I was born and raised in Kabul during the Afghan-Soviet War, a happy child receiving presents from American diplomats with whom my father worked as a chef for diplomats. My early years were filled with laughter, music, and the scent of cardamom rising from the kitchen.

But as my siblings and I grew older, Afghanistan revealed its harsher truths. A brutal government with a domestic intelligence agency that terrorized civilian communities. At 14, I was tortured—electrocuted during a regime crackdown. That moment didn’t just mark me; it fractured something inside.

Later, we lost a younger sister and fled to Pakistan—our second time as refugees. But in time, those brutal pressures forged resilience. They shaped the storyteller I became.

Today, I live in America, an Emmy-winning story producer and a writer charting my own course—on the page, on the screen, and in life.