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March 28, 2004
Articles: Keeping sane
Amjad Aslam is head of communications at the World Wide Fund for Nature — Pakistan. A prolific reader, Aslam’s interests lie in psychology and philosophy
“I WOULD not be alive and sane if I did not have four things in my life which really help me deal with the world. The first are books. The second is music. The third is my family and the fourth are my dreams. My books, my music and my dreams help me formulate a better relationship and have a shared experience with my family,” says Amjad Aslam. Since he is currently involved with the conservation of nature for the last two years and is no longer working at a commercial organization, Aslam finds himself introduced to “tonnes of literature on the environment” that have opened up a “whole new mental area” for him.
Aslam just finished reading Human Nature and the Natural Environment by Dr Alan Hamilton. “Dr Hamilton works for the World Wide Fund for Nature and his work is interesting because he has tried to put together all the information that there is about human nature and then formulated an opinion.” The book essentially deals with “man’s expansionism and development vis-a-vis the relationship with natural resources and living space.” Aslam explains, “Man’s desire to expand and develop is a natural trait and a basic need. This has led him to take over nature.”
Aslam does not “necessarily agree” with Dr Hamilton’s conclusion but enjoys his diverse explorations about human nature. “The book is exceptionally readable since it is a nexus between human nature and the environment. Dr Hamilton’s well researched work traces the interaction of the traditional society with nature and also the impact of the current western ideology on the environment.”
Another book Aslam has recently read is The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Having discovered it at the National Defence College library, when Aslam was fourteen years old, he could never get past the first three paragraphs of the book. “As soon as I opened the book, it always used to scare me. For years I could never complete it. It really had a tremendous impact on me”. Therefore when Aslam picked The Metamorphosis at this current point in his life, he believed that now he is a much “stronger person” because he had “fought that alienation” due to his four systems in place.
The Metamorphosis is a short story in which a travelling salesman, Gregor Samsa, is transformed into a giant insect and his family does not realize it in the beginning. The story revolves around Samsa’s interactions with his family, and their shock, denial, and repulsion towards him. The opening line is famous in English: ‘As Gregor Samsa woke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect.’
“The concept behind this book is alienation and I could relate to it because alienation is a young person’s pain,” explains Aslam. “What I enjoyed in the book is a seriousness in thought and an ability to be articulate in talking about that seriousness,” concludes Amjad Aslam.
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