Adil Najam
Today – June 11, 2011 – All Things Pakistan turns five years old!
Today, sitting in Lahore, Pakistan, I write in the realization that it is now time to move on.
This is not a ‘Good Bye’ post – it is, in fact, a ‘Thank You’ post. Nor do I want this to be a ‘looking back’ post – I would much rather that it be a ‘looking forward’ post.
For me personally, it is time to move back to Pakistan. For ATP, the blog, it is time to turn off the lights.
Five years ago we set out with the mild ambition to have a conversation with a few friends on all things Pakistan – from the profound to the trivial. What followed was a more intense, more engaged, more elaborate, and more fulfilling conversation than we could have ever imagined. Well above 10 million visits later, it is now time to move on.
But we promise that we have no intention to tune out. We know that this conversation will continue. This was never our conversation, it was yours. We intend to keep listening in. We hope you will let us do so in all the myriad forms and formats that have now become available for this exploration of our Pakistaniat – our Pakistaniness – to thrive. We have chronicled our own story and evolution in our posts (the ATP Credo, the Tangay Walla post, 1st anniversary post, 2nd anniversary post, 3rd anniversary post, who reads Pakistaniat post, 4th anniversary post) and now is not the time to repeat those arguments or even to look back.
I can say with some pride and great joy that we have had some small part in the construction of an important conversation. It has not always been an easy conversation. Our national predicaments have made it an often sad and occasionally angry conversation. But it remains a vibrant – and vital – conversation. We hope that in these five years ATP has contributed some to this conversation, and has contributed to it positively.
So, today, I write in gratitude. Thank you for your companionship. Thank you for your patience. Thank your for dropping by. Thank you for making this your own. Today, we are happy in the knowledge that the conversations we had wanted to seed are thriving. Technology has provided an array of new formats – from facebook to twitter and beyond. There is a mushrooming of blogs and formats, and we hope that in some small way we have contributed to them. We know we have thrived and found sustenance (and ideas) in this new and bold world of Pakistan’s Blogistan. We thank our blogging colleagues, our many many writers, and our even more many readers for the excitement they have added to our lives.
I realize that the timing of this will lead many of conclude that it has something to do with my own move. While the two are not unrelated, they are actually less related than you might think. It was, in fact, back in November 2010, that Owais Mughal and I had decided that we would do this on this date and in this manner. Owais had already moved to Singapore and my own professional commitments had begun to mount. We did not wish to end with a whimper nor just fade out abruptly. Five years seemed like a good innings to both of us. Let me take this moment to thank Owais for his support and companionship. More than anyone else he has made ATP possible and allowed it to last this long. Without him, it would have faded long ago. And without him it would have been not just a lonelier but also a much less interesting journey. Thank you, Owais, my friend. Thank you for everything! (As an aside, I should add that Owais and I had never met until fairly recently and for years ran this together without even having met – such is the magic in Blogistan).
Do I have regrets – yes, but too few too mention. I wish we had written fewer obituaries. I wish we had not had to talk about national angst and tragedies as much as we had to. I wish we more time to write all the posts that remain unwritten in our personal lists – more pleasant things than those that were floating in the daily headlines. Yes, I do also wish that some of our readers had been a little more kind to us and to each other in their comments – but, I also realize that we live in unkind times and the viciousness of our environs can sometimes seep into our own language and thoughts. More than anything else, I wish the unkindness of our times will become less, allowing us to be a little more considerate to each other than we sometimes seem to be.
Good byes, they say, should never be long. But this is not a good bye. So, until we meet again, dear friends, take care; khiyal rakhna.
Adil, Owais and all the ATP Wallas:
All good things must come to an end.
Ces’t la vie!
The spark Adil Najam provided was further kindled by Owais Mughal and carried forth by a host of ever increasing torch-bearers.
Look at the Archives and see the growing numbers of the Post-contributors, the Commentators, the 5 Millions or so “Hitters.” over the years.
ATP is the Phoenix. It will spawn many more. Just wait and see.
Talent and Technology should also now quickly find a way to preserve the wealth of diverse knowledge on Pakistan ATP has generated. It is indeed a national treasure and must be safeguarded as such.
God speed Adil and Owais in your future endeavors. It was great fun to be associated with ATP.
Adnan Ahmed’s comment really captures my feeling so beautifully.
I have been a regular (multiple shots each day) from the very beginning. In the beginning I left many comments, then I stopped doing that but I never stopped coming here. In fact, maybe I came more often. I always wondered how Adil and Owais did this with all their busy lives. I have also followed Adil Najam professionally and listened to him give speeches at HDF and other places. I always thought how can someone with such a high profile and busy professional and public life find time. First I thought maybe he had people hired for this, then realized it really was just him and Owais. My admiration grew even more.
I think I always knew this day would happen. I thought it would just doe down. First slow down and then disappear. I am glad that did not happen. ATP came into my life with a bang and has left with a bang and that is the way it should be.
Ajeeb manoos ajnabi tha, humain tou hairan kar gaya woh.
This blog is more than a personal blog. I would equate its influence with that of the NY Times as far as Pakistani blogspace is concerned.
Please look into finding replacement admins if we have to go that route?
Why don’t we start looking now and make an informed decision about whether the blog has to really shut down or if it can be given life for at least next few years?
I think several people have contributed to this and other Pakistan-oriented blogs.
How about Raza Rumi? Mast Qalandar? Teeth Maestro? Riaz Haq? There are many progressive Pakistanis who contribute to Tribune.com.pk site and may take up.
If $ is the issue then please know that at GoDaddy.com a domain can be transfered for as little as $15/year. If hosting is the issue then we can pool into some account to cover that. I am ready to contribute.
Also, the ads probably generate a good bit of revenue. Just beware of the domain buying sharks–don’t lose the domain!
its been a loooooong association!!!
i just cant describe in words how i feel now!
just want toh THANK YOU for representing Pakistan and Pakistanis the way they should be!
THANKS!!!
Wow. I guess this was a big weekend while I was away.
Good job ATP. You played a great innings. And thank you Adil Najam for letting us travel this road with you. Best wishes for your future. I heard about your going to Pakistan to become VC of LUMS. COngratulations to you and to LUMS. They could not have selected a better person and your going back is big news. You give all the rest of us courage to follow our convictions. You make us proud.