The milk of human kindness flows

Sumit Paul

Afew years ago, I was in Istanbul, Turkey, to teach Jalaluddin Rumi’s Turkish poetry (yes, he wrote in Turkish as well). I stayed on the university campus. An elderly couple was residing near my guesthouse. Both were retired professors of Turkish language and literature. We’d talk at length discussing Turkish language, literature and mysticism.

One day, they invited me over for lunch. The sumptuous spread comprised all vegetarian delicacies. I was surprised at the meticulousness of the elderly couple. They remembered that I had mentioned casually my being a vegetarian, not even partaking of eggs. With me, they too had vegetarian cuisine sans eggs whereas egg is considered to be vegetarian in Turkey and no dish is complete without it.

The couple told me that in deference to my dietary inclinations and preferences, they not only had made all vegetarian items for me, but also avoided having eggs in my presence. That was something I never expected. This is sensitivity of the most sublime kind.

A similar incident happened a few years ago when I went to meet my PhD guide on Quranic studies in Kolkata. I was a guest at their place during Tabaski or Eid-ul-Adha when the sacrifice of an animal is mandatory for every Momin (a true Muslim).

But that devout Muslim professor of mine didn’t sacrifice, knowing that I was a vegetarian and abhorred killing an (innocent) animal whether for palate or for the sake of a ritual.

In Iran, I was exempted from attending the religious lecture and reciting verses from the Al-Furqan and teachings from Hadis (not Hadith) because I was an atheist right from my childhood days and when I opted for pursuing my first doctorate on Islamic theology and mysticism from Al-Azhar, Cairo, no one objected as to how an atheist could pursue a PhD on theology! This has consolidated my belief in the inherent goodness of mankind.

Humans aren’t predominantly insensitive and lacking in feelings or emotions. Most humans respect preferences, predilections and even idiosyncrasies. We tend to dismiss humans as insensitive and heartless, forgetting that there are many people who are embodiments of goodness.

We keep judging people and communities on the basis of stereotypes and inveterate prejudices. Once we disabuse ourselves of all these petty opinions and presuppositions, all humans will appear to be nice, gentle and friendly to us and vice versa. We need to have open eyes, heart and mind. Remember Rabindranath Tagore’s famous line from Gitanjali, ‘Every infant comes to the earth with the eternal message that God is not yet discouraged of man.’