Come along with me as I share bits and pieces of who I am with you. I’m a very private person but do want you to know where my story started and how I ended up where i am now.
Quick info: I was in Nigeria, raised in Canada with a Indian/Pakistani background. I was one of very few brown kids at my school back in the 90s.
Back in the 90s Canada wasn’t as diverse as it is now so being brown meant that I stood out like a sore thumb. Children can be cruel or mean especially when they’ve learned stereotypes from else where. They think THAT is how someone is. Their worlds are pretty much black and white. I was bullied and make fun of being a Desi. I went out of my way to make sure the aroma of the food was aired out in the house so when I changed my clothes, it wouldn’t taint it and I wouldn’t be called smelly or stinky. When they heard me speak Urdu with my siblings they thought it was dumb and made fun of it. Gradually, I began to feel embarrassment with who I was. I deliberately chose not to learn how to write or read in Urdu, because you know who wants to learn a language or backward people. TV showed me brown people were villains and nothing more. We weren’t people just like how other minorities were portrayed.
I didn’t appreciate my culture and mother language. Growing up was a battle of trying to figure out who I was. Then received a marriage proposal from Pakistan. Yes it was a so-called arranged marriage but it wasn’t how it was done way back when. We spoke over the phone for couple of weeks and it was a very much like a business deal. Putting out what our priorities in life are and what our goals were. To see if we meshed. His aligned with my views and goals. We both agreed we wanted to take the next step and got married. He started to break down my negative views and stereotypes and helped me unlearn so much misinformation. My parents worked when I was growing up and what I knew about my culture, I learned from TV/Movies told me brown people were bad. My husband opened up a new world to me that I had all wrong.
Then I became a mother and felt I would do a great disservice if I didn’t support my children and help them learn about this beautiful language and culture. I went on a journey to find information regarding Urdu and how I could teach my children, however there weren’t any English to Urdu books available. All I could find was books in Urdu teaching Urdu. Counter productive if you ask me. I decided something had to be done. I started researching and learning Urdu in the process. I developed methods on how to learn Urdu if you knew English. After years of working on it, I finally competed a Qaeda (Learning book). I spent years working on it, researching, designing and putting it together to teach my children how to learn to read and write Urdu. One of my goals is to publish my Urdu learning book.
This is where it brings me to Etsy. Learning Urdu isn’t just for people who know Urdu or are Desi “noun: desi; a person of Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi birth or descent who lives abroad.” I want everyone to enjoy its beauty. Maybe learn it too. I’m working to create more products to share my ideas, at every age level. Something for kids, something for adults. Stickers felt right and who doesn’t like am I right, right…yeah. *smiles* I’m working towards making prints as well.
I never planned to make Winnie the Pooh stickers but I couldn’t help myself. I just love Disney and sweets so much so I guess that’s staying.
Lastly, how Groggy Pirate came about is that a groggy mom of 3. I am their Captain and they are my unruly pirate crew who is always ready to call mutiny.
Anyways, I realized any one can learn just like me, regardless of their background. Urdu is not just for people of Pakistan. You can learn it and enjoy it too. Want to learn it? Then let’s do this together! Don’t want to learn Urdu, that’s okay too, enjoy the cuteness of the stickers and pieces! Once again thank you for reading all that and for supporting my small business!! ~ Wajeeha aka Gorggy Pirate
