Five hundred Slush’D in Karachi
We have finally been able to take a breather after the months of planning and execution for Karachi Slush’D and its side events. Don’t know how i would have done it without the passion, commitment and hard work of the awesome team I have at Katalyst Labs. They came up with terrific ideas to make the event unique. There were times when i shot down some of the ideas but they know how to get me to change my mind when they are really bent on doing something a certain way. And you know I have to admit that they are more often right than wrong 😁. Thank you Kashaf Jamal, Sobia Iqbal, Harris Qasim, Rubab Qizilbash, Asghar Qasim, Lamiya Qaizar, Maha Ahmed, Jannat Junejo, Irzum Salim, Muhammad Moiz, Mohsin Ali and Shahbaz for helping me to put on an awesome show. We couldn’t have done any of this without the support of our primary sponsors for Karachi Slush’D – Indus Valley Capital and Zindigi.
The venue was a new one for us too – National Aerospace Science & Technology Park (NASTP) on Shahrah e Faisal. We had thought it might be a challenge because of tight security but the NASTP team showed a great deal of flexibility and cooperated with the Katalyst Labs team beyond our wildest expectations. Kudos to them. They have such a fantastic facility with a lot of natural light. It was the perfect place to host Karachi Slush’D. We had the entire third floor so were able to have the Main Stage, the Product Stage, the Exhibition area, the Gaming Zone, the Matchmaking Area and Speakers Lounge all on the same level.
More than 500 founders, students, investors and professionals participated. There was so much energy throughout the event that it was impossible to not be infected by it. I don’t know how many conversations I had with multiple people – and any number of selfies were taken. Promoting and connecting people is what we do best at these events and that is exactly what happened. Hundreds of connections were made and we are hopeful that many of these will lead to successful collaborations and partnerships.
We tried to keep the content diverse, informative and interesting and it seemed to work as people enjoyed all the different segments.
The Founders who shared their startup stories – talked about challenges, failures and growth – were absolutely awesome – these included Bazar, Zood Pay, CoNatural, Social Champ, PostEx, Bykea, Zuria Dor, Bus Caro and Eat Food – all very different founders but with the same grit and determination that it takes to build companies.
I loved moderating the Investor AMA Session with Faisal Aftab of Zayn VC, Misbah Naqvi of i2i Ventures, Rabeel Warraich of Sarmayacar and Kirill Kozhevnikov of Conjunction Capital. They not only shared their investment thesis but also spoke about some of the investments they had made and why. They also talked about the future and shared predictions and projections for the next 12 – 18 months. There were some really good questions from the audience which the panelists answered without any hesitation. I wish we had more than an hour because of the level of interest.
The Improv session after lunch from the Improverts had all of us in stitches. Hassaan Bin Shaheen, Cyrus Viccaji, Usman Mazhar, Faris Khalid and Yasser Salehjee are such naturals at the art of comedy and at involving the audience in their improv. They re-energized everyone in the room and some new talent was discovered during audience participation.
Khan FM from Spotify and Zeeshan Haider Sikander from Coke Studio took the event to a whole new level in their conversation with Sabah Bano Malik where we learnt the inside story of the partnership between Spotify and Coke Studio and how it has blossomed.
Founders’ Fued hosted by Saif Ali was the best way to end the day. Four startup teams – Krave Mart, Maqsad, OkayKer and Connect Hear were put to the test by Saif. Buzzers and lights went off as questions related to the startup ecosytem, emoticons and the cleverly worded ‘this or that’ segment had to be answered at speed by the four teams. Harris Qasim and Maha Ahmed had worked hard in putting it all together alongwith the help of our design team – Asghar Qasim in particular. Maqsad won in a very close race with Connect Hear coming in a close second.
An overall amazing day with all of this happening on the Main Stage, demos on the Product stage, Exhibitors and the Gaming Zone fully engaged. And of course the Matchmaking area was buzzing throughout as mentors and investors had one-to-one sessions with young founders. The Photo Booth was as usual very popular as attendees took pictures with colleagues, peers and speakers.
The Live Painting through Projection Mapping by Areeb Tariq drew a lot of interest as well with some of the attendees actually contributing by using their creative abilities. The workshop “Build Locally, sell globally, Sell Saasy” conduced by Rebecka Zaveleta of Paesmo was highly appreciated by attendees. All in all it was an event that everyone from the startup ecosystem found exciting. People who had flown down from other cities wanted to know when we were going to host one in their cities. There are no plans for that to happen – at least not yet!
The Side events were great too. Karaoke and dinner sponsored by Fatima Gobi Ventures and Qawwali/Dinner sponsored by Sarmayacar. Next stop – +92Disrupt 2023 in November. You can’t afford to miss it.
Happy birthday to the best mother in the world
She was a soft, gentle woman with a ready smile who was always there whenever any of us needed her – and even when we didn’t. She was our pillar of strength, the person who kept us glued together. They say God takes good people away to heaven sooner rather than later. Ammi passed away at age 67. Today is the day of her birth and I celebrate it every year as if she was still here, still with us which in some ways she is and always will be.
Looking back at her life I can only remember a woman who was constantly giving – her love, her time, her attention, her advice, her compassion. Despite her prolonged illness, she was always positive, always cheerful. No matter how bad things seemed to us at times, her smile made everything okay. It was like there was a magic aura around her that healed whatever ailed us.
I can’t believe she has been gone so long. When I walk into the house even now, I feel her presence. I guess that is why I have refused to move out of our family home. It is where I find comfort, where there are memories that continue to warm my heart. I remember coming home each evening and peeking into her room. She would smile and wave to me and I would plonk myself on her bed and start relating all the stories of what had happened during the day – both good and bad.
Ammi was a good cook. There was a flavour in everything she made – simple or complicated. Much of what she cooked she learnt over time. She loved to cook things that her family enjoyed. However, my father loved to entertain (he said it was his only vice) so she often made what could be termed as gourmet dishes. Since we lived a lot of our early lives in Hong Kong where we couldn’t buy naan/roti or Pakistani desserts, we learnt to experiment and make all sorts of food. I was her junior chef (her chotu) who watched her cook and helped in any way I could. Our gulab jamun and coconut barfi soon became the talk of the town and friends often used to request us to especially make it for them. My mother never refused. That was who she was.
Ammi was married at a very early age so much of what she learnt was through self-discovery, through reading newspapers and books, and watching documentaries and films and through conversations . She was an avid reader and many of the books we have on the shelf in our lounge belonged to her. I have often thought of giving them away but haven’t had the heart to. If you know a library where you believe a diverse set of Urdu and English books – novels, Naqoosh, biographies, etc will be read and re-read, reach out to me. I think it is about time these books were used more than they have been since Ammi’s death. At first Abbaji read some of them, then some friends and family borrowed them, I gave away some of them but nowadays the rest of them just sit there.
Together Ammi and Abbaji created what is our value system. They were for the most part responsible for the people we are today. A strong sense of integrity and fairplay was embedded in us as youngsters and it is something that has stayed with us. Compassion, a sense of giving, a lack of selfishness, our commitment to hard work are all part of our mental make up. If there are any weakness in us as humans, it is entirely due to our own lack of ability.
Happy birthday sweet, angelic Ammi. Thank you for being who you were. We were indeed lucky to have you as an essential part of our lives. I hope that we live up to the expectations that you and Abbaji had of us. It is the only way we can continue to honour your memory.
Happy birthday dearest Abbaji
No day passes by that we don’t think of you Abbaji, of the person that you were, and all the things you did for us and for others. And on a special day like today, we miss you even more.
When I think about the number of lives you impacted, it truly amazes me – from getting people employment, providing them opportunities and introducing them to people they needed to connect with – none of it was too much. And you never expected anything in return except perhaps a smile or a visit now and then to update you on their progress. You were also a mentor to so many.
My father was very well respected by all who knew him and worked with him. He started his career with the Bank of China in Karachi in 1948 but was then “gifted” to the National Bank of Pakistan five years later when the Bank of China closed its operations in Karachi. He was a banker for 43 years in Karachi, in Hong Kong and in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. He was a man of integrity and was a person whose handshake meant something.
The officials at the Bank of China were well known to him. In later years we discovered that the President of the Bank of China was an old colleague and friend of Abbaji’s. I remember that in the many years that we spent in Hong Kong, they visited us often and considered Abbaji to be a close associate.
In 1995 the Government of the People’s Republic of China appointed Abbaji as the only foreign
advisor to China on the transfer of Hong Kong to PRC in 1997. That was indeed a great honor for him and for Pakistan. He was very disappointed that the Government of Pakistan never accorded him any recognition for this great honor that he brought to his country. But then do they ever really recognize people who deserve to be recognized?
Abbaji was also the greatest PR man I have ever known. It didn’t matter what anyone needed done – friend or foe or a complete stranger. They just had to mention it and Abbaji would go to every extreme to make sure that their work was done. Our house was always full of guests. He used to say to Ammi ” I don’t have any vices – I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t gamble – the only vice I have is entertaining people.” And entertain he did. I remember cooking for 100 people at a time sometimes when he decided to throw a big party at the house.
Once years ago he went to Hong Kong’s Kaitak airport to drop off one of his guests. There he saw an Indian couple who seemed to be fretting so he went up to them and asked if everything was alright. They told him that someone from the Indian High Commission was supposed to pick them up but there was no sign of him. Abbaji said “No problem. Come home with me and I will have you dropped off at their home after a while”. It was 6 a.m. on a Sunday when he brought them home. He asked me to make puris, tarkari, suji ka halwa, chanas etc which I did. After they had a nice breakfast, he phoned their hosts and arranged to have them sent over to their home. As the Indian couple left, the wife said to Abbaji “Aap to bhagwan bun kar aagaey humaray liyay” (You descended as a god to rescue us). We teased him for many years afterwards about being a bhagwaan. That was Abbaji – ever ready to assist, to be the saviour for any person in distress. He raised funds for many causes – people parted with their money easily whenever he asked because they trusted him and knew that he would make sure it went to the right organizations and causes.
Is it any wonder then that people remember my father with great affection. As for us, his children, all we can do is thank God for having given us a father whom we can be proud of, who worked hard to give his family whatever he could afford, whose honesty and integrity everyone would vouch for. He instilled in us values that have become an intrinsic part of us. All we can do is live the life he wanted us to and hope that he is looking down on us with pride.
Happy birthday Abbaji. We love you.
We have lost a gem
Ever since Dr. Shamshad Akhtar passed away I have tried to wrap my head around the sense of it all. She was not that old. She was fit, agile, mentally and physically active and had so much more that she wanted to do for this country.
These are thoughts that have gone through my mind often since that awful day that Dr. Shamshad was found dead following a cardiac arrest. It is something I just can’t accept. It is a conversation I have had with other people who respected and loved her. We are all unable to get over the shock that she is no longer with us.
Dr. Shamshad was a wonderful human being and an inspiring, competent and amazing professional who contributed a great deal to this country and the world. As Governor State Bank of Pakistan she put in structures that were needed.
Her work as Under Secretary General of the Economic and Social Commission of the Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP), Senior Special Advisor on Economics and Finance and Assistant Secretary General UN, the UN Secretary General’s G20 Sherpa and Vice President, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at The World Bank. She was also Senior Special Advisor to the President of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and in Pakistan as the Federal Minister of Finance, the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (from Dec 2005 – Jan 2009), in leadership roles at the Pakistani Stock Exchange, SSGC, Karandaaz and PICG. These are just a few of her accomplishments. Yet through it all she was humble, down-to-earth and a source of support to so many who worked with her. She made each person she met feel important and significant. She believed in the future of this country and contributed a great deal to fixing the frameworks and structures at organizations which she led.
To me she was a friend, a mentor, a collaborator and somebody who made me believe in the goodness of people.
I remember when I first set up The Nest I/O I asked her to come over and meet the young founders and give them advice. To my surprise she agreed right away and found time in her schedule to spend time with us and speak with each of the startup businesses that were housed there in the early days. She also sat with me, Jawwad Farid and our Program Manager Akash Shaikh and answered multiple questions on how to take the initiative forward.
Before she attended an event, she did extensive research to make sure that she added value. The last time I heard her speak at a public event was the event organized by UN Women to commemorate the 16 Days of Violence against Women. She was the Chief Guest and spoke passionately about the policies and steps that needed to be taken to prevent the violence and harrassment of women across the country. She had firm principles that she followed and integrity and ethics she believed were essential in public and private life.
I can’t believe she has gone. I just recently spoke to her and we were going to meet again soon. She was supposed to speak at +92Disrupt but couldn’t because of a prior commitment. Each time me met or had a conversation or I listened to her speak at an event, I came away more knowledgeable, more aware. She came back to Pakistan to care for her parents and she did until the very end. She appeared to be in such good health, went for a long walk every day and was very active. How could this happen – and so suddenly? I find it so hard to accept. May she rest in eternal peace. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.
Goodbye 2025 – you were rough
As 2025 came to a close, I sighed a deep sigh of relief. Although some good things did happen especially on the work front, at a personal level the second half of the year was challenging to say the least. Some very special friends went through serious illness and passed away. The sense of loss is immense and I have still not managed to accept it fully. Have tried to be strong in the face of it all for the sake of sanity and in order to continue functioning, deliver on my commitments and provide support to others. Sometimes I wonder where the strength comes from, how I can continue to smile, to have conversations and be the person everyone expects me to be. But somehow you survive. God gives you the strength as do friends and family. I am so very thankful for that.
The last few weeks and months have been especially very rough for me. My oldest friend, mentor and coach who was like a brother to me, passed away on December 7 leaving me feeling empty and alone. A few months before that his wife who was also a very dear friend, had passed away. I remember Nuz used to good humouredly complain that the three of us started off as friends but then Zak who was an only child decided to adopt me as a sister and automatically she turned into a sister-in-law. That was unfair I must admit and we teased her about it often but she knew that she was loved just as much and I turned to her often for advice.
I had known them both since the late seventies. It all started when I was based in Hong Kong and had started working at a shipping company running their PR department and taking out their internal publication which was called Albatross. I was always looking for good content. One day a ship that Zak was in command of “Al Barat” came into Victoria Harbour. Someone told me that the Captain was an interesting guy and had lots of stories of share. It was suggested that I should interview him for Albatross. So off i went in search of content.
As I was introduced to him, the first thing Zak did was offer me chocolates. I responded by saying that I didn’t eat chocolate. His face reflected his shock at that admission and he said “What kind of person doesn’t eat chocolate”. He insisted I have some and so I did. I have not stopped consuming chocolate since. With that out of the way, the conversations began. His wife Nuzhat was also with him on the ship and the three of us spoke for hours about all sorts of things. The interview was forgotten and a warm relationship began.
What started as a friendship blossomed into so much more over the years that followed. We became a family and when their daughter Ragni was born many years into their marriage, I naturally became her godmother/her aunt.
By now you all know that I am referring to Zaheer Alam Kidvai who was a master mariner, a pioneer of computer education in Pakistan, one of the key people behind a lot of the art, music, culture and poetry activities that took place in Karachi and an advisor and guide to many people young and old. He was truly an enabler.
Zak was a minefield of information and knowledge and carried out deep research into everything that interested him. And he passed on this knowledge to so many. I wonder if he had any idea how he affected and influenced the intellectual development of a diverse segment of the people he met – prodding and nudging them, challenging their beliefs and making them look deep within themselves to find the direction that was best for them.
One of the things Zak said often was: “Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.”
For many Zak and Nuz were their “Karachi parents” who guided them, gave them refuge, supported them and stood up for their rights whenever necessary. Zak shaped the thinking of so many. He opened up their minds to look at the world very differently.
This visionary walked his own path. There was nothing he didn’t question.
I have not fully digested that Zak is no more. I have not been able to cry or break down as I know I eventually will. Staying strong has become a part of who I have been forced to be. All I want to focus on right now is that he is no longer in pain or discomfort and is back with his darling Nuz. Rest in peace Zak. I will miss you so much as will so many others whose lives you touched.
Bye Doc – you will be missed!
Yesterday was a very sad day. I had to say goodbye to someone who has watched over my health and the health of thousands of others over many years, someone who wiped away part of the effects of what we were suffering from through his compassion, his cheerfulness, his empathy and his ability to help us overcome the emotional burden of whatever it was that was ailing us. Dr. Cyasp Nowshirwani – the healer – was a GP who I was first introduced to in 2007.
I remember when I first went to see him years ago, I came back and wrote a blog post which I am reproducing below:
If you have to see a doctor …
… then it’s best if he is cool! I have been ill for several weeks and, like most people, I have avoided a visit to the doctor’s office. Yesterday after being nagged by friends and family, I finally succumbed and went to see a physician. He had been referred to me (strange that in this city finding a good GP is a really tough job). I went fearing the worst. But the chap – a parsi by the name of Cyasp Nowsherwani – turned out to be very different from what I had expected.
He had a laptop on his desk (which for me was an instant winner – although if it had been a Mac I would have been more impressed). He asked how I was, to which I replied that unfortunately his profession was such that no-one dropped in unless they were unwell. He laughed – a doctor with a sense of humour? I was already beginning to shed my reservations about this visit. And when he said that completely cutting out my intake of coffee was unnecessary for my increased BP (taking a sip of his own coffee as he said this), he totally won me over.
As a subsequence of this visit, I have to undergo some tests, and some medicine was naturally prescribed but the pain of a doctor’s visit was significantly reduced … thank you Dr. Cyasp Nowsherwani. We could do with more doctors like you.
Note: And yes he is a good doctor too – he is treating me – the person – and not just a couple of symptoms
Since that day Dr. Nowshirwani guided me to the right doctors for my stint with dengue 18 years ago (yes i was one of the pioneering patients of this disease), and to the specialist who dealt with my cancer and helped me overcome it. Cyasp, as all of us referred to him, diagnosed my diabetes early on and has helped me keep it under control with meds and without having to “give up” absolutely everything I love in terms of food. Cheat days are what he recommended and slowly I have cut out a lot of sugar from my diet replacing it with fruits. He has also been able to help me keep my BP under control. And everytime I have taken a significant long distance trip, I have gone to see him and got his opinion on precautions to take and things to watch out for in terms of my health. Virals and flus and covid prevention were all additional things he helped me through. I can’t emphasize how important it is to have a GP in your life – someone like Cyasp Nowsherwani who draws pictures and tells you exactly what a medical problem is doing to your body and how you can deal with it, someone who doesn’t just take a consulting fee and has you out the door in a few minutes after prescribing antibiotics at the drop of a hat. This chap listened to his patients, talked to them about their lives, their families and while chatting with them and putting them at ease, he managed to find out how to help them with what ailed them. He became a friend, someone you communicated with about your health rather than just another doctor.
When my father was seriously ill and on his death bed, Dr. Nowshirwani came to visit him at home twice. There was not much to be done at that stage but his bedside manner and his empathy put Abbaji at ease and that was all he needed at that time – understanding from a medical professional who didn’t treat his disease but treated the person.
I am going to miss Cyasp Nowshirwani – the cheerful doctor, the consultant, the person who could make any disease half go away with his empathy and his understanding. Over time a number of friends and people from within my community of startup founders made Cyasp “their” doctor too so as I mourn I know many who mourn his loss with me. God bless you Cyasp. Seeing you yesterday before you were taken on your final journey by your wife, your three sons and the rest of your family and friends, I felt really sad at the loss of such a fine person, a great doctor and an amazing human being. Rest in peace doc. You will be sorely missed.
When a fintech app became a lifesaver
When you are at a wedding waiting for the other guests to arrive, there is little to do but chit-chat with the people who are at your table, take pictures of the bride and groom and of course take selfies to document your presence at the wedding. What else? Well, if you are sitting next to Omar Qureshi of SadaPay and Nestling Arhum Ishtiaq co-founder of Connect Hear who waited two years to get onto the SadaPay beta users list, and is raving about how great the service is, you may very well be tempted to get yourself a virtual Sadapay debit card.
I have always loved the SadaPay colours and their social media posts, and their leadership comprising of Brandon Timinsky and Omer Salimullah have always impressed me with their knowledge of the payment space. But to be honest I wasn’t really thinking of getting yet another card. I didn’t think i needed one. I had my HBL and SCB credit cards, my online banking facilities and cash.
But as Omar and Arhum (partners in crime) started to show me the features I was drawn into the app. Being a tech enthusiast anyway, I started to see how great the User Experience was and how easy it was to use. You didn’t really need a physical card even though they provided it. The virtual card was sufficient to load, send and withdraw funds without any fee being charged. There is no number on the card so there is no security risk. The number (your Mastercard debit card number) is only visible through your app through biometrics or visual face ID. As you have no doubt figured out, the temptation was too much to resist. And because I had Omar sitting next to me, the onboarding took only 5 minutes and I was good to go.
Little did I know that in the week that followed the Sadapay App would become a lifesaver. I lost my wallet and with it my credit cards. Multiple services I use require a credit/debit card and I had temporarily lost access to the cards. Oh but wait! I had access to a new facility. The Sadapay Mastercard debit card came to the rescue and I was able to sort out all my payments without a hitch while I worked towards getting replacements for the cards I had lost. Thank you Sadapay. Thank you Omar. Thank you Arhum.
I will continue to use the Sadapay app because it is so easy to use especially for small payments. I love it when innovation works.
Time to move on
After a period of 20 years I have made the decision to resign as President of P@SHA and will be moving on as of May 1, 2021. My resignation has been accepted by the Chairman and the Central Executive Committee of P@SHA.
In my two decades at P@SHA I have dedicated my life to the Pakistan IT & ITES industry. Day and night have not mattered, nor have weekends or holidays. It has been a passion and a belief that has driven me to an extreme that even I did not know was possible.
From the Startup Insiders initiative that was responsible for inspiring many young people into taking the entrepreneurship route, to the P@SHA Launchpad events, to initiating the P@SHA ICT Awards in 2003 and taking many of our tech innovators to the Asia Pacific to compete in the APICTA Awards and show our friends in the region the kind of products that were being developed in Pakistan. Policy interactions with the government vis-à-vis ICT Policy, the Cyber Crime Bill, Data Protection and Privacy, and engaging with students and universities to bridge the gap between industry and academia and promoting the Pakistan tech sector around the world at major events, it has been a rollercoaster ride like no other … and I have loved every minute of it.
There are many in the local IT industry whose work I admire and am inspired by and who have become personal friends and collaborators. These relationships are long-lasting and will no doubt continue to flourish.
As many of you know, for the past 6 years I have focused, for the most part, on developing and promoting the Pakistan startup ecosystem through The Nest I/O, its flagship startup conference 021Disrupt and our many community outreach events. Guiding, mentoring, and working with a community of young entrepreneurs has brought me immense pleasure. The founders from these 200+ startups – as well as others who have emerged across Pakistan – will take this country and its economy forward.
When I ponder on the brand that my team and I have created and, along with it, the perception around the world of a young, entrepreneurial and innovative Pakistan, we feel a sense of fulfillment and pride. God has indeed been kind.
As I approach the last few years of my professional and working life, I want to spend every waking hour doing what I believe will create the most impact. There are 3 areas that I am most passionate about and would like to focus my efforts on – Developing women leaders, facilitation and scaling of women owned startups and working with accelerated startups in the fintech, agri-tech, green-tech, health and edu-tech domains.
We will start on our new journey from the first of May. Wish us luck. We will need all the help we can get. We will be reaching out to many of you to join us in this new adventure. No doubt you will be as excited as we are to assist us in our mission. Onwards and upwards!
She lives on in us …
I woke up this morning after a very restless night feeling extremely lost. alone and out of sync. This is a day each year that I dread to relive. Eighteen years ago on this day, the person whom we loved and adored most, was taken from us and the world has never been the same again.
Ammi was unique, she was the glue that held us together. She was the cornerstone of our existence, the person who was always there to love us, to care for us, to celebrate with us and to unruffle our feathers and soothe us whenever anything went wrong. She was our guardian angel, our best friend, our confidante, our cheerleader- the person who loved us unconditionally and in whose eyes we could do no wrong. We were the most important people in her life and she always made us feel special and important.
That day 18 years ago is still so vivid in my memory. We were in a hospital as we had often been over the years. Ammi had multiple health problems – systemic lupus, hypertension, pulmonary embolism, rheumatoid arthritis etc and so she sometimes had to spend days and weeks in hospital. But she would always come home. Except this time! We had been in hospital more than a week. That day she had undergone multiple more tests because of some new symptoms. The doctor had just come in and told us the result of those tests. Apparently Ammi had Hepatitis C and she had 5 tumours in her liver which were malignant. A few minutes following this diagnosis, as I sat by her bedside holding her hand, Ammi breathed her last. Just like that she was gone.
The next few days were spent in a blur. First there was disbelief, then a slow realization of what had happened. Ammi was gone. The woman who had been there for us all our lives had gone to heaven. She had left a vacuum that no-one else would ever be able to fill.
Ammi had been married while still in her teens so she grew up along with us. She was self-educated – a voracious reader of everything – fiction, literature, poetry, newspapers – you name it. She watched films, documentaries and listened to discussions on television. Most people who met her assumed that she had a Masters’ degree or a PhD. She could carry on a conversation on any topic. She was passionate about so many things, had a strong belief in the goodness of people and our ability to make things better.
Despite being so ill for almost 20 years, Ammi enjoyed life. She was always happy and whenever anyone enquired about her welfare, she would smile and say “I’m fine”. No complaints. No whining. That smile was warm and affectionate and lit up her face and eyes and drew you to her. She was a very loving, thoughtful and sensitive person – empathetic to others’ needs, ever watchful and available to give advice, to offer help or just be there when someone needed her. Totally selfless to the core. She was so very generous and forgave people instinctively. Sometimes we wondered how she could forgive someone who had been nasty but that was who she was. She would say maybe they had their reasons, maybe it was in a moment of weakness that they had done or said what they had, that it was okay.
Ammi’s sense of humour was really infectious. She would find something funny in almost everything. We would be in fits of laughter after sharing stories or experiences of days gone by. All harmless. Just a reason to smile and enjoy the fact that we were together.
The past year has been rough on many of us – seeing so much suffering, losing friends and colleagues, having to distance ourselves from people we care about, restricting our social contact, struggling economically – it has all been difficult and continues to challenge each one of us. The uncertainty is hard but we have to put up with it and somehow support each other through it. This is when I miss Ammi even more. She was so good at being there for everyone, for consoling people during their worst crises. Her mellow, gentle and warm nature somehow made everything seem much easier to deal with.
As we commemorate the 18th anniversary of her transition to a better place, I would like to honour her memory by showing kindness to another human being, by alleviating someone’s hunger or suffering and by committing to being the best version of myself that I can be.
Ammi was a wonderful and exceptional human being. She gave so much of herself to those she came in contact with and certainly contributed to making this a better world. I hope that we – her children – are a small reflection of who she was. That is the least that we owe her.
An adventure and a half
A severe weather system was headed towards Karachi from Mumbai after having wreaked havoc there.We were told to expect heavy rains, thunderstorms, lightening and flooding for the next few days starting late afternoon on Thursday. I came into work yesterday morning fully prepared. In case the report was true (I am usually skeptical of weather reports) and I was stuck, I was not going to be caught off guard again like last time.
So I carefully packed pyjamas, two change of outfits, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, my medicines, my steam press – everything I would need if I had to stay over at The Nest I/O.
I had a quilt and pillow already that my colleague Hamna had dropped off when I was stuck at the office the previous week. That would indeed come in handy. I also brought Jenga back to the offiece. It is always a fun pursuit when you have time to kill.
We already had other Board games like Sequence, Scrabble and Monopoly; we have a table tennis table … and last but not least a 65″ Samsung Ccurve TV to watch movies on. What more would one need? As far as I was concerned, I was set!
So when it started to rain in the afternoon, I was not worried. I continued to work, moderated a 1 hour 45 minute Zoom session on E-commerce and Changing Consumer Preferences for The Nest I/O Startup Pulsse and after that was over, I played some table tennis.
There were 6 or 7 of us left in the office and at around 8 pm we looked outside the window to decide whether we should venture home or stay put. It appeared to be drizzling. I called home to ask what the situation was on that side of town and was told by the housekeeper that although there was a bit of rain, it was nothing like last time.
Satisfied I packed up my laptop and all of us decided to head home. I had barely left the building when I realized that I had made a mistake. The sky had suddenly opened up and the rain was pouring down like crazy. The visibility was almost non-existent. Conflicting thoughts were going through my mind – should I continue my journey home? Maybe this would not last. Turning around might be more complicated. But what if it didn’t stop? What if it got worse? While all these thoughts crossed my mind, I kept driving – slowly but surely – until the option of returning to the office was no longer viable.
Hence I decided to continue my adventure and drive on. BIG MISTAKE. There was lots of water everywhere and there was no way to escape driving through it. I was very careful but at multiple places i felt the car was literally floating. At certain spots I could even hear it gurgling. That is when I started to wonder what i would do if the car halted. Each area I passed I told myself that if I was stuck there, I would call this Nestling to come and help because he lives nearby or call that other one who lives in that area that I was now in. So little by little I moved forward and was fortunately finally able to get home – stressed but safe. It was an adventure I could have done without. I guess my mistake was leaving the office in the first place.
I don’t know why this city and its leadership cannot get its act together – to deal with the drains, the garbage, the electricity. Each year we go through this and each year we forget. Who do we hold responsible? I don’t even have the energy to think about it.
Today it poured again and I am not even thinking of attempting to go home. I brought everything I need with me and I am going to camp out here tonight. It is a comfortable and safe space and there won’t be any risk of getting stranded somewhere on the road.
Want a Free copy of Founder Puzzles?
When Jawwad Ahmed Farid first asked me to go through Founder Puzzles – a book that he has written on Financial Modeling for Startups – I kept ignoring his pleas, insisting that I just didn’t have time (which I really didn’t). Zoom meetings, panel discussions, Fireside chats, interviews, etc. have all kept me in a state of constant exhaustion since the lockdown began.
However, if I am to be totally honest, I would have made the time but I didn’t want to even look at the book because I was scared. Despite the fact that my father and one of my brothers were career bankers and my youngest brother is a Chartered Accountant, finance is something I have never understood nor wanted to understand. I tune out whenever I have to look at anything that is related to finance. I was a bit annoyed that Jawwad wanted me to read it. I knew I wouldn’t get it. Why torture me by making me go through it?
But Jawwad is a friend and I find it very difficult to say no to a good friend. So a couple of days ago, after going home from work, I finally opened up the PDF of Founder Puzzles and started reading the chapters that he had said I should start with. And you know what? I was amazed that I actually understood the content. I guess I should have known that it would be an easy read, that the tone would be a friendly one, that it would be like reading a story – because that is how Jawwad has always conveyed the most difficult concepts – through storytelling. And he obviously knew who his readers were going to be – mostly founders from a computer science background for whom financial modeling would be as complicated as it is for me.
I will not tell you that I have read the whole book because I haven’t yet. I have read Chapters 1, 3 and 5 because that is what the author told me to start with. What I really like about the book is that the learning is experiential and takes place through questions being asked, assumptions being made and then those assumptions being tested quickly, either being proven right or wrong so that one can move on to the next stage.
As Founders many of us are prone to jumping into an initiative without actually thinking it through. Yes passion is a key driver and keeps us going through the worst of times. But we have got to admit that if we gave a little thought right at the outset to costs, to pricing, to expected revenues, perhaps we would not end up making some of the mistakes we do. Founder Puzzles will ensure that we don’t.
I feel that the book is so very important for every founder that I have decided to give away 20 copies (I have paid for 10 and the author has thrown in an additional 10 copies).
But, having said that, I don’t want these books to gather dust in your folders. They are yours for the taking if you promise to read the book and post a review on FB, Linkedin and Twitter. Talk about what you learnt from the book, how the book helped you and how you found it relevant. Also talk about what the author could do to make it better and more relevant. When you are done, tag me and Jawwad Farid on your review. Let’s start a conversation on educating ourselves when it comes to numbers and finance. About time we did something about this together. First come first served. Women founders preferred. Ping me now or post in the Comment section.
The book comes with three excel files. Basic models to work with and use side by side with the book. It also comes with a free copy of Reboot and Better Excel charts
For those who are not fortunate enough to get a free copy, go and buy one. It is the best investment you will ever make https://bit.ly/FounderPuzzleStore
No-one can ever replace her
She was truly one of a kind. Seventeen years and the memory of Ammi is still so fresh in our minds and in our hearts. Her infectious smile, her giggles, her ability to find something humourous in almost every situation, her compassion, her love, her tenderness, her capacity to make everything bad suddenly disappear, was uncanny. Ammi was the true epitome of a perfect, caring and loving mother and a fabulous human being.
Like most of the world, today I am “locked down” at home. The current environment, the loneliness, the uncertainty of the situation makes me miss Ammi all the more. Everything in this house reminds me of her. Her pre-longed illness meant that she spent most of her time either in her bedroom or in the lounge. On weekdays she would be on the lookout for me as I walked into the house after work. A broad bright smile would welcome me and she would ask me how my day had been. I would lie down on her bed and tell her everything – good, bad or ugly. She was such a great listener – and totally non-judgmental. Sometimes she would present a perspective that shifted my thinking about something that was stressing me out or making me sad. I don’t know how she did it – it was magical.
On weekends we would wake up and I would go into the kitchen to prepare a special Sunday breakfast for her and Abbaji. She would join me in the kitchen, sit on a chair and chat with me as i cooked. It was our special time.
As I woke up this morning and spoke to some of my siblings, thoughts of Ammi and all the special memories came flooding in. It made me laugh and cry at the same time. I wished she hadn’t left us so soon. All of us needed her so much and we still do.
Today I am wondering how she would have coped with the current scenario. Sensitive as she was, she would have felt the pain of the people who were suffering from the Corona virus, she would have felt with intensity the struggles of the daily wage workers, the healthcare workers, of those who were losing their jobs. She would have wanted to do whatever she could to help ease their pain and discomfort. That was who she was – always thinking of others, never of herself.
At home she would have been a blessing for me. She would have loved having me here all to herself. We would have found ways for us to do things together during non-work hours – watching movies, cooking together or just hanging out conversing on all sorts of subjects or just going into a fit of laughter for no rhyme or reason.
I picked up these flowers this morning from our garden. She loved their smell, the freshness. Abbaji would pluck them for her every morning when he went for a walk. She would take them from him and smile. That precious smile – Just thinking about it brings a feeling of peace and warmth to my heart.
Ammi, we know you are in a better place and watching over us from above. Just know that you were very special to all of us and we will always love you.
The world is suddenly on its head
Was it only a few weeks ago that we were living in a world that was less complicated, less scary, maybe even carefree for many of us? I remember flying off quite happily to London and Vienna in February for work related activities – roaming around, attending events, visiting various offices, taking pictures and having wonderful conversations. Even though around that time there was already talk about the virus, about not shaking hands or giving hugs, about keeping a distance, but for some reason it didn’t seem that frightening then. Yes we carried around a bottle of sanitizer in our bags and were careful about not touching unnecessary items, more conscious of hygiene but we joked about it – the Wuhan handshake, the Vulcan greeting, shaking elbows instead of hands, sanitizers and toilet paper disappearing from shelves – it all seemed like harmless banter, nothing that was really terrifying.
Fast forward a few weeks and here we are – in the midst of a lockdown, offices shut down, entire cities giving a deserted look, most of us isolated from the rest of society. Turn on any news channel and all you see and hear are statistics – how many infected, how many dead, warnings to stay indoors; visuals of people who are really ill, of medical health workers who are in protective gear from head to foot, of empty streets, restaurants, shops, cinemas, parks, malls, bazaars all barricaded. A strange silence everywhere. It seems like a totally different world from the one we knew just some weeks ago.
Work from home which had always been an alternative for some has now become a norm – Zoom, Hangout, WhatsApp, Skype and Slack have become tools that we use to connect, to collaborate, to learn, to impart, to brainstorm. Face-to-face interaction in the same physical space is no longer what we do. We are in our own spaces, connected to technology that brings us together for meetings and conversations. Each of us is finding creative ways to work with each other without being in a defined and familiar environment.
The routines we were used to – getting up early, showering and changing, having early breakfasts and heading out in our modes of transport to schools, work places, meetings, having a gossip over a cup of tea or coffee at work, sharing and tweaking projects, brainstorming on a white board, answering enquiries from others within the same space, going down to the supermarket, taking a lunch break, heading out in the evening for an event or to meet friends or playing table tennis before heading home. Full days of activities when we knew what we had to do at certain times of the day. Always on the move. But no more! All that has come to a halt. Everything is on its head.
The first few days of the lockdown I woke up at the normal time and didn’t know what to do with myself. What was the point of showering and changing since there was nowhere to go. I felt a little lost without my routine. I missed all of it – the rushed schedule, the chaos, the activities, the noise, the interaction, the conversations, even the coffee and the stress. My brain refused to function under these new conditions because it just didn’t know how to.
The team and I had already worked out a WFH routine even before the lockdown and had started implementing it but I was still going into the office then. Now I was not. It was disconcerting. It took a while to tune myself to the new realities. I understood that unless I worked out a routine I was going into a “lost” mode which I would find it difficult to come out of. The new routine was much like the old one with a few tweaks – Wake up, shower, change, have breakfast, medicines and then settle down into a comfortable but convenient workspace. Start working with the team, take my calls, daily calls with my siblings, official zoom meetings, lunch, attend and arrange online sessions, continue to work with the team. Break at 5 or 6, watch a movie or two, have coffee or green tea, go for a walk in the garden. Check in on the news channels. Restrict that to twice a day so as not to get completely traumatized.
This new routine seems to be working although the cheer has disappeared. There is nothing but uncertainty, doom and gloom, silence, lack of sufficient physical activity. What helps a little is trying to support daily wage workers and those who are suffering through engagement and financial support to organizations who are working on the ground, providing logistical help, food, medicines, advice. I am told that because of my pre-existing conditions and age, I should refrain from any volunteering which involves distribution or contact with large numbers of people. I am usually a very stubborn person but this time I am listening. I am trying to be sensible. It is such a different time. God help us all to get through it. We all know that the last few weeks have changed the world forever.
Memories are what keep us going
It was a Sunday morning in Hong Kong – years ago. My father had gone to the airport to drop off some friends. The time was 6 a.m. The phone rang. It was Abbaji. I asked if the flight had been delayed. He said no – flight was on time. Friends had departed. “So are you on your way back?” I asked. He responded cheerfully “Yes … and I have some new friends with me whom I just met at the airport. Can you prepare a nice brunch? Halwa, puri, tarkari etc.” Who were these new friends? Well, the story was that a young Indian couple had landed at Kaitak airport and discovered that their hosts were not there to receive them. They looked a bit lost and worried so Abbaji being Abbaji went up to them, introduced himself and 
asked if everything was okay. Hearing their story he smiled and said “No problem. Come home with me, have breakfast and we will phone your hosts. I can then drop you off to wherever they live. He must have looked trustworthy (which of course he was) so they agreed and came home with him to a lavish brunch that Ammi and I had prepared.
This was typical Abbaji. We grew up seeing similar things happening on a regular basis – him reaching out to help anyone who needed assistance. No agenda. No expectation of any returns. It is what made him happy. He was always on the go. Always entertaining. Always engaged in some sort of community activity. Early start to each day – even Sunday. He could never comprehend lethargy. “Each moment should be valued”, he used to say. “Why waste it?”
It has been six years since he left us but the memories are ever fresh in our minds and in our hearts. He was not a rich man but he took care of our essential needs and gave us so much wealth in terms of teachings and values … it is these things that continue to serve us well. His diligence, his integrity, his giving nature, his genuineness, his ability to forgive, all made him the special person he was. He had a large network consisting of friends of different nationalities, of varying ages some of whom I keep running into even now. It makes me happy that people remember him and value the interaction and relationship they had with him.
Ammi’s death hit him hard. When you spend over 50 years together, it is difficult to imagine a life without each other. He was never the same after her death. My siblings and I tried to fill the gap but I don’t think we ever succeeded.
Abbaji lived a full life and created a great deal of impact. He valued his relationships with people and never ever looked back. He was a man whom everyone respected and he was a mentor to many. We miss him terribly and try to honour him by living an exemplary life guided by the principles and values that he taught us through example. Rest in peace Abbaji. We love you and miss you.
Happy birthday to a woman of substance
She was a soft, gentle woman with a ready smile who was always there whenever any of us needed her – and even when we didn’t. She was our pillar of strength, our constant, the person who kept us glued together. Ammi would have been 84 years old today had she lived but that was not to be. They say God takes good people away to heaven sooner rather than later. Ammi passed away at age 67 just under 17 years ago.
Looking back at her life I can only remember a woman who was constantly giving – her love, her time, her attention, her advice, her compassion. Despite her prolonged illness, she was always positive, always cheerful. No matter how bad things seemed to us at times, her smile made everything okay. It was like there was a magic aura around her that healed whatever ailed us.
I can’t believe she has been gone so long. When I walk into the house even now, I feel her presence. I guess that is why I have refused to move out of our family home. It is where I find comfort, where there are memories that continue to warm my heart.
Ammi was a good cook. There was a flavour in everything she made – simple or complicated. Much of what she cooked she learnt over time. She loved to cook things that her family enjoyed. However, my father loved to entertain (he said it was his only vice) so she often made what could be termed as gourmet dishes. Since we lived a lot of our early lives in Hong Kong where we couldn’t buy naan/roti or Pakistani desserts, we learnt to experiment and make all sorts of food. I was her junior chef (her chotu) who watched her cook and helped in any way I could. Our gulab jamun and coconut barfi soon became the talk of the town and friends often used to request us to especially make it for them. My mother never refused. That was who she was.
Ammi was married at a very early age so much of what she learnt was through self-discovery, through reading newspapers and books, and watching documentaries and films and through conversations . She was an avid reader and many of the books we have in the shelf in our lounge belonged to her. I have often thought of giving them away but haven’t had the heart to. If you know a library where you believe a diverse set of Urdu and English books – novels, Naqoosh, biographies, etc will be read and re-read, reach out to me. I think it is about time these books were used more than they have been since Ammi’s death. At first Abbaji read some of them, then some friends and family borrowed them but nowadays most of them just sit there.
Together Ammi and Abbaji created what is our value system. They were for the most part responsible for the people we are today. A strong sense of integrity and fairplay was embedded in us as youngsters and it is something that has stayed with us. Compassion, a sense of giving, a lack of selfishness, our commitment to hard work are all part of our mental make up. If there are any weakness in us as humans, it is entirely due to our own lack of ability.
Happy birthday sweet, angelic Ammi. Thank you for being who you were. We were indeed lucky to have you as an essential part of our lives. I hope that we live up to the expectations that you and Abbaji had of us. It is the only way we can continue to honour your memory.
In the Line of Wire 