Qissa, Daastan’s self-publishing platform which was treasured like a baby by the team and for which most of us worked day and night, took off so swiftly upon its launch as if it was a bird . Each day brought with itself significant happenings that overjoyed those working for its betterment, and made them even more invested in the platform.
Daastan’s Tree Branching Out:
The year of 2017 was a very fruitful one for Daastan, and by the end of it the team itself had grown so strong that quite a few started ventures of their own. The projects included but were not limited to Words and Metaphors, which was founded by Daastan’s Co-founder Sidra Amin, and was KPK’s first spoken word platform. Along with this, many of the Literary Fellows of Batch Two founded magazines, and service companies of their own. Daastan was now the likeness of a strong tree, with branches shooting off in every direction.
Details of Qissa’s Astounding Year:
In between all this, we were also chosen by extremely talented writers from all across Pakistan to publish their books. Qissa became home to the writing portfolio of an award-winning journalist with over 12 years of experience under his belt, Mr. Omar Iftikhar. This was followed by Daastan’s first ever international publication, by the name of “The Ancient Souls”, in which we finally got the chance to showcase Pakistan’s talent on a global level. We brought all 22 of the finalists of The Stories Untold Season Two to print, launching what was to be the start of professional writing career for most, and turned carefully preserved dreams into reality for all. Numerous crowd funding campaigns were launched for authors who chose us and trusted us to publish their work, which included Daastan’s first Urdu book in print, by Farheen Naz – a renowed digest writer, and an extremely bold publication titled “Why I Stopped Wearing Abaya” to highlight the social issue of imposed pardah on the women of Pakistan.
Daastan’s first Urdu book in Print by Farheen Naz
We at Daastan challenge norms and rebuild ideas
We preserved the work of a local Urdu literary gem, Hazrat Zaka, by securing the rights to digitize and republish his legendary work “Guldast-E-Zaka”, to make it available for the public on Qissa. An author whose book was a best seller on Amazon, chose Qissa to publish her second book “Before Time”, and brought her work to print. After getting more than a hundred writers on board, Daastan also published its first ever research work, written by Tayyab Khalil, Shahrukh Rashid and co., both engineers, which was carefully screened by PhD professors to ensure no erroneous content was present. The research, titled “Interview Guidelines for Mechanical Engineers”, aimed to help ease the process of job hunting for fresh graduates and drill them on the technical questions asked during interviews. If you are an freshly graduated engineer and are require tips to up your interview game, order your copy here.
The year of 2017 was ripe with opportunities
and avenues leading our company to the forefront, and we caught the eyes of all
those who at any point had undermined or rejected us. Right in the middle of
the year, our company Daastan’s
legal status was updated to Private Limited, and it was followed by the
highlight of winning
an investment of 25,00 USD on the show ‘Idea Croron Ka’, which aired
internationally on Neo Tv. From openings in the industry popping up and being
grabbed by our team, to setting trends and defining newer and wider boundaries
for ourselves, it was a year that brought to us all that we had imagined in our
wildest dreams and more.
Daastan on the news:
From the very beginning of the year, we were
featured in multiple news websites, such as ProPakistani,
and Upstart
and StartupRadar
for having bagged a spot in the accelerator program of Telenor Velocity. This
was followed by a very special news feature in TechJuice
which covered the book launch of our very first crowdfunded author and the
details on how team is striving day in and day out to reshape the literary
industry. This was followed by an onslaught of features, from EduGrid, PakPositivie,
to JournalPost
and ParhLo
– the word about Daastan was out and there was no stopping it. A very pleasant
surprise came after the mid-year mark when we started receiving the attention
of the higher end internationally viewed news sites such as Tribune
and Dunia News as well. Not only
this, but a section of print
newspaper was also dedicated to Daastan helping emerging authors get themselves
published, all the way in India.
A whole delegation from Daastan, consisting of
Mr. Nauman Shahid, Ms. Tehreem Hassan, Ms Aroosa Mushtaq and the Ommer, was invited
as guests in ‘World This Morning’ show by Shahzad Khan, aired on PTV World.
Each shared their own unique perspective on the workings of Daastan to help
spread the word and encourage more writers to join us.
The team at Daastan has always been a staunch believer in the power of education. Each person who was selected by the Founder, Mr. Ommer, was thoroughly filtered and judged to ensure that the person joining us would be exceptionally qualified, no matter which field they belonged to. Daastan has always rooted for happenings that brought with themselves the promotion of education in various different forms. It has engaged its community in hundreds of opportunities which would help them learn and grow, and also shared with them openings in schools, internships, fellowships, etc.
Our Role:
Daastan has also had a role to play in direct educational activities such as a storytelling drive conducted at a school to help spread and teach moral values. It has also provided adjudicates to various schools and universities all over the country who would guide the students regarding the skills they wished to learn. With such a history, when the team of Daastan got the chance to partner with an organization that worked for the promotion of inclusive education for differently abled kids, they were more than willing to contribute. The non-governmental organization, that went by the name of LIFE Welfare Foundation, required professional assistance in event management and content writing for World Disability Day.
Our Founder, Syed Ommer Amer hosting the event of World Disability Day
LIFE’s Event:
The event had student representatives from multiple schools for disabled children in Wah Cantt, such as Rise and Shine School as well as Young Muslim Inclusive Education. The program was held at POF Hotel, Wah Cantt and was hosted by Mr. Syed Ommer Amer himself. Mr. Ommer talked about the importance to enabling these children with basic life tools and providing them a chance at equal opportunities. The faculty also informed the general audience about the importance of inclusive education, and the practical steps taken by these schools to address the education of differently abled children. An awareness walk was conducted in which the faculty and students of these institutions participated, holding up banners and placards to help spread mindfulness regarding this issue and build an understanding in the public for it.
An awareness walk regarding World Disability Day conducted by Daastan, in Wah Cantt.
Are you seeking event content solutions and management services in the field of literature and education, and require a specially qualified team? Send us an email at merasawal@daastan.com to get started!
The year of 2017 has been an especially jam-packed one for Daastan’s flight to amazing heights. We have seen Daastan take over previously unventured media spaces, such as interviews and coverage on TV, Radio and Print media. So, when the opportunity to be able to write the script for and help create Pakistan’s first ever animated tv project arose, a show aimed specially at the younger generation, the team was overjoyed and jumped right in.
Tania Saves the Day:
Teetoo and Tania, a Unicorn Black Production, which is the creation, direction and production of Haroon, focuses on an all too familiar story, of Earth being judged as a target for extermination by an inter galactic council, due to its huge and negatively impactful indulgence in the industry of weapons and materials of mass destruction. The bureaucrat, also known as Teetoo, is sent to determine whether the situation on Earth is as dire as the council has been informed. Making pit stops around the world, his decision to exterminate is all but made, when he crashes and lands on the only country left which is to be adjudicated; Pakistan. Seeing his spaceship crashing, Tania, the protagonist of the series, helps Teetoo and saves his life. Ever grateful, Teetoo tries to warn Tania, and encourages her to leave Earth. She is horrified at the prospect of seeing her fellow humanity vanquished only due to the wrong practices of a few, and is determined to change Teetoo’s mind, by telling him all about the good people who exist on Earth, especially in Pakistan.
First episode of Teeto and Tania
The Series:
The series is composed of a total of 16 episodes, which were aired every week in the winters of 2017, with repeat telecasts, on PTV Home. Starting from the very first one, which featuredEidhi and his story of selflessness and service which has the ability to grip any kindly mind, each episode focused on a hero of Pakistan, the tale of their service simplified so as to help the children watching understand. These heroes were featured from all walks of life, with the series having dedicated episodes for each one. A few personas celebrated wereMalala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner, and a female education activist,Aitzaz Hasan, the young boy from Hangu who sacrificied his own life to prevent a suicide bombing, Mona Parkash, Parveen Rao andMushtaq Chhapra (TCF) who are involved in the promotion of education, along with other celebrated names such asGhulam Fatima, Muniba Mazari, Shehzad Roy, Abrarul Haq, and Dr Ruth Pfauwho was awarded the Hilal e Imtiaz for her selfless efforts to eradicate leprosy in Pakistan.
If you have in mind the next hit plot, and require script writing services, drop us an email at merasawal@daastan.com to materialize that vision to reality!
Daastan launched its very first Literary Fellowship program in the fall of 2016, which turned out to be a huge success and an instant hit. This not only benefited the fellows, who were given multiple opportunities and exposed to a plethora of resources and networks, but it also helped the team of Daastan meet a very cool bunch of people seeking to improve the landscape of the literary industry in Pakistan. Upon their graduation some of them were also be taken on board – especially those who wanted to join in the cool happenings of our space.
The Second Batch:
With another year coming to a close, the team decided to make the Fellowship a recurring one, so as to spread the message of the revival of literature, by enabling people who were interested to come see it first hand and become a part of it as well. With the announcement of Batch Two of the Literary Fellowship program, submissions rolled in by the dozens. This time around, the team received more than a hundred applications, double the amount received for the debut batch. The applications were screened thoroughly, and around 40 people were shortlisted and called for an online interview session. A friendly discussion was carried out with each to determine their passion for literature, their willingness to work for the achievements of their dreams, and their past involvements in our field. It was an even harder job to screen for and select the bunch that would be joining Daastan for the next three months, but eventually 25 people were chosen to comprise the second batch of the Literary Fellowship. The selection was made on the basis of their clarity of vision, their justification for the claims they provided in the application form, as well as their relevant experience.
Poster for the Second Batch of the Literary Fellowship
The Literary Achievements of the Fellowship:
This time around, the fellowship
was divided into four categories, i.e. Marketing, Editing, Digitizing and
Design, and each fellow was made a part of the module they favored and/or the
module best fit for them according to their experience. What came together was
a group astounding in abilities which, after being groomed, bagged multiple
prizes. Two of the fellows, Ms Maham Syedain, and Ms Arooha Arif won
Silver and Bronze in US Story Writing competition, and Ms. Nadia won
an
Urdu writing competition on The Ancient Souls. Several of the fellows were
featured all over the digital media for their different achievements, and a big
bunch of them went on to graduate as well. Chief among them was Ms. Fatema Bhaiji, who launched a
Queer-Lit magazine designed specifically for literature focused on the LGBTQ+
community named “Outcast”.
Another fellow, Ms. Arooha Arif, launched a book club in her
hometown to encourage readership and connect like-minded people, and yet
another graduate Ms. Sameen Aziz launched a digitizing company by the name of “Harf Nagar”, focused on
providing digitizing and bringing handwritten content to print ready form. Many
of the graduates were hired into the team and given various positions. The
highlights of the second batch’s achievements can be viewed here.
