Africa Calling

When we stepped on the continent of Africa, we had plans. We wanted to take up new challenges; we wanted to be the ones recreating the success of Warid in Africa; we wanted to explore Africa and share it with our loved ones. We never thought we will be losing a Warid family member on the way – and that too with so much tragedy!

I first met AbuBakar when I was trying to arrange a sales trainings for my channel partners almost three years ago. It was impossible to meet him and not end up liking him within 10 minutes. And this started as a friendship which was not very close, but very strong. Every time we met – work or otherwise – we had fun. We used to talk about his time in the UK and he would often mention the shopping he did on his last trip for his the unborn baby. When I moved to Lahore with my family, he was one of the first people to invite us for dinner at their home.

He was the first friendly face I saw when I landed in Uganda. I joined him for a few smoke breaks when he wanted to break away from work and chat. We used to talk about how easy or hard it would be for the family to adjust in Africa. I even went around with him house hunting; we saw many houses including the one he choose to live in. He even tried to get a swimming pool put in the house for his kids but it did not work out. He had positive attitude written all over him; he really enjoyed his work and was always willing to share his experience and learn from others.

The accident which happened on Thursday, 4^th October took away a good friend. Abubakar was so good at staying in touch that he responded to every SMS instantly. Whenever I wanted to know/ask anything about Uganda, I would SMS him and he would respond within minutes. So its not surprising that when I heard about the accident, the first person I sent an SMS to was AbuBakar and this time there was no reply.

I did not find out the severity of the accident till the morning when I called others in Kampala. At first I thought he would be ok if they could took him to Pakistan as they may not have the medical facilities in Kampala. And when I heard that he was being transported in the air ambulance to Lahore, I was hopeful that he will get good medical attention.

AbuBakar fought for his life for 3 days... but lost the battle. Would he have been ok if he had received medical attention right away? Would it have helped if the car was new? Would he have survived if he was wearing back seat belts? Should we have prayed harder?

We in Warid lost a great friend – someone who brought smiles to our faces in the worst of circumstances. I don’t know how we are going to get though this without him!

May Allah rest his soul... and give his family strength to get through this difficult time. Ameen

I borrow these words from WH Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.