Ripeness Is All

JULY 1999 - On a hot summer day, somewhere between Kharian and Rawalpindi, aboard a bus, a very long time ago, a white Sunbeam Alpine sports car swept up from behind and then in a flash streaked past us as we gaped at the white blur. The Alpine’s lone occupant, dark glasses, gleaming black hair and the looks of a Hollywood star, sent a gasp through our bus, full of school kids on an outing. ‘Who was that?’ we all asked and a wise one amongst us supplied the answer. ‘That,’ he said, ‘is Captain Akram Sayed. Armoured Corps,’ he added with that knowing look. That was my first encounter with the dashing captain whose sports cars were to become something of an icon for officers and civillians alike. Years later, I recounted the incident to him and we had a good laugh about it.

And last Sunday, Akram Sayed spent a perfect summer day in Islamabad, doing all the things he loved most, with his charming and faithful companion of many years, and later that night, quietly slipped away, almost without any serious warning, in the Armoured Corps Mess. Even before they could think about a hospital, Akram Sayed, always in a tearing hurry to move on, had moved on. The Grim Reaper had had the last say bringing to an end a life lived to the full. That his last moments on earth were destined to be in the Mess of his favourite regiment is very appropriate, because his affections were shared almost equally between the Armoured Corps and the sports cars that were so much a part of his stylish life.

Of course I was not in the army, but I had plenty of friends who were, and two of my brothers, were amongst the first officers to be commissioned in the early fifties. When Akram Hussain Sayed became a commissioned officer at the PMA in 1951, he joined 5H (Probyns Own), one of the most prestigious and oldest Cavalry regiments of the Pakistan Army. Four years later, he was selected to serve in the President’s Bodyguard and later became somewhat of a legendary Adjutant at PMA and later an Instructor. In 1965 he took part in the Khem Karan operations and the second war in 1971 saw him command his regiment in the desert. Kharian was next and the young Brigadier left eventually for Jordan as this country’s military advisor to the Kingdom. After serving there for five years he returned and apart from many awards conferred on him by the King, received the Sitara-e-Imtiaz from his own government. A few years later, Akram Sayed brought to an end, a 32 year career with the Army.

To many of his generation and indeed the ones that followed, he represented a romantic and gallant image of the dashing army officer. With his stunning good looks, flamboyant style, quick temper and relentless energy, he was the quintessence of the kind of army officer that is now just about as extinct as the dodo. He was the befitting answer to the Air Force’s flying heroes -- ray-banned, good looking and daring. He was as close an icon as you can get to what drew young officers to seek a commission in the Armoured Corps. It was the elite force and everyone knew it. In many ways Akram Sayed –Acki to his friends, represented that lifestyle. But then, there were the cars. That was something else.

Just a few months ago in Zurich, seated behind a 1998 racing green and metallic Mini Cooper, with a 1275 cc fuel injection engine, I turned to its owner and said, ‘Next time you are in Pakistan, you should meet a friend of mine because this car reminds me so much of him.’ It wasn’t to be. It was the vintage Coopers which led me to Brig. Akram Sayed. I ‘knew’ him from that summer day, but of course he did not know me, but we soon became good friends. We talked for hours about the three Coopers lazily lying in the garages he had built at the back of his elegant house. Brig. Sayed, could and did, spend hours pottering away with his beauties. To him, this was time most wonderfully utilised. He was an expert, a connoisseur of the finest cars, particularly the racing variety and his Alpine was the rage because there was an exact replica in the James Bond film, Dr.No. There were many more to grace his stables. He knew exactly where to go and what to get for his cars, since they were all without exception, rare models. While he could fix just about anything, he also had on call the city’s best technical talent and almost all his trips, here and overseas, culminated in buying spares for the stable back home. Friends and family ran errands, chased garages, spare parts shops for one thing or another, from disc pads for the Porsche to front axles for the Minis. His shopping for the cars tested the patience of his wife who had resigned long ago to the other great love of her husband.

But cars were not all. On the few occasions we talked about the country and the army, he was sad and angry at how easily and quickly we had destroyed what was so precious and worth preserving. Like all those who bleed for Pakistan he would often throw up his hands in sheer disgust and frustration. Having asked recently an officer what ailed the present army and getting the answer, ‘stealing’, Brig. Sayed simply recoiled at the very thought of it. He could not reconcile the two, because his army was very different and its officers, quite far removed from such things. Qualities that mattered to him, dignity, integrity and loyalty were just the very things that had begun to fall by the wayside. There was little he could do. Perhaps the vintage cars were a magical gate through which he could pass, where quality and tradition were still practised and believed in. He was many things to many people but something Mrs. Sayed said this week sums up his sunny personality. When just a young bride she took her time dressing up to go for a function, going well over the 5 minute time limit. There were two sharp toots from the porch where the young Akram Sayed sat, impatiently. When she didn’t show up, there was a roar and the car disappearing in the distance was all she saw. She didn’t hold him up again, like the Sunday night when he stepped on the accelerator one last time. Only it wasn’t the time for him to go, but he did. I have no doubt that up there he is already checking out the fastest sports car.