The beauty of writing a blog is that it just keeps growing… I’m so excited to announce that with this new month comes yet a new direction for TFD, with the start of a regular series sharing my top picks for things to do over the upcoming weekend.
Some of my suggestions are bound to be city-specific (depending on whether I’m in Bombay or London!) but irrespective of where you are in the world, I do hope you’ll find enough to keep drawing you back here each week…
#100KSmiles
Fittingly then, first on this week’s list is the #100kSmiles Challenge – a social media movement transcending national boundaries!
The objective is simple: get 100,000 people to share photos of random acts of kindness that they have performed by or before 1 January 2017.
I’m writing this post having just returned from the Tata Memorial Hospital, where I spent the afternoon distributing colouring books and crayons to little children in the Cancer Ward. Words would not do justice to the emotions I felt whilst here, but all I can say is that the small act just went to reinforce the forgotten power of kindness and the fact that we as individuals have the ability to make a difference to at least one person’s life…
If you’re up to the challenge (or if you’ve already been nominated for it!) you have 24 hours to complete it. Perform a kind action; take a photo representing the act and/ or the smile you’ve earned; and share it on social media with the hashtag #100kSmiles. In turn, nominate at least five of your friends to take up the mantle too!
The act can be as straightforward and simple as sharing your water with a child on the street, paying someone an unexpected compliment, helping an old person cross the road, or even saving a piece of chocolate for your best friend (chocolate fiends like myself know that this struggle is real!)… The idea is to share the gift of happiness, helping to draw the year to a close on a positive note (because well, life recently).
The campaign is spearheaded by the charity ConnectFor, which will be updating the number of people who have successfully completed the challenge every evening until 1 January 2017. Track their progress, here.
Silent Eternity
Continuing with those good vibrations, if you are in Bombay this weekend then pop into Jehangir Art Gallery for a thought-provoking view of iconic artist, Satish Gupta’s solo exhibition, Silent Eternity.
Thoughtfully curated by a dear family friend of mine, Tarana Khubchandani (of the Gallery Art & Soul), the all-encompassing collection of sculptures, paintings and haikus reflect a detached yet almost hypnotic air of mysticism and a sense of Zen spirituality.
Also not to be missed, is the connection with “The Buddhas Within” – a nine-foot high sleeping Buddha’s head, reclining in the manicured lawns of the Prince of Wales Museum next door. Walk around it and you’ll find a cave-like pattern making up the back of the head…
Gilded and undisturbed, Buddha sleeps surrounded by a hundreds of mini Buddhas immaculately lining the inner walls in a mesmerising nod to our past, present and future…
When November 30 to December 5, from 11am to 7pm
Where Jehangir Art Gallery, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Kala Ghoda
#DoMoreTogether via MooDoo
And if you’re looking for company to go to the Gallery, I’d suggest downloading MooDoo – an app which is changing the way we make social plans by instantly letting you know which of your friends are free to meet up and what they’re in the mood to do!
With no typing involved, you can literally coordinate a meet-up in four quick taps as I did yesterday for an overdue catch up with a friend from my University days!
And finally, one for all ye Londoners reading this…
#WinterWonderland2016
Enough said?
I have to confess that I’m really missing all my festive favourites in London… so if you have any suggestions on how to get into the spirit of the season here in Bombay, do drop them in the comments below! And likewise, with your tips and picks on things to do this weekend.