Purity of intent, power of persistence

My Life, My Truth and My Journey, the memoir of Khawar Masud Butt, is more than a personal story. It is, in many ways, a case study of how values, vision, and persistence can turn around a struggling business and convert it into an enduring institution.

Butt takes the reader back to his Kashmiri roots and to the formative lessons of pakeezgi (purity of intent), discipline, and resilience. Alongside this grounding, he recalls his passion for cricket and classical music — not just as hobbies, but as experiences that sharpened instincts which later defined his leadership. Teamwork and strategy came from cricket; an ear for rhythm and pattern came from music. Both shaped the way he thought about markets, brands, and business.

One of the strongest parts of the book is the chapter describing the revival of English Biscuit Manufacturers (EBM) in the 1970s. In Pakistan’s corporate landscape, few brands are as deeply woven into daily life as EBM.

Butt shows how marketing creativity, operational discipline, and financial prudence combined to rescue the company at a time when survival looked uncertain. The now-iconic Pied Piper advertising campaign is remembered not just as clever marketing, but as a piece of cultural memory that became larger than the product itself.

Equally striking is his approach to people and institutions. He recalls replacing job titles with initials, a small act that helped dissolve hierarchy and brought managers and workers closer together. His belief in pakeezgi was not confined to production lines or advertising copy; it was a guiding principle that tied business success to moral responsibility.

This responsibility, as the book makes clear, extended beyond EBM. Butt writes of his commitment to building institutions, from strengthening boards and setting up systems for sustainable growth, to supporting education, healthcare, and the arts. He viewed business success as inseparable from giving back. His accounts of supporting schools, hospitals, and women’s empowerment initiatives underline how seriously he took that responsibility.

What makes the autobiography compelling is its authenticity. The story comes directly from lived experience, and readers will find practical lessons in brand-building, institution development, and socially responsible leadership. At the same time, the level of detail sometimes slows the pace. However, it stands as both a record of achievement and a guide for those seeking to understand how values and vision can shape enduring success.

On a personal note, I was touched by Khawar Masud Butt’s kind acknowledgment in his autobiography. During my own years at the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi, I emphasized preparing young entrepreneurs to enter corporate life with integrity and purpose. Butt’s support for the IBA endowment fund during that period was one expression of his belief in nurturing future generations, a theme that runs consistently through his story. Reading this autobiography, I found those same values mirrored in Butt’s journey: the conviction that business must rest on ethics, and that true leadership lies in building institutions that last.

My Life, My Truth and My Journey is both inspiration and blueprint. Entrepreneurs will see how innovation anchored in ethics can create enduring brands. Students of management will find in it a rare local case study in corporate turnaround and institution-building. General readers will discover a slice of Pakistan’s social and corporate history, told through the rise of a company that became a household name. Above all, it reminds us that enduring leadership is measured not only by commercial results, but by the institutions and values that continue long after the leader has stepped away.

Dr Ishrat Hussain is a former SBP governor, former dean of IBA and former advisor to the Prime Minister Minister

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