You know the theory of six degrees of separation? It is said, that there chances are extremely high that you will establish some link with every 6th person you come across. Sure I believed it to some extent. When I'm in Pakistan. it's not surprising to know that someone you know, knows someone else, who knows someone else who knows you. But when that happens half way around the world, it tends to open your mind to a whole new level.
Here I was sitting on the train from Philadelphia to Radnor with Rafael (Philippines) and Fatin (Saudi Arabia) when we got talking about our backgrounds. Only namesake fellows until the time when you sit down and share a cup of Dunkin Donuts Ice Coffee on a train, I mentioned that I had lived in Saudi Arabia and promptly began to describe a dear friend of mine I had grown up with. Not wishing to invade her privacy, but suffice to say that this woman (this friend of mine) is perhaps the only Saudi Woman to have been sent to Oxford to complete her PhD. I said this much, when Fatin broke into a smile and yelled out her name. "You know her!!?? I know her too!!!" and there. The link had been established. A few moments later, it turned out that Fatin had regularly interacted with two cousins of mine, and I thought I would have a heart attack. Could the world really be that small? The answer to that question obviously doesn't end there...
The first evening I was there at the Doubletree Hotel in Philadelphia, I met with Farith (Malaysia) - Turned out I had interviewed Mr Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim a year earlier on his brief trip to Karachi - Mr Ibrahim was the ex-deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia until the problems in Malaysia broke out. Farith's father worked with Mr Ibrahim. Perhaps not as direct a link as with Fatin, but we had SOMEONE in common.
But the incident that almost pulled the floor from under my two pretty feet, was this one - At the Trustees Dinner, last week in Philadelphia, there would have been about a hundred people filling up that room. I met with people from all over, and then decided to turn around to meet a very dignified woman. Without paying attention to her name, I shook her outstretched hand and introduced myself. When she introduced herself, I focused on her name tag and asked her if she knew of a Nicole Piaeseki. "Why yes! She is my daughter!" I couldn't help but laugh and then said, "I don't believe this..." I had interviewed Ms Nicole Piaeseki during the MAP Conference in Karachi, Pakistan as the VP Marketing of Boeing, as a leader and one of the team of people who helped to turn Boeing around.. I had met with her, chatted with her and caught her interview on tape and made it a part of my Image Building video. Do you see the reason I am so excited?
The moral of this brief bloggy (a blog-story) is simple: there is someone out there who knows you... or has a link to you. I disagree with Thomas Friedman's title "The World is Flat" - I believe that the world is just tight, small and deep. The deeper you dig and explore, the more links and commonalities you find.
More later!
Showing posts with label Fatin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fatin. Show all posts
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Philly, the mornings and the people
The fact that each of the Eisenhower Fellows have the unique opportunity of interacting with such diverse cultures and backgrounds, makes the experience a pretty amazing. From 24 different countries, I can't get over how similar each of us are and how much space we have to discuss the differences in our lives.
It's Sunday mornign as I write this update, but I think by this time, I have had a chance to meet almost all of the fellows. My first interactions were with Dr Marcelo Knobel and his wife, Keila. Marcelo, Keila and I spent time together at the St Peters School closeby to the EF House here. I admit I know nothing about Nanotechnology and even more minute details about Brazil, but I was impressed at how informative Marcelo was in giving his talk to the students of the school. The popularization of Science is something that I am also very interested so it was great that we had some time to talk about progress and challenges that we faced in each of our countries.
Olga Girstlova is the CEO of a family-owned IT company in the Czech Republic and we spent time chatting during our trip to the my coordinator Jan Campbell's home - Olga is interested in setting up an Entrepreurship University back in her home and is always on the look out for contacts. Her background in IT and interest in Entreprenuership gives me quite a bit to talk about with her, though Olga is very well travelled and has a wealth of information to share.
Gunvor from Finland, made for very interesting conversation last evening during dinner that probably had nothing to do with either of our fellowsips, but it was fascinating to find out about languages and cultures from her. Her husband, Henrik, is also a part of the group through the Spouse program, and shared details about his interest and involvement in the pharma industry. It was almost funny how we talked about our different backgrounds with respect to society and lifestyles - so different and yet there we were, having some of the most fabulous lasagna (courtesy the hospitality of the Campbells) I have ever sunk my pallette into. Oh - And I can't talk about language and culture, without introducing all of you to Emine. I first ran into Emine at the breakfast area when I saw someone waving in my direction and instantly felt comfortable. I think Emine speaks some 5 different languages and is the Policy Coordinator for Fundamental Human Rights and Citizenship at the Hague in the Netherlands. You'll all be thrilled to know that Emine has also recently joined as a Mac user, increasing my list of "cool people" by yet one more.
Ah yes, the photograph on this blog is of us having dinner at the Campbell's home last evening..
Having minimal involvement in IT and disabilities in Pakistan, I was keen on sharing my limited experience and some of the progress that we have been making at home, with Caroline Casey, who is the founding CO of the Aisling Foundation in Dublin, Ireland - Being a HUGE fan of irish music, I was thrilled to be able to talk to Caroline, and then when she expressed how surprised she was at the awareness levels in India and Pakistan about disabled in the workplace, I beamed all the way back to the hotel!
Yoichi Iwamoto and his wife, have to be two of the most gentle people I have come across - Yoichi is also a fellow journalist; the deputy editor of the International News Department at NIKKEI in Tokyo, and I really hope I get more of a chance to talk shop with him.
Gregory from Moscow, was someone I had the chance to interact with at Dan Geisler's office and I definately want to be able to sit and talk to him later on. Gregory runs a website that spreads the awareness about different religions, targeted to the people of Russia - the medium of the internet is definately going to play a more crucial role in spreading the holy word and making people better understand aspects of different religions.. Speaking of religions and tolerance, I briefly introduced myself to Fatin Bundagji from Saudi Arabia, and in the 2 minutes we spoke, we realized that she had lived in Karachi and spoke a bit of Urdu and I had lived in Jeddah so many years ago, where she continues to reside now.
Finding myself awake at 7am this morning (again!), it was a pleasant early morning to see Caroline and Fatin at the gym in the morning... I took a break to go back to my room where I watched Rocky Balboa run up the steps of the Philadelphia Library and then went downstairs again where Susie and I had breakfast this morning and ended up having a long discussion on technology's role in medicine. Her interest is in the area of HIV Aids and well... frankly speaking, I find everything pretty interesting! So yes, breakfast was great.
This leaves me with about 3 fellows who I am sure I will meet either during the day today or tomorrow. But Sunday, though a day of rest for a few of the fellows, is an excited day planned for myself, Fatin and Rafael where we take the train to meet with the ex-president of the EF and Swarthmore College, Theodore Friend. I really look forward to it.
My family keeps asking me if I am doing okay here. I keep reminding them that I am amongst seasoned travellers and friends.... and then they fear that I might not return back home.. :-)
More later!
It's Sunday mornign as I write this update, but I think by this time, I have had a chance to meet almost all of the fellows. My first interactions were with Dr Marcelo Knobel and his wife, Keila. Marcelo, Keila and I spent time together at the St Peters School closeby to the EF House here. I admit I know nothing about Nanotechnology and even more minute details about Brazil, but I was impressed at how informative Marcelo was in giving his talk to the students of the school. The popularization of Science is something that I am also very interested so it was great that we had some time to talk about progress and challenges that we faced in each of our countries.
Olga Girstlova is the CEO of a family-owned IT company in the Czech Republic and we spent time chatting during our trip to the my coordinator Jan Campbell's home - Olga is interested in setting up an Entrepreurship University back in her home and is always on the look out for contacts. Her background in IT and interest in Entreprenuership gives me quite a bit to talk about with her, though Olga is very well travelled and has a wealth of information to share.
Gunvor from Finland, made for very interesting conversation last evening during dinner that probably had nothing to do with either of our fellowsips, but it was fascinating to find out about languages and cultures from her. Her husband, Henrik, is also a part of the group through the Spouse program, and shared details about his interest and involvement in the pharma industry. It was almost funny how we talked about our different backgrounds with respect to society and lifestyles - so different and yet there we were, having some of the most fabulous lasagna (courtesy the hospitality of the Campbells) I have ever sunk my pallette into. Oh - And I can't talk about language and culture, without introducing all of you to Emine. I first ran into Emine at the breakfast area when I saw someone waving in my direction and instantly felt comfortable. I think Emine speaks some 5 different languages and is the Policy Coordinator for Fundamental Human Rights and Citizenship at the Hague in the Netherlands. You'll all be thrilled to know that Emine has also recently joined as a Mac user, increasing my list of "cool people" by yet one more.
Ah yes, the photograph on this blog is of us having dinner at the Campbell's home last evening..
Having minimal involvement in IT and disabilities in Pakistan, I was keen on sharing my limited experience and some of the progress that we have been making at home, with Caroline Casey, who is the founding CO of the Aisling Foundation in Dublin, Ireland - Being a HUGE fan of irish music, I was thrilled to be able to talk to Caroline, and then when she expressed how surprised she was at the awareness levels in India and Pakistan about disabled in the workplace, I beamed all the way back to the hotel!
Yoichi Iwamoto and his wife, have to be two of the most gentle people I have come across - Yoichi is also a fellow journalist; the deputy editor of the International News Department at NIKKEI in Tokyo, and I really hope I get more of a chance to talk shop with him.
Gregory from Moscow, was someone I had the chance to interact with at Dan Geisler's office and I definately want to be able to sit and talk to him later on. Gregory runs a website that spreads the awareness about different religions, targeted to the people of Russia - the medium of the internet is definately going to play a more crucial role in spreading the holy word and making people better understand aspects of different religions.. Speaking of religions and tolerance, I briefly introduced myself to Fatin Bundagji from Saudi Arabia, and in the 2 minutes we spoke, we realized that she had lived in Karachi and spoke a bit of Urdu and I had lived in Jeddah so many years ago, where she continues to reside now.
Finding myself awake at 7am this morning (again!), it was a pleasant early morning to see Caroline and Fatin at the gym in the morning... I took a break to go back to my room where I watched Rocky Balboa run up the steps of the Philadelphia Library and then went downstairs again where Susie and I had breakfast this morning and ended up having a long discussion on technology's role in medicine. Her interest is in the area of HIV Aids and well... frankly speaking, I find everything pretty interesting! So yes, breakfast was great.
This leaves me with about 3 fellows who I am sure I will meet either during the day today or tomorrow. But Sunday, though a day of rest for a few of the fellows, is an excited day planned for myself, Fatin and Rafael where we take the train to meet with the ex-president of the EF and Swarthmore College, Theodore Friend. I really look forward to it.
My family keeps asking me if I am doing okay here. I keep reminding them that I am amongst seasoned travellers and friends.... and then they fear that I might not return back home.. :-)
More later!
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