Mir Moiz’s Weblog
Life is meaningful, only when one wishes to make it. We are creatures of time and we’ll wither away in it. The little moments of joy we find and create are all that will live with us.Archive for Social Initiatives
Mushtaq Chhapra’s vision and a great Socio-Commercial Enterprise
October 6, 2013 at 2:58 am · Filed under Business, Global Affairs, My Views, Original Thoughts, Social Initiatives and tagged: Education, MIR, Mushtaq Chhapra, ONE, Pakistan, Social Welfare, TCF, TCF Schools, The Citizens Foundation, VISION
Visionary thinkers are rare…
They anticipate needs and markets way ahead of their time, and while this fact justifies upon commercial leaders its the same for social leaders and for all leading positions in life.
Vision drives true and lasting success.
It is imperative to note that the followup successes germinate and grow from the mind of a true visionary, without one, lasting and enduring successes are not possible.
The vision for a network of schools for the impoverished of Pakistan is not an easy one to pursue. As a country, Pakistan is riddled with a multitude of Socio-Economic and developmental challenges. It’s industry is non-innovative and traditional in its scope and nature. The systems of governmental support are undependable and private enterprise runs deep into its economic facets.
In the sheer absence of any significant, sustained and mature government supported welfare activity, private enterprise has been instrumental in building up and supporting the social out-casts.
A pioneering example of this endeavor is Abdul Sattar Edhi. A man who choose to beg for the creation of a visionary social welfare enterprise, that now formulates the core of social support infrastructures in the country all without international donor support and just from the kind pockets of willing Pakistani’s in and out of the country.
A self-sustained private enterprise that over shadows any in its league, across the world.
While Mr. Edhi focused on building emergency shelters, ambulances, morgues and orphanages to privately support the down trodden. Mr. Chhapra has instrumentally focused on the mechanism that produces a newer and better generation of this country, i.e. Quality education of the impoverished plenty. He mobilized his capacity to spread the reach of his foundation’s ( The Citizens Foundation ) borders to the country’s expatriate community and garnered their assistance in building now more than 900 schools across the county where the number continues to climb exponentially.
A pioneering feat of achievement with a structured model of commercial viability and sustainable development.
Each school supports the child with not just tuition but with uniforms and books along with a fleet of trained and experienced women teachers to prepare them for acceptance at the highest levels of educational excellence they should desire and aspire to.
To me that is massive.
It is also notable to see that Mr. Chhapra likes to stay away from the limelight, yet continue to drive a vision that is unrelenting in its collective effort with a continued and infective passion.
I hope and pray that many other pioneering and capable individuals in this country pursue a strong vision to realize true values that the people possess.
Nothing happens without a visionary and innovative mind.
Tradition always needs a new and revived sense of vigor to survive the test of time.
New visions and innovative ideas need to be supported by the economic elite to revive its past glory, that is what all developed nations have done. It’s the only way and the only truest formula to an enduring success, both for the self and for the collective.
© MIR
‘My Lessons in Life’ by Azim Premji | Power Of Thought
October 3, 2013 at 3:30 am · Filed under Business, My Views, Reblog, Social Initiatives and tagged: Azim Premji, MIR, Nuruddin Abjani, ONE, Power of Thought, Wipro
“I am very happy to be here with you. It is always wonderful to be with young people. As my hair turned from black, to salt and pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to realize the importance of youth.
At the same time, I have begun to truly appreciate some of the lessons I have learnt along the way. I hope you will find them useful when you plan your own career and life.
First
The first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with our strengths.
There is an imaginary story of a rabbit. The rabbit was enrolled in a rabbit school. Like all rabbits, it could hop very well but could not swim. At the end of the year, the rabbit got high marks in hopping but failed in swimming. The parents were concerned. They said, ‘Forget about hopping. You are, anyway good at it. Concentrate on swimming.’ They sent the rabbit for tuition in swimming. And guess what happened? The rabbit forgot how to hop! As for swimming, have you ever seen a rabbit swim?
While it is important for us to know what we are not good at, we must also cherish what is good in us. That is because it is only our strengths that can give us the energy to correct our weaknesses.
Second
The second lesson I have learnt is that a rupee earned is of far more value than five found..
My friend was sharing with me, the story of his eight year-old niece. She would always complain about the breakfast. The cook tried everything possible, but the child remained unhappy. Finally, my friend took the child to a supermarket and brought one of those ready-to-cook cereal packets. The child had to cut the packet and pour water in the dish. The child found the food delicious. The difference was that she had cooked it! In my own life,
I have found that nothing gives as much satisfaction as earning our own rewards. In fact, what is gifted or inherited follows the old rule of ‘come easy, go easy’. I guess we only know the value of what we have, if we have struggled to earn it.
Third
The third lesson I have learnt is, in Cricket, no one bats a hundred every time.
Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the head. The moment it does, you are already on your way to failure. And if you do encounter failure along the way, treat it as an equally natural phenomenon. Don’t beat yourself for it or any one else for that matter! Accept it, look at your own share in the problem, learn from it and move on. The important thing is, when you lose, do not ‘lose the lesson’.
Fourth
The fourth lesson I have learnt, is the importance of humility.
Sometimes, when you get so much in life, you really start wondering, whether you deserve all of it. We have so much to be grateful or. Our parents, our teachers and our seniors, have done so much for us, that we can never repay them.
Many people focus on the shortcomings, because obviously, no one can be perfect. But it is important to first acknowledge, what we have received.
Nothing in life is permanent, but when a relationship ends, rather than becoming bitter, we must learn to savor the memory, of the good things, while they lasted.
Fifth
The fifth lesson I learnt is, that we must always strive for Excellence.
One way of achieving excellence, is by looking at those better than ourselves. Keep learning what they do differently. But excellence cannot be imposed from the outside. We must also feel the need from within. It must involve not only our mind, but also our heart and soul. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.
I remember the inspiring lines of a poem, which says that your reach must always exceed your grasp. That is heaven on earth.
Ultimately, your only competition is yourself.
Sixth
The sixth lesson I have learnt is, never give up in the face of adversity.
It comes on you, suddenly without warning. Always keep in mind, that it is only the test of fire, that makes fine steel. A friend of mine shared this incident with me. His eight-year old daughter was struggling away at a jigsaw puzzle. She kept at it for hours but could not succeed. Finally, it went beyond her bedtime.
My friend told her, “Look, why don’t you just give up? I don’t think you will complete it tonight. Look at it another day.” The daughter looked with a strange look in her eyes, “But, dad, why should I give up? All the pieces are there! I have just got to put them together!”
If we persevere long enough, we can put any problem into its perspective.
Seventh
The seventh lesson I have learnt is, that while you must be open to change, do not compromise on your values.
Mahatma Gandhiji often said,” You must open the windows of your mind, but you must not be swept off your feet by the breeze.” Values like honesty, integrity, consideration and humility have survived for generations. At the end of the day, it is values that define a person more than the achievements. Do not be tempted by short cuts. The short cut can make you lose your way and end up becoming the longest way to the destination.
Final
And the final lesson I learnt is, that we must have faith in our own ideas even if everyone tells us that we are wrong.
There was a newspaper vendor who had a rude customer. Every morning, the Customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab the paper off the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pick up the money, smile politely and say, ‘Thank you, Sir.’
One day, the vendor’s assistant asked him, “Why are you always so polite with him when he is so rude to you? Why don’t you throw the newspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow?”
The vendor smiled and replied, “He can’t help being rude and I can’t help being polite. Why should I let his rude behavior dictate my politeness? I hope you achieve success in whatever way you define it and what gives you the maximum happiness in life.
“Remember, those who win are those who believe they can.”
Prayer is not a spare wheel that you pull out when YOU ARE IN TROUBLE, It is a steering wheel that keeps you on the right path throughout your life.”
Its always good to learn from people like Mr. Premji. His wisdom inspires everyone worldwide.
Thanks Mr Premji, God bless you.
Hope this was of some value to you.
Follow your dreams!
—
A brilliant post by my friend
Mr. Nuruddin Abjani.
His blog: www.powerofthought.org
MIR
If you want to get off Telenor’s offer
September 26, 2013 at 3:23 pm · Filed under My Views, News, Social Initiatives and tagged: Greed, MIR, ONE, Telenor
These pathetic telecom prize and draw offers are starting to piss me off.
Their greed has no limits it seems.
If you want to get off Telenor’s prize and draw offer use this method:
Send a SMS saying ‘STOP’ to 8999
Pass it on folks on Facebook and all your best modes of crowd justice 🙂
Cheers
Contentment
September 15, 2013 at 3:01 am · Filed under My Views, Original Thoughts, Social Initiatives, Spirituality and tagged: Dunya Jasee Kehtay Hain, Jagjit Singh, Life, MIR, ONE
Many things upon this earth are an unsolved mystery still – still after major advances in technology and our capacity to see through a variety of enigmas… we are clue less about a lot in this world.
One very important puzzle in life is the state of contentment.
At what level and in the presence of which factors do humans achieve contentment. Is it a constant or a variable that continues to shift in its perception?
I have opinions of course of my own and ideas, but to say for certainty how and why, is not entirely possible. It is still an enigma that most everyone struggles with.
I would just like to share a portion of a Urdu poetry that Jagjit Singh sang as a song…
The most important bit of it was this.
“Dunya jisee kehtay hain, wo aik jadoo ka khilona hai.
Miljayee to miti hai, Khojayee to sona hai”…
It means:
That which we call the world, is a toy of magic.
When you possess it, it feels like earth and dust but when you loose it, it turns to gold.
I can not conceive of a more appropriate way that this writer has placed the complexity of the contradiction of contentment in life.
When humans gain the object of their desires. It becomes difficult for them to continue to appreciate it and feel the charm they felt before, yet when they ignore it and loose it in time and it starts to pull away from them they severely feel it’s absence, it’s true value and repent its loss.
Perhaps the simple truths of life are not as complex as we think they are… We just need to contend with what we get in life by appreciating its value. It’s the only way that we can stay aware that what we have in our hands is not earth and dust but an object of great value that few possess and that it is rare and more than gold.
© MIR
Data Bundles and the Million Dollar Heist
July 11, 2013 at 5:57 am · Filed under Business, Business Intelligence, Global Affairs, My Views, Original Thoughts, Social Initiatives and tagged: Cellular, MIR, ONE, TELECOM
There is one side to telecommunications that is a bit repulsive and debasing. It is these companies practices in billing with how the rules are defined, intended to create waste for consumers rather than justifiably give its consumers reason for expense.
In an industry that is totally computerized the ability to set precise rules is not just an asset of gains and productivity but also a classic weapon of theft that is hard to detect for the silent onlooker.
I have come across this practice in Pakistan and Tanzania with Mobilink, Telenor, Vodacom and Tigo.
It is yet to be determined if its also happening with these companies outside of the developing nations and also in the developed ones in Europe and Americas.
This is how it’s being done.
Most every user of pre-paid or post-paid connection would utilize their credits with prudence and watch their billing.
Due to the need for data connectivity required to run apps on phones which again a very large portion of people utilize from users of Nokia smart phones, Blackberries to iPhones, the users have to enable data services with the provider.
Now these tricksters have played a massive trick on the ordinary people.
Instead of keeping the default data service on the phone low grade and free and asking people to buy daily, weekly or monthly packages or in some cases giving volume-based packages the companies are keeping the default service high grade and high priced while keeping the packages very low priced.
They market the low priced bundles to the general public saying they could avail it for a day or a week or upon small and large volumes.
When a user subscribes to a bundle of this nature the user gets an intimation text saying the package has activated yet when the package completes they do not intimate the user till the entire pre-paid credit is lost due to the high charged default Internet being utilized without consent or the user becomes aware and turns off his data roaming in the phone or subscribes to a new package without intimation from the phone company. The moment the data service is turned off or the new package is subscribed the old intimation text for the closure of the bundle comes to fulfill a formality.
Now let’s see how this simple act is causing millions in dollars of rotten profitability for these companies.
Assuming for a prepaid client a balance of 1 dollar was lost in this way. Considering the most simplest data enabled phones and the number of people utilizing data on phone it’s safe to assume that there are 40% users of the entire pool of users for one company.
The safely assumed number of subscribers for these companies go into around 10 to 20 million in Pakistan and around 10 million in Tanzania. Forgoing the actuals that I believe certainly are far far higher due to the increased levels of cellular penetration across the world.
40% of say 10 million is 4 million. Now if they subscribed for a data package and experienced this issue.
Safely assuming, around 4 million dollars a day are the losses the users collectively incurred where around a dollar each was lost.
Let me say that again for definition: 4 million dollars a day.
That means 4×30=120 million dollars a month. (Assumed)
How many criminals will be able to pull that kind of money off people or from a bank!
Now because this happens as an isolated event. People are oblivious to this despicable practice.
Now evaluate how much they would have benefited over these past few years, assuming my figures are shy of the actuals!!!
© MIR
The Soulful Disconnect
July 8, 2013 at 9:56 pm · Filed under My Views, Original Thoughts, Social Initiatives, Spirituality and tagged: Intelectualism, MIR, ONE
Convention holds that our thoughts are as much a part of our being as our physical bodies. Thoughts are things and yet when it comes to the notion of feelings which again are a manifestation of thoughts, the conventional wisdom tries to dismiss them for feeling are figments and so must not be as important.
The reality is that God conceived all things with a duality at its core. A duality of intellect and instinct.
While our brains can distill the frequencies of thought, our hearts are designed to distill the frequencies of instinct (at a finer level). Both intellect and instinct are not a singular entity belonging to someone and not the other but rather a sea of knowledge that permeates the entire cosmos.
God persists through all fabrics of space and time and so it’s the infinitive wisdom that each and everyone of us is tuning into.
The reality is that when humans learn to tap this vast pool of intellect and instinct with the proper ascension of it’s brain and it’s heart – similar to all other creatures big or small. Humans also learns to balance and counter-balance the two against each other. This means that if our balance is proper we should factor in our instincts into our intellects and our intellect into our instincts to find the correct answers to all our questions in life.
The irony of our so called modern times is simply the disconnect of this unique natural balance that God gifted to all it’s creations.
Our scales are tilted.
We the current state of humans have a bias against instinct and a favor for intellect.
As a result all our judgements and conceptions are naturally more intellectual yet seldom morally sound for we are not utilizing our instincts as most all of us have not acquired the means to do so since birth.
The ancients of past in the history of our world utilized instincts at a very enhanced scale. As a result of which their capacity to tap into the vast pools of knowledge was far higher than we can reach with the limited capacity of intellect. Some examples would be Leonardo Da Vinci, Einstein, Plato, Tesla, Aristotle etc… Why is it that the innovators of today despite leaps and bound in science and the capacity of super computers are still limited in comparison! I wonder.
Consider the possibilities if we learn to galvanize our instincts to the tune of high intellect, as we possess today.
Intellectualism is not within us – It is something we tune into. Instinct awards us that capacity; today’s highly intellectual man is deficient in that and perhaps, till it wakes up to this fact, will remain so.
© MIR
Coupe de la Mode
July 3, 2013 at 8:17 pm · Filed under Business, Global Affairs, My Views, Original Thoughts, Social Initiatives and tagged: Business, Fashion, MIR, ONE
It is when we let a statement made by someone else take over our lives that we start to live a life of conformance, instead of reasoning with it.
Fashion is conformance.
Imagine if animals decided to make their looks fashionable. Slowly those that are in fashion say cats with a brown coat will be the ones that stick out together in high societies where as those that have white, black or grey coats will face discrimination. They will become the minority forced by the ideals of conformance and then one day they will become the vigilantes and revolt!
Perhaps it’s not so difficult for us to sense the state of affairs in life around us. Major matters stem out from minor and seemingly insignificant actions.
Fashion is the undertone of the conception of conformance and exclusivity that divides people and creates a sense of high and lows.
Societies need to address these issues better to become more cohesive and sensible in keeping people together.
© MIR
Political Chairs
May 20, 2013 at 6:31 pm · Filed under Global Affairs, My Views, Original Thoughts, Social Initiatives and tagged: Asia, MIR, ONE, Pakistan, Politics
Elections are done and over with in my part of the world – The bigger question we now contemplate is… the definition of fair play!!
I remember when as kids we played musical chairs there will be times when someone will simply throw you out of their way to get the chair and then keep ranting at the top of their voice that they are the ones to get it. They will throw wagging tongues at the poor kid on the ground and push forward to keep playing… going round and round and round.
Is life really like that in practice? Is winning the game of musical chairs the defining pillar of success and fortunes? Are we upon this earth to win – musical chairs !!
Well for all I have been seeing it seems that winning musical chairs is critical for success and one should push people out of their way to get the retched chair – just so they can rant and shout that they are the ones to get it, for when one does that as a toddler one ensures they remain one for ages to come.
We don’t really want to grow up, it seems.
© MIR
Freedom to and Freedom from
May 20, 2013 at 5:40 pm · Filed under Global Affairs, My Views, Original Thoughts, Social Initiatives and tagged: Freedom, Global Issues, MIR, ONE, Types of Freedom, World Affairs
In almost all things in life we witness a duality present – there are always two opposing forces.
The notion of freedom too has a duality.
Freedom to and Freedom from.
Freedom to, focuses on the self and Freedom from, focuses on the collective.
I have freedom to wear anything I like in a public place (even obscene) or I have freedom from any possible obscenity one could come across in a public place.
The two freedoms are in complete contradiction. If one type of freedom is catered to the other looses value and vice versa.
Global cultures and societies are also facing this dichotomy of freedoms.
What kind of freedom do you want in your country?
A self-centered freedom to do whatever you like or
A collective and conscientious freedom from possible difficulties or pains of life.
For me personally it’s simply about finding the right balance. I would use a moral compass to evaluate situations where each type of freedom makes sense and take an informed consensus from a group of wise elders and ethical/ informed and highly intellectual young individuals to formulate the best social makeup where freedom reigns supreme.
Yet despite all efforts the balance will always stay elusive requiring a counterweight act on a consistent basis to maintain the right mix.
Inspiration: Rick Steves
© MIR
The Extra Bit (A world of ‘isms’)
April 28, 2013 at 1:30 pm · Filed under Business, Global Affairs, My Views, Original Thoughts, Social Initiatives and tagged: Business, Capitalism, Consumerism, Global Business, Global Trade, Greed, MIR, ONE, Socialism, Switzerland, Toxic Business
Socialism, Capitalism and now Consumerism. All these ‘isms’ are major reformers and destroyers. These ‘isms’ are causing chaos in the world and tilting the world scales. Every time these ‘isms’ have taken command they have created tremendous value for some and losses for plenty.
The world tested its merits with the first ism being socialism the next ism came upon the stage as capitalism and now consumerism is taking root across world planes.
I will not delve too much into the merits of socialism or capitalism for I am a firm believer in keeping to the pivot like Switzerland. We just needed a combination of the two with a counter weight of shared morality principles to begin with. Yet it’s unfortunate now the fight for domination by the two ‘isms’ in the first place created such disasters in the past 200 years of our history.
Consumerism is one that I simply do not approve. It is a product of social neglect and capitalistic greed multiplied by infinity. It is idiotic in its nature, has no sense of morality at all and it is driven by an insatiable desire for more and more pleasure. Simply speaking its the prostitution of socialism and capitalism on a global scale – combined. The common denominator being sheer greed for more and more without limits.
I would really love to find out how consumerism started and when it went out of hand. Was there a through research and debates on its approach and merits or it simply sprang out of nowhere like a wild weed.
Consumerism has a fundamental flaw in its makeup.
It’s all made up. Lies and deceit are at the core of its construct and nature is abhorred. Consumerism abhors balance and prudence. It drives humans to consume without rationality and proper thought. It compelled us all to be driven by our impulse rather than by our minds or hearts.
If we as a global union can address the ills of consumerism – I feel we will fix 50% of its problems.
God Bless us All.
© MIR
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