Stepping out of the box

On quiet days when I sit down I see myself as a leader, Leadership for me is act of influence between two or more people. Leadership for me is a process which allows self-development through a never-ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. For me it is an element that allows for social changes which is achieved in everyday life. It is giving your constructive criticisms, being able to listen to others ideas and taking control of situations. Leadership, thus can be whatever you make of it, Be it Big or small. Leadership is being willing to give yourself to a cause or a situation. Being a good leader means more than just setting the example, you have to raise the bar for yourself and realize that if you are leading then there is a team that is helping. The team can only be as strong as the leader

How do I know what I know about leadership? For me, leadership started at home. My father who is a staunch believer that children should be human first and then anything else. He instilled in me the belief of trusting myself and not be afraid of doing anything. The most important lesson he gave me is of 'self-respect', never to lose that. Standing up for what you believe in is the trait of a leader, and im learning that.

A local example of a leader from Pakistan is Mukhtar Mai, a woman from Meerwalla, a small city in Punjab. She was gang-raped as a punishment for the crime she never committed. The story received attention from all around the world and has been a catalyst for some very important changes in not only the area of Pakistan she comes from, but in Pakistani society in general. When Mukhtar Mai was gang raped by 13 men, by the virtue of the sentence handed down by a tribal court, which functions outside of law, she had two choices : she could either suffer in silence, which would have led her to committing suicide, or she could fight back. An extraordinary courage, some nameless fury and rage made her fight back. She took most of the rapists to court and obtained death sentence against several of them. But, the fight extended beyond revenge and she began receiving donations and money to build a girl's school in her village, and to bring a voice for the women who never dared to speak out before any injustices and cruelty. For this reason Mukhtar Mai matters. She matters to every women, man and child in Pakistan. She chose herself to be the kind of role model we want, someone uneducated from the underprivileged, downtrodden area of Pakistan who stood up for her rights.

I am turning 23 very soon and I feel that my responsibilities are adding up each day… I think that change started for me when I started using internet as a form of medium to connect with people from all around the world. Pakistan is in dire need of people with a vision. People who can help it meet the challenges posed by an increasingly global economy. There is a need for specially trained professionals and academics that can train the new generation and add to a highly skilled technological workforce that is able to form the foundation of a fast evolving technological industry.

I very strongly believe that Voices of correspondents can unleash the leader within me. Through this programme I will present the stories of young muslim men and women to the world, their narratives, their perspectives, their understanding of the world around them, without feeling that they are constantly defending their religious and cultural identity. My work with Youth all over Asia will be a great advantage for me. I am young, enthusiastic, willing to explore , I travel around the world for the need to study cultures, meet people, and this will be a chance for me to share their stories with the world through pulsewire. I want to share the new ideas and incidents I discover, I want to make use of this platform and raise awareness on cultural taboos and clearing up misconceptions. Through pulsewire I want to learn creative techniques to craft stories about difficult development subjects close to my heart. I am waiting for a moment to step out of the box …