Kudos to generous Pakistan!

It always is a proud moment whenever someone forgets about their own needs/wants and tries to help another human being. The emotions and the personal battle that the individual goes through is remarkable on its own, as the cost-benefit-analysis system crashes and the person makes a rationally unnecessary but morally brilliant decision; giving away something of yours in charity.

In modern times, it has become a trend to mock the Muslim community. Terrorists, mischief-mongers, party-poopers, old-fashioned, conservative and so on, are just some of the labels that Muslims are generally remembered with.

However, while some of the names might be a correct rendition of the modern Muslim, especially the ones who don’t understand their religion and are just followers, one thing that everyone agrees and the one thing that makes a person beam with pride is the Muslim community’s ability to give away their possessions in charity.

And Muslims certainly do give a lot in charity.

Right from the point when the ‘Wall of Kindness’ received public adoration following its inception in Iran, the effect has found its way across the border and various initiatives have popped up in major cities across Pakistan. From the streets of Peshawar to the busy thoroughfares of Karachi, the Wall is one of the most inspiring initiatives in recent times. Not only does it give to the poor, the needy, or even the rich — if they are too miserly to shop from their own pockets — the Wall is open for all. Anyone can contribute and anyone can take anything away. It’s as simple as that.

While it can be argued that the human tendency to hoard more than one needs can be detrimental to the purpose of the Wall, the glass-half-full side asks people to forget about that aspect and just open their hearts to help as much as they can.

The genius of the initiative lies in the fact that it really doesn’t cost much and everyone can have their own Wall in their area. Hypothetically, this entails that everyone can be involved in giving and everyone can at least have two of the three basic necessities — food and clothing.

Let’s hope the initiative carries on and becomes a source of comfort for our society which is marred in misery by one of the most ineffective governments in the world. The onus lies with us, the society, to help each other and this Wall is one great initiative. Kudos to Pakistan!

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th,  2016.