“Don’t tell me we are tolerant people, Archana. We can’t stand each other even in our neighboring states. We kill Tamils in Karnataka, Biharis in Assam and Punjabis in Delhi. We are so divided on the basis of caste and religion. How can we call ourselves tolerant people”. This was in conversation with two of my friends yesterday.
I was reminded again of this conversation when I was watching news this morning. There is a big caste war going on between the doctors at AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Science) and patients are suffering in the bargain. Most of the news items these days bring tears of frustration to my eyes. Where is our country heading!!!
So, I was pleasantly surprised to see the next news item which moved me to tears for a completely opposit reason. It was about a poor man called Saidul Islam. He was in big financial difficulty when he came across a newspaper advertisement seeking a kidney for a man called Shyamal Singh. Saidul decided to sell one of his kidneys for money. When he met Shyamal Sigh he discovered he was a very poor man himself. So he decided to donate his kidney for free.
He returned home and did not tell anyone about this. But once the word spread Saidul’s family was ostracized as he had given his kidney to a non-Muslim. Many even refused to believe that a man desperately in need of money had actually donated his kidney. ”When he came back, people taunted him by saying that he had sold his kidney for the sake of extra money. People used to say that he won’t live for long. I was unable to get out of the house. I used to sit at home and cry,” said Ramiza Islam, Saidul’s mother. Soon the truth emerged and the attitude of the villagers changed. His financial situation has not improved but he is looked upon as a hero now.
It was an amazing story of goodness and what touched me deeply was the reply he gave to the reporter’s question on what prompted him to do this. He said, “God does not always give opportunity to save another man’s life. When I got one, I did not want to lose it”. This, coming from a poverty stricken, uneducated man.
I was reminded of something that I wrote very long back. We are so distracted by the loud minority who come across as mean and bloodthirsty that we lose sight of the silent goodness in the majority. World is made up of so many good people. I wish we stop to notice them more.
Here is the link to the news story on NDTV
If we walk the narrow path – caste,state will come to our mind, if we take a broad route then we will feel we are HUMANS living on earth not in any specific country with any . We who created boundaries, religion, languages and symbols for our own convinience first and now using them to make a divide b/w ppl…. Ppl like Saidul reminds us we are HUMANS with out BORDERS !!
Thank you, Vinod. You are right, incidents like this remind us that all the difference we see are only superfecial. At a fundemental level we are all human.
nice article. i saw this on the news last night (sun 16th sep). after the news they had also given a phone number out there
for anyone wanting to provide financial assistance to Saidul
since his medical bills have now increased and the condition
has not improved much.
does anyone have the phone number ?
thx.
yashesh bhatia.
Well pointed out Archana! There are so many good people around us it just takes a little willingness in us to recognise it.
Thanks Saraswathi
hiya Archana..
Nice, thanks for reading through!
Not just now, but it seems as though I have been in love with the creatures called animals since eternity! Sometimes I wish I were one of them.
I seemed to have left an anonymous comment above.. sorry..
I forgot to type my name !
No problem Kirti. Thanks for visiting.
Yashesh Bhatia – Sorry. I just saw your comment, it was queued for moderation.
Thanks for visiting. I did not see the phone number. There was an SMS by a viewer asking for contact information but they did not give it. You might try looking up the site (I have given the link to the news item at the end of the post)
Archana:
Thanks for the link. I could not locate the phone number at
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070026327
however, i’ve posted a comment on the site, hope the ndtv folks look at it and reply.
thanks.
yashesh
Hi Archana….thanks for sharing this one….this really makes to feel good about our country for a while….
Thanks Yashesh.
Praveen – Why is it only for a while
Saidul’s story is inspiring Archana. Good one.
My professor used to say: You must be so good that God must come visiting for you. And such a god is not a person, but the goodness that is within everyone that crystallises into something or someone we call god.
God is an idea that is an indescribable thought and it is so because we must be awed by that wonder throughout our life to search and seek something other than our self or greater than our self.
A compassionate thought like giving up something for someone other than himself or herself is itself a divine act. Bless that man to be well in every way. And also Bless this noble writer too.
Stay Blessed
Thank you Tad. I am really touched. Very insightful thoughts on God.
Sukumar, thanks a lot.