Just Bliss

My Father
Posted by: Tanveer Rauf on: November 19, 2011
• In: Food for thought | parent

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My Father
Every father is a guard, a support, a provider and a caretaker of his family. So was my father Syed Fazle Ali. He was very good-humoured, intellectual with beyond belief memory, but, he was an utter honest, affectionate and straightforward down to earth man. He was a self made. He being very intelligent, qualified all his exams with flying colors. After completing his education he joined Indian Railways as Station Master
After Independence he was transferred to Lalamusa.
He moved to Karachi after retirement , where most of his relatives had settled after migration from India.
My father (we called him Babuji) being straightforward and service man was oblivious of business tactics. Some of his friends asked him to buy shops out of his provident fund rent out the shops to enjoy his retired life.
Babuji rented out two shops and opened a cloth shop to run it himself. He had no previous experience of business. He had two hobbies. One was to increase his English vocabulary. For that he loved to read thesaurus and second hobby was to read Ibn e Safi’s detective Imran series. During this activity if any one came to buy cloth he used to get very angry for being disturbed. Refusing he asked them to buy from shops but not to disturb him
since he was so absorbed in reading that didLadies knew very well how simple he was. They would hide stuff from his sight and take away free of cost. My father was least concernedn’t even bother while other shopkeepers smiled at my father’s simplicity and carefree attitude towards business.
He thought that he is fair and honest so are all people around him.
He would go out for lunch or tea break leaving the shop open. After returning he found his shoes or coat or other necessary items missing. He would grumble at unseen thieves and again started reading either dictionary or Ibn e safi. Often ladies who knew his nature very well asked him to give fabric according to their requirement on credit. My father being kind and generous always did. He noted dates, names and amount religiously in his register. But no lady ever returned to pay back his money
End result was that his shop was getting empty but his register was getting fewer pages for the credits buyers.
He was very strict in his rules and principles. He never ever gave any piece of cloth free of cost to my brother
My brother always bought on cash payment.
So after some years my brother asked him to wind up his business as he had gained enough business experience and born quite heavy loss
The other shops were sold too. How, why, when and by whom they were sold out is still a mystery
Babuji lived in Karachi where as mother n I lived with brother in Peshawar. Babuji slipped in wash room while taking shower. His hip joint got fractured. My brother and I came from Peshawar. The doctor told my brother that father has astonishing memory. My father told the name the make and the taste of the medicine to the doctor though his eyes were closed and he was not fully conscious after surgical treatment.
He had tasted that medicine some thirty years back in India.
After he got slightly stable my brother asked him to accompany us to Peshawar.
This is part I. If readers like it then I will write more about my Babuji’s first ever flight from Karachi to Peshawar and much more
I am sure my dear Babuji must be smiling high up in the heavens reading all this about him, I have all respect and love for him.