In July - August 2019, when my mother was very ill, my aunts would come practically every day to spend time with her. It was a very sad period in our lives, and we had extremely heavy hearts, but my aunts would try to cheer us all up with interesting stories from the past. My mother took her illness very bravely, and she would also chip in with old stories. We got to hear some lovely stories from the family archives. Here's one of them.
In pre partition times in Pakistan, my uncle was a very intelligent child. He was intellectually gifted, had got a couple of double promotions and was academically a few years ahead of others his age. He had shown an exceptional aptitude towards humanities and languages, and he was learning Persian. A Moulvi Ji used to come home to teach him. My uncle was a young boy back then, and he was in the habit of wearing shorts, which were rather loose for him. Other students who learned Persian under the Moulvi Ji were much older, and had graduated to wearing long trousers. The Moulvi Ji ticked off my uncle one day and said "Why are you wearing your mother's Ghagras?". Extremely sensitive as he was, my uncle told his mother he was not going to learn Persian any more!
He switched over to Biology and went on to study to become a doctor. He applied for admission in college. There again, he was a couple of years younger than other students who were applying for admission. During his interview, someone on the panel objected to my uncle's young age, despite his very high marks, and he sarcastically told my uncle "In the hostel, we don't have nurses to take care of our students". My uncle took strong offence at the sarcasm, and he refused to join that college and he ended up joining elsewhere.
A few years later, my uncle applied to medical college in a sought after medical institution in Amritsar for his post doctorate. He had very high qualifications but he didn't get through because the college had reservations for local Punjabi students. My grandfather used to work for the Nawab of Bahawalpur, and he was a great favourite of the Nawab's. When the Nawab heard that my uncle was not getting admission because of the reservation issue, he used his tremendous influence, personally got in touch with the college, and secured a seat for my uncle. People around the Nawab said "If you have secured a seat, why give it to a Hindu boy? Why not give it to a Muslim boy from Bahawalpur?". But given the Nawab's very open minded, religiously tolerant and secular ways, plus his great fondness for my grandfather, he was very clear that he wanted the seat for no one else other than my uncle.
Through quirks of fate, including the roles played by the Moulvi Ji and the Nawab, my uncle went on to do very well in medical college. He joined the Indian Army as a doctor, and became a renowned plastic surgeon and had a very successful career. He could have very well been a Persian scholar instead, if the Moulvi Ji hadn't been said what he had said!!
In pre partition times in Pakistan, my uncle was a very intelligent child. He was intellectually gifted, had got a couple of double promotions and was academically a few years ahead of others his age. He had shown an exceptional aptitude towards humanities and languages, and he was learning Persian. A Moulvi Ji used to come home to teach him. My uncle was a young boy back then, and he was in the habit of wearing shorts, which were rather loose for him. Other students who learned Persian under the Moulvi Ji were much older, and had graduated to wearing long trousers. The Moulvi Ji ticked off my uncle one day and said "Why are you wearing your mother's Ghagras?". Extremely sensitive as he was, my uncle told his mother he was not going to learn Persian any more!
He switched over to Biology and went on to study to become a doctor. He applied for admission in college. There again, he was a couple of years younger than other students who were applying for admission. During his interview, someone on the panel objected to my uncle's young age, despite his very high marks, and he sarcastically told my uncle "In the hostel, we don't have nurses to take care of our students". My uncle took strong offence at the sarcasm, and he refused to join that college and he ended up joining elsewhere.
A few years later, my uncle applied to medical college in a sought after medical institution in Amritsar for his post doctorate. He had very high qualifications but he didn't get through because the college had reservations for local Punjabi students. My grandfather used to work for the Nawab of Bahawalpur, and he was a great favourite of the Nawab's. When the Nawab heard that my uncle was not getting admission because of the reservation issue, he used his tremendous influence, personally got in touch with the college, and secured a seat for my uncle. People around the Nawab said "If you have secured a seat, why give it to a Hindu boy? Why not give it to a Muslim boy from Bahawalpur?". But given the Nawab's very open minded, religiously tolerant and secular ways, plus his great fondness for my grandfather, he was very clear that he wanted the seat for no one else other than my uncle.
Through quirks of fate, including the roles played by the Moulvi Ji and the Nawab, my uncle went on to do very well in medical college. He joined the Indian Army as a doctor, and became a renowned plastic surgeon and had a very successful career. He could have very well been a Persian scholar instead, if the Moulvi Ji hadn't been said what he had said!!
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