Pechakucha – Fanning my cards

Hello there willing readers or people forced to read my post, I’m Zain, and in this post I bring you myself in 10 pictures. The reason the post’s title is fanning my cards is because by fanning my cards I’m showing all my cards – meaning everything about me.

 

In the game of billiards, you start off by hitting the striker into the balls shaped in a triangle formation – this is known as breaking the ice. Usually, when you break the ice the balls scatter across the table, thus creating many different opportunities for the opponent to pocket a ball. The idea of the balls being scattered across the table is paralleled to my perspective on life. You have many different opportunities in life that you either pass up or you seize. Furthermore, pool table is a game where you need to be very accurate and precise. By taking your time and easing into a shot you increase your chance of making the shot than blindly bashing the striker. Similarly, I prefer to take my time in what I am doing and ensure that whatever I’m doing is an accurate representation of my abilities.

 

A flock of birds are symbolic of one of the most important aspects of my life: Family. My family is my breath and they give me the support and motivation I need to succeed. Similar to birds, our family tries to stay as close together as we can; we always enjoy our time together rather than on our own. Birds have a strange formation which science has proven to be a useful method as it allows for the all of the birds to fly using less strength except for the bird in the front. I think of both my mom and dad as the birds in the front since they are always ensuring that we don’t have to do as much work even if it means they have to do more work.

 

 

Seat belts are symbols of safety. However, one has the choice to either put the seat belt on or to leave it off. I believe that for me personally, I choose to not wear the seat belt most of the time. Although there will be times where I play it safe and put the seat belt on I believe that life’s most important lessons are to be experienced rather than only heard of. By taking a leap of faith and putting yourself at risk, you are able to revitalize many senses that an individual does not usually learn from. Furthermore, since everyone is unique their understanding will be completely separate from yours, thus another person’s learning will not nearly be as useful as your own understandings.

 

I love Basketball! It’s a sport that I enjoy both recreationally as well as competitively. The game itself mainly involves teamwork and cooperation which I feel are one of the most important skills in this day and age since nowadays most people work with others. The sport has two main parts: offense and defense. In order to be a great player, you must be good at both which relates to my philosophy of being a well rounded person rather than a one-trick pony. Being multiskilled helps you to be a better person in more ways than just one thus I strive to be good at everything I can.

 

 

If you want to make a good impression on me just buy me a watch. I find watches to be crucial to my life not only because I like to know the time – even though I’m not very punctual – but because they give off an aura representing the person. Since there is an endless amount of designs and types of watches the watch someone wears tells quite a bit about the person. Some people prefer classy watches that aren’t too shiny, while others want theirs to shine brighter than the sun. Watches are a part of my identity and they represent who I am. This watch also represents a quote by Muhammad Ali I try to live by, ” Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” This quote essentially just reminds me to make use of my opportunities do the best I can in everything.

 

This image of a ball of fire in ice is used to symbolize my personality. Most people say that I am usually monotone and border-line angry. I don’t disagree. I am cold on the outside, but warm on the inside. In other words, the first time I meet people I am not usually too friendly – not to say that I’m rude – but I don’t give more time than I have too. After people get to know me better and I get to know them better, then I start to open up and thus I become warmer and more friendly.

 

 

 

 

 

Fire is used to symbolize the common theme of passion. Although I am not usually a very passionate person, I can become quite passionate if something gets me going, similar to the kindling used to start a fire. Usually though, when I get passionate I tend to get heated – meaning that I might start arguing and won’t back down.

 

 

 

The flag of Pakistan is used to symbolize my identity as a Pakistani. My parents are both born and raised in Pakistan which makes my connection with the country much stronger. Furthermore, most of my extended family is in Pakistan, so I go back quite a bit to spend time with all my family there. Being a Pakistani in Canada also has opened up my opportunities in the community of Pakistani Canadians which is a community I am proud to be a part of.

 

 

A deck of cards represents the theme of versatility. I have spoken about this before that I strive to be well rounded or very versatile. Every card in a deck of cards is important. without one the deck is incomplete. Similarly, if you take out a piece of myself you are getting an incomplete vision of me. In other words, I feel that in order to truly understand and get to know someone  you need to know not only their greatest achievements and accomplishments, but also their greatest downfalls and failures.

 

 

Religion is key in my life as most of my actions are dependent on my Muslim religion. Additionally, I find that many of the mandatory rituals of a Muslim teach valuable lessons in the real world such as praying everyday. By praying everyday I learn to be grateful for what I’m given. Also, I learn to be humble because I believe that god has given me everything and so god can also take it all away. All in all my life, in essence, revolves around Islam.

 

 

 

Citations (Images):

https://www.hsn.com/products/trademark-games-mini-table-top-pool-table/6498540                                                  https://www.popsci.com/bird-fish-group-movement-mechanics/                                                       https://www.luxorlimo.com/blog/2015/11/24/do-limos-have-seat-belts                                                                https://www.amazon.ca/Spalding-Official-Game-Ball-Basketball/dp/B00178UAP4
https://www.laco-watches.com/en/watches/pilot-watch-original
https://www.pbase.com/mad_monte1/image/148312239
https://www.mymuskokanow.com/89025/suspicious-fire-in-huntsville-under-investigation/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Pakistan
https://www.thoughtco.com/standard-deck-of-cards-3126599
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%BCrkmenba%C5%9Fy_Ruhy_Mosque

 

 

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

4 thoughts on “Pechakucha – Fanning my cards

  1. Dear Zain,

    First off, although yes I was forced to read this post, I can say it was definitely worth it. I am grateful for having gotten you in our family group because you seem capable of so much. What’s interesting is that although you somewhat resemble Muhammad, you are an entirely different person with a really outgoing personality. Alright, now getting to the actual post.

    I loved the detail you gave with each picture – something I stylistically didn’t do – and it really gave me more of an insight on who you are. There was a common theme of taking opportunities which are given to you and not being afraid of taking risks, and these qualities are, like you said, essential to truly experience life. Hopefully, you are able to hold on to these values and cherish them as the years go by. There is great symbolism in each of your images, like the ball of fire in ice, which gave us a better sense of who you are.

    For recommendations, honestly this Pechakucha was really well done, so the only piece of advice I could give you is to add more specific experiences from your own life to each of the images. I feel like you did an amazing job symbolically with these images, but it would add so much more if you added some event you experienced which related to the image itself.

    All in all, I can’t wait to spend this next semester working with you and Tony. It’s going to be a great year, and I can’t wait to see your growth. Also, I would have definitely gotten you a watch, but I am quite broke.

    Sincerely,
    Abhay

    1. Dear Abhay,

      Thanks so much for the comments. Coming from you it truly does mean a lot. I agree that perhaps adding personal experiences may help. Overall I am extremely excited for this semester with you and Tony.

      Sincerely,
      Zain

  2. Dear Zain;

    A little late, but I got here eventually. I feel that I learned more about you from this piece, and I enjoyed doing so, as you are quite an interesting individual. The uniqueness of your images kept me engaged with your writing; I always wanted to see the explanation given with the picture. We share a liking for watches, by the way, though I imagine your collection is much more extensive than my own.

    My only suggestion would be similar to Abhay’s. Though I really learned about you, I would have liked to learn a little more. Other than that, however, I have no critiques. As far as I could tell, your writing is consistent and practically error-free. I am excited to get to know you more as the semester progresses, and to see more writing from you.

    Sincerely,
    Tony

    1. Dear Tony,

      Don’t worry about it being late. I really appreciate that you enjoyed my piece, especially how my images kept you engaged since that was the point of making every image unique. Perhaps adding some more personal details would have been useful and could have given more about myself. All in all, I look forward to this semester.

      Sincerely,
      Zain

Leave a Reply to Chimerical Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *