Farewell

Meer Mohammad Ismail Sheraz 1981-2023.

To a colleague, a brother, a friend, a proud father, husband and son.

Last week I had this fleeting moment on the way back home in Lahore after a long day driving from Islamabad for work. My eyes kept searching for the familiar and comforting figure of Sheraz. The man is always busy in his quiet little way, but I feel his presence. It comforts me. That fleeting moment was about not expressing my gratitude to him for his enormous value in enriching my world. Not in the way he has earned and deserved.  I felt a need to embrace this man in gratitude. The moment came and went.  I went on home.

It’s been over 20 years since this teenage lad with a winning smile started working for The Hot Spot when we still had just the first outlet in Islamabad. Things were getting busy in the kitchen, and I needed an extra set of hands to help, so a cousin of an original Hot Spot team member sent an S.O.S home to Kashmir. Two days later, Sheraz walked into my life.
He was bright-eyed, a little shy and lacking self-confidence, but with a smile that lit up the entire room, and something twinkled in his eye. Within days he had settled down and got along well with everyone else. I used to spend every single evening till closing time at the shop, and so many hours were spent with the few lads we had helping out, working side by side. Though it may sound cliché, some people started feeling like a new family.

Sheraz had several family members working with us, each with a different character and personality. Sheraz was always a little different to the pack. There was a quiet dignity about his demeanour as he went about his work, always cheerfully and willingly. He soon started to set himself apart from most of the others with a surprising willingness to learn new skills, and soon I found him as my go-to man when trying out some new recipe or item, especially those that required a deft hand and a little finesse.

Sheraz took to the kitchen like few have done, genuinely interested in learning and absorbing knowledge. He started to create things to a level of perfection that those who didn’t love what they did couldn’t achieve. As a worker, he showed me his potential and willingness to learn new tricks more than anyone I had encountered. Sharing time in the kitchen with Sheraz soon became a joy and comfort. His calm temperament was perfect for preparing some wonderful items someone with less patience and skill would never have been able to achieve. Work never felt like work for me when Sheraz was beside me.
The next time He reacted in a way that profoundly affected me was when I was trying to set aside a team of lads to help me in the initial operation in Lahore. I remember asking for help one evening at the shop when there was a lull in orders, and all of us were present. To a man, everyone expressed an unwillingness to have their routine disturbed. Everyone but Sheraz; His eyes sparkled in his willingness to jump at any task to help out.

Once again, I knew there was something special about this kid. Even among the best of us, he was, in his self-effacing, busy manner, a diamond among us – as a person and colleague.
Twenty-plus years have passed, and in all that time, he has never given me a moment of difficulty, only a willingness to help, be supportive, and carry himself in a way that he would be a pride to his parents, whom I was never fortunate enough to meet. He has never once complained about anything. Salary, workload, conditions, learning new items, responsibility – the man has taken on all his diminutive little body could take, each time with total commitment and an attitude second to none.

I have never enjoyed working beside a man of such good nature in all my years. He grew to earn my respect and my love for the human being he was. I watched him with my little niece with complete trust.

Have I known a finer person? The thought did cross my mind more than once that If I did have a son of my own, I would be so proud if it was Sheraz or someone identical to him.

He had been through horrors in his cruelly abbreviated life. During the earthquake of 2006, he watched his brother get crushed to death as he had gone inside to rescue his little son. Sheraz watched in horror as their home caved in on them, taking away loved ones instantly. Still, he soldiered on, brokenhearted but with the resilience to do his best to rebuild his life, make a future for his young son, and support his wife. Family members swooped around him like vultures sniffing money and opportunity, but Sheraz always tried to avoid family intrigue even though the intriguers followed him.

Kidney stones are something so many of us have suffered from over the years. It is almost a right of passage in Pakistan, but hearing of a fatality is virtually unheard of. Yet Sheraz has been torn away from us with complications from a kidney stone causing incredible agony, and ultimately, his body couldn’t cope, and we lost the most beautiful soul that has been a part of my life.  It should never have been allowed to reach this stage.

He was a man who gave The Hot Spot his life, willingly, with a smile, and each one of us knows that we are better for having had him in our lives. I feel outraged and devastated that he was taken away from his young son and wife at barely 40 years when he should have had a life enjoying the fruits of his labour.

Today I am shattered to have lost someone as wonderful and capable as Sheraz. Yet, I am so grateful for every minute of his company and for having witnessed the good in people, the simplicity and honesty in people, and the care and kindness in people that is so rare.

I lost someone I loved, admired and respected so much. What an honour to have known you, Sheraz, to have learned from you and seen how incredible beauty can shine out of adversity. Your kindness, your spirit, and your sweet, sensitive soul lifted us. You are and always will be one of the most special people to me—someone who is a gift sent to make this world a better place. You certainly enriched my life.

Thank you, you beautiful soul, for being you – Fiercely loyal, dedicated and honest. You are and always will be one in millions. I love you, thank you till my last breath, and I believe everyone at The Hot Spot will join me in saluting you as a true and good friend to each of us. A true gentleman, way above the petty.

Rest In Peace, my son. We grieve now, and then later, we celebrate and honour you. Khuda Hafiz Sheraz.

To a most beloved and respected comrade, Goodbye.