Born on 29th of December in the year that “Nelson Mandela rejected an offer of freedom from the South African Govt”, in the year that “WrestleMania debuted at Madison Square Garden” and when “Coca cola changed its formula and released the New Coke”.. well a special year for my parents too as I was born after Eighteen long years of their marriage – So yeah it was a special year!!

Was born in Kuwait (Dahiya) and grew up studying at Carmel School. The Gulf war happened and we came to India. In India we stayed in the beautiful city of Pune, Maharashtra. Got admission with the ol’ famous Bishops School, Pune.

Time flew and had to return back to Kuwait back in 1993. I joined Carmel back and had excellent experiences that helped shape me up. I was bad at academics, and therefore had to work on my grades. The only niche I held on to, my hobby was working with a Computer. Then came my time to leave for India after my 10th grade with tons of memories and experiences that moved with me back to India.

India – well I arrived alone at first and got my self admitted to a junior college for my Higher secondary schooling. At this point I never wanted to choose any field related to computers as I didn’t want to go into a field that matched my hobby. My junior college brought a complete different set of experiences that changed my life – in a way prepared me for what was to come in the days ahead.

At this particular time – my dad fell ill with his cancer. At this point there was a circumstantial decision that made me choose “Computer Science” as my major. And yes – Fergusson College happened and that was a turning point in my life.

Fergi as we call it – helped me build up immense self confidence that helped me face the loss of my father and become the man of the family, started taking more responsibilities and with more support from the staff – well I yet continued walking. Days went on and I worked as a Test Administrator with MeritTrac as a part time job to get some experience and earn a buck or two. This went on for three years during my degree course.

At the time of my placements, I was declined by Cognizant and Infosys based on my 12th year grades – WOW like that made a difference – well their loss as HSBC – The world’s greatest and local bank – saw the talent (I hope they did 😀 ) and hired me and thats where I have been since 2006. HSBC gave me more perspective and again with love and support from everyone at work I managed to do more than I ever expected to be able to achieve.

Then came the time for my mom to say good bye. Her loss was something that moved me. I might have never been able to express this but I to this date miss her more than anything. As our parents say – “you’ll realize the importance of your parents when their not there” – well I completely agree with that. So if you love your parents and haven’t told them this yet – just go back and express it once more.

Not having mentioned my tiny doll – my sister Khadija would not do justice but I miss her a lot too. With the loss of my parents – I couldn’t keep her at home as she is a Downs Syndrome child and managing her all by myself wouldn’t be possible. She studies and stays in a special school in Pune. I would be getting her home soon.