37. let us make a crying child laugh

During the Covid period I made it a point to record all the useful and not very useful news in my diary – news gathered from online newspapers, TV, websites and twitter. 

Now I’m in the process of compiling them. 

While going through the diary I found an entry dated February 19, 2022 which reads – “In Germany, a 6-year-old boy Kilian, who loved motorcycles was diagnosed with cancer. 

Kilian was diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, and despite surgery and chemotherapy, his family received heartbreaking news that Kilian’s cancer cannot be cured. 

He told his mother that he wished to see motorcyclists circling around his house and make some noise. 

Kilian Sass is the son of a biker belonging to a 24-member local bikers’ group. Fellow member Ralf Pietsch took it upon himself to make the little boy’s dying wish a reality.

Pietsch then launched a campaign, called “Krach für Kilian”—meaning “Noise for Kilian”—garnering an enormous response on social media. “We hope that we can count on you ... 5 minutes of your time for the last smile of a little fighter,” read the shoutout.

Just four days later, chaperoned by Police, bikers met at three meeting points before parading past Kilian’s house to holler and beep their horns for the brave 6-year-old. 

Kilian watched the drive-by with a smile.

According to the family, 20,000 motorcyclists volunteered. That was the child’s last happiness.

Irrespective of their age, many people become victims of cancers, and undergo a lot of hardships. I lost my elder sister in the same year. We couldn’t save her despite our best efforts. 

During her treatment I had to visit our biggest Cancer hospital, Tata Memorial Hospital several times and saw the pain the patients suffer as well as the families crying out in agony.

Opposite the hospital someone has started a free canteen for those accompanying the patients. It’s a tiny shop run by a trust, called ‘Jeevan Jyot’, which serves free lunch and dinner to economically backward cancer patients and their families who have come from various parts of the country to seek treatment.

जाने-माने शायर निदा फाजली का एक शेर है, 

‘घर से मस्जिद है दूर, चलो यूं कर लें 

किसी रोते हुए बच्चे को हंसाया जाए.’ 

(There is a famous verse by the renowned poet Nida Fazli, 'The mosque is far from home, let us make a crying child laugh.')