Mahira Khan, Pakistani actress, talks what she dreams about ...

CommunityRichard Russo’s new novel

Chances Are... is a beguiling reunion of college friends.

P7 P16 CommunityUS-based Pakistani tech expert

lays stress on need for mentoring young entrepreneurs and building startups.

COVERSTORY

Mahira Khan,

Pakistani actress,

talks what she

dreams about now

that she’s hit the

pinnacle of stardom,

her upcoming film

and more. P4-6P4-6

Thursday, August 8, 2019Dhul-Hijja 7, 1440 AH

Doha today: 350 - 450

Thursday, August 8, 20192 GULF TIMES

COMMUNITY ROUND & ABOUT

Community EditorKamran Rehmat

e-mail: [email protected]: 44466405

Fax: 44350474

Emergency 999Worldwide Emergency Number 112Kahramaa – Electricity and Water 991Local Directory 180International Calls Enquires 150Hamad International Airport 40106666Labor Department 44508111, 44406537Mowasalat Taxi 44588888Qatar Airways 44496000Hamad Medical Corporation 44392222, 44393333Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation 44845555, 44845464Primary Health Care Corporation 44593333 44593363 Qatar Assistive Technology Centre 44594050Qatar News Agency 44450205 44450333Q-Post – General Postal Corporation 44464444

Humanitarian Services Offi ce (Single window facility for the repatriation of bodies)Ministry of Interior 40253371, 40253372, 40253369Ministry of Health 40253370, 40253364Hamad Medical Corporation 40253368, 40253365Qatar Airways 40253374

USEFUL NUMBERS

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PRAYER TIMEFajr 3.40amShorooq (sunrise) 5.05amZuhr (noon) 11.41amAsr (afternoon) 3.09pmMaghreb (sunset) 6.16pmIsha (night) 7.46pm

“Choosing to be positive and having

a grateful attitude is going to determine how you’re going to

live your life.” — Joel Osteen

Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw

DIRECTION: David LeitchCAST: Dwayne Johnson, Jason

Statham, Idris ElbaSYNOPSIS: Ever since hulking

lawman Hobbs, a loyal agent of America’s Diplomatic Security Service, and lawless outcast Shaw, a former

British military elite operative, fi rst faced off in 2015’s Furious 7, the duo have swapped smack talk and body blows as they’ve tried to take each other down. But when cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton (Idris Elba) gains control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever — and bests a

brilliant and fearless rogue MI6 agent (The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby), who just happens to be Shaw’s sister — these two sworn enemies will have to partner up to bring down the only guy who might be badder than themselves.

THEATRES: The Mall, Landmark, Royal Plaza

Parey Hut LoveDIRECTION: Asim RazaCAST: Sheheryar Munawar Siddiqui, Maya Ali, Zara Noor

Abbas, Faheem Azam, Ahmed Ali ButtSYNOPSIS: The story of a guy who is carefree and afraid

of commitments when it comes to relationships. His life takes a twist when he meets a strong-willed, gorgeous girl and falls in love with her.

THEATRES: The Mall, Landmark, Royal Plaza

For movie timings and further details please scan

the QR code above with your mobile phone camera or visit qatarcinemas.com

3Thursday, August 8, 2019 GULF TIMES

COMMUNITYROUND & ABOUT

Compiled by Nausheen Shaikh. E-mail: [email protected], Events and timings subject to change

EVENTS

The Comedy of TangoWHERE: Katara – the Cultural Village WHEN: August 28TIME: 8pm-9pmWith the support of Katara – the Cultural

Village and embassy of Argentina in Doha Tango Pasión Doha presents Los Guardiola – “The Comedy of Tango” on August 28. A show consisting of seven scenes is inspired by famous tangos. Dancers, mimes and actors, Marcelo Guardiola and Giorgia Marchiori, known artistically as Los Guardiola, will project the audience into the fantastic world of their danced pantomime where comedy and tragedy merge into the rhythm of tango.

Yoga Class WHERE: Lululemon, Mall of QatarWHEN: Every SaturdayTIME: 8:30am – 9:30amJoin the complimentary in-store yoga

classes. No registration or mat is required. The class runs on fi rst come fi rst served basis.

Ballet LessonsWHERE: Music and Arts AtelierWHEN: OngoingTIME: 4pm – 8pmFor more info e-mail at registration@

atelierqatar.com or call on 33003839.

Career GuidanceWHERE: Right Track Consultants, Al

SaddWHEN: Sunday – Thursday TIME: 6pm – 8pmCareer guidance for course, country,

college and entrance for students of Grade IX-XII, of all curriculum. Career assessments administered for stream preference, career test, branch preference, personality, multiple intelligence and learning styles and productivity. For more information, 55448835.

Artistic Gymnastic ClassesWHERE: Qatar Academy MsheirebWHEN: OngoingTIME: 3:15pm – 4:15pmThe olympic sport using horizontal bar,

rings and fl oor exercises on mats for the children from age 4 till 16.

After School ActivitiesWHERE: AtelierWHEN: OngoingMusic and arts activities for students

taking place after they fi nish their day in school includes Group Music lessons, Hip-hop, Ballet, Drawing and Painting, Drama Theatre & Taekwondo. Ages between 5 and 10 years old after school hours.

Hobby ClassesWHERE: Mamangam Performing Art

CentreWHEN:Saturday – FridayMamangam is an art and performance

centre started with a vision of spreading our knowledge, interests and experience in various disciplines in arts across diff erent countries for children and adults.

Summer camp at Mamangam has become the children’s favourite centre for learning art and craft, drawing, and learning spoken

English. The kids also enjoy Bollywood dance, contemporary and hip hop music. To develop health consciousness, we teach them kids yoga, karate etc. Mamangam has also come up with chess and robotics in the regular batches in an attempt to give a better learning experience.

The fi rst batch of the summer camp began on June 26 continuing until July 25 from Sundays to Thursdays. The second batch will commence on July 28 ending on August 25. Registrations are open to kids between 5 to 16 years. For those who wish to register for more details, visit www.mamangamqatar.in

Arabic Calligraphy WorkshopWHEN: Saturday – WednesdayTIME: 6pmArabic Calligraphy workshop is back.

Come and learn the artistic practice of Arabic handwriting and calligraphy at Music and Arts Atelier.

The lessons will take place every Saturday, Monday and Wednesday at 6pm. For more information, contact [email protected]

Dance and Instrument ClassesWHERE: TCA Campus, Behind Gulf Times

BuildingWHEN: Wednesday – MondayLearn the movements of dance styles in

Bollywood, Hip Hop and also the musical instruments such as Piano, Guitar, Keyboard for adults as well kids and move in the world of music. For details, contact 66523871/ 31326749.


COMMUNITY COVER STORY

“We’re all aff ected by politics. I am too. But I try to stay away”

So much has changed over the years in Pakistan entertainment industry. First and foremost: social media! Everything is out there. Other thing that has changed, look at where the films are. Look at how many options we have. Whether it’s the television or film industry, you are no more looking at five people, but in double or triple digits of talented people

‘

’

— Mahira Khan, Pakistani actress

NOTES FOR A DIVA


COMMUNITYCOVER STORY

By Muhammad Asad Ullah

Her fi rst ever interview came in Community almost more than four years ago. She was then all set for her silver

screen comeback with Bin Roye (2015). Not much has changed for Mahira Khan. She is still the lithe, jaunty girl with the easy megawatt smile whose eyes grow big when she is excited. It’s the voluminous blow-dried hair and fl awless skin that give her away.

Mahira is dressed unobtrusively in a mucho simple deep-red slightly lower than knee length dress and blue stilettos, but she is unmistakable. Cameras have accosted her a couple of times in the past half hour alone. However, she continues to chat animatedly about her upcoming fi lm Superstar. The title that goes so much hand in hand with the phenomenon that Mahira Khan is for the Pakistan entertainment industry.

Mahira’s still as beautiful and cheeky as she was when she made her acting debut with Neeyat, drama serial in 2011, post her brief stint as a Video Jockey (VJ) on television. Neeyat and her fi rst fi lm Bol (2011), directed by Shoaib Mansoor, released simultaneously with a gap of only a few days, and the rest is history.

Who knew the geeky Ayla from Neeyat would one day become the queen of Pakistan entertainment industry whilst making one of the most prominent debuts in Bollywood as well, and that too opposite none other than Shahrukh Khan in Raees (2017).

Since turning out as the charming Ayla, Mahira Khan has come a long way, coursing her way through a hit list of serials, from Sarmad Khoosat’s Humsafar (2012) to Rukhsana in Sadqay Tumhare (2014), and silver screen prominence from Bol to 7 Din Mohabbat In (2018).

It also won’t be erroneous to say that Mahira is indeed one of the most fashion savvy actresses Pakistan industry has ever seen. An actress that can never go wrong with how she steps forward on the red carpet; and that image was pretty much backed up when she had made her debut on the stairs of Cannes Film Festival in 2018 in an Alberta Ferretti number and Chopard jewels.

Although Mahira made a successful Bolywood debut, but with the eruption of tensions between Pakistan and India, Mahira and other fellow actors such as Fawad Khan and Ali Zafar, had to abandon future projects in India. Community recently sat down with Mahira to know how she felt when her Bollywood debut fi lm, Raees,

got stuck at the censors and she wasn’t able to be a part of the then ongoing promotions of the fi lm and what she dreams about now that she’s hit the pinnacle of stardom.

From a girl next door – to a diva walking the red carpet of Cannes. Was there any specifi c moment when you actually realised that you’ve just made it as the superstar of Pakistan entertainment industry?

I don’t know. I’ve never actually thought about it. But you know I was watching the Hollywood Round Table and whenever they ask such a question in that show, that when was that specifi c moment when you felt you had made it, it’s so hard to answer. It’s so hard to think what was that specifi c moment. You know, ever body has a dream, right. We work towards that. When I was little, my dream was to work with Shahrukh Khan. That’s it! I didn’t want to work, I just wanted to be in the same frame. And it was an unbelievable dream; something people thought was unachievable. But that’s what dream are. I think

when I saw Zaalima or I stood there in front of him, I was like yes it’s done! You know honestly after that, since I had no other dream in life, something else then had to naturally and organically come. And that’s very hard. After sharing screen space with Shahrukh Khan, now Superstar is that next dream.

Along with Superstar, you have quite a prominent cameo in Parey Hut Love as well, both releasing simultaneously on Eid al-Adha. What kind of pressure you’re going through?

A lot of pressure! My cameo in Parey Hut Love is super special to me. One, because it’s Asim Raza (director of Parey Hut Love). Asim for me is somebody very special. We connect on a very soul level. There are very few people I speak to so much in the industry, and Asim is one of them. He’s been my guiding force although I’m a rebel! He’ll like it more if I listen to him. Morre Saiyan in PHL is a song that we both wanted to do and I would say it’s an ode to our friendship.

How much can you relate to your character of Noorie in Superstar?

I think Noorie is a lot like me. She has a lot of faith; unbothered and unfettered by anything around her. It’s her and what she wants to do but she also wants to be morally correct and wants to do the right thing. Does do the right thing! But, sometimes in your journey you get hurt and then you try to prove to the world then to prove yourself; you start off with the dreams that are yours but suddenly you’re doing things you never wanted to do. That way, Noorie is like me. And Noorie

experiences love along the way. Well, I’ve experienced better love than Noorie!

You share the screen space with Bilal Ashraf this time, who is relatively quite a new comer, so what kind of bond did you both really share? Did he look up to you since you’re a much-experienced actress?

You need to ask him for that! I used to look up to him because he was much taller though, which is great. I felt like I don’t want to cramp someone’s space, even if I’m more experienced or I’ve done more fi lms. So what! That doesn’t matter. I have to allow him to be him and he has to enjoy his time. I think that’s what important and we both really enjoyed it. We were strangers. Last time I worked with someone I did not know was Shahrukh and before that was Fawad. Other than that, I’ve worked with people that I’ve known or hung out with. Bilal and me were strangers, put in a closed space. I’m shy, so I give a little space. But I felt comfortable with him. If he had to hold my hand or come close to me, I never felt awkward. Which is very important. Even when I did feel awkward, it worked for the fi lm — the initial love. But he has done a very good job!

You hit a career peak with Raees. Do you think the artiste ban in India stole your best years on the big screen?

No, not at all! Let’s say I had done another fi lm. And I had been off ered many fi lms. But you know my dream was to share the screen

SET FOR NEXT: Mahira Khan will be seen essaying the role of Noorie, starring alongside Bilal Ashraf in film Superstar, releasing today.

“I think Noorie is a lot like me. She has a lot of faith; unbothered and

unfettered by anything around her. It’s her and what she wants to do but she also wants to be morally correct

and wants to do the right thing. Noorie experiences love along the way. Well, I’ve experienced better

love than Noorie!”

Continued to Page 6


COMMUNITY

with Shahrukh Khan and that was done, and that’s it! I didn’t want anything else. So, I’m very lucky and grateful. Did I feel bad because of the ban? Yes, of course.

Politics is a reality in today’s world of art. Do you think artistes should take a stand on it? If so, do you feel disappointed that the biggest names in Bollywood shy away from doing the responsible thing? You couldn’t, after all, be even a part of the promos of a fi lm headed by SRK!

I can’t speak for Bollywood because it’s not my industry. I don’t think I have right to speak for that industry. I can speak for mine. It would be wrong for me to comment on something which is about them. But when it’s about our industry or our country, I do try to speak out through diff erent mediums.

Talking of politics, are you a regular Pakistani who cannot escape political drama that is a part and parcel of our lives, or you manage to stay sane?

We’re all aff ected by politics. I am too. But I try to stay away. I don’t watch TV. I watch a few shows, say once in a while, on Netfl ix or Amazon and that’s why I feel like I’m very much out of the loop of what’s happening even. Because I’m just in my own little bubble. When I want to know about politics, I know who to call: Hamza Ali Abbasi.

Did you vote last year? Would you tell us which party, if so?

How can you ask me this? I did not vote last year. Because of HUM Awards. I was very upset actually for not voting because last time I had voted. And I’m a big supporter of Imran Khan. But when I think things are not going well, I also say it. I don’t think you should have blind support. So, for me to not have been here was huge and I think me and two other people really fought this case. But because I was one of the people who were performing, so we had to be there. We fought and delayed as much as we could. It’s unfortunate.

How diff erent is today’s Pakistan Entertainment Industry from the time you started out in showbiz?

So much. First and foremost: social media! Everything is out there. Because I think I came at a time when it was just beginning, that’s when I came, and I remember, right before Bol released, I deleted myself off Facebook. That’s the only thing I had. Then for years, I was not on any social media platform. Finally, Hassan, my brother, convinced and requested me to join Instagram. Oh no! I joined Twitter fi rst. And Instagram was just a joke, like a dare. And now I can’t get off . I try to keep it as authentic as possible though. What I don’t want, I don’t post – what I want to, I post. I think that has changed a lot. Other thing that has changed, look at where the fi lms are. Look at how many options we have. Whether it’s the television industry or fi lm industry, you are no more looking at fi ve people, but in double or triple digits of talented people. Be

it fi lmmakers or actors or any other kind of technicians, so I think that’s huge!

On the personal side, tell us what is the most satisfying part of being a single parent and what the most challenging?

Most challenging is time. I wish there were more hours in a day. That’s the most challenging part. You know, I was at the dubbing of the fi lm, I don’t know for how many hours, it was four-fi ve in the morning and Azlan (my son) kept on calling. He was like “Mama Mama”. First, he called at midnight, then he called at 1, then he called at 3 – fi nally when he called at 4 because I had told him I’ll be home by 3, he started crying. And I couldn’t hear him cry. I was like I’m coming and coming. I put the phone down and started dubbing the climax scene. And while I was dubbing, I howled. And I knew I was howling because my child is

waiting. The feeling you know that I want to go home, I don’t want to be doing this right now, that’s my big challenge. The most satisfying thing is when I hear Azlan talk to other people or see him have conversations with other people or interactions. I can just sit back and say, me, my mother, my father, my ex-husband – all of us collectively have done a good job.

What are your personal life goals? What do you think makes life whole?

I think what makes life whole is… is… that’s a good question! I think if you can sort of strike a balance which is very hard, I don’t think I can. It’s very very hard for me. But you know the moment you strike a balance that I’ve done my work, I’m satisfi ed with my work and I have a personal life and I’ve tried my best in all of that– if you can fi nd a moment to feel okay with everything and feel peaceful,

happy and satisfi ed with it, that is feeling whole. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but it needs to be a little bit of contentment.

Artistes are often asked if there’s any particular role they would like to essay. What about you; have you ever tried to pursue one?

Superstar is the one! If there has been a dream, it has been Superstar. I’ve waited for it too long. I’m sure actors have faith in things, I have had insane faith in Superstar. I’ve given up everything for Noorie.

Who is your favourite Pakistani fi lm and TV artiste, and why?

I’ve lots of favourites! But Sajal is just out-standing. I like all these new faces; I like Imran Ashraf and Iqra Aziz. And in my time, I like Fawad Khan and Humayun Saeed. I want to work with Nauman Ijaz.

“The most satisfying thing is when I hear Azlan talk to other people or see him have conversations with other people or interactions. I can just sit back and say, me, my mother, my father, my ex-husband – all of us collectively have done a good job”

RAPID FIRE:

1- Your all time favourite film?Oh God! It has to be Dilwale Dhulaniya

Le Jaayeinge.

2- One all-time favourite line from a movie?Rehne Deejye (Leave it), Can’t say it.

3-What are you reading right now? Nothing

4- One secret no one knows about you? Why should I tell you my secret?

5- If you wouldn’t have been an actor, which career you would’ve opted for?I would’ve been a junior artiste.

Standing in the back doing something,

in the hopes that I’ll get spotted.

6- Best advice for your 20-year old self? My 20-year old self didn’t need advice.

Now I do!

7- Your go to favourite designer? I love Feeha Jamshed, Zara Shajahan,

Elan and Umar Sayeed. I like classic

designers!

8- One fashion trend you love pulling off eff ortlessly? I love wearing jeans and a T-shrit and

white Shalwar Kameez.

9- Mahira Khan in three adjectivesI don’t know. I think I’m passionate,

hardworking and …. Selfless (Mahira’s

manager adds).

10- What’s the most importance relationship advice you can give?Be honest and be open.

11- Any message for the readers?Superstar is an ode to my fans, if

anything. It’s my favourite genre, it’s

romance. Even when I get scripts, I love

reading romance, seeing romantic

movies and doing romance. Haha!

It has these emotions. I’m playing an

actress, and I have danced and done

theatre pieces in it. MEGA DEBUT: Mahira Khan made her Bollywood debut alongside SRK with Raees, whooping a total of INR2.725 billion on the Box Off ice.

FAMILY FIRST: Mahira Khan with her son Azlan.

Continued from Page 5


COMMUNITYBOOK REVIEW

Old white guys are not trending these days, but they get some aff ection in Richard Russo’s irresistible

new novel, Chances Are ...In his ninth novel, Russo (winner

of the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls) returns to many of the past themes he has written about with such skill and grace: friendships and family ties, class diff erences and romantic relationships.

This time the story is built around the long-time friendship of three men, college pals in the late 1960s and early ’70s, who reunite 44 years after graduation on Martha’s yard.

They gather at a house that Lincoln Moser, a commercial real estate broker in Nevada, inherited from his mother. Teddy Novak runs a small academic press in Syracuse, NY; Mickey Girardi lives in Cape Cod and, age 66 be damned, still makes his living as a rock musician. Lincoln is solidly married to his college sweetheart, Mickey has a couple of divorces under his belt and Teddy has always lived alone.

Lincoln is thinking of selling the house and wants to mark a long-ago weekend the trio spent there just after college graduation with another classmate, a young woman named Jacy Calloway. All three of the men were in love with her, but none of them had the nerve to say so. They spend a nostalgic night that culminated with them singing under the stars, warbling the song that gives the book its title, a lushly romantic 1957 hit by Johnny Mathis that, to a bunch of counterculture kids in 1971, would have seemed gloriously corny.

The next morning, the men found a note from Jacy that could be summarised as “I hate goodbyes, so goodbye.” They never saw her again, and neither did her family.

But it was the wild and woolly ’70s, when fi nding yourself sometimes meant losing everyone else, and her three friends seem to have accepted her absence (despite their broken hearts).

None of them really expected Jacy to pick him. She was a beautiful, adventurous child of privilege, born and raised in posh Greenwich, Conn. They all meet at fi ctional Minerva College, a safety school for kids from wealthy families who can’t muster the grades to get into the Ivies.

Lincoln, Teddy and Mickey were not from money. Teddy’s parents were high school teachers so wrapped up in their careers and each other that their only son grew up as an afterthought. Mickey was

the eighth child of a construction worker and a secretary, an underachieving brawler until his SATs revealed startling academic aptitude. Straight-arrow Lincoln came from a tiny town in Arizona, where his father was part-owner of a little copper mine, making the family small-town rich, which wasn’t very. (Lincoln’s parents, lonesome Trudy and W.A., known as Dub-Yay, a shrimpy guy with a reedy voice and an oversized ego, are so fascinating I found myself wishing Russo would write a novel about them, too.)

The three boys end up at Minerva because they’re academic standouts, but they need jobs. (It was a time when a kid could actually work his way through college.) They meet when they’re hired as “hashers” crew in the kitchen and dining room at the

sorority Jacy belongs to.That memorable Memorial Day

weekend in 1971 was overshadowed by an earlier event: the fi rst military draft lottery in December 1969. Then, like millions of other young men, the three had gathered around a television to watch their futures be shaped. The lottery randomly assigned a number to each day of the year, so that a man’s birthday determined the likelihood he would be drafted to serve during the Vietnam War.

For guys without access to rich-boy deferments, a low draft number was life changing, and potentially life ending. Mickey’s birthday turns up at No 9; when (not if) he’s called up, he declares, he’ll serve, because that’s what his father would have done. Lincoln has a number in the mid-100s, and Teddy is safely in the 300s, and equal parts relieved

and guilty.That was then; now it’s 2015, early days of the presidential campaign, when Donald Trump’s candidacy was still just a punch line. Lincoln invites Teddy and Mickey to the island for what he intends to be a nostalgic farewell to the house, but it turns into something else entirely.

To the surprise of all three friends, the visit becomes an intense eff ort to determine what happened to Jacy. Mason Troyer, a next-door neighbour whom none of them could stand back in the day, still lives within sight of Lincoln’s house and is still a jerk.

After Lincoln talks to a retired police offi cer on the island, they begin to wonder if Jacy met a more dire fate than they imagined. On that weekend in 1971, Troyer groped her, and Mickey fl attened him with a punch. Was Troyer just a lecher

or something worse? As Lincoln says, “Basically I wanted him to be a murderer because he’s a bad person, and it doesn’t work that way.” Or does it?

For a while Chances Are ... turns into a mystery, and a riveting one. But Jacy’s fate isn’t the only secret, and the novel culminates in a rush of revelations about all of its characters.

Russo’s novels always wrestle with the complexities of human relationships, from fi rst love to parenthood to ageing, and they’re always rich with humour. He’s at the top of his fi ne form in Chances Are ... . Lincoln, Teddy and Mickey are fl awed and damaged, but Russo treats them with such big-hearted warmth we feel as if we know them, and they’re well worth knowing. – Tampa Bay Times/TNS

A beguiling reunion of college friendsIn his ninth novel, Chances Are …, Russo returns to many of the past themes

he has written about with such skill and grace: friendships and family ties,

class diff erences and romantic relationships, writes Colette Bancroft

REUNION: The story is built around the long-time friendship of three men, college pals in the late 1960s and early ’70s, who reunite 44 years after graduation on Martha’s yard.

RICH WITH HUMOUR: Russo’s novels always wrestle with the complexities of human relationships, from first love to parenthood to ageing, and they’re always rich with humour.


COMMUNITY

Many of life’s most important milestones – buying your fi rst home, getting married,

starting a family and preparing for retirement – have one thing in common: the need for money. The amount you have will determine what sort of plans you can turn into reality.

Putting together a fi nancial plan for each of these defi ning moments can give you greater freedom and choice. You’ll be able to enjoy each stage without worrying so much about money issues.

If you are fi nancially secure, you can take more informed decisions about moving jobs or changing career; you may even get better deals on products such as mortgages and loans; and you’ll have more time to spend on the things that matter to you – like leisure, travel and family.

Taking time to set goals, thinking about what your priorities are, and putting in place a savings scheme for the future are all essential elements in good fi nancial planning. The good news is that it’s never too early or too late to start.

You would imagine that you need a lot of money in order to start saving or investing. In reality, even relatively small sums can grow into a sizeable nest egg over time.

The real secret of fi nancial planning is making regular

contributions and sticking at it over the long term. Building personal wealth is not a quick fi x. Taking a lot of risk with your hard-earned cash in the hope of securing a short-term gain could be counter-productive.

Instead, you should think of managing your money as a lifelong strategy and the key to future freedom, which can change and adapt as your personal circumstances change. When you are younger, you might take a little more risk and perhaps consider investing as a way of protecting your savings against infl ation. In retirement you might need to think about how to protect your funds against sudden falls in value.

Whatever age you are, the best way to start is to put away a bit of money at a time and allow interest to accumulate and investments to grow. If you save or invest into an individual savings account (Isa), then everything you earn will be free of income and capital gains tax – giving your savings plan a boost.

If you think of managing your money as the key to freedom, rather than a chore, you gain a new perspective on your fi nances. There are three key elements to planning for the big events in your life: setting goals, making it a habit, and reviewing your progress.

Setting goalsWhat do you want to achieve

with your savings and investments? Identifying a tangible goal – such as saving up a deposit for a home, being able to aff ord a wonderful honeymoon, or taking time off work after the birth of a baby – can be more motivational than having a vague idea of saving for some undefi ned future event. It’s important to have a rainy day fund fi rst, for those unexpected events, so you won’t need to dip into your goal pots in troubled times.

Now build in a timeframe when will you need the money? What will you need to do in order to start saving? How much can you start with and could you make savings in your monthly spending in order to free up some spare cash? Small changes can make a big diff erence over the long term. For instance, if you have one less takeaway coff ee at £3 a day, this equates to £15 a week, which over a year will amount to more than £700.

If you have multiple goals, split your saving priorities into pots of money – short term, medium term and long term. Short term might be money for a fantastic honeymoon or overseas trip in a year or two; medium term might be wanting to save for a house deposit over fi ve or six years; and long term will be your retirement planning.

When you are clear about your goals and your timeframe, then you can start to think about the best home for your money.

For funds you want to access within the next fi ve years, you might consider a deposit account. You can make small incremental payments into a savings account or cash Isa. Moving money from your current account to a savings account on the day you get paid, or setting up a standing order, will mean you’re not tempted to spend it. However, as many of these are instant access, you’ll need to be disciplined about not touching it. If you think you might be tempted, consider a fi xed rate savings product that locks your money away, often in return for a better interest rate.

If your goal is fi ve years or more away, you could consider investing in a variety of ways, at diff erent levels of risk. Although these carry a higher risk than cash savings, they can also protect your money from the eff ect of infl ation if your investments outperform the rate of interest off ered by savings accounts. As you start this journey, it might be wise not to chase big wins or follow fashion – but instead to opt for a slower but safer approach, perhaps choosing funds that invest in a broad range of shares rather than trying to pick individual companies. There are many sources of information about market trends, and it’s always good to become familiar with these.

Any money you put into Pension savings has the benefi t of being

boosted by tax relief, but you can’t access the fund until you’re at least 55 and it’s best to wait until you retire. You should join a scheme at work if they have one, or save into your own private pension.

Make it a habitIt’s easy to start off with good

intentions, and then forget to continue because of a lack of time or motivation.

The key to successful money management is automating your fi nancial commitments. Set up a regular amount to leave your bank account and be paid directly into your Isa or savings account. That way, the money has moved before you spend it, and you never have to set a reminder.

Playing the long game can work in your favour, because the interest you build up in a deposit account will accumulate naturally. If you are investing for the long-term in the stock market, you’ll be less concerned with the short-term ups and downs of share prices.

Review your progressSometimes people approach saving

and investment in an emotional, rather than a rational way.

It’s easy to buy shares when the stock market is doing well, and then panic after they have fallen. Try to take a long-term view, and check how your strategy is working for the long term, rather than from month

Life’s important milestones: hoTaking time to set goals, thinking about what your priorities are, and

putting in place a savings scheme for the future are all essential

elements in good financial planning, writes Marianne Curphey

EXCITING GOALS: Rather than seeing money management as a chore, set financial goals that excite you.

9GULF TIMES

COMMUNITYThursday, August 8, 2019

ow to save for the big moments

to month. Remember: investments should be viewed as a fi ve-year commitment, so make sure you think of these as a long-term strategy.

Checklist for successful fi nancial planning

1. Start small, but make it regular.2. Set goals that excite you, rather

than seeing fi nancial management as a chore.

3. Use budgeting tools, such as apps, to help you identify areas where you could reduce unnecessary spending and free up money to invest.

4. Make the most of technology – banking apps and investment platforms enable you to choose your own investments and view your assets 24/7, meaning it can fi t around your busy schedule.

5. Choose the investments that fi t your lifestyle and your timescales – and your view of risk.

6. Find the right fi nancial adviser for you and get help to start planning.

7. Automate your savings and investments, so that you never miss a month of contributions.

Investments can carry a higher risk than cash savings and you may

not always get back what you put in. Remember, the value of any tax

benefi ts described depends on your individual circumstances, and tax

rules may change in the future. – The Guardian

MOTIVATION: What do you want to achieve with your savings and investments? Identifying a tangible goal – such as saving up a deposit for a home, being able to aff ord a wonderful honeymoon, or taking time off work after the birth of a baby – can be motivational.

PLANNING: How you manage your money is best considered as part of a long-term life plan.MAKING DIFFERENCE: Keep the change: making small, incremental payments into a savings account can make a diff erence in the long run.


COMMUNITY INFOGRAPHIC


COMMUNITYLIFESTYLE/HOROSCOPE

ARIESMarch 21 — April 19

CANCERJune 21 — July 22

LIBRASeptember 23 — October 22

CAPRICORNDecember 22 — January 19

TAURUSApril 20 — May 20

LEOJuly 23 — August 22

SCORPIOOctober 23 — November 21

AQUARIUSJanuary 20 — February 18

GEMINIMay 21 — June 20

VIRGOAugust 23 — September 22

SAGITTARIUSNovember 22 — December 21

PISCESFebruary 19 — March 20

You may be in a diff icult position today, Aries, as if you’re being

pulled in two directions with little say as to how things are supposed

to end. The acting forces could be manipulative, so you should take

special care that no one takes advantage of you. This may be easier

said than done at a time like this.

Situations and people with strong opinions about how things are

done may impede your trajectory today, Cancer. Issues of love and

romance may be the most aff ected by this tense energy. The key is

to remember that everyone isn’t your enemy. Try not to get paranoid

about this. Do your best to take a relaxed approach and have

confidence that things will work out fine.

Be aware that you might feel overshadowed or that your eff orts

won’t be recognised, Libra. You could feel like you do all the work for

others and get nothing in return. The key is to make sure that you do

the things you do because you want to. Do them for you. Don’t do

them for others because you expect that they will do something for

you in return.

Things may get a bit hostile today, Capricorn. No one wants to

budge from his or her position. You could be caught between mind

and heart issues. Both sides are unforgiving and unwilling to give

up control. Your best bet is to try to find compromise wherever

possible. You may not get the exact solution you want, but you will

get one that’s workable for all parties involved.

It’s very possible that the best solution today is to simply give up

control, Taurus. When it comes to matters of the heart, other people

may be in a whirl of turmoil. Trying to figure out their state of mind

will be impossible so don’t even try. You may just want to let things

ride and see where you end up tomorrow before making any major

moves.

Your adventurous spirit is noble, Leo, but you might find that this is

one of those days in which you’re asked to justify your actions. Other

people could be jealous of you and your lifestyle, so they’re trying

to find fault with the things you do. Don’t get tricked into thinking

that anything you’re doing is necessarily wrong or bad just because

someone doesn’t agree with it.

Issues regarding love and romance may be confusing today, Scorpio.

You should be aware that strong forces are at work to tangle the

current situation. Try not to get too discouraged by whatever

transpires as a result of this energy. Keep in mind that this, too, shall

pass, and things will become clear again. Right now you should just

sit back and take things with a grain of salt.

You may think that everything is perfect, Aquarius, when suddenly,

there’s a great surge of unyielding emotional energy. Be on the

lookout because such situations are likely to crop up and add

intensity to your journey. Pool your knowledge with that of other

people instead of trying to come up with all the answers by yourself.

Mind your manners today, Gemini. Make sure your charm is

turned up high. Merging with the group is essential as you keep

the momentum of the energy going. The more the merrier. Once

you get the ball rolling in the right direction, there will be plenty of

momentum to help it up the next hill. The important thing is that you

take responsibility for your actions.

The warrior within may be stirred today. You might also have some

self-doubt about your actions, Virgo. Stay confident that you’re on

the right path at all times. There may be a bit of tension in your

world, but try not to get too worked up over it. This is just a passing

phase. You shouldn’t overreact and think that you’re completely

wrong regarding something you’re doing.

Focus on the information coming your way today, Sagittarius. Try

not to get too emotional about the consequences of the information.

More than likely, a neutral approach is best in any situation you

encounter. If you already have a strong preconceived notion of how

things are going to be, you will fail to notice the valuable nuances

that are being presented to you now.

Others are apt to play a big role in the events that unfold today,

Pisces. It’s likely that closely communing with others will be very

important. Despite this, you may still feel alone. Even within a large

group, your heart may yearn to bond tightly with just one other

person. Do your best to stay positive regardless of the combative

forces likely to be at work on a day like this.

Computer can now reveal your fake facial expressionsR

eal and fake smiles can be tricky to distinguish, but researchers have now developed a computer software that can spot false facial expressions.

By analysing the movement of the smile across a person’s face, the software can determine whether or not the expression is genuine, said the study published in journal Advanced Engineering Informatics.

The most signifi cant movements detected by the software were around the eyes, supporting popular theories that a spontaneous, genuine smile is one that can be seen in a person’s eyes.

“Techniques for analysing human facial expressions have advanced dramatically in recent years, but distinguishing between genuine and posed smiles remains a challenge because humans are not good at picking up the relevant cues,” said study lead author Hassan Ugail, Professor at University of Bradford in the UK.

The software works by fi rst mapping a person’s face from within a video recording, and identifying the mouth, cheeks and eyes of the subject.

It then measures how these facial features move through the progress of the smile and calculates the diff erences in movement

between the video clips showing real and fake smiles. Researchers tested the programme using two diff erent datasets, one containing

images of people expressing genuine smiles, and another in which the images portrayed posed smiles.

They found signifi cant diff erences in the way the subjects’ mouths and cheeks moved when comparing the real and the fake expressions. The movements around the subjects’ eyes, however, showed the most striking variation, with genuine smiles generating at least 10 per cent more movement in these muscles.

“We use two main sets of muscles when we smile — the zygomaticus major, which is responsible for the curling upwards of the mouth, and the orbicularis oculi, which causes crinkling around our eyes,” Ugail said.

According to the researchers, in fake smiles it is often only the mouth muscles which move but, as humans, we often don’t spot the lack of movement around the eyes. The computer software can spot this much more reliably.

“An objective way of analysing whether or not a smile is genuine could help us develop improved interactions between computers and humans — for example in biometric identifi cation,” he added. – IANS


COMMUNITY CARTOONS/PUZZLES

Adam

Pooch Cafe

Garfield

Bound And Gagged

Codeword

Wordsearch

Every letter of the alphabet is used at least once. Squares with the same number in have the same letter in. Work out which number represents which letter.

Puzz

les

cour

tesy

: Puz

zlec

hoic

e.co

m

Sudoku

Sudoku is a puzzle based

on a 9x9 grid. The grid is

also divided into nine (3x3)

boxes. You are given a

selection of values and to

complete the puzzle, you

must fill the grid so that

every column, every anone

is repeated.

AGATEGALENAQUARTZBASALTGNEISSRUBYBAUXITEGOLD

SCHISTBERYLGRANITESHALEDIAMONDGYPSUMSPINELFLINT

MICATALCGABBROOPALTOPAZPERIDOTSCHISTMARBLE


COMMUNITYPUZZLES

Colouring

Answers

Wordsearch Codeword

Across1 Tree feller may be civic dignitary (8)5 Be conscious of payment that’s left behind (4)8 Foreign currency found in a remote part (5)9 Dutch capital and part of London doing business (7)11 Glass for the acrobat (7)12 Start using some paint rollers (5)13 Fools start to suspect judge (6)15 Persian king holding power in island (6)18 Wide awake right after drink (5)20 Cut out tax before the start of December (7)23 Animals after stolen food (3,4)24 Country seen when one’s left Indonesia (5)25 Bogarde’s knife (4)26 Freedom of speech is blessing in disguise (8)

Super Cryptic Clues

Solution

Down1 Examination of car taking little time (5)2 Monday’s awkward for current suppliers (7)3 Rustic part of the lower Urals (5)4 Poisonous snakes, they reckon (6)6 Order used in the dictionary (5)7 Sloe gin is bad for lots of soldiers (7)10 Friendship? Girl embraces it (5)13 Embarrassed sailor with a place for tools? (7)14 Fight with animals turning up right away (3-2)16 Rest cut short? One expected rest (7)17 Popper with stand? (6)19 Carpenter is to go in without fish (5)21 Go up and get caught on branch of tree (5)22 Churchmen carried away in sedan? (5)


COMMUNITY REVIEWS

A young convicted football star and long road to exoneration

By Michael Phillips

Aldis Hodge is a terrifi c young actor, straight out of Straight Outta Compton, Hidden Figures, the WGN

America series Underground and soon to appear in, among others, the remake of The Invisible Man. He’s especially eff ective as a slow boil, letting a character’s inner life and torments bubble up vividly but naturally.

Brian Banks is somewhat less terrifi c – a conventionally made docudrama elevated by Aldis and his fellow performers, including Greg Kinnear, Melanie Liburd and Sherri Smith. But the story pulls you along, travelling a long, winding path from wrongful conviction to exoneration.

In 2002, 16-year-old Brian Banks, a student and football star at Long Beach (Calif.) Polytechnic High School, was charged with rape and kidnapping. He took a plea deal for nearly six years in prison, a fi ve-year probation and the requirement

that he register as an off ender. His accuser, a fellow Polytechnic student whose name has been changed for the movie version of events, won a $1.5 million settlement from the Long Beach school district. The assault, she said, took place in the classroom-lined basement of a school building, not far from classes in session.

Years later the woman got in touch with Banks on Facebook. Under video surveillance, in a face-to-face meeting, she recanted her testimony. But she wasn’t told she was being videotaped: a textbook example of inadmissible evidence.

Banks’ longtime ally, champion and legal representation, Justin Brooks of the California Innocence Project, believed his client’s story. Brian Banks, on which Banks and Brooks served as executive producers, streamlines the full, fraught account into an inspirational message picture.

The writer, Doug Atchison (Akeelah and the Bee), and the director, Tom Shadyac (Patch Adams, Bruce Almighty), go a fair distance in humanising various sides

of a case resting on the dishonesty of the accuser. It’s a dicey time to revisit such a case, dealing as we are with fallout from so many clouds hanging over the #MeToo era. Brian Banks rightly leans into any opportunity to complicate the lives of these people, most eff ectively in scenes between Hodge and Liburd, the latter portraying Banks’ fellow gym rat, trainer and love interest.

Kinnear can make the fl attest of boilerplate dialogue – “The system is broken; it just doesn’t care” – sound like someone just thinking out loud and saying what’s on a generically written real-life character’s mind.

As Banks’ prison mentor and spiritual turnaround wizard, Morgan Freeman brings the gravitas, while Smith (as Banks’ devoted mother) brings the gravitas plus the fervent Christian overlay ever-present in the movie.

Brian Banks proceeds non-chronologically, toggling between high school years and Banks’ post-prison life. This helps keep the audience on its toes. But it’s the actors who complicate things most fruitfully. – Chicago Tribune/TNS

By Jon Bream

Maybe being a rock star isn’t as exciting as it sounds, after all.

In the captivating, insightful documentary of a hippie icon, David Crosby: Remember My Name, the rock star with the droopy mustache gushes without a fi lter about having a lot of pleasure, taking too many drugs and making harmony-fi lled rock ‘n’ roll.

He also confesses without reservation to being a complete jerk to his lovers and band-mates. He admits that none of the friends with whom he made Rock Hall of Fame music in the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young) will speak to him. Not Roger McGuinn, Stephen Stills, Neil Young or Graham Nash, with whom he conversed nearly every day for 45 years.

Rarely have we seen such an unvarnished, unfl attering and revealingly real portrait of a music star.

“Do you ever wonder why you’re still alive?” Crosby is asked in the fi lm. “I don’t know. I have no idea, man,” off ers the singer, 77, who details his two or three heart attacks, eight heart stents, a liver transplant, diabetes and other health issues.

He’s remarkably and refreshingly

candid. There’s no high-powered manager or meddling publicist to intervene with spin control.

Props to Crosby for opening up. Credit co-producer Cameron Crowe, the former teenage rock journalist turned Almost Famous fi lmmaker, for getting Crosby to turn on the fountain of truth; Crowe is the one posing the questions on the other side of the camera.

An extraordinary amount of territory – both factual and existential – is covered in 95 minutes, with plenty of music and vintage visuals to season the story as well as returns to landmarks such as the Kent State University campus, where four students were killed by the National Guard during a 1970 antiwar protest, sparking Young’s song Ohio.

Like many other rock stars, Crosby had a doting mother and an indiff erent father, an Oscar-winning cinematographer who never told his son he loved him. The fi lm doesn’t belabour those issues but rather addresses the pivotal moments in Crosby’s professional life, including his off -putting political rants during Byrds concerts.

There was a prison stint in the 1980s for drugs and guns during which the singer kicked heroin and cocaine and the fi nal CSN performance – a painfully off -key rendition of Silent Night at the White House Christmas tree-lighting in 2015 with President

Barack Obama visibly wincing at the disharmony.

But most crucial – and devastating – was the 1969 traffi c death of his girlfriend Christine Hinton. Nash posits that Crosby has never been the same since.

The saving grace through all of these ups and downers is Crosby’s voice. It’s still quite pretty. He’s a natural harmoniser, making music with two newer groups that he leads.

The documentary features footage of current-day Crosby leaving for another tour as Jan, his wife of 32 years, wonders whether he’ll return.

One scene from 2017 fi nds Crosby, all by himself, doing a soundcheck with his voice and acoustic guitar at Ames Center in Burnsville.

The Twin Cities fi gures in another scene. Crosby is reminiscing with famed rock photographer Henry Diltz about a classic shot of the star in his heyday, smoking a joint while holding a pistol, decorated like an American fl ag, to his head.

Diltz says the photo was taken in Minneapolis. Crosby counters, “I’ve never been to Minneapolis.”

Ah, always the contrarian. But he’s still selling T-shirts emblazoned with that priceless photo at his shows.

If you see the outstanding Remember My Name, you won’t forget Crosby – or that image. – Star Tribune (Minneapolis)/TNS

An unvarnished picture of rock star David Crosby

Thursday, August 8, 2019 15GULF TIMES

COMMUNITYSHOWBIZ

Bit of nervousness important before

gigs: AmaalBy Natalia Ningthoujam

Young composer-singer Amaal Mallik is slightly jittery ahead of his performance with the popular Melbourne

Symphony Orchestra in the Australian city. He says a bit of nervousness is important because that’s what makes an artiste perform better.

“There is excitement and a little bit of nervousness. Every time an artiste goes on stage, he thinks ‘I hope today goes well and I hope I give my best’. That is important – that little bit of nervousness or tension is what makes you perform better,” Amaal said.

Amaal is happy to be the youngest Indian to achieve this feat. “No one my age has performed at this level and represented India. These facts are there on my mind, but I don’t let them aff ect me. It makes me happy that I am doing something like this,” said the musician, who is in his late twenties.

As the offi cial performer at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) Awards night, scheduled to take place on August 8, Amaal will perform a medley of his popular compositions at the iconic Palais Theatre along with the prestigious orchestra that has in the past collaborated with the likes of Elton John and AR Rahman.

Asked about his playlist, he shared: “There will be some of my most loved songs like Kaun tujhe, Main hoon hero tera and Bol do na zara. It’s a medley

of about 15 minutes. The arrangement is diff erent from the originals. All my songs – fi lm and non-fi lm – (will be reimagined) in an orchestral format. It will be a mix of Indian and western music.”

Amaal said there is a diff erence between collaborating with an Australian orchestra and an Indian one.

“They (musicians) are all involved in what they do. In India, when you work with an orchestra like Chennai and Mumbai, they are great improvisers. They improvise an entire section of music, staying true to the song but giving their own edge to it. Musicians

outside follow what the composer wants. Exactly what I need, is what they play,” he explained.

After Rahman, Amaal is the second Indian composer to work with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Does he feel the pressure?

“I think it is more about being (part of a) prestigious (event). The pressure will be there only for 10 minutes before I go on stage.

I think that’s always there. Also, they are a respected orchestra. It makes me feel responsible that I am representing my country, my country’s music.” – IANS

I was a zombie: Parineeti’s depression admittance goes viral

Parineeti Chopra’s confessions of her depression phase in life have gone viral. The actress recently described the phase as the “worst time of her life”, and said she went into a shell.

“The end of 2014 and all of 2015 – those one-and-a-half years were truly the worst time in my life. Two of my fi lms Daawat-e-Ishq and Kill Dil did not work. That was my fi rst setback. They released back-to-back and didn’t work,” she said.

“Then, I went through a big heartbreak in life. Literally, all the departments in my life were down. (there was) Nothing positive to look forward to,” she said, in an interview while promoting her new fi lm, Jabariya Jodi, adding: “I went into a shell. I stopped eating, I stopped sleeping well. I did not have any friends at that time. I never used to meet people. The people I was in touch with, I cut off from everyone, including my family. I would talk to them once in two weeks. I was gone... fi nished.”

Parineeti was asked about her battle with depression during a TapeCast segment, in which pre-recorded messages and questions from fans are played to celebrities.

She recalled the phase as one when she “had no money”, and described herself as a “typical fi lmi depressed girl”.

“I would just be in my room, watching TV, sleeping, staring all day... I was a zombie. I was like that typical fi lmi

depressed girl... I would cry maybe 10 times a day. I was always upset and crying. I had this chest pain that would not go away,” she said.

Her Jabariya Jodi co-star Sidharth Malhotra then asked her how she overcame the phase.

Parineeti replied that her brother Sahaj helped her.“I started working on myself. I became fi tter. I just took

life into my own hands because I thought if I go into this pit, I will never come out again,” Parineeti said. – IANS

Home Alone, Night At The Museum reboots in pipeline

Hollywood hits Home Alone and Night At The Museum are set to get reboot versions for the new generation.

The decision, revealed by Walt Disney Company chairman and CEO Bob Iger, is part of an initiative to revisit the classics from the Fox catalogue it recently acquired, for Disney+ – the new streaming platform scheduled to be launched in November, reports deadline.com

The streaming service will also reboot Diary Of A Wimpy Kid and Cheaper By The Dozen.

Iger said these reboots would be “reimagined” for “a new generation”.

Home Alone, which opened in 1990, stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old boy who is accidentally left behind when his family goes on holiday to Paris. The fi lm navigates his adventures as he tries to foil a robbery attempt at his house.

Night At The Museum, starring Ben Stiller and the late Robin Williams, narrated an entertaining tale of what happens when museum exhibits come alive at night. – IANS

Filmmaker Andrea Berloff impresses Melissa McCarthy

Actress Melissa McCarthy is impressed with director Andrea Berloff , and says her writing has the power to move people.

“There’s an economy to her writing that’s really impressive. Andrea can put a lot into a very succinct shot and that’s the right way to tell a story like this. It really moves,” McCarthy said.

“When we fi rst met she was very clear about the tone and the look, the strength and the unapologetic violence. And it’s always good when you can give audiences something they don’t necessarily see coming,” she added.

McCarthy worked with Berloff on thriller The Kitchen, which will release in India on August 23. Berloff has written and directed the Warner Bros. Pictures production, which is based on the DC/Vertigo comic book series by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle.

Set in the 1970s, the crime drama follows three New York-based housewives who become Irish mobsters after their husbands are arrested by the FBI. It also stars Elisabeth Moss and Tiff any Haddish. – IANS

REIMAGINED: The decision to reboot shows was revealed by Walt Disney Company chairman and CEO Bob Iger, above.

ENTHRALLED: Melissa McCarthy, right, with Tiff any Haddish, centre, and Elisabeth Moss.

CONFESSION: Parineeti Chopra calls her depression the worst time of her life as she went into a shell.

CANDID: Amaal Mallik says a bit of nervousness is important because that’s what makes an artiste perform better.


COMMUNITY

By Mudassir Raja

This is the time for young people to study and work to create jobs and not only seek jobs. To encourage the young

university graduates around the world, the successful people need to mentor and support the people who aim build startups.

This was the crux of a presentation given by Hassan Syed, a US-based Pakistani idea sharer and IT expert, to a select gathering of Qatar-based Pakistani business community recently.

Hassan, the founder of Bir Ventures, developing innovative products from concept to launch, during his presentation and friendly conversation with the community shared his experience and plans about what his company is going to do.

Pakistan Professionals Forum, a community group, invited the idea sharer who was recently in Pakistan where his company is collaborating with the government in its ‘Kamyab Jawan’ (successful youth) Programme.

During his presentation, the

knowledge-based businesses expert elaborated on how his company is going to support the fresh university graduates in Pakistan in starting their own business.

He said that his company will support the youth in developing the business model, arranging finances and having successful launch of business ideas.

Hassan who has been working on emerging technologies for last 20 years said: “Some 65 percent of Pakistan’s population is below 30 years. Their needs for the jobs are very high. The process of creating new jobs in Pakistan is very slow. More or less, all university graduates get a degree to have a job.

We want to have a kind of cultural change. We want the young students to be job givers and not only job seekers. This is our fundamental aim. For this, we plan to provide basic entrepreneurship education to 1 million young graduates in Pakistan. Our model is based on one percent success ratio that means we will launch 10,000 startups for 1million young graduates.”

About his collaboration with the Pakistani government,

he said: “It is going to be a collaboration on a larger scale. The government has committed Rs100 billion under its successful youth programme to finance the small enterprises. The government has also been working to have collaboration with other friendly countries – including Qatar – that are doing well in knowledge-based economy to create opportunities for the young people.

“My company has taken on board many universities. We have completed our training module.”

Talking to Community, Hassan said: “We offer the most advanced digital platform that can actually make it [starting a business] happen.

Our ‘Ideal Gist’ platform is the largest platform in the world. Our users are based in 195 countries around the world.”

Hassan urged the professionals and successful businesspersons to help and mentor young people. “We need to share our success stories with the youth. The successful people need to tell the young people that how they started and how they struggle to go up the ladder of success.

“The Overseas Pakistanis have a role to play in supporting the

startups in their country. We have also started a programme ‘Empower Pakistan’. Under this programme we have started setting up 100 chapters of Overseas Pakistanis. We have established our first chapter in Qatar.

“The Pakistanis who have been working as professionals in other countries, they should share their experience with the university students. It will help the students polish their ideas. There is very big Pakistani community in Qatar and they can help the youth a lot.”

The expert sees the investment of Qatar in human capital

remarkable. “This is my third visit to Qatar. The country has developed very fast. I have learnt that the government of Qatar has also been paying a lot of attention on the startups. This is very good thing here. Though, I am not in contact with any government depart in Qatar, I have gathered the impression that they have been reaching out their youth and helping them out in starting up new businesses.

“I see there is a huge potential in that both Qatar and Pakistan can collaborate with each other in helping their young educated population.”

Tech expert lays stress on need for mentoring young entrepreneurs

“We off er the most advanced digital platform that can actually make it [starting a business] happen. Our ‘Ideal Gist’ platform is the largest platform in the world. Our users are based in 195 countries around the world” — Hassan Syed, US-based Pakistani IT expert

DRIVEN: Hassan Syed, founder of Bir Ventures, left, during his presentation and friendly conversation with the Pakistani community members.

Mahira Khan, Pakistani actress, talks what she dreams about ...

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