# 1610, Poster colours on card, 14.5" x 12"

# 1609, Poster colours on papeer, 22.5" x 17"

S YOUSUF ALI - Father, Philosopher, Guide and Best Friend

SHAIKH YOUSUF ALI (Abba) our father was not just our father. He was our philosopher, guide and above all he was our bestest best friend. He was a fun loving, jovial, friendly and a very straight forward person.

He was very fond of art and music. I remember whenever he used to work, light music would always be playing behind. He was a great fan of Mehendi Hassan, Shobha Gurtu, Bismillah Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, Zakir Hussain, Shivkumar Sharma etc. Sitar was his favourite instrument. He just loved classical music. That may be the reason his paintings had a touch of music in it.

He was not only a good artist but also a fabulous father. I am the luckiest daughter to have such a father. I still remember, he used to work at nights when everybody goes to sleep. I sometimes used to go to the room he used to work in and do my studies or just chat with him. He used to stop his work after some time and used to make me sleep by slightly moving his hands in my hair. There were even times when I and my brother Hamza used to get up very early in the mornings and by the time we freshened up Abba used to stop his work and fry chapatis for us in butter. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm yummy the taste of it is still there. I myself have fried chapatis that way but naaaa. He used to say in a joking way, "Bulao kisi bhi chef ko aur kaho aisi roti banane". After finishing our breakfast all three of us used to go out for a stroll. And that was the time when we used to share everything with him. He always used to tell us "Beta aap jo bahar karoge, yaa kahin jaana hai, yaa kuch bhi, jo bhi hai, ghar mein batakar karo". He was also very good at telling jokes. And then at the call for prayer (Azaan) we used to go inside, offer prayer and then he used to sleep.

# 1607, Poster colours on paper, 19" x 13.75"     # 1608, Poster colours on paper, 20 x 15 inches

Once some of my college friends had come home and abba came to know about one of my friend's birthday. Without our noticing he went to the market and bought cakes, chips etc. We really had a great time. One more event that I remember - we were having a get together at one of our cousin Anwar bhai's place. It was Diwali. Abba instead of sitting and chatting with elders came where we all kids were playing and sent two of our cousins to get crackers. Wow what a day it was. We all enjoyed a lottttttttt. Everybody remembers that day till now. Such a fabulous, loving, caring person was my Abba.

He loved to make and see others happy. He rarely used to do anything for himself. He also used to give money to a poor boy for his studies which we came to know after abba's death when that boy came home to receive money. Abba was a very simple and down to earth person. He always kept us away from all the showbiz. Infact we came to know about how great an artist he was, about how much demand was there for his paintings only after his death.

The only close friends of his that we knew were Daljit Singh Sethi uncle, Satish Pillai uncle, Ravi Dauria uncle, Kulkarni uncle. These are the valuable friends af my abba who have truly kept their friendship. Till date they have kept the relation alive even after our parents death. THANKS A LOTTTTTTTT to all of them.

Abba also was very fond of good food. I really miss him a lot during Ramadan Iftari time. He used to help Ammi and me in making different dishes during iftari. Sometimes the dish that I used to prepare would not cook properly but he still used to eat it and say: "Mere guddu beta ney itne pyar se mere liye banaya hai to main zaroor khaaoonga." He rarely called me by my name Nikhat. He either used to call me Nikki or Guddu beta.

# 1613, Acrylic on paper, 16.75 x 23.5 inches

He also loved sports specially cricket, tennis and wrestling. During World cups our house used to be no less than a stadium as my abba's friends from neighbourhood used to come at our place to watch cricket. Sunil Gavaskar, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev were among his favourites. There's so many things about him. He was a real GEM of a person. One more good thing about him that I remember is his role as a peace maker. Whenever there used a fight or quarrel he used to be the first to step in to solve it. He always used to say that "Rishtey banana aur mitana bahot aasaan hota hai par unhe nibhaana bahot mushkil. Relations are the most precious most valuable gift from Allah so treat them well".

Like all fathers he also wished to see me and my brother Hamza to get married and settle down in life. Its our misfortune that now that we are happily married but to see us happy our parents are no more with us. I always used to pray that I get a husband just like my father and Alhamdulillah Allah did listen to my prayer. My dear husband Shah Alam Khan is just like my father when it comes to nature.

Abba wherever you and ammi are WE LOVE YOU and WE MISS YOU a loottttttt. We are very happy in our lives. My husband Shah Alam Khan a very loving and caring husband and Hamza's wife Shabana a jolly and a homely girl and our kids, my son Ayaan Ahmed and Hamza's daughter Almira. I really wish you both would have been with us to see how happy we are. Wish you both would come back.

WE LOVE YOU. WE MISS YOU A LOTTTTT.

Nikhat S Khan