12/03/2024

Today is a momentous occasion indeed— it is the first blog post of 2024; and of this website. I am so super excited for this new journey I am embarking on! Today is also the first day of Ramadan—at least according to Oman, Jordan and some other countries.

It is a time of both great sadness and great joy; joy for the start of a remarkable festive season that sees the Muslims of the world uniting in one spirit to fast from dawn to dusk, to fast for their spirituality and for their belief. Yet sadness looms as our world continues to face countless challenges in wars, natural disasters and political instability. More pressingly, the Gaza conflict, Russia-Ukraine war, and other conflicts all around the world continue to wreak havoc in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. One war comes after another after another; we forget that Myanmar is still undergoing one of the biggest crises South-east Asia as a whole has faced in recent years; the Taliban still control the lives of women in Afghanistan; citizens in Iran and Iraq still do not feel safe.

Sometimes I feel guilty. Because here we are, enjoying life in our countries, with food to eat and water to drink, with smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts; but we do not realise, in our happiness others are suffering in famines and droughts and earthquakes and forest fires. The world is still rocking on its feet.

Sometimes I wonder what can we do. Because we are thousands of kilometres away; we are not only powerless because of our age, because of our tininess in the vastness of such conflicts and in the enormity of the world but also because of our cowardliness. You see, there is much we can do. This is my action, to try and help people see the impact they can make if they choose to stand up,. Barriers are barriers only if we let them be— I am lucky to have a mother who has a saying, ‘If there is a will, there is a way.’ Thousands of small voices, together, make one loud voice, calling for attention.

We can do our part. We don’t have to fight a war, or start a revolution. But we have to start being more mindful of our life, to start being grateful for the life we have. That is the first step. And one step at a time, we can change the world.