Driven: A how-to Strategy for Unlocking your Greatest Potential

Chapter 1. THE CONTAINER SHIP

I was a foreigner in the land of my birth. I was born in Kuwait of Pakistani descent. My parents had emigrated from their country of origin to this desolate and unforgiving country after the British partitioned India in 1947 to create Pakistan. As non-Arabs in Kuwait, we were looked down upon, denied rights accorded to Arabs, and frequently treated with contempt. The racial prejudice I experienced was extreme and unrelenting, and growing up in Kuwait was a continuous battle of wits, determination, and survival.

I remember as a young boy when my mother would send me to the local market, called the bakala; calling it a grocery store would be a great embellishment. It was a run-down little shack, meagerly supplied with vegetables in boxes, some canned goods on the shelves, and stray bottles of Coca Cola in a small, aged, and battered refrigerator. I'd run into Nidal and Bassam, the sons of the owners, when I was there, and we'd often get into a scuffle, as young boys tend to do. Nidal was a stout Arab twice my size, and Bassam was tall, lean, and stronger than I. Both of them had toothless smiles because of their many brawls. I never knew when I encountered them whether they wanted to play with me or get into a brawl; they could switch between the two demeanors in a matter of seconds. One could never know with them. A fight could begin with Bassam grabbing my shirt; I would push him off, and then both of us would launch a flurry of blows on each other. ...