2015 was a special year. It was the tenth birth year of my daughter and we were all excited about the milestone. We had planned an elaborate surprise for her on Nov 4. We did the usual birthday party with her friends in the evening, and later in the evening I was flying out to Sydney. She was too excited to think about my impending departure and had a ball celebrating her birthday. Then the reality set in. She was not able to believe that her papa was going to leave her all alone on the night of her birthday. She kept her tears to herself all along the way to the airport but was walking a good 10 to 20 feet away from us so that we couldn’t see her hurt. Proud of her dignity, I must say, our little one! Just as I was about to depart to the gate, we unveiled the surprise. I called her to say bye, by this time her tears were flowing down freely, and presented her her birthday gift. Her passport and her boarding pass to Sydney! She kept looking at it for a good minute before the whole thing dawned on her. My wife was taking a video and pictures throughout. I will never forget that moment in my life. While we were waiting in the lounge to board, we told her the whole plan of our trip–Sydney, Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road, et al. We did not know that we were walking ourselves into a pickle that would have undone half the trip. We had forgotten to bring along my driver’s license! Without it, we wouldn’t be able to rent a car in Oz and our Great Ocean Road would have been a non-starter. And we had just an hour left for boarding, there was no way I could have gone home and be back in time. That is when an act of random kindness struck us from an unexpected quarter. We called our neighbor and told them about our predicament. Lalitha, somehow, had left the key with them to water our plants during our absence. She guided them on the phone to our closet, and within 30 min, my dear neighbor was handing me my driver’s license! The secret trip had not even started and it had already gotten the label of epic stamped all over! For the second time that day, I was struck by the wonder of life, and will never forget the relief and thankfulness I experienced on seeing my neighbor drop everything just to help us salvage our trip. We went on and had the best holiday ever, full of unforgettable moments–surprise birthday cakes throughout, especially the one brought to us by the Singapore Airlines air hostess, my daughter cartwheeling at the edge of the world against a white lighthouse on our Great Ocean Road drive, catching a surprise sunrise from a hot air balloon–that almost did not happen had it not been for the wonderful kindness of our Singapore neighbors. As I remember that day, a long happy sigh makes its way out. What is not there to love about life in this moment! What act of random kindness did you experience in your life? What kindness did you extend to somebody and turned their moment into joy?

Digital art courtesy: DALL.E 2, a magical text-prompt image generator. I gave these two text-prompts to generate the above drawings. 1. oil painting of a laughing little girl dressed in yellow and pink delighted at being given a surprise birthday gift at the airport. 2. Digital art of young girl dressed in yellow and pink cartwheeling in front of a white lighthouse that is on the top of a hill overlooking a blue ocean and a cloud filled sky dotted with hundreds of hot-air balloons.Try it! https://openai.com/dall-e-2/

Context: recently, I’ve been plagued by bitterness about how trapped I felt in Singapore during Covid. As a foreigner, I did not have the right to return to Singapore for almost two years. As a result, I wasn’t able to travel home to see my mum where as people around me were able to. In an effort to move on, I’ve decided to recollect good memories, acts of random kindness over the years, which will help me wean the poison out of my heart and fill with light. #ARKitect