Life in Oman
Born December 6, 2010, in Oman. That's where it all started. Before Dubai, before the startups, before LockIn or Simplifly or any of that — there was just me, growing up in one of the most peaceful places on earth.
Growing Up
Oman is quiet. Like, genuinely quiet. There's no rush, no hustle culture, no "what's your startup" energy. You wake up, go to school, come home, hang out with your friends, repeat. Some people would call that boring. I call it the best childhood I could've asked for. You had time to just be. Time to think. Time to do absolutely nothing with your friends and somehow that was enough.
ISGI
I went to ISGI — Indian School Al Ghubra. That school was my entire world. Everything happened there. French week, decorating for events (TOMM was legendary), birthday parties, the chaos of trying to organize anything with teenagers. We had the amerigyans group chat running from around March to June 2023 — that was ISGI at its most alive.
The People
This is the real reason Oman matters. Almost every single person I care about came from there. Palash — my best friend, still talk to him every day. Sheen, Ved, Mehal, Izza, Aliyah, Nysa, Nia, Tahirah, Zeba, Het, Vivaan Gupta, Aratrikaa, Prisha — all Oman. All ISGI. These aren't just names, these are the people who shaped who I am.
The Group Chats
Oh man, the group chats. Velle log for when we had nothing to do (which was always). Dramaclub because obviously. Pappu can dance — don't ask. Tatti, poop — yeah we were 12, sue us. Ali bhai, material gurlssss, party planning, halloween — every event, every inside joke, every stupid 2am conversation had its own group. That was our social media before we even knew what social media was.
What Oman Gave Me
Oman didn't give me opportunities. It didn't give me a startup ecosystem or investor connections or hackathons. What it gave me was time — time to be bored, time to wonder "how are games made" which led to coding at age 9, time to build friendships that survived me moving to a whole different country. The hunger I have now? That started in the quiet of Oman. The people I trust most? All from Oman.
I lived there until I was about 13, and then came the move to Dubai. But Oman never really left me. I still go back. I still say "coming Oman" like it's a normal sentence. And every time I do, it feels like nothing changed — even though everything has.