Loss of a national treasure

Matein Khalid

Dubai lost a national treasure and I lost an old/cherished friend on July 8th. Dr. Ram Buxani had come to Dubai as a teenager in 1959 by ship and witnessed the meteoric growth of the emirate from an obscure Gulf trading port to one of the world’s most happening urban hubs, Arabia’s most globalized and networked haven.

Dr. Ram’s social and business career was an adventure straight out of the Arabian Nights. He rose to become the Chairman of ITL Cosmos and one of India’s leading businessmen, philanthropist and social venture capitalist in the Gulf. He co-founded a private bank in India with the Hinduja family after obtaining a license from then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh in the early 1990’s. He was founder and one time Chairman of both the India Club and the Indian High School in Dubai. He had a deep and profound love for Sindhi language, culture, literature, drama and folklore as he was born in the province that was India in the early 1940’s but Pakistan two decades later when I was born in Karachi, once the Sindhi Jerusalem.

I spent countless hours in Dr. Ram’s office in the heart of Bur Dubai’s Meena Bazaar and his villa in Jumeirah listening to my friend relate anecdotes about the history of Dubai, the global Sindhi diaspora and the making of modern India.

Dr. Ram Buxani met every Indian Prime Minister who visited the UAE on a state visit, from Indira Gandhi to Narendra Modi. He was as brilliant a raconteur as he was a connoisseur of art, literature and aesthetics. His memorial service on July 12th was both a moment of profound sadness at seeing his bereaved family as well as deep joy at the celebration of his amazing life. The Indian Ambassador to the UAE quoted exquisite poetry to mourn the passing of this rare human being. The Indian Consul General in Dubai read out testimonials to Dr. Ram’s community service and philanthropy from no less than six predecessors. His daughter sang a wistful song about a father’s lost love and one of his granddaughters reduced me to tears when she spoke about her love for Nana, who had encouraged her to publish her first book at the age of 12.

Dr. Ram’s own book “Taking the High Road” is a vivid account of his memories and adventures in the Dubai I remember so well from my boyhood in the 1970’s. It was really a milestone for me when Dr. Ram first called me to his office to have tea and discuss the global financial markets as I remember when he used to be the chief guest at our school prize distribution ceremony, only my modest scholastic talents were insufficient to ever be handed out a prize by him – and now, he was asking me to inflict my views on rates, currencies and macro themes to him while his CFO took notes.

Dr. Ram taught me that all enlightened souls embrace humane values and view the human family from a prism that scorns communal bigotry and seeks the divine in the quest for ultimate knowledge. RIP, my dear friend.