I just finished interviewing Mufadall Ezzy, the son of parents from Mumbai, India and a self-described middle school rabble rouser. Who would have predicted that he would end up working for one of the most powerful people in Callifornia's state government?
Ezzy is among the most fascinating people I have interviewed for my upcoming book about people who grew up in the United States as children of immigrants. Born in the San Franciso Bay area, he is articulate, opinionated, and self-effacing. "I was born in 1980," he writes in an email. "Ronald Reagan. Cold War. Spy movies. Michael Jackson. Tars for Fears. Growing Pains. Family Ties. Perfect Strangers. The young and most spoiled of three. The most socially and politcally savvy and the least book smart of the kids. The most extroverted, risque, and willing to push the envelope on fundamental attitudes and customs."
With words like that, who would have known that Ezzy would go from being a middle school student kicked out of high school to become an upstanding citizen with a deep commitment to his families' cultural traditions and Muslim faith?
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