“Be compassionate. Be loving. Be kind. Be merciful. This is what the world needs more off, and therefore the world needs more of you.” These were the last words my grandfather said to me moments before we lost him. As a child I drew inspiration from my grandfather who never settled for anything less than “The best of the best.” My dad and my grandfather worked me very hard as a child and instilled great work ethic in me. I learned very quickly that nothing ever came easy.
Our lives are filled with transformative moments; some that are so awesomely wonderful that they take our breath away. Others so horrible we may question our ability to continue breathing. My life is filled with such transformative moments.
Being a 13-year-old victim of …show more content…
There was a panic in the whole train. As the train slowed down a little, people started jumping out of the slow moving train in the desperate hopes to save their lives. Slowly the train stopped in the middle of nowhere and everyone was asked to leave the train immediately. As we got down from the train I noticed the whole compartment ahead of us was on fire and there was blood everywhere. Even as we were running ahead to a safer location all I could think about was helping people who had suffered injury due to the incident. As we ran ahead, I saw an old lady who had injured her leg and was bleeding profusely. She could barely walk. I ran towards her and helped her get to the station safely. As we reached the station, we could hear the police and the ambulance arriving. As we waited by her side waiting for the nurses to arrive with the stretcher, a couple of people come to us and started abusing the old lady. “You Muslims are the reason we are in this mess”. I was appalled by their comments and looked at the old lady. I realized that she was wearing a burqa (full veil Muslim women wear). I didn’t care about her caste or which religion she practiced. For me she was an old lady almost the same age as my grandmother and I knew I wanted to help her. She was screaming with pain but no one showed any sympathy towards her. Irrespective of our racial and cultural backgrounds, we were both human targets of indiscriminate and senseless acts of terror. Like me, this innocent woman had been tossed by waves of horror and ended up shipwrecked on a hostile shore. I don’t dwell on the racism aspect of the situation. Was it racism? Was it heartless indifference? I choose not to participate in that discussion because my focus was on much more than race. My concern was her survival. My life lesson was clear. It was about acceptance, forgiveness and gratitude. I waited by her side till the nurses arrived and took
Our lives are filled with transformative moments; some that are so awesomely wonderful that they take our breath away. Others so horrible we may question our ability to continue breathing. My life is filled with such transformative moments.
Being a 13-year-old victim of …show more content…
There was a panic in the whole train. As the train slowed down a little, people started jumping out of the slow moving train in the desperate hopes to save their lives. Slowly the train stopped in the middle of nowhere and everyone was asked to leave the train immediately. As we got down from the train I noticed the whole compartment ahead of us was on fire and there was blood everywhere. Even as we were running ahead to a safer location all I could think about was helping people who had suffered injury due to the incident. As we ran ahead, I saw an old lady who had injured her leg and was bleeding profusely. She could barely walk. I ran towards her and helped her get to the station safely. As we reached the station, we could hear the police and the ambulance arriving. As we waited by her side waiting for the nurses to arrive with the stretcher, a couple of people come to us and started abusing the old lady. “You Muslims are the reason we are in this mess”. I was appalled by their comments and looked at the old lady. I realized that she was wearing a burqa (full veil Muslim women wear). I didn’t care about her caste or which religion she practiced. For me she was an old lady almost the same age as my grandmother and I knew I wanted to help her. She was screaming with pain but no one showed any sympathy towards her. Irrespective of our racial and cultural backgrounds, we were both human targets of indiscriminate and senseless acts of terror. Like me, this innocent woman had been tossed by waves of horror and ended up shipwrecked on a hostile shore. I don’t dwell on the racism aspect of the situation. Was it racism? Was it heartless indifference? I choose not to participate in that discussion because my focus was on much more than race. My concern was her survival. My life lesson was clear. It was about acceptance, forgiveness and gratitude. I waited by her side till the nurses arrived and took