Harun Rabbani's portfolio

When I think about my own childhood and the memories of my own acheivement, my father had an approach to praise that used to baffle me. He would never outwardly demonstrate his pleasure about any of my acheivements, whether it be academic, vocational or as a sporting champion. So we never celebrated any of my results. The outcome of this was that in years to come, I never told my parents about my many achievements and the goals I'd reached. This included the hundreds of Martial Arts competitions I fought it in or the many little successes I enjoyed. The contrast between the relationship between my father and me and that between my children and myself is as stark as you can get. As a child, the communication between my father and I w...

Do we really believe the children are our future? Really?!! How much do we really value the lives of our children? Here's a few stats on just childhood deaths that I find heart-breaking.  Around the world, 27–30,000 children die every day. That is equivalent to:  One child dying every 3 seconds Twenty children dying every minute A 2004 Asian-type Tsunami occurring almost every week An Iraq-scale death toll every 15–35 days Ten to eleven million children dying every year Over 50 million children dying between 2000 and 2005 Isn't is it so easy to shrug our shoulders and assume everything's OK because, "Hey, I'm doing OK as a dad or mum. Why should I change things?" Maybe, you don't even have any ...

We're all superheroes pretending to be ordinary people. Don't believe me? Ask a child who they’d like to be when they grow up and they’ll give you a whole host of answers. A fireman, a police, a doctor, a nurse, in the non-PC days - a cowboy or Red Indian, a pilot, an inspirational speaker and business person.  So how come these people are the usual suspects that crop up for children? Because they're all superheroes saving and helping others. Think about it. What was your earliest memory? Who did you want to be when you grew up? I know I wanted to be like the all-action Bollywood hero, Amitabh Bachchan. He was my superhero. I also liked the Bionic Woman…but that was for another reason! As kids, we want to emulate our superhero...

Growing up in rural Bangladesh is no mean feat even today. This was especially the case in the 1940's at the time when the British left a devastated India, where our little hero started his journey. Our hero was the youngest of three sons. He also had two younger sisters of 6 months and 3 years of age. At around the age of 8, both his parents - an elderly father and an ill mother - died quite suddenly. This left the young children in shock and completely displaced. Growing up with family in that era was tough enough. Being an orphan was traumatising for our hero. His only immediate family were two older brothers of 10 and 12 years of age and the two younger sisters. Every day was survival. At moments, he was being cared for and nur...