Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Times of India I 4th December 2012 I Page 18

Some years ago I spent a few days in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda in central Africa. During this visit, I happened to meet a Gujarati Indian, who was living in Kigali as an immigrant. He was running a cloth shop in the city.

One day I visited his shop and found that he was able to deal with his customers in fluent and understandable English. He seemed to have a good working knowledge of the language. One of his friends told me that there was an interesting story behind his English. When this Gujarati Indian first came to Kigali, and opened his shop, he knew no English. But a large number of his customers were English-speaking, so he felt compelled to try to speak in English.

During the early days, his English was far from good. One day someone said to him, "If you are not in a position to speak correct English, why are you trying to speak it?" The shopkeeper simply replied, "I speak incorrect English so that I may be able to speak correct English."

And so it came about. In two years' time, he was able to deal with his customers in the English language. When I met him, he was fluent in English as a means of communication, and for a shopkeeper that was good enough.

Therefore, 'Where there's a will there's a way'. If you have a strong enough will to achieve something, you will do so, sooner than later. Strong will itself is like successful schooling as you learn from experience, and for a sincere person, experience is a successful teacher.

Studies of the human brain tell us that it contains numerous windows. Some are open and others are closed. It requires a compelling situation to open the closed windows of mind. If one has a shocking experience and takes it seriously, that will automatically open those closed doors. This process can sometimes bring about miracles: a person can then play a role that was unimaginable prior to that experience.

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This principle can be applied to almost every situation, big or small. Anyone can perform a miracle, the only condition being that he should have the capacity to turn the shocking moment to good account.

In psychology the brainstorm theory explains such abnormal events. When there is a shocking experience, there is a storm in the human brain. This brainstorm activates dormant cells of the mind, and one becomes capable of doing what one could not have accomplished in a normal situation.

There are numerous examples like that of say, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. He was born into a poor, 'untouchable' family. As a boy, he found himself rejected in his own society. This sad experience was overwhelming, but he decided to overcome this situation. After much hard work, he successfully completed his education, and finally emerged as a great mind in the drawing up of the Indian Constitution. After Independence he was appointed as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution.

What is imperative in such a situation is that one who faces such adversity should not become demoralised, but should learn fro other people's behaviour towards him, so that he may unfold his own potential.

A strong will can help reveal one's hidden potential. But there is a difference between willing and wishing. Do not follow any unrealistic wish: follow your true will and you will be able to follow your dream.