To Ma'am with Love

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 5 September 2023 Dekha Na Kohkan Koi Farhaad Ke Baghair Aata Nahin Hai Fun Koi Ustaad Ke Baghair (The way Farhad dug the mountain for Shireen/ Nothing great can be achieved sans a teacher or mentor) "Mudarris Humein Asbaaq-e-Hayaat Sikhate Hain" (Teachers teach us lessons of life). I'm reminded of this famous adage in Urdu whenever I think of my late teacher and mentor Dr Zaifa, who taught me Persian, Pashto and their dialects. Alexander the Great once told his friend and trusted general Seleucus Nicator about his teacher and mentor Aristotle, “He opened my inner eyes to the world around and inculcated values that I still nurture in my heart and will continue to nurture till I die" So very true. A great teacher is placed on the same pedestal with one's parents. Dr Zaifa was everything to me. Having studied in a Persian medium school in Iran, my English was very poor and my accent was even worse. I used to be tongue-tied when it came to conversing in English. My English-speaking friends would laugh at my awful English and I used to feel so crestfallen and dejected. But thanks to my affable teacher Dr Zaifa, I overcame my inferiority complex and learnt English to be on a par with my condescending peers. Though I still make mistakes aplenty, I know a modicum of English. Since I could converse only in Persian and Dari, she made it a point never to talk to me in these languages. Instead, she would speak with me in simple English that was intelligible even to a nursery student. Whenever I would break into Persian and Dari, she would admonish me in her inimitably pleasant manner that I needed to learn English. Persian, Arabic, Dari wouldn't come to my rescue at world's premier Universities. Thanks to her exhortations, I could learn a little bit of English. Dr Zaifa widened my horizons and deepened my perceptions. She taught me how to converse in grammatically correct Urdu despite my familiarity with the Persian Rasmul-Khat (script). A life-long non-believer and rationalist, she inculcated in me the ability to discern and examine. She turned her back on Islam and all religions at the age of 16. I imbibed from her, the spirit of rationalization. Dr Zaifa urged me to think logically. Once I fell seriously ill and was in need of money for my immediate surgery. She didn't let me spend a single penny and had borne all expenses of my hospitalization and operation. When I wanted to pay back, she said, ' Forget it. You're too precious to me.' She was full of compassion and would regularly visit orphanages as well as old homes. If I've a semblance of compassion in my heart, it's because of Zaifa ma'am. She never discriminated against any student and would never fail anyone, though she was critical of the level of students and their poor understanding of the subjects. While guiding me for my Doctoral thesis on Persian Mysticism with Respect to Rumi and Jami, she would collect rare books for me from the great libraries all over the world. Even when I left the varsity, she accompanied me to India and lived with me for six years before the fell hands of death took her away. She had already willed and donated her whole body to the medical college because she didn't want a rigmarole of last rites to be performed after her death. She was an atheist but loved mankind and all those who came in her contagious contact. I still remember her with tears in my eyes and when readers across the world admire me after reading my articles in various publications and in several languages, I remember my Zaifa ma'am, who taught me how to read, write and speak. I remember, Hafiz Jaunpuri's famous Urdu couplet, "Ab Mujhe Maanein Na Maanein, Ai Hafiz/ Maante Hain Sab Mere Ustaad Ko" (Whether I'm acknowledged or not/ My mentor is acknowledged by all). All the praises for me are actually acknowledgement of her exemplary mentoring. I shall remember her till the wrinkled eve of my life. She's eternally etched in my memories, ensconced in my thoughts, embedded in my consciousness and entombed in my heart. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/happy-teacher-day-love/d/130597 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism