Very occasionally I used to meet Mirza Ali Behrouze Ispahani either on the stairs of the Ispahani Building in Motijheel or in the elevator of that building, as I was a regular visitor to a stock broker located in the same building. Whenever Behrouze saw me he used to stop me and asked many things starting from Bangladesh economy and whether I knew such and such men. When he heard I also took my intermediate level study from the Chittagong College he wanted to know whether I knew his brother Sajid and some other people who studied there during the time. When he knew my interest in stock investment, he wanted to know how was the market and whether it holds any future.
Behrouze was the Chairperson of the Ispahani Group of Industries founded by his forefathers who migrated to India from Isphahan of Iran and from India to the then East Pakistan. Ispahanis were known to Bagabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and were, as I heard, dear to him. They were the only non-Bengali having big business setup in the then East Pakistan, who did not leave the country during the Bangladesh war of independence. At the initial stage, their industrial establishments were also taken under state control, along with those belonging to other private people but later were handed over to them. Ispahanis now are a famous name in the business conglomerates of Bangladesh.
On the 23rd of January, as usual I was entering the Ispahani building at around 10.30 a.m. The first man I came across was the security guard of the building and he said, sir, this morning our chairman Behrouze Saheb has died. I stumbled to hear the news, I could not believe it. How come a healthy person like Mirza Ali Behrouze Ispahani can die! I enquired where he died, why he died and when his namaze-Janaza would be held. Behrouze physically was stronger than I. I did not see any problem in his physical condition. He was always a hale and hearty person. As a person he was a man of amiable character, everyone in the Ispahani building knew him as Behrouze saheb. Under his leadership Ispahani Group only prospered. I did not know that he was the managing director of the International Publication Limited which published the only English financial daily - the Financial Express in the country. Behrouze was also instrumental in pursuing me to write for this news paper. On agreeing to his request and that of Sayed Hasan, a top executive in the Group I started writing for this paper which I am continuing till today. When I heard Behrouze is no more with us, I only felt how fragile life is. Anyone at anytime can go from this world. In my case I only pray to Almighty that He may give me strength to prepare to say good bye to this world. Behrouze has gone, everyone of us shall have to go, that is how life goes. I pray for peace for the departed soul of brother Behrouze.
The writer is Professor of Economics University of Dhaka
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