IBA Through Generations: Story of the Saifi family
This is the story of three brothers: athletic, young and brimming with energy. Belonging to an engineering family, Anver Saifi, Akber Saifi and Nayyar Saifi were all set to take the same path. But things changed when they heard about the IBA Karachi from their friends. The three brothers set out to Karachi, leaving Islamabad to join IBA.
The late Anver Saifi, an alumnus of the MBA Class of 1978, was the first one to join. More than 10 family members have since followed him to IBA. They had heard amazing things about IBA and all of them proved to be true. Most of Anver's family including his brothers and cousins, joined him to pursue an education in the field of business administration. IBA became their home away from home.
We met with Akber Saifi, an alumnus of the MBA Class of 1981 and spoke to him about why IBA holds a special place in their hearts.
Akber reminisced about his days at the IBA; recalling memories that he made with his brothers and friends. They would often be at their house, working on projects or assignments, late-night studies, or just having chai sessions and playing games. There used to be tournaments for baseball, rugby, squash, and hockey; these sports events were a major factor creating very strong bonds. The three brothers were always a part of these tournaments, which helped them create many long-lasting relationships. "When we went into the professional world to build our careers, the alumni brotherhood helped us around"
Saifi truly cherishes his friends and alumni network because they truly took care of each other just like a real family.
"Punctuality pays off a lot" – Akber Saifi. The Saifi family agrees on one thing that IBA always emphasizes punctuality. Akber laughed as he told us that they had learned it the hard way after having to drop courses when they missed more than 5 classes. Nevertheless, they used to pull through with late-night sittings, submitting assignments at the teacher's house at even 11 p.m. and making sure to always be on time. "Consciously, we don't remember the theories but many of these skills were learnt unconsciously" – these skills have played a major role in their personal and professional lives.
IBA is still a memorable place for this family and they have been very generous and kind to their institute over the years, keeping in touch and helping IBA in providing quality education to deserving students. Recently, Anver's classmates at the IBA and his family have set up an Endowment Fund to honor Anver's memory and to financially support students who are unable to financially assist themselves.