“They are/he is at least doing something”

“They are/he is at least doing something”

This one pious and apparently sincere and appreciative statement has done the greatest damage. This one sentence has not allowed us to move forward. It serves as the most powerful break on all that we want to do. It unmistakably and without fail appears at that point of time when we are on the verge of forging ahead! We have to fight the menace of this sentence – tooth and nail. This one sentence serves as a huge psychological barrier and it is a big hindrance in the path of the promotion of critical and scientific thinking. It is the antithesis of learning anything from our previous experiences.

Apparently it is a harmless utterance and it is full of good intentions. But the sentences like this are responsible for making the situations worse. “They are / he is at least doing something” brings the discussion to an abrupt and untimely end. So the journey we had undertaken and in which we reached somewhere ends. After this sentence has been uttered there is no need to continue the journey (analysis) any further. Consequently, we keep moving in the same cycle and initiate the same discussion at some other point of time again only to hear this one sentence once more. I cannot recall the number of times I have heard this sentence and the number of times nobody dared to say anything afterwards.

Let us illustrate what “at least” means in a couple of situations. An unqualified person starts treating a patient – in all sincerity and with good intentions – by administering all sorts of injections. He is very much concerned with the human life and wants to save it by all means. Seeing his enthusiasm our friends might say, “He is at least doing something.” And we should respond to it with standing ovation! Someone might start beating someone for no reasons whatsoever. And our friends of this sentence may say, “Look, he is not sitting idle. He is very active. He is at least doing something, ma sha Allah.” A group of people may alter the priorities and may be messing up with things and the gentlemen will say, “They are at least doing something, you see.”

This one sentence is draining our energies and resources. It indicates our love for speed and indifference for the direction. As a people we have fallen in love with speed. Before, however, we utter and after we have heard “They are / he is at least doing something” let us think about this sentence many times over. We need to say good-bye to “at leasts”. Let us recall that this one sentence indicates a lot of blank space in our thoughts. Let us try to fill those gaps as we do in the following couplet:

magas ko baagh mei(n) jaanay na dena

ke naahaq khoon parvaanay ka hogaa

(Allow not the honeybee in the garden. It will kill the moth, otherwise.)

It has been noticed that even our educated repeat the same sentences a thousand times which they have heard and which the non-educated repeat. We encounter it on a daily basis. This is why I tend to believe that our educated, too, are not (truly) educated. When the educated start repeating “at least” then it is a bad omen for a whole people. We do not try to see the link between the noble objectives of our life and this one sentence. This is why I will argue for a complete overhaul of our education system – and our thought patterns – which is producing followers and not leaders, defeating the very purpose of education.

When the situations demand a certain course of action then there is nothing like “at least”. The “at least”, therefore, should be an unaffordable luxury for us. We have enjoyed it so far. But now we have to make it so expensive that nobody should be able to buy it. The genie of this sentence needs to go back to the bottle now. We are not going to be overawed by this false intimidation – not anymore. Let us summon up some more courage and say an emphatic NO to “at leasts”.

Thanks and salaam.

Wasim