Being only a two month old international student in Canada, I have already been swamped in the whirlpool of Canadian politics. Looking at different articles,party policies and tv shows, the name that really caught my attention is; TRUDEAU. Justin Trudeau is the leader of The Liberal party of Canada.Many share the general perception that since his father is Pierre Trudeau( one of the former Prime Ministers of Canada) he would definitely end up gaining power in the political arena. He has always been living in the shadow of his father and since Trudeau decided to pursue a career in politics, people have always compared his actions and ideals to that of his father. And even though he has great respect for the beliefs and ideals of his father, the ground  Trudeau stands on is a little different from that of his father’s and he wants the world to acknowledge it too.

If you go to the Liberal party’s website and read through what Trudeau shares about his life, you will know that he didn’t have everything handed to him on a silver platter.He didn’t have a reserved seat in the parliament house but rather had to work his way up the ladder of struggle,failure and success. His political career started in 2007 in Papineau and he describes it as follows,

“My career as a politician began in a parking lot. A grocery store parking lot, to be precise, directly across the street from a shawarma restaurant and a barbershop.”

He goes on to explain how all that he had back then was a clipboard a pen and a few friends to help him out. He had to go around asking people if they would pay 10$ to sign up for the liberals membership. it wasn’t an actual election campaign but a pre run between different candidates to choose which of them will carry the party’s banner. He elaborates further how he used to roam around the streets of Papineau, would stand at bus and train stations just to talk to people from all walks of life and to convince them that he was the right man for the job. By the time result day rolled over, Trudeau had met most of the people of that town and had had left such a positive impression of his dedication to his work that he ended up wining a majority on the first ballot taking 690 out of 1266 ballot casts. This little insight into his political career shows that he knows the meaning of hard work and perseverance and he knows what it means to gain the trust of the public and how to work for their betterment.As for those who say he is not ready; he has been directly involved in Canadian politics since 2007 and indirectly since his early years through his father’s work and there are some who say he is not experienced enough because he is younger than the other candidates, but I think that trudeau can use this factor of  age to his benefit to connect with the youth of the nation, and convince them to step out to vote for “REAL CHANGE” as the liberals logo says.In his life narrative he talks about how he has been called upon several times to speak at conferences on youth or environmental issues. referring to his interaction with the youth all around the country he said,

“I also began to feel that a generational change was approaching, one that might open up new possibilities.”

Knowing the issues our youth is passionate about, he knows how to empower them so that they  can work to achieve those goals. Trudeau is a man with a growth mindset, he knows that the road he is going down is still under construction and there’s a lot that needs to be done in order to achieve betterment for the country, but he also knows that he is the man for this job because he has seen this country go through hardships and work its way out and he knows that its capable of much more and if given the chance he will make others see it too.

https://www.liberal.ca/meet-justin/

The second installment of our blog post took me to the ‘autobiographies and memoirs’ section of the bookstore, the section I never bothered to visit before. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, in fact it was rather intriguing, going from one book to another, switching from one story to another i lost track of time. I went through almost 6-7 different books until I found the one that caught my attention pretty hard.The cover bore the picture of a girl wearing a veil,beaded headband and her eyes were painted a pretty shade of blue.The girl in the picture was a serene beauty but there was something captivating about her facial expression;blank, emotionless, yet crying for recognition.The title of the book was, ‘PRINCESS: A TRUE STORY OF LIFE BEHIND A VEIL IN SAUDI ARABIA‘.Written by Jean Sasson, the book tells a true story of a Saudi Arabian princess, Sultana who dared to share her story with readers across the globe because she thought it was time the world knew the truth about the life of a princess. The name ‘Sultana’ is used to keep the identity of the princess anonymous because the kind of information she reveals about the life of Arab royals can be considered punishable. The book sheds light on Sultana’s life, how she has every necessity and accessory, be it big mansions, fancy cars,designer clothes, expensive jewelry or even a private jet. If an outsider were to see her life they would say she pretty much had it all, living the dream of every other teenage girl but little did they know that the reality of her life was quite the opposite. It is this misconception that sultana tries to clear up as she tells the readers how her life as a princess involved being ruled by the will of her father at first, and after having an arranged marriage, was made to live on the principles of her husband and sons. Further more she elaborates how she had little or no control over her own life, how her husband married another woman and how she became nothing more than the bearer of his sons and how she just spent her life in a blur behind her floor length veil in an invisible cage that always kept her bounded within herself. Its the issue of gender inequality in Saudi Arabia which is growing worse with time as the law fails to recognize the basic human rights of women such as freedom of speech and freedom of choosing their own life partner and freedom to live their life on their own terms. The Arab society gives all authority to the men and gives them a right to enforce their will on their wives and daughters and if a girl disobeys or rebels against them, as per the law she could be subjected to punishments such as drowning,stoning and isolation to a cell with no windows. After suffering for years sultana finally decided to break free of the “gilded cage” (Amazon book review) she was trapped in and she dared to speak against her rulers because she didn’t want her daughters to go through the same mental trauma she had to go through.

I believe by speaking against the unjust behavior towards women in the modern Arab society, Sultana has raised awareness regarding this ethical issue on a global platform and evoked compassion and a sense of sympathy for girls like her who have no say in their own lives. It is what Gillian Whitlock talks about in her book “we shall bear witness” that how testimonial life narratives can be used to awaken an “ethical awareness” (Whitlock 86) among people regarding those in suffering. Moreover this insight into her life narrative holds the power to motivate other girls who are going through a similar struggle but don’t really know how they can escape it or fight it. I personally admire Sultana’s bravery to initiate the first step towards achieving a more fair, equal and just society for women because it is always the first step that is the hardest and the most difficult one that everyone is reluctant to take, but Sultana did and I can assure you I’m not the only who is truly moved by her story. If you want to read the interesting and compassionate reviews of her readers follow the link below.

Book source:Amazon book review and comments

Gillian whitlock; we shall bear witness