Start a Huge Foolish Project
Richard Branson sent his first commercial
rocket to space in July this year. His philosophy is: “If people aren’t
calling you crazy, you aren’t thinking big enough.” Certainly a crazy idea when
the world is reeling from a pandemic and economic difficulties. However, the
big idea was not the rocket ‘Unity’, hurtling into space, but the first person
who imagined space travel. While many early civilizations speculated on
what lies beyond the stars, modern space developments were inspired by a French
fiction writer Jules Verne who wrote From the Earth to the Moon in 1865 and Around
the Moon in 1869.
Jules Verne, who
wrote over 100 novels, was no stranger to huge ideas many would consider
foolish, but which inspired engineers, inventors and
technicians. ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea,’ suggested a prototype for
submarines. “Around the World in Eighty Days” inspired adventure travelers and
the Siberian Express train. “Journey to the Center of the Earth” has yet to
become a reality. “Robur the Conqueror” features a helicopter, “The
Carpathian Castle” describes holograms. He was a visionary in the true sense of
the word.
When Jalaluddin Rumi urges us to “Start a
huge foolish project” he gives the example of Noah’s Ark. One has to wonder at
the strong convictions of the Prophets when they began their missions. How did
Prophet Moses convince the Israelites to leave Egypt? How did the Prophet Jesus
inspire his small group of Disciples to carry on his message after he was gone? Prophet Muhammad (
PBUH) envisioned the spread of Islam
when he set off on the Hijrah with a handful of people. Buddha’s first five
disciples left him in disappointment when he abandoned starvation for a more
moderate meditation, yet he was undeterred.
In the 9th C , 65 year old Ibn Firnas
jumped off a cliff from Yemen's Jabal Al-Arus mountain and glided in the air,
staying in flight for ten minutes, not knowing that centuries later air travel
would be commonplace.
Like Jules Verne, Nikolai Tesla had an unbounded
imagination. Inventor of alternating
current electricity, the radio, wireless energy, remote controlled boats and a
dizzying array of inventions faced ridicule and lack of funding, yet his
inventions are widely used today. His aim was to ensure free electricity and
easy communication for the world and he devised many proposals to end all wars.
In 1920 Mahatma Gandhi
developed a new form of protest – the non-cooperation movement, instead of the usual
armed rebellion. The idea inspired the Anti War Movement of the 60s that ended
the Vietnam war, and every peaceful citizens’ protest since. .
Tarana Burke came up with the phrase Me Too in 2006
for women to share their experiences which grew into a global movement a decade
later. The invention of
anaesthesia, penicillin, vaccinations, stem cell therapy, organ transplants ,
the printing press, the worldwide web are all testimony to the power of the
fearless visionary.
An Irish pop
singer, Bob Geldof, raised £150
million for the Ethopian famine relief
by organizing a rock concert, Live Aid, in 1985. The neurologist Dr. Ludwig
Guttmann, came up with the idea of Paraolympics in 1928, today the second
biggest sporting event in the world.
Britain’s Open University introduced
distance learning in 1969, an indispensable teaching system today. The hand held mobile
developed in the 70s is today used by 85% of the world population and has revolutionized
access in the poorest countries.
Even very
ordinary individuals can make history. Captain Tom Moore at the age of 99,
announced he would walk 100 lengths with
his walker to raise funds for UK’s National Health Service charities during the
Covid epidemic. By his 100th birthday he had raised £39 million
instead of the £1000 he hoped for.
As Allama
Iqbal writes:
Jab Ishq sikhata hai aadab e khudmukhtari
Khultay hain ghulamo par asrar e shehenshahi
(When passion teaches the way to self-reliance
The slave is free to become a king )
Durriya Kazi
August 1, 2021
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