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Showing posts from July, 2013

Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani Girl, Speaks of Gandhi, Peace, and Forgiveness

I cannot remember how many years back a speech moved me the way Malala Yousafzai's did. [A couple of days later, I feel the same.] Like Rosa Parks before her, whose action in refusing to go to the back of the bus changed the course of history, could 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai's speech at the UN today change history? It reminded me of the time when I was 16, and was beginning to participate in debating competitions; while I delivered a few snappy and bold speeches, I could summon up nothing like the eloquence, depth of content, and breadth of vision that Malala Yousafzai displayed in her amazing speech. Almost everything she said was meaningful and important, including her plea for the universal right to free education, which we can ensure with a mere one-tenth of what the world spends on armaments and armies. But what made it even more special for me was that she talked of peace, asking the leaders of the world to stop war and turn their attention to peace, education, to