Kindness At 30,000 Feet: A Lesson in Interfaith Compassion
Unsplash photo
(ESSAY) Only recently I realized how the kindness of strangers is worth all the gold in this world of ours.
Averil and I had been friends for over 50 years. I got the news last week that she was confined to the ICU in a big New Delhi Hospital suffering from an auto immune disease that left very little hope of survival. I felt shattered — and totally outside myself.
My TV recordings were put on hold at once and I took the early morning flight to Delhi — hoping to get a last glimpse of my dearest friend, even if it meant she was unconscious. But I wanted so much to hold her hand one last time and tell her I loved her.
READ: This Muslim Nation Is One Of The Most Religiously Inclusive In The World
As the plane’s wheels touched down on the runway I whipped my cell phone from my bag and got her son-in-law to check if the car and driver were at the airport to rush me to her side at the hospital. The time was precisely 9.30 a.m. when Zafar told me she had died at 5.30 that very morning — a mere four hours earlier.
My grief was uncontrollable and I broke down, tears and sobs taking over without restraint.
And before I knew it, the young Muslim bride and groom who were sitting next to me reached over and took my hand in an attempt to comfort me at that moment. They were on the way to Kashmir to spend their honeymoon — and yet they put aside their upcoming excitement to offer a hand of consolation.
It was, for me, a moment of acute revelation: Religion and creed were of no consequence. Through my tears I offered my thanks and wished them a happy time in the beautiful valley! And that’s not all.
At least four men waiting to disembark, knowing what my problem was, also reached out to me to offer their condolences. And, as I walked down the corridor to the baggage claim area, one of those kind men was waiting for me and offered to give me a ride to wherever I needed to go.
I thanked him profusely and declined politely, thinking all the while what such kindness was from strangers (of different religions no doubt). India may be a Hindu-majority nation, but it is also one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world, shaped by centuries of coexistence among multiple faiths. Beyond the headlines, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and other faith tradiditions can co-exist.
Despite what the world might think of the divisions that exist among us citizens in India, we are still a secular country and there is still hope where all religions can live in harmony and offer a helping hand to someone in unspeakable grief.
Jennifer Arul is one of Chennai, India’s best-known faces on television. She has over 30 years of experience as a broadcast journalist and executive in Asia, many of them as Managing Editor and COO in NDTV Hindu, where she has worked for 20 years since it started after freelance interviewing for Doordarshan and All India Radio. She is also a board member of The Media Project.