Light of a Candle

I was born on Wednesday, October 14, 1970. My parents married in December of 1969 and technically, I was conceived on January 21, 1970--also on a Wednesday.

Of course, I don't remember my birth. I have yet to meet someone who has. But I have built a vision, after piecing together the events told to me secondhand, thereby creating a visual I carry around for myself today.

My parents did not own a car. When my father moved to Toronto with my pregnant mother, they found a house owned by an elder Chinese couple who were renting out the attic portion. My father was eager to start working (as he would soon be supporting three) and embarked on foot to many job opportunities. My mother made that attic their new home and prepared it for my birth.

When she could no longer take the pangs of labour, my parents took a cab to the nearest hospital. After many, many hours, I was born. I learned years later that my father took it upon himself to name all three children. I was born on a Wednesday and stayed exactly one week in the hospital.

The day my parents left to take me home, my father was holding me in his arms as they stepped out into the parking lot and approached the stationed taxi. It was snowing lightly. When he looked down at me, I was breathing as to blow away the flurries on my face. This delighted him. The skies were darker with the snow but this baby, in a pure white blanket with ivory skin and jet black hair seemed to illuminate his heart.

When he walked in the door after they arrived home, he turned to my mother and exclaimed that he knew what he would name me. My namesake was an original, old Hindu name from pre-colonial India. It struck me as odd since we celebrated our independance as Pakistanis and there was a staunch stand differentiating both cultures. However, in the end, he chose the name for its meaning.

Light of a Candle.

And trust me--from that day on, my parents had been trying to blow that candle out from the minute I was born. According to my zodiac sign, Libra, I am the following:

No ordinary person, full imagination and originality, shy and reserved, ambitious, proud, self-respect, hungers for new experiences, sometimes nervous, many complexes, good memory, learns easily, complicated love life, wants to impress.

You are about to learn how these attributes were shaped and formed from the time I was introduced to the world on that autumn yet snowy day...a precursor for nothing ordinary...as my father coined it.