The New Nation - Internet Edition

Quite a number of years had passed since I read a true story in the Reader's Digest told by a doctor titled "You can never tell". Often it comes to my mind and I am marvelled by it. The story goes like this, one day the doctor who was then young, attended a woman who was in labour. A son was born but the baby was not breathing and the doctor noticed that the baby was deformed. For a moment, the doctor thought there are so many deformed people in the world, why add another one? But a doctor's duty is to save life, not to destroy it, he overcame that fleeting thought and revived the baby.

Years passed and that young doctor became a grandfather. His grandson fell ill and needed special treatment. He searched for a specialist and found one who bore the same name as his. The doctor took his grandson to him and noticed a physical deformity of the specialist. At one stage during the treatment of his grandson, the specialist mentions that his parents named him after the dictor who saved his life and brought him into this world. Suddenly, a chord struck in the mind of the grandfather and he instantly realised that it was the baby whom he thought was going to be a burden!

Life is so strange and unpredictable. I think it is Almighty Allah's way of saying, "Who are you to decide?"

Nur Jahan

Chittagong