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I was watching The Dropout again. That, after reading Bad Blood for don’t know how many times. I ‘m not really sure why I’m obsessed with the story. It just resonates with me. How it is important to get the science right. How not to take shortcuts. That’s why I love this scene and the scene after this.

 

But there was more. You just can’t miss it. The open plan office. The authoritarian leadership. The charlatans and impostors. Ian Gibbons and Edmond Ku. 

 

But there was also Tyler Shultz and Erika Cheung. 

 Got into university in 1997, I was become convinced that even at the darkest hours, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. The tipping point would be reached and the dominoes would fall. The Tyler Shultzs and Erika Cheungs of the world would speak up. And slowly but surely, the dim light would get brighter. 

Twenty five years after we celebrated the light, it does feel like the darkest hour again. But this time I cannot untangle the mess. The light at the end of the tunnel becomes more and more like a train. A high speed rail, iykwim. 

But Allah Himself has promised. 

Fa inna ma’al ‘usri yusraa. Inna ma’al ‘usri yusraa. 

So, surely with hardship comes ease. Surely with ‘that’ hardship comes ‘more’ ease. 

Just hold on.