Club 65 Celebrates Early Thanksgiving

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From left: Rahat Kalle, Karim Maknojia, Paru McGuire, Latafath Hussain.

By Jaseem Pasha, MD

HOUSTON: The Club 65 done it again. A large posse of senior Houstonians, once again flocked to the Bayland Community Center in Houston for their “Lunch and Learn” Event, held on November 8 by Club 65.

All seniors punctually arrived, dressed in colorful festive clothes. Rahat Kalle, the Club’s Vice President, introduced Paru McGuire, the President of Club, who received a zealous round of applause.

After a brief reporting, Paru introduced the guest speaker, William Pieratt Demond, who gave a very thought provoking talk on “The background of American tradition of Thanksgiving in the light of diverse cultural context”, a topic that perfectly chimed in with the occasion of Thanksgiving.

Demond is a constitutional and civil-rights attorney, who has practice in Houston, Texas. He spent three years studying abroad at universities in China, Japan, and Egypt. He shed light on the background of the traditions of Thanksgiving in America in the context of all-embracing world diversities, and drew parallel to the traditions embedded in major religions and highlighted the significance of Yoga, Gita, Quran and Islamic Shariah.

The talk generated lots of questions. Rahat Kalle an ardent organizational leader, very proficiently moderated the entire Q & A session.

Club 65 encourages its members to talk about themselves, their achievements, passions and hobbies, thus helping them make new friends. On Nov 8, Noor Jahan Upadhaya, Dr. Hameed Qureshi and Dr. Yusuf Zhumkhawala talked about their interests.

Noor Jahan is married to Shaukat Ali, and volunteers as the Secretary of Club 65. She shared her real life experiences laden with encounters with many diverse cultural and religious habitats, thus highlighting the importance of respect for all religions.

The next speaker was Dr. Hameed Qureshi, with both MS and Ph.D. in Immunology & Infectious Diseases, and was a pioneer in reducing the duration of Tuberculin Test to only 2 hours from what used to be 21 days. Dr. Qureshi shared very interesting and witty anecdotes about his life achievements that kept the audience enraptured till the end.

The last speaker was Dr. Yusuf Zhumkhawala, with both masters and doctorate in engineering. Dr. Yusuf emphasized the importance of human service and underscored the significance of using one’s knowledge, skills and experiences in the service of mankind. His story, no doubt, was very inspiring.

Of course, the aroma of freshly cooked turkey, mash potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green-bean casserole, apple pie and pumpkin pie was already in the air, sharpening the appetite, prodding the members to get ready for the sumptuous lunch.

The Club 65 is a non-profit organization under the umbrella of IMAGH (Indian Muslims of Greater Houston), for further details about Club 65 or to become a member, visit, www.imagh.org or call Paru Mcguire at 440-390-1763.