Dr Siti Maryam Salasal forwarded an e-mail with the text of JK Rowling's Harvard Commencement Speech today. It was the best e-mail or rather the best read for the day, for me.
Not only because it's by the famous and renowned author of the best-selling Harry Potter books, but also the honest-to-goodness reflection of her past failure in life and how it benefited her. It was quite a long and substantive speech, and it must be - for such a significant and important moment for the graduates.
I strongly recommend a read and (re)read to enjoy the beautiful and elegant use of language as well as the profound meaning of her calling. The full text is found at the following link:
http://harvardmagazine.com/web/breaking-news/jk-rowling-commencement-2008
At the risk of copyright infringement, I append (in quote) one of the segment of the speech aimed at the graduating students.
"Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden. If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better."
JK Rowling had fired the imagination of millions here and the world over. The Harry Potter books (and movies) transcended country, ethnic, culture and language. In fact it unified millions of fans and readers as a global Potter family. The power of JK Rowling's work and Harry Potter specifically is beyond measure, not to mention its commercial value.
The above extract (as quoted) is not only useful and relevant to the Harvard graduating class but also to anyone who is endowed to serve and has the power to transform reality for the better.
Are there Rowlings in the making, in our midst?
Many thanks to Dr Siti Maryam for making my day.
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