An Atlas of Home

Born and raised in Bombay. Gujarati. Ismaili Muslim. English was your first language — learned Hindi after. Left for America at age 8 — the only move you didn't choose. Returned for ~6 months before the permanent Houston chapter. Your origin story.

Your family's first American landing. Age 8. Brief but pivotal: the doorway to everything that followed. Then back to India for half a year before the real American chapter began in Houston.

This is where you grew up. Age 9 to 17. The Energy Corridor — where everyone's parents worked for Exxon, Shell, or Enron. Middle school. High school. Becoming American. Houston caught you between college chapters, welcomed you after the first divorce, and again after the second. Four separate stints. It never stopped being home.

UTSA. BBA in Finance & Economics. Started in a 4-person apartment with Kyle and two others from high school. The years of layered independence: a 2BR with Kyle, a 2BR with your mother, a 1BR alone, a studio for six months. Took ~1.5-2 years off mid-degree to co-found Securrency — an e-commerce warranty company that's still operating today. Graduated August 2012.

Married your first wife here. Enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 26 — older than 95% of recruits, needing a medical waiver. Wrote the line that would define your next decade: "A true warrior knows that the pen is mightier than the sword — but he sure as hell knows how to use the sword." Denver was homebase even as the Corps took you elsewhere. Your first home as a married man. First time living outside Texas since childhood.

The era that beat them all. Two years at the Pentagon as a civilian — VIP IT support for flag officers at HQ Marine Corps. Systems engineer. Management consulting. Director of Innovation at Navaide. Founded the Ismaili Warrior Alliance. Wrote Shrink-Wrap It. Founded HARBOR Initiative. A second marriage and divorce. Through it all — National Harbor, Maryland. This is where you stopped running and started building.

Mecklenburg County scores slightly higher on EconPulse (73 vs 71).
GDP is 2.9× larger in absolute terms. Unemployment is 1.3 points lower. Poverty is slightly lower.
But federal money per resident is half what the DC area sees — $5.2K vs $10.5K.
Housing affordability is nearly identical. Both markets are rated "Affordable."