Re: BASHIR AHMED
When that MAKRANI..aged 40 years...namely.... BASHIR AHMED woke up on that Monday of September-1960 to proceed for his daily bread earning by carrying loads on his Camel Cart he never could have imagined that ALLAH up there is going to turn Bashir..... into something a CAMEL CART driver...could never even dream or think of.
Worrying and thinking about his day's work..Bashir on his camel cart was proceeding slowly near the Christian Cemetary-Karachi and just as he approached the then..Shahrah-e-Faisal exactly on the ground where the FTC building stands now..he was stopped by the police to make way for the VVIP movement from Karachi Airport towards the then President's house (now Sindh Governor's House)....and in a few moments a Caddilac Limo with a booty of motorcycles in front of it followed by DIG's convertible Chevy...came lined up slowly and steadily cruising towards Ayesha Bawany College road...and BASHIR AHMED watched...standing there with his camel cart...when suddenly the entire entourage suddenly stopped right there where we now have the FTC flyover. DIG jumped out of his chevy..and ran towards the Caddillac Limo where he was instructed something...and he turned his head towards BASHIR and came running to him. Poor BASHIR almost loosing his senses.. started running away when the DIG almost yelled "Koi Baat Nahin.. Darro Matt.. Baba...Aap Aik Minute Thehrow" and BA stood shivering. The DIG took hold of his hands and took him to the Caddy Limo...where..out came the Vice President of USA Lyndon B. Johnson and President of Pakistan Field Marshall Muhammad Ayub Khan. LBJ approached BA alongside U.S.Ambassador to Pakistan and FM MAK...with Brig. Nawazish Ali, the MS to MAK. Here's what precisely happened--then;
LBJ; "Hey....is that Camel Cart yours?" *(Brig. Nawazish translated that to BA in Urdu)*
BA; "Jee Saab...Ye OONNTH GAARRI...amaara hai...kiyon? Aur YE (pointing to LBJ) Saab Kaun Hai? *(Translated to Johnson...)*
LBJ: "Will you be my friend?" *(Translated to BA)*
BA; "Ye amaara DOST banega!!! Kiyon Rrrayy?" *(Translated to LBJ)*
LBJ; (Taking a Parker pen out of his pocket) "Here, keep this as a friendship gift from me. I am your friend from today...ok Bashieyarr?" (Translated to BA)
BA; "Arrayy..hum kiya kareinga iss cheez ka...(shaking hands with LBJ) Theek hai rrayy..umm tumara dost hai abb" (Translated to LBJ)
LBJ; "Ok, that settles it..so Bashieyarr...you are invited to visit USA as the guest of American Government and people. You will also visit my ranch at Texas..meet my family and we'll have fun (turning to FM MAK)...Mr. President, I request you to please have my friend Bashieyarr's passport ordered urgently. (turning to U.S.Ambassador) Have the visa processed asap and make return first class tickets for Washington by PAN AM for my friend and please see that this happens urgently. (turning to Bashir) OK Bashieyyar...nice to meet you. Take care of yourself and see you in Washington soon..."
...And the entourage drove off for President's house..with Bashir standing and literally shaking when an American Consulate official approached BA with local police officials and took BA's address etc.
NEXT..within one week; BASHIR AHMED after certain briefings by the Foreign Office and Government of Pakistan..having ordered three SHERWANIS and full National attire for BA, boarded BA on that PAN AM Clipper Jet Boieng 707's first class cabin...for Washington via Beirut, Frankfurt, Paris, London and New York.
Out there in USA..as the guest of American Govt and U.S.Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and Ladybird Johnson, BA visited the Dallas Ranch of LBJ and also Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and finally back to Washington and stayed at Blair House and Martha's Vineyard and after two weeks returned to Pakistan loaded with gifts in a sea Container that followed with THREE Mack Trucks and all items from Fridge, AC, Sewing Machine etc., for BA's family and himself. In a few months BA turned from rags to riches through his TRUCK business and two shops.
In his weekly program ZIA SHOW.... our Zia Moheyuddin called Bashir for an interview (ZIA SHOW was recorded live at Fleet Club-Karachi every Sunday before an audience of at least 100-150..and it was the most popular stage show of PTV-Karachi during 1969-70) and during the interview...the most interesting part was when Zia Bhai asked him*; " YE APNE UMMREEKA SE WAPIS ANEY KE BAAD...OOONNTTH GAARI CHALANA KIYON BUNDD KARDEE...?" to which Bashir remained quiet for a moment and then smilingly *said "JAANSUNN NE KAHAA THAAH KE MERI 'POWSEESUNN' (Position) KA KHAYAL RAKHNA!!!!!!!!" **
BASHIR AHMED died fifteen years back at Karachi....but this interesting fact remains as history and a cogent example of how ALLAH ALMIGHTY can bless anyone...
There can be some questions as to how do I know so many close talk words between LBJ and BA..to which my reply is simple...as my **father Jamiluddin Aali **alongside Qudratullah Shahab, was attached with FM Ayub Khan as his Personal Staff Officer..and besides that...this all was the headlines of Pakistan's major newspapers those days and months of 1960-61.
Khush Rahein......
-Raju Jamil
You are Jamiluddin Aali's son?