Farman Bhai

Dr. Sarfaraz K Niazi (e-mail: niazi@niazi.com)

I was totally amazed when I met Farman Fatehpuri, for the first time, in 1961. He looked and acted much younger than his image in my mind developed through the correspondence and discussions I had heard about him from my father, Niaz Fatehpuri. Farman was a household world in our home in Lucknow and I assumed, knowing my father's straightforward approach to selecting his friends, that he would be much older, more experienced and a highly intellectual man. Only the last part of my impression held. His true value to us was revealed when we read my father's will. Farman Fatehpuri was to be consulted in all family matters; he was a de facto guardian of the Niaz family. He was now Farman Bhai--a member of Niaz Fatehpuri family--a title he earned not through any genetic lineage but through his selfless and affectionate association with us--an association we have always cherished.

Farman Bhai, as we came to know him, always amused us and amazed us, often at the same time. He would express his opinions abruptly and succinctly without caring how others will view it. Completely disdained by people who would work to serve their own purpose, Farman Bhai created a lasting image on us since we came to know us. He continues to do that, every time we meet him. There is some magical chemistry about him that you easily fall in love with him. His sincerity, his concern, his intellect, all appear so simple and abrupt that it becomes difficult to believe how could one man have so many abilities. All the awards, degrees, expressions of felicitations by those who matter, have not altered him a bit over the past thirty years that I have known him personally. At the risk of sounding like a cliche--he is indeed a legend.

At home he would be talking about simple things, have ready jokes and funny stories, and always willing to get involved in every day household chores. In professional gatherings, he will be a different man, but only in appearance. His approach--at the grass root level, always remains obvious. I will say nothing about his literary or intellectual abilities because I am not qualified to comment but when you see how people, from all walks of life, respect him, you can not help but assume that they see something in Farman Bhai which some of us may not be appreciating.

My only prayer is that he should live a very long life; for it is now, through his life-time of experience that he can really teach us and our children, the meaning of being simple and honest and the art of becoming Farman Bhai from Farman Fatehpuri.