Every thing about him was ordinary, totally ordinary. He was medium height, slightly built, infact his built was not slight, he was weak. His english was not fluent, how was he in japanese, I could never know as my knowledge of japanese is zilch. There was some thing different in him, some thing that I could not explain, some thing that can only be felt, some thing that you crave to understand but you cannot, some thing that you want to have in your own personality but you fail to fathom.
The 2005 earthquake had jolted Pakistan, the sheer magnitude of devastation was mind numbing. Bodies after bodies existed in rubble, some freed of there misery by death, some still trapped under the roofs that once protected them, sobbing in pain, urging the misery to end, urging life to let them pass to the eternal world. You could just feel the pain, omnipresent in the air, in the once beautiful scenery now lived only agony.
Shinsei a lone Japanese was part of our team. It was the third day of the relief effort, morale was getting low, the stock of tears had ended long before, mentally drained, physically exhausted, we were becoming disillusioned, all of us except one,all of us except Shinsei. We ate twice a day, he once and that too a small sandwich that he would nibble hurriedly between his work. He donated his blood to a seriously injured child when we were unable to match the blood group. He worked harder, he worked more, he would not sleep, he would give hope to the patients, smile with the children, love them as if they were his own, make them happy, he learned a few Urdu words and would repeat in his funny accent. In a time when we needed hope, he was there, happily distributing it, happily making us believe that we can survive this, that we can manage this and ultimately, we did.
After a gruelling fifteen days, our work was over. We had passed a life changing phase, a period that made us think differently about the things that we take for granted. We had managed to play our little part in the life of the people, people who belonged to the same country that I did, people who believed in the same religion that I did, people who had the same morals as I did, people who I could safely call mine, but what was it with Shinsei that made him travel half the world to come and spend hours and hours for us. I had to ask him, I had to know his reasons and I did.
He smiled, the smile that I was so used to, the smile that gave you assurance and self belief that every thing would turn out to be good, that it will be ok, that nothing will harm you. "I believe in humanity, I believe that we have more reasons to love each other than hate and I hope that one day the world will realize this too". Simple, crisp, yet deep. I could not ask him any further, a part of me wanted to meet that little fellow again, a part of me wished that there would never be such circumstances again for us to meet.
And now I hear that Mr. Sunshine as the people called him, is no more, lost some where in the tsunami that shook his town, I do not want to believe it, I really do not want to believe it, I just wait for his text to arrive saying he is ok and just trying to help others, that he feels betrayed that I am not there and than re-assuring that he understands why I am not there as I do not have any resources except my shoulders. My heart cries, my soul weeps, and I cannot write any more ...
My friend, my fellow human, my brother, this is just a note for your memory, for until humanity exists, until the last human feels empathy, you will live on, for you stand for every thing that makes us human ...
The 2005 earthquake had jolted Pakistan, the sheer magnitude of devastation was mind numbing. Bodies after bodies existed in rubble, some freed of there misery by death, some still trapped under the roofs that once protected them, sobbing in pain, urging the misery to end, urging life to let them pass to the eternal world. You could just feel the pain, omnipresent in the air, in the once beautiful scenery now lived only agony.
Shinsei a lone Japanese was part of our team. It was the third day of the relief effort, morale was getting low, the stock of tears had ended long before, mentally drained, physically exhausted, we were becoming disillusioned, all of us except one,all of us except Shinsei. We ate twice a day, he once and that too a small sandwich that he would nibble hurriedly between his work. He donated his blood to a seriously injured child when we were unable to match the blood group. He worked harder, he worked more, he would not sleep, he would give hope to the patients, smile with the children, love them as if they were his own, make them happy, he learned a few Urdu words and would repeat in his funny accent. In a time when we needed hope, he was there, happily distributing it, happily making us believe that we can survive this, that we can manage this and ultimately, we did.
After a gruelling fifteen days, our work was over. We had passed a life changing phase, a period that made us think differently about the things that we take for granted. We had managed to play our little part in the life of the people, people who belonged to the same country that I did, people who believed in the same religion that I did, people who had the same morals as I did, people who I could safely call mine, but what was it with Shinsei that made him travel half the world to come and spend hours and hours for us. I had to ask him, I had to know his reasons and I did.
He smiled, the smile that I was so used to, the smile that gave you assurance and self belief that every thing would turn out to be good, that it will be ok, that nothing will harm you. "I believe in humanity, I believe that we have more reasons to love each other than hate and I hope that one day the world will realize this too". Simple, crisp, yet deep. I could not ask him any further, a part of me wanted to meet that little fellow again, a part of me wished that there would never be such circumstances again for us to meet.
And now I hear that Mr. Sunshine as the people called him, is no more, lost some where in the tsunami that shook his town, I do not want to believe it, I really do not want to believe it, I just wait for his text to arrive saying he is ok and just trying to help others, that he feels betrayed that I am not there and than re-assuring that he understands why I am not there as I do not have any resources except my shoulders. My heart cries, my soul weeps, and I cannot write any more ...
My friend, my fellow human, my brother, this is just a note for your memory, for until humanity exists, until the last human feels empathy, you will live on, for you stand for every thing that makes us human ...
Very Very well written.
ReplyDeleteThanks Fatima, highly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteKeep spreading the story, more people need to know about it.
Thanks again