No, the story doesn’t start from ‘my calling,’ nor does it focus on the hard work to achieve this milestone; it is still underway and just a glimpse of the many layers and lives I have come across. But since I haven’t learned the grammar of LinkedIn yet, I will try to keep it short.
So, I never knew what I wanted to be when I was young, mainly because it was noisy, and things kept confusing me. At that time, the middle-class dreams of expats in Saudi Arabia were shaped by those who were up on the social ladder, and there existed a running accomplishment/ambition list—primarily of medical doctors and IT engineers—in every household. Most middle-class families wanted their children (simply sons) to succeed (read as owning big houses, cars and nice vacations or the American dream, in other words).
But here was the confusion in my little head: how was it okay if I could eat a burger right in front of my tiny cousins who were supposed to eat rice and daal when we visited Pakistan? Or drank a TetraPak carton of milk, where they drank watered-down milk from dudhwala. It was also okay for me to attend an English medium school in a car, whereas they struggled in theirs walking around the corner in sultry summer. We were not rich, but they were poor. And the confusion was more because our middle-class elders (read institutions) were, consciously or unconsciously, training us to accept our places and not so our privileges! So, I guess watching the ones on the TV screens depicting successful stories but listening to the real ones around me who struggled and shed tears when the going got tough for them was the starting point for me to figure out my confusion (and for which I would always be indebted to them).
Today I am humbled and honoured to be graduating from OISE, the University of Toronto, as my professors believed in the puzzles in my head and could see the noise that I referred to. Thank you, Scott Davies, Joseph Flessa, Claudia M Diaz Rios, Kathy Bickmore, Leesa Wheelahan, Gavin Moodie, Caroline Manion, Kara Janigan,Liz Coulson, Sarfaroz Niyozov, Nina Bascia, Normand Labrie, as well as my mentors Supriya Baily and Iveta Silova and of course Matt Witenstein. And many of my colleagues whose names are not here but in my heart…thanks to OISE and the University of Toronto again!
Today, I remain further confused but so ready for my path ahead! And I would need your support and guidance since I have started to dream now… of making a difference in the lives of every tiny cousin and support system who have silently and patiently watched us grow. Let’s celebrate them all!
