From One Generation to Eternity “Har taraf zeest ki raaho mein kadi dhoop hai dost, Bus teri yaad ke saaye hai panaaho ki tarah!” - Faakir

A collection of first-hand experiences of people with Syedna Taher Saifuddin Saheb (AQ). On the occasion of his 120th birth anniversary on 4 August 2008. Compiled by Mudar Patherya

INTRODUCTION In Author's words:

I will take a couple of minutes to explain how this collection of memories came to be compiled. I never quite met Syedna Taher Saifuddin Saheb; he expired when I was three; I lived in a different city from him; during our brief ‘meeting’ when he visited Calcutta in 1964, the family version is that he asked my name and my father interjected with ‘Mudar’, whereupon he replied that the question had been posed to me and not him. The interaction may have been fleeting and perhaps even one-sided. However, one could not quite escape his influence. There were stories. There was bayaan. There was family lore. There was a mother’s choke whenever his name was mentioned. There was a sister’s speechless nod of the head when a reference was made. There was a father’s animated eloquence of what the man meant to him. And thence commenced one’s journey of discovery. Of ‘visiting’ him. Of ‘speaking’ to him. Of ‘entreating’ him. He replied. Through the dream of a friend who called excited one morning to say that “Muqaddas Maula yeh farmaayu chhey ke nazrul maqaam maanjey” only to find that within a week I had closed the biggest deal of my life. Through the dream of the same friend who called once to say that “Muqaddas Maula yeh farmaayu chhey taney kehvaney ke Mumbai na ghar ni fikar na karjey, kaam thai jaasey”, only to acquire within a fortnight an apartment that one had been seeking for years. Through the dream of the same friend who once called to say that “Muqaddas Maula yeh farmaayu chhey ke ehna itna kaam karaavine aapu chhu ane Mumbai aavey chhey to pehla maara paasey sukaam nahin aavto” as a sequel to my visiting clients in Andheri, Bandra and Santa Cruz before proceeding downtown for ziyaarat. This then is a collection of interviews with the ostensible objective to perpetuate his memory and the latent desire to just say ‘thank you’. If one could only be a minstrel singing his praise to generations that never saw him and do little else, that in itself would be a fulfilling existence. This booklet then is the first step in that direction.

Created with awe. Produced with respect. But more importantly, with love, love, love, love and love. Sincerely, Mudar Patherya

4 August 2008