Dr Riaz Mustafa Syed, son of Ghulam Mustafa and Abida Syed, of 97, Block A, Model Town, Lahore, passed away on 18th October, 2015, at 10pm. Dr Riaz, or Dada as I have always known him, was born on 29th August, 1934. Late children to loving parents, Dada and his brother were each other’s best friends, and fellow conspirators. Stories of their adventures used to leave us laughing for hours. Dada studied medicine at King Edward and graduated in 1956. He married Rafia Bashir on 16th February, 1960, and had two children: Bilal and Amna. He completed his Fellowship in Surgery from Edinburgh (UK) in 1961 and spent the rest of his life practising surgery in the UK, Libya and Pakistan. He held various positions in Punjab as a surgeon at Services Hospital, Surgeon General, Punjab, MS, Mayo Hospital and retired as Director General, Health Services, Punjab.
Although he never fully recovered after cancer, which dampened his spirits and finally took him, my memories are of fishing by the pond at our farm in Muridke, early morning walks around Governor House in Murree, Sunday brunch with fresh game from shikar — his passion, his commitment to anything golf, everything Punjab Club, especially Christmas lunch and chicken-in-the-basket on warmer days by the pool, the way he even ate his salan roti with a fork, always carried a history book, and never failed to take an afternoon nap. Each of us will continue to carry him inside of us in our own way, and pass onto our children what he taught us about toil, about honesty, about humility and above all, humanity. While we continue to celebrate his life and honour the legacy he has passed down to us, of our names and our heritage, from now on, all the important occasions will be marked with a kind of soft absence, the place where Dada used to be.
I know, I’ll be looking for that smile of his everywhere, always hoping he’s somewhere in the heavens back to his escapades with his brother, and best friend, Kuku Chacha.
Dr Riaz Mustafa Syed leaves behind his wife, Rafia Syed, children Bilal and Amina Syed and Amna and Yaver Abidi, among his extended family.
ZAINAB
Lahore