The Quiet Building That Changed Everything

I graduated from the University of Karachi in 1970 with Biochemistry as my major and Physiology and Microbiology as my minor subjects. Between classes, we used to roam about the university and also visit the coffee shop at the IBA once in a while. A structure standing aloof, away from the maddening crowd, students observing discipline, and we always wondered why there was a sense of seriousness and urgency in this building as opposed to our part of the university.

After that, I left for America in 1971 to study Pharmacy. However, due to the devaluation of the Pakistani rupee due to Pakistan’s breakup, I had to switch my major to Management and Marketing and take up a job to sustain myself during my stay. My father, who was supporting me, asked me to come back as the rupee value had gone down by 100% against the US dollar, but I wanted to finish my studies. I only came back after doing my BBA from Central State University, Oklahoma, as my father had a heart attack, and being the only child, I wanted to take care of him. My first job was with Asiatic Advertising with my mentors, Mr. Punthaky and Mr. Rammal.

This is where my story about my association with the IBA begins in 1976 or 77. My cousin, a position holder in B.com, failed the IBA admission test for whatever reason and was so paranoid that he asked me to give the test with him to give him moral support 6 days before the test. He had already applied for my registration without my permission. I told him I was unprepared, but he would not take no for an answer, so I reviewed whatever I had studied in BBA and went with him to appear in the test. Lo and behold! Both of us got through. The interview session was easy, and I was admitted to this auspicious institution.

I, however, went to Dr. Wahab, then Dean and Director of IBA, and showed him my BBA degree with 124 credit hours to my credit, and that I just needed 24 more hours of MBA courses to get my degree. To my utter surprise, he said that we consider a BBA degree like a BA degree, so you won’t get exemptions in any courses and might as well start from the beginning. I argued that it is not prudent for this august institution to make this distinction of comparing a 2-year degree with a 4-year degree, but to no avail. So I said, no matter what, I will pursue my studies, and I started taking summer classes. My grade point average was good, and I finished my degree in 3 and a half years.

The most challenging course I had to clear at the IBA was the Managerial Policy taught by Dr. Junaid Ahmed, a friend now. In those days, I saw students shiver and cry to take the course, afraid they would fail. Dr. Junaid was tough, and the girls in my class wanted to sit behind me so they would not have to face him. Quite honestly, I was also scared by his reputation, but in hindsight, he was a real professional, and his manner of teaching, like the case studies approach, was something that I took very positively. I managed to get a B, and that was a Herculean effort. In the same semester, I took Advertising as an elective course and shifted my job to R Lintas (now MullenLowe Rauf), and my teacher was Marhoom Owais sahib of Adcom. We got along well and used to have lengthy discussions on advertising strategy, issues, and problems in the advertising world. Mr. Owais recommended my name to Dr. Wahab to teach Advertising and Marketing at the IBA, as I was in the business and could communicate well. After taking my interview, I was appointed as a visiting faculty and taught at the distinguished institute for 8 semesters, and also took the executive session for one semester.