Indian Muslim man meets French-Quebec woman. Three kids and a book later, the rest is history

Seventeen years ago, Khalil Guliwala, an Indian man from Dubai, arrived in Montreal to study at McGill University and met French-Quebecois Florence Morin-Laurin, from Lévis, at Montreal’s La Fontaine Park.

Three kids and a book later, the couple is happily married, living in Longueuil.

Guliwala says “‘Un musulman à la cabane à sucre : Un mode d’emploi pour devenir Québécois‘ is not just a book about immigrants‘ experience; it’s not really a biography. It’s what is Quebec? What does modern Quebec look like?”

His wife, Florence Morin-Laurin, reads a passage from their book: “In Quebec, the first of July isn’t Canada Day. It’s. ‘oh boy, here we go, instead of celebrating the nation’s birthday, it’s moving day.'”

Guliwala says: “My mother and sister live in Toronto, so there was, I think, the natural curiosity that I think most English Canadians have towards Quebec culture, like what exactly is it and what goes on over there.”

Morin-Laurin shares: “I think the most important part of it all is curiosity and open-mindedness.”

Guliwala explains: “English helps to a certain degree when you’re in Montreal, but learning the language has exposed me to not just the broader Quebec understanding, stuff like dealing with healthcare, doctors, the government, you name it. And just understanding more from my wife’s culture, I didn’t realize how blind I was until I learned the language and was able to spend more time with them.”

He continues: “That’s the impact of the quiet revolution. That’s something that even if you, like I, read books about it when I spoke only English, but it’s not the same as being able to talk to my father and talk about growing up on a farm, 12, 15 kids, first generation, first kid becomes a nun, son becomes a nun. The whole change within Quebec society. And I’m just saying that we have not yet been done with the quiet revolution. It’s playing out the impact. It’s still being figured out today. And we’re no longer the children of the quiet revolution, but the grandchildren of the Quiet Revolution.”

The Quiet Revolution was a period of intense socio-political and cultural transformation in Quebec during the 1960s, characterized by the rapid secularization of society, the modernization of the provincial government, and the rise of Quebec nationalism.

Guliwala continues: “That new role includes immigrants, includes people who speak different languages, different cultures, are together saying, what does the next phase of that look like together?”

Morin-Laurin explains: “He’s the first Muslim Indian Dubai and named it that came into our family. So there were a lot of questions. I did get some frowns of like, are you sure a Muslim would like that kind of question? They learned to know Khalil, not the Muslim or Islam as a generic concept. And they learned to love the guy as I did.”

The feedback the couple received from their book has been insightful.

Guliwala explains: “They were able to understand immigrants’ point of view, but also Quebecers understood themselves a bit better through their book. Because it’s not just a book about immigrant experiences, it’s not really a biography. It’s what is Quebec? What does modern Quebec look like? And what does again that role of both immigrants and people already here to build the Quebec of today together?”

Laurin-Morin gushes about her mom: “My mom loves to brag about the fact that she has a son who’s a Muslim, who’s Indian, and just like connecting with people, immigrants from all over the world based on that fact that’s like, oh, okay, I’m curious. I want to hear about you and just who you are truly and where you come from. So it ended up in a beautiful place.”

Laurin-Morin reads a passage from her book, “It’s the day where you discover your true friends, the ones who respond to your text at 10 p.m. when you ask if they are free to help you move a futon, and that payment will be in pizza and beer.”