WHILE the nation, especially the young in its fold, should indeed celebrate Arshad Nadeem’s historic Olympic feat, it must also learn a lesson from his achievement. The young among us, who represent the majority of the country’s total pop- ulation, need to learn from Arshad who made it big without having any meaningful support from those who were supposed to support him. They must realise that being a pessimist is not the right approach towards success.

The lesson for the youth, in particular, and for the people, in general, is that stars like Arshad never shirk hard work and they always strive hard without complaining, blaming and cursing the ‘flawed system’ to make their dreams come true, despite facing all odds and hurdles in the way. Such brilliant stars never complain of their circumstances, despite being ignored for hailing from an underprivileged background. They prefer to keep their focus on their goals and passion.

Unfortunately, during the last few years, there has been a disturbing trend in our society. Most young people, both educated and uneducated, want to leave the country in search of a supposedly better, brighter future. They continuously complain of being ignored and not getting their due share. But talented individuals like Arshad Nadeem are never disap- pointed despite financial constraints and miseries of life. They prove they can do it, and achieve what they want without any assistance.

The lesson to be learnt for the youth is that for a successful and luxurious life, it is not important to be the scion of some elite or a feudal lord. Indeed, success comes to those who work hard with unflinching determination and utter resilience. As such, a person who did not have even an international standard javelin to practice with until a year ago, and would throw homemade javelin of tree branches in wheat fields in his native village, never complained. Instead, he continued to work hard and proved that much can be achieved through determination and hard work with due consistency.

People like Arshad are, indeed, our hope. He has proved that it is only one’s lack of will that is the biggest hurdle in one’s way towards making their dreams come true. Is our young generation now ready to follow in Arshad’s footsteps, or will it keep cribbing about the ‘unjust system’ and ‘ruthless society’ that do not provide them chances on a silver platter?

Sajjad Khattak
Attock

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2024