The most moving dedication in a Data Science book

With aging parents in Pakistan and a young family in North America, I, like millions of other immigrants, struggle to balance parts of my life that are spread across oceans. Immigrants might be CEOs, academics, doctors, and engineers; to a varying degree, they all struggle to take care of those who once took care of them. My circumstances are therefore not unique.

This book is a few months behind schedule. I have been flying across the Atlantic to assist my siblings and their spouses who have been the primary caregivers for my parents. This has also allowed me the opportunity to be near my mother, who has had the most profound impact on my aspirations and dreams. She died in August 2015 after battling illnesses with courage and dignity. Exactly a month later, my father also passed away.

Raising a child is a challenge irrespective of place and circumstances. Hilary Clinton reminds us that “it takes a village.” But raising a physically disabled child in an impoverished country with poor health care poses extraordinary challenges. My mother, though, was relentless to beat the odds to ensure that I grew up a confident and productive member of society, irrespective of my abilities and disabilities.

I was born in 1969. A birth trauma severely affected my right arm and hand. My parents tried for years to reverse the damage, but in vain. Back then, the medical technology and expertise in Pakistan was inadequate. As a result, I grew up with only one functional arm.

My mother decided that she would not let this setback change her plans for me. She had the good fortune of being an educated woman. She was a professor of literature, a writer, and a poet. She, like my father, was also a fearless individual. As an academic, she ensured that I inherited her love for Persian and Urdu poetry.

My mother was born in the British India. A British nurse, who attended her birth, called her Lily. That became her nickname, which soon became her primary identity.

Lily grew up in one of the most conservative parts of this world, and yet she tirelessly pursued higher education and dedicated her life to spreading it. She was among the pioneers who founded several institutions of higher learning to educate young women in Pakistan’s most conservative Frontier province.

This book and I owe a mountain of debt to her. She instilled in me a sense of duty to others. She wanted me to dream, write, and lead. I did that and more because she enabled me to look beyond my disabilities.

My father, Ajaz, is the other person from whom I have not just inherited genes, but also great values. Like my mother, he was also a professor of literature. I inherited his love for books and the respect for the published word. My father was an incorruptible man who cherished how little he needed rather than what material wealth he possessed. He ensured that my siblings and I inherit his sense of fairness and social justice.

It was a privilege just to know them, and my good fortune to have them as my loving parents.

Haider, Murtaza. Getting Started with Data Science: Making Sense of Data with Analytics (IBM Press)