The Spotlight Page 1 The Future Leaders
The Spotlight Page 1
The Future Leaders
The Spotlight Page 2
The Spotlight Page 3
Table of Content:
From the Editor’s Desk 4
President’s Message 5
Coordinator’s Message: Speechcraft – A New Learning Experience 6
Do You Procrastinate? 8
Passion Towards Cooking 9
Learning: A Unique Way of Enhancing your Personality 11
Camera Clicks 12
Grand Finale – Agenda 14
My Fairy Land Kashmir 16
LLL - Life’s Long Learning 18
My Son Asked me a Question 19
Physical Exercise 20
My Visualization of the World 100 Years from Now 21
Talk to Yourself 22
The Genius Kid 24
Succinct & Precise 24
Mistakes 25
Girl’s Education – A Poem 25
Life’s Like That 26
My Favorite Teacher 27
The Spotlight Page 4
From the Editor’s Desk
“You need to learn how to negotiate
better with the suppliers and contractors” said my boss while I was just one year in employment, “you are too soft and often agree with their demands” Those were the words that pushed me in search of a platform where I can develop my communication skills, hone my speaking abilities and learn how to be a better negotiator. I have joined Diamond toastmasters back in January 2011; since then, my journey had a fair share of ups and higher ups (nope, no downs) A year later, I was sitting in my boss’s office and he said: “Adnan, I see you have changed a lot, guess that toastmasters did that”. Yes, I have reached my objective and fulfilled my mission of joining a toastmasters club. Yet my journey continuous, sailing in the Sea of opportunities with Toastmasters, not just on communication aspect, but in leadership as well. In every meeting, I get to meet and sit with people from different backgrounds and different mindsets. Every session brings in new information and unique experience. Every plan we make brings in new challenges, various problems, and complicated riddles!
But isn’t this a journey all about? The people I meet? It makes me a better communicator and person to understand people better. The different information I get? It is slowly expanding my horizon and helping me understand this universe bit by bit. The problems I face? It is only making me a better problem solver and turned me into a person who accepts challenges. To be an editor of this magazine - it was a challenge; as it is the first time I have taken such a huge task. But I am thankful for the opportunity given to me, as this definitely a thrilling encounter. 5 years have passed since I joined Toastmaster. Like how the uncertain Sea teaches those who rides it, Toastmasters harnessed me to face the high waves and rough winds and made me a better helmsman.
TM Adnan Syed
The Spotlight Page 5
President’s Message
Communication is one of the
major tools which gives confidence to a
person. People start wondering around
to see if they can get facilities in which
they could get motivation and build their
confidence; and here I am thrilled that
Toastmasters International has given me
a platform to build/enhance within
myself - communication and leadership
skill.
In Toastmasters club, people join to
strengthen their aim of becoming
successful communicators and leaders.
Earlier it was very hard to know many of
the aspects of the world happenings, but
now because of rapid improvement in
friendly communications the world
became too small – as if things are
happening next door.
By nature I am an introvert, people of
this nature find it very hard to interact
with friends, subordinates, and boss and
even with relatives. Most of the time we
prefer loneliness and communicating
with big audience is next to impossible.
One fine day my wife explained me
about Toastmasters club, and because of
her encouragement I joined
toastmasters club.
During the first few weeks, it was a hard
task for me to face the audience. But,
slowly I overcome my fear of facing the
audience.
After spending long years with
Toastmasters, now I realized that it had
brought enormous changes in me and I
thank Toastmasters for it. Those who
are looking forward to bring changes in
them in the field of communication and
leadership, I fully recommend that
Toastmasters is the best platform.
TM Zakir Hussain, ACB, Cl
The Spotlight Page 6
Coordinator’s Message
Speech craft -
A New Learning Experience!
Action Thought
Ever since I got elected as VP-Membership, I
want to do something different to take Toastmasters more closely to the communities; during the training I came to know about speech craft and I shared the information with our president TM Zakir Hussein. He was excited and got support from Area 51 Director TM Suranga Fernando. The next week DTM Shaikh Shakil Anjum visited our club and ignited the team. TM Sadique Basha, TM Syed Faizulla and TM Syed Adnan poured in immense oil to set fire and lead the team to success.
Share your dream with the ones around you.
The Alchemist – “When you have a dream, the whole universe will conspire to help you in achieving it”
Speech craft team and Advisors - TM
Shabana Zakir, TM Ahmed Ijaz, TM Muneer Ahmed, TM Syed Adnan, TM Zaffer Mir Their commitment, hard work and working togetherness took this event to the heights.
Two Men - If likeminded, definitely will deliver more than two man
After every session we had two- three
meeting to improve upon and plan for next sessions. Phone calls were unlimited.
Constant Communication among the team – a major factor that drives the team towards the common objective - Success
I am a panic man. Understanding that our
president TM Zakir Hussein said “Raj, concentrate on one meeting at a time”. This advice made a big difference.
One at a time – To sharpen the outcome
After the 1st session, we got a
recommendation (from one of the participants, Mr. Bilal Ahmed) regarding the seating arrangement. The event outlook was world class after changing the seating arrangement.
Feedback – The best source for improvement
The Spotlight Page 7
For the 3rd session, as per initial plan TM
Miuru was supposed to evaluate all speakers. My team suggested that this will not give TM Miuru with enough time to comprehend his comment. I was not comfortable to change the plan, but TM Miuru gave a warm welcome for this recommendation and he gave a classic evaluation.
Listen to the team – improves perspectives
Once TM Shabana Zakir said “Having faith on the team helps the leader to perform, what he is supposed to be”
The Speech Craft team did an immense
amount of planning and re-planning to bring this event up to the mark.
Planning – The Roots
The surgical evaluation of each session, with
the thrive to drive the coming session to next level took this event to the undiscovered altitudes
Monitoring and Controlling - The Stem
During the course of each session, the eagle
eyed coordinators, advisors and the speech craft team were so cautiously involved to execute this session without any scratch.
Implementation - The Wings
The best ten presenters who
wholeheartedly delivered their workshops made with event priceless.
Toastmaster - Thrives for the betterment of others, while thriving for her/his
Presence of District 79, 2016 Champions -
DTM Nashid Abdul-Khaaliq , TM Minuri Wijesekara and TM Rubab Fatima Rizvi marked the superstardom of this event.
Interaction with the champions woke up the champions in each one of the attendees.
To get a leave from my boss - not an easy
task. But when I had to do that while speech craft was already half way, I just had to delegate during the team meeting.
Toastmasters - A treasure of leaders; be with them to become one.
Even before the 1st session, the speech
craft team could smell the potential, enthusiasm and passion of 17 unparalleled participants, which was one of the factors driving the team to deliver the quality each session had.
If higher customer expectations, sometimes it is better to tap it - to set higher quality standards for the product - to take the product to new horizons.
I agree that there was lot of area for
Improvement.
As TM Syed Adnan once said ”In Toastmasters even if you make mistakes,
you will never get fired”
TM Rajmohan Nair
The Spotlight Page 8
Do you Procrastinate?
Like many other toastmasters, I too
regret why I didn’t join the
toastmasters club earlier. For me the
answer was very simple,
procrastination! Unfortunately, this is
a career threatening aspect for an
individual. Although for many years I
knew about this organization, I was
looking for time to join it - the perfect
time! Procrastination will always make
you feel that now is not the right
moment to do - wait for best suitable
time. We underestimate the speed of
time and days become months -
months become years; but, that
perfect moment never comes.
Benjamin Franklin said it beautifully,
“You may delay but time will not”
If you want to do something, achieve
an objective or attain something in life
then the best time to do it is NOW.
Just start it by just doing it! As the
clock ticks, every step you take
gradually will make you realize that
you have covered a major distance in
achieving something. Someone has
said it right “the best way to get
something done is to - begin”
Do not allow procrastination hold you
in your comfort zones and keep
deceiving you and telling you that
tomorrow is there. Yes indeed,
tomorrow is there but not to start a
dream; it is there to continue what
you have already started.
TM Ahmad Ijaz
The Spotlight Page 9
Passion Towards Cooking
As a young boy it always amused me
to watch my mother in the kitchen, making yummy breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. I slowly started assisting my mother in her work. I liked doing little things for her, like peeling boiled eggs and mashing the potatoes. It was a wonderful time helping my mother in childhood. Years later, I had to leave my parents and come abroad, cooking was a daily need for me. It made me feel special, showing off my culinary skills to my roommates. It gave immense satisfaction to my passion towards my cooking when we had gone on vacation and we had a big gathering and I helped my mother in preparing food.
Food channels and celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Sanjeev Kapoor, Nigella Lawson and Sanjay Thumma, became my inspiration. When we see others cooking it looks easy but it is not so easy! Also Following the recipe is not enough to get that good taste and aroma. It needs undying passion and loads of practice. Thomas Keller, the great chef says that “A Recipe has no soul, you as a cook must bring soul to the recipe”. Cooking is also a stress buster for me, because it makes my children happy to be served by their favorite celebrity chef. Muneer Burhan
The Spotlight Page 10
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Learning – A Unique Way of
Enhancing Your Personality
Our minds perceive that up to
certain age we can learn and
afterwards we feel that we are fully
learned; but it is not so. Everyday life
teaches us something new and this
keeps polishing the edges to become
diamond. I have always been a
staunch believer in learning and
exploring new things in every
direction.
In recent times lot of individuals have
joined Toastmasters International
(TMI) and adopted the mantra of
internationalization. TMI course
encourages participants to explore a
transformative interpretation of
internationalization of our personality
and to take action to change our own
self. The learning algorithm “Learn by
Doing” developed by TMI has
benefited lot of people and
transformed the life’s. This
methodology gave rise to a new class
of theoretically elegant learning
central concept.
To facilitate adequate learning various
opportunities are designed in order to
increase the amount of engagement
learners who can participate & learn.
In addition, it provides a structure by
which to integrate intentional and
incidental vocabulary learning which
leads to fluency development. It offers
different concepts of communication
and leadership necessary to become a
leader - with knowledge to understand
and apply the powerful algorithms
that have we been developed over the
last few years.
In today’s challenging world and
changing modern era it has become
need of the hour in the personal and
social perspectives to enhance the
capabilities of communication. Be it at
education level or at the job today the
learning participation and change at all
levels of tertiary has become
mandatory to reach the targeted
goals. So let’s partner together in
developing ourselves with the support
and contribution of each one to
become a polished global citizen.
TM Shuja Sherrif
The Spotlight Page 12
Where all it Began
Participants Attempting Table Topics
Coordinator addressing
Participants
The master of all skills - Listening
Camera Clicks
The Spotlight Page 13
Participants Attempting Evaluation
Session 7 – Entirely managed
by Speech crafters
One of the many Workshops
Camera Clicks
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My Fairy Land - Kashmir
Kashmir, known as the “paradise
on earth” and “the Switzerland of East”
is surrounded by lush green mountains.
Most of the states populace is
concentrated in this beautiful vale. It is
spread over an area of about 150 km in
length and 80 km in width situated at an
average elevation of 5000kms. Valley
offers a revitalizing climate and
landscape, captivating the visitor with its
green carpet meadows all over for half of
the year. Dynamic beauty of Kashmir
consists of countless attractions, which
accordingly have made tourism as one of
its major industry.
Vale is rich geographically,
anthropologically, historically and
culturally. Physically it is stunning and
stimulating, it is an unparalleled place for
tourist interest. It exceeds every
description of beauty and charm.
“Paradise on the earth” Paradise formed
by nature and made doubly beautiful by
its inhabitants.
Nature blessed vale with alluring
features of immense beauty which
makes it the famous destination
throughout the world. Its lofty
mountains, transparent lakes, vast green
meadows together with its cool climate
have been attracting people from all
over the world and other parts of the
country in large numbers. It has been a
gathering ground of several ancient
cultures and civilization, evincing interest
of great historians, eminent scholars,
travelers, poets and writers throughout
the ages.
Enclosed by mountain ranges, Kashmir is
the largest valley in the lap of highest
mountains in the world. There are
various lakes and swamps spread across
the valley which bears the testimony to
the fact that it was once bed of most
glorious lake in the world. According to
Sir Walter Lawrence “The valley contains
everything which should make life
enjoyable, there is spot varied and
excellent, there is scenery for the artist
and layman, mountain for mountaineer,
flower for the botanist, vast field for the
geologist, magnificent ruins for the
archeologist”.
Dr. Samira Khan
The Spotlight Page 17
Construction Works - Civil, Mechanical and Electrical
Plant Shutdown works
Specialized Cleaning Works
Frond End Civil Works
Road Asphalting Works
Steel Fabrication and Erection
Concrete Works
Tank and Pipeline works
Coating and Insulation works
Fence/Compound Wall works
Import of tools and machinery
General Manager,
Eastern Region
Mr. Mohammed Ashraf,
B. Tech, MBA
Mobile:- 050 481 4283
The Spotlight Page 18
LLL - Life Long Learning
World is passing through worst kind
of recession in the history of mankind,
with following major impacts.
a) Millions of People are losing their jobs
b) High inflation rates
c) Illegal migration is on its height.
A general perception about this great
problem of joblessness is that, "there is
no solution to it".
I totally disagree to it. I strongly believe
that solution to this Problem is, “Life
Long Learning (LLL)".
LLL is "use of both formal and informal
learning opportunities throughout
people's lives in order to foster the
continuous development and
improvement of the knowledge and skills
needed for employment and personal
fulfilment."
According to a research, 42 % of college
graduates never read another book
again after their graduation.
We usually talk to each other about low
earnings & poor life styles, but we are
not putting additional efforts to get rid
of this menace
Famous trainer Jim Rohn said that, “Go
to work on yourself harder than your
job. Working on your job makes a living,
but working yourself makes a fortune."
This means is that your current skills can
only give you very little. For bigger
income & a Fortune you must
continuously upgrade your Skill sets.
The question is, “How do we apply LLL in
this 21st Century?.
We are all overworked, stressed out.
Time is as scarce as water in a Desert.
But I know that, where there is a
Difficulty there is always a Hidden
opportunity. Current era is called the
"Information Age". The world has
become a Global Village and entire
Gamut of Knowledge is at our finger tips.
Thousands of audio books & lectures
from world renowned universities are
available at you tube.
There are no limits to how much you can
change your life, only if you have the
determination & hard work. The illiterate
of the 21st century will not be those who
cannot read and write, but those who
cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. ”―
Alvin Toffler
Sohail Siddiqui
The Spotlight Page 19
My Son asked me a Question!
I was driving my car when my son Ali
Redha asked me a question.
- What is the meaning of EPIC?
-“Where did you read it?” I asked him.
-He said: “I was playing Sony PlayStation.
It was fighting game and I had to select
the type of the battle”
-Me: Yes, sounds good, what else?
-Ali Redha: there are fighters and heroes.
-Me: EPIC means: battles, fighters and
heroes
-Ali Redha: Thank you dad. Can I asked you
another question?
-Me: yes! Sure, asking questions are the
key to learn new things!
-Ali Redha: what is the meaning of EPIC?
-Me: O no! I already explained it to you. I
am driving my car now, please do not
disturb me!
When reached home, I opened the
dictionary and fetched for its meaning.
"a long poem, typically one derived from
ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds
and adventures of heroic or legendary
figures or the past history of a nation"
In this definition, two things inspired me:
First, it is long. Second, it has got
adventures.
This gave me an insight about a speech.
Does it have these two aspects? Long and
adventures?
The speech in Toastmasters is very short
and does not necessary contain
adventures!
BUT! When I look closely, yes I can see
that TM speech is very long and contains
lot of adventures! How?
•The speech is a final product of a long
journey of one's life.
•Adventures: Education, personality,
background, tradition, experience,
preparation, age, gender ….etc. inside this
journey.
A picture contains more than 1000 words!
Similarly a speech contains tons of
information about the speaker! Is a TM
speech considered symptoms of all of
what I said?
Look to this: a doctor needs few drops of
blood and other samples to analyze and
diagnose your illness then he can
prescribe the suitable medicine. Likewise,
one sample of 5 to 7 Minutes of TM
speech is fairly enough to show who you
are! Evaluators in TM are those who are
talented to see and analyze TM speech “I
called it symptoms of your life which is full
of adventures “to either enhance or
pinpoint to strength or weaknesses
Could I approve that a TM speech is an
EPIC?
Speak and you shall be known, you are
hidden under your tongue!
Ahmed Al-Muslem
The Spotlight Page 20
Physical Exercises
It is well known that a healthy mind
lives in a healthy body. If a man is not
physically fit and healthy, his mind
cannot be sharp and active. Human body
is very much like a machine. It needs to
be maintained and looked after properly.
Physical exercise is of immense help in
maintaining good health and fitness.
Physical exercise is widely recognized as
the best way to keep the body health
and active. Neglect of bodily health can
be disastrous for us. It causes several
physical and mental problems. Slowly
our body becomes vulnerable to many
harmful diseases. His energy and beauty
is lost early. He grows old early.
Strength, stamina and power of
concentration decline. So physical
exercise is necessary in our school for
increasing our concentration and to build
stamina in our body.
Physical exercise is of different kind.
Different people have different choices
and preferences. Many people enjoy
morning walk. Some find pleasure in
cycling and jogging. Several people like
to do gardening or swimming. Many
people find it easier and convenient to
spend an hour or two in doing work out
in a well-equipped gym. Skipping is also
gaining popularity. They are easier to
practice and highly effective in keeping
one fit and healthy.
Regularity in exercise is imperative for
the preservation of good health. It is a
good source of energy, stamina and
strength. Consistency adds to the good
result. So we should be very regular and
consistent in physical exercise.
“A wise man once said Physical fitness is
not only one of the most important keys
to a healthy body, it is the basis of
dynamic and creative intellectual
activity. John F. Kennedy”
Physical exercise is a form of discipline. It
means self-control and sincerity. We
need to neglect our idleness. Physical
exercise helps in character building. It
makes our mind sharp and active.
Therefore we should exercise regularly
to be fit and healthy.
Sahan Salian
The Spotlight Page 21
My Visualization of the world 100 years from now
I visualize things in my mind before I have
to do them. It's like having a mental
workshop which kindles to recall the
famous quote of “The more boundless
your vision, the more real you are.”
The most dramatic changes look to come
in not just how we live but where we live,
with science opening the door to homes
underwater, underground and holidays on
the Moon and Mars after we have
colonized Space extending to other
galaxies
Instead of building skyscrapers up into the
air like seen in Dubai , we look set to
reverse them down into the earth,
tunneling huge structures 25 storey’s deep
where people can live and work.
Oceans will be extensively farmed similar
to Back Bay reclamation at Mumbai with
buildings and not just for fish. .Kitchen
Ovens will be replaced by 7D printers,
where users can download dishes by
famous chefs and print a cordon-bleu
banquet at the touch of a button.
Stealing of human brains will take place
where the intelligent people lose their
ownership and brains will be sold as
commercial intangible product by
surfacing the same in web link.
This will lead to new human race which
will hunt for 1000 times faster than a
normal unenhanced human does.
70% of all languages spoken in 2016 are
no longer spoken. Toast master will be
soon viewed as stress relief therapist cum
leaders by public and will be in great
demand as they are the only speakers in
market and others lost their speech due
to increase in chat messages
Schooling cum employment will become
obsolete. Teachers will become facilitators
and students will learn themselves.
Antarctica will be "open for business as
Free Trade Zone” and Deserts will become
tropical forests. We will soon be able to
control the weather.
The things which the science will still
hunt to discover is , uniqueness of finger
print for each human existence cum
control server of supreme power to know
unidentified galaxy movements in
universe
Ultimately our environment, the world in
which we live and work, is a mirror of our
attitudes and expectations.
Hence don’t lower expectations to meet
the performance, instead raise level of
performance to meet expectations
Visualize world that could be in future
years, Think it, feel it, believe in it and
make your blue print to begin to build.
P.S. Kesevan
The Spotlight Page 22
Talk to Yourself
"Talk to yourself like you would to
someone you love" -Brene Brown
When all your hope crashes down, when
nothing seems to go right, when you
have just nobody's shoulder to cry on,
we are left with ourselves. What goes up
there in our minds? We start thinking
negative. We blame ourselves for what
happened.
Well, you're not alone. Many of us face
these kinds of situations in life. As a fact
this is a sign of low self-esteem.
What is self-esteem? Self-esteem is the
belief we have in ourselves. It is that tiny
voice in your head that says "yes, I can
do it" when the entire world says you
can't.
Here's a fact about Steve Jobs:
Steve Jobs was booted from his own
company.
Steve Jobs is an impressive entrepreneur
because of his boundless innovations,
but also because of his emphatic
comeback from an almost irrecoverable
failure. Jobs found success in his 20s
when Apple became a massive empire,
but when he was 30, Apple’s board of
directors decided to fire him.
Undaunted by the failure, Jobs founded
a new company, NeXT, which was
eventually acquired by Apple. Once back
at Apple, Jobs proved his capacity for
greatness by reinventing the company’s
image and taking the Apple brand to
new heights.
If you've got a low self-esteem, here are
some tips that will help upgrade your
self-esteem:-
1. Say: stop your inner critic
2. Use healthy motivation habits
3. Take a two minute - self appreciation
break everyday
And most of all, be kind to others, even if
they aren't to you.
Haters don't really hate you, they hate
themselves because you are a reflection
of who they wish to be.
And when there is a thought of giving
up!
Remember this at that time:
When god pushes you down to the edge,
trust him fully, because only two things
can happen. Either he's going to catch
you when you fall or teach you how to
fly.
Emaan Hameed
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He is genius and intelligent but sits in one
place and provides various information
desired. He works day and night and still
does not feel tired. The lucky guy named
“Abraham” is on his life journey to achieve
success after completion of his studies in
year 2003. His best friend who is a genius
kid supports him in every moment of his
life. Abraham named his computer “genius
Kid” as he starts his career with him, and to
date at age of 32 years he is working along
with him climbing a ladder of success. He
has been so excited about the success
journey that all immaterial desires are
slipping away from his grip.
The first he planned to convert his
imaginations into a realistic shape, and he
gave shape to his virtual ideas in form of
various material things. This feat has been
accomplished by “computer aided
designing“& by producing the ideas into
finished product seems he lived his dream.
After working in passion for 10 years, he
realized that there are many other
“Abrahams “slipped into this unknowing
world of material desires and hopes less
success for future. The Journey continues
until he got a job in Abroad where he is
been tested on his creative abilities and
finally accepted to perform best as planner.
Every person has a different path in their
life journey, but the ultimate aim is success.
Living a passion takes more patience to
achieve success & material desires will limit
a person from knowing the unknown.
Every moment is a journey towards success
as taught by “Genius Kid”
If somebody ask for advice about
writing, just give him Succinct and
precise. These are two aspects of
effective writing. Succinct is short and
precise is straight to the point. I
remember I read these two words in
magazines since more than twenty-three
years ago. I was developing myself to be
the best.
Writing is an art and it is classified into
three categories: inform, persuade and
entertain.
The informative writing is giving
information about a subject with all
needed descriptive names to the point
across. An example of informative
writing is about describing Makkah. The
second type of writing is persuasive. It is
about inducing your audience to do what
you say. If you promote a new company
product, you ask your readers to buy it.
The last type writing is to entertain like
writing a horror stories. There are
techniques that can add flavor(s) to
attract the reader and make him tense to
your story. Moreover, jargon and too
much information are boring and the
reader might lose the interest to
continue reading.
Finally, the key to successful writing is to
produce it in succinct and precise
manner
Succinct & Precise The Genius Kid
Ibrahim Dhawi
Faisal Shaikh
The Spotlight Page 25
OOPS! OH NO.
We need to learn from our mistakes so
that we do not run the risk of repeating
them. Learn, it’s what we do from the
moment that we’re conceived. Mistakes
are inevitable. Wouldn’t it be wonderful
if we could be at ease with them? We
have a history of handling mistakes and
failure in an unpleasant way. Since each
of us carries our human history with us,
it can be a challenge to overcome the
fear of making mistakes. If we can
embrace the reality of mistakes, we can
free ourselves to be more creative in our
lives and dig up some interesting
insights. Fortunately, there are many
things you can learn from making
mistakes like reveal a nuance we missed,
help us see what matters and what does
not, teach us to value forgiveness, can
hasten change, and the list goes on and
on. We have to expect them as a part of
the process of growth and development.
You’ve got to take the good with the
bad, smile with the sad, love what you
got, and remember what you had.
Always forgive, but never forget. Learn
from mistakes, but never regret. MOVE
ON. It’s just a chapter in the past. But
don’t close the book. Just turn the page.
As the saying goes ‘Your best teacher is
your last mistake.’
A father asks his daughter:
Study? Why should you study? I have sons who can study. Girl why should you study? For my dreams to take flight, I must study Knowledge brings new light, I must study For the battles I must fight, I must study Because I am a girl, I must study To fight men’s violence, I must study To end my silence, I must study To challenge patriarchy, I must study To demolish all hierarchy, I must study Because I am a girl, I must study To mould a faith I can trust, I must study To make laws that are just, I must study To challenge what I must, I must study To sweep centuries of dust, I must study Because I am a girl, I must study To know right from wrong, I must study To find the voice that is strong, I must study To write feminist songs, I must study To make a world where girls belong, I must study Because I am a girl, I must study
GIRL’S EDUCATION
Sidra Muneer
Mistakes
Ahmed Muneer
The Spotlight Page 26
Life’s Like That!
“What? Abbu is retiring? No way!
This can’t be true. ’’
I almost blurted out the first train of
thoughts that were starting to numb my
mind. I felt completely speechless. Like
something fogging my senses. How could
this be? My abbu is retiring at last? My
abbu had been talking about his
retirement since I was in tenth and my
siblings & I never took it seriously until
NOW…
The news hit me like a strong tidal
wave hurling me off the ground. I had to
brace myself. Life is not always about
picking the sweet smelling roses from
their roots without ever being pricked by
their stinging thorns. After my father
delivered the shocking news, maybe I
reacted too wildly or perhaps I was
overwhelmed with emotions, but the
flashback of memories made me
dumbstruck. No coming to home around
maghrib after a long day at work? No
more phone calls from office buddies
asking something technical and my dad
solving intricate problems as easy as
breathing?
I wondered how much I had gotten
used to my father’s daily routine so that
imagining it all stop so quickly made me
nostalgic. Although forced retirement
was the rule, and there must be a
waiting list of budding employers praying
to get the chance of their life when the
seniors finally
say goodbye, still logic & reasons don’t
always convince.
Yet life has a habit of teaching us the
most basic lessons when we are just not
ready to learn them. Parents get old too.
It’s a difficult fact to swallow, choking
you now and then, but after exerting
themselves for their whole lives,
pursuing those dreams they had dreamt
for you, shaping your future, supporting
you through thick and thin, nurturing
you physically and mentally, comforting
your worst fears at night but never
complaining how much their bodies ache
when they lie down on their beds, it’s
finally time that they are officially
declared as unproductive and old.
Truth to be told, everything is so
transient in this world that it’s foolish to
attach one’s heart strings to something
perishable. Trust in Allah and a focused
objective to succeed both in this word
and the hereafter should be the main
goal of a believer. Therefore, despite the
apparent hardships, it’s surely not
worthless to hope for ease.
A timely lesson to be learned for the rest
of my life…
Yusra Muneer
The Spotlight Page 27
My Favorite Teacher
A teacher, as we all know, plays a very
important role in every individual’s life.
We also know that a teacher is known as
a child’s second parent. The status of a
teacher is no less than that of a child’s
parent because a child spends a
considerable amount of time at school
and it is the teacher who assumes the
student’s responsibility and looks after
him/her like his/her own child and shows
the child the right path, guides them,
educates them and instills in them, good
values.
I truly believe in all this as my favorite
teacher had all these qualities in him
which made him a perfect teacher.
Mr. Prem Kumar was my Hindi teacher
who taught me in grade 6,7,8,9 and 10.
He taught me for 4-5 consecutive years.
He was one of a kind. I never had any
issues with him. There was not even a
single thing about him that I disliked. I
always obeyed and respected him and
never in those 5 years did any conflicts
arise between us. There was cooperation
and mutual understanding between us.
He used to teach everything perfectly
and always encouraged me to perform
better, if my performance went down
anytime and always appreciated my
positive points and if there were any
negative points, he would explain me
about them very kindly and politely;
unlike some teachers who just keep
complaining about the negative points
and don’t appreciate much about the
positive points. The thing that I liked the
most about him was that he was very
kind-hearted and polite. It is very difficult
to find such teachers these days. I never
took him as my teacher, but as my
mentor, my guide and as a good friend.
So, one must always respect their
teacher and treat them like their own
parents and should always be grateful to
them for guiding them to the right path
and being their mentor and should
always take their blessings.
Ahmed Mohammed
The Spotlight Page 28