Book Review: Thoughts for the Young Minds

Asif, an IPS officer in his preface says, “I do not claim originality of ideas and the arguments presented here. I just thought to gather the material which is inspiring for the teenagers like you and which may help you anchor your life in pursuit of meaning and career. Like any teen I suffered from many problems and complexes during my student days; the issues ranging from religion to career choice bothered me but really I had no answers to them. I did not know how to deal with them. Nor was anybody around me to guide”.

He goes on to say, “I tell you the nature of the issues which afflicted me. People told me that Muslims did not get government jobs. I thought why I should study when I will not get advantage of my hard work. Sometimes I read statement of a political leader in the leading national newspaper that Muslims were anti-national. Then the whole day, with a humiliated spirit I wondered where was India of high ideals and noble endeavours. In the hostel, sometimes, the situation worsened and one group of students shouted at one another, ‘Agents of Pakistan, get lost.’ When I was taking interview for the civil services exam, the World Trade Centre was attacked and the feeling all around was really hostile to the Muslims”.

“The religion as presented by the Muslim religious scholars and practitioners prescribed so many dos and don’t that I wondered where I did stand. They created a guilt feeling in my unconscious mind that I was not an ideal Muslim; and most of the time I discussed and debated the religious issues to find answers instead of concentrating on my studies. The concept of destiny as believed by people imprisoned my spirit and energy. Still I believe it is a poison to the mind of the youths, it shackles and suppresses our genius and creative freedom. When the youths of the country were taking professional qualifications, I was taking simple arts and liberal education and I always remained worried whether I will ever get a job in the market” adds he.{mospagebreak}

He says, “The things I am going to share with you changed me and my course of life. I tell you where I did find them. I came across them in the great books of the world, in the face of frightful circumstance, in the classroom discussions, national dailies, passionate debates on the walls of the red-bricked hostel, and in the empty spaces of my mind”.

“These ideas made me burn every moment; they made me negotiate with sufferings, rejection, criticism and hopelessness; they kept me all the time in the state of, what Mohammad Iqbal call, talatum, a state of perpetual restlessness. They made me realize that my spirit is more powerful and more important than the circumstances of my life; if they do not favour me I should fight them; if they are mammoth I should not fear them; even if they are adverse still I can deal with them. They made me see that ‘Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain- and most of the fools do.’ Therefore I should not bother for what the critics say, I should strive, seek, find and not yield. I realized this world is mine, I can change it, I can transform it” adds Asif Jalal.

This book is an attempt at sharing those powerful thoughts with you. I believe if I open the following pages of ideas with you, if you too know them, they will carve out of you the finest piece of human being. The goods of this world will be at your feet, you will be a hero.

About the Author Asif Jalal is an IPS officer posted in Himachal Pradesh. He is a prolific writer and regularly contributes for several newspapers and portals. He recently contributed a chapter in Whispering Deodara: Writings from Shimla Hills (Rupa, 2009)

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