My name is Kashif Malim. I am a business graduate of a private university, passionate about writing and graphics and web designing, and an aspiring entrepreneur, living in one of the most and diversely populated metropolitan cities of Pakistan; Karachi.
I welcome you to my world!
Those of you that actually know me, I suggest you stop reading here. Those of you that don’t really know me but want to get to know me, read on.
I’ve been living in this wonderful and devious city for the past seven years and have found it to be one of the most unpredictable creatures in existence. I’ll get back to this in a bit, but before I get into these details, I really should tell you, my readers, a bit more about myself.
Growing up in Saudi Arabia, one of the most conservative societies in the present day world, the earlier part of my life was rather mundane. Despite that, I have my share of experiences. From my trip to Canada, to my frequent travels back and forth between Karachi and Al-Khobar/Dammam, I got the chance to interact with several kinds of people and places.
I grew up with computers; having grown up on video games on my brother’s Commodore 64, to my Dad’s 486 DX4, I’ve tried and used almost all of them. Owing to that, I got an early start in the world of computers and technology. I got my highschool/intermediate education in Computer Sciences and then went on to join Iqra University for my Bachelors, but switched over to Business Administration simply because I liked the thought.
I started off as a gamer geek, became a coder and web developer when I was in the 10th grade, and then became a tech journalist with CIO Pakistan and I’ve been rather busy lately with some personal projects.
Sure, I wasn’t a journalist or a writer by education, but I seemed to fit the role okay. Having been groomed by some of the best teachers and mentors in Pakistan, I can safely say that I am simply honing my skills in several areas. Key points here would be the phases of my development and the people involved in that development. I’ll talk more about that in later posts, but for now, let me get back to what I was talking about at the beginning of this post; the infamous, unpredictable creature called “Karachi”!
Being one of the most diverse cities of Karachi, by populous and political affiliation, it would be safe to say that Karachi has seen enough political and sectarian turmoil to make a couple of dozen feature-length movies about. However, at the same time, we’ve seen the unity, the solidarity of this disjointed people during some of the bloodiest and severest disasters and tragedies Pakistan has ever seen.
Sure, we have our corruption and hatred and differences (loadshedding too), but at the same time, we have resolve, love, and brotherhood that keeps us going. As everything else, we have both the good, and the bad.
My experiences in Karachi have influenced my development far more than every other aspect of my life, and that is clearly visible in how much I’ve changed over the past six or seven years. My friends would call those changes exemplary, but I believe that every person has the exact same ability to absorb from their surroundings and experiences. You just have to pay attention to your surroundings and take everything in.
Contrary to what most people think, I’m one of the shyest guys you’ll ever come across. I hate being in the limelight but I often find myself thrown right into the thick of it. I prefer spending my day sitting at some quiet spot with a few close friends or family; I am definitely not a party animal. Because of my reclusiveness, I might seem to have an attitude problem or I might seem busy all the time, but trust me, I don’t really talk that much unless I have something to talk about.
I really could go on and on about my preferences and such but well, there are some things that are better told by time itself. I’m concluding this here, with this small and simple advice:
Don’t try to be someone or something you’re not. Just be yourself, because at the end of the day, your self is much more important and much better than everything you can be.
Signing out!
Kashif
