English & Urdu Text : Khalid Iqbal

Presentation : Shoaib Sobani

It was in 1964 when the Burmese Army took over power from the Civilian Government and made Burma (now Myanmar) a Socialist Republic. It had nationalized all the businesses and changed the economy and the fate of the local businessmen. Most of the businessmen lost their entire fortune forcing them to leave the country. It was these troubled times that Salman opened his eyes in a Muslim Family of Rangoon. At the tender age of 13 the desperate parents migrated to Pakistan to make a new beginning.

Salman attended school and did his intermediate in Karachi. He was always inclined to become a literary figure and a writer; however destiny took him to enter the precincts of Dow Medical College.

In the early days of Dow he was a tall lanky individual with a very “philosophical” look. Attired mostly in top quality shirt and trousers, Salman wore branded specs and maintained a secluded outlook. He was friendly to literati like Astad Behrana,

Tariq Vakani,,Colin Saldanha, Farook Shaikh, and Munir Khakwani. He was perhaps the genuine representative of the English speaking union. One factor was his humble Urdu but more than that writing and speaking English has always been an obsession and a trademark of sophistication.

Salman recalls those days when his father was in the States. The letters sent to him by Salman were returned to make remedy for grammatical and linguistic errors. Any repetition of errors would have certainly invited his wrath and anger.

Salman was a creative connoisseur of art and food. Culinary delights always lured him. He would spend any quantum of money to treat friends and foe when it came to tasteful food. Only Salman could tell that best steaks were available at Maxims and Hideout in Clifton in Karachi. He loved to attend arts and crafts exhibitions in far off areas of the Karachi Metropolis.

Salman’s family traditions were very innovative and inventive. Every year on the eve of Eidul Azha special photographic albums were made of the sacrificial animals purchased that year. Annual archiving of this nature has never been heard of. Further very specially designed knives were regularly imported by the Baggia clan to sacrifice the animals in the least painful ways. Salman had a good knack at palmistry. In one of the Student Melas at Dow Farook Shaikh asked him to join. Farook was convinced that besides the knowledge, facial features of Salman with spectacles drooping on the nasal tip would add dimensions to the business. Salman looked like a celestial and saintly character. It turned out exactly like that young women folk inundated the stall till the wee hours of the next morning and the task was a huge success.

Salman had a deep-seated interest for arts and English literature. Romantic ideas always infatuated him. All the lessons of love are learned by just the thoughts of it. When Misbah entered the life of Salman it was like an uninterrupted happiness living in the avenues of the heart. How beautifully Faiz has expressed these sentiments:

It Is Spring Again-

It is spring, and the ledger is opened again, From the abyss where they were frozen,

Those days suddenly return, Those days that passed away from your lips, That died with all our kisses, unaccounted. The roses return: they are your fragrance;

They are the blood of your lovers.

Salman was betrothed to Misbah. Convocation for Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine and Nikah ceremony enthralled him in quick succession. Misbah and Salman bid farewell to the land of pure. Their destination was the United States where the Baggia family was waiting to receive and eager to fulfill any need for the couple.

In the successive years Salman did residency in Internal Medicine at Cook Country Hospital/University of Illinois, Chicago. After finishing he joined as an assistant Chief Medical Officer at Illinois Correctional Health System. In the years Durriya and Maliha arrived in the world as a revered gift to the couple. The family unit was living like a bouquet with the individual and collective flair of fragrances.

A difficult time was waiting to swamp the jolly Baggia family. Salman suffered from hypertension and very gradually his renal function got compromised. At this juncture Misbah made a very mind stunning decision. This is an altruistic example set by a woman what one can offer for the family. She donated a kidney for transplantation to Salman to save him from the despairs of life long dialysis. A period of relief came. A few who met Salman in those days barely recognized him due to the adverse effects of drugs following transplantation.

A tragedy happened one day which nobody had ever anticipated. Salman suffered from a fatal massive myocardial infarction. He left for his heavenly abode at the small age of 41. That was the 16th of November 1994. Misbah the iron lady picked up the broken bits of the shattered family and fought the circumstances very valiantly.

Time passed inexorably and today is 2014. Twenty years have passed after Salman. I am roaming in the area of his residence in Nazimabad #4 Karachi, where Salman spent his life while he was in Pakistan. Everything was silent, looked dull and dreary in the afternoon. I am looking in the balcony where Salman used to witness the activities.

Some body has rightly remarked “It is strange how we hold on to the pieces of the past while we wait for our futures.”

The latest news about the family is very affirmative. Misbah is serving as Coordinator, Cancer Program & Registry at Dupage Medical Group in Illinois.

Their eldest daughter Durriya is happily married with two children. She is an established CPA currently Manager, Accounting & Finance for Northwestern University and resides with her family in the Middle East. Youngest daughter Maliha is also married. She is a licensed hearing instrument specialist and a corporate trainer for Hearing Lab Technology and is currently located in Dallas.

The class of ‘79 cannot forget Salman Baggia, a character larger than life, lowly, respecting, loved perfections and proving that “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough“

PERSONALITY UPLOADED ON 03TH MAY 2014

It was devastating to read about Salman.

But really great to look at what he left behind. Hats off to his very accomplished family

May allah rest his soul in eternal peace,ameen

Fauzia

Thanks Shoaib& team for writing a very befitting tribute for Salman.

Baggia , as he was commonly known was a real unassuming bright spark.

I never had a chance to meet him since graduation but I have got lots of very fond memories of time spend with

him in college days. He will be fondly remembered. Regards to Misbah& family.

azb

Dear Shoaib and Khalid

Thanks for posting Salman posthumously. It is I suppose an award from his classmates who kept him in high

regards in his life and still do the same. It is nice to see that Misbah and children have done well. If possible

please pass my well wishes to her.

Ifti

PERSONALITY UPLOADED ON 03TH MAY 2014

Thank you Shoaib, Khalid and RehmanMamsa for Salman.

Hats off to Misbah.

Yes I do remember Salman and was very upset when I first heard about him.

All one can do from a distance to wish them, Misbah, DurriyaMaliha, all the best and thanks for sharing the

memories of Salman with us.

Khalid, Shoaib, Rehman, do pass this on Misbah. All the best.

Hasan

A moving narrative on Dr Salman Baggia who was all that has been

said.He continues to live in the hearts and minds of his friends and an enduring legacy to his wonderful family.

DrAlyHaider Riyadh L'ArabieSaoudite du Saoudienne.

What a befitting tribute to the towering person and personality of Salman Baggia.

May his soul rest in peace. Aameen.

Arshad