It was a privilege to be at the inaugural Forbes Asia “30 under 30” Summit this week.
One of the amazing things which stood out was the consistent Asian narrative cited by many listees, about their parents being key to their journey of growth. One of the judges rightly pointed out, that this would be uncommon at the Forbes event in America.
While some parents had to uproot to foreign countries and struggle to provide their children with better opportunities, others played a part in instilling foundational Asian values in their lives which were key to their success today. Some parents earned a living making roti prata (an awesome kind of Indian street food), others who moved to western countries never mastered English. None of their sacrifices were ever glamorized, awarded, or put on the big screen.
Before the event ended, an older lady from Afghanistan went on stage to share about her initiative to help girls in Afghanistan go to school and get an education. In that context, this was absolutely taboo. When she gently probed the audience to share their impression of Afghan men, the words which came up were “dominating”, “tyrannical” and “dangerous”. Yet, these very same men were the fathers of the girls attending her school, in spite of death threats from the Taleban.
Amidst these amazing people, I felt like a fraud of course.
Nothing I have done has even come close to the world-changing impact that many have made. I might have had some tough choices about my career to make, but my life pales in comparison to the sacrifice, struggle and surrender of some of these outstanding individuals, who have laid down their lives for a cause bigger than themselves.
They risked their lives. And had parents who risked theirs for them, too.
Growing up, my father, who grew up in a village and suffered from malnourishment as a youth, always told me, “You have to make the most of every opportunity you have to give something useful back to society.“
This is the tenacity which binds the Asian-family narrative which many of us grew up in. This is the nobility of our Asian parental heritage that laid the foundation for our lives today.
As much as I was privileged to be in that hall of 150 outstanding world change-makers aged under 30 (feeling like an odd-ball next to their entrepreneurial achievements), it blows my mind to think of the amazing parents, who were responsible for raising them.
This picture is for my Dad.
