My name is Darshana Parvati Singh. I was born and raised in the City of Bhopal, Capital of the Indian Province of Madhya Pradesh. I've always been different from others ever since I could remember. As a young woman in the Republic of India, I've always had the feeling that my destiny lay elsewhere. My father Raju Singh always encouraged me to pursue my dreams. I enrolled at Rajiv Gandhi Technical University, one of our Province's top schools, way ahead of most of my peers. By the time I was twenty I had a bachelor's degree in Computer Science. My agile intelligence and confidence earned me the esteem of my professors and the envy of my fellow students. It also attracted a lot of international attention.
Athena Monroe, a very beautiful and intelligent Black lady from Canada, was one of the visiting professors at Rajiv Gandhi Technical University during my senior year. She came from the University of Toronto in Canada, and took an interest in me. I can't thank her enough for all the wonderful things she's done for me since we met. Athena Monroe is an amazing woman. She helped me apply for an international scholarship. Something most of the top students at India's top colleges and universities could only dream of. I applied to colleges and universities in America, Canada, and the United Kingdom. I got accepted at Carleton University in the City of Ottawa, Canada's Capital. The place where I would meet my ultimate destiny. Apparently, America's very own Harvard University and Britain's very own Oxford University didn't like what I had to offer. I'm a Muslim gal from India and I happen to have an IQ of 180. A lot of men and women in the Western World find that intimidating. I totally get it. Insecure fools.
Well, since the United States of America and Great Britain didn't want me, I opted for Canada. In the City of Ottawa I experienced a lot of culture shock. I didn't know the Capital of Canada was so racially diverse. Everywhere I looked I saw Chinese folks, Black people, and of course Hispanics and Arabs. Some of India's top cities like Mumbai are fairly diverse, but the rest aren't. Canada is unlike any other place I've ever seen. I once visited my paternal grandparents in Los Angeles, California, where they live. While quite diverse, the State of California was far different from the Province of Ontario. For starters, Ontario was bigger but with a smaller population. What an exciting place to live! And Carleton University reflected the racial diversity of Ottawa.
I moved into my dormitory at Carleton University, and thus my journey began. I had gotten accepted into the prestigious Sprott Business School of Canada's very own Carleton University. One of the best business schools in the Confederation of Canada. I thought about pursuing a master's degree in Computer Science at Carleton University but work in the I.T. field has dried up. I wanted to get a decent job after graduating from Carleton University so I decided a master's degree in business would go a long way toward satisfying that goal. I've met a lot of computer science guys and gals who were out of work in India. From what I hear, the situation is the same in North America. I have no desire to join their ranks.
When September 2011 came, I started my classes at Carleton University. In spite of my genius, they were far from easy. And I'm not just talking about the language barrier. I speak a heavily accented English, and sometimes Canadians I encounter smile at me patronizingly. I hate that. It's almost as if they didn't know anything about cultural relativity. If I seem strange to you, you must be aware that in all likelihood, you probably seem equally strange to me. I grew up in a fairly conservative Muslim household. My mother and sisters didn't wear the burka but we seldom went anywhere without the hijab. While living in North America, I still wore my hijab. A lot of people think of it as a symbol for women's oppression. It really isn't. At least not where I come from. The Republic of India is home to more Muslims than most Arab countries, but we're nothing like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I'm told that women over there can't even drive or go anywhere without a male relative as chaperone. What a load of crap, pardon my French. Women in India enjoy full social equality with men. Thank you very much.
I kept busy at Carleton University. And slowly but surely, my confidence returned. It had never really left but I felt challenged at Carleton University. The culture shock was definitely part of it. Also, I missed my dad, my mother and my sisters. Sometimes, I felt like turning tail and boarding the first flight to India. I had never seen snow before I came to Canada. I hate the damn snow. I also hate hockey, and anything to do with winter sports. I dislike Canadian women with their overly sexual styles of dress and their sheer lack of modesty. I dislike sex-maddened Canadian men. I took refuge in the Muslim Students Association or M.S.A. It was a really diverse group. There are lots of Muslim students at Carleton University. They come from places like Somaliland, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Libya, Indonesia and of course India. I had never seen such a diverse group of Muslims under one roof. Wow. Amazingly, I felt right at home among them. They were really friendly. We all shared the double burden of trying to be true to our common Muslim faith and different cultures while living in Canada.