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Writer's pictureSruti Mohapatra

Y2K – Say yes to kindness

(I wrote in this on 1st of January, 2000)


When I read an article by Garry Zukov (Y2K) I was immensely impressed. Yes, indeed what else can Y2K stand for but 'Yes To Kindness'. What more pertinently required today when life is chaotic and encumbered with lack of love? What is love? It is the absence of violence in our life. And what is violence? It is being unkind or not being kind.


Have you ever watched the beginning of a new day? The light strikes upon the trees in the garden, making one leaf discernible and then another. One bird chirps, there is a pause, other chirps, the sun suddenly rises. From bright orange to light yellow to piercing white the horizon changes several shades. In tune with this, the sky too changes its texture. From a placid blue to a vibrant white. A few birds, then more, then many more dot it’s surface. The sky is never unkind to the birds. Why does it let them fly there every day, year after year? Why does the sunrise every single day? And that huge banyan tree! As if it has been waiting for its turn too. Ready to provide shelter to those hundreds of birds, tired workmen, and wandering beggars. Never once does it say, no, no more. I am tired of giving shelter.


Nature is, in fact, giving us all a message in kindness. That we are all connected. Each tree, the sky, each bird is an expression of one force, a "part of God". So we have no right to be unkind. Nature reminds us that we are never truly independent, we all need each other and so it is pertinent that we be kind to each other. It is only kindness in its true manifestation that can see us through a disharmonic life. Let it start with us. Why should we wait for the other person to be kind? Let us be kind. Let others follow.


Kindness is to give all beings peace and happiness without conditions. Compassion is to help all beings, just oneself in unity, from sufferings. To realize all beings are equal without discrimination. With our growing bond with lucre, power and fame we are becoming so very self-centred that being unkind and cruel are acts done with the utmost ease. Compassion and kindness are words only in the dictionary not in life. Relationships are now formed on the basis of want, profit and needs. Today we need some help and a person is 'god'. Tomorrow, consciously or unconsciously, if he in any way creates obstacles in our path we react most brutally. We become Mr Hyde in an instant. Cruel, violent and unmerciful. All virtues, acts of kindness, help forgotten.


Unfortunately, let’s not look back at the lost times, the moments that we could have made a difference, let’s do that as of today. Make a difference, where we work, in our home, with our loved ones. I think that many times we have walked in our sleep, and if anything should change it is our perception of life, our zeal to live and our ability to adapt to changes, great and small. The dawn of a new age, yes we just entered another millennium, and our lives so far will be the testing ground for our lives in the year 2001 and beyond. If we continue to hope to continue our evolution into the year three thousand we have to be kind. Without kindness, there will no TOMORROW.

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