Year 15/28 – I start dreaming...

My parents have to drag me outside. They notice that I hardly ever go out to play football anymore. Every time my friends ask if I want to go out, I say no. Instead, I sit at home on my 2GB RAM laptop and try to photograph, film and edit something. My interest in the school curriculum wanes. All I can think about is: How can I get better? How do I write? How do I make a great film? So I start teaching myself. Tutorials. Imitation. Trial and error. What is a camera? What is a screen? I become a total nerd. I soak up every opportunity I get to learn more about this subject. I often wanted to spend the night in the television studio, especially when the big Jalsa (Europe's largest Muslim gathering) was coming up and the place was full. There was so much to learn. And so one evening I was lying in my sleeping bag in an office. Suddenly, an older boy came in. In his hand: a large black suitcase made of hard plastic. 'Are you sleeping here?' he asks me. 'Yes.' 'Then please look after the suitcase, lock the room and tomorrow morning, when I'm there, I'll show you what's in the suitcase. But promise me you won't look inside before then.' 'Yes. I promise.' And so I lie there. Looking at this fat black suitcase with writing on it: RED. I have no idea what it is, but I really want to find out. Around 8 o'clock, there's a knock at the door. He comes in. 'I'm Zaheer, what's your name?' 'Farhad.' I can't take it anymore: 'What's in there?' Like a magician opening his chest, he slowly opens the suitcase: 'This is a Red.' My gaze shifts to the contents. I don't recognise anything except high-tech. 'This is used to shoot films.' I didn't know how this device worked, but one thing was immediately clear: I want to learn this and one day own my own Red... At 16, I learn to venture out of the house again...