Then there are places untouched by city sounds, where the soil is red, the environment is clean, and everything has a rhythm of its own to live by. We recently visited a forest village, and the thing that struck a chord there is the quality of humanity so rich that it left us humble.
Looming trees lined the land as if guarding it silently. The children ran barefoot on the red earth, feet dirty but faces shining. The communities lived in simplicity, which was almost holy in its elegance.
But in their eyes, we saw something that is inestimable – purity and power bound together with kindness.
We had a purpose. We came with a mission. We brought slippers to donate to children and families who walk miles a day with no protection for their feet. A gesture that started with us was much more significant for them.
As we settled down and unwrapped the boxes, the children gathered around us in curiosity.
We encouraged them to slide their feet into new slippers — soft and colorful and clean.
“Their reactions affected us profoundly.”
The boy glanced at his slippers and whispered, “Yeh mere liye?”
There was another girl who stood by quietly, gazing at her feet as if she couldn’t believe that at last, she had something new.
A mother smiled and said, “This is a very big thing for our children.”
The reddish soil beneath our feet felt warmer.
The forest breeze felt kinder. And in those moments, we knew that authentic wealth was not measured in money but in the type of heart they had. They had very little, but they shared smiles, stories, and warmth with us as if we were part of them. The way they shook our hands, thanking us and blessing us, brought us peace, which we never find in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city. We were coming to give, and instead, we received something much more precious than that:
“Please know that I am honoured to Humility. Grace. And the understanding that kindness will flourish best in the simplest of settings. “Among forests and red soil, we didn’t just find people—” “We found hearts richer than gold.