Karthik's musings

Obituary: Iqbal Saab

Iqbal Saab - a very active person in various online music communities - died this morning of an heart attack. Since the time I have heard the news through the SKS/SJ music groups, I'm not able to reconcile myself to this news :-(

This is the tribute Naresh Khattar paid to Iqbal Saab while doing the hard job of breaking the news to the SKS community.

He was still in his 50s, and had lost his partner a few years back. A loss that he mentioned to me once that he used to find hard to bear at this period of his life. He was a public figure from Kochi, been its councilor and Mayor.

I am shell shocked and don't have words to express my grief. He scrapped me today morning at 5.15AM ( a routine that he has been following daily since he came to know of my sister's illness and the surgery) and I have yet to reply to that scrap :(

Some one who, by his own admission, been exposed to internet only for an year or so; he has been a quick learner. He revived the music groups on Talat and Naushad and have also been writing regularly on SKS, SJ and Lata Groups. Lately he had been very active on Orkut communities contributing everywhere. He also runs a most lovely blog where he had just yesterday uploaded a few Rajkumari songs and wanted me get back to him with feedback.

Praying fervently to that god almighty to give his soul the eternal peace and also give strength to his son and others in his family to bear this loss with fortitude."

I am totally shattered by this news :-( Just yesterday night, I downloaded the songs of Rajkumari Dubey that Iqbal Saab had shared, and put a comment in the blog thanking him. It is a very sad day indeed and HFM has lost a very passionate lover and a very active member of multiple communities. I was always amazed by the amount of energy Iqbal Saab had in learning all the latest happenings in internet and using them to the maximum to promote HFM.

Iqbal Saab has left a vacuum that cannot be filled. I pray to the Almighty to give his family the courage during these hard times. Let us all pray to God for the sake of Iqbal Saab.

If you are interested to know more about how active Iqbal-Saab was, check out his profile on multiply. It will be difficult to find another such music enthusiast.