At home with an Everton fan
CHATTING to radio personality Alan Khan, two things quickly become apparent: he loves his family immeasurably and he is a sucker for a good story.
It comes as no surprise then to find the home that he and wife Miriam Seedat, a sociologist, have crafted together reflects both these facets.
Last month, after a fiveyear hiatus from the microphone, Khan joined Lotus FM as the host of the Walk the Talk current affairs show that airs from Monday to Thursday at 7pm.
With more than two decades of broadcasting experience behind him, this is Khan’s first national radio gig.
He described the hours leading up to his first broadcast for Lotus FM as nervewracking. He said he suffered added anxiety knowing that his first guest was KwaZulu-Natal’s newly appointed premier, Senzo Mchunu.
“I was very nervous. I had no idea how I would react once that red light came on. I didn’t know what the listeners’ reaction would be. But after 30 seconds it just felt like home again. The support has been humbling and encouraging,” said Khan.
Radio is his part time passion as Khan is senior director of corporate affairs at the Durban University of Technology.
The double-storey home in Morningside, Durban, where Khan and Seedat live with their boys, Nassar, 14, and Ameer, 12, is homey and lived-in.
The couple has a sentimental streak and walking through their home is like a journey through their life so far.
Mounted on the wall near the front door is a blackand-white Capital Radio 604 billboard. Capital Radio 604 was where Khan got his first big break.
“That billboard welcomed every guest who visited the station over the years. Now it welcomes every guest who visits our home.”
In the living area, among the elegant paintings and mirrors, sit two chic leather couches that have been in the family since Khan and Seedat moved in together nearly 15 years ago.
Khan is candid about his attachment to objects. He collects anything from cigars to antique radios.
He said this could have begun when he was a boy, growing up in his greatgrandparents’ wood-andiron house in Overport.
“We had one of those retro refrigerators to which I was quite attached. When I was seven or eight, the fridge had to go because of rust and my folks bought a new one. I was quite upset and my mother says that, for quite a while, I held it against them.”
Khan recalled that it was only later when he discovered his parents had passed on the fridge to another family who needed it that he let go of the grudge.
However, he admitted that letting go still affected him.
It is in Khan’s study, though, that his personality shines through.
A passionate Everton FC supporter, Khan has every piece of club memorabilia he could lay his hands on during his eight visits to the club’s Liverpool home ground.
Despite every other member of the household joshing him about his team, Khan remains steadfast in his support. Each one of them supports a different premiership team.
“I will be an Everton supporter even when I am six feet under,” joked Khan.
Khan calls his wife “the great investor” and describes himself as “a great spender”.
Seedat inherited her father’s desk after his death a few years ago and it now occupies a space directly under the window of the couple’s master bedroom.
She said it was important for the family to ensure that they carried things of importance with them when they moved to the house a year ago.
“I think what makes this place a home is the fact that our home was not done by an interior decorator — as much as I would have loved to have that,” said Seedat.
Nassar and Ameer seem to have been bitten by the collectors bug too.
Nassar’s childhood love for Thomas the Tank Engine morphed into finding and building model trains from across the globe.
His younger brother’s addiction is a little closer to home. He has collected more than 100 World Wrestling Entertainment figurines.
Nassar said he believed the collectables his family had acquired, both around their home or stored in his dad’s cupboards, was the sign of a healthy, happy environment.
“You’ve got to keep a bit of the child you are so that you live a happy life,” he said.