My Journey Across Three Languages, Two Continents... and One Scent That Stayed With Me

I often get asked: Where are you from? And it's never a simple answer.

I'm German by blood. Pakistani by marriage and by the years I spent living in that part of the world. But my heart... my heart found home in something else entirely.

Not a place - but a way of being. A rhythm. A tradition.

When I became Muslim at 17, I didn't know how much of my life was about to change. I was surrounded by Muslims, surrounded by warmth and rituals that were new to me - but made me feel seen in a way I hadn't felt before.

At 18, I became a mother. By 22, I had two daughters.

I was young, but I was held - by faith, by other women, by a sense of belonging that came not from language, but from heart.

We visited Pakistan several times, and eventually we moved and lived with my mother-in-law for nearly 4 years. She was such a beautiful and graceful woman.

I didn't speak Urdu at first, but I learned it withing six months - not through books or lessons, but through living. Through market visits, family conversations, late-night tea, and everyday life. Because sometimes, when your heart is open, language follows.

When we moved to the UK, we brought my mother-in-law with us. I wanted her to feel at ease, to carry a piece of that world with us here. And even though I didn't know English then, I learned as quick as I learned Urdu - withi six months.

It was during 'Umrah that I truly fell in love with bukhoor. The scent. The feeling it created in space. The way it made everything feel sacred, even if it was just a moment.

Later, a friend gifted me a bukhoor burner from Dubai, along with a few types of bukhoor. That scent became part of my space. And even though I didn't know it then... that was the beginning of something meaningful.

That scent - and what it stood for - stayed with me.

It became a quiet ritual. then a memory. Then, eventually... a business.

MINKO wasn't built in one day. It was built in all the small ones - the ones filled with language, motherhood, longing, and love.

And I hope, through these pieces, you can feel some of that too.