المنبر يزدان بمقدم د. سعاد تاج السر علي الشيخ.. مـرحـبـا

My dearest Souad:

You know you must be very special. As you know I like
to lay low.....A few things have made me emerge such
as the loss of my dear father...and perhaps that is
why I like you so much Souad.......You have the
ability to mingle with anyone...an infectious
personality....."Man for all Seasons" as Thomas Moore
wrote.......and that is a quality that is very hard to
learn either you have it or you don't...it is as the
Americans say a certain "je ne sais quoi" You can
speak to all audiences...a talent usually bestowed by
the likes of Indira Gandhi, Barbara Walters, Prof.
Saeed A/Kareem, Robert Di Niro, Adil Immam, Bill
Clinton (I still laugh about the Lewinsky incident)...
...and for that reason my children cling to you like
they did my late father...and the lovely Noor and cute
Zeinab talk to you like one of their collegues

I do not think it was a coincidence that we first met
in the infamous Sudan list....It was certainly an
ecclectic group of people, a hybrid of bohemian,
intellectual type persona....and it was a specific
incident that allowed me to know you at a more
personal level only to discover that " Al Omda" that
unique community in the heart of Omdurman was home to
both our families

Suoad...you remind me of what is good about
Sudan...you remind me of the nostalgic feeling and
rapid heartrate and sudden surge of happiness one
feels as the plane is decending Khartoum
Airport...(before of course the "samoum' even at 3 am
slaps your face back to reality)....you remind me of
halawa "kassala" and bascawit "karam" ( I still think
it is the best) basta and basboosa, not at "sala" but
at the tablia in Souk Omdurman.....you remind me of
"Al Teiman' and that scent, a mixture of spices and
oils and herbs that envelops your nostrils as you
chase "mowasalat" in the heart of the crowded
souq....you remind me of the first thing I eat after I
return from Al Gezira sometimes referred to Gashira
University...no matter what it is ....it is usually
very good....you remind me of "Bisyanous"( I still
think it is the best) at al Mahada Osta Khartoum

As I said Souad you remind me of my father....May you
always remain as bright, as generous, as genuine as
only you can be.......

Your loving sis Hala Khogali