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

• Gurasis Singh • Season 2 • Episode 70

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What happens when cultural norms collide in a new country? In this insightful episode, Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui shares his powerful immigration journey from Saudi Arabia to Canada, blending humor and wisdom. A cheek kiss gone wrong becomes a metaphor for navigating identity between cultures. Dr. Siddiqui reflects on landing in snowy Canada, adjusting to new social norms, and breaking generational cycles for his children.

Through community volunteering, mentoring newcomers, and leading in healthcare, Dr. Siddiqui found belonging and purpose. He now coaches others with a strengths-based, holistic wellness approach that asks, "What's strong with you?"instead of "What's wrong with you?"

Perfect for newcomers, immigrants, or anyone interested in cross-cultural living, healthcare leadership, or wellness coaching in Canada.

Part-1 w/ Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1835261/episodes/17170694-from-mecca-to-the-world-a-journey-of-service-and-self-discovery-ft-dr-mahboub-siddiqui-ep-070-part-1

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Want to share your story? Or know someone I should invite next on the show? DM us or write to us at Hello@mythickaccent.com


Gurasis:

Hey guys, thank you so much for tuning in. So this is part two of my conversation with Dr Siddiqui. If you haven't checked the part one yet, do check it out. I'll put the link in the description.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Back in Middle East we used to kiss on each other. Cheeks, when you know when we greet each other.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

It was a kind of learning moment for me when I was quite new here. The other person I thought he was from the same background and you know I just did to him and to somehow with his other hand he just pushed me a little bit because he was not feeling comfortable doing it in a public place. So I got shocked and I knew him. I knew him from four years back then, but I was totally shocked at how he transformed and again, there is nothing bad in it. And we were meeting after a long time, we were seeing each other after maybe six years. So that was the moment I felt a bit cultural shock and embarrassed as well.

Gurasis:

So, Dr. Siddiqui, welcome back on my thick accent. Season two of the podcast.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Thanks again for having me on this part two.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

I really enjoyed it the last one and appreciate all your efforts

Gurasis:

so now, , I would like to transition into your move to canada. It was in 2007 when you finally moved to canada, but you were just traveling all the time, and I remember you also tell me that you couldn't stay longer in a same place at one time when you were traveling, and there were situations where you would get up in the morning and you don't know what place or what time zone you are in. So, but tell us initially your initial decision of coming to Canada.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

So again, great question, guresh the reason why I moved to Canada, or you know why I decided, it's predominantly with a family trend. Having said that, being born and brought up in Saudi Arabia, we were not able to get the citizenship. And there was one very big motive because my family moved there in early 60s and we as adults which means me and my all siblings we had to go out of Saudi Arabia to get or continue our education. Now you don't compare it, because now Saudi is triply changed thanks to the current leadership. Long story short, again, when we 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 family we decided that we should not repeat that cycle again for our own kids.

Gurasis:

Okay.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

So that was the main bottom line that we don't want to repeat that history. And then there must be a place where we would be living together and they would continue their studies. That they don't need to leave Canada was the best choice, because I've been to Canada for work and then my siblings three or four of them, they were already went through the whole process of immigration of you know, coming here. So that's the only thing which is coming to my mind.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

This is the main reason that we decided.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

I came here basically on a work visa.

Gurasis:

Okay.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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

Gurasis:

So tell us about your first day, when you moved for the final time in 2009.

Gurasis:

If you have any recollection, initial thoughts or emotions?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

so it was emotional, if you have any recollection, initial thoughts or emotions. So it was emotional. It was emotional in a way that we wind up you know everything, you know in Saudi and we landed here. Of course, as I would say, I have an extended family, so we don't we didn't have to go to a hotel or somewhere, so I had, you know, plenty of places to go. So I came here and I would like to share one very interesting fact that when we came it was winters right, and then when I came to the immigration desk, it was, first of all, it was snowing a lot when we were when the plane was landing, and at there was a time when I was quite puzzled and surprised at how this plane gonna land on, you know this snowing.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Yeah, this was, it was. There was no black runway, it was totally white covered with whitewash covered with snow and I was wondering and and anxious that how's going to land with all this snow. But thanks to and it was Air Canada flight, so it landed very smoothly. I closed my eyes just to out of anxiety again and then, but it landed, and then when we were at the immigration desk you know it was very warm and welcome of course, the immigration officer she said me you know, welcome home, love, you know all those sort of things and then.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

And then here I. There is something I always quote, I always remember, and immediately, you know, out of my anxiety, I told her. I said, well, the weather is very bad you know, and I didn't know if we're gonna land safely so you know what she said, she said, mr sadiki, I mean, she was very lovely, she was very friendly.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

And she, she said remember one thing that there is no bad weather, there are always bad clothes absolutely, and that one that one phrase is stuck here always, and I always quote this you know, with my family, with my friends, newcomers, whoever come to canada, that there is no bad weather. There are always bad clothes. Yeah, okay, which means, which means, like you know, you have to, uh, prepare, and then later on, you know, moving forward in life here in canada, we realize that you have to be equipped with the right clothes in every season yeah, absolutely yeah.

Gurasis:

So you know I also saw that you are. You have contributed and volunteered various places and I'll read few of them. Which is like you are the volunteer and contributor for the milton uh food bank. You're also a mentor for the toronto region immigrant employment council and you're also the co-director of partnership and community growth for the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council and you're also the co-director of Partnership and Community Growth for the Emerging Health Leaders in Toronto. I wanted to tell us that how did you get associated with these organizations when you moved to Canada and how these can benefit our listeners.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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

Gurasis:

Okay.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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

Gurasis:

Yeah.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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

Gurasis:

So, being a Canadian citizen, citizen, you please come back or make sure you are back yeah, and if I'm not wrong, this is the time when you were in vienna for the radiology conference, the ecr conference. Right, ecr conference?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

yeah, okay so then we we just and it was again a moment of shock for us because there were line up meetings, meetings with, you know, customers and all sort of meetings, but we had to cancel everything. I took the first available flight and then I was back in Toronto. I think it was 12th or 13th of March 2020. So until that time, I used to volunteer. I used to volunteer In Saudi Arabia. I used to volunteer, you know, wherever I go, but in Canada it was mostly the food bank at that particular time. So Milton was the most strategic location at that point. So we moved from Mississauga to Milton in 2020.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

This Milton Food Bank because I had previous links and exposure from the Mississauga Food Bank when we were here and everybody was in the, you know, they were trapped or you know, there was a time when a sort of curfew thing, everybody was inside.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

So there was an immediate need, especially for some senior citizens, for, you know, families who were, you know who needed food. So we have this uh ma'am food bank and then every sunday we used to, like you know, pile up our stock in the food bank and then people they used to come. I remember there were almost 75 families registered, 75 families. They were registered and they were all either newcomers or, you know, the old ones with with less resources, and we used to make those packs, those packets of non-perishable items or, you know, like fresh produces, like milk, fruits, fruits, vegetables, and then they used to come, they took their stuff and then they go. There were some families, senior citizens, who were not able to come. So we have like group of volunteers who used to pick their stuff and then drop at their doorsteps, right. So this is all about the food bank which is still going on. Now we have more than 100 families I would say, if I remember almost 125 families.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Number two is is more recent. It was, you know, when I stopped working for my previous company, which was ge, and then, you know, I started my own consultancy work, I would say in late 2021. I would say it was a blessing in disguise, because we were not able to travel, we were not able to visit customer sites and we were totally, totally in home 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 with people.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Either you know, as we are doing now, remotely, or one-to-one yeah so there was an organization I came across it is the one which you mentioned which is, you know, the toronto region immigrant, and you know employment council employment council and they came up with a suggestion that we we mean, you know, consultants or whoever in our own niches, in our own expertise we could come up with the newcomers you know we could help them as a mentor.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

I registered for that mentorship. I got, like you know, a couple of newcomers and I did as much as I could. Again, it was a good two-way learning experience. I'm still related with them or associated with them. If there is any good fit with them, they normally, you know, come back to me and then we do. And then EHL it's EHL or Emerging Health Leaders. It was again something for networking. Ehl or emerging health leaders, it was again something for networking. It was again something, you know, to get together the like-minded people. It was more towards the digital health and why I was inclined to that particular organization because During pandemic, all the healthcare it moved or shifted from in-person to virtual.

Gurasis:

Absolutely, if you remember right, yeah.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

And then I had an opportunity to work with some other virtual healthcare groups. We were trying to promote and we were trying to educate people that while sitting in your home, you can definitely get in touch with all sorts of healthcare providers, like GPs, like family physicians and, you know, even like mental health professionals. It was a technologically, you know, challenging situation for some individuals and I would say some means especially against senior citizens, especially people with less resources. So that was the whole plan.

Gurasis:

Thank you so much for educating us about all these organizations because, again, if any of our listeners would like to be a part of this or just want to contribute or just want to volunteer for these, I'll put the links to that in the show notes for them to check out. Since you mentioned the health and wellness and you also said it's not limited to the volunteering experience, you do have your own business, your own work and you do provide that health and wellness coaching. I want to tell a little bit more about that. And if someone is associating with you or reach out to you, what can they expect?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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

Gurasis:

Sometimes even less than that.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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

Gurasis:

Absolutely.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

And he writes down some, either labs or medication, and then we call it prescription. And then the prescription says, for example, you have to control your diabetes, you have to control your blood pressure. Or if you are a patient of cholesterol high cholesterol you have to control your blood pressure. Or if you are a patient of cholesterol high cholesterol you have to control your diet, along with medication. The health and wellness coaching is not about what to do. It's all about how to do. How to do means you need a buddy, you need a partner, you need a cheerleader and you need a health coach. Right? And this health coaching concept started from IFM, and IFM stands for Institute of Functional Medicine, which is another approach towards healthcare, and we call it holistic health approach or integrative healthcare approach.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

These practitioners who follow the guidelines of IFM. Equally, they have another branch, which is about developing and empowering health coaches. Two years ago I got connected with those people. It's my personal experience that how I shifted my life, or you know how I made myself more healthier, it was through that holistic approach about best nutrition, about diet, about better sleep, how to de-stress yourself if you are burnt out, how to reduce your stress, your interpersonal relationships, which means your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being, and how they are connected with each other, with our physical well-being. So, long story short. Again and again I learned all that on scientific basis and as a structured basis, as a course, as a certification through FMCA, which is Functional Medicine Coaching Academy. I'm not writing down the prescriptions.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

I'm not writing down of what to do. And then we come. We have to do a little bit deep dive here. It's all about positive psychology. It's all about motivational interviewing. It's all about you know to listen to you. If you or somebody else would come to me, my first meeting would go for one hour. Now imagine is there any conventional medicine or non-conventional medicine or practitioner who gives you one hour?

Gurasis:

I don't think so. Yeah, absolutely not, it's practically impossible.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

And you know we are not blaming them, we are, and I'm not blaming anybody. It's unfortunately the system, the overall system, right, they don't have time to listen to you. So, for example, if they tell you your diabetes is not controlled, your cholesterol is very bad, your hypertension is not good and you have to live a healthy 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, we would discover first and this is one of my favorite lines you know, when you go to a doctor, he asks you what's wrong with you. He would ask you. He would tell you you know, that's my favorite line he would tell you why you are hair grasses, what brought you in today?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

you know, and he might be writing down on his paper or he might be typing. Typically, he will not even talk to you. There won't be any eye contact with you. He's so busy, he or she. 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 very good. You have to work on the exercise. You have to work to control your diabetes. Thank you, here is your prescription. I'll see you in six months.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Yeah, but what I do, or what people like me, health coaches out there yes, but what I do, or what people like me health coaches out there they do, they say they don't say what's wrong with you, they say what's strong with you Right. So it's just a word, one word change from wrong to strong. And then we sit with them and we discover and we try to find out the pain points, we try to find out the hurdles. And then, with our knowledge, a funny thing, my son. He asked me you know last year, when there was a soccer World Cup, dad, you talk about coaching, but I don't know, I know only about football coaches.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Coaches yeah, yeah, I know about only Cristiano Ronaldo. I know only about Messi, and you know all those players. I don't even remember their names. But he said these are the coaches. And then there was an analogy just stuck to my mind, because his question was that they are the coaches. But what do you do, you know? That was his question. So I told him. I said it's a great question. And now tell me, have you ever seen any coach playing in the ground? You know. He said no. So where do they see? Where, where do they sit?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

he said they sit on on outside of this, you know soccer field, or they are sitting in the dressing room, and then they basically motivate them now this is not me that's my son who is telling me this, right? So he said they make the strategy, they make them, you know they, they motivate them, they empower them and blah, blah, blah. I said that's what exactly we do.

Gurasis:

We do yeah.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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

Gurasis:

Yeah.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

And then we discuss about your problems, we discuss about your health, we discuss about your health, about your sleep, about your, and we discover it together, right, and then we choose the top three problems and we focus on them that why, why and why you cannot achieve them, and how, how and how you can achieve them with internal motivation. And then we let you go out and play in the soccer field, because I'm just here to support you, to listen to you, and then to guide you or to educate you how to do it, until and unless you achieve your goal yeah, absolutely.

Gurasis:

I like the analogy. You know that you spoke with your son about as well. You know, with the coach and everything. It is sort of like a relatively new concept. But I'm sure you know that you spoke with your son about as well. You know, with the coach and everything. It is sort of like a relatively new concept. But I'm sure sometimes you do need that external push, external force, or maybe you know what you need to do but need, like, an external person to tell you how to do it or what to do it. You know basically. So definitely, once again, I'll put the links to contact Dr Siddiqui in the show notes. Links to contact Dr Siddiqui in the show notes. So, before we get into the final segment of the podcast, dr Siddiqui, this is a new segment I have added to the season of the podcast which is Know your Host, where I give my guests an opportunity to ask me a question.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Definitely you know Gresham. When I met you for the first time and you remember, there was a kind of instant instant connectivity Absolutely. And I don't know from where that come, but it was time for, as we said, there is time for everything.

Gurasis:

Yeah.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Then we go and connect the dots. Yeah, I would definitely definitely ask you that you know, whatever work you do, or you know, like your journey, which is again very interesting, which we talked about, you know offline, but what prompted you? One question what prompted you to start this kind of you know, podcasting and you know, to inviting different people from different backgrounds and like. So what's motivated you? What's the outcome of all these podcasts, or networking and talking to people?

Gurasis:

Yeah, that's a great question and I always love answering this whenever people ask me. I think it again goes back to the time when I was working in a market research company and I was interviewing people over the phone and many people I was speaking to were international students and and since you know, I had the indian accent and I kind of connected more international students, so they put me on the calls, where 80 percent of the time I'm speaking with international students and they were telling me about their journeys, briefly, about the education institutions they have studied in, and at that time I had just finished my studies and I was also kind of struggling to get a job after my program and it was just like a part-time job I was doing for survival jobs, so to say. When I was talking to them, I saw that nobody's happy after the education and they all want to get into their industries, but they are just not getting in because 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 as well. Then I started networking and I said, instead of, like me, reinventing the wheel or starting something extraordinary, something like maybe something that provides the jobs or something that can help them in any way, I said, why not to? Instead of me reinventing the wheel, let me collaborate with these extraordinary people just like yourself who are lending their helping hand to people and who are willing to do that, especially in a country like Canada, where things are very different from our native countries and people here are ready to speak to you, reply back to you on linkedin or whichever source you reach out to them. So I was like, let me do that.

Gurasis:

And youtube obviously the video was something I didn't want to get into. It does require a lot of time and effort and good resources to really start the video podcast. So audio was something I was inclined towards more. And since I have always been towards rj radio jockey, and I was always in doratory in my school, I was always the one on the stage doing the anchoring, the, the news reading sort of thing. I've also recorded a bulletin for a national television channel when I was like 15 years old, so all these things were there and and I was like, okay, let me just do that.

Gurasis:

And in general, I like talking to people, I like knowing their stories, and stories is also something that we all really relate to a lot, like we all learn. Look at our histories, our religious or even cultural histories. We all learn a lot from stories. So I think it was important for me to bring forth all those stories. So if anybody, any of our listeners are listening, they know that, hey, if he or she can do it, you can do it as well, as long as you are believing in yourself, believing in the, the abilities or believing in the experiences that you have brought from your home country. In no way you are less than anybody else.

Gurasis:

And to answer your second part, where you said what I want to achieve with it definitely I want 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 home residency, you're coming on your work visa, because I'm do. I do speak to people from all roles and domains. So this is something I want to make people go to resource, where they can find the right people, the right resource, and, at the same time, I think I'm putting myself at a very accountable position where I'm also accountable for the information that I'm putting it out there. So I also want to make sure that I bring forth the stories of the people and the people who are really ready to really lend that helping hand to people and that can benefit the listeners, to accelerate or just act as a catalyst in their success in in whichever the world of the whichever part of the world they've immigrated to.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Yeah, so that's how I think I've answered that beautifully said. And then, if you allow me, just you know, as a closing remark for these two points first of all, trust me, and and maybe you have experienced this as well, that we have abundance of right resources in canada right and having said that, having said that, you people who are from our cultural background, we normally tend to ask people.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

you know as a word of mouth thing, right, so I would ask my either neighbor or my friend or you know something about anything, right. And then we are not in a habit, collectively or in general Again, I'm not, you know, like pseudotyping anybody, but I'm trying to tell you in general, they don't go online and they don't find, you know, the right resources, right, for example, you know like job market, for example. You know like the immigration process, for example. You know like the immigration process, for example. You know the like write documents, data whatsoever, right. And then when I deep dive, when I had this time, and I deep, you know, dive into this available Canadian resources. Believe me, there is a never ending resources.

Gurasis:

Yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

And genuine resources, authentic resources and up-to-date resources. So so one of my takeaways would be that rely on those online and write resources, just google them right and then every single, each and every department here, they're going to help you absolutely 100.

Gurasis:

Yeah, this is how I discovered le.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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

Gurasis:

A hundred percent, yeah. So now, dr Siddiqui, we are in the final segment of the podcast. I call it Beneath the the accent because we are knowing each other beneath the accent. I'm going to ask a couple of questions. You can answer them in one word or a sentence or howsoever you feel like. The idea is just to know more about you. What advice would you give to your younger self, and at what age?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

I would definitely, definitely go back when I was 18. Okay, or you know, when I was entering my professional college or university. You know, mehboob Siddiqui, I would tell him to believe in myself, to believe in your intuition and to believe in your passion. Just choose. I'm not using the word career, I'm just choosing. Just choose the work, just choose the activities which make you happy.

Gurasis:

Is there a moment when you experienced a significant cultural shock that surprised you?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Back in Middle East. As I said, we used to kiss on each other cheeks when we greet each other. So, basically, yeah, we shake hands and then we do this. So it was a kind of learning moment for me when I I was quite new here and you know the other person I thought he was from the same background okay and, and you know, I just did to him okay and to somehow, with his other hand he just pushed me a little bad oh, wow right, because he was not feeling comfortable doing it in a public place okay right.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

So I was brutally honest with you, so I got shocked I'm sure yeah right and I knew him, I knew him from for years back then, but I was totally shocked that how he transformed. And again, there is nothing bad in it, you know. Yeah, of course it was, and we were in a public place, we were in a mall and we were meeting after a long time, you know, and, like you know, I out excitement out of you know, we were seeing each other after maybe six years when, you know, after shaking hand, I was, you know, trying to like we used to greet each other.

Gurasis:

Absolutely you know.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

So that was the moment I felt a bit cultural shock and embarrassed as well. But then I would say, thanks to my resilience or thanks to my you know training, that I just absorbed that moment and then everything was okay from that point onwards and I was careful I'm sure.

Gurasis:

Okay, what's the one dish from your home country that always brings you comfort and nostalgia?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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 sort of national dish which we used to eat there in festivals, in weddings, on you know, in any big occasion, and similar dishes. Back home is biryani.

Gurasis:

And do you have any story related to your misunderstanding around the accent or the English?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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 be great colleagues when we used to talk on telephone. It was a little bit difficult to understand and be understood, especially when English is not a native language for both of us. I have my own accent and I again I don't know which accent is this, but when I talk people they are confused. They ask me either you are from Middle 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 was telling him that what I had eaten we use the word duck. Maybe it was Thanksgiving something or something like that.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

But somehow duck came to the, you know, like the Thanksgiving dinner, and he understood that I was mentioning about dog. So that was quite funny that he understood that I was eating dog and my point was there was a confusion between duck and dog and my point was there was a confusion between duck and dog.

Gurasis:

Okay, so what's your favorite cultural festival or celebration in Canada?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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 of them is sweet eat and another one is the you know, eid of sacrifice, eid al-adha. It's becoming so inclusive now that, being here in canada, we invite our neighbors, we invite you know again, all across so I can tell you like you know Christians, hindus, jews, sikhs you just name it, you know, and then in a community, we invite them to break the fast with us.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Okay, it gave me, on a personal level and on a community level, such a big joy, such a big fulfillment that you know, we learned about each other's cultures and we learned that each culture has fasting traditions. You know, like I never knew that previously. They have all. They call it different names, absolutely yeah, but they do fast. This is one of the things that you know, I celebrated a lot.

Gurasis:

And tell us about your first friend that you made in Canada.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

We are ending the program and it's the most difficult question, guresh? Yeah, because you know I was fortunate enough to have too many friends, abundance of friends and family. When I came here I was not in a need to make friends. Having said that, I had so many colleagues, I had so many, you know, like, like now, neighbors it's really hard to question. I I cannot name one.

Gurasis:

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 you have traveled a lot, you know, and you were like on the move all the time what three things that you would say that you always carried with yourself, or would you recommend people to carry when they travel?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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 a small travel pack with you of your medications and you know those utilities. Secondly, I always kept a copy of my travel documents. And then the third thing is a pair of clothes, socks, undergarments, something which is like the most basic, basic, essential and necessarily, if I lose my luggage, it happens a lot.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

so these come to my mind and they're still in my bag so finally, describe canada in one word or a sentence a land of opportunity and it's the most friendliest country I have been to so if you could leave me with one piece of advice, what?

Gurasis:

what would it be?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

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

Gurasis:

Thank you. Thank you so much, and how would you describe your experience of being on the podcast?

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Lovely, very energizing, and there is something which I always say that I believe in reverse mentoring. You know, every day is a learning day. It's not about uh in age, who is senior, who is junior, who is younger, who is older. We always learn from each other absolutely and from bottom of my heart, guresh says I thank you for inviting me and giving me this opportunity, just to share myself okay, no, thank you.

Gurasis:

Thank you so much for your kind words and it has been a pleasure speaking with you and I cannot wait for people to hear this recording and learn from you and from the stories that you have shared. And thank you for being so open about all your life and all your journeys and all the stories that you have told us, the fun conversations that you have shared with us. So, thank you, thank you so much for being on the podcast and adding value to my listeners. Thank you.

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui:

Pleasure is all mine. Thank you so much.

People on this episode

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Gurasis Singh

Host
Contributor

Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui

Guest