By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
The South Asian community held a colorful cultural event on December 5, 2014 to honor the services of Tashie Zaheer, a distinguished and prominent community leader. The event, held at the Chandni Restaurant Fremont/Newark, attracted a large crowd of Tashie' friends and well-wishers, from far and near.
The multi-colored vivid program included a thrilling performance by an acclaimed Kathak dancer Farah Yasmeen Shaikh and musical renditions by prominent By Area singers.
A host of speakers paid rich tributes to Tashie's services to the community in various fields. His most visible community service seems to be the Urdu Academy of North America's regular monthly literary sessions at the Chandni Restaurant which are attended by 60 to 100 people but the speakers unveiled his other leadership qualities.
The speakers included Dr. Agha Seed, President of American Muslim Alliance, Corelia Camacho (CEO Tap Reality), Dena Lawless (Strategy Business Consultant), Imran Jaffar (CEO Total Wealth Solution), and Suman Dhamija (Banker).
Other speakers were: Ali Hasan Cemendtaur, Jafar Shah, Abdus Sattar Ghazali, Nagesh Avadhani, Khalid Rana, M. Naazir khan, Falak Singh, Neelofer Khan and Amar Zaheer. Arshad Rashid was MC of the program.
Many speakers recalled their first encounters with Tashie. How his help and guidance led to
success in their life and excellence in profession. And how he inspired the people. John Quincy Adams, the 8th US President once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” For Brian Moran, leadership consultant, at least four traits are required for a leadership role: Character, Credibility, Integrity and Vision. Perhaps Tashie has all these qualities that attracted a large crowd of his admirers and got rich tribute from the speakers hailing from different walks of life.
His wife, Naheed Zaheer, ended the string of speakers with her reflections on the 39 years relationship.
"To me, Tashie’s life is much like his poetry. He is a humanitarian and his respect for human relations, adhering to traditions and values, and his deep compassion for people, is a gift, a value deeply ingrained in him," she said adding: Tashie has this gift of spreading love and peace around him; he has this innate ability and a deep desire to console the hurt souls. Recently, Professor Abdul Jabbar Saheb introduced Tashie as a “Community Healer,” at the Kamran Educational Foundation fund raiser.
Continued on next page See six pages of pictures
|