December 6th, 2008, was the day I can’t forget for my remaining life, the day when “Mr 10 percent” became the President of Pakistan. That was the day when I lost hope and started cajoling myself with the illusion that it’s a nightmare and I will wake out of it very soon. But it didn’t happen and all my hopes to see my beloved country progressing faded away. I was dejected with myself and generally with the people of Pakistan and above all with the system. It was indeed a time for soul searching.
Then started the unending drawing room talks at home, social hangouts, work places and almost every other nook and corner I went. The talks about, how corrupt the system is? How dark the future is? How can one leave the country? And all that related stuff. I got off track and started behaving like a critic who had no idea about fixing anything but had a great skill in telling others that how bad the situation is. I think I was depressed.
The person who started bringing me back on track was my wife who kept on telling me that I have to do something about the situation or remain shut. It was she who made me think about what to do and how to play my small role in bringing some change. I then started resurfacing my first political crush “PTI” after a period of almost 14 years. This time I actually studied and compared the ideology of PTI with some of the other political parties and came to the conclusion that my first crush actually had merit.
The next step was the “reach out”, despite PTI being an internet savvy political party; it took me some effort to find the right person who could guide me through. Though to a certain extent I am still looking for that person but who says that life is fair. Eventually I found some people who were welcoming and I was the new intern of the interns. A critical lesson I learnt from one of the old stalwarts of PTI was that in a political party one has to find his own way and take his own assignments. Following this principle I started my journey with PTI and took as many responsibilities and assignments as I could.
Even though at home I belong to the opposing ideology corner compared to my wife but still she is the one who encourages me to do something worthwhile and constructive for Pakistan. Now with my contribution to bring about the real change in the country I sleep with an unburdened conscience. I feel proud to be part of the tehreek which is striving to bring the desired change in Pakistan. It’s not an easy ride and a lot has to be sacrificed but I am happy that the best form of motivation I get is from my wife.
By
Faisal Malik
@faisal_malik75
Source: This was originally published at http://mfmalik1975.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/why-did-i-join-pti/
