November 17, 2009

Third Lecture in the Distinguished Publicans Lecture Series

The fifth programme of the Publican Alumni Trust (PAT) Educational Initiatives Programme was the third lecture in the Distinguished Publicans Lecture Series. The lecture was given by Zaffar A. Khan (Class of 1961) and was titled "Pakistan - A journey through time".

Video of the lecture is available broken into 7 parts. To go to any part of the video, please click on the thumbnail below.

Pictures of the event as well as a report on the proceedings by Javed Jabbar are posted below. To view these pictures, click on one of the Library Buttons below.

Report by Javed Jabbar

Dear fellow Publicans,

Salaams and greetings.

1. The 3rd lecture in the Distinguished Publicans Lecture Series was presented by Trustee Zaffar Ahmed Khan (who is also Vice Chairman, PAT) on Tuesday, 17th November 2009 between 11:15 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. at the auditorium of the F.G. Minwala Girls' School, Karachi Cantonment.

2. About 300 students (150 girls and 150 boys from F.G. Boys Public School, Karachi Cantonment), Principals, teachers, including retired teachers, and several alumni attended.

3. Before the commencement of the lecture, students were served with soft drinks and patties as per the PAT tradition of hospitality. As usual, Trustee Khawaja Fariduddin arranged tea for the Trustees. The Event Management Committee comprising Shamim Riaz, Nudrat Alvi and Dr. Masroor Afridi worked hard to set up the event.

4. After brief welcome remarks by the undersigned and by Trustee Zohair Ashir, Convenor, Education Initiatives Committee, PAT, Zaffar Ahmed Khan proceeded to present his lecture which was titled: "Pakistan: a journey through time".

5. The lecture was an extremely well-prepared, thoughtful, informative and relevant presentation aimed at stimulating the interest of the young audience in particular towards a new level of self awareness. By dividing his presentation into a description of what the lecturer has witnessed between the years 1951-2009 (i.e. about 50 years) and what Pakistan is likely to face between 2010-2050, Zaffar Ahmed Khan vividly contrasted the achievements and failures of our country to date under what "my generation" has done and, by placing the next 50 years under "your generation" he made the students conscious of the enormous potential of the tasks, and possible fulfilment, that awaits them in the years ahead. The lecture was a fine blend of realism and optimism. Zohair Ashir helped Zaffar Ahmed Khan to prepare the neat power-point images.

6. Alumni, teachers as well as students posed provocative questions that led to a more than normal lively post-lecture session. Notwithstanding some turbulence, all ended well. Absentees missed an exceptional event.

Thank you for your attention.

With best wishes,

Javed Jabbar