On 8th July, 2019, a literary event was held at the Hyderabad Press Club, honoring the achievement of the young author Mehrban Ali. At only 31 years of age, Mehrban Ali has authored a startling number of 50 successful books. His works record the lives of many Islamic and historic personalities including Shams Tabraiz, Hazrat Fatima, Baba Bullay Shah, Hazrat Hussain, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal. He has also written on the events of Islam’s most prominent battles and religious phenomenon such as the interpretation of dreams and astrology.
Pakistan’s Youngest Author Mehrban Ali Publishes 50 Books
Mehrban Ali is a motivational speaker, a social worker and a writer. His works can be found on his website and YouTube channel where he publishes religiously informative videos. At a young age, Mehrban Ali is a social entrepreneur and has paved the way for the upcoming young generation.
Award Function At Hyderabad Press Club
The event was attended by renowned names of the Sindhi and Pakistani literary industry including Naseer Mirza, Shafih Warsi and Ali Gul. Attendants wore representative Ajrak shawls and gave their views about Mehrban Ali’s work. They encouraged the young writer’s efforts and congratulated him on his achievement of writing 50 books. Mehrban Ali was acknowledged as an entrepreneurial force in the industry and a motivation for young writers all around Pakistan. His work is a milestone, especially in the Islamic literature and is available in both English and Urdu to reach bigger audiences.
Mehrban’s Message
Speaking to the audience, Mehrban Ali said that his books contain the message of love, peace and brotherhood. His works are research based and inspired by the teachings of his grandfather and great grandfather. The audience greatly appreciated his address. Guest of Honour Salamat Feroz– a well-known Sindhi musician- termed the ceremony to be a spiritual event. Lastly, Mehrban Ali was presented an achievement award for being Pakistan’s Youngest Writer to publish 50 books.
Daastan is proud of Mehrban Ali’s achievements. We do the best in our capacity to empower local writers. If you are a writer looking for an opportunity, Sign Up with Daastan and start your journy today!
At the start of the year, Daastan’s Founder Syed Ommer Amer received the thrilling news of having been selected as a fellow for the National SDG Bootcamp, happening at the National Incubation Center Islamabad. Daastan was among 22 other social enterprises chosen to be a part of the bootcamp. The workshop was concluded with a National Dialogue event titled the SDG Changemaker’s Summit. The winners of the bootcamp were selected, and Daastan had the honor of being one of them.
National SDG Bootcamp Winners Pakistan : Deaftawk and Daastan
What is SDG Bootcamp?
The SDG Bootcamp was a 4-day, first-of-its-kind, entrepreneurship bootcamp which happened in collaboration with DEMO and UNDP Pakistan. Selected social enterprise founders who were helping the nation achieve Sustainable Development Goals were taken on a journey of extensive training so as to enhance their pitch for funds, social impact, financial models and outreach.
Daastan Represents Pakistan in Vietnam:
Ommer was enrolled in a 3-month online program aimed to empower social entrepreneurs and help them establish a strong brand. Moreover, participants were prepared through extensive training for the Regional Summit which was going to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam. In April 2019, the finalists of the bootcamp were flown out to participate in the Youth Co:Lab Asia Pacific Summit. The event was codesigned by Citi Foundation and UNDP Asia Pacific, to accelerate social enterprises and youth startups in the region of Asia Pacific.
Daastan had a lifetime opportunity, and was presented in front of more than 1000 delegates from over 20 countries. Ommer communicated how Daastan was empowering the literary community by helping writers and revamping the literary industry at the national level. If you are a writer who wants to get the most out of their work, sign up with us on Qissa.
— National Incubation Center (@NIC_Pakistan) April 5, 2019
Syed Ommer Amer, Founder Daastan pitching on stage in Hanoi, Vietnam
With this opportunity, Daastan went global and is now actively collaborating with international partners. Following their dream of using literature as a means of earning for writers, Daastan is paving the way for a new tomorrow free from stigma, illiteracy, conflict and intolerance.
During the mid-summer of 2018, before Daastan Naama app was made available to the public through Google Play Store, an extensive marketing campaign was conducted on social media websites. The campaign, recorded under the hashtag of #OneOftheFifty, gained so much popularity and garnered an astonishing amount of traffic. People from all around the world wanted to be featured on Daastan Naama. Our team was constantly being asked questions to find out what it is that needed to be done to become a part of #OneOftheFifty. Speculations bloomed about who these celebrated authors were, how they were selected, and what is it that they were a part of.
The #OneOftheFifty:
Creative posters were designed which had the picture and name of the author, along with the title of their work which was to appear in Daastan Naama. The posters were titled with hashtags of #Top50AuthorsYouDontKnowAbout and #OneofFifty, which created a buzz in the whole community of Daastan over what was coming. Eventually it would become clear that the work of these authors would be uploaded to the app in the style of poetry recitals and podcasts. This innovative twist on sharing their work brought it to life, and that too in their very own voice.
Daastan Naama:
Each author in the spotlight had something unique to add to the app. The very first one was Ms. Kayenaat Hameed Khattak, an English poetess whose poem “God is Great” was chosen for the app. The next author was Ms. Dania Shah, whose Urdu humorous prose “Muhabbat ki Shadi” found its way up, followed by Urdu prose of Ms. Durre Shahwar Ali. Other English poets featured included Ms. Waneeza Zia, Ms. Momina Latif, Ms. MaryamMr. Hassan Naqvi, Mr. Saad Ahmad, Ms. Maryam Arshad, etc. Mr. Morgan Melhuish, from the United Kingdoms, also contributed an English poem. Another very curious and pleasant feature was the addition of two Pashto poems by Ms. Spugmai Alee Khattak, and also a poetry piece in Punjabi by Mr. Abrar Nadeem, an award-winning author and script writer for PTV. A Punjabi play was also contributed by Ali Usman Bajwa.
Want to have a trove of literary goodness on your phones? Download the app now! Sign up with Daastan and get updates on all our upcoming literary activities.
The members of Daastan are immensely proud of the way the company has scaled beyond even their wildest imaginations. It has been such a pleasure to watch the way it inspires not only them but thousands around the country. How artists step a little ahead of the game, and bring to the stage all the creativity that was hidden in them for ages before they tapped it. Daastan doesn’t just excel at the play of words, but rather it is a digital hub of activity. It is always on the lookout for carving out niches which can help the creatives get more involved with us. We look for opportunities to attain greater reach for those who we have already published. It was one such drive which led us to do the next big thing for Daastan.
Seeking the Digital Avenue
The internet presence of Daastan started from Facebook. From there, it went on to take over all of the major digital media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. What followed was Daastan’s very own website, and then, Qissa’s self-publishing portal. All of these mediums were received enthusiastically by our followers, and praised heavily in the public by the critics. Over the years, our team made it a point to strengthen our digital presence, providing professional and aesthetic upgrades to Qissa, and Daastan’s website for each new venture as it came along. And so, after having mastered the internet through most of the digital avenues that are offered, only one was missing – a mobile application.
Daastan Naama
It struck the team that most of their readers’ time online is spent on the phones rather than PCs.To increase our readership and make the work of our writers readily available, we must also provide it on their phones – much like any other eBook they would be reading. And so, the team dived headfirst into bringing this idea to reality. In July of 2018, Daastan Naama finally hit Google Play Store. Bursting with literary goodness, Daastan was now available just a touch away. The app’s interface was divided into two portions. One featured all the fiction published under the banner of The Stories Untold. The second was an interesting feature which had the poetry and other works of almost 50 authors, vocalized and brought to life by their own voice.
Daastan Naama, the answer to your literary needs
If you haven’t checked it out yet, download it on your mobile phones from Play Store now!
Coming back with another exciting feature of the Trailblazers series, where we focus on writers and individuals of our family who spread their wings and took off towards heights previously unthought of and uncharted. In this feature we will be writing about another graduate of the second batch of our Literary Fellowship program, Fatema Bhaiji.
Fatema Bhaiji And Our Outcast Magazine:
Before she joined our fellowship, Fatema had already made herself known and left a mark on us, by participating in and becoming one of the top finalists of The Stories Untold season two. Her story, titled “Holding her Hand”, was in perfect accordance with the theme of our story writing competition, “A War Within”. Our phenomenal writer Fatema, in her book, addressed very boldly the dilemma of having feelings for an individual of the same gender. The havoc it causes on our emotions and inner stability, all the while living in a society which in no way tolerates this. Her book was put up for crowdfunding, and through the help of our community, was brought to print.
Outcast Magazine Makes Rounds:
With this booming introduction, Fatema came to join the Editorial department of our fellowship program. Halfway through the program, Fatema came to the team with her idea of forming a queer lit magazine. A magazine targeted towards the South Asian community that zeroed in on increasing the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community through art, poetry and stories. In the beginning of the fellowship, graduates were encouraged to pursue projects on their own with full support from Daastan. Despite all the criticism, Daastan stood strong. And so, the Outcast magazine ‘came out’ – its website was launched a month after the idea was rolled out, and its first digital issue came out a month later.
Fatema Bhaiji was invited as Panelist Speaker at the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum in Kathmandu, Nepal
Acclaim and Applause:
Outcast Magazine was later on endorsed by a global platform, i.e. Commonwealth Writers, who conducted an extension of our Stories Untold Season 4 on their forum. The LGBTQ+ community were encourages to put to words any abuse they might have faced, directly or indirectly. Outcast went on to announce a Micro Fiction competition of their own in collaboration with Daastan and White Falcon Publishing. The first issue was released in print the very next year. Fatema was invited to many events as a speaker, one of which was “Salzburg Global Forum” held in Nepal and powered by UNDP.
Fatema Bhaji talks on the importance of creating media in which South Asian LGBT people could connect to, which led to the creation of Outcast, a queer literary magazine based in Pakistan.Fatema Bhaji was a participant at the latest program of the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum – Advancing Legal and Social Equality in South Asia, held in Kathmandu, Nepal, February 24 to March 1, 2019.
