It is all about life..
It is all about you..
It is all about me..
Stories that never end...
Welcome To My Blogs
This forms a compilation of all my written work done so far!!!!!! The work involves celebrity interviews that I have conducted so far, my journalism work and literary work, my fiction work...and my TV plus radio shows... I did radio, I did TV, and I always to find the real me.. As a writer, I could write more openly and that explored the real me.. Stay Blessed.. Cheers... Sadaf
The initiative started by a young Bahrian and a music maniac, finally resulted in the best music blog of the country. Koolmuzone won ‘Best Music Blog of Pakistan’ at ‘Pakistan Blog Awards 2010′ held on Friday, the 28th of May. Started on Jan 6th, 2009, KM had an objective to give deep insights to Pakistani music. It also had an objective to promote and support Pakistani music. The passion speaks itself:
Education and Background:
I'm doing bachelors in software engineering from Bahria University, Islamabad
Inspiration:
My father mainly, he used to blog some decade ago. He made my first blog for me. Some local bloggers inspired me to be in pro-blogging, Saad Hamid is one.
How I got interested in music/ music blog?
I've been a huge music fanatic since forever. About eight years ago, my father set me up my first blog and I decided instantly that it's going to be about music.
What made you introduce KM?
Geekness + love for music = KM
Share a few lines on pak music channels these days? What is their biggest problem?
I've nothing against Pakistani music channels. I just think they should be more innovative about shows on music. It's not eye candy what we are looking for but insights on music
To what level has KM been able to compete with the music channels?
I think I can't ever compare a blog to a music channel. They have much larger viewership. However, I sort of think, when it comes to about insights on local music, people rather prefer KM.
Training:
None
Motivation: I've always been motivated to create things for myself.
Learning:
It comes from patience and persistence.
What other blogs you have besides KM?
Smashinglists.com and Rewritetech.com
What is the main idea behind KM?
Insights on music. Not just the download links
Share a few lines on Pakistani music and current situation:.
I think musicians made better music when they had lesser exposure, and not so great music when they have better exposure.
Biggest Desire:
To have leading group of blogs in Pakistan on several topics.
How much do you believe in innovation? What is the value of innovation for running a music blog?
You need to put things to readers that they usually don't get. That's where you acquire viewership.
Yesterday, I went for an interview at a software company, as I had applied for the position of a full-time writer.
I was quite happy. I was supposed to reach the place at 3pm and I arrived at 2.45pm.
The interview started and went on for about twenty minutes. This was not my first interview. I have been interviewed at several places.
As the panel continues to ask me moronic question after moronic question, an idea for a blog post began to form in my mind. I tried to make a list of the fifteen most stupid questions that interviewers ask you. The list could go up to thirty questions, but ET might not take such a lengthy blog, so I am sticking to fifteen.
I am sure I can expect many emails and angry responses from HR recruitment people after this post.
Q1: Where do you see yourself in five years?
Do you know where your company will be in five years? Sorry, I didn’t know that you were looking to hire an astrologer.
Q2. Describe yourself in three words.
Why do you want a three-word description? If I say I am bold, smart and beautiful, will you be happy with that? Which three words do you want to hear–hard working, motivated and intelligent? You’ve gone through my resume, but still insist on asking me to describe myself. Just read the document carefully and you might find your answer there.
Q3. Are you ready to work overtime?
If you advertised your timings to be 9-5, don’t suddenly change your mind. If I say yes, it wouldn’t make any sense, and if I say no, I will be considered lazy. Are you ready to pay me for overtime?
Q4. What is your biggest weakness/worst quality?
Oh my God! Shall I really tell you my biggest weakness? Ice cream is my biggest weakness. Mobilink asked my brother the same question, after assuring him they wouldn’t share the information with anybody else. Are you guys making a database of candidates’ weaknesses? What if something I consider a strength looks like a weakness to someone else? If I say I’m a workaholic, it’s strength to me, but a weakness to others. Do people really discuss their weaknesses in public?
Q5. Can you manage to work in teams and groups?
My resume states very clearly that my skills include leadership ability, conflict resolution and team management skills. Didn’t you read it? Secondly, what if I am asked to work with a group of lazy dudes who don’t even bother to work much? It depends on the team. Anyway, were politicians ever asked about their leadership skills?
Q6. What are your salary expectations?
I applied for this job after reading about the salary you advertised. Are you trying to avoid paying that amount by asking me that? Anyway, my salary expectation is Rs200,000. Thank you so much for caring about me.
Q7. Do you mind if I call your previous employers?
Either I voluntarily left my job, or I got fired. Neither situation could have made my employers happy. Which ex-boss is going to speak highly of me?
Q8. What did you do in your last job?
I was hired as a plumber by the previous company after I finished my MBA.
Q9. Why shall we hire you?
So that I can steal your office equipment and break the office furniture.
Q10. Are you married, divorced, separated, or single?
This question annoys most female candidates. I’ve heard friends complaining about it too. Why are you interested in knowing my marital status? I am not a contestant for Miss World, for which I’d need to be single.
Q11. Who are you living with these days?
In Pakistan, where girls live with their families, this question doesn’t make any sense. I am living with my pets.
Q12. What do your co-workers say about you?
Some people suggested that I should dye my hair. Others said that I should use a glossy lipstick with thick eye liner.
Q13. What are your expectations from this job?
That I shouldn’t have to come to work on time. I also expect diet drinks and low calorie food for lunch. Also, I want an AC in my own room.
Q14. Why do you want to work for us?
I want it because I have to buy new clothes and cell phone.
In a country like ours, where we come across so many cases of honor killing, I was compelled to write these stories.
Case 1: Bano earns her living from washing clothes and dishes at different people’s homes. Her husband is a cook at a hotel. The couple has four daughters and one son. One day, she came to my mother and said, “Baji, I have got my daughter engaged to a very rich boy.” My mother congratulated her. Though, the girl was hardly twelve years old while the boy was eighteen. Bano continued her routine work even after the engagement.
One day, Bano came and asked for a day leave since she was going to attend a family function. She didn’t come for four days. She came on the fifth day with lost looks and swollen eyes.nn“Baji, my daughter has run away from the house with her husband. Her Rukhsati was due in two months. Couldn’t she wait for two months? Now our neighbors are laughing at us. I have tried to call her from my old Baji’s landline number, but she is not responding. My old Baji gave me her old cell that our family uses. My daughter has taken away the cell and some jewelry too.”
Case 2: Another case is of an educated lady doing her bachelors and belonging to a rich family. The only issue with her is being ordinary looking and not attracting people who came to her house to see her. She was rejected many times. One day, a family (mother and son) came to see her through a reference person. They didn’t tell the reference that they were Hindus. They liked the girl. Upon knowing their religion, the girls’ refused to give them his daughter. The girl wrote a letter to the boy and planned to elope with him. The letter was caught by a family relative. On knowing her intentions, parents asked the boy to change his religion and got both of them married. The boy changed his religion to Islam. They are married now with four children.
Case 3: Another lady, who was doing her bachelors and belonged to very rich family, did the same. She eloped and got married to a sales boy in her father’s shop. She was very ordinary looking and no one ever asked for her proposal. Her family is still in deep shock. She came back to her parents, gave birth to a daughter. She later got divorced from the boy, married another boy and now lives abroad. The second husband doesn’t want to keep her daughter, so her daughter lives with her grandparents now. The girl is having a great time. Her younger sisters didn’t get any proposals, after this eloping case. People never asked for them after knowing this.
Case 4: This one is of a lower middle class family, where a thirteen year old daughter was given a lot of independence. She would go out to her friends’ homes and come late. One day, she didn’t return. Upon asking a friend of hers, she told that she had started liking a boy in her Mohalla and eloped with him. She got married at a friend’s home. All this, she shared only after coming back after marriage with some months of pregnancy.
Now in a country like Pakistan, where we hear so much about “honor killing”, these are some cases where parents didn’t perform any. All these five women are alive and living their life. It was very hard for me to point out the exact reasons for eloping. First of all, it’s the inability to control emotions. Mostly girls elope when they are sick of arranged marriages, or not marrying men of their choice. Fear of getting rejected again and again by people and when someone makes a “yes” to them, they elope. It happens due to lack of proper ethical training from parents, especially from mothers. They must keep a check on their children. With the current technology of mobile phones and internet, planning for eloping is easier than ever, and that is why there usage should be watched out by the parents and guardians, especially mothers. Thanks to films, and some channels that project “eloping” as a very romantic and recreational thing, and easily attack young minds.
All these cases are different from each other: Two ladies are from rich and educated families, while two are middle class girls. If they eloped, enjoyed and had fun, why coming back to parents after some months then? There isn’t any case of honor killing reported, but something must be done in order to educate young minds.
The act of “eloping” serves as a social taboo. It doesn’t only leave a deep negative impact on the girl and her family, but to other siblings too. Firstly, the younger siblings may think that it is something good to perform. Our elder sister did this, so we can too. Secondly, people point out other girls of the same family as eloper’s sisters and may find a good justification to reject them. Thirdly, the sense of security of an eloper is lower. Their comeback reflects that little sense of security. The punishment they got through and less social acceptability becomes a problem for them.
A young software engineer who aspired to become a film director, Furqan Javed Dogar did courses in Digital Filmmaking and Visual Story Telling from New York Film Academy. He also completed workshops in The art of Moving Camera from Warner Bros. He’s inspired from Steven Spielberg, especially the movie “Jurassic Park.”
AAJ News: How did you get interested in media production?
Furqan: I always wanted to be an entertainer. I was a notorious storyteller during my early years, even during my software engineering study program, I always believed in making entertaining software (games, fun portals etc) and this interest drove me into media productions.
AAJ News: What is your Motivation for this stuff?
Furqan: It comes from every good movie that I watch, whereas my learning comes from movies, life experiences and mistakes.
AAJ News: What is the main idea behind Cignition? How does it work?
Furqan: The main objective and idea behind Cignition is just in three words….“Revive Pakistani Cinema”.
Cignition is a viewer choice Pakistani film project by a team who takes pride in pride and doesn’t believe “the way it’s supposed to be” is the way it has to be. We don’t believe the critics are the final say – We don’t believe money should be the boundary when it comes to doing a film. Plus, we don’t believe the big wigs are the only wigs so once our movie (the viewer choice Pakistani film) hit the shelves …try us on? I am sure we’ll be a good fit.
We have posted five stories in different genres at the website http://www.cignition.com/?fb. Viewers may read the stories and then vote for the story they like the most. After 5,000 votes or 4 months (whichever comes first), we produce the top voted story. So it goes like this.
AAJ News: What are your expectations regarding this?
Furqan: I believe that this will support the independent film canvas which will later on help in the revival of our film industry…I understand that this is a slow process but me and my team are committed…we will make a difference.
AAJ News: What are your expectations being an artist?
Furqan: A little appreciation from audience: that’s it.
AAJ News: Whats your Biggest Desire?
Furqan: It is to take a Pakistani film to Oscars in next five years.
AAJ News: Share a few lines of typical kind of films these days……what novelty are you expecting from Cignition?
Furqan: The current industry is eying business neglecting quality. By Cignition we want to provide quality entertainment on our own expenses.
AAJ News: How much do you believe in innovation?
Furqan: Very much: I believe innovation differentiates humans from animals.
AAJ News: What is your message to readers?
Furqan: Try to make a difference and encourage those who are trying to make a difference…and believe me things do change.
Most of us are film-watchers. We love commenting on and reviewing every movie we see. However, locally-made movies seem to suffer from a set of idiosyncrasies which can observed in nearly all Lollywood films.
Singing
Songs are the soul of a film. No movie is a hit without good songs, right? It logically follows that if one can’t sing well, he or she is incapable of being a good hero/heroine/lover. The ordinary-looking poor girl knows the ragas, sur and taal of music so well that even a qualified singer couldn’t hold a candle to her. Where do these people pick up the ability to sing like professionals?
Playing the piano
You’ll find a man from a poor family who is struggling to support his relatives, playing the piano wonderfully. When did he get the time to learn? Where exactly did he get the money to buy a piano and pay for lessons?
Mental telepathy
People in films need to have mental telepathy with their lovers. They need to know exactly when their lovers will break into song, so that they can complete the verse. Not only can lovers keep track of what their other half is doing at all times, they also know what the next line of their partner’s song will be.
Rain scenes
The drenched couple never catches a cold. Rain scenes should be used to advertise drugs for the flu and common cold. Although couples will spend hours singing songs and dancing in the rain, they will never so much as sneeze. Perhaps they should share their secret with ordinary people who want relief from respiratory illnesses.
Beautiful, terminally ill patients
The heroine is often on her death bed. The doctor diagnosed her as critically ill. She wears perfect makeup, her hair is straightened and she has no dark circles. Although she has lung cancer, it doesn’t prevent her from lustily singing in memory of her hero. Somehow, this doesn’t hurt her weak lungs.
Makeovers in the jungle
Lollywood loves scenes where couples are alone in the jungle. The heroine will be wearing a new dress for each shot, with fresh makeup and a new set of jewelry. Who straightens her hair, who irons her dresses, and who cooks her food? Why does she look so fresh even though she’s supposedly been starving for days?
Dancing in the fields – with no repercussions
In a country like ours, where we see so many cases of honor killing, somehow traditional girls can sing and dance in the fields without anybody batting an eyelid. Somehow, nobody kills or even notices her for it. Apparently, we are very liberal and progressive – or at least that’s what the film industry would have us believe. Girls in short skirts perform vulgar dances and seduce men in public, in places where other women don’t even dare venture.
The guy Travis Hunter Brown is a singer-songwriter from St. Petersburg FL. Music is his love and passion. Creating music and playing it acts as his rush. He has been involved into writing for years. He grew up on the likes of Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding and Sly Stone, the Beatles' and The Beach Boys' knack. He loves harmonies and melodies. He is a sharp observer and an extrovert, who draws his inspiration from everywhere and anywhere. He is a serious person who knows well what time to get serious and make music is. Whatever he documents is highly inspired from his surroundings and environment. He lives for sound and music. It is something new that grows inside him. He loves creating music and holds a deep passion for it. His songs include “All that she wrote”, “I woke up”, “Tidal wave”, “Making it Right”, “23rd Entry”, “SkyLark”, “June Bobbet”, “Erased”, “I have become” and “The Frappuccino Song”. His song “Future Ex-Wife” is an intuition by his friend that he wrote and penned down. He gave a new look and dimension to his song “Mad World”, which was originally done by Tears for Fears in 1980s and later by Gary Jules. His song “Easy Mac” is a jingle one that he wrote after he got inspired from seeing a jingle on television for a tuna fish brand. The comic like jingle inspired him to write this song.
SF: Did you get some formal music training? If so, tell about it.
THB: Well, I've been singing since I could talk. I listened to a lot to my Mother's old records.
Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Tina Turner, People like that, to name a few. I would say shaped my music knowledge in the first years of my life. In Middle school and high school I attended performing arts schools for voice. After high school I was in several bands. I think a culmination of what I learned in school, my mother's record collection and the bands I was in, all shaped my musical odyssey.
SF: What inspires you the most? What is your biggest inspiration?
THB: Wow! That's kind of hard to pin down in one answer. A lot of things inspire me every day. From blowing wind, conversing with a friend or watching someone’s performance can inspire me. Even when my spirits are in a negative place I draw inspiration from every experience life gives to me.
SF: Were you ever part of any band? Do you have plans to remain solo?
THB: You know what? I wish I had a band, but I don't. I have a studio engineer with whom I do some songs. I'll bring a song into the studio and perform it for him on acoustic guitar and we both sit and find the right sounds for every part of the song together. It's very much so a collaborative effort. I play and sing and he records what I do.
SF: How and when did you get interested in music?
THB: I got interested in music at a very young age. It was one of the only things when I was young that seemed real and worth any time.
SF: What was the first instrument to play?
THB: I was nine years old when I started playing the alto saxophone and I stuck with for about 4 years. Then I gravitated back more towards singing and performing. I picked up the guitar two years ago and have been playing ever since.
SF: Tell something about your favorite bands and musicians.
THB: I like just about anything that you can call "music". But lately I have been listening to Brandi Carlile and Simon & Garfunkel.
SF: Tell something about your lyrics and songs. What is so special about them?
THB: "You can say I'm still young, that I've got time to live my life", "You could say be patient, take it in and see the light"- taken from my song 'Rewind'. Those lyrics came from everyone telling me that I have my whole life ahead of me. I shouldn't rush getting older to satisfy something that I want right now. It's my rebelling against those philosophies. I guess I expect fans to get a real idea of who I am through my music. I'm honest to the bone about everything I sing about. Every lyric is my perspective on life and vice versa. So, to answer that I just expect fans to get a better idea of what I am through my music.
SF: How would you define your music genre?
THB: It's always fuzzy when it comes to me explaining what I do. I've heard people call it pop, soul, alternative, R&B. but I would call it soul. Because everything I sing is from my soul. I wear my songs on my sleeve, and I think that separates me from of my contemporaries.
SF: Share something about the cover songs that you have played so far.
THB: I have played cover songs. I had a gig last Sunday in Tampa and I did a cover of 'Bad Romance' by Lady Gaga and I also did a cover of 'Whataya Want from Me' by Adam Lambert.
SF: What would you like to say about your learning?
THB: I would say Marvin Gaye's legacy, Freddie Mercury's legacy, and all the other people's legacy past or present that I have the utmost respect for. I've learned from the great people and I'm still learning- which I love! It keeps things new and interesting.
SF: What is music according to you?
THB: Music is love. Music is peace. Music is life. I could not imagine my life without it. I would be lost without any direction if I didn't have music in my life.
SF: What message would you like to give to readers?
THB: Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all my fans out there it means so much to have the love I've gotten from you! I look forward to a long relationship between all of you and me, because I don't plan on stopping ever ;) lol! I would also say that if you have a passion for something do it. Do it no matter what people think of you. Live your dream!!
Tell something about your basic education and early life?
My education is a blend of Psychology and Business Studies in Marketing. My childhood was spent on Pakistan Air Force bases all over the country and was full of fun and adventure.
How were you offered a role in Dhoop Kinare? There was another serial in which you worked, named Jungle, tell something about it too.
Before Dhoop Kinare I had worked in ‘Jungle’ and another play called ‘Asman Tak Dewaar’. When Sahira Kazmi asked me to work in Dhoop Kinare and I accepted as doing a play with her and Haseena Moin as it was an exciting option.
How many serials have you worked in total?
Three Serials
Out of all the co-stars which one is your favorite?
Everyone in Dhoop Kinare was a role-model of sorts. Everyone I guess! And this includes the very competent production team as well.
Tell something about your ICI job and achievements.
Moving from the media to the business world was not easy as I had to continuously work on establishing my credibility in the corporate world’s peer group. Being a woman definitely adds another dimension to the career challenges. Looking back I guess my key achievement was to successfully lead the sales function which opened up a new path for the career progression of women in the company that I was working with.
You didn’t continue a career in acting. Is there any reason for that?
A full time job didn’t leave me with much time for pursuing my interest in performing arts.
Tell something about SIRAAT.
SIRAAT, launched in 2008, is my capability consultancy portfolio focused on developing business skills. In Arabic SIRAAT means ‘the path’ and as an acronym for my work it stands for ‘Strategic Intervention for Resource Activation and Training’.
What is the best part after an acquisition and the worst?
The key challenge in an acquisition environment is the integration of processes and teams. Good communication with all the stakeholders is extremely important throughout the acquisition process. As the Corporate Communications manager I learnt a great deal about this from the acquisition of ICI by Akzo Nobel.
Your ‘Anji’ role sounds a very sweet and loving kind lady, are you like that in real life too?
The fun in playing the ‘Anji’ character was that she is a full, 180 degrees different from me. I am career minded and enjoy being in a work environment. It was great to play this character. The one thing in common though is the passive-assertive trait. I too find myself sitting on-the-fence quite often -– not wanting to hurt others’ feelings but not wanting to give-in to their wishes either!
Who are your favorite actors?
I have always admired Uzma Gillani, Shabana Azmi and Om Puri.
How do you feel after almost two decades, when people admire your acting?
It makes me appreciate the immense talent and efforts of Sahira Kazmi and Haseena Moin who put products like Dhoop Kinare on the entertainment map of the world.
How do you take criticism?
We all like to think that we are good at what we do until someone points out the gaps… Over the years I have worked on developing the capacity to appreciate criticism and use it constructively. I now also train people in giving work-related feedback effectively specially in appraisal interviews.
Share your experience of working with Haseena Moin and Sahira Kazmi.
I was initially scared of her because I thought that I was not doing justice to the ‘anji’ character as she had envisioned it. At the time of doing Dhoop Kinare I also held a full time job and at times found it difficult to manage the two together. However, Haseena Aaapa’s script took care of the problem for me. The characterization and dialogues were so crisp that one didn’t have to struggle much to make the charters come alive!
I saw Sahira Kazmi as a perfectionist. And yet she was willing to take a risk with some relatively new members in the cast. She drove me to do better than my best-rehearsed performance and then she did a brilliant job of editing the scenes which made them look very natural.
What is your biggest desire and expectation?
To see our beautiful country progress and its people become one of the happiest in the world.
List any funny or memorable incident during shooting.
All of the six months of rehearsing for and recording of Dhoop Kinare were funny / fun-filled.
If you are given a chance to work with Haseena Aaapa, what would be your response?
If I can devote the right kind of time to it – definitely!
Are you a deadline oriented person or let the things happen their way?
I work best when a deadline is staring me in the face and is too close for comfort.
What is the most difficult part of acting? You find acting or your current job more difficult? Why?
Dhoop Kinare was a blend of comedy and romance. Both are difficult to do. It’s easy to cry in a scene but very difficult to make people laugh through a scene. Training people is difficult in a different way. People have different learning styles and designing a program that addresses all those styles in a short duration of one or two days is always very challenging.
What was the public response towards you when Dhoop Kinare aired?
At that time I got the feeling that the response was average. But for some reason the liking for the play kept getting stronger with each passing year. Two decades on I was pleasantly surprised to see that it’s still poplar here and abroad as well.
Share a few lines on "Glass ceiling" in Pak companies. Is there any you faced being a female manager?
The Glass ceiling is a cruel reality in many corporations in Pakistan. Companies look at gender diversity in terms of the percentage of women employed in their organization. This is nothing more than paying lip-service to the issue. We need to look at the number of women in senior commercial roles in any organization to see that company’s mind-set towards women. In many organizations in Pakistan women get dropped out of the race for senior commercial positions and get stuck in middle management. We need to raise the awareness and accountability in this area from platforms such as the OICCI.
What are the most challenging and difficult part for a woman to be a leader?
The leadership challenges are the same for both men and women. One additional challenge for women, depending on the environment they are in, is to manage mindsets that might not accept women in leadership roles.
What is your message for the readers?
Maintain a healthy work‐life balance and enjoy the simple joys of life.
Ayesha is a Thalassemia victim who has a family history of the deadly disease. She is an official spokesperson for the website and is doing a wonderful job of creating awareness among people on the fatal disease. The campaign was started by her late brother Salman Mehmood, who fought very bravely till the end. Ayesha recently appeared on “The First Blast on Dawn News” and shared some myths regarding the deadly disease. Besides this, she keeps posting updates on her website in form of her blogs too. She also manages theblood bank, guides people regarding blood needed anywhere in Pakistan, along with Farman Ahmed she arrange blood camps as much as possible, she also manages content onthalassemiablog / site and marketing aboutblood donationcamps and registrations.
Tell something about your education and early childhood.
I have done Intermediate in Arts, currently studying for B.A, my childhood has never been different than any other child just because I was special I have to go for blood transfusion once every month with my two other brothers.
When you were first diagnosed with thalassemia?
I was only six months old when I got diagnose with Thalassemia, my other brothers were already been diagnose so it was easy for doctor to understand my symptoms.
It’s an inherited disorder, as a child what difference you felt from other children?
Well, it says the parent’s teaching are the best teaching of entire world you learn from, my family or rather I would say my mom never taught any of my siblings to feel different from other children, she treated us like any other mother treat her kid. We don’t have any difference, we can study, get degrees, get married, have kids, and just a transfusion in month doesn’t stop us from being normal.
Thalassemia.com.pk was founded by my late brother Salman in 2003 just to acknowledge people all around the world about Thalassemia, he wanted to share the suffering of Thalassemia from rest of the world, later on in 2007 we formed a group called Faith (Fight Against Thalassemia) as the need of awareness increased, we decided to arrange more blood drives and awareness camps. Soon we will be registered by Thalassemia International Federation and Thalassemia Pakistan Federation.
Iwritealot.com was founded in 2009 to raise funds for the cause of Thalassemia, we use the funds in blood drive or awareness or if we get some information about any needy Thalassemia patient.
What treatment are you getting for it?
Thalassemia treatment is same everywhere in the world, patient have to get transfusion once or twice in a month, depending on the hemoglobin, because of multiple transfusions patient get iron loaded in the body and for that we have to go through iron chelation.
What do you think how is the quality of life of a TA patient?
It totally depend on the treatment and care he / she is getting, if a patient is maintaining hemoglobin at 10 and taking proper care of his iron chelation then his quality of life is improved and he can reach the age of 40 – 50 easily. But just a bit extra care needed.
What are the areas where TA patients need to take a special care about?
Because of compressed immune system we have to care about infections, rather I would say just a bit care on blood counts, if they are down we might catch infection easily, but that happens in any normal person too. So the patient of Thalassemia should be careful on his hemoglobin and iron chelation.
Thalassemia patients can live happily, healthily, get married. Share a few lines on it.
There are few friends of mine who have done LLB, MBA, BBA, and then there are few friends who have got married having kids, living a perfectly normal life, as I said early we just need to maintain the hemoglobin, take proper care of iron chelation then we can achieve anything.
How can a thalassemia patient avoid his/her child from not getting thalassemia? Are there any specific measures for it?
Basically there are two types of Thalassemia, Thalassemia Minor and Thalassemia Major. If anyone has Thalassemia minor should get his partner tested for the Thalassemia Gene, it is considered that Thalassemia minor shouldn’t marry another Thalassemia minor, and in Thalassemia Major the partner must be tested and should be normal, shouldn’t carry Thalassemia gene.
Is there any time you think thalassemia affects your life badly?
Well we are also human beings, we also do have a thing called heart and there are times in everyone’s life where he/she get down and think over his/her life, so yes.., there are the times I have thought that mine or my siblings life could have been better if we were not Thalassemia patients, but then it’s the thing called ‘mayoosi’ which is haram.
Share a few lines about Salman's motivation and how he started this website work.
Salman got this motivation after we lost our elder brother Nauman, Salman had just a single friend in his whole life and that was our brother and after losing him and they way we saw that awareness was nil at that moment, he took the step and created this website so that no one else lose his brother or sister ever again.
How do your colleagues and friends cooperate with you?
Well in our case friends and colleagues have been really great with us, whether it’s about blood drive, awareness camp or it’s my up and down phase of life... they have always been there, some help by promoting our work, some help by being there morally, some help by donating blood.
What is the most critical thing a thalassemia patient need to take care of?
It is Transfusion and Iron Chelation.
Your inspiration for continuing thalassemia awareness comes from?
It comes from my brother Salman, I don’t want to stop the cause he started, because of his efforts we have been managed to help several people around the world, he have done a sadqa-e-jariya and I have to continue it.., I don’t want to be unfair to him and to his memories.
What role do you expect from medical authorities to create thalassemia awareness among people?
After a very long fight we have been managed to get the bill passed for mandatory test before marriage in two assemblies, NWFP Assembly and Sindh Assembly, I wish and hope that they pass the bill in two other assemblies and then get it implemented throughout Pakistan as soon as possible.
What is your message to the readers of Health Insight?
A very simple and short message, get yourself tested for Thalassemia gene today, whether you have a Thalassemia major in your family or not… but to save the next generation please get yourself and family tested today.
