There were so many lessons from being kind that were learned whilst walking alongside Nimo on the Empty Hands Pilgrimage in London recently. Each step during the two weeks was infused with so much kindness and love. If it were possible to trace every act of kindness taken in each step, there would be a clear trail running through the streets, trains, homes and hearts of London. Whether it was for a human being, an animal or Mother Earth, each small act was carried out with a selfless intention and with great love.

Lessons in Self-consciousness...

We had arranged to meet at our home the day before the one day retreat, to set up, run through logistics and most importantly, for the three of us, Trishna, Nimo and myself to reconnect. Within a few minutes after arriving, before we sat together in silence for a while, Nimo asked if we had brooms we could use for sweeping fallen leaves that had piled up in front gardens and pavements near our house. I fetched 3 brooms and dustpans from the garden shed and thought how wonderfully crazy this idea was. What would the neighbours think? Walking down the street on a unusually warm and sunny autumn morning in my t shirt and flip flops carrying wooden brooms in our hands, was something I'd never done before. With Nimo walking ahead of us,Trishna and I glanced at each other not quite knowing what to think. Nimo cheerfully waved to a woman pushing a pushchair with her child with a loud "hi!" as we passed them. He laughed and told us how, just the day before, his cousin had told him not to say hi to strangers, especially with young children, it just wasn't the done thing in London. :)

As we swept each fallen leaf, the action began to make a clearing, not only on the paving stones and gutters, but also a clearing in my mind and an opening in my heart. There had been a profound shift from moving away from feeling self-conscious to a space of receiving joy from the action of doing. Somebody later had shared these wise words with us, "When nervous, think service".

Many times a day, Nimo would pick litter, be it on a suburban street or at London's busiest junction of Oxford Circus in the heart of London.

We travelled quite frequently on the tubes and trains in London. One time, Nimo pointed out that the lady sitting next to me was wearing a red flower on her lapel and had been looking at the heart pin pinned on the collar of my coat. Most commuters, including myself, either sit with their eyes closed, or on their phones, or seem to be fascinated by staring at the floor. Nimo's energy must have been rippling over to me because without a second thought of how it would be received I started a conversation with the lady, acknowledging the Remembrance Day poppy and asking whether the coming Sunday was Remembrance Day. As she started searching on her phone to confirm when it was, I pointed to the heart pin on my coat explaining how it had been made from leftover scraps of fabric by women in the slums of Ahmedabad. As her eyes lit up and her face broke into a smile, my heart opened up even more and I unpinned the heart pin from my coat to pin it onto hers. Just then we reached our stop, as I started saying bye her eyes welling up and she leaned over embracing me with a hug and a kiss on my cheek. I have never been hugged by a stranger on a train before, it left me feeling elated with love. What was more beautiful to see were the ripples from that interaction. On learning more about Remembrance Sunday being on the day when there was an Empty Hands event at the Bhavan, Nimo invited everybody present at the event to pray for a few minutes in silence to honour and remember all the souls that had lost their lives through war and violence.

I'm aware that even sharing these reflections with you all make me very "visible", yet I also now know that by chipping away at this ice-wall of self conscious-ness, it allows me to be kind by being able to share these gems and insights with others, keeping my heart open and flowing.

Lessons in Fearlessness...

We were at the Whitechapel Mission Homeless Day Shelter for a gathering at noon with 50 homeless women. I wanted to show Nimo around the centre so we arrived fairly early. It was a Friday morning, which are usually more "active" than most other days at the Mission. Nimo and I were chatting with Earl, a client, in the Life Skills office when we suddenly heard commotion with a lot of shouting outside in the dining hall where the homeless come to eat breakfast and for companionship. A fight had broken out between two or three men. Nimo just ran right past me and went straight into the crowd of shouting, heated men that had gathered. There are always, strong staff around, and the police are usually on standby near a place like here. Nevertheless, a few moments of feeling fear that Nimo might get hurt trying to help break the fight swept over me. Somehow between Nimo and a staff member they were able to diffuse the anger, which had resulted in one of the men getting hurt with blood being drawn from the blow to his face. Much later I'd questioned Nimo whether he'd felt any fear when running over to break the fight. His answer quite simply, was that all he knew and thought of at the time was knowing he had to help... there was no fear.

Acting from deep compassion can only emerge from a space of absolute fearlessness. In an act of goodwill, if we wait to think, we allow the mind to step in with its army of doubting soldiers armed with rational thinking.

Lessons in selflessness and humility...

Quite often we would find Nimo at the sink washing dishes, even during gatherings at public venues.

At the homeless shelter, the staff and volunteers were totally taken back when one of the first things he did was to gather cleaning materials, bucket and mop to clean the washrooms.

Many times, when returning by train, I'd be waiting for a long time at the station exit. I recall how the first time we reached the home stop,  I'd been waiting for what seemed like a long time. Thinking perhaps that he hadn't managed to exit the busy train before the doors closed, I reached for my phone to call him. Just then, he came bounding down the steps... of course I should have realised, he had waited patiently allowing all the tiger passengers to exit first. :)

Lessons in Empathy...

Nimo's kindness touched many sentient beings along the way. A mouse had been caught by its tail in a mouse trap in the shed in the garden. He promptly let it go, and what was more, helped it to untangle when it got tangled in the bushes.

One day, as we boarded the tube, there were two small dogs Daisy and Poppy who, to me, appeared excited as they were yelping and jumping around next to their owner. But to Nimo, they seemed frightened of being a rickety noisy moving tube train. He soon had them scooped up in his arms, stroking, comforting and giving love. It was so beautiful to see Daisy and Poppy just melt into a peaceful calmness.

These are just some beautiful examples in the trail of kindness that Nimo walks.

The ripples of which keep flowing...

Sweeping autumn leaves from common areas has now become a regular act in our lives, including Trishna's little daughter Sareena who's been rocked by Uncle Nimo. A few days back, Hemant and I finished dinner very late after a long day. It was almost 10 pm, he said he was popping out for a while. "where?" I'd asked, to which he replied, "to sweep up leaves on the pavement outside the nursery." The story goes on with a passer by who had stopped by as we swept leaves with brooms and a leaf rake... and ends with him asking Hemant if he could kindly order him a leaf rake also so he can do the same and to leave it outside No 36. :)