My Journey
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Intro
I was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and moved to Paris, France when I was two years old. My father was posted at the headquarters of Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO), as the head of Narcotics for the Middle East and Asia, and as the first Asian representative at Interpol.
I lived in a small town called Ville D’Avray in the suburbs of Paris. Everyone knew of my origins, but I was well assimilated into the French culture, and honestly, I thought I was French. My parents kept the Pakistani culture at home and taught me how to speak Urdu, the official language of Pakistan. Thanks to them, I am fluent in English, French, and Urdu.
I completed my education in French schools up through 9th grade. At that point, my parents were worried that I could not speak proper English. I was fluent in French, counted in French, dreamt in French, thought I was French, etc. After all, my best friend was Emmanuelle, who I lost touch with when I left France for the U.S.; I just reconnected with her a few years ago by pure luck. In 10th grade, I was enrolled at The American School of Paris (ASP) which had a great international community mostly dominated by the children of American diplomats. My three years at ASP were amazing. I met people of different races, religions, and economic backgrounds.
After high school graduation, I arrived in the U.S. to start my undergraduate studies at Mount Holyoke College in a small town in New England: South Hadley, Massachusetts. MHC is an elite women’s college that is part of the Seven Sisters schools, who consider themselves the ‘Ivy Leagues’ for women. My parents thought I would be safer studying at an all-women’s college. The four years taught me a lot of things: intolerance as the war was raging under Operation Desert Storm, Muslim women being discriminated against on campus, and racism as the riots in LA occurred due to the beating of Rodney King. Some students thought that I should be sitting at home under a burqa and getting married. I felt discriminated against as South Asians did not consider me South Asian; they made fun of my French accent when I spoke English. Kindness and empathy developed as I was ‘adopted’ by a wonderful Pakistani American family who made me feel at home and safe. I felt resilient in the sense that I was able to be far away from family and my home in France.
I should also mention that throughout my childhood and adulthood, I had the privilege to travel around the world with my parents, encountering people from different economic backgrounds. The people I met had many different stories that touched my heart: stories of loneliness, stories of loss, stories of death, and stories of happiness.
After my college graduation, I went back to Lyon, France since this is where Interpol’s headquarters had moved. I stayed there for a couple of years working for a French import-export company specializing in sporting goods. It just happened that one of their main supplies was from Pakistan. I used my fluency in Urdu and English to negotiate some contracts for the company.
I finally moved back to the U.S.; first California and then Virginia. I got married and have three girls between 12 and 22 years old. I led a great life with a great job, great family, great house. You know how it is; finish your studies, get a job, get married, get a house, and have a family - just like a machine. Until the machine and the clock both stop.
One day, I was diagnosed with cancer out of nowhere. Things moved very fast from that point onward. Schedule an appointment with a specialist, schedule a surgery, get the surgery done, and then what? I woke up totally lost. I woke up with no direction, no purpose in life. I was so lost that I had to get a life coach who coached me for one year. She made me realize what my purpose is in life: helping others. After making several personal decisions and realizing that my life lacked what I loved most, I started a new chapter in my life: The Brigade of Mercy, a name inspired by a French TV series I grew up watching called La Brigade du Tigre. This series had 3 detectives who solved crimes and fought for justice. My fight is against poverty. More to come.
