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I wonder how many people outside Pakistan are familiar with the name Abdul Sattar Edhi.If services to humanity are any criterion,he should be as well known as Mother Teresa,but he isn't.

This is an inspiring book on the life of one of the most revered figures in Pakistan,one who did a lot of good for a whole lot of people.

His volunteers and ambulances were always at the scene of human tragedy.Personally I needed an ambulance once at a large government hospital for an injured family member.The only ambulance available was Edhi's.I won't forget that.

Homes for the destitute,animal shelters and morgues,he built them all.His organization offered cradles at his centres so that people could place their unwanted or illegitimate infants there instead of killing them !


The book is full of anecodotes from Edhi's life,how he began his work and how he unflinchingly faced the most dangerous situations while helping those in distress.

Once he walked into the middle of a shootout between two armed gangs.The shooting stopped and both parties waited till he had gone.

People trusted him,giving generous donations to help in all kinds of emergencies and natural disasters.

Edhi was human,he must have had his faults.The book is silent about that,but is still a great effort.

Postscript : When Edhi died in 2016,everyone who was anyone in the land attended his state funeral.His funeral procession stretched for miles.He was given a nineteen gun salute by the military.

Not that he would have wanted it,but that is the type of send off he got.