Raju, this is about Alamgir, the great singer which I found at one of my fav sites today…Maybe Dr Nasir can help/advice
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A.H. Cemendtaur
Being a perennial skeptical about email money appeals, a message about Alamgir’s health and plea to wire transfer money to a bank account made me decide to check the veracity of the news. I looked up Alamgir’s telephone number in Georgia and called him up. Luck was with me, I was able to talk directly to Alamgir in quite detail. Here is what I gathered from our telephone conversation.
WPvideo 1.10
In 2004, Alamgir was diagnosed with failing kidneys. At that time his kidneys were operating at 50% of their capacity. The kidneys kept deteriorating in their performance and by now they are almost useless. Alamgir needs a kidney transplant, but till he finds new kidneys he would have to go through dialysis, the process of machine-cleaning the blood. For the dialysis to start he went through a surgery on Monday, October 6, at Gwinnett Medical Center, Lawrenceville. In that surgery Alamgir was fitted with a dialysis catheter.
Once the surgical wound is dried up, Alamgir’s dialysis through the catheter would start. Since Alamgir has permanent renal failure, he would go through another surgery in which he would be fitted with surgically created arteriovenous fistula, a preferred approach for dialysis. Surgically created arteriovenous fistula is apparently a more involved surgery and is hence delayed till the patient is in better health through dialysis made possible through catheter.
The main reason Alamgir landed in financial trouble is because he was not carrying any health insurance. Although he sounded fatigued Alamgir spoke with optimism.
He said many Pakistani doctors currently living in the US were studying at either Sindh or Dow Medical College when he was at the peak of his career. They were his friends and he was happy to see them coming to his help. Just a day ago he received a call from Ishrat-Ul-Ibad, Governor of Sindh, who extended his support to Alamgir especially if Alamgir would come to Pakistan for further treatment. Alamgir said he is consulting his doctors for the best approach to take. Currently he is being helped by his wife; Alamgir’s son is studying in Virginia .
So, yes the news about Alamgir’s ailment and the appeal for financial help are authentic. Money should be sent directly to Alamgir’s bank account as given in the email message.
Owais Mughal says:
October 10th, 2008 12:59 pm
Following message is from Bilal Zuberi, which he had posted at another ATP post about Alamgir yesterday.
Owais
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Owais, tried posting this earlier but it didn’t go through…you are right on Alamgir. Here’s a note from a friend organizing a fundraiser for Alamgir.
Bilal
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Alamgir has been a true trail-blazer, the first musician and entertainer who came up on the stage and TV and belted out his own unique vibrant brand of music, which so many others have tried to follow, over the last 35 years. His passion and vibrancy, however, has remained unparalleled and he has truly enriched our lives with his songs and music. Its now our turn to help him, when he needs it most.
I spoke to Alamgir a few days ago and also to his only offspring Aurangzeb in DC, who is in his last year at college. Alamgir was in his usual high spirits, although I could sense some nervousness betraying his facade. After all, he has to undergo two hernia surgeries on October 2, before the dialysis process can start two weeks after.
The new date for the Boston benefit concert is November 15th. I am working on two possible avenues at Pine Manor College and MIT. The sound system has already been arranged to his satisfaction. I am confident that, InshaAllah, he would be fit enough to perform. As a backup though, we will switch on to the “sitting down ghazals/geet on a harmonium” format, if he is even slightly uncomfortable with his usual Alamgir stage format. He is receptive to this idea.
While we pursue with our institutional vehicles of help, I personally feel that in the spirit of sharing and caring of this holy month, in addition to our prayers for his health and complete recovery, we should start to activate the process of Giving right now, so that he has some funds well before his surgery. Towards this end, I have managed to discreetly get his bank account details from his wife, which are as follows
Alamgir Haq
Suntrust Bank
routing: 061000104
account: 1000088362248
Additionally, I have already started to collect contribution checks on his behalf and plan to courier him on 9/26/08. If you prefer, you can make out your contribution checks to Alamgir Haq and mail them to me at
Siraj Khan
10 Atherton Road
Hudson MA 01749
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 978-621-8030. We specially need volunteers to make up the crew for the Boston concert.
I look forward to hearing from you and working together to support Alamgir.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DbTvUqT7Fs
