Gurasis: 0:20

before we uh get into the final segment, hamza, I've added this new segment in this season, obviously, and I call it know your host, where I ask my guests to ask me any question they might have okay, all right, well, let me put on my podcast mask.

Hamza: 0:35

Let's do this, okay. So question one, one of this, one of my favorite questions to ask people and probably not ask you it on if, when you join my podcast, so when you go into a new passion or experience, there are certain things that you picked up when you go through that experience. So envision like you know those, those, those uh commercials about medicine where it's like before a person you would look like, you look like this after a person, you look like this when you look at my thick accent. Tell me a bit about what you were like as a person before my thick accent and how has your life changed since you started my thick accent podcast?

Hamza: 1:13

so tell me a bit about the before and after of creating

Gurasis: 1:15

wow, I love this question and I feel like I've recently answered this offline, but I'll still answer that for you, of course. So you know, when I came to Canada in 2018, hamza, I felt like I had this spark, like enthusiastic fun. Good disease was there, but I feel like, with time, with the challenges I had as an immigrant trying to navigate a life in a new world where life has never existed before for me, right, for the first initial three and a half years, I feel like I lost that spark because I was too, too much occupied with the immigration process. The pandemic was the added pressure, because everything is nice and hunky-dory when you come here, right, but eventually the reality kicks in. The weather takes a toll on you. I think I lost a part of me, sort of, I would say, but when I started working on it and then I obviously started talking to these people, right, and and these people are the people who have been through a similar sort of a journey which I am in right now right, because y'all are, like, I would say, like 20, some like 10 or 20 years ahead in their immigrant journey than me, right, so talking to them basically reassured me that, whatever is happening with me I'm not alone into this and also because when I went to toronto last year you know it was I completed my one year. I went to toronto, I spoke at networking event and I saw the live reaction of people about the podcast and it was just before the lunch time and during the lunch time I saw the amount of people who came and talked to me and I felt like damn, that Gurasees is back. You know, because I was this person back in India.

Gurasis: 2:50

I was into every possible, you name it. I was in that extracurricular activity except sports. I wasn't too much into sports complete opposite from you but I was into, you know, you can say I was into dramatics. I was into dramatics. I was into singing also. I was part of my school choir the dancing also. I have done at one point, I've done a lot of hosting. I've done a lot of rj in my school, organized events, hosting, anchoring so much. But I feel like I never got that opportunity or that stage to really showcase what I had, you know, when I came to canada. But through this podcast I feel like this was a great uh, you know, like a platform for me personally to be able to showcase that who actually I am, you know, which I never got before. So yeah, the the short answer is I feel like I didn't have that spark.

Hamza: 3:34

I lost that spark before this, but after this podcast, I have regained my spark and that that energy which I lost before yeah, you know it's interesting because the way I answer this question is, you know, I still develop that fear of talking to people. However, I feel like that there's a difference between wanting to talk to someone and I need to talk to someone. I think I do a better job of needing to talk to someone rather than the want, because on a podcast, you need, like, if you, if you want to have a guest on your podcast, you need to reach out to them. So some people will go through the actual guests themselves, or there's maybe a PR like an assistant manager, whatever. I have to go through them.

Hamza: 4:16

Sometimes it can be difficult because they obviously have more, they're obviously managing the person, or maybe they're managing an organization that a guest is part of. So it's like, oh, do I really want to bother them? But I'm like I kind of need to quote, unquote bother them because if I really want this guest, I need to reach out to them. So I think the need, like they need to talk to someone. If you want me to, if you say, like, hamza, I need you to talk to this person, I'll do it.

Hamza: 4:40

If you say, hamza, go talk, I want you to go talk to this person, he has a podcast or she has a podcast. They'll be like, oh boy, here we go again. All right, hi, I'm hamza. Hopefully this conversation is not a bad conversation. So I think the need, like needing to talk to someone, I'm okay with, but the wanting still a work in progress. But I hope to be at a point where I'm like you know what, regardless if it's a good answer, a bad answer, at least I tried my best so now we're in the final segment.

Gurasis: 5:08

I call it beneath the accent because we are knowing each other beneath our accents, unique accents. I'm going to a couple of questions. You can answer them in one word or a sentence, or however you feel like. The idea is just to know more about you. So first is are you an early bird or a night owl? Oh, early bird, a word that describes you best.

Hamza: 5:29

I was gonna say curious, you know, like c-u-r-r-y-o-u-s, but uh, yeah, definitely curious. I like that. Yeah, it just doesn't come out the tongue well, but definitely curious. Just because you know, I'm someone who likes to really know what it's like to be other people and I'd like to know more than what I see. There's more to something than what is currently being presented. Just because you know why, not?

Gurasis: 5:53

it's it's it's fun to learn more you know that's a great idea for a t-shirt. You know careers. I love that I've tried.

Hamza: 6:00

I keep like stay curious, but it's just, it's kind of I don't know.

Gurasis: 6:03

I'm still working on it no, you, you have to make a t-shirt for that for sure. I love that so cool. All right, what's your go-to comfort food?

Hamza: 6:12

uh, butter, or chicken makhani, chicken makhani all the way. Garlic naan has to be it. Mango lassi, that's my go-to meal and that's like no, you're not taking anything else do you have any hidden talents? I've been asking really weird philosophical questions from time to time. I think that's the only talent I can think of, but no, I don't know, just just asking weird questions.

Gurasis: 6:40

I don't even know about the talent I mean sure you know it's not everybody's cup of tea to even ask a question sometimes, you know.

Hamza: 6:45

That's true.

Gurasis: 6:46

What's the best piece of advice someone ever gave you?

Hamza: 6:48

Ironically enough, I hated getting this advice when I first started my podcast, but, to be honest, it's never been more true than before. But things take time, and I think it's the most important piece of advice, because you obviously want the good things to happen to you, but sometimes no one's taught me this. I think this is something I've come to realize on my own, which is, in order for something to be beautiful, it has to be ugly in a sense. That Think of, like everything, that everyone that's become successful or created that really incredible product that took a journey that took a lot of failures, challenges, obstacles, other things. And yeah, it takes time. Now, for some people, it may take more time, some people may take shorter time, but it really does take time to develop that thing and you have to make sure that you continue to keep fighting.

Hamza: 7:42

And I want to be careful when I talk about this, because there are a lot of people that really wanted that thing, but they never end up getting it. And it's not a knock on them, but it's more like maybe there's something else that they decide to pursue or they just really couldn't do it. So they're something I have to be really careful of. But with this podcast. I really want this podcast to be successful, but I also know that in order for it to be successful, it's going to have to take a journey and whether I like it or not, that's fact. But that's factual and I have to accept that fact well, honestly, I have no doubts it won't be successful.

Gurasis: 8:17

So definitely more power to you thank you, appreciate it okay, tell me, if you could describe yourself as any creature, what would it be?

Hamza: 8:25

hmm, that's a good question. Probably a cat, I mean, I think I think the cats movie ruined it for me, that really terrible movie that came out in 2019, but even then, I mean, I I find cats really adorable. So I don't know, cats are just like the type of thing I mean. Also, I think people also like dogs as well, but I don't know what I've noticed. So whenever I see people with cats, they really like being around cats. So that's something I wish if I were to be an animal, probably a cat, just because it's like oh yeah, I just want to be around you, not in a creepy way, but more like in a fun way.

Gurasis: 8:58

Okay, who is your go-to person when you feel stuck?

Hamza: 9:02

Okay. So I want to take it into a different route. In the sense, the easiest answer would be my mom and dad, but then, from a more religious standpoint, probably God. I am Muslim, so, for those listening, maybe you may not relate to this or not, but I definitely go to God for help. I consider religion, or like faith, as a gps, so I usually go to that to help guide me as to what I should or should not do, what is right and what is wrong. So if that's an answer that you'll be willing to accept because we obviously maybe different religions or we can't see god, obviously mom and dad is like my go-to people, but if it's other than parents, without doubt God.

Gurasis: 9:42

Great answer. What's the most expensive thing you would like to own?

Hamza: 9:46

I'm not someone that likes to spend too much money, probably. I don't know how to say the microphone name, but it's called like Shure or Shure microphone. Yeah, so I've never seen it.

Hamza: 9:57

It's one of the best microphones out there because the voice is very professional and crisp. I use a yeti microphone from my podcast but if I were to like make sound on my I'm currently using a desk but if you, I don't know if you can hear this, but you can hear like scratching noises. Sometimes it picks it up on the yeti, but on a sure microphone surey microphone, sure, surey, whatever it's pronounced um, it does a good job of not picking that up. So maybe a shuri microphone is something I'd like to own one day. But then again, like, like I said, I'm not someone who likes to spend. I'm one of those people that likes to spend more money on books. I will probably get like a set of books for, like, the lord of the rings or hobbit, which is like which could be a lot of money because they're like six or seven books.

Gurasis: 10:39

So, yeah, probably, probably sherry microphone if you could have any super power, what would it be?

Hamza: 10:45

um, as someone who likes to overthink and be judged and worry about judgment, mind reading definitely like to read people's mind, like I would love to be those people where it's like you know we're having a good time, but I'd like to know are they really having a good time? You know, I'm one of those people that's like, yeah, you know, you seem like a really good guy. And then you know, in my mind I'm like, oh man, how long is he going to continue to talk about chicken curry and why it's the greatest food on the planet? What time is it? Oh man, only three hours left until I can get to my class. I'd love to know that. Obviously, I don't try to bore people out of my love for curry, but it's like I really want to know, because there's a difference between what you say on the outside and then how you really feel on the inside.

Gurasis: 11:21

So mind reading would definitely be a really cool superpower if you could create this one law, hamza, that everybody has to follow, what would it be?

Hamza: 11:30

actually interesting enough. Jay Shetty actually has asked his guest some of that question. So I was like, oh, I've always thought about what? How would I answer this question? I'm really glad you brought that up.

Hamza: 11:39

One law that I would create. I don't know if this is a good law, but I still think it's. I wish it's something that we can all do, which is to be understanding. Everyone is different.

Hamza: 11:49

You're one of 8 billion people on the planet, so you might have time, but other people may not have time, and that's not to say that they don't want to be around you. It's that there are certain things that's preventing them from being able to be in your or be able to help you or be able to spend time with you, and it's something that I've had to be patient with, because I used to think, oh, they don't want to hang out with me because of me. Later on I realized, no, there are certain things that are preventing them from doing that thing. So everyone has difficult challenges. Sometimes it that thing, so everyone has difficult challenges. Sometimes it's just one of those things where you don't really understand there's a reason why they can't do the things that you want to do with them, because they're going through something, so just be understanding and be patient totally and to add to that, I feel like it also makes things very easier for your own sanity to accept that why is the reason they're behaving a certain way?

Gurasis: 12:37

so that you don't like overthink and kind of like make your own reasons behind it and you start even start. Sometimes, I feel like when you don't think it that way, you also start criticizing your own self. Is it me? You start questioning yourself. I was the one who did that. Maybe I spoke wrong at this point. Maybe I did that. You know it's better to think from other person's perspective. At time it's like you know that that classic example of your six might be their nine for sure, yeah, and it's.

Hamza: 13:00

And again, it's not something that we understand. If you're waiting for someone to hang out with you and they never respond to you, you might want to demand an explanation. Like, hey, we were supposed to meet up, but what happened? In these cases you might want an explanation, but there are cases where it's like, whatever they're going through, just let it be, because sometimes you know, maybe it's best to not hear the story. Like, for example, if I say I'm sick, it's easy to go. Is he really sick? Or if he just, does he really want to hang out with me?

Hamza: 13:27

But if I tell you, uh, I had diarrhea, then you're like, okay, you know what? I should not have asked that question. So okay, you did not need to ask that, you did not need to tell me that. So there are. Okay, I think it is a difficult slope, but at the end of the day, you know people are people and you know it's. It's some. At some point you need to think it has to be outside of you, it needs to be bigger than you, right? Not everything revolves around you.

Gurasis: 13:51

People have other obligations and finally, if you could leave me with one piece of advice, what would it be?

Hamza: 13:57

so I think the first thing would definitely be, like I said, everything takes time. It's great to find something that you're really passionate about. One piece of advice I'd love to give to people and it's something because I actually asked this question to my guest is it's okay to dislike your passion? And it's weird because you think that just because you're passionate about something, it means that you're going to love every minute. But it's not necessarily love, it's more of embracing. You know it's weird.

Hamza: 14:30

I used to say think of your passion as your spouse, right In the sense? I'm not married, by the way, but whether it's wife, wife, wife, husband, husband, husband or whatever, you're going to have difficult conversations, you guys are going to fight, but at the end of the day, you're going to stick together because you believe that throughout the difficulty you will still remain as one. Passions in general, it's similar to that. So if you don't like your passion, it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's part of the journey, right? Because, like one of the things on my podcast, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. So if there are times where you dislike your yeah, exactly, if you dislike your passion, it's not that you want to divorce from it. It's literally part of what it means to be in the field podcasting yeah, there are a lot of challenges leadership, promotion, good questions, good conversations.

Hamza: 15:21

Maybe you're hard on yourself. These self-doubts like that's part of podcasting. Obviously there's more, but these are things that come to mind. So if there are times where you're like, oh, I don't like my thick accent or I'm not liking where it's at, that's a normal thing because, first of all, you care and, secondly, it's part of what it means to be in this field. So love your passion absolutely, but definitely embrace the the negativity, even though it's something that you are really passionate about no, no, exactly.

Gurasis: 15:49

You know, there are days, obviously, like I do question it, like okay, what am I doing? Am I doing it correctly? Am I done? So? I think that's also normal, like you just said, that it's a good thing that you care about it. That's why you are questioning yourself that, what you're exactly doing. So, yeah, thank you for that. And lastly, how would you describe your experience of being on this podcast today?

Hamza: 16:09

It's definitely been a fun experience in a weird way and I hope I don't offend you by saying this but definitely a learning experience, because I'm so used to being the host, not the guest, right? So, host, you have a set of preparation, you know what to talk about, but as a guest now it's like like okay, I really got to make sure that I do the talking. But then it's like, okay, how do I make sure that I don't? Like I don't want to talk too much about something, because maybe there's other things you want to talk about. But then I also don't want to be in a situation where I give you like a two or three word answer and then it's like, oh crap, he's done, oh wait.

Hamza: 16:45

So it's like for tell me about your time, where you tell me like your favorite podcast guest and I'm like I like this person, and then you're like that's it. But then at the same time, I also don't want to be in a situation where I spend two or three, four or five minutes talking about why I like this guest, because there's a difference. So definitely a learning experience. So, if I apologize if I ramble too much, but it's one of those things where it's a learning experience and I hope that in future episodes I figure out like how to be a good guest, because being a great host is one thing, but being a great guest that's another thing.

Gurasis: 17:21

Okay, awesome. Well, on that note, thank you. Thank you so much for being on the podcast today and adding value to my listeners.

Hamza: 17:27

Thanks, a lot. Yeah, of course.