Zia Mohyeddin

Zia Mohyeddin was born in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad) into a family of scholars and aesthetes. He took off for Australia after his degree in philosphy from where his fame started. He went on to the famed Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1953 and soon began a successful career on the boards.

Mr Mohyeddin starred in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and made his West End debut playing Dr Aziz in EM Forster’s Passage to India. Mr Mohyeddin was a smash on Broadway, too. Stints on the BBC and ITV followed. At the peak of his career, he decided to move back home.

He returned to Pakistan in the 1960s, hosting the Zia Mohyeddin show on PTV. He set up the PIA Arts and Dance Academy the following decade. The arts academy toured the world and performed at the Madison Square Garden and for Queen Elizabeth II. When Gen Ziaul Haq effectively banned the arts in the 1980s, He once again, left for London.

In February 2005 he was invited by  President Pervez Musharraf  to act as Chairman of the new National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi.

Arfa Karim Randhawa

Arfa Karim Randhawa (born 1995), in Jatt Randhawa family is a student from Faisalabad in Pakistan, who in 2004 at the age of 9 years, became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCPs) in the world, a title she kept until 2008. She was invited by Bill Gates to visit the Microsoft Headquarters in USA. The vice president of the Software Development Division Mr. S. Somasegar wrote about it in his blog.

On returning to Pakistan, Arfa had numerous interviews on almost all of the country's known television channels and newspapers. In August 2005, Arfa Karim received the Fatimah Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of Science and Technology, presented by the Prime Minister of Pakistan at that time. She also received the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award again in August 2005 by the President of Pakistan. Arfa Karim is also the recipient of the President's Award for Pride of Performance. This is a very high level civil award granted to people who have shown excellence in their respective fields over a long period of time. Arfa is till now the youngest recipient of that award ever.

Arfa Karim has also represented Pakistan on various international forums, she was invited by the IT Professionals of Dubai for a stay of two weeks in Dubai. A dinner reception was hosted for her there, which was attended by the diagnostics of Dubai including the Ambassador of Pakistan. During that trip, Arfa was presented with various medals and awards. She also flew a plane in a flying club in Dubai at the age of 10, and received the first flight certificate.

In November 2006, Arfa was invited by Microsoft to be a part of the keynote session in the Tech-Ed Developers conference held in Barcelona. The theme of the conference was "Get ahead of the game" and Arfa was presented as a true specimen of being ahead of the game. She was the only Pakistani among over 5000 developers in that conference.

As of 2011, at the age of 16, Arfa Karim is studying at Lahore Grammar School Paragon Campus in her second year of A Levels. She suffered from a heart attack after an epileptic seizure on December 22, 2011 and was admitted to a hospital in critical condition. Rumours were being spread of her death on December 31, 2011, however, she is still alive as of January 1, 2012. (Source: Wikipedia)

Zubeida Agha

Zubeida Agha was born in Faisalabad in 1922. She introduced non-traditional pictorial imagery in Pakistan and initiated a new era in painting. She completed a degree in political science at Kinnaird College, Lahore. Her introverted disposition and concentrated study of philosophy formed the background against which her abstract ‘idea’ paintings emerged. At the Lahore School of Fine Art (1945), Agha began a study of Western art. In addition to copying Old Masters, she came into contact with contemporary Indian painting and folk art. She was the first artist in Pakistan to have an exhibition of modern paintings. Trained in both Pakistan and Europe, she developed an approach to painting that reflected her education and experience. Her images of landscapes and people are simplified forms made with a variety of vibrant colors reminiscent of both Fauvism and Rajput miniatures. She died in 1997.

A woman with the courage of her convictions, Zubeida lived her life for art, creating paintings that will enable future generations to share her extraordinary vision.

Zubeida Agha graduated in Philosophy from Kinniard College and cast about for explanations for her wildly coloured dreams about painting. She began her study of art with Sanyal in Lahore.

In her early work, she attempted to explore the theme in the medium of sculpture, and also surrealistic paintings, done in somber colours with titles 'Wisdom', 'Beethoven's Fifth Symphony', and 'Deserted Street'.

Offered an art scholarship in 1950, Zubeida enrolled at St. Martin's School of Arts, London, but six months later transferred to the Ecole des Beau Arts, Paris, and there she began her serious study of art.

Her opinions on modern art developments were definite. "What is the point of painting problems, does it solve anything?" "Galleries are more interested in sales than standards and the artists are complicit in this." "Without sincerity there is no true art."

In 1965, Zubeida Agha was Awarded the President's Award for the Pride of Performance.

This series of Pakistani commemorative postage stamps is a posthumous tribute to Ten Great Painters who helped to raise an awareness of art in Pakistan and established their names in the universal art world.

Tahmena Bokhari

Tahmena Bokhari is a feminist Muslim beauty queen, sounds an oxymoron? She is Canadian, Pakistani, woman, college professor and social worker, all in one. Above all, she has dedicated her life to creating positive change.

She is particularly passionate in working to end violence against women, the fight against cancer, supporting the Pakistani, Muslim, South Asian and diverse communities locally and abroad, and she is a staunch advocate for inclusivity. Her ultimate goal is to 'mutually inspire' to live happier and healthier lives.

Do check out her websites for more information.

Tahmena has various personal interests and hobbies including fashion-designing, photography, poetry and other arts. She states, "I believe that everything I do supports my personal vision in life to continously strive to better oneself and create positive impacts on our environments."

Some of the quotes she has been inspired by are listed below.

"We don't see things as they are; we see things as we are." - Anaïs Nin

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."- Marcel Proust

"There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen....There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women."

-Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Founder of Pakistan, from Speech at Islamia College for women, March 25, 1940.

"You may belong to any religion or caste or creed --- that has nothing to do with the business of the state." Jinnah

"Man is born free, yet everwhere in chains" - Rousseau

"Let me say, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love."

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

"Many will call me an adventurer - and that I am, only one of a different sort: one of those who risks his skin to prove his platitude."

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

"The best and noblest gifts of humanity cannot be the monopoly of a particular race or country."

- Rabindranath Tagore

"The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely”.

-Carl Gustav Jung

Quotes from Tahmena Bokhari

- "With all this wonderful diversity of what to wear on my head...the hijab, niqab, the burqa, along with other precriptions on women's headdress such the dupatta, the bindi, the bridal juumar, and even the brimmed hat and on and on....I have been thinking that personally, when I have a choice, I would much rather wear the crown."

Tahmena's motto: "Know yourself, love yourself."

"Live until you die."

Aamer A. Sarfraz

Aamer A. Sarfraz is founder of Agroventures (Pvt) Ltd which he started in 2009 to identify, finance and build high-growth food and agribusiness projects in Pakistan. In 2010, the company completed construction of its first factory to process cereal grains in Faisalabad. Aamer is also a Managing Director at Tigris Financial Group since 2006. Tigris is one of the most successful private equity investors in natural resources worldwide, particularly in gold and precious metals mining, with over US$2billion of its own capital deployed. He is closely involved with the group's investments and partnerships across the Middle East and Asia. Previously, Aamer worked in private equity firms Ithmar Capital and 3i venture capital. Aamer holds an MSc (with Distinction) from the London School of Economics and a BSBA from Boston University's School of Management. As an undergraduate student, he developed the intellectual property for digital receipt technology, which he sold to Microsoft's Intellectual Ventures. He serves on the Advisory Board of MSSM Department of Medicine, New York.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan

Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is a Pakistani songs singer and musician , and primarily a singer of “Qawwali”, a devotional music of the Sufis. He is the nephew of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. In addition to Qawwali, he also performs ghazals and other light music. He has toured extensively and performed in Pakistan, India and all around the world.