KOLKATA: "Uncle, why is his hand so frail and fingers so blue?" a curious Swastik Banerjee asked Mohammed Ahmed's father Shaukat Ali in Kolkata on Saturday evening. "He is unwell dear. But he will soon be healthy like you," Ali replied softly. "OK. Then we will meet again and play," said Swastik, caressing Mohammed's hand.
Five-year-old Mohammed, from Pakistan's Punjab province, is suffering from a congenital heart disease. He is in Kolkata en route to Durgapur for a life-saving operation at the Mission Hospital.
Seven-year-old Swastik from West Bengal also had a heart problem since birth. He had been operated at Bangalore's Narayana Hrudayalaya. The two young children would have not met but for a few large-hearted men from either side of the border who set aside the rhetoric of hatred, brushed away the stereotype of enemy, and decided to be human.
It had led to the evolution of Aman ki Asha, a peace initiative by The Times Of India and Jang Group, the two largest media houses in their respective countries. Rotary International had come on board, threading together hospitals in India to heal ailing hearts in both countries.
"Indians and Pakistanis are among the most vulnerable people in the world; not because there's a sword of Damocles (nuclear warhead) hanging over their heads but because their genetic makeup makes them three-times more vulnerable to heart attack than any other race in the world. In India, 1,000 babies are born with congenital heart problems every day against 200 in Pakistan," said Devi Prasad Shetty, cardiac surgeon and founder of Narayana Hrudayalaya .
The Heart-to-Heart initiative of Aman ki Asha and the Rotary Humanitarian Project provide free heart surgeries for such children aged between 3 and 20 years from poor families. Over 60 children from India and Pakistan have been successfully operated under the initiative launched this March. Hospitals in India help Pakistani children who need immediate open-heart surgery. Pakistanis also contribute for heart surgeries of Indian children in India.
"Resources are being developed and enhanced to enable more surgeries in Pakistan. There are already 250 applications and over 200 surgeries have been planned for children from underprivileged families in Pakistan and India," said Faiz Kidwai, Rotary coordinator for Aman ki Asha programme in Pakistan. The initiative promotes peace by engaging with ordinary people in both countries. Besides facilitating heart surgeries, it is establishing 10 eye care centres, training young doctors and nurses and enhancing cardiac care facilities in Pakistan.
"Aman ki Asha shows the true mindsets of the majority of the 1.6 billion people in both countries who want peace," said M Iqbal Quereshi, a Rotary International district governor in Pakistan. Jang Group MD Shahrukh Hasan recalled how Akash, the first Pakistani child to board the bus from Lahore to Delhi via Wagah after the Heart to Heart initiative began, had not only broken the ice but also touched an emotional chord in India and Pakistan.
"Every moment of the journey - the love, the care - is carved in the heart of not just Akash's parents but everyone who heard the story. His mother still says Akash was born in Pakistan but it was in India he got his life," he said. The Times of India Chief Marketing Officer Rahul Kansal floated the idea of trans-border blood donation camps. "Till now, we have taken each other's blood. It's time to now give blood to each other," he said.
Swastik and Mohammed didn't understand any of this. The hole in his heart made breathing difficult for Mohd, his fingertips turned blue and face contorted. Swastik, who had suffered similarly, knew how much it hurt. But there was a twinkle in his eye that radiated hope. For, there would be a new life after the surgery.
Five-year-old Mohammed, from Pakistan's Punjab province, is suffering from a congenital heart disease. He is in Kolkata en route to Durgapur for a life-saving operation at the Mission Hospital.
Seven-year-old Swastik from West Bengal also had a heart problem since birth. He had been operated at Bangalore's Narayana Hrudayalaya. The two young children would have not met but for a few large-hearted men from either side of the border who set aside the rhetoric of hatred, brushed away the stereotype of enemy, and decided to be human.
It had led to the evolution of Aman ki Asha, a peace initiative by The Times Of India and Jang Group, the two largest media houses in their respective countries. Rotary International had come on board, threading together hospitals in India to heal ailing hearts in both countries.
"Indians and Pakistanis are among the most vulnerable people in the world; not because there's a sword of Damocles (nuclear warhead) hanging over their heads but because their genetic makeup makes them three-times more vulnerable to heart attack than any other race in the world. In India, 1,000 babies are born with congenital heart problems every day against 200 in Pakistan," said Devi Prasad Shetty, cardiac surgeon and founder of Narayana Hrudayalaya .
The Heart-to-Heart initiative of Aman ki Asha and the Rotary Humanitarian Project provide free heart surgeries for such children aged between 3 and 20 years from poor families. Over 60 children from India and Pakistan have been successfully operated under the initiative launched this March. Hospitals in India help Pakistani children who need immediate open-heart surgery. Pakistanis also contribute for heart surgeries of Indian children in India.
"Resources are being developed and enhanced to enable more surgeries in Pakistan. There are already 250 applications and over 200 surgeries have been planned for children from underprivileged families in Pakistan and India," said Faiz Kidwai, Rotary coordinator for Aman ki Asha programme in Pakistan. The initiative promotes peace by engaging with ordinary people in both countries. Besides facilitating heart surgeries, it is establishing 10 eye care centres, training young doctors and nurses and enhancing cardiac care facilities in Pakistan.
"Aman ki Asha shows the true mindsets of the majority of the 1.6 billion people in both countries who want peace," said M Iqbal Quereshi, a Rotary International district governor in Pakistan. Jang Group MD Shahrukh Hasan recalled how Akash, the first Pakistani child to board the bus from Lahore to Delhi via Wagah after the Heart to Heart initiative began, had not only broken the ice but also touched an emotional chord in India and Pakistan.
"Every moment of the journey - the love, the care - is carved in the heart of not just Akash's parents but everyone who heard the story. His mother still says Akash was born in Pakistan but it was in India he got his life," he said. The Times of India Chief Marketing Officer Rahul Kansal floated the idea of trans-border blood donation camps. "Till now, we have taken each other's blood. It's time to now give blood to each other," he said.
Swastik and Mohammed didn't understand any of this. The hole in his heart made breathing difficult for Mohd, his fingertips turned blue and face contorted. Swastik, who had suffered similarly, knew how much it hurt. But there was a twinkle in his eye that radiated hope. For, there would be a new life after the surgery.
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