Fuad and Sara

Although in theory I've known Fuad for a massive twelve years or so, it was only after we had both left Imperial and I had moved to a new home (which meant we shared the same mosque) that I really had the chance to get to know him. And after spending some time with the ol' chap I found that my initial and somewhat hasty impression of him being a bit of a hippie was... well... absolutely true.

But apart from this what I did find was a guy who, although quite eccentric, was also quite cool. And I don't mean this in a leather jacket sense, but more in an academic one - this was a guy who was able to reconcile things like religion, philosophy and sociology; and that in a pretty accessible way (even if that means he has to create a new word every now and then). The fact that he's a bit bonkers probably helps with this. Oh yes, and he's one of those annoying people who never seems to get visibly angry or upset at anything. Like I said: hippie. So in short, Fuad is a bit of a dreamer, an enabler, a risk-taker who's not afraid of what others may consider failure.

On the other hand Sara is polite, sensible, friendly, righteous and mature - all the necessary things she has to be to put up with Fuad and some of his mates. But rather than this apparent contrast in personalities being a point of contention, it's actually something which underlines how much these two complement and complete each other. She hails from that quite unique heritage of East African Indian Muslims we've all met at some point, all of whom effortlessly manage to exude good manners, high spirits and honest conduct everywhere they go, and Fuad is pretty darned lucky to have such awesome in-laws.

But it's the combination of the two which really amazes: from the various pre-wedding events (only Fuad could have organised a deliberately misspelled mandhi) to the QMT in-house nikkah party on New Year's Eve (Dr. Fahim showing himself to be a legend once again), it was all so unique and different and awesome. Personally I just can't wait to see exactly what they come up with in their life together!

And yes, I did think he was gay when I first met him.