this video, each day the kids would demand that they want it to be replayed. This song was played 10-15 times in a 10 day span.
Here is a gift I would like to pay it forward to all of you with love and gratitude."
Lyrics:
Sometimes I lay
Under the moon
And thank God I'm breathing
Then I pray
Don't take me soon
'Cause I am here for a reason
Sometimes in my tears I drown
But I never let it get me down
So when negativity surrounds
I know some day it'll all turn around because...
All my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
For the people to say
That we don't wanna fight no more
There will be no more wars
And our children will play
One day [x6]
It's not about
Win or lose
Because we all lose
When they feed on the souls of the innocent
Blood-drenched pavement
Keep on moving though the waters stay raging
In this maze you can lose your way (your way)
It might drive you crazy but don't let it faze you no way (no way)
Sometimes in my tears I drown (I drown)
But I never let it get me down (get me down)
So when negativity surrounds (surrounds)
I know some day it'll all turn around because...
All my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
For the people to say
That we don't wanna fight no more
There will be no more wars
And our children will play
One day [x6]
One day this all will change
Treat people the same
Stop with the violence
Down with the hate
One day we'll all be free
And proud to be
Under the same sun
Singing songs of freedom like
One day [x2]
All my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
For the people to say
That we don't wanna fight no more
There will be no more wars
And our children will play
One day [x6]
