It was just another lazy Sunday for Mumbaikars strolling along Bandra's Carter Road, till suddenly, around a 100 people including kids and senior citizens broke into a dance.
Around 90 cities including Mumbai launched the 3rd annual World Kindness Week with a flash mob organised by 'Kindness Unlimited' (KU), in association with a US-based NPO called Life Vest Inside. Around 10 Indian cities participated in the event.
With 100 registered participants from schools, colleges and workspace, KU also had senior citizens shaking a leg in their second event in Mumbai. They began preparing 3 months ago and all cities had the same choreography with over 50 KU volunteers looking after the event all over the country. 84-year-old Hindi teacher Sumita S Sen danced till the end. "Today humanity is losing its identity and we discriminate more and more everyday. With kindness we can solve all problems in the world," she said. Bandra-based interior designer Sayida Sayed was just passing by when she decided to join the flash mob. "A kind world is worth living in and if a person is kind, they can handle any situation thrown at them. An angry person won't remain angry for long if you approach them with kindness and I will spread this message to my family, friends and colleagues," said the 23-year-old.
Started by Nirmala Mehendale in 2005, the objective of KU is to bring people from all backgrounds together as global citizens and take affirmative action to spread kindness. "Mumbai is a city that celebrates diversity, but time and again we do show our aggression. We decided to have this dance for kindness event with the Abhishek Zaveri Dance Academy and the Andrean Centre for Social Work. We have many more activities, projects and events like the Kindness Hangout every first Sunday of the month. People just want to feel that there is somebody who cares about them," said Aditya Mehendale, president of the KU youth council.
The Andrean Centre is a school of learning for the children of domestic helps. Sixteen of their students performed on a Bollywood song to kick-off the flash mob. A nervous Varsha Pardesi, 14, was holding placards with kind messages before the mob began. "I help my classmates with homework and they help me when I am sick. You can't achieve anything by fighting and we should stay together and help each other. Adults do take a lot of stress but they shouldn't forget to be kind," she said.
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