Silences
A niece remembers
The one person who served as my role model, was my beloved uncle Mohammad Ali Syed. His contribution in our lives is truly incomparable. The virtues and qualities that we adopted from him play a vital role in our lives.
Even though he lived far away, in Great Britain, he would always manage time every year to visit Bangladesh. The main reason behind his visit was to be able to keep in touch with all his relatives. The love and care he had for his family were extraordinary. His virtuous qualities and charming character won everyone's heart.
I was very young when I met him. He used to come to our house in Bangladesh once every year with my aunt. As soon as he came to Bangladesh he always enquired about all our relatives and visited everyone as soon as he got the chance. He especially visited those who were ill first. He was a man of many ideas. He was the type of man who was loved by anyone who got the opportunity to know him. He was a very friendly and jolly man. He was like no other. He was a man of great knowledge and virtue. He had a personality that was respectable and yet adorable. I had always felt his love and affection. I always found him to be well mannered and humble. He could make people laugh easily with his simplicity. He loved to talk as well as listen to what others had to say.
He had a huge collection of books on several topics; and he also thought about who would put the books to truthful use after him. He also wrote some books of his own.
He had great knowledge of religion and could embed the correct ideas in people's minds. He had such a personality that he could minimize the gap between the young and the elderly. He loved and helped orphans and the autistic people.
As he was a Barrister at Law, he fought for justice constantly. He thought about his country and wondered how he could create a beautiful Bangladesh. He not only gave ideas but he did the work himself. He served people with open hearts. He had a great contribution to the language movement of 1952. He was a student at the time and played a positive role for the country. Similarly during the 1971 war he performed with great perseverance and dedication. He was honest till his last breath.
We used to plan trips to places around the country whenever he and my aunt visited to get out of our tedious regular life. I never noticed him to be tired for once. He was bright and energetic every hour of every day.
We lost a great mentor when he left for his eternal life on the other side of the grave. We all, forever, will cherish the moments we spent with him and hope to someday be like him.
Adiba Rahman Khan lives in Dhaka.
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