was 2020 actually the year of personal evolvement?
Tags: Silicon Valley, Pandemic, Lockdown, Digitization

here’s how this year contributed to our growth!

This year has been one of the most unique years for many of us globally. Who would have thought that the entire world would become a victim of a global pandemic, bringing everything to halt? The environment suddenly changed from a chaotic scape to a land of stillness. We stopped using cars for a bit and the air quality improved. We suddenly experienced a further lack of imports and grocery store shelves were emptying out as fast as ever. We got so paranoid that we could contract the coronavirus that we automatically ceased human interaction. The real bag is that what did this halt do for us as human beings? Did this year finally give all of us a chance to sit with ourselves and focus on our mental health and personal growth?

Since March 2020, we noticed a sudden change in the system. Everything became accessible online with a sudden blow in digitization. Educational institutes closed due to lockdown and families were pushed to connect with each other in a deeper fashion than usual. Frustrated parents were struggling to educate their toddlers and children by encouraging online classes after spending a huge chunk of their lives discouraging “screen time”. Gyms closed down and we suddenly started seeing home workout videos and live training sessions without gym equipment surface all over social media. And yet, 2020 forced us to take a long, hard look at ourselves in the mirror and wonder what makes us tick.

For us, it was always the community. And so, within a couple of days of the country locking down, daftarkhwan went On Air. Had that not happened, we wouldn’t have the distinct pleasure of hosting such legends as Dr. Amjad Saqib and Mariam Chughtai who happened to impart an incredible amount of wisdom and shed light on areas ranging from microfinancing and education.

Among our sessions, we also found the opportunity to host individuals like Zain Jeewanjee of G1G based in the Silicon Valley who introduced us to mass insurance, Usman Javaid of Ricult inc. who made us aware of the award-winning social enterprise founded by MIT alums that develops AI/Tech/Financial-based digital solutions for the agricultural ecosystem, focusing on smallholder farmers in developing countries and Zeeshan Habib of Careem who spoke about the future of mobility.

One of our most successful sessions during this time was for a brand called Bagallery, which was part of daftarkhwan’s fireside. This session happened to bring about copious engagement allowing many of us to learn about the navigation tools within the fashion and beauty industry.

And, through all of this, 2020 was the year of growth. In March 2019, daftarkhwan opened its doors to two brand new sites: Vogue — our latest location in Lahore floating atop the vibrant M.M. Alam Rd — and North — a place which the startups of Islamabad & Rawalpindi can finally call home! These sites, like all others, push us & inspire us to be better every waking moment.

No one could have imagined that life would become so different through the course of this year. We learnt to love ourselves a little more, we learnt to spend more time with our families, we learnt to sit down with negative feelings and process them, We learnt to focus on our selves. Ultimately, This is what makes us human, this unique quality of learning to adapt to change.

Even in the face of adversity, we learnt.