Abi remembered

11.04.1900 — 19.09.1963

There are so many things I remember about my father, Azhar Kidvai. His love of Books (English and Urdu), Music (from Western Classical to Indian Classical and Jazz), Films, Ghazals and Prose that he wrote. I keep thinking of the müshāerās which happened often and in which he recited. He had a wonderful voice and sang Western and Eastern songs, occasionally. 

When parodying his friends in Scotland — where he studied his medicine and practiced there for a few years — he spoke with a perfect Scottish accent.

My love for all of these came from him … sadly except his voice. I can't sing a note right, although everyone in my Dādhiyāl (paternal family) can ... including, of course, my father's young cousin, Talat Mahmood.

Ustad Asad Ali Khan of Agra believed that a bad voice can be trained in a few months. He asked my father to let me stay at his house for three months and I would be able to not just have a good voice but would sing like that gharana. That never happened, of course: I was his only child and he would not let me go away for so long.

In 1911 - on his 111th birthday - I was lying down on my beanbag, listening to Beniamino Gigli singing Tosti's Goodbye and thinking of some of the things about our lives. Sabeen Mahmud walked in and saw me with tears in my eyes (I hadn't even realized that had actually happened). She did not know that it was Abi's birthday so I was quite surprised that she asked me if it was my father that I was thinking of. Obviously I must have talked about him fairly often and said that I think of him a lot.

I read out a piece to her that he had translated

We then decided to watch a movie: Witness for the Prosecution. A film that had four of his favorite actors: Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich, Tyrone Power, Elsa Lanchester. And it was written by Agatha Christie, an author that he read and always thought she was absolutely fantastic.

While watching that film I mentioned to Sabeen that my father had said to me when we were watching a Disney film about Nature (at Rex Cinema that the Karachiites will remember) that I could see the regular film in 3D if I closed one eye. I thought it was a joke but he said I should close an eye and see it.

YAYYY!

It actually worked.

I often see regular films even

on my TV in 3D nowadays.

I always wondered why most people don't watch them like that. When I had my Cataract operation I watched several of the regular films in 3D :)

Recently I came across an old article on how people can see 3D by closing one eye and I thought I'd write about it in this post. Try it. You won't be disappointed.

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Miss you, Abi!