A Faint Gleam of Light Pierces The Heart of Pitch Darkness

CHITRAL: Last night, I woke up at midnight and for the first time truly felt the depth and scariness of darkness in my room. It was pitch black -the kind of darkness that swallows everything. With no lamp nearby, I fumbled for my mobile phone by my bed side table. The faint glow of its screen was enough to pierce the gloom and bring life back into view.

That small moment experienced carries a larger truth: even the tiniest ray of light can defeat the deepest darkness. In life, despair, injustice, and hardship often feel overwhelming. Yet a single act of kindness, a word of hope, or a gesture of honesty can change the atmosphere entirely.

Instead of endlessly complaining about the shadows around us, we must strive to be that light ourselves. Each of us has the capacity to illuminate -whether through compassion, fairness, or courage. An urdu poet reminds us so beautifully:
“Shikwa-e-zulmat-e-shab se to kaie behtar hai,  apne hissay ki koie shama jalate jaien” –  rather than lamenting the darkness of night, it is better to light a candle of your own.

Much of the world, faces crises that feel suffocating. But the lesson is clear: we do not need to banish all darkness at once. We only need to kindle enough light to show the way forward. If each of us becomes that gleam, together we can turn despair into hope and shadows into dawn. The lesson learnt by me from yeasterday’s episode is:   ‘Darkness cannot survive when light challenges it’. .. Fardad Ali Shah, 11 Sep 2026