Something to Celebrate

It has been almost a week since the first African American was elected to the office of the President of the United States. And while his victory was being celebrated in America and also all over the world, here in Pakistan, there are a surprisingly large number of people who are either cynical or entirely dismissive of what has taken place. The most common reactions I’ve heard are “What difference does it make to us as Pakistanis?” and “It’s not like we’re going to get anything out of it”. I find such talk sad and disturbing. Are we, is the entire Pakistani nation so removed from history and its lessons, and so isolated from the present, that it cannot recognize when history is being made? I like the idea of Barack Obama as President for a number of reasons; I like him for his talents as a speaker, I like him because he has remained throughout, an image of what politicians should aspire to be and I like him because when he talks about hope and change, he talks of them not as concepts but as promises. And when an American President talks of hope and change, given the current world situation, I think the entire world hopes for change. My parents used to talk of John F. Kennedy as an inspirational President, and now I tell them Obama is our generation’s Kennedy. And although people in our country spend a minute congratulating Americans on moving past the racial barriers that have divided them for more than two centuries, cynicism quickly sets back in. Why? Racism and slavery were not restricted only to America, although they held on to it longer than most European nations. We call William Wilberforce a great man for his efforts to abolish the slave trade, we admire the constitutional amendments in the United States that ended slavery, and we admire Martin Luther King Jr. for his efforts for civil rights. We do so because in such men and such stories, we see something that appeals to our common humanity. So when a black man has won the ultimate political prize in a country that once treated such men worse than cattle, Pakistanis ought to take leave of their own country’s problems for a while, and celebrate something that is important to all of humanity.

Leaders of Men

We have grown up hearing tales of great men. We have heard tales of kings and conquerors, saints and sinners, heroes and villains. Always, these men and their victories and defeats have seemed to belong to times long past. Of course, times long past is now a relative term. We know more about human history than ever before. That is where all the stories come from. History is how we know of the many great men who have come before us; men who changed the world, for better or worse. Yet the very fact that we depend on history to learn of such men, means that we walk in their footsteps. Those men cannot be our contemporaries; and although I’m glad I wasn’t around in the same time as Hitler, I sometimes wish I had seen Churchill. I’m grateful Stalin couldn’t touch me with a stick, but I wouldn’t have minded hearing one of FDR’s Fireside Chats. Inspiration can be found in many places, but there are few things as inspiring as a leader of men. I have read about such men, but in the words of history books, I have seldom felt that rush of feeling that one is supposed to in the company of great men. Real leaders, I have often thought, have disappeared from the world; or at least are in hibernation. And that has always seemed to be such a pity. I’m no expert, but in very few cases have I seen people satisfied with a leader they elected. And since I began taking interest in leadership, I have thought that people usually have to be content with the leaders they get stuck with. But today I saw a man tell thousands of people that one voice can change the world, and they believed him. It was no longer a choice between bad or worse. They were ecstatic. It was one of the few times I’ve felt glad to be proven wrong. Leaders of men may be in short supply; but it seems they may be around for a little while longer.