‘Mumbai has ways of helping you start afresh’

When the airline manager, Sajid Khan, 46, lost his wife to breast cancer in 2009, Ahanah was only five. She is now 15, loves rock music and long drives with her dad

“I wouldn’t want to raise my daughter in any city but Mumbai,” says Sajid Khan, 46. When the airline manager lost his wife to breast cancer in 2009, Ahanah was only five.

From choice of career to boys, no topic is taboo between Sajid Khan and his daughter. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

“The city has ways of helping you start afresh,” he says. “I struggled with something as basic as braiding her hair before school. I found help for that at a fancy salon. I just walked in and asked them to teach me, and they did!” Sajid says he dreaded things would be uncomfortable at school, with children asking questions. “Thankfully, Ahanah always had supportive friends who never made her feel awkward.”

Ahanah is now 15, loves rock music and long drives with her dad. “She is social media savvy and fashionconscious. She wants to be a fashion journalist,” he says. “We keep communication channels open, be it about career, money or, for that matter, boys!” Sajid says it makes him happy to see her grown into an alert and street-smart woman. “A man was following her in Colaba once. Although Ahanah was afraid, she told him off and immediately video-called me. I guided her to a crowded part of the street and asked her to wait for me there,” Sajid says, “She was smart enough to spot a cop and wait with him until I arrived. As a parent, I am relieved that this city doesn’t sleep and is always buzzing, because it means my daughter is safer.”

(This story is part of a series Moving Images that celebrates the city of Mumbai through its people.)