I was born in February, 1981 (Just 25 years after Bill Gates and 39 years after Stephen Hawking was born) in Manchester, England. It was Thursday. I grew up in Chittagong, Bangladesh as my parents left UK shortly after I was born. It was the most amazing time of my life. Ceaseless laughter, truancy and fun of unaccountability nourished every single part of my life.

Graduation

After moving back to Bangladesh, we started living in Sholokbahar, Chittagong. It was a middle class area, therefore, was full of characters. There were lots of kids of my age, so we always used to hang out together. We used to play football during summer and Cricket in the winter. I wasn't really good at playing football until I went to high school. But in high school I became a very good football player thanks to my height.

I loved playing cricket. I was a super fast bowler (local standard!!). Boys lot older than me used to fear me for that- again that was a great advantage of my height.

Sholokbahar had a flavour of suburban laid back lifestyle ensuring very plain and simple life. Everyone knew everyone in the community, everyone felt bonded together.

I went to Morning Star Kinder Garten in Panchlaish, Chittagong for my primary education. It was a total disaster. I refused to go to school at the age of 4 for my pre-schooling, and I clearly remember I forced my cousin Kashmir (who was about 25 year old then) to sit with me throughout the school time for almost 6 months.

I finished my primary school at the age of 11. To my surprise by the time I was in the last year of school, I was the best student in the whole year. I still don't have a clue how that happened. But my luck changed for better, and I wasn't going to complain about it.

My dad always had a dream of sending me to Chittagong Collegiate School, Then (and still now) regarded as one of the best schools in the country. The school was established in 1836, it is one of the oldest schools in Bangladesh.

Chittagong Collegiate School

I had to go through an admission test, and I got through. Started my high school there, it was undoubtedly best part of my life.

The school had a massive area with all the academic facilities which would rival any school in any country in the world. All the facilities were at my disposal- I took up the opportunity.

During this time we also moved house to Panchlaish, Chittagong. It was 1995. It was a nicer area, I made a lot of friends again but it was never the same as Sholokbahar. In my 4th year of high school I opted for business related subjects, I my results started to improve. By the end of 5th and final year of high school I was the best student in the school again. Credits for the results go to Assistant head teacher Jawaharlal Dhar, Sanguine Coaching Centre and my class teacher, not to mention my parents.

I need to add few more lines about Sanguine Coaching Centre. This coaching centre provided me with a strong academic foundation. Not only because of its coaching, but also because of the environment it provided me with. The four musketeers- me, Samdani, Rajib & Rana-we all studied there together. The best thing about Sanguine was it created an atmosphere for competition. We used to study from lots of students from other schools, so it was up to us to prove that we are the students of the best school. This spurred the hard work. Also we had to stop the vocal Farah Motahar from BAWA School who regularly used to claim that she knows more about English language than anyone else in the city. Only way to stop her was to better her in English Language. By the end of final year of high school we were able to stop her.

GM, MMU

I was up for the Secondary School exam with view to be the best student in the Chittagong Education Board which had over 10,000 students. But my overconfidence therefore lack of study, cost me the top place and I only managed the 9th place in the board. This meant I was the 9th best student in the board (which had about 10,000 students). I was heartbroken!! But then again, after all the newspaper coverage and the parties thrown at me, I soon forgot the pain.

I was awarded by the Mayor of Chittagong City Corporation Mr A B M Mohiuddin Chowdhury, my dad's employer National Bank LTD., my school and few other small organisations.

I was offered a place in Ispahani Public School & College- a renowned public college in Bangladesh without even appearing for the interview, which was really surprising.

I went to Ispahani Public School & College for the Higher Secondary education. It was a really brief period -only 16 months. I made some really good friends there. Since it was one of the best colleges in Bangladesh, I met some extra-ordinary students again.

My Higher Secondary Certificate exam was disappointing given my expectations; I failed to make the Chittagong Education Board's Merit list of 20 students by only 2 numbers. I was the 21st student!! I thought that was really unlucky and I really found it hard to cope with. During my HSC exams my grandmother who used to live with us had passed away, and after about a month while my HSC exams were still going on, my grandfather passed away, so it might have had an adverse affect, but still I thought I would manage a place in the merit list. I still remember the pain I was going through during that time. That was the year 2000.

I applied at Manchester Metropolitan University for Information Management course, but I didn't have necessary means to fund the course, so I had to do the course part time and find a job. Luckily I found a job at the Co-operative Bank, as Customer Adviser, I started working full time and was studying part time.

Initially I was staying at my aunt's house, but I realised that I needed my own space to study. So I moved to a flat in West Didsbury.

It was quite a difficult time for me, I had to work full-time, study and cook. Luckily I had some great friends who helped me keep going during that difficult period. I also enjoyed the company of the cousins who lived in Manchester from time to time.

At work I was doing really well and was offered a Management Trainee position in 2005. In the meantime I finished my degree. Result wasn't too well, pretty average 2:2, but given the stress I went through for 5 years, I didn't complain much.

RHUL

I applied for MBA at Royal Holloway, University of London and was offered a place for 2006 but I opted for the 2007 session with a view to take a year off.

I went to Dhaka, Bangladesh in September, 2006 for 7 months. I had the most amazing time during those 7 months. I visited different places within Bangladesh including Chittagong & Cox's Bazar. I also went on a holiday abroad with my friend Miraz.

I am currently studying for my MBA at Royal Holloway, University of London.