Marty Khan
07-01 2021 20:39
wrote:
I first met Vaughn when he was a first-year pharmacy student at UZ. We were introduced by a mutual friend, Deven, with whom I was in high school, who was also doing pharmacy. This was 1984. Soon my old friends Deven, Ayaaz, Bharat and I were firm friends with this Skies’ chap and we were always hanging out together.
Now there are very few of you who don’t know Vaughn the legend, so I won’t go into that, but I do want to share a story about another of his loves some of you may not be aware of or forgotten. Vaughn loved fishing. As did we all, so we were regularly going out to Mazowe Dam, Darwendale (now Manyame) or Lake McIlwaine (now Chivero) and occasionally Kariba – usually we caught nothing, sometimes we were lucky but always it was a laugh. We went to Mazowe one typical Sunday in Deven’s VW Kombi (before kombis became ETs) and this was a day I will never forget. We were catching our usual amount of fish (nothing) but as we moved along the shore trying to catch a bite, we noticed this madala fishing from a little island no more than 10 feet by 10 feet and this island was maybe 15 feet from the shore and we could wade to it in knee deep water. Which all 5 of us did. This madala had about 6 or 8 stick rods and we had our fancy spinning reels and high-tech gear, casting way out into the deep and getting nothing. The stick rods started seeing a lot of action, maybe 4 of them had a bite at the same time and the old man did not have enough hands to handle this bonanza, so Vaughn being the generous and helpful soul he was, without any bidding or asking, took it upon himself to “help” pull in these fish. Now as most of you will know, you strike by pulling up the rod sharply to set the hook in the fish’s mouth and Vaughn was always a little cautious when doing this, not wanting to lose the fish he put a little extra oomph in the strike. So, first stick rod he grabs and gives it an almighty jerk, and this hooks the fish but also sends it sailing over all our heads on this little island and it lands in the water behind us and somehow escapes the hook. We all burst out laughing and this happened one or two more times, needless to say the old man was not happy and we decided to leave the island – realise that what I am describing here is the forerunner of what would become the reality TV show Survivor and 5 of us were voted off the island by 1 man and he won the fish prize.
Anyway, it was getting late and we decided to head home, so we all jumped into the Kombi and somehow our driver – I won’t mention any names – got us stuck in the mud. Vaughn and I decided we would run up the hill to the Mazowe fruit stand which was a few clicks up the road to find a phone. I don’t remember the details, but it ended up with Abra coming to pick us up from Mazowe and I don’t think she was impressed with us at all – having spent the entire day baking in the sun, playing with fish and worms and now stinking out her car.
Random thought – there was a time when Vaughn really, really loved Mr Bean the TV comedy show, we’d watch that endlessly too.
We shared a lot of laughs, good times, good food, good music and there are some people who come into your life fleetingly and that’s it and others who touch you deeply and remain friends for life. Vaughn was one of my very, very, bestest friends – for life. I will miss him dearly but always think of him with a big grin on my face and ache in my heart. RIP.
Marty Khan
07-01 2021 20:39
wrote:
I first met Vaughn when he was a first-year pharmacy student at UZ. We were introduced by a mutual friend, Deven, with whom I was in high school, who was also doing pharmacy. This was 1984. Soon my old friends Deven, Ayaaz, Bharat and I were firm friends with this Skies’ chap and we were always hanging out together.
Now there are very few of you who don’t know Vaughn the legend, so I won’t go into that, but I do want to share a story about another of his loves some of you may not be aware of or forgotten. Vaughn loved fishing. As did we all, so we were regularly going out to Mazowe Dam, Darwendale (now Manyame) or Lake McIlwaine (now Chivero) and occasionally Kariba – usually we caught nothing, sometimes we were lucky but always it was a laugh. We went to Mazowe one typical Sunday in Deven’s VW Kombi (before kombis became ETs) and this was a day I will never forget. We were catching our usual amount of fish (nothing) but as we moved along the shore trying to catch a bite, we noticed this madala fishing from a little island no more than 10 feet by 10 feet and this island was maybe 15 feet from the shore and we could wade to it in knee deep water. Which all 5 of us did. This madala had about 6 or 8 stick rods and we had our fancy spinning reels and high-tech gear, casting way out into the deep and getting nothing. The stick rods started seeing a lot of action, maybe 4 of them had a bite at the same time and the old man did not have enough hands to handle this bonanza, so Vaughn being the generous and helpful soul he was, without any bidding or asking, took it upon himself to “help” pull in these fish. Now as most of you will know, you strike by pulling up the rod sharply to set the hook in the fish’s mouth and Vaughn was always a little cautious when doing this, not wanting to lose the fish he put a little extra oomph in the strike. So, first stick rod he grabs and gives it an almighty jerk, and this hooks the fish but also sends it sailing over all our heads on this little island and it lands in the water behind us and somehow escapes the hook. We all burst out laughing and this happened one or two more times, needless to say the old man was not happy and we decided to leave the island – realise that what I am describing here is the forerunner of what would become the reality TV show Survivor and 5 of us were voted off the island by 1 man and he won the fish prize.
Anyway, it was getting late and we decided to head home, so we all jumped into the Kombi and somehow our driver – I won’t mention any names – got us stuck in the mud. Vaughn and I decided we would run up the hill to the Mazowe fruit stand which was a few clicks up the road to find a phone. I don’t remember the details, but it ended up with Abra coming to pick us up from Mazowe and I don’t think she was impressed with us at all – having spent the entire day baking in the sun, playing with fish and worms and now stinking out her car.
Random thought – there was a time when Vaughn really, really loved Mr Bean the TV comedy show, we’d watch that endlessly too.
We shared a lot of laughs, good times, good food, good music and there are some people who come into your life fleetingly and that’s it and others who touch you deeply and remain friends for life. Vaughn was one of my very, very, bestest friends – for life. I will miss him dearly but always think of him with a big grin on my face and ache in my heart. RIP.
