Omar Kureishi was born in 1928, in Murree, into a large Kashmiri family. His father Colonel Kureishi was an army doctor who had graduated from King’s College in London and belonged to the elite Indian Medical Service. Omar was one of his eleven children, nine boys and two girls, and by the time of his birth his eldest brother Nasir was already seventeen years old. His father’s profession meant regular changes of posting to different cities in India and abroad, so the family changed homes with periodic frequency. Interestingly three of Omar’s brothers were born in China, in Tientsin, where his father was posted during World War 1.

Omar grew up in fascinating times. The clouds of war were gathering in Europe and the British Raj was coming to it’s close. A new world order was about to dawn.

His siblings would eventually go into different walks of life, but along with their father, a passion for cricket was something they all shared. Omar’s first recollection of cricket was of going with his father and brothers Humayun and Rafiushan to the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi in 1933, to watch his eldest brother Nasir play for the Viceroy’s X1 against the visiting MCC side led by Douglas Jardine.

As Omar grew older he played for his school and club sides. He was good enough for the well known Indian test batsman Syed Wazir Ali to ask Omar to play in a benefit match being arranged for him between a Nawab of Pataudi XI and AS De Mello’s XI in Delhi. Amir Elahi, Fazal Mehmood, Maqsood Ahmed, Kishenchand, Munnawar Ali Khan and Nazar Mohammad all played in this match in 1946.

Omar’s other love apart from cricket was writing. Fresh out of college he decided to start a magazine called Appeal. It was a testimony to his public relations skills that even then he was able to obtain sponsorship and funds from eminent personalities like Nehru’s sister Vijay Lakshmi Pandit and Sarojini Naidu. The magazine was launched successfully but after just a few months later another momentous event meant that Omar had to conclude this venture. He had applied to the University of Southern California for admission and was accepted in their School of Cinema.

Omar set sail for the USA. His time at the USC would be a very productive one. He quickly made new American friends and renewed old friendships from his Indian days. He shared accommodation with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, whom he knew as a school friend from Mumbai, and Kemal Faruki whom he met in Los Angeles and who would subsequently become a lifelong friend. This trio also became the debating champions of the USC and would represent them in debating competitions all over the US with great distinction. He switched subjects to major in International Relations and drew sufficient attention and popularity to be elected to the student government body at the USC called the Associated Students of Southern California (ASSC) Senate in 1948. He created a stir when a year later he resigned from this post in protest against irregularities in an election to choose his successor.

Omar continued his postgraduate studies at USC and also became a regular on a weekly current affairs radio program of the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that eventually progressed to a TV show. He even appeared as an extra in an MGM version of the book Kim. It’s was at this juncture that his life took another turn.

Omar’s brother Safdar (Sattoo) was by now the Managing Director of Pakistan Aviation Limited and had come to the US in 1951, to buy Lockheed aircraft for PIA. Sattoo had contracted tuberculosis in Mumbai, had received treatment for it and was declared cured. During his stay in Los Angeles he had a routine checkup and was devastated to learn that the disease had recurred and had almost completely ravaged one lung. The family decided to take him to the Brompton Chest Hospital in London for treatment.

Omar abandoned his post graduate studies to accompany his brother to England. Following successful surgery Sattoo went for convalescence to a nursing home near the Sussex city of Hastings. Omar resumed his love affair with cricket by playing for the Hastings Cricket Club and the Priory Club, scoring a few centuries and taking some useful wickets with his medium pacers.

Returning to Pakistan in 1953 Omar settled down with his brother Sattoo who lived lived near the airport. Sattoo’s house was called Air Cottage and it soon became a famous for its Friday Nights where an eclectic group of interesting young people consisting of intellectuals, journalists, socialites, expatriates from the embassies and such would gather and engage in lively discussions on current affairs, literature, the arts and other matters of topical interest.

Omar took up employment with a Parsi businessman Merwanjee Dalal and started a quarterly magazine called Pakistan Review of Agriculture. He also took his initial steps in the world of broadcasting with a weekly sports roundup program on Radio Pakistan.

The Pakistani cricket team was touring England in 1954. Omar had met Kardar, who had worked briefly with his brother Asif (Achoo) in the Burmah Oil Company. He now approached Kardar and suggested that on return from England he should write a book on the tour which Omar’s company would be happy to publish. Following Pakistan’s famous Oval victory, cricket suddenly acquired a big following in the country. Omar met Kardar after his return and followed up on his earlier suggestion , successfully persuading the skipper to write about the tour. He introduced him to his friend Jamsheed Markar who provided Kardar an air conditioned room at his Bath Island residence, where he could work in tranquility and comfort. Omar also arranged for a secretary through his company and the resulting book “Test Status on Trial” was soon published.

December 1954 saw the birth of a new newspaper The Pakistan Standard and Omar Kureishi joined it as its news editor. Around the same time he was also asked by Radio Pakistan if he would be interested in doing a ball by ball commentary on the forthcoming cricket test series against the visiting Indian team. This was Omar’s debut as a cricket commentator and sharing the commentary booth with him was his friend Jamsheed Marker. For the next ten years this duet would be voice of Pakistan cricket. Though they broadcasted in English, which was incomprehensible to 80 percent of the listeners, yet the two became household homes. Not everyone owned a radio or transistor in those days and it was not uncommon to see throngs of people at small shops and pan-wallas straining their ears to catch the score.

Omar was not only doing the commentary for this series, but was also covering it for his newspaper Pakistan Standard and for the Indian newspaper “Statesman”. His multitasking abilities were evident in the aplomb with which he carried out all three functions.

Omar was back in England to join the BBC commentary team for Pakistan’s 1967 tour. During the Lords test on this tour a friend of Omar called ‘Lumboo’ Ansari, who lived in London, would bring him lunch consisting of aloo qeema and paratha. They would have their meal picnic style on a blanket laid out on the grass. Omar asked the famous English commentator John Arlott to join them. Arlott took an immediate liking to this menu, and on all five days of the match shared lunch with them, squatting on the blanket and eating with his bare hands.

While Omar’s career as a commentator gathered steam his newspaper The Pakistan Standard was shut down by an unruly mob in December 1955. Omar took up writing for another newspaper The Times of Karachi. He also toured East Africa with a team of the The Cricket Writer’s Club that was captained by Kardar and contained many test stars like Hanif, Imtiaz, Waqar, Wallis, Alimuddin, Zulfiqar and Mehmood Hussain. On this tour, Omar functioned as a player, commentator and newspaper correspondent all fused into one.

Following the imposition of martial law in 1958 Omar accepted a Radio Pakistan offer to do a daily news review broadcast. This did not go down well with ZA Suleri, the owner of The Times of Karachi, and Omar parted ways with that newspaper. Meanwhile The Pakistan Times had been taken over by the government and Omar was offered its editorship but declined. His newspaper career had hit a roadblock but his commentary drew more followers every day.

One day Omar’s brother Sattoo brought news that the head of PIA, Nur Khan, was looking for him. Nur Khan told Omar that he wanted someone to set up a public relations department for the airline and offered him the position. Omar accepted the offer and thus embarked upon a career path that would bring him accolades and renown to match those that he earned through his association with cricket.

Omar brought a breath of fresh air to PIA. He introduced new unconventional ideas to upgrade the image of the airline. One of these novel moves came when he recommended that PIA should participate in an air hostesses convention being held in the resort town of Rimini on the Italian Riveira. Despite initial skepticism Nur Khan was persuaded and two air hostesses represented PIA at this convention. They were an instant hit. The paparazzi literally drooled over them and PIA got huge, favorable press and media coverage. In Omar’s own words they had ‘hit the PR jackpot’.

On the cricket front Omar was now a renowned commentator. While covering Pakistan’s tour of India in 1960-61 for Radio Pakistan, he was invited by Air India to join their commentary team as well. This was a rare accolade. During this trip Nur Khan was also a guest at the first test in Mumbai. After witnessing Hanif’s stellar innings of 160, Nur Khan inquired about Hanif’s employment status and Omar was tasked with getting the little master to join PIA, which he did. Hanif’s appointment opened the door for other cricketers to join as well and soon they had the best cricket team in the country.

By this time Omar Kureishi had also been given charge of the advertising department of PIA. He set about restructuring it and hired the famous advertising agency Hobson Bates to develop an advertising and marketing campaign for them. It was Omar who coined the phrase ‘Great People to Fly With’ which became the lead slogan for PIA and even today evokes memories of its best years.

Omar’s commentary skills prompted an invitation from the BBC team to join their commentary team covering Pakistan’s tour of England in 1962. This offer would be repeated on subsequent tours to England.

PIA was fast building a reputation as one of the leading airlines of the world and its marketing and public relations team, under Omar Kureishi, were creating a wonderful brand image. When the American First Lady Jackie Kennedy flew on PIA from Pakistan to London she was sufficiently impressed to hug the pilot Captain Salehji on arrival at Heathrow and to tell Omar about her flight experience “I wish it could go on forever.” Time magazine did a story on PIA, especially spotlighting its introduction of helicopter passenger flights to connect small towns in East Pakistan.

To highlight PIA’s ground breaking flights to Shanghai and Canton, which opened up China to the world, Omar Kureishi brought the world famous Swiss photographer Rene Burri and leading international journalists to go on the initial flights. Additionally he got the well known film director AJ Kardar to prepare a documentary on PIA.

In 1965 Asghar Khan took over the reins of PIA. He was also the Chief Administrator of Civil Aviation and Tourism and asked Omar to assume PR responsibilities for this organization as well. In 1966 Asghar Khan told Omar that he wanted the stewardesses to have a new uniform. This led to Omar recruiting the famous French fashion designer Pierre Cardin to come up with his hallmark design of a beige colored ensemble that had a kameez, trouser and a dupatta that was worn like a scarf or a loose hijab over the head as well. This elegant dress became a very popular fashion item.

Omar was back in England to join the BBC commentary team for Pakistan’s 1967 tour. During the Lords test on this tour a friend of Omar called ‘Lumboo’ Ansari, who lived in London, would bring him lunch consisting of aloo qeema and paratha. They would have their meal picnic style on a blanket laid out on the grass. Omar asked the famous English commentator John Arlott to join them. Arlott took an immediate liking to this menu, and on all five days of the match shared lunch with them, squatting on the blanket and eating with his bare hands.

With the advent of cricket telecasts on TV, and the introduction of Urdu commentary, a new breed of commentators arrived on the scene. Omar’s engagements were less frequent now, but he still remained actively involved with the game and the players. He was the manager of the Pakistan team touring England in 1974 and took the bold and successful step of converting Majid Khan from a middle order batsman to an opener. This Pakistan team also become only the second team in history to go through a complete England tour unbeaten. Only Don Bradman’s all conquering team of 1948 had done this before.

In the mid 70’s when disputes broke out between the players and the management over their remuneration, Omar acted as a mediator who supported the players demands for financial security. He also tried to mediate in the dispute when many senior players were sacked from the team for joining Kerry Packer’s rebel cricket league. He went as far as going to Singapore to meet the players and bring them back.

His support for the players and the game included parties, where he was generous with his hospitality, for visiting cricket teams and our own players. He functioned like a father figure for many young and established players like Wasim Raja, Imran, Sarfaraz, Mushtaq, Sadiq and others. When the famous coach Master Abdul Aziz was hospitalized in his final days it was Omar who paid for his entire care.

Omar’s stay in PIA came to an end in 1985, bringing down the curtain on a brilliant career. Omar continued to write articles and columns for Dawn and other newspapers. He also authored many books including Black Moods, Out To Lunch, Once Upon a Time, Home to Pakistan, Ebb and Flow and You Can’t Beat the System.

Omar passed away following a heart attack in 2011. His was an unique personality; a passionate cricket lover, skilled commentator, PR genius, a high quality journalist, an innovative wordsmith with a brilliant turn of phrase and an entertaining raconteur and public speaker, all rolled into one.

Dr Salman Faridi is a senior surgeon, poet, sports aficionado and an avid reader with a private collection of over 7000 books.

salmanfaridilnh@hotmail.com