Kindness Matters on Pitara Kids Network

Count that Day Lost

Thu, 29 Aug 2002 10:16:30 +0000

If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting, find
One self-denying deed, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went –
Then you may count that day well spent

But if, though all the livelong day,
You’ve cheered no heart, by yea or nay –

Count that Day Lost [Illustration by Anup Singh]

If, through it all
You’ve nothing done that you can trace
That brought the sunshine to one face –
No act most small

The Silent Passer-by

Sun, 25 Aug 2002 02:48:15 +0000

When I was a child, I didn’t have hair on my head, just some stubs.

I liked to watch my friends play. I would join them now and then, but I preferred watching.

Every day, we would see an old man walking by our playground, carrying an umbrella. He had big ears and a bald head. The moment my friends saw him pass by, they would shout, “Hey, deaf and dumb, what’s the time?” They told me that he could neither hear nor speak.

The Bridge Builder

Sun, 07 Mar 1999 20:09:16 +0000

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,“said a fellow pilgrim, near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide –

Gappu – The Brave

Sat, 13 Sep 1997 13:35:52 +0000

In a busy town in south India was a zoo. In it lived a hippopotamus whose name was Gappu. Gappu was a kind and gentle creature who loved children. However the children always made fun of him and this made him very sad. “See how ugly that creature is.”

“Yes, it has such a thick, oily skin and such a horrible face.”

“Isn’t it slow, fat and stupid looking?” The kids would yell to each other making faces at poor Gappu. The hippopotamus would listen to all this and shed silent tears.