Blogs

Waqas Ahmed Ansari

I belong to a lower-middle class family with no educational background living in an underprivileged area, called Lalokhait, in Karachi. My mother, stood against all opposition and decided to get me enrolled in a school. I was a bright student and always secured 1st or 2nd position observing which my mother wanted to see me as an engineer but my grandfather wanted me to become a Hafiz e Quran. Respecting the wishes of both I decided to take it up as a challenge and joined a Madrasa but it was difficult coping with both and I left school in 7th grade.

Musstanser Tinauli

“I am and always have been a rebel to ideas, perception and thoughts. My story began with a bucket full of ambitions when like everybody I saw money as the key to achieving my dreams. But with only 400 USD I dared to embark on a journey that unraveled the world onto me. I did not just travel but also thrived in creating an impact in world top Universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Sydney and Politecnio di Milano. Later while I was based in Oslo, I chose to move back to help change the notion of Pakistan as the world’s most dangerous place.

Abdul Moeez Zahid

“Having a natural tendency to possess extraordinary mathematical skills and creative writing / composition abilities, I can say that I passed out through the initial 12 academic years at Beaconhouse School System just fine. Experiencing an emerging profound interest in software development, I took admission at FAST-National University with Computer Science majors. That was the time when I truly ex…plored myself and was amazed to see what I am capable of. As my fingers settled on the fretboard of a guitar, my mouth started practicing debating.

Maira Chinoy

“From my grandmother to my mother and father, my entire family is very creative. They have exquisite talent and impeccable taste and being surrounded by so much creative energy, the want to create became second nature to me. I have always enjoyed redecorating my room, making picture collages, helping my mother set up our home when we moved away. It wasn’t till after university that I realized I co…uld pursue interior and product design as a career.

Abdul Saboor

I belong to a lower middle class family with a limited educational background. However, my father was determined to make sure that his children had access to quality education and prioritized this over many things. It was only due to his determination and continuous effort that I ended up in the best engineering university of Pakistan, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST). It was …an honor for me and my father that I became the first engineer of the family.

Kunwer Faran

“I was a very pampered boy till the 12th grade. My first experience with the outside world was when I went to NUST hostel. As I graduated, I realized that in-fact the world protected by the bounds of my university was still not the outside world in its true sense. My father asked me to live on my own, without any financial support. That was a blow in the face. It was my first experience with the outside world and boy was it like train hitting you at bullet speed. Desperately I started looking for a job but didn’t find any for a long time.

Shahzad Younas

Born to a middle class family, I believe I have an unfair advantage over others in terms of knowing how to make through the toughest of times. Little did I know that my deprivations would take me so far.

At a tender age of nine, paralysis hunt down my father who at the time was the only bread winner for the family. When my father got paralysed it was as if time had stopped. The world that appeared to be the most beautiful thing to me became the ugliest. All of that in a flash!

Our poor financial conditions pinned us down to the point where we were forced to sell my house.

Muhammad Ali Chaudhry

Born to a family with an established, business background, I’ve always lived a privileged life. Spending almost all my life in the inner city of Rawalpindi, I’d say I was blessed to live closely to the poor of my city, my country.

Living in close contact to them I got to know what many, many of  us don’t know – the problems they face in their day to day lives just to meet their basic needs – things we all take for granted. Sadly.

Talha Zaheer

“My childhood was largely spent either in Lahore on the planes of Punjab or alongside the sheep marked rolling green hills of the Welsh countryside in the UK. At the time, my dream was to become a professional football player.

Haris Habib

I have always had this feeling that I’ll do something big in my life. What it would be, that I did not know. But I had faith in myself and the belief that God has a plan for everyone and it’s just a matter of time that you get what you want.

I still remember, 8 years back when I was a young boy and got admission into Lahore School of Economics, I was the most clueless soul on the planet. I had no idea what I’m going to do with my life.

Restlessness, frustration, dissatisfaction started plaguing my soul.