A close friend of mine said something to me in the last week of 2018 that resonated enough to make me question a lot of things about myself. 'India has enough engineers, doctors and lawyers,' she said. 'It doesn't have enough people who are kind.' At first, I wanted to point out that the comparison between career choices and behavioural traits was completely inappropriate. I stopped myself though, because I realised that questioning her would simply reiterate the point she was trying to make.

She wasn't attacking the need for more engineers or doctors, merely pointing out that we weren't spending enough time on things that ought to matter more. The statement made me realise, rather late in the day, that we really don't have enough kind people among us. Maybe they exist in the privacy of their homes, where they feed stray animals, care for ailing grandparents and sing children to sleep. They don't appear much in public though, which is sad given how our country often appears to be running on dwindling reserves of empathy.