Adolf Hitler applied twice to The Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, before doing what he did.
Hitler’s application did not just turn into a rejection, both times. It changed world history.
1st September 2008: MP Israrullah Zehri comments on the killing of five women for choosing their own spouses. About forced marriages he said, “These are centuries old traditions and I will continue to defend them”.
Abhorred by this statement, I lulled myself to sleep and had a dream:
I dreamt of an acceptance from Stanford where I came in contact with an extremely gifted population of individuals, nourishing my public service experience. Going back to Pakistan I found the state of women no better than what I had left it. Struggling with the patriarchal tyrannical traditions that men conveniently and wrongly term as Islamic, all I could see in the eyes of women was destitute. And so, I dreamt of a change- a revolution. Educating and inspiring women, I aroused in them the feminism that crawled its way through fields as diverse as literature, religion and politics, penetrating every household, echoing in the cry of every woman rallying for her rights. Materializing this approach of upholding ideals in the female population, I dreamt of a land where every woman is free, equal and where I have fulfilled my responsibility.
Then I had another dream. A rather disturbing one. A nightmare actually.
I dreamt of a rejection letter from Stanford. Disappointed, I joined the Pakistani Army. Won Pakistani military honour “Nishan-e-Imtiaz”. I formed my own party “National Feminist Pakistani Workers' Party”, became the first woman president of Pakistan and formed what they called “The Fourth Reich.” The rest…
Too violent for words.
Dreams are bizarre. Aren’t they? But they say dreams can serve as Divine inspiration or a prophecy…
Whatever it is, when you are making the decision of my admission, just remember that you just might be changing the course of history.
The only question remains, which dream do you want to see come true?