Humayun and Ramzan Cricket

Owais Mughal

The advent of Ramzan has reminded me of the following anecdote. Humayun (1508-1556) that we are all familiar with was the son of King Babur and the father of Emperor Akbar. In case you want to know how Humayun looked like some 500 years ago in brisk colors then to the right of this text is an artist’s sketch.

The Humayun whom we are going to discuss today, however is none of the above. He is son of Qureshi Sahib(Mr) and father of none and lived in our street during the period 1984-1994.

Before Humayun moved to our locality, I used to be the tallest boy in the street and had the title of “Lamboo gali ka daada” (The bully of the tall street).

I don’t remember how I got that name because those who know me may testify that I am anything but bully in real life. In 1984, when Qureshi sahib’s family moved to our street, they also brought their son Humayun with them. With a lean and extra thin physique, he had a height of 6′4″? and from a distance looked like a walking bamboo. I on the other hand was even slimmer than him and people called me a walking stick. Walking together we looked like the number 11. I don’t have a photo of Humayun so I took my own shadow photo in a setting sun shown to the left. This is how Humayun looked like in 1980s. Having few things in common i.e. height and extra slimness, Humayun and I became good friends. Like me, he was a mad cricket fan. He was a very good fast bowler. He and I used to open bowling for our “mohalla” (neighborhood) cricket team and with two of us from either end and with a variety of left arm (me) and right arm (him) we used to give tough time to any opposition batsman.

Besides cricket, Humayun had one more passion in life and that was an obsession to gain weight by any means. He would eat a lot of fats but to no avail. As long as I remember, his weight and width never increased.

We had an MBBS ‘Mian Bivi Bachon Samait’ (husabnd-wife-alongwith children) doctor named Dr. Masood living in our locality. Seldom he would also come out to play cricket with us. Every now and then, Humayun used to ask his expert advice on how to gain weight. A typical conversation between the two went like this:

Humayun: “Masood bhai, kinnoo kha loon? kinnoo charbi to nahiN kaaTay ga?
(Mr. Masood, Can I eat oranges. I hope it does’t cut my fats)

Dr Masood: “khaa lo bhuee kha lo. charbi tum meiN hai kahaaN jo kaTTay gi?
(Go ahead and eat it. You don’t have any fats that could be cut anyways)

At this Humayun would show his teeth and start peeling and eating another of his favorite “kinnoo” (a crossed variety of orange) in the street.

Some other things I remember about him were the few times when we had to sit on a motorbike together. With pillion riding of a 6′4″? and a 6′2″? passenger, the motorcycle beneath us looked hilarious. From a distance it must’ve looked like two people sitting “ukRooN” (squatting) on the ground and somehow moving forward.

Humayun was also instrumental in the famous cricket incident where our team mysteriously disappeared without giving batting to the opposition team. It was a 15-over-a-side Ramzan cricket tournament. One team used to bat before ‘namaz-e-asr’ (prayers) and second team after it. For one match we could only find 7 players. After winning the toss we elected to bat in a hope that we’ll miraculously find 4 missing players from somewhere. Those 4 players never showed up as nobody was willing to play empty stomach in sizzling Karachi heat. On the huge Shadab Cricket Ground in Gulberg we played full 15 overs like a test match and scored only 50-60 runs. Shadab Cricket Cricket (SCG) located in Gulberg Karachi is shown below. The diagonal building at one corner of the ground is the Shadab masjid. Cricket pitch is also visible in the center of the ground.

With a taped-ball and only 7 fielders on our side, 50 runs would have been next to impossible to defend. We were also playing under roza (fast) condition which made defending 50 runs look like a mountain. After molvi sahib said “salam” our whole team disappeared with from the back door and went home. After the prayers the other team must’ve waited for their batting which they never got. We obviously lost the match because of walk-over but the enjoyment of batting without having to field is still with me.

In 1994, Humayun family moved to North Nazimabad Karachi. I saw him for few more years here and there whenever we played cricket together. I have lost contact with him for over 10 years now. Hopefully he is happy and prosperous wherever he is.

Photo Credits: First photo is from Wikipedia