A Matter of Pride
By Miss Specs • Aug 25th, 2008 • Category: Misc • 15 Comments •I sat at my grandfather’s knee, lost in wonder, ‘Really, Abba Jan?’
‘Yes, my daughter,’ he said, ‘we did not have it as easy as you.’
‘So, you mean to say you worked on the train station all night and studied till dawn?’
He nodded.
‘When did you sleep?’
A gentle laugh full of remonstrance.
‘Child, when the only way out of poverty is a decent education… and when the burden of your people’s progress rides heavy on your shoulders, sleep doesn’t come near you. I knew if i didn’t work, I would be questioned about the excellent brain i wasted; one that could have done something good for the Ummah.’
‘Were there other people like you?’
‘I don’t think you understand, dearest! We lived for our people. All of us: Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians…all of us in that school. There was a boy in my class, a Hindu boy named Ganesh. You know how traditional Hindus left some long hair at the back of their heads?’
I nodded, engrossed.
‘Ganesh used to tie his hair with a rope to a rod in the ceiling. Whenever he nodded off, the moment he leaned forward or slouched…’
‘Ouch, Grand dad… but seriously, why work this hard? That’s insane!’
‘When you’re working for the betterment of your people, when you consider them your responsibility, you will end up trying to use every resource: light, books and the fact that your parents have money to send you to school… nothing goes to waste. Maybe we lived in the subcontinent and had to fight to claim our right, that is why we worked so hard. The problem with you youth today is, you don’t consider yourself answerable to anyone. The boy smoking on the street corner doesn’t think he is incurring a loss for Pakistan; a loss for Muslims. There is no sense of belonging. Once you get that, there is no way you would be a slacker or could have a moment to think about sleep. You would be so tired you won’t know when it overtook you.’
‘Where will the sense of belonging come from? Whose fault is it that the youth of today do not feel the Muslim Ummah or their country are their own to build?’
Abba Jan was silent.
‘You kids have become selfish. You ask what can you get without wanting to contribute. If i failed to instill a sense of loyalty to their religious brothers, to their country and to their people, i have failed to raise a child.’
Today, looking at the youth wasting their lives away hanging out at popular shopping malls and smoking cigarettes, these words come back to haunt me. Have we really failed to tell this youth how important he is for his family, his country, his Ummah? Where did we fail… what crucial step did we miss?
Great nations are built by people who think of it as their nation. People with a sense of ownership. People with the view that they are stake holders too. Is there no one to rise and claim our inheritance back?
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With respects to your grandfather and his sense of pride. In my view, issue is not pride it is priority; when you assume a sense of belonging to something as vague as ‘umma’ ( which umma? ) then you are bound to be lost. Him and his generation would have done a great service to us by helping us become one nation, the Pakistani nation. Charity has to begin right here, we have to be united and strong to inspire others.
Aftab: This is a fictional story, so feel free to criticize!
You’ve hit the nail right on the head. When a youth has no roots to hold him in place, to help him brave the elements to do his best, that is where we go wrong. This story has only one real part: the one about the Hindu student. That has always filled me with so much awe… yes, we have to being charity, we have to see the youth gets a sense of being stakeholders in this nation. That is when you become united in the truest sense.
But that, of course, is just a view. I’ve left the question open at the end; i want to see how people with different kinds of ideas and background shape this vague idea up.
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Miss Spec .. what an article!!! My grand fathers have similar stories like Ganesh!!!
Its been a good effort being put by Miss Spec…….. the thought process have to be start from the things when we realize that what roles we have and responsibilties as being “Nation” …. and after realizing that we can follow the RACI model .. which can tell us that who are responsible , accountable , consulted and Informed ….. to educate our youth we have to follow the awarness programme by telling them what is right and what is wrong from the root i.e. their homes …….
Miss Specs
A unique, wonderless, talk more,
Nice story. Yes these stories are required to drive us. compel us to think for our country and prosperous future.
Keep it up.
Dear TPS Team,
I am unable to open full Lead Story’s with comments. Is there problem in website or on my side. Please help, so I may comment. thanks for support.
Regards,
Dear miss speculation/spectacles /specification/ spectrum/Toporcer and bla bla.
Well come a board and please receive my heartiest gesture along with evergreen remarks for tagging your article with the opinion as blended and self created recipes of same old element of testimony and reservation as taunt to our new generation as blame game .
Though it’s a difficult situation to emphasize my point on your too many reserving comments but still, please revert by using your prerogative to replenish discussion by scrutiny one single point agenda so that I may have my opinion on the subject,though my opinion is not important.
Please go through under mentioned lines of your article to embark discussion. Regards
“We did not have it as easy as you.’
We lived for our people.’
There is no sense of belonging.
‘You kids have become selfish.
You ask what you can get without wanting to contribute.
The problem with you youth today is, you don’t consider yourself answerable to anyone.
Where did we fail… what crucial step did we miss?
Is there no one to rise and claim our inheritance back?
I knew if I didn’t work, I would be questioned about the excellent brain I wasted; One that could have done something good, for the, Ummah.’
The only way out of poverty is a decent education.
Nothing goes to waste.
When the burden of your people’s progress rides heavy on your shoulders, sleep doesn’t come near you.
‘When you’re working for the betterment of your people, when you consider them your responsibility, you will end up trying to use every resource.
Maybe we lived in the subcontinent and had to fight to claim our right that is why we worked so hard.
‘Where will the sense of belonging come from? Whose fault is it that the youth of today do not feel the Muslim Ummah or their country is their own to build?’
Great nations are built by people who think of it as their nation.
People with a sense of ownership.
People with the view that they are stake holders too.
The boy smoking on the street corner doesn’t think he is incurring a loss for Pakistan; a loss for Muslims.
Once you get that, there is no way you would be a slacker or could have a moment to think about sleep. You would be so tired you won’t know when it overtook you.’
If I failed to instill a sense of loyalty to their religious brothers, to their country and to their people, I have failed to raise a child.’
Have we really failed to tell this youth how important he is for his family, his country, his Ummah?
Ali, Please do share that story.
Ausaf Ahmed, Saeed Khan, Saleem Khan, thank you for your kind responses.
Dr Razahaider, “for tagging your article with the opinion as blended and self created recipes of same old element of testimony and reservation as taunt to our new generation as blame game .” In comment 2, you can see i mentioned that this is a fictional story, thus fictional characters and a fictional dialogue. This is not an article to chronicle the journey and actions of our elders; and of ourselves. Neither is it a social commentary. Its just food for thought that everyone will read in a different light as per their background and experiences in life.
About your inquiry as to the main idea, I mentioned the youth’s sense of belonging: ‘yes, we have to begin charity at home, we have to see the youth gets a sense of being stakeholders in this nation.’ as being the main idea of the story.
As far as the other points you mentioned are concerned, i already said in my comment above:“I’ve left the question open at the end; i want to see how people with different kinds of ideas and background shape this vague idea up.’
It seems you commented post haste without reading my comment, so offended were you at the idea of a blame game being played!
Thank you for your kind words of welcome. And let me reassure you, the only reason this article was written was to benefit from opinions; so your opinion is very very important even though you think its not.
If you want to go ahead and discuss any of the ideas in the lines you quoted above, please, feel free to do so. Even though they are not the main topic of debate, they are debatable nonetheless. It would be an excellent opportunity for us to benefit from your experience and opinion.
i believe the youth doomed itself… thanks to the HD-box
Evaluation, completed.
Satisfactory, results.
Sampling positive as predicted.
Power, Current and volts, satisfactory.
Well come a board miss Specs
You are a nice story teller. luv to read more.
Interesting Miss Spec I like it give us more of your inside. luv it
HAHAHAHA RAZA REH GAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA BACHI KE HATHOON BE-IZZAT HO GAYA.
abey nalaik angrezi seekh le
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Very interestng, unique, wonderless, brilliant, luv it luv it luv it all the way……………
Dil mangay more
more more more