The Pakistani Spectator

Major part of my schooling was done at a convent school at Dera Ismail Khan and later at Cadet College Kohat whereas I did my masters in Rural Development from NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar in 2001. I worked for five years in Khushhali bank, Bank Alfalah Ltd. and IUCN- World Conservation Union before leaving for Europe to have an international masters in Rural development in 2005. After studying at Ghent University Belgium, Humboldt University Germany and Nitra University Slovakia, I have returned to Pakistan  in September 2007 and plan to leave soon for PhD in Development Studies at Australian National University, Canberra. I am married to Quratulain and have no kids. I blog here.

Could you tell us what made you decide to blog?
Well I was introduced to the world of  blogging by http://www.blogs.urdupoint.com where they were asking for contributions. I sent them my profile and an introductory blog. It was published and so I was encouraged to continue. Later, with the initial help of Qadeer Ahmed Rana- another Urdu blogger, I started to blog at wordpress.com, a free blogging website.

What do you think sets Your blog apart from other blogs?
I think its the readers who are better-placed to comment on this yet I wont say if my blog is at all unique. However a characteristic, which it of course shares with a number of other blogs, is its focus on few topics.

If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success, what would it be?
I am not yet successful so this question becomes void. In general however, I don’t think if  success can be brought with any single characteristic. Faith, hard work, focus, steadfastness are all but a few prerequisites for success.

What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?
Ah, I don’t know. Not that I have no happy or gloomy moments in my life, I don’t believe in recalling them, I prefer to move forward instead. On a side note, I believe sad moments of the past are a joy for the immediate future as they are already over. See? It gets complicated soon.

Urdu Blogs have got huge potential, when do you think they will really take on the online horizon in Pakistan?
It will take time, quite some time I must say. When we talk of Urdu blogs, we are defining boundaries. It should be access to equipment and internet, it should be knowhow of Urdu computing and it should be willingness to blog in Urdu. On top of that, it should be a large audience happy to read and respond to Urdu bloggers. So the so-called huge potential is tied to certain strings and to fulfill these prerequisites will of course take some time.

If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s paid for - what would your top 3 choices be?
Well I have seen most of western Europe and plan to fly to Australia in few weeks insha Allah. So I am left with central Asian states. I would also love to resume my road travel of Baluchistan which I left in 2005. Finally, I would prefer to visit Latin American countries where I have a number of friends. In general. I prefer to travel, by road or rail, through wilderness and countrysides.

What is your favorite book and why?
If you had asked me about my favorite author, things would have been much easier. I don’t read English fiction and so all my favorites are Urdu writers and books. Mumtaz Mufti and Shafiq ur Rehman lead with quite a margin. If you still insist on a book’s name, “Talash “ by MM would be the one I guess.

What’s the first thing you notice about a person (whether you know them or not)?
Nothing, to be frank. However if I specifically want or need to do so, I will try to read one’s eyes.

Do you think Pakistani politicians could benefit from the social networks and things like twitter?
Did you mean “virtual” or “internet based” social networks? I seriously doubt if Pakistani politicians can benefit from them. Such networks have limited outreach and hence influence  in Pakistan and it wouldn’t be an ideal mode of networking or communication for Pakistani politicians. Yes, if we had wide access to hardware and internet, things would have been different probably.

Whose Future is more bright in Pakistan; English blogs or Urdu Blogs?
Depends upon your definition of the future. If you are talking about the next decade or so, English blogging would take on. I have already explained the reasons. Though I am an Urdu blogger, I guess it will take a while before Urdu blogs can be very popular. In fact it will take a while before even Urdu gets popular in the hi tech arena. A language’s development depends upon the development of its speakers and unless we have Urdu in our universities, colleges, offices and businesses, Urdu blogging cant be very successful.

How Pakistani bloggers can benefit from blogs financially?
Its a bad, bad idea. I take blogging as a social responsibility and not a source of income. If anyone is looking to make some quick bucks, s/he should probably stick to anything but blogging. I have seen bloggers put Google ads in their blogs and then instead of focusing on quality, write crap and that too, too much and too regularly, to attract visitors and earn few dollars a month. While it take a few clicks to write useless junk, its takes few minuets on part of each reader to read this stuff. Collectively, it turns out to be hundreds of thousands of minutes of people reading such stuff. It drives away serious writers and  readers from blogging eventually.

Do you think Pakistani bloggers tend to remain somewhat self-centered and really don’t go out of their shells? Is it the oriental style of blogging, or they are still unsure about it?
I am sorry but have no idea of what exactly is the oriental style of blogging. In general, what I can say is that yes, I have seen bloggers who think that we read them because we want to know about their grandeur. They only focus themselves and happily self appoint themselves as the heroes of the story. Wrong focus indeed. On the other extreme are those who don’t focus on anything at all and in the end, end up nowhere.

Is it true that who has a successful blog has an awful lot of time on their hands?
It sure takes time to blog, if you are putting some serious stuff for people to read. On average, each of my blog post takes an average of five hours of concentrated effort, in addition to many hours of causal blueprinting that goes in the back of my head during  chores of life. However I cannot call my own blog a successful one, taken the contemporary definition of a successful blog, which is nothing but hits per day on your blog site. Interestingly, such blogs might take less time to maintain, although copy/pasting Youtube video links, articles from newspapers and photos from flicker do need sometime as well, if done on a daily basis.

What are your thoughts on corporate blogs and what do you think the biggest advantages and disadvantages are?
Again, corporate blogs are a no-no at far as I see blogging. Corporate blogs are nothing but a marketing stunt. Blogging is all about freedom of expression on part of an individual but corporate blogs are maintained with a “tongue in the cheek” and as such are hard to digest, for me at least.

Does it pain you or proud you that we have made a history by electing a uniform general as our president?
Bump! What a twister. Anyway, I wonder if this question has ever been valid at all. I didn’t vote for him and so was almost everyone of a hundred and sixty million of us out there.

Do you think this whole emphasis on blogs and whatever online is a significant indicator to show that the web, the social web, is becoming a very important social force?

Web is a medium of communication and anything as such will be a social force. Why do politicians hold rallies, why do corporate organizations hold annual dinners, why do defence forces arrange high table dinners and why do old boys associations hold annual reunions, and so on? Its all about developing social capital and world wide web is but just another tool to do so. In Pakistani context, though it has recently evolved as a dominant force in educated, middle class, urban populace but overall its share in such spheres is almost negligible. It will take a while before such media gain considerable importance.

What do you think where the Pakistani blogosphere is right now?
I am not qualified enough to comment on this as I only read few Pakistani blogs. Keeping in view the limited outreach of technology, I must say we as Pakistani bloggers have done a good job but  I also think we need some serious homework here. I am yet to confront a serious IT blog as I regularly teach myself Linux operating system from such blogs. I haven’t seen blogs which guide our youth in choice of their career, blogs maintained by alumni of prestiged educational institutions and so on. Pakistani blogospehere needs to diversify, both horizontally and vertically. I mean that we need very specific and specialized blogs, each of them on a different subject or theme. On a positive note, I really appreciate the idea of metro blogs and believe that in the absence of local media, such blogs have a great great potential in information dissemination, given the scarcity of credible local media at a town level. I think metro bogs should be established for each of the Pakistani cities at least. It will be great service to the readers.

Who are your top five favorite bloggers in Pakistan?
Well its hard to judge as such but without any order whatsoever, I like to read Urdu bloggers like Ajmal sahib, Noman Yaqub, Abu Shamil, Dost, Shoaib Safdar, among many others whose names I am missing out here. I casually visit Teeth Maestro too.

Have you ever become stunned by the uniqueness of any blogger in Pakistani blogosphere?
Raza Rumi is quite unique due to his focus on spirituality and “softer tones” of the world that we live in. Teeth Maestro is “before the news hit the media” kind of a blog. Others have their peculiarities too.

What is the future of blogging in Pakistan?
Bright, but by this I don’t mean that I see everyone out there, blogging. I hope that after the hype is over (yes, really), we will come up with few, polished and very good bloggers regarding different specific themes or subjects.

In political respect, can we say blogging a ‘democracy of message’?
What else is blogging at all? Its all about freedom to express oneself. Its not “political respect”, its about us as humans and our life. However, we need to take this right as a serious obligation too. Whatever I write is “free to air” and anyone can read and get influenced. In a sense, I can make or mar a person, a group, or even a community.

Can Pakistani blogosphere play any notable role in the forthcoming elections, if they happen at all?
I seriously doubt it. Pakistani blogosphere has a very limited outreach and as such has limited potential to influence contemporary political thought in the short run. Much more do the people read newspapers, watch TV or listen to radio then they read Pakistani blogs. Its all about basic statistics.

You have also got a blogging life, how has it directly affected both your personal and professional life?
It has greatly contributed to my personal development, I must say. On the other hand, I have somehow become more isolated in real life as some may say. I prefer to see people in virtual space that to hang out with them in real life. On a professional front, I have yet to see any benefit though. I have seen some academic blogs but I prefer to read articles from more qualifies sources like international journals, when it comes to my professional life as a student and a researcher of social sciences.

What are your future plans?
Regarding what? I plan to undertake my PhD studies at Australian National University Canberra for the next three years or so. On the blogging front, I plan to continue reading and writing unless I am seriously time-constrained.

Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?
Yes, I do have a message for the readers of TPS. Folks, when you read blogs, do try to comment on what you read. This helps the blogger refine his or her writings and so you play your part in a constructive process too which in essence, is a give n’ take process.
In addition, I would like to talk to the writers of the Pakistani blogosphere too. Friends, when you start blogging, set yourself smart goals. You should know what you want to achieve through blogging and then remain focused. and believe me, few of us would be interested in knowing how great you are as a person. Don’t be tempted by every, otherwise very nice, thing going out there and try to limit your topics. I am no perfect but I only focus on two. If my readers know what to expect when they read my blog, I believe this is my identity as a blogger and a great achievement. Best of luck and be ready to take on this long, long journey!