The Pakistani Spectator

1. Would you please tell us something about you and your site?

   I am neither the master of the universe nor a Miss World; I am a humble resident of the sector that creates wealth and money. Investment Banking has been my abode for more than 5 years now and now its place that I have accepted as home along with mentoring those who need my help to make it their home.

   Personally, I enjoy every little to the smallest thing in life, be it eating ice creams with friends on weekends, to a nice late night movie, to sitting with best buddies and rambling over life and its strange timings to experiment with new restaurants giving my penchant for food to the best of all lazy Sunday afternoons with family.

   Empowering Roots is a personal blog along with a personal dialogue with my readers over various aspects about life, philosophy, travel, experiences and its likes. Moreover, it specializes and highlights the importance of social relationships at different stages in one’s life. My aim is to emphasize the value of any relationship especially in today’s times would stand out stronger.

Empowering Roots is a little about personal experiences, a little about ways of directional thinking of different people at different times. It’s about getting a perspective and/or expressing a perception side by side. In short, it’s about making a difference at least in someone’s life, by giving them the strength to maybe change their thinking and in return in all probability change me personally as an individual. 

2. Do you feel that you continue to grow in your writing the longer you write? Why is that important to you?
   Anything that you do for a longer period of time, you would tend to grow. If I ever learn the art of making flour for the first time, I am sure I would proudly turn out and advertise it as Modern Art to cover up my shortcomings. However, you would always tend to know it within yourself where you need to get better. If you focus on your strength, then if it be writing or making flour – you would grow every step of the way.

   It’s important to grow, because if you don’t then you probably haven’t really tested and stretched your capabilities to experiment for yourself what heights can you achieve, and what exactly you are capable of. Every second of the day, to every day of the month can be a learning experience if you just have the will to learn with an open mind.

3. I’m wondering what some of your memorable experiences are with blogging?

   Memorable experiences with blogging have been when I have bumped into likeminded people in the blogosphere world. It’s very hard in today’s times to meet people with whom you can connect instantly and those who share the same thoughts as you do. Some of them have been inspiring, while some of them are strong with expressive thoughts. These experiences are currently an ongoing journey.
   

4. What do you do in order to keep up your communication with other bloggers?

It’s the connection that relays strong communication. If you connect with someone, there is little that you would need to do to “keep up” any form of communication. It will happen instantaneously from both the ends. Your connection and passion for that bloggers writing will make you keep going back and connecting with them with less or no effort.

5. What do you think is the most exciting or most innovative use of technology in politics right now?

Exciting and Politics?  Can Politics ever have any element of excitement? Oh yes, they surely can if you can get technology to transfer wired funds of black money earned into your Swiss bank accounts while you sit and just keep warming up your chair without any purposeful use of your power for your people. This surely would be innovative and exciting.

6. Do you think that these new technologies are effective in making people more responsive?
   In the above example, surely they would make people more responsive and not responsible. Everyone and just about every single one of them are into politics for the very same reason as above anyways. That’s why we have so many responsive politicians in our country who would always respond with unlimited number of reasoning and excuses after every event of disaster has come and gone by.
   
7. What do you think sets your site apart from others?
   To be honest, I never started a blog to compare mine with others. It’s class apart by itself, just for itself, of itself.
   
8. If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success in life, what would it be?
   It would be very unfair, if I just mention one and ignore the others, it would be like thanking your right hand for its ability to write and just ignoring your left hand for its even mere existence.  Success can’t be measured because of just one quality in one’s self, it’s a combination of some. Personally, it has been Belief, Grit and Determination.
   
9. What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?

   There is no such one moment. To sum up, when the gloomiest moment of my life left me, it turned out to be the happiest moment.
   

10. 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?
    

• • Hawaii
  • Maldives
  • Bali
    

11. What is your favorite book and why?

The Secret - by Rhonda Byrne. Mainly because of her simplistic writing. She can really connect with her readers. She has a certain passion to impart something to the world through her writing.

12. What’s the first thing you notice about a person (whether you know them or not)

People who I know, there would be nothing or no effort made to notice anything about them.

For those I don’t know, it would be quite easy to notice, if they say a Hello to strangers or not? If not, I sure will.

13. Is there anyone from your past that once told you, you couldn’t write?

J No one has really dared to go that far. And even if someone did, who cares. No one can really know your strengths or weaknesses better than you yourself.

14. How bloggers can benefit from blogs financially?
    To me, blogs are an expression of thoughts to how one feels. If someone really thinks that people can benefit out of that writer’s insights – it sure can help the writer financially if he intends making writing his basic bread and butter. There can’t be a better sense of satisfaction to enjoy what you do and still earn out of it.
    
15. Is it true that who has a successful blog has an awful lot of time on their hands?
    Well, to make anything successful you sure would have to invest a lot of time in it. Guess, blogging would also fall in the same category.

16. What role can bloggers of the world play to make this world more friendlier and less hostile?

Unity in expressing their thoughts can instigate change.

17. Who are your top five favorite bloggers?
    I don’t have favorites in particular, but I love reading those who are on my blog roll as I do connect with them.

18. Is there one observation or column or post that has gotten the most powerful reaction from people?

There are people who write about their personal experiences which can be inspiring, there are those who turn to blogging for some sense of healing and relief from their own life – any of the above can always get strong reactions. Anything that is real and that would touch or change an individual or his surroundings would instigate powerful reactions.

19. What is your perception about Pakistan and its people?
    I have been curious to visit some parts of Pakistan where my ancestors came from. No perception as I really haven’t interacted personally with anyone from there, however to what I have seen in TV or films, I really like the respect with which they talk with.
    
20. Have you ever become stunned by the uniqueness of any blogger?
    The fact that he/she blogs would be unique by itself. Any writer would have a certain aura or uniqueness to him/her. All those who are on my blog roll are surely unique and different and I am sure there are many more out there that I still haven’t explored and connected with yet.
    
21. What is the most striking difference between a developed country and a developing country?
    The ability of its governing power to make it developed or let it continue to be labeled as developing.
    
22. What is the future of blogging?
    In one word, “Tremendous”.
    
23. You have also got a blogging life, how has it directly affected both your personal and professional life?
    Affected wouldn’t be the right word. It has made me “Aware” to and about myself and those who write around me. It has made me get up and think. It has given me a power to express anything and just about anything I want to.
    
24. What are your future plans?
    To go on an all paid vacation to all the three places mentioned in Question No. 10.
    
25. Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?
    I wasn’t aware about The Pakistani Spectator till I was contacted by them. The only message I would have is to use your freedom of expression in the most righteous ways to instigate change for the better and not for the worse.