Gurasis: 0:03

so now, Dr. Siddiqui, we are in the final segment of the podcast. I call it beneath the accent because we are knowing each other beneath the accent. I'm gonna ask 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. What advice would you give to your younger self, and at what age?

Dr. Siddiqui: 0:23

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 just choosing.

Dr. Siddiqui: 0:47

just choose the work, just choose the activities which make you happy

Gurasis: 0:53

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

Dr. Siddiqui: 0:58

back in middle east, as I said, we used to kiss on each other cheeks. When we greet each other, greet each other yeah, so basically, yeah, we shake hands and then we do this. So it was a kind of learning moment for me when I was quite new here and you know the other person I thought he was from the same background.

Gurasis: 1:23

Background okay.

Dr. Siddiqui: 1:25

And you know I just did to him okay and to somehow, with his other hand he just pushed me a little bit oh, wow right, because he was not feeling comfortable doing it in a public place okay right.

Dr. Siddiqui: 1:42

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 at 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, out of excitement, out of you know, we were seeing each other after maybe six years, when, you know, after shaking hands I was, you know, trying to like we used to greet each other- Absolutely, you know.

Dr. Siddiqui: 2:21

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.

Gurasis: 2:42

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

Dr. Siddiqui: 2:50

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, okay, and you know it's a sort of national dish which we used to eat there in festivals and weddings, on, you know, in any big occasion, and similar dishes.

Gurasis: 3:19

Back home is biryani and do you have any story related to your misunderstanding around the accent or the english?

Dr. Siddiqui: 3:26

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.

Dr. Siddiqui: 3:37

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 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, but somehow somehow duck came to the you know like the tank giving dinner and he understood that I was mentioning about dog.

Dr. Siddiqui: 4:22

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.

Gurasis: 4:33

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

Dr. Siddiqui: 4:37

Surprisingly, we have huge community here. So, 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 Eid and another one is the you know, eid of sacrifice. Eid al-Adha is becoming so inclusive now that, being here in Canada, we invite our neighbors, we invite, you know again, all cross, 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. 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 tradition. 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. We, we, I celebrated a lot.

Gurasis: 5:49

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

Dr. Siddiqui: 5:52

We are ending the program and it's the most difficult question. 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 friend. Having said that, I had so many colleagues. I had so many, you know, like now neighbors. It's really hard discussion. I I cannot name one.

Gurasis: 6:17

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. Siddiqui: 6:36

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 medications 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 that's as if I lose my luggage, which happens a lot. So these come to my mind and they're still in my bag.

Gurasis: 7:15

So finally, describe Canada in one word or a sentence.

Dr. Siddiqui: 7:19

A land of opportunity, and it's the most friendliest country I've been to.

Gurasis: 7:25

So if you could leave me with one piece of advice, what would it be?

Dr. Siddiqui: 7:29

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

Gurasis: 7:34

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

Dr. Siddiqui: 7:39

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, grace says I thank you for inviting me and giving me this opportunity just to share myself.

Gurasis: 8:09

Thank you. 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 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 conversation 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. Siddiqui: 8:34

Pleasure is all mine. Thank you so much.