India, lets ‘Make it a better place for you and for me’.

The last few weeks have been harrowing for parents, teachers and families with a number of tragic incidents involving children occurring all over the country.

I am deeply saddened by this news related to young innocent kids who don't even understand what's happening to them. The prospect of something like this happening to my own 5 year old son or my nieces/nephews or my friend’s children sends shivers down my spine. Indeed none of us are immune and it could happen anywhere, anytime and to anyone.  I wonder what drives these depraved souls to attack young children. This must definitely be an unforgivable offense and the guilty should be brought to justice swiftly.

When I look around, there seems to be an outpouring of social unrest. A large part of this is often attributed to the less privileged sections of society. Poverty, inequality, lack of access, discrimination impact social cohesion and manifests itself in extreme human behaviour. Perhaps a slap on the face of progress! When measured economically, India (& indeed the world) is growing but so is the gap between the rich and the poor, the haves and have-nots. On average, the richest 10% of population now earn almost 10 times more than the poorest 10%, up from 7 times in the mid-1980s. But that is only one dimension. The policy holders need to address this but in the meantime is there something we can improve in our daily social behaviour that can foster change?

An answer may lie in ever day acts of gratitude and treatment of equality. We can all contribute – by little gestures of kindness to those touching our lives every day, providing livelihood platforms to giving our domestic help the joy of an air flight ride! We can start with simple acknowledgment - Good morning to the building watchman, thank you to the school guard, smile to the school bus lady, offering tea/food to maids and so on. In addition, giving them a little extra help will not make a difference to us but fuel growth of that section substantially. Funding their children’s education or volunteering to teach their children may help uplift them. It gives a very satisfying feeling to be able to do anything for another person and is very powerful in bringing about a change we may want to see in this world. While these changes in our behaviours alone may not guarantee solutions to the larger inequalities existing in our world and the attitudes it engenders, it could be a small step towards embracing the less privileged and making them feel wanted.

Penning down these thoughts is a relief. I started my bit by offering fresh home-made nimbu pani to my part timer and a small cash reward to my full timer for her cleaning spree today. It proves that any regular day can be made beautiful if a little bit of kindness and appreciation touches it! As Mother Theresa once said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters and create many ripples.”