TEDxKarachi – Reflections on inspiration

Also cross posted on Express Tribune Blogs

TEDxKarachi 2011 was an event for the elite. It had a political slant to it. The line to get in was long, the air-conditioning sucked, there were too many technical glitches with the microphones. The snacks were mediocre.There were people there that didn’t deserve to be invited over many others that weren’t there. The talks were not all exactly what we see at TED Global. Yet I returned from the event thinking that making the impossible was possible. I returned with some ideas that inspired.

People went to TEDxKarachi with different mindsets. A lot showed up wanting to hear Imran Khan and Mukhtar Mai speak. Others wanted to go meet the right social crowd. Some went because everybody they knew was talking about it. I went to learn.

Having joined the family business after my Bachelors, I never got the chance to do my Masters. I had returned from University thinking I would get the 2-3 years of work experience and then apply to some hotshot MBA program. Now that I look at it, it really wouldn’t have made much difference. Running your own business gives you a better education than any MBA program. It however, has to be coupled with a desire to learn and adopt new ideas and concepts. Visiting TEDxKarachi was part of that learning.

Making the Impossible Possible

Despite the fact that a couple of speakers didn’t really fit in the general mold of making the impossible possible (Noori most definitely should be awarded a special mention of non-compliance), there was an undercurrent of achievement despite the odds. How to do something that others say is not possible, or to sacrifice things to achieve your dreams is what really moved me.

“Education is like tinday. You only eat them when you have to.”

While Fasi Zaka’s engaging and filled with humor talk was more like a presentation designed to evoke thinking, it was definitely not a case of making the impossible possible. It was however a case of the impossible that we really need to make possible. There is a real emergency on our hands. No I am not talking about the fact that our Armed Forces have been caught yet again with their pants down, nor am I talking about an enemy at the border. I am talking about the enemy within. I am talking about the fact that we are a nation of illiterates. I am talking about the fact that 26 countries poorer than us are sending more children to school. I am talking about the fact that we spend more on PIA, Pakistan Steel and PEPCO than we spend on education. I am talking about the fact that somewhere there is a petition signed by 170,000 citizens of Pakistan which was not delivered to the Chief Ministers of our provinces due to their lack of response (with the exception of Shahbaz Sharif). I’m talking about the tinday (a type of pumpkin) that no one wants to eat.

Fashion Models financed my first drone

“I do not support the drone attacks.” This was repeatedly emphasized by Raja Sabri Khan. What does RSK do? He makes drones! In Pakistan! In a factory in Korangi! From the time that he modified some toy planes to be more aerodynamically better, RSK knew he was going to do something with airplanes. He ended up with a degree in Aerospace Engineering “from a small liberal arts college” called MIT and got a job making tractors! What do fashion models have to do with it? RSK apparently did a stint as fashion photographer on the side in order to earn money for his drone making. Luckily SUPARCO came to the rescue and one thing led to another and we now have drones made in Pakistan measuring the weather somewhere over Australia among other things. Non-traditional exports that definitely should be encouraged! And while we are at it, we should spend some money and get RSK to make an anti-drone drone.

“The body adjusts to ambition.”

Before I go any further, I must categorically state that I am not a supporter of PTI. In fact I think that Imran Khan is a terrible politician and should quit politics altogether. I must also say that I walked into TEDxKarachi expecting a political speech from Imran Khan. However, to his credit he managed to keep his political rhetoric to the minimum (a total of 4-5 minutes only). Did Imran Khan do something worthy of the impossible becoming possible? Yes. It was his ambition to become a fast bowler, going against the advice of coaches and experts who said that if he changed his action he would kill his bowling and harm his body. It was his ambition to provide a cancer hospital that provided mainly free treatment to cancer patients and it was said it can not be done. However, Shaukat Khanum is undoubtedly one of the premier cancer hospitals in the region and 75% of its patients are treated free of charge.

Bulleh Shah was the Che Guevara of his time?

I walked out of the hall when Noori was introduced. I do not actively listen to music anymore as I believe it is forbidden in Islam. However, I hear that Ali Hamza made this statement that confused many.

“Bulleh Shah was the rock star of his time. The Che Guevara of back then”

I have no clue what he meant by that. And if Bulleh Shah had been alive he too, I suspect, would be equally clueless.

“Pain is not a bad thing, it’s OK to be in pain”

My currently stiff neck begs to differ with Dr Quratulain Bakhtiari on this point. Pain is definitely a bad thing! What she meant was that feeling of pain is not a bad thing, if you channel that emotion in doing something creative. Her story of how she had to choose between her social work and her children and she chose her work. Indeed her passion for her work must have been something for her to bear the pain that only a mother can feel when she is cut off from her children. Her work in promotion of sanitation and in bringing education to girls in Balochistan was inspiring. Similarly the story of her childhood when her parents gave up their ancestral wealth to bring up their children in the Drag Colony refugee camp in Karachi. How they put a positive spin on everything unto the point that when her mother burnt her wedding dresses to harvest the silver thread from it, she made it seem a game. The standing ovation that Dr Bakhtiari got was well deserved. Her talk however made the 23 year old next to me totally confused. I guess such things are lost on the youth.

The talk that stole the show

“I will never have enough money for full physiotherapy, because I would much rather spend it on a Ferrari. I’m not one of those people who sit around waiting for a cure. I like the attention I get in a wheelchair too much.”

Imagine that one bad decision could lead to your becoming a quadriplegic (losing function of all four limbs). Would you have the will to wake up each morning and get out of bed? Would you drive a car continuous from Khyber to Karachi? Would you tape your fingers for months to force your fingers into a hook like formation so you could hold objects? Would you enroll in a marathon pushing your own wheelchair? I would not. I would give up, blame life, God, the guy who told me the water was deep where I dove, etc. Sarmad Tariq inspired us in the true TED style. And when the hall jumped to its feet to give him a standing ovation he pointed out the irony: he could neither stand, not clap. If you had a choice of seeing just one talk from TEDxKarachi I am sure every one in the hall would say it would be Sarmad’s talk.

What good is an independent judiciary?

“I believed the Supreme Court would provide me justice. Now I have left my case to Allah.”

The story of Mukhtar Mai, sadly, is the story of many women in our society who are subjected to abuse and treated as commodity in a tribal justice system that is sadly often allowed by our courts. To survive a panchayat sanctioned gang rape, to get the courage to file a case against the perpetrators, and to continue on living even when the “independent judiciary” failed her. She realized that her illiteracy played a major part in her inability to seek justice. Unfortunately, she is often forced to pass by and be subjected to verbal abuse by her, now acquitted, rapists. She however turns the other way and continues to her school. Mukhtar Mai used her ordeal to start an initiative to educate young girls and to educate the community on women’s rights and gender issues. The Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare Organization opened a high school in Fall 2007 which was the first school she ever saw in her life.

What is the take home message?

1. We need to focus on education – Fasi Zaka, Mukhtar Mai
2. Lack of resources should not be an excuse to do something you believe in – Raja Sabri Khan, Imran Khan
3. Mind can triumph over body – Imran Khan, Sarmad Tariq
4. Pain, if channeled in a positive direction, can achieve great things – Dr Quratulain Bakhtiari, Sarmad Tariq, Mukhtar Mai
5. Don’t blame life, or anyone else. You may be down but success is about getting up that one last time. – Sarmad Tariq
6. Bulleh Shah was a Commie (oops sorry, a revolutionary) – Noori

I would like to end with the lyrics of the chorus of Noori’s song (which they apparently also ended their ‘talk’ with). It is probably the only thing that ties them to the theme of making the impossible possible.

Hum Duniya Badal dien Ge
Hum Ne Khaayee Hai Dil Ki Qasam
Aasmaan Choo Leingay, Choo Leingay Hum….
Dil Ki Raah Dhoondain Gay!
Kay Dil Ne Jhailay Hain Kitnay Sitam…
Roti Yaadon Ko Bhooleingay Bhooleingay Hum…

I Am My Worst Critic

I am my worst critic. Many a blog post has been scrapped for not being up to par to my standards. Many an idea has been buried for not being worthy of being voiced by me. However, does every post you ink have to be of the utmost quality? Does every idea you build up on need to be well thought out and perfect?

Sometimes I feel that to provide the steam that any blog requires, sometimes you have to settle for not so perfect. I don’t mean that one spews forth junk for the sake of populating the RSS feed! Quality does trump quantity any day. However, sometimes stopping short of pristine is necessary to keep things going. In addition, the higher output, while not perfect, does end up improving the writing quality in the long run. Call it “Practice makes perfect” if you will.

Why am I writing this? Well considering The Pulpit is well my pulpit I should be using it to rant, rave, blow steam, praise, criticize, blah, blah, blah. Well actually I just scrapped yet another post and felt like berating myself for it. Hence, this is the product.

What do you think? “What do I think about what?” I don’t know. Just write whatever comes to mind below.

Interact with DiscoMaulvi

Are you an avid reader of From The Pulpit? Do you sit around waiting for a new sermon? Do you idolize DiscoMaulvi and follow him on twitter but have never really managed to interact with him? If the answer to any of the above is yes you should seriously consider consulting a psychiatrist!

Jokes aside, it has been a great journey these last 2-3 years to be on Twitter and to be part of the Pakistani Twitterati and the Blaagers. Over this time I have become friends with some people and interacted with some great people. Unfortunately, I have not been very sincere to my blog and not given it the time it deserves. While I doubt I will ever gain the following and readership commanded by Awab Alvi (Teeth Maestro), Faisal Kapadia (Deadpan Thoughts), or Kalsoom Lakhani (CHUP!), or ever manage to get as passionate about things as Sana Saleem (Mystified Justice), I hope that over 2011 I will be able to dedicate more time to blogging and improve From The Pulpit.

While at the moment there is no plan to shift from wordpress.com to my own domain, I hope that someday in the future I will be doing that (although one of my blogging mentors Awab Alvi has been after me to take the leap).

One of the biggest challenges I face as a writer is that I am too harsh a critic of my own writing. Thus, most of my stuff is buried before I even complete it. Another problem is the lack of time I am able to give to writing. I hope I can learn to better manage my time and start cranking out some quality stuff in 2011.

The most important aspect with being a writer is the feedback you receive for what you write. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get much comments on my writing or other stuff I post. This is a setback as it is only discussion which can lead to further ideas to be generated and get the rust off my brain. Thus, in order to make it easier, here are some ways that the reader can interact with me:

Facebook Fan Page

While the Fan page of From The Pulpit has been there for time, I have decided to slowly shift to another fan page for DiscoMaulvi. I think that this fan page will be a great forum and offer discussion to take place not only on the content I post but also be a breeding ground for new ideas for me to write on. Thus, all readers are encouraged to head over to the fan page and start the interaction!

Twitter

Twitter has served as a great place to interact with people but the likelihood of people being on FaceBook vs Twitter is much higher. In addition, Twitter being limited to 140 characters sometimes limits the comments greatly. However, since DiscoMaulvi has been and will stay on Twitter (as it is where I met all these wonderful people I know), head over to Twitter and start following DiscoMaulvi on Twitter.

RSS Feed & Email Updates

While I am pushing all of you to do this and that, keeping updated on when I post to From The Pulpit is necessary for a timely interaction. Thus, you need to be subscribed via RSS or email updates to be alerted when there is a new sermon. You can see the links for RSS and the form for email signup in the right hand column (I have no clue how to put them in the body of this post!).

 

All in all, it would be great to hear from my readers and get feedback on my posts.

 

 

DiscoMaulvi