ROOFExpress

It was long due and I felt totally worthless. Even it didn’t end as I expected it to be but at least I am happy that it’s over.  I have surprised myself in last year or so. Whenever I had a similar situation earlier, I went down for weeks but lately when I get hurt for some reason, it’s just one bad day. Life has made me stronger and tougher somehow.

Big “NO”’s have always led me to greater decisions and redefining myself as I believe everything happens for a reason. I sincerely hope that this comes as a similar moment. I have never lived in yesterdays and am now a strong believer of moving on no matter how I am treated.

As I left with heavy heart after the conversation, I wished the other side very best from the bottom of my heart. I tried to find peace in sleep. Couldn’t sleep. Then God came to my help. I thought about all those friends and family members who are concerned and decided I’ll start tomorrow with a smile. Over the last evening, I have realigned my brain, heart and soul. I have replanned matters and am now all set to take on this day as nothing happened. I am ready to rock the office team and a business development meeting today. :)

Everybody of us knows about the power of cellular phones in Pakistan. Practically, there is no comparison between the cell phone subscribers and internet users. However, these days software development in Pakistan is mostly being done for Smart Phones, web or other conventional desktop solutions, and nobody is interested to touch the other side.

Some friends ask me why can’t we make innovative solutions for the telecom companies. Why aren’t there any interesting business solutions and apps for mobile phone users who don’t own a smart phone? The answer is simple and straight, “Because Telecom Companies are not themselves interested.”

As per my experience, most of the individuals working in their Business Intelligence (B.I.) Teams only have “Basic Intelligence.” But they are not the only one responsible. The upper management in these telcos is only concerned with the new packages, call and sms rates. They have miserably failed to analyze what their infrastructure can provide to masses.

Telcos normally don’t have big IT Departments and VAS is normally outsourced to a vendor like in case of Tower Planning and Deployment. Even if somebody makes a good VAS application, he’s offered peanuts for his work. Also the 80-20, 70-30 Business Model and Setup Costs etc. are way too unjust. But this happens once when you go into advanced stages of negotiation. Prior to that, reaching out to the value added services team is somewhat an impossible task for new comers and application developers. The planning managers would never respond to your emails and if they do, it would be an email expressing no interest in the product.

I have seen various individuals who wanted to make a difference by running their services independently, leaving their idea or product half heartedly because telcos never believed in them nor provided them white label short codes at an acceptable price. Also if they were able to get a long code from a telecom solution provider (TSP), either the developer/organization failed to monetize the product or the telecom solution provider stepped up with a heavy invoice. Availability of same service on all operators is something not acceptable to them and they will try to bitch you up in every possible way. Their ultimate goal would be to own the product exclusively. Millions of rupees would be spent on publicizing “Bacha Bachi” packages but you will never see advertisements of products that can add real value in the lives of people.

Mobilink has come up with an online store, Mobistore which primarily focuses on the smart phone apps on a 50-50 revenue sharing model. This is certainly a good effort but before moving onto smart phones, we need to explore the huge potential in conventional SMS and MMS infrastructure. So it’s high time that telcos should let go of this “Na Khedaange Na Khedan Dayange” (Neither will we play nor will we let you) policy, and open up their platforms on relaxed terms and services for voice/text solutions. Let people innovate with your infrastructural support. If you'll rub their back today and play part in their success, they’ll definitely love to rub your back by sharing the revenue stream.

 
Yes John G. Rives it’s exactly 4 in the morning when I have started writing this post as the call for prayer is being given at the moment in Lahore. If you ask me, great ideas and thoughts come to me after 3 a.m. most of which are archived by the office time. I never wanted to write this post as Tajdar, one of the organizers at TEDxLahore assured me that he’ll post the post-event details but right now I feel should jot down few random thoughts that some people may or may not like. So let me begin.

As I was about to leave to attend TEDxLahore, the rain started pouring and the only thing on my mind was if I would be able to make it. Thanks to my brother that I did and to my surprise every confirmed attendee did. Wasn’t that some kind of achievement with majority reaching the venue an hour before the actual event time in Pakistan?

Some people hate me for calling spade and spade so I won’t tell the organizers that they were perfect, awesome etc. etc. since they are my friends because if I’ll do so I’ll be dishonest with them. They won’t be able to improve. The event had technical glitches yet it was a great event because the positive things overshadowed few negative ones.  I say this because the “Haters” who are criticizing this event should take into account the stupendous effort that has been done behind the scenes to make this event possible. Being an event organizer myself for the last 7 years with dozens of events in my profile as volunteer, I can understand the side of organizers.

Those who missed the event, I won’t tell you what speakers talked about as videos would be soon uploaded by the TEDxLahore Team and you can watch all talks for yourself.  After combining the both sessions, you’ll see that both inspiration and information were present in the event. Those who left after the first session should’ve sticked back.

What I most hated about the event was everybody including myself complaining for one reason or the other. It didn't come as a surprise as we are a nation of complainers and commentators with expert opinion on every issue that the world faces.

• The doors are not open yet. What’s the purpose of First Come First Served?
• Why is there no security check on the gate?
• Who made the pathetic choice of speakers?
• There is too much mismanagement.
• The organizers are from elite class and they know nothing about TED.
• Why they have put MAC for presentations if nobody knows how to use it.
• What are musicians doing at TED? (Hello, "E" standards for Entertainment retards)

Well my friends, should I lodge another complaint that somebody hit me accidentally from behind and made my famous iPED hit the floor to break its touch screen. In fact I didn’t say a single word to the guy because I left my attitude at home when I came to attend this event. For God Sake, it’s not a paid Concert or Research Conference where you are expecting VIP treatment. If TEDxLahore team would have asked me to sit on the grass to listen to the talks, I would have loved to do so. It’s an event for sharing with each other, the ideas and the experiences even those of organizers. Those who have attended earlier events of TEDxLahore would know how far they have come since last year and Insha'Allah they’ll improve more in next events.



Coming back to the speakers, I feel that it’s not an easy task to pick ones. In my point of view, Khurram & Asim did marvelous work in selecting the ones who presented. Where the speakers had to come from? They had to come from our society. Our leaders are corrupt because majority of us as individuals and Pakistanis are corrupt. Moreover did you take your precious time out to nominate a good speaker?  Seriously did you?  Most of those who don’t know, Dr. Zeeshan Usmani (whom I now call the Dr. Charles Eppes of Pakistan) was not even on the watch list of TEDxLahore Team.  Somebody nominated him and therefore TEDxLahore reached out to him. Apart from that there were dozens of speakers that were asked by the organizers to join in but they couldn’t due to their commitments and busy schedule.  Those who were expecting James Cameron or Steve Jobs like speakers at the event should admit the fact that we don’t live in the innovative society for the moment. As Dr. Nadeem said we are “mimickers” so let’s accept the ground reality.  We deploy or use what becomes obsolete in the western world and then feel proud in sharing it. So unless we have a good entrepreneurial culture, investors, people appreciating each others ideas, you wouldn’t produce great speakers either. Having said that, I don’t buy the argument that speakers were not inspiring. They were the best mixture of different professions at a single event that I have ever seen in Pakistan.

Moving onto selection of attendees, the other type of “Haters” emerged who didn’t get accepted to attend the live event. They only had a mission to propagate the few negative things that TEDxLahore had onto every social media platform or forum. I would ask them to get a life. Over 1000 people applied out of which TEDxLahore could only accommodate 400 at the venue. They wanted an audience of individuals from all walks of life and let me assure you that the rejection rate would increase in coming events of TEDxLahore as more and more people would become aware of it. But did anybody stop you from viewing the proceedings of the event?  There were 4 Viewing Parties within Lahore, one in Islamabad and Karachi each as well as one in Pakistan’s Embassy at Netherlands. Moreover the event was being live streamed and anybody could have joined by just logging onto their broadband internet. They didn’t because they were too busy posting negative comments for the whole world to see.  

Those who are criticizing the organizers should seriously shut up. I am harsh on this because those who are doing so are themselves a bunch of douchebags. This event was not managed by a professional event management company. It was done purely by professionals and students between the age 19 – 30 while taking time off from their other daily commitments. Did anyone stop these "Haters" from acquiring a TEDx license? After all the international conferences are going for so long and they should have applied for license before Asim did.  They didn’t because they can only sit back and complain about things going wrong everywhere.  Did anyone stop them from volunteering for TEDxLahore?  Was an IP jammer/blocking done by the TEDxLahore team for them not to submit their forms as volunteers?  If Yes then if they can find a way to access facebook in countrywide ban then they surely could have used some proxies to submit their form. What are their contributions to the society?  So if they can’t support or volunteer for such a positive endeavor, they don’t have any right to bitch about the event. They should better get out, organize a better one for others to see and I can assure all possible support in my capacity. The TEDxLahore team deserves kudos and appreciation at all forums for coming forward and putting up a good show.

This long blog post was some sort of an indirect message for all Pakistanis to please get up and start bringing the change. If you can’t change others, at least change yourself. If we want to see positive things happening around us, we would have to complement each other. If such a culture is developed and we in real terms become “A Developing Country”, things would start changing on their own and we would automatically have better professionals and experts to speak on such events.

TEDxLahore team burnt the incomplete original soundtrack on the TEDxLahore Music CD. So let me share the complete version below which is available at Youtube and I would soon post the Mp3 Link and Arafat's wonderful speech on stage before the song was played. By doing this, I have at least reduced one complaint about the event before ending this note.

As I start writing this while sipping hot tea, I have just entered inside my house experiencing the wonderful cool breeze outside. It might rain too if Lahorites get lucky enough.

It’s been an exact week since the football world cup final and this post should have come at that moment. However I felt writing it now before going for a power nap.

As soon as Iniesta scored in the extra time, I jumped off my table spilling tea into the keyboard of my laptop making it dysfunctional and making everything around caffeinated. I was still jumping around for no apparent reason with no one except my grandma at home. I felt happy doing crazy stuff.

I was still cleaning up the mess that heavy rain started resulting into power shut down as well. I went onto the rooftop in my T-Shirt and Shorts to experience the first Monsoon of the season. In all these long years, I almost forgot how the rain felt. I went straight into the middle of the rooftop at around 3:30 and stood against the winds. It was a lovely rain accompanied by marvelous lightning and thunder. I kept bathing for around 40 minutes and yelling like a happy lion against the winds. I wanted to express myself out and the rain definitely provided me the chance. Even after the rain stopped, I kept watching the thunder and lightning till 6 in the morning. These were the best I have ever seen or perhaps I didn’t have a memorable rain earlier. I was alone. I didn’t need anybody to be with me in all my craziness, wildness and remembrance of recent years. I caught cold later yet I enjoyed every moment of it.

It’s almost a year since I have shifted into my current office and life has been a roller coaster ride since then. I properly started my first venture from my pocket money and taking a loan of Rs. 30K from the dad, conducted interviews, hired people and did hell a lot of stuff which I couldn’t have done while being on a job. Fights with my co-founders at DesignMyWork & PrintMyWork, dusting of office furniture, cleaning the toilet, washing utensils, making tea and snacks for the employees and friends somewhat made me jack of all trades. Those around me never believed in me. I remember people feeding negative things about me to those who wanted to work for me. We wrapped up DMW on friendly terms in November 2009 for the reasons I mentioned in the post “DesignMyWork: My Stunt with the Graphics Design Industry in Pakistan”, and because one of our co-founders couldn’t differentiate between friendship and business.  The entrepreneurship and risk taking should have been over for me but I stayed put and God took me to the right direction.

What happened in last many months would require many lengthy posts which I might write at some other time but I am having amazing time at the moment. A lot has happened and is happening and we are MashAllah growing. I am at an ideal position with two amazing people around me. They are mentors, friends, well wishers, my current life makers and what not. They have faith in me and I have in them. Without taking their name, I would like to thank them for believing in me and trusting me. A bigger “Thank You” goes to Allah Almighty for guiding me to select my new partners amongst the lot that offered me to join their respective teams.

A lot of things have changed in my life in last 1.5 years or so.  I am currently cruising in the ocean of success and every few days we have some new achievement to talk about. In the last couple of months, I have also somewhat learnt the art to say “NO” though I don’t say that much often :) .  I have definitely reduced my college lectures and other social meetups. This can be evident from the fact that I didn’t even go to collect three awards and souvenirs in last two months. We have been nominated for an upcoming International Award with sponsorship of  company delegates for Travel, Tour and Accommodation but all of us are not going as we don’t want to waste our days while we can do few more amazing things in that time.

My CTO keeps on convincing me that I should now start charging for everything I do whether it be a college guest lecture or a social initiative as both Dr. Laltein and the Guru think that I am really bad at monetizing stuff. “Aapne Thayka Uthaya Hoa Hai Poori Dunya Ka Gandhi Sb.”  I do things from my heart while they do it from their brains and that makes us a wonderful combination.

The yelling that night was my answer to the life and to those who termed me a failure. For those who were sure that I have ruined my career by not accepting the job offers of some really good multinationals. For those who mocked me. I am still standing in front of you happily whereas you are still trying to find happiness. Now I don’t need your certificate of achievement. If a Director or a VP of an MNC calls you and requests to join him for a dinner, it speaks for itself.  You have been calling me “Senior” and you have made me one. 

I have known Dr. Saif since like 4 years when he joined LUMS and believe you me he’s a great inspiration for all young entrepreneurial minds out here in Pakistan. He certainly has a league of his own and he along with his team has done some outstanding work for sure.

Sometimes when I am in a difficult situation, my friends are fond of uttering these words “These things happen and bear such things buddy. Don’t you want to be like Umar Saif?  If he can do it, you can too.” In some cases, being quiet was the best weapon I had. But lately when somebody posed this question to me, my reply was simple and straight. “I don’t want to be like Umar Saif. I would better like myself to be known as a low profile and not that successful Rafaeel Akbar than to be termed a successful person’s clone.”

When i did my first venture, one of my mentors and friends Adil Saleem told me that 99% of the employees are not happy with their work environment. Knowing that i always kept my attitude at home whenever i came to office. I open/close doors for them myself, make tea for them and throw frequent office parties to make sure they are comfortable. Even though i don't smoke, i stand with them at the "Soota Gate" and discuss affairs other than the office work. Games, Social Networking sites are not banned on network. You can do whatever you want to do provided you are giving the input required from you. Even when i hired at DesignMyWork, i hired everyone on their "Expected Salaries" without a bit of negotiation.

Being a music fanatic myself, i have been generous in providing my office colleagues with headphones or small dual speakers so that they can enjoy music to keep themselves up. Recently i walked into my office in the morning after a quick nap and i was like :S and :/ to see the following song being played on 2 office systems. Still trying to figure out what "Sitams" i have done.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010    09:51 PST

Mobile Phone starts beeping.

I wake up cursing the developers that I told them that I am going to sleep at 6 a.m.  Can’t they just let me sleep for few hours? As I see the cell phone screen, the call is coming from an Indian number not in my phonebook. Yawning, I take the call.


Friend: “Hey, Rafaeel there?”
Me: “Yes, who’s this?”
Friend: “Dude, I am ******** (name not being mentioned deliberately). How have you been bro? Seem busy with your new ventures.”
Me: “Hey, whats new? I am good. What about you?”
Alah Blah Talking ……..
Friend: “Hey, I called you because I need a favor.”
Me: “Ofcourse, I know you have some work. Else tum itne achay jo you’ll give me a call.”
Laugh (both ends)
Friend: “So now that you have figured out, can you tell me when we can have a talk on Skype?”
Me:  “At anytime convenient to you. I am not that busy guy. BTW give me an idea what’s the issue?”
Friend: “I have now joined this Media Group, (name not published) as an Associate Producer and we’ll be doing an underground battle of the bands here in India.”
Me:  “Oh! Great!”
Friend: “Well there are large numbers of entries, like 200+ and I want you to be part of our International Screening Panel to shortlist them.”
Me: “What?  Me?”
Friend: “Yes.”
Me: “Dude, I am not the right guy for this. First of all, I am not a musician. Secondly, I don’t have time. However, I can refer few good people to you whom you can contact for this.”
Friend: “Listen! I don’t need them. I need you. Regarding you not being musician, I don’t care. All I know is that you were the first guy from whom I got to know about Noori, Jal, Roxen, Call and the band of your close friends, The Rising. BTW where are The Rising people? :D    Its been quite some time that you are promoting underground bands and I know your opinion would not be biased because if I only take in musicians, they’ll be inclined towards their own genre. I know you listen to all types of music, so you are perfect to be part of our panel. Your second excuse is quite lame. I know you always have time for good music. Hope things get better and in coming years we'll organize Indo-Pak Battle Of the Bands. Any more questions?”
Me (reluctantly):  “Fine! Details?”
Friend: “On Skype. I’ll ping you. Amongst the 8 screeners, 4 are outside India. You all would have to judge the bands on the basis of music maturity, lyrics and image etc. I’ll send you the evaluation sheet. We’ll either upload all the 209 demos or courier you the DVDs.”

I woke up analyzing why God is pushing me back into the underground music scene one way or another while I have kept quite a distance from it for last couple of years. There were few other signs in last few days as well which led me to go into my old room (now a store) and open the things that I abandoned long ago. I captured few shots with my camera few of which I am uploading to show my craze for music in my teenage life. At that time, internet was all on dialup and CD’s market was still emerging. Also PMR, J4Jumpy, UMR and other music promotion sites were just starting up. I used to download the songs from some local website at 2.3KB/s :P and then manually record them via "Line In" on empty tapes so that they can be played on home and car music systems. I marked every cassette with the RMC number. RMC stood for “Rafaeel’s Music Library” but now these audio cassettes filled in almost 5 bags RIP due to my busy schedule and the new gadgets & computer systems.


                                                    

These things took me back into the memories that how SHODA I used to be after making people listen “Ali Noor and Ali Hamza” songs in early 2000.  Aadat by JAL was actually released in late 2004 and I remember how me, Hamza (Aitchison, Hammy’s friend) used to sing it during A-Level days on Acoustic in Summers of 2003. EP’s “Hamein Azma” and “Kahan Hai Tu” and then how I used to make people listen “Yaadein” by Roxen in 2005 before its release. Basim in the college life used to say me that “Tu wohi ganay sunta hai jo koi naheen sunta and baad mein wohi 2-3 saal hit ho jatay hein and har koi sun raha hota hai”. :)  Also few of my friends used to say “Why you do all promotions for free? You should charge for such promotions and making us hear this crap. Nothing is FREE in this world. There are always strings attached.” So I feel today I have been paid up for promoting these underground bands (now the stars).

Lets see how things turn up in future. I have listened to 7 demos and 2 of them are covers of Pakistani songs  :D.

 
While i write this post, only few people in Pakistan would be knowing that today is "International Men's Day". Why aren't we celebrating the day with the same enthusiasm as we celebrate "International Women's Day" on March 8th when all the social and mainstream media is occupied for days to make us men admit that we are the cruelest and dirtiest specie on the planet earth.

From midnight till noon, i haven't seen a single status message or any program on any television/radio channel to say few good words about us.

A few days back a "Women Workplace Harassment Bill" was passed by our National Assembly which could award three year imprisonment and impose Rs. 500000 fine against the offender. Fine. No Objections. But what if women do the same or misuse this bill in their favor? Does any law protect men or does this law has an article that women would be punished for abusing the law? I guess not.

Majority is facing basic problems to survive in the current system and our legislators have nothing else to do other than bringing "NRO", "Hudood Ordinance" and other Women Protection Bills in the assembly. After passing such bills, they hold press conferences and claim that they have achieved the milestone.

Though i endorse women development projects and have been associated with various such projects in past but if we want to promote gender equality, why we have allocated One-Third Quota in our Parliament for them? Why do we have separate compartments in transportation system, separate queues in tickets and billing? Shouldn't this gender behave normally and follow the same procedures as men do?

Anyways, lets come to the original point. When we celebrate a day, we consider something special about that day. Or we would not be celebrating it. Am I correct? What message do we send by celebrating Women's Day? Why not also celebrate Men's Day?

What do we want to think about women? Ideally, they should be treated equally in all the fields. Ideally when one thinks of a woman, one should not think about them different in any respect to men. Except that they mother a child and shoulder different responsibility for a certain period, women should be thought of as equal to men in all respects. Why label them as weaker sex or any such thing. But this is happening. Who is responsible for this thought process, where women are considered different? Men? Women? Historical processes? Who? Let us examine more.

Does media discuss the matter, if a man reaches top of a giant corporation? No. But it does, if a woman occupies that position. Why? Is it only because women have traditionally not occupied such positions or that they are in some way considered inferior to men? So it is a surprise if a woman reaches the top of a giant organization? Why cannot the media ignore such occurrences and not call them as news at all? Does media announce - the sun rose today! No. It is taken as a way of life and nature. Why cannot the media take this fact as granted that women are equal to men in all the aspects and stop discussing any issues that talk of sex difference and ability? With such categorization are we ourselves not treating men and women separately?

I know i'll end up writing a book of random thoughts here but this wouldn't matter at all. Women in Pakistan would keep demanding more and more. We would have more Support Funds, Gender Biased Scholarships, Gender Biased Job Openings but no one would ever raise a voice that men do have certain rights as well. Thus, the bottom line of the post is


Promoting gender equality:

Women’s empowerment and gender equality are two oft-repeated phrases today. It is sad enough that there are many who take great pride in wearing these labels while remaining completely oblivious of their true import. What is worse is that radical women’s groups and vested interests have successfully subverted the real meaning and purpose of women’s empowerment and gender equality, and are promoting discrimination, injustice and serious human rights abuses in the name of gender equality.

Domestic and social harmony will prevail only when women AND men are ensured their rightful, honorable place within and outside the home. International Men’s Day is an occasion to commit ourselves to ensure true gender equality in the society and under law, so that gender relations are improved, litigations are reduced, legal terrorism and extortion through misuse of the law is eliminated, and our human and financial resources can be employed to ensure a better society for ourselves and future generations.


Highlighting positive male role models:

We tend to ignore that every day,

•    Men render many services that make the society comfortable for everyone.
•    Men make many contributions to science, technology and health of all.
•    Men perform the most dangerous and difficult jobs in the world.
•    Men take risks and die to save other lives during calamities and war.
•    Men bring humor into our lives and make us laugh.

International Men’s Day is an occasion to highlight and promote positive role models in all walks of life. It is a day to remind ourselves to honor all men – academic achievers, social leaders,  champions of the environment, artists, comedians, soldiers, farmers, fishermen, fire fighters,  and those more humble males who, on a daily basis, clean our streets, build our houses, fix our vehicles, police our streets, deliver newspapers and milk, care for children, and dedicate themselves to others. It is a day to remember that we must celebrate all men in our lives – our fathers, brothers, partners, sons, male friends, neighbors and colleagues. That's my message. A "Very Happy Men's Day" to all my gender fellows out there.






Post References: Uma Challa and American Chronicle

Wednesday, 13th May 2009




The 125th Anniversary of IEEE.


Fifth Annual Foreign Policy Review Committee Meeting


2004-05 : Pakistan[*] and India[^] enjoying cordial relations. Pakistan joins the War on Terror [%].

2005-06: Pakistan becomes the frontline state in War on Terror and enjoys complete support of the United States [#] . India and allies not happy for being neglected.

2006-07: India comes close to U.S. Pakistan being unsure about its position is still fighting the WoT somehow.

2007-08: Who is conducting Drone Attacks? Pakistan or U.S.? Doesn't matter. It's one and the same thing.

2008-09: Pakistan realizes it wasn't its war but is prone to bear the consequences. What's done cannot be undone.



* Me = Pakistan
^ Table Smasher = India
# IEEE-NUCES Chairman = U.S.
% IEEE = War on Terror

When i wrote the first version in 15 minutes and posted it, I didn't anticipate such a wonderful response. Fahad Liaqat pointed out a technical mistake on Facebook, after which i am publishing this modified version.


Dastoor-e-FAST

Dastoor Jis Dars Gah Ka Badalta Rahey
Chand Logon Ki Khushiyon Ko Ley Kar Chaley
Woh Jo Sa'iye Mein Har Doctor Ke Paley
Aisey Dastoor Ko, Aisey Muntazim Ko
Mein Nahin Maanta, Mein Nahin Jaanta

Mein Bhi Kha'if Nahin Takhta-e-Daar Sey
Mein Bhi Student Hoon Keh Do Director Sahib Sey
Kyoon Darratey Ho DC Ki Talwaar Sey
Zulm Ki Baat Ko, Aisey Ehtesaab Ko
Mein Nahin Maanta, Mein Nahin Jaanta

Daad Rassi Student Ke Hone Laggay, Tum Kaho
Graduation Waqt Par Hone Laggay, Tum Kaho
Nokri University Lagwane Laggay, Tum Kaho
Is Khulley Jhoot Ko, Zehan Ke Loot Ko
Mein Nahin Maanta, Mein Nahin Jaanta

Tum Ney Loota Hey Har Semester Hamara Sakoon
Ab Na Hum Par Chaley Ga Tumhara Qanoon
Chaaragar Hum Sabke Bantey Ho Kyun
Tum Nahin Chaaragar, Koi Maney Magar
Mein Nahin Maanta, Mein Nahin Jaanta

It's almost 5:30 in the morning and i thought of modifying Mr. Habib Jalib's famous poem "DASTOOR" as follows.

Dedicated to all FAST Family. :)


Dastoor-e-FAST

Dastoor Jis Dars Gah Ka Badalta Rahey
Chand Logon Ki Khushiyon Ko Ley Kar Chaley
Woh Jo Sa'iye Mein Har Doctor Ke Paley
Aisey Dastoor Ko, Aisey Muntazim Ko
Mein Nahin Maanta, Mein Nahin Jaanta

Mein Bhi Kha'if Nahin Takhta-e-Daar Sey
Mein Bhi Student Hoon Keh Do Director Sahib Sey
Kyoon Darratey Ho DC Ki Talwaar Sey
Zulm Ki Baat Ko, Aisey Ehtesaab Ko
Mein Nahin Maanta, Mein Nahin Jaanta

"F" Theethon Ko Milne Laggein, Tum Kaho
Course Chailon Ko Milne Laggein, Tum Kaho
Pre-Req Courses Ke Roz Badalne Laggein, Tum Kaho
Is Khulley Jhoot Ko, Paison Ke Loot Ko
Mein Nahin Maanta, Mein Nahin Jaanta

Tum Ney Loota Hey Har Semester Hamara Sakoon
Ab Na Hum Par Chaley Ga Tumhara Qanoon
Chaaragar Hum Sabke Bantey Ho Kyun
Tum Nahin Chaaragar, Koi Maney Magar
Mein Nahin Maanta, Mein Nahin Jaanta

A little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm a woman," she told him.

"I don't understand," he said.

His Mom just hugged him and said, "And you never will."

Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?"

"All women cry for no reason," was all his dad could say.

The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.


Finally he put prayed to God who would surely know the answer.

When God responded he asked, "God, why do women cry so easily?"

God said: "When I made the woman she had to be made special.

I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort.

I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children.

I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining.

I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly.

I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.

I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.

And lastly, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers and only hers exclusively to use whenever she needs it. She needs no reason, no explanation, its hers."

"You see my son," said God, "the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart - the place where love resides."

The clock of my notebook is telling me that its 5:12 A.M. and I should take a nap if I intend to attend the Friday Prayers and the Startup Insider Session today at LUMS. It has been a night full of questions and random thoughts. Questions and issues that are perhaps not so complex but they are critical ones for which my soul needs immediate solution.

Since yesterday, most of the stuff on the TV, Radio & Web has been "valentined up". I also saw the video of Fuzon's song "Khamaj" tonight and loved the "seniorism" shown by Shaan. So, the upcoming valentine day initiated this thought process.

We the 3 Musketeers, Rafaeel, Basim and Salman were once like inseparable friends who lived by the motto "one for all, all for one" as Salman & Basim didn't have all these girls roaming around them like 2 years back.

I clearly remember that it was 27th December 2006, when I entered the university campus to give my final exam of "Probability & Random Processes". I already wasn't feeling well in that winter morning and then suddenly I got the news that I have scored an "F" grade in Electronics-2 exam. I sat down on the university's pathway in disappointment. Now the question was that should I give the final paper with this state of mind? If I would have done that, I am sure there would have been another "F" on my transcript. The 2 musketeers jumped in to say that they are planning to skip the final as they couldn't prepare. Thus that day, I paved the way for my only retake exam in my whole undergraduate life. Unluckily for the first time, the retakes were intentionally delayed by the administration and thus were scheduled for mid February in between the Spring 2007 Semester.

It was Monday, February 12, 2007 when I noticed this beauty for the first time. I entered the Seminar Hall at 4:50 p.m. and she was standing there in front of the front sofas with her friend, waiting to be seated for the retake of her final exam. Since I respect her privacy, I wouldn't mention the retake subject and the batch. Luckily, she was allotted seat right in front of me (at 45 degree angle). Though the allotted time for the paper was until 8:00 p.m., I did my max effort till 6:45 p.m. Salman and Basim were already out before 7:00 p.m. considering that only 3 of us were appearing for Prob & Random Processes’ retake ;) . During the whole examination period, this magnetic beauty didn't let me concentrate on the paper. I made myself sit there till 8:00 p.m. and finally handed over the paper to Mr. Aftab Khadim. When I came outside, Basim was already on his way home whereas Salman was standing on the highway cursing me that what the hell I was doing in the paper. As we were moving towards the university gate, I noticed a Black Corolla (not sure) right outside the gate and someone who apparently was father of some student standing at the gate. Then suddenly this angel appeared from the side, talked to that person and sat in the car. As the car was plying away, I was still wondering who this lovely angel was.

I recently received an email from OSAF, The Old Students Association of FAST to provide feedback on the curriculum and quality of FAST-NU graduates. I normally try to stay away from political discussions and useless exercises as these never bring any outcome. However after having discussed the situation with one of the CEC members, I finally decided to jot down certain points as my last-ditch effort for the welfare of engineering students and fresh graduates of FAST-NU Lahore. These points might be useful for the FAST-NU Alumni Association (FAA) for their forthcoming meeting with the honorable Rector, Dean and Registrar of the university on February 7, 2009.

Having seen 3 Directors and spending almost 5 years at this campus, it puts me in a great position to write these notes.As Maria rightly pointed out an issue in her feedback

“I believe that the greatest quality of fresh graduates of NUCES FAST is that they are not afraid of putting in the hours i.e. have an ability to work hard. They generally know their stuff as far as their field of expertise is concerned. One of the important weaknesses, in my opinion, is a general lack of exposure owing to too narrow a focus on academic excellence promoted by FAST. Fresh graduates are not as well-rounded or confident as they potentially could be.”

However, I don’t consider it the prime reason and major weakness of FAST-NU graduates. To me, the major weakness is the FAST-NU Lahore’s administration itself. Let us compare ourselves with institutes other than LUMS and LSE, which are majorly business schools. Our technical graduates are much more professionally groomed than even UET Lahore.

Let me just first put the ground facts in order.

1. TE & CE students of Batch 2002, 2003 and 2004 underwent experimentation during the PEC recognition phase.

2. It’s a pity for someone to know that an estimate of only 15 students out of the intake of 250 engineering students graduated on time.

3. Only one student of TE 2004 is in the Dean’s List (without any F, withdraw and CGPA above 3.5)

4. Most of those who graduated on time and those who graduated late are jobless. Only a minority could secure good jobs and that too through their own family references. The rest of the lot is either sitting at home, doing CCNA qualification for VoIP jobs or doing internships at small telcos, VOIP companies and software houses. No serious effort was put in by the management to place the graduates thus resulting in accumulation of great frustration and hatred towards the Alma mater. If a topper of the batch is offered a 12.5K job before the global financial crisis, what more can you expect? Hence, most of the top students joined as Lab Engineer jobs at the campus against their will.

5. The students cannot apply for good Post-Graduate programmes & Scholarships due to the low CGPA. Most of the institutes reject them in the initial screening considering the STAMPED “F”’s.

6. It is not the dearth of good students. In fact, it is the dearth of good faculty, good leadership, and very limited resources. Getting good-quality faculty, and more importantly, retaining them, is a serious concern. A recent statement issued by a senior faculty member (who few years back used to claim that wants to bring in the best faculty) says that he has CV of individuals who are willing to teach at Rs.8K per month and all those who are not satisfied with the pay scale can leave the campus. To me, this is a serious crime and he should be taken into task by the high-ups.

7. The senior level courses whether it be Digital Communications, Microwave Engineering, and Wave Antenna & Propagation Theory etc. etc. are most of the time taught by graduates who are just a year senior to the graduating class. For God Sake, this is not an evening tuition center! I mean these are the courses which should only be taught by senior faculty members to broaden the horizon of students. To be very frank, I can quote that I never got an “F” from any Doctor or Senior Faculty Member. All the F’s that are sparkling on my transcript are the ones that I got from young faculty members and lab engineers.

8. You are bound to do Final Year Project under the faculty members and Industry Projects are discouraged. The faculty member who has just graduated 6 months back, how would he/she be able to guide you on an R&D Project as he possesses the similar knowledge as the students themselves. Moreover, the aim and vision of the FYP is mostly that it’s *DOABLE* and has lots of hardware associated so that FYP evaluation committee doesn't reject it. Thus, innovation is discouraged, projects are not continued and every year we see similar projects being done again and again as were done by their seniors.

9. Theoretical Courses like Satellite Communications are offered as elective whereas the university itself knows that Courses like Database System or Web Programming can enhance the technical skills of the graduate.

The list goes on and on and on. However, we should now realize that what’s done is done. We cannot right what’s been done to the already graduated lot. Perhaps, we can suggest solution and how can we help them out.


My Proposed Solution:

FAST-NU Lahore has one of the best human resource of the country available at a single campus. Whether you speak of business minds, IT and Engineering Geeks, you have it all here. The need is to channelize their potential and take it towards a goal which benefits all. I accept that Telecom Market is low due to the slump. However, we can establish a business incubation center which involves people from all domains. The recent graduates who are jobless or are working in small software houses should be called in to work on the Startups and Commercial Product Development. This can also help in improving the Industry-Academia relationship. This center of young enthusiasts and entrepreneurs should be supported by the NU administration with the facilitation of necessary funds and infrastructure development. Graduating students and juniors should be involved in this process too. For example, a mentor can be assigned to a group of people and if this group comes up with a commercial product by the end of the year this would be certainly more beneficial than doing a worthless non-commercial engineering project which would never be continued by the following batches.. This is one of the ways FAST-NU can distinguish its Engineering School & help the frustrated lot by supporting them in their respective endeavors.


These are my two cents on this topic.You can pen down your opinion in the comments section.

Having said that twice in my life and getting those big "NO" slaps in return, the heart doesn't feel like taking any more steps on this path. The 'NO" on this road shatters and ruins you down & its really really hard to get up and move forward. My self confidence went to an all time low.I converted from a social to an anti-social animal. However, its life.You have to move on and so did i.The good part is that you can now feel the pain of others which was unimaginable earlier.

I know i am pathetic at expressing my feelings in person.Thus no matter what i feel, I don't have the courage to stamp another "NO" on my heart.I don't want to decompose my body and soul again.Perhaps that's the fear which has kept me from saying that again.