Faisal Qureshi » Loose Ends

Bangalore Blasts

Faisal Qureshi — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:54:56 +0000

7-July-2008 7 low intensity blasts hit Pakistan’s largest and most important city, Karachi.

25-July-2008 7 low intensity blasts have hit India’s I.T. capital of Bangalore.

I know bombs are a bad thing, but I wish press and media would go easy on declaring cities “terror capitals”? Pakistan, and Karachi in particular, have suffered terribly because of these hasty claims.

Smoking in public

Faisal Qureshi — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:00:06 +0000

I can not understand why people come to decent restaurants and smoke. It is really quite pathetic. I wish Pakistani restaurants, at least, get the sense to go smoke-free.

I must commend Avari Towers in Karachi to make all public areas smoke free. Just for this I think I will make it my regular hang-out. Kudos to the new general manager Gordon James, from Scotland, to take the step. Funny how we learn all the filth from the failures of industrialized nations but make no effort to learn from their successes and achievements.

Three cheers for Avari Hotels, Karachi.

Did Paulette Dean Daly have an affair with Roger Clemens?

Faisal Qureshi — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:00:03 +0000

Why do we like scandals so much? Now it’s Paulette Dean Daly, wife of professional golfer John, who is the latest alleged liaison of former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens. Imagine if everyone’s private “liaisons” could be looked into, what tales that would tell. Oh well. I guess we all get some perverse pleasure in seeing others get caught out, while we forget we have enough skeletons in our own closet. Why can’t He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone?

VBlog-004 Effects of what we see

Faisal Qureshi — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:54:36 +0000

21-April-2008 We don’t realize how every simple element in our environment influences the way we turn out. Especially media.

VBlog-003 National Insensitivity

Faisal Qureshi — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:17:53 +0000

18-April-2008. We stand on the street watching atrocities like they were some TV show. We don’t even bother to call emergency services. Why are we so insensitive? Is media responsible?

Ankahi

Faisal Qureshi — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:53:04 +0000

The launch show of Ankahi went even better than I had expected, alhamdulillah. Of course Sania Saeed’s presence helped. Professor Sahar Ansari’s kindness and understanding of the subject brought a lot of clarity to the discussion. I was surprised and very pleased with Sania’s command over fine Urdu. I feel privileged to have such accomplished guests on our launch show.

Needless to say, I missed my partners in crime from Loose Ends. Umar is visiting Pakistan right now, and it makes it even worse for me not to have launched Ankahi with him. It was his friendship and supported that started this whole movement. I also missed Tania and Reema a lot. Their presence brought the feeling of reality to Loose Ends.

I’m glad that God has given me this opportunity to go back to doing such topics on TV. May Allah guide me and help me make a difference.

Dark & Dusky

Faisal Qureshi — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:50:17 +0000

I’ve been very upset about all the “fairness cream” advertisements in Pakistan. I find them very discriminatory and insulting for a nation where easily 95% population is not exactly very fair (white). If it was in my power I’d ban all these promotions.

My good friend Faisal Khan has shared some videos on his blog which address this very issue. I found the this video of particular interest. Thanks for sharing Faisal.

Why did I quit Dawn

Faisal Qureshi — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:02:09 +0000

I have received an overwhelming number of queries and complaints about my absence from Breakfast At Dawn. Yes. It is confirmed that I have ended my career at Dawn News for the time being. Why? Long story. But the short of it is that I’m not a media person. I had set out, with my friends Umar, Tania, and my wife Reema, to change the country; to make a difference. In that effort we had started a social awareness (not reform) TV show called Loose Ends. By the grace of God, the TV show got more popular than we had ever imagined, and in spite of great opposition, stayed on air for 44 weeks. Before the TV show was finally “shut down“, it transformed into a Social Awareness Movement by the name of Loose Ends Pakistan.

Shortly after the end of the show, my buddy Umar (who had created Loose Ends) decided to sell shop in Karachi and move to the United Kingdom. His departure sort of broke the chain, and things slowed down.

Dawn TV made me an offer to do their breakfast show, and it seemed like the thing to do. I spent almost a year with Dawn News, working on the breakfast show, and it was the most educational, professional, and enlightening experience. Dawn, no doubt is one of the very best news channels in Pakistan; and the breakfast show gave me 2.5 hours of live transmission, 5 days week. In short, it was an unmatched experience. BUT, it was nothing like Loose Ends, which I had originally set out to do.

My websites, blogs, profiles, have repeatedly quoted:

What man is a man who does not make the world better? (From the Latin Inscription: Nemo vir est qui mundum non reddat meliorem)

When going through life you should always stop to ask whether you’re a taker or a giver. My answer to myself was, I want to be a giver, but I had of late become a taker. Cleaning up my archives, I came across the following clip and I realized that I had lost focus and was drifting away from my calling in life. Thus the sudden departure from Dawn, in the hope that I will be start something like Loose Ends again, very soon.

Right now, I’m in the process of looking for possibilities and opportunities, where I can start a TV show that made the same difference in the lives of Pakistanis as did Loose Ends. So help me God.

Smell the roses

Faisal Qureshi — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:49:08 +0000

There comes a point in life, when one needs to sell the Ferrari, and venture out on a long walk into the fields. While you’re whizzing about in the bright red, shiny piece of metal, you can’t see the weed eating up all the plants. It’s only when you take a long walk that you see all that needs to be done in the wild fields. You can stop to smell the roses, gaze at the the clouds imagining things in them. You can take your time to get from here to there. In a Ferrari, you miss all the scenery; all you see is the road ahead and the destination unseen.

You need to be a gardner that cares a lot. You need to weed out the tears and grow a good crop.

P@SHA Startup Insider’s Session

Faisal Qureshi — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:04:15 +0000

No matter how hard I try to stay away from switching into Loose Ends mode, it’s only a matter of time when Professor Qureshi just kicks in. The P@SHA entrepreneurs guidance session last week was another such incidence.