In the pursuit of happiness

The story of Shikeb Seraj, the grandson of King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan is an example of extreme perseverance against heavy odds, to find happiness. Born in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, Shikeb’s father was an engineer at Radio-Television Afghanistan, situated in Wazir Akbar Khan. His mother ran a beauty parlour. Following the withdrawal of the Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989, the situation turned from bad to worse and his family was forced to seek refuge in neighbouring Pakistan. At five years of age, leaving all their belongings in Afghanistan Shikebs family migrated to Pakistan. With very little money, but the will to survive he made the twenty hour journey to Pakistan on a bus and came to Islamabad.
“Since we had very little money, my uncle rented a small, dingy two bedroom apartment in Islamabad, with ten people living in two rooms. Life was hard, it was a new place, a new city, new culture and a different language,” Shikeb told me. “I told my mother I want to study, and I saw the hope in her eyes as she held me in her arms.”
Since his parents had no money, he was left with no other option but to lend them a helping hand. Using some connections, they found him a job at a carpet weaving workshop.
“Every day, I would go with my cousin to the workshop. We would begin work at 8 in the morning and get done by 7 in the evening. Those were the hardest days of my life,” Shikeb explained. “In the free time we had, my cousin and I would sell home made food and chips, but the desire to study never left me.”
Some family members who were relatively well off, after finding out that he was weaving carpets decided to sponsor his education. Shikeb joined a local government school in Islamabad. Settling in was hard, but he knew he would have to face these challenges.
“By the time I finished primary school, I topped my class. The teachers loved me and I won many prizes and competitions,” Shikeb said as he ran me through his early days in Islamabad. The standard of the government schools was relatively poor and Shikeb wanted to learn English so he asked his aunt if she could spare some more money to send him to a private school. Shikeb completed grade 9 in IPS Islamabad after moving to ICAS. He said that his mother worked at beauty parlour to earn some money to pay for the education of his brother and sister. “The Principal of ICAS Islamabad, Madam Nusrat was very helpful with regards to the fee and I feel like I have to thank her for providing me the opportunity to get good education,” Shikeb said.
After completing his A levels, Shikeb wanted to pursue a bachelors degree. He started working for International Organisation for Migration. He worked there for a year after which he moved to ACTED, a French NGO to save up money to pursue a bachelors degree. With the money he had worked hard to earn, he decided to apply to universities in England for his bachelors and got an offer of admission from West London College. Shikeb reached London in 2006. He completed a certificate in Business Administration from West London College, after which he joined the London School of Law and Business in 2008.
“My time in London was not without problems. I was juggling work with studies since I had to pay for my tuition fee. I knew I had to provide for myself. I had to look after myself and my family,” Shikeb said.
He completed his bachelors against all odds a few months back. It had been some time, since I had heard from him. He called me to inform that he had completed his bachelors. The Afghan boy from Kabul, grandson of the former King of Afghanistan had finally made it.
“There were times when I didn’t have money to eat food. I did all sorts of odd jobs to make ends meet, but my quest for knowledge has finally paid its dividends,” a teary eyed Shikeb told me.
“My association with Islamabad, and Pakistan is one that I cannot define in mere words. I miss my homeland Afghanistan, life has been hard but I made it in the end,” Shikeb said choking on his words.
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