TRIBUTE TO JAMES- 9^th,Sept.,1993-The Express

My acquaintance with Mohamed Hussein Kassam had begun on the cosy pavement of Dewji  Jamaal Musafirkhana at Omar Khadi(the scene of the recent Hindu Muslim riots) in Bombay.

That was way back in the 1960s when Mohamed had resorted to the roaring Bombay in the wake of the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.

He was gentle beyond any tract, humble as a padre and mild without any trace of reproach whatsoever. We built up an immediate rapport. Besides he was sophisticated, highly courteous and a man of great taste.

It was this refinement of his and his fondness for the actor James Mason whom he used to emulate vigorously that earned him the pet name ‘James’.

From the tumultuous Omar Khadi he would soon find himself in the modernity of Churchgate sipping coffee espresso at Napoli, sitting by the side of Jaikishan(of the famous Shankar-Jaikishan duo) and munching pastries at Gaylord or even jesting along with the joker Johar(I S)  over a plate of snacks at Bombaylies’. Evenings would find him dining in Alibaba at Colaba or Coper Chimney at Worli or Gazebo at Bandra.

Mohamed’s zest for Bombay was insatiable and he had made it a point to visit it every now and then. Whenever we met nostalgia would overtake us.

I recall having recommended V.S.Naipaul’s ‘An Area of Darkness’ to him and he had remembered to buy it on one of his overseas visits. He would than compare his own experiences with those of Naipaul recollecting the good old Bombay.

Mohamed was a voracious reader. His chats would range from Shobha De and Kushwant Singh of the Indian weeklies to David Frith of the Wisden. It could be even Raju Bharatan’s analytical presentation of Mohamed Rafi or Rusi Karanjia’s outburst of neo socialistic overturn. He rendered the stories with his usual humorous touch.

He was always relaxed and in a contentious mood. The only time I found him in a dejected mood was once in 1984 when we had ventured into a magazine entailing exhaustive study of past cricketers.

One of Mohamed’s favorite was Abdul Nasser. He visited the old man, interviewed him and obtained his photograph. Unfortunately the printers misplaced his photograph and Abdul Nasser’s profile appeared without his photograph. Being a man of principles Mohamed was deeply hurt as he rightly felt that no fair deal had been meted out to the old man.

Mohamed’s all time local favorite was Harji Mawji, Zanzibar’s great left handed batsman. Mohamed just loved him. He had offered me a couple of days’ free trip to Zanzibar providing to and fro airfare and accommodation and meals at hotel Bawani if I were to interview Harji and publish his profile.

Mohamed loved travelling. Besides Bombay another favourite spot of his was London, and with his immense literary background it was in particular its Victorian facet that he found very much perceivable. It was the Dickens’ London that he relished. He would even attend plays at Royal Albert Hall and coincided his visits with summer so that he could visit Lords for a cricket test match or Wimbledon for the prestigious tennis tournament.

Mohamed himself was a good sportsman. He was a moderate cricketer spinning off breaks for the ‘B’ string of Ithnashris in Zanzibar. He was a fine tennis player too. Once in a Zanzibar tournament he along with his partner were seeded one in the doubles and they went on to win the tournament. Mohamed always cherished the trophy.

However Mohamed’s passion was cricket. Irrespective of the teams that played he would be often available at the ground and lauded fine and fair play. He never indulged in frivolous argument or gave way to communal prejudice. He would sit calmly and accord his benign smile to one and all.

Alas destiny had its own way and Mohamed succumbed to a massive heart attack on Monday, the 30^th of August, at the age of 57. All along he preferred singleness and had his own philosophy of choosing bachelorhood.

He served the Japanese Embassy in Daressalaam for a long time till he retired last year. Mohamed remains no more, to recall Rafi's melody of Mohamed's favourite composer Maestro Naushad for whom he had a great deal of admiration