As the news of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination spread, Faisal Wahid, who was studying in Bombay then, called Thakiyuddin to break the news. It was late in the evening. A heartbroken Thakiyuddin locked himself up in a room for days, grieving. He was mourning an idol, but not only him; he was also grieving the loss of the Wahid family’s most important patron in India’s complex and corrupt power structure.
