On this Eid- Live for others

Grey clouds heralded this eid ul fitr, Nature showed a merciful face this year, in contrast to the harsh sun of last eid. From a punishing mood, the cosmos are moving towards benevolence. But soon we will be facing flood conditions in Pakistan, which is a yearly feature. Last eid for me was difficult. Desolate and sad due to reasons beyond my control, I did not celebrate it. But this year I feel alive once again.I feel new hope, joy, caring. I dont feel alone anymore despite my recent illness. My loved ones made this happen. For this I am thankful to them and to God for his blessings.But the biggest source of happiness during Ramadan was to see my fifteen year old daughter do her month long internship at Akhuwat, the microfinance charity so admirably led by Dr.Amjad Saqib. I first witnessed their ceremony of extending micro loans to needy persons in the Shah Jamal Mosque in Lahore, in 2005. It brought tears to my eyes how a relationship was forged between the donors and the loan recipients.Here was a process with no question of dependence or compromise on self respect.From then on, Akhuwat has moved from strength to strength. when my daughter expressed this desire in April, I was overjoyed and took her to get registered myself. She became the youngest ever Akhuwat intern. I loved seeing her work from day to night, coming home tired but she was so happy, she was consumed by her work. It reminded me of myself when I work with people. The greatest joy is to make others happy. In her interest, I saw the realization of one of my greatest convictions, which made me join public service and make an effort to acquaint my children to the lives of poor people, real people i call them, not living in bubbles of comfort like people of my class. I believe that our nation can never progress until the people from the privileged classes get out of their comfort zones and make their contribution for the support of the less fortunate, not only in terms of money, but through giving time and working to improve things,whether within the government or independently. Ever since Pakistan came into being, the privileged class has mostly taken, but not given much back. We have lived selfishly, and now this message has trickled down to every strata of society.As a young person, i felt the most socially acceptable way for me was to join public service and i have seen and experienced that one can make so much difference, if only one wants to.I loved my work and have never looked back. I feel elated that my child is going in the right direction, achieving balance as a person, between her normal life and her duties towards her community. Infact, community work should be compulsory for teenagers, so that they develop an empathy for the have nots before their biases become hardened and they become the uncaring, unfeeling people I encounter everyday everywhere,thinking of only of self gratification. There are reasons for the apathetic attitudes. The message from the upper classes of living selfishly has permeated. Then most of us do not believe in the government, in the system. We look at it with cynicism and suspicion. Fear even. So we do not want to contribute.And then, after years of suffering a non inclusive form of governance, many of us do not have a sense of rights as well as our responsibilities. We cannot define our role in our national life, so many do not have the self confidence to think we can contribute and make a difference. We dont think we matter. But each of us has the power to change our world. If only we believe we can. Perhaps this eid is a time for new beginnings.