A Session With Mehmood Ur Rashid Mediated by Omar Hafiz
Author: Ipsita Sarkar
“A mother had sent her son to buy groceries. The son stopped by at the bridge staring at the flowing water underneath. He waited for the water to stop flowing. He waited for an hour that turned into two, three, four. Soon, the sunset. It became dark and the son returned home empty-handed.” Neither the water had stopped flowing nor did the mother get groceries to cook. Time was wasted and so were many opportunities. And the problem of the flowing water remained unsolved.
The Kashmir Education Initiative (KEI) Scholars were treated to a motivating talk by Mr. Mehmood Ur Rashid, Senior Editor, and Regular Columnist of The Greater Kashmir in Srinagar on 30th July 2020. He enlightened around 100 High School Student Scholars, with a rich treasury of stories and anecdotes from around the world on how to deal with a crisis in the most optimum way.
Citing examples of Anne’s Lamott’s ‘Bird By Bird’, Dr. Michio Kaku’s childhood tales of Albert Einstein to even Stephen Hawking’s ‘On The Shoulders of Giants’, he encouraged the students to utilize a crisis situation in a productive way and turn their adversities into opportunities.
He suggested a simple method- to identify an image that caused them concern during the pandemic times, it could be the plight of the migrant workers or the shortfall of staff in hospitals or the shut schools. That pain, he insisted, could be turned into a deeper and more positive goal or passion. Keeping a painful image alive in their minds, they could choose to become problem solvers as entrepreneurs or businessmen who could arrange funds for the poor population and build a hospital, or as teachers, they could develop innovative educational programs on gadgets.
To the students gathered at the Webinar, who had been busy preparing for their Board Exams and Entrances, he reminded them to take one step at a time, chapter by chapter, and not get bogged down by hurdles. It was essential to identify an interesting area, build a routine, and make space for both studying and that interest area within the timetable. The key to a good studying methodology was to be methodical and consistent and not getting distracted, especially by screens and gadgets during the pandemic time.
While acknowledging that with schools shut and curfews imposed, the internet, phone apps, and computers had emerged as saviors of continued learning. He also added that one must watch out for overuse and addiction to these gadgets for meaningless online surfing and rely instead on books and intense self-study for learning. Dr. Sheikh Khurshid Ul Islam, Associate Professor, Institute of Management, Public Administration & Rural Development, and one of the Board Members of KEI, too agreed that digital minimalization was the need of the hour and that a workshop on this could be beneficial.
Mr. Mehmood then stressed the importance of finding alternatives to all the activities that had been blocked during the Pandemic and Curfew. For instance, new ways to deliver groceries could be developed to solve the problem of shut markets, or online education and apps could be re-imagined suiting the needs of shut schools. The key was to be a knowledge seeker and cultivate the habit of meeting new challenges and learning new things. That was also the stepping stone to becoming a successful entrepreneur one day.
Mr. Omar Hafiz, the Program Manager and one of the Lead Mentors to the KEI Scholars, recalled how he himself had been mentored by Mr. Mehmood in Conflict Transformation and Research areas in his adolescent years, which in turn had helped him in guiding over a thousand people, children, and adults affected by conflict across India. He went on to advise the Scholars to absorb the essence of his Mentor’s teachings, to self-explore, identify problems, and the dreams that they are trying to achieve and work hard in a disciplined manner to attain those.
Mr. Mehmood ended the Session by addressing a diverse set of questions from the Scholars, mostly concerns regarding making and following timetables to facing unknown uncertainties to procrastination to shutting off distractions and practicing patience in daily lives. Mr. Mehmood praised the passion and keenness with which the Scholars addressed their problems, a sign that they were trying their best to turn the tide in their favor and rise above all the limitations that had been holding them back in Kashmir.