> Goolshen jamal - heartfelt condolences
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> Dear Rehemtullah, Feisal, Yasmin, Murad, Mila, Yusuf , Shariffa, all spouses, children, grandchildren etc.
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> It is with deep sadness that Amina and I learned today of Goolshen’s sudden passing in Nairobi.
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> Please accept our(on behalf of the entire NMK family) heartfelt condolences with prayers that may the Almighty grant Goolshen’s soul eternal peace and rest and to all her beloved, the peace, courage, strength and fortitude to bear this irretrievable loss.
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> She, no doubt, will be missed by very many people. She has helped many people.
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> Goolshen’s passing is a major milestone in our family’s history . It marks the end of an era in which she played an important role.
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> I mention in “Into that Heaven of Freedom” how she Noor and Murad left South Africa in 1953 on an expired permit for Nairobi only to find that through inclement weather the plane was diverted to Uganda following which she got to Nairobi- not to leave until Kenya gained its independence followed by her husband Amir becoming the MP for Nyanza in the first Kenyan Legislature . Now there is a book on its own!
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> Goolshen was in school with Rex and Mamdoo Hassim Keshavjee . Among their school mates was Ismail Mahomed, one of the world’s leading legal minds who played a major role in the drafting of the constitution of multi racial South Africa . She went to Witwatersrand University in early 1950s being one of the very few Asian girls to do so . Perhaps the only one in her year from Pretoria .
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> I do recall her coming to teach at the Aga Khan Nursery school where both Yusuf and I were students . Goolshen was one of about 7 students to do the nursery school training that Habib Kaka had set up.
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> Her life in Kisumu was also coterminus with the growth of a small lacustrine town on the sleepy shores of lake Victoria .
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> She saw many facets of life in Colonial Africa and then independent Kenya .
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> Goolshen embodied a great warmth. She always kept in touch . She exuded a great dignity and was a very elegant and charming lady . She had elegance of speaking and great decorum. She had a subtle sense of humour and a good recall of history and forces that shaped our family’s narrative. In her marriage two pioneer families in Africa got united .
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> Times of passing of a family member are sad for all of us as we remember all the things that brought us together. The things that make up life ;the laughter , the fun, the joys , the sorrows, the little misunderstandings , the moments of support , the little incidents of compassion and care and above all the craziness of being together . Things that we all miss when they are taken away from us . We do feel sad when that happens . But let us look at the larger blessings and the gifts of life. Goolshen was loaned to all of us for a good period of life . Let us celebrate her glorious life and not mourn for her . She led a good long life, brought joy to all of us and now when her journey was at an end, she had to leave .
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> Let us pray for her eternal rest and let us be happy that the Almighty took her away so peacefully.
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> The Quran constantly reminds us that our life on this earth is ephemeral and that nothing in this world lasts except the Countenance of Allah, the most Bounteous .
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> But then it also assures us that from Allah we come and to Him [alone] do we return . This is our strength ,as we ponder the yet unfathomed mysteries of God’s creation.
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> Murad, Yasmin, Rehemtullah and Feisal and all Goolshen’s immediate family , our prayers are very much with all of you in this your sad moment of bereavement. Let us through prayer turn it into a happy moment of send off to a glorious woman who had a glorious life .
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> May Allah in His Grace and Bounty shower His love on her .
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> With warm regards
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> Mohamed Keshavjee