'I fight hate with a pocketbook of peace'

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Kia Scherr is a writer and meditation teacher whose husband and 13-year-old daughter Naomi were among the 174 dead in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. They were murdered in the restaurant of the Oberoi Hotel, where they had been staying. The days and months after the tragedy were unimaginably difficult for Kia, but she found strength in the ‘tsunami of love’ she received from others. And when she saw a photo of the surviving gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a Christian phrase occurred to her: ‘forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ She decided that she wanted to become the opposite of the gunmen – she wrote a letter to Kasab, and travelled frequently to Mumbai over the next six years, publishing her reflections in a ‘Pocketbook of Peace.’ Her message has even been adopted by the Mumbai police force, with whom Kia has set up a Whatsapp group to encourage meditative practices in their working day. Kia speaks to Outlook’s Rajan Datar about learning to grieve with love. Doctor Thomas Moors runs a choir for members who have had their voice boxes surgically removed – an operation called a laryngectomy which is mostly performed due to throat cancer. They’re called the Shout at Cancer choir, and Outlook’s Mariana des Forges went to meet some of their members. This is the first part of a two-part programme; the second part will be broadcast tomorrow. Picture: Kia Scherr with her ‘Pocketbook of Peace’ Credit: courtesy Kia Scherr