22/09/2026
Dunia mungkin penuh dengan hal buruk, tapi yang paling menyedihkan adalah ketika kita lupa bagaimana caranya menerima kebaikan.
Sebuah cerita dari Danau Chuzenji, Jepang, yang mengubah cara saya memandang dunia dan rasa percaya antar sesama manusia. 🙏🏼
The person who took this photo is a stranger we had just met.
That afternoon, we were sitting by Lake Chuzenji, enjoying the view. A man sat next to us.
At first, he was quiet, just constantly looking at Nusa. His gaze wasn’t intrusive; rather, it was a gentle look that implied a deep sense of longing. When Nusa finally turned to look at him, my wife and I noticed.
We looked at him, smiled, and decided to greet him warmly.
That greeting seemed to open his heart. He replied and began to share his story.
He is from Pakistan, forced to work far away here, leaving behind his wife and his 7-month-old baby. Seeing Nusa, he said, was a comfort for the longing he felt for his child back home.
As a gesture of affection, he offered Nusa some chocolate, which I politely declined because Nusa isn’t allowed to eat chocolate yet. Not giving up on sharing, he handed us a banana.
I accepted it, but at that very second, the alarm bells in my head started ringing.
He then offered to take a family photo of us using my wife’s phone. Our first instinct? Fear.
My wife held back an immense hesitation, worried this stranger would steal and run away with her phone.
As if sensing our doubts, the man said very gently, “The view from my side is really beautiful, this will be a lovely memory for you to look back on someday.”
Hearing the sincerity in his voice, I gave my wife the nod to hand over her phone, and it became the photo you are looking at right now.
However, the tension in my head wasn’t over. Not long after, Nusa started getting fussy and yelling, “Nana! Nana!” demanding to eat the banana he was given. My suspicion only grew wilder. What if this banana was injected with something?
Feeling awkward about visibly forbidding Nusa from eating it in front of him, and feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation, I decided we had to leave immediately.
We and Nusa said our thank yous as we parted ways.
But as I l
