Key highlights about myself:
- Born in Pakistan and moved to Canada at age 16. I’m keen to share stories from my childhood in this blog (1982 – 1998).
- Attended University of Toronto for first year studies and then transferred to pursue a Bachelor of Commerce degree at McGill University to fulfill a promise of joining my childhood friend from Pakistan there – long story (2002 – 2005).
- Moved to London to work in Finance starting with Lloyds Bank (2005 – 2010).
- Completed a Master of Liberal Arts degree at Harvard University. Loved Cambridge, MA (2010 – 2012).
- Moved to New York to work in management consulting at Gallup Consulting (2012 – 2014).
- Moved industries to real estate entrepreneurship (2014 – present).
- MBA at Oxford University (2019 – 2020).
- Debater at the Oxford Union: upper intermediate squad (2019 – 2020).
- Guest lecturer on real estate topics. Past lectures at Sussex University, and New Jersey College.
Likes:
- Fav Authors: Dan Brown (typical I know), Dean Koontz, Lesley Hazleton, and James Reston Jr.
- Fav Books: An Unfinished Life, After the Prophet, Intensity, Demon Seed, Warriors of God, Blink, The Mughal Throne, Tales of Alhambra, and A History of the World.
- Sports (to watch and play): Tennis, Squash, and Cricket.
- Favorite destinations: Florence, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Cannes, Ubud Bali, and Granada. Check out my city snapshots.
- Fav Documentaries: The World at War, Unsolved: Netflix series, American Crime Story Season 1, and Mission to Mars.
- Watching successful leaders answer questions (you can learn a lot from it): Elon Musk, Sheryl Sandberg, Jamie Dimon, and Steve Jobs.
- Love to travel and have visited more than 70 countries – most recently to Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan.
- History buff and love reading about ancient empires. Particular interest in the Mughal Empire, Roman Empire, Mongols, the story of Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, and the Moors of Spain.
- Nature fascinates me, I study and observe it regularly – it not only helps my understanding of our planet but also shields me from falling prey to the ‘God complex’.
- I believe life exists in some form beyond our planet in this vast universe.
Wishlist:
- Country bar in Montana.
- Lunch with Stephen King and Dan Brown.
- Night in an igloo.
- A month in a Shaolin monastery.
Pet peeves:
- Ice in water. Ice carries bacteria and is just unpleasant in a glass of water – don’t you agree?
- Shirtless men in fitness classes. Seriously Gents, the floor could do without the sweat. More on sweat during workouts.
- Cappuccino served in mugs the size of a cereal bowl. Here’s more on the appropriate size of a Cappuccino. Needless to say I am not much of a coffee drinker.