this post is dedicated to MY people...
Very few people are blessed to have a perfect start to their careers, and even fewer are lucky enough to find friends on their team. I realized yesterday evening that I was blessed with both.
From 2006 till the end of 2008 my life was governed by the rollercoaster that most business students refer to as the booming telecom period. Mobilink had loads of competitors, there were price cuts left right and center, massive investment in Pakistans economy and possibly the highest ATLspend that Pakistani channels had ever seen. Heck, our group of five telcos are probably responsible for the birth and death of most channels that we see on our screens today. But during all this craziness, our humbling factor remained the brand team on mobilinks marketing floor.
Call it an orgy of sorts, but the amount of haywire talent that made up our team will possibly never be witnessed in any other department or any other team in ANY other company EVER again.
The great thing is we've all moved on since then - doing what we all want to do, at better schools and at better organizations. But for as long as we were there, nobody was better than us. Nobody was as crazy, as fun or as frustrated as we were. But we were the kings of our trade and boy did we have fun.
So Sadaf, Khurram, Saad, Sumera, Asad, Bano, Bassam, Noman, Akbar, Saud, Oogie, Fifi and Sobia - this ones for you - MY people. I only wish that we be all be lucky enough to work together again!
Sent from my Nokia phone
Surprising isnt it? im probably one of the few islooites that you'll find commiting such blasphemy - but i cant help it!
When i come to Karachi I change. Im not the boring plan ditcher anymore. my uptight nature somehow disintegrates and a certain life fills a certain void that is usually left. Im more at ease, less stressed, and more lively - my alter ego per say. Heck Ive even started blogging again.
I love the hustle and bustle of this city. I love the lights, the attitude and the general liveliness in general. I love the people (ofcourse i have my certain favourites) the places, the sites and sounds...everything. But what I love most is the endearing quality of this city. This moshpit of cultures has this awesome tendency to rebound from even the most trying of times and come out on top.
Sure i know i will probably never settle here...but this city has played a huge part in making me the person i am today...and ill never forget that!
Karachi - I heart you!
Sent from my Nokia phone
Aah, ramadan kareem, one of my favourite months of the year. A time to share, a time to meditate, a time to think about what went wrong and how to correct, to pause and ponder and plan.
Apart from the food bit another thing that ramadan kareem brings to light is the tradition of taraweeh - the daily prayers in which muslims tend to finish the Holy Quran. Being the overzealous muslim that I am, i love going for taraweeh. While there yesterday i noticed something that I have noticed ever since ive been saying my prayers in jamaat and its always bugged me.
If ever ure late, you have to continue the remaining rakat after the congrgational prayer is finished. Weve all been in that position sometime or another...but have u ever noticed how the people who finish on time with the congregation tend to look back at you? Its like their judging you for being late. The expressions tend to osscilate between 'woohoo, i beat you'..OR..'lookime - mein first aagaya'...till the more extreme 'you shall fry on a stick on the day of judgement.
And thats something i really dont appreciate. Namaz is not supposed to be a leverage for mass judgement, especially not in a jamaat and not in a masjid. I personally have never looked around when i finish my namaz, because i really dont care who came in later or before me. This is my space and my conversation with The Almighty, why should i spoil it by letting my mind wander?
The dilemma however remains, am i right about all these expressions or is it my over active and extreme-guilt-ridden-for-being-late mind doing all the crazy talk?
Sent from my Nokia phone
Posted by
Ahmed Mustafa
5:05 AM
Hmm...i know what you are thinking...frisky little thing isnt he...either he wont write, and when he does, his verbal diarrea knows no bounds...
But im standing at the airport(actually now im sitting in the plane flying somewhere over Sind) and i cant stop thinking about all that our airports signal in the social cycle that we tend to call our lives.
If a metroploitan is supposed to be a melting pot of cultures than an airport of the sites and sounds of a country - especially the passenger exit. You tend to see all sorts of emotions pouring out when the door of the arrival lounge flies open.
Think of this( and then you will realize why i tend to call them emotions rather than humans):
A businessperson walking out tired and stonefaced either met by his personal driver or his cabby, depending on whatever his destination is - the emotion will either be familiarity and relief or formality and a certain resignation that this new city will only bring another empty and boring hotelroom.
A family that has come to a funeral walking out of the arrivals section will try to hold a straightface until they see the affected and will start wailing with open abandon. Alternately the family make come for a happy ocasion either back home from a vacation or coming for a vacation and their expressions will tell you so. The kids will immediately go bonkers as soon as they see sunlight or a familar face, whichever comes first. The parents will as a function of their kids' behaviour will either be extremely embarrased at the reaction or extremely worried about their mental condition.
The list of emotions just goes on and on and on....and i guess thats what makes airports so fun for me. Except for the morning 7am flight ofcourse...that is just criminal!
Posted by
Ahmed Mustafa
5:05 AM
Dont judge me. Not just yet. Not before u have hear everything i need to say.
Im sorry ive been away (not that too many people have noticed). Ive been busy and ive been ignoring my blogging duties. It not that I havent had anything to say, because everyday tends to bring out something that is worth writing about. Ive just been wrapped in so many things all at once that i never found time to blog.
Which brings me to my topic. I am a junkie...and im proud of it. People tend to call me a workaholic, and tend to question the fact that i sit late in office. Its unfortunate for my boss because God bless his soul, because people tend to think that hes a slavedriver that wants me to work late. That,fortunately (for me) or unfortunately(for him) is not true. My boss is one of the nicest guys i know (no i am not sucking up to him) and hes always asked me why i sit so late...and i always have the same answer because i like it.
Its not that im always working. Or maybe i am(although im pretty sure the net takes up more than half of that time). However my late sittings are just mostly dedicated to additional reading, learning new things, new trends, new researches..basically almost anything and everything there is to learn about the field.
I have no clue why i started this post and so since im about to boomerang on a tangent ill just stop here for the moment.
Aloha!
Sent from my Nokia phone
for those of you non existent people who wait with baited breath for my next blog post...im sorry i havent written for a while because id rather not write until i really have something important to say. And as for the rest of you...well heres another piece of my personality for you to decipher.
ive met up with some old friends recently and they asked me whether or not i was still into the whole hullabaloo of drinking and what not. Lets set the record straight first...i was never 'into' it...i tried it to understand what everyone was always harping on about...and then i left it because i realized...it wasnt me.
Let me explain it again...some people arent interested in religion...its not for them...and in the same way...im not interested in the decadent gora lifestyle anymore...because that just isnt me. with time ive come to realize that we were made for something more...the ummat e muslima had a higher purpose...something way more important than getting high on alchohol on drugs or alchohol. i swear to you and i recommend that you try it too...there have been times that Allah has given me a high that nothing else will ever be able to give me.
Thus i request the following from all those who come across this post. I will not join you in ure next hotbox or ure getting hammered escapade. But i will still always be there if you need me if u need to be driven home or cannot walk straight after such an episode :p
Do not invite me to a party because i swear i will not feel left out infact i will love you for the fact that u enjoyed ure evening with the loud chatter of ngo type aunties who have nothing better to do than to live off of foriegn donor loans - and at the same time understood that i do not like being at such events.
Do not call me to a gathering of the rich and elite intellectual uncles who keep talking of change and history, yet would not dare leave their extravagant abode in fear that they be seen with a lowly beggar knocking at the window and may accidently be mistaken and outcast for talking to the 'common man'.
I am not a gora sahab and i do not like being associated with people with mistaken identities.i do not want to act like one, dance like one, talk like one, or have a drink like one.
I am one of Gods better creations and i have better things to do with my life.
let me tell you a little story about my country. We are democratic people, or so we like to think. We also like to think we are an islamic republic - thus the name 'islamic republic of pakistan'.
The problem is we are confused. The people that fight for democracy, the PPP, the PML, the MMA, the PTI and the MQM are completely undemocratic in their own party functioning. They have the same party leaders for the past 20 years unless their leaders have been assasinated by their husbands (PPP) and dont believe in leaving their 'kursis'. We like the idea of democracy, however thats where it stops...
Its unfortunately something my country love to fantasize, but when it comes to walking the talk...nothing happens.
Let me tell you about the new democratic scheme of things nowadays. Our Minister, Mr. Khosa tried to get his brother in law to head the ICTRD FUND which has about 20 billion rupees in its kitty. When the board refused to shortlist the candidate on the basis of a fake degree, 6 borad members were fired. The board members include some of the leading professionals of pakistan which include the country manager of cisco, ex chairman of engro, and the head of multinet pakistan.
Our respected ministers next move was to try to fit his brother in law in the USF fund, which is again lead by one of pakistans most respected telecom professionals, Mr. Parvez Iftikhar, a man that has made the USF a beacon of learning for the rest of world on how to use funds to increase telecom penetration in low growth and emancipated areas.
Democracy has also brought destruction and corruption to our countrys financial sector. The head of NIIT, Mr. Tariq Iqbal Khan another very respected individual within financial circles, who turned around the company to make it the largest mutual funds company in the country was recently removed to make way for another corrupt crony supported by Mr. Democratically elected my foot ten percent zardari.
Our democratically elected government is going back on all the promises that they made and are redoing everything that they thought was wrong with the previous government. When the media tried to bring to light the fraud commmited by fake degree parlamentarians they tabled a resolution against the media. They delayed reappointment of the judges. The list of crap being dealt to the common man on the pretext of democracy is endless...
So for a moment in time I was going towards supporting democracy but things dont really seem to be helping our case. Sure we can say that we need to give it time to develop, but i can...but what about the man on the street who cant buy food for his family? If our elections were truly transparent enough, maybe we could have thrown out and called for change but we cant. Also if this government goes, will the sharifs come back and screw our resources further? And then back to PPP and then another round of pingpong?
Can someone please explain why i should love democracy, because i truly want to, but cannot figure out a reason why!!!
Sent from my Nokia phone
This is something I wrote in my last week at college, but forgot to upload...
As horrible as they sounded, the Smashing Pumpkins did eventually make some sense in their song of the same name in the movie Batman and Robin.
Thats how i feel about my time at IBA right now. Its a constant cycle, this thing that we so fondly call life and when one trial is over the next stage of life starts. You graduate, you get a job, get married, have kids, bring them up to be responsible adults and then they repeat the cycle.
The interesting thing though, is the thing that i discovered while thinking on these fatalistic lines today. Life is more than a rat race, and more than the drudgery that ive made it out to be. Sure its a cycle, but thats what disney was talking about in the lion king, when they referred to the circle of life werent they?
But its not all THAT bad...life is what we want it to be and i want mine to be more than something or someone that will easily be forgotten...
Sent from my Nokia phone
I know this is a controversial topic and i also know that people are scared to debate what has been taught to them as the final word and nothing beyond it.
However music has been a huge part of my life since i was a kid. More often than not it has taught me lessons that no book could ever teach me, and has unearthed passions that i never knew existed inside me. Certain songs and singers have a way of speaking to you like no other, and it is those moments that have given music a certain reverence in my life.
So when people say that music is not allowed in our religion, it hurts me to hear that. Ive thought about it over and over again, and ive reached a conclusion that all those people are wrong and ill tell you why.
Recently i was listening to coke studios version of Abida Parveens rendition of bulley shah and a weird thing happened after that. I cried, got up and went to say my prayers. If a song can make me say my prayers, im pretty sure that its allowed. Take another example. Go listen to josh grobans 'remember when it rained'...it makes me think of God because it was He that gave Josh the voice to sing that song....does that still fall in the 'haram' category?
God has given us instructions that we need to follow, but with our own intuition. Im pretty sure that some sort of music is haram...take for instance the latest rnb hip hop i want to do ure booty type of songs...thats sexual promiscuity right in your face...which is wrong...
Think about it and give me your view.
So heres a thing ive been noticing for a while...and no i dont want to be called a potty mouth after this post but you should know about this in any case... Because its kind of funny
people...or guys (ive only used male bathrooms so i really dont know what happens in female restrooms) tend to not look at each other when they meet in the bathroom. Even if u know the person, you immediately tend to look down and pretend like ure not there. Why? I mean its only natural and its nothing to be ashamed of.
As im sitting in my office restroom and typing this out im dead sure that as soon as i open the door and walk into the handwash area, ill see a guy and he'll look down
Yup...there it is again. But there are also people who try hiding this fact and after a very awkward silence, say 'aur boss, whats up'. Thats the stupidest line ive ever heard...i mean what is a person supposed to tell him...give him an update of my bowel movement?
This lesson goes back to about two years ago, but somehow stays with me to this day...
While working at mobilink we had a tradition of having company dinners at Monal, this new establishment our company had sponsored on Margallah hills. Since it was a friday, a group of colleagues and I said our juma prayers, grabbed some drinks and headed hillside.
When i finished my drink, i threw it out the window. Thats something that i had learnt while living in karachi, since it was unfortunately the practiced norm amongst my peer group. This group however turned out to be different.they stoppped the car, asked me to get out, pick up the trash and keep it in the car until i found a trashcan. All the way up the hill i got a lecture on how if everyone did the same, Islamabad would not be the clean city it was today.
On my back home today, i had a chewing gum wrapper that i wanted to throw outside, but as my hand went out the window it stopped and i remembered what my friends had said. It made me think, and i kept the wrapper in my bag.
the point im trying to make here, is the difference in mindset that we tend to have across pakistan. Whens the last time you ad trash and though 'yaar abhi is ko bahar hee phek do'
Think twice before you act on ure urge next time.
Its been a matter of great debate for me, with people asking me all sorts of questions about my return to telco instead of taking the standard fmcg route...after all thats what i had planned and why i did an internship with reckitt.
Heres the thing...when you go to college, your only objective shouldnt be getting a job, but rather finding a company that gives u a certain purpose, and thats what I saw in Telenor. we always tend to bitch about how the cleint never has the guts to change perspectives, how the client will not risk revenues to go for creative executions. Telenor did the absolute opposite with their karo mumkin campaign. Theyve provided us with a positioning that show all that is possible if we all start working towards an objective...together.
Its good to know that im part of a company that believes in changing customer lives by not simply selling soaps, but instead changing the very way they function. Whereas our ad strategy can be questioned, no one can argue what our services like easypaisa, doctor helpline and blood donation drive have done for this country.
And thats what i want to continue doing. Changing pakistan and taking it to new levels of success and contributing in my own way.
Think about it. What have u done for your country?
So Ive been away for a while. Changing cities calls for a change in mindset, timings and overall personality in my view. The recent week has been pretty hectic with me joining telenor Pakistan on the Djuice brand...and God do I love it!
Having said that, that isnt the subject of this post.
My last days in Karachi turned out to be some of the greatest moments of my life and I had really cool friends give me a totally new perspective on life. You know how we all talk about firsts in life? Ive figured out a better perspective...
My last days were spent saying goodbyes. Goodbyes may be emotional although us "men" dont like showing emotion even if we do get emotional at times. There was Saadis last match with IBA United, My last dinner with her and then my farewell lunch with a bunch of friends.
What was my major learning? It was how to make your last moments...last. Make your last moments lasting enough to be remembered as fond memories. So to everyone at the hostel, in college, at the match, at the dinner and at the lunch...thank you.
You made my last moments in K-town, Everlasting!
"prayer is not a spare wheel that you pull out when in trouble, but instead, should be used as a steering wheel, that gives you a direction in life"
Sometimes you need such golden words to jolt you back towards your values, and i thank Allah that i have friends and family that keep reminding me of His power and all that we owe Him.
Ive always been a muslim by default - i say that because many of us just got lucky by being born in Muslim homes. Ive always believed that I am a spiritual person (after hearing Lady Gagas recent interview in which she said she was a spiritual person im looking for a new word to describe my current behaviour) and understand what God has in store for me. There have been a number of times that Allah has bestowed his miracles on me, and ive been hugely lucky that way.
There have also been many times where ive wanted to return to Allahs fold and become a better practising muslim. However, of those times, my failure to submit to His glory has either been marred by laziness, or a fear that im just not doing enough to please Him.
When in the hostel masjid today I saw one of the new talent hunt sindhi juniors reading a Quran which had english translation, and thats when i was hit by a bout of nostalgia. I donated that Quran to the hostel when i left it in 2006 and it had a hand written message from my grandmother on it. Sure its a great namesake for my family, but somhow Ive always thought that donating it to the hostel masjid would affect people on a wider scale.
And thats why i call myself spiritual, because I believe that God is always on my side even in the most difficult of times. Not because im a very practicing muslim, but because of the small kindnesses and acts of charity that i remember to do on a daily basis. It is a very strong value that my parents have instilled in me and I keep it very close to my heart.
Having said that, i plan to get back into the practice of saying my prayers. Not because im scared, but because I want to, and that in my opinion is the best way to start!
So ive been pretty good at quitting things all my life....not that it makes me a serial quitter, but i guess youll get the point after reading the rest of the post..
i quit tennis as a kid because the coach just kept me on wall practice for a month and i had just had enough of it. I quit learning the harmonium because i just found it too boring and i quit the gym because lets be honest, its just too god damn tiring...
The next thing to quit wont be all that easy. Ive decided to quit tobacco. It wont be easy, heck ive already quit it 20 times.
The fact is, frankly im sick of it. Im sick of waking up every morning and reaching for my suicide pack. Im sick of needing to smoke every time i need to think and my life has somehow become a smokescreen with it. I hate the fact that I cough more often than not, and my throat has become a prime target for any virus that can be found. Im tired of not being able to run anymore, im tired of not feeling healthy and happy 24x7. The horrible thing about tobacco is that it becomes like a crutch for smokers. Once you get addicted, you depend on the death sticks to cure your boredom or any other challenge that you encounter in your daily life. Frankly, I think Allah made me stronger than that, and wanted a different path in life for me.
But the strongest motivation comes from my mother and how it makes her so unhappy that her son is a smoker. At first I thought shed get over it, but when I eventually found out that both my grandfathers (maternal and paternal) had died due to smoking I now understand why it hurts her and my father so much. Sure the fact that my doctor told me that I was a prime candidate for emphysema matters too, but I think a mothers feelings are a much stronger motivation than any other in this world.
Im actually thinking of starting a blog to right down my daily emotions so that other quitters can benefit from my experience. What do you think?
Oh and yes. I would appreciate your support in this trying time. It wont be easy, and jabbering on about how Ill never be able to quit will never help my cause.
Lets see how this goes! Wish me luck.
D-Day 18th June 2010 - My first day without smoking.
So im the sort of person who would rather wait and comment, rather than immediately post a current topic just to increase my blog rankings...and now that the ban is over, i thought id share my views on the issue.
i pissed off loads of my friends when i said i was against the ban. Its not that i love my prophet (pbuh) any less, i just dont think banning fb would really make a significant difference. Fb knows that a government enforced ban will never hold the weight that a people enforced ban would have held. The pakistani government keeps doing everything wrong without the people will and this was just another one of their knee jerk reactions as well.
Who knows, it just might have been zardari pullng strings to get his 'ullu ka patha' fan page removed...
When supporting bans on popular social networking sites such as facebook, people need to understand that there are whole economies attached to these sites. Non governmental organizations and movments use fb to improve effeciency of communication and goal alignment. Corporates use it as a mode of advertising their products that improve customer lives.
everything in life comes with pros and cons...its up to us to think before we react. As for the people who say that they supported the ban, id like to see them voluntarily close their fb accounts in protest...phir mein maaanun ga!
Its one of our favourite topics isnt it...we love blaming someone else for our condition. This post is a mini diatribe against all the people that keep telling me to start watching and believing all that is said in the arrivals, this imaginative new age conspiracy theory series thats fast gaining popularity in the youth of pakistan.
I get it. The jews own the world. They own the media, the top financial institutions, the american votebank and by defualt every system that exists on our planet. And theyre probably out to get us since its been foretold in our religion.
My take on it? It doesnt give me the right to sit around and do nothing. It doesnt give me the right to keep blaming the zionist regime for the ummahs miseries. I wont, repeat WONT keep blaming israel for the state of our world. it isnt entirely their fault!
If only our muslim leadership had realized earlier on that unity, education, faith and discipline, were the fundamentals of what our future success would lie in, only then would we be owning the planet instead of the others. Taking out parades, shouting 'death to america' just wont cut it anymore. Taking innocent civilian lives just wont work. Banning facebook wont work either really.
We need to get our act together, and not for 2 years, but for the long haul. As they say in urdu, 'kamar kasne ka time aagaya he'. Lets all start playing our part.
Looking for a job is difficult, and somehow for lateral hires even more so. Each time i get a call for an MT program and i reject it, i know that im kicking another one of Gods opportunities out the window and decreasing my chances with some of the top organizations in Pakistan.
and its down right scary....because everyone else is getting interviews, and you keep getting calls for immediate recruitment rather than later. The additional anxiety attacks havent really helped either. However, these past 27 years have not been an easy ride for me. Most of my success has not come easily, and has been the result of a lot of risk taking, and even in the darkest of times, ive realized that God has walked with me every step of the way.
I just hope it keeps working out.
Before your mind starts wandering into weird sexual freakishness....STOP right there! This post is NOT about me coming out with some hidden fetish...its about sarcasm.
I love sarcasm. Sarcasm to me is like a cherry topping on the perfect icecream sundae. The perfect joke with just the right amount of sting that gives a split second the amount of power to devastate and truly shock and awe the victim and leave them reeling.
I identify with sarcastic people in general, and this love for the wicked even extends to tv characters. Thats why my favourite character in everybody loves raymond is not raymond, but his miserly old sick-of-life-holy-crap father. Or the fact that my favourite character in Frasier is actually frasiers dad, or the-ill-put-my-foot-up-your-ass father in that 70s show.
The problem that ive been struggling with is this....does that make me a negative person? Is it just for fun or have i started literally living it in my everyday life? And if I have, how many people have i managed to hurt with this attitude? Or am I just overthinking things?
Sent from my Nokia phone
So i turned 27 and as always there were hundreds of midnight birthday calls, hundreds of celebretory text messages and ofcourse as always my facebook wall was flooded with happy birthdays and party all night type of messages...
Growing up can have a big impact on your life, some positive and some negative. Certain friends of mine see it as a confirmation of their manhood and thus by indulging in their own securities see another year of life as a go ahead to add yet another feather (sin) to their cap...meaning if they were on dope before with their birthday they would graduate to coke and pill popping.
I tend to do stuff differently. I like spending the day/week alone and taking stock of my life. I realized something this time around.
As we grow older, we tend to move farther away from our parents. I guess that is the way of the world. Thanks to the capitalist mindset that we live in and have been brought up on, the old eventually shrivel up and die, and somehow that is seen as a given in the human race as well.
Think about it. Who were the people who gave you your first birthday cake and invited all your friends to enjoy it with you? Who were the people who have been buying your presents all these years? Your parents. And as soon as you grow up, you start prefering your friends over them. When on the job in Islamabad, on the job, I made it a point to take my mom to plays and movies with me, just to show the world, i dint care if anyone judged me, i loved my mom. And it just hit me, I havent spent my birthday with my folks for the longest time.
I need to. You need to. We ALL need to. They made us what we are today, and they deserve this much and MUCH MUCH MORE
Posted by
Ahmed Mustafa
4:49 AM
Running away is a crime
and acceptance not condoned
And although I may be
My soul is never owned
Continuing my loud discourse
of freedon's philosophy
I eventually come to realize
Its a hypocrisy
Shodow governments, a capitalist mind
Screw media control
buy morality, buy your mind
buy your self control
Sir,
After reading the article that I just sent to you, I got down to thinking. How will IBA in an increasingly unstable world be able to differentiate itself?
I believe that values and ethics and creativity of business solutions is the way to go. IBA has previously been known for supplying the market with cut throat executives that will do just about anything to succeed. However in view of the financial crisis, its evident that such a strategy will not work.
Since Islam has always taught tolerance, values and ethics, I personally believe that IBA can become a shining beacon of such a system and this is something that I have realized after having been taught by Dr. Mahnaz Fatima this semester. The approach that she has taken with corporate strategy is one that cannot be found in any other business school in Pakistan, and I believe that she is a real asset to our institution. However one thing that is fundamentally wrong with the MBA right now is that we had her in the last semester, rather than in the first.
When the new crop of MBAs/BBAs come to IBA, they come here hungry for success in the corporate world. That is exactly why the race for grades has become the order of the day amongst our students. If they were to be given lessons in values by Dr. Mahnaz in the first semester, I am sure that this mindset can change. The way she has taught my class, and myself included, has really changed our perception. Every class is like a call to arms, which includes a drive for excellence in education, success in the corporate world, but at the same time, never forgetting what our true value system is and how we should maintain it in our daily lives. We come out of every class completely inspired, and this has never been the case in any class that I have taken here since 2002 (I worked for 3 years in between) save a few other illustrious examples which include Ms. Lalarukh Ejaz and Mr. Samir Amir.
Another thing that needs to be instilled within our graduates is the love of our country and finding creative solutions to the problems that we see around us. It should be our graduates that are making and implementing new BOP marketing and microfinance models rather than people sitting in harvard, because these problems are in Pakistan and not in the US. Our graduates should be consulting with NGOs or even governmental departments on how to improve their functioning and helping them effeciently achieve their objectives.
Our new positioning should not only be that we produce leadership within the ranks of the corporate world, but the world overall.
Its bugs me...the fact that i have values...although I agree that im not placed at the worst quadrant in a world which thrives on a disvalued system (who said i was sleeping in mahnaz fatimas class?)
So over time ive developed a certain feeling that forces me to help others and especially little girls who i personally believe are making mistakes with their decisions. Whenever i see a nice innocent girl with a loser, my fatherly instinct comes into play and i try my level best to help her. Thats just me i guess.
For a long time i could never bring myself to visit a girls home, and its not that im shy or anything...its just that my fatherly instinct comes into play. I mean would i let my daughter invite over any other loser that i dont know? I still tend to feel a little freakish and decline to go to alot of female friends places if im invited.
Another place where it comes into play is when guys talk about women and how they blame women for gossip but somehow arent any better off. I reallyy feel sick when men talk about a certain girl a certain way but in the interest of complete social annihalation I shutup. Im ashamed of it, but hey, theres only so much i can do.
Sent from my Nokia phone
When I was a kid, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and eat every bite!
When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said: "Honey, I love burned biscuits."
Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides – a little burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!"
Life is full of imperfect things…..and imperfect people. I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. But what I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each others faults – and choosing to celebrate each others differences – is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.
And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God.
We could extend this to any relationship. In fact, understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or siblings or friendship!
"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket – keep it in your own."
God Bless You….. Now,and Always….
So Please pass me a biscuit, and yes, the burnt one will do just fine.!.!.!.
She and I were sitting together when the topic of our bachpan ke din came up. The topic obviously lead to school and for some odd reason came to fountain pens...
It made me realize how much i loved to write as a kid. Whether it was weird poetry, or essays or even make believe songs, writing was always a passion for me. And i guess a huge factor of that was the tool that i used, my fountain pen. I used to love going to the market, buying my dollar waali light blue pen and a small bottle of ink. I even remember the effort that it took to fill the ink in the pen and how it was all worthwhile once the pen started writing smoothly.
As a kid, i was never allowed to use a cartridge pen. Quite frankly it was seen as an unnecessary expense that was meant for rich kids. Thus the cartridge pen became an ideal prize that i was willing to die for. Although it may seem as a childish frivolous indulgence, it was just so cool at the time.
As I write about my love affair with ink, alot of memories have come flooding back and i just remembered the first time i saw a parker. The parker pen was the epitome of ink tools at the time, the bmw of pens per say...atleast in my world. I remember that i would go to stationary shops in Islamabad and just go and stand and stare at the Parker range that they would have,...and it was worth it. The beautiful contours of the nib, were something that were the very definition of class and elegance at that point in time...and nothing could come close.
I got my first Parker on a birthday. It was a grey steel hand me down that i had silently been ogling at, during my weekly visits to my fathers office. The fact that my father, one of my lifes idols used it only made it shine as if it were a Rolex that had been passed down from one generation to another. It was a special pen i was told, and i needed to guard it with my life. I did for about 6 months, after which I lost it. I was devastated that day, removed form my mom and barely talking when i got home. I had been given a responsibility and u had failed at it. After about a week of not talking to anyone at home, i ran wailing into my moms open arms and told her the story. I got scolded a bit, but just the look on my moms face was enough for me.
What i however learnt from this experience has remained with me for the rest of my life. It was that no matter what, although my parents would scold me from time to time, nothing was more important than their child...and i love them for it.
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I love my current facebook status update and it really presents the frustration that ive been feeling for quite a while now.
We dont give a shit when our country goes to the dogs. We study about how dictators have all but killed our democracy, how our public sector organizations are ineffecient and our governers are inept. We study about how due to no continuity of policies, our country has now become a lepper begging for financial aid. But we dont do anything about it.
But i will. Ive decided to do something about it. Im not sure just what yet, but ive promised myslef that i will help out, in any way i can.
ive decided that once i graduate and am well settled in a secure job, (that gives me a three - four month timeline) i will dedicate either a certain portion of my time every month/week towards a social cause. It may be providing free teaching/career counseling at the primary level, meeting with old people and listening to their worries or even holding free business planning workshops.
Anything that will help the people of my country in the long term. And i WILL do it.
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Posted by
Ahmed Mustafa
8:34 AM
Its quite unfortunate that i need to discuss this at all really. I was sitting with a couple of friends the other day and the topic of working women came up and whether or not we would let our wives or daughters work.
Im a solid believer in womens rights. I feeling like spitting on the face of a man that wouldnt let his woman work because " larki kharab ho jayegi". True, i wouldnt want my wife to turn out like some of the women that i have met in my life, but that doesnt mean that i will banish her to the "chaadar and chaardiwaari" of our home. The fact that our social standards are declining does not mean that working women are the problem, in fact, the onus lies on men more so, because in the current times, we have to increasingly ensure that the females in our sphere of influence have the appropriate value set that can conquer all the weird things that may come their way.
What is even more dissapointing is that we even needed to have this discussion at IBA. If the top college of the country can not transform lives, reconstruct opinions and bring social change then what is the point?
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every time im using our college bus i get a really empty feeling, and this feeling is driven by the stares and looks that we get when people see the name on our bus...IBA...Leadership and ideas for tomorrow..
It forces me to think...are we really worth all the looks that we get. When we pass other colleges and get wistful glances from them, i cant keep from asking myself, are we, the lucky few, the best of the country, doing ANYTHING AT ALL to change our surroundings? As we dream about better salaries, a better car, a better overall standard of living, why dont we ever dare to be different than the other drones that other substandard colleges are churning out?
If we are the chosen ones shouldnt we be doing something about this? If a person came from the lower class, maybe he was deservin because atleast he would think about changing his current status in life? But what are we doing? Continuing our fathers journey and doing nothing different?
Just food for thought...
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So im from IBA and its like a second home to me. Ive found many good friends, many great junors and seniors who with their own individual intricacies have added a little bit of something to me in their own special way.
However this post isnt really about waxing poetic about my college, exactly as it is about a small problem that ive noticed.
We have specializations that we base our majors on. However no one has ever thought of a holistic business perspective. The finance majors just want to work in brokerage firms or in banks, and the marketing majors just day dream about big budget ads and sales commissions all day. Nobody thinks about how the business sides will integrate to become one entity. How if financial services were marketed to the masses and segmented properly they could grow at a massive rate. No finance major ever thinks of applying to a pricing or strategy position, although theyve learnt about number crunching at college. No marketing major thinks about product or strategy management.
Whats even more dissapointing is that no one dares to pursue their interests or open their own business. Why am i bitching about it when i havent done it myself? Because i just learnt about it right now...very late in life...but i still plan to do something pretty soon.
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So anyway I recently asked a girl how her exam went. And she replied "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaar, rape hogaya yaar, teacher ne to completely layleee- phat ke haath mein aagayee yaar". Now I dont know how such words have found their way into common lady lingo but let me shed a little light on it....
rape hogaya - probably one of the most humiliating and painful any woman or man can go through - for further details please refer to mukhtaran mai or american history x
laylee - means uve been sodomized
phat gayee - means uve been buggered from behind...yes ure backdoor so to speak...
I didnt really want to write this blog post, but for current and future readers beware...u have absolutely no idea what ure saying!!!!!
Im a romantic and a hopeless one at that. I sometimes equate myself with a modern day Don Juan but then i wake up and smell the dust of construction that our college has a habit of welcoming us with every morning...
However as romantic as I may be im a staunch realist too and this may sometimes clash with my constant heart on sleeve i see u lets get married predicament.
My constant bouts with reality and wake up calls from my father have made me realise life's stark nature, which eventually helped me decide the qualities of the girl i would finally decide to marry. They are listed below (yes listing is an art that only an IBA exam giver can perfect):
1. She needs to shop cheap
2. She needs to come from an urdu speaking family
3. She needs to be cultured and have great urdu
4. She needs to have an awesome smile
5. She needs to have younger siblings
Its pretty late at night, and thus I shall continue this at a later time...
Posted by
Ahmed Mustafa
11:45 AM
I heard about a person who committed suicide today. Not the best thing to hear about just before ure exams - especially when u have fond memories of them.
I must admit there have been times when ive taken stock of my life and when ive realised that it was empty, have contemplated taking my own life. Heck some how shooting myself has become one of my most common references after having come back to IBA.
However, i know for a fact that id never do it. Why? Firstly because I fear God and know that such an act would severely piss him off. Secondly, I know for a fact that I have other people to think about. These people love me and hurting them would never be worth it...
I want to change things. I want to make movies and sing songs with a purpose. I want to use mass media to change perceptions, re arrange mindsets, change power mongers and throw them out of government. My latest idea comes from sitting at my college library with songs of Jiye Altaf - a song dedicated to the leader of a fascist organization MQM that promises to bring certain death to our country.
The people of my city Karachi are so God Damn scared of this man that they will never stand up in an open crowd and speak about him. Even the most powerful news source in Pakistan, the GEO network, who call themselves the champions of Pakistani democracy, does not dare publish and run a negative news clip about, out of fear of reprisal.
But I still want to. I want to sing,write, and bring a revolution. Why havent I done it? Im scared. Is it wussy to be scared? Not really. Ive never been one to think too much about my safety. I think the ultimate issue is how my death in a target killing with affect those around me. I have parents who would probably die thinking about how unfair it was to outlive their own kid. I have a girl who im crazy about and i cant dare think about leaving.
But then doesnt everybody? The question that comes to mind is this - how many people are there out there that are as scared as i am? And if we, the educated elite are so scared to do something about our conditions and keep thinking about those around us, who will it be that will stand up and change things?
Posted by
Ahmed Mustafa
1:07 AM
Snitch - Bitch! Yet another word created by the great Ahmed Mustafa a.k.a yours truly, moi. A snitch bitch is defined in Dictionary of language created by me, as a person who cant own up to a deed they've done - essentially being a ball less freak...
The question that I am raising at this point is this. When should you go against the tide, and change something? Lets say that today you see something happening that isnt right. It doesnt have to be a criminal activity - it can even be for example a course not being taught in the true essence or with the detail that it should be taught. Should you or should you not go to the course coordinator and complain? I would . But then at the same time - who gave me the right to spoil everybody's party?
My justification. Because I know better. I know what my weaknesses are and I want them removed and if someone wants to party on my learning time I really couldnt care less
When i initially came to the hostel, I was quite the "burger" kid. For those of you who dont know what it means (Untill my Alevels i thought that burger meant fat...) its a person who comes from an elite family, talks only in English - essentially people still stuck in the slave mentality that the English colonialists left behind in our part of the region. Essentially a person that does not appreciate ones own culture and would throw it away if he or she was offered a burger from burger king...
Getting back to topic, I needed to adapt and life here helped me out in doing so. New people, new surroundings, and an overall new culture helped me define a completely new mindset and approach to life. Did I leave my values behind? Some I did, but my new approach to life is a fusion of the good and bad - more realistic then ever before.
The reason for this post is that it came into question after an event yesterday. During a match, a person said something that truly hurt me. Now the average person around here would not have thought twice before burying the person in the ground within seconds of the words coming out of his mouth. But I didn't.
I told him NEVER to say it again - OR - I would bury him where he stood, and he understood. Through out the match, and until I slept at night I kept wondering and questioning whether my approach was correct. Was I a wuss for not raising my fists and beating him to a pulp?(and God knows I wanted to). It even bugged me till I wrote about it today.
I was right. If I had fought, it would be a bad lesson for the 150 strong hostelites that I currently manage. If words could warn, it was better than doing anything else. If I had fought him, what would be the difference between us humans and animals? Where would all the diplomacy I had learnt over these years go?
Im better now...as long as you dont talk to me about it again.
I wrote this post a looooooooong time ago - and the weird thing is ever since then - ive found her - the one - and i found her through this post - rest assured, if I continue this blog, the first one after we get married InshAllah, will be the one of the story of how we were in two different cities, had never met, and found each other on facebook...
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Looking at you,holding my breath,
For once in my life,I'm scared to death,
I'm taking a chance,letting you inside.
I just came back from dinner and a long walk in lums, with an old friend from iba. We discussed how she was, and how id changed, and the reasons why i had and the key stinger throughout our conversation remained relationships and my failure to commit. I dont know why im writing this right now, maybe its a way of getting all of my arguments out of the way, or just what i feel about the subject, but i knew that something had to be said otherwise i wouldnt be able to sleep.
There comes a point in your life when you have to take a decision. A decision in selecting who ure sweetheart for life will be. A decision after which it is mandatory that you will never ever stray and promise to work together and face all of lifes curveballs as a team. A decision when you choose... the one.
So then who and when and how do you decide? Will it be the person that your soo impressed with, because of their creativity? Will it be the girl that makes you dizzy every time you talk to her? Is it the girl that makes ure heart ache when you see her with someone else and know that she should have been yours?Will you pick a person becuase your mother will like her? Will you pick a person becuase ure enamoured by her beauty? Will it be a person that makes you laugh when ure down, and is always the greatest pick-me-up when you want to hang yourself? Will it be the person that is always there when you need her? Will it be the girl who understands you most and knows when and how to talk to you? Or should she be all of the above?
I dont know. And thats why i dont want to commit. And thats also why i cant see myself in another flimsy half hearted relationship where most of the time ill be too busy testing the waters and checking if she is the one im ready to dedicate the next 30 years too.I dont want to be responsible for another broken heart and i dont want my heart to be broken in the process again. I dont want to say after another 2 year relationship - you know what lets not do this anymore, ( or make an excuse like -t my parents said no) it wont work out, when every syllable spoken is eating me from the inside and screaming you bufoon its her!!!
So maybe im risk averse. But should i be nailed to the cross for a little undecisiveness? Should all men be slandered and stereotyped as being scared of commitment. Its hard to believe but its a tougher decision for guys because they are eventually going to be the ones held responsible in the end and need to be 100% sure before they dive into 30 years hard labour!
Which then brings us to a different line of questioning altogether? So should you tell a person that they could potentially be the one? Do you risk letting ure guard down for a while and showing the world that ure human?Do you let ureself be vulnerable to loving again and possibly in the processing destroying someone elses hopes when their expectations dont materialize? Or do you sit quietly for the next five years, wait it out while every potential life partner gets stolen from right under your nose? But then what gives you the right to fall in love right now when ure not even ready for it?
I dont know, and maybe you do. Watch this space, cause ill answer this when i find her... the one
Posted by
Ahmed Mustafa
11:12 AM
You tell me where to go and
Though I might leave to find it
I'll never let your head hit the bed
Without my hand behind it
- John Mayer (your body is a wonderland)
A couple of months ago i was talking to this junior of mine and he asked me a question that put me in quite a quandry - "Ähmed bhai, is it ok if i were in a relationship that i knew wouldnt work, but i enjoyed it for the ride and the benefits that came with it?". At the time it was kind of heart wrenching to see a young kid in such a dillema - i mean, the standard cool thing to do would dictate that you go with the flow - the "wham bam thank you maam" ride but thats the whole thing - who dictates ure standards?
Think about it - what did we all want to do when we were younger? We wanted to be different. We wanted to be the crazy ones, the round pegs in the square holes. We wanted to stand out in the crowd - and be noticed. And thats where the anxiety of youth came from - the experiments with drugs and alchohol, the heavy metal music, the long hair, the weird experimental haircuts and facial hair, the tantrums - thats how it all added up.
But here's the thing that ive been noticing yet kept inside for so long until today. The world has changed. It isnt cool to do drugs anymore because thats the order of the day. It isnt cool to have earings and have spiky hair, because everyone has it. It isnt cool to go through numerous women without feeling guilty because everyone (well atleast the so called lucky ones) does it. Going to every freakin dance party on the circuit, going on a drinking binge is just so not cool anymore - cause everyone does it. To argue over the existence of God and your bouts with atheism are a thing of the past - because on average nobody really thinks about Him anymore. Disagreement and building barriers has been done over so many times, and by so many individuals, that ure social fabric is in tatters.
So then what pray tell is the new definition of a modern day rebel? If our upper and upper middle class is going to the dogs in terms of moral values, and if your one of them - it isnt technically cool because then ull just be part of the crowd.
History is repeating itself. The new age rebel is a gentleman - a modern day Clark Gable if you like (and in case ure wondering why i added the lyrics at the top...theres ure answer) He/She is someone who is closer to God than the average person. The rebel doesnt swear at everyone, hes just ure average joe, yet nicer. Hes clean cut and listens to every sort of music. Metallica isnt nearly as cool as John Mayer is now because Mayer although clean cut still has the unique accolade of Rolling Stones magazine pronouncing him as the guitar god of our times. People are tired of fighting - T=the age of people coming together for a common cause is at hand.
Now dont get me wrong here - im not telling you what to do, and how to live your life - but in case your wondering that ure Gods gift to humankind because you can start a barfight, throw a couple of punches and swear in front of women - your not. Its just-not-cool anymore.
In the end it just comes down to this. Will you be part of the crowd, or will you take the path less travelled on. Will you delude yourself into thinking its still cool to be hurtful - or will you change with the times and form your own definition of cool.
Its time to rebel folks - the only question is (and its quite ironic), but, do you have the balls to be nicer?
I live to learn. Not study - LEARN. Everyday is a new test, a new experience and a new result. From every moment that I get up in the morning to the time that I sleep at night I am proud that I am learning something. And that is what life is all about. Its about accepting challenges, making mistakes, falling, brushing yourself off and moving on. Whether in life, love, college its all the same - the cycle keeps repeating itself until the day you die.
And thats why ive started this blog. Not because I have enough time to do it. But because its needed. Someday, somewhere, someone will read it and think about all that I learnt, and all that I have written. Heck if someone doesnt Ill just force my kids to read it. I actually thought Id start off every blog post like a typical episode of "How I met your mother", something like, "Kids, remember the time...."
Hopefully it will make a difference to their lives, and if not theirs someone elses...
