Those Two Years…

By

Yaqeen Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander

It was the fall of 2007 and I had very recently finished my 10 th class examinations. I was very ambitious, curious and enthusiastic. I had already decided to pursue Humanities stream during school days. I didn’t have any inclination for the science stream which majority of the students opt not because of their interest but because of its so called ‘scope’ which actually refers to the ‘money making potential’ which the students are very keen to exploit.

I had an ardent interest in science during my primary school days and I used to read lots of stuff on science which made my scientific knowledge very high and updated with comparison to my age. I remember that day most vividly when I wrote an application on my friend’s behalf for his absence in Std. IV where I was Roll No. 1, the most outstanding student of the class. When the supervisor saw that application, she was sure that it hadn’t been written by my friend as he was her nephew and she knew him well. It reached to her that I had written it and she was so impressed that she gifted me a text book of science by name “Living Science”. This was the book that ignited the flame of reading, studying, observation and experimentation in me. This book encouraged me so much that it proved as a turning point of my life. After that I never looked back. I continued reading books and magazines but with the passing years in school my interests shifted to computers and finally to Islamic theology and Comparative Religions.

Eventually the school days ended and I still miss those best days of my life - innocence, humour, nicknaming, mocking was real fun. After school, I never enjoyed life like those days. However, soon after 10th class exams my results came. I had secured a distinction with 83% marks. My choice for humanities instead of science amazed everyone but I had already chosen a distant goal which I wanted to achieve at any cost. I wasn’t discouraged by the comments of my friends, all of whom opted for science, because I was confident and had faith in myself. My parents and family supported me when I made them aware of my goals but my mother was still reluctant and insecure about my future.

Meanwhile the admission process started and I checked Jawahar Nagar Higher

Secondary (commonly known as ‘old’). The subject combinations available there were weird and few. The environment there made me choke somehow. So I decided not to get enrolled there. Now I just had a final and only choice before me i.e. S.P. Higher Secondary Institute. I had heard before about the gangsters, mafias and bullies of SP which I personally witnessed the day I went there for the admission form. Luckily or coincidently my school friend who had also secured a distinction decided to study in SP with the same subjects as me.

When I entered the school, it was in chaos. Forms were being issued and there was no line at all. Boys were clustered round the counter like humming bees because of which it took a long time and made it difficult to get a form which otherwise was an easy task. All the boys were happy. Some were laughing, some joking, some gossiping and of course there were the ones who were shouting abuses in random and making others laugh. I was not used to this anarchy before in school. Finally I managed to get a form. Later I submitted the form before the due date along with the fee and I saw the same ‘free’ environment all around. Even I wished to be free and independent. After all like others I was also a fresh 10th class pass out, seeking freedom after so many long years of hard and disciplined schooling.

Fortunately in the spring of ‘08 the school principal was changed and the new principal was a tough one. He wanted morality and discipline. Same like the school slogan said, “Ad Athera Tendons”, a Greek acronym for “Faith, Fraternity, Discipline”. Just with his posting to SP, the ’Rule of Law’ got established. The classes started exactly on 1st march. And first time in the history of this institution I think, the uniform was made compulsory. Laboratory was updated with new materials but the classes always remained devoid of markers. Attendance was to be strictly maintained for every class. Everyone was highly impressed by these reformatory steps.

I chose the subjects of my choice; Islamic Studies, Psychology, Political Science and Philosophy apart from General English. I later changed Philosophy to Education due to some logical reasons. I used to attend the classes regularly especially the Islamic Studies and Psychology ones as their lecturers were highly qualified and exceptional. Our English teachers kept on changing but all were satisfactory. But I was not satisfied with the Education and Political Science teachers. I used to wonder at their scarce and outdated knowledge and the irrelevant examples which they used to quote always horrified me. Later I skipped these two classes and during that time I would either read some book or talk or learn from other teachers. This continued for some months.

After the 1st term exams of 11th Std., the school seemed to be deserted, devoid of students and the empty playgrounds and classes haunted me. I was informed that this was the ‘normal routine’ of every year that students come to school just till term exams. Again, there were no lessons, no time table, no schedule and no attendance at all. The boys would to come to school due to the fear of shortage in attendance which would in turn disqualify us from the final exams but till term exams the boys had tested for sure that it was merely a myth and nobody would be stopped from sitting in the exams.

The examinations were just a mere show. The enrolment was very high and the space was too less to accommodate such a huge number of students. They used to make us sit in the school ground in both hot summer and cold winter. In winters the boys used to collect and put Chinar (Maple) leaves on the frozen, cold and wet grass before sitting on it. I remember vividly that during our 11th class finals, due to lack of space we were made to sit in a classroom and every bench and desk was shared at least by six students which in exams can only accommodate two students max on both corners of the bench. Taking advantage of this the student cheated endlessly and nobody stopped them from doing so because they couldn’t due to over crowdedness.

I was always disturbed most by the students as I was the top most student in the whole humanities block in terms of academics. It was not actually that I was some genius rather there was no competition at all. The papers were not even checked, though the teachers very eagerly used to take their payments for paper checking. The papers were just a trash for the school authorities and the very famous ‘masalawala’ of SP namely ‘Maam’ was kind enough to use them later. Fake awards of marks were even made. It was simply a ‘Jungle Raj’. You had to wait for the next whole year to get the 11 th class marks card which one would get while leaving the school. After waiting for such a drastic period I had even forgotten about it but I was really damn shocked to see that I had got only 60% marks while those who cheated from me had secured higher marks than me. They were the ones who didn’t even know simple spellings. And my suspicion about the papers not being checked and the fake awards got confirmed when I saw my marks of unit tests which I never even attended!

The school canteen was a means of attraction for the students where they used to eat, gossip and even smoke. That’s why I seldom used to go there. The new law of the school didn’t permit any student to leave the school premises before the due time and the gate would remain closed till then. But the students still managed to escape by climbing the walls or through SP college ground. Every time many students could be seen roaming or sitting under the shady Chinar trees in all the school grounds. Some bunking classes,

some smoking and some playing while others used to be busy with their mobiles. I used talk about Islam especially Hadith to the students sometimes to which our principal never objected. After all he also wanted the students to be moral.

The most important and peaceful place of the school which I think was the school Masjid. Everyday Dhuhr Salaah was lead by our Islamic Studies teacher. Many students and teachers used to pray there. It was always a very calm and peaceful place. I often used to sit in the Masjid with my friends to discuss and nobody would come to disturb us there. The diversity of students found in SP is unmatched. I have not seen so much diversity in any school. There were every type of students from failures to the position holders, from the alcoholics & the drug addicts to the most moral and pious ones, one could witness everything there. The students formed informal groups according to their own interests and everyone was associated with the students of his similarity. But there were no clashes between these informal student groups. The one who studies and emerges from that environment is the real achiever and topper. One can really either get degraded or highly elevated in that environment which is all what one wants and intends. Whatever we seek in life, we do find it after striving in that way.

Like every dark, rainy and gloomy day is followed by a bright sun, in the same way if there is evil, there is goodness also and goodness is always far better than evil. A few teachers of SP left an everlasting impression on my life. Including them is my Islamic Studies teacher, Psychology teacher and another retired English teacher who was really exceptional. I will remember and adore them all my life. Our Islamic Studies teacher, who is a Professor now, was the only teacher who finished the entire syllabus before the mid year and taught with utmost dedication but he was accused for not attending the classes regularly by other teachers including principal just because he never gossiped in the principal’s office like others used to do. After my 11th class I was not regular at school. During the whole succeeding year, I didn’t attend to even a single class of English and Education. I only used to attend Islamic Studies and Psychology classes where I at least learnt something. I remember clearly when I attended the Political Science class for the first time in 12th Std., our new male lecturer gave the examples of freedom and liberty as follows, “We all breathe the same air and nobody can stop other person from doing so”, this was his concept of freedom and his example of liberty was more unique. “Suppose a shopkeeper runs a shop from his childhood and another man also opens the same shop only after retirement. The former cannot tell the latter that how come he can do so and this is liberty!” I thought may such ’liberty & freedom’ be Mubarak to him only. I felt pity over that ‘sarkaari afsar’ who using his ‘sarkaari dimaag’ had appointed such a teacher. I never attended his class again.

In this way the two years of my Higher Secondary School passed swiftly. These two years taught me most of the lessons of life and provided me an opportunity to observe life very carefully. I learnt not only from lessons but also from my mistakes and those of others. I learnt through loyalty and betrayal by others. I learnt through my intelligence and foolishness. I learnt through my extrovertedness and innocence. I learnt by smiling and caring. I learnt through my carefulness and carelessness. The list will never end but we can make a difference to ourselves and to others by learning every moment. One can learn even from most immoral and degraded environment. But one must just possess the quality of deriving meaningful lessons from the everyday events of life.

Today I am a grown up and I have left behind those two years. But I will never forget the lessons they taught me. I have learned a lot from life which was both bitter and happy at times. But I never lost confidence and I am still tirelessly striving for my goals. And my quest will finish only the moment I close my eyes forever. I secured a Distinction with around 85% marks in 12th and topped in my school in Humanities. I secured more marks than all those who mocked at me by words and by heart and left them behind. And it was in the 11th class that I wrote my first book ‘The True purpose of Life’ and got it published from one of the leading Islamic Publishing Company of India. This book made me one of the youngest Islamic Writers of the world which others including position holders couldn’t achieve. Today I have my fan’s page in FaceBook, my own website and blog and I also run my own business just at the age of 18. All this became possible not because I am something special, privileged or extraordinary but only because I made the right choice. Though that time I had to suffer but today though busy, I am very happy and contended with my life.

Life gives us many options to choose from but we choose only what others do. This is because one feels more secure in doing so. It’s risk-free and it reinforces our choice. But when we make an individual and independent choice to be something different, it’s a difficult path to tread but if you are confident then you will surely achieve whatever you intend. Among many options I had to make my choice and I did. That’s why today I am what I intended to be. It was just a matter of choice and same holds true for all. Every human can become great but one just has to make the right choice at the right place. I remember the words which I once heard from someone that “What’s it that makes a human a human? Is it the origin where he comes from? No, it’s the place where he chooses to be.” So we have to make right choices every moment in our lives and that’s upon what our success truly lies. Lastly I remember the words of Frederick E. Perl who said, ‘I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world

to live up to mine. You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it ’s beautiful.’

(The Author can be reached at www.yaqeenulhaq.info or can be mailed at yaqeen@ymail.com)