I was touched to observe Mohamed Zakariyya receive the
President's lifetime award for public service on Maldives last Republic day. He was my friend in health,
and of life-long dedication to the health service of this Nation. His was
the pioneering days when the dreaded diseases of Maldives were rampant and
logistics was extremely difficult when small sailing vessels were the only
conveyance available to commute among the dispersed islands of our nation. He was
one of those pioneers. He is a true local hero - unsung until that day perhaps.
It is not uncommon for heroes to emerge from the bottom of
society's rungs. In fact most of the time, it is ordinary people in ordinary
situations that rise to being the hero. Rarely is the true hero from the stock
of human beings at the top. There is no reason to be a hero when there is no
need to be a hero or when there is no cause dire enough to engage in. It's out
of the stresses of life that the imperative to change emerges into the mind of
the hero to be and supplies the mental energy to go ahead on a difficult
journey. Yet, when one has achieved hero-hood there is nowhere else to go than
to sink down. Many heroes linger in the limelight for a while - some short and
some long - depending on the effort made by the hero to remain relevant. Yet
for the different pinnacles each reaches, the hero's journey treks a similar
path. It is always an afflicted and disdained individual that moves through
life and meets the hardships that imparts the resilience to that persevering
mind. Along the way the hero to be meets a mentor who provides the wisdom and
skill to move beyond the problems faced into the vista of solutions. With the
inspiration imbibed, the perpetrator moves to hero-hood. Yet, this pole
position is hard to keep for long.
The moment a great feat is achieved its
attendant feelings of glory and satisfaction begin to pale and the downward
slide begins. As in the example of the hero who reaches the summit of a great
mountain, there is no path but down. Sometimes lingering there becomes for many
the next objective even when everyone has stopped looking. Being up there is no
more of an achievement but many persist to keep being up there when everyone
has stopped looking to him in admiration. So the hero’s path is from there to
help others chart that path to glory. It is when the hero stops to allow others
from being heroes that society ceases to exude its exuberance and its
effervescence and life becomes stale. For the essence of life is renewal. Even
heroes need to be regenerated for society to keep the cycle going.
Heroic deeds or rising to being a hero may be fueled by
varying mental agendas; the right frame of mind is necessary to nurture the
heroes of tomorrow by the hero of today being the role model. Good intentions
that seek the good for society make for good hero-hood, and bad one also gain
fame in what we may call infamy – and yes, some see them as heroes too. Those
who exhort others to goodness and progress that will chart the future of life
are the ones we need; not those whose hero-hood is used as block to the path of
other's progress -- just to linger longer and bask in the glory that is the
top. Life is a cycle and life is dynamic. This is also true for heroes. Each
brings a flicker of brilliance to illuminate life's path so that others can be
shown the way forward. For this, heroes must be of the kind that show good
example. Those heroes on billboards and those that warm the seats of high
positions of authority must see this edict of goodness to be their guiding principle that will transform others to goodness too. Such behaviour
will keep the brilliance of the hero-hood lasting and sustaining even when
other heroes take to the summit. We must nurture the heroes that give hope to
our young people to be the heroes of tomorrow. That is the essence of nation
building. That is the thought that must shine in everyone’s mind on this our
National Day.
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