Failure Festival 1.

0,
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
2nd June 2019

By
Shaikh Muhammad Ali Page 1|7
It all started when Dr. Khalid Khan, Director; Directorate of Science & Technology,
Peshawar posted a link about Fail Fest 2019 on LinkedIn on 28th March 2019. This
festival was to be held @ Chaye Khana in Peshawar and since that day, I never
rested. I wrote back to him since I was interested to participate as a speaker
because I had read on the Internet about such programs, which were being held
since decades in the West.
It seemed that Dr. Khan was looking for genuine speakers, who had the courage
to stand on a stage and talk about her / his failures in life and how she / he turned
them around into successes. I for one thought that this particular program was
designed for me only because I went through failures; one after the other since
the time I was in school.
I was sent a link by the organizing team on 31st March and I finally registered for
the program, while keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that I would be
shortlisted and given the honor to brag about my failures in life.
Being an organized individual, even before being shortlisted; I started to organize
my data and did some research on the internet as to how I would do my song and
dance, if I were to be selected. On 5 April 2019, I was asked by the organizing
team at Cecos University, Peshawar to fill a participation form as a speaker, which
rose my excitement level higher.
On 27th April much to my excitement; I was officially invited by Mr. Danyal Hayat,
Manager Industrial Linkages and Technology transfer @ Cecos University; to come
speak at the subject forum. Thrilled, I was by this gesture and was excited too, all
at the same time since I would have loved to speak on my failures and share it
with the younger generation as to how I always bounced back after being hit
mentally with my goofups and failures in life.
The D-day was arriving fast and I informed a very close friend and colleague Wisal
Khan on 30th April 2019 about my selection and participation @ the Fail Fest in
Peshawar which he also wanted to attend. On 2 May 2019, it was a blessing that
Wisal Khan accompanied me to the venue in Peshawar, who was also a powerful
orator.
Dr. Khalid Khan, Dr. Tariq Zaman and Mr. Danyal Hayat honorably hosted us, once
we reached the venue.
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 (Dr. Khalid Khan, Director – Directorate of Science & Technology, KP)

(Dr. Tariq Zaman, Director CECOS University)

Out of the six speakers, my turn was the last to speak. I thoroughly enjoyed the
talks as given by the five speakers.
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 (Danyal Hayat, Manager Industrial Linkages, CECOS University)
Incidentally, there was only one woman who was courageous enough to highlight
her failures in life and she was much applauded by the participants.

(Some speakers with the hosts)

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By the 28th of April 2019, I had already coined my speech and scribbled a note on
‘The lost art of losing’. I opened my speech on this subject and while taking my
audience down memory lane; I spoke from the heart starting from my failures at
school, college and university in Pakistan and abroad. I later discussed my goofies
when I was abroad too.

(The audience listening attentively to us)

I ultimately talked about my failures in the professional life and was actually
politely asked to stop by Dr. Khan since I went on and on. It was rather gracious
on the part of Dr. Khalid Khan that he allowed Mr. Wisal Khan to talk about his
failures too, which he wonderfully did and awed the audience by sharing
experiences from his personal life.

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 (Three speakers listening to the other four)
It was a wonderful experience to speak to a younger yet attentive crowd who
were there, to patiently listen to us and to learn from our mistakes in life. The
program was beautifully managed by my three hosts, which was followed by a
fantabulous and mouthwatering feast as was always expected from the Pakhtuns.

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 (The audience mesmerized by the speakers)
After the program, we had group pictures, enjoyed the sumptuous food, and then
got into friendly discussions about the program and its successes. It was a small
gathering yet so beautifully organized that Wisal and I planned to launch a similar
initiative in coming June 2019 in Islamabad too.
By 8:00 p.m., we took leave from our hosts and headed for Islamabad with our
heads high and our hearts filled with the love that our affectionate hosts
bequeathed on us and thus a wonderful day came to an end.

Shaikh Muhammad Ali

‘The Wandering Dervish’
E-mail: dushkashaikh@gmail.com
Cell: +00-92-317-0003623
Sunday, 4th Ziqadh, 1440 Hijri
7th July 2019, 02:19 p.m. (PST)
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