Lahore: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf says in his book In the Line of Fire, that he had an arranged marriage, and his wife, Sehba's, first impression of him was that of a "fashion disaster".
Musharraf recalls that when they first met in 1968, he had "arrived in a shirt and trousers, and wore a pair of open-toed sandals called Peshawari chappals, the kind favoured by Pathans and army personnel when they are in civilian clothes."
"Not being an Army girl, Sehba was appalled that a fashion disaster had come for her hand. She certainly didn’t like moustaches. Yet for some reason, she didn’t reject me, despite my moustaches (which I refused to shave off) and my attire. At least she approved of my hair and face," The Nation quotes Musharraf, as saying.
"Sehba was extremely beautiful, and I fell for her immediately. Any man of that age who tells you he has anything except looks on his mind, is not being truthful,” Musharraf writes.
Sehba told me later that of all her family, it was her father, Ghulam Ghaus Farid, who worked in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, who was most enthusiastic about accepting him as a son-in-law.
"He is a very good officer and will go places’, he told her, though I’m sure that he had no idea of the places I would go. Neither had I, nor anyone else," Musharraf writes in his autobiography.
Love between the two, Musharraf says developed gradually. It started off with the two exchanging letters and correcting each other's English. When in Karachi, both would go out for dates, parties or to a movie or to the disco at the old Metropole Hotel
Musharraf says that for the first couple of years of their marriage, he was perhaps not sensitive to Sehba's fears.
But on becoming a parent for the first time on February 18, 1970 (birth of daughter Ayla) and again with the birth of his son, Bilal, on October 17, 1971, characteristics like responsibility and caring gradually evolved.
"She deserves the credit for sobering my outlook towards life in general and my profession in particular. She significantly helped transform me from a carefree, brash and abrasive officer to a more balanced and responsible individual," Musharraf is quoted, as saying.
Speaking about his kids, Musharraf says they have never been a source of disappointment. "They have never let us down. As adults, Bilal and Ayla have well-rounded, wholesome personalities. Their hallmark is humility and poise, coupled with maturity and a good sense of humour," said Musharraf.
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