LIGHT PERSISTS

Mahatma Gandhi once said: “In the midst of untruth, Truth persists and in the midst of darkness, Light persists.” We wish to describe two recent events that illustrate the above point. Interestingly, both events relate to the Middle East, currently the scene of great violence.

Our first story deals with a small boy in Iraq. A few months ago, this boy found himself in a spot where there was bomb blast. Luckily the boy did not die but his eyes were injured due to the flying glass pieces and he lost his sight. Doctors in the local hospital said that the boy had, thanks to Swami’s Grace, not become permanently blind. Surgery could restore his eyesight but unfortunately such surgery was not possible in Iraq at the moment.

The parents were naturally very worried. No doubt they were grateful to God Almighty for sparing the life of their son, but what about his blindness? And God in His mercy sent an angle in the form of a Japanese journalist. This journalist who was in Iraq to do news stories for his paper in Japan heard about this boy and decided to help. He talked to the parents and told them that he would arrange for the boy to travel to Japan and have eye surgery there.

Everything was arranged and one day the journalist went with three of his friends to the house of this boy. His idea was to take the boy with him and see him off to Japan. But alas, that was not to be. On the way to the boy’s house, the journalist was himself killed in a bomb blast.

The story does not end here. The wife of the journalist heard about all this, and she decided that she would complete what her late husband had set out do but could not achieve. And so with support from her, the Iraqi boy was taken to Japan. There he underwent eye surgery, and by Swami’s Grace his eyesight was restored. Everyone was happy and thankful to God. The boy was then taken for a ride in the famous bullet train and given an opportunity to see the famous Mount Fuji. He was also taken to a school where all the children sang songs congratulating him. Finally came the day when he had to leave for Iraq. When asked if he had any parting message, he replied with one word: SALAM, which means PEACE.

From Iraq we move west to Israel and Palestine, the scene of our second story. It starts with a young man named Yonnie [we heard this on the radio and we hope we have got the spelling correct!], a medical student from Scotland. Yonnie belonged to the Jewish faith and eager to know something about orthodox Jewish practices, he travelled to Israel. There one day, he was most unfortunately killed during a suicide bomb attack. This in fact is where the story really begins.

Yonnie’s shocked parents rushed to Israel, but what could they do? It was all over; except for one thing. Since Yonnie was a medical student, they agreed to the request of the doctors there that his organs be donated. The parents readily gave their consent, as they felt that was what Yonnie would have wanted.

Thus it was that many of the organs were taken out and transplanted, like liver, pancreas and so on. Now as we all know, one of the organs much in demand is the kidney. No wonder the kidney too was transplanted. Naturally, this great gesture made newspaper stories, and newsmen being what they are, tracked the receivers of the donated organs so as to spice up their stories. In the process, one reporter discovered that the kidney was implanted in a nine year old Muslim girl named Yasmin from Palestine. This was really a scoop and so it was that this reporter went to the hotel where the parents of Yonnie were staying. Cornering the bereaved mother, he asked, “Do you know that your son’s kidney is now in a Palestinian girl? What do you think about it?” The mother was taken aback by this news, naturally, given the long standing hostility between Israel and Palestine. However, she composed herself and said that she was happy that her son had given life to someone condemned to death. Other details did not matter. The reporter did not give up. His next question: “Would you be visiting the family of the girl who had benefited?” Yonnie’s mother was least prepared for this question also. She said, “I don’t even know who exactly received the kidney.”

The reporter’s question put a thought in the mind of Yonnie’s mother and she decided that she would after all go and visit the Palestinian family. Not easy, given the constant tension between the two nations; but she was firm in her decision. Unmindful of all the security hazards involved, she crossed the border and entered Palestine. Yasmin’s family were caught by surprise and did not know how to react. Anyway, Yonnie’s mother found herself in Yasmin’s house, and the two mothers faced each other. It was tense moment. Then, suddenly both rushed towards each other and simply embraced. In that moment, everything was forgotten – the Arab-Jewish hostility, the differences in religion, and the differences in language.

Yonnie’s mother simply said, “In my grief, there is some happiness.” And Yasmin’s mother responded, “In my joy, there is some sorrow.” Isn’t that what the LANGUAGE OF THE HEART is all about?

Yes, in the midst of darkness, light persists, and in the midst of hatred, Love persists.

SGH TEAM.