This is a story about how my first language was Urdu, and how I learned English as a 3 and a half year old…It’s also a story about how teaching me English backfired a little, and how my parents forced me to retain the ability to speak Urdu. 

While growing up I resented getting in trouble for something as silly as not speaking Urdu at home, this relatively minor effort that my parents made gave me a gift that allows me to access a whole other world.