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A Nobel vision

A PRE-REQUISITE to progress is positive thinking. Which is what visiting Nobel Laureate Mohammed Yunus has sought to hammer home to the large army of expatriates here the other day; and not just to Bangladeshis, whom he addressed.

Yunus’ call to expatriates is to stop complaining about the things that trouble them, be it here or back home, and instead concentrate on self-development. If individuals develop, the nation develops. On the other hand, if individuals keep cribbing, the atmosphere get vitiated, and chances are that no one benefits; least of all the nation they are part of.

Self-development is at the core of Yunus’ banking experiment for the poor, that is making waves in over 100 countries by now, making him worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize and the millions that go with it. His is a wider vision, that is based on positive thinking. Which is why it is copied even in the United States. For instance, Yunus says if five people come together, they can help one man (woman) out of poverty; and if every five people around the world thus join hands, poverty will be a thing of the past. In other words, what he says is this: “Do not wait for governments to feed you. Feed yourselves, and help others feed themselves”. What is needed is imaginative schemes, at the micro level, like his mico-credit schemes for the poor, whose impact, collectively, is at the macro level. To keep complaining is to keep being on the defensive, and to keep releasing one’s negative energies. Instead, turn positive, act positively, and engage in self-development. It helps you, the nation, and the world at large. This is Yunus’ message for a way forward for the whole world.

Yunus is currently set on a new mission, namely to reform his homeland’s political landscape. As is clear to all, there’s little of positive thinking among politicians in the Third World countries, and Asia in particular. Instead, there are large-scale eruptions of negative energy, as is witnessed often on the streets of Dhaka, for instance, in which it’s only that the lives of the hapless poor are lost. Yunus might strive to make a difference, in positive ways, and it’s all our hope that he succeeds.