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Husna Tayyeb

Wife, mother. Born on Dec. 12, 1927, in Barabanki, India; died on Nov. 28, 2014, in Toronto, of kidney failure, aged 86.

Husna Mulla grew up on a farm in northern India, the eldest in a family of four girls and four boys. Always interested in sports, she would later recall her teen years spent playing baseball and badminton. She was also a very good student, earning her B.A. in English literature from Aligarh Muslim University. Then came the prospect of marriage, and when she caught the eye of Ali Tayyeb at a social gathering, one thing quickly led to another.

They married in April, 1948, less than a year after India gained independence and at a time of great turmoil. In an attempt to prevent sectarian conflict, the British partitioned the land into two countries: India for the Hindu population, Pakistan for Muslims. The move unleashed chaotic violence as people fled to their respective "safe" zones.

Ali was working as a surveyor in the north, in what was now Pakistan; to join him, Husna had to travel by train across the dangerous, volatile border. When an angry mob stopped her train, she was saved from injury or possible death by a Hindu couple who hid her beneath their seat.

Safely reunited, the young couple settled in Rawalpindi and soon welcomed daughter Afroze and son Vezi. Ali was a brilliant scholar in geography and by 1950 had won a Vincent Massey Scholarship to study abroad. He decided to go to Toronto – and became one of the first Pakistanis to settle in the city. In 1952, now a lecturer at the University of Toronto, he sent for us.

Mom set sail across three oceans with two toddlers, disembarking in Halifax – in the dead of winter – and taking a train to Montreal, where we were met by our father and driven to Toronto. Within a decade, he had become a professor of geography at UofT, and their second son, Shiraz, was born.

In her early years in Toronto, Mom volunteered to help other Pakistani immigrants adjust to life in Canada. She also served as secretary of a UofT social group, the Salmagundi Club. Weekends in our home were usually filled with entertaining friends and colleagues from the university. Mom was an intrepid hostess and a fabulous cook, not only of East Indian cuisine but also Canadian food. The table would fill with one amazing dish after another.

Family legend has it that Mom's first meal in Canada was a hamburger, which she thoroughly enjoyed. There was no looking back after that; our parents fully embraced Canadian culture, especially sports. Mom was a staunch Montreal Canadiens fan and a Blue Jays devotee. And when the beloved Toronto Argonauts won the 1983 Grey Cup, we screamed "Arggoooooos!!" over the phone to Pakistan, where she was visiting. She laughed and cheered with us.

In 1976, our father died of a heart attack at age 54. After a period of tremendous darkness, Mom became a resolute and steady matriarch. Her love for her children, her dogs, feeding the rabbits and deer on her property in rural Pickering, and shopping (never forgetting to check her lottery tickets) created a home of laughter and contentment.

Always dignified, generous and kind, she practised her faith and religion with gentleness. She was fervently patriotic and could not stand to hear Canada disrespected.

In her last days, she fought bravely against a host of health issues, defying the odds and baffling her medical team. She truly was blessed with the spirit of a warrior and the heart of an angel.

Vezi Tayyeb is Husna's son.

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