Ali's ancestors belong to a respectable and
educated family of UP in India. His grandfather
was very active in the Pakistan Movement. He was
so fervent about it that he wanted to celebrate
the first independence day in Pakistan. He
immediately moved to Karachi leaving his family
behind. In the meantime, he requested another
activist friend of his to bring the children with
him. That person, without inquiring about the
children, assumed that the family had perished and
informed Ali's grandfather that his family had
been killed in the riots. This false news had a
tremendous impact on him and he lost his senses.
He died in Giddu Bandar. So when Ali's father and
the rest of the family arrived in Pakistan, they
had to face a difficult time. Ali's father then
ran away from home and joined the Pakistan Navy as
a sailor. He retired from the Navy in the same
rank, and was known popularly as "Nazim Diver".
Thus, Ali's early
education was in Karachi within the Navy school
system until he finally moved to Petaro in 1980.
True to the tradition of his ancestors, Ali
strived to be the best. He attained the heights at Cadet College Petaro
by being appointed the Senior
Under Officer (SUO) of his class.
After leaving Petaro, he graduated from Wooster
College in the UK. He made his career in the
banking industry and has spent a good part of it
in the Middle East - in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
At present he is Head of Mutual Funds with
National Commercial Bank in Bahrain.
He is also a specialist in Islamic Banking as
well.
Ali has a heart of gold. He is an extremely caring
person, and is always in the forefront of
philanthropic activities - primarily aimed at
Petarians. He does not think twice about trying to
help those who are under-privileged or in need. He
has contributed towards scholarships on
need-cum-merit basis on an annual basis through
the Petarian Foundation.
It is truly my honour to have known Ali for the
past nearly a decade. |