Inzy Lets Things over Flow Him
Inzy lets things flow over him
This is not just the story of a man who has risen to be one of Pakistan's icons. It is also a more human tale, one of two friends and a friendship that has stood for nearly 20 years, despite the differences caused by distance, status and money. On Thursday evening, even as the hotel prepares for the arrival of the Indian team (the Pakistani team is not top priority), one man is trying to find a proper place for a big framed photograph of a young, laughing Inzamam-ul Haq. He is painstakingly going over a banner written in English, welcoming Inzamam home. "Is this correct English?" he asks. "More or less," one smiles apologetically. "My friend is coming home," he smiles excitedly. "And I want it to be perfect."
Meet Ghulam Mujtaba, just Mujtaba to most, almost a tradition in Multan himself --- everyone knows him --- and the Pakistan skipper's long-standing friend. "People here never used to talk of Mujtaba and Inzamam without mentioning the other," says another man, watching Mujtaba's efforts. "Yes," says Mujtaba. "But that was a long time ago. Now he has gone far ahead, further than even he dreamed of going and I just watch with pride."
Inzamam met Mujtaba through elder brother Intezaar, who was a friend. "Intezaar brought him to my father's shop one day," says Mujtaba. "I was 16-17 and he was younger. We hit it off immediately and it's always been that way."
According to Mujtaba, they were a group of four. "Inzamam has never been one for making many friends. Even as a kid he would either hang out at his only sister's place here or at my home. Night after night, after everyone had slept, Inzamam would make the omelettes, I would make the rotis and we would eat and eat and talk."
Mujtaba recalls how they would often not sleep at all, just wash up and go straight for the first namaaz of the day and be there even before Inzamam's father, Pir Intizam-ul-Haq, one of Multan's biggest spiritual leaders. "He would always ask us how we
This is not just the story of a man who has risen to be one of Pakistan's icons. It is also a more human tale, one of two friends and a friendship that has stood for nearly 20 years, despite the differences caused by distance, status and money. On Thursday evening, even as the hotel prepares for the arrival of the Indian team (the Pakistani team is not top priority), one man is trying to find a proper place for a big framed photograph of a young, laughing Inzamam-ul Haq. He is painstakingly going over a banner written in English, welcoming Inzamam home. "Is this correct English?" he asks. "More or less," one smiles apologetically. "My friend is coming home," he smiles excitedly. "And I want it to be perfect."
Meet Ghulam Mujtaba, just Mujtaba to most, almost a tradition in Multan himself --- everyone knows him --- and the Pakistan skipper's long-standing friend. "People here never used to talk of Mujtaba and Inzamam without mentioning the other," says another man, watching Mujtaba's efforts. "Yes," says Mujtaba. "But that was a long time ago. Now he has gone far ahead, further than even he dreamed of going and I just watch with pride."
Inzamam met Mujtaba through elder brother Intezaar, who was a friend. "Intezaar brought him to my father's shop one day," says Mujtaba. "I was 16-17 and he was younger. We hit it off immediately and it's always been that way."
According to Mujtaba, they were a group of four. "Inzamam has never been one for making many friends. Even as a kid he would either hang out at his only sister's place here or at my home. Night after night, after everyone had slept, Inzamam would make the omelettes, I would make the rotis and we would eat and eat and talk."
Mujtaba recalls how they would often not sleep at all, just wash up and go straight for the first namaaz of the day and be there even before Inzamam's father, Pir Intizam-ul-Haq, one of Multan's biggest spiritual leaders. "He would always ask us how we