We are delighted to share with you the story of Shri Suresh Kothari and Shri A.G. Shakir’s friendship spanning 80 years and crossing borders.
Suresh Kothari, 90, and A.G. Shakir, 90, were childhood best friends in Deesa, Gujarat, located just a few hours from the Pakistani border. In October 1947, A.G. Shakir and his family migrated to newly founded Pakistan by boat. Suresh Kothari was studying in Bombay when he returned he found that his friend had left. When A.G. Shakir arrived in Karachi in 1947, he informed Suresh Kothari of his arrival and provided his address in Rawalpindi (which Suresh Kothari still remembers). Suresh and A.G. Shakir tried to write to each other over the years, but the tensions between the two countries eventually made it impossible. They had no communication between 1948 to 1982, when a chance encounter with a mutual friend in New York led them back to each other.
In 1982, A.G. Shakir, who lived in Connecticut, heard Suresh Kothari was coming to New York and wanted to pick up Suresh Kothari from JFK that’s how excited he was. Suresh Kothari stayed with a family member and A.G. Shakir stayed there for 4 days as this was their first reunion and they had so much to catch up on. They met and spoke regularly until A.G. Shakir moved to Virginia. Suresh Kothari spends half his time in New Jersey and half in India (Nepean Sea Road, Mumbai and Deesa, Gujarat).
After nearly 9 years, they met again in October 2023. They reunited at Suresh Kothari’s 90th birthday this April in New Jersey in 2024! Long live Friendship!
(By Editorial Committee, The Voice of Malabar Hills)
