Join the 1000 Voices for Compassion

Compassion. 

A word that is more alien than the stranger moving in next door. Of course I know about compassion. Who doesn't? To be kind to your neighbours, friends, children and of course God’s special. We are all compassionate in our own way. But then, an incident occurs that shakes your believe, that makes you question the very basis of your own character. When friends are compassionate towards you, you tend to take it for granted but when you see a group of people standing for something which is in no way connected to them or beneficial for them– it makes you think. With all the killings, rapes, terrorism going on around us, Hope is still surviving in our planet. 

2013 

A young lad of 29 is lying in a hospital waiting for his family to arrive. He just wanted to say a goodbye. He was in dialysis after experiencing renal failure from the last 12 years. He wanted out. The pain was unbearable. But he wanted to say a goodbye.  He had no relatives around him. Alone but without fear – for he was God’s special child. What did he have to fear?  His only relative, his sister, will not be able to make it – he knew that. But he did not have any fear. His two best friends waited outside the ICU, dialing numbers, waiting for someone to show up, who would claim the responsibility and the hospital bill. But no one did.  One of his friends was allowed inside the ICU and he whispered, "we have informed her .. but it will take time for her to reach here."

The young lad smiled, “she won’t be able to make it. But you guys don’t worry. Everything will take care of itself.”

The friend did not want to agitate him, but he was skeptical. How did 5 lakh of Rupees come out of the thin air? He himself had only 50k in his account. And then a call came. From the Lad’s multinational company.  The friend could not hold himself any longer and blurted out the whole story. Just then the nurse came out and informed him that the lad was no more. The friends panicked. They did not know how they will take his body and how will they go about it. They called up his sister and the three of them could not think of anything. The sister told them to go to Western Union immediately, where she will transfer the money. But before they could, a group of people turned up. A group of more than a hundred. The area which had screamed in solitude was now a carnival. Just the way the lad had liked it. He always said..Life is a gift. We need to celebrate it. 

They were all from Dell International, where the lad had worked. They called up the sister and told her that they will take care of everything for the lad had long ago told them that this day would come. The sister held on to the phone on the other side, as they made all the arrangements and the loner who had come to the hospital went out amidst an exit fit for a king.

The people at Dell didn’t allow the sister to even think.  As the lad bid adieu, he left a parting gift for his sister.. a world full of strangers who never made her ever feel lonely again.

EVERY ACT OF COMPASSION COUNTS. IF YOU CANNOT RETURN THE DEED TO THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN COMPASSIONATE TO YOU,  LOOK OUT FOR SOMEONE WHO NEEDS IT MORE.  God has given us a Heart for a reason. Lets use it for the right one.

Visit the 1000 Voices Speak for Compassion Facebook page. Sign up to add your blog post to the effort. Ask to join the Facebook group. Use the hashtag #1000Speak.

This is the link-up for 1000 Voices Speak for Compassion; on February 20th, 2015, over 1000 of us will raise our voices and our writing, and flood the internet (and our real worlds) with GOOD and COMPASSION.

It started with an understanding that even though we might get older, we still all need the metaphorical village around us, and the compassion of others in our lives. Then the sudden thought happened - what if 1000 of us wrote about compassion all at once? From there, the movement has taken on its own life; has burgeoned and grown and spread a whole lot of love and connection and 'villageyness'.

Every voice matters - together we're stronger - let's BE the Village.

Join the 1000 Voices Speak for Compassion group on Facebook