Book relating story of a real plane crash offers introspection, self-discovery to writer as well as audience
Unlike other book launches, the launching ceremony of the book ‘Seat 1C: A Survivor’s Tale of Hope, Resilience, and Renewal’ on Tuesday turned out to be a personal journey for each one in the jam-packed hall of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) as they identified themselves with the author, Zafar Masud who had survived the deadly Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) PK-8303 crash in Karachi some five years back, (May 22, 2020) that claimed 98 lives.
Zafar Masud, CEO of the Bank of Punjab (BoP) is in fact one of the two survivors (the other one a Karachiite and an engineer by profession) and shared with the audience how he felt, thought, discovered and introspected just moments before the crash and afterwards.
The audience included some of the notable figures of the town, diplomats including the UK High Commissioner Ms Jane Marriott, former Foreign Minister Inamul Haq, former Minister for Health, Dr Zafar Mirza, youths, students, members of academia, policy researchers and of course a large number of Masud’s colleagues in different banks and family members.
Zafar Masud recalls in 224-page book how excited he was having completed six weeks at the helm of the Bank of Punjab as its CEO and returning to Karachi, to see his father Munawar Saeed the celebrated TV artist, mother and other family members.
It was the last Friday of the Holy Ramadan and the day has a special significance for the Muslims announcing arrival of Eid and festivities.
Zafar’s survival is indeed a miracle as he changed his seat from 1A (window side) to 1C (aisle) just in time before the departure of the special flight the PIA had offered in view of the increasing number of passengers rushing back to Karachi to celebrate Eid.
In the book published by the Lightstone Publishers, he urges the readers not to read the book as ‘self-help book’ nor a prescription of ‘dos and don’ts.’ On the contrary he says, “If this book succeeds in reducing your cynicism towards the world, even a tinge, it will have achieved its objective.”
The author further explained that the “30 seconds” before crash formed the starting point of the story.
The claim is that in these moments, people become aware of their lives and hold themselves accountable.
Earlier, the event was inaugurated by President IPRI, Lt.Gen (R) Majid Ehsan.The speaker panel featured Zafar Masud, Syeda Amna Hassan, and Dr.Khurram Ellahi Khan.
The event was moderated by Muhammad Shoaib.
Amna Hassan, who served as editor and researcher, discussed her contributions to the book, including organizing the content, refining the language, and collecting first-hand data.
