There are some people who come into your life for just a fleeting moment, yet leave behind a profound impact on how the course of your life runs. Such is the story of the role Rear Admiral Tahir Waseem (late) played in my life.

He was the person who first introduced me to the world of the internet, teaching me the basics of Internet Explorer and websites like Yahoo, back when i was 13 years old. He was the one who ‘gave’ me my first modem, a 14.4 Zoltrix Internal modem costing an arm and a leg in those days. (I later found out he gave the bill to my dad after i had gleefully installed and configured it on my machine. :p)

Before he came along, my computer experience was pretty much limited to a standalone system, running a few BASIC programs and writing a few commands here and there. He somehow challenged me to be better than that, to learn, to innovate and to find solutions. His natural way of teaching and transferring the enthusiasm he had for all things technical made me decide this was the field i wanted a career in. I even recall him giving me my first lessons in FoxPro, (which wasn’t even visual in those days).

Years later, i found him once outside a computer store looking for the latest version of MS Visual Studio, so he could learn it and develop a few office applications to help at his new post at Karachi Port Trust. An office which didn’t even have a fax machine before he arrived, and had a complete internet/intranet setup before he left. He was also one of the persons instrumental in bringing a corporate intranet to Pakistan Navy, managing to convince many a senior officers to give the project a go. Later i learned, he was the project manager on one of Pakistan Navy’s biggest software project,  PNS Dockyard Automation system. There are among the many feats he had in his career, feats which enabled him to rise in the ranks of the Navy and reach one of the highest ranks an officer can hold.

Even on the personal front, he was a gem of a person. Not being able to have his own children, he and his wife adopted a child and raised him as their very own. The joy the child brought to their life was unmistakable, even when he suffered from major illnesses and was in and out of the hospital alot. He was right there by his bedside the whole time. It was a joy to see the love they shared and gave me hope of a better world, had more people like that existed. He was fun loving, jovial, had a great sense of humor, and was one of the few friends of my father i could sit and talk with for hours without feeling uncomfortable.

Tahir uncle, you were an inspiration, a teacher, a motivator and a role model. If i have any place in the world today, rest assured you played a major part in it. I am sorry i couldn’t visit you much lately, and i that i missed out on the opportunity on every trip i made to Islamabad.

I will miss you terribly, and remember you always in my prayers.

May God give you your rightful place in Jannat, alongside the other greats of this world. Amen.

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Rear Admiral Tahir Waseem, Director General MTC Islamabad, died in a road accident while returning from Attock after attending the marriage ceremony of his niece on 21st October 2007. He succumbed to his injuries before reaching the hospital, while his son still remains critical condition at CMH Rawalpindi. Other members of the family in the car, including his wife, escaped unhurt.