What is kindness? All religions tell us to be kind to each other. They define kindness as the ability to love others as our family. However, we currently live in a world where people hate themselves. Family bonding is continuously weakening. We are too much in our careers and interests that we tend to ignore our family’s wishes. We do love them but do not spend much attention, as we should. We have different priorities, and this makes us almost self-centred. In the current crisis, everyone is advocating the importance of kindness. Humans across the globe have become victims of the disease. Though we might not be infected, we are affected through some means. Our financial resources are dwindling, and so is job security.  So let me begin the story... It was a sunny day, the sun blessed both hands strongly. At that time a man was standing near the bus stop. He was a young unemployed man and seems to be in great hunger right now. His appearance shows that he is from a poor background, wearing an ordinary dress having stitches around the shirt. He is waiting for the bus to his native place. His native was 7 km from where he is standing.   He took his wallet to examine whether he had any remaining money for drinking tea. His bus fare was 20 rupees, unfortunately, he found only 20 rupees by searching the nook and corner of his purse. He was totally upset because his stomach was forcing him to take some food for him but as an alternative, his mind forced him to save the bucks for travel allowance. In the end, he decided to go to the roadside stall to take any food that he could afford with his money. The stall was on the next side of the road so he needed to cross the road. While he was trying to cross the road, an old handicapped man came and stood in front of him, his right arm missing and he held a plastic bag in his left hand. That man seemed to have an age of not more than 70. He begged the young man for money to buy food for him by saying that he was left alone by his two sons and he lost his wife in an accident so he was detached and didn’t know what to do. The old man’s appearance and his words made the young man forget his situation and his hunger. He took the entire 20 rupees and gave it to the old man by saying- “Eat something with this money and I don’t have more than this”. The old man replied with a smile and blessed the young man with kind words and he started to walk back. The young man was totally satisfied with his heart, not with his stomach, anyhow now he needed to take a walk towards his home. Then, he noticed that the old man, unfortunately, dropped his plastic bag. So he wanted to return his bag to him and then he needed to walk back. The sun started scorching. Even though he was young, he wasn’t able to bear the heat, but the young man was desperate to return the bag to the old man. The old man made a good impact on the young man’s heart. He went to the next side of the road in search of that old man. He wasn’t able to find the old man in the food stall. Now he decided to go with the bag as a memory of that old man. Suddenly, he was somehow able to hear the voice of that old man. With great eagerness, the young man looked back but now he noticed a different person. The same old man was sitting there with a cigarette in his right hand accompanied by another person who seemed to be his friend. He was amazed to find his right hand. The old man was actually narrating the incident about how he betrayed the young man and how he managed to get 20 rupees from him.   The young man after hearing those conversations was shattered and his heartbeat seemed to stop for a moment. His mind started to blame himself as a “fool” continuously. His mind wanted him to scold the old man but his heart refused to do so. He stood there for more than 10 minutes without any action. Now he wasn’t able to tolerate this insult for a longer time. He now stepped forward towards the old man. Now the old man was all alone there, he stood before him. The old man slowly looked up and saw him. For him, the young man was an unexpected visitor. The old man stood up and the young man returned his bag to him and asked “WHY?”. The young man continued by saying that “I WON'T SCOLD YOU OR DEMAND MONEY FROM YOU BUT I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT I AM NOT A FOOL.” The old man realised his mistake and apologised for his mistake but the young man replied with a smile and walked back by shifting his pain to the old man    Moral : Be kind to everyone even if they do not deserve it.   By Bhagya Prabashini Silva  Royal International School - Kurunegala  10F   PHOTO © IMG.FREEPIK.COM