Bidding farewell to Edhi Sahab

Pakistan mourns the passing of Abdus Sattar Edhi. As the loss is unbearable hence the shock is natural. These are spontaneous feelings. However, physical shocks are temporal in nature and time heals them sooner than later. He was adored as a person and acknowledged for doing something never done before. He created the soft image of a country rifted apart by multiple fissures.

Many a tall figure met their abode. They are remembered by the mausoleums erected on their graves. This is per se superfluous homage to any hero. We invent super human anecdotes about them. All words and acts, said or done by them, are described in golden words. However, hardly anybody thought of following in their footprints. Nobody can dare say they too were frail human beings who were not bereft of physical emotions; nevertheless, they braved against the odds for translating their dreams into reality for the betterment of society.

Edhi Sahab led a simple life from cradle to grave. He built a welfare organization without begging a penny from any government organization. His fans and donors were by and large persons from the modest background. His impeccable conduct earned him immaculate integrity, transparent creditability. His appeal transcended all artificial barriers erected around us. His organization went from strength to strength. Such an ascendancy, by it self, is amazing in a society full of contradictions. One could wish our romance with him does not fade and evaporates in ceremonies only.  How can this happen or can stay safe from being dumped in vagaries of history.

One redeeming feature that should keep Edhi Sb alive is his spectrum of appeal that went beyond all creed or cultures. His orphanage was a welcome place for all helpless persons. Such people have, for the time being, become orphan.

The best way to say bid farewell is to continue his Herculean mission in the best possible way. He was a phenomenon; Pakistani’s father Teresa or our Gandhi sans his vices. We need not burry him in a tomb or erect a mausoleum that will turn into a "Ziarat Gah" that has been bane of our history.

His organization does not need official patronage. Every Pakistani must resolve to do a thing or two in our daily life which will make Edhi Sahab immortal in time and space. His followers need to run his mission without evolving any organizational setup, as he ran it without creating any hierarchy or different chapter.

Let it continue to follow the “flow of ocean”. The cradles for “parents less” kids should keep swinging. Homes for old people be a place to bring smiles on them which were snatched by their heart-less sons or soul-less society. Let it continue to be safe heaven for girls who are thrown at the mercy of “vultures”.

His mission may evolve or transform into a movement which each of us should own with conviction that “if I am not part of the mission it will fall apart.” Let his mission stay alive forever and for every body. That is way to keep Edhi Sb alive without bidding him farewell.