Category: Vignette
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Baba Rehmatay- From Chief Justice to Chief Executive: Tilting at the Windmills?
[To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions] What is the constitutional role of CJP? To act as the Chief Justice who arbiters when there is a constitutional conflict between law passed by parliament and executive decision making, or is the CJP role to…
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Sir Najmul Hasan of IBA and How to Determine the Extent of Your Success in Life
Yesterday, during my PhD class with students I was trying to explain the complexity of real world and how models (and theories) help us in making sense of this complexity by focusing on a few concepts and their relationships. The discussion moved towards perception and reality and from there to this phenomenal lesson by Najmul…
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How to Create Love for Poetry: A Tribute to Sir Ghalib Raza of ICB
Over the last 25 years as I desperately try to connect my students with the joy of reading and poetry, at universities and at schools , I realize the worth of what Sir Ghalib Raza was achieving in my school days. He was making us “feel” the poetry, not “understand” it. Poetry is meant for “feeling”…
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Shahjehan S Karim – Visionary Social and Ethical Leadership
Founder President of IoBM, Mr Shahjehan S Karim left this world for the hereafter today. Inna lillah e wa inna ilaihi rajioon. Several thoughts came rushing to my mind about this great man and his achievements that have been an inspiration to me and to countless others. [July 16, 2017] Each day as I walk…
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Family Tree Shajra of Sadat e Nehtaur: A Case Study of Compilation of Social History
Sadat e Nehtaur Shajra Compilation Effort Syed Mohammad Khurshid Alam Zaidi Khursheed Alam Zaidi in his keynote address at a get together of Sadat-e-Nehtaur on 7th May 2017 related the impressive history of compilation of “shajra” of Sadat-e-Nehtaur. The shajra documents their history in India from around 1175 AD when the ancestors moved from Tirmiz…
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Mukhtar Masud’s Awaz-e-Dost and Love for Literature and History
A literary social autobiography that is poetry in prose; beauty in words and imagery; each sentence contains a world of meaning, ideas, conflicts illustrated through metaphors, and references to deep historical events, people, places, contrasts, arts, architecture, insights, classics, writers, leaders, historical figures…. A book that gives a personal view of Pakistan history through hopes,…
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Dr Wahab and IBA of 1980s and 1990s
Dr Abdul Wahab went to meet his creator on Sep 6, 2016 morning, inna lillah we wa inna ilaihi rajioon. The news brought flashbacks of several memories from my association with IBA; first as an MBA student from 1985 to 1987, and then during my stint as a faculty member from 1995 to Dec 2000, the last…
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Growing up with Mohammad Ali’s Legend
This is 1971 and I am in class IV in Islamabad. I find myself in the midst of young people animatedly discussing the impending fight of the century in a charged environment. We in Pakistan are excited about a Cassius Clay who converted to Islam and became Mohammad Ali but was stripped of his Heavy…
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Rememberance of My Father and Loved Ones: Every day is Father’s Day and Mother’s Day
Our love for the father gives us support for every day of our lives for a long time even after they have gone for years. Matriculation of my father Ahsan Hyder: From L-R: Sitting: Syed Ikram Hyder(great-grandfather), Syed Ab Ghani Hyder (grandfather) Standing: Sultan Hyder (Rummi)-Rasheed Hyder- Ahsan Hyder-Zaheer Hyder-Jarrar Hyder Prof Dr Zaeem Jaffery…
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Of Hanafi School of Marketing, Orientation of New Students and Dr Matin A Khan of IBA
As my experience of dealing with students continues to accumulate, and as I closely observe how priorities of students change from what they are during their university studies to what they are in their later careers, I appreciate more and more the criticality and the importance of the two advices given by Dr Matin A…
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Of Achars, Chutneys and Halwas: A Lifestyle Getting Lost Through Branding and Mass Production
Mangoe Flowers: Bur Yesterday I heard the Koel’s cu-ckoo and I could hear my nani jan (grandmother) calling from the past saying that this is spring time. There is now “bur” (small flowers) on the mango trees. “Remember Irfan, you need to go to the market to get the kai-rees (unripe mangoes)”. Planning for the annual…
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Secret of Happiness: One Simple Rule
I was taught a very important rule about the secret of happiness and its relationship with expectations, the hard way, by my mother when I had returned back in 1995 from USA after having been there for over seven years. The lesson threw me on the ground, flat, and got the steam out of me.…
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Fairness in Grading: A Lesson by the Great Dijkstra
Fairness in Grading: A Lesson by the Great Dijkstra In my another post “Beauty is Our Business: Mathematics and Dijkstra“, I describe how I came to be enrolled with Dijkstra at UT Austin in the course Capita Selecta and how he and his students understood the meaning of beauty and excellence. But, my intention of…
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At What Cost! Fazle Hasan of IBA and our Computation of Economic Costs
[To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions] At What Cost! Fazle Hasan of IBA and our Computation of Economic Costs Fazle Hasan in his office 1981 Mr Fazle Hasan (1939-2006) was teaching us Financial Management in 1986 at IBA. During each class session,…
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Ansari Sb: Khawjgan e Chisht Ahle Bahisht
Ansari Sb: Khawjgan e Chisht Ahle Bahisht About a fortnight short of Eid ul Azha, I was at Saleem Shah’s place when I received a message that Babbu Bhai (Wajeeh ul Hasan Ansari) has requested that the hides of qarbani be donated to Islamic Center, Block B North Nazimabad. Instinctively I replied that I would…
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Rauf Mamoo – How to Make People Feel Special and Close
Rauf Mamoo – How to Make People Feel Special and Close What a man he was! What a dashing personality! Close and dear to everyone around. In any gathering he would soon become the center of attention, with his pleasing and affectionate personality, anecdotes, humor and personal attention to every one. In 1999, at his…
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Beauty is Our Business – Mathematics, Excellence and the Great Dijkstra
I remember here the lessons Dijkstra gave about beauty and excellence through personal examples. His colleagues celebrated his works with the salute: “Beauty is Our Business”[1]. Dijkstra is one of the most revered computer scientist whose footprint on the fundamental ideas in computer science is now legendary. This was 1988-89. I was at The University…