Awkward Hellos and Meaningful Goodbyes: An Immigrant’s Transformation | Ft. Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui Ep. 070 [Part-2] - My Thick Accent

Episode Transcript
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Gurasis (00:00):
Hey guys, thank you so much for tuning in.
So this is part two of myconversation with Dr Siddiqui.
If you haven't checked the partone yet, do check it out.
I'll put the link in thedescription.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (00:10):
Back in Middle East we used to kiss on
each other.
Cheeks, when you know when wegreet each other.
It was a kind of learning momentfor me when I was quite new
here.
The other person I thought hewas from the same background and
you know I just did to him andto somehow with his other hand

(00:30):
he just pushed me a little bitbecause he was not feeling
comfortable doing it in a publicplace.
So I got shocked and I knew him.
I knew him from four years backthen, but I was totally shocked
at how he transformed and again, there is nothing bad in it.
And we were meeting after along time, we were seeing each
other after maybe six years.

(00:51):
So that was the moment I felt abit cultural shock and
embarrassed as well.
So, Dr.
Siddiqui, welcome back on mythick accent.
Season two of the podcast.

(01:16):
Thanks again for having me on this part
two.
I really enjoyed it the last oneand appreciate all your efforts

Gurasis (01:22):
so now, , I would like to transition into your move to
canada.
It was in 2007 when you finallymoved to canada, but you were
just traveling all the time, andI remember you also tell me
that you couldn't stay longer ina same place at one time when
you were traveling, and therewere situations where you would
get up in the morning and youdon't know what place or what

(01:44):
time zone you are in.
So, but tell us initially yourinitial decision of coming to
Canada.

So again, great question, guresh the
reason why I moved to Canada, oryou know why I decided, it's
predominantly with a familytrend.
Having said that, being bornand brought up in Saudi Arabia,
we were not able to get thecitizenship.
And there was one very bigmotive because my family moved
there in early 60s and we asadults which means me and my all

(02:16):
siblings we had to go out ofSaudi Arabia to get or continue
our education.
Now you don't compare it,because now Saudi is triply
changed thanks to the currentleadership.
Long story short, again, whenwe came back, I started again my
own professional life in Saudi.
Now the time came my own kids,me, my wife and you know, the

(02:39):
family we decided that we shouldnot repeat that cycle again for
our own kids.

Gurasis (02:46):
Okay.

So that was the main bottom line that we
don't want to repeat thathistory.
And then there must be a placewhere we would be living
together and they would continuetheir studies.
That they don't need to leaveCanada was the best choice,
because I've been to Canada forwork and then my siblings three

(03:08):
or four of them, they werealready went through the whole
process of immigration of youknow, coming here.
So that's the only thing whichis coming to my mind.
This is the main reason that wedecided.
I came here basically on a workvisa.

Gurasis (03:22):
Okay.

I had my extended you know work, and then
2009 was the time when Ibrought my family to Canada
along myself to live herepermanently.

Gurasis (03:34):
So tell us about your first day, when you moved for
the final time in 2009.
If you have any recollection,initial thoughts or emotions?

so it was emotional, if you have any
recollection, initial thoughtsor emotions.
So it was emotional.
It was emotional in a way thatwe wind up you know everything,
you know in Saudi and we landedhere.
Of course, as I would say, Ihave an extended family, so we
don't we didn't have to go to ahotel or somewhere, so I had,
you know, plenty of places to go.
So I came here and I would liketo share one very interesting

(04:09):
fact that when we came it waswinters right, and then when I
came to the immigration desk, itwas, first of all, it was
snowing a lot when we were whenthe plane was landing, and at
there was a time when I wasquite puzzled and surprised at
how this plane gonna land on,you know this snowing.

(04:33):
Yeah, this was, it was.
There was no black runway, itwas totally white covered with
whitewash covered with snow andI was wondering and and anxious
that how's going to land withall this snow.
But thanks to and it was AirCanada flight, so it landed very

(04:53):
smoothly.
I closed my eyes just to out ofanxiety again and then, but it
landed, and then when we were atthe immigration desk you know
it was very warm and welcome ofcourse, the immigration officer
she said me you know, welcomehome, love, you know all those
sort of things and then.
And then here I.

(05:14):
There is something I alwaysquote, I always remember, and
immediately, you know, out of myanxiety, I told her.
I said, well, the weather isvery bad you know, and I didn't
know if we're gonna land safelyso you know what she said, she
said, mr sadiki, I mean, she wasvery lovely, she was very

(05:37):
friendly.
And she, she said remember onething that there is no bad
weather, there are always badclothes absolutely, and that one
that one phrase is stuck herealways, and I always quote this
you know, with my family, withmy friends, newcomers, whoever

(05:59):
come to canada, that there is nobad weather.
There are always bad clothes.
Yeah, okay, which means, whichmeans, like you know, you have
to, uh, prepare, and then lateron, you know, moving forward in
life here in canada, we realizethat you have to be equipped
with the right clothes in everyseason yeah, absolutely yeah.

Gurasis (06:27):
So you know I also saw that you are.
You have contributed andvolunteered various places and
I'll read few of them.
Which is like you are thevolunteer and contributor for
the milton uh food bank.
You're also a mentor for thetoronto region immigrant
employment council and you'realso the co-director of
partnership and community growthfor the Toronto Region
Immigrant Employment Council andyou're also the co-director of
Partnership and Community Growthfor the Emerging Health Leaders

(06:48):
in Toronto.
I wanted to tell us that howdid you get associated with
these organizations when youmoved to Canada and how these
can benefit our listeners.

Great, great question again.
So all whatever you havementioned, it's basically if I
could move fast forward it allhappened post-pandemic.

Gurasis (07:10):
Okay.

From 2020, let's say until today, until
pandemic.
As I said, it was very rare forme to stay in one place.

Gurasis (07:21):
Yeah.

I remember exactly when we were told to
come back.
I was out of country.
I was told with my EHS EHSstands for Environment, health
and Safety Leader.
You know they called me andthey said you are out of country
and we have news that all theairports they're going to close
ASAP.

Gurasis (07:42):
So, being a Canadian citizen, citizen, you please
come back or make sure you areback yeah, and if I'm not wrong,
this is the time when you werein vienna for the radiology
conference, the ecr conference.
Right, ecr conference?

yeah, okay so then we we just and it was
again a moment of shock for usbecause there were line up
meetings, meetings with, youknow, customers and all sort of
meetings, but we had to canceleverything.
I took the first availableflight and then I was back in
Toronto.
I think it was 12th or 13th ofMarch 2020.

(08:18):
So until that time, I used tovolunteer.
I used to volunteer In SaudiArabia.
I used to volunteer, you know,wherever I go, but in Canada it
was mostly the food bank at thatparticular time.
So Milton was the moststrategic location at that point
.
So we moved from Mississauga toMilton in 2020.

(08:41):
This Milton Food Bank because Ihad previous links and exposure
from the Mississauga Food Bankwhen we were here and everybody
was in the, you know, they weretrapped or you know, there was a
time when a sort of curfewthing, everybody was inside.
So there was an immediate need,especially for some senior

(09:03):
citizens, for, you know,families who were, you know who
needed food.
So we have this uh ma'am foodbank and then every sunday we
used to, like you know, pile upour stock in the food bank and
then people they used to come.
I remember there were almost 75families registered, 75

(09:27):
families.
They were registered and theywere all either newcomers or,
you know, the old ones with withless resources, and we used to
make those packs, those packetsof non-perishable items or, you
know, like fresh produces, likemilk, fruits, fruits, vegetables
, and then they used to come,they took their stuff and then

(09:50):
they go.
There were some families,senior citizens, who were not
able to come.
So we have like group ofvolunteers who used to pick
their stuff and then drop attheir doorsteps, right.
So this is all about the foodbank which is still going on.
Now we have more than 100families I would say, if I
remember almost 125 families.

(10:11):
Number two is is more recent.
It was, you know, when Istopped working for my previous
company, which was ge, and then,you know, I started my own
consultancy work, I would say inlate 2021.
I would say it was a blessingin disguise, because we were not
able to travel, we were notable to visit customer sites and

(10:34):
we were totally, totally inhome and that thing was killing
me because, of my nature,because of my nature of work,
you know to see people.
I needed to interact withpeople.
Either you know, as we are doingnow, remotely, or one-to-one
yeah so there was anorganization I came across it is

(10:55):
the one which you mentionedwhich is, you know, the toronto
region immigrant, and you knowemployment council employment
council and they came up with asuggestion that we we mean, you
know, consultants or whoever inour own niches, in our own
expertise we could come up withthe newcomers you know we could

(11:16):
help them as a mentor.
I registered for that mentorship.
I got, like you know, a coupleof newcomers and I did as much
as I could.
Again, it was a good two-waylearning experience.
I'm still related with them orassociated with them.
If there is any good fit withthem, they normally, you know,
come back to me and then we do.

(11:36):
And then EHL it's EHL orEmerging Health Leaders.
It was again something fornetworking.
Ehl or emerging health leaders,it was again something for
networking.
It was again something, youknow, to get together the
like-minded people.
It was more towards the digitalhealth and why I was inclined
to that particular organizationbecause During pandemic, all the

(12:00):
healthcare it moved or shiftedfrom in-person to virtual.

Gurasis (12:05):
Absolutely, if you remember right, yeah.

And then I had an opportunity to work with
some other virtual healthcaregroups.
We were trying to promote andwe were trying to educate people
that while sitting in your home, you can definitely get in
touch with all sorts ofhealthcare providers, like GPs,
like family physicians and, youknow, even like mental health

(12:29):
professionals.
It was a technologically, youknow, challenging situation for
some individuals and I would saysome means especially against
senior citizens, especiallypeople with less resources.
So that was the whole plan.

Gurasis (12:43):
Thank you so much for educating us about all these
organizations because, again, ifany of our listeners would like
to be a part of this or justwant to contribute or just want
to volunteer for these, I'll putthe links to that in the show
notes for them to check out.
Since you mentioned the healthand wellness and you also said
it's not limited to thevolunteering experience, you do

(13:05):
have your own business, your ownwork and you do provide that
health and wellness coaching.
I want to tell a little bitmore about that.
And if someone is associatingwith you or reach out to you,
what can they expect?

Health and wellness coaching is such a big
umbrella, I would try to makeit as concise and as good as
possible.
Let's talk about in Canadianperspective.
We go to our GP, our familyphysician and he or she, first
of all, has not much time.
It's typically 10 to 15 minutes, I would say.

Gurasis (13:38):
Sometimes even less than that.

Sometimes even less.
Yeah, I'm saying you becauseeverybody has gone through it,
it's maximum.
Maximum, let's say, on anaverage 5 to 10 minutes.

Gurasis (13:48):
Absolutely.

And he writes down some, either labs or
medication, and then we call itprescription.
And then the prescription says,for example, you have to
control your diabetes, you haveto control your blood pressure.
Or if you are a patient ofcholesterol high cholesterol you
have to control your bloodpressure.
Or if you are a patient ofcholesterol high cholesterol you
have to control your diet,along with medication.

(14:09):
The health and wellnesscoaching is not about what to do
.
It's all about how to do.
How to do means you need abuddy, you need a partner, you
need a cheerleader and you needa health coach.
Right?

(14:29):
And this health coachingconcept started from IFM, and
IFM stands for Institute ofFunctional Medicine, which is
another approach towardshealthcare, and we call it
holistic health approach orintegrative healthcare approach.

(14:52):
These practitioners who followthe guidelines of IFM.
Equally, they have anotherbranch, which is about
developing and empowering healthcoaches.
Two years ago I got connectedwith those people.
It's my personal experiencethat how I shifted my life, or

(15:14):
you know how I made myself morehealthier, it was through that
holistic approach about bestnutrition, about diet, about
better sleep, how to de-stressyourself if you are burnt out,
how to reduce your stress, yourinterpersonal relationships,
which means your physical,emotional, mental and spiritual

(15:38):
well-being, and how they areconnected with each other, with
our physical well-being.
So, long story short.
Again and again I learned allthat on scientific basis and as
a structured basis, as a course,as a certification through FMCA
, which is Functional MedicineCoaching Academy.
I'm not writing down theprescriptions.

(16:01):
I'm not writing down of what todo.
And then we come.
We have to do a little bit deepdive here.
It's all about positivepsychology.
It's all about motivationalinterviewing.
It's all about you know tolisten to you.
If you or somebody else wouldcome to me, my first meeting
would go for one hour.

(16:21):
Now imagine is there anyconventional medicine or
non-conventional medicine orpractitioner who gives you one
hour?

Gurasis (16:31):
I don't think so.
Yeah, absolutely not, it'spractically impossible.

And you know we are not blaming them, we
are, and I'm not blaminganybody.
It's unfortunately the system,the overall system, right, they
don't have time to listen to you.
So, for example, if they tellyou your diabetes is not
controlled, your cholesterol isvery bad, your hypertension is

(16:55):
not good and you have to live ahealthy life, right, then we
would dissect and, like an onion, I would peel it off, one by
one, one by one, one by one.
You know I would address, wewould discover first and this is
one of my favorite lines youknow, when you go to a doctor,
he asks you what's wrong withyou.

(17:18):
He would ask you.
He would tell you you know,that's my favorite line he would
tell you why you are hairgrasses, what brought you in
today?
you know, and he might bewriting down on his paper or he
might be typing.
Typically, he will not eventalk to you.
There won't be any eye contactwith you.
He's so busy, he or she.

(17:39):
And then he would say so, why,what brought you here today?
Okay, flu.
Okay, are you taking your pills?
Blah, blah, blah.
Your hemoglobin A1C is not verygood.
You have to work on theexercise.
You have to work to controlyour diabetes.
Thank you, here is yourprescription.
I'll see you in six months.
Yeah, but what I do, or whatpeople like me, health coaches

(18:00):
out there yes, but what I do, orwhat people like me health
coaches out there they do, theysay they don't say what's wrong
with you, they say what's strongwith you Right.
So it's just a word, one wordchange from wrong to strong.
And then we sit with them andwe discover and we try to find

(18:24):
out the pain points, we try tofind out the hurdles.
And then, with our knowledge, afunny thing, my son.
He asked me you know last year,when there was a soccer World
Cup, dad, you talk aboutcoaching, but I don't know, I
know only about football coaches.
Coaches yeah, yeah, I know aboutonly Cristiano Ronaldo.

(18:48):
I know only about Messi, andyou know all those players.
I don't even remember theirnames.
But he said these are thecoaches.
And then there was an analogyjust stuck to my mind, because
his question was that they arethe coaches.
But what do you do, you know?
That was his question.
So I told him.
I said it's a great question.

(19:08):
And now tell me, have you everseen any coach playing in the
ground?
You know.
He said no.
So where do they see?
Where, where do they sit?
he said they sit on on outsideof this, you know soccer field,
or they are sitting in thedressing room, and then they
basically motivate them now thisis not me that's my son who is

(19:32):
telling me this, right?
So he said they make thestrategy, they make them, you
know they, they motivate them,they empower them and blah, blah
, blah.
I said that's what exactly wedo.

Gurasis (19:45):
We do yeah.

So I'm your partner, I'm your buddy,
I'm your cheerleader.
First of all, in knowing youpersonally, in a way I built a
rapport with you to a level thatyou are comfortable in talking
to me.

Gurasis (20:00):
Yeah.

And then we discuss about your problems,
we discuss about your health, wediscuss about your health,
about your sleep, about your,and we discover it together,
right, and then we choose thetop three problems and we focus
on them that why, why and whyyou cannot achieve them, and how
, how and how you can achievethem with internal motivation.

(20:24):
And then we let you go out andplay in the soccer field,
because I'm just here to supportyou, to listen to you, and then
to guide you or to educate youhow to do it, until and unless
you achieve your goal yeah,absolutely.

Gurasis (20:39):
I like the analogy.
You know that you spoke withyour son about as well.
You know, with the coach andeverything.
It is sort of like a relativelynew concept.
But I'm sure you know that youspoke with your son about as
well.
You know, with the coach andeverything.
It is sort of like a relativelynew concept.
But I'm sure sometimes you doneed that external push,
external force, or maybe youknow what you need to do but
need, like, an external personto tell you how to do it or what
to do it.
You know basically.
So definitely, once again, I'llput the links to contact Dr

(21:00):
Siddiqui in the show notes.
Links to contact Dr Siddiqui inthe show notes.
So, before we get into thefinal segment of the podcast, dr
Siddiqui, this is a new segmentI have added to the season of
the podcast which is Know yourHost, where I give my guests an
opportunity to ask me a question.

Definitely you know Gresham.
When I met you for the firsttime and you remember, there was
a kind of instant instantconnectivity Absolutely.
And I don't know from wherethat come, but it was time for,
as we said, there is time foreverything.

Gurasis (21:37):
Yeah.

Then we go and connect the dots.
Yeah, I would definitelydefinitely ask you that you know
, whatever work you do, or youknow, like your journey, which
is again very interesting, whichwe talked about, you know
offline, but what prompted you?
One question what prompted youto start this kind of you know,

(22:03):
podcasting and you know, toinviting different people from
different backgrounds and like.
So what's motivated you?
What's the outcome of all thesepodcasts, or networking and
talking to people?

Gurasis (22:18):
Yeah, that's a great question and I always love
answering this whenever peopleask me.
I think it again goes back tothe time when I was working in a
market research company and Iwas interviewing people over the
phone and many people I wasspeaking to were international
students and and since you know,I had the indian accent and I
kind of connected moreinternational students, so they

(22:39):
put me on the calls, where 80percent of the time I'm speaking
with international students andthey were telling me about
their journeys, briefly, aboutthe education institutions they
have studied in, and at thattime I had just finished my
studies and I was also kind ofstruggling to get a job after my
program and it was just like apart-time job I was doing for

(22:59):
survival jobs, so to say.
When I was talking to them, Isaw that nobody's happy after
the education and they all wantto get into their industries,
but they are just not getting inbecause there are various
reasons out there and I was like, oh man, these guys need help
and so do I.
I needed help at that time aswell.
Then I started networking and Isaid, instead of, like me,

(23:32):
reinventing the wheel orstarting something extraordinary
, something like maybe somethingthat provides the jobs or
something that can help them inany way, I said, why not to?
Instead of me reinventing thewheel, let me collaborate with
these extraordinary people justlike yourself who are lending
their helping hand to people andwho are willing to do that,
especially in a country likeCanada, where things are very
different from our nativecountries and people here are
ready to speak to you, replyback to you on linkedin or
whichever source you reach outto them.

(23:54):
So I was like, let me do that.
And youtube obviously the videowas something I didn't want to
get into.
It does require a lot of timeand effort and good resources to
really start the video podcast.
So audio was something I wasinclined towards more.
And since I have always beentowards rj radio jockey, and I
was always in doratory in myschool, I was always the one on

(24:16):
the stage doing the anchoring,the, the news reading sort of
thing.
I've also recorded a bulletinfor a national television
channel when I was like 15 yearsold, so all these things were
there and and I was like, okay,let me just do that.
And in general, I like talkingto people, I like knowing their
stories, and stories is alsosomething that we all really

(24:36):
relate to a lot, like we alllearn.
Look at our histories, ourreligious or even cultural
histories.
We all learn a lot from stories.
So I think it was important forme to bring forth all those
stories.
So if anybody, any of ourlisteners are listening, they
know that, hey, if he or she cando it, you can do it as well,
as long as you are believing inyourself, believing in the, the

(24:59):
abilities or believing in theexperiences that you have
brought from your home country.
In no way you are less thananybody else.
And to answer your second part,where you said what I want to
achieve with it definitely Iwant to make this podcast a
go-to resource for anybody.
A go-to resource for anybody,whether, whichever pathway you
have followed to come to canada,whether you have come with your

(25:19):
home residency, you're comingon your work visa, because I'm
do.
I do speak to people from allroles and domains.
So this is something I want tomake people go to resource,
where they can find the rightpeople, the right resource, and,
at the same time, I think I'mputting myself at a very
accountable position where I'malso accountable for the

(25:40):
information that I'm putting itout there.
So I also want to make surethat I bring forth the stories
of the people and the people whoare really ready to really lend
that helping hand to people andthat can benefit the listeners,
to accelerate or just act as acatalyst in their success in in
whichever the world of thewhichever part of the world

(26:01):
they've immigrated to.

Yeah, so that's how I think I've answered
that beautifully said.
And then, if you allow me, justyou know, as a closing remark
for these two points first ofall, trust me, and and maybe you
have experienced this as well,that we have abundance of right
resources in canada right andhaving said that, having said

(26:22):
that, you people who are fromour cultural background, we
normally tend to ask people.
you know as a word of mouththing, right, so I would ask my
either neighbor or my friend oryou know something about
anything, right.

(26:43):
And then we are not in a habit,collectively or in general
Again, I'm not, you know, likepseudotyping anybody, but I'm
trying to tell you in general,they don't go online and they
don't find, you know, the rightresources, right, for example,
you know like job market, forexample.

(27:03):
You know like the immigrationprocess, for example.
You know like the immigrationprocess, for example.
You know the like writedocuments, data whatsoever,
right.
And then when I deep dive, whenI had this time, and I deep,
you know, dive into thisavailable Canadian resources.
Believe me, there is a neverending resources.

Gurasis (27:22):
Yeah, absolutely.

And genuine resources, authentic
resources and up-to-dateresources.
So so one of my takeaways wouldbe that rely on those online
and write resources, just googlethem right and then every
single, each and everydepartment here, they're going
to help you absolutely 100.

Gurasis (27:43):
Yeah, this is how I discovered le.

This is how I discovered LEF.
This is how I discovered Triac.
This is how I discoveredeverything.
Do your own research and youwould end up in finding the
right and reliable resources.

Gurasis (27:55):
A hundred percent, yeah .
So now, dr Siddiqui, we are inthe final segment of the podcast
.
I call it Beneath the theaccent because we are knowing
each other beneath the accent.
I'm going to ask a couple ofquestions.
You can answer them in one wordor a sentence or howsoever you
feel like.
The idea is just to know moreabout you.
What advice would you give toyour younger self, and at what

(28:19):
age?

I would definitely, definitely go back
when I was 18.
Okay, or you know, when I wasentering my professional college
or university.
You know, mehboob Siddiqui, Iwould tell him to believe in
myself, to believe in yourintuition and to believe in your
passion.

(28:40):
Just choose.
I'm not using the word career,I'm just choosing.
Just choose the work, justchoose the activities which make
you happy.

Gurasis (28:49):
Is there a moment when you experienced a significant
cultural shock that surprisedyou?

Back in Middle East.
As I said, we used to kiss oneach other cheeks when we greet
each other.
So, basically, yeah, we shakehands and then we do this.
So it was a kind of learningmoment for me when I I was quite
new here and you know the otherperson I thought he was from

(29:18):
the same background okay and,and you know, I just did to him
okay and to somehow, with hisother hand he just pushed me a
little bad oh, wow right,because he was not feeling
comfortable doing it in a publicplace okay right.

(29:38):
So I was brutally honest withyou, so I got shocked I'm sure
yeah right and I knew him, Iknew him from for years back
then, but I was totally shockedthat how he transformed.
And again, there is nothing badin it, you know.
Yeah, of course it was, and wewere in a public place, we were
in a mall and we were meetingafter a long time, you know, and

(30:03):
, like you know, I outexcitement out of you know, we
were seeing each other aftermaybe six years when, you know,
after shaking hand, I was, youknow, trying to like we used to
greet each other.

Gurasis (30:16):
Absolutely you know.

So that was the moment I felt a bit
cultural shock and embarrassedas well.
But then I would say, thanks tomy resilience or thanks to my
you know training, that I justabsorbed that moment and then
everything was okay from thatpoint onwards and I was careful

(30:38):
I'm sure.

Gurasis (30:40):
Okay, what's the one dish from your home country that
always brings you comfort andnostalgia?

So from Saudi Arabia it's called Mandi,
or you know different cultures,they call it different, or it's
called Kapsa, which is, you know, made with either goat or with
chicken, with rice aromatic rice.
With rice aromatic rice.
Okay, and you know, it's a sortof national dish which we used

(31:07):
to eat there in festivals, inweddings, on you know, in any
big occasion, and similar dishes.
Back home is biryani.

Gurasis (31:20):
And do you have any story related to your
misunderstanding around theaccent or the English?

So you know it's from our friends and
our colleagues from China Okay,I have great friends in that
part of the world used to begreat colleagues when we used to
talk on telephone.
It was a little bit difficultto understand and be understood,
especially when English is nota native language for both of us

(31:43):
.
I have my own accent and Iagain I don't know which accent
is this, but when I talk peoplethey are confused.
They ask me either you are fromMiddle East or you are from
Arabian countries, or you know,as I said, you are from India or
Pakistan.
They get confused.
He was telling me that or I wastelling him that what I had

(32:05):
eaten we use the word duck.
Maybe it was Thanksgivingsomething or something like that
.
But somehow duck came to the,you know, like the Thanksgiving
dinner, and he understood that Iwas mentioning about dog.
So that was quite funny that heunderstood that I was eating
dog and my point was there was aconfusion between duck and dog

(32:26):
and my point was there was aconfusion between duck and dog.

Gurasis (32:29):
Okay, so what's your favorite cultural festival or
celebration in Canada?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiq (32:33):
Surprisingly , we have huge community here.
So when I say huge community,so technically we or year around
we have only two festivals.
We call them Eid, so one ofthem is sweet eat and another
one is the you know, eid ofsacrifice, eid al-adha.
It's becoming so inclusive nowthat, being here in canada, we

(32:57):
invite our neighbors, we inviteyou know again, all across so I
can tell you like you knowChristians, hindus, jews, sikhs
you just name it, you know, andthen in a community, we invite
them to break the fast with us.
Okay, it gave me, on a personallevel and on a community level,

(33:19):
such a big joy, such a bigfulfillment that you know, we
learned about each other'scultures and we learned that
each culture has fastingtraditions.
You know, like I never knewthat previously.
They have all.
They call it different names,absolutely yeah, but they do

(33:41):
fast.
This is one of the things thatyou know, I celebrated a lot.

Gurasis (33:45):
And tell us about your first friend that you made in
Canada.

We are ending the program and it's the
most difficult question, guresh?
Yeah, because you know I wasfortunate enough to have too
many friends, abundance offriends and family.
When I came here I was not in aneed to make friends.
Having said that, I had so manycolleagues, I had so many, you
know, like, like now, neighborsit's really hard to question.

(34:11):
I I cannot name one.

Gurasis (34:13):
one thing is, I can tell you if somebody is in my
friend circle or in my network,then I always try to keep in
touch with them so, since youhave traveled a lot, you know,
and you were like on the moveall the time what three things
that you would say that youalways carried with yourself, or
would you recommend people tocarry when they travel?

Whenever you know I used to travel, my
one trolley bag was ready,always ready, because you never
know you have to catch a flight,for people who have their own
medication with them.
So I would say, keep always asmall travel pack with you of
your medications and you knowthose utilities.
Secondly, I always kept a copyof my travel documents.

(34:56):
And then the third thing is apair of clothes, socks,
undergarments, something whichis like the most basic, basic,
essential and necessarily, if Ilose my luggage, it happens a
lot.
so these come to my mind andthey're still in my bag so
finally, describe canada in oneword or a sentence a land of

(35:16):
opportunity and it's the mostfriendliest country I have been
to so if you could leave me withone piece of advice, what?

Gurasis (35:25):
what would it be?

Listen to your gut always and keep up your
excellent work, which you aredoing.

Gurasis (35:30):
Thank you.
Thank you so much, and howwould you describe your
experience of being on thepodcast?

Lovely, very energizing, and there is
something which I always saythat I believe in reverse
mentoring.
You know, every day is alearning day.
It's not about uh in age, whois senior, who is junior, who is
younger, who is older.
We always learn from each otherabsolutely and from bottom of

(35:57):
my heart, guresh says I thankyou for inviting me and giving
me this opportunity, just toshare myself okay, no, thank you
.

Gurasis (36:06):
Thank you so much for your kind words and it has been
a pleasure speaking with you andI cannot wait for people to
hear this recording and learnfrom you and from the stories
that you have shared.
And thank you for being so openabout all your life and all
your journeys and all thestories that you have told us,
the fun conversations that youhave shared with us.
So, thank you, thank you somuch for being on the podcast

(36:28):
and adding value to my listeners.
Thank you.

Pleasure is all mine.
Thank you so much.

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Awkward Hellos and Meaningful Goodbyes: An Immigrant’s Transformation | Ft. Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui Ep. 070 [Part-2]

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Awkward Hellos and Meaningful Goodbyes: An Immigrant’s Transformation | Ft. Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui Ep. 070 [Part-2]