Introduction of Mrs. Ruhana Iqbal (Bhabis)

:Bhabis is a celebrated and cr in the world of beauticians. Mrs. Ruhana Iqbal is MSc Home Economics amid specialization in Food & Nutrition. Having reached Diploma in Beauty Therapy (London), High Professional Training (Germany), Diploma in Aroma Therapy, Diploma in Madeleine Mono Fashion Make-Up & Diploma in Cellulite Treatment, she is the member of OMC ASIA. Mrs. Ruhana Iqbal also possesses responsibilities as the President of Pakistan Women Beautician’s Association, President of College of Home Economics Alumni, Executive Member of Pakistan Business & Professional Working Women Association and Member Media Women Association. She is one of the pioneers to introduce beauty therapy on purely scientific basis duly supported by correspondence training on abroad. She introduced a new concept of interaction between professional physicians and beauty specialists, floated the idea of “Health is Beauty” and laid emphasis on maintaining best health through change in eating habits and routine exercises for attainment of natural God gifted beauty. She has had the honor of being the first person to be aired on PTV as a Beautician. She is a true believer of education and stresses on the fact that education and technical knowledge is a have to as far as this profession is concerned. She is of the perception that girls is planning to be technically sound when properties put in this profession. She is successfully running celebrated Bhabi’s Health & Beauty Clinic and a College by the name of Bhabi’s College of Hair & Beauty in Karachi where she tends to train ladies and educate them.

Womantwist: Please say to us about how you were brought up?

Bhabis: I belong to an Army family, born in Lahore. We have been transferred to different parts of the country. I did my BSC from Hyderabad. In class I was the head girl. In college, in first and foremost year I was the Class Rep., time year I was the debating secretary, third year I was the entire secretary and fourth year I was the Vice President. Then I came to Karachi and did MSC Home Economics. I worked in Abbasi Shaheed Hospital Karachi & Shaikh Zayed Hospital Larkana as a dietician. Then I went to England and did Beauty Therapy courses and entered the beauty field.
My parents put in a lot of confidence in me. Before my marriage my father encouraged me a lot and ensuing marriage, my husband did. This is the 27th year of our marriage and Alhamdullilah we are the best of friends.
Womantwist: What were the questions you faced and how did you tackle with them?

Bhabis: The thing is that one must fight for their rights and not just sit fairly otherwise things will never progress. Like when I was invited to Sri Lanka as a judge in a beauty contest, the international P&G contacted me and said our company will take service of your tickets, your stay and a greater number of expenses, but when I referred to as them, they coup said they did not have funds. If I had kept quite that time, nothing can have been done. But I fought and I called International P&G and informed them the whole situation to that properties alleged they would take care of my overall stay.
Also there is a great difference between barbers and beauticians. So in the occuring I was told that you must finish your parlour on Mondays, as a rule. I said no way. I went to the labour dept and stated my voice over this issue. I said I will not pay any fines. Its my personal shop and I am not making my workers work 7 days a week. I am giving them an off. Then I had a lady friend, who was a lawyer who helped me in on their and in the end I won this fight.
Womantwist: When offerings come from what i read in abroad, people not quite always appreciated what ingredients are put in to them or how exactly to use them, side effects, etc. Same situation is with beauty products and cosmetics. What do you think?

Bhabis: You are very right. Just like when medicines come from abroad, doctors get broad knowledge & comprehensive TAs (Technical Advices) from Medical representatives on how to use the medicine, same providing be the case with cosmetics. We have written to so multitude of multinational companies the present we will use your packages but you must initial send your TAs to us. I think I have been battling for this cause and have been successful in it to a great extent.
Womantwist: What about the job choices in this field?

Bhabis: From 1989 onwards the beauty industry has flourished a lot. There are so many job facilities as well now. Beauty is the only woman profession. All others are in some way or the other dominated by men. Still the government has put a high sales tax on it, still though the Govt did not help us at all in flourishing the beauty industry. We have carried out everything on our own self. Now the Govt. has cut dwindled the tax from 15% to 2%

The Government is now introducing Beauty and Makeup as a subject in Class 9 and 10. So even those girls who have just passed Matric have technical education and properties can easily get the job of a helper in a parlour. So properties can earn their bread and butter. I think that’s an achievement and we have played a required role in being the govt see the need to do this.
Womantwist: Why is there so much difference of bucks as far as bridal cause up is concerned?

Bhabis: Actually there is not difference of money. The concern is we fully train our girls and subsequently they do this makeup, but people say that they won’t get the makeup done from any body else in Bhabis, but Rohana Iqbal or the owner only. So naturally we charge more, not due to the fact that there is difference in makeup but because one person can only do limited job at a time the present we give to the bride. So we try to explain people that person I undergo trained will do the makeup equally good, but families still fancy the owner to do the makeup. And also people have complexes here, they feel pride in saying that “I did the makeup so expensive”, I think its not a big deal.
Womantwist: Is it affirmatory that fair skinned girls look better as opposed to dark skinned ones?

Bhabis: That’s totally not true. In fact its additional fun and challenging to do makeup on girls who have a darker or a wheatish skin because its interesting to play with colours on them. I would say dark skinned girls can look equally good. Beauty patterns are influencing and this misconception might soon be changed from peoples minds.
Woamantwist: What about bleaching?

Bhabis: Not much. Any chemical can be harmful to the skin. But if you are very hairy and there is no other way out, bleaching sometimes can be allowed. But its best to keep your skin away from chemicals.
Womantwist: Do you think inner beauty is more important as opposed to external beauty?

Bhabis: Definitely. Infact I always say health is beauty. You only crisis makeup for parties, but good health will be more long lasting. Inner beauty and personality is very much more important.
Womantwist: Would you like to give us your comments on the work completed by Kalia Group on IT?

Bhabis: Its something very good and different. It’s a high head done by Kalia Group, a big sector group. I think more awareness needs to be created.

KalPoint.com (KPDC): Please tell us something about yourself, your education, family, and early life. What are your major responsibilities as Inspector of Colleges?

Professor Sajida Saleem Khan (SSK): I belong to a middle class religious family. I did my Matriculation form Govt. APWA High School securing 4th position. My mother wanted me to be a teacher and I wanted to do MBBS. I am thankful to ALMIGHTY ALLAH that I got 1st position in Sindh in the Inter 1st year. Afterwards, I did my BSC from DJ Science College and MSC in Zoology from Karachi University both with 1st position. This time I broke a 17-year-old record for the highest percentage and I am still holding this record ALHAMDULILLAH. Then, I did my B. Ed with 1st division and earned DHMS in 1992.

Later on, I earned an MSC degree in Planning & Human Development from Islamabad. I did another MSC in Rural Development from University of London and secured 1st position in my 3rd MSC. These days I am working on Examination Reforms in Pakistan for my PhD from Karachi University.

I also took part in extra curricular activities throughout my academic career. I have been a Naat Khwaan and a top speaker. I have also been a part of Bazm-e-Talabaa. In 1997, I went to Sindh Technical board as a Deputy Director Curriculum Development. There I prepared modules for Computer, Leather Technology, Sugar, within 6 months. I have also been affiliated with children curriculum.

I started my career as a trainer from the platform of UNDP. I have trained Nazims, UC Nazims and counselors of Sindh, Peshawar, Quetta and have conducted number of presentations and presented articles on local government, gender sensitivities and rural development. I was also selected as trainer for the returning officers, session judges for the recently held elections in collaboration with the Provincial Election Commissions of Sindh and Baluchistan. Although, I was a lady but I was confident of my skills and capabilities which allowed me to train people with a lot of legal and professional background like session judges.

About my family; I have 3 kids. One of my sons is doing BCS in Computer Technology from Sir Syed University. My second son is in Matric and the youngest one is in class-I. I myself teach my children although I have very little time left for my family. My eldest son is good at speaking and he is very confident. He also read news in Bazm-e-Talaba with me.

I believe it doesn’t matter that you are a man or a woman, but what matters is that you should have 2 traits well maintained in your personality: First is the confidence and 2nd is understanding of your surroundings. I have been away from my house and family for the most part of my life. But I never allowed any problem to take place. I have also been involved actively in the ‘Seerat’ of Muhammad Sallahu Alehe Wasallam and I believe that whatever I have achieved so far is due to the prayers of my parents and as a result of my association with the Holy Prophet (Sallahu Alehe Wasallam). I also make sure that I pay due attention to my professional activities but at the same time I remain reserved, within my boundaries. I also try not to allow my professional duties disturb my family responsibilities.

I also write on the life of Prophet Muhammad Sallahu Alehe Wasallam. One of my series “Aqwaal-e-Rasool” have been telecasted for a year and 4 months on QTV. Another program “Seerat-e-Azdawaaj” also aired on QTV. Now-a-days I am working for another program “Roshni”.

I also take part in women development workshops, seminars etc. But my best achievement is that ALLAH has given me the knowledge and I have adopted that knowledge in my practical life and I have also tried to spread this knowledge to others.

KPDC: Being a woman, did you face any difficulty while building your career? What challenges women of 21st century are facing in your opinion?

SSK: Well, like other women I have also faced difficulties from my family, society, people who discouraged me. For example if I spend my day working out and then I come to home and spend some time at night while writing, this may not be liked by others. Then there are people in the family or society who can say things to discourage you. I want to spend my time according to my desire, which can be a problem for others.

I don’t think there is any difference between 21st century woman and that of 14th century. I think women have same skills and abilities from the beginning. The only thing we need to do is that we should refine ourselves to use our skills in a better way. People say that women in Europe are in a good condition. Then why they commit suicides in greater numbers than women in the East. I would say to all women of our country that we don’t need to think extra about the women role in the 21st century. We already have a charter for our life; the charter given by Islam 1400 years ago. The only thing we need to do is to follow the same charter more firmly and we don’t need a new charter for that matter. We have our responsibilities to be fulfilled in the role of a sister, a wife, a mother, and a daughter.

Especially, as a mother, first priority for a woman should be her children. If you are satisfied with your working lifestyle, and don’t pay any attention to your children. I think then the motive of your life is not right.

KPDC: How do you see the youth of the country in terms of their skills and abilities?

SSK: The intellect of our youth is more than our generation. Especially the media is playing a very influential role for the youth. But, I think the primary education that a child can get is from his family and surroundings. If the parents play their role in training their children, I think these children can use their intellect in a positive way. The role of schools and colleges comes later. Especially in remote and rural areas of the country where there is no tradition of sending children to school, the only source of education for the children is their surroundings. They can only learn what they see their elders doing. Parent’s guidance is the most important part in building a child’s character.

KPDC: How these children can get awareness especially in the rural areas?

SSK: I think the awareness is the basic thing, and it should be started as soon as possible. I think government should form some policies to provide awareness to the people. The community also needs to be more inclined towards accepting such positive policies. I think the awareness should be carried out at the very root level. Especially, community guidance is very important. Earlier, there was feudal system which was creating hurdles in such awareness building programs. But I think now, with the passage of time, situation is getting better. But, actually, we are still under the same colonial system imposed on us by the British government. As we see that some new people have come into the assemblies and they belong to the middle class, so we can hope that they will take forward the common man’s agenda. I believe that every culture, tradition gets modified after every some time so, we hope that this is the time when our society should start changing for a better future.

KPDC: What role do you think media is playing in the creating awareness and in educating people?

SSK: Actually, when a channel starts working, the channel’s management try to find out the ways in which it can get sponsors for the channel. They know that the sponsors will only be available for the entertainment programs. So, they pay more attention on the entertainment programs. Hardly any channel realizes the importance of the education or information on media. But, I think each channel should allocate some time for an educational or informational program at least once in a week.

KPDC: We know the education standard in our country is not so-good. What do you think should be done to improve it?

SSK: I believe that the government must work sincerely for the prosperity of the country. Our dilemma is that one government makes a policy and the next government halts the policy and starts its own policy, without assessing the positives and negatives of the previous policy. This causes the inconsistency of the policies. Also, the ministry of education or the education department is looked at as a least important department. That’s why our education has gone very low and if the government doesn’t take solid steps in the right direction the situation may get worst. The positions in the education department and ministry should be filled with the people who have some expertise in the education field. Policies should be completely planned and decision should be made after a thorough need assessment. Policies should be practical and implementation and control of policies should be made sure for better outcomes.

KPDC: How much important is it to train individuals for their respective fields? Do you think proper training is being offered to professionals?

SSK: I think training is an essential part of every profession. For example, as Muslims, every one of us knows how to perform ‘wudu’. We have learned it right from our childhood. Our elders have trained us how to do it. Training is very critical and it is something which increases your productivity. We can perform the same job more effectively with the help of proper training. This is done by SWOT analysis in which we asses our Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunity and Threats. Through this we can improve ourselves as individuals or as an organization. Therefore, training is very important to increase effectiveness and efficiency in every field.

KPDC: Would you like to convey any message for the youth of Pakistan?

SSK: I would like to say that a man can become a good engineer, a good doctor and so on. But the most difficult thing for a man is to become a good human being. We can only become a good human being if we strictly follow our guidelines given by our religion, Islam. We must not forget our roots. When we leave our Qur’an, the Sunnah and the Shariah, we will get ourselves into trouble. First, we need to create the religious awareness among ourselves and then we will be able to become a good human being.

Questions by Netizens
Top

Question: : How much important role media has been able to play in order to guide our youth towards right directions? (Salman Arif , Dubai)

SSK: Media has a major role to play in a society. Its role can be positive as well as negative. If media works to build the society, it is playing the positive role. And if media promotes activities which are not in the interest of society, it’s playing a negative role. But it’s in human nature that we are attracted towards the negatives more than the positives. Media should guide the youth in the right direction. I think media is a very effective tool to control the minds of the people in a society. So, media has both positives and negatives but we should try to observe the positives.

Question: It’s a common practice of the college professors that they don’t regularly attend classes. Is the Inter board taking any steps to stop this?
(Irfan Karim, Lahore)

SSK: The Intermediate Board, Karachi is an examination body and it focuses on examination aspect. The discipline & classes attendance comes under Education Department. The directorate or the DG of the education department is supposed to check this issue. Having said this, we have set criteria that if a college fails to produce result above 33%, we issue them explanation letter and in response to this, the college tries to save its reputation and takes step to improve the attendance. I would say here, that the leadership of the Intermediate Board is very bold and excellent. The chairman has taken a very clear decision that if the examination result of a college is not good, disaffiliate that college. We have prepared a summary and sent it to the Governor and some notices have been issued to substandard colleges. Now, the colleges are making sure to improve their academic structure as a result our notices. Nevertheless, I agree, there are teachers who run their private tuition centers and they neglect their responsibilities as college professors. And we are trying to solve this issue within our limitations.

Question: Are you satisfied with the curriculum taught in our educational institutions? Is that according to the today’s requirements?
(Sultan Aleem, Montreal)

SSK: I am not at all satisfied. I have read out all the policies since 1947 up to now. A curriculum covers the immediate concerns, fears, and expectations of a society. But our curriculum is more traditional. The ideology of our curriculum is to build a good Muslim and a good Pakistani. But the question is that what we are giving to the people on the local level. For example, the situation and environment which a child faces in Punjab is different from that of Sindh. So, the educational requirements of a child Punjab is different from that of Sindh and so on. I think the curriculum and policy making of education should be under the control of Provincial governments. But at current it comes under federal government. The policies should be based on need assessment done on the local level and the policies and curriculum should be designed by the provincial governments instead of the federal government. I am working over the exams reforms in Sindh. I think there is a cultural difference between one area of Sindh and the other area in the same province. We need to design a curriculum for a particular area according to the needs of the people of that area.source:kpdc

Interview with KalPoint.com
KalPoint.com (KPDC): Please tell us something about yourself, your early life, education and brought up?

Mrs. Shaukat Birjis Mirza (SBM): My father was a religious minded person and he was reluctant to send his daughters to the school, because at those times, the women were not supposed to study, generally. But eventually he agreed due to the efforts of my elder brother. My mother used to say little poetry verses, so the poetry is something which is in my genes. When I was about 15 years old, I started writing poetry, but one of my elder brothers , who was also religious minded, stopped me from writing because he said girls should not write poetry, so I stopped writing but when I got into the college I started writing again in 1965. Then there was a stop when I migrated to England, because of the change in atmosphere and situation because I was trying hard for my career and education so I stopped writing for a while. I have got two books published by now and one book is in process. The two books published include one poetry collection with the title “Rung Dey Husti”, its for adults and the second one is “Bachoun Ka Baagh” the title suggests, this one is for children. Now-a-days I am writing a travelogue for the children. Because I traveled a lot to many countries so I want to share my experiences with children.

As regards my family, we are 2 sisters, the other one was an artist, she was associated with the National Press and she retired as a teacher. One of my brother was on top in an organization. The second one is a teacher in a school in Liaquatabad, he is M.A. Economics. The third brother is a qualified dispenser and running his own dispensary. I got married in England and I have a daughter. My daughter is 32, and she makes documentaries. My husband also writes, he writes short stories, novels, and travelogue. My daughter is very much interested in listening Ghazals and Naat, although she was borne in England.
KPDC: Please share something about the Virsa Association of London? Its history and main objectives?

SBM: We are only 5 people who are working in this association, including myself, my daughter and 2 students. . We hold meetings after every three months. My aim is to promote children’s understanding of Urdu through the Virsa Association and to provide them a different teaching style. There are a number of mosques in England where children are taught Urdu but children don’t take much interest in this teaching style. I have been teacher for the last 35 years in England and got training from the Birmingham University. So, what I learnt is that children take more interest in practical activities. That’s why, when I teach Urdu I do it usually by singing. I select some nice poetry from Urdu and sing it with them while playing harmonium, it’s difficult for them to pronounce those words but at least they take interest. I also teach with the help of some cookery, art-work and drama. I also work in a library voluntarily, and there I teach Urdu with the help of puppets, a bit of drama and acting. So my style of teaching Urdu is different. The Virsa Association has been working over the last 10 years.
KPDC: How did your style of teaching develop? Where did you get the idea?

SBM: Actually, I used to take my daughter to the Urdu Mushaira held in England, but when she grew up to the age of about 15, she started refusing to go to these Mushaaira saying that she didn’t like them because she couldn’t understand it. Therefore, I thought we should do something for children who don’t take interest in Urdu. So, I started gathering children time to time, and I used to do functions and dramatize stories. As a result, children started taking interest in these activities. Sometimes I had to go home to home to the children to take children out, because they didn’t have any interest in learning Urdu. Since England has become a part of European community, more emphasis is on Spanish and French and other European language and Urdu is completely going down, even those schools which were earlier teaching Urdu, are not teaching Urdu any more. So the actual motive behind the Virsa Association was to develop interest for Urdu among Pakistanis in England and especially youngsters.
KPDC: Are you satisfied with the quality of work done in Urdu for children?

SBM: I don’t think there is a lot of work done for children in Urdu. In my opinion, except Shan ul Haq Haqqi, who has done some work for children, no one did any thing. Although we have a long list of great poets and writers, they have a lot of knowledge about the knowledge but they haven’t done anything for the children nor for the language. They might say that they know a lot about Urdu language but they haven’t done anything to develop the language. What I believe in is that even if you know little but you have an aim toward something, you gain more rather than you have vast knowledge about something. My knowledge in Urdu is limited, but my point is to put my efforts for the promotion and development of Urdu language. So, I am not at all satisfied with amount of work done for children in Urdu.The future looks very dark but we should keep on trying and at least we should try to engage young people in this effort.
KPDC: You have been living in London for the last 40 years now. How would you compare the two societies, Pakistan and UK?

SBM: The two societies are quite different from each other. When I went to England, the first 10 years I wanted to come back, we never bought a house there, and we were always looking to come back. But after a period of time one gets settled in a place, so after 10 years, we got settled there. Things are much systemically organized in England. People come from all around the world even from countries like Somalia, Sri Lanka. Even the laborers, who are coming from Pakistan illegally, but when they enter England, they become a part of the system because England has a proper system which everyone has to follow. Unfortunately, we don’t have any system here. People here are not educated generally. If there was a system in Pakistan, people would need to follow it. We have no discipline, despite the fact that Islam teaches us to live in a disciplined way. As Muslims, we pay more attention toward worshiping, but we need to pay attention on practical life, how to get organized and how to do thing according to the teachings of Islam. What we do is just offer prayers 5 times a day and assume that we are following Islam completely. But in England, you find a lot of discipline.
KPDC: Tell us something about Virsa magazine?

SBM: When we started Virsa magazine about 10 years ago, it was only published on 6 pages of A5 size papers. I didn’t know what to put into it, but slowly it has developed. After sometime, I started interviewing young people, students belonging different countries. It also includes interest ways to teach Urdu to children. Also, we include some pictures to tell them what is happening and where it is happening in the world. We have put some good features in this magazine and we put a lot of information. This magazine is actually for the youngsters because the young people’s knowledge of Urdu is very little in England. The magazine might look like it is for children, but it is actually for the youngsters from 12 to 18 and even it helps adults improving their Urdu.
KPDC: Who is your favorite poet and writer?

SBM: As far as my favorite poet is concerned, I have read some of Shan ul Haq Haqqi but I am impressed most with Ismaeel Meerthi, because even in those days, he wrote for the children at their level in very simple language. My favorite writer is Shan ul Haq Haqqi.
KPDC: How do you see role of women in Pakistan?

SBM: Women role in Pakistan is not very encouraging. Women do not enjoy real freedom here. It is a male-dominated society and women are being are facing discriminatory treatment. Women are in very bad condition in Pakistan, especially in the rural areas. Women in England are living on equal basis with the men and contributing in every field, they have equal right as men have. But here it is not the case. Islamic world is left behind the rest of the world because of 2 reasons; illiteracy and poverty. If we get over these two problems we will start to grow as a nation.
KPDC: Any message you want to convey to the children?

SBM: My message for all is that read and write in your own language. And try to promote and emphasize on Urdu language. Urdu is an extremely beautiful and easily accepted language, even in India it is used in their films and dramas. Children in England are learning 3 to 4 languages at a time. So, youngsters here want to have command in English, it doesn’t mean that they completely ignore Urdu.. You can have fair bit of command on both the language. I would also appeal the government to pay attention toward the promotion and development of the national language and at the same time make efforts to motivate and encourage the youngsters to learn Urdu.

Questions by Netizens
Top

Question: How popular do you think Virsa magazine is especially among youth belonging to Pakistan but settled there?(Shehla Qureshi, Karachi)

SBM: The Virsa magazine is quite popular in England. The important thing is that it is going to about 20 libraries, which is my main aim. Individual membership might not be that large but through libraries, the magazine reaches hundreds and thousands of people. I am not making money out of it, in fact, I am spending money over it from my salary. All I get is the feeling that at least I am doing something for the language and for the children. I hold story telling sessions and read stories form the Virsa magazine. Another thing is that most teachers use Virsa magazine to teach the children. So it is being used at the right places.
Question: Do you think the World Wide Web has made people take less interest in offline publications?(Salman Karim, London)

SBM: Certainly, it has made some changes. Young people specially take interest in World Wide Web and they open and read and input as well. It is true to some extent, but literature and books have their importance as well. I don’t think it has completely changed the scenario, printed material is always going to be there.
Question: Urdu is our national tongue but it has never been given the deserved value. Would you agree with this? What should be done to promote the Urdu language globally? (Zulqarnain Ali, Lahore)

SBM: I agree that Urdu has never been given the importance it actually deserves. To give importance to Urdu, we should realize and feel, no matter which area of Pakistan we belong and where we live, that Urdu is our language. This is the main point. The second thing is that Urdu should be promoted especially among the children. This can be done by encouraging story writing and story telling. In our old tradition the story telling had been an interesting feature, but unfortunately, nobody does it now. If you ask children today they say no body tells them story. Also, the debates should be organized regularly in educational institutions so that the youngsters take interest in Urdu language. It is important for Urdu that the general public and parents take interest in Urdu. As far as the government is concerned, it also has some a lot of work to do in this regard. Especially if you see the libraries in Karachi, they are deserted. Unfortunately no body goes to libraries except the librarian and sweeper. The government should develop more libraries and pay heed to the conditions of libraries. Also, children should have drama and singing activities. Singing doesn’t mean Pop music, its for the teaching purposes. I believe, music creates interest in our children, so there should be centers for these activities and this will help develop the language.

Kalpoint.com (KPDC): Please tell us about yourself, your early life, your education and family? Also what made you strive for a career in Human Resources? Please share the motivations behind.Mrs. Rahila Narejo (RN): I was born and brought up at Los Angles, California. Afterwards, my family moved to Toronto, Canada. There I earned my 1st and 2nd grade education after which we moved back to Los Angeles. Soon after a short period, my father got posted to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where we lived for 5 years. I continued my education for 2 years there and then went back to Canada. I took my 6th grade there after which my father called me back to Saudi Arabia. I completed my 7th, 8th and 9th grade there. At Saudi Arabia, there girls are not allowed to get education after 9th grade. Therefore, we all moved back to Los Angels where I continued my studies further.

AT university, I took Bio Chemistry as major. However, I couldn’t continue with that and decided to choose Psycho-Biology which is a combination of Biology, Bio-chemistry and Psychology. It’s the study of mind-body connection. I really found it fascinating for me.

Finally, I started my professional life with a job in an IT company after graduation. My job was to conduct recruitment testing. It included personality assistant, skill testing, etc. That’s how I got into Human Resources.

I am married to commercial pilot in PIA. It was a completely arranged marriage. After getting married I moved to Karachi. Here I started working with Horizon Incorporation, an HR consultancy firm. I served there for 4 years. It got closed due to some reason afterwards. Then I decided to start my own company ‘Narejo Human Resource’, Narejo being my husband’s family name.

I have 3 kids; my eldest son is 14, second son is 12 and a daughter is 9 years old.
KPDC: Being a woman, did you face any difficulty while building your career? How did you overcome that? What challenges women of 21st century are facing in your opinion?

RN: I never faced any problems as such. I believe that the way in which you carry yourself, others will also treat you in the same way. If you are confident and behave like a professional then people will take you professional too.

But I will definitely give the credit to my husband. He is a perfect husband. He understands me and lives like a friend. He truly believes that my development is as important as his own development. He has always helped me right from the beginning even in cooking and looking after children. I think this is because we got married at a very young age; he was 23 and I was 22 years of age at that time.

We both manage our schedule. If he has any flight scheduled, I don’t take any project which can keep me busy all the day. Similarly, if I am busy, he doesn’t take any flight. We have never left our children with maid at home. We always make sure that one of us is with the kids.

I always believe that if you set big goals for yourself, you will achieve a goal near to that. Every person has great abilities. It’s only the matter of recognizing your own ability. When I got married in a typical Sindhi family, I had to over come a lot of challenges but I was determined to my objectives.

We know that there are more women than men who are graduating from Pakistani universities so it needs more women to do job. If you marry an educated woman and expect her to just remain at home, she is going to get frustrated. People need to grow constantly otherwise they get frustrated.
KPDC: What factors in your view are mainly responsible for the increased turn-around rate in national/international organizations of Pakistan?

RN: I think the main reason behind this great turn-around rate is the opportunity. When I was working in mid 90s, here in Karachi there were very few opportunities, and very few companies. But then investment started coming in, multinational and local companies started working. So, now people have got options, earlier there were not many options.

Another factor is that of changing culture. Earlier there was only 1 channel, and now you have hundreds of channels. People are more informed and aware. They don’t feel to work for the same company their whole life. It’s more about self-development and self-achievement. The global village concept is also there. Through a research we found that an average tenure for an employee now in any job is 24 months before they start looking for another job.

Even in the same company a person should be growing. Now the culture is becoming performance-based. Earlier, there was a perception that if a person sits on a chair for 10 years for example, he would be regarded as more important no matter how much he has achieved for the organization. Now, a person is promoted on the basis of performance only. So I think these are the two main factors which are responsible for increased turn-around rate; opportunities and change in culture.
KPDC: What companies should do to retain good employees?

RN: Actually there are different ways to retain employees. I will like to give an example here.

Few months back, ABN AMRO was facing a lot of turnover due to greater opportunities in the market. We did a motivational initiative called Kaun Banega ABN AMRO Champion. All employees were invited to participate in an inter-bank quiz competition. We used softwares to ask questions about the company products, HR policies etc. Every department chose their best people to represent the department in the quiz. Every team had about 8 to 10 people. In Karachi only we had 900 people participating in that quiz. The prize was 50,000 rupees for the winning team. It built fun, interaction, momentum, unity and a strategy to employee retention.

Companies choose between two ways to retain employees. Either they use salary or they use culture. Salary strategy is short-term because you have to increase salary again after a short period. But culture is the company’s personality and it is the long-term motivation. So, we always work with clients to build their culture for employee-retention.
KPDC: How important do you think is the Performance Management System?

RN: Lots of people say that HR people have built the Performance Management System which has no significant use. Actually, it’s a strategic tool and is actually designed because managers are not doing their jobs. It’s a manager’s responsibility to manage the performance of his subordinates and make them produce results. Because they were not doing it so Performance Management System was designed to hold managers accountable for their team’s performance. The system forces managers to make performance objectives, monitor their team against these objectives, give feedback and evaluate whether or not the team has achieved the objectives. It’s not against the employees as it is perceived. It’s actually to help managers do their job better.

I think this system is critical, but there are issues because people don’t understand. They have a lot of reservations and we have to spend time with our clients to make them understand what it is all about and how important it is. It helps a company to recognize and motivate the top-performers by giving them rewards and encourage the average performers too.
KPDC: How do you see the quality of professional education in Pakistan in HRM area?

RN: There is no credible program in Pakistan in HR right now. We had an opportunity to go to 22 campuses with Unilever team; we were doing workshops for undergraduates. Even at campuses like IBA they don’t offer degree in HRM. They only offer some courses in HR. Only CBM is offering HRM specialization program. That’s why there is a huge scarcity of HR professionals.

There are some other HR consultancy firms but when the client receives services from us and from other consultants, they find a world of difference. In our country there are only 2 schools whose graduates every company wants to grab. What about the other colleges? It’s an unfortunate situation that so many people are graduating from the universities but they are not getting jobs and on other hand, the industry is searching for the people to fill their vacant positions. So, the problem which we find is that the skills and knowledge that the fresh graduates possess are not enough. There is no quality of education not only in HR but in other areas also.
KPDC: How a person can be successful in HR?

RN: I think not everyone can be a successful HR person. You have to love people because you have to constantly deal with people. In any career, whatever it is you try to make sure that it’s according to your personality. Don’t do job just for the sake of earning money. Because 80 percent of your life is spend on your job. If you do a job which is not of your type, you will spend 80 percent of your life being frustrated and in tension. You have to love your job. Never run after money. Money will come to you because if you love a job; you become expert in that field and