THE STORY OF A TEACHER

It is a story of a man, unfortunately, narrated at the closure of his life, who with a candle in his hand came – from the tepid lap of the glorious Terichmir – down to the down hilly areas of Drosh and illuminated the barren minds, down here. It is a story of a missionary knight who with his mighty power of pen stood responsible for the paradigm shift in the educational sector of a whole deprived tehsil. It is a story of a man whose endeavors remained permanent watersheds, in between the intellectually void and intellectually brimming eras. It is the story of an alien settler, who with his beacon, attracted the aboriginal and pointed and guided them, towards their real future destination. It is a story of a man, who lost all he had accumulated throughout his life, in pursuit of his mission. Yes, it is the story of Sir Abdullah Khan; my mentor, my guru, my teacher.

The story poured down, on a flagrant Saturday, when death snatched a benevolent teacher from us. To Allah we belong all and to him shall all we return. We cannot help, but surrendering to the omnipotent will of the almighty Allah, but his sudden demise left us of no use.

Sir Abdullah Khan enjoyed a suave personality and erudition in his life. He was a sensitive soul and a lover of knowledge. He with his shrewd observation used to observe both the quality of learning and that of the learners. I enjoyed an amicable relationship with him. Once in a course of the discussion, he addressed me with these words “Time is rushing towards ignorance besides inundation of degrees and graduates. The quality of education decreases by and by”. Later on, after days of pondering, I realized the depth of what he said.

Sir Abdullah Khan was a real educator. He timely realized the educational needs of the area he had settled in. Being a diligent administrator and industrious teacher he dedicated and devoted both his life and resources for the educational up-gradation of the area. He started a college with the name of Hira Model College, to address the educational needs of Drosh at a higher level. I am a witness to the facts of the way he suffered while educating his society. He had taken the initiative with sincere intentions, seeing the ground favorable and thinking the society in dire need of it. But soon jealousies engulfed him and the path turned into a thorny one. Still, he, with the strength of his determined soul, faced all the hindrances and remained firm in his mission.  Perhaps he was thinking it better for his conscious soul to suffer, being busy in educating ignorant, than miserably suffering among them, seeing them grow ignorant. Many times came when the college was in its swan song, but he relieved it with wisdom and courage.

He was a true reformer. He gave a sense of higher education to us. He transformed an ignorant society into an educated one. He lived as a successful missionary figure, who devoted his life to the cause of education. He inculcated the love of knowledge in the minds of a knowledge-abstaining community. He proved himself to be a trendsetter; the sublime trend of education. He changed the whole environment of Drosh. Definitely, the credit for the soaring trend of higher education in the area solely goes to him.

Though he left us amidst unending woes and sorrows, we are content that he made history. He epitomized the reality that how a minuscule step was taken towards a greater and sublime cause results in gorgeous achievement. Our heartfelt prayers, for his dignified abode in the promised lands of heaven, will always remain intact. To some up my scattered feelings, I did not find, words more beseeming than the followings;

“Beyond the bounds of mind and sight – it is said that there is a garden – dear Sir! Hope that we will meet there”.