Successful Zahirians, Roshan Razik & Dilshad Jiffrey share their success stories on ‘Zahira Enable’

If you want to get inspired by the vast and dynamic industries of IT and Business — you have to converse with Roshan Razik and Dilshad Jiffrey. Roshan Razik and Dilshad Jiffrey gave their thoughts in the recent episode of ‘Zahira Enable’, in which they delved into their success stories to inspire the youth who are thriving to make a stamp on their own.‘Zahira Enable’ hosted a listen-only discussion, where its moderator, Aadhil Anan Mahroof asked the pair to comment on their success stories, what they experienced whilst their time in Zahira, and how they built up careers to have aspired.

Roshan Razik is the Head Of Technology Operations & Information Security at Pearson. He has always had a passion to work at Virtusa and ended up working there for some time. He joined Pearson nine years back in another two months, he will be completing 10 years of work there as the Head of Operations.

Sticking to IT is always a never-ending learning path, simply being acquainted with something and having years of experience will not do it. One has to keep updating their knowledge from time to time or else they shall be out of the industry in no time, Roshan Razik said.

Dilshad Jiffrey is the COO – Bristol Institute of Business Management Pvt Ltd & Managing Director – Icon Business School Pvt Ltd. One needs to possess the urge to learn especially learning what is out there in the business industry. Dilshad Jiffrey firstly worked in top blue-chip companies for about 15 years to come out and start building his career. It is not as easy as one assumes, one needs to be aware of the basics of business.

“For instance, let’s talk about buying a burger from Mcdonalds, we simply go and buy and leave but little do we know the Mammoth of work that runs in the back,” Dilshad Jiffrey said. Despite the lockdown, there are successful businesses, which solely depended on the owner’s knowledge and attitude to capture the market at the right moment with the right thing.

There is a huge difference between knowing and not knowing. It is as Roshan mentioned, learning a never-ending process that must go from cradle to grave. If one stops learning then they stop growing. If one wants to make a difference, one must be acquainted with what is happening in the market to keep their stamp. “It is not about what you but how you do it,” Dilshad Jiffrey added.

The moderator of the talk show, Aadhil Anan Mahroof remarked based on the two’s stories, “one needs to have the aspiration to learn and do what interests them and the other is to gain experience in the field of interest and decide whether to continue in the same field or make a change”.

Aadhil Anan, began questioning the pair, as to how Zahira contributed to their success stories?

Dilshad Jiffrey: Zahira provided me with a good education.  Even when there was a time where I didn’t have a teacher for Accounting, our Principal hired his son to teach us and there it shows the consistency Zahira kept going throughout. Furthermore being a Prefect there benefitted me a lot to exuberate my leadership and interpersonal skills. Zahira has given me the foundation, who I am today.

Roshan Razik: Zahira gave me two things, one being the blessing of being appointed as a prefect, which drove my fear for public speaking and second is the blessing to have friends at all levels of life, which also immensely helped me adapt to life.

The moderator Anan went on asking them to divulge their secrets of success?

Roshan Razik: In simples terms, it is my Perseverance. My persistency in every situation I have been through has kept me going. So my secret of success is to not give up and keep the show going no matter what the circumstance unfolds before you.

Dilshad Jiffrey: For me, it’s all about learning, keep learning and be updated with everything ongoing in the business industry. Also, hard work is another vital key for my success, keep putting your heart and soul into anything you do and success shall be your outcome.

“One has to work hard to be successful, success ain’t going to fall from the sky” commented the moderator of the show, Aadhil Anan.

Moving forward Anan questioned the two about the mistakes that shaped up their life story to be a success?

Dilshad Jiffrey: Always be vigilant and conscious of who you trust, because not always can one find a trustworthy person to be vulnerable with. Entrusting myself to people who were never truly honest was one of my biggest mistakes. Now I have made up for my mistakes. I am now aware of who I move with and choose my circle.

Roshan Razik: Than calling my dropdowns, mistakes or failures, I would rather call it a learning process instead. Exposure was one of the great drop downs I’ve faced but I always put myself out there, earned the experience and exposure, I wanted to make my name heard.

I have been pressured by my parents, friends, cousins among many others when it came to choosing my career path and at times I give in to them happy about my decision, but does his attitude and mindset of being emotionally driven while choosing one’s career path is right? Aadhil Anan asked.

Dilshad Jiffrey: Parents must also be educated on these matters when it comes to directing their child into a field of study or work. They often tend to mislead their child that might end up ruining their lives, so to avoid such a scenario, parents must have discussions and try to understand their children and their dreams and interests.

This is something our community lacks greatly. The proper understanding between parents and their children is lost in the present generation, which is something that needs to be fixed.

Roshan Razik: Adding to what Dilshad said about parents, who are the only two beings in this world who will never judge us. Apart from that, I believe we must try to figure out our strength and then pursue our careers. Simply having our friends choose something doesn’t mean we have to follow them unless we share the same passion.

In the present days, if one is not aware of what their strength is, but does have a passion, can simply turn that passion into their strength and that is a very vital element in the process of choosing a career path.

One hour of inspirational success stories from the two triumphant Roshan Razik and Dilshad Jiffrey, that rose from their silly mistakes to the grave drawbacks they had to face. However, no matter what and how much they went through, their consistency and the will to not give up has earned them the fame they now talk of proudly.

“Zahira Enable episodes have been very insightful and informative. What I learned from both the episodes are invaluable and I bore witness to three-fold of an audience compared to the first episode.”

–  Abdul Azeez

The third episode of ‘Zahira Enable’ is scheduled to be held on the 30th of June 2021 on Clubhouse from 06 PM onwards. This upcoming episode brings about two other old Zahirians who can’t wait to share their success stories. Catch the CEO of ALT X and the Associate Vice President of Business Lead at Digitas Sri Lanka, Kabeer Rafaideen and the Assistant General Manager of Sales & Marketing – FENTONS Limited, Niyas Mohamed Shiraz. 

– Listen to 2nd episode now.