I just stepped into my office on the morning of January 23, 2017 when I became shell-shocked. The mobile phone, usually kept in silent mode, vibrated a few times. Finally, I received the call and my brother-in-law Robin gave the sad news that Behrouze Ispahani had breathed his last (Innalillah………Rajeun). Possibly one year junior to me, Behrouze was a member of a Perso-Bengali business family in Bangladesh which owns and manages one of the country's leading conglomerates, Ispahani Group. He was the Chairman of the Group. I knew that he had been suffering from diabetes and heart-related complications but never ever I thought that would be the cause of his premature death. I got bemused and puzzled for a while as if the sky fell on my head. Why such a feeling at the death of a person who was not one of my blood relations/relatives or even a professional peer? For the first time I felt that something else may be thicker than blood.
My acquaintance with him was not of very long time either; may be of a few years. My brother-in-law Hasan, who works in Ispahani Group, once introduced me to the innocent looking, well-behaved and ever-smiling Ali Behrouze Ispahani. From then on he used to occasionally invite me to dinner parties in his house. His wife, a devoted social worker, looked after the guests with utmost care like a typical Bengali woman.
Late Behrouze was fond of entertaining friends - and he had lot of friends. In those evening 'addas' in his house, I was lucky to meet famous journalists, businessmen, and bureaucrats. In such small gatherings prevailing political conditions would usually dominate the discourse. It is also in the nature of Bangladeshi political 'addas' that the interlocutors belong to particular parties. However, Beherouze was different; he was a keen listener but at the end would submit some opinions concerning the people and the country - not any particular political party. I was pleasantly surprised to find his love for Bangladeshis - always projecting the potential and prospects of Bangladesh economy and society.
My involvement as a columnist with the celebrated newspaper The Financial Express owes a great deal to his innocent, humble request, and his gentlemanly demeanour.
I heard that he was down-to-earth in his approach not only with his friends but also with his colleagues, be it in the Financial Express or Tea Estate or Textiles.
A man in the real sense of the term, he used to devote a lot of time to the cause of the poor in society. The contribution of Ispahani Group to the socio-economic uplift of the people of Bangladesh knows no bounds. As we grew up, we heard about Ispahani schools and colleges ranking very high not only in terms of quality of education but also in terms of finely-tuned management. The Islamic Eye Hospital bears the testimony to the services provided by this Group. In textiles, tea gardens and in other enterprises, thousands of Bangladeshis are employed in good paying jobs.
It needs to be mentioned here that although Ispahani Group expanded fast under the captaincy of Behrouze's father until 2004, the Group under his dynamic leadership played a pivotal role to assume a commanding height in the domain of commerce and industry in Bangladesh.
Behrouze Ispahani was a man with a difference - popular, polite, and honest - hardly seen among the wealthy class that he represented in Bangladesh society. Owner of almost an economic 'empire', he never displayed arrogance or richly whims.
With his death, I have personally lost a very good friend, his family lost a worthy son, the employees missed a fatherly figure and the society lost a just thinker in the world of business and trade.
I deeply mourn his death and extend my condolences to the bereaved family. May his soul rest in peace.
Abdul Bayes is a former Vice-Chancellor of Jahangirnagar University.
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