There’s something magical about words. The simplicity of an ‘i’, the pout of an ‘o’, the sensuous curves of an ‘s’, and the dramatic finality of an ‘x’ – it’s fascinating how they weave together to create meaning. I think I fell in love with writing at twelve, when I spent countless hours bent over a calligraphy book, tracing along the dotted lines, lost in imaginary pixie dust. Writing has become a cathartic expression. I use it to bring my imagination to life, to explore the intriguing, and to capture some essence of the myriad intersections of place, time and person.
I was born and raised in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, but I could never bring myself to feel any attachment to it. I lived there as an observer because it treated me like a foreigner. I get my cultural roots from Pakistan – Karachi, in particular. It’s where my parents grew up, and I spent my summer vacations there every year until I moved to Canada for my undergraduate studies. The move to Canada happened a week before 9-11, and although the world suddenly became more chaotic, university life shielded me from it for a while. The western world was quite a culture shock, but Canada is where I found myself; it’s where I now live, in Waterloo, Ontario.
After graduating, I worked as a software engineer for a few years. I love coding. It’s another form of writing and expression, one that is very empowering. But just as writing is empty without the experience of life, effective software development is so much more than coding. What makes it fun is the fine dance of automating a process to meet a real need at just the right time. Many of my colleagues have taught me how to do this well. But when you start to look at everything through a new lens, sometimes the conventional wisdom of the world starts to feel archaic, and the risk-adverse cultures of traditional organizations becomes stifling. So now I’m exploring entrepreneurship in healthcare technology. It’s tough; like eating glass and staring into an abyss. I hope I can come out the other side alive and well.
I’m an avid reader. I’ll read anything that catches my attention – neuroscience, leadership, spirituality, the universe. And no matter how much of a technophile I become, I will forever remain grateful to the trees that die so I can turn the pages of a real book. I also love nature hiking and take whatever chance I can to escape into the forest to walk among trees. It makes me feel like I’m in my natural state of being, and provides a space for deeper reflection.
So I’m an entrepreneur, an engineer, a storyteller, a book junkie, and a wanderer. In the end, all I really want to do is think deeply, solve problems, do work I love that matters, figure out what I am meant to contribute to the world, and make sure I contribute it.
Arjumand Ateeq 