In memoriam: Soraiya Qadir, journalist, humanitarian, linguist, mother

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. 

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be 

 –Death be not proud, John Donne

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Soraiya Qadir, a long-time travel retail journalist and editor and a remarkable woman across many fields of endeavour.

Soraiya passed away on 9 February in London. She leaves a daughter, Shalaleh, a son Faisal, grandchildren Joseph and Alexander, and numerous other extended family members.

Soraiya was well-known to the travel retail industry as a journalist and editor from 1987 to 2006, firstly at Third World Media (which she established for South Publications) and then through her own firm BIA Enterprises. Third World Media published a range of duty free, inflight and leisure magazines for airports, airlines and hotels. After the parent company, South Publications, was sold, Soraiya launched BIA Enterprises, and launched a successful title called Duty Free Markets, Middle East & Africa. Later, she established a sister publication for Asia.

Dubai Duty Free Executive Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Colm McLoughlin said: “I knew Soraiya for many years. I always liked meeting her. It is very sad that she has passed away. My condolences to her family.”

An extraordinary life (with thanks to Shalaleh Barlow, Soraiya’s daughter)

Soraiya’s education was extraordinary for her culture, background and generation. She was educated at the palace school in Bhopal, India (as her mother was a niece of the Nawab). From the age of ten she was sent to St. Mary’s School in Pune. For her A Levels she was sent to London, to Queen’s College in Harley Street.

In those times, Soraiya was not permitted to do a university degree. Instead she returned to Bhopal, after which her family moved to Karachi. There she learned Russian (at Dom Drozba) and German (Goethe-Institut). Her Russian became so proficient that she was offered a scholarship to the University of Moscow, which she refused. She was also an excellent pianist and was offered a place at the Mozarteum, which was also declined.

She married in 1964 and while engaged flew out to Shanghai and Canton in the middle of the Cultural Revolution to buy saris for her dowry. After Soraiya married, she flew to Moscow via Kharg Island (Iran) to spend some time there.

In 1971, she was sequestered in Islamabad to simultaneously translate for the UN, as they wrote the International Law of the Sea.

Her husband, a banker, was transferred to London in 1975, prompting a family move. Though she divorced in 1978, Soraiya chose to remain in the UK so that her son and daughter could continue to receive a British education – the best gift she felt that she could give her children.

She worked as a translator with Berlitz and Linguaphone until 1979, a period during which she taught and wrote language books. After being employed by South Publications, she was transferred to New York in 1981 to open the company’s North American operations, returning in 1987.

After selling her publishing business in 2006, she championed the Behbud Cricket Club in Karachi, Pakistan. This was an offshoot of the Behbud school, which educates children from the poorest areas of Karachi who would otherwise end up on the streets. While the cricket club existed, Soraiya funded its expansion so that it could have more teams – and so that boys would not be on the street but instead playing the game they love in an organisation that protected them from harm. “Her legacy continues to do so,” says her daughter Shalaleh .

Soraiya was an extraordinary linguist. She spoke nine languages, seven of them fluently plus Arabic and Italian very well. Remarkably, she read and wrote in four scripts: Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic and Cyrillic.

Shalaleh recounts some revealing anecdotes about her mother. “In 1981, Soraiya arranged for a delegation from South Publications to visit Moscow. However, despite the invitation, the Russians dragged their heels for three months in granting a visa. Mum was distraught. She could not work out why and was looking daft in front of her employers.

“Finally the visa came through and they flew out. They were met on the tarmac by the Russian delegation. The KGB man stepped forward and said: ‘Which one of you speaks Russian?’ Mum put her hand up. The KGB man replied: ‘These two people will be your hosts.’ They had basically searched for three months to find one person who could speak all the languages Mum could speak so that she would not utter one word that could not be translated.

“My mother loved animals. As a child, she kept everything from mice to goats to chickens and horses and a small elephant (cost a fortune as it also needed a specialist keeper). When she was four, the Nawab of Bhopal, who was her great uncle, visited them to invite them personally to his palace for one of his granddaughter’s birthdays. A royal invitation is a command. My mother, all of four, piped up that she was not permitted to eat outside her home as food prepared elsewhere was dirty! The Nawab immediately fell in love with her and said that it’s ok to eat in his palace as he ensures that his kitchens are clean.

“He then insisted that she sat on his elephant when they went for a tiger shoot. She agreed and spotted the tiger first. When she saw it shot, she refused his invitation (all of four years old to the ruler of her state) to go again and her incredible love of cats and then dogs was born.”

Martin Moodie writes: Farewell my dear Soraiya-jan, my unlikely mentor, Farsi teacher and writing companion. You called me Martin-jan, a Persian term of affection, as my wife was Persian, and I was learning the language. Through my illness in 2010 and 2011, you wrote to me constantly, doing your inimitable best to keep my spirits up. While I was hospitalised, you offered to help my business by writing for us, refusing to accept remuneration. I will miss your great humanity, your intense interest in the world and those who walked it, your internationalism, your compassion and, most of all, your ever-present smile. Rest well Soraiya-jan. Khoda hafez.

Footnote: After a private burial, Soraiya’s wake will be held at the Penthouse Suite at the Dorchester Hotel from 1300-17.30 on 2 March.

Instead of flowers, the family is requesting that any donations be made to Developments in Literacy (the DIL Trust) which is an international charity that Soraiya supported. The Trust, a registered charity, educates teachers and girls in the poorest areas of Pakistan and teaches English to those of subcontinental origin in the UK. “I ask because mum was the most literate person I knew and this charity does sterling work,” says Soraiya’s daughter Shalaleh.

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