Patari: A De Casibus tragedy?
We have all heard the phrase, “The mightiest have the furthest to fall”. One such protruding example of this present in Pakistan is that of ‘Patari’, a former glamorous music streaming website. It not only happened to be Pakistan’s largest music platform but also became a wild sensation across every region of the country.
The platform managed to counter every major obstacle thrown its way, such as the June 2015 allegations, but had to go through a dramatic collapse when the public accused its co-founder of sexual harassment.
Our team at Discover360 followed the news throughout and it became our manifesto to fork out the root of the dilemma. Our search led us to a meaningful telephonic conversation with the only man who appeared to be the voice of reason amidst all the baffling confusion.
Naqvi’s Musical Inspiration
Ahmer Naqvi, the ex COO at Patari, not only shed light on his take about the situation but also offered awe-inspiring words of wisdom regarding life in general. The 30 minutes telephonic call was no less than a Ted-Talk and our team savoured every second of it. His voice dipped in pondering reminiscence and his words in deep nostalgia, he recounted the initial years of his musical career and just how big an impact they had left on his personality. What we found really intriguing, however, was his complete denial of a musical inspiration. We found ourselves wondering, ‘Had this self made man never toyed with the idea of harbouring an ideal?’
Snakes!
We did not want to hiss off Ahmer Naqvi or to witness him slither out of the conversation (puns intended) so we asked him our favorite question:
How did you tackle with the snakes in your life?
This cracked him up a bit and he had to retrospect before answering. He firmly admitted that no one’s inherently evil and that we all undergo different phases in life. The reactions those phrases induce in us most definitely define who we are as humans. Ahmer Naqvi also ended up saying something immensely shady that aroused our curiosity. In a rather ominous way, he mentioned that it is not necessary for nefarious people to always meet doom. Those very same people might be considered spiritually ill but still achieve worldly honor and unlock achievements. Nevertheless, we failed to comprehend the dubious edge to his voice.
Patari Scandal
Imploring him to enlighten us on the Patari scenario, we found him to be quite guarded with his words. He firmly admitted that there was nothing wrong with Patari as an organization but that certain people had corroded its essence. He mentioned the massive fame of the “Me Too Movememt” and the impression it had left worldwide. He spoke of just how necessary it had been for Patari to demonstrate what it initially preached. He condemned the vile and misogynistic conduct of Khalid Bajwa and expressed the fact that he himself had not been hesitant in supporting any victims.
He proclaimed his disappointment over the way that events had turned out since Patari had previously been a very close knit platform and the split on the company after the allegations seemed sadly irredeemable.
He expressed his initial belief that he had thought Patari would eventually come out of this and reclaim its former glory but the sexual harassment charges against Bajwa coupled with the new people trickling in had changed the dynamics of the organization.
Ahmer Naqvi declared that the evacuation of Patari had not been an easy decision but also acknowledged that every decision comes with a consequence.
Hope for the Youth
“Everything you are going through is not going to matter in a couple of years.”
These were the words Ahmer Naqvi uttered as he addressed the youth of Pakistan. Passion laced in every word of his, he blatantly spoke of hope and optimism. He insisted rather fiercely:
“No matter what happens in your life, the sun is gonna shine out the next morning and you just gotta get out of bed and keep living.”
Thank you, Ahmer Naqvi, for your enlightening words. We are indebted to you for featuring as the unadorned voice of change.
Oh, how the mighty fall!
The fall of Patari from Pakistan’s very own version of Spotify and a top notch start up to a clean slate had been an amalgamation of many factors. Ahmer Naqvi had undoubtedly generated a massive optimist effect and his mere action had stimulated ripples of change in the uncertain situation.
Team Discover360 wishes him the very best of luck with his future endeavors!
