Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 1

PEARLS OF WISDOM

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
The Essence Of Sufism
By Muhammad Usman Khalid
Man has come to this world for a brief sojourn but with
great purpose, which is to know his Creator. Allah’s being
and attributes were like a hidden treasure and there was
no one and nothing to appreciate His Greatness, Beauty,
and Bounty. Allah wanted to create beings that were to
be gifted with intellect, wisdom and an aesthetic sense to
understand Him. The being thus created was “man”.
Allah, the creator and sustainer of all beings, has a law of
nature. Anything that has to grow, improve or become
perfect has to undergo great stress, hardship and
struggle. It is only then that the potential is fully realized.
Like a small seed has the capacity of becoming a strong
tree but it will remain a seed till it is sown. It is due to the
pressure, heat, and darkness of the soil that it sprouts
and starts growing and through constant struggle
becomes a grown tree, which gives flowers, fruit and
shade. Similarly coal under heat and pressure becomes
diamond.
Man has been gifted with a soul that has the capacity of
reflecting the attributes of Allah Almighty in a small
humane way, similar to the sand on the seashore
reflecting the light of the sun. According to the Holy
Quran, before sending souls to the earth Allah gathered
them and illuminated them with his attributes of
sustenance. This instilled fear and love of Allah into them.
Allah then asked the souls, “Am I not your sustainer?”
They knew He was but did not know what to say. Then
the soul of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) led the rest in
acknowledging, “No doubt they bear witness to the fact
that only Allah is their sustainer.” The day this happened
is known as “Yom-e-Alast” i.e. the day of AM I NOT? Not
only the seed of Allah’s love was planted in the human
souls but also the leadership of Holy Prophet (PBUH) was
established. Muhammad (PBUH) became the greatest of
teachers for all mankind including around 1,24,000
prophets.
Each soul to develop itself was to be put into a body
made of worldly elemental forces of earth, fire, wind and
water. So “Ahsan-e-Taqweem” i.e. of best accord was
thrown into “Asfala-Safileen” i.e. the lowest of the low
heavenly being had been caged into an earthly body,
which is low in taste, mentality and desires. The situation
resembles the seed of a grand tree sown in the darkness
and suffocation of the soil. Thus adversity starts
developing the potential of a soul.
The earthly spirit of the human body is known as “Nafs”
i.e. self, and it is under the influence of fire, water, earth
and wind. Because of fire, self has pride and arrogance,
because of water the self has greed and avarice, because
of earth self has stinginess and stubbornness and because
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of wind, self has ostentation and cunningness. The Nafs is
to be cured of these ills or the soul will not survive.
The religion then provides the cure for ills of the Nafs, as
pride is cured by regularity of prayers, greed by fasting,
miserliness by zakat and ostentation by Hajj. And in a
finer detail all these ills are cured by the healing touch of
the Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) companionship. The ‘Sahabah’
(RA) i.e. the companions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH),
were the luckiest to have benefited from him directly.
The ‘Tabeh’een’ benefited from the Holy Prophet’s
healing proximity through the Sahabah and the Tabeh-
Tabeheen from the Tabaeen and then the Sufis, right
from Tabeh Tabeheen up to date who distribute the
blessings of the Prophet (PBUH) to those who desire.
Choice of companionship has a lot of influence in
nurturing the soul, if you befriend a perfume seller you
will enjoy the sweet scents even if you don’t buy any and
if you befriend a blacksmith you will have to bear heat,
smoke and noise of the forge. The most important thing is
to choose the right mentor. The criterion of true
mentorship is the adoption of the way of the Holy
Prophet (PBUH). The resemblance to the act and
obedience to the say of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) will
determine the degree of perfection of the mentor. By
being steadfast in prayers, fasting, zakat and Hajj and
remaining in touch with the sufi mentors, a person can
cure self of pride, greed, miserliness and ostentation to
provide his soul a culture for growth. Recitation of the
Holy Quran, remembrance of Allah Ta’la, Darood Sharif
and Astaghfaar are like air, water and sunshine that are
so essential for the growth of a soul like that of a tree.
And this is the “True Essence of Sufism.”
Forgiveness is the answer to the
child's dream of a miracle by
which what is broken is made
whole again, what is soiled is
made clean again.
Anonymous
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Business Ethics In Islam
By Naveed Iqrar
Be Honest and Truthful
Honesty and truthfulness are qualities which a Muslim
businessman should develop and practice in himself.
Truth, for example, has a self-reinforcing effect. In a
hadith reported in Sahih al Bukhari, the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, "Truthfulness
leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to
Paradise. A man continues to tell the truth until he
becomes a truthful person. Falsehood leads to al fujuwr
(i.e. wickedness, evil-doing), and al fujuwr (wickedness)
leads to the (Hell) Fire, and a man may continue to tell
lies till he is written before Allah, a liar." [Hadith No.
8.116]
Honesty and truth is especially important for Muslim
businesspersons because of the need to make a profit
and the temptations to enhance the attributes of their
products of services during a sales pitch. This is why the
Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The merchants will be
raised on the Day of Resurrection as evil-doers, except
those who fear Allah, are honest and speak the truth.”
[Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Darimi]
Keep Your Word
In a hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah(R.A.), the Prophet
(PBUH) is reported to have said, “If you guarantee me six
things on your part, I shall guarantee you Paradise. Speak
the truth when you talk, keep a promise when you make
it, when you are trusted with something fulfill your trust,
avoid sexual immorality, lower your guise, and restrain
your hands from injustice." [Ubadah Ibn al Samit, Ahmad,
Bayhaqi]
Love Allah More Than Your Trade
We must love Allah even if we have to sacrifice
everything else. Allah warns in the Qur'an, which is
translated to as: “Say, if it be that your fathers, your sons,
your brothers, your mates, or your kindred; the wealth
that you have gained; the commerce in which you fear a
decline; or the dwellings in which you delight - are dearer
to you than Allah, or His Messenger, or the striving in His
cause -then wait until Allah brings about His Decision: and
Allah guides not the rebellious." [Al Qur'an 9:24]
Be Humble in how You Conduct Your Life
Muslims must not lead a life of extravagance, and must
exhibit good-will in any transactions among themselves.
“O you who believe! Eat not up your property among
yourselves in vanities: but let there be amongst you
traffic and trade by mutual good-will: nor kill (or destroy)
yourselves: for verily Allah has been to you Most
Merciful.” [Al Qur'an 4:29]
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Use Mutual Consultation in Your Affairs
In describing the characteristics of those who will receive
higher and more permanent gifts from Him, Allah stresses
the importance of consultation.
“Those who hearken to their Lord; and establish regular
prayer; who (conduct) their affairs by mutual
consultation, who spend out of what we bestow on them
for sustenance.” [Al Qur'an 42:38]
Do Not Deal in Fraud
Businesspersons should avoid duplicity. They should treat
others in the same righteous and fair manner that they
themselves would like to be treated.
“Woe to those that deal in fraud those who when they
have to receive by measure from men exact full measure.
But when they have to give by measure or weight to men
give less than due. Do they not think that they will be
called to account?”[Al Qur'an 83:1-4]
Do Not Bribe
Businesspeople may sometimes be tempted to offer
bribes in order to persuade another party to give them
special favours or to allow them to get away with
dishonest practices. The practice of bribery is forbidden in
Islam.
“The Apostle of Allah (PBUH) cursed the one bribes and
the one who takes bribes.” [Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn Al As,
Abu Dawud, hadith no 3573]
Deal Justly
The general principle that applies across all transactions
including those pertaining to business is that of justice or
'adl. Allah emphasizes this point in the Qur'an:
“Deal not unjustly, and you shall not be dealt with
unjustly.”[Al Qur'an 2:279]
The rise of Islam offers perhaps the most
impressive example in world history of the power
of words to alter human behavior in sudden,
surprising ways.
William H. McNeill
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 4

Quotable Quotes “He who has faith has everything and he who lacks faith
lacks everything. It is faith in the name of the Lord that
By Umer Ijaz works wonders; faith is life and doubt is death.”
Ramakrishna Paramahansa
“Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.”
Khalil Gibran “Life is fragile- handle with prayer.”
Kandi Plowman
“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we
aren’t really living.” “He who never changes his opinions, never corrects his
Gail Sheehy mistakes, and will never be wiser tomorrow than he is
today.”
“The decline of literature indicates the decline of a Tryon Edwards
nation.”
Johann Wolfgang van Goethe “Every man without passions has within him no principle
of action, nor motive to act.”
“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer Claude Adrien Helvetivs
somebody else up.”
Mark Twain “Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of
this faith is to see what we believe.”
“True courage is like a kite; a contrary wind raises it St. Augustine
higher.”
John Petit-Senn “In three words I can sum up everything I have learned
about life: It goes on.”
“You only live once- but if you work it right, once is Robert Frost
enough.”
Joe E. Lewis “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we
oft may win by fearing to attempt.”
“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of Shakespeare
the past.”
Patrick Henry “Injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere.”
King Jr. Martin Luther
“True friendship is like sound health, the value of it is
seldom known until it is lost.”
C. C. Colton

“Forget injuries; never forget kindness.”

Confucius

“The man who has no inner life is the slave of his An education isn't how much you
surroundings.”
have committed to memory, or
Henri Frederic Amiel
even how much you know. It's
“The whole of what we know is a system of being able to differentiate
compensations. Each suffering is rewarded, each sacrifice between what you know and
is made up, every debt is paid.”
what you don't.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Without duty, life is soft and boneless; it cannot hold Anonymous

itself together.”
Joseph Joubert

“Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.”

Fulton J. Sheen

“Security comes from knowing that God never changes.”

Anonymous

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 5

Ray Of Hope Watts of Electricity for next 40Years, without any single
Second of Load Shedding. If the whole reserves are
utilized, imagine how much energy can be generated.
By Shamwail Sohail
The coal power generation will cost Pakistan PKR 5.67 per
Pakistan is going through turmoil and for some may be
unit while power generated by Independent Power
the biggest ever crisis in its 63 years history. Shortage of
Producers costs PKR 9.27.
energy, poor law and order condition, war against
terrorism, inflation and food crisis are to name a few. In
It requires mere 420 Billion Rupees of initial investment,
this environment the BIG question is- IS THERE ANY
whereas Pakistan receives annually 1220 Billion Rs. from
HOPE? Have we reached a dead end? Is there any way
taxes only.
out? A simple answer to this question is YES, there is still
light of hope at the end of the tunnel. All that is required
Wind Energy
is strong will, leadership and optimal utilization of
Pakistan is bestowed with a lot of wind resources in the
resources bestowed on us by Allah. Following is a brief
province of Sindh and coastal areas of Baluchistan.
introduction of some of the recently discovered natural
Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB) has
resources which if used properly could turn the tide for us
collected the wind data from all over the Pakistan from
and lead us towards the Pakistan our fore fathers
Pakistan Metrological Department and analysed it. As per
dreamed of at the time of partition.
the collected data, the coastal belt of Pakistan is blessed
by God Almighty with a wind corridor that is 60 km wide
Reko Diq
(Gharo to Keti Bandar) and 180 km long (up to
Reko Diq is a small town in Chagai District, Baluchistan
Hyderabad.) This corridor has the exploitable potential of
having the world’s largest Gold and Copper reserves,
50,000 MW of electricity generation through wind energy
containing 12.3 million tons of copper and 20.9 million
(courtesy: AEDB). We should be able to meet a major part
ounces of gold in inferred and indicated resources. The
of our electricity requirement by installing wind turbines
copper-gold deposits at Reko Diq are believed to be even
in this corridor.
bigger than Sarcheshmeh in Iran and Escondida in Chile.
The Reko Diq copper deposits which are in the
neighbourhood of Saindak copper project, is four times
larger in copper ore tonnage than Saindak. The most
credible international surveys suggest that Reko Diq is
one of the biggest undeveloped copper projects in the
world with over 11 billion pounds of copper and nine
million ounces of gold the total worth of gold and copper Food for Thought
is estimated to be around 65 billion dollars. Now for few
moments think of total external debt, which Pakistan As your faith is
owes at moment is 52 billion US dollars. This one project
alone is capable of retiring all our external debt and we strengthened you will
will still be left with 13 billion US dollar. The retiring of find that there is no
the debt means no more interest payments, which is a
huge part of our budget. The biggest advantage would be longer the need to have
no more dictations from any donor country or donor a sense of control, that
agency.
things will flow as they
Thar Coal Project will, and that you will
If All The Oil Reserves of Saudi Arab & Iran are put
flow with them, to your
together these will be approximately 375 Billion Barrels,
whereas, a Single Thar Coal Reserve Of Sindh is about 850 great delight and
Trillion Cubic Feet, far more than Oil Reserves Of formerly benefit.
mentioned two countries.
These reserves are 30 times higher than Pakistan's proven
gas reserves of 28 TCF.
The estimated worth of these coal reserves is about USD
25 trillion. Thar Coal Project can cater the electricity
requirements of our country for next 100 years along
with preventing Four billion US dollars outflow in
staggering oil import bill.
Just 2% usage of Thar Coal Can Produce 20,000 Mega
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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
Imaginations Guide Actions
By Warda Saleem
Understanding the Law of Vision is indispensable before
embarking upon learning the calisthenics of telepathy.
Our existence is nothing but vision. When we concentrate
on an object i.e., gaze steadily at it, eyes first absorb it
then bring it to the mental screen. Subsequently, the
mind sees it, feels it and ascribes meanings to it.
According to the Law of Vision when an object is gazed,
the image of that object is retained on the screen of the
mind for fifteen seconds and with the act of blinking it
gradually slides into memory and is replaced by some
other image.
When the vision is focused on an object for more than
fifteen seconds the same image keeps on recurring on the
screen of the mind, registering itself in the memory. For
instance when something is gazed for a long interval of
time without blinking the eyes, the ability to transfix the
vision infuses in the mind, putting an end to the mental
distractions. Gradually this practice enables the exerciser
to control his thoughts and eventually the movement of
an object according to his will. It means that the
concentration of vision generates will power with which
we are able to perform various tasks.
The basic principle of telepathy is to enable us to focus
one's vision on one particular point. For attaining
concentration, some goal is also required to be there.
Higher the concentration, the stronger the will-power will
be helping achieve the desired outcome. When a
telepathist intends to reflect his thoughts on the screen
of some other person's mind, that thought is transferred
to that person and he takes these thoughts as one of his
own. When the recipient is a person with an undistracted
mind, the thought after passing through the phases of
conception and feelings becomes a manifestation. If one
thought is transmitted repeatedly, the mind of the
recipient receives it even if he is not attentive. In this
way, concentration helps make a thought manifested.
Telepathy is not simply the knowledge of transferring
thoughts but we can fill our life with pleasant ideas after
studying our life with the help of this knowledge. Life
itself is a gamut of urges, desires and wishes, mostly a
compounded mixture of wishes and urges. The first urge
encountered after birth is the feeling of hunger. When
mother brings her child to her bosom he starts feeding
himself as if he had learned it in the womb.
Growth is another name for achievement and fulfillment
of desires. Wishes are fulfilled in two ways, consciously
and unconsciously. The consciousness and
unconsciousness are two sides of a single coin.
Impressions of thoughts and ideas on one side are bright
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and clear while they are dim and unclear on the other
side. The side with bright and clear impressions is known
as unconsciousness, and the side with dim and dull
impressions is called the consciousness.
In spirituality, student is made to observe within bright
and clear thoughts; time and space are not there. On the
other hand unclear and vague thoughts are confined in
time and space at every step of the way. When we
analyze an urge and its eventual fulfillment, we come to
know that ascribing different meanings to an urge makes
it appear different in reality. For instance hunger is an
urge and its fulfillment is to eat something. One individual
satisfies his appetite by eating bread and meat, the other
with something else. A lion does not eat grass. A goat
does not eat meat. One likes sweets the other is fond of
salty foods.
No one can deny the fact that sorrow and happiness are
directly related with thoughts. Some thoughts are very
pleasing and others are very disturbing. Fear, fright,
dubiety, jealousy, greed, grief, hatred, malice, showing
off, false pride and vanity are all products of our
thoughts. In the same way love, affection, faith, humility,
modesty and sacrifice are outcome of our thoughts.
Sometimes, a suddenly brain wave flashes that an
accident may be faced by us or by one of our children.
Although no accident has actually taken place, this
thought causes us to experience all the agony of an
accident. Similar is the case of happiness and a happy life.
When a thought after becoming an imagination, falls on a
point where the images of happiness and prosperity are
present, we experience happiness from within. Grief and
joy are associated with imaginations and the imagination
comes from the thoughts.
All Right
Once there were two friends – Wright and Rite. Wright
told Rite to write Wright right and if he did not write
Wright right, he would not write Rite right.
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
I’ve learnt...
By Bilal Shafqat
I’ve learnt....that I always pray for someone when I
don’t have the strength to help him in
some other way.
I’ve learnt...that sometimes all a person needs is a
hand to hold and a heart to understand.
I’ve learnt...that we should be glad that Allah does not
give everything we ask for.
I’ve learnt...that it is the small everyday happiness that
makes life so spectacular.
I’ve learnt...that under everyone’s hard shell is
someone who wants to be appreciated and
loved.
I’ve learnt...that the Lord didn’t do it all in one day.
What makes me think I can.
I’ve learnt...that to ignore the facts does not change
the facts.
I’ve learnt...that love, not time, heals all wounds.
I’ve learnt...that when you harbour bitterness,
happiness will dock elsewhere.
I’ve learnt...that one should keep his words both soft
and tender, because tomorrow he may
have to eat them.
I’ve learnt...that it is best to give advice in only two
circumstances; when it is requested or
when there is a life-threatening situation.
I’ve learnt...that the less time I have to work with, the
more things I get done.
I’ve learnt...that I receive a body to live life, I may like
it or hate it, but it will be mine for the
entire period of life.
LONGING
Longing for a crimson life,
Life with a purpose,
Purpose of reaching the zenith,
Zenith of success
By Afaque Ahmed
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7
Love
By Ayaz Hasnain
Fear and love they are the
same, the heart is fragile like a
flower, no….like a rose strong,
but fragile love is beautiful,
with soft petals and sweet
perfume but love is also
frightening hidden among the
most perfect flowers are the
cruellest thorns waiting for a
careless touch……do you
understand? No……we never
understand the importance of
our hearts until they are
broken then we weep and
curse the ones we once
adored, we promise ourselves
we will never love again, but
love is why we live and love is
why we die…love is the blood
of a rose…and we all must
bleed.
Pearls
Time is too slow for those
who wait, too swift for those
who fear, too long for those
who grieve, too short for
those who rejoice but for
those who love ---time is
eternity.
You can make more friends
in two months by getting
interested in other people.
Then you can in two years
by making other people
interested in you.
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 8

DOIN’ IT LI’L make a big impact on someone. Some actions might be

less dramatic than others, but each one has the potential
to make a big impact on someone.
By Azhar Ali Shahani
I'm sure you can think of one if not many small gestures
Little drops of water,
to make. I will suggest a few here to get you started
Little grains of sand,
thinking about it. Opportunities like these arise everyday.
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land.
 Donate a pint of blood
 Read a story to a child
Two poems that left an unforgettable imprint on my mind
 Phone a friend (don't complain - keep the
during school days were, W. Wordsworth’s ‘Daffodils’ and
conversation upbeat)
anonymous ‘Little Things’. The former made me fall in
 Volunteer to help weed the public park flower
love with nature and take note of things around me,
garden
while the latter helped me live a little happier life,
 Offer your mail carrier a refreshing drink
everyday. Since then I have tried to make it my habit to
 Buy an extra cup of coffee at the coffee shop
do small acts that contribute towards making somebody
and give it away to someone
feel special. It feels good to do something nice for
 Skip a meal - Give your sack lunch to a homeless
someone. Likewise, it feels good when someone does
person
something kind for us. It's a win/win situation either way
 Offer to press your mom’s head
you look at it. I feel so much better when I have made
 Visit the sick in your neighbour
some small gesture that day that makes me feel GLAD - in
 Offer a prayer to someone in need
this way I have made today count. In making today count
 Wish a distant friend/relative birthday
all the other mundane stuff that didn't get accomplished
 Buy some poor shoes, clothes, books etc.
doesn't seem so important anymore.
Start being considerate to someone whom you come
In the rush of life, we often forget how easy it is to wish
across in your day to day life.....it may be your parents, it
someone Hello! how great and lasting a difference it can
may be your spouse, it may be your son/daughter or it
make. When we say hello, to someone we know/or don’t
may be your driver too.
know, and share from the heart, we become a pebble in
the pond. With each ripple we create, we spread love
Have a wonderful everyday.
that continues to give, long after it feels like it has
disappeared. A small "Hi" or a simple “Hello" from us
would go a long way in bringing a smile on the person to
whom it is directed. Sometimes starting out with a hello
to a stranger can turn into everlasting friendship.

We should develop a habit of deriving joy from doing a

small gesture of kindness in any form to strangers and the
people we know. To strangers, it can be vacating our seat Human beings, who are almost
in the bus for someone older & also helping her/him get
unique in having the ability to
down, helping somebody carry heavy luggage, mediating
in if two people are at the verge of fighting, saying ‘thank learn from the experience of
you’ to servant, waiter/waitress, buying something to eat others, are also remarkable for
to someone hungry etc. We should take note of the their apparent disinclination to
people we know in our life. What makes them smile? do so.
What stresses them out? When might they be in need of
extra encouragement? A specific act of kindness doesn't
have to be a sweeping gesture. Sometimes it may be
something very simple — a well-timed word or a well-
chosen gift. If an affirming thought comes into your mind,
say it. If you wonder if someone is in need, offer to help.
If you find yourself thinking of a person, go a step further
and act.

The fact is that we haven’t yet realized the power and

importance of doing small acts in bringing the sheer
delight to others and to us. A small act on our part can
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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 9

Sojourn with a Professional

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 10

Interview with Qazi Abdul Muktadir, MD: My initial plan was to work for the development
Managing Director NIBAF of rural sector but my field has changed over the
years, now I am a central banker.

Mr. Qazi Abdul Muqtadir, Kawish: Did you attend any international courses?
Managing Director, MD: Yes, I attended numerous ones related to
National Institute of Banking, Auditing. Even, I did courses which
Banking and Finance were not related to my field like butchering.
(NIBAF), is central banker
having decades of Kawish: Are you an ardent reader of books or a casual
professional experience to one?
his credit. He got his MD: I am an ardent reader. I read at least one book a
graduate and year. I can’t sleep without reading a book. I like
undergraduate degrees classic books. The last books that I read were
from USA & Canada. He is ‘Da Vinci Code’ & ‘Angels & Demons.’
a man of vision.
Kawish: How did you start your professional career?
Shehzad Hyder and Farah Azhar have made an attempt MD: I started my career as a teacher in Agricultural
to explore the life and career of him, which can be University, Tando Jam. Then I joined a
fruitful to young professionals. consultancy firm, Marketing Manager in a
private firm then I got raised to the position of
Kawish: Can you tell us about your family General Manager. I joined Pakistan Banking
background? Corporation and moved to State Bank of
MD: Ha ha ha ….. is it necessary! Well, I try to hide Pakistan as Director, Agriculture Department
certain things. when PBC was dissolved.

Kawish: Anyhow, Please! Do share some of the things
with our readers.
MD: I am the youngest among four brothers who
are alive at the moment, one passed away. I
was born in Mirpur Khas. My father was a
government servant.
Kawish: Please share your experience of your
stay abroad.
MD: I got my education from Catholic schools. We
were only 3 Muslims there. We did everything
that was naughty but we had our limits as a
Muslim being.

Kawish: Sir, from where have you acquired your
academic and professional education?
MD: Most of my education has been from Canada &
USA. I did matriculation and FSC from Pakistan. I
did Agricultural Engineering and Masters in
Rural Development. Currently,I am a PhD
scholar.
Kawish: What about your favourite star?
MD: It is between Aquarius and Pisces.
Kawish: How was your childhood?
MD: It was full of experience. My parents helped
me a lot. I travelled across the world.
Kawish: We mean, whether you were naughty or an
innocent in your early life.
MD: Again a difficult question, it is very hard to
categorize myself. But one thing is sure that
you might be very noble as compared to what I
did in my childhood.
Kawish: Did your career objective evolve (change) over
the time?
Kawish: How do you find quality of life there?
MD: Quality of life does not come from money rather
it is a state of your mind. People there are
leading surreal life. We are not aware of
realities. In 1978 there were more colour
televisions in Pakistan as there were in
Canada. Life there is very fast and difficult.
Quality of life means quality of food and
environment, which we have. In fact we are our
own enemies, nobody stops us to clean streets
and ensure proper sanitation system but we are
deteriorating our lives by not thinking this way.
Kawish: Why did you come to Pakistan?
MD: To serve my countrymen, my parents send me
abroad to get education and come back. I had to
serve them as well.
Kawish: The biggest source of inspiration in your life!
MD: Prophet (S.A.W.) is the biggest source of
inspiration to me. Every time one studies His
life, one is astonished to see that how He, a
single person, changed the whole universe
through his charismatic leadership. I have a

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 11

strong faith and within faith lies loyalty, loyalty

to yourself and to the nation. A deceiver may
get temporary rewards but in long run he is
bound to fail.

Kawish: Which one would you grade as the greatest Simple Test
achievement of your life?
MD: What I wanted to achieve, I achieved and it
always has been a great feeling. I feel proud
By Khurram Qureshi
because I contributed towards the development
of rural sector. For me the greatest achievement What if, Allah didn’t bless us today because
is the one which is between you and your God we didn’t take the time to thank Him
only.
yesterday?
Kawish: How is your experience in NIBAF and
SBP? What if, Allah decided to stop leading us
MD: Never ever I thought to be a banker but destiny tomorrow because we didn’t follow him
made me a central banker. As I told earlier, I today?
joined SBP as Director Agriculture Department
there I contributed in rural development. I
What if, Allah didn’t walk with us today
played a vital role in formulation of Micro Credit
Finance Policy Framework. I served in almost all because we failed to recognize it as His
major departments such as, Banking Inspection day?
Department, Banking Supervision Department,
Policy & Regulations Department. Presently, I What if, Allah took away the Qur’an
am in NIBAF. tomorrow because we could not recite It
Kawish: What are the things that need to be improved
today?
in SBP & NIBAF?
MD: SBP has a lot of room to improve. It needs to What if, Allah took away His message
understand market dynamics and at the same because we failed to listen to His
time our job is to provide liquidity in the Messenger?
market. NIBAF needs more human resources.
Even people in SBP prefer to go abroad. This
trend can only be reversed if we have good What if, the door of the Mosque was closed
quality human resources. because we did not open the door of our
heart?
Kawish: What are your expectations from SBOTS-
15th Batch? What if, Allah stopped loving and caring for
MD: I think I have spoken on it. We have very high
us because we failed to love and care for
expectations. Apart from studies, NIBAF
provides you a culture to intermingle with each others?
other. In future very few people in SBP will be
left who are not gone through this applied What if, Allah would not hear us today
training. because we would not listen to Him?
Kawish: At the end, what message you would like to
deliver to youngsters like us?
MD: I want you to prove yourselves. You have
better educational opportunities. Do something
for others. Selfish people live for themselves
while legends live for others. After then we can
be rightly called as a nation.

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 12

Abraham Lincon’s Letter to his Son’s WINNERS VERSUS LOSERS

Headmaster
 The Winner is always part of the
By Nazia Tahir Bodla answer;
The Loser is always part of the
He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all problem.
men are not true, but teach him also that for every  The Winner always has a program;
scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, The Loser always has an excuse.
there is a dedicated leader... Teach him that for every
enemy there is a friend.
 The Winner says, "Let me do it for
you";
It will take time, I know, but teach him, if you can, that a The Loser says, "That is not my job."
dollar earned is of far more value than five found...Teach  The Winner sees an answer for
him to learn to lose...and also to enjoy winning. Steer him every problem;
away from envy, if you can, teach him the secret of quiet The Loser sees a problem for every
laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the answer.
easiest to lick...Teach him, if you can, the wonder of a  When a Winner makes a mistake,
book...but also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal he says, "I was wrong";
mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers
When a Loser makes a mistake, he
on a green hillside.
says, "It wasn't my fault."
In school, teach him it is far more honourable to fail than
to cheat...Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if By Arish Usmani
everyone tells him they are wrong...Teach him to be
gentle with gentle people, and tough with the tough. Try
to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when
everyone is getting on the bandwagon...Teach him to
listen to all men...but teach him also to filter all he hears
on a screen of truth, and take only the good that comes
through.

Teach him, if you can, how to laugh when he is

sad...Teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him to Single Line Below Signature
scoff at cynics and to beware of too much
These persons are very confident
sweetness...Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the
highest bidders, but never to put a price tag on his heart and have good personalities though
and soul. Teach him to close his ears to a howling they are little bit selfish. They believe
mob...and to stand and fight if he thinks he is right. in happiness of human life.

Treat him gently, but do not coddle him, because only the Single Dot Below Signature
test of fire makes fine steel. Let him have the courage to They are more inclined towards
be impatient...let him have the patience to be brave.
classical arts. They are simple and
Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself,
because then he will always have sublime faith in very cool. If you loose faith with
mankind. them, they will never look back to
you. Hence it is always better to be
This is a big order, but see what you can do...He is such a careful with them.
fine little fellow, my son!
Full Name As Signature
They are very kind hearted and can
adjust themselves to any
environment and to any person they
are talking. They are very firm on
their views and possess a lot of will
power.

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 13

FINCONOMICS

__________________________________________________________________________________
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 14

Testing The Evidence On Weak-Form EMH In case of KSE-100, auto-correlation coefficients were
found to be significant at all lags for each of daily, weekly
AT Pakistan Stock Market and monthly series. This was confirmed by the values of
Box-Ljung Statistics which were above significant value.
By Ayaz Aijaz Memon On the basis of runs test, it was observed that the Z-
statistic is negative in all the cases indicating the presence
The efficient market hypothesis has been a major area of of some positive serial correlation among successive price
research in the field of finance and financial markets that changes. Similarly, both autocorrelation and runs tests
is still subject to lot of debate. EMH (Efficient Market clearly concluded for KSE-30 that series is not weak form
Hypothesis) is related to the random walk theory. EMH efficient. Generally, the results for all the sectors and
emphasizes that financial markets are informationally stocks examined have also rejected null hypothesis which
efficient which means prices already reflect all known implies technical analysis can be a useful tool in this
information on traded assets. Thus, it states that it is market as returns are dependent over time and market is
impossible to consistently outperform the market by not weak-form efficient considering all aspects. Thus,
using any information that the market already knows technical analysts may earn superior returns using
except through luck. The three variants of this theory are historical information.
weak-form EMH, semi-strong form EMH and strong form
EMH. The weak form assumes that current stock prices The serial correlation test and the runs test reject the
fully reflect all security market information, including the random walk hypothesis for the whole sample period on
historical sequence of prices, rates of returns, trading average for both indices and selected stocks in different
volume data, etc. This hypothesis assumes that current sectors. The results thus, suggest the presence of both
stock prices already reflect all past returns and any other autocorrelation and dependence in the data. Therefore, it
security market information thus the past returns and refers to rejection of the random walk hypothesis during
other historical market data should have no relationship the entire sample period. It seems that the stock market
with future returns. in Pakistan is not efficient in its weak-form and regulators
and relevant bodies are expected to take reasonable
It is usually believed that markets are found to be measures to improve its efficiency.
efficient in developed economies as compared to
emerging economies. Several studies acknowledge this
statement as these were conducted to examine market
efficiency in such markets. There is mixed evidence on
the theory of EMH so the test in Pakistan Stock Market is
worthwhile to test the efficiency of Karachi Stock
Exchange. Few studies conducted in the context of
Pakistan found the presence of serial dependence in
stock returns but those studies examined the time period
up to the early nineties. Hence, a re-examination of the
Random Walk Hypothesis was needed to cover a more
recent time period in 21st century and applying more
sophisticated tests. Thus, a research was conducted not
Approaches To Life
only to check the weak-form EMH on KSE-100 and KSE-30
Indices as done in several prior studies conducted but has There are two ways of living your life……
also to conduct rigorous tests on individual companies’
stocks representing different market capitalization groups One – That is as though nothing is
divided into eight industry sectors. a miracle.
This study uses the sophisticated statistical tests serial
correlation test and runs test to investigate random walk The other – That is as though every thing is
hypothesis in the Pakistan stock market using daily, a miracle.
weekly and monthly closing prices of the KSE-100 Index,
KSE-30 Index and 24 selected stocks from eight different
sectors for the period from 1 January 2003 to 28 August
2008. The researcher used Box-Ljung statistics to
determine overall combined conclusion on
autocorrelation tests. All the tests suggest dependency of
the aggregate market series KSE-100 and KSE-30 as well
as for all the stocks and sectors that were tested.

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
Micro-Credit
By Naila Afzal
If a healthy seed of a giant tree is planted in a flower-pot,
the tree will be a miniature version of the giant tree. It is
not due to any fault in the seed it is only because the
seed has been denied of the real base to grow on. People
are poor because society has denied them the real social
and economic base to grow on. They are given the
“flower-pots” only to grow on. Micro credit is an effort to
move them from the “flower-pot” to the real soil of
society”. (Younis, (2004))
Nations are categorized as less developed countries
(LDC’s) because of their poverty, weak human resource
and low level of economic diversification. And most of the
614 million people who live in the LDC’s, over one tenth
of the world entire population, survive on less than US$2
a day. So, poverty alleviation is a major concern for all the
developing nations. In the presence of the prevailing
socio, cultural and economic scenario devising a smooth
developmental strategy is very difficult.
Globalisation and world wide geo-political changes have
further aggravated the problem of developmental
measures of the nations struggling to ensure proper pace
of development. After trying an assortment of
methodologies like small loans (collateral based), aids,
subsidies and efforts at job creation most governments
have concluded that the micro finance is conceivably the
best strategy for the elimination of poverty. It becomes
the major tool for improvement of household and as a
developmental measure after its experimentation in a
number of countries. In almost all the developing
countries group based approach through micro finance
has been found highly successful in providing access to
credit to poor people for the sake of improvement in
their household. Another aspect which draws our
attention is worldwide emphases on enhancing
entrepreneurship as a tool for economic development.
The micro credit concept facilitates this effort by
increasing entrepreneurship, though at a very small scale,
but to the potential to adding up to big totals.
Informally, small loans are utilized in almost every society
from antiquity and many governments have provided
cooperatives and subsidized credit for agriculture sector
through agricultural banks. But micro credit as an apt way
for poverty alleviation was introduced in 1970s.
Generally, Dr. Muhammad Younis is regarded as the
pioneer of micro credit program who initiated this in
1976 in a small countryside of Chittagong, but people are
in belief that the real credit should go to Mr Akhtar
Hameed Khan who initiated the Komela Pilot project on
the principle of social spur. The effort which started from
Komela project was proved to be an inspiration for micro
__________________________________________________________________________________
15
finance movement in Bangladesh. Dr. Muhammad Younis
himself admitted this. When Dr. Younis was busy to
establish Grameen Bank in those days many other people
in other countries were busy to commence the same kind
of mania. Firstly, in Latin America two institutes named
FINCA and Accion started the work. In South West Asia
another institute named Bank Rakyat of Indonesia started
giving small loans in rural areas. After this the concept of
micro credit gained much more popularity all over the
world. And now almost in the every country of the world
these micro finance institutions are functioning. From
February 1997, micro credit summit conference was held
and admitted the importance of micro credit.
It is a common apprehension among financial institutions
and commercial banks that poor people are not credit
worthy or bankable. A lot of reasons are given in favour
of this concept. Firstly, these institutions are in opinion
that as poor people have no physical collateral therefore
the loan given to them is technically insecure. Secondly,
poor people have no financial discipline and business
expertise. Thirdly, the atmosphere of developing
countries is not suitable for investment. In such a
competitive environment where large entrepreneurs and
experienced persons have failed how these people with
such small resources will succeed? Fourthly, there is no
legal protection for the business of micro credit because
in group based lending there are no legal limitations
other than personal guarantee. From administrative and
financial point of view the provision of micro credit is not
an easy and profitable venture. As banks operate only on
commercial basis therefore devising a strategy for the
assistance of people belonging to far areas is beyond their
scope and also these institutions are not aware of the
importance of social stimulus.
In Pakistan, the job of giving micro credit was initiated
through rural support program. The very first rural
support program was started in northern area by the
name of Agha Khan Rural Support program (AKRSP). Up
till now more than seven programs are functioning in the
country which include National Rural Support Program,
Sarhad Rural Support Program, Balouchistan Rural
Support Program, Punjab Rural Support Program, Ghazi
Brutha Development Institution and Thardeep
Development Program. Government of Pakistan also
initiated a project under the title of Khushhali Bank which
provides small loans all over the country. Along with this,
another institution named Pakistan Poverty Alleviation
Fund was established with the cooperation of World Bank
which distributes loans through various NGOs.
Dr. Karim (2001) studied two basic problems that are
confronted by the people who opt for taking micro credit.
He is actually trying to analyze whether it is the cost or
availability of credit, which really matters to the man with
very limited means? Along with this he is also trying to
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
convince people that the problem is not the dispensation
of the credit. It is the mobilization of small savings, which
is the core issue. He also discusses the importance of cost
of credit and mobilization of small savings as an
important factor. He comments that it is the availability
of institutional credit in which the borrower is interested
and cost of credit is not the core issue for a poor man.
MFBs (micro finance banks) should keep the interest rate
above the market rate of return because if they will not
charge market rate of return from the users of their funds
they can never pay the market rate of return to the
suppliers of these funds. Pertinent to this, the
mobilization of small savings is also very important in this
regard. Like, Grameen Bank- “without collateral” lending
bank- adds as a prerequisite for the users of its funds to
open a saving account in the bank and also buy a share of
the bank. So by adopting this strategy they ensure
increase in savings implying lesser borrowing from other
sources. So in this way mobilizing small savings can
decrease the cost of credit. One can say that mobilization
of small savings and cost of credit are interlinked.
Credit surveys in the developing countries have generally
noted that non institutional i.e. money lenders, traders,
landlords, and so forth charge interest rates far in excess
of those charged on similar loan by institutional lenders
such as banks. So that micro credit gives opportunity to
poor to avail resources from institutions. Micro credit has
changed the lives of the poor strata of the society. That is
why this concept is gaining much more attention at
international level. Access to the small loans is considered
as a basic human need. After experiencing this strategy in
a number of countries it is evident that government can
not do anything alone. It can only create an environment
conducive for the proper working of these institutions.
The foremost responsibility of the government in this
regard is to provide legal and financial support.
Selective Listening
A medical doctor who was invited as a guest
speaker to address a group of Charsis.He wanted to
make a demonstration that would be powerful
enough to make people realize that chars was
injurious to their health. He had two containers, one
with pure distilled water and one with pure chars. He
put an earthworm into the distilled water and it swam
beautifully and came up to the top. He put another
earthworm into the chars and it disintegrated in front
of everyone's eyes. He wanted to prove that this was
what chars did to the insides of our body. He asked
the group what the moral of the story was and one
person from behind said, "If you take chars you
won't have worms in your stomach." Was that the
message? Of course not. That was selective
listening--we hear
what we want to hear and not what is being said.
__________________________________________________________________________________
16
Population Aging- A Problem?
By Muhammad Zahid
Population aging is relatively new term, introduced in the
last century, when industrial countries observed rapid
growth in their old age population. It happened due to
increased medical and health facilities in these countries,
which increased life expectancy. It was further enhanced
by low birth rate due to fall in fertility. This increase had
severely affected the health and pension system, the
macroeconomic and financial equilibrium, the social set
up and the population structure of these countries.
The phenomenon of population aging can change the
whole demographic structure of the country. Studies
have revealed that the old age dependency ratio
increases in aging countries, the sex ratio which means
number of male per one hundred female also changes.
Most of the time this ratio increases because of high
preference for male offsprings. Korea has experienced
drastic increase in its sex ratio. As the country’s
population ages, the population in the upper strata
(population above median age) increases. So, the number
of people who are in their working age (between 15 to
60) falls, which has several economic consequences.
Labor being one of the basic factors of production is very
important for economic growth. Fall in working
population simply means that there is lesser supply of
labor which impacts the income negatively. On the other
hand, the increasing number of old people who are
economically inactive affects the demand side of the
economy. This segment of the population is either
supported by their kith and kin or by the government. In
other words, it is ultimately the working population who
has to bear the burden. The higher dependency ratio
means there are more mouth to eat than hands to
produce, so the savings in the economy falls. Savings,
which is injected in the economy for economic
development, if falls then there is lesser bank deposits, it
exerts pressure on the interest rates to move up which
discourages investment, consequently the national
income falls.
Both supply and demand shrink and the economy
contracts. So, a lower income country will have lesser tax
collections, there will be lesser development projects and
the cycle continues… This impoverish the standard of
living, low per capita income leaves the population with
the option of less consumption which further pushes the
aggregate demand downward. Here the problem of
demand deficient unemployment emerges… again a
phase of vicious circle of poverty.
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
Apart from affecting the above mentioned economic
variables, population aging changes the production
pattern of a country. A higher old age population will
increase the demand for goods and services used by
them. Hence more resources are allocated to produce
such commodities. The production of wheel chairs
increases at the cost of Bicycles, the pharmaceutical
industry grows at the expense of beverage industry, the
old age homes increase at the cost of schools. So, it not
only affects the macroeconomic condition of a country
but also changes the whole production pattern.
How different companies were christened?
By Farhan Shaukat
Xerox
The Greek root “Xer” means dry. The inventor Chestor
Carlson named his product Xerox as it was dry copying
markedly different from the then prevailing wet copying.
Motorola
Founder Paul Galvin came up with the name when his
company started manufacturing radios for cars. The
popular radio company at that time was called Victorola.
Microsoft
It was coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that
was devoted to Micro computer Software. Originally
christened Micro-Soft, the hyphen was removed later on.
Intel
Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore wanted to name their new
company “ Moore Noyce” but that was already
trademarked by a hotel chain, so they had to settle on
acronym of Integrated Electronics.
Apple Computers
Favourite fruit of the founder Stone Jobs, he was three
month late in filling a name for the business and he
threatened to call his company Apple Computers if the
other colleagues didn’t suggest a better name by 5 o’
clock!
Hewlett Packard
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide
whether their company they founded would be called “
Hewlett Packard” or “ Packard Hewlett”.
By Muhammad Omer Khan
__________________________________________________________________________________
17
Women Entrepreneurs:
Barriers To Invest In Medium Level
Enterprises Faced By Women Investors In
Pakistan
By Warda Saleem
Advancement in education and technology has
revolutionized the face of the world. But for women who
are vital part of human society the situation is indifferent.
They are still facing the challenges today while
establishing their own identity in the society.
Despite the facts that women all over the world are the
victims of the issues like gender discrimination, inequality
of opportunities, socio-cultural and socio-economic
constraints, the number of women starting their own
businesses is growing. It can be clearly observed that ratio
of women entrepreneurs upgrading their micro or small
level businesses to the medium level is extremely low.
Women entrepreneurs are hesitant to grow their
enterprises though some of them are reasonably growth-
oriented. This is the area which rapidly grasped attention
in order to make the efforts to promote the role of
women entrepreneurs in the growth of the national
economy.
A survey of business preferences of the Pakistani women
clearly shows the clusters, naturally formed as the result
of the limited expertise in the few segments. We can
easily find out that there are the few clusters of business
fields that are preferred by women and they like to invest
only in these segments. The basis for creation of this
cluster is actually concentration of the capabilities in
those areas. But we see that no initiative has been taken
to break this restriction and engaging the women in other
sectors of the industry. Encouraging women to invest in
variety of fields can be a better formula for rapid growth
of economy and competition and will provide the
enhanced investment prospects.
Mrs. Fatemeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, Secretary General
Women’s Solidarity Association of Iran (WASI) (2006)
addressing the inaugural ceremony said “organizational
constraints are for both male and female, but it is much
more pronounced for women, because of their lower
presence in economic arenas, especially at senior
management levels.”
The major areas to be focused in Pakistan are barriers to
invest or upgrade their businesses to medium level
enterprises faced by the women entrepreneurs in
Pakistan. The problems faced by the women
entrepreneurs when they come to set up new business or
upgrade their businesses to the medium level enterprise
are the main topic of discussion. This research provides
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 18

the broad picture of business environment for women in up their skills. Cosmetic measures must be replaced by
Pakistan-a developing country of third world. The aim of pragmatic undertakings.
research is to study current business scenario and future
prospects not only for women who are willing to start These prospective women entrepreneurs though backed
their own businesses but also for the prospective by their families also need staunch support from society,
entrepreneurs. private sector and government alike to expand their
emphatic role they play in country’s economy building.
The studies conducted in the various south Asian
countries like Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and many of the
African poor and developing countries like Ethiopia
provides evidence that the business circumstances of Dealing With People
third world developing countries are quite similar. The
focus is this thesis is to find out the reasons that why As a young Scots boy, Andrew
women of third world country like Pakistan, are hesitant
Carnegie came to America and
to promote their currently small enterprises to medium
level. started doing odd jobs. He ended up
as one of the largest steel
Areas focused were: manufacturers in the United States.
 Investment patterns of women in Pakistan. At one time he had 43 millionaires
 Barriers to invest at medium level and in new
business opportunities. Or we can say that why
working for him. Several decades
women are hesitant to explore new investment ago, a million dollars used to be a lot
opportunities. of money; even today it is a lot of
 Available financial resources and the accessibility of money. Someone asked Mr.
women to those resources. Carnegie how he dealt with people?
 Impact of sex-segregation and investment in clusters Andrew Carnegie replied, "Dealing
by women on economic growth of the developing
countries. (But this will be touched in brief).
with people is like digging gold:
 Relationship of women empowerment and the risk When you go digging for an ounce of
taking behavior. Risk taking behavior in women gold, you have to move tons of dirt to
depends on the empowerment. get an ounce of gold. But when you
go digging, you don't go looking for
Research showed that besides the precariousness
the dirt, you go looking for the gold."
prevailing thick for women entrepreneurs, they are not
thin on courage. What most of them only need is firm
support from society and concerned government
institutions, which is meagre in current circumstances
because no proper framework has been drawn by
government and private sector to educate, train and Courage
financially support women entrepreneurs thus nipping
the growth of potential and courageous business women
in the bud. So theses resource starved women
entrepreneurs are not in a position to take risk regarding
And so in the strife of the battle of life
their business expansion. It’s easy to fight when you’re winning,
The need of hour is to take certain practical steps to It’s easy to slave and starve and be brave
ensure growth of these business women. These steps When the dawn of success is beginning,
may include scrutinizing the current infrastructure so that
funds if any issued by government and NGOs to cater
problems of these women may be delivered to the right
place. Moreover, soft loans through financial institutions But the man who can meet despair and defeat
may be arranged by government. Besides providing With a cheer, there’s a man of God’s choosing,
sufficient financial support, effective training and skill-up The man who can fight to heaven’s own height
gradation programs may be conducted on frequent basis Is the man who can fight when he’s losing!
so that maximum number of women working in their
respective fields may get through this process and polish

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
Save It!
By Kashif Muhammad Taufiq
“Don’t save what is left after spending. But, spend what is
left after saving.”
Warren Buffet
Getting your first job with a handsome salary package and
fringe benefits brings independence in your life style.
Though it is very good to be independent and able to
finance your own consumption, however, it is not wise to
spend the entire amount, instead saving some would
serve you better in future. When the money starts
flowing into one’s bank account with an assuredness that
the process will continue to happen for the next few
years, an urge to spend spurs up. People would go for
buying a new high-end mobile phone, lease a new car,
purchase some expensive brand suits, and add some
unnecessary ‘luxuries’ to their everyday life. Spending
bucks gives you short-term fulfilment, but saving a small
portion of your earnings keeps you satisfied for the rainy
days. Importantly, saving not only ensures your future,
but it could supplement your current income by
generating a certain return over the amount saved.
Though it is sensible to start saving at a relatively younger
age, but selecting the right avenues to invest counts a lot.
There are several avenues such as stock market,
government bonds, mutual funds etc.
Stock Market:
The return on investment in the stock market is fairly
higher compared to the other investment avenues.
However, the chances of losing a fortune also persist.
Government Bonds
The government bonds provide a safer heaven to the
investors. These are mainly uniform investments where
you receive returns twice a year. There are no chances of
default and your principal amount is secure.
Mutual Funds:
There are several products introduced by different
mutual funds houses. They invest in stocks where risk and
return are positively correlated to each other. Fixed
income products deal in money market and other long
term debt instruments. Even there are Islamic mutual
funds products which also cater to a certain segment of
the market.
The investment decision depends on individual itself. It is
better to start saving a small portion of your income and
be consistent in saving; this will serve as insurance for
tomorrow. Happy saving.
__________________________________________________________________________________
19
Algorithm;
An analogy to problem
solving
By Arrooj Sultana
Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (Baghdad, c. 780-
850) -a renowned Muslim mathematician and
astronomer- Latinized versions of his name and of his
most famous book title “Live on in the Terms Algorithm
and Algebra”. In the 12th century his work introduced
Hindu-Arabic numerals and their arithmetic to the West.
It is preserved only in a Latin translation, Algoritmi de
numero Indorum (“Al-Khwārizmī Concerning the Hindu
Art of Reckoning”). The term algorithm originated from
the name of the author rendered in Latin as “algoritmi”.
In modern days the concept of Algorithm is taken as
synonym to problem-solving procedure, that is, a logical
step-by-step procedure for solving a mathematical
problem in a finite number of steps, often involving
repetition of the same basic operation. For questions or
problems with only a finite set of cases or values an
algorithm always exists (at least in principle); it consists of
a table of values of the answers.
Using inductive method of reasoning, aforesaid approach
can be generalized to solve and sort out tribulations that
we face in our life. Once I was reading a book on
philosophy where the wise writer very beautifully led to
the conclusion that when someone ends up in troubled
waters should not go crazy at once but should see things
in a sequential logical manner. He or she should sort out
the gigantic problem into a set of smaller problems and
then deal with small problems one by one without loosing
sanity.
Same holds for completing work assignments of critical
and colossal nature that the assignee should not create a
mess by start working haphazardly but segregate the task
into a series of smaller tasks and targets. The targets then
can be worked out in a pre planned timeframe solely or
by a team matrix.
This is one of the most valuable lessons that I have learnt
so far in my life and I believe, if practiced, can make one’s
life a lot easier. It is always a good idea to chalk out the
“things to do” on our life/office planner. Last but not the
least, I remember another quote that, “a wise man is the
one who when faced with a situation, promptly thinks of
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
the plausible ways to deal with it that a foolish man
thinks after days of whining, complaining and suffering.”
Think about it!!!
Glass - -Half Empty, Half Full
By Sohail Khan
If you can extend the debate as to whether
the glass is half-full, half-empty, you may
receive laconic replies depending upon the
nature and educational background of the
speakers.
The optimist says the glass is half full.
The pessimist says the glass is half empty.
The project manager/engineer says the glass
is twice as big as it needs to be.
The realist says the glass contains half the
required amount of liquid for it to overflow.
The professional trainer does not care if the
glass is half full or half empty, he just knows
that starting the discussion will give him ten
minutes to figure out why his PowerPoint
presentation is not working.
The entrepreneur sees the glass
undervalued by half its potential.
The computer specialist says that next year
the glass capacity will double, be half the
price, but cost you 50% more for me to give
you the answer.
The consultant says let's examine the
question, prepare a strategy for an answer,
and all for a daily rate of...
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20
Attitude Matters!
By Muhammad Umar Khan
There was a farmer in District Swabi who was happy and
content. He was happy because he was content. He was
content because he was happy. One day a wise man came
to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the
power that goes along with them. The wise man said, "If
you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could
have your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your
fist, you could probably own your own country." And then
he went away. That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He
was unhappy and he was discontent. He was unhappy
because he was discontent and discontent because he
was unhappy.
The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his
farm, took care of his family and went in search of
diamonds. He looked all over NWFP and couldn't find any.
He looked all through Europe and couldn't find any. When
he got to Spain, he was emotionally, physically and
financially broken. He got so disheartened that he threw
himself into the Barcelona River and committed suicide.
Back home, the person who had bought his farm was
watering the camels at a stream that ran through the
farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a
stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it
would look good on the mantle piece. He picked up the
stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the
wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, "Is
Hafiz back?" The new owner said, "No, why do you ask?"
The wise man said, "Because that is a diamond. I
recognize one when I see one." The man said, no, that's
just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I'll show
you. There are many more." They went and picked some
samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the
stones were diamonds.
They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres
as and acres of diamonds.
What is the moral of this story?
 When our attitude is right, we realize that we
are all walking on acres and acres of diamonds.
 Opportunity is always under our feet. We don't
have to go anywhere. All we need to do is
recognize it.
 The grass on the other side always looks
greener. While we are dyeing the grass on the
other side, there are others who are dyeing the
grass on our side.They would be happy to trade
places with us.
 The same opportunity never knocks twice. The
next one may be better or worse, but it is never
the same one.
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
Fitting In Corporate Environment
By Azhar Ali Shahani
So people, now you all are ready to take on the ride of
central banking. You 've spent approximately the last
seventeen years sitting in a classroom absorbing bits of
knowledge. Now we shall be out of NIBAF and ready to
taste ‘real’ job (not inflation adjusted though). For most
of you it is going to be your first job and time to start a
brand new phase of your life. Being the new person on
the job can feel like being the new kid at school. You want
to fit in and be liked by your co-workers (the students)
and your boss (the teacher) while feeling at home in your
new environment. There are no formal exams, but don't
ever forget -- you are being tested; everyday. The results
come, not in report cards, but in performance reviews.
Always remember to do your best; you are being
watched.
One of the key ways to fit in is by understanding and
adapting to the company’s culture. Every company
operates differently—has its own quirky ways of doing
things and rules that reflect the beliefs of the higher-ups.
You may find that some companies will take some getting
used to while others will automatically feel welcoming
and safe. How fast you learn to operate within your
company’s culture will dictate how fast you’ll fit into the
company itself.
Here are some rules and tips that will help you get
acclimated to the world of work.
Punctuality
The most important thing at workplace is punctuality,
especially for the new comers. Punctuality reflects one’s
dedication to her/his duties and responsibilities in
particular and the company in general. Always arrive at
work on time, if not a little early. Stick to your lunch
hour... and if you are particularly busy, eat at your desk or
come back early. Do not leave your desk unnecessarily for
prolonged period. Avoid chatting with your batch mates
as well.
Listen and Observe
While innovation is a good thing, it is important to be
mindful of dynamics of the workplace. If you are entering
an environment where routines are already in place, a
newcomer walking in and talking about "better ways" to
do things, will often be met with negative reactions.
Why? First, you know nothing about why they do things
the way they do. Second, you haven't gained the trust of
your co-workers. Finally, people, by nature, are
threatened by change. By listening and observing, you will
gain a lot. You will learn about the environment of which
you are now a part. You will find out about the people
you are working with. You may save yourself from making
__________________________________________________________________________________
21
a major, public mistake -- you are the new kid on the
block while your co-workers have been around for longer
period of time. Learn from their collective experience.
Mind Your Manners
People may not remember your politeness, but they
certainly will remember rude behaviour. You don't know
your co-workers' personalities well enough to know what
reactions these jokes and stories will engender. Do not
use company email to forward jokes to your friends --
they can easily wind up in the wrong hands. Please and
thank you should still be the magic words. Always knock
before you enter. Answer the telephone politely, even if
the call is internal.
Keep Your Ear to the Grapevine but don't contribute to it.
The grapevine should be considered the unofficial office
newsletter. It is important to pay attention to what is
being said. You can gain valuable insight into office
dynamics, co-worker's personalities, and whom to stay
away from on a particular day. It is more important not to
contribute to the grapevine. And remember how small a
world it truly is. Your reputation can follow you for years
to come.
Ask
Don't afraid to ask questions. If you are assigned a project
and are not sure how it should be completed, ask. It's
better to ask before the project is due, than to have it
delayed because it was done incorrectly.
Making a Mistake at Work
Everyone makes mistakes, they say. Usually you can
correct your error or just forget about it and move on.
Making a mistake at work, however, can be more serious.
It may cause problems for your employer and even affect
the company's bottom line. Repercussions will ultimately
trickle down to you.
Admit Your Mistake
Tell your boss about your mistake immediately. The only
exception is if you make an insignificant error that will not
affect anyone. Otherwise, don't try to hide your mistake.
You will look terrible if someone else discovers it.
Present Your Boss With A Plan To Fix Your Mistake
When you go to your boss to confess your mistake, you
must have a plan for correcting it. Present your plan
clearly. Tell how long it will take to implement your plan
and if there are any costs involved.
Don't Blame Anyone Else For Your Mistake Pointing
fingers won't help anyone if you make a mistake.
Encourage those who may share responsibility to follow
your lead in confessing to your boss.
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
Apologize For Your Mistake But Don't Beat Yourself Up
There's a big difference between admitting your mistake
and beating yourself up about it. Take responsibility but
don't berate yourself for making it, especially in public.
Correct Your Mistake on Your Own Time
If you have to spend extra hours at work to correct your
mistake, don't expect to be paid for that time. You can
also use your lunch hour or come to work early.
Jo John, a woodcutter, worked for a
company for five years but never got
a raise. The company hired Bill and
within a year he got a raise. This
caused resentment in John and he
went to his boss to talk about it. The
boss said, "You are still cutting the
same number of trees you were
cutting five years ago. We are a
result-oriented company and would
be happy to give you a raise if your
productivity goes up." John went
back, started hitting harder and
putting in longer hours but he still
wasn't able to cut more trees. He
went back to his boss and told him
his dilemma. The boss told John to
go talk to Bill. "Maybe there is
something Bill knows that you and l
don't." John asked Bill how he
managed to cut more trees. Bill
answered, "After every tree l cut, l
take a break for two minutes and
sharpen my axe. When was the last
time you sharpened your axe?" This
question hit him like a bullet and John
got his answer.
__________________________________________________________________________________
22
Groom yourself…professionally
By Ravi Kumar
Grooming is the art of cleaning and maintaining parts of
body. When we put two words together profession and
grooming it simply states how one looks and behaves at
work place. What are ones’ manners, etiquettes,
communication skills and attitude towards people around
work place. How you present yourself at your job is very
important, as well as critical because your personality
presentation develops your image in mind of your
colleagues and you will always be recognized by that
image.
Professional Grooming encompasses the aspects of
personal development as well as career development. An
individual is considered to be well mannered, well
presented and well identified in terms of his expertise.
Because we live in the world which is more of “Seeing is
Believing” which means you are observed even analysed
and perceived in the very first sight. Professionals
nowadays need to do a lot more than developing their
knowledge and skills; they need to develop their
personality and looks.
Here are some details that people may not think too
much about them but do affect your image greatly. Many
little details put together become a general picture about
a person - whether a person is powerful, wealthy,
spiritual, or not.
= Let's start with;
Nose
Make sure the nostrils are clean before you step out of
the door. If you have allergies, keep tissues and a pocket
mirror with you always. If you do so, people and
especially your clients consider you as a very neat and
tidy person, who is well aware of not only of his personal
hygiene, but also considerate about others health.
Facial Hair:
It is fine for men to have facial hair, as long as the hair are
neatly trimmed, and free of debris. Make sure they are of
a shape that complements the face. Think about the
message your hair re communicating. Facial hair on a
woman, however, are not a pleasant sight, as it is not
associated with being feminine. You want people to see
you and listen to you, not distracted by your hair.
Dress Color
First, consider the message of colors. The more
conservative or formal your industry is, the more neutral
the color of your outfit should be. Neutral colors are
black, grey, white, beige, and brown. Blue is also
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
considered a "neutral" color in this sense, because it
conveys trust. On the other hand, the more creative your
industry is, the more color options you have. For
conservative industries, keep your hair and make up neat
and neutral. It doesn't mean not to style the hair or not
putting on make up.
= What you wear reveals eight things about you;
Self-Esteem
How you dress is your love of self-made tangible to the
world. When you wear ill-fitting, soiled, torn, tattered
clothing, it can make others aware of a poor sense of self-
worth. What people see on the outside lets them know
you feel about yourself on the inside. Image is the tip of
the iceberg, yet it adds immeasurably to helping people
understand what is going on inside you.
Self-Respect
How you wear it and what you choose to wear show
others how much you respect yourself. Those who
respect themselves know how to dress to emphasize
strengths and minimize body flaws. Respect for women
who wear ill-fitted clothes becomes less and so for men
who wear long pants with too short ties, spot jeans with
holes; and anyone who gains weight and then wears
clothes that used to fit.
Confidence
The way you carry yourself contributes greatly to the air
of confidence others perceive. What you wear also
contributes to that look of confidence. Your goal is to
create an aura of confidence and assuredness when you
walk into a room. Make sure your clothing contributes its
part!
Organizational Skills
Even people who don't like to file or plan the details of an
event need to appear organized in their clothing color
and style choices. You want to create a unified look from
head to foot, without calling attention to any one item or
color. Recruiters use appearance to judge organizational
skills. If they know where the potential employee parked,
they may send someone to walk around the car to see if it
looks clean and orderly ... or if it resembles the refuse bin
for a fast-food restaurant or the repository for a week's
clothing that needs to be taken to the cleaners.
Soundness of Judgement
Knowing and wearing the right outfit for the right
occasion is an important indicator of whether you can
make the right decisions at work, too.
Attention To Detail
About 90 percent of your body is clothed in business - the
remaining 10 percent of your impression is made through
your grooming and includes manicured nails, trimmed
__________________________________________________________________________________
23
moustache and beard, lack of a 5 o'clock shadow, neat
and attractive hair style and the right amount of makeup
and jewellery that can be seen and not heard.
Creativity
While some jobs allow more creative expressions than
others, all of them permit you to individualize at least a
bit. Express your uniqueness through a special tie and
matching hankie, a scarf or a special or exquisite piece of
jewellery. Maybe your mark will become the special way
you tie a scarf or how you find just the right one to
complement or coordinate with your suit and blouse, or
maybe a pair of cuff links that looks expensive yet
apropos for your important meeting.
Reliability
The sum of the above adds up to how reliable you are,
from the big picture to the details. Can you be counted on
to look and behave in a professional manner wherever
your job takes you.
Professional Grooming is must for all the entrants; it
reflects not only your personal development but also
presents a fair picture of your professional development.
Focusing on this will let you excel in your efforts to avail
growing opportunities and be compatible with the
dynamic requirements of the Market.
Your Are A SBOTIAN When…
 You hate chicken and daal.
 You learn how to yawn without opening mouth.
 You know how to sleep with eyes open.
 Your concentration span is inversely proportional to lecture
duration.
 Getting a sixty percent in an exam gives you nightmares.
 You heavily indulge in activities like passing notes and sms.
 You fight with the guard to let you in after 11:00 pm.
 playing table-tennis after 10:00 pm becomes a norm/
 You start calling cash as ‘kayssh.”
 You have a short-term memory loss.
 You speak in the mike without any purpose.
 Namaz-e-Asr is the most awaited prayer.
 The lecture sounds Latin after lunch.
 Taking short mid-breaks during class move you to a higher
indifference curve.
 You dream of joining BID department.
 You are forced to break away from your dearest friends.
 All your accrued expenses become bad debts.
 You are on the watch out when Sir Waseem leaves the
class.
 You constantly complain about the rigorous training
methods.
 You love and hate NIBAF simultaneously.
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 24

Reflections

__________________________________________________________________________________
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
NIBAF Through My Eyes
By Farah Azhar.
26th of September, 2009 is one of those days that would
remain etched in my mind for years to come. It was the
day when I left comfort of my home and decided to step
out in the unsheltered territory. I never knew what made
me take that decision, maybe some evil forces wanted to
turn my world topsy-turvy or may be it was that stubborn
pull of fate that I could not resist. Hence, 26th of
September was the day when I joined NIBAF as a SBOTS
trainee.
I vividly recall that monstrous uninviting grey building
that terrorized me. This would be my abode for the next
five months and, furthermore, to make matters worse,
we were told that we were going to share our rooms. The
word ‘room-mate’ stung to me like a viper’s venom and I
tried to digest this fact but failed miserably. I, being the
only daughter was not used to share anything and always
had my due privacy (imagine sharing a room). I was single
and blessed but now I would be single and sharing a room
with Ms XYZ(how weird could that be). The rooms were
small and the cup-boards were umm ……no comments!
Furthermore, we absorbed various room-mate stories
that floated in NIBAF. Some liked to sleep with the fan on
in the winters while others liked to listen to qawalis or
drink milk after mid-night. Some never used to wash their
socks, hence, giving a natural odour to the air around
them. Some were cleanliness freaks while others believed
that messy room brought them good luck (it only brought
more cockroaches). And some snored like a beast. Some
would leave their fungus-filled food containers in other’s
rooms and these were more than enough to kill one’s
enemy. Alas! I only wished I could somehow shift NIBAF
to Lahore.
Orientation day was quite motivating as Dr Omer and
Managing Director, FNIBAF made inspirational speeches.
Many dreams and hopes glittered in our eyes and every
one made a silent resolution in their hearts to work hard.
It is a time-tested phenomenon that one can never follow
their resolution and, hence, it was proved that this was
hundred percent true. Studies and hard-work were two
words that remained alien to our entire batch.
The training hall was spacious and was equipped with
state-of- art-facilities. Many of the boys were really
excited to find microphones on their tables and would
use it for all other purposes except educational ones.
Hence, during these five months, we heard different
sounds like horse’s neighing, baby’s crying and licking
sounds etc and not to mention all the weird songs
possible. The most inhuman behaviour that was expected
from these fifty-eight humans was to sit on one chair
from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and to listen to one trainer the
__________________________________________________________________________________
25
entire day. Hence, switching seats and frequently going
out of the class to drink water became our favourite
activity. Knowledge indeed makes you thirstier! Smokers
would assemble at the “soota corner”, a.k.a “soota
bridge”, which was towards the end of the bridge. I used
to question my friends why they would smoke so much to
which they would reply that their mission was to burn all
the cigarettes on earth by smoking as many cigarettes as
they could.
The concentration span remained inversely proportional
to the class duration. Hence, many of us mastered the art
of sleeping while staying awake and convincing the
instructor that we indeed were paying attention. Every
other day we witnessed new trainers with their new
training styles. These trainers had a knack of putting us to
sleep faster than a hypnotist. NIBAF was definitely the
advocate of the notion that variety is indeed the spice of
life. To kill class boredom, surveys became a very popular
activity and all types of surveys ranging from the most
irritating to the most handsome were conducted within
those walls of the training room. If this was an insufficient
remedy for boredom, we would pass notes in the class
incessantly, give spout and toffees like butterscotch and
so we found various exciting ways to pass our time. While
indulging in these activities, some of the lecture would
filter in and settle in our grey matter but most of it
remained suspended in our minds. There were times
when our saturated brains refused to accept more inflow
of knowledge and so we would start muttering among
ourselves or start noticing how many times an instructor
uses a particular word, for example, “jo haay.” Various
words and slogans became popular in our class like, ‘ eid
ha kiya,” “ intahai munaasib,” ‘ kayysh,” “zaroori,” “ki
banya,” ‘ ani macha di,’ “bro and dude’ etc. Although they
were normal words, being spoken in different styles
made them sound catchy. Then there were those nerds of
our class that used to bombard the trainers with their
questions and would listen to each and every word as if it
was from Bible. Oh! How can I forget those name plates
that were our prized possessions? The creative artists of
our class displayed their skills by decorating these name
plates with art, smokey-art and adding funny captions like
Barood Sultana, Ravi Kumar Sanu etc.
NIBAF’s rigorous training acquainted us with new
sensations and experiences-exam fever, jittery nerves,
restlessness and insomnia. Sleep that was once my
constant companion eluded me. Weekly exams and the
fear of failure gave all of us (especially girls) nightmares,
white-hair and extra pounds. Nature was a testament to
our perennial anguish and the torture that we were
subjected to and hence it decided to rock NIBAF in form
of an earth-quake one fine night. However, to our
disappointment the building remained intact. I never
understood the need for exams but what left me
completely dumb-founded was the routine of displaying
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
one’s marks on the board- a practice that was unknown
to me in the past. I sheepishly used to look up at that
board and hunt for my name and ran away. However,
most of us were more interested in memorizing other
trainees’ marks. Exams also gave us the opportunity of
making new friends in that dreaded examination hall. We
talked (for the first time) with many of those sitting
behind and in front of us in that examination hall. After
all, man is a social animal.
To keep ourselves alive, we would go to the dining room
in the basement and feed our empty stomachs. During
our first week at NIBAF, we felt royal as we were served
chicken, daal, dessert, green tea etc but as wise men say
don’t make inferences that quickly. It was observed that a
strong correlation exists between chicken and daal for
they were always cooked together and almost every
other day. We used to wonder why we were made to eat
chicken everyday; may be, NIBAF got Chicken at a
relatively low cost or may be they had collected all the
dead chickens during bird-flu episode or may be the Cook
was a sadist who was beaten up by his wife everyday so
this was his only form of revenge. So food was all about
chickens and eggs. Vegetarians could have sued NIBAF for
slaughtering so many poor hens. No matter how bad the
food was, surprisingly, no one died and no one suffered
from gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.
NIBAF was not only about hens and exams but about
celebrations as well. Many birthdays, real and fake ones
were celebrated. Late night movies, Rahat’s pizza and
cake and songs from our budding musicians made the
occasions more festive. The bonfire night was a
memorable one and the boys stole the event. Their
traditional dances, songs and the scrumptious barbecue
food made it a golden memory. NIBAF, also, arranged
various trips to places like Murree, Patriatta,Ayubia,
Saidpur, Khanpur, Manal etc. Hence, we experienced
many utopian moments like having “pakoras” in that
frigid weather, chair-lifts, cable cars, singing crazy songs
in the car, balloon shooting, lunch at Usmania, taking
funny pictures in Murree and Patriatta. My most
memorable trip was the trip to Peer Sohawa and Manal
Restaurant. Standing on top of the world, the entire city
scintillated like thousand jewels studded in black velvet.
The moment put me in a trance but I was brought back to
the real world by the mouth-watering smell of cheese
naan, soup and “gola kabaabs.” Heaven. Another
refreshing trip was a tour to Taxila and Khanpur Dam. I
will not go on describing the scenic beauty of that place
but would surely mention on how we feasted on those
oranges fresh from the garden and the sun set on our
way back to NIBAF and I will never forget that my friends
left me sulking near a sewage canal as they made their
way to the shrine of a saint in Hassan Abdal. Words have
their limitations and so I feel that I won’t be doing justice
to those picturesque places by just translating them into
__________________________________________________________________________________
26
mere fancy words. However, in short, I have fallen in love
with Islamabad and those hill-stations.
As this training comes to an end, I am hit by nostalgia. It
just seems yesterday when Sir Waseem threatened all of
us not to do anything stupid because we are being viewed
through twenty-six cameras at NIBAF. I never understood
why he thought that we were always up to some mischief
and that the forty five boys were vandals (although
breaking glasses, beds, and window glass etc doesn’t
term them as a vandal). During these five months, Sir
Waseem remained compose, strict, kind and highly
patient as he dealt with fifty eight brats. He remained
honest and dedicated with his work even appearing on
Sundays. I, truly, salute him for his efforts and being so
paternalistic and pampering all of us. He made NIBAF a
home for us.
No matter how much we hated NIBAF, we loved it more.
A perplexing emotion that remains inexplicable. Leaving
this place will be like leaving a part of me behind. As we
enter into the adult (read: professional) world, we have
to leave that kid behind. It is a part of growing up-the
painful part but it is mandatory as life has to go on. I
would fondly want to be called “stupid and ignorant like a
baby” than be called an adult. If adults are so wise and
revered upon, then why is this world not a better place?
Leaving this philosophy behind, I would want to take a
moment and thank NIBAF-my den for past five months. It
threw many challenges at me-which I learnt I had to
overcome to move ahead. It has taught me that there is
much to learn outside the walls of the classrooms. In
short, NIBAF has helped mould my life and I will surely
miss it from the core of my heart.
“When I look back now,
the summer seemed to last forever
and If I had a choice,
yeh I wud wana be there,
those were the best days of my life.”
(Bryan Adams).
There is a story about an ancient Indian
sage who was called ugly names by a
passer by. The sage listened unperturbed
till the man ran out of words. He asked
the man, "If an offering is not accepted,
who does it belong to?" The man replied,
"It belongs to the person who offered it."
The sage said, "I refuse to accept your
offering," and walked away, leaving the
man dazed. The sage was internally
driven.
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 27

Pleasant, Painful Thoughts as it was already half past eight and the lecture must had
started, and left towards the academic block in a hurry.
By Shah Zeeshan Rafiq
Looking at his cigarette, that he knew, would take
another two minutes, he concluded that he could not
He was finding it difficult to hold on to the cigarette
recall any such moment or decision that had turned out
between his lips as the wind was blowing hard across
to be the right one for him. He felt a pang in his heart as
him. So he turned his back to the wind and started
he realized that, never in his life had he either taken a
thinking about the wind. In his mind he wanted to have a
right decision or he had been successful. But the pain
definite opinion about the wind. Despite of feeling a chill
didn’t last long as he had already started thinking about
running down his spine, a smile appeared on his lips as he
the plans that he had made for his future. Although he
just discovered that he felt the chilling wind to be
always made a new plan for the future, with every
pleasant. But he couldn’t find a reason for liking the hard
passing he felt embarrassed. He couldn’t make a new one
blowing cold wind.
at this moment suiting the occasion of cold wind blowing
across him, which gave him a sense of joy.
Within seconds, his thoughts wandered like a wild horse,
as in all his life he had never been able to concentrate on
The burning filter of the cigarette woke him up from his
a single point, which he wished to think of. At this
thoughts, and he threw it down. As he looked at the
particular moment, he was thinking of the ordeal that he
signboard showing university in the opposite direction of
would have to go through in the next six hours. He had
where he was walking, he cursed himself for getting up so
shown up at the university after an absence of one week,
early for nothing, but just to torment himself. He lit
and he was cursing himself for not being able to extend it.
another cigarette and decided against going through the
torture of the lectures for next six hours; rather he
Having the last puff of cigarette, he thought, “that’s it
decided to find solace in his pleasant painful thoughts,
now, I have to go inside and sit like a fool in the lecture
while wandering in the nearest neighbourhood.
hall, listening to the professors, who never seem to know
that I am not listening to them”.

He had a curious nature as since childhood, as he asked There was a hunter who bought a bird dog,
questions to understand things. But, only he knew that he
the only one of its kind in the world. That
had never learnt anything in his life. Looking at his watch,
he took out another cigarette and lit it, as he was really could walk on water. He couldn't believe his
enjoying the thoughts that were troubling him. He always
eyes when he saw this miracle. At the same
loved feeling miserably, and he was very well aware of
the fact that this trait was responsible for all the mess time, he was very pleased that he could show
that was in his life.
off his new acquisition to his friends.
He tried to think of a moment in his life when he had
been really pleased with himself or of a decision that he
He invited a friend to go duck hunting. After
had made, that had turned out to be a right one. The
wind had started blowing harder, forced him to zip up his some time, they shot a few ducks and the
jacket. He thought for a second about the colour of his
man ordered his dog to run and fetch the
jacket, that to his embarrassment was dark green, but
soon he forgot about the embarrassing colour of his birds. All day-long, the dog ran on water and
jacket and felt proud of it as it provided him shelter kept fetching the birds. The owner was
against the chilling wind. Also, he came up with a saying
of his own, that, “we wear something nowadays because expecting a comment or a compliment about
it’s necessary to do so, as the primitive man didn’t wear his amazing dog, but never got one. As they
anything and he still survived (although he survived much
shorter than we do)”. were returning home, he asked his friend if he
had noticed anything unusual about his dog.
With the next puff of cigarette his thought had wandered
off as well. He wanted to think of the young merchant The friend replied, "Yes, in fact, I did notice
from whom he had bought the jacket, but at the moment
something unusual. Your dog can't swim."
he saw Zafar coming. He frowned to see Zafar, as he
knew that exchanging pleasantries with him would drive
him out of his thoughts that were felt so soothing to him.
Shaking hands with him, Zafar reminded him to be quick
__________________________________________________________________________________
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 28

The Most Profitable Mistake with happy results for everyone. I would better not
comment on modules of Audit and especially
Development Finance not because I wasn’t able to
By Muhammad Ejaz
achieve good result rather for reasons very peculiar. Since
I am not an Ikanamist(economist) therefore, there is no
As the 131 days of long training of SBOTS-15 is near to an
point discussing the Pak Economy Module, MPM and FX
end, I sit down in my room trying to jot down my
Modules. They are the ones I liked least and I am sure
experiences. Let’s see what I as a trainee learnt during my
everyone else would agree.
4 months and 8 days stay at NIBAF.
Apart from experiences within training hall, the
NIBAF, as I had been told on the very first day, is the
experiences outside training hall were not very bad
premier institution that aims to impart the best banking
either. We visited a number of Desi places, to name few
knowledge, and that certainly raised my expectations
Saidpur Village, Taxila, Khan Poor Dam, Panja Sab, Rawal
from NIBAF. The ground reality was nothing different.
Dam etc.
After being welcomed officially by the Director Academics
and Managing Director NIBAF, we were given the detailed
Since this article has to be put up for the approval at
schedule of what lay ahead for us.
editor’s desk so I better take my pen off the paper but
before that I would like to tell exactly what my experience
The first module was business communication. Most of
as a whole was…
the trainers were from Air University (honestly speaking, I
had never heard of this university before). And they were
The first question that grew in my mind when I sat to
quite good at delivering the stuff with innovative
write down this article was that how was this training
procedures. Next came the Accounting module. I was
different from the education that I had been getting
among those trainees who had never taken accounting
during my university days? Well, perhaps the purpose of
course during their education, and it happened to be no
the education at university was to gain knowledge by
less than a war of survival. We had to work harder to
learning facts, principles and concepts where as the
catch up with others. Thank God, the trainer was cute
purpose of training at NIBAF was to gain certain skills. No
(don’t get me wrong) and he exactly knew how to teach
matter what education and training separately aim at, the
accounting to our likes so that he/she gains the minimum
underlying objective of both is learning. And this was
threshold that was required for a person to be promoted
achieved in a better manner if not best by the people at
to next module. However, this was alarming for the rest
NIBAF.
of us, especially those who had no clue to banking.
Hats off to all the people in NIBAF, and of course to the
By now almost everyone had begun to feel bored of the
fortune 58 trainees of SBOTS-15th Batch.
canteen food and tough hours except me. I never felt the
food was poisonous anyway. But I sure agree on the part
that it’s never easy to sit straight in a full-day training
session while the trainer is trying his best to enlighten our
brains about things such as Letter of Credit, KYC, Tips To Be On The Editorial Board
Customer Due Diligence. Yes! You got it right; we were
into the commercial banking module. Interestingly all the
trainers who came to train us during this module were
 Listen less, talk more.
professional commercial bankers and we were frequently  Do not meet deadlines.
told that a day would come when some of us would go to  Try to be a group laggard.
the banks of these trainers to hold them accountable for  Look busy, do nothing.
the financial mess they may have created knowingly or
unknowingly. This gave me a feel of authoritarianism. Just
 Wait for the things to happen.
when I started to feel like a regulator, the trainers from  Try to dominate in article writing.
central bank started to show up and what they taught us  Not to have a creative mind.
was beyond my comprehension. However, the team-work  If bewildered, make others responsible
really worked for me. Group study helped me a lot and I
was able to break my previous percentage records by
for it.
gaining a significant number. I felt almost half a central  Can give good assurances to the
banker had developed in me after BSD module not Waseem sb.
knowing that tough times were yet to come.

Then, we were introduced to terms like Ijara, Musharka

and Salam Istisnah. The Islamic banking module ended
__________________________________________________________________________________
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 29

Everything Eventual than a second to recognize her wedding card, as I opened

the card; I found a note therein reading;
By Shehzad Hyder
Rohail, being a shy and apprehensive girl has kept me all
these years to come up to you and tell you that I like you. I
There standing in the aisle, looking as gorgeous as ever,
am glad that you finally came forward. I am being forced
was the love of my life Zoya. I wanted to talk to her so
to marry a guy whom i hardly know or have any feeling
badly; which was nothing new. I wanted to tell her how
for; i have got the same feelings for you. Don’t be late
much I liked her, how I felt about her for the past four
now although it will take a lot of convincing on my part,
years. Since the day I first saw her, I was head-over-heels
but i know my parents would agree at last. Zoya
over her. But I couldn’t even talk to her. She was a very
reserved person. She never talked to any of the guys.
It seemed that i was losing my vision. Everything was
getting blurred. Tears ran down my cheeks. I hardly could
It was our last year in the college; our exams were almost
manage to sit down. How could life be so cruel? All the
around the corner. I knew I was running short of time. But
years i had been wrong, i was unaware about her feelings
what about the audacity to show my feelings, I didn’t
but one thing clear about; that i won’t be able to recover
have the quality at all. It was not that I didn’t try, but in
from this, ever...
front of her I used to turn into a complete mute. Time
flies and in my case it flew a little faster. Exams were
almost over and we were preparing for our final practical,
when I came to know from a mutual friend that her
parents wanted to get her married as soon as possible
and there were serious proposals coming for her. This
was my last chance. I looked for an opportunity to talk to Lest You Forget
her but she was always amongst her friends. Finally I These Three in Life
decided to write to her. I wrote her a long letter in which I
told her my feeling about her. I told her I wanted to marry
her. I put the letter in her notes. Waiting for her reply was
Don’t waste three things: Time, Money
a very difficult phase. After a few days I heard that her and Energy.
wedding was final. It devistated me.
Like these three: Kindness, Sympathy
Then one day after exam I went to college to return some nad Cordiality.
books to the library, as I turned back she was standing
there; my heart was now pounding hard. She was holding
a card, when I looked closely it was a wedding card. She Hate these three: Injustice, Pride and
gave it to me and our eyes met for a moment only and I Faithlessness.
couldn’t really read her eyes. The feeling of rejection was
all over me. I came home but I didn’t have the courage to
Love these three: Bravery, Gentleness
open the card, I couldn’t see her name with anyone else,
so I threw the card away. After a few weeks my result and Affection.
came out and I passed. I knew I wouldn’t be able to live in
the same city since her memories would haunt me. So I Leave these three: Laziness,
went abroad to settle there because each and everything Talkitiveness and Hurried Judgement.
would remind me of her here. But I was wrong, whatever
I did, no matter how much busy I kept myself, she was
always on my mind. My parents wanted me to return Value these three: Intelligence, Ability
home. and Happiness.

They say Time is a good healer, it sure is but it took 10 Preserve these three: Good books,
years for my life to return back to normality. I wanted to
come back home so I left my job abroad and finally made
Good deeds and Good Friends.
up my mind to return home. Everything seemed to
change, I was feeling much better. My parents wanted
me to get married to which I finally agreed. Preparations
for my wedding started, the whole house was to be
redecorated. I was cleaning my room and removing my
books from the closet, a card fell off them. It took me less

__________________________________________________________________________________
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
HAPPINESS
By Muhammad Inaam Ashraf
(Inspiration from the book “The Conquest of Happiness”
by Bertrand Russell)
In the month of January, a man was sitting on a lonely
bench near Rawal Lake. It was a cloudy day and had seen
some rain. He looked at his watch, as he had to attend
the birthday party of one of his friends that evening. It
was 4:30 pm. He thought that he still had some time. He
was wearing regular jeans and a jacket. Since the wind
had picked up in the afternoon, he was covering his neck
with a muffler. The cold breeze from the West was
blowing right towards his face. He used to see the sunset
almost every day but it was overcast that day.
Now, the scene, the person, the gloomy weather, all
pointed to one thing and that was sadness. A passer by
would consider such a man as lonely, may be troubled,
but things are not what they seem at first. Ahmed had
completed his PhD two years back. He was a successful
microbiologist, probably the most successful one at
Quaid-i-Azam University.
Biology was his passion, right from the beginning. When
he completed his PhD, he considered himself to be very
successful as his thesis was also published internationally.
Success brings happiness, but Ahmed had a hollow feeling
in his heart. That feeling had been growing since he had
completed his masters. He had achieved everything that
he had dreamed of and yet he was unhappy.
Success hadn’t done any good to the emptiness inside
him. May be, happiness was not all about success and
glory, but then, what was it about? Ahmed was confused;
however, his determined nature drove him to explore the
truth. He went back to the basics. He started analysing his
life and was shocked and jolted at every discovery.
He was never a family guy. He used to shy away from
family gatherings using his studies as an excuse, which
was always supported by his family members. They had
always stood besides him and yet he hardly knew any of
them. When was his father going to retire? What was his
sister studying? He never knew answers to such
questions. Any friends? He started counting and all he
came up with was nobody! There was more than one
reason. His success had always made it difficult for him to
have friends among colleagues. He seldom had
conversations with people other than the ones related to
his profession. He never went out or travelled enough
and even if he did, he never gave anyone enough
opportunity to come close.
__________________________________________________________________________________
30
Within a few months of self-analysis, he was able to turn
over a new leaf and thought of possible ways of living a
better social life. It was relatively simple, he started
spending time with his family and availing every chance
to meet new people. Initially, it did not work the way he
expected. Almost everyone felt distant to him. However,
one day, sitting on his porch, it dawned upon him that he
was more of a speaker than a listener and seldom gave
people the chance to talk. Once, he identified his mistake,
he made a desperate attempt to mend his ways, and soon
realized how different, yet beautiful every human being
is! The art of listening empowered him to appreciate the
variety that mankind had to offer.
It had almost been six months since he had started
visiting different public places in Islamabad. In addition to
meeting new people, these places provided him with an
opportunity to observe, both natural and man-made
beauty. In this regard, places offering natural beauty used
to appeal more to him. Rawal Lake was one of those
places.
Even on such a cold and grey day, he was able to enjoy
the scenery. Birds were flying across the sky towards
west. Their chirping had broken the silence that was a
welcome change. He had to leave early that day so he
started walking towards the parking. On his way, he
thought about how much he had changed over the last
two years. “Were all those changes good?” He asked
himself. His inner voice replied in an affirmative way.
He had discovered the key to happiness. Only the
pleasure derived from Nature and its creations is
everlasting. The natural beauty that this world offers us is
probably the easiest source of comfort available and we
need to find enough time to observe and appreciate this
treasure. Humanity is the premier creation of Nature. The
pleasure that one can derive from his own species is
unique and invaluable. All we need is to approach people
with a positive frame of mind, to see the differences as
opportunities to learn, to appreciate the beauty of heart
and mind that every person possesses. Life becomes an
easier journey if one can enjoy the company that one has.
Because, after ourselves, all we have in this world is
humanity. Perhaps, that is why human being is always
regarded as a social animal!
"The only thing we have to fear is
fear itself." - -Franklin D Roosevelt -
- The very man who uplifted an
entire nation out of The Great
Depression.
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
Bill Gates Rules!
By Muhammad Babar Kamran Ahmed
Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about
11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He
talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings
created a generation of kids with no concept of reality
and how this concept set them up for failure in the real
world.
Rule 1 :
Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2:
The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world
will expect you to accomplish something Before you feel
good about yourself.
Rule 3:
You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high
school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone
until you earn both.
Rule 4:
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5:
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your
Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping:
they called it opportunity.
Rule 6:
If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine
about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7:
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as
they are now. They got that way from paying your bills,
cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how
cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain
forest from the parasites of your parent's
generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8:
Your school may have done away with winners and
losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have
abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY
TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't
bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real
life.
Rule 9:
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers
off and very few employers are interested in helping you
FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
__________________________________________________________________________________
31
Rule 10:
Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have
to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11:
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for
one.
Humour
A person without a sense of humour is like a wagon
without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road.
Henry Ward Beecher
A sense of humour is a major defence against minor
troubles.
Mignon McLaughlin
A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than
a sense of humour, for it takes irony to appreciate the
joke which is on oneself.
Jessamyn West
A well-developed sense of humour is the pole that adds
balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life.
William Arthur Ward
Analyzing humour is like dissecting a frog. Few people are
interested and the frog dies of it.
E. B. White
Comedy has to be based on truth. You take the truth and
you put a little curlicue at the end.
Sid Caesar
Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.
Peter Ustinov
Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of
humour itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humour in
heaven.
Mark Twain
Humour brings insight and tolerance. Irony brings a
deeper and less friendly understanding.
Agnes Repplier
Humour is mankind's greatest blessing.
Mark Twain
Humour is merely tragedy standing on its head with its
pants torn.
Irvin S. Cobb
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 32

Resonance

__________________________________________________________________________________
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 33

A Talk with God……

By Warda Saleem

“Come in” God Said. “So you would like to interview me.”
“If you have the time,” I said.
God smiled and said
“My time is eternity and is enough to do everything.”
“What questions do you have in mind to ask Me?”
“What queries do you have?”
God Said:
I asked…….
As a person, what are some of life’s lessons I want
myself to learn?
God replied with the smile.
“To learn that you cannot anyone love you,
What you can do is to let yourself be loved.
To learn that what is most valuable is not what you have
in
your life,
but who you have in your life.
To learn that is not to compare yourself to others.
All will be judged individually on their own merits, not as
a
group on a comparison basis.
To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most,
but is
one who needs the least?
To learn it only takes a few seconds to open profound
wounds in person we love,
And that it takes many years to heal them.
To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.
To learn that there are persons that love you dearly, When a heart breaks
But simply do not know how to express or show the
feelings By Khurram Shehzad
To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.
To learn that a true friend is someone who knows I started wandering on a path unknown
everything Feeling so sad, so tired, so alone
about you and likes you anyway. I kept on walking as thought flooded my mind
The grief, the darkness started to unwind
I sat there for a while enjoying the moment.
I can feel the emptiness inside
I thanked Him for His time.
But i can do nothing to make it subside
All you have to do is to ask for me, and I’ll answer.”
It seems impossible to cope with life
He replied, “Anytime. I am here 24 hours a day. Its like walking on sharp blade of a knife
All my dreams, all my wishes are shattered,
But i guess, now it doesn’t matter
They are empty when i look at my hands
There is nothing except hope turned into sand
How i wish nothing would happen to make me cry
But it is so hard to get when i want, no matter how much
i try
My inside crumbles steady and slow
Tears keep on falling but nobody will know
Now i know a tear falls when a heart breaks
A tear falls when a heart breaks

__________________________________________________________________________________
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 34

The Love of my Life

By Muhammad Umair Rathore

With cheeks so rosy and black velvety hair,

You mesmerise me-the love of my life,

With eyes so deep and covered by those horn-rimmed

glasses,
You make my heart miss a beat-the love of my life,

With a million dollar smile and those braces,

You take my breath away-the love of my life,

Your aura is so enchanting and your fragrance so fishy,

You complete me-the love of my life,

With you in my life, I would never look at Suzan or Dalaila

or Fanny,
I would only look at others-the love of my life.

Dreams
By Naila Afzal

Myself walking alone through the end gate of earth

On the pathway of heaven, taking a new birth
Streams of honey are flowing, flowers of bright color row
by row
Looks as if they are making rainbow
Birds are flying and making noise
It is best joy to hear this voice
The stars and comets like diamonds and gold
Spreading all the seasons, hot and cold
That moon and sun never intersect on earth
Meet here like friends by birth
The angels are walking through my way
I look at them and smile with gay
No oppression, vanity and fear is here
Nothing like this to make me scare
All the things are working to make heaven, zealously
The way that is so, I pass fearlessly
I think this place may be our world
But we have to give “peace” a “worth”

__________________________________________________________________________________
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 35

The magical mirror

By Sharoon Rasheed

I stand before the mirror, plain

An eye i meet, an eye in vain
Shying away i dare a look
You stand before me an open book
I help a smile, lips part away
You turn your face, you shy away
I stare down, cant speak a word
I feel in heaven, cant seek the world
I muster all myself
I raise my hand, yours lifts itself
I point in straight, you fingers felt
I touched the mirror, it seems to melt
Your eyes gape, you wear a grim
I tremble and shake, all over in sin
I look at you, i ask you why
“why i am enslaved and you are free?”
“why i am in love, but not are thee?”

Reflections
By Farah Azhar

The nib touched the paper,

And the ink was gone.

The eagle spread its wings,

And the wind was gone.

The warrior reached his destination,

And the purpose was gone.

The mosque was built,

And the faith was gone.

The conjuror performed the trick,

And the magic was gone.

The flower began to bloom,

And the spring was gone.

The wish got granted,

And the gratitude was gone.

The lovers got married,

And the love was gone.

We made plans for life,

And life was gone.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
If
Presented By Sher Jan
Poem of Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
__________________________________________________________________________________
36
Fades Away!
By Rehan Masood
seen a warrior’s burst of rage
seen a martyr’s life outgrow his age
seen vile in great men
seen beauty in false women
seen rivals of a genius
seen tyrants hailed among us
seen the envy of a friend
seen love draw its own end
Seen a rainbow fade when it should stay
seen a summer wait for the next may
seen a leave wither from its youth
seen weathers play with our moods
seen a victim plead for his right
seen a culprit with his last lie
seen guilty hands turn to pray
seen aggression overwhelmed by grace
But the world just doesn’t run on grace
In the crowd, you’re just another face
when you’re gone, you don't ever leave a trace
seen faith take hold of our reason
seen wisdom go out of season
seen hatred for a chosen prophet
seen sacrifices with regret
seen ironies turn to the truth
seen lies bearing the fruits
seen impact of just a thought
seen actions ending with naught
But the world just doesn’t run on grace
In the crowd, you’re just another face
when you’re gone, you don't ever leave a trace
seen voices live longer than singers
seen a maestro play with bleeding fingers
seen life in a dead man’s painting
seen victors go down fainting
But the world just doesn’t run on grace
In the crowd, you’re just another face
when you’re gone, you don't ever leave a trace
Like a whistle it fades away...........
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 37

My Land Bleeds Tonight

On the blast in Lahore on 27th May, 2009

By Farah Azhar

My land is coloured red today,

Coloured from the blood of innocent victims,
Coloured from the ashes of the dead,
My land bleeds tonight.

My cocoon ruptures today,

Ruptures to welcome the uninvited,
Ruptures to expose me naked,
My cocoon deceives me tonight.

My home is a grave of burnt hopes today,

Burnt from the deceit of men,
Burnt from the menace of terrorism,
My home is charred tonight.

My nation is wailing today,

Wailing over the perennial suffering,
Wailing over her inception,
My nation mourns tonight.

Expressions

By Danish Mukarram

Three years in the past…

Words were put on paper.
Over 36 months later…..
I can still recall the feeling of pen in my hand.
More than a thousand days gone by and as I’m walking
down this winding road, I can take a quick look back.
I see myself as I was then, sitting on that bed, on that
rooftop, my little self, but all of it is now seen through my
eyes as a third person.
And I smile.
As I sit on grassy patches beside this meandering path,
I’m horizontally between what went before and what I’m
going towards.
The Daystar is a comrade, the zephyr my travel
companion.
Unintentionally I glance down that taken path.
Bit by bit, one part of me buckles but I feel no shame in
shedding tears now.
When the hurt’s gone, I smile.
Oh, don’t count the hours gone by for me. Keep those
tissues back in you pocket. Don’t give me your sympathy.
Chuckle.
Don’t you know!
I’ve burnt my diaries.

__________________________________________________________________________________
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 38

Deemed !
By Farah Azher

‘ They deem me mad

For I will not sell my days for gold,
I deem them mad
For they think my days have a price.’ ( Khalil Gibran)

They deem me mad

For I will not dwell in this time,
I deem them mad
For they think this is my time.

They deem me mad

For I will not listen to the opinionated,
I deem them mad
For they think they are the ever –wise.

They deem me mad

For I will not abide by the norms,
I deem them mad
For they think I am like the other sheep.
Feelings
They deem me mad
For I will not reconcile with the powerful, By Mohammad Ali
I deem them mad
For they think true power rests in them. My life
A waste.
They deem me mad My dreams
For I will not succumb to the patriarchal society, Shattered.
I deem them mad
For they think this is my society. My faith
Broken.
They deem me mad
For I will not sell my soul for diamonds, My happiness
I deem them mad Stolen.
For they think my soul has a price.
My feelings
Numb.

My being
Ambivalent.

Myself
Isolated.

My future
Bleak.

My past
A burden.

My present
Survival.

My future
A dream.

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 39

Formally Informal

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 40

Feeling Bored: Tips To Kill Time At Office Phunny Kotes

By Afaque Ahmed Kalhoro By Imran Sadaf

 Form a detective agency to find out who is quitting Practice makes a man perfect... - But nobody's perfect.....
next. . So why practice?

 Make blank calls to your Boss. Money is not everything. - There's MasterCard & Visa.
 Count your fingers (and toes if you get bored).
Love thy neighbour. - But don't get caught.
 Rearrange the furniture, i.e. flick someone else chair
just to irritate him/her. Behind every successful man, there is a woman - And
behind every unsuccessful man, there are two.
 Send mails from ms-mail to your internet mail (and
immediately get to the internet and see who reaches
Every man should marry. - After all, happiness is not the
first, you or your mail?) and read them there, and note
only thing in life.
down the time they take to reach there.
 Watch other people changing their facial expressions The wise never marry - And when they marry they
while working and try changing your expressions also. become otherwise.

 Try to stretch status meetings as longer as possible, just Success is a relative term. - It brings so many relatives.
by asking silly doubts.
 Have work breaks in between tea. Never put off the work till tomorrow what you can put off
Have a two hour lunch; it's a big social occasion. day after tomorrow.

 Read jokes and send jokes. Love is photogenic - It needs darkness to develop.
 Revise last week's newspaper.
"Your future depends on your dreams" - So go to sleep.
 Hold "How fast my computer boots" competitions.
There should be a better way to start a day - Than waking
 Practice aiming the coffee cup into the dustbin.
up every morning.
 Compile "How to waste your day".
"Hard work never killed anybody" - But why take the risk
 Pick up phone and dial non existing no.s.
 Make faces at strangers in office. "Work fascinates me" - I can look at it for hours!

 Count maximum no. of applications your computer can God made relatives; - Thank God we can choose our
open at a time. friends.
 For Windows users....Move things to Recycle bin and
restore them.. Then repeat this process. The more you learn, the more you know,
The more you know, the more you forget
 Look at someone & try to imagine how(s) he/she might The more you forget, the less you know - So... Why learn.
have looked when he/she was 5 years old.
 Learn to whistle. A bus station is where a bus stops.
A train station is where train stops.
 Make full use of the comfortable chair and table On my desk, I have a work station.... What more can I
provided and take a nap. say........
And if you are still getting bored:
Fwd this information to everyone u know!!!!!!!!!!!
Ideal?
SHHHH!!!!
The ideal man does not smoke, does not drink, does
Be quiet in the classroom, respect the fact that not flirt, goes to bed early, in short… does not exist.
others sleep.

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 41

How to catch/kill a lion

By Amjad Meraj

Newton’s Method:

Let, the lion catch you.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Implies you caught the lion.

Einstein Method:

Run in the direction opposite to that of the lion.

Due to higher relative velocity, the lion will also run faster and will get tired soon.
Now you can trap it easily.

Software Engineer Method:

Catch a cat and claim that your testing has proved that its a Lion.
If anyone comes back with issues tell him that you will upgrade it to Lion.

Police Method:

Catch any animal and interrogate it & torture it to accept that its a lion .

Karan Johar Method (director):

Send a lioness into the forest.

Our lion and lioness fall in love with each other.
Send another lioness in to the forest, followed by another lion.
First lion loves the first lioness and the second lion loves the 2nd lioness.
But 2nd lioness loves both lions.
Now send another lioness (third) into the forest.
You don't understand right... ok....read it after 15 yrs, then also u wont!

Yash Chopra method (director):

Take the lion to Australia or US.. and kill it in a good scenic location.

Navid Bugti method:

Talk incessantly to the lion for 5 to 6 hours.

Gresh Kumar method:

Save the lion from a danger and feed him with some vegetables continuously.

George Bush method:

Link the lion with Osama bin laden and shoot him!!!

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 42

NIBAF Method
Invite lion for Applied focused theoretical training, feed him at NIBAF canteen, and he
will be tamed soon.

Farah’s method

Force the lion to sit and listen to her whining; the lion will surely die.

Nazia’s method

Ask the lion why the BCO ordinance was promulgated and why NFA’s denomination is in foreign currency.

Arooj’s way

Feed him Arooj’s fungus-filled food container.

Hina chaudhry

Tell him to go on a diet prescribed by Hina.

Naila & Shaheen Method

Bet $ 1 Million with Lion to make either of them speak. Lion will lose and will eventually die.

Sharoon Method

Ask the lion to show feats until Sharoon smiles.

Shah Zeeshan Method

Talk angrily to the lion and he will die out of laughing.

Danish Method

Arrange a last man standing dance competition between Danish and lion.

Arish Method

Challenge the lion to fight with Barbarian and lion will lay down his weapons.

Umar Khan & Afaque Method

Lock the lion in their room and he will surely die.

Sohail Method

Ask the lion to wait until he wakes up and lion will prefer to be caged than to wait.

Sir Waseem Method

Tell the lion that you are going to fail in Economics and he will surrender.

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 43

Management Survival Tips premises. The second jacket should be worn while
swanning around everywhere.
By Salman Ahmed Farid

1. Never Walk Without a Document in Your Hands Think!

People with documents in their hands look like
hardworking employees heading for important
meetings. People with nothing in their hands look like Why do "overlook" and "oversee"
they're heading for the canteen. mean opposite things?
2. Use Computers to Look Busy
Any time you use a computer, it looks like "work" to
the casual observer. You can send and receive
If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do
personal e-mail, chat, and generally have a blast humanitarians eat?
without doing anything remotely related to work.
These aren't exactly the societal benefits that the
proponents of the computer revolution would like to If the sky is the limit, then what is
talk about but they're not bad either. When you get space, over the limit?
caught by your boss--and you "will" get caught--your
best defense is to claim that you're teaching yourself
to use new software, thus saving valuable training
expenses. If quitters never win, and winners
never quit, how can it be wise to: "Quit
3. Messy Desk while you're ahead"? If quitters never
Top management can get away with a clean desk. For win, and winners never quit, how can it
the rest of us, it looks like we're not working hard
be wise to: "Quit while you're ahead"?
enough. Build huge piles of documents around your
workspace. To the observer, last year's work looks
the same as today's work; it's volume that counts.
Pile them high and wide. How can there be self-help “groups”?

4. Looking Impatient and Annoyed

Always try to look impatient and annoyed to give Ever wonder what the speed of
your bosses the impression that you are always busy.
lightning would be if it didn’t zigzag?
5. Leave the Office Late
Always leave the office late, especially when the boss
is still around. You could read magazines and If you get an honorary degree from a
storybooks that you always wanted to read but have college, does it entitle you to get an
no time until late before leaving. Make sure you walk honorary job?
past the boss' room on your way out. Send important
emails at unearthly hours (e.g. 9:35pm, 7:05am, etc.)

6. Creative Sighing for Effect

Sigh loudly when there are many people around,
giving the impression that you are under extreme
pressure. Vacant Existence

7. Build Vocabulary By Agha Farhan Shahid

Read up on some computer magazines and pick out
Blank page
all the jargon and new products. Use the phrases
Empty mind
freely when conversation with bosses. Remember:
Unspoken words
They don't have to understand what you say, but you
Scattered thoughts
will sound impressive.
Hidden desires
Fleeting soul
8. Have Two Jackets
Vacant existence.
If you wrok in a big open-plan office, always leave a
spare jacket draped over the back of your seat. this
gives the impression that you are still on the

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
Commandments of Marriage
By Babar Jahangir
Commandment 1 =>
Marriages are made in heaven. But so are thunder
and lightning.
Commandment 2 =>
If you want your wife to listen and pay strict attention
to every word you say; talk in your sleep.
Commandment 3 =>
Marriage is grand -- and divorce is at least 100 grand!
Commandment 4 =>
Married life is very frustrating. In the first year of
marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens. In
the second year, the woman speaks and the man
listens. In the third year, they both speak and the
neighbours listen.
Commandment 5 =>
When a man opens the door of his car for his wife,
you can be sure of one thing: Either the car is new or
the wife is.
Commandment 6 =>
Marriage is when a man and woman become as one.
The trouble starts when they try to decide which one.
Commandment 7 =>
Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night
thinking about something you say. After marriage, he
will fall asleep before you finish.
Commandment 8 =>
Every man wants a wife who is beautiful,
understanding, economical, and a good cook. But the
law allows only one wife.
Commandment 9 =>
Marriage and love are purely matter of chemistry.
That is why wives treat husbands like toxic waste.
Commandment 10 =>
A man is incomplete until he is married. After that,
he is finished.
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44
Some Facts about Guys Every Girl Should
Know
By Rehan Masood
rehanbhatti.blogspot.com
Below are some facts brilliantly written and in a very
frank manner. I apologize if it stirs any debate about
the topic but the following stuff is really not mine. It
is taken from a blogpost and with some minor editing
I present it below just for the sake of fun.
All the girls who will criticize this don't really
understand what is being said. The point is that we
would never call you fat, but it doesn't take a genius
to figure out that we all have eyes.
Guys are very much forced to lie through our teeth,
and that’s what is expected, and I am pretty sure
most girls know this. This is simply to point out what
we are really thinking, not what we'd ever say.
Here you go…
Men are NOT mind readers.
Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going
to think of it that way.
Crying is blackmail.
Ask for what you want.
Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!
Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to
almost every question.
Come to us with a problem only if you want help
solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your
girlfriends are for.
A headache that lasts for 17 months is a Problem. See
a doctor.
Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an
argument. In fact, all comments become null and void
after 7 Days.
If you won't dress like the Victoria’s Secret girls, don't
expect us to act like soap opera guys.
If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.
If something we said can be interpreted two ways
and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we
meant the other one
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________
You can either ask us to do something Or tell us how
you want it done. Not both. If you already know best
how to do it, just do it yourself.
Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to
say during commercials.
Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and
neither do we.
ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default
settings.
Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is
also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.
If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We
will act like nothing's wrong.
We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the
hassle.
If you ask a question you don't want an answer to,
expect an answer you don't want to hear.
When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything
you wear is fine. Really.
Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you
are prepared to discuss such topics as cricket, cars, or
soccer.
You have enough clothes.
You have too many shoes.
I am in shape. Round is a shape!
Secret of …
The secret to creativity is knowing how to
hide your sources.
The secret of life is honesty and fair
dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it
made.
The secret of a happy marriage remains a
secret.
Amjad Meraj
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45
Women Quotes:
By Mudassar Saleem
If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball
and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the
infant's life without even considering if there are men
on base.
~Dave Barry
Women like silent men. They think they're listening.
~Marcel Achard, Quote, 4 November 1956
The average woman would rather have beauty than
brains, because the average man can see better than
he can think.
~Author Unknown
A woman can say more in a sigh than a man can say
in a sermon.
~Arnold Haultain
Whatever women do they must do twice as well as
men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not
difficult.
~Charlotte Whitton
The two women exchanged the kind of glance
women use when no knife is handy.
~Ellery Queen
Women get the last word in every argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a
new argument.
~Author Unknown
Next to the wound, what women make best is the
bandage.
~Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly
A pessimist is a man who thinks all women are bad.
An optimist is a man who hopes they are.
~Chauncey Mitchell Depew
The rarest thing in the world is a woman who is
pleased with photographs of herself.
~Elizabeth Metcalf
Women keep the best secrets in cirulation.
Anonnymous
Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 46

Funny Business Terms EBIT:

Earnings before irregularities and tampering.
By Ali Mukhtar
EBITDA:
Earnings before I tricked the dumb auditor.
Following is a list of funny business and finance terms
explained so that anyone can understand them.
EPS:
While they are meant to be humorous, there's also a
Eventual prison sentence.
lot of truth in many of them.
FRS:
Advertisement:
Fantasy reporting standards.
A tool used by business to get money out of people
that don't have it, for something that they don't
Institutional Investor:
need.
Past year investor who is now locked up in a mental
institute.
Alimony:
Two person mistake paid by one.
Market Correction:
The day after you buy stocks.
Auditor:
Person that arrives after battle to finish off the
Momentum Investing:
wounded.
The fine art of buying high and selling low.
Bank:
P/E Ratio:
A place that will lend you money only when you don't
The percentage of investors wetting their pants as
need it.
the market keeps crashing.
Bear Market:
Eight months when the kids get no allowance, the Profit:
A man that prays to God.
wife gets no jewelry.
Standard and Poor (S&P):
Broker:
Your life in a nutshell.
The person that you trust with thousands of your
hard earned dollars. Hello!
Stock Analyst:
Idiot who just downgraded your stock.
Budget:
Written proof that you can't afford the things you
Stock Market Correction:
want.
The term your broker uses for a stock market crash.
Bull Market:
Stock Split:
A random market movement causing an investor to
When your former wife and her lawyer split all your
mistake himself for a financial genius.
assets equally between themselves.
Cash Flow:
Value Investing:
The movement your money makes as it disappears
The art of buying low and selling lower.
down the toilet.

CEO:
Chief embezzlement officer.

CFO:
Chief fraud officer.

Day Trader:
A more socially acceptable gambling addict.

Discounted Stock:
A stock that is less expensive than last month and
more expensive than it will be next month.

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Kaawish _____ _____________________________________________________ 47

Pictography

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