Author Topic: TAR CANADA 2 Contestants - Shahla Kara and Nabeela Barday (Best Friends)  (Read 4332 times)

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Shahla Kara and Nabeela Barday (Best Friends)


Shahla Kara 
 
Age: 29
Occupation: Occupational Therapist
Current City: Markham, Ont.
Hometown: North York, Ont.
Strengths: Creative, confident, light-hearted
Fears/Phobias: “I have an extreme fear of wooden objects in my mouth [such as] popsicle sticks. Gross.”
Favourite Travel Destination: Japan or Kenya
Pet Peeve about Teammate: “She worries too much about how she looks and I don’t know why because she always looks good!”
 
Nabeela Barday
 
Age: 29
Occupation: Management, Consulting
Current City: Markham, Ont.
Hometown: Laval, Que.
Strengths: Confident, resourceful, good navigator
Fears/Phobias: Small spaces
Favourite Travel Destination: Nepal
Pet Peeve about Teammate: “She can be very passionate about her opinions.”

TEAM BIO
 
Shahla and Nabeela are outspoken, unforgettable friends of over 20 years. They both come from strong cultural backgrounds and are constantly trying to find the balance between upholding their religious beliefs while still staying true to themselves.
 
Both women grew up in traditional Muslim-Canadian households, where there are many expectations to uphold. These best friends are ready to take on 'The Amazing Race Canada' and use the experience to continue building their lives as independent women. They want to inspire others within their community and demonstrate that there are many ways to be faithful while still developing as the person you aspire to be.
 
POTENTIAL ROADBLOCK: Shahla and Nabeela acknowledge that there might be some challenges that could be problematic. “Because of our religious beliefs, we might have to take a penalty for anything prohibited in our religion, such as anything with alcohol or eating any meats or foods that are not ‘halal’.”
 
Winning 'The Amazing Race Canada' would allow this team to show their family and friends their full potential. Both women have parents who are approaching 70 years of age and are still working. Shahla and Nabeela would love to give some of their winnings to their parents in order to make them feel safe and secure going into their retirement.
 
Motto: “Brownies for the win!”
 
Team they most associate with from Season 1: Vanessa and Celina, “Because they are strong and confident women!”
"When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains - however improbable - must be the truth." - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"No person deserves your tears, and who deserves them will not make you cry." - Gabriel García Márquez

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Shahla and Nabeela plan to stay true to themselves and their religious beliefs on 'The Amazing Race Canada'

Shahla Kara and Nabeela Barday have both been raised in strict Muslim families but the childhood friends from the Toronto area want to show they can push their limits on “The Amazing Race Canada” and still stay true to their religious beliefs.
 
“It’s not so much going outside (your comfort zone) but just showing you can still stick to who you are but do things that are meaningful and important to you,” says Shahla, 29. “I think that’s what we’re trying to show. We’re not trying to say we’re the best Muslims, it’s just saying this is who we are . . . and I think people will respect you if you stick to who you are.”
 
“We’re trying to show you can be Muslim, you can be Canadian, you can be outgoing, female, single, 30, all of these things can be in harmony and they can all mesh into who you are,” adds Nabeela, 29.
 
The long-time friends, who are from the same religious community and go to the same mosque, say they’re faced with situations every day that challenge their beliefs, which will come in handy during their time on the “Race.”
 
“‘Should I eat this? Should I go here? Should I drink that?’ And now it’s taking that everyday experience onto a show where we face a similar conflict: ‘Should I do this? What does it mean for me personally, for my social system, support system?’ It’s really just a reflection of who we are and we’re going to bring our authentic selves to the show,” says Nabeela.
 
But the friends say there are a couple things they definitely won’t do on the “Race.”
 
“We won’t drink. We won’t do anything with alcohol and we won’t eat pork,” says Shahla.
They also know there may be challenges that involve wearing a bathing suit (which wouldn’t align with their religious beliefs)…but they are coming prepared.
 
“I have a Burkini. It’s an Islamic-compliant bathing suit. If you think of the Middle Eastern Burka, which is a long cloak, they’ve adapted that to something you can swim in. It’s a two- piece set that has pants and a long-ish top,” says Nabeela.
 
As well as trying to show others they can be true to themselves, they also want to prove to their parents, who sacrificed a lot for them and raised them very strictly, that it’s OK to have these kinds of experiences.
 
“My parents who are a little more traditional are questioning why I would want to go on TV, and why would I put myself out there on a reality TV show. They had their apprehensions. But after I explained to them I’m not going to be running around in tiny shorts or bikinis or doing anything that would compromise my values or beliefs, they came (around),” says Nabeela.
 
The well-travelled and ambitious team adds that sharing the same values will definitely be an asset while running the “Race.”
 
“We’re very set on who we are as individuals and we’re confident in that so we’re hoping that will play out on the ‘Race,’” says Nabeela.
 
Source:http://www.ctv.ca/TheAmazingRaceCanada/Articles/Season-Two/tarc_s2_shahla_nabeela_true_to_themselves.aspx


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i like them but seems boring

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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/-hclntE47Cw" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/-hclntE47Cw</a>

Credit: Youtube user: cisolatw

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Markham women in Amazing Race Canada Season 2

Shahla Kara and Nabeela Barday, both 29, have known each other for decades, having been part of the same mosque community.

After travelling to Haiti and Panama together, the Markham friends – an international consultant and an occupational therapist – are among 11 teams competing in the Amazing Race Canada, where contestants race across the country and compete in a series of challenges and pit stops.

Season 2 premiers July 8 on CTV.

Between them, the women have travelled to more than 30 countries.

The key to being travel buddies, they say, is communication.

“There are some competitors who are married or are siblings,” Barday said. “We’ve known each other a long time, too, and plan to leverage that.

“We will have to be constantly talking to each other,” Barday said. “We can’t be scared to upset the other person. In a high pressure situation, if we’re not aligned that can be a challenge to get through.”

The pair also come from Muslim roots, so certain foods could be a challenge.

“We don’t eat pork,” Kara said. “If we have to take a penalty for that, we’re OK with it.”

While winning is the ultimate goal, the friends want to prove being Canadian doesn’t mean having to give up your heritage. “There are so many first-generation Canadians struggling to keep their culture while embracing the new western culture. We want to show others like us, anything is possible.”

Source: http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/4612114-markham-women-in-amazing-race-canada-season-2/


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Amazing Race a "roller coaster," says UTSC alum
When Season Two of the Amazing Race Canada kicks off Tuesday, Nabeela Barday, a UTSC alumna (BBA, 2007), will be one of the 22 contestants travelling to picturesque locales to take on arduous challenges.

Barday, a Toronto-based consultant with Accenture, joined forces with her childhood friend, Shahla Kara, to compete for the grand prize, a package that includes $250,000, pickup trucks, gasoline and airline tickets for a year.

“Shahla came to visit me last year when I was working for Accenture in Haiti, and we travelled through Panama together,” said Barday. “She suggested applying for the Amazing Race Canada, because we travel well together and our skills are complementary.”

Barday is a planner, while Kara is more of a risk-taker. And although Barday had never seen an episode of the show, she knew about the concept and agreed to help Kara fulfil her dream.

The women, who are both children of immigrants from East Africa, thought it would be a good opportunity to showcase their lives as outgoing, single Canadian women of the Muslim faith.

“I think it is a great platform to give visibility to our faith,” Barday said. “I think the show demonstrates that it is okay to be who you are.”

The travel necessitated by the script was wonderful, too, said Barday, who has visited more than 30 countries already.

“The opportunity to see our beautiful country was remarkable on its own,” she said.

Will she win? Barday knows the answer, but she is sworn to secrecy. Although she can’t reveal details of her adventures before the show airs, she is “absolutely glad I did it.

“It is grueling, it is a competition and we were racing against some very, very good competitors,” Barday said. “It was an emotional roller coaster.”

Source:http://ose.utsc.utoronto.ca/ose/story.php?id=6169

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Ousted 'Amazing Race Canada' pals speak out

CP: Shahla, obviously you had a painful experience with the water challenge. Can you take me through what happened?

Shahla: We had just done a firefighter challenge, which they didn't really show too much on television, and it was an hour and a half of being in that firefighter suit and wearing that oxygen tank. And I think there was a leak in my mask and I was just so dehydrated from that challenge that going into that ice-cold water kind of just destroyed me, especially when we dropped that piece in the water and I put my head underwater to get it, all of a sudden I started losing feeling in one side of my body and I couldn't feel my legs.

Just being a therapist and knowing that there are things that can happen to people's bodies, you just kind of panic at that moment. We had to take a penalty.

CP: Nabeela, Shahla praised you on the show for being so supportive while she struggled. What was going through your mind when you knew she wouldn't finish that challenge?

Nabeela: Shahla was the one who originally proposed the idea of us going on "Amazing Race" together. She was like, we're great travel buddies, we're both adventurous, let's try to do this together. So when we were in that tank and she just said, "I can't feel my body," I looked at her, and I knew how passionate she was about doing this. I said, you know what, if you can't do it, it's OK. It's not worth causing a physical injury for this.

CP: But I understand it was actually you who got injured?

Nabeela: What happened was we got to the naval base and we hopped out of the raft and I actually tripped on the raft. It was a very silly trip. I didn't realize at the moment what had happened but I had actually gashed my leg to the point where it required eight stitches. But I ran on it, we did the firefighting challenge, we went into the tank. And it was only after when I changed my clothes that I realized that I had a four-centimetre-deep gash that required (stitching).

But adrenalin is this amazing thing where it can numb certain emotions.

CP: There was an exchange with the twins (Pierre and Michel Forget) where they kind of implied that you were flirting with them. I'm wondering if you could address that?

Nabeela: (laughs) So we were both sitting there waiting our turn to go onto the zipline and it was just a casual exchange of conversation. And I was genuinely intrigued as to whether their business, which is an abattoir, actually served and had halal meat. I guess somehow it seemed to be portrayed that I was flirting. But I was genuinely just interested in their business!

Source:http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/4621846-ousted-amazing-race-canada-pals-speak-out/

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Ruth Myles: Shahla and Nabeela on what went wrong for them on The Amazing Race Canada

The dream of winning The Amazing Race Canada went down the drain for Shahla Kara and Nabeela Barday on Tuesday night’s second season premiere. I caught up with the Toronto-based pair as they shuttled between media appearances Wednesday morning to talk about what went wrong in the flood training simulator.

Question: Who and where did you watch the premiere?
Nabeela Barday: We watched it with friends and family. Right now we are practising the month of Ramadan, which is 30 days of fasting, so our first meal of the day happened to be right around 9 o’clock Eastern Time, so we got to have our meal and watch the show all together.

BFFs Shahla Kara, left, and Nabeela Barday learn they are the first team to be eliminated on the second season of  The Amazing Race Canada.
BFFs Shahla Kara, left, and Nabeela Barday learn they are the first team to be eliminated on the second season of The Amazing Race Canada.

Q: How hard was it not telling people how you did?
NB: It’s been tremendously difficult! The first challenge was not to let people know that we were even participating in this. I took a leave of absence from work and I was very hush, hush about what I was doing. For friends who asked, I just said, ‘Oh Shahla and I are travelling.’ But unfortunately, we didn’t align our stories very well. She said we were going to South Asia, and I said we’re going to South America. If anyone had really thought about it, they would have put two and two together.

Q: How was your experience on the show different than what you thought it would be?
NB: I think I had underestimated how difficult it would be to be on a reality TV show. By that I mean a camera monitoring your movements, a microphone recording everything you are saying.  . . . You are thrown all these curveballs from all sides from what your competitors are able to do to how you react to TV to the challenges where you don’t know what to expect.

Q: How did you prepare to be on the show?
Shahla Kara: A little bit of working out, here and there. I think a lot of this Race is mental. You have to prepare yourself and you have to prepare to win and to do challenges that you never expected. . . . We looked at past seasons of The Amazing Race, but as you know, nothing is ever the same with the Race. They are always making it challenging and unique every season, so there’s only so much you can do. But Nabeela and I talked about things so we would be on the same page, like what we would take penalties for.



Q: Which brings us to that flood training simulator. Walk us through your experience with that.
SK: Yeah, it was lovely! No, it was challenging. We had a firefighter challenge previous to that (which the audience didn’t see) and it took us quite a while to do that. By the time we got to that tank, I was dehydrated. After that piece fell in the water, I had to go under to get it. I think because my head went underwater, my body started shutting down because I didn’t have anything left. But we tried our best. After the first time, we tried, but after that piece went down again, it was almost game over at that point because Nabeela is scared of confined spaces and I was not up for going under the water again.

Q: Did you learn anything about yourself?

SK: Of course, you learn your limits. For something to be my dream, to be so crazy to be on The Amazing Race, and then to have to take a penalty is something that you never want to do. But at a certain point, your mind kicks in and says, ‘OK, your body can’t handle this any more. It’s time to take a penalty.’ We thought maybe non-elimination, but that’s really rare on the first leg of The Amazing Race, although it has happened before! We were really hoping for that.

Source:http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2014/07/09/ruth-myles-shahla-and-nabeela-on-what-went-wrong-for-them-on-the-amazing-race-canada/

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While I liked Shahla & Nabeela, I feel like either they or the editors or both focused too much on their Religion rather than their personalities.
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better; it's not" - The Lorax


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Amazing Race Canada: Five questions with Shahla & Nabeela

The most amazing race in the country is on. While many teams have just begun criss-crossing Canada in the name of competition, the journey is over for the first eliminated team, Shahla Kara and Nabeela Barday. We snagged a few extra web-exclusive questions with them when they stopped by The Social to dish about taking on one of the toughest races around.

Q: Who do you think is going to win?
Nabeela Barday: We have certain ideas – each team brings their own strengths. But we're going to keep our fingers crossed for who we think is going to win, without saying.
 
Q: What did you guys miss most about home?
Shahla Kara: Nothing.
 
Q: You missed nothing?
SK: No. I didn't, anyway. When I'm in an experience, I feel like I just eat it up, so I didn't really miss anything.
NB: I think I missed taking naps. [laughs] I would've liked to take a nap in between some of the things we did.
 
Q: If you could do the race over again and bring one item with you, what would it be?
SK: I would bring longjohns because I was freezing always. I'm always cold.
NB: I think I actually – if I could turn that questions around a bit – I think I would've packed less. I probably packed too many shirts, so I think I would've packed less to have a lighter pack.
 
Q: What did you learn about each other in this experience?
SK: I think that when you're in such an intense experience and you're with someone in such close quarters, you learn more about someone in general – what makes them happy or sad, when they need some space. I think going through that kind of experience with someone is really unique, and we just know each other on a deeper level now.
NB: I always knew this going into the race, but Shahla's very passionate. This just reaffirmed that she is very passionate and very strong when she wants to do something.
 
Q: If you could listen to one song to pump you up during the Race, what would it be?
SK: I like "Eye of the Tiger."
NB: I still like "Happy" by Pharell. It's a light, fun song that'll lift your spirits ... Before they get dropped down again.

Source:http://www.thesocial.ca/culture/television/amazing-race-canada-five-questions-shahla-nabeela

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Amazing Race Canada: Five questions with Shahla & Nabeela

Q: Who do you think is going to win?


This interviewer is obviously delusional and does not watch the show often because they know who won and are bound by confidentiality not to say who won yet they asked the question. :groan:

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Re: TAR CANADA 2 Contestants - Shahla Kara and Nabeela Barday (Best Friends)
« Reply #12 on: August 07, 2014, 10:36:54 PM »
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/doDKp5aZjSc" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/doDKp5aZjSc</a>

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Re: TAR CANADA 2 Contestants - Shahla Kara and Nabeela Barday (Best Friends)
« Reply #13 on: August 14, 2014, 02:23:49 PM »
Amazing Race Canada season two: Exit interviews

The team consisting of Shahla Kara and Nabeela Barday was the first to be eliminated from the second season of The Amazing Race Canada Tuesday night. The best friends from Markham, ON had hoped to use their winnings to help secure their parents’ retirement but were the last team to arrive at the race’s first pit stop, the Fisgard Lighthouse at Fort Rodd Hill in Victoria, BC. The young Muslim-Canadians got off to a rocky start, being amongst the teams to take the third flight from Calgary to Victoria, putting them at an early disadvantage. Their fate was sealed during the first leg’s final challenge when they dropped a key piece of equipment into freezing cold water twice while trying to stop leaks in a simulated damaged ship at CFB Esquimalt. Foiled by the cold, they decided to take a penalty, by which time their nearest competitors Jen and Shawn were already on their way to the finish line to have host Jon Montgomery give them the good news that they had not been eliminated. MSN Canada caught up with Shahla and Nabeela to discuss their brief but intense time on the show.

Why did you want to be part of The Amazing Race Canada?

Shahla: It’s been a dream of mine since the first season ever aired. And Nabeela and I recently travelled together, and I thought what better a partner than someone you know you get along with and that is well-travelled? So I approached her and it was kind of like a perfect match.

What sort of preparation did you do for the race, either physically or in terms of strategy?

Nabeela: There were multiple components. From a physical perspective I definitely trained at the gym: running; all that kind of good stuff so we could run through an airport with a backpack.

And then from a strategy perspective we just looked at our values from an Islamic and Muslim perspective and said are there certain things that we will not do or eat or consume? And we knew and relied on the fact that any non-halal meat or pork that went against our religious faith, we would not partake in that challenge and we would have to take a penalty.

How did you feel as you were about to race for your first clue?

Shahla: It was almost a surreal experience. You watch the show on television, but to actually be there, see Jon and the other teams, it’s really indescribable until you’re there. It’s anxiousness and nervousness and excitement all into one.

Regarding the ship repair, how did you feel?

Shahla: I think at that point we knew we were at the back of the pack. We were bottom two. So apart from the fact that the water is cold and we were dehydrated from the firefighter task and your muscles are cramping up, we knew we were in the bottom two.

So when Shawn and Jen were out of there, it was kind of a dispiriting feeling where you’re like ‘oh my gosh, we’re last.’ And it’s rare that it’s been a non-elimination round on the first leg. So I think at that point we knew we were out.

Talk about your decision to take a penalty.

Shahla: At that point I was losing feeling in both my legs, and I work in healthcare [as an occupational therapist], so at that point there really was no trade-off. It wasn’t like ‘let’s try to win this race, but let’s have our health take a hit.’

So at that point for me there is no option. But it’s always a team decision. And as you saw yesterday, Nabeela was super-supportive of that, and that’s what you really look for in a team member.

Were you sad when you were eliminated?

Nabeela: I think we were definitely sad. You go onto this show, you give your all. You know there’s strong competitors out there, but you put so much into it. And when you’re in that last challenge, it was really, really tough. And it was tough knowing you were eliminated after putting so much into it.

But at the same time we felt happy that we had been part of this experience. And certainly we did do our best so we know that feeling of we did give it our all.

How did you feel about seeing the episode?

Nabeela: We watched the show yesterday [Tuesday] with our friends and families, and we had to be very tight-lipped about what would happen. So it was very exciting to see their reactions and expressions, and most of all to see their pride and say, ‘Oh my God! Look! There you are!’ It was an exciting moment to finally be able to open up, no more secrets, and share this experience with those who are close to us.

Would you recommend the Amazing Race Canada to other people?

Shahla: Of course. One hundred percent. If you’re up for adventure, if you’re up for the unexpected, 100% it’s the best way to experience Canada. Neither of us have any regrets about doing it. We would have rather been on the show and off first than not on the show. It’s all been positive for us.

Source:http://entertainment.ca.msn.com/tv/amazing-race-canada-season-two-exit-interviews

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Re: TAR CANADA 2 Contestants - Shahla Kara and Nabeela Barday (Best Friends)
« Reply #14 on: August 28, 2014, 05:25:06 PM »
The Amazing Race Canada: Shahla and Nabeela
The hosts talk to best friends Shahla and Nabeela, the first team eliminated on The Amazing Race Canada.

http://www.ctv.ca/TheAmazingRaceCanada/video.aspx?vid=395127&tag=301