Pakistani Entrepreneurs Group Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary

From left: Author and artist Samina Quraeshi, artist Mumtaz Hussain, actor Faran Tahir and racecar driver Nur Ali spoke on a panel of the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs in Boston. (photo: INDIANewEngland.com)

The following article is from INDIANewEngland.com, Nov. 7, 2008.

The Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs (OPEN) of North America celebrated its 10-year anniversary with a conference at the Boston University School of Management on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008.

Iftikhar Ahmad, president of OPEN’s New England chapter, said the group has progressed far in the years since it was founded, and may expand beyond North American in the years ahead.

The organization has five chapters: New England, New York, Houston, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC.  The site of the 10th anniversary event was a fitting one, with the first OPEN chapter having been formed in Boston.

The nonprofit group’s mission, according to its Web site, is to enhance business opportunities for entrepreneurs and professionals of Pakistani heritage living in North America and involved in technology, biotech, health care, finance and educational endeavors.

Most of the event panel discussions focused on points of interest for all business owners and entrepreneurs, such as health care and social entrepreneurship.

The last panel, however, focused on less-traditional business endeavors that some Pakistanis have chosen with success.

Titled “The Path Less Traveled,” the panel featured a diverse selection of speakers, including distinguished artists, authors, actors and race car drivers.

Faran Tahir, a Hollywood actor who just appeared in the movie “Iron Man” as the villain Raza, a weapons dealer who kidnaps Robert Downey Jr.’s billionaire playboy industrialist character Tony Stark, spoke on what it was like to be a minority actor in a business that is based almost as much on looks as on talent.

“My parents almost got down on their knees and begged me not to do this; they knew it was a hard busines s…. I would face a lot of rejection and questions because virtually no one else from Pakistan was in Hollywood at the time,” said Tahir.

“The Path Less Traveled” panel featured author and artist Samina Quraeshi, artist Mumtaz Hussain, Hollywood actor Faran Tahir, and race car driver Nur Ali.

Nur Ali, a professional race car driver who is the first Pakistani to race professionally, competed in the A1GP World Cup in 2007. He co-founded Pakistan’s first formal national racing committee, Motorsports Association of Pakistan, in 2006. Ali talked about what it was like growing up with a family that was always supportive of his dreams, yet hesitant to support his demanding and unlikely profession.

“My father told me he wanted me to do anything I wanted in life, but I needed to get an education,” said Ali. “I told my dad I wanted to start racing when I got a license. Dad said, ‘that’s ridiculous, you have to finish high school first.’ Then I tried after high school, and he said, ‘go get your degree,’ that it’s important; he still wanted me to go after my dream, but he said no one has ever done this before in our culture. I tried again after college, and he said, ‘go get your master’s [degree].’ I said, ‘c’mon!’”

Panelist Samina Quraeshi, an educator, author, designer and artist, argued that talent and drive are all one really needs to make it in any profession. “I believe in excellence, and I believe if you have that, they will come breaking down your door … no project of mine has had an international sponsor.” Yet, she said, her works have won numerous awards, been featured in museums and won critical acclaim.

Ali left all the parents in the audience with advice about allowing their kids to be daring and succeed: “Let them get their education, since they will only benefit and can always use that to fall back on. But let them try what they love, let them fly like birds. Moms and dads, let them free.”

source:  INDIANewEngland.com

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