TAAC –The Abdalian Star is Born

One of the soft resolutions, agreed by all and sundry, on that chilly afternoon, was to make this kind of gathering and get-together a recurring event…lo and behold: the seeds of TAAC started to germinate that eventful day!

Enter Dr. Khaqan Khan, once again – circa June 23, 2019 – he invited Abdalians to meet again, at his place of course, this time a trifle more serious, towards forming an association. As many as 19 die-hards responded – on that wonderful and eventful day the word TAAC was coined and the unwritten charter floated!

The Abdalian Association of Canada – TAAC for short – kick-off was successful, based on some of the objectives outlined by the one-man squad, made of 2 strong believers – Khaqan & Khaqan! The rest just nodded in agreement – it was a win-win formula for all, anyways!

Setting up TAAC was easy – to manage and run it was the challenge; enter the dedicated Team of MC and AC, meetings followed meetings, in rotation at each of the member’s house [some, like RJ tried his best to wriggle out of inviting everyone to his home, per his turn, per the unwritten tradition, but finding no support, had to give in to the merry band of 18 or so newly inducted MC/AC of TAAC!] Besides merry making, and eating delicious home-food, in turn, TAAC also took its form, at these forums, as you see it now: vibrant, fun and, above all, a binding force for the Abdalians of Canada – by now, thanks to Asim Elahi, their IT GURU par excellence, their numbers were starting to be given a shape in the form of our very own TAAC Database…almost 30 [which has now grown into a formidable 103 members] were now registered Abdalians in Canada…big number, would you say? Sure, for the starters… but wait till you hear the total at the end, as of writing of this unbelievable story.

Whilst the TAAC was in its infancy, circa September 2018, the first major philanthropic venture was launched with great zeal and pride: yes, at the request of our dear teacher – Mahfouz ur Rahman saheb – we embarked on a funds campaign for the ambulance for his college in Narowal, where he was the Principal. A whopping C$ 6,782 were collected, thanks to the wonderful generosity of all Abdalians living in Canada, and dispatched to him, as the first major overseas outreach program of TAAC. The ‘Narowal Ambulance’ was born on a bright winter morning in early 2019…rest, as they say, is history, or will be!

Meantime, as the preparations for the Get-together and Musical Evening were in full swing, the TAAC lust for outreach, both internally, within Canada, as well as externally, overseas, continued, in jest.

On October 25, 2019, as an urgent help, C$ 300 were rushed to a female student of University of Engineering in Taxila, Pakistan. As a result of this donation the student managed to continue her study, which is continuing, with flying colours, to this day.

Time had been fleeting, meantime, and it was the clarion call to our much-awaited Get-together and Musical Evening, come Saturday, 13th November, 2019. This most anticipated program was the culmination of the Abdalian joy and pride!Several myths were shattered, that eventful but bitter cold night to this day. Women empowerment, however small, anybody? Likt tey say, ‘a well begun is half done. 

Aamir Masood, whom everyone thought was an engineer only, however successful, were surprised to see his management skills in accounting and keeping records; at the entrance, the two-person Team of him and his wife provided an ideal and organized entry protocol; his role, short of that of a ‘bouncer’ was a revelation! For the bouncer, though, we had the other surprise waiting: the ubiquitous Aseem Hashmi and his 2-IC for the function that night only – Ahmad Saeed Chaudhry. Talking of Chaudhry saheb, one more myth got shattered: those who thought he is only a Bell Senior Executive, were surprised, actually shocked, very pleasantly with his sponsor-gathering spiel – he lined up almost all the known Desi restaurants in and around Milton and Mississauga – a cool sponsorship spree resulted. 

Talking of myths, the one-and-only GS of the fledgling TAAC – none other than Shah ji [Azhar Ali Shah] – was the major-domo of the entire operation working in tandem with Asim Elahi, his wife, daughter, Pervez saheb & RJ – not necessarily in that order, though – and supported the young-at-heart RJ hone his MC skills, or the lack of them, all one after the other. The music performing trio of Qareen [vocals & harmonium], Moosa Mall [tabla] and Farooqi [harmonium] enthralled the audience, as did the surprise singer of the evening and wife of an Abdalian – Mrs. Khawaja Rizwan. Her melodious voice, recollecting the golden-oldies of Pakistan, were a treat and took away the proverbial cake. As if not enough, the celebrity guests of the evening – including Iqra Khalid (Member Parliament), Kaleed Rasheed (Member Provincial Parliament), Imran Siddiqui (Consul General Pakistan in Toronto), Zeeshan Hamid (Councillor Milton) et al – made the occasion a memorable one indeed. All in all, an evening to remember!

Despite a fledgling organization, with a humble beginning, TAAC managed to contribute to as many as 13 different programs, internally as well as externally, over the first year of its existence and as an infant organization. In dollar terms this amounts to a social contribution of over C$ 25,000.