Coca Cola Celebrates the Spirit of Abdul Sattar Edhi with Its New TVC

Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua is a 1902 poem written by Allama Iqbal. Translated, it means “To my lips comes a prayer.” It is recited in almost every Pakistani school to this day, remaining quite popular.

It is a prayer to God, seeking qualities of compassion and kindness, as well as the capability of serving humanity. All of Iqbal’s poems contain some positive lesson and he often wrote poems that encouraged character-building among children. This particular poem was one of them.

Having chosen this as a song for the TV-commercial was therefore a perfect fit for Coca-Cola’s Ramadan Campaign – Eidi for Edhi. The poem’s lyrics “May supporting the poor be my life’s way; may loving the suffering be my way” undoubtedly was his way. The selfless Edhi sb dedicated his entire life to helping the less fortunate. Edhi Foundation carries out an unparalleled spectrum of social services including orphanages, mobile dispensaries, hospitals, diabetic centres, homes for the homeless, the disabled and the elderly rejected by their families.

Also, since by Pakistani law, a father’s name is required for all official paperwork, Edhi was listed as father and guardian to tens of thousands of people. Edhi also won a case for orphans to receive National Identity cards. His foundation houses more than 50,000 orphans in their orphanages.

Edhi sb’s last known spoken words: “Take care of the poor people of my country” demonstrated his selfless and tireless concern for the needy in Pakistan. One of the lines of Iqbal’s poem reads “May my homeland through me attain elegance.” We as Pakistanis are certainly able to relate this to the late great Edhi sb as he was the epitome of elegance. He was, in fact, Pakistan’s national treasure; a symbol for kindness, hope, equality and benevolence.

It is extremely important that we go back to the fundamentals of this poem/prayer, which is great at evoking all the emotions one might hope to experience in the spirit of Ramazan, like the commonly shared values of generosity, sharing and togetherness. It is also vital that each of us remembers the part we must play so that we become humans with the characteristics we always desired to have.

Coca-Cola’s Ramazan campaign #Eidi for Edhi wants to help you achieve exactly that. Following a similar campaign that was carried out in 2017, Coca-Cola is partnering with Edhi Foundation again for a fundraising campaign and the company promises to double all donations received during the campaign. This year, Coca-Cola invites you to go beyond cash donations, and encourages contributing in terms of meaningful gifts that the Foundation can distribute among the less-privileged, bringing joy into their lives by the time Eid ul Fitr arrives.

To help continue Edhi’s mission, contribute generously to this cause. You can donate by:

1. Using the Coca-Cola’s #BottleOfChange or collecting #EidiforEidi in terms of gifts and dropping these at the nearest Edhi Center or at one of the 75,000 Telenor easy paisa outlets
2. Using Easypaisa to transfer money to the Edhi Foundation, Telenor has waived off all charges as their contribution to the Edhi Foundation
3. Making a direct online transfer into Edhi Foundation’s bank account