Kriti Mehrotra
If there’s one thing absolutely nobody can deny, it’s that the June 18, 2023, Titan submersible’s implosion during its tourist expedition to the Titanic shipwreck was a complete and utter tragedy. This much is even evidenced in ABC’s ‘Fatal Dive to the Titanic: Truth and Lies,’ which delves deep into every aspect of this 5-people loss ordeal through the eyes of some significant individuals. Amongst them is actually Christine Dawood, the woman who’d given up her seat beside her husband in this vessel to her 19-year-old son, unaware she’d end up losing both in the blink of an eye.
Who is Christine Dawood?
It was reportedly back in the 1990s when German native Christine Meckel came across Pakistani-British Shahzada Dawood at university for the first time, just for them to soon fall head over heels. This was to such an extent they soon decided to tie the knot (2002), shortly following which they moved from Pakistan to Singapore for work before ultimately settling down in the UK around 2010. Though the most noteworthy part of the Dawoods’ relocation was they were a family of 4 by this point — the couple had happily welcomed a son named Suleman and a daughter called Alina.
The truth is Christine, Shahzada, and their kids never really had any financial concerns considering they hail from rather comfortable backgrounds, with the Dawoods in particular being industrialists. It thus comes as no surprise the patriarch himself took on the roles of businessman plus philanthropist over time, all the while dedicating each moment of his free time to being a loving, present family man. So, of course, the quadro were quite close, especially as they often even undertook various adventures as well as traveled the world together as arguably one of the most affluent Pakistani families.
In fact, Christine and Shahzada actually signed up for OceanGate’s tourist expedition to the Titanic wreck in the 2010s, only for her to later give her ticket to their late teen son owing to his excitement. Suleman was much like his father in this sense as they both shared a curiosity regarding the puzzles of our world, but while the former’s true love was the Rubik’s Cube, the latter’s was documentaries. “I stepped back and gave the space to Suleman because he really wanted to go,” his mother has since revealed. “I was really happy for them because both of them; they really wanted to do that for a very long time.”
Christine also conceded that when she made this decision, her 19-year-old Rubik’s Cube obsessive son’s first reaction was he was going to solve one 3,700 meters below the sea at the Titanic. “He was so excited about this,” she said, adding he’d taught himself how to decipher these puzzles from YouTube videos and had gradually become such an expert he could finish in 12 seconds. Therefore, when the time came, she as well as Alina stayed behind on the support vessel as these two men descended into the North Atlantic Ocean alongside three others in the Titan submersible.
Little did anyone know communication between the two crafts would get cut off within a two-hour period, just for everything to then go downhill as the submersible only had 96 hours of oxygen. “There was a lot of hope [of them resurfacing at first],” Christine told BBC. “I think I lost hope when we passed the 96 hours mark. [I even texted family members], ‘I’m preparing for the worst.'” However, Alina held out a bit longer, according to her loving mother: “She didn’t lose hope until the call with Coast Guard [on the 22nd]. When they basically informed us that they found debris.”
Christine Dawood is Now an Entrepreneur Herself
Although Christine and Alina admittedly won’t ever get real closure owing to how their family shattered apart with the Titan’s implosion on June 18, 2023 itself, they’re now doing their best to move on. They’ve since learned the secrets of Rubik’s Cube to keep Suleman alive through their actions as well as hearts, plus the matriarch has taken over her husband’s work to ensure his incredible familial legacy continues on. “[Shahzada] was involved in so many things,” she candidly yet somberly conceded. “He helped so many people and I think I really want to continue that legacy and give him that platform… It’s quite important for my daughter as well.”
Hence, today, at the age of 48, Saïd Business School-University of Oxford and Kingston University graduate Christine serves as an entrepreneur, executive coach, family-business insider, organizational psychologist, writer, and continuous learner. In fact, this London, England resident is now a Member of the Board Of Trustees at the Dawood Foundation, part of the Dawood Hercules Corporation, Executive Coach & CEO of Next Step Now, plus Senior Vice President at Engro Corp. Moreover, it appears as if she also utilizes her Textile Technology, Consulting, as well as Occupational & Business Psychology degrees to own-operate her own successful organic agriculture business on a commercial scale in Punjab.
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