Rant # 3

I have always loved reading magazines. Whenever I went to some relative’s house or a clinic, I’d search for a magazine and start flipping through it. Even now, if I ever come across a good magazine, I HAVE to buy it. There was a time, when I had this huge crush on “Young Times” (don’t confuse it with “Young World”, totally different), but all of a sudden, the hawker said they were not getting it anymore. I was devastated (honestly!). Then someone introduced me to “Smash” (I hope you’ve heard of it). It was a great mag. Typically for teenagers. I was entering university life but still, I was addicted to it.

It was 2012. One day, I came across this article about different e-mags in Pakistan and a little introduction about them. I instantly fell for one. I opened their website, filled up their joining form and started waiting. Few days later, I got the e-mail and I got in! It was pure volunteer work. Naturally, people around me were like “What? You’ll work for them FOR FREE? Pagal. Gadhi. Psycho.” Whatever. I never cared. I just wanted to be a part of them.

They were my second family. I met LOADS of people there who are great friends of mine. I was initially their ambassador (promotion stuff) and their graphic designer (you know what they do, right? Drawing and stuff).

Ab asal kahani yahan se shuru hoti hai.

I knew as much stuff about graphic designing as a doctor knows about engineering. Seriously. I only knew the basic programs used like PhotoShop, Devian art, Photoscape etc but nothing else. I started working on them, day in and night out. I actually made many graphical stuff for my own self, judging my own self and then I chose the best ones and sent them to the heads. They usually loved it. Alot. They used to get featured and I can’t tell you k us se mera kitna khoon barh jata tha. It was honestly a miracle.
Months went by. I left graphic designing because it was taking up a lot of time and I had to focus on my studies as well. So I switched as their columnist and events reporter (they used to be the media partners and then I as a reporter had to cover that event). It was fun.

So one day, our head sent us to an event. It was a big one, held in the National Museum. There, I met this girl, whom I had never ever met in my life. She introduced herself as the head of a volunteer group that organized events and said “Are you Sabika? You are their graphic designer, right? God, I love your work.”

And that was the moment when I had to literally control my tears. A few others came up and told me they knew me. Still, whenever I think about that day, I can’t believe it actually happened. (people coming up to you, telling you they love your work, honestly, me? Ha-ha)

The whole point of this story is not that I’m bragging or wanted to tell you how good I can be at graphic designing (which of course I am not), but my point is, that if you seriously believe in yourself, you can absolutely do it, no matter how many people smirk at you, no matter how irrelevant it is to your career, if it’s something which you are enjoying doing, then it won’t be a fuck up. My second point is, that each and every one of you (yes, you there, with a dark complexion and you, with dandruff filled hair and also you, shorty), all of you have talents. All you need to do is realize what your strengths are and play up to it. And then, you’ll find the whole world congratulating you on your success. Seriously guys, all it takes is a strong belief in your own self, confidence and dedication.

“You can’t be good at everything, but you can NEVER be good at nothing.”

(this is a quote by me, it isn’t anonymous, okay?)

So yeah, after reading this, take a moment (or think about it while you’re in the washroom), thoroughly analyze yourself and find what you’re good at and start working on it. Then share your story with others. 🙂