By Schezee Zaidi
Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Khan, a Pakistani employee at the British High Commission, Islamabad, has been honoured with Member of British Empire (MBE), a civilian award given by Her Majesty the Queen in recognition of services to the UK.
British High Commissioner, Robert Brinkley, while presenting the award, said, “Mr Khan can be rightly proud of this exceptional achievement, as he has worked for the British High Commission in Islamabad for the past 39 years — since it was established here.
G M Khan has been responsible for managing and maintaining the plant rooms located in both the office and domestic compounds of BHC. This is a huge task and includes industrial air conditioning, heating, water supplies and generators.” “The award caught me by surprise”, was the response of Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Khan, the latest MBE recipient of British High Commission — Islamabad, while sharing his thoughts in an exclusive chitchat with the news after getting the award.
Sitting confidently in his domain, the Plant Room, he appears to be a very humble yet very confident man. “I have really enjoyed my work here. Learned a lot and have prepared a new generation of boiler engineers”, he said. The plant room where he works, supplies hot and cold water, heating and air-conditioning throughout the High Commission. G M Khan, as he is lovingly known across the mission, did his Associate Mechanical Engineering from Multan and he topped his college in 1968. He is an active and committed man of 64 years and is very confident about his work.
While talking to him, it was clear that he had great admiration for his father, as he said that his father was also an engineer who also took part in a range of creative endeavours. He used to write and act for theatres in Multan, where Mr Khan spent his childhood. His father worked for Multan electrical company and in 1968 he moved to Rawalpindi. Following in his father’s footsteps as an engineer, Khan was offered the opportunity to take his expertise abroad. His ties with his family kept him firmly in Pakistan, he said, “I had the opportunity to go to Saudi Arabia, but I did not because of my ailing father.” He said that he has just followed one golden principle throughout his life, “don’t bother anybody and do not let anybody intrude in your domain.”
Throughout our hour-long chat, his speech was heavily punctuated with words like “betey”, “puttar”. Sitting in his office, it was clear that all of his colleagues greatly admired him and were of the opinion that they could not get a better boss. Mr Khan said that he got a lot of support from his managers during his job. They trusted him completely and did not interfere in his work, which allowed him the autonomy to do his job with maximum efficiency.
On a question why he was surprised after hearing about the award, he said that he did not think he would be considered for such an award. “I have always remained focused on my work and never got around to make friends in the higher echelons.” He joined the mission in 1970 and now after almost 40 years of service, is contemplating retirement. “I want to get rid of the pressures now. Even at home, the thought that something may go wrong in the plant doesn’t leave me.”
While trying to explain the workings of the plant room, Khan said, “I always carry a bag with me. All information about the plant is with me 24/7”. A proud father of three sons and a daughter, he said that one of his sons went to Middlesex University for his masters.
A grandfather now, he still misses his parents. He said, “Responsibility came on my shoulders after my parents died. I still miss them.” The British honours system is one of the oldest in the world. It has evolved over 650 years, as the country has found alternative means of recognising merit, gallantry and service.
Honours lists are published twice a year at New Year and in mid-June on the date of The Queen’s official birthday. Anyone can receive an award if they reach the required standard of merit or service, and honours lists contain a wide variety of people from different backgrounds.