“A BLESSED WISH” By Hazrat Musleh Maud (RA)

I don’t know how others may feel but whenever I travel by train I begin to wish that this train could have been invented by an Ahmadi who would also own this train. And when I fly by an airplane I wish that this plane could have been invented by an Ahmadi who would also own the plane.When I was in Karachi I mentioned to a few friends that if making a plane is beyond our capacitythen I wish that someone can just make a boat which could travel in the ocean and when I would sit in it I could proclaim that it is made by Ahmadies. It is important that we begin to think about these things and try fulfilling my desires and wishes.

Youth Initiative by National Sanat-O-Tijarat

We have a large constituency of Ahmadi refugee and non-refugee children in this country. Sanat-O-Tijarat department is fully focused in paying special attention to their well-being, mentorship and guidance in their immediate settlement, acquiring special skills and attaining higher education in becoming industry leaders.

Currently the paternal guidance lacks desired oversight and tutoring capacities. Our objective is to groom these children with confidence and courage, develop strong and deep focus, unyielding commitment, strong passion for being the BEST, by ignoring the old cultural barriers.

Newly arrived children sometimes show a meek and shy demeanor in pursuing advanced opportunities. This stems from lack of familiarity with American culture and their low self-esteem. It is important to convey that 500 major companies were founded by immigrants in the last 20 years, of these some of them include:

  • Andy Grove… A Hungarian refugee who founded Intel with a value of several billions in 2015
  • Jan Koum… A Ukrainian refugee who founded WhatsApp which was bought by Facebook for many, many billions.
  • Steve Jobs… A son of Syrian refugee who co-founded Apple which currently valued at more than $ 1 trillion.

Our message to our youth focuses on uplifting and inspiring them to visualize a path to monumental leadership. In doing so they must not be influenced by nay-sayers, old fashioned thinking, cultural biases and blind spots which will inexorably hinder progress. Their parent’s encouragement and constantly optimistic approach would be the cardinal factor in their children’s success. As an example we narrate a brief but true example of Indira Nooyi a young Indian girl who at dinner, she and her 4 sisters were presented with a subject for a speech by their mother who then decided which speech won her vote. The game helped Nooyi build confidence.

Every night her mother used to whisper in her ear before going to bed, “ Indira You are Royalty, You are the best in every respect, Your education is far superior than Harvard & Yale could provide, You could become anyone you want to become.”

Later, when she’d attended business school, she said some classmates would doubt her abilities and even refuse to make eye contact with her. She’d say to herself, “I can do this better than anyone,” She explained at a 2015 talk at the 92Y in New York, she added, “If everyone else fails, they’re going to come to me and say, “Fix it,” because I know I’m that good. Remember I could be president of India!”

She became the CEO of Pepsi, a Fortune-50 company in the U.S. Now she is on the Boards of 15 Fortune companies. Her success can be clearly attributed to her mother’s focus, mesmerizing message and keen oversight.

Paternal guidance remains the key to success.

Many ethnic youths who came from a similarly poor background have achieved tremendous success by educating themselves and mastering the world of business and management.

  • As an example, Satya Nadella at age 43 became the CEO of Microsoft.
  • Sunder Pichai at age 44 became the CEO of Google & Alphabet.
  • Ajay Banga at 45 is the CEO of MasterCard
  • Chamath Palihapitiya at 36 is the leading venture capitalist worth over 9 billion.

We can cite many more of these examples of poor immigrant kids who came from poverty and despite enormous hardships took over the corporate world.

Scholar Seneca said in Latin,”DUCUNT VOLENTEM FATA” Translation? “Fate leads those who are willing. The unwilling it drags.”

We are an optimistic bunch, always hoping and thinking of yet better ways to overcome hurdles. It is human to fear, but during those times, against our will, comes wisdom through the ultimate grace of God.