Pay it Forward : A Random Act of Kindness

Have you read or heard this story before, an inspiring real life incident which happened in Miami. Please read on....

Something extraordinary that happened in Miami, Starbucks drive thru, was a random act of kindness that caught on, one man started it by buying a coffee for the person in line behind him and it went on like that, all day.....infact, he was angry at the other rude customer who kept on honking. He thought that the Guy behind him, who is continuously honking, must have a had a very bad day. therefore, Instead of getting angry, he wanted to cheer him up, and turned that situation into a more Positive event.

He says that, it was his desire to change something negative to something more positive. before anyone can realize the Pay it forward went on viral to the extent of NBC covering the whole story.......have a look...

A RANDOM ACT OF CONSCIOUSNESS

A Similar incident happened in Secunderabad, but in an another way around, for another cause..

In the year 2005 -2006, it was a start of an IT Era and the twin city of Hyderabad and Secunderabad was bustling with commerce due to influx of Software Companies from all over the world competing with each other to grab a place in the twin city. This also resulted in movement of people in search of jobs and livelihood, so did I, and eventually made me stay in a hostel in Secunderabad, I can say that it was like a home away from home. The hostel well maintained with good facilities, had a Guest house on the top floor for both working men and students who were studying in nearby colleges, coming from different cities of Andhra Pradesh and India.

The hostel was located in the center of the city nearby a clock tower which was designed by non other than the Nizam of Hyderabad himself. during evenings, and may be after Tea, we would visit each others rooms and exchange various matters of interest which happened that day.

THE BACHELORS TALK

Hope you can understand, the normal "bachelors talk", which we all do. Yeah, same story here. interestingly, our hostel had some very eminent personalities staying with us, some of whom were students studying in the nearby flight training school, aspiring to be Pilots. some were preparing for IAS and as always, sharing ideas and information with one another, was a great fun.?Most of the time it was fun, like non other, picking jokes on each other in a very intellectual way was a normal activity.

The Rooms were big enough to accommodate 2 persons, but toilets and bathrooms were common, located at both ends of the corridor. every one was peculiar, in the sense different, we had all sorts of people staying there, I still remember an Air hostess was staying in the guest house for quite some time on the first floor, there were lawyers, media , press, IT , call center and what not, we had everybody.

Guys who were very inquisitive would visit the rooms to find what others are up to that evening. In all this, I cannot forget to mention, that there was one guy whom we all worshiped like GOD, believe me, cause, if you happen to visit his room, you will be amazed to see at how well he would keep all his things arranged in order, you can open up the cupboard, ha ha, the cloths all lined up and carefully folded including his shorts and socks. believe me, I actually picked up some of those traits....

As i said, the crackling sound of laughter would always fill the corridors of the hostel most of the time, especially in the evenings, we always had some one from the nearby rooms pointing us to slow down, to keep the noise low, but its impossible, not only the laughter, but the burst of screams, yelling at the top of the pitch, as anyone's lungs can hold. were common, cause the jokes were like that, real-time jokes as and when it happens, since some were in their Pilot training course and it would be like, what happens after the training and how their uniforms would be and so on " the normal bachelors talk ".

WEEK END EVENT

During weekends we would get visitors, most of them are friends and colleague of hostelers, cause the hostel had lots of facilities, like Gym , basketball court, shuttle court and other places to sit and chat, located at center of the city. moreover all the Good restaurants were located at a stone throw distance from our hostel.

Since mess ( food court) was not available inside the premises, we had a habit of strolling out for dinner or for any other matter. One fine weekend,?after 9.30 pm, we decided to have our dinner in a food joint little bit far away and took the pavement reserved for walking and this was our habit. all along the way, we had to get down on the road and get back on the pavement as there were people sleeping on cardboard, covered with rags, along the whole route. initially we never bothered, as we either jumped or crossed those sleeping there, busy discussing various issues, like we do, every other day.

ALL OTHER THINGS ARE SECONDARY

but until, a student Pilot who was friend of a hosteler, who came to visit one of his colleague stumbled upon a person who was sleeping there on the pavement. all of them laughed at once, like anybody would do...but, let me tell you, It was a beginning of a serious kind of a quarrel, thank god it was defused quietly and cleverly at once. Even though quarrels happens out side every other day, safety and security of everyone was of Prime importance. all other things are secondary.

As i said, every thing good or bad happens that day was shared between everybody. back at our hostel, while discussing this issue. some were against those sleeping on the pavements and some were supporting the poor laborers. then the topic came to, how they are suffering in this winter and it was later decided that some thing should be done for this cause and after much thought, we came upon the idea of giving a woolen blanket to those whom we quarreled that day. that's how it all started...........

The very next day, one of them ushered me to the noticeboard and pointed me to the newly printed notice, which was pasted on the wall and it was something like the following and but, it did have a clear message to everyone who Passed by.

That evening, we gathered again as usual and i was asked to collect money for this noble cause, in spite of my refusal to carry out this activity due to unavailability of time, but no way. the reason given was exams and so on. Therefore, I accepted to avail myself.

later, it was decided that everybody chip in some money for this cause and 250 rupees was fixed as a minimum amount for donation. but if you are working and can do more, it was welcomed. This initiative was shared with the Sr.secretary and an official notice was also given confirming and appreciating our decision.

UNEXPECTED SUPPORT

Unexpectedly , Just days after our decision, the newspaper Deccan Chronicle published an article on this issue on the front page, urging the need to donate during winter and support people staying outside. an interview of a lonely kid sleeping near a dog was the picture printed on the front page. This news was like heaven send confirmation and made thing easier for us and finally everybody started giving 250 rupees and above for this purpose. at the same time, unexpected donations started coming in from visitors and guests from our guest house as well. All those who read the notice responded cheerfully.

before I can realize, the amount collected was nearly around 11000 rupees and above, more than we actually expected. in order to find out the cost of the woolen blankets. we visited the stalls nearby Secunderabad railway station, there was a market close to the station. i know those shops very well, as, it was the same route i used to take to the Don Bosco home for street children every weekends.

HOPE IN HUMANITY

After, visiting several shops, a particular shop owner was interested with our philanthropy and agreed to reduce the price of the blankets to a bare minimum of 90 Rupees per piece. the quality was good and looked like military quality, I immediately bought those blankets with that total amount and arranged a pickup vehicle to load all the blankets to be dropped in the secretaries office.

Well, I couldn't keep abreast with the developments happening in the hostel, cause, by this time i already had other priorities to attend too. therefore, may be after a month or so, i called up and came to know that, the blankets were loaded on to a vehicle and on the way, in the middle of the night, the hostelers had woken up those who were sleeping on the streets and surprised them by giving them brand new woolen blankets. It was a huge success for the hostelers and a need of the hour for those who were staying outside.

I believe, this act would have certainly increased their Hope in humanity, otherwise its a wretched world out there, isn't it....

I would like to add that the Credit for this activity goes only to the Contributors who generously gave money for this cause and to Deccan chronicle Newspaper who took up this matter.

KEY POINT

Well, the key point, of course, is that, they had performed a random act of consciousness rather than a random act of kindness.

Random acts of consciousness are perhaps even more contagious than random acts of kindness. therefore, Raise your level of view, dig deep for perspective, and make the coming new year be a fantastic one for everyone you know....

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/chandigarh/blankets-distributed-among-poor/511506.html

Well, with regards to the blankets, I did ask them, what was their response, when receiving those blankets and immediately came the reply, the words which we hardly use nowadays.....

" THANK YOU ".

Event Date: 2007 January, location: Secunderabad.

Ps. I only made sure the concerned are safe and the Project implemented successfully

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