CONNECT ON LINKEDIN

They Stole Nasreddin Hodja



Moreover, in broad daylight, in front of everyone. While we were fighting whether we were from Akşehir or Sivrihisar, while we were just laughing and adding new anecdotes to their jokes, the man of the hand stole at the same time ...

I hesitated when I saw Peter Hawkins' book "Nasreddin Hodja's Leadership Secrets" while visiting the stands at the book fair. "How so" I said to myself. Its publisher was also a Turkish publishing house. Okay, Nasreddin Hodja's reputation has exceeded our limits. This was very nice as it was. But my main surprise was not him, it was 'us'. Just like an Englishman who sees the "Sheakspeare's leadership secrets" written by a Turkish in the bookstore. When I saw the book, I remembered almost a hundred "Anecdotes from Nasreddin Hodja" books. Did anyone not understand what Hodja actually taught while making him laugh, that there is a life hidden in every word, that he said exemplary words. Yeah; this was Nasreddin Hodja and he could only laugh at him. Yet Peter Hawkins had not seen it that way and learned leadership lessons from his twenty-odd jokes.

Taking foreigners as an example, we forgot our local values ​​in every respect. We could not see the bottom of our noses. Even Uğur Arslan, who later became an association and became famous for his "Lighthouse" program, which helped the poor, we called it "Robin Hood of modern times"; as if there were no helpers in our history. Without knowing who Robin Hood really is, forgetting that his action was 'theft' no matter what. Have you ever thought about why "benevolence" is not a Turk that comes to our mind directly, why Robin Hood comes to mind? Because benevolence is also in our culture, in our genetic codes, in our veins. Because at that time, everyone was benevolent, giving alms and zakat. However, these were confidential due to 'decency'. In the Ottoman Empire, they would hang their zakat in gold on fountains when night falls. However, since the West lacked these values, it made someone famous even if they were a 'thief', and sold them to the whole world. Now our children admire Robin Hood when it comes to benevolence, and laugh when they hear Nasreddin Hodja. Because we cannot teach them our own culture ...

The invention of a Turkish inventor seems strange to us. We think there is a mistake. Because it should definitely write Edison under it. Pasteur is more attractive to us than Avicenna. Or seeing a Turk under a nice word instead of Bernard Shaw. As long as we do not protect our own local values ​​and are exposed to the culture we import, we will not be able to find our self. However, these lands have cultural heritage that has never been given to any country in the world. If Peter sees this before us, it is our fault, not his.

Let's see who will play Yunus Emre, Mevlana; who will learn leadership lessons. While someone takes a lesson in leadership from them, at least if we learn a "lesson" from this situation ...

Abdullah Cem Yaşar

Copyright @ Abdullah Cem Yaşar
About

With the mission of adding value to human life, I have been working in the field of communication for 15 years ...
Contact

Abdullah Cem Yaşar
info@abdullahcemyasar.com
CONNECT ON LINKEDIN