Srinagar, June 17 -- By Shahid Ansari

The most important question I have ever asked young people is one that rarely appears in a textbook or examination hall: What problem do you want to solve before you die?

Schools often ask students what marks they hope to score, which degree they plan to pursue, or what profession they hope to enter. Those questions have their place.

But the question that changes lives is different.

It asks people to identify a problem that bothers them enough to spend years trying to solve it.

That question sparks entrepreneurship, social movements, and any ecosystem that produces new ideas.

My own journey began with that question in Kashmir, under circumstances that would have persuaded many people to give up....