Our Union lost an acclaimed writer and great man on April 18th. Known to many of us by his pen name (Nadeem, “friend”) — given by a fellow writer early in Nadeem’s writing career. This honorific was apt, evoking qualities of knowledge and talent married with compassion and kindness. Born in Lyallpur Punjab (now Faisalabad Pakistan) in 1936, Nadeem’s family relocated in India when he was eleven. Nadeem married Surjeet in 1960, emigrating to England in 1968 before moving to Canada in 1973, where they settled in Burnaby and raised their family.
I met Nadeem at the 1989 TWUC AGM at Queen’s University. I learned that Nadeem was a prolific writer, producing several novels and ghazal poetry, writing in Urdu, Punjabi, and English. Nadeem was well-versed in practices of publishing in India and supportive of measures for Canadian publishers to foster translations of works written in languages other than English or French. Nadeem was active in the Punjabi Writer’ Forum and received many honours including a lifetime achievement award from the Writers International Network in 2015. Writers and friends credited him with taking great interest in their writing projects. There are also many examples of interviews given by Nadeem in order to preserve South Asian contributions. These examples include the “Punjabi in BC” resource at the University of British Columbia and a 2022 interview for Heritage Burnaby.
A celebration of Nadeem’s life was held this April in Delta, BC and another tribute was convened in May in Chilliwack. Several hundred people at the Delta service paid their respects and listened to poignant tributes from family members and many others. Loving gestures included a recorded song of farewell from Kuldip, Nadeem’s younger brother in England who passed shortly after Nadeem. This outpouring of respect was preceded by numerous awards and accolades for his writing and service. Memorably, there was a special recognition from legendary ghazal singer Jagjit Singh at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver in May 2000. Nadeem was invited to join Mr. Singh and his rhythm section onstage before the singing of the hit song, Chak Jigar Ke, a song that was also played at this April’s celebration of life.
Nadeem comes to mind in so many occasions: how he and his beloved Surjeet nourished their extended family in their Burnaby home while keeping in touch with their daughter and her family in Oakville; how Nadeem schooled me about “not always keeping track” of who would pay when we ordered takeaway food from Baba Sweets & Restaurant before a TWUC regional meeting; and how vital it was to keep with one’s homeland through regular visits to India and engaging with other Indo-Canadian writers in his adopted home of Canada. Following a heart attack in 1990, Nadeem had a stoic approach to managing heart disease, all the while producing a remarkable body of written work. His writing addressed the AIDS epidemic, farmers’ protests in India, racial discrimination, bigotry, tyrannical rule and, most certainly, love and justice. Nadeem’s literary impact comes to mind when I walk into a library and pick up a brochure about Books in Translation and another brochure detailing Asian-Canadian Fiction or when I remember his contributions to commemorating the Komagatu Maru incident of 1914.
These memories come full circle back to Nadeem-as-friend. When we spoke of loved ones who had passed, Nadeem often responded with a shrug and the observation, “such is life.” Invited to visit him two weeks before his passing, shortly after my arrival he crossed the room to hand a twenty-dollar bill to me, a donation to a midwifery award in honour of my late wife. Along his major contributions to South Asian literature and preserving the history of South Asians in British Columbia, he leaves a legacy of decency, perseverance, and love of family and friends.
