Meeting-n-Greeting is always a time to rejoice especially with close-to-heart families. Aramco Retirees Association of Pakistan (ARAP) achieves another milestone by visiting senior Aramco retirees Fayyaz, Masud and Munir. “You have all made our family day a great day today. Your visit and the birthday cake are a heartwarming surprise and delight for us. My mom and dad are extraordinarily happy today, please continue visiting frequently, as it means a lot to them,” were some of the very encouraging comments made by the hosts during the team visits.
L2R: Malik, Idrees, Fayyaz, AbdulWaheed & Riaz visiting Fayyaz
L2R: Idrees, AbdulWaheed, Ejaz, Masud & Riaz visiting Masud
L2R: Syed Arshad, Riaz Ahmad, Imran Munir, Munir Mughal, Masud Akhtar, M Idrees and A Waheed Sheikh at Mughal House
Organizing a “Meet-n-Greet” for retiree families can be a wonderful way to foster connections and create a sense of community. Therefore, during the 3rd Quarter 2024 meeting, the ExCom made a tentative plan to visit senior retirees who were not able to meet or attend ARAP’s programs in the last six months or more due to their other commitments. Riaz Ahmed was assigned the task of planning these visits and coordinating with the respective families for a date and time convenient to them. The objective was to meet and greet them, reiterate the legacy of Aramcons’ family brotherhood and friendship, and continue bringing smiles to the retirees and their families’ faces.
The execution of the plan started on July 25, 2024, and was completed on August 27, 2024. The ExCom members visited senior Pakistani Aramco retirees at their residences in Lahore. It included Fayyaz Hussain: an Aramco retiree from the then Power Distribution Department (PDD), Masud Akhter and Munir Mughal: both retirees from Abqaiq Plants. The ExCom members included Muhammad Idrees, Riaz Ahmed, and Abdul Waheed Sheikh - with their accompanying wives, Syed Arshad Naeem, and Malik Fazal Mehmood. ARAP’s senior retiree members Mr. & Mrs. Mohammad Ejaz Sheikh joined the team during their visit to the Masud family and Mr. & Mrs. Masud Akhtar accompanied the team while visiting the Munir family.
On behalf of the ARAP members and Abqaiq Community, and as a gesture of their goodwill, the team presented a Lotus-Cake to each family reiterating the resolve of being very proud of their brotherhood and family friendship with the retirees and their families.
Idrees, on behalf of ARAP and the Abqaiq community, extended his heartfelt gratitude to Riaz Ahmed for making the “Meet-n-Greet” program so successful and memorable. He also thanked Abdul Waheed, Syed Arshad, Malik Fazal, Fayyaz Hussain, Ejaz Sheikh, Masud Akhtar, and Munir Mughal for their presence and support during these visits. He further expressed ExCom’s intention to extend this plan to other retirees/cities and encouraged ARAP members also to visit closeby retirees.
Visit to Fayyaz Hussain and Family
L to R: Malik, Idrees, Fayyaz, AbdulWaheed and Riaz with Fayyaz Hussain
July 25, 2024, turned out to be a pleasant day with a little rain in Lahore. The ExCom team visited Fayyaz Hussain and was very warmly welcomed with wonderful smiles and excitement by Mrs. Sajida Fayyaz and her daughter Saima Faisal. The exchange of greetings and old memories from Abqaiq and Aramco spread over two hours during which time tea and refreshments were served by the host family.
The keynote from Fayyaz during the discussion was, “Today is one of my happiest days. I am so glad to see my brothers and sisters from Abqaiq. You have all made our family day a great day today by voluntarily coming to meet us. It is a great honor for me and my family to see you all”. These compliments from Fayyaz were worth millions of words and very encouraging for the visiting team. The team said goodbye to the family with a resolve to meet them again at a suitable pace in the future, InShaAllah.
Ladies having a happy time during the Meet-n-Greet at Fayyaz's house.
Visit to Masud Akhtar and Family
L to R: Idrees, AbdulWaheed, Masud & Riaz
Group photo at Masud House with his grandchildren & visitors
On July 30, 2024, the team visited Masud Akhtar’s family. Mr. & Mrs. Mohammad Ejaz Sheikh also joined the team. Mr. & Mrs. Masud Akhtar and their daughter Saba Waqas along with her very cute kids including the little princess Hajira Waqas warmly welcomed everyone. The ladies got so excited that we could hear their happy screaming and see the tears while embarrassing each other. Condolences were offered for Dr. Abdul Qayyum, the eldest brother of Masud who passed away in Lahore, the brother-in-law of Mrs. Masud who passed away in England, and one of their cousins who passed away in Faisalabad recently.
Masud Akhtar cutting birthday cake with his grandchildren and the Meet & Greet Team.
Mrs. Masud Akhtar warmly welcomes ladies at Masud House.
The exchange of stories continued while Saba set refreshments on the table. Masud turned 81 years old on July 22, 2024, so the ExCom took advantage of this meeting to switch the environment to a happy mode. As a surprise, he was invited to cut the ARAP-presented cake decorated with “Masud Saheb Jug Jug Geo" (Mr. Masud Always Stay Blessed). The visiting team wished him a very happy belated birthday. Masud and his grandchildren cut the cake spreading smiles on all faces. He expressed his gratitude by saying, “Your visit and the birthday cake are a heartwarming surprise and delight for us”. Masud's family expressed their deep gratitude to the visiting team to meet and greet them. The team bid them farewell after almost 3-1/2 hours with the exchange of best wishes to each other and a resolve to meet again, InShaAllah.
Visit to Munir Mughal and Family
L2R: A Waheed, Syed Arshad, Imran Munir, Masud Akhtar, M Idrees, Khizar Munir, Munir Mughal and Riaz Ahmed at Mughal House.
On August 27, 2024, the weather turned pleasant with some showers and a cold breeze. The team started getting together around 4:30 pm at Munir Mughal’s house. The hosts, Mr.& Mrs. Munir Mughal, sons Imram and Khizar, and daughter-in-law Nawal Khizar very warmly welcomed the guests. The ExCom members and Munir family extended their special thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Masud Akhtar for their a with the ARAO team.
Ladies at Mughal House reflect moments of happiness on their reunion.
The gupshup and exchange of personal stories remained focused on both male and female sides. Munir shared his personal stories while coming to Lahore after retirement. The events and experiences were almost the same as other retirees have after being in Saudi Arabia for decades and striving to settle in Pakistan afresh. Imran and Khizar also joined the discussions and talked about their golden time spent in Abqaiq and Riyadh. They were so pleased to meet uncles and aunties after a long time. Imran reflected with both pride and gratitude, “My mom and dad are extraordinarily happy today, please continue visiting them frequently, as it means a lot to them”.
A variety of very delicious refreshment items were prepared and set up by Mrs. Fozia Munir and Nawal. The hosts and guests fully enjoyed all items which included fruit chat, dahai barray, fruit cake, kababs, chicken cheeze balls, qeema kachories, tea and other items. Chatting continued during the refreshment time. Idrees on behalf of ARAP and the Abqaiq community thanked the Munir family for their time and amazing hospitality. All Munir family members expressed their pleasure and thankfulness on the team’s visit with the hope to increase such meeting frequency.
The guests started saying goodbye to the hosts at about 6:30 pm with a take-in of very interesting stories from the Munir family and with the promise to visit them again.
Ladies sharing their golden time stories and exchanging best wishes for each other at Mughal House.