Ruby's Hidden Treasures

By Tahira Haque

This book is in loving memory of my late mother, Ruby Haque. It was her dream and wish to publish her diary of compilation of selected poems. She was a lover of Urdu poetry. She was born in Lucknow on 13.01.1944 and she passed away in London on 27.12.2014. It has been 9 years and 4 months. She passed away in my arms. Their's a saying that goes,

• Language: English
• Publisher: AMZ Marketing Hub
• Release date: Jun 21, 2024
• ISBN: 9781917344296

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Ruby's Hidden Treasures

By

Tahira Haque

Copyright © Tahira Haque, 2023

All Rights Reserved

About the Author

This book is in loving memory of my late mother, Ruby Haque. It was her dream to publish her diary of compilation of selected poems. She was a lover of Urdu poetry. She was always contributing to society in a positive way and encouraging her children to pursue opportunities she never had.

Everything that I do is for my mother. This book is also for her. It's for her and keeping her legacy going. When I meet and greet people, I try my best to represent her through my actions. She brought us all up with so much love and respect, empathy and compassion. She was very cultural and an amazing humanitarian.

I started writing this book during Ramadan and with all the other faiths celebrating Easter and so on. After reading some of her pages, it felt like her words have risen. She was a happy go lucky lady; she loved life and would always be smiling. One of her favorite sayings was ‘Life is meant to be lively’ and that she certainly was.

She mentioned a few people in her pages. Pupi Jaan was her aunty and mother-in-law. She used to tell me stories of how her Pupi Jaan would treat her like a princess. Saeedi was her college friend as was Waheeda. Saira is her firstborn.

I remember my mother would always say that life is meant to be lived for others. She was the second eldest of 6 children, and the first daughter. She often mentioned how all her life she cared for others. Before she was married, she helped her younger siblings. After getting married, she was caring for her husband's two little sisters, and then later on when she came to London, she cared for her 5 children and 7 grandchildren. Her life was a never-ending service for others.

When I read her sentence of making her life full of smiles, I couldn't help but smile with so much joy, since she really did make not only her life, but everyones life full of smiles. She had an amazing and eventful life. From fleeing India as toddler, to relocating to Rawalpindi, studying in Lahore, getting married in Karachi and eventually settling down in London.

I was amazed at how she really felt inside. She was a strong protective brave lady.

She was such a great lady. When my father passed away, his wish was to be buried back home in Karachi. My mother said that this whole world is one long land, and bury her wherever she dies. She is buried at South London Cemetery.

I took her around the world and she was so happy since she loved all cultures and faiths. She loved watching films and going to the cinema. One of her favourite films was The Dead Poets Society.

She loved music since she said it was poetry and would always go to fairs and functions. She would be cooking with the radio on. When we were growing up she would put the cuts of Okra on our faces while she would be cooking just to entertain us all.

I remember many great things. After all, she was a very great lady.

Altaf Fatima Ruby Haque was born on 13.01.1944 in Lucknow, India to Mazhar and Fazila Haque. She witnessed the horrors of conflict during the creation of Pakistan in 1947. Many thousands lost their lives and the partition saw the largest mass migration in human history.

She used to tell me stories and remembered the train journey to her new homeland, describing how