Summer/Autumn Issue 2019tcsexpress.com/CMSIMG/Publications//20191025034431_1 19-7-19 Connect 2019...

Summer/Autumn Issue 2019

CONNECT TCS Customer Newsletter

Summer-Autumn Issue 201902

CONTENTS

Editorial

Message

Letters

TCS Gladiator in Balochistan!

Moving Mountains,Effortlessly!TCS Wows PCB & Pakistan

LADIES FIRST!& FOREMOST at TCS

Upgrading theDigital Payments Landscape

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13ZUBEIDA MUSTAFAShattering Glass Ceilings

Karachi Literature FestivalSpawns the Adab Festival

Mixing Cutting Edge Businesswith Good Deeds Galore -Khalid Mahmood

KARACHI BIENNALE

TCS Board MemberCELEBRATING Nilofer Saeed

Tony Buzan - Bids Farewell to the World

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Transforming Managersinto Leaders

Man With The SuperGreen Thumb!

Fabulous Flashback!

LSE Collaborates withTCS to Redefine theSocioeconomicFabric of Pakistan

Baluchistan Bouncing Back!

TCS Collaborates withhashmove to digitize thelogistics industry of Pakistan

Course Corrections withOctara’s Career Compass

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www.tcsexpress.com 03

Publication of the Marketing &Public Affairs Division, TCS.

Summer-Autumn Issue 2019 – Vol 18 – Issue–1

Editorial Board

Resilience PersonifiedDear Readers, Here we are again in your midst, and the action is fast and furious, as usual. The seas are stormy that we sail in, with the ship of state enduring well the battering and bruising of its volatile environment.

The TCS ship in particular has witnessed a change at the helm that bodes well for the voyage, and its rank and file is primed for action and moving increasingly onto the front foot as it seeks to get ahead of the curve in the search for competitive advantage. The altruism of our founding fathers is a major guiding beacon in the course that we chart, and this becomes even more urgent in our present day circumstance.

We have an uplifting set of contents this time around, full of news that will gladden the heart and make the soul soar even in these very testing times. Even as we salute our TCS Board Member Nilofer Saeed on being awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz, we revisit the cricket euphoria that visited our land in the shape of the Pakistan Super League and which has impacted TCS in no uncertain terms as it seeks to make the citizen’s life simple, easy and convenient. TCS transformed in the process into a major league event manager with the muscle to successfully pull off a mega event in a historic and very meaningful public-private partnership. Bravo!

TCS prides itself on being a learning organization, and within our operating environment we celebrate homegrown efforts that promote the reading habit and the intellectual development of society. In-depth reports on the Karachi Literature Festival and the ADAB Festival appear within our pages as the city celebrates and further fortifies its place on the literary world’s map.

We are privileged to feature for you the story of Zubeida Mustafa, a high order journalist who shattered many a glass ceiling, making space for women in a man’s world. We feature Khalid Mahmood, top order batsman for Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry and a solid pillar of support for the country’s literary scene that is really buzzing now.

The Karachi Biennale Trust (KBT), founded in 2016 by a group of visual art professionals and educators as a dynamic platform to promote creativity, innovation and criticality in the visual

arts, is gathering momentum for its 2nd Biennale scheduled for October 2019, having very successfully pulled off the first in 2017, and we carry a detailed report on it.

On a related note, we have a report on our valued customer Shaukat Omari who has gained notable feathers in his cap making available to the public filtered

safe-to-drink water in 23 Karachi public parks, including the Quaid’s Mazar, alongside planting shade giving and flowering

trees at these locations in landscaped manner. Well done!

Tony Buzan, the father of mind-maps and radiant thinking, has passed on from his mortal abode, having left behind a lasting legacy. He was a

good friend of Pakistan, and the TCS sister concern Octara had the privilege of hosting him. With great fondness we revisit those times in 2013 when he was

here.

These are more than just interesting times that we live in, and while they may prove to be a curse on some, they promise to be an unqualified boon for the vast majority deprived

of a level playing field for so long.

EDITORIAL

EditorAdil Ahmad

Corporate CommunicationsConsultant

Members of EditorialCommittee

Muhammad Hayyan SiddiquiBrand Manager

Syed Nabi Muhammad AsifDesigner/Manager Creative Services

Jamil JanjuaAdvisor



“If you want to turn a dream into reality & succeed, the only key is the mindset.

The desire of achievinghas to exceed the fearof failure.”

— Khalid AwanFounder & ChairmanTCS

Chairman’s Message



LETTERS TOTHE EDITOR

Loved reading about Fred Van Leeuwen and his great adventure sailing the Atlantic with his son Joris. It’s a wonderful example of living economically and in harmony with Nature which everyone should experience, on a frequent basis preferably, on whatever scale they can manage. Given our over-busy lifestyles we do not realize how important it is to get away from it all and reflect upon the world when surrounded by its pristine beauty, far away from the many distractions of the concrete jungle. A magnificent management master-class indeed!Rina Saeed Khan (Author and Environmental Journalist), Lahore.

Your review of Rina Saeed Khan’s book “From the Mountains to the Mangroves” was a most invigorating read. It renewed my appreciation of the many great gifts that Nature has bestowed upon us and which we, more often than not, take for granted. Pakistan has been cited as a frontline state pitted against global warming induced climate change, and we need to rouse ourselves from our general state of denial and become proactive in seeking solutions to the myriad problems that we are already confronting, and which will without doubt multiply in the foreseeable future. More power to Rina and may her kind proliferate and increase the public’s sensitization to the issues that we face.Tulu Islam (Concerned Citizen), Karachi.

I just want to say what a pleasure and privilege it’s been to write for TCS CONNECT. Over the past 15 plus years my CONNECT mandate has given me the mint opportunity to meet and get to know in intimate detail some peerless, priceless personalities who have constituted the bedrock of Pakistani society, the unshakeable core that carries the nation forward, making for stability and ensuring the vibrancy of the intellect, the turbulence of the times notwithstanding.

Most recently, my catching up with my old college-mate Taher Anwar Khan, rejuvenated both body and soul through the many memorable trips down memory lane. Personal gratification aside, Taher’s case study which I put together in brief, provided a rousing view of a Pakistani success story that Pakistan is fairly choc-a-bloc with.

I can recount many more sterling individuals that I have had the privilege of interviewing for CONNECT, and they have all enriched me and the CONNECT’s readership with their inspiring stories. In these embattled times that we are passing through it is imperative that we recount our many blessings and seek Allah’s continued blessings and bounty, and seek

inspiration from those in our midst who have done well, and continue to do well, for there are many. May Allah keep us all in His protection and bless us all with the choicest of health, wealth and happiness, Ameen.Adil Ahmad (Correspondent CONNECT), Karachi.

It was really heartening to read about the TCS internship program and the large number of students that you took in for

the 6 weeks summer break. There is nothing quite like getting a firsthand view of life in the corporate world for these young adults soon to join the workforce. What concerns me is the insufficiency of such opportunities for the youth bulge that grows by the day. More business houses need to engage with our college kids and help groom them to become a credit to their parents and society.Sohail Habib (Healthcare Consultant), Karachi.

Your coverage of the Chairman TCS Mr. Khalid Awan (Shadowing the Chairman) made for a fascinating read. More business leaders need to develop their professional managements and free up their time to engage with the greater society and the affairs of state.

Mr. Khalid Awan’s keynote speech at the IoBM convocation, in which he gave a powerful endorsement for the advancement of women, touched a chord deep inside the heart. More power to Dr. Bisma Imtiaz, the Valedictorian, who combined the roles of student, doctor, wife and mother, and still found time to pursue her passion for the Great Outdoors through bungee jumping, water rafting and skydiving. Bravo.Dr. Anadil Bashir (Researcher), Karachi

Congratulations and thank you for facilitating cricket lovers all over Pakistan, in particular Karachi. Your cover story ‘Khajjal Khuari No More!’ was a weighty lesson in innovative thinking and the ability to pivot quickly in a fluid and dynamic operating environment with a view to making customers’ lives simple, easy and convenient. I hope the gaps that you have identified get plugged quickly as the PCB scales up future PSLs, making ever increasing demands upon its marketing and management frameworks of which TCS is a crucial part. Well done!Afroza Bhamani (Hampton School), Karachi.



as well as supporting a rich variety of plant species. Because of the ecosystem's biodiversity, various parts of it have been designated protected areas, including wildlife sanctuaries and game reserves.

The mountain ranges, including the Khilafat Hills, consist of a core habitat that hosts several globally important wild species, among them Markhor, Urial, Black Bears and Wolves. Illegal hunting, human habitations and livestock grazing have encroached on the wildlife habitats, leading to their fragmentation.

KAREZ SPRING WATERBalochistan is an arid region and receives very little annual rainfall. But innumerable streams and natural springs known as karez can be found in most parts of the province. There are more than a half dozen gorges around Ziarat formed by karez spring water falling through narrow openings in the mountain rocks, producing a dramatic effect.

There is a small dam and the valley is full of fruits, cherry in summer and apple in winter. Between the hills and the deep ravine there is a mile-long stretch of flat land ideal for walking called the Chashma Walk, which leads to the spring, or ‘chashma’, that provides water for the Town.

Sandman Tangi, 4 km from Ziarat, features a dramatic waterfall, and about 13 km from the city is Dumiara, another waterfall. The Chutair Valley is about a 30-minute drive from Ziarat. Inhabitants of the valley live in huts made from juniper bark, distinct from the homes in other villages.

NAJEEBULLAH TERRITORY Ziarat and the surrounding juniper valleys offer good opportunities for hiking and trekking, as well as the various gorges, and the city is also becoming popular for its snowfall during the winter.

Ziarat is the location of The Residency where Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah spent the last days of his life. The Residency, constructed in 1892, is a wooden structure with great architectural importance. It was originally meant to be a sanatorium but was converted into the summer residence of the Agent of the Governor General. It is now a national monument. The Residency catches tourists' attention because of its location and hilly surroundings.

The highest spot that cars can reach is Prospect Point, which is 2,713 metres above sea level and about 6 km from Ziarat. There is a small rest house nearby bookings for which can be made through the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Ziarat.

Almost 40 percent of the population migrates for three to four months during the winter to abodes in Harnai. Livestock was formerly the primary source of livelihood, but today it has been displaced by the development of agriculture and, in particular, the promotion of horticultural crops such as apple and cherry orchards.

BLUE OCEAN AHOY!Naqeebullah says he is not picky and choosy about what he eats but, given his strenuous hectic routine that must make substantial demands upon his physiology, there is no doubt that TCS keeps him well fed and in good cheer. But, like everybody else in the country, Najeebullah worries about the future of Pakistan’s economy and the rising cost of living. He is hopeful of the promised trickle-down effect of CPEC and is waiting patiently for its impact upon the grassroots where he exists.

But why wait for CPEC to unfurl its colors and flutter in the promised wind? Time to leverage his naturally and inherently hospitable nature reflective of the large-heartedness of the Baluch and Pathan who inhabit Baluchistan, and deploy Najeebullah as a big ticket tourist guide, and unlock a blue ocean of humongous proportions for TCS, Allah be praised.

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The rugged beauty of Baluchistan is legendary, and while its provincial capital of Quetta has been made famous for all the right reasons this time given its victorious cricketing Gladiators, Baluchistan’s crowning glory is Ziarat, the fabled land of the Juniper.

The fiercely proud and warlike people who roam this awe inspiring massive landscape have martial traditions that date back many centuries, and they have settled this space through conquest, yielding finally to the state of Pakistan and a democratic governance process that has proved bumpy at best, and not just for Baluchistan.

Taking his bumps on a daily basis is Najeebullah Khan, the TCS Courier charged with the delivery of consignments from Quetta to Ziarat, a distance of 130 kilometers traversed over not the friendliest of roads in Pakistan. 2833 feet is the height that he must ascend and descend on a daily basis. Quetta is at an average elevation of 1,680 metres (5,510 feet) above sea level, making it Pakistan's only high-altitude major city. Ziarat, on the other hand, is at an elevation of 2,543 m (8,343 ft), with May to September the peak season for tourist visits, and the valley fully packed during the Eid holidays in particular, with 2016 statistics showing over 400,000 people visiting.

ROUGH RIDEThere isn’t sufficient outbound and inbound TCS traffic to justify a dedicated company transport, not yet anyway, and Najeebullah catches the 7.30am public coaster for the over 3 hours commute to Ziarat every morning, and returns to Quetta the same evening, the return trip costing his company 380 rupees in fare with no guarantee that the heater in the van will be functional in the deep freeze of Baluchi winter. At 24 years of age he has the physical and mental strength to cope.

This year a record five feet of snow fell in Ziarat which was the highest the city had ever recorded in 40 years. In the first week of March a deadly weather system inflicted heavy rains and snowfall in the province, with Emergency declared by the Baluchistan government in the flooded district of Qila Abdullah, and Pakistan Army aviation helicopters evacuating 1,500 families to relief camps set up in Makran, Lasbela and other affected areas.

The heavy amount of snow blocked major highways, adding misery to the travelers, reported the national media. Several vehicles, including passenger coaches and buses, were stranded on the highways, with Rail trade and Nato supplies to

Afghanistan for US troops also suspended.

“All kinds of traffic between Quetta, Ziarat, Khanozai, Kan-Mehtarzai, Sanjavi and Kojak Pass have been suspended due to heavy snowfall,” the Provincial Disaster Management Authority officials said. “We are trying to remove snow from the highways to restore traffic between Quetta and many other towns and cities of northern Baluchistan.”

TRUE GRITNone of Nature’s wrath has deterred Najeebullah, and he has not wavered from his daily commitment as he spends seven hours of his day riding through ‘hail and high water’ the modern day ‘Pony Express’ with a prayer on his lips and a song in his heart.

At the time of this interview conducted over the telephone it was snowing and extremely cold. “It’s very tough going, but work has to carry on,” said Najeebullah in a matter of fact tone as he went about making the deliveries in and around Ziarat’s Main Bazaar. “I also deliver in Zindra at a distance of 10 km from Ziarat, as well as Kawas which is 15km away.”

In the blizzard like conditions obtained that definitely qualifies for travelling the extra mile and beyond. His own village is Ahmadon which is 50 km from Ziarat, and where his father resides having retired from service in the Irrigation Department.

Najeebullah did his Matriculation privately from Quetta, and at 24 years of age he has been married for 5 years and is the proud father of two girls aged 1 and 2. He has four younger sisters and one brother.

RICH ECOSYSTEMThe Sarangzai and Panezai, subsets of the Kakar tribe, account for about half of Ziarat's population, and the Juniper forest ecosystem provides a habitat for endangered wildlife species



ZIARATIN FOCUS

IN BALOCHISTAN!

NAJEEBULLAH!

TCS GLADIATOR



ENEMY ACTION!Even as the din of dysfunction threatened to drown out the festive vibrancy of cricketing Pakistan, and the war clouds raged with thunder and lightning, shutting off the airspace over Lahore and preventing the international television production crew flying in from Dubai to land, Team TCS pulled out all stops to set the stage in Karachi for the three PSL4 productions scheduled for Lahore. What use if the peacock dances unseen in the jungle?

Without television broadcasting live the action worldwide a major objective of the entire production would have gone unachieved, to show the world the happy and passionate face of Pakistan, far removed from the ugly perception of a hard country torn by terrorism.

A world class television production team, equipped with state of the art technology in cameras and other editing paraphernalia, can transform a simple game of bat and ball into a mega ‘Hollywood’ production that would blow clean out of the water the adversary in this modern day so called 5th generation warfare which is asymmetrical and hybrid in nature.

The adversary reacted predictably, with conventional warfare, and the unwarranted Indian belligerence, with the firefight that followed, was clearly directed at derailing the PSL4 extravaganza and stealing Pakistan’s thunder.

KNOCKOUT PUNCHBut the adversary had not reckoned with the resilience and agility of the many management teams deployed throughout the length and breadth of Pakistan, manning battle stations both on the frontlines where the troops stood eyeball to eyeball with the adversary on the ground and in the air, and throughout civil society, in particular the hot and happening cricket front where PSL4 stood poised to deliver the adversary a knockout punch.

HIGH PERFORMANCE CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMTeam TCS scaled up its framework to the amazement of all and sundry, and went from marketing and managing 3 matches last year to 8 matches this year, selling an incredible 225,000 tickets nationwide of which 30% got sold online.

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MOVING MOUNTAINS, EFFORTLESSLY!TCS WOWs PCB & PAKISTANThe 200 strong Team TCS pulled Gs and pivoted with grace and speed when disruption struck from out of the blue, playing a huge role in reinventing the paradigm and making the dream of every Pakistani come true – the return of top flight international cricket to Pakistan, in particular Karachi, the mega-metropolis by the sea, also known as the heart that pumps the body Pakistan.



200 TCS Warriors drawn from Courier, Accounts, Data processing, Fleet Management and Administration welded and melded together into a high performance cross-functional team that manned the three layer security check-posts on Match Days, validating tickets and working in tandem with the Pakistan Rangers and a slew of law enforcement agencies, weeding out counterfeits and keeping a sharp eye out for disruptionists.

To say that PSL4 was a roaring success that reduced the Indian howl to a whimper would be putting it very mildly. Pakistan delivered the kind of broadside that blasted to smithereens the adversaries, and there were more than one allied against us, hitting for a six and clean out of the ground their lame belligerence, shattering their wickets and sending the bales flying off the field. What a rush!

BLUE OCEAN INDEEDForty-eight hours after the last ball had been bowled but the last guest very far from departed, I sat down with the TCS chieftains who had pulled off this Herculean feat, sailing with great vigor in a might blue ocean of their discovery.

Adeel Azhar (Director Strategic Planning/Consumer) manned the Planning Board. Zahid Ali Khosa (General Manager) manned the action stations on the ground, ably assisted by his 2ic Rehan Tahir (Area Retail Head/PECHS). Shauket Abbas (Director Consumer) occupied the pinnacle of this high performance top team, keeping it oiled and greased, and fully motivated. In the motivation department he didn’t need to do much, the indomitable TCS spirit that permeates each and every TCS warrior quite sufficient to traverse the many extra miles that were required to achieve a thumping victory which Team TCS delivered in spades.

DISRUPTION & REINVENTION“We faced a massive, unexpected and entirely unprecedented disruption when the matches scheduled for Lahore were cancelled,” says Adeel Azhar (Director Strategic Planning/Con-sumer) who didn’t sound too out of sorts after the no doubt taxing marathon that he had just run.

“We had to run the entire refund exercise which was not in the plan. We refunded online to people’s debit and credit cards, and their mobile wallets. We direct transferred to the accounts of our corporate customers. We also refunded over-the-coun-ter from our Express Centers. This was completely unexpected and comprised a whole lot of extra work which we managed without a hitch. We had to make changes and develop a new system to cater for this which we did in 10 days.”

UPGRADING & SCALING UP Last year things got a bit hairy because we didn’t know what we were getting into, he says. “It was something quite big. Once the PSL3 concluded we sat down and revisited the entire exercise and identified the performance gaps. The system we had in place for PSL4 was more scalable and we can handle many matches simultaneously. This time we focused a lot on our stationary and added new security features so tickets

couldn’t be counterfe i ted. We caught a lot of fake tickets which was something that was missing last year.”

Adeel says there remain areas of improvement in stadium management and corporate booking which Team TCS will take care of next year for the PSL5 which will be staged entirely in Pakistan.

“Security was tight, understandably, and entering the stadium was a chore with body searches and all. The demand for tickets, especially the final, was phenomenal, and it was generally felt that PCB had underpriced their tickets. They could have sold that stadium twice over.”

Like the last year the PCB entrusted TCS with the Trophy’s logistics. Mark Woodcock (Managing Director International) and Qasim Awan (Director TCS Holdings) took possession of the Trophy in Dubai, and in Karachi Shaukat Abbas led the TCS cavalcade of motorcycles to the National Stadium where the Trophy was handed over to the MD PCB a day before the Final.

Rehan Tahir (Area Retail Head/PECHS) was still in action mode when I talked to him, debriefing his troops and bringing proceedings to an orderly close. “28 Express Centers were nominated to sell tickets in Karachi,” he said. “There was lots of excitement for the TCS staffers who enjoyed their job immensely, and it served to reduce any pain or discomfort that the job might have entailed.”

ENDURANCE TEST“With the match scheduled to start at 7pm our team would assemble at 12noon at the Head Office and depart for the venue by 12.30pm,” said Rehan. “Between 1pm and 1.30pm we had to serve lunch to our team at the camp office. By 3pm the gates went ‘live’ with ticket validation carried out at the outer and inner gates. At the first checkpoint the especial sticker on the ticket was scrutinized to ensure the ticket was genuine, and at the second checkpoint the bar code was scanned.”

The TCS team was on duty for 8 hours standing in the sun. On the 17th March there were 2 matches, with Team TCS assembling at 8am, reaching the ground by 9am, and ensuring

the gates went ‘live’ at 10am. The team then stayed on duty until 10pm validating tickets. “Nobody complained. The commitment level was exceptional.”

No outside human resource was hired, and the daily two shifts at TCS were merged into one, with staffers manning the backend working equally long hours. The core TCS work was not disrupted by the PSL deployments.

“Especial blessings of Allah are upon TCS,” says Rehan. “We are getting business like

heavy rainfall in a good Monsoon season.” Mashallah.

MANAGING POPULATION FLOWSZahid Ali Khosa (General Manager) spoke of the 500 rupee enclosures that had a heavy rush and proved a bit challenging to manage. These enclosures were named after the past cricketing greats that included Intikhab Alam, Iqbal Qasim, Mohammad Brothers, Nasimul Ghani, and Wasim Bari. Majid Khan and Waqar Hasan sold for 1000 rupees, while Imran Khan, Waseem Akram and Zaheer Abbas sold for 2000 rupees. Fazal Mahmood sold for 2,500 while Hanif Mohammad was top priced at 3,000 rupees.

“The Chairman’s Box had VVIPs who drove straight in like the CM and Corps Commander. There were Black and Green VIP tickets for the hospitality boxes where tickets were validated but no body searches done.”

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONSIn overall command of Operation PSL4 from the TCS side was Shauket Abbas (Director Consumer), a veteran of many a mega campaign. “The PSL4 experience was really very tough,” he confessed, “but an exciting journey towards excellence. We exceeded the expectations of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and

are meeting with them already to further streamline our interface.”

Next year the entire PSL5 is due to be staged in Pakistan. “That means 38 Matches, up from 8 Matches this year, and 3 Matches last year. Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Multan and possibly Faisalabad, where both the Hotel and Stadium are available, will host the Matches. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas will possibly hold an exhibition match.”

UNCHARTED WATERSCricket matches on this scale have never taken place before, says Shauket. “There was never a systematic approach. Test matches were played to mostly empty stadia, and for the One Dayers half the people bought tickets while the other half were handed out passes for free. With the arrival of PSL the demand has gone through the roof. The National Stadium Karachi can accommodate 32,000 people and we make sure that we don’t oversell.”

Shauket emphasizes the need for full body scanners even though it is a very expensive piece of equipment. “Physical frisking cannot check in large numbers within a limited period. We sold 225,000 tickets and this is for the first time in Pakistan’s history that such a huge ticket sales activity has happened. Next year there will be much greater pressure. In addition to ticket sales and validation, TCS provided PCB with the financial management of the massive revenues that were generated.”

Across Pakistan 72 TCS Express Centers were selling tickets over the counter, with tickets available in the remotest locations of the country for the Karachi Matches. It was a major mobilization of domestic tourism.

MORALE BOOSTAside from the tremendous economic activity that PSL4 generated, it provided a priceless boost to the sagging morale of a nation under siege from all manner of internal and external pressures. Resilience has been oft quoted as the hallmark of the Pakistani people, and rising to the occasion again and again, no matter how daunting the odds, is a defining feature of the giants who roam the Land of the mighty Indus and Karakorum, may Allah bless us and shower us with success, Ameen.



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SEEKING GENDER PARITYPakistan, a country of 207 million with a female population of 49%, has only 28% females in its workforce. Due to social and cultural barriers women remain an untapped resource with immense potential for success. Globally logistics and supply chain have been male dominated industries, employing just 20% women with only 5% of the top positions held by women.

TCS, Pakistan’s largest logistics company with over 12,000 employees, is committed to bridge the gender parity gap in its workforce as part of its commitment to empower women from all walks of life.

FINE INITIATIVESTCS has initiated programs such as AGHAAZ & Work-from-Home. AGHAAZ, the parent program, features Dastak and Waseela.

DASTAK - STEPPING STONE This is a community selling initiative in which women go door-to-door in their own communities to sell. It has given women opportunities to work and grow in their careers, says Romeen Hanook (Retail Executive, TCS AGHAAZ, Multan). “For women in our community who want to work the biggest fear is what people will say. Our desire to pursue a career is suppressed. TCS Aghaaz is an excellent initiative, and I

highly appreciate the opportunities it has given me. It has been a stepping stone for me because I was a novice when I joined and TCS provided me with resources and facilities to work and grow professionally. I am financially empowered and partially able to support my parents. I feel proud and happy to contribute towards the household expenses. I chose this path because I want to be independent and stand on my own feet.”

Waseela - equal growth opportunitiesIn this program women are encouraged in cottage industry in remote areas using TCS’s expansive network. “There are many girls in our community who are educated but they don’t consider it appropriate to work,” says Naila Rafique (Retail Executive, TCS AGHAAZ, Faisalabad). “Before starting my job with TCS AGHAAZ I was completely dependent on my parents who supported me financially. Now TCS AGHAAZ has financially empowered me and I am able to bear not only my own expenses but I can also support and provide for my parents.”

“TCS promotes a supportive and respectful workplace for women,” says Maryam Jaffer (Operations Assistant, TCS Aghaaz, Karachi). “We are given equal growth opportunities and I see myself at a senior-level position here. My future looks bright in TCS.”

Work-from-Home program (WFH) - strengthening balancing act This is designed to facilitate housewives and students with flexible hours to better manage work-home responsibilities. “I am an entrepreneur and I design handcrafted bags,” says Tasneem Zahid (WFH, Karachi). “TCS Aghaaz program has provided me with the flexibility to manage my part-time work along with my career, and also manage my home responsibilities in a balanced way.”

Sarah Ahmed (WFH Karachi) says she is happy at home, being more of an introvert. “Working from home is great as I can get all my work done in a comfortable environment.”

Management Associate program - higher ratio of womenHere fresh talent is recruited purely on merit from the top universities nationwide, and it has a higher ratio of women.

“The work environment is quite balanced at TCS, and women are encouraged to pursue their dreams and career aspirations,” says Aeman Husain (Assistant Brand Manager and former Management Associate). “As a female I feel quite safe, secure and empowered in this organization and I know that here I

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EMPOWERMENT

Empowering Women through Financial Inclusion

LADIES FIRST!& FOREMOSTat



can fulfill my dreams and reach a leadership role in the next 10 years.”

Women are also employed as Service Ambassadors and Retail Executives.“We are provided with adequate resources and training to handle the customer,” says Mahrukh Faizan (Key Accounts Executive/Service Ambassador, Karachi). “What I most love about TCS and the reason why I am still working here, is because TCS offers a safe, professional and friendly environment for women. In the next 5 years I definitely see myself at a managerial position because TCS fosters a conducive environment for personal and career growth. It helps us better manage our work and home responsibilities.”

Maryam Khatoon (Relationship Manager, Karachi) says that the environment at TCS is very good. “The work timings of 9 to 5 are also convenient for females. I have a front end job at a TCS Express Center, but I have never felt uncomfortable at work. Wherever I have been transferred the staff has always been supportive and caring. The management is also supportive and has a respectful attitude towards women. I feel proud to be a part of TCS and my family also takes pride in the fact that I work here.”

Solid economic and social impactWith a workforce of over 12,000 people, some in the country’s remotest corners, and with over 900 retail outlets, TCS is recognized within the Industry for its economic and social impact. As part of its long-term commitment, TCS is redefining work for women by giving them equal opportunities for advancement. With every passing day the number of women in our workforce continues to grow.

Collaborate for Biller Initiator Model&

Upgrading the Digital Payments Landscape

Making Life Simple, Easy & Convenient TCS is collaborating with 1LINK to introduce the service of collecting bill payments at their 900+ TCS Express Centers and at the doorsteps of their customers. The signing ceremony was held at 1LINK head office in Karachi. As per the agreed arrangement between TCS and 1LINK, TCS will be assuming the role of bill initiator whereas 1LINK will be leveraging its Bill Payment Service.

With the arrangement in place, now customers will have increased access points of paying their bills. Bills can be paid at over the counters of any 900+ TCS Express Centers by walk-in customers. TCS delivery agents can also settle bills through their hand-held device at the doorsteps of their customers.

Najeeb Agrawalla - CEO 1LINKSpeaking on the occasion, Mr. Najeeb Agrawalla - CEO 1LINK said “1LINK is proud to partner with TCS in introducing innovative method of paying bills which is customer centric and bringing significant convenience to the consumers. It is encouraging to see non-banking players playing an active role in digital payments sphere and offer value added services whilst utilizing their existing infrastructure”.

Salman Akram – CEO, TCS “We are pleased to collaborate with 1LINK in offering a customized, state-of-the-art bill payment option to our consumers. Our focus remains on the modern-day needs of our people as we continue to expand our resources to devise pragmatic, reliable and timely solutions that are on par with global trends,” said Mr. Salman Akram, the CEO TCS.

About TCS Pakistan’s largest courier, logistics and e-commerce provider, TCS provides services to the corporate sector, SMEs and household customers. With a widespread network of 900+ outlets in over 380 cities, 525 satellite-tracked vehicles, a dedicated Boeing-737, a proficient team of more than 4,000 couriers and the fastest digital printing facility in the country, TCS leads the Pakistani courier and logistics industry in terms of both service and reliability. The company can be found on the web at www.tcs.com.pk

About 1LINK 1LINK (Pvt) Limited, owned by a consortium of 11 banks, is the country’s 1st PSO/PSP and largest switch and payment system, providing a host of valuable online banking services like ATM switching, Bills Payment, Inter Bank Funds Transfer, Fraud Risk Management, Switch Dispute Resolution, Global Payment Schemes, PayPak – Domestic Payment Scheme, etc. 1LINK is continuously evolving and adding new products and services to benefit the financial industry. For more information, please visit: https://1link.net.pk/



“Junoon say aur ishq say milti hai azadi.” Salman Ahmad on lead guitar, Azmat on vocals, Brian O’ Connel on bass guitar. That’s Junoon, reputedly once the biggest band of South Asia that reunited after 13 long years after many a false start that proved the saying ‘there is many a slip between the cup and the lip.’

English Biscuits Manufacturers, known to all and sundry as EBM, pulled off the seemingly impossible, putting their Sooper face forward and bankrolling the proceedings at the Moin Khan Academy, giving TCS and Yayvo the two-thumbs-up for the seamless and effortless manner in which ticket sales took place, both online through the Yayvo portal (65%), and offline through 15 TCS Express Centers (35%).

Ticket validation on-site by TCS ground staff and the screening out of undesirables bearing counterfeit tickets was the other major value addition that TCS provided to the sponsors and organizers, alongside ticket delivery by TCS Couriers on COD basis, making customers lives simple, easy and convenient for

the over 7500 packing the stadium, having paid between 5000 to 15,000 rupees per ticket.

In 2018 Yayvo and TCS handled PSL3, the biggest sports event of Pakistan, and the Junoon Reunion Concert, the biggest musical event

of Pakistan. The Yayvo business model is to grow through partnerships like PSL and EBM Sooper where the sponsors’ advertising

generates the traffic and sales with no investment on TCS and Yayvo’s part.

On the contrary, Yayvo & TCS became beneficiaries of a windfall in publicity with their logo shown over 200 times on the screens during the event itself, as well as being part of every advertisement that got aired on the electronic and social media for over 10 days. Between the 10th to the 22nd of December 2018 Yayvo & TCS were on television every 4 minutes on different channels, with EBM spending heavily on the campaign. With the combination of ticket sales and validation, and proven ability by executing flawlessly a mega-event like PSL4, Yayvo and TCS have developed mint credentials and unlocked for themselves a priceless blue ocean of opportunity where the market space is entirely uncontested, with no other company in sight for miles with the network and muscle to take on such projects with ease.

Yayvo has done very well indeed over the past year, and doubled itself in size. E-commerce has enabled society to flex its muscles and grow itself into spaces abdicated earlier by weak leadership yielding to the diktat of the lunatic fringe. The Internet fuelled e-commerce is enabling Pakistan to generate its soft image in a meaningful, smooth, orderly and instantaneous manner.

The ticketing business has also had a beneficial impact upon Yayvo’s other offerings. Last year, with the PSL3 generating $600,000 in ticket sales, the traffic that it produced also yielded general sales of approximately 2 million dollars.

Yayvo & TCS have strongly established themselves as a vertical integrated enterprise, and not just an online retail market place. Yayvo handled the electronic part in ticket sales with the physical part of tickets delivery and validation handled by TCS.

With centrally located venues like the Hockey Club of Pakistan stadium and the Lyari Football stadium not having hosted ticketed events in living memory, perhaps it is time to look at event conceptualization and management in collaboration with the Pakistan hockey and football federations as well.

Making Customers’Lives Simple,

Easy and Convenient

Yayvo’s CyberspaceThrives!

Cricket JunoonFrom

to

Music’s Junoon!



to get the lock broken. I still shudder when I think of this incident that took place at least forty years ago.” She says women should never take toilets for granted, especially properly maintained ones.

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACEIn 1975 when Zubeida Mustafa joined DAWN the country’s politics had changed drastically, she writes. “DAWN was no longer the Establishment’s paper as it had once been described as being. It was anti-imperialism, anti-capitalism, pro-Palestine, pro-social justice, pro-disarmament, pro-peace, pro-equity and so on. Within this framework we had to find our way.”

Zubeida describes in vivid detail the room to maneuver that journalists enjoyed in those days. “The paper I joined in 1975 had already celebrated the silver jubilee of its existence in Pakistan in 1972. I feel it was truly independent as it could possibly be under a stringent press control regime. Although we were operating under a constitutional system that spoke of freedom of expression, journalists knew how much freedom that allowed. With the Press and Publications Ordinance, that was imposed by General Ayub Khan, still in place there was not much room for maneuver.”

Editors and journalists were not willing to confront the powers that be and risk their papers’ closure. Abbas Nasir, the first of the young generation of editors at DAWN, told Zubeida that he was not sure whether a single act of defiance was worth costing several thousand people their jobs. The idea was to ‘live to fight another day’ as the celebrated journalist Zamir Niazi put it.

Once when a brave heart did confront the powers that be, in March 1991, he was beaten up with rifle butts and bottles, writes Zubeida Mustafa, describing in graphic detail the plight of Karachi in those days when even Dawn was forced to suspend publication of its Karachi edition for a day.

EARLY TRAILBLAZERSZubeida Mustafa pays tribute to the

intrepid ladies who preceded her in English journalism. Zaibunissa Hamidullah, editor of Mirror; Anis Mirza, Dawn’s parliamentary correspondent who wrote ‘From the Press Gallery’; Alys Faiz and Miriam Habib, both of whom worked for The Pakistan Times; Zuhra Kureishi who later became Mrs. Karim, founder and editor of She magazine; Naushaba Burney (who taught journalsm at the University of Karachi, became editor of PIA’s inflight magazine Humsafar, and then joined Dawn for five years); and the legendary Razia Bhatti

nee Bondrey, who was

younger to ZM but joined the profession before she did.

Urdu journalism attracted women in greater numbers, says Zubeida Mustafa, and names Sultana Meher of Anjam and Jang; Mussarat Jabeen, the founder editor of Akhbar-e-Khwateen of the Mashriq group; Saeeda Afzal and Raana Faruqi of the Jang group’s Akhbar-e-Jahan. The first Sindhi magazine for women was published in 1957 under the editorship of Zeenat Abdullah Channa, followed by Adhi in

the early sixties edited by Khadija Daudpota. Ms Z.A. Shaikh wrote for Ibrat; Fahmida Hussain (editor women’s page of Badal 1968-70, Hilal-e-Pakistan 1972-73, and monthly Sojhro 1973-75).

FACING DOWN MISOGYNY “It was a battle we had to fight to have our abilities and professionalism recognized, says Zubeida Mustafa. “I heard it being said by many of my male colleagues that women are by nature designed to be home-makers and carers of children. As such they cannot inherently be equally competent at the workplace as their male colleagues.

Even the least misogynist of male journalists of those days felt a degree of reservation vis-à-vis women, but very often this was muted as people were more discreet in their behavior. This approach, which was often tinged with patronizing overtones, naturally had to be fought off, and the only way of doing it was by proving yourself.”

CHASTISING ZIAZubeida once got nominated to accompany Ziaul Haq’s press delegation on his visit to the Far East. “It sounded exciting and I wanted to see at close quarters this man who was detested by women and journalists equally. But a couple of days later the editor called her and said that the President didn’t think it proper to have a female in an all-male entourage.

“I was furious because it meant that being a woman was something wrong, and as if I didn’t

know how to conduct myself in the company of men.” Another day passed and the editor sent for her again. Begum Ziaul Haq had suddenly decided to accompany her husband, and now the Press Information Department wanted the female journalist who had been nominated in the first place, and rejected by the President, to be re-nominated. “This time it was my turn to refuse. I didn’t want to go to act as the Begum’s companion to entertain her.”

TRANSFORMING LANDSCAPESZubeida Mustafa takes the reader at a lively trot through the technological revolutions that the publishing world experienced, going from the age of the

The greatest threat

that we face is

that of journalists

being corrupted.

Only honest people

will report the truth.

If they have no vested

interests, journalists

will seek the truth, and

understand issues in

the light of the truth.

An ‘accidental journalist’ who clocked 33 years and 6 months with DAWN, Zubeida Mustafa’s book “My DAWN Years Exploring Social Issues”makes for a fascinating read, with the reader taken on a fast paced ride through a momentous period in not just Pakistan’s history, but indeed the world’s as we transitioned through some euphoric as well as hairy scary times, witnessing all manner of social and political upheaval in society, and rampant disruption caused by exponential advancement in technology.

Zubeida trod the unbeaten path and blazed trails that took glass ceilings to task, shattering them in some cases. She was aided and abetted in her unconventional pursuits by a rare generation of chivalrous males in positions of power, most notably the legendary editor of DAWN, Ahmad Ali Khan, who said he never regretted taking a chance on her when he appointed ZM the first female assistant editor, as also the youngest in DAWN’s history, grooming and growing her over a period of 26 years.

CHAMPIONING THE UNDERDOG Zubeida’s forte was neither politics nor cricket, the prime preoccupations of journalists, and not just in Pakistan. Her canvas comprised the social sector issues, and the many desperate narratives of the disempowered and the downtrodden. Her beat, as it were, extended to women empowerment, education, population and health, and she writes about feeling guilty for being healthy as she ‘weaved her wave through a sea of ill humanity when treading the corridors of government hospitals.’

‘My DAWN Years, Exploring Social Issues’ is a great resource for anyone interested in revisiting a healthy slice of Pakistan’s immediate past extending over three decades and more, seen through the lens of a newspaperwoman at a time when newspaperwomen were a rarity in Pakistan. In 1975, for instance, a feature editor at DAWN got paid the princely sum of 1500 rupees per month,

and if the staffer was female then there was the added and often debilitating challenge of having no ladies toilets in the work place.

TOILET WOES“Not providing ladies toilet is the surest way of driving women out of the office,” writes ZM who, whenever the need arose during her first few months at DAWN, would drive across to the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) a furlong away. “That was not an ideal situation by any means.”

Then she discovered Razia Bhatti and her team, and the first question she asked them was about the ladies toilet! “One of them took me upstairs to show

it to me. It was barely usable and it seemed not to have received a workman’s touch by way of maintenance ever since it was built.”

One Saturday Zubeida found herself locked inside the toilet and unable to open the cubicle door due to a faulty lock. She banged and hammered at the door to no avail. The weekend had begun and the office staff on that floor had gone home. The place was deserted.

“The prospect of remaining cooped up in the tiny space until Monday morning really gave me the jitters. To my intense relief I heard the outer door open and I called out. It was Rehana Hakim who came to my rescue by fetching the peon



MINIBOOK

ZUBEIDA MUSTAFASHATTERING GLASS CEILINGS



Then she got married, had children, and took a break from working. When a Commonwealth scholarship offer to the London School of Economics (LSE) came up she was quite undecided, but since husband was going she went along leaving her baby behind in East Pakistan with her In-laws who had offered to baby sit.

“This was in 1970 which was the worst time with all the trouble taking place there. I was quite distracted and returned after staying at LSE for two terms. LSE said I could come back in 5 years but I never did.” In Karachi she had a second baby and didn’t thing about working. Her husband worked in NIPA and then at the National Bank.

CANADIAN & FRENCH CONNECTIONSZubeida has 2 girls, Seemi and Huma. One is in Canada, having migrated after doing her MBA from the IBA, and is selling software. The second daughter did her Montessori and went to France after she married, and is settled in Lyon, teaching English in a private school. There are no grandchildren as yet. Zubeida always wanted to stay in Karachi. “My daughter migrated in the 1990s and wanted to sponsor me, but I was very happy with my life working here.” Even after retirement she is very happy with her life in Pakistan, and goes to visit her daughters periodically. ACCIDENTAL JOURNALISTNetball and athletics were Zubeida Mustafa’s forte in college, excelling in Shot-put and Javelin. She loved cycling, and has been an avid reader of all kinds of books since school. She edited the university journal in International Relations, and was always interested in writing.

When she got the International Women Media Foundation Award the Aurora magazine did a piece on her titled ‘the accidental journalist’. That was so true, she says. “It wasn’t planned. I had never been in a newspaper office before then. Between 1969 and 1975 I didn’t take up any work. I was in PIIA from 1962 to 1969, and then worked freelance for the PIIA Journal, the ‘Pakistan Horizon’. After the second baby I told my husband I needed one day off from babysitting, so

on Fridays he would come home early and I had half a day to take the car and go to the library just to be in a different atmosphere, and so I could continue to read and write.”

SERIOUS, NOT FRIVOLOUSZubeida Mustafa was invited by Ahmad Ali Khan, the editor Dawn, to become a journalist. He was looking for a leader writer, and found Zubeida’s writing to be serious and not the frivolous stuff usually assigned to women. “He made it all so pleasant and feasible, and allowed me relaxation in my office timings so long as the work got done and my colleagues didn’t get to know of the special favour! I was the only woman at the time in Dawn in 1975.”

She says she had to be correct in her manners working with the old fashioned generation of men, like Dr. Mahmud Hussain and Prof. Riaz ul Islam, who would stand up when a woman entered the room, even if she was 30 years younger than them! It was a very courteous & polite working environment and she never felt uneasy knowing that nobody would be rude to her.

ACTION STATIONS!While she was not a member of the original group that set up the Women’s Action Forum (WAF), nor a part of its policy making circle, Zubeida took part in the demonstrations and wrote about WAF, something it acknowledged by inviting her to cut the cake on WAF’s 25th anniversary.

“The press was very controlled those days, and male oriented, so to write editorials about WAF took a bit of doing.” Zubeida describes her 33 years and 6 months with Dawn as action packed with never a dull moment. She has since done a lot of freelance editing for OUP, and written two books on language, and her Memoirs.

RELINQUISHING THE WHEELAt the turn of the century Zubeida Musafa was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a genetic disorder that causes the body to slow down and then cease production of the proteins the retinal cells in the eye need to remain healthy and functional. Gradually these cells start dying and the eyesight begins

to fail, with the vision loss starting from the periphery and moving to the center.

She stopped driving the car on the doctor’s advice, ending an activity that had facilitated her mobility for four decades. Her professional work, however, was not affected, and she could read and write, and use the computer very comfortably, and didn’t allow herself to worry about the future.

She took on the revamp of the OpEd page, but after a year her visual disability could no longer be wished away and her dependence on her younger colleagues was growing. “This time I didn’t allow Abbas Nasir, the editor, to persuade me to stay on. My mind was made up. It was time to say goodbye.”

QUITTING NEVER AN OPTIONZubeida started using a white cane soon after her retirement, but not so much to find her way around as to identify herself as visually disabled. Zahid Abdullah, a fellow traveler on the path of disability, gave her courage and hope when he quoted Arnold Toynbee who said that the fall of the Roman Empire was a process and not an event. To turn blind is the same. It’s a process that is constantly happening. So don’t you give up. Just carry on as long as the process allows you.

“That is what I am doing. As I make the transition to the ‘world of blindness’ I think of alternative activities that I can manage without vision and which will keep me occupied.”

CARING FOR THE LESS FORTUNATE“We tend to blame the government but need to take responsibility for our country and its people,” is the message that Zubeida wishes to send out. “Those amongst the developing countries that have succeeded have experienced all around development, in particular in the social sectors of health and education, and not just in one sector of the economy. We the privileged must look around us and exercise a care for the less fortunate.” Indeed.

Thank you Zubeida Mustafa.



hot metal press and the ugly monstrous typesetting machines where proofreading was a cumbersome time consuming job as also was the correcting of mistakes. Given the ease with which the entire process unfolds today in the computer age, it boggles the mind going over how it was in those days.

ARTISTS AS JOURNALISTSMaking pages on the computer opened opportunities for journalists to be creative and imaginative. Zubeida Mustafa could visualize & dream up new ideas, but not being an artist she depended on colleagues trained in this field.

Thus began her association with Khalida Butt who joined Dawn in 1984, and was adept at making graphs and charts. Then came Khuda Bux Abro in 1994, an artist whose creativity knew no bounds, and who was possessed with a passion for human rights and the empowerment of women. He was married to feminist writer Attiya Dawood, and became an asset for Karachi’s civil rights activists.

Feica, a highly rated cartoonist, joined Dawn in the 1980s, providing striking imaginary on the burning issues of the day. Mushtaq was an excellent pocket cartoonist whose work graced the paper’s back page between 1996 and 2011.

“Dawn was cheering up, and this was facilitated by technology as artwork could be accommodated at very short notice.”

BANE OF CORRUPTIONIn the information age of today there is plenty of data, though not always accurate, available to media-persons, says Zubeida Mustafa. “But the enhancement in awareness has unfortunately not been seized by the

government to adopt dynamic policies and lead the country on the path of socio-economic development.” Secondly, she says, the media writers have not always been able to suggest feasible solutions and that has only led to despondency.

Thirdly, media reporting of the social sectors is characterized by its inability to place problems in context of inequity and social stratification, and has come to accept that Pakistan is virtually split into two – the world of the Haves and the miserable world of the Have-nots who constitute nearly 70 per cent of the population.

“The two live in their separate spheres that hardly meet. Given the huge gap

between the two, right policies

would require the privileged to make sacrifices for the disadvantaged. There is no other solution, and the media is not pointing this out.”

The greatest threat that we face, says Zubeida Mustafa, is that of journalists being corrupted. “Only honest people will report the truth. If they have no vested interests, journalists will seek the truth, and understand issues in the light of the truth.” Indeed. Zubeida Mustafa’s Book ‘My DAWN Years – Exploring Social Issues’ is published by Paramount.

THE LADY FROM BHUSAVALShe was born in Bhusaval in the Bombay Presidency in 1941 where Zubeida Mustafa’s father, Syed Mufid Hasan, was posted at the time and working for the Great India Peninsula Railways. As a civil servant he opted for Pakistan at Partition, joining the Pakistan Railways

from which he retired in 1957 as the director-general.

DISRUPTIONSZubeida attended school in Chittagong and Lahore where her father was posted. Finally she settled in Karachi in 1952 where she joined St. Joseph’s Convent and did her Matriculation from the Karachi Board in 1956, which used to be quite good then, she says. Then onto St. Joseph’s College for 4 years for graduation, then Karachi University for 2 years for her Masters in International Relations. “In those days one was sent to school to study and didn’t really plan what one was going to do in later life,” Zubeida says.

She recollects the Summer of 1947 which she spent in

Delhi where her father was assigned

to the committee set up for the division of assets. It took some time to decide how many wagons and engines were to be allotted to India and how many for Pakistan.

Zubeida was out of school for six months and played all day long in the heat with her brother. Her two elder sisters had been packed off to Karachi to their maternal grandparents since her mother didn’t want them to miss school.

“There was so much of disruption. Mother knew that ultimately we would be going to Pakistan, and we arrived in Lahore on the last train which came through safely.”

PONDERING THE WORLDAfter completing her Masters Zubeida joined the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs, or PIIA, and often got mistaken for an airhostess in PIA! At PIIA she got a lot of training and experience in research and writing in international affairs, read journals and met academics, with never a thought of entering journalism at that time.

Not providing ladies toilet isthe surest way of driving women

out of the office.



LITERATI INOVERDRIVE!

Annual whirlwindThe ship that Ameena Saiyid and Asif Farrukhi launched almost a decade ago has grown into a mighty armada with a new admiral at its helm. Arshad Husain, formerly managing director of Abbot Pharmaceuticals, has succeeded Ameena Saiyid at the helm of the Oxford University Press, disrupting and reinventing in great measure the established paradigm of the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF), even as Ameena and Asif further broaden the nation’s literary ambit by launching the first edition of Adab Literature Festival Pakistan.

Where do I even begin to start? It would be appropriate, perhaps, to term the KLF as the annual whirlwind, a category 5 hurricane no less, that blows the mind every time, leaving in its wake an ecstatic paralysis of analysis. Its Big Data come to town, and the download is unsparing, unrelenting, with the 9th KLF featuring 26 book launches and over 70 sessions featuring 205 Pakistani authors and 30 from overseas, all jammed into two and a half days of hectic, frenetic cerebral activity. What a rush!

Mass proliferationThe Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) was launched in March 2010. Inspired by the success of the first two editions in 2010

and 2011, the Children’s Literature Festival (CLF) was launched at the end of 2011.

The momentum begun in Pakistan with the KLF led also to the Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF, launched in 2013), the Teachers' Literature Festival (TLF, launched in 2014), and many others.

Karachi’s London connectionThis momentum reflects the depth of Pakistan's literary and cultural roots, and the desire and energy to celebrate the pursuit of knowledge, understanding, and creativity. In celebration of Pakistan's 70th birthday the KLF was also held in London in partnership with Bloombsbury Pakistan at the Southbank Centre, as part of the Alchemy Festival.

Open to all and free!The ILF and KLF were directed by Ameena Saiyid, founded by Ameena Saiyid and Asif Farrukhi, and produced by Oxford University Press. The KLF, ILF, CLF and TLF are open to all and free. The first of a kind in Pakistan, the ILF and KLF bring together and celebrate authors writing in diverse languages, genres, and traditions. They feature debates/ discussions, talks, English and Urdu poetry (mushaira), a book fair,

book launches, readings, signings, satire, theatre, film screenings, music, dance and art programming.

Scaling up the reading habitAmeena Saiyid and Asif Farrukhi further fortified their already high-end personal brands through a unique and audacious co-branding exercise that took Karachi’s literary scene by storm, giving practical expression to their oft repeated need for scaling up the reading habit.

Known for their trailblazing ways in regard to the Karachi Literature Festival which they launched in 2010, the dedicated duo appear to have come of age and into their own, as it were, leading from the front a brand new assault on the regressive forces of darkness, and opening wide the shutters to the mind to let in more light and fresh air, and that too in spacious,

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Every year as the New Year has dawned for the last 10 years it has brought with it a simmering excitement that builds up to a crescendo within a specific set of Karachi denizens, the Literati of this great mega-metropolis by the sea that in many ways succeeds in retaining its small town coziness.



green and revered environments which finally got opened to the public-at-large. Bravo and Hurrah!

Outstanding public-private partnershipThe inaugural ADAB Festival brought together 140 speakers arranged in 56 sessions over 3 days, with 15 international scholars and writers part of the milieu. It was an outstanding public-private partnership with the Governor Sindh Imran Ismail throwing open the hallowed grounds of the Governor House where once worked and resided Mr. Jinnah, the Quaid-e-Azam. Khalid Mahmood came onboard with his formidable Getz Pharma corporate credentials and love for literature, signing a blank cheque for Ameena and Asif to work their magic anew, and give the erstwhile beleaguered city of Karachi a well-deserved extra dose of the good times.

Governance, culture and geo-politicsThe good times did role in fine fashion, with the YMCA chipping in its now defunct hockey grounds to provide ample parking. The curtain got raised with a potent mix of governance, culture and geo-politics featuring Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Arfa Sayeda Zahra and Syed Vali Nasr as keynote speakers in the Getz Pharma Pavilion which also hosted the launch and panel discussion of Nasim Zehra’s book “Kargil to the Coup – Events that shook Pakistan” participated in by Hameed Haroon, Najmuddin Shaikh, Gen. (R) Waseem Ghazi, Shahid Amin, Ahmed Rashid, the author herself and moderated by Mosharraf Zaidi. There was grimness in the air, even a sense of unease as memories banished to the dark recesses of the mind were brought to light once again for review and reflection.

The Thar Foundation Pavilion was also on fire, metaphorically speaking, with a panel discussion on “Karachi – Encroachments and Demolitions” with Faisal Siddiqui, Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, Muhammad Toheed, Noman Ahmad and Rumana Husain in the moderator’s chair.

Contextualizing FeminismThe Haleeb Pioneer Pavilion hosted a panel discussion on “Contextualizing Feminism” with Fatema Hassan, Hani Baloch, Maheen Usmani, Maniza Naqvi,

Saira Shah Halim, Severine Minot and Fawzia Afzal Khan analyzing threadbare an issue that has come to increasingly dominate our times.

The Careem Pavilion took up the issue of Islamic civilization and the notion of ‘Ihsan’ that combines beauty and spirituality into one indivisible imperative. Prof. Nur Sobers-Khan, Waleed Zaid and Francisco Luis engaged in a discussion that ranged from aesthetics, perception of beauty, dream interpretation, Islamic psychology, spiritual travel and wayfaring, divine energy and meditative practices.

Information overloadBetween these four Pavilions and a sprawling spread comprising some fine eateries and book stalls, the ADAB Festival unfolded over three days. Information overload was a clear and present danger during this period, and one had to pick and choose one’s ‘battlefields’, each to his or her own capacity which can always do with further enhancements. It was all very relevant stuff that warranted imbibing, and no matter how consciously one set up the firewalls, the mind was invariably in a tizzy.

Capacity enhancementThe ADAB Festival was more than just a grand warm up event for the 10th Karachi Literature Festival that had previously just descended with a bang out of the blue, as it were. Ameena Saiyid’s pronouncements in the media were very telling. Every school, college and university must step up literary activity amongst their student bodies, the much celebrated leading edge of Pakistan’s demographic dividend, she said. That exhortation has the unqualified and unconditional support of all right thinking people which up until now have unfortunately been in short supply.

Literature festivals should become a weekly, if not daily occurrence to which the naturally curious and knowledge hungry masses can flock without a second thought and as a matter of routine. Let the love for the written word prevail in all the languages that make for this great Pakistani nation, and may we see the flourishing of comprehension & understanding as never before, ameen.



edition in 2018, went to “The Party Worker” by Omar Shahid Hamid.

Speaking as the chief guest and keynote speaker at his alma mater Habib Public School’s graduation ceremony, Khalid Mahmood provided some rare insights into what has shaped his life and career

EARLY LESSONS IN HR“When I graduated from university in the US with a degree in industrial engineering, my first job was a production engineer in a manufacturing plant in California. It was a six-month assignment and I would only become a permanent employee if I could accomplish the following tasks: reduce rejection rate, decrease cost of production and improve quality.”

FACING RACISM AND HOSTILITY“Here I was a 23 year-old Pakistani recently out of university and had been in the US for only four years. The machine operators I was dependent on for information and cooperation, called me an “Arab” which held a negative connotation, due to the political events of that era. I faced racism and hostility every day, and it didn’t help that I did not have much hands-on experience in manufacturing. All the workers were waiting for me – an inexperienced Pakistani– to fail at his job.”

BEFRIENDING THE ANTAGONISTS“I was frustrated, angry at the way I was being treated, but determined to prove them wrong. Instead of lashing out on my colleagues with anger and aggression, I did the opposite. I befriended the machine operators, workers and supervisors, particularly one senior machine operator, Mike Todd. Mike gave me great insights into machine operations, which allowed me to efficiently complete the tasks I had been assigned.”

“Mike, who had never been to college and had been operating machines for the last 15 years, was surprised that a college graduate, hired as a manager, was not only willing to learn from him, but was open and respectful of his knowledge as a worker. This was something none of the other 19 people in the program did.”

GIVING CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE“Six months later, when it was time for me to present my analysis and recommendations to the senior executives of the company, I invited Mike to the conference room to present with me. This was a bold move as an operator had never been taken into a meeting with senior managers to present. I strongly felt that it was important to give Mike the credit for his contribution. This act helped me gain the trust of other workers on the floor and the implementation of my recommendations was successful. The costs did indeed reduce, the quality went up and the reduction in rejection rate saved the company millions of dollars. Without Mike, I would not have been successful, I would not have been made a permanent employee, nor would I have received subsequent promotions.”

“15 years later, I returned to Pakistan and founded Getz Pharma in 1995. Today, Getz Pharma is the largest pharmaceutical company in Pakistan. Within the pharmaceutical sector of Pakistan, it is the largest exporter, the largest tax payer, and one of the largest employers.”

Khalid Mahmood shares 5 main insights that he has gained during his life that he hopes will help youngsters as they begin the next phase of their lives.

COMMUNICATE AND CONNECTFirst, communicate and connect with people regardless of their class, belief, and position. You can only do that if you genuinely accept them for who they are. Knowledge and good advice can come from anyone, younger, older, a university professor or someone with no formal education. Listen to what is being said rather than who is saying it. Sometimes you learn more from people who are more aware of ground realities than from people in powerful positions.

SHARE YOUR SUCCESSESSecond, share your successes and accomplishments and give credit to those who have contributed to your success. This is professional honesty as our success is rarely just our own. Life, just like any sport, is a game. Never underestimate the value of teamwork. As

they say, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

HUNGER FOR EXCELLENCEThird, always have hunger for excellence and be passionate in what you do. Remember that the world does not owe you anything. Your parents and teachers have worked hard to give you the opportunity to excel but it is up to you to grab that opportunity. There is no shortcut and no magic formula. The only way forward is the endless pursuit for excellence in everything you do regardless of the nature or size or importance of that job. STAY HUMBLEFourth, remember the importance of humility. If you stay humble you will keep learning, keep improving, and keep growing. Albert Einstein said, ‘The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.’ The minute you think you have learned it all is the day you close yourself off to growth and opportunities. BE RESILIENT TO FAILUREFifth, accept adversity and failure as part of the learning process and do not be afraid of it. The world is full of challenges and we must be resilient to failure. In fact, failure, if handled properly is often the precursor of success. Thomas Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When he was asked, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison replied, “I didn't fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

APPRECIATE DIVERSITY“Finally, the most important lesson I have learnt in my life is to appreciate diversity and to be tolerant and accepting of people who are different from you. All successful societies around the world celebrate diversity of faith and thought and freedom of expression as long as it is peaceful. As the future leaders of this country, you must reclaim the Pakistan that was envisioned by Quaid-e-Azam, which was meant to respect all religions, castes, cultures, and ethnicities.”

Thank you, Mr. Khalid Mahmood.



ECONOMY& SOCIETY

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e) BIG DEALGetz Pharma employs 5,700 in Pakistan and another 1,500 people in its subsidiaries and scientific offices in over 22 countries in Asia Pacific, Africa, UAE, and Central Asia. Getz Pharma is the largest exporter and the largest taxpayer in the Pharma sector of Pakistan.

Khalid Mahmood is a thirty-four years veteran of the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. He worked for over 14 years in progressively responsible positions in the Pharmaceutical and primary health care industry, in the US, South America, Far East, and Asia Pacific before returning to his native Pakistan in 1994, where he turned the lights on at Getz Pharma Pvt Ltd.

SOCIETAL CONCERNSKhalid is currently engaged with various civic, cultural, and educational organizations. He has served as the president of the board of directors of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and served on its board for six years. He is currently on the board of Zindagi Trust which is a world renowned Trust that manages two of the best run and highly rated schools for about 3,500 girls from underprivileged backgrounds.

He is the Chairman of the board of trustees of the award winning civil and cultural organization, and center, PeaceNiche/T2f, and is also on the board of Eqbal Ahmed Center for Education. He has committed personal human and financial resources to campaigns and programs related to sports, education, health care & cultural and environmental preservation.

BANKROLLING TOP-END LITERACY Khalid Mahmood and Getz Pharma came

onboard as Lead Sponsor of the inaugural ADAB Festival that brought together 140 speakers arranged in 56 sessions over 3 days, with 15 international scholars and writers part of the milieu. It was an outstanding public-private partnership with the Governor Sindh Imran Ismail throwing open the hallowed grounds of the Governor House where once worked and resided Mr. Jinnah, the Quaid-e-Azam. With his formidable Getz Pharma corporate credentials and love for literature, Khalid Mahmood signed a blank cheque, in a manner of speaking, for Ameena Saiyid and Asif Farrukhi to work their magic anew, and give the erstwhile beleaguered city of Karachi a well-deserved extra dose of the good times.

For the past many years Khalid Mahmood has sponsored the Getz Pharma Prize for Fiction at the Karachi Literature Festival which, in its 9th

Khalid Mahmoodof Getz Pharma

As CEO of Getz Pharma Pvt. Ltd. and Getz Pharma FZ-LLC, U.A.E., Khalid Mahmood has led the company

from its inception, with a near zero base in 1995, to the largest Pharmaceutical company in Pakistan in 2018. The company also holds leading rankings in

at least ten emerging pharma markets of the world.

Getz Pharma is the only company in Pakistan whose manufacturing facility & Quality Control

Laboratory has been Pre-qualified and approved by World Health Organization

(WHO) Geneva, as well as from a member country of the Pharmaceutical Inspection

Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S).

Mixing Cutting Edge Businesswith Good Deeds Galore



Nilofer Farrukh, CEO of the Karachi Biennale Trust (KBT), ably and amply supported by Almas Bana, the KBT Chair, is in full battle cry, launching a frontal offensive upon the regressive forces of darkness that threaten to engulf our space. KB19, as this year’s extravagance scheduled for October is billed, took an early and emphatic start by organizing at the Alliance Francaise three highly stimulating discussions on the plight of our fair city.

The Karachi Biennale Trust (KBT) was founded in 2016 by a group of visual art professionals and educators as a dynamic platform to promote creativity, innovation and criticality in the visual arts.

Researchers and critical thinkers rejoice!Billed as the ‘The Roundtables’, these were organized by the Karachi Biennale Discursive Committee and are part of the Karachi Biennale Trust’s Critical Knowledge Lab that seeks to facilitate an interface between art and other disciplines in relation to shared concerns. It also aims to document it for researchers and critical thinkers as a frame of reference that brings the discourse into concrete form. For KB19 the topics under fire that got thrashed threadbare were ‘Displacement & Social Ecology’ in the 1st Roundtable in January; ‘Barriers’ in the 2nd Roundtable in February; and ‘Fake News’ in the 3rd Roundtable in March of this year.

Also already under the belt are exhibitions at OPP and AfK of work created by artists at the First KBT-OPP Artists Residency,

a collaborative project of the Karachi Biennale Trust (KBT) and Orangi Pilot Project (OPP).

Zeeshan to CurateMuhammad Zeeshan has been announced as the curator for Karachi Biennale 2019 chosen through an open call and extensive interviews for this innovative platform. Zeeshan has had an extraordinary journey, one that began as a cinema billboard painter in Mirpurkhas under Ustad Mirza Irshad. He later received his training in miniature painting from the National College of Arts in Lahore in 2003. Today, Zeeshan has an established art practice and his work is a part of permanent collections at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the British Museum London, and the Fukoka Asian Art Museum. His public projects include the Art Park Project in the Dubai Art Fair, and Ishtehaar Lagaana Mana Hai, Public Art Project, KOCA Berlin.

Art as a vehicle to discover, discuss and respond to KarachiThe vision of KBT is to create a public audience for art and its projects offer a chance to revisit Karachi’s past, recognize its contemporary challenges and contribute to an optimistic reimagining of its future.

“We believe in discursive exchanges, research and art scholarship to achieve criticality. Karachi Biennale (KB) is the flagship project of the KBT that has been designed to use art as a vehicle to discover, discuss and respond to Karachi. Each edition has a thematic that is relevant to the host city. KB19 will be its second edition, centering on the ecological effects of Urbanization and underscores the annihilation inflicted on eco-systems by man’s war of ambition with nature” - KBT. KB17 – Innovation, Excellence and CriticalityHeld between October 22nd and November 5th, 2017, and scheduled to be held every two years, the inaugural biennale in Karachi, with acronym KB17, was billed as a visionary platform that focused on innovation, excellence and criticality through

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curatorial strategies that brought art from Pakistan and the rest of the world together for a large public audience. Its discursive interventions aimed to cross pollinate ideas and explore meaning and truth across disciplines and contexts.

TCS, the pride of Pakistan & Karachi

Karachi is central to the TCS ethos. Karachi is where it is headquartered, and from where it draws its daily dynamism and drive. When Karachi cries TCS feels its pain most acutely and does its bit in applying balm and restoring its vigor by the grace of Allah. When Karachi is happy, even ecstatic, TCS revels in its joy and celebrates the many blessings of Allah.

So, when this fortnight long extravaganza came to town, Director

Sadia Awan, no less, commissioned me to cast an appreciative, even critical eye upon the proceedings and report back to TCS and its customers. What followed was a crash course for me in art that took me at a sometimes exhausting pace to quite literally the four corners of Karachi, discovering in the process many a hidden treasure that the KB17 unearthed and put on display.

Over 140 artists, 12 diverse venuesOver 140 artists were hosted at 12 diverse venues that included schools,

heritage sites, cinemas, and public parks. The biennale aimed at drawing art out of the gallery and into the spaces that express Karachi’s quotidian pulse through free public exhibitions that featured performances, screenings, and dialogue for charting new movement through familiar spaces.

The 12 venues were split into clusters, with Cluster A comprising Karachi School of Art, founded in 1964 by artists Rabia Zuberi and Haajra Mansoor, and Karachi’s oldest running art school that has made art education accessible to a diverse population (8 artists); and VM Art Gallery of the ZVMG Rangoonwala Trust, founded in 1987 and promoting the talent of emerging artists from all over Pakistan (22 artists);

Cluster B – 63 Commissariate Lines, the 19th century colonial residential bungalow located off MA Jinnah Road (25 artists); Capri Cinema, established in 1968 on MA Jinnah Road is rated as one of the best maintained single-screen cinemas in Pakistan (1 artist – screening of Althea Thauberger’s Project); NJV Government Higher Secondary School, established in 1852, it is the first government school established in Sindh, and once housed the National Assembly on a temporary basis. The yellow sandstone building is listed as a Karachi heritage monument (43 artists);

Jamshed Memorial Hall, established in 1910 it is named after Jamshed Nusserwanjee, Karachi’s first mayor. Once the home of Karachi’s Theosophical Society, it has remained a space for a vibrant exchange of ideas in the city. Its Art Deco auditorium has seen countless memorable plays and performances (11 artists); and Pioneer

Book House, established in 1945 it is one of the oldest running bookshops in Karachi which renowned author Maniza Naqvi saved from closing down. It has a refurbished meeting room and the Ooperwallee Gallery where this heritage bookshop can be celebrated (2 artists – Huma Mulji and Pablo Lauf);

Cluster C – Sadequain Gallery, situated in the historic Frere Hall which opened its doors to the public as a town hall in 1865, it functions as an exhibition space named after Sadequain, the renowned Pakistani artist who painted his final mural, Ilm aur Amal on its ceiling (16 artists); Mahvash & Jahangir Siddiqui Art Gallery, located in the premises of Alliance Francaise de Karachi, a non-profit organization that promotes cultural exchange between Pakistan and France (9 artists) and Claremont House, located near Karachi’s busy railway station Karachi Cantonment, is a 19th century colonial building that has been restored by architect Marvi Mazhar as a modern office space (20 artists);

Cluster D – FOMMA DHA Art Center, is located in what was once a stable used by the British army. It is situated in Zamzama Park and was set up in 2006 by the FOMMA Trust and DHA (12 artists), and IVS Gallery, at the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, set up in 1989 by a group of professional architects, designers and artists with the intention of bringing together the



disciplines of Fine Arts, Design, and Architecture (8 artists).

Ali Kazim & Shahzia Sikander win prizesKB17 instituted two prizes. The first was the Juried Prize sponsored by the Mahvash and Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation, and won by Ali Kazim for his exhibit ‘Untitled, 2011 - Hair, hairspray, invisible thread, Dimensions variable.’ Ali Kazim uses human hair to create a three-dimensional drawing in space.

The second was the Popular Choice Art Prize instituted by Shahneela and Farhan Faruqi for a participating artist who received the highest number of votes through a public ballot. This prize went to Shahzia Sikander for her exhibit Disruption as Rapture (2016), a 4K single-channel video animation with original music by the Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Du Yun featuring musician Ali Sethi.

Art as testament of its timeArtists were invited to respond to the theme WITNESS. Art as a testament of its time has always held significance, the KB17 website stated, “particularly in times when memory is heavily contested. According to Kundera 'The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memories against forgetting’. The theme Witness has been chosen for its strong relevance to politics of representation, erasure and selective documentation.”

Extravagant feastTo say that the KB17 was an extravagant feast, would be putting it mildly. It was tantamount to taking the plunge into the deep end of uncharted waters, with passion, purpose and a whole lot of optimism as propulsion. The movers and shakers backstage, however, were men and women of substance with an unmatched world view and a burning desire to see their own soil regain its lost fertility and blossom as never before on the international scene.

On March 23, President Arif Alvi conferred civil and military awards on 172 people, including 18 foreigners, for their contributions in various fields. The investiture ceremony was held at President House in Islamabad. TCS Board Member Nilofer Saeed was the proud recipient of the Sitara-e-Imtiaz. Bravo!

TCS Board MemberCELEBRATING

Nilofer SaeedSitara-e-Imtiaz



“Sad News,” wrote Chris Day, the General Secretary of the World Memory Sports Council. “We have lost a great mind.” Anthony Peter "Tony" Buzan died at 3am on 13th April 2019 after complications arising from a fall at home. He was 76.

Tony was a universally celebrated English author and educational consultant who popularized the idea of mental literacy and a thinking technique called mind mapping, inspired by techniques used by Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Joseph D. Novak's "concept mapping" techniques.

“Human Language”Although he was an expert in many academic and creative fields, it was his skill in explaining the most complex of theories in easy and accessible ways that endeared him to his students and co-workers.

Mind Maps are the distillation of 50 years of experimentation. As Tony Buzan delved deeper into the twin disciplines of Learning and Memory

he uncovered many universal truths in how humans

think, remember, create and

evolve

Tony BuzanBids Farewell to the WorldReport filed by Adil Ahmad



intellectually – this distillation he referred to as “Human Language” – the true language of thinking that all humans have in common.

Mind Maps are a reflection on paper of the brain’s internal thought processes – he recently referred to them in the press as “the flowers of intelligence” representing as they do the budding and blossoming of a human’s innate intelligence as they understand the wonderful genius hidden just beneath the surface of us all.

“He took a less than average student, peeled away the layers of self-doubt and lack of confidence, shared the gift of the Mind Map and created an unstoppable thirst inside me for learning for learning’s sake. He heard my dreams and gave me the skills to achieve them” Elaine Colliar, 5 X World Mind Mapping Champion said.

His legacy lives on in the students with whom he has shared his gift and with the world-wide network of Instructors that continue his goal of “Global Mental Literacy” and also in the formation of the World Memory Championship that enters its 28th edition in December 2019 with a predicted record-breaking number of competitors in Wuhan, China.

Above all Tony Buzan felt that learning and life should be fun. His greatest joys lay in travelling and connecting with colleagues around the world and in planning future projects to be explored. OCTARA & TONY BUZANOn February 18th, 2013 Tony graced Karachi and Pakistan for the first time with his signature program “Improving Productivity with Mind Maps” staged at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers that is now the Movenpick Hotel.

Think Ingeniously; Enhance Creativity; Boost Productivity. These were Tony Buzan’s three building blocks. In measured manner the father of Mind Maps put forth his treasured thoughts that have brought about a global revolution in the way the human brain can be optimized for knowledge retention. Over 200 high powered delegates registered for this

one-of-a-kind seminar, representing a cross section of Pakistani trade, commerce and industry. Most were familiar with the content on offer. Mind Mapping has been around for the last four decades. But the occasion was unique for it offered the privilege and pleasure of hearing it from the horse’s mouth, as it were.

This was Tony’s first trip to Pakistan, a long overdue trip he said. He had traveled to 75 countries around the world, and Pakistan was the latest addition at number 76. As an Englishman he had met many people from Pakistan in England, but somehow his visit failed to materialize. Travel advisories from his government to the contrary, this time Tony had decided to see for himself what this enigma called Pakistan was all about.

Tony’s audience was alive and radiant throughout the day as it imbibed with relish his illuminating discourse, peppered as it was with entertaining and informative examples from his vast store of experience. A day earlier Tony had been given the nickel tour of Karachi by Octara CEO Jamil Janjua, and it included the Karachi Literature Festival, whose caliber impressed him immensely.

Best Restaurant in the World!The nickel tour also included dinner at the Barbeque Tonight restaurant that seems to have floored Tony completely, but in a good way! “It is the best restaurant around the world that I have ever been to in my entire life,” he had said. “The food was phenomenal, and the smell captivating. The place was full with families and children, and I felt totally secure. I was very happy, and I ate, and I ate, and I ate some more, course after course after course! It was some of the most delicious food that I have ever had.” High order praise indeed which Sardar Rahim and his high

performance crew at Barbeque Tonight can justifiably feel proud of.

Map out your thoughts, said Tony. “The memory system is based upon imagination and association, and was practiced by ancient Greeks many centuries ago. I realized that one-colour monotonous note-taking was creating a gigantic logjam in the individual and the collective global brain that needed a new note-taking and thinking tool to unblock it.”

Information overload is an illness of the Information Age and causes stress, he had said, talking about ‘death by power-point’! Knowledge management required managing the mind. “We use less than one percent of our brains. The brain’s potential is phenomenal.” Tony’s been a winner of the World Memory Championship. Recently a 45 years old man memorized 202 digits to win it, and remembered those digits ten hours later, repeating them backwards! And this man, said Tony, had been called stupid in school!

The memory is an infinite database, and Tony’s objective was to help other people help themselves. In school the teaching of memory is the opposite of how memory works. “Leonardo Da Vinci said that in some way everything connects with everything else. Children are interested in everything. They’re the fastest learners and the most creative. Babies are a beautiful example of scientists given their curiosity and eagerness to experiment.”

TCS’s Salman Akram in radiant mood



I finally got to sit down with the man himself for an interview after the day’s proceedings had come to an end, amidst some apprehension that he might be too tired to engage with me. But Tony was fresh as ever. When passion and purpose intersect, they make for an inexhaustible store of joyful energy. Everything about him was available in the public domain, a fact that he alluded to gently, but humored me nonetheless, and took me down memory lane to how it all began.

Wither Brain Manual?As a young child, said Tony, he had loved the idea of taking notes and of learning. But by the time he was a teenager his thinking was already getting into a mess, and he began to hate anything to do with study, especially note-taking. He noticed the extraordinary paradox that the more notes he took the worse his studies and memory became. He went to the librarian looking for a book that would help him memorize better, and was directed to the medical section! While there was a manual on how to use all manner of gadgetry, there was no manual available on how to use the brain.

In an effort to improve matters Tony began to underline key words and ideas in red, and to put important things in boxes. Magically, he said, his memory began to improve. Tony said that while taking notes he had been taught to use one colour and write in lines, which he found boring and rigid, and so his grades fell. It led him to explore how his brain really worked. That led him to the use of colours that helped him remember better, and to the use of keywords that connected the ideas together.

“So, I got better and better, and my grades improved and time spent studying grew less and less. I was trying to rescue myself by using a learning tool, a note-taking method that was clearly helping me. I used to say to my friends ‘hey! Look at this! Try this!’ and they would try it and say ‘it really works! From near failing marks I am now getting Bs and As!’”

Bomber Planes & Doodle BugsTony Buzan was born in London on the 2nd of June 1942, and notwithstanding his teenage academic crisis which the inventor in him successfully overcame, he went on to become Head Prefect of his school. He remembered the Second World War when at the age of 2 years his little bedroom was in an area under the staircase, considered the safest place in the house during air raids. He remembered the bomber planes and Doodle Bugs that made a whistling sound as they approached the ground before detonation.

Tony finished secondary school and went to university on a scholarship to the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. There he told them that he wanted to study everything! And was politely told that that would not be possible! Tony said that he found everything interesting, in particular History which he saw as the memory of the nation and tribe, and indeed the human race. He became interested in History as a hobby. Four years at the UBC and Tony joined Simon Fraser University where he became charter student president, and studied and taught Psychology, English Literature, Mathematics and Statistics, a most unusual combination of subjects.

BBC lends a handHe did not have a branding business plan, said Tony. “I realized in the late 1960s that every student needed to know mind maps, so I taught at schools and universities, and did radio interviews.” In 1973 the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) found out what he was doing, and asked him if he would do a half hour program on the brain and note taking techniques.

“I went to a meeting with the head of education at BBC Television. He said they wanted something on brain cells, memory, problems with memory, how to use the memory system, reading, reading faster, concentration, note taking and mind map. I told him we would need to do 10 programs! He said ‘Jolly Good! Ten programs it is!’ Each branch of the brainstorming session’s mind map generated a half hour

program in a ten part series. He then asked if I could write a book on that as well, and I said yes. He said ‘Jolly good! Ten programs and a Book!’ and we shook hands. This was in 1974. These 10 programs went on air 3 times a year on BBC from 1974 until 1989. People were calling me from around the world asking if I would give a lecture, or teach their children, or work with the government, or work with Fortune 500 companies. So I have traveled around the world from 1974 to 2013, and the end of the road is so far in the distance.”

The end of the road for Tony finally arrived amidst a general feeling that he died young at the age of 76. Tony had been partial to rowing on the sporting front, in particular sculling, which he called motion yoga. Living near Marlow-on-Thames, he was inspired by Sir Steven Geoffery Redgrave, arguably the world’s greatest rower with 5 Olympic gold medals (1984 to 2000), and who had been world number one for 25 years. Asked how he did it, Redgrave said rowing is all about the brain, and the way the athlete thinks and envisions the goal. He said he trained his brain on how to think and synergize the brain and body.

Tony was also fascinated by swimming, even though earlier on he had been scared of it. He taught himself how to control his breath while underwater, and learnt the freestyle crawl and backstroke.

Fathering ‘thought gene’ childrenTony Buzan never married. Had he married, he said, he would have liked to have fathered 20 children, each a specialist in a different field like music, athletics, poetry, science, and so on. Instead, Tony focused on global mental literacy, and fathered millions of children with his thought gene rather than the physical gene. “Hundreds of millions of mind maps have been done by children, and I think of them as my children,” he said.

Rest in Peace, Anthony Peter "Tony" Buzan, and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul and grant you a place in Heaven, Amen.



Kanwal elaborated on the difference between high context and low context communication cultures; with high context carrying the message in its context while low context had the message in the words. Similarly, in high context the message was subject to interpretation, could have more than one meaning and the listener was responsible for understanding it. In low context the message was direct, carried just one meaning and the speaker was responsible for understanding it.

“A successful leader is a successful communicator,” she said. “He or she not only engages the minds but also engages the hearts of people.”

BIRBAL AND THE NAURATANSOctara Associate Aisha Bela Malik, owner of ABM Training, took up the hour before lunch and was all about team integration that unleashes the potential of each team member in achieving the collective objective. She alluded to Emperor Akbar’s grand court and its adornment with authentic leadership that attracted Birbal and the Nauratans present in Akbar’s court. Can you find the Akbar in you that will attract the Birbals and Nauratans to your team, allowing you to relax with the full knowledge that your business is at ‘full speed ahead’ on autopilot!

“Unfortunately, in our context it remains wishful thinking because people in authority are insecure and unable to delegate effectively, centralizing power in their own hands.”

Aisha has a Master’s degree in English Literature and a PhD in Philosophy of Leadership. She is visiting faculty at IBA teaching managerial communications, & is the Chairperson of the FPCCI Standing Committee on Education, Women and Development and was instrumental in framing the National Women Business Agenda. Aisha is also the District Chair for Literature & Poetry Rotary District 3271 for Balochistan & Sindh, and teaches women traditional yoga.

AGILE VERSUS PYRAMID ORGANIZATIONSOctara Associate Asad Rezzvi took up the first post-lunch session, a

challenging slot for any trainer to operate in given the sleep inducing virtues of lunch, and dwelt delightfully enough upon Leadership in action, focusing on the kind of leadership required to lead an agile organization. “The majority of the organizations in the world are pyramid structured within which are incremental leaders who own the process making it very silo’d, bureaucratic and ego driven,” he said.

“In agile organizations one sees exponential leadership that is focused on enabling teamwork and solving problems, and not on their titles and ranks. That’s the imperative for today’s world. The economy of Pakistan is changing extremely rapidly and there’s a huge amount of unpredictability that has become part of the business landscape.”

Asad Rezzvi has a degree in Psychology from Berkley and has worked closely for over 10 years with turnaround guru Anthony Robins, considered by Harvard University and others as one of the top business engineers in the world today.

“Speed is of the essence here, and agile organizations are the ones that get ahead given the economic conditions we have today, and beat the traditional pyramid organizations by a factor of 10 at least if not by a factor of 100.”

THE FUTURE IS NOW!Octara Associate Kamran Rizvi is senior consultant at Carnelian, founding director at Navitus and the School of Leadership, who founded KZR Associates in 1991 and pioneered the self-improvement and organizational development movement in Pakistan. He zeroed in on ‘Leadership for the future’, describing the seminar as an exciting journey truly designed for the ambitious, and espousing a fair bit of profundity when he said the future will come when it comes, it’s what you do today that makes a difference. “Future is, and has always been, uncertain. No one can ever say with certainty what will happen in the future. So how can we begin to lead for the future? When thinking of our immediate and long term future, we need to add increasing complexity, volatility, and

ambiguity to the mix. This simply adds to the challenge. And it is in turbulent times such as these, that the value of our personal, business and collaborative leadership comes to the fore.”

What leaders can do in such a dynamic context is to provide clarity, instead of certainty, to their constituents - clarity of expectations, clarity of vision and clarity of things we can do each day to come closer to our aspired future,” says Kamran.

“The journey into the future is led effectively when we keep death in mind. Death is the only certainty in the future that we know of. Yet it is uncertain in terms of when it will come. Hence effective and inspiring leaders are powered by their beliefs, dreams and ideals, which they share widely and frequently to gain commitment of everyone in the system to the cause. The aim is achieved when everyone in the organization makes the mission their own.”

“Leadership for the future demands that we build succession - a leadership pipeline, so that the show goes on long after we’re gone. All this becomes possible when we genuinely work each day we have with the intent to develop others to take our place, and this spirit permeates at every level in our institutions. Only a generous heart, imbued with humility, conviction and visionary leadership can turn the trauma of uncertainty into a delightful adventure for all.”

ALL CHIEFS, NO INDIANS!Some say that Pakistan’s problem is not a lack of leadership but its exact opposite, its superabundance to the point of disorder and chaos. While we can never have enough of authentic leadership that is value driven, embodied in the likes of Sattar Edhi, Ruth Pfau and Adib Rizvi, it is the scourge of ill-intentioned positional leadership that has laid low the country’s governance systems and yielded appalling levels of poverty of both ideas and resources in the service of the nation. All of that is now being rectified across the board in the private, public and government sectors.



CAN WE RUMBLE IN THIS JUNGLE?Octara unfurled a high energy, fast track Seminar on an issue that dominates our times, that of leadership at various tiers of both business and society in a day & age characterized by fast moving events, like a flurry of jabs and hooks that sting like a bee in the absence of the ability to float like a butterfly, in an ultra-agile landscape best described by the acronym VUCA – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. WOW. Disrupt or be disrupted; reinvent or be outmoded and cast out. It’s a tough neighborhood and getting tougher with each passing day. Can we rumble in this jungle? That is the million dollar question dominating the discourse across the board, & not just in Pakistan.

ADDRESSING WOEFULLY INADEQUATE LEADERSHIP POOLTo deliver this highly relevant and timely broadside to a corporate audience looking for ways and means to improve their lot and reach their leadership potential were four heavyweight Octara Associates, each a guru in her or his own right seized with a burning desire to see Pakistan get ahead in the global village, and cognizant of the fact that the only thing holding us back was our woefully inadequate leadership pool.

Five back-to-back sessions of one hour each brought the expectant audience face to face with Dr. S.A.Rab on

‘Discovering the Leader in You’; Kanwal Akhtar on

‘Communication’; Aisha Bela on ‘Team

Integration’; Asad Rezzvi on ‘Leadership in Action’; and

Kamran Rizvi on ‘Leadership for

the Future’. These five Pakistani

thought leaders took apart and put together again the leadership paradigm much like a commando in the field disassembles and reassembles his weapon blindfolded. Identify, acquire and deploy key behaviors necessary to become a leader; Understand the role of a leader in internal and external relationships and the importance of personal and organizational communication; Move from management to leadership using behavioral skills; Build an effective team based on authentic leadership; Coach, develop and motivate the team; Deliver superior results through effective delegation; and, Become more personally effective as a manager cum leader.

The workshop was designed to benefit Front Line Managers, Supervisors, Team Leaders, Emerging Managers, Executive O�cers, New & Prospective Managers and all high potential mid care professionals expected to advance to Leadership positions.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT & PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTOctara Associate Dr. S.A. Rab opened proceedings with the recommendation to recruit more neurons and boost the

thinking power of the organization. “You need people who think for themselves and are not leader dependent. Employee engagement and performance enhancement are the top `2` leadership challenges across the planet, and the key to unleashing the tremendous leadership potentials in teams lies in changing the way they think . We need to ensure that leaders don’t think for teams as they are always too happy to reverse delegate the task they get paid for. The secret lies in a leaders’ ability to unstrap employee`s metacognition, the employees` ability to think about their thinking.”

Leaders who are able to nudge, coax and excite the synaptic pathways, our cognitive, thinking circuits in the brain, are blessed with skills to unleash the tremendous innovation and creative problem solving energy of its staff, says Dr. Rab.

“This is because each decision made is a synaptic path established. Self- discovered and developed synaptic pathways lead to explosive energy that gives unstoppable momentum to organizations to grow with sustainability through some of the most turbulent times.”

LANGUAGE OF LEADERSHIP Next up was Octara Associate Kanwal Akhtar, senior consultant, corporate trainer, keynote speaker and visiting faculty member for Executive MBA and BBA programs at the IBA. She addressed the art of communication and its role in transforming a manager to a leader, calling it the language of leadership.

Dealing with VUCATransforming Managers into Leaders



Tree-huggers of Karachi rejoice! There’s a man on a mission in your midst intent on changing the aesthetic appeal of the many Karachi public parks through a premeditated landscaping & plantation program, all set to scale up across the land.

“I am not looking at trying to change the weather of this country or of Karachi,” says Shaukat Omari as I catch up with him at the Quaid-e-Azam’s final resting place that occupies a vast acreage in the center of the city in the midst of four major traffic arteries that ensure a constant buzz that no doubt reassures the late lamented that the land of shelter and opportunity that he sought for the Muslims of India is alive and well.

“What I’m trying to do is basically beautify a few locations like the Quaid’s Mausoleum and a few parks around the city, and then let people take it from there. People will start understanding what a real tree looks like in a systematic landscape.”

Shaukat Omari is a civil engineer of the NED University batch of 1967, with 18 years of working experience in Saudi Arabia with the Ministry of Agriculture and Water and the Ministry of Municipal

and Rural Affairs, becoming a subject specialist in both fresh water & sewage. Upon returning to Pakistan in 1990 from Saudi Arabia, Shaukat found that in Pakistan the drinking water position specifically, and governance generally, was bad, putting it very mildly, & he set to work rectifying it as a social service.

With the blessings and patronage of the Commissioner Karachi and the City Government he has set up 23 water filtration plants dispersed around Karachi that provide safe drinking water to about 7000 people every day through a community membership program of 180 rupees per person per month, entitling each member 1 can of 12 liters a day costing 6 rupees.

“There is a bit of water that gets wasted during the filtration process, so we began using that water for the plants and trees in the parks where the filtration plants are located, and from there the landscaping and plantation program grew and evolved. Engineer Arif, the project director of the Quaid Mausoleum Management Board, embraced the idea wholeheartedly. We got the approvals and selected the saplings. Inside the Mazar’s compound will be all flowering trees, and outside the fence along the

road we are planting shade giving trees.”During his college days Shaukat remembers walking from Empress Market to Burns Road in blissful shade since the road was lined with shade giving trees and, a bit idealistically perhaps, hopes to give that fond memory practical expression once again.

Shaukat Omari has remained the vice chairman of the CDGK Parks Committee, and would like to see formed a private sector board of trustees, like the one set up for Frere Hall, that can engage with the government in a wide ranging public-private partnership for tree plantation in the city parks. More power to his green and shady vision for Karachi in these times of escalating heat.



CUSTOMERFOCUS

SHAUKAT OMARI

MAN WITH THESUPER GREEN THUMB!

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Fabulous Flashback!Trawling the Archives can yield some spectacular discoveries, like these

Terms of Reference for CONNECT’s Editorial Team enunciated bythe Chairman in the Magazine’s very first editorial.



Gwadar may be the CPEC propelled ‘new kid on the block’ cited to grow into a behemoth enabling regional connectivity, but the ancient and time tested city of Quetta is flexing its muscles afresh, capturing the hearts and minds of the Pakistani nation, and indeed the world, through the exploits of its cricketing Quetta Gladiators that lifted the HBL sponsored PSL4 Trophy, achieving the target in 17.5 overs and defeating Peshawar Zalmi by 8 wickets to win their first title. Bravo! And a especial bravo for Dwayne Bravo, the West Indian speedster who has won the hearts and minds of Pakistanis across the board for his unbridled display of genuine affection for all things Pakistani.

The Quetta Gladiators’ team chant is Kai Kai Quetta, which is taken from the war cry Kai Kai, coined by the Baloch Regiment during World War 2. It literally translates to 'we are coming', and indeed they came in grand style, sweeping down from Quetta and carrying away the Trophy, cheered on by 45,000 ecstatic Karachi cricket lovers packing to overflowing the National Stadium with a seating capacity of 32,500 on the day of the Final.

The decibel levels inside the National Stadium were beyond deafening as this large cohort, representing 22 million irrepressible Karachiites, roared its approval of the Quetta

Gladiators, notwithstanding the fact that their own Karachi Kings had fallen by the wayside earlier in the tournament.

In the final the Quetta Gladiators won the toss and elected to field, restricting Peshawar Zalmi to 138-8 in 20 overs, with pacer Mohammad Hasnain finishing his four overs with the figures of 3-30, and Dwayne Bravo finishing with 2-24. In the second innings Ahmed Shehzad scored an unbeaten 58 runs off 51 balls. Rilee Rossouw, who made 39 not out off 32 balls, took the winning single. Gladiators' Hasnain was awarded a well-deserved Man of the Match.

The Quetta Gladiators are owned by Nadeem Omar, and its logo depicts a variant of the ancient Roman ‘Galea’ helmet worn by gladiators during their fights. The helmet is flanked by two bats that are poised as gladiatorial swords. The team's primary kit colours are Purple and Golden.

It gladdened the heart to see a highly informed, educated and disciplined audience in cricket etiquette whose passion and love for the game was broadcast live all over the world on match nights. Karachiites changed the dismal negative narrative of the Muslim world, forcefully presenting Pakistan’s soft image to a global audience watching intently in the wake of the Christchurch mosque massacre. Salute.

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5TH GENWARFARE!

BALUCHISTAN BOUNCING BACK!QUETTA IN THE FOREFRONT WITH GLADIATORS GALORE!



TCS has recently embarked on a collaborative journey with researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), to study the performance, well-being and commitment of its employees.

The LSE team includes Dr. Jordi Blanes i Vidal (Associate Professor at the Department of Management, LSE) and Dr. Diego Battiston (Assistant Professor in Economics at Stockholm University, and Associate at the Centre of Economic Performance, LSE).

Both Dr. Jordi and Dr. Diego hold PhDs in Economics from LSE and are renowned experts in the economics of organisations. They have taught and extensively researched topics such as performance incentives, worker productivity, and the effects of social connections in organisations.

Internal efficiency, service excellence and trustFrom LSE’s perspective, TCS is the ideal partner for this research collaboration. As the premier Courier and Logistics Company and one of the leading family-owned firms in Pakistan, TCS over the years has developed an unmatched reputation and brand synonymous with internal efficiency, service excellence and trust.

Highly-optimised, time sensitive operationDr. Jordi Blanes i Vidal stated that “TCS delivers countless parcels from a large number of customers and it does so every day. This is a highly-optimised, time sensitive operation in which nothing can go wrong. TCS has invested extensively in its processes and systems and it has attracted the best employees and trained them relentlessly. At LSE, we want to study how to create and sustain such highly performing organisations.”

The research will use econometric methods to explore quantitatively the determinants of high performance. Initially, the focus will be on the effects that TCS HR policies and performance incentives have on its courier’s work satisfaction, productivity and turnover.

The research team will then move to study how the organisation of the work flow contributes to TCS’s ability to keep its promise to customers of guaranteeing the prompt and reliable delivery of each parcel.

Learning from each otherDr. Battiston said that “this collaboration constitutes a great opportunity for us. It is unusual to find a leadership team as enlightened as TCS in terms of being willing to engage with the latest scientific research. We are definitely going to learn a lot from this company and hopefully TCS will learn from us also.”

Thought leadership“As an alumnus and current employee, we are thrilled to partner up with LSE to analyse some of the most pressing issues of our time” said Harris Jamali the Group Head of Strategy at TCS Holdings.

“With the rapid pace of change in the industry and broader economy, we feel it is the responsibility of a national and homegrown institution like TCS to drive such thought leadership.”

Given our reach and eco-system of services, TCS essentially represents a microcosm of the national fabric of our society including its challenges and complexities, says Harris. “Therefore, we hope that any lessons from our collaboration will yield positive and growing externalities for the future.”

LSE Collaborates with TCS to Redefinethe Socioeconomic Fabric of Pakistan

Creating and Sustaining High Performance Organisations

Understanding & Fast Tracking the Nation’s Demographic Dividend

At the 16th Dawn Education Expo Skimming the pages of the impressive supplement brought out by Dawn to mark the occasion I came across an interesting article titled ‘The Critical Disconnect’ and written by one Ahmed Affan, straight from the heart it seemed.

Avoiding the Bermuda Triangle“We often get to see young graduates moaning about the lack of opportunities for the freshies in the job market, and that every vacancy has a requirement of work experience attached to it no matter how low-paying it is. It seems like a loop of despair where a job requires experience and experience requires a job. It is the Bermuda Triangle of many a career. It sucks.”

To help the eager beavers prone to despondency at the first hurdle, and other bright sparks looking to further sharpen their edge, Octara partnered with Dawn and put together a Career Compass at the 16th Dawn Education Expo to help fresh high school and college graduates make sense of the world outside the haloed halls of academia.

Crash courseOctara’s top tier trainers made themselves available for two days of intensive counseling which over 300 boys and girls took advantage of.

• Shireen Naqvi, Founder of the School of Leadership, spoke on ‘Make the most of your education,’ stressing that learning is not a process that should terminate after the conferences or a certain span of time. Instead, one should keep oneself open to new experiences and never stop acquiring knowledge.

• Aisha Bela, a renowned Corporate Trainer and Management Consultant, spoke on “Bounce Back with Passion’, saying that in case of adversity it was best to step back, locate one’s purpose, and strike back with another plan.

• Hammad Siddiqui, Program Director – Asia of the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), spoke on ‘Decoding the Science of Career Development,’ saying how students select their career paths because of peer pressure and in the presence of blurred vision regarding career prospects.

• Syed Raheel Akhtar, famous Anchor person from BOL News, spoke on ‘Smart Skills to Shine.’ And discussed the fable of a frog in a well, encouraging the audience to explore new learning avenues whilst stepping out of their respective comfort zones.

• Anum Kamran, a successful e-entrepreneur, spoke on the ‘Hustle of an E-Entrepreneur’, saying that the passion to start a business comes from within; it renders your real identity and equips you with the reason associated with your existence.

• Fizzah Khan, founder and CEO of Creative Brains Production, spoke on ‘Turning Impossible into Possible’, urging students to dream, plan and execute simultaneously in order to unlock triumph.

• Nadia Patel Gangjee, Founder and CEO of Sheops & Femprow, spoke on ‘Step Outside Your Comfort Zone’ and urged the audience to renounce trying to be a perfectionist and become more spontaneous instead.

• Naveed Anwar, an exceptional Vlogger from Pakistan, spoke on ‘Thinking beyond the university’, and expressed the importance of loving the process & not the destination.

Life-long learningExperts are calling for the government to impose an education emergency in Pakistan to drastically pull up the fallen standards of education that are causing a mass exodus of our youth to foreign shores in search of knowledge.

Experts are also calling for the embracing of life-long learning, and this is an area where Octara has played a substantial role on behalf of the private sector by continuously adding value to the human resource in the corporate sector at all levels of management.

With the Career Compass exercise Octara gets into the trenches with the vulnerable, partly sculpted early stage youth in desperate need of sane advice which they’re not getting from home.

Course Corrections with

Octara’sCONNECT TCS Customer Newsletter


As one of the most iconic brands and a homegrown institution in Pakistan, TCS Private Limited is synonymous with trust, reliability and logistics expertise in the fields of Express Courier Delivery, Warehousing & Distribution, Supply Chain Optimization and E-commerce.

An enterprising organization operating in and shaping the local market for over 36 years, TCS recognizes the importance and immense value of driving much needed digitization, transparency and professionalization across the industry through an innovative platform such as HashMove®.

The MOU signed between TCS and HashMove®, is just the beginning of a ground-breaking and synergistic collaboration set to empower TCS through a digital platform aimed at further enhancing cost and network efficiencies and providing the best and most convenient service to their customers.

Muhammad Harris Jamali, Group Head of Strategy of TCS Holdings says: “We are pleased to announce a collaboration with HashMove® and applaud their efforts for taking up the arduous challenge of digitizing the broader logistics industry of Pakistan as well as the region. Sarfaraz and his team bring a high degree of credibility and professional spirit to what remains a fragmented and underdeveloped sector of Pakistan, but with significant potential for growth, and these are exactly the kind of thought-leaders we as TCS like to work with. With our expertise and market knowledge and the platform of HashMove® we hope to find several avenues where we can drive efficiencies across the industry with our common goal of simplifying logistics for all our customers. This is also precisely the direction in which the global industry is moving in and it is about time that Pakistan catches up or risk falling behind.”

Sarfaraz Alam, CEO & Co-Founder of HashMove®, says: “TCS is a prominent organization that is known as the household name for logistics and parcels delivery fulfillment in Pakistan for the last 36 years. We are delighted & honored that we will be one of the reasons for TCS's vision of a fully digital and tech-enabled logistics platform. Small to large logistics

organizations who comprehend the importance of converging from the traditional to a digital mode of operating their businesses can transform themselves through instant digitalization powered by HashMove®'s dynamic platform. TCS is going to set the precedence in the South Asian & Middle Eastern countries with a fully empowered logistics platform which provides viability, traceability, accountability & trust to their millions of

customers worldwide.”

Brief about TCS Private Limited:TCS Private Limited is Pakistan’s most recognizable and preferred courier, logistics and e-commerce service provider; TCS provides services to the corporate sector, SMEs and household customers. As a homegrown Pakistani enterprise with a track record of operational excellence for over 36 years, TCS serves customers with a widespread network of 950+ outlets in over 380 cities, 525 satellite-tracked vehicles, a dedicated Boeing-737, a proficient team of more than 4,500 couriers and the fastest digital printing facility in the country, TCS leads the Pakistani courier and logistics industry in terms of both service and reliability and also delivers to more than 220 destinations worldwide through an alliance with UPS. https://www.tcsexpress.com/

Brief about HashMove®:HashMove® is a Dubai-based technology company, introducing a smart logistics marketplace connecting shippers and logistics providers to seamlessly engage in conducting global, multi-modal, end-to-end logistics transactions and simplify the experience of shipping goods. The HashMove® marketplace for logistics gives users the ability to Search & Book shipments, view Pricing & Deals, Monitor & Track goods in real-time, across multiple logistics providers. Industry expertise coupled with the adoption of the latest technologies in IoT Tracking, Quality monitoring and Securing Shipments makes the HashMove® platform a leader in providing innovative digital logistics solutions. Strong regional ties and endorsements from government entities and industry experts is a testament to our credibility and capability. - https://hashmove.com/

to digitize the logistics industry of Pakistan

collaborates with



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