There was no harm in trying though. And thus spurred a quest to figure out what could be done to make it possible. I don’t know how I concluded this but it somehow occurred to me that I had to get more people involved in order to increase my chances. And so started looking around for people who would be interested. What followed was something akin to Charles Xavier recruitment effort. Some said they were interested but didn’t want to make an effort while others basically told me to… well you know what. Nevertheless, there were eventually 5 recruits with a mix of Management and Science students ranging from sophomores to seniors. I don’t want to make this complicated with names so for now I’m just going to call them “the 5” with a lowercase “t”.

Now that we had the 5, there was also somewhat of a plan. One that was spontaneously concocted during the search for the 5. The plan was to apply for the bursary and hope for the best! And so we set out on our mission to write our statements of motivation and revise and re-revise them until the very bones in our hands gave in, until the keys on the keyboard cracked and until the electricity went out. Wait a minute, maybe it was the other way round. Regardless, we wrote until we were sure we couldn’t possibly sound more convincing and sent out our electronic applications. Some time later, each of the 5 received received the following notice from the TI.

Dear Mr XXXXX,

I am very pleased to inform you that your application for support to attend the 85th TI World Conference in Sri Lanka on 1 – 3 March 2007 has been successful. The Benevolent Society will pay the student delegate registration fee of 300 US dollars on your behalf and will also pay the fee of GB 30 pounds for one year’s student membership of The Textile Institute.

Now what?

Ok, so we had something. 5 students from TIP had around 350 US dollars each. In order to get to Sri Lanka we somehow needed to double this amount. The ball was set in motion and here’s part of what I wrote to the President.

Dear Sir,
I am pleased to inform you that 5 of our students who applied for the TI bursary have been successful in qualifying for the award and their conference fee which is 300 US Dollars (approx Rs.18000) for students will be paid by the Textile Institute Benevolent Society.

The 5 were:

1. Muzammil Ahmed (TS4) – The overenthusiastic optimist
2. Aasim Ahmed (TS4) – The optimistic pragmatist
3. Muhammad Ali Hakeem (TS3) – The technology and entertainment specialist
4. Zaid Zafar (TMM2) – The one that actually did the work
5. Furhan Hussain (TMM2) – The pessimistic pragmatist

It was a well balanced team. Not something that was planned but just turned out the way it did. I think it was just that each of us adapted to serve the roles that we needed to in time.

Together, we contacted the industry, faced countless rejections and more often than not were simply ignored. But we were persistant and eventually found ourselves face to face with some of the “Saiths” (owners). After much hard work and many convincing arguments on how 5 students would bring back knowledge to inspire countless others, we got sponsorship from Al-Karam Textiles, some more from Afroze Textiles and the remainder was generously plugged by TIP. And just like that were were all set to attend our very first, 85th Textile Institute World Conference.

By the way has anyone noticed that the exchange rate for a US dollar was around 60 rupees back then. Anyhow.

The conference was an eye opener. We found ourselves amongst some of the most influential minds from the field of textiles and what was more astonishing to us was the realization that they were ordinary people just like us. We had lunch sharing a table with Professor John Hearle, did the bhangra during fireworks at the official banquet dinner on an exquisite Colombo beach, saw some amazing and some not so amazing presentations by researchers across the globe and through the course of the conference realized that there was so much more to textiles and research that we were completely oblivious to.

Our experience didn’t end there. We trekked the streets and beaches of Colombo. Enjoyed some of the most amazing foods I’ve ever tasted in my life. Experienced what it feels like to step on a zebra crossing when the traffic actually stops. Fit 5 in a Sri Lankan Tuk Tuk (rikshaw). O and Ali Hakeem lost his Camera in excitement to purchase chocolates from the duty free. The chocolate helped so in short we still had some of the most amazing time of our lives!

The take home to me was simple. There was so much more we could do. The possibilities were endless.

Out of the 5, three went on to receive the prestigious Eqbal Ahmad Award which is presented to just one student from each graduating class at TIP.

Muzammil Ahmed went on to pursue an MBA and has set himself on track for a lucrative career in supply chain management.

Ali Hakeem bought a new video camera and went on to make some of the coolest student videos in TIP history. He is presently working as an auditor for the textile industry.

Zaid Zafar went on pursue a career at one of the most prestigious denim manufacturing groups in Pakistan.

Furhan graduated from TIP and is currently pursuing an MBA while working in research projects at Textile Research and Innovation Centre. Since then he has presented papers at various conferences in Pakistan.

As for me, I graduated from TIP and later that year became the first research assistant to join the Textile Research and Innovation Centre. In November 2008 I led another team of TIP students, this time to publish two papers at the 86th TIWC in Hong Kong. But that’s a story for another day.

No one knew what they wanted. One time we stopped our car and the poor animal halted dead in its tracks, its bark fading into a puppy like squeal, and scared out of its wits it retreated in its own tracks.

Then one day they just disappeared. Perhaps they were trying to say something.

Why do you cause us so much grief? The recent fervor over an article pushed some former editors of Quack! to convene an international teleconference spanning 3 continents. We got together to see if this article requires a major response such as a makeover of the basic policies underlying Quack! Our discussion quickly shifted to whether North America is really a geographic entity separate from South America (yes it is), where in the world is Abid (eating lizards in Shanghai or foie gras in Paris) and whether it is possible to breathe and write at the same type (not possible for some).

Our task is daunting. The discussion we’re dealing with has swayed so far away from where it started that getting together three people from three continents was the easy part. So we thought it would be a good idea to lay out what we won’t be talking about here just so we’re clear.

What we will not be discussing

1. We will not be discussing TIP’s faculty and administration. Let’s face it, there have always been problems and always will be. That’s life. But they are doing something right to have over 700 graduates out into the industry.

2. We will not be talking about the lake, the horrible food at the cafeteria (apparently it’s not horrible anymore!) or how beautiful the fertilizer factory looks at night!

3. We will also not be discussing the pros and cons of ragging. We’ve been there and done that many a times before and one can find plenty of archives on the subject.

What we will be discussing

1. The ideology behind Quack!
2. What good journalism is about and how to write an effective piece.
3. What to do about anonymous postings

1. What is Quack! about, and who are you guys?
The vision/mission is contained in our about page, and also the first post ever made. Our role, as former editors, has been to hand over the editorship of Quack to somebody who upholds the same principles. At core is the principle to allow freedom of expression to all those associated with TIP. Sometimes we may not agree with what is expressed, or sometimes how it is expressed. However, this freedom of expression brings about an open discussion and debate, and has the potential to allow TIP to establish common ground between students, alumni, faculty and management.

Quack! offers the students, alumni, faculty as well as the management a voice. It is a medium for you to express your opinions. If you wish to be heard, sign up. There’s enough room for everyone.

2. So what! What about an editorial policy?
The role of the editor is to work with the writers to ensure that at least some minimum level of quality is maintained. This is in standards of journalism, fact checking, and in language (the boring bits of grammar and spellings). The editor is one of you, just another student in the next classroom. For the editor, who is studying textiles and not journalism, this is a learning experience too. He/she will make mistakes. And he or she will learn from this experience.

3. You guys still suck! Why do you allow anonymous postings and misinformation?!
Quack!’s policy regarding opinion and news related articles has been fairly straight forward. We have discouraged anonymous postings and gone to great lengths to encourage authors to own up to their writing. Usually, it was because writers were afraid of a backlash from the administration, and felt it was safer to hide their identity.

Commenting, however, has been a different ball game altogether. Quack! Online gives the author of any article, be it an editor of Quack! or not to monitor and edit comments on their articles. This gives the author control over the discussion generated in light of how comments refute or support the arguments presented by the author.

Which brings us full circle (that’s 360 degrees) to the reason for this article.
The recent article “DC fails to establish order,” is clearly stating an opinion based on unverified information. The majority of comments on the article are not focused around the contents of the article and are talking about matters that are irrelevant to the post. We appreciate that TIP faculty has clearly stated where they stand on this article. The writer has failed to respond appropriately, thus allowing the discussion to go into other directions. The writer needs to stand up to his writing.

At the end, Quack! Online is generally a reflection of the environment about campus. The architects of that environment are responsible for the outcome. And TIP can be proud to be having the oldest (likely) running online student newspaper in Pakistan, and also the most vibrant.

A spokesperson stated “Not only does it smell and look bad, it also goes against our values when men and women are seen dumping on and around walls. Our behavior portrays a negative image of Pakistan, especially to foreign viewers”

Give me a break!

Should the government just go ahead and impose bans on grounds of ‘Sacrilegious Content,’ or let people debate to defend their opinion? Everything has pros and cons. Be it the internet, TV, radio, or a private gathering. Restricting access to the internet will only limit us from knowledge. I’m bad with names and not in the mood to search, but that Pakistani kid who scored a record number of A’s in his A-level exams said in an interview that he used Youtube, to study for exams.

Our people need to be given knowledge to decipher between right and wrong so they can consciously make choices, hopefully, towards betterment. Imposing decisions on them will only redirect frustrations. Those who want to cross over will do so and those that ‘have’ to pee have no choice but to do so, regardless of impositions. I can already see some people from Pakistan on Facebook via nifty online tools and I’m sure those who want to use Youtube and other sites whether for education or porn will find ways to do so.

Whatever the reason for the ban, it is certainly not for what they claim. I refuse to believe that there are all completely daft idiots sitting up there. Someone or the other must have thought this out and would have spoken. I’m not even certain if there’s a point in me writing about this. I guess it’s just my way of putting in my two bits.

The situation is complex but I know this for sure. It’s a bad decision to have restricted Pakistan’s access to the internet and we must do our bit to have it reverted. Building public restrooms might be a better way keep the walls clean than by getting rid of them altogether.