One really doesn’t know how soon after independence, migration of Pakistanis to foreign countries actually started off, but it seems to have been going on forever. And today just about every second person wants out.
Why is this happening? Why has this obsession for leaving a country that was won with so much bloodshed at birth assumed epidemic proportions? These may seem rather silly questions when we consider all the chaos around us and our national descent into a deepening sense of despondency. But is running away, for that is what it really amounts to, the answer?
It is the answer if you have lost faith in yourself. And many do. Your loss of faith in yourself, your low self-esteem and the compromising with your own peculiar situation, then becomes the justification for getting out. Why have we lost faith in ourselves? More importantly, is it all about us at the end of the day or do our lives have a larger purpose?
So many questions! And to all of these, there is but one answer. And here I must insert one of my all time favourite quotes, nay, thoughts, that any thinker ever espoused. This one is by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (hopefully no introduction required!) and it goes: “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”
I don’t know about you, but really, this one brings tears to my eyes. What is strangely ironic is that what Dr. King said for the U.S. society decades ago, is remarkably applicable to our society today.
Another hugely insightful observation was made by the writer of a newspaper article last August. She wrote and I quote with all deference: “The systems that got us into this mess will not be the systems that will get us out of it. They simply cannot be. We have something systemically wrong with us. Not as a nation, as a global community. As an era.”
Now this is a really deep thought if your mind cares to process it. The disease so to speak, is not limited to Pakistan. It is global. Further, it is not even limited by time. It spans an entire era – the modern age, sustaining and growing to transcend the passage of time over generations. When did this era start can be matter of debate. Enough it is to accept that it covers at least our lifetime and threatens to live on in our generations. And the takeaway message from this writing is quite clear – you need a new solution to emerge from the morass, stronger and better. Link this to King’s thought and the solution is right there in front of you.
Admittedly not altogether a new solution, it is still something we have all heard at one time or another, but for inexplicable reasons have desisted from trying it out. Simply put, the solution is the Power of One – the uncompromising resolve of one individual to live positively; to make a difference. Imagine millions adopting this belief! Imagine a thousand or even a hundred Edhis (although truly there can never be another quite like Abdul Sattar Edhi) emerging in a blighted landscape and ‘breaking the silence of good people’ as King beseeched.
The good news is that even in these excruciatingly exigent times, and with odds stacked heavily against them, inspiring Pakistanis with a realization of a larger purpose of life are establishing new records of conviction, courage, compassion and change. And our women, by no means equal to men in our male chauvinistic society, are determinedly leading the way in diverse fields.
Think of teenager Arfa Kareem who at age 9 become the world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional in the world. Think of the several young girls, barely out of their teens who are flying supersonic fighter aircrafts in our air force. Think of the young woman Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy who recently won an Oscar and is going on to make a difference for the cause she has championed through her documentary. Think of relatively unknown and unsung heroes like Dr. Fehmida Firdous, a marine biologist, who has tirelessly worked for decades to save green turtles that come to nest on our beaches; is there any way one can measure her contribution to our world? Need some numbers to appreciate what she has achieved? So far, she has protected 2.5 million eggs laid by 25,000 turtles while releasing more than 700,000 hatchlings into the sea from the beaches of Hawk’s Bay and Sandspit. This lady is not alleviating poverty in one community, noble as that is. She is saving an entire species from becoming extinct forever! Can one really put a measurable or quantifiable value to her work or her achievements? Impossible!
Stockbrokers advising investors to put their money into a certain company’s stock, speak of the company having ‘strong fundamentals.’ So even if the company is presently not outperforming, the strong fundamentals ensure that its future is bright, if the company people leverage the strong fundamentals. This is as true of a country as of a company. Think of all the developing countries of the world and you will perhaps not find a single country that can match our strong fundamentals – five rivers, fertile land, long coastline, marine resources, huge deposits of all carbon fuels, amongst the world’s largest deposits of copper and gold, industrious people, the list goes on and on. There is in short a lot to feel positive about Pakistan. The only caveat is that you too have to play a role. And don’t underestimate either yourself or the difference good people can make.
The list of good people may start with Edhi topping it, but it does not end there – thankfully! There are many others, living positively, conclusively proving that the Power of One does make a difference, if you really want to make a difference. Or, in the words of a slogan I recently saw somewhere, ‘ho yaqeen tou khulay khushien’.
Do you? Or you think you are really incapable of it and best is to focus on your own well-being, in some far off land which the grass appears greener, but when you get there, you find out you cannot walk on it!
Blog post Written by Zohare Ali Shariff and You can visit the original article at http://www.thenewstribe.com/