Finally got a chance to share some thoughts on the new year

how are you doing?

Listen to the #urdupodcast 

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آپ کی رائے بہت اہم ہے اور ہمارے آگے بڑھنے کے لئے بہت ضروری ہے

ہمارے فیس بک پیج پر جانے کے لئے یہاں کلک کیجیئے

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podcast description: To leave a voice message, click here

اپنی آواز میں پیغام دینے کے لئے یہاں کلک کیجیئے

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ہماری پاڈ کاسٹ کو ریٹ کرنے کے لئے یہاں پر کلک کیجیئے

We are starting off 2022 with this iconic book review written by Gavin De Becker

This book has a wealth of information on how to recognize the danger signals that are meant to protect you. This instinct is a gift that we must learn to appreciate and use in our daily life.

Listen to the #urdupodcast

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Your support lets us know that we should keep doing more

آپ کی رائے بہت اہم ہے اور ہمارے آگے بڑھنے کے لئے بہت ضروری ہے

ہمارے فیس بک پیج پر جانے کے لئے یہاں کلک کیجیئے

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اپنی آواز میں پیغام دینے کے لئے یہاں کلک کیجیئے

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ہماری پاڈ کاسٹ کو ریٹ کرنے کے لئے یہاں پر کلک کیجیئے

Join us as we discuss the first book in the series Firdaus and friends. Dr. Sara Alavi started it with the book, Firdaus Learns about the Heart. She wrote it especially for young Muslims so we can make science more interesting for them to learn.

Representation matters!

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You can find her on Instagram @firdausandfriends

To buy the book in the US click here

We love to hear from you!

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What makes some people successful and not others?

Do you have to be born lucky or smart or a combination of both?

Or is it a matter of being born with the right connections?

This very popular book dives into these questions and the author has some very insightful theories that he discusses.

Join us in this Urdu Pun Urdu podcast where we discuss the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Sumbul and I really enjoyed this review and we also have some personal insights to add.

You can find the book here on Amazon

Please rate our podcast (Apple users click here)

Send us an email on urdupun@gmail.com

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Did you know that Pakistan is amongst the top twenty countries with the highest illiteracy rate?

The Citizens Foundation is a non-profit trying to bring quality education to underprivileged kids in Pakistan.

I had the pleasure of talking to Marisa who is working as a Baghban member to raise funds for five classrooms for a year.

To donate: click here (for the campaign)

I also have a detailed blog post talking about the work of the citizens foundation and the other ways you can contribute.

Click to read the blog post

Meet the author and illustrator of the beautiful book Alif Se Urdu

Sarah Hashmi is a Pakistani-Canadian author with a Degree from NCA. She is passionate about creating good-quality Urdu books for children in Pakistani families.

In this episode we talked about Urdu books and why is it so hard to find good ones?

Listen to this episode to find out how she was able to publish.

You can check out her beautiful book at the link below

Buy the book Alif Se Urdu (Amazon link)

Please rate and review this episode to help us create more Urdu content

If you have a question or comment or would like to be featured in an episode, send us an email or voice message at: urdupun@gmail.com

اگر آپ ہمیں کوئی پیغام دینا چاہتے ہیں تو ہمیں اس پتے پر ایی میل کیجیئے

urdupun@gmail.com

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اپنی آواز میں پیغام دینا چاہیں تو یہاں پر کلک کیجیئے

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پاڈکاسٹ کو ریٹ کرنے کے لیئے یہاں پر کلک کیجیئے

This is an exciting episode for Urdu Pun

Allama Iqbal is considered one of the greatest philosophers and thinkers born in the subcontinent. His concept of self or خودی is widely known but I doubt it is understood well.

I wanted to engage in a discussion to understand what it means and how it is still very much relevant to our society today.

So I invited someone who I consider to be an expert given her history as a teacher and student of Urdu in Pakistan.

That is my mother Mrs. Rukhsana.

I thoroughly enjoyed this discussion and I hope you share your thoughts with us as well

Link to the translation of Israr-e-khudi by Professor Nicholson

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July and August have been hectic with a move. This month we are talking about the book, Give and Take by Adam Grant.

Are you a loser for sharing or giving your time, resources, etc to those who need them? This book answers this question with a lot of research and concrete examples to follow.

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We are excited to bring you the review of the world-famous Marie Kondo book that talks about the importance of finding Joy in your belongings.

Sumbul and I talked about our experience of reading the book and applying some of the principles that it talks about.

You can buy the book here

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Timestamps

00:00:36 Introduction to tidying up

00:01:52 Sumbul introduces her impression of the book

00:02:40 Author's background in tidying up

00:03:40 What is the difference between cleaning and tidying

00:05:20 The five categories of tidying up

00:05:50 Sumbul talks about the show based on the book

00:08:01 Sumbul's disagreement with the philosophy

00:08:55 How you identify Joy

00:10:01 the five categories in order

00:12:30 Identifying the purpose of things in your life

00:14:30 How to stack things in drawers

00:18:13 Organizing space to compact storage

00:19:00 Spiritual aspect of maintaining your things

00:21:40 How Sumbul's daughter repurposed the extra space

00:24:50 Book category

00:26:40 How to bid farewell to your items

00:30:00 Sumbul and I differ on books

00:33:22 Sumbul share a hack for tackling paper

00:35:33 Repurpose your storage

00:38:10 Handling coins Kumono

00:42:07 Repurposing things that bring you joy

00:47:00 Avoid doing this if you are not sure

00:52:50 Difference in outlook

00:55:50 Practical experience after tidying

00:58:32 How to bid farewell to things that no longer spark joy

01:00:57 The youngest convert of Kon Marie method

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*timestamps below*

Read the blog post

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Stepping into motherhood brings several challenges for new moms.

Breastfeeding is one of them.

After my personal experience, I realized that the process of establishing a healthy breastfeeding relationship is poorly understood.

Even as a physician, I felt myself struggling a lot.

In this series of Podcast episodes, I will be discussing common breastfeeding problems that mothers face.

Dr. Zahra Kamal is an IBCLC certified Lactation Consultant (very few of them are around in Pakistan) In addition, she is also a child specialist (Board-certified Pediatrician) and has very valuable insights

Link to the blog post

Timestamps:

2:30 Dr. Kamal discusses what made her decide on becoming a Lactation Consultant

3:45 I discuss my personal experience with a lactation consultant

6:50 Dr. Kamal talks about the common concerns new mothers have

8:10 She talks about the effects breastfeeding has on both the mother and child's health

12:20 Mother's health while breastfeeding

17:10 What is important in the first few days

28:15 Saving the milk to feed later

34:10 Should it hurt?

42:30 Positions to try for improving latching

If you have a question or comment or would like to be featured in an episode, send us an email or voice message urdupun@gmail.com

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We hear Ego is not good but do you know what it means to have an Ego?

This month, we dive deep into what the Author Ryan Holiday considers our biggest enemy: our Ego!

Link to Amazon: Buy Ego is the enemy

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Timestamps of our discussion

00:40 Sumbul talks about the book

01:00 Sumbul explains why she chose this book Ego is the Enemy

02:00 Author Ryan Holiday's background

03:30 Sumbul introduces the book

05:50 To be or to do

07:32 Sumbul explains how we become victims of ego

08:50 Why you should not be passionate

11:50 Become a student

13:00 How achieving means your work has just started

15:50 What makes networking important

16:56 Sumbul recaps Adam Grant's book Give and Take

22:10 How ego feds paranoia

23:20 Euthymia

25:50 Ego changes with your status

26:30 Attitude of people in Pakistan in authority

29:30 Sumbul shares her experience of people with ego

30:44 How Angela Markel has an ego defying personality

33:17 Ego's role in our failure

36:50 Sumbul gives an example of control over Ego

37:40 Story of Katharine Graham from Washington Post

40:40 How Malcolm X used jail time as alive time

42:45 How our Prophet wanted us to learn

43:50 You need to maintain your own scorecard

44:00 You have to compete with yourself

46:35 How you should choose love over hate

47:10 Choosing love as an immigrant

49:00 Sumbul's difference in opinion

52:55 Sumbul's rating and final thoughts

54:06 My rating and final thoughts

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آج کی قسط کا موضوع آپ کو کافی دلچسپ لگے گا

امید ہے کہانی پسند آئے گی

آخر ڈیڑھ اینٹ کی مسجد ہوتی کیا چیز ہے؟

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I had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Injilah Wajih for my podcast. She is a Pakistani Canadian Children's book author. She is also a passionate Montessori teacher and loves kids.

Her books are available through this link for purchase

Montessori as a parent article on my website

Links mentioned in the podcast are below:

AMI diploma course (One year from Pakistan) 

Facebook group for Muslim women Authors 

If you have a question or comment or would like to be featured in an episode, send us an email or voice message urdupun@gmail.com

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Timestamps:

00:35 Introduction to Ms. Injilah Wajih

01:28 Ms. Injilah tell us about herself

03:00 She talks about her mother's teaching experience

04:00 Montessori Diploma course in Pakistan

06:15 How teaching in Canada leads to more sense of ownership

07:20 What made her choose Montessori

10:10 How Pakistanis in Canada miss the culture and language

11:25 How being Pakistani Montessori teacher helped her students

13:00 About her facebook storytime experience

14:38 Her inspiration for writing a Pakistani themed book for Children

17:00 Her friend encouraged her to publish

21:38 She talks about the Pakistan elements in the book

24:00 What is the process of self publishing like in Canada

27:38 She talks about Aao Eid Manain

29:40 Her experience with teaching Urdu to her daughter

35:10 How people of other ethnicities like to speak their laguage

38:10 How you can find the inspiration to start your author journey

43:10 Montessori and real life

45:10 How older children help in Montessori

47:00 Montessori tips for lockdown with children

51:10 Translating Good Morning song into Urdu

55:40 our closing remarks about the book

If you have a question or comment or would like to be featured in an episode, send us an email or voice message urdupun@gmail.com

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This is the second part of the Atomic Habits book review in Urdu.

We talk about

• the steps in creating a habit,
• how to maintain a good habit
• and how to stop bad habits from coming back
• Plus Sumbul shares how the book has transformed her day-to-day work.

To listen to part 1, click here.

I mentioned a habit tracker in this episode. You can use it to keep a record of your new habit.

Click here to get the habit tracker download for free.

اگر آپ ہمارے لئے کوئی پیغام یا رائے ریکارڈ کروانا چاہتے ہیں تو یہاں پر کلک کریں اور بٹن دبا کر میسج بھیجیں۔

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*scroll down for timestamps*

This month's book is all about the principles of making or breaking a habit. It is called Atomic Habits by James Clear.

This bestseller book has a huge following precisely because of its no-nonsense approach to practical and actionable advice on habit formation.

The second part will be out next week.

Click here for the link to buy the book

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Timestamps

01:00 Introduction to the book

02:00 Sumbul's impression about the book

04:00 Concept of getting better by 1% and how to achieve it

06:00 Control your environment

07:25 How tiny changes can make a big difference

09:15 The book's impact on my journey

11:10 Making the habit of blogging

13:01 How habits help you improve your brain's decision making power

15:40 How Sumbul used a simple habit to automate meal planning

21:00 planning a system to create a habit as a parent

23:15 The four principles of habit formation cue, craving, react, reward

25:30 Sumbul's cue for making time to be more efficient

28:00 Stacking your habit with an existing habit helps you stick to it

33:00 Unloading your thoughts in a productive way

34:30: Avoiding temptation to maintain your habit

36:00 How Sumbul created a positive association with Ramzan

38:20 Choosing your circle of people

40:00 Habits shape our identity

42:38 How to make a habit easy

43:51 The two minutes rule

47:00 Making the habit to start making small changes

50:18 What happens when you miss

52:00 How habits make identity easy for the kids

55:55 Rating of the book

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Today's episode is a short one but means so much to me.

This episode marks the 14th podcast episode.

Most podcasts die before 13 episodes so this one is extra special.

I wanted to talk about the journey that got me here.

Dhaara is Urdu for stream

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We have a special guest for this episode.

Faiza is a children's book Author

Her book 'aik kala billa' is available for purchase through this link

She has a great vision to create libraries in Pakistan for children.

Her story is truly amazing and you will really enjoy hearing about it in this fun interview

Timestamps are at the bottom

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Timestamps:

0:00:44 Introduction

0:02:00 Faiza's introduction

0:03:40 Faiza's personal background

0:05:00 Our experiences being different

0:06:50 My experience as a Doctor in America

0:08:45 Perception about our English as immigrants

0:09:30 Faiza's Nani's interesting story

0:11:47 Our own prejudices

0:14:50 How her children are experiencing being multicultural

0:19:00 Grapes and learning

0:20:50 How she came up with the book

0:24:20 How Faiza demonstrated her growth mindset

0:27:10 How books can be a medium of change

0:29:40 My experience with languages in California

0:31:10 How language shapes our children's identity

0:33:35 How we can break the cycle of desi steroetypes

0:36:00 The sad event in Atlanta

0:37:40 My experience with the Manzanar WW2 internment site

0:41:00 What leads to so many hate crimes

0:44:10 What can we do to counter hate

0:47:33 How we have so much in common

0:50:55 Military advertisement story

0:53:40 How we sought to be together during evolution

0:58:20 The library experience in Pakistan and abroad

1:03:30 The venture in Skardu

1:04:00 How sanitation products led to the idea

1:07:49 Bilingual story-time

1:10:55 How Children's books are incredibly important

1:13:45 Closing remarks about Aik Kala Billa

Have you wondered about the concepts of herd immunity?

Today's episode is about a sad reality around us.

The pandemic is not as strong as a year ago but Pakistan is suffering so much. A big part is the thinking we all have developed over time.

This episode is on how our actions can save lives or risk them.

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The second book of the book review series was selected by Sumbul and I cannot wait for you to hear about it.

If you have not heard the first book review episode click here to listen

Mindset was written by Carol Dweck, who is a renowned American Psychologist. She has worked extensively to find out what is it that makes some people become more successful than others.

The answer lies in the mind.

You can buy the book from this link

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Episode time stamps

[00:00] - Intro

[01:00] - Sumbul introduces the book

[01:40] - Mindset in Urdu

[03:12] - Author Carol Dweck's introduction

[04:40] - How Sumbul was able to reflect on her own experience

[05:30] - The main difference between the two mindsets

[07:00] - How mainstream media portrays success

[10:00] - How Mindset and identity clash

[11:50] - Sumbul shares how you can use your mindset in your favor

[15:30] - How did people with a growth mindset work

[18:20] - What mindset does to failure

[19:00] - What is false growth mindset

[20:25] - How being a girl or a boy affects your midset

[22:10] - Link between IQ test and intelligence

[23:10] - How mindset affects the relationship between partners

[26:10] - Conflict resolution and mindset

[29:05] - Language learning and mindset

[32:00] - Using mindset as a parent to guide children

[38:05] - How you can implement this book

[41:30] - Changing your own mindset

[43:05] - Rating

[44:20] - Final remarks

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Opportunity cost: an economic term or our everyday reality

Did you think about the cost of having it all?

Is it even possible?

What if that concept is deeply flawed?

That is the subject of this episode

There is a concept of Opportunity Cost at play almost every single moment in our life

Women are disproportionately affected by it

This Urdu podcast is about how we can explore it and learn from it

Link to the article mentioned: click here to read

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