Stirfry MBA

Founder of a Kindness Movement talks to Ramdas Shenoy of Stirfrymba.com

What is ‘Your Turn Now’? How did it all start?

Your turn now is a kindness movement that began in December 2009.
The movie pays it forward was a spark that lit and gave birth to this movement along with various other factors, be it my writing, life coaching, books I read growing up, etc.
So a little blue card which reads It’s Your Turn Now is given every time a kind act is conferred upon someone.
So the receiver then is encouraged to further pass on the card by performing a random act of kindness and thus keep the kindness chain going.

As on date, more than 800,000 cards are spreading smiles across 46 countries. These little blue cards are available in 10 international languages namely English, Hindi, French, Arabic, Spanish, etc.

You are a diamond merchant, coach or a change agent? What are the challenges and what satisfies you the most?

I am a diamond merchant by profession with an MBA degree in marketing.
Life coach by passion as I feel I have the ability to transform lives and help individuals lead a happy balanced life.
In today’s time’s certain values have diminished. It’s a rat race to the finish line, everyone being so competitive that values and virtues are forgotten and for me, these are utmost essential as that’s what keeps us humans grounded.  I have grown up listening to stories of kindness empathy etc, but in today’s times, I don’t see much of it in practicality.
So when I started this movement I did face a lot of backlash from friends and family as they kept saying that my age is to run the business earn money etc rather than doing charity. But for me my belief and faith in my movement kept me going.. slowly and gradually people realized the importance and started supporting me and my movement gained popularity.
My cards are available free of cost and after conducting my kindness workshops when I receive a call or email from someone who attended the same sharing his/ her kindness story and how the kindness card was distributed by him/her gives me immense pleasure and satisfaction. Thus my belief gets stronger each day. 
Today Your Turn Now cards have reached 46 countries and it’s indeed a wonderful feeling.

What are your goals for YTN, and how do you want to take it forward?

My goal is to spread kindness and make this world a kinder place to live in. Target is to reach 7.7 billion people, to make them smile through this movement. My goal is to reach out to as many people as possible especially the youth as they are the change-makers and future leaders who if moulded and nurtured with the right virtues can indeed create a positive impact.
Thus I want to reach out to the world and each and every individual spreading the message that kindness should be the only religion.

How would you advise people to take this concept of Pay it Forward in various walks of life?

The movement has gained movement because of its simplicity so I advise each one to make a checklist wherein they perform one kind act a day. Kindness should be innate; it should be like a daily routine.

Keep your Kindness antenna up, and you will find various reasons to make someone smile, and the best is, that it doesn’t require any talent or effort. So go ahead and spread kindness. In a nutshell.. It should be like a magnet.. that attracts each and everyone to be kind. 
And the act could be as simple as writing a sticky note with some positive thoughts/words for a neighbor, serving water to a community worker, giving a bar of chocolate to the traffic cop, appreciating someone, etc

Any incident — where YTN has created a big impact?

While conducting various Kindness workshops, I realized that there were no Indian videos that inspired people to be kind. That’s when I planned to shoot a video showing 40 acts of Kindness. A video that showed 40 different acts performed by 40 different individuals along with me, acts which can be performed throughout the day starting from 5:30 am to 11 pm.. It’s been 2 years now, the video has gone viral and till date I receive calls from people asking for suggestions about how they can celebrate their birthdays differently i.e. by performing different kind acts 

This is the video:

#YourTurnNow #RushabhTurakhia #rushabh.turakhia.1@RushabhTurakhia #PayItForward Movie

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