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    Author: Hira Umair

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    I am a housewife with three kids, already a very heavy-duty job but still like many others; I have a dream to pursue a career of my own and make a mark professionally. With this great believe that Almighty Allah has blessed women in particular; a special ability to simultaneously excel and take care of all, whether at home or any field; I decided to finally step into the professional world.

    Now the first question that arose, what should I do? It was almost a decade gap with no work experience at all after I completed my MBA. To be honest I was much afraid; which option to choose from? Who to trust? and above all how to gain back the self-confidence. I had my constraints too, a home to manage and kids to look after, which is my prime responsibility as well. The answer to all these questions came to me in the form of MarCom. A firm who showed faith in my abilities and gave me back that lost confidence; not only through provision of a platform to showcase my creative skills and polish them, but also by giving me enough freedom to work within my limitations.

    Having studied business, I am well aware of the kind of influence advertising has on our everyday lifestyle. It converts our wants into needs, dreams into desires. As a socially responsible Pakistani, I would like people with such influential power on our decision making, to not only be just more skilled and proficient, but also most importantly socially responsible, so that they don’t take advantage of their respective positions to exploit others. Money making should not be their sole objective. I consider myself very lucky that I was able to find a place at the right agency (MarCom) that actually practices strong moral values. Hence our philosophy matched fully, and I started working on equal frequency and moral grounds.

    For me Life at MarCom is simple, exciting and full of passion. Over all, the work culture is highly motivational, which enables us to bring out our best. MarCom strongly encourages all team members to share any creative idea that pops up in our mind irrespective of the job title or department. This enabling environment helps employees to think out of the box. Roles are important for work distribution/ assigning of responsibility; but at MarCom there is no defined boundary to limit creativity or passion to contribute in any project. I truly believe that free flow of ideas is one of the major reasons behind success of MarCom in such a short span of time.

    The best thing I found at MarCom is the rare culture of appreciation/recognition; where people and their work is cherished and celebrated more than anything else. I was pleasantly surprised to find an agency celebrating the smallest of occasions to the bigger ones. Life becomes so easy, satisfying, more meaningful and enjoyable when work is more like fun and colleagues become more as family members. This for me is the concept of an ideal workplace which I am lucky to be part of and enjoying every bit since I joined.

    I am already in admiration of the quality of work being produced at our agency. From the first day onwards, it was made very clear to me that there is no compromise as far as quality is concerned. Joining the creative team, interacting with highly qualified and thorough professionals working round the clock in different countries with a lone purpose of producing best quality product, has been a great inspirational journey so far. Distances do not matter at MarCom, it was surprising for me at first place; how this global team is able to communicate flawlessly; rather the synergy is actually mesmerizing. Despite giving maximum leverage to different employees in terms of flexible work hours due to time differences and other limitations, the work quality standard has been persistently maintained rather is improving day by day. Thanks to repetitive quality checks at all ends, our prime goal of ensuring a happy and satisfied customer every time is intact strongly. This is indeed evident from the ever-increasing number of our clients mashaAllah! 😊

    While sharing how Life is at MarCom, I feel it is pertinent to mention the inspiring journey of two young brains behind this rapidly growing one stop communication firm. I feel honored to be led by young, focused and specialized thorough professionals, passionate enough to show the world their strength, expertise, intelligence and sheer talent. Both our founders are powerhouse of knowledge and experience, a lethal combination to be successful in any field. It is so encouraging to know that both have actually been at our place at first, serving the industry with same passion for years as an employee. Their persistent hard & smart work, pure loyalty towards the profession has always been talk of the town even before starting up this firm. Despite financial limitations, minimal resources and negligible investment, they took a major risk with purity of purpose solely to realize a dream of creating a top-quality internationally recognized Pakistani ad agency which is not only a hub of creativity but also a place of pure happiness and actual empowerment for everyone involved. This they feel have been missing from the industry over the years. The success and growth of MarCom over the last two years is definitely the result of the untiring day and night efforts by the founders who have always remained at forefront at every platform, every stage of work to ensure best results possible.

    At MarCom, Pakistan always comes first; another similarity which I dearly hold. It is astonishing to witness the kind of love and passion team MarCom has when it comes to anything about Pakistan. This ownership is unfortunately lacking these days. I proudly claim to be a part of an ad agency which keeps coming up with ideas and ventures that can help promote Pakistan and Pakistanis across the globe. With initiatives like Promising Pakistan, Inspire Pakistan, Pakistani Tohfa and so on; MarCom is making its humble contribution to keep the Pakistani flag high and roaring.

    To sum up, I must conclude by saying MarCom is indeed a much-needed addition to our rapidly growing and competitive advertising industry. It is not only gaining recognition amongst a diversified clientele but for me it has proved to be an ideal employer. Kudos to the owners as they are leading from the front and setting example for the others to follow. Wishing MarCom a very happy 2nd Anniversary and prayers for unlimited accomplishments and victories ahead.

    You are a Pakistani and not a foodie, is like a cold day in hell. Food is something that unites our nation, it runs in our blood. Food is veritably the only thing I guess which knits our people together. From rich to poor, every person wishes to have the best of food in his/her capacity. Our day starts with “what are we going to have in our breakfast today?”, a phone call is a must while driving back home to ask, “what is in the dinner tonight?”. Food is not just a necessity but a festivity for us as a nation, it is hospitality, entertainment, celebration and a source of sheer happiness. No meet up, no occasion is complete without food; in fact, it all revolves around food. People eat to live, and we live to eat. In our culture, occasions are remembered mostly because of the quality of food served, for ages.

    Tikka-Pakistani-food-marcom

    Pakistani taste buds are the strongest, no wonder why we don’t fancy any food in the world other than ours. From north to south, from KPK to Karachi, Dumpukht to Kabuli Palao to Biryani, Namkeen Gosht to Roghan Josh, from Chapli Kebabs to Chicken Tikkas, Halwa Puris to Pathuras, Hareesa and Haleem, our food culture is extremely rich in taste and variety. Pakistan’s renowned desserts range from Ras Mallais to Barfis, Gulab Jamans to Kulfi Faluda and Rabri Dudh, Kheer and Firni to Zarda and Matanjan, not to forget varieties of Halwas available for the sweet tooth. Not just our own traditional dishes, we are simply the best in recreating recipes from around the world. For us, pizza from a popular Pakistani restaurant trumps any international brand, no English burger can compete with the taste of our burgers specially the “Anda Shami Burger” , even Chinese love the Pakistani version of Chinese cuisine.

    A number of world famous food chains are making their mark and multiplying day by day in Pakistan such as Mc Donald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardees, Burger King, Fat Burger, Nandos – to name just a few. The presence of these in Pakistan are one of the added attractions to boost tourism in our country as tourist would find any food of their choice here. In addition to this, we have budding local popular fast food restaurants such as Roasters, Tayto, Howdy, OPTP, Pappasallis and much more, with equally good quality and taste as of any leading international brand and these have every potential to grow globally with a bit more focus, planning and investment. Many popular food chains have already expanded overseas and have gained great fame such as Student Biryani, Bar B Q tonight, Nirala Sweets etc. Famous eating places such as Kolachi in Karachi, The Monal in Islamabad and Cooco’s Den in Lahore are now recognized as a must-go tourist spots.

    monal islamabad pakistan

    cooco den lahore pakistani food

    kolachi pakistan

    Snacking is one of the most treasured hobby of most Pakistanis and innumerable options are available to munch on. Hardly surprising, with the kind of love we have for food, despite having three full meals in a day, we still cannot resist the temptations of Samosas, Pakoras, Namakparas, Nimkos, Dahi Bhallas, Papri Chaats, Gol Gappas for the evening tea and snacks. Evening tea time holds a great importance in our family-oriented culture, which enables households to enjoy quality Ghup Shup time along with of course some tasty irresistible snacks.

    I feel for expatriates who while missing Savour Pulao, Grato Jalebi, Phajjay ke Paye, console themselves with whatever they find in their new-found countries. You may get Pulao, Jalebi, Paye, Biryani in most of the countries now but they’ll have a tough time coming anyway close to the quality & taste of food as of Pakistan. Eating Pakistani food abroad might be a good way to feel close to home or making the most of whatever’s available but if you want to enjoy the real taste, it’s only Pakistan where you may have this pleasure.

    Pakistanis just don’t let go of any opportunity to eat. A place to eat – whether a roadside stall or a fancy expensive restaurant in an upscale locality is jam packed at meal times. Restaurants, bakeries, eateries are thriving, and their numbers are ever increasing, but the mushroom increase also sometime comes at the cost of quality and hygiene as well. This does need our kind attention, one must be careful about what we are eating and from where. As a matter of fact, health is wealth and it should remain our priority. Here I feel the relevant food quality control authorities/departments must play a more effective role to ensure quality and hygiene standards are never compromised at any cost. We as responsible citizens must also collectively raise voice if find any substandard quality or expired food items and should immediately report such cases to relevant authorities. Same goes for unnecessary price hikes, over priced food places/items, a point which I think should be given due attention by the government as well as us; we must learn to pay for quality rather than just for the namesake.

    Coming back to topic; on a lighter note so far, the quality, hygiene issues have simply failed to dampen our love for food! 😊

    After reading through this blog, are you also craving for some pure Desi Spicy Biryani like me?

    Enjoy eating!

    Hira Umair

    A proud Pakistani

    Blogger at Marcom

    “Have you applied for an Australian Immigration?”, “Move to Canada for the sake of your kids”, “Settle in UK, Pakistan is not going to get you anywhere!”, “Move to Middle East and make tax-free big bucks”; Something a young professional, a young couple or a young family gets asked quite frequently these days. No doubt, the longevity of Pakistan’s ‘crisis’ like situation and the absence of work opportunities have made these questions tempting and there are genuine cases of the need for a move abroad, but before such a decision is made we must make sure that our priorities sorted out well and expectations managed accordingly. Remember! You gain a few things by losing a few. Make sure the gains you envisage with such a move outweighs the losses incurred.

    People who choose to stay in Pakistan despite the lack of job opportunities, the never-ending load shedding, lack of basic necessities are not committing a crime. They love their children just as much as you do. They care about their kids just like you. It’s just that maybe they want their kids to spend more time with their grandparents, to frequently experience cousins’ get-togethers during holidays, to celebrate festivals just like they did – Yes, at the cost of something for sure but something they value less than the company of grandparents, cousins and the freedom to celebrate the festivals – basically a connection with their homeland.

    This blog is not intended to doubt or judge anyone’s decision of moving abroad – in fact it is meant for exactly the opposite. We should stop doubting or judging anyone for moving or not moving abroad. You leave behind a whole lot when you move abroad. Your family, close relations, friends to start with but it doesn’t end there. You leave behind your culture, language, food as well. You leave behind meat distribution on Eid, you leave behind the sound of Azaan, you leave behind Paan shops at every corner, you leave behind story telling by your kids’ grandparents, you leave behind decorating house on Independence Day and you’ll most likely leave behind late-night sittings with siblings munching on anything available at that time. We need to make sure that we think it through well enough if we would like our kids to get a shot at relatively better education opportunities at the cost of grandparent’s company and a load-shedding free home at the cost of joy of bringing in and photographing sacrificial animal on Eid.

       

    There is no doubt that every decision you make, comes along its pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages. If I take myself as an example, I spent my whole life in my “own” land (always being a first-class citizen). Studied here, earned my bread and butter here, still enjoying a good reasonable lifestyle here, negating the fact that only “sifarish” functions in somewhat dysfunctional society of ours, denying the fact that there is no good quality education here. Many of you would agree (and many wont) but in my view what works best is sheer hard work, dedication and determination. No matter where on earth you land, hardwork yields positive results. One big reason, in fact the biggest is the law and order situation in our country, our home that compels many to go abroad and take benefit of a bomb-free, terrorism free environment. But are you really sure “malkul maut” can’t book a seat and fly abroad? So death is destined and you can’t run away from it.

    Despite mentioning all these points, a better life style and kids are ultimately main factors for most of the moves abroad. We should spend some time in ensuring we get this ‘better’ sorted out correctly before making such a decision. We should not lose sight of a number of intangibles, subjective things that play an important role in your children brought up in the glare of some of the more obvious, objective ones. We should make every effort to give our kids the best of opportunities even if it involves changing a few things we hold dear but then down the line as we get old and they grow up, we should be ready to accept them changed as well.

    Hira Umair

    A Proud Pakistani

    Blogger at Marcom