This was a man who updated his own obituary every year. He also wanted to know where he stood on Google ever so often and saw the end of a conversation, an article or a meeting as nothing short of a tragedy. Ironically, in his death he has left an unfinished 300-segment poem that he lovingly referred to as A Troubadour's Life.
Kaleem Omar, 72, Pakistan's renowned English poet and eminent journalist died on Thursday of heart failure. There are fewer challenges greater than writing about a man who never ran out of words; for whom life was a love song and death is perhaps not more than a needless postscript. But, despite there being no stranger bedfellows than silence and Kaleem, his booming 'bhai chai pilao', 'bhai, do column mein lagaana' or 'bhai, mujhey typewriter hi chahiye', will never be heard again. And that dense haze of smoke emanating from behind piles of yellowing newspapers and the endless hammering of the keyboard are now stuff of reminiscences.
KO, as we affectionately called him, was one of the heirs of the construction conglomerate Omar Sons. He went to Sherwood College in Nainital, one of India's most prestigious boys' schools, and then proceeded to England. He returned in the sixties to join the family business, which folded up with the fall of Dhaka.
His love affair with journalism began in 1982 when he joined The Star and then moved on to The News, where the editor gave him the moniker of Column Omar as, notorious for filing late, he wanted nothing less than the centrespread.
KO was also an encyclopaedia of trivia; from the origins of an omelette to great historical events, he had it all almost always on the tip of his tongue and there wasn't a topic under the sun that posed a challenge to his mind. He pursued investigative reportage and Audrey Hepburn with almost equal interest and his obituary for Telly Savalas became so popular that it eventually found its way to the actor's widow.
KO's penchant for exposés and news was second to his love for poetry and women - always deep about the former that remained redolent with love lost, he was a tad superficial about the latter 'the glint' of the eye was of utmost importance. He was published with his contemporaries and friends Maki Kureishi and Taufiq Rafat in a book titled Wordfall in 1975 and then, a few years later, in Pieces of Eight; both endeavours received rave reviews in international publications. The secret egoist in Omar was proud of the fact that the first collection was picked up by Yugoslavia as Birdfall! This was also a man hounded by a discontented mind that was ageless and childlike, always caught in a quest for newer frontiers. Therefore, his was a life replete with myriad anecdotes; he once met a Sherwood schoolmate who asked him, 'So old chap, what have you been up to for the last 32 years?' and KO replied 'You can never make new old friends.' Then there was the time when, being a great one for living life king size, he chartered a Fokker to New York to attend a New Year's party and watch the sun rise over the then famous skyline. On another occasion Kaleem's great love for cricket took him to the front row at The Oval in 1954 where he witnessed Fazal Mehmood take the historic 12 wickets. However, not an ideal family man, he often recounted the time when he set out to buy a loaf of bread and returned three weeks too late.
There was a reason why Kaleem hesitated to end anything. After all, his own obituary must now stand at a few thousand words. It was his fear of running out of possibilities, of the death of his chase. Strangely enough, KO's passing has given a new dimension to the long running joke of all contact with him being endless. There is little doubt that with him we bury an era; aside from a man whose personal losses could never overshadow his hunger for living. Kaleem was always captive to his own heart and died of it.
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI Celebrated English poet and prolific journalist Kaleem Omar died on Thursday of heart failure at the age of 72.
He had undergone a bypass last month.
Omar was born in India in November 1937 to an affluent family that owned the vast construction firm, Omar Sons. He went to school in Nainital, India, and then to England. After completing his studies, he came back to Pakistan to work for the family company and then for Cessna.
He became a journalist in 1982 with The Star and then joined The News. Kaleem Omar was known for his investigative reporting, political and economic columns and articles on current affairs. He was also ranked amongst the top 150 English poets of the world and his work was published by Oxford University Press in 1975, under the title Wordfall, which was followed by an anthology, Pieces of Eight that included his verse.
Omar leaves behind a sister, a son and a daughter and grandchildren. He was buried after Asr prayers in the Defence graveyard.
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