As the evening proceeded and all the groups began to merge into a single group, I hesitantly ran my eyes across a message board wall and approached Faisal and asked him rather to the point "so Faisal, what is it that you do?". "eerm, I'm an investment banker". I smiled, and before I could interrogate him any further one of the organisers of the evening had signalled for us to start the next task.
After the eventful evening had come to a halt and we prepared our commute home, my friends ,Haris and Hamza, and I were very much surprised to learn that the investment banker lived not too far from us. He lived in Ilford!
There are some people who emit an awkward impression which makes dialogue undoubtedly difficult but Faisal was not one of them. Instead he had such a bubbly charisma that I couldn't wait to ask him the 1001 questions on my mind.
On the train, he was alluding to how his troubled life had led him to arrive at the helpline charity event. He mentioned how he was on a path seeking answers to questions he had hitherto unasked, searching for tranquillity in a turbulent world and finding out the meaning of life.
As we arrived at our dining place near Ilford station, Roosters Piri Piri, I couldn't help but question why he felt the way he did and in the manner that he did. He began "back in the days, even 10 years ago, getting into banking was an easy thing to do. I had just recently graduated with a history degree and soon enough I was in investment banking." What went wrong I interjected, "everything. I was in an environment where people portrayed themselves to be very strong... in fact these people are the weakest people on earth; apart from their career everything else fails: relationships, breakdowns, everything", his tone got more serious and his eyes glimmered in excitement, "what's the point of earning so much money... you work so hard that you don't even have time to spend it. You buy a 60K car - it looks good in front the house, the neighbours are like wow but you're not there long enough to enjoy that because you're still working too hard at work." and so he continued to give us more insights into how large sums of money doesn't quite satisfy the human soul, "and that's why I want to get involved in this charity helpline, you know give something back, do something good, that feeling is priceless".
We were all moved by the words he was freestyling. There was no agenda, this was a man in his prime, late 30's, who had now realised that the idea of the world that is presented so often to us from a young age was all a sham. We're preached from a young age that we have to work hard to get that 'successful' job, but we know that means a job that pays very high and we're taught that freedom will give us the happiness that we so crave. But here was the man who had that all of that: investment banking is seen by many as a lucrative career, many would say that it is a 'successful' career. With the huge amounts of money he could have the 'freedom' to do what he likes. Actually, he doesn't use this liberty, and it's this that sets him apart from the rest of his colleagues who apart from their careers are utter failures. Instead, Faisal has a wife and an 8-month-old-son that at least give him some purpose in this world.
Faisal, then stated some metaphors which stuck in our minds for some time. "People say that we push and force religion upon others, instead I would argue that it is they who push their [secular] religion upon us, and this is what causes so much problems... from a young age the youths are taught that hard work doesn't pay, just listen to some of the rappers they claim that they came from the 'hood' and made something of themselves, what message does that give to the youths, that you don't have to work hard and study and there's a magic pill to make you successful, this is all lies... the most popular kids at schools are the one that have girlfriends, don't study, are always getting into trouble. These are the role models of our youths. Studying is no longer cool, working hard is no longer an option, aspiring for greatness is a myth. Why? Because as soon as a kid steps out of his home [or even in it] he's surrounded by messages from all direction that tell him to do the opposite - to succumb to temptations, to take the easy route and to end up as a good-for-nothing lazy couch-potato".
The last point I recall him mentioning was the importance of companionship. We all smiled in agreement accessing our own experiences. "I wish I had good friends when I was your age. The brothers were either extremely too religious, and not understanding, or the other end liberals who had no concept of morality. There was no middle ground for me to engage in so I lost out. But, I'm telling you brothers, be careful of the people around you - do a charachter assissination, break it down, always break it down." "But how do we break it down" Haris asked. Faisal thought for a moment, "question their assumptions and find out what they stand for. If their foundations are weak then they will crumble. Always do a character assassination!"
We were all left in awe of the things that had been said, not that the things were anything new but that Faisal was talking about it, and in the perspective he put it in. If one was there they would have been dazzled by his charismatic speech. One cannot help but feel that this was no mere accident, we all shared a feeling that we were about to do something great, and the last thing he said to us was "whenever you're in the area, and it's evening time, give me a call and I'll get my car and pick you guys up, we can talk and chill for 10 minutes or so."
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