Page 28 - ChildArt_2021.Q1_Global Creative Leaders

28 CHILDART GLOBAL CREATIVE LEADERS
At the age of three, Mohsin Hamid left Lahore,
Pakistan with his family and traveled 7,550
miles to CA for his father’s studies at Stanford
University. There, Mohsin began a typical 1970s
California childhood, running barefoot in the street,
camping in the woods, playing Dungeons and
Dragons, and playing make-believe. “Like many
kids, I used to pretend all sorts of things. I would
climb into a tree and imagine that I was on an
island, that the grass below me was an ocean,
that the leaves were the fins of sharks. And I think,
unlike a lot of people, I never stopped doing this. I
continue doing this professionally, today. I make up
worlds in the form of novels. I play make-believe
for a living.”
His first book, Moth Smoke, published in 2000,
established him as a writer of repute. His second
book, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, became a
New York Times bestseller and was made into
a movie starring Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, and
Kiefer Sutherland. His third book, How to Get
Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, was praised as “a
globalized version of The Great Gatsby.” His
recent book, Exit West—winner of the L.A. Times
Book Prize for Fiction, was selected for the New
York Times Ten Best Books of 2017 list.
Mohsin’s journey from his homeland of Pakistan to a
newfound home in California marked the beginning
of personal migrations that have endowed his life
with friendship and broadened his definition of
community. “I care about issues of migration,
identity, foreign policy and public policy. I’m
quite passionate about these things. Some
people believe that art should be nonpolitical.
I’m not one of those people.”
When Mohsin was in the fourth grade, his teachers
thought that he couldn’t write. He was sent to a
special needs classroom for extra help. The
teacher there asked Mohsin to print rather than
write in cursive. She quickly noticed that he was
a good writer! “They figured out that my writing
was good. It was just that my handwriting was
atrocious, and my spelling was very bad.” From
that point on, they allowed Mohsin to print rather
than write in cursive. “If my elementary school
teachers had insisted that I write in cursive or that I
spell very well, they could have destroyed the love
that I have for writing.”
Although Mohsin has always loved to create stories
and write, he imparts that good writing, as well as
MOHSIN HAMID EMPATHY AS A SUPERPOWER
JAN-MAR 2021 29
FOR THERE WAS
EMPATHY AS A A MOMENT WHEN
ANYTHING WAS
SUPERPOWER POSSIBLE. AND THERE
WILL BE A MOMENT WHEN
NOTHING IS POSSIBLE.
BUT IN BETWEEN WE CAN
CREATE.”
MOHSIN HAMID -MOHSIN HAMID
AUTHOR
LAHORE
any other creative or worthwhile pursuit, is the result school loans. Little by little, he was able to cut back
of putting in the time. “Work is an undervalued on his consulting work and spend more time writing,
attribute in contemporary society. We don’t eventually moving to London to write full time.
expect a successful farmer to harvest wheat unless
they put in the time. We shouldn’t expect a writer to Mohsin’s creativity is enhanced by empathy.
successfully grow a chapter or a book unless they “Empathy is a beautiful capacity that humans
have. It allows us to imaginatively leap across
put in the time. Kids often imagine being an Olympic barriers that we think separate us.” Mohsin’s
gymnast, or a professional basketball player, or a understanding of empathy has evolved through
rock guitarist, or a novelist. But each of those people the years. “I used to think empathy, in and of itself,
has put in a lot of time. You don’t become a rock was enough. But something in addition to empathy
“I AM A STORYTELLER AND guitarist unless you enjoy playing the guitar. You is required. There is a moral compass that must
don’t become a basketball player if you don’t like be applied to ourselves with empathy. Empathy is
THEREFORE AN OPTIMIST, A FIRM playing basketball. You don’t become a novelist if the superpower of humans. Will you use it to be a
BELIEVER IN THE ETHICAL BEND OF you don’t actually like writing. If you don’t put in villain or a hero? This question requires each of us
THE HUMAN HEART, A BELIEVER IN the time, then it’s a perfectly pleasant dream to to develop our own moral compass.”
have, but it’s just a dream.”
Mohsin believes that “kids are very robust and brilliant
THE MIND’S APPETITE FOR TRUTH From his college days at Princeton University through creatures,” yet, nurturing all that is good in children
AND ITS DISGUST WITH FRAUD. his law school days at Harvard University, Mohsin can be daunting for an adult. Each child is embarking
has made a place for writing. He was privileged to upon a unique journey. Our collective efforts to guide
I’M A BELIEVER IN THE POWER OF study under the renowned author Toni Morrison them along the way are such a critical part of human
KNOWLEDGE AND THE FEROCITY OF at Princeton. About a year into law school, Mohsin civilization. He wishes for kids to understand that,
feared he had made a terrible mistake because he “everyone is trying, but nobody is quite sure. Find
BEAUTY, SO FROM MY POINT OF VIEW, didn’t love the study of law or the idea of practicing teachers who understand and support what you’re
YOUR LIFE IS ALREADY ARTFUL— law. “I was lucky enough to find an advisor who trying to do. Understand that you do not deserve
allowed me to submit a work of fiction as my law to be harmed. Learn to communicate how you
WAITING, JUST WAITING, FOR YOU TO school thesis instead of a traditional legal analysis. feel, value yourself, and find a way to tell your
My novel was about a trial, so he said that would
MAKE IT ART.” work.” Mohsin finished law school and worked as a own story.” This is sage advice from one who
management consultant in New York to pay off his knows the power of an exquisite story.
TONI MORRISON
https://icaf.org