My stay at Peshawer University Pakistan

Introduction A fter doing my Intermediate Science (F. Sc. non-medical) from the University of Punjab I was employed as a Process Operator in the Penicillin Factory at Iskandar Abad (Daudkhel) of Mianwali district where three other important factories of cement, dyes and fertilizer were established by the Industrial Development Corporation (P.I.D.C.) of Pakistan. The Penicillin Factory had been established with the aid of Japanese Government according to international standards and the job of a Process Operator was considered very important due to its technical key functions involving many sophisticated costly operations to produce the end product of Penicillin which was exclusively reserved for the use of Pakistan Armed Forces. The factory had to function round the clock in three shifts. The night shift was considered very difficult and all wanted to avoid it. After some serious pondering I decided to offer my services to work always in the night shift in place of others who hated it. I primarily took this decision of permanently working in the night shift as it provided me full days to rest and do my personal tasks on regular basis. One night when the factory process was in full swing our Shift Chemist, Maulvi Sanaulla came to our Fermentation Section to conduct his usual surprise checks at night. He had done his Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech) from the Punjab University obtaining first class first position and thereby winning a gold medal for his outstanding academic performance which had made him a little too proud. When he entered our fermentation section I did not get up to show my regards and respects to him. He became extremely annoyed at my insolence and said: “Whereas I fully admire your excellent performance in the discharge of your official duties but I have failed to understand your insubordination by not getting up and showing regards to me when I visit your section. Am I not your superior and can you explain your misconduct?” I paused for a few moments and then replied:” Sir, I think you and I are equal in all respects and I am proud of my exceptional performance as you have already admitted and admired it yourself. I fail to understand why I should get up to show you my respect which is in fact my inferiority”. He kept silent and this insubordination of mine continued for a long time while I was all the time thinking as to why Maulvi Sanaulla felt himself superior to me demanding me to get up whenever he entered our fermentation section. Finally I concluded that he had better qualifications as compared to mine. This served as a burning sting urging me to improve my academic qualifications. Moreover as s a result of my keen technical interest I gained valuable practical experience while working on the most modern and sophisticated machinery of that time. Consequently an idea flashed into my mind that I too should get better engineering education to fully understand the internal design and working of the most sophisticated machinery. But the most important question still remained in my mind. How could I get better engineering education? On further enquiries from the related people I came to know that I must get myself admitted into some engineering college as soon as possible. Two of my previous colleagues namely Naseer Ahmad Khan and Malik Gulzar Ahmad had already left the factory and they were working at Peshawar University. So I decided to go there to find out essential admission requirements for seeking engineering education in the coming session. I got casual leave for a couple of days and requested my friend Sh. Mohammad Jahangir to accompany me in this tour to Peshawar University where we could meet our old friend Mr. Naseer Ahmad Khan who was working as a lecturer in the chemistry department of Peshawar University. We stated our journey without delay. It was in 1962. I visited Peshawar University for getting essential information to get admission in the Engineering College When we reached Peshawar University it was closed for summer vacation. We stayed withour fiend Dr. Naseer Ahmad Khan and next day I went to see the Engineering College of the university which was closed too due to summer vacation. There was a pin-drop silence everywhere. I, however, found a gentleman all alone sitting in the office of the Principal. I tried to peep in a few times till the gentleman saw me peeping. He came out of his office and without saying a word took me from my arm and went into his office. He asked me to sit down on a chair but I was hesitant. Finally his gentle behavior assured me and I sat on a chair. He asked my name and purpose of peeping into his office. I very politely told him something about myself and my purpose of visiting the Engineering College. I told him that I was interested in getting myself admitted in the Engineering College as soon as possible. He seemed somewhat perplexed and I was unable to understand it. Finally he told me that it was the last day for the submission of fresh admission applications for the new academic session commencing soon. I became instantly sad to know that my program of getting engineering education had failed at least for that particular year. He asked me about my becoming so perplexed and gloomy suddenly. I told him the reason that I had gone there to collect the required information for admission in the Engineering College of Peshawar University and I could hardly imagine that it was the last day for the submission of fresh applications. During our conversation it was revealed that the gentleman to whom I had been talking so far was not the Principal of the Engineering College named Dr. Obedullah Khan Durrani whose name had been displayed outside on the office door. The gentleman to whom I had been talking so far was Mr. Shafat Ahmad Khan who was the Vice Principal of the College. I was told that Dr. Obedullah Durrani had gone to Europe on some urgent mission and he was expected back anytime. I thanked Mr. Shafaat for his extreme kindness and asked his permission to leave his office. He asked me to sit down and in the meantime he got repeated confirmation if I really wanted to get myself admitted into the Engineering College of Peshawar University. I replied in affirmative. He got a blank admission form from the drawer of his office table and asked me to fill it immediately. I told him that I had not brought any of my educational credentials and hence it was not possible for me to fill the form without relevant data and information pertaining to my educational certificates. After a few moments he told me to write whatever I could think of and leave no column blank. I was extremely confused and did not know what to do except to follow his instructions. My confusion was due to my not understanding the wisdom of his instructions. This confusion was however shortly cleared when I understood the underlying wisdom of his instructions after due clarification provided by him. He told me that the admission from duly filled in must be submitted along with the medical fitness certificate signed by a Civil Surgeon on or before the last date as per standing rules. It was the last day for this purpose. So he wanted to save my one year for the admission. I filled the form with data and information to the best of my memory and handed it over to him. He took my randomly filled form and put it inside a file and handed me over another blank form for the medical fitness to be signed by the Civil Surgeon and to be deposited in the Engineering College on the same day before the office closing hours. It was another shock absolutely beyond my comprehension. Anyway I once again thanked him for his kindness and while I was just to get out of his office he gave me another blank admission form to be filled in accurately in due course of time so that the randomly filled form be taken out from the file and the newly filled form with accurate entries be inserted in its place. Now I could understand the whole wisdom of his plan. So far so good but what about the medical fitness certificate which had to be prepared and signed by the Civil Surgeon and then had to be submitted the same day before closing of the office. I had absolutely no idea as to where should I find the office of the Civil Surgeon Peshawar and if it could actually be obtained within the short permissible time at my disposal. I was extremely puzzled not knowing what to do. After some serious thinking I decided to make my utmost effort to get the medical fitness certificate duly signed by the Civil Surgeon of Peshawar for submission of the same in the office of Engineering College, Peshawar University on the same day as it was the last day for admitting application forms. I saw no possibility but I decided to my best efforts irrespective of my success or failure. My logic told me that there was no harm whatsoever in making best possible efforts. So I rushed out of the office to trace the office of Civil Surgeon Peshawar. The time at my disposal was very critical. I quickly went to the office of Civil Surgeon Peshawar to get the essential Medical Fitness Certificate A fter my coming out of the office of the Principal Engineering College of Peshawar University and I ordered a hot cup of coffee to refresh myself in the canteen of the adjoining market. I was extremely absorbed in my thoughts reviewing what had miraculously happened in the preceding few hours on that day. Was it something real or a simple dream? Similar non-understandable events had happened to me at a few occasions before and I had learnt their immense effect on my life. This could be something similar I supposed although I was not at all sure. I left the cup of tea totally untouched and rushed to get into a double-decker bus going to Peshawar city. I got down near the Museum and rushed to the office of the Civil Surgeon located near the Peshawar Courts. There I saw two long haphazard rows of many persons waiting outside the office of the Civil Surgeon. I also stood in one of the long rows. Some of the people already standing in the long rows told me that they were coming and going there for the last few days as their turn did not come. I became much grieved on learning it as the medical fitness certificate had to be submitted into the Engineering College the same day without fail otherwise I was not entitled for the submission of my admission forms due to its being the last day. Hardly five minutes passed when someone passed by me hurriedly and after retracing a few steps he came to me and stopping very close to me he said:. “Oh my dear Khadim, where have you been for such a long time? You were much younger to me but you were an excellent player of hockey. I have missed you so much for the last few years. Come on” he remarked with great zeal and excitement grabbing my hand and taking me to a nearby office. I was stunned as I had absolutely no idea as to who he was but of course he had called me by my actual name and it was also true that I had been a hockey player. Anyway he asked me to take a seat and he ordered some fresh fruit and hot tea for me. After taking tea he told me that he himself was the Civil Surgeon. It was another shock and an incredible dream for me that day. You can call it the second miracle of that day the first one being my meeting with the vice Principal of the Engineering College pertaining to my randomly filled admission forms to be replaced in due course of time. The Civil Surgeon took a few minutes to complete my medical fitness certificate and I rushed to the Engineering College for its submission before the closing hours. I was somewhat late but the angelic vice Principal was already waiting for me. He was extremely glad when I told him the whole story relating to my medical fitness certificate. He congratulated me on my admission into the Engineering College which had yet to take place in due course of time. He advised me to immediately resign from my post of Process Operator and I literally complied with his instructions although my colleagues thought that I was a perfect stupid. I left my wife and small daughter with my mother-in-law at Bhalwal town district Sargodha and came to Peshawar where I hired a single room mud house in Ghareebabad village near the Peshawar University. I made myself familiar with the environments of my new place of living. I must say with pride that the Pashtoons are the most sympathetic and hospitable people having no comparison in hospitality in the world. This is particularly true in respect of medium and poor classes who were now my neighbors and who welcomed me as if I was their very close blood relation. I was extremely surprised and impressed. I had many apprehensions before I rented the single room mud house there. I brought my wife along with small daughter who was very glad too although she did not know even one word of Pashto language. It was very strange indeed that should understand and convey the essential points of her necessity as and when required. She made very intimate friendships with her large number of Pashtoon female neighbors without even knowing their names. This intimate friendship prevented us for leaving Ghareebabad and shifting to the servant quarter attached to the S-type bungalow of Professor Abbas Hasan Rizvi who the Head of our Mathematics Department. My initial problems at the Engineering College of Peshawar University AND HOW THESE WERE EVENTUALLY SOLVED: I had hired a single room house in Ghareebabad village near Peshawar University at a monthly rent of rupees five. This accommodation was sufficient for me and my wife along with our small daughter. The house had no electricity, no water, no gas and no flooring. It was made of mud and the sandy earthen floor was very soft and our feet went a few inches deep when we walked over it. There were many fat and healthy rats jumping right on us without any fear whatsoever. They kept us awake all the night long and sometimes during the day even. After sometime we became familiar with the characteristics of this single room mud house along with fat rats. I had to bring water from our Engineering College located at a distance of three kilometers from our rented house at Ghreebabad near Tehkalbala village. A very kind-hearted shopkeeper lived near our rented house and we got all essential commodities of our daily use from him on long term loan basis. We used to take some emergency loan as well from this gentleman. He never asked us to pay back our loans borrowed from him from time to time. Whenever we wanted to make some partial payments against the goods purchased from him long ago he would hesitate to take the payment saying that he would take it when he really needed it. In fact he would never even indicate that we were to return his long outstanding loans. What a wonderful gentleman he was? Later on after the completion of my engineering course I especially went many times to see him and thank for his past incredible generosity and kindness to us. He was extremely glad to see us again and again on each of our visit to him. We never asked his name and he never asked ours. This continued for more than twenty years after my engineering graduation in 1966. I wish to visit him again now. I do not know if he is alive or not. Any we often miss him and pray for him wherever he may be. This mundane world full of mercenaries and numerous miseries is not worth living if good and noble people do not live in it. May God Almighty increase their number. Wonderful atmosphere of Peshawar University and a legendry personality of Peer Obedullah Khan Durrani who was the Principal of our Engineering College: P eshawar University used to be one of the best universities of Pakistan. Its grand historic buildings and ideal teaching staff were most praiseworthy. No other campus of any other university in Pakistan could compete with it in any respect. It was primarily a residential university with beautiful hostels and vast charming parks. Male and female students in various departments and faculties enjoyed their stay on the most charming campus of this University which looked like a vast garden. Most of the faculty heads and teaching staff were from the famous university of Aligarh. This was particularly true for the Engineering College where the most talented professors had been collected by the learned Principal Dr. Obedullah Khan Durrani. He was a world-famous Engineer and a reputed Homeopathic doctor. Thousands of people considered him their spiritual leader or peer. I have never seen an orator better than him in the English language. He was generally called the Black Magician and the KALAPEER (the black Saint).There was a mysterious and mystic magnetic attraction surrounding him which brought diverse personalities very close to him. His way of helping people was very subtle and invisible. He helped me in many ways very indirectly and I could never guess his role for a very long time. He was a very strange personality possessing numerous incredible qualities. Most of the people surrounding him loved him in a peculiar way resembling to somewhat reverential worship of a saint. I could not evaluate him properly at that time. It was only after his death that I could guess his greatness both in worldly as well as spiritual sense. I wish I could know his greatness and spiritual heights when I was his student for four years in the Engineering College of Peshawar University where he was the Principal of this esteemed educational institution. I outline below a few remarkable events I myself witnessed with great surprise and extreme curiosity: At about midnight Peer Baba Obedullah Khan Durrani was running towards Tehkalbala Village to save the life of a serious patient D uring my first year of electrical engineering I was living in a single room rented house of Ghareebabad Village located at a distance of three kilometers from my Engineering College of Peshawar University. I told you earlier that the rented house had no water and power. Very late at night I had to bring a pitcher of water from my Engineering College. One night at about midnight when I was going to the Engineering College for fetching water I saw a slim person running towards Tehkalbala village which was located at about five kilometers from the Peshawar University. When the slim figure passed by me in the opposite direction bare-footed and gasping I recognized him that he was Dr. Obedullah Khan Durrani who was the honorable Principal of our Engineering College. After about five minutes an old man was seen running behind Dr. Obedullah Durrani at a distance of about one furlong. The old man was carrying the medical emergency kit of Dr. Obedullah Khan Durrani who was going to attend a dying patient in Tehkalbala village. I stood astonished for a few minutes not understanding anything I had seen. After half an hour of my continued astonishment I regained my senses and went on my way to the Engineering College to fetch water as usual. Next day I was called by Professor Abbas Hasan Rizvi who was the Head of our Mathematics Department. He asked me why I was seen near Ghreebabad village at midnight carrying a pitcher on my shoulders. I told him that I live in a rented single room mud house of Ghareebabad which has no water. So each night I have to fetch a pitcher of water for our daily use of next day. He asked me as to why I do not live in a university hostel. I told him that I could not afford it. Moreover I was living with my wife and a small daughter who could not be allowed to reside in a hostel. He kept silent for a few minutes and then asked me if I would like to live in his servant quarter. After some pondering I told him that I would reply after consulting my wife. A few days passed and I was again called by the Head of our Mathematics Department who censured me for not responding in time. I apologized and he ordered me to shift from my rented house to his servant quarter without any delay. I wanted to know from him as to who had ordered me to do so but he refused to reply. I came to my wife and told her about the invisible orders to shift from Ghareebabad to the servant quarter of a Bungalow which had been allotted to the Head of our Mathematics Department. We discussed the matter at length but could not arrive at a unanimous decision. Actually my wife did not want to shift but I wanted for many reasons. Finally my wife agreed and we decided to shit immediately as ordered by the unseen authority. I had primarily decided to shift to the new location to satisfy my curiosity with respect to the identification of the invisible authority and also as I did not want to annoy my Head of Mathematics Department. After our shifting to our new accommodation we were greatly relieved as it had electricity and water in abundance. Professor Abbas Hasan Rizvi was a great man and his wife was a great lady. Their only son called Baby Saleem was extremely attached to my wife. I can forget the guidance and encouragement Professor A.H. Rizvi provided to me. He would suddenly come to our servant quarter and ask me to solve a few typical questions in advanced Mathematics. He instilled very keen interest to learn advanced Mathematics resulting into my securing a dominant success in the examinations. He told me that to get al most hundred percent marks I must effectively practice to quickly solve the past examination papers of at least last ten years. I did comply with his valuable instruction and always secured distinctions in all of my examinations. How can I repay him for his kindness and valuable guidance? It was after many years of constant thinking that the mystery of invisible orders of our shifting from Ghareebabad was solved. Dr. Obedullah Durrani had perhaps recognized me while he was running towards Tehkalbala village to attend a patient while I was going to fetch water from our Engineering College at about midnight. He wanted to facilitate my living as a student and he had advised our Head of Mathematics Department to order my shifting from Ghareebabad to his servant quarter. Dr. Obedullah Durrani had collected very able scholars like Dr. Ataullah Head of Hydraulics Department, Dr. Abdullah, Head of Electrical Engineering Department Professor Amjad, Head of Civil Engineering Department and many others. It was a great team of talented teachers and experts of their fields. Vice Chancellor of Peshawar University in those days was Ch. Mohammad Ali and the Registrar was the leaned Mathematician Dr. Nazeer Ahmad who played a very helping role during my student life at the Engineering College of Peshawar University. I was availing myself with two educational scholarships at a time when suddenly I was told that I could avail only one and not two scholarships as per syndicate rules. But I do not know even now why both of my scholarships were stopped causing extreme financial difficulties for me and my wife. Dr. Nazeer Ahmad who was the Registrar of the University fought my case in the syndicate like a real warrior and after a lengthy fight he finally won my case restoring both of my scholarships. All this happened without my knowledge and information. How can you thank such great personalities? When and how I met Dr. Nazeer Ahmad is a miracle itself worth describing as narrated below briefly: I accidentally met registrar of Peshawar University Dr. Nazeer Ahmad who played a vital role in helping me: I t was after a month or so of our shifting from Greebabad to the servant quarter of S-type Bungalow allotted to Professor Abbas Hasan Rizvi. Our store of burning wood finished and I had to bring it from Ghareebabad Wood Market where I could get it on long term returnable loan basis due to my personal relations there. Both of my educational scholarships had been suddenly stopped and my tuition activities also became very low. I was therefore facing serious financial difficulties. Consequently we were mostly living on loans from my friends and my previous neighbors of Ghareebabad village. So I went there and got about thirty kilograms of burning wood for cooking of our daily food. The faggot of burning wood had to be carried on my head to a distance of five kilometers and it proved to be a killing exercise. After taking rest at four intermediate places I finally managed to reach my destination at the servant quarter of Bungalow allotted to the Head of Mathematics department. I was very thirsty and profusely perspiring when I reached my destination. I put down the heavy load of wooden faggot and rang the door bell of the Bungalow after finding the attached servant quarter locked. After my repeated ringing of the door bell a gentleman came out in an angry mood. It was a very hot summer day noon and it appeared that the gentleman had been disturbed in his nap at this odd time. “Who are you and what do want?” he asked me very angrily. I told him my name requesting him to ask my wife to send the key of our servant quarter where we lived. Actually my wife used to help in cleaning the bungalow and cooking the food of Professor Abbas Hasan Rizvi in whose servant quarter we lived. She was therefore mostly working in the bungalow particularly when I was out on my daily missions. He seemed puzzled and kept silent for some time. All of a sudden I sensed that I had landed at a wrong place. It was not the Bungalow of Professor Abbas Hasan Rizvi but it was some other Bungalow very similar to it. I was very sorry for disturbing the gentleman and I solemnly apologized for my unintentional mistake. I told him that I live in the servant quarter of the Bungalow allotted to Professor Abbas Hasan Rizvi and the heavy load of wooden faggot on my head covering my eyes had made me astray. I requested him to help me load the wooden faggot on my head so that I could go to my right destination at the Bungalow of Professor Abbas Hasan Rizvi. He seemed deeply absorbed in his thoughts and did not respond for a long time. Eventually after about five minutes he asked my name again and confirmed that I was the second year engineering student. He informed me that he was the Registrar of Peshawar University. He asked me to meet him in his office as soon as possible but I totally forgot it for a long time till I met him 0one day accidentally in the Main University Library. He was a little angry on my sluggishness for which I apologized. He took me to his office where he told me that he was fighting my case in the university syndicate for allowing me both the educational scholarships at a time. I thanked him and asked his permission to leave his office. He asked me to sit down and asked his peon to serve us tea. While the tea was being prepared he told me that he too had to struggle hard for getting his education. He obtained his Master’s degree in Mathematics from the Punjab University and later on he got his doctorate from West Germany. He encouraged me much in my struggle to get higher education. He asked me to meet him at least once a week. I promised to do so and rushed back to attend my tuitions on which I had to depend for making my both ends meet sine both of my educational stipend had been stopped.. These were very hard times for me and my wife. We had to starve sometimes for days together. We were, however, very lucky to have sincere friends like Christy Munir, Sh. M. Jahangir, Mufti Javed Iqbal, Dr. Naseer Ahmad khan. Malik Gulzar and Seth Hanif of Sargodha. They all were very kind indeed and I approached them for any help or returnable loan as and when I urgently needed it. I was however extremely shy and self-contented. I would think thousand times before seeking help from anyone. But at times when the survival was at stake I had to request someone who was readily accessible at that critical moment. There came hundreds of occasions when we were starving for days together but we were determined not to ask help from anyone except God Almighty who always helped us miraculously at the right time and we thanked Him as much as we could at such rare occasions. After our migration from India to Pakistan in 1947 I had seen very hard times for many years when I was a casual railway coolie and I had to do many menial jobs such as selling the grass or serving as a waiter at a hotel or restaurant. So perseverance was my built in characteristic. However I had to look after my wife and a small daughter as well. This was a little more delicate issue. I had to hide many hardships so that my wife is not perturbed although she is a great lady and she herself had seen very hard times. But I had to care for her as much as I could with my meager sources and resources. She is an extremely contented lady. Her father, mother brother and uncle were murdered mercilessly in the ethnic riots of 1947 when the Muslims were migrating in the form of long caravans to Pakistan. She was only three years old at that time whereas I was five or six. She is my real maternal cousin and our mothers arranged the marriage when we were very young not even knowing the meanings of marriage. Once our small daughter became seriously ill and we had to get her admitted into the famous Lady Reading Hospital of Peshawar where it seemed very difficult to feed ourselves as we were facing serious financial hardships. Surprisingly Dr. Hanif Aslam who was a student of M. Sc. (chemistry) came to ask about the health of our baby. He made it compulsory for him to bring cooked meals for us without any break for weeks together. We requested him repeatedly not to bother for us but he insistently continued his good will practice. How can we really thank such great people? No it is certainly not possible to thank such noble souls. My great friend Dr. Naseer Ahmad Khan and his maternal Uncle Professor Zaheer Ahmad were big boons for us B asic motive behind my coming to Peshawar University for getting engineering education was that two of my friends and ex colleagues of Penicillin Factory Daudkhel were posted there. One of them was Dr. Naseer Ahmad Khan who was serving as a lecturer in the Chemistry Deparment of Peshawar University where his maternal uncle Professor Zaheer Ahmad was also serving as a senior lecturer in the same department. The second sincere friend was Malik Gulzar who was a great Architect and civil engineering expert employed by the University Of Peshawar. He was basically a Civil Engineer and great fine arts adept. His specialization in the art of photography was acknowledged by all and he won many prizes in this field as an amateur. He was a great dramatist too. I used to meet him often at the sites of huge buildings constructions being carried out under his direct supervision. We were living in the servant quarter of the S-type bungalow allotted to Professor Abbas Hasan Rizvi where we resided for about two years. Due to some special reasons however we had to leave our accommodation there and shift somewhere else. The natural alternative was to rent a single room house in Ghareebabad where we had lived initially in a similar rented single room mud house having no electricity or water facilities. I consulted my friend and ex colleague of Penicillin Factory Daudkhel, Dr. Naseer Ahmad Khan who told me that the servant quarter attached to the bungalow number S-36 allotted to his uncle Professor Zaheer Ahmad was lying vacant and we could shift there. It was a big blessing for us which had been offered even without our asking for it by my great friend. We were extremely glad and shifted to our new location immediately where we lived very happily till the completion of my engineering course. In fact we enjoyed this new residence because of many good reasons. First of all my great friend Dr. Naseer Ahmad was our neighbor as he was also living in S-36 with his uncle Zaheer Ahmad who was a very noble gentleman. Our common old friend Sh. Mohammad Jahangir and Christy Munir used to come there almost on daily basis after sunset and we all used to have wonderful meetings. It relieved me greatly as I could discuss my personal issues with them. The jolly talk of my great fiend Christy Munir would wash away all of my worries and anxieties. He also had his peculiar ways to help me. After the completion of his M.Sc. (Chemistry) he would occasionally write me encouraging letter enclosing some currency notes in the envelope. This indeed was a very peculiar way of help by the great man we still admire. He has unique style to take off your worries and problems My friends, Sh. M. Jahangir and Dr. Naseer Ahmad live in Islamabad and we frequently meet each other to share our moments of happiness and grieves. Sh Mohammad Jahangir lives very close to me in H. No. 298 Street 18 of Sector F-10/2 Islamabad. We almost meet daily and walk together In fact we are family relatives now as my youngest daughter Bushra Bashir was married to the real nephew of Sh. Mohammad Jahangir. My daughter Bushra Bashir and her husband Dr. Amjad live in Saudia Arabia with their three sons and two daughters. Dr. Naseer Ahmad retired a few years ago as the Head of Chemistry Department Quaide Azam University Islamabad. He lives in his own House Number 5 Service Road G-7/4 Islamabad. He has four sons and no daughter. All of his sons are well placed in our society. His eldest son Waseem who was born in USA when he was doing his doctorate, is an American national and married to an American girl who never visited Pakistan so far. We wish to see her here sooner or later. Professor Zaheer Ahmad and his wife were really very great. They never asked us to do anything for them. We used and misused some of their assets even without asking or informing them but they never minded our bad acts. Sometimes when our starvation became unbearable we stole their fresh salad and vegetables from their kitchen garden to satisfy our hunger. Once I tried to tell Professor Zaheer Ahmad about our misconduct in this regard but he evaded my telling him anything. He rather advised me to use anything we needed without asking or telling him. What a great man Professor Zaheer Ahmad was? He died a few years ago at Lahore where he had built a house. I often get up at night and pray for him. His wife and two sons Mr. Irfan and Mr. Noman live at Lahore in their house. Both of his daughters were married long ago and they are happily living with their husbands. I have paid a few visits and they were very happy to meet us each time. May God Almighty make them happy and prosperous for ever? Ameen. My class fellows of Engineering College Peshawar AND SOME SPECIAL FRIENDS I ACCIDENTLY MADE I miss my old class mates of Engineering College Peshawar University. Most of them have retired long ago. Some of them are alive and a few have expired. Two of my close class mates live in Islamabad. Engineer Iqbal Jan lives in house number 228 in Street 18 of F-10/2 Islamabad and he is my very close neighbor. He retired from WAPDA as the Chief Engineer (System Grid). He is the general secretary of our mosque for the last many years. In fact we started our collective prayers in his drawing room when there was no mosque constructed in our area. My second engineering class mate Mr. Mohammad Saeed Khan Arrayee lives in F-block of Katarian in the Satellite Town of Rawalpindi. He was my colleague in the T&T Department Government of Pakistan but he joined the Police Service of Pakistan in 1969 and retired as Inspector General of Police a few years back. He is an intelligent engineer and always passed his examinations with distinction. He is currently engaged in promoting the Islamic concepts of economy in our society. He is kind to visit me very frequently but I could not visit him even once due to my not being able to drive as per advice of my eye specialist. I however always enjoy his intellectual talks on various modern topics. He intends to write a book on Islamic economic system which has been delayed inordinately due to many reasons. A few months ago he gave me four chapters of his book for my comments and for improvement. I did my job as a critic and he appreciated greatly. I wish him and his coming book a bright future. Most of my old class mates of Engineering College Peshawar were from various cadet colleges. All of them spoke very good English. Some of them were also good in written English but were very poor in Mathematics and other subjects. They were all very smart and social. Some of them were my students for seeking tuition in many subjects. A few of them could not qualify their engineering examinations and left the Engineering College after making repeated efforts. They became famous contractors or businessmen of great wealth and repute. One of such brilliant persons was Mr. Mohammad Rafique Khan of Topi town in N.W.F.P. located very close to Tarbella Dam. He was a very smart and intelligent boy having very important friends in all sections of life in Pakistan. He is reportedly having a huge contracting firm at Lahore. I wish to see him there in my next visit. His two brothers, Mr. Taufiq and Mr. Parvez were my students seeking help in many subjects. I do not know their whereabouts now. I would like to locate them as soon as possible. We used to live in an island of Indus River when Tarballa Dam was under Construction. It was very cool but fearful place particularly at night. We used fierce wild dogs to protect us. The Numberdar of an adjoining village used to bring our meals from his home. One day the fierce dog caught him from his neck and was about to kill him when the elder brother of Mr. Rafique shot the dog dead.. It was a very costly dog and all the family members of Mr. Rafique wept for many days to mourn over the tragic demise of their beloved precious dog. My fiend Mr. Javed Iqbal Mufti was one year senior to me. We met casually in the beginning of my life in the Engineering College of Peshawar which has now been upgraded into a full-fledged Engineering University. On my very first meeting I found Mr. Mufti an ocean of love and kindness. He was so open and good tempered that it was almost impossible to separate from him. He had serious problem in his eyes and it is a miracle indeed that he qualified his mechanical engineering with distinction. Initially he joined a Dutch consulting firm working for the supervision of Mangla Dam Project. After sometime he resigned from the service of the Dutch consultant and joined WAPDA where he retired as a Chief Engineer posted at Mangla and Tarbella Dams. He was hired as a consultant by a Chinese firm for advice relating to the construction of Three Gorges Dam which is the biggest dam in the entire world. He was very handsomely paid by the Chinese firm and the amount so earned was used in completing his new house under construction at 15-C of the TECH Society Lahore where he is living with his family members very happily. He has one married son and two married daughters. His better half is factually his full life partner guiding him where some delicate matters are involved. His sweet mother loved me just like his real son and loved her as she was my real mother. She imparted me various golden pieces of advice pertaining to the marriage of my daughters and I implemented her instructions in letter and spirit. She died long ago. May god bless her soul in perfect peace. Mr. Abdul Latif was a Laboratory Assistant in the electrical workshop of the Engineering College of Peshawar University. I met him casually and found a perfect gentleman. We became good friends within no time and selfless friendship is still at its wonderful heights. He did his Electrical Engineering on my insistence. He joined WAPDA where served as an expert for protection design of electrical systems. He has made a vast grand bungalow in the TECH Society of Lahore. We meet once or twice annually. He has four sons and only one daughter. All of them are happily married. His eldest son has settled in America and another one in Canada. The remaining two sons and one daughter are settled at Lahore where they enjoying their happy life. Mr. Abdul Latif is indeed a lucky gentleman. My past and present in brief I retired as Chief Engineer of Pakistan T&T / PTCL on 13th of August 1999 after which I served as a consultant to many important organizations. I also involved myself in some social welfare activities. I am the President of Capital Citizens Committee (CCC) for the last more than eight years. I am particularly interested in helping the poor students. I am providing some financial monthly help to a bout one dozen of poor students at various levels of their education in schools, madrasas, colleges and universities. The poor students comprise male and female persons without any discrimination of sect religion cast or nationality. It is my mission to increase my efforts manifold with the help of my friends and associations who know me well. I and my wife visited India in November and December 2007. I have already written a factual travelogue in English as well as in Urdu languages. The travelogue has also been published in Hindi and Gurmukhi languages of India and its electronic copies are also available when be supplied to anyone making a request. I remained posted at many elevated national and international positions I have seen more than half the world on my official assignments and private tours. I have four sons and three daughters. My eldest son Engineer Murtaza Bashir Khadim has been living in Russia for the last twenty years or so as he has got Russian nationality. He has built a beautiful bungalow in Saint Peters Berg where he is running a big commercial firm jointly with an Indian and a Pakistani friend. My second son Engineer Mustafa Bashir Khadim is the Senior Network Executive in the mobile company called Instaphone. My third son Mr. Moosa Bin Bashir did his M.B.A. and he has been working at a very senior important post in the mobile company called MOBILINK. My fourth and the youngest son Engineer did his Masters Degree in the Engineering Management. He is currently posted as Deputy Manager (Projects) in P.P.I.B. under Ministry of Water and Power at Islamabad controlling and managing various privately built power stations all over Pakistan mostly built or being built by the foreign enterprises. He was awarded a senior selection grade on his recruitment a few years ago. All of my sons are happily married. CONCLUDIND REMARKS: Life has taught me to love all and hate none. Let us live and let others to live peacefully. Let us mind our own business and avoid interfering in the personal affairs of others. Let us serve the humanity as much as we can irrespective of cast, religion or nationality. Let us really believe that our life is too short and we must spend it righteously and consciously to the best of our potentialities. Let us do our best to resolve our disputes and clashes amicably keeping norms of justice in view. Let us help each other as much as we can. Let us remove the darkness of ignorance and ferocity with the light of true education. Let us avert the hanging fear of nuclear war between India and Pakistan. Let us learn a lesson from the nuclear explosion which caused immense disaster in Hiroshima and Nagasaki of Japan which I have personally witnessed with my own eyes a few years ago when I was there on an official assignment. We are all human beings and we may occasionally make mistakes or even blunders Let us learn to forgive our rivals and opponents believing inthat to err is human and to forgive divine. I draw special attention on the conventional animosity between Pakistan and India which has continued till today for the last sixty years without any mitigation. We have already fought two or three wars without learning any lesson. Previous wars were conventional but the future wars would be atomic ones destroying everything in India and Pakistan. Do we really want such a large scale destruction wherein everything should vanish in moments? Do we have any senses or human wisdom? This is high time to think without emotions or irrational excitement. Let the wisdom prevail and not the blind emotionalism. Why cannot we live like good neighbors? Have we really accumulated our misdeeds to the point that the horrible wrath and punishment of God Almighty must destroy us all? Let the evil forces of Satan not overpower us to take away our senses. Let us pray that God Almighty may show us the right path to follow. Amen. Bashir Ahmad Khadim Retired Chief Engineer T&T / PTCL Islamabad Pakistan. House 226 Street 18, Sector F-10/2. Islamabad. Tel: (051) 2212476 Mobile: 0345 509 69 29 E-mail: khadimbashir@yahoo.com Dated at Islamabad: 20th of May 2008