بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم 

This post isn’t a review and if you’ve yet to see the movie I advise caution as this may be a bit spoilery (I tried to keep it to a minimum). After watching the film I was overwhelmed by emotions and felt the need to expel them somewhere, so why not here.

Lion is a film about a boy, Saroo, who gets separated from his family in India and gets saved through getting adopted by an Australian couple. Years later he is plagued with memories of his birth family, who have no idea how safe and happy a life he’s led. And so he begins to search for his home to answer all these questions running through his head.

Based on a true story.

As soon as those words come across the screen it already elicits an emotional investment from the audience. 4 hours after seeing the movie, it’s still consuming my thoughts, I’m not quite sure how to put it down eloquently.

For me, the most jarring realisation that I had after watching the movie was that nothing is impossible. As humans we’re so blinded by practicality and logic. We don’t have faith anymore. This movie taught me to have faith. That anything is possible because God is capable of anything. Knowing this was a true story immediately told me that everything that I would watch actually happened by the will of Allah (barring the exaggerated bits made for Hollywood). Immediately this wasn’t just a story, but an example of Allah’s, Subhanahu wa Ta’aala, mercy. For me, whilst I will never fully comprehend the gentleness of Ya Lateef,  here was a true life story to remind me.

I don’t know these people, I have never met them. But watching their struggle unfold was overwhelming. I was forced to contemplate my whole life, the opportunities I’ve had, the mercy I’ve been exposed to. My family tree extends as far as my grandfather. Beyond that, we don’t know where we descended from. He moved to South Africa with my grandmother and then 10 year-old uncle and toddler aunt. I imagine the four of them on a ship, unsure of what’s awaiting them but hoping that it is better than what they left behind in India. Scared but hopeful. Undoubtedly, the life they led here and what’s become of my family is incomparable to the life that would have been had they stayed. My siblings and I often wonder what if. What if our Papa didn’t make that brave move? What if they didn’t get on that ship? What if we were still in the gaoon (village) ?  We’ve seen pictures of  our grand-aunts and my father’s cousins, their homes, their lifestyles. Some of my immediate family have visited too. The contrast is astounding.

We have lived a western privileged life in South Africa, with our spacious homes, multiple cars, education, electric stoves and appliances, holidays and everything else we wanted accessible within a blink of an eye. We have been so ungrateful.  It could have been so different, but Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’aala inspired my grandfather and allowed us, his descendants, to have so much more than my Papa could even imagine. Alhamdulillah.

Back to Saroo’s story. He could have lived his whole life in Ganesh Talai, but Allah allowed him to have more. A comfortable life in Australia, yes a difficult one in which he did not truly understand his identity; but a good life, surrounded by love and filled with opportunities his birth mother could not have dreamed of. How merciful is our Lord?

His emotional struggle and his birth mother’s suffering of years not knowing where her baby was is another lesson. That good comes with bad. Heartache and sacrifice are often the foundation of something beautiful. Whatever hardship we may be facing today, in days or months or years we will see the benefit of that hardship. No suffering befalls us without reason. That reason is for something better to take its place, it may be to take us closer to Allah, or to make room for a better blessing from Him Subhanahu wa Ta’aala than what we thought we wanted; but with this understanding and complete trust in Allah, we can face anything this world throws at us.

I could go on, but I think this is a good place to stop. In short, God is merciful. Appreciate your life. There are people living the kind of lives we can’t even fathom. Every little thing you have was meant for you so be grateful to God.

Alhamdulillah

Allāhumma ṣalli ‘alā sayyidinā muḥammadi nin nūri wa ālihī
“O Allah, send salutations upon our Master Muhammad, the Light, and his Family!”