Pindiwal newspaper vendor in Paris

Greetings every one:

Every now and then I get emails about boy geniuses from Pakistan who are supposedly hired by the leading universities to solve global crisis. All such stories, and unfortunately without exception, prove to be garden variety BS.

I am, however, sharing with you a truly amazing story about Ali Akbar, a former resident of Rawalpindi, who left the country at 18. He is a street vendor selling newspapers in Paris. He is also an acclaimed author.

He is too much of a commoner to be respected and acknowledged by Pakistanis. But to me, he is the ultimate survivor and a very wise man. Ali Akbar is the Ahsan Danish of our times. I wish Pakistani media would at least acknowledge him.

Sincerely, Murtaza (in Athens (37.58.48 N, 23.45.20 E)

Ali's story in today's Financial Times: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/aec0c300-4b1f-11de-87c2-00144feabdc0.html

An earlier story from BBC in 2005: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4369879.stm

A brief on Ahsan Danish: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ihsan_Danish