Khwaja Zakiuddin Eminent Banker The late Khwaja Zakiuddin, born on January 9, 1918, the eldest son of the late Khwaja and Begum Farhut Shahabuddin, was a gentleman to his finger-tips. He was a strict disciplinarian, kind and just; scrupulously honest, a man of strong character who always stuck to his high principles and was always clear in his mind about what was right and wrong. He had a great sense of humour and enjoyed in particular spending time with children and young people. He was highly respected by all those who had the good fortune to be associated with him. He graduated from Dhaka University and subsequently attended University College, London, where he lived during the Second World War. One of his most interesting and potentially dangerous experiences was to live through the London ‘Blitz’ when Nazi warplanes reduced parts of London to rubble. On his return to India in 1943, he joined Grindlays Bank Ltd., in Bombay, and was one of the first Muslim men to be employed as management in a British colonial bank. Later, he had postings in Calcutta, Karachi and Peshawar; and in the early fifties he joined the State Bank of Pakistan – serving in various capacities in Karachi, Khulna and Dhaka - finally retiring in January 1976. On October 11th, 1943, he married Binoo, daughter of Khan Bahadur Hafizur Rahman Chowdhury and Abida Khatoon, of Bogra. They had three children – Yasmeen, Almas and Zahid. He was a very keen sportsman, winning various trophies in cycling and playing first class representative (field) hockey in Dhaka, Calcutta and London. When he could not play any more, he used to follow sports avidly on radio and television. He used to read extensively and was interested in Urdu Shairee and music, especially qawwali. He remained in remarkable good health right until mid 2002, when he began to ail, and became very weak and finally had a most peaceful end as he slipped into a deep sleep and left this world for ever around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday 16 January, 2003. Source: [Khwaja Sayeed Shahabuddin]