Many years back I had set up my practice as an orthopedic surgeon in a small town. Looking out for staff, I hired a young man for the night duty.His name was Razzak. He was recommended by the local government official I had come to have some acquaintance with. He had clearly mentioned his religion to me and asked whether that was alright for me. I brushed it aside and asked him to join my team, asking him to feel as comfortable as he would in any other place outside his home.
Surprisingly, the very next day one of the town's leading merchants sent his staff to me and conveyed that I was to remove "that man" from my staff right away, if I wanted to practice. My instantaneous response was that I would never remove Razzak on my own, except if he committed an offensive act against a patient or another human being. The incident simmered away after a while. But, it continued to surprise me that I defended Razzak in a firm manner. He was not in any way dear to me. So, what was? The answer remained elusive until I could correlate the following incident from my infancy; it was told to me during my years of growing up, long after it transpired.
As an infant, I had remained unwell for an extended period of time, long enough to lose a good deal of precious baby-weight. After some concerted efforts from many people that went on for a few months, including my parents, grandparents and others, I finally came on to the road to health, much to the relief all my family members.
Soon after my health was no longer a concern, three young unmarried men staying in the neighborhood came up to our door one day and asked permission from my parents to take me to a Dargah (a muslim shrine) to offer namaz as a thanksgiving in return for the health bestowed upon me. They said that they had a mannat ( a solemn resolve) that should I become well again, they would take me to the Dargah they had faith in, to offer prayers and thanks at the shrine of a holy man buried there.
By the grace of God I have remained away from serious or life threatening illnesses ever since. While I am certainly grateful for the good health I continue to enjoy, I am especially thankful to those (then) young men. They demonstrated by their deeds that humanity is beyond religion and beliefs. They also sowed in me seeds of something very valuable. I now know that those young men could have least cared what happened to a hindu infant; but they cared. Not only that, they cared enough to see that, in their belief-system, a spell of disabling ill-health would not afflict me again, and for that they went out of their way, rising up against the fear of potential ridicule and rejection from people they did not know (my parents).
For the better thereafter, I haven't been able to discriminate against a person because of his religion. That's not to say that I don't have likes and dislikes about people I interact with, but just that a religion different from mine is no deterrent to a decent relationship. For this Value, I shall forever be grateful to those three men and their mannat.
Surprisingly, the very next day one of the town's leading merchants sent his staff to me and conveyed that I was to remove "that man" from my staff right away, if I wanted to practice. My instantaneous response was that I would never remove Razzak on my own, except if he committed an offensive act against a patient or another human being. The incident simmered away after a while. But, it continued to surprise me that I defended Razzak in a firm manner. He was not in any way dear to me. So, what was? The answer remained elusive until I could correlate the following incident from my infancy; it was told to me during my years of growing up, long after it transpired.
As an infant, I had remained unwell for an extended period of time, long enough to lose a good deal of precious baby-weight. After some concerted efforts from many people that went on for a few months, including my parents, grandparents and others, I finally came on to the road to health, much to the relief all my family members.
Soon after my health was no longer a concern, three young unmarried men staying in the neighborhood came up to our door one day and asked permission from my parents to take me to a Dargah (a muslim shrine) to offer namaz as a thanksgiving in return for the health bestowed upon me. They said that they had a mannat ( a solemn resolve) that should I become well again, they would take me to the Dargah they had faith in, to offer prayers and thanks at the shrine of a holy man buried there.
By the grace of God I have remained away from serious or life threatening illnesses ever since. While I am certainly grateful for the good health I continue to enjoy, I am especially thankful to those (then) young men. They demonstrated by their deeds that humanity is beyond religion and beliefs. They also sowed in me seeds of something very valuable. I now know that those young men could have least cared what happened to a hindu infant; but they cared. Not only that, they cared enough to see that, in their belief-system, a spell of disabling ill-health would not afflict me again, and for that they went out of their way, rising up against the fear of potential ridicule and rejection from people they did not know (my parents).
For the better thereafter, I haven't been able to discriminate against a person because of his religion. That's not to say that I don't have likes and dislikes about people I interact with, but just that a religion different from mine is no deterrent to a decent relationship. For this Value, I shall forever be grateful to those three men and their mannat.
