Daily Times

I am not ashamed to admit that I am afraid of future. Today the world is changing faster than ever. We have climate change and population growth, injustice, terrorism and illiteracy. Today I request that all readers

Audrey Hepburn once said that as you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself and the other for helping others. Similarly, we need to ponder over the bitter fact that less fortunate human beings in societies all over the world are the primary victims of these evils. But it must be asked how many of those who are fortunate and privileged are playing their part in helping those who were not as lucky as them?

Before we discuss this topic any further, let me explain the difference between passion and purpose. We are passionate about conquering the world, but our purpose is to always reach the top. But both are not the same. Passion is something easy to learn, it is very small because passion is about you. It’s about what you love. It’s about what wakes you up in the morning and keeps you up at night. It’s the power which ignites you. However, purpose is different because purpose has nothing to do with you. The reason you were born, the reason you were put on this earth, the reason you are breathing right now, and your purpose has nothing to do with you. Your purpose is much bigger than you. It’s about what you do for others. Your purposes must start with one of the following three words: help, give or serve. You must fill in the blanks behind those three words. Help somebody, give back to somebody, and serve something greater than yourself. That is your purpose. Hence, passion is about the self, purpose is about others. The moment you realise this, your life begins to make sense. That’s when things will start falling into place, that’s how you shall be able to keep pushing when the times get tough. Because you know, you are not fighting for yourself. You are actually living your passion to fulfil your propose; which is much bigger than yourself.

Pakistan’s educated youth can prove very helpful to the unprivileged, and by helping the latter they can help themselves. 24 million out of school children need our attention. Even if one educated young person goes to a village once a week and teaches children, it will make a difference

This is the point we all need to focus on in local, national, regional and global perspectives for a peaceful and loving world. Mitchell Album has said in Tuesday with Morrie that so many people walk around, living a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important.

Although Pakistani’s made many promises to each other to carry forward the legacy of Abdul Sattar Edhi after his passing, we remained so caught up in our own lives that we forgot about the plight of those Pakistani’s who struggle to survive every single day. The lack of access to quality education continues to turn the youth into a most future liability. Young mothers are delivering babies on roads, girls are being raped and paraded naked in public, unemployed young graduates are committing suicide because of stress and fears about the future. Laws are being made to serve individuals instead of in consideration of larger national interests.

The story doesn’t end here, and the list of our failures goes on. Let’s stop here, and consider when we last did something that made life meaningful? When was the last time we stopped and enjoyed a moment which wasn’t all about us? Playing with a bunch orphan children in park who have no one to watch after them, spending time with an old man over a piali (cup) of tea and listening to his life experiences, educating a child from deprived regions who had been deprived of the right to basic education due to poverty and gender discrimination? You cannot buy happiness which you can earn by travelling to Pakistan’s remote villages and teach poor kids under the sun with same passion and zeal as you attend your universities and offices.

Pakistan’s educated youth can be very helpful to the unprivileged, and thus they can help themselves. 24 Million Out of school children need their attention. Even if one educated youth goes to a village once a week and teaches the village children, it will make a difference. Stress, anxiety, depression and other mental disorders are highly prevalent in Pakistan.

According to the Pakistan Psychiatric Society, out of the population of 200 million, one out of three are suffering from these curable diseases. Its prevalence is higher in women at 57.5 percent and 25 percent in men. When you see people who you suspect might be suffering from these conditions, reach out to them and let them know that you are there to help them. We need to talk more about suicide before more young students in Pakistan die. According to Prof Mubashar, Ex-vice-chancellor, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, approximately one million people commit suicide every year in the world. This represents one death every minute, almost 3,000 deaths every day, and one suicide attempt every three seconds. Hence, it is our collective responsibility to motivate such individuals with hope, kind words, sense of association and empathy. Honour killings are another menace still prevalent in many parts of Pakistan. Only education can help us to eradicate this sin from our society. We need to enlighten the illiterate communities on the value of a girl’s life and the significance of her educated career and how beautifully she can play her part in socio economic development of Pakistan. In the last 11 years, 100,000 Pakistanis, mostly young have lost their lives in road accidents due to several reasons including lack of awareness of traffic laws. Each of us can start a very basic campaign in our local vicinity on the importance of following traffic laws.

Even if small efforts like this save one life, it still means a lot. There are many other issues like addressing intolerance, stopping religious extremism, empowerment and intellectual development of the youth, promotion of reasoning, encouraging constructive argumentative culture in classrooms and training our youth to toughen themselves so that they can live a real meaningful life by creating a difference in lives of others. But, it requires a collective effort by the socially responsible youth of Pakistan. We need to develop this attitude among students at colleges and universities to get back to their roots and serve the common Pakistanis who are less fortunate and underprivileged under the green flag of Pakistan.

Summing up, I would like to take you to ‘Live Your Life’ by Chief Tecumseh. He said that one should live their life in a manner which prevents the fear of death can never enter their heart. All the youth must aim that when it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

The writer is is an Educationist, Fellow of PGLS Russia, Member of National Academy of Young Scientists, Pakistan, Country Chair for Global Network for Inclusive and Sustainable Development, India and currently associated with COMSATS IIT, Islamabad as Assistant Registrar. He tweets at @AsifMalik30

Published in Daily Times, November 29^th 2017.