KINDNESS | THIS HAPPENED TO ME

I Was Too Busy Collecting Smiles

Because I have smiles to go before I sleep

In India, we’re just taking a breather from celebrating the festivals of Navaratri, Diwali, and Karthigai, also a festival of lights observed in South India, and specifically sisters praying for brothers.

You will agree when I say that doing things for others makes us happy. This is one of my favorite ways to collect smiles.

Joy of Giving Week

In India, we also celebrate the Joy of Giving Week or the “festival of giving”. Launched in 2009, this is celebrated every year, commencing on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary on 2 October and ending on 8 October. People from all walks of life come together — from cab drivers to CEOs, school children to celebrities, homemakers to opinion leaders, and media personnel — to pay it forward by giving their time, money, resources, or skills back to society.

They do this by creating or participating in “giving” events. This can be as simple as a family taking their house help’s children out for ice cream or as big as a “gift compassion” where over 10,000 schoolkids across India make and exchange gifts with their peers from different socio-economic backgrounds.

Happily, for me, the Joy of Giving week follows World Smile Day on the first Friday of October every year, in memory of the creator of the smiley, Harvey Ball. What a wonderful symbol of kindness and affection!

So, as we celebrate the 10-day Navaratri festival, the city is full of joyous events marked by cultural programs, delicious food, new clothes, and lots of shopping. During this festival, we also celebrate Joy of Giving Week from October 2–8.

There used to be a time when our family planned weeks ahead and made budgets for the shopping and outings to enjoy during the 10-day festival. We arranged dolls, made a special food offering every day of the festival, and invited people over. Return gifts were planned and lovingly given to visitors. We dressed in our best finery and visited temples for special prayers.

Over the years though, thanks to my mother’s generous heart, we tweaked the way we celebrated festivals. We started giving to welfare homes around our area. Old traditions gave way to the new tradition of giving and making lives better.

Today, I am happy to say that over the past few years, festivals have been purely a “giving” affair at our place. Be it birthdays, anniversaries, special celebrations, or festivals, we donate. We try and make a difference by sharing what we have.

This year, as I am on a major decluttering drive, I can make it even better by adding plenty of “kind” to giving.

I am pleased to look back at the “past” and “present” of how we celebrate.

In the past, we bought new clothes.

Now, we give away what we have.

In the past, we prepared sweets and snacks for distribution among friends and families.

Now, we sponsor meals at welfare homes.

In the past, we planned a major special purchase from our wishlist at home.

Now, we sponsor a child’s education or medical costs.

In the past, we visited temples.

Now, we spend time with the elderly in homes for the aged and children in welfare homes.

In the past, we made travel plans for vacations.

Now, we save the money and donate it to a cause.

In the past, we made a budget for our expenses.

Now, we make a budget for “giving”

In the past, we referred to the color of the day for each day of Dussera so we could wear it.

Now, we gather things of that color to give away or gift.

The transition is easy.

This year, I am giving away clothes, toys, linen, kitchen containers, books, and other things.

And that’s how we celebrate festivals, birthdays and special occasions.

Life is better when we share what we have.

Life is great when we give and collect smiles.

And of course, as I said, I have smiles to go before I sleep!

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. — Winston Churchill

How are you celebrating special occasions?

Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles ❤ Did you smile today?

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook | Mastodon

Help me support underprivileged children via Ko-Fi. Thank you!

This story is in response to Dr. Gabriella Korosi’s call to action. Have you responded to it?