TPR Pod

Finally putting out the first of two excellent episodes I'd been wanting to record for a long time. This one is with baker extraordinaire and former fine dining restauranteur Zoya Marri! Something we'd been trying to make happen for over a year. Dive in, its a great one.   

Many thanks to brother Kazi without whom this episode wouldn't have been possible.  

Things discussed in this episode:  

00:00 Intro and why we’re talking to her

03:10 What is happening with her restaurant Thyme currently

05:40 Young Zoya wasn’t into cooking! She was teaching dyslexic children

13:02 How she first got into baking back in 2008/09

19:47 Getting married and her in-laws’ love for food infecting her too

24:37 She gets back into baking, her banana bread is immensely popular

28:35 Interlude on Facebook food-groups and how perhaps NOT to run a business

30:24 Her baking plans grow, the family encourages her to take the next steps

32:43 Chaotic interlude as a surprise guest joins

33:25 Back to talking about her first physical venture, and her in-laws’ honest feedback

38:38 How they were approached to join the original Thyme

41:32 How Zoya had to change if she wanted her restaurant to be done right

45:50 Learning how a restaurant works, going perhaps a bit overboard with the design

50:42 The restaurant launches, gets off to a tough start

55:05 “If you don’t like the food, you don’t pay”

58:32 Bakery clientele vs upscale restaurant clientele - DISCOUNT LOVERS

1:03:43 Social media food groups and people who love to tear you down

1:11:14 Zoya’s no-compromise approach to using only the best ingredients

1:21:49 How the 2020 floods, COVID and daily toll lead to Thyme being closed

1:29:28 Lessons learned and how the restaurant changed them

1:35:57 Would she open another restaurant? How about a bakery?

1:39:09 What advice would she have for newcomers to the business

1:42:41 An outro full of catchphrases! 

LINKS: 

Zoya's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoyamarri/ 

Aurry's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aurrym/ 

Kazi's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaziakber/  

Support the podcast by becoming a monthly patron on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/tprpod) or send a one-off token on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/tprpod)!   Find all our previous episodes on SoundCloud, Spotify & Apple Podcasts and follow us all on Twitter! Links to everything below!  SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tprpod Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PvTahp... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tprpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TPRPod  Ali: https://twitter.com/themaholupper Rizwan: https://twitter.com/RizwanTakkhar Sarkhail: https://twitter.com/Sarkhail7Khan

The March'23 Hamnawa Select playlist is out and so is this month's Roundup!

Things discussed in this episode:

00:00 Quick intro

03:59 There is no merit-based argument that can justify ignoring the Young Stunners Universe

08:13 Talha Anjum’s album Open Letter - a statement piece and a perhaps a bookend

11:35 Talha Anjum’s album Open Letter - talking about some of the standout themes

15:23 4U and The Duality of Ma(a)n(u)

20:48 Chief Saab is back again!

22:43 Daniyaal Ahmed - finding traditional sources and histories of music and bringing them into today’s work

26:41 Spotify 2 year anniversary stats! Biggest local vs global artists listened to! City favourites & more!

34:08 Outro

LINKS:

Hamnawa's Mar'23 Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/23KN73gGGNR5uoiRzi6eja

Hamnawa's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hamnawa_net/  

Support the podcast by becoming a monthly patron on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/tprpod) or send a one-off token on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/tprpod)!   Find all our previous episodes on SoundCloud, Spotify & Apple Podcasts and follow us all on Twitter! Links to everything below!  SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tprpod Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PvTahp... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tprpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TPRPod  Ali: https://twitter.com/themaholupper Rizwan: https://twitter.com/RizwanTakkhar Sarkhail: https://twitter.com/Sarkhail7Khan

Khizra Munir is finally on the show! She's somebody I'd been meaning to speak to years and we'd been failing to coordinate but now its up! She's been in ads/brands space for many years so obviously I wanted to get her views on how the industry has changed in front of her, get some content creator perspectives from the other side, and also talk about a whole lot more. Great chat, lots of silliness.   

Things discussed in this episode:  

00:00 Intro and why is Khizra here and what is her job 

04:57 Growing up in Lahore, going to a rich person school without actually being rich 

10:16 Moving to Karachi, getting through Indus Valley  

16:03 Writing a popular blog lands her a job at one of the biggest ad agencies in Pakistan 

21:14 Going to India, how internet changed the industry, leaving Interflow and trying new things 

29:03 All about Sattarbuksh! How the idea came around, what she did, going viral regularly 

35:21 How was Khizra good at marketing/brand work on the internet from the very start? 

39:04 How the branding scene shifted fully to content creators, and how they’re not all the same 

45:49 Working with big creators vs up & coming, Instagram vs TikTok 

51:09 She started her own podcast! Why? Why are podcasts becoming more acceptable? 

57:53 Khizra has many cats and some dogs too and this is totally fine and normal 

1:01:09 Sudden interlude to talk about her getting her Masters in the UK and working at a restaurant 

1:05:00 Back to talking about her podcast! What’s the aim, what’s the name, WHY is the name 

1:11:04 Nihari Jinn story! 

1:16:52 Outro  

LINKS: 

Her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/khizm/ 

Her Twitter: https://twitter.com/KhizM 

Her new podcast!: https://www.youtube.com/@sisterplzofficial  

Support the podcast by becoming a monthly patron on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/tprpod) or send a one-off token on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/tprpod)!   Find all our previous episodes on SoundCloud, Spotify & Apple Podcasts and follow us all on Twitter! Links to everything below!  SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tprpod Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PvTahp... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tprpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TPRPod  Ali: https://twitter.com/themaholupper Rizwan: https://twitter.com/RizwanTakkhar Sarkhail: https://twitter.com/Sarkhail7Khan

Albab got in touch with us asking if he could come on the pod to promote a wholeass anime convention him and some of his college mates are putting together. Being big fans of young people doing cool stuff and following their hobbies, we said yes!  

Things discussed in this episode:  

00:00 Intro 

01:07 Why is Albab here & details on when the event is happening 

01:46 How and why he got the idea of organizing an anime convention 

04:43 Their target and goals for this year’s event 

08:24 A list of all the ELEVEN sub-events that they’ll be organizing 

12:45 Where to find more info and how to get tickets! 

15:23 Plans for the future and closing messages  

LINKS: 

Tickets: https://tajop.com/anicon/

Anicon's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anicon.ftcs/ 

Support the podcast by becoming a monthly patron on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/tprpod) or send a one-off token on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/tprpod)!   Find all our previous episodes on SoundCloud, Spotify & Apple Podcasts and follow us all on Twitter! Links to everything below!  SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tprpodSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PvTahp... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tprpod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TPRPod Ali: https://twitter.com/themaholupperRizwan: https://twitter.com/RizwanTakkharSarkhail: https://twitter.com/Sarkhail7Khan

The Hamnawa collabs are back with their February 2023 Select playlist! New year , new songs, new discussions!  

Things discussed in this episode:  

00:00 Non-Karachi people must not listen to “Vibe Ay Karachi” 

02:45 Songs Zeerak is listening to vs songs that “should” be on the playlist 

05:25 Durshal by Zahoor - this guy is just consistently interesting 

12:17 Jadu by Towers & Talal Qureshi - their unique sound and Lahore vs Karachi hiphop 

19:23 Quick interlude on relatively new artists already influencing others’ sound 

20:48 Ghazab Kiya by Ali Sethi - how he is bridging the past and present 

25:55 Ali Sethi’s current endeavours vs the “fusion” vibes of the early 00’s 

28:39 Kab Tak by Shahreh & Umair, how industry bigwigs are ignorant of grassroots stars 

32:38 Vibe Ay Karachi by DJ Abdur, Eva B, Munab Manay, Mr Mani 

35:41 Outro and some future episode plans  

LINKS: 

Hamnawa's Feb'23 Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4txtcPJ9dRQ6qztriZOPiR?si=192ec3eb4be44038 

Hamnawa's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hamnawa_net/  

Support the podcast by becoming a monthly patron on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/tprpod) or send a one-off token on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/tprpod)!   Find all our previous episodes on SoundCloud, Spotify & Apple Podcasts and follow us all on Twitter! Links to everything below!  SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tprpod Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PvTahp... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tprpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TPRPod  Ali: https://twitter.com/themaholupper Rizwan: https://twitter.com/RizwanTakkhar Sarkhail: https://twitter.com/Sarkhail7Khan

Zeerak is here too in the remaining half of a long chat we had with pod177 being about Pakistani music and this being about his project to revolutionize the Urdu typing experience on smart devices using his keyboard app Matnsaz! An app that quite recently also was launched finally after years of work!   

Things discussed in this episode:  

00:00 Intro 

02:08 Matnsaz - What was the keyboard idea - quick pitch! 

05:17 Why this would not have been possible before the age of software 

10:44 How was the layout decided?  

15:29 East Asian vs Latin vs Arabic, written letters vs picture-based languages! 

19:12 How was the app rollout? Beta testers, new bugs, users in unexpected regions! 

24:45 What are the next steps for the keyboard and rollout? - Supercharging the autocorrect 

31:40 Does the autocorrect library include slang? SWEAR WORDS??? Android release when? 

35:50 People want their names added to the dictionary!  

LINKS: 

Zeerak's Twitter: https://twitter.com/zeerakahmed

Matnsaz's Twitter: https://twitter.com/matnsaz

Matnsaz's website: https://matnsaz.net/

Matnsaz on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/matnsaz/id1380747860 

Support the podcast by becoming a monthly patron on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/tprpod) or send a one-off token on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/tprpod)!   Find all our previous episodes on SoundCloud, Spotify & Apple Podcasts and follow us all on Twitter! Links to everything below!  SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tprpodSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PvTahp... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tprpod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TPRPod Ali: https://twitter.com/themaholupperRizwan: https://twitter.com/RizwanTakkharSarkhail: https://twitter.com/Sarkhail7Khan

Zeerak of Hamnawa fame with whom we've done several Roundup episodes on Pakistan music returns to talk about how 2022 was as a year for Pakistani music as a whole. Gains, losses, NUMBERS this has it all.  

Things discussed in this episode:  

00:00 Intro 

01:50 Hamnawa - how did it do in 2022? 

03:53 How does he feel Pakistani music did in 2022? - growing artists, Coke Studio not alone in charts, rise of Spotify

08:07 Brief revisit of the generations of Pakistani pop music 

10:48 The role of Coke Studio has changed 

15:38 Top 3 songs and artists of the year! Audience submissions! 

22:23 BY THE NUMBERS: Which artists have grown the most in 2022? 

31:29 BY THE NUMBERS: Who are Pakistan’s BIGGEST artists at the end of 2022? 

40:28 BY THE NUMBERS: Do these numbers matter? Do artists/agencies even know about them? 

45:17 Outro  

LINKS: 

Hamnawa Substack: https://hamnawa.net/

Hamnawa Twitter: https://twitter.com/hamnawa_net

Hamnawa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hamnawa_net/ 

Support the podcast by becoming a monthly patron on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/tprpod) or send a one-off token on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/tprpod)!   Find all our previous episodes on SoundCloud, Spotify & Apple Podcasts and follow us all on Twitter! Links to everything below!  SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tprpodSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PvTahp... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tprpod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TPRPod Ali: https://twitter.com/themaholupperRizwan: https://twitter.com/RizwanTakkharSarkhail: https://twitter.com/Sarkhail7Khan