Positive Reflections
How my Amal Fellowship journey brought a Paradigm Shift
Every journey starts with anxiety and ends with a lasting change in our personality. Human emotions and behaviors are a result of experiences and moments that made them who they are today. For me, as my Amal Fellowship journey nears its end, it is a time of reflection. It is the moment to collect and contemplate on what are the things that I have learnt during these three months and what could have been done better.
To begin with, it was a usual day in the month of June and I was tired of my boring routine of watching Netflix from day to night watching even those series that I hated to watch in normal days. As I was going through my Facebook profile, I saw an ad of Amal and I clicked on it without knowing and having the foggiest notion about its purpose and objectives. How could it help me in getting out of my indolent routine. I filled the form within a few minutes, writing answers to questions not by thinking of whether they are good or bad but by thinking that I had to do something useful in order to get myself out of Covid dilemma. Later on, I asked my brother-in-law to draft a recommendation letter for me and I found it to be most difficult as I hate asking for help especially from my close relatives. This experience taught me two things; you often find things you want on the paths you least expect about. Secondly, asking for help is not a bad thing. You don’t know when to expect a great idea or an ideal solution from people because at the end of the day, everyone has a different perspective and you could find the best answer in someone else’s perspective.
“You often find things you want on the paths you least expect.”
Jumping back to the experiences of the Fellowship, it was quite a fruitful journey. Interacting with people of different mindsets, arguing with your groupmates on some crucial decisions, getting your viewpoint across the table, reflection questions, making superhero resumes and superhero cover letters, making Rockstar LinkedIn profiles and above all, having beautiful pep talks and admonishments from our lovely PM and APM, were some of the most memorable things that I will remember for the rest of my life.
Among many things that I would love to mention in this blog, perhaps the single most important subject that we discussed in our Fellowship and made my blood boil was the discussion about a recent motorway incident that took place in Lahore. Through her emotional, vociferous and compassionate speech, our Program Manager, Mam. Naqsh told us about how this particular incident affected her on a personal level and how we especially, the male in our society have failed to protect and allow women to live freely without any feeling of insecurity and harassment. It was a reflection for me as I also have sisters who go out to do their jobs and get education and all this reminded me that today, it is someone else’s daughter or sister. If I fail to speak now for someone else’s daughter and sister, then tomorrow, God forbid, if this happens to someone I love, then there won’t be anyone to speak up for my loved ones. So, it gave me courage and motivation to ask my sisters how I could become a better brother and did my action somehow whether knowingly or unknowingly, hurt them and made them feel that their brother will not be there for them?
We as human beings in this selfish world, tend to forget that the world is round and maybe not today but tomorrow, we may also be subjected to the barbarity and viciousness of human beings. That is why I have made a commitment to myself to at least play my part for the protection and support of women whether its a pursuit of education, better living conditions and speak up for the rightful demands of women all over the world.
Now as I wrap up this blog, these were few of the most beautiful recollections of my fellowship journey and how they helped me bring a paradigm shift in my thinking and approach. I may be gone after a few weeks but the journey will continue and some other person will fill my place. No matter what the conclusion may be, the moments I experienced during my fellowship will always stay, the lessons I learnt will always remain to be a beacon of light and the memories will always be there till the day I die. Thank you Mam. Naqsh, Thank you Mam Aleena, and above all, Thank you Amal academy for providing me with this beautiful opportunity.
