By the window

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to drain t...

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room8217;s only window. The other man had to lie flat on his back always. The two talked for hours together 8212; about wives and families, homes, jobs, holidays. Every afternoon when the man by the window could sit up, he passed the time describing the view to the other man, who began to live for those one-hour commentaries. The man by the window made it all come vividly alive and enlivened his narrow sickbed existence. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and geese swam about on the water while children sailed paper boats at the edge or raced about throwing a ball. Young lovers walked arm-in-arm under flowering trees or sat cuddling, on benches under arbours of jasmine, bamboo or climbing rose. Grand old neems, shishams, jacarandas and gulmohars graced the landscape while beyond them, the towers and domes of the great city made a dramatic skyline. Elderly people went by chatting busily or sat playing endless card-games, while pet dogs were walked briskly about. In one fine open corner, a boisterous bunch of young fellows played football.

As the man by the window described all this in detail, the man on the bed would close his eyes and imagine it all happening. Days and weeks passed like this. One morning, the nurse came in and found that the man by the window had died peacefully in his sleep. At an appropriate moment, the other man asked to be moved to his bed. The nurse transferred him gladly. Left on his own, the man painfully propped himself up on his elbow to take his first look at the world outside. He trembled with excitement at the thought of seeing the park for himself. But the window overlooked a blank wall. Devastated, he rang for the nurse. What on earth had made the dead man describe such wonderful things outside the window? The nurse revealed that the man was in fact blind and could not even see the wall. Silence gripped the sickroom. 8216;8216;Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you!8217;8217; said the nurse after thinking a bit8230;

Sounds like something out of O. Henry, doesn8217;t it? And why ever not? Its message is worth spreading. Trying to cheer someone else up despite our own condition is a peculiar happiness. As Hazrat Ali would say, 8216;8216;When you are destitute, trade with Allah through charity!8217;8217; In real life, perhaps it8217;s easiest to resuscitate the old Scout credo about doing at least one good deed a day? Or if that8217;s impossible in a world full of detestable cranks, just holding back from punching them on the nose?