The One about Imran Khan (not my cousin!)

Hi all,

I recently had the privilege of having Imran Khan-- the world famous cricketer-- stay at our house in Jeddah for couple of days. He was actually passing through Jeddah to perform Umrah to go on to London to spend time with his two sons.

I remember when it was way back in 1993, right after my O'Levels, that I was excited like a little boy when Imran was here in Jeddah. It was a dinner party, and I excitedly took a piece of paper and went behind the sofa he was sitting on and asked for his autograph. Neither him nor I realized that 11 years down the road, we would meet again face to face in my home! I did have several chances to meet him again in person in Pakistan when I was at high school there, but it was not as personal as it was now.

There was one time when I was upset from him. My class had wanted to invite Imran to speak at our commencement ceremony when we were in 12th grade. Since my father knew Imran, I had decided to take the responsibilty of officialy inviting him. The class president wrote out a letter as an official invitation. I had called Imran's house and got an appointment. By the time I got there, his servant had answered the door. I was led in to his drawing room, which was in the process of being renovated. I sat there for about 30 minutes, during which time I was not offered anything, and had to endure his dogs. He came down from his shower, and I introduced myself and handed him the letter and verbally invited himt o speak at our commencement ceremony. He did not even sit down, and instead started to walk towards the main door. I had no choice but to follow him, and in less than a few seconds, I found myself out on the street getting into my car. What? Gosh! How did this happen? After this time, I thought to myself that Imran is so arrogant and proud and that he talks to only those people who he knows can help him.

God, was I wrong about that!!

At that time, I was very upset! How can Imran act like this? If he wants to be a politician, he has to be accessible to people! I chose to stay quiet about the whole experience. I wanted to give him the benefit of doubt. People around me would ask me again and again to recount my experience. I stopped talking about it after a while. At that time, he had also married Jemima and that created waves in the media and political circles. Of course, as we all know today, he has divorced Jemima.

I know I can get bogged down into the personal life of Imran, and talk about all that is going on in his personal life, but I will make a deliberate choice to not do that. Instead, I want to take this opportunity to write about all that he has been doing for the nation of Pakistan. I truly admire all that he has done for the poor people of Pakistan who suffer from cancer. The time and energy he devotes for this particular cause is unbelievable. The zeal and fervor he has for his cause to serve the poor of the nation is a great source of encouragement for me. The numerous trips and traveling he makes to raise funds for the hospital is so amazing. The number of people he has to meet is more than I can list on top of my head. He is one person, who I can honestly say is a hard-working, honest person who is doing something for the nation of Pakistan.

There are always some people who like to discredit the good others are doing. There will always be someone out there who will talk about his marriage and the divorce. But very few will actually talk about the good he is doing. I want to take this opportunity to say that I have faith in Imran, and I believe that he will continue to do wonders. You get a whole new perspective when you get to talk to the person himself as opposed to the picture of the person that has developed in your mind through the media.

His hospital is one of the world's best, and I have yet to see another hospital which would treat its patients for free!

http://www.shaukatkhanum.org.pk/

Warmly,

Mansur