Why Does An Act Of Kindness Like We Got From My Son’s Teachers, Surprise Us Nowadays?

It’s in the places where you least expect it that you experience the warmth of kindness. We recently witnessed it in a small dusty town named Jaigaon in West Bengal, located in the low-lying hills of the Himalayan mountains.

My husband’s work warrants biannual postings that bring us to some of the remotest places in India, like Jaigaon. My first impression of Jaigaon was just that of an ordinary city. The roads were ridden with potholes and the occasional speed breaker, guaranteeing a rather rickety ride (not suitable for people with bad backs) that you don’t want to venture out on with a full stomach. The only outlet of Domino’s with its gleaming blue and red sign logo was a pleasant sight for the sore eyes of urban dwellers like us. However, the other shops, an unorganised melange of retail, hardware and groceries, were surprisingly well stocked and proved pretty useful in the coming days.

An unexpected act of kindness at my son’s school

After setting up the new house came the glaring question of zeroing in on a suitable school for our 10-year-old son. A quick Google search threw up a couple of schools, the top name being that of a well-established convent school. It seemed to tick off all our checkboxes, and off we went to visit the school.

After his first day at school, when I went to pick him up, I asked whether he had gotten his classmates’ notebooks to make up for the work he had missed. He said it was unnecessary, as his peers had been assigned to write the missed-out notes in his notebook.

“What?” I asked him, a tad distracted with notifications pinging on my phone as we entered an area with a robust network.

“Yes, ma”, he said compellingly. Each child in the class is assigned to write a couple of pages in my notebooks during their free time. I also write a few pages. Now I don’t have to spend all my time just writing notes.

I was dumbfounded when I heard his answer. “Wow,” I muttered under my breath. “How wonderful; that’s such a kind act,” I said.

Never miss real stories from India's women.

Register Now

It left us feeling so warm and fuzzy

On reaching home, as I flipped through the pages of his notebooks, different sets of handwriting were visible after every three pages, some pages neat, some hastily done, albeit the effort was visible in the scrawl of each alphabet and the patient underlining of the headings with the ruler. All done for the new boy in their class. After ages, I saw such a random act of kindness, and it filled my heart with a warm fuzzy feeling.

I was glad that my son was able to witness kindness, not just as words popping out of a book or scenes depicted in a movie. He was able to experience it first-hand at his school, all thanks to his classmates and teachers. I hope that our stint in this small town will be an opportunity for us to give and receive such unsolicited acts of kindness so that it becomes a way of life and not an act that astonishes us.

Image source: a still from the film Hichki

Comments