My name is Adnan Farooqui, I am 16 years old. Blogging is becoming more of a passion for me since i set up my first blog back in 2005, but due to my educational concerns, i was forced to drop it. Now that i have had some free time on my hand for quite a while now, i decided to set up a new blog and start all over again. The url of my blog is http://farooquiadnan.blogspot.com
Here are the questions:
Could you tell us what made you decide to blog, and what was the inspiration behind it?My inspiration which led me to blogging would be other bloggers on the internet. I used to read many blogs on the internet but i never used to write any. I know that blogs are a great way to share information, views etc. So the urge to write a blog gradually grew in me and so i decided to step in the blogosphere once more.
What do you think sets Your blog apart from other blogs?What I think sets my blog apart will be the shifting of topics. My blog isn’t limited to a specific topic, be it politics, entertainment etc. The way i have categorized my blog is that I share different topics from other blogs to my blog, I write my views many issues, I write about the incidents that have happened in my life or my day to day happenings, I have a section where I share songs or videos which i find to be entertaining, I have a section relating to automobiles and also a section including tutorials about many things. So I think it has to be the random content of my blog that may set it apart.
If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success in life, what would it be?It would have to be my quality of being straight forward. I mean i don’t hesitate from saying what i want to say no matter what the next person might think of me, this helps when i am writing my views on a certain topic and if i wish to criticize, i may go harsh with my words in telling the truth. I thank whatever success i have had in my life is because of this.
What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?Well there have been many happy moments and there have been even more gloomy moments. I have had a passion for writing since my childhood and i used to send stories to Young Word magazine of Dawn, which used to get printed, and that used to be a very happy moment. Then ofcourse were some of the accomplishments at school and in personal life. The gloomy moments are too many to be defined, but in a nutshell i would say that it is heartbreaking when you trust someone with everything you have, and they just betray you leaving you to think that you just cannot trust anyone in this world..
Urdu Blogs have got huge potential, when do you think they will really take on the online horizon in Pakistan?Urdu is after all, our national language. Yes i do think that urdu blogs have great potential online, but the thing is that the blogging culture in Pakistan is not that popular as compared to other countries. I mean here there are a limited number of bloggers on the internet, i know that the number of bloggers are growing by the minute here, but still it will take a lot of time for english blogs to be fully recognized, so urdu might just be the under dog for a while.
If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s paid for - what would your top 3 choices be?I like to travel alot, it is one of my passions, but the dream locations for me would have to be
1. Montenegro
2. Venice
3. Spain
What is your favorite book and why?My favourite book would have to be The Long Walk by Stephen King. Its a story about the determination of some people who join a walking contest. They have to walk across the whole state and if they stop walking or pass out, they will be shot dead. Then there is the interaction between the contestants, the way they hate each other and try to make the other person loose the competition. Its a very nice book to read.
What is your favorite meal, dress, and sport?I love chinese cuisine, it has to be present at any special event of mine. I love Pakistani food for my normal meals.
My favourite dress would be casual styled, jeans and a t-shirt
I am not that much into sports, but i like basketball a little.
Which are the top 3 places in Pakistan for honeymoon?Pakistan is a beautiful place, and its better to have your honeymoon here rather than going to some fancy country and being broke on your return..!
The top 3 places for honeymoon in Pakistan would have to be
1. Murree
2. Kashmir
3. Kaghan
What’s the first thing you notice about a person (whether you know them or not)?It has to be their personality. The way they present them selves and the way they talk to others. True that you cannot judge a book by its cover, a person can present a very good image of himself and pretend to be what he might not be, but still personality matters when you are meeting a new person and you can judge the character of the person.
Whose Future is more bright in Pakistan; English blogs or Urdu Blogs?I think english blogs. Mainly because of the fact that the teenage generation is totally hooked on to english language and they find it easy to express themselves in this language. Plus not many people know how to type urdu and learning might be a difficult task for them.
How Pakistani bloggers can benefit from blogs financially?I basically find this whole idea absurd. Not everything you do in life has to be profitable. The sole purpose of your blog should be content, not ads which can give you a little help financially. No one can support a family off a blog so why litter your blogs with unwanted ads? Almost every blog here features Google’s Adsense revenue program, and i think some bloggers are getting benefit from this service.
Do you think Pakistani bloggers tend to remain somewhat self-centered and really don’t go out of their shells? Is it the oriental style of blogging, or they are still unsure about it?I think many bloggers here are still unsure about what they are doing. Being self-centered is an issue. Bloggers here should write about what ever that intrigues them, regardless of the facts that it may earn them criticism on the religious front or the secular front. This problem, in my view, holds back many bloggers of today.
What do you think where the Pakistani blogosphere is right now?I think that the blogosphere in Pakistan is certainly in its formative years. People here are jumping on the blogging bandwagon but this change is coming slowly and gradually. It is a good change though, and people need to understand the importance of blogs. It might take a great amount of time before the blogging culture in Pakistan reaches its peak
Who are your top five favourite bloggers in Pakistan?It is really hard to decide, because of the fact that i read blogs on just about every topic. In my view, the top five bloggers whom i enjoy reading will have to be
1. Nadeem F. Pracha
2. Saad Hamid
3. Imran Jafri
4. Kashif Aziz
5. Seher
Have you ever become stunned by the uniqueness of any blogger in Pakistani blogosphere?Hands down, it has to be Nadeem F. Pracha. I follow his posts at the Dawn blog, and i have not seen such uniqueness in style of any blogger in Pakistan. I also read his columns in newspapers. The guy has a unique writing style, he has his own style of criticism and expressing his views. For me, he is one unique blogger in the Pakistani blogosphere.
What is the future of blogging in Pakistan?It is certainly very very bright. More and more people are getting the hang of blogging here in Pakistan and i surely know that one time will come when there is a boom of bloggers and almost every other person in Pakistan will be blogging his heart out.
You have also got a blogging life, how has it directly affected both your personal and professional life?Well i do not have much of a professional life as i have an educational life, but yes i think that my blogging life has affected my personal life. Ofcourse, it is time consuming and highly addictive! So the time that was previously spent hanging out or lounging is now spent in front of the laptop with my fingers typing away at full blast.
What are your future plans?Well i plan on joining the medical field and going abroad for higher education. Rest assured, blogging will always remain one of my hobbies regardless of what ever i plan on doing in the future.
Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?Always keep your faith in what is true, never let any body control your words.
The Pakistani Spectator is doing a wonderful job in promoting the blogging culture in Pakistan. It is a great effort how they are trying to promote various bloggers in Pakistan. Also the writes at TPS give totally unbiased opinions and give us the truth no matter how bitter it may seem. I pray that TPS achieves new boundaries of success.
Farooqu|
This
interview was taken by and published at The Pakistani Spectator
.
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