I was on a flight back from Dubai to Los Angeles on March 8th when I came across a man, probably in his mid-late sixties, sitting next to me. He was kind of struggling with operating the little gadgets on the plane so I offered to help. He thanked me, and went on to watch some TV. Last thing I remember him watching was Quranic recitation.
We did not speak much after that, but toward the end of the 16 hour long flight, we chatted a little. I found out that he was coming from Pakistan to visit his daughter. He said, at his age, it gets a bit hard to travel on such long flights VS young men like myself. We talked about my aging father. He also talked about some immigration related issues.
When we got off the plane, he used my cell phone to call his family to let them know we had landed a bit early. Since I had to go through some special immigration process, I told him that I'd have to hurry, and may be we could catch up outside, I didn't see him after that.
A couple of days later, I came across someone on facebook who had the same last name as him, Dadabhoy, so I just randomly inquired about him. To my shock and despair, I found out that Mehmood Dadabhoy passed away yesterday morning due to a heart related episode.
This was just over a week since he had landed on US soil.
I spoke to his sister and son-in-law yesterday (since I had the number saved in my phone), who told me that he passed away while sleeping, in peace.
Mr. Dadabhoy had a certain glow to himself. Even in such a brief encounter I couldn't help but notice that he was a very intelligent and refined, loving and considerate man. Part of how I gathered this was not just by his words, but by everything else that's part of a live conversation.
This is the first time I have ever written about something like this, and I'm not sure what to make of it, but this incident fills me with humility, for lack of a better word. I had virtually no connection with him, yet I feel some sort of a void knowing he is gone.
May his soul rest in eternal peace...
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Thank you for writing something so beautiful about my uncle. He was a great man and made an impression on everyone that he met. Thank you. May his soul rest in peace. Ameen.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the wonderful words describing my wonderful brother. He was more then a brother. After our father's demise in 1982 he never let us feel the loss. Today we feel we have lost our Dad.
ReplyDeleteMay Allah rest his soul in peace. Aameen
Asya said...
ReplyDeleteThank you for your warm and kind words about my uncle. He was a great man who touched many lives. He was selfless, caring, and lived for one purpose and that was his family. His love didn't end with just his wife, daughters, and grandchildren, but extended to his sisters and their husbands, his brother and his wife, and all of his nieces and nephews. We knew we were blessed, but we didn't realize how blessed we were until we lost our uncle Monday morning. May Allah reward him. Ameen.
Thank you so much for the beautiful post about my father. After I found him at the airport that afternoon, he told me to hold on, while he tried to find you to thank you. He wasn't able to find you that day but we thank you for your kindness to him. We don't have your number but I would like to thank you in person so please email it to me on misbahdadabhoy@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteAnd just like that, once I met Mr Mehmood Dadabhoy as well, in Dubai. Although for merely a couple of days, but he left a lasting impression on my memory. A true gentleman. And I agree, a refined, loving and considerate soul. Know that these are trial times for his family. My prayers are with them. May Allah rest his soul in peace. Ameen. Ghulam Husein K Mohamedy ghulamhkm@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I know that my brief, albeit profound, interaction with the late is nothing compared your loss as a family.
ReplyDeleteIt'd be remiss not to mention though that I appreciated every tiny bit of information about him, like how he took care of his sisters, or how he looked for me at the airport.
May God grant you all the patience as a family, and the late the eternal peace.
Fazila said.....
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Asif
Assalamualikum,
Fazila Dadabhoy, eldest of the two daughters of the beautiful man you encountered in your journey from Duabi to California. His last wordly travel! May his other journey be soother than that.
Alaah (S.W.T) designs his affair in ways which are beyond our comprehense. He somehow decided to Inform his loved one, about his journey and what he did. The smallest detail we recive of his good deeds and nature are a source of strenght for us at a time of grief. May Allah reward you for your kind help to him and hope that we can see you some day.
JazakAllah Khairun Kasirun.
A great lost for the community. A gentleman to the word. A great husband, father, grand father and brother. Will be missed by one and all. With his departure, we have lost an abundance of knowledge. Our condolences to the family & friends. May Allah grant him Jannah. Aameen.
ReplyDeleteI would like to express my gratitude, for describing my beloved grandfather in a beautiful and honest manner. He was indeed a wonderful man, whose primary priority was his family. My grandfather was an awe-inspiring man, who left a great impression on everyone he met. May Allah bless his soul.
ReplyDeleteDear Ms. Fazila and Saba, thank you for your undeserved yet kind words.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to let you know that my blog gets imported into another website I frequent, and people there have been very touched by your comments here. You could visit it at mysterasif.naseeb.com
Warm Regards.
I would like to thank the young man Asif for having taken the time to provide a helpful hand to my brother. Your kindness has greatly touched us and I pray that Allah SWT bless you with happiness, health, laughter and Imaan always. Your reward for this kindness lies with Allah SWT.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
assalaam alaikum WB
ReplyDeleteI remember a time when I was 14 and was out pretty late in KHI. My mom was worried as she could not get a hold of me on my cell phone. It was Mehmood Nana who went out late at night to try and find me. That really touched me, and left a lasting impression. He was someone I really looked up to and respected. Out of the many things people would say to me, his advice was always one that I knew I had to take seriously. He will always be remembered as someone special by those that knew him privately and professionally.
May Allah grant him a place in Jannat-ul-Firdaus aameen and give us the patience to cope with the loss.
dear asif bhai,
ReplyDeletemy name is mohamed motala and iam married to mehmood bhais sister bilquis. i stay in buena park. i always looked forward to mehmood bhais visit, as i enjoyed taking him around, and we both had a love for ghazal, and as a lot of ghazal singers of pakistan i did not know and he would explain who was the singer and a little history of the singer. we had the whole family here on sunday evening for dinner and a very close friend of his mr baboo mpara was here and i also invited him.we joked and talked till 9pm and he had to leave to drop his grandaughter farah at lax who is stuyding at duke university.i asked him to stay over, but he said he will come tomorrow(monday) as he wanted to go shopping, and i promised him i
will take him. but monday morning instead of coming here he departed for allahs house, and eternal rest.
we all lost a very kind and good man. may allah subhanahu grany the deceases junnatul firdous and give sabr to thr family, inshallah. please if you are ever in our area call we would love to meet you. my number is 714-229-1786. again thank you for writing all the wonderful words about him.. our salaams n duas. mohamed n bilquis motala
Very touching Indeed, Asif. May Allah rest his soul in eternal peace.
ReplyDeleteAthar S.