Be a little compassionate ~ is humanity dying !!

மானுடம் மெல்ல சாகிறதா ? ~ கண் இருந்தும் குருடர்களே

A thousand and decade ago, was born Sri Kurathazhwan, an ardent follower of Yathi Rajar.   An unsavoury act of hatred turned him blind towards his old age, yet he ensured that his Acaryar was moved to safety,   lived a complete life, devoted in service, with malice to none; in fact seeking good for the traitor too.  He well and truly imbibed the  striking quality of Ramanuja,  his intense humanism, compassion and charity. To him God was the personification of kindness to both saint and sinner. The true ornaments of a Srivaishnavite, according to Ramanuja, are the qualities of mercy and kindness.

In Cinema, often act of kindness shown by  Hero to blind would melt the heroine who would instantaneously start loving !!  Just now read a news that a furious BMW driver killed car wash worker with a single punch,  because the man was too slow to clean his car ~ the shocking footage on media shows that the man was enraged that he was not attended to properly and punched two workers.    While the second worker survived, the first hit his head on the floor, later dying !  how Cruel !!

There are frequent talks that ‘humanity is dying’.   ~ we are not talking about humans becoming extinct -  which could become possible by humans caused disaster -  either warring people blowing themselves  off the face of the planet with nuclear weapons or pollute it so badly it can no longer sustain human life. People in social media often exclaim that a few decades ago, people did not have this much of wealth and technology, but were more interested and caring for fellow human beings.  In another dimension, Stephen Hawking has warned that the human race is entering the most dangerous 100 years in its history and faces a looming existential battle.   The theoretical physicist identified artificial intelligence (AI), nuclear war and genetically-engineered viruses as just some of the man-made problems that pose an imminent threat to humanity.

Whether you believe in them all or not, one cannot deny that kindness to fellow humans is the need of hour.  Over there in United Kingdom, every 13^th Nov is celebrated as ‘Kindness Day UK’ , which aims to increase the value of kindness in society as well as increase the amount of kind acts that take place, making kindness a greater part in our daily life. Kindness Day UK is affiliated with the World Kindness Movement (WKM) which is a coalition of like minded organisations containing 18 member nations.

Social media users have exploded in anger after an irate commuter demanded a blind former doctor move his guide dog so he could get past him at a Tube station. Amit Patel, 37, who suddenly lost his sight five years ago, was travelling on an escalator at London Bridge station on Tuesday when angry passengers asked him to move.  The former A&E doctor, forced to give up his job after going blind, was standing on the left hand side of the stairway with his dog next to him when he was accused of blocking the way.

MailOnline reports that the  shocking scene was captured on camera, fitted to his guide dog Kirka's collar. Mr Patel installed it a year ago after becoming fed up with how he was treated by fellow passengers on public transport. In the video, a Transport for London worker can be heard defending Mr Patel as an off-screen commuter pointedly asks: 'Can you all move please?'. Mr Patel described the man as in his late 40s and smartly dressed. He said he was trying to 'barge' his way through the crowds in a hurry.   The aggrieved commuter can be heard saying: 'I want to get past.'

Mr Patel politely responded: 'I can't do that, she's a guide dog' before the traveller snapped back: 'I know that!'  The TfL worker assisting Mr Patel on the Tube said: 'How do you expect him to move, he needs to hold onto the handrail.' A second annoyed commuter, a well-spoken woman, can be heard trying to pressurise Mr Patel to move. If you are still wondering it all occurred when Mr Patel was standing at the side of the stairs with guide dog Kika on the left hand side when an angry pair accused him of blocking his way and wasting their time !        

  

The 37-year-old claims other travellers step over his guide dog Kika and even hit her with umbrellas to move out of the way on escalators.  The unidentified woman said: 'Just let go of the handrail so I can walk past.'  Towards the end of the footage, other commuters can be overheard calling the angry passengers 'inconsiderate'.  The clip recorded by Mr Patel was posted to Twitter, along with captions, to highlight the regular abuse he faces while travelling on public transport in London.

Social media users were unanimous in their condemnation for the 'rude' and 'disgusting' commuters who had the 'gall' to ask the blind man to move. Thousands of comments poured in across Facebook and Twitter with people hailing the TfL worker a 'hero' and Mr Patel a 'saint'.  Speaking to MailOnline last year, Mr Patel described how he was fed up of being regularly ignored by staff and commuters while travelling in London so added a camera to Kika's back to record the public's behaviour.   The former A&E doctor was working as a locum at hospitals around London when he started losing his sight three years ago, following six cornea transplants in Britain and two in America.

Mr Patel added - 'People assume that if you lose your sight that's it, there's no pain, but it's excruciating. My other senses have increased though, my smell, hearing and touch’.   Even small acts of kindness or rather normal unassuming behavior in public would make this World more beautiful.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

8^th Feb 2018.