The above idea was started by Catherine Ryan Hyde who wrote a book by this name in 2000. It's an action plan within a work of fiction.

Reuben St. Clair, the teacher and protagonist in the book starts a movement with this voluntary, extra-credit assignment: 'Think of an idea for world change, and put it into action.' Trevor, the 12-year-old hero of "Pay It Forward," thinks of quite an idea. He describes it to his mother and teacher this way: "You see, I do something real good for three people. And then when they ask how they can pay it back, I say they have to Pay It Forward.

To three more people. each. So nine people get helped. Then those people have to do twenty-seven." He turned on the calculator, punched in a few numbers. "Then it spreads out to eighty-one. Then two hundred forty-three.

Then seven hundred twenty-nine. Then two thousand, one hundred eighty-seven. See how big it gets?" 

Since the book was released in January of 2000, a real-life social movement has emerged  worldwide. This idea speaks to the hunger so many of us feel for something to believe in that can give us hope. If the success of Harry Potter suggests that many of us yearn for magic, Hyde's book delivers an even more profound vision of what it may be: The simple magic of the human heart. The dark crevices in the human mind where insecurity, loneliness and despair dwell, can be redeemed by the light of awareness and compassion.

In this vicious world where everybody is thinking of paying back in the same coin, this idea of doing good without expecting anything in return comes as a breath of fresh air.

And it is not difficult to practice.  Just open your eyes and look around, the world is full of needy people. Once on a busy street of Mumbai I was touched to see a young man holding a hand of an unknown old woman who looked like a maid, and leading her through the sea of cars.

There are hundreds of occasions on which you can pay forward to others and feel the heart expanded. Practicing the "pay it forward" principle will make you alert to unexpected kindness from strangers toward you, and you may find yourself becoming more grateful for everyday kindness and consideration from people you don't even know.

Can an idea change the world?

Absolutely ! Osho says, "The journey of one thousand miles is done by the simple step, one step. You cannot take two steps at one time. Step after step, just a single step can be stretched to ten thousand miles or to infinity."