As end nears, friends rally to help ailing rug merchant
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NORTHAMPTON - Reclining on a stack of folded rugs and pillows, Bashir Ahamed smiled widely as he began to talk about his impending death.
The colorful and charismatic owner of Basha's Oriental Rugs and Textiles has terminal gastric cancer, a disease that has withered his body but not, as one might expect, his spirits.
When death comes for him, Ahamed said, he wants to greet it just as he would someone walking through the door of his 213 Main St. shop. He says he's excited to learn what this visitor has to teach him.
"I am looking forward to it," he said. "I am seeking to witness my last breath."
Ahamed, 56, was born in Kashmir and lives by himself in Leverett. He has run a series of rug shops around Northampton and in other communities since 1980, including the current one downtown, which opened in 2006.
A self-described "health horse" and strong believer in mystical Sufi numerology, he long ago established himself as a local character by, among other things, occasionally performing yoga handstands atop downtown fire hydrants.
Since Ahamed's diagnosis last fall, longtime friend Anne Griffin has been coordinating about 20 helpers from around the Pioneer Valley to assist him, mostly by driving him to medical appointments.
Griffin, of Florence, said she's known Ahamed since the early 1980s, and sought out other old friends of his to help look after him once she learned he had cancer. She said keeping track of volunteers and appointments has been easy thanks to a Web sight called LotsaHelpingHands.com.
One of the helpers is Christopher Haynes, of Haydenville. Last year, after his wife, Heather Haynes, died from complications of childbirth, friends used Lotsa Helping Hands to fix him up with everything from rides to diapers for his newborn son, Sam. Their support was crucial as he reeled from the loss, he said.
"It seemed like I had an army of people behind me," Haynes said. "I was in a daze, so I didn't really have an understanding of what was going on day to day."
Today, as one giving rather than receiving the support, Haynes said the Internet site is also beneficial because it can reunite old friends around a common goal. Haynes is Griffin's former husband, and he, too, is a longtime friend of Ahamed's.
Lotsa Helping Hands functions a bit like other social networking Web sites like MySpace and Facebook. Users create profiles and join groups - "Basha's Helpers," for instance. An interactive calender lets users see what days help is needed, and sign up for the dates they're available.
On the Web page for Basha's Helpers, Griffin posts bulletins to keep long-distance acquaintances up to date.
"It's an easy-to-use, private group calendar, specifically designed for organizing helpers, where everyone can pitch in with meals delivery, rides, and other tasks necessary for life to run smoothly during times of medical crisis, end-of-life caring, or family caregiver exhaustion," according to the Web site.
In Ahamed's case, the volunteer work has mostly involved giving him rides to medical appointments around the Northeast, and keeping him company during the often lengthy treatment sessions.
"I was able to put a patchwork quilt together of support," Griffin said.
"It's been pretty empowering for the community to have a way to know what to do in what seems like an otherwise helpless situation."
Members of the downtown business community are also stepping up. Earlier this week, Gazebo owner Judith Fine sent a letter to other members of the Chamber of Commerce urging them to "vibe him your good energy and love" and to buy rugs to help him clear out his inventory.
Ahamed learned he had cancer last Halloween after waking up in Cooley Dickinson Hospital. He'd been found the night before, unconscious inside his parked car. Soon after, he went through a course of chemotherapy, which involved several trips to New York City. In March, doctors at Baystate Medical Center performed exploratory surgery and found the cancer had spread, giving him a grim prognosis.
Today, as his condition worsens, he's begun to work with an on-call, in-home hospice provider.
He's also considering whether to take part in experimental treatments offered at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, but is unsure whether his insurance will cover it. Ahamed said he'd be delighted if, before or after death, he could help in cancer research or be an organ donor.
"I would love any healthy part of me to do research or (provide) an organ for somebody else to use," Ahamed said.
His fate seeming certain, Ahamed has turned his attention to clearing out his shop inventory, and tending his home garden, though he doesn't have much strength to pack or weed.
"My energy level, my weight, everything is getting lesser and lesser," he said. "All my life I have been like a cheetah and now I must become a turtle."
Instead of putting all the rugs in storage, he hopes to sell as many of them as possible before turning the shop over to new managers later this summer. Two rugs have already found new homes in the home of another helper, Edith Allison, of Amherst.
Allison said she struck up a friendship with Ahamed after walking into his store two decades ago. She was drawn first to the artistry of the rugs, then to the flair and expertise of the man peddling them.
"I loved being around someone for whom that's a passion and (who) knows a lot and has a lot of beautiful rugs," Allison said. "They have personalities, they have a presence."
If all goes according to plan, another oriental rug company will take over Ahamed's store, and will keep the Basha name. The future of his basement Museum of Islamic Arts and Crafts is less certain.
Nonetheless, he said bringing to the Pioneer Valley the artworks in his shop and museum - woven of Middle Eastern traditions as much as wool - is his legacy.
"That is my greatest pride," he said.
James F. Lowe can be reached at jlowe@gazettenet.com.