Jamia ka Tarana

Jamia ka Tarana

Jul 24, 2007

Past Tense...Jamia Middle School

Buying the voters is an effective & most controversial/debatable subject during, before & after every election in our country.

It is a sort of bribe which is punishable under law if committed by an adult.



However, after taking a deep dive into the past i found myself standing in front of sadar darwaza of Jamia middle school.

It was "ELECTION" time in School to form "BachchoN ki Hukumat".

Many Contenders to Presidents post!

Different group with colorful hand made posters glued & flagged to the wall of school for canvasing.

Scented/without scent but colorful handbill to chose president.

Banners at many places & finally the procession of students marching on paved areas.

The School looks a like small parliamentary constituency.

Every candidate do his level best to attract potential voters.

Speeches,Promises & debates are common sites in the campus.

One of the candidate tried to concentrate over primary section by giving them KissMe Parley G toffee, the other candidate come up with distribution of Eclair candy.

Students enjoying the feast because for upper classes toffee is not enough.

They were given coupons bearing candidates signature to avail free samosa,tea, cold drink & gulab Jamun from Muzaffer bhai ki canteen.

The campaign stopped a day before polling.

Polling day was quiet with many groups in line on existing parks.

Canvasing still alive among the student in a quite manner with Toffee topping over candidates handbill.

It happens frequently that students give their promises to all the candidate to vote in their favour assuring them victory all but one candidates must loose to pave way for one winner.

Election ends up with joy in the camp of winning candidate & counting losses in loosers camp.



But there is no law that can framed those students & candidate for offering & accepting bribes in terms of toffee & other because they are children and are exempted.

They are getting trained for their future life by the school through mock up.

It is presumed that toffee will no longer be the parameter to judge the candidates during real time election to build the nation.

I was very lucky with other students of my time that we never had an election commissioner like T.N.Session (The Most powerful election commissioner of India)who would have framed & prevent us enjoying good feast from the candidates.

Jul 23, 2007

Past Tense...Jamia Middle School

I was in 7th standard when Talimi Mela(1981) resumed after a long haul.
Apart from many activities, i took part in a story writing competition.
During those years it was teachers responsibility to identify the students interest in different fields & groom them accordingly.

Those were the days when Good/neat writing constitutes 05 numbers in examination & advantage while securing marks in sessional tests.
SO, it was an open story writing competition & for the first time i prepared myself to write something.

I wrote the story of a proud & arrogant frog went on competition with an elephant for unnecessary thing & ultimately lost his life.

My story got third prize & published with my name & photograph in "PAYAME TALEEM" A renowned monthly Urdu magazine for children, Published by Maktaba Jamia Limited.

I felt very happy with this achievement & my teacher along with my friends praised me too.

The time passes quickly & almost after 6weeks i received one letter on school address from one of the publishing house in Bombay praising my story & wanted to send 12 story book as an appreciation!

I was delighted & confirmed them without wasting time.
Within three weeks i received 12 nice story books.

Actually, it was an appreciation with encouragement to write more good story's.

I never felt sorry for not writing a single story since after instead i started with essays from time to time in URDU & was comfortable & confident in that.

It may be possible that i still have copy of that Payame taleem number back in Delhi.

There were only two Urdu magazines meant for children at that time & the other one was monthly magazine "KHILONA".
I still posses many payame taleem in Dubai as well but it is unfortunate that Pyame talim has reduced its reader ship drastically & is on verge to close down.
It hapened due to lack of urdu reader ship & encouragemnet of urdu by the parents themsleves.
The first publication of Maktaba Jamia was DEEWANE GHALIB, which was got printed by Dr.Zakir Hussain in Berlin (Germany) in 1925.

I hope Reader ship of Payame taleem will increase & people will bring back this magazine to its original size & glory.
Address to subscribe Payame taleem is:
Maktaba Jamia Limited
Jamia Millia Islamia,
Maulana Mohammed Ali Johar Marg,
New Delhi, 110025.
India.

Past Tense....Jamia Sr.Sec.School

I think it was 1985, when bollywood blockbuster Ram Teri Ganga Meli was released!
As usual it was screened on one cinema hall in the midst of old delhi "Golcha cinema".
The reviews were very good, there fore girls in our group urged to watch the movie.
SK,NP,SM among the girls & ZAM,QMD,HJA were in a state to afford the ticket, however, myself, HZS, BAM & Razi Ahmed Farooqui were falling short of money to buy a ticket.
What to do?
Nobody wants to miss the opportunity to watch a nice movie together!
I decided to raise the fund from the school by begging & HZS supported me.
I then went to Muzaffar Bhai ki canteen, stands there to start the mission.
I saw Few girls from commerce came, bought samosa & tea.
I went to them, ask them to contribute few rupees.
They asked me the reason & i told them to buy a movie ticket!
Tricky but fetched Rs.1.50 from them.
Next target were Shamama Khursheed, Seemi Musheer, Saima Jamal Nizami, Shabeena Mujeeb, Shagufta Khatir, Asiya, Kishwar madam (NCC),Farah Naaz, Nahid Jamal, Tasleem Nahid.
Donors were 95% Female, as they were not difficult, however, 5% were male.
Among those 5%, were Rafat Saheb (sports teacher), Khalid saheb(bio teacher),Asif saheb (newly appointed teacher) & one rupee i was able to take from Tehsin Burney saheb.
The mission Accomplished after collecting Rs.39.50, were more than enough to buy three balcony tickets cost Rs.9.00.
AT 10.30 AM, it was decided to go & purchase the tickets for matinée show (3-6).
Myself, HZS, Razi took bus no.402 to make the booking after promising Four girls & Four boys (HJA,QMD,RR& ZMA) to assemble at D at 2.00Pm.
Upon arriving at Golcha, the scene was totally different to what we thought.
Man over Man, lobby was jammed packed by the people & a big board of "HOUSE FULL" was teasing us for the current show, matinée, evening & night.
Suddenly we heard a whisper "Panch ka bees" "Paanch ka bees".
We stopped the person selling tickets in black to inquire about matinée show.
In hurry he replied, "Neeche ka ticket hai current show ka"! (current show ticket is available).
We all looked to each other, suddenly our eye shines & we all have decided to purchase four tickets worth Rs.20 in Rs.80 for the current show.
We paid the money & stormed inside cinema hall.
Intermission brought us with nice burger & cold drinks & we forget that there were people waiting for us in front of Jamia middle school.
The movie was nice it was a real hit.
We took Bus no.403 to come back after the show, with no sign of cheating & shame.
Next day in school was a bit difficult as QMD tried to hit us, RR & ZMA cursed us to maximum, Girls screamed at us & promised to never trust us again without asking their money back.
We acted like innocent & didn't tried to defend ourselves because we knew that we are at fault.
After few days every thing came to normal & four of us again become the part of group to share, tease & preparing for another funny idea.

Jul 22, 2007

Past Tense...Jamia Sr.Sec. School

Since the classroom X-C situated on the edge of school boundary (explained in previous postings), sharing the vicinity with two graves, isolated school canteen, An open shower area with tube well for hostelers & a front grass land ends with a school boundary over looking Ansari health center (dispensary).
During 1984-85, one fine noon, ZMA, RR & Shabih cooked something.
Before leaving class, they unbolted the window facing shower area & walked quietly.
Some one came & locked all the class rooms as a normal practice.
They went to Muzaffar Bhai ki canteen, eat samosa's & came back around 2.30 PM.
Without any fear climbed to the window from shower area, jumped inside the class room, as window was about Five feet's from the ground level from inside & much higher from outside.
Without any delay they started dropping "Kharish ki Dawa"(I think calamine lotion), over the chairs.
After finishing about two rows from the front they left the class room from the same route like expert thieves.
The first two rows because front row always occupied by the girls & also they are the first to reach class room after the assembly.
Next day, it was screaming all the way.
Few girls sat on the chair without noticing it & few noticed & brought to the knowledge of Majeed Saheb.
Majeed Saheb inquire & gets no satisfactory reply.
He then decided to go & ask Ansari health centre about how many boys from higher secondary school visited.
He caught the right one.
Actually RR played smart & requested ZMA to pose as suffering from this sickness & he fell into the trap.
We the student of class X-C never came to know the result but ZMA confess that his Father (Majeed Saheb) slapped him at home.
It was the end of another funny day at school.

Jul 21, 2007

Past tense...Jamia Middle School

School offers playing facility for students in boarding & to day scholars!!!
Day Scholars?
It was a total new announcement that shocked everybody.
Since Aftab saheb made it very clear, therefore many of us decided to join, evening session of play.
So, we went & assembles infront of Sadar darwaza after ASR prayer.
Aftab saheb came & sticks to play hockey were distributed.
Because of first day, few of gets te broken sticks & were very happy.
Those broken sticks were better than own crafted sticks, we used to play earlier.
Running in the ground given a lot of stamina but no ball.
We went to Aftab saheb & requested to bring new sticks & he agreed.
After few weeks, new sticks arrived.
We were very happy.
Assembled again infront of sadar darwaza.
Aftab saheb came & stands near sticks.
He then starts calling students by their name.
"Saeed"(his son), come & collect your stick, saeed went & chosen a new stick.
Akbar....Irfan....etc etc.
He finished all those live in hostel before asking kamil, talib, shakeel, Monis to collect their sticks.
There was nothing left there.
New one taken by hostelers.
The one remained was defective, as abandoned by them.
I was lucky to get a complete stick.
What if the wrapping has gone!!
It became very clear that if we have to learn Hockey, the we must learn by the same or leave the field.
We have continued with the same.
Although i never represent my school anywhere except for few matches played in higher secondary school ground & in TTI, but many of other like Kamil, Talib,Shakeel & Monis have represented school in many tournaments.
Shakeel, Kamil & Monis excel their game further & represent university.
All the grudges have gone with the time, as respect always comes first for the teachers in middle & higher secondary school.
Aftab Saheb was also respected by all like we respect other teachers.
It was Aftab saheb who used to give DONGA & KANGHA to all who participate in annual sports.

Jul 17, 2007

Past tense....Jamia Sr.Sec.School

Akhlaque sahib, Urdu teacher in middle school, warden of iqbal manzil (hostel) & an active person stopped me while i was marching towards canteen.
He then informed me about essay writing competition during talimi Mela.
It was all India essay writing competition & topic was "Dr.Zakir Hussein", he wants me to participate in that.
Reluctantly i said yes when he told me about the prize money.
Winner= Rs.1000
Runner up=Rs.700
Third= Rs.500.
Any of the amount considered to be good during 1985-86.
Altough the task was difficult since hundreds of students from many places were due to take part, however, i started with reading the books related to Dr.Zakir Hussein.
After reading for almost three days, i starts writing the essay.
It tooks me two days to finalize it & finally it was ready for submission before one of closing time.
Talimi Mela started & on the final day i came to know that i won the second prize, but prize money will take another weeks time to reimbursed.
I went to Akhlaque sahib & he told me, the prize money is collected by Abdul Haqq khan sahib from the foundation & you can go & ask him.
I went to him, he said come tomorrow.
I went again, again he said tomorrow.
My dreams of spending that money starts crumbling.
I didn't given up & so khan sahib.
It went for months, school closed for half yearly, reopens & i went to ask him again.
Again i got promise.
Initially he used to smile but later this smile transformed into something else.
Finally after chasing him for six months, he refused & told me in plain words that iam not going to have it.
I went disappointed.
Was thinking for many hours why he did that, how he will be benefited with those 700 rupees.
I never get the answer from myself too.
After 22 years i have nothing against khan sahib.
He has given so much to Jamia senior secondary school that no body could achieved so far, except my Rs.700.
I considered,although i stood second but i never won any prize money.
May Allah Give khan sahib good health.

Jul 2, 2007

Past tense...Sr.Sec.School

Protest is a term popular since generations, yet the expression differs in many ways.

In 80's it was nearly difficult to think about any sort of protest due to terror of Abdul haqq khan saheb as principal of Senior secondary school & many senior teachers like M.Y.Papa, Razi Ahmed kamal, Abdul Majeed zahoori & many more.

However, there was an episode related to our seniors of 12th class while i was in 11th where Abdul haq khan saheb has refused to do something which was badly required in hostel & was genuine.

Among my seniors, notable was Asim qasimi, Abid akhter, mujahid & others.

Upon denial of request they have decided to stage a protest.

One fine morning in winter season, every body has noticed about 8 to 9 shaved, oiled & shiny heads during assembly.

All the teachers were in a state of PAUSE & students were amazed.

It was a direct protest against Abdul haq khan saheb, who was a bald man.

Khan saheb came & saw them standing.

Khan saheb gone mad with shouting, slapping & kicking them.

All the teachers tried to appease khan saheb & assembly was dismissed.

Those 8-9 seniors were then summoned in principal office.

Nothing doing & they all were expelled for 7 days.

They rejoin after 7 days but their protest was remain till an inch of hair turf grown on their heads.

Neither khan saheb nor those seniors of mine uttered a single word thereafter about their protest,but khan saheb realised & agreed to them later.



Don't know why i key down this happening, it suddenly pops up in my mind & i did it.

Was feeling a sense of discipline during the whole protest!!!

Sounds weired?

Believe it or not!

Students did mockery of principal which was not a good idea but they were not left with many options similar to what they did.

Principal took action against them.

They accepted the action.

Principal realised his action.

Every thing become normal & terror restored as usual if not for them but for others.

Jamia ka tarana (english)




This is the land of my hopes
This is the land of my dreams
This is where men with zeal stayed
Men who answered the leaders' call
It is here that torn-off love
Found the cohesive chords
It is here that wayward passions
Formed into frenzied love
It is here that the wild tulip learnt
How to make the scar of heart aglow
This is the land of my hopes
This is the land of my dreams
This is the place of men of vision
And of those with a challenging thought
Every morning here is new
And every evening newer still
Different is this tavern
And different are its norms
Different are the dancing cups
And different is their dance
Here drinking begets thirst a new
And different is this tavern's call
This is the land of my hopes
This is the land of my dreams
Here, conscience is the beacon light
And conscience is the guide
Here is the Mecca of heart resides the guiding faith
Ceaseless movement is our faith
And blasphemy it is to stay still
Here, the destined goal is the march on and on
Here, the swimming urge seeks
Newer and newer storms
Restless wave itself is our resurrected shore


Translated by: Prof. M. Zakir