Wake up, you the magicians

Monsoon tears have been pouring down from the sky above in this mournful month of August. The entire nation, at this melancholic moment, recalls with deep honor the unfathomable contributions father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made for the birth of Bangladesh. Also his relentless efforts for laying a very strong foundation for 'Sonar Bangla' (the golden Bangladesh) are being deeply remembered by the people of Bangladesh.

It is undeniable that Bangabandhu has been an indomitable sign of courage and strength for the youths of the country who constitute the major portion of our working population. They are poised to give Bangladesh the desired dividend if we are prudent enough to skill and re-skill them for the desired contributions from them. Bangabandhu always remained very close to the poverty-stricken people during his student life and as well as subsequently.

He also extended his helping hand to the people who fell victim to communal riots and natural disasters. Going through Bangabandhu's autobiographic books "Unfinished Memoirs" and "Karagarer Rojnamcha" (Prison Diary) we come to know about so many things to learn from his checkered life from which the youths of today can gather valuable lessons.

We have been able to become citizens of an independent Bangladesh due to the dedicated leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. From his tender age up to the last moments of his life, Bangabandhu remained focused on his ideals and patriotic values. His political sagacity triggered the Liberation War of 1971 through which we achieved independence from the repressive Pakistan regime. Bangabandhu hated corruption of all types.

All his life he fought for the establishment of transparency, justice and accountability in the governing system of the state. He was always uncompromising for democratic principles and cared for freedom of speech, writing and assembly. He fought for equality which helped us design a constitution whose fundamental state principles are so broad-based providing the fuel for fighting against inequality and oligarchy.

The students of the then East Pakistan who looked forward to Bangladesh's freedom were further inspired by the bold and enthusiastic leadership of Bangabandhu. He all along played the role of a source of inspiration for the young generation of Bangladesh which still persists.

A few days ago, we witnessed that students from different schools and colleges demonstrated for safe roads. Bangabandhu's competent daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has succeeded to convince the students to go back home by accepting their legitimate demands. She later said that these agitating children 'helped open our eyes' to the irregularities that deserved necessary corrective actions.

This is how Sheikh Hasina has set up an eye-catching humanitarian instance to take prompt action for mitigating the legitimate demands of the students. Conspirators wanted to deflect the students' movement towards wrong directions. These vicious plotters should certainly be prosecuted. However, it must also be remembered that no innocent person should be harassed in any way. 

The youngsters of the country have underlined the mismanagement that has so far affected Bangladesh's transport sector. Given the commitment of our Honorable Prime Minister for a safe road I am confident that appropriate follow-up actions will be taken by all quarters related to the transport sector and hence the people's grievances against the mismanagement prevailing in this sector for such a long time will be adequately addressed. Given this backdrop let me share with you the ideas I recently shared with a section of youths on the secret of success.

Bangladesh Bank's former Executive Director Mahfuzur Rahman is a highly innovative and dynamic person. He was my colleague once upon a time. He is a writer too. Mahfuzur Rahman created a good number of examples by playing vital roles for the expansion of inclusive financial services.

Mahfuzur Rahman spearheaded several valorous and beneficial works like opening bank accounts for street urchins, opening bank accounts for school pupils, organizing rallies from Teknaf to Tetulia championing inclusive banking functionalities and so on.

Mahfuzur Rahman knows precisely how to motivate youths to do creative jobs and to make them participate in constructive activities. Even after retirement from Bangladesh Bank, Mahfuzur Rahman has built up "Experts Academy" with Istiaq Ahmed and another young entrepreneur Hasan. This academy aims to develop leadership qualities among young professionals who are engaged in business ventures.

Ingraining optimism in the minds of youths with motivation is another goal of Experts Academy. Undoubtedly, there are widespread negative perceptions on any issue in all segments of our society. Young minds sometimes get easily misguided by the false things propagated through social media in this age of technological sophistication. Despite these challenges, the social media can also play a lot of positive role in fostering innovations and entrepreneurship.

Mahfuzur Rahman and his colleagues hosted a training workshop on 27 July in Shamsur Rahman Hall of Bangla Academy to boost the zest of young professionals. I exchanged views with the participants of the program for almost three hours. It should be noted that the hunger for success works as the main driving force behind people's highest breakthroughs. I tried my best to pass this core message to the young participants in this interactive session. Let me now summarize what I said that afternoon.

Problems are part and parcel of life. Therefore, successful people resolve their problems with smiles. They face challenges delightfully. They remain silent if they want to ignore any predicament. The root of success lies deeply embedded within families and friends. Nobody can stand up without roots. I told the audiences, "If you light up the passage for others, your own pathway will become illuminated too. So, do not magnify the weakness of your friends. Rather search for their positive traits."

Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam said that a book is equal to one hundred good friends while a good friend is equal to a library. So they got to get near to those friends who believe in public good and transmit optimism. The youths can certainly take solace from the amazing journey of Bangladesh's economy where young entrepreneurs played a crucial role. I also brought to their notice that the size of Bangladesh's economy was just 8 billion dollars during 1972 while it has mounted to 280 billion dollars at present.

It is indeed a mindboggling success story for us. The hard working ordinary masses, particularly the entrepreneurial youths of Bangladesh have been the heroes behind this gigantic economic rise. These young entrepreneurs are the symbols of our trust and sources of optimism for tomorrow's Bangladesh which is poised to take off as developing country shortly and subsequently as a developed country.

Gautam Buddha once said, "Never blame anyone in your life. Good people give you happiness. Bad people give you experience. Worst people give you a lesson and best people give you memories". So never shy away from life, come what may.

Nature has a lot of things to teach us about philanthropy. Rivers do not drink their own water. Trees do not eat their own fruits. The sun does not radiate light for itself. Flowers do not smell their own fragrance. In the same way, youths will have to dedicate their efforts for the betterment of other people around them.

This is the essence of humanity and working for the welfare of others speeds up the national development too. Hence the value of social responsibility. Having a positive mind at all times is very important. Albert Einstein said, "I am thankful to all who said 'no' because of them I did it myself".

It is also essential to listen to the advice from senior people. Their experience can give us helpful guidelines which they obtained through benign and hard times. So the young leaders must look for the mentor-ship in the senior ones.
We also need to look around to see the sufferings of other people.

We can forget about our own hardship when we see the pangs of others. William Shakespeare once said, "I cried when I had no shoes, but I stopped crying when I saw a man without legs...!" Life is full of blessings. We must learn to value it all the time. So value what you have in life without any complaint.

Rabindranath Tagore was right to have stated, "What we will learn and what we will become are closely bonded with each other. A jar cannot hold water more than its capacity." In the same way Tagore emphatically said, "People's power rises when their space for optimism is widen. Humans step forward firmly when they can clearly view their strength."

It was not easy. Yet we could motivate our bankers to go for greater public good through the rejuvenated Corporate Social Responsibility Program. In fact, I was impressed by their commitment for sharing their profit for the poor and the disadvantaged.

The scheduled banks distributed around 600 crore taka during 2015-2016 fiscal year for the CSR programs including students' scholarships, aiding hospitals, cooperating with educational institutions, training up underprivileged people and eradicating poverty. This was only Taka 50 crore in 2009. What a jump!

Bangladesh's banking sector even came up with relief goods and money for the disaster affected people in Nepal following a severe earthquake over there. A great deal of positive changes came in the mindset of the young officials of Bangladesh Bank as well through different humanitarian endeavors.

In fact, the central bank created a separate CSR fund for undertaking humanitarian programs in collaboration with many non-profit voluntary social organizations. The officials of the commercial banks were also touched by this aura of humanism and started engaging in many such innovative activities for the challenged ones.

The central bank initiated certain programs to familiarize newly recruited employees as part of their foundation training with the pleasures and agonies of people across the country. The new officers had to spend some days in the rural areas to address the problems that farmers and small entrepreneurs in the countryside struggled with.

The new officers conveyed messages of hope to the farmers and hard working village people. In this way these officers' love for the general masses increased and in the process our central bank was rewarded globally for promoting socially responsible inclusive and sustainable development.

We also initiated necessary measures for the participation of the newcomers in higher studies and trainings at home and abroad, workshops, online trainings, information and communication technology (ICT) courses and seminars to build them up as resourceful professionals uplifted with the radiance of optimism. A world class daycare center was also set up in the central bank for the convenience of working ladies.

A well designed Human Resource Policy was developed for the entire banking sector which was encouraged to take up gender-sensitive policies. The maternal leave for the women officials was extended to half a year and banks were asked to set up Day Care Centers in clusters.

Organizing initiatives for the growth of successful young professionals is as important as using latest technologies. Rabindranath Tagore said, "A country does not become yours just due to your birth on its soil. One has to know it and love it". Augmenting patriotic vigor in the thoughts of youths is one of the most vital missions for us. And the entire nation must focus on motivational ethos to the youths who are our best resources.

Bangladesh stands on the blood of youths. Youths have been driving forward this country's development programs. For this reason it is indispensable to make them capable and skilled with the right quality of education, effective trainings and a working culture buttressed with hope and unwavering confidence.

My last appeal to the youths: do not get overwhelmed with the problems; surely there solutions to all of them. Direct your anger towards problems-- not people. Please focus your energies on answers--not excuses. Please remember," This universe belongs to the magicians of energy, frequency, and vibration. That magician is waiting there inside of you." So wake up my young friends.
 

The writer is an eminent economist and former governor of Bangladesh Bank. Email: [email protected]