Good deeds in loop

An initiative started by a Matunga entrepreneur last year has inspired close to 34,000 people across 21 countries to carry out an act of kindness, and spur another to do the same. Here's how a little blue card inside your wallet can change the world

In January this year, Matunga resident Rushabh Turakhia received a mail he didn't expect. A bulky courier held 500 copies of real-life stories of acts of kindness that Turakhia had documented over the last few months, compiled in the form of a book.

Who was it from?
A friend the 33 year-old hadn't met in ufffd Turakhia couldn't even remember. The 'friend' had put together the stories and attached a note that said: Your Turn Now.

Fashion designer Roopa Shah passed on a YTN card to a man whose
wallet she returned after stumbling on it at a cinema hall. YTN cards
are shipped free of charge to an interested person's address by Rishabh
Turakhia, the brain behind the initiative. Pic/ Nimesh Daveu00a0

For Turakhia, it was a moment that reaffirmed 'what goes around comes around'. The book was a documentation of a chain of acts carried out by people from across the country, and abroad, through Your Turn Now (YTN), an initiative Turakhia kicked off last year.

Since June 2010, a motley army of people, most of whom don't know other members, is silently working to dust the nasty image our world carries with a bit of rose-tinted blush. And the ever-expanding army receives its weapon of mass compassion mostly by snail mail from Turakhia.

The entrepreneur created a tiny blue card that sits in your wallet and stands as a reminder that someone did you a good deed, and you have to pay it forward. Pay it forward, instead of paying it back is what Your Turn Now is about. "When you receive the card, it acts as a physical reminder. Each time you open your wallet, you know you have to do your bit and create a ripple effect," says Turakhia.

'Someone did a little nameless act of kindness that touched your heart. It's your turn now to multiply this feeling. Be there for someone and pass on this card,' reads the card. The back carries the message in Hindi.

Turakhia's Facebook group carries dozens of stories of people who received help from strangers just when they needed a Samaritan around. A lady helped by someone who caught the store cashier cheating her, and yet another who was offered a seat on a packed outstation train.

"There are 33,515 YTN cards in circulation out there across 21 countries. On an average, around 2,224 cards are sent out each month," is his estimate.
How many people are you targeting, we ask. "About 6.2 billion." That's the global population according to the 2002 census.

Turakhia was struck by the idea when a relative who met with an accident was helped by a stranger who admitted him to a hospital and sat by his side all day until family arrived. "Initially I thought of passing on a pen, but a card is far more practical to carry."

While Turakhia bears the cost of mailing the cards to interested recipients, others get involved in processes like printing or setting up the website by working pro bono or charging for basics.

Turakhia says, "Even my six year-old son tries to pass on the cards to his classmates whenever he can. I believe he's been telling his friends: 'My dad wants a perfect world'."

Log on to www.yourturnnow.in or email rushabh@yourturnnow.in to get your card. Or SMS your detailed address to 9029602897 Log on to their Facebook page to read inspirational stories

Who else isu00a0doing it?
In September 2003, a bunch of students got together to start a game of carrying out anonymous acts of kindness, leaving behind a 'smile card'. Log on to https://www.helpothers.org/ to download your free batch of smile cards and get started.

How ytn works:
Request a free stack of YTN cards and carry them with you everywhere. They are the size of a credit card, and will fit in your wallet/purse. When you help out somebody, don't forget to pass them a card, and explain that it is now their turn to be kind. The card will be couriered to you free of charge, whichever part of the world you may be in (within 10 days).

We tracked au00a0youru00a0turnu00a0now card as it changed hands

Rushabh Turakhia was at a seminar, discussing the YTN initiative when he managed to impress Heeral Thakker who had heard about his initiative from a common friend. He passed a bunch of cards to Thakker.

Heeral Thakker, an entrepreneur helped friend and fashion designer Roopa Shah who was stuck in traffic on her way home from office. Shah had no one to pick up her kid from school. Thakker offered to pick up Shah's daughter and took her out for lunch. While dropping the kid home, Thakker passed on a YTN card to Shah.

Vishal Ipar, a business development manager with a recruitment firm carries the YTN card in his wallet, and is waiting to pass it on. He has requested Turakhia for 10 cards to distribute among his friends.

Roopa Shah was watching a movie with friends when she noticed a wallet under her seat. Assuming it was a friend's, she kept it to play a prank but forgot about it. She realised it was a stranger's wallet the next day and tracked down Vishal Ipar. Ipar had lost hope of retrieving his wallet. Shah passed on a YTN card to Ipar when he stopped by to pick up his wallet.