YOU DECIDE!

I once found myself in a strange town, on a strange street, in front of a strange cinema hall, showing a strange film.

- Lakshmi Narayan

The name of the film was, You Decide! The first part of the movie before intermission was about those with a divine calling who sailed away to far away shores to spread the word of God.

For them no task was too menial, no chore too harsh. They washed suppurating wounds and leprous sores with equal fervour. They courted hostile conditions and hostile people with a smile.

They treated the poor, the oppressed and those on the fringes of society with tenderness and empathy. They were firmly convinced that for all the hardships they endured on earth, they would be amply rewarded in heaven by their chosen God.

But after the interval, the film changed tack. It showed young men and women from well-off families crossing frontiers and borders to work in famine-ravaged and war-torn countries, braving bombs and missiles without fear.