Imran Khan has turned fiftyeight today—the 25th of November 2010. Apart from his birthday he has a lot to celebrate. He can forever celebrate his famous victory at Melbourne that made us cricket’s world champions. Before that day when he bowled the last and decisive over in the final against England, he had figured centrally in many proud triumphs for his country which all can be regarded as excellent reasons to go into celebrations any time of the year and any year of the calendar. His feats and achievements are not limited to cricket only. The success of the resolve that went into the emergence of Shaukat Khanam Memorial Trust Hospital for cancer cure— also the birth of the NOMAL University— gave the name Imran Khan completely new dimensions. That success too will continue to be celebrated.
But there is a lot that Imran Khan and his countless supporters cannot yet celebrate. In the innermost recesses of his heart Imran Khan knows — and knows with the passion of a hugely vibrant soul— that he was not born simply to win laurels in the fields of cricket and philanthropy— that the battles for which he yearns to go down into history are yet to be won— and that the dream that caused the birth of the Pakistan Thrik-e-Insaf is as far away from the stage of its realization as his beloved country is from the goal that its founding fathers had set for it in their vision.
Benjamin Franklin once said: “At twenty years of age, the will reigns, at thirty, the wit and at forty the judgement”.
But Imran Khan is fiftyeight now. By the opinion of Bernard Shaw, the age of mature manhood. And by the experience of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, an age ‘when he felt like having been deserted by destiny’.
I know the Quaid is Imran Khan’s role model. And the Quaid was 58 in 1934— as far away from his destination as Napoleon Bonaparte had been when as the Little Corporal of the French army he used to wander aimlessly and disillusionedly in the streets of Paris.
The leader, and the fighter in Imran Khan isn’t made of any different mettle. He has the same streak in him of having a sense of destiny that keeps one in a state of permanent pursuit. Pursuit for Imran Khan is not going to end till life flows in his veins. Pursuit in its truest sense infact may have just begun for him.
Success catapults mortals into the orbit of greatness. And failure pushes them into oblivion.
In my reckoning, Imran Khan is only one decision away from the realization of his destiny and dreams. He is my friend. Also my leader now. I have a feeling that he will not run away from that crucial decision. I also desperately hope so. He has it in him. My only fear is that around him, at work, may be forces that may draw him away from the nucleus of his dream. The decision that he has to take isn’t more difficult than those that were taken by mortals who went on to carve their way into immortality.
This is my tribute to you Imran Khan. Also my reminder— the reminder that you can’t fulfil your destiny without embarking upon the path that leads to Madina.
(This Column was first published on 25-11-2010)
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