Contents My Life.pmd

MY LIFE
B. Sheik Ali
Knowledge Society Publications
Saraswathipuram
Mysore
MY LIFE
Copy Rights
Knowledge Society Publications
Saraswathpuram,
Mysore
Book Name
:
MY LIFE
Author
:
B. Sheik Ali
Year of Publication :
2009
No. of Copies
:
1,000
Publishers
:
Knowledge Society Publications
Publication
:
No. 59, 7th Main, 3rd Cross,
Saraswathipuram,
Mysore - 570 009
& : 0821 - 2543439
DEDICA
TION
DEDICATION
Dedicated to the fond
memory of my mother,
a lady of indomitable courage,
of inexhaustible energy,
of unflinching integrity and
of immense fertility of mind
whose sacrifices made me
what I am.
Preface
For a long time a good friend of mine was pressing me to
write my life, and I was evading, thinking what have I got to
say which is not already said before by thinkers, leaders,
philosophers, sufis and saints? But a student of mine, Shri
Putte Gowda, now Commissioner of Commercial Taxes in the
State, made me change my decision. What he said was, “Sir,
when you write it, it won’t be merely your personal life, but
it would be the history of the 20th century, as your life has
spanned a good part of it.” This was a different angle of
thinking and I reflected on it. From that day, early in 2007,
I took to pen only for half an hour every day, immediately
after my morning walk, not touching the news paper before
scribbling something on paper. This I did religiously only for
100 days, and lo ! there was a volume of 500 pages. While
walking I would reflect on my past, and soon after, at the
desk, it was in black and white.
Life of any individual or nation, worthy of record, is
like history which begins from an invisible point, makes its
circles larger and larger and its flights swifter and swifter,
until at last it shoots like a flaming comet from star to star,
ultimately to turn closer to infinity. This sums up my life,
born as a non-entity some where in a village, struggled hard
to come up in life, faced challenges limitless in number, gained
something in the realm of knowledge, shared that with all
others, and adopted a simple principle of do good and be
good. God was good to me every day.
If some one were to ask me what was the goal of my
life, I would say, live for others ; hold talent and wealth as a
Trust from God ; be thankful to God for life’s responsibilities;
do not be crazy for awards or rewards ; they too would come
in God’s good time, if you deserve them ; kindle the
conscience with the torch of learning and then you would
know the responsibility you owe to the society ; do your duty
at all times and in all circumstances ; earn the daily bread by
the sweat of your brow ; nothing descends from the heaven ;
you have to pay a price for every little thing ; it is the hard
work that is the key to sucesess ; life leaps like like a geyser
if only your cut through the rock of intertia ; the heights
great men have reached are not sudden flights ; they have
toiled hard night and day ; happiness is out of the reach of
laziness; work is the best anti-dote to sorrow ; the best
witness to God’s truth are those who show its light in their
life. This is also my message to the youth.
When I look back on life certain things strike me.
The inexorable law of nature is the finest source to learn
good morals. Nothing exists in the world for its own sake.
Everything is for everything else. The cow grazes the green
grass to give milk for others. A candle burns itself but gives
light to others. A tree does not deny shade even to a wood
cutter. The honey bees work hard to produce honey for
others. The pearl in a shell and the musk in a deer are all for
others. Man too should conform to this law of nature. He
should know everything in the world moves towards a
fulfilment stage, and that he too should rise from the fleeting
pleasures of life to the maturity, to the nobility, and to the
sublimity to realise everything is in a process of development
and he too should become a part of that development. Life
is something more than defending the borders of breathing
where one should know the greatest good is the knowledge
of the union the mind has with whole nature. When man
links himself with whole nature, with the creativity of this
universe, with the functioning of this universe how there is
harmony, order and system everywhere in nature, he would
start understanding the mystery of life. There is no security
anywhere in life, but there is always an opportunity
everywhere ; make the best use of the opportunity and you
would be part of the development. When desires, emotions
and ideas are harmonised, cosmos take place. When
disharmony exists in them, chaos take place. Therefore,
thoughts should not lack the heat of the desires nor the desires
the balance of harmony. The man who gives himself wholly
to things of beauty becomes a part of that beauty. Things
closer to nature are things most beautiful. I made some of
these principles a part of the philosophy of my life.
In short I regarded the whole world as an open book
for discerning minds to pick pearls of wisdom. Who can excel
the industry of an ant, the fidelity of a dog, the gentleness of
a cat, the calmness of a duck or the patience of a camel ?
When even a pebble is polished, it shines like a diamond. A
diamond is a stone that has both weight and glow. It is its
glow that matters. How nice it would be if man too were to
acquire the glow of a diamond present in him in the form of
intellect ! The more you cut the diamond the more it shines.
Likewise the more you reflect, brighter would be the glow of
your intellect. Life is a gift of God, but good life is the gift
of the good use of intellect. I thank God for blessing me
with a profession which involved sharing the finest fruits of
man’s intellect through the ages, that is to teach histoy and
write history.
Finally, I have to acknowledge that I owe a good deal
to several and several benefactors, to my parents, to my
er
teachers, to my guardians, to my alma-mat
alma-mater
er,, to those who
helped me to rise in life, to go to Britain, to U.S.A. and to
different parts of the world for lectures and to those who
gave me an opportunity to establish not one but two new
Universities. Apart from these there are numerous individuals,
friends, associates, kith, kin, near and dear who assisted me
in several ways in my social and eduactional work as also for
my personal welfare. It is difficult to spell their individual
names as they are so many and so many. They figure in the
text that follows. I salute them all with the sicerity of my
soul. However, I name only three persons here, one who
funded the work, the second who typed it, and the third
who printed it. It was my own son, Dr. Zakir Hussain, now
Medical Officer in Brunei, who offered himself to meet the
cost of publication. I sincerely pray for his and his family’s
health, happiness, peace and prosperity. It was Shri Shivamallu
who typed the work, and Mr. Fairoze Ahmed who saw it
through the press, I thank them immensely for they have
become a source of great help to me.
- B. Sheik Ali
Mysore
22 January 2009
Contents
1.
Refelections on Life
1
2.
Education
25
3.
Higher Education in Mysore
53
4.
Graduation
67
5.
University Service
95
6.
Aligarh Muslim University
109
7.
Married Life
135
8.
Experiences in England
171
9.
Professorship
205
10.
Experiences in America
239
11.
Vice-Chancellor of a New Universities
265
12.
Vice-Chancellor of yet
Another New University (Goa)
299
13.
Social Service
325
14.
Intellectural Pursuits
395
15.
Epilogue
435
16.
Personality, Traits and Estimate
241
1
Refelections on Life
Life is a gift of God, a kind of radium that emits light and
heat. It is also a mass, which you can put it to any use you
like, turn it into a jewel or make it a pebble. It is like a
river, with twists and turns, in continuous flow until it joins
the mighty ocean. Its source is love; its pride is intellect; its
glow is knowledge; its urge is desire; its tool is labour; its
passion is wealth; and its goal is peace. To exist is to change,
to change is to mature; to mature is to make progress, and
to make progress is the purpose of life. In the evolutionary
process man has now landed on moon; he is scanning the
stars; sweeping the floor of the oceans; reviving a collapsing
heart; and splitting atoms to release energy. Along with this
control of nature, man has made some progress in the realm
of higher thought as well, such as compassion and kindness,
truth and justice, beauty and love, patience and perseverance,
but not enough progress. It is a pity that his conquest of
physical nature has not kept pace with the conquest of his
own selfish desires.
In the evening of life when a person reflects on his own
past, strange, thoughts cross his mind. He gets puzzled at
what he did, and what he did not do; what he gained, and
what he lost; who helped him, who deceived him; what he
should have done, and what he should not have done; what
2
My Life
were his moments of joy and exuberance, and what, of agony
and regret; and what thrilled him most when he was a child,
when he was a youth, an adult and now an old man. When
he reflects on these, he is overwhelmed by a feeling either of
what Shakespear has said that life is a tale told by an idiot
full of sound and fury signifying nothing, or by a feeling life
is a precious opportunity where every moment is a digital
dot that adds to the sum total of a grand picture, which
could be even of a Mona Liza.
There is so much variety and complexity in the universe
that no two leaves of a tree are identical, and no two
individuals are the same in thoughts, deeds, feelings and
emotions. One wonders at the harmony, the order, the balance
and the interdependence that persist in things created.
Nothing exists in isolation. A blade of grass and a grain of
corn would not grow until all the potentials of the earth
together with the heat and the light of the sun do not lend
their support. If that is the case with a tiny seed, how much
more the supreme of the creation, the man owes to his
parents, to the society, to the State, and to the whole nature
for his sustenance. Let alone all other things, if only one
element of nature, the air is not available, he would be choked
to death. Could he sufficiently thank God for the wealth he
possesses, the eyes to see, the hands to work, the lips to
speak, the mind to think, and the heart to feel ? If nothing
else, his physiognomy would be enough to reflect on the
wonders of the universe. Has he at any time reflected on
this? With all his knowledge, skill and wisdom, can he produce
a drop of water, unless nature gives it to him? With all his
technology, can he create a single cell of human life? He
cannot. Then, why should he kill others, why should he
extinguish life of others? No beast does this, but look at his
record. It is awful.
This does not mean that man is missing graciousness
and nobility. Far from that. Sometimes he reflects on the
My Life
3
aspects of divinity, kindness, compassion, love, creativity,
wisdom and understanding. He has learned a lot from nature
and excels in the industry of an ant, the gentleness of a cat,
the fidelity of a dog, the calmness of a duck or the patience
of a donkey. When he is good he surpasses angels and when
bad, he beats devils. That is why we find in his society high
and low, rich and poor, princes and paupers, enlightened and
ignorant, wisest and fools. Over the centuries he has
witnessed sages and savants, artists and scientists, inventors
and discoverers who have built great cultures, and also
invaders and marauders, dictators and fascists, terrorists and
extremists who have caused havoc. Of all the creations of
God man is the most unstable, most unpredictable and most
puzzling.
In this complex world each individual is in a frantic
race to be a bit better than before. He is struggling hard to
rise high in his field, and his success would depend upon two
factors, his own potentials and the environment. Some reach
meteoric heights, some remain where they are, and the
condition of some deteriorates. Their own abilities, skill, love,
labour, patience, perseverance and imagination, together with
circumstances determine their success or failure. They say
there are three types of people, the “Wills”, the “Won’ts”
and the “Can’ts”.The wills accomplish everything; the won’ts
oppose everything; and the can’ts fail in everything. Fatalists
say destiny decides who should be where in these three
categories; rationalists say it is your will-power; biologists say
it is your gene; and moralists say, it is God. The truth is we
do not know, for life is a mystery. Why should Brutus stab
Caesar? Why should Jesus go up the cross? Why should
the apostle of non-violence, Gandhiji be a victim of violence?
The more you ponder on life, the more mysterious it becomes.
Pursuit of good life is the purpose of life. Each
individual has a purpose of his own. Some are crazy about
wealth; some seek knowledge; some exist for service; some
4
My Life
want power and authority; some like sports or music or
painting or art or craft; some sit in the foothills of Himalayas
and brood and reflect on the realities of life, and some others
indulge in the fleeting pleasures of life. The goals of
individuals are as varied and different as are the individuals.
The success of their goal would depend upon the intensity of
their desire, the quantum of their labour, the quality of their
skill, and quite a few external factors. When one goal is
achieved, they target the next, and the next. Each conquest
becomes the beginning of a new venture. They would feel the
pursuit of the goal was more thrilling than reaching the goal,
and hence the chain of pursuits. At the end of the day, they
leave behind only the footprints of their journey.
I. Childhood
Of all the living beings, the human child is the most helpless.
The moment a chick comes out of an egg, it begins to pick,
but human baby is so helpless that it can’t sit up, can’t walk,
can’t talk, can’t even eat until fed. At best it may swallow
something. The future conquerors, emperors, leaders, orators,
teachers, doctors or inventors are so ignorant at that stage
that they know nothing. Yet they are the attractions of all,
the focus of all attention, the centre of all care, love,
affection, pride and joy. The baby is so cute, so lovely, so
charming that it becomes the darling of all. People rejoice
at its birth, more so if he is a boy, or a feeling of “alright” if
he is a girl. At that time they do not realise what excellence
is there in a son which is not there in a daughter. Perhaps,
they expect a “Bush” or “Blair” would bring glory to the land.
This humble self was also born as a boy, and hence the darling
of the family.
I was the youngest in the family of three children. I
had one sister and one brother, the sister being the eldest,
so elder that I was a baby when she got married. There was
My Life
5
a wide gap between myself and my sister, but my brother was
just three years elder to me. Considering our other uncles
and other families in the village, Belagodu of Hassan District
in Karnataka, where I was born, our family was the smallest.
My brother passed away in 1949, and my sister lived long to
reach for a ripe age of 97. She died recently in 2005, and
her husband too lived long to cross a century. My parents
did not have children for long. I heard them saying that they
got married when Queen Victoria was still on the throne.
That was the year 1900. My father, Gulam Mohiyudin, of
revered memory was 23 years old when he married my mother,
Kulsum Bi, who was just 13. My maternal grand father, Haji
Fakhr-u-ddin, was a coffee planter in Nagenahalli village of
Belur Taluk in Hassan District, perhaps the only Haji in that
area. He had a large family of five sons and two daughters,
my mother being the eldest daughter, but second in the family.
My grand-mother died early leaving behind young children.
My grandfather never married again, and hence my mother
had to take care of all the children. She was almost the
mother to them.
My mother was a remarkable lady. I could recall her
hard work, courage, foresight, love and management skill. She
would work fingers to her bone. A very bold, frank and
honest lady but not much literate, she possessed remarkable
memory. Her common sense was amazing and her approach
to problems was very pragmatic. She was a very principled
lady, systematic and painstaking in all her work. Her fund of
Kannada proverbs was so profuse that she could quote aptly
on any issue. For a very long time my parents did not have
any children. Seven years after they got married my sister
was born in 1907 after many prayers, penance and
pilgrimages. Then again there was a gap of twelve years
before my brother was born. Being the youngest, I became
the object of great love. My mother was very fond of me.
She used to say that when I was in her womb she would get
6
My Life
whatever she wished. If she wished to have a fish-dish, from
somewhere it would be available to her.
My father was a very learned man, almost a Sufi.
He was very sober, calm, wise, mature and a man of great
understanding. People in the village looked to him for
advice and guidance whenever they faced any problem. He
was called a “Patel”or chief. He looked after the affairs of
the mosque which was just in front of our house. The village
did not have a regular Imam to lead the prayers. Any pious
or learned man could do it. There was a Qazi family which
would normally do it, and read the Friday qutba or sermon.
But my father would lead the main prayers. We owned about
15 acres of coffee land and 5 acres of wet land. This was
quite sufficient for a lower middle class family to lead a happy
and contented life. The coffee lands were in three different
places, six acres within a radius of one mile, another six acres
within four miles, and another three acres about fifteen miles
from our village. My father would manage these lands quite
efficiently, and we were supposed to be affluent people from
the prevailing village standard. My father would have some
surplus money and he would lend it those who needed it for
small business. It was just to help them without any
expectations in return. This was interest free loan and hence
people had high regards for my father.
This picture of a moderately good life changed in the
late 20’s and early 30’s of the last century. My mother
became a bit more ambitious to add more properties, and
hence forced my father to buy one more house which was
adjacent to us and another four acres of coffee land. We
incurred debt for this. Suddenly the coffee prices crashed
and in the depression of early 30’s when England went off
the gold standard, the world plunged into a crisis. We too
were caught in that web. Coffee prices suddenly came down
from Rs.20/- to Rs.4/-. We were not able to pay even the
interest of the debt that was due. My father was a very
My Life
7
sensitive man, who had never faced economic misery. He
was greatly concerned how to discharge the debts. Moreover,
the education of the two sons was also there. Our village,
Belagodu, had only two primary schools, one Kannada medium,
and the other, Urdu medium. The village had almost equal
number of Hindus and Muslims, about 40 houses each in
two separate localities. The Muslim populated area was on
either side of the road that goes from Saklespur to Belur,
and the Hindu locality was a compact Block of its own in a
separate area. There was a lot of amity and concord between
the two communities, and they lived like brothers. Occupation
of both was the same, namely plantation or small business.
The Hindu locality consisted of two castes, Lingayats and
Brahmins. Brahmins were very few, only one or two families.
I still remember the elderly, very sage like person, Mylaraiah,
who was a friend, guide and philosopher to every one. He
and his son, Gundu Rao, were the persons to draft and write
all property documents. They were Shanbhogs and hence very
respected people. They were very helpful also. It was the four
acre coffee lands of Mylariah that we bought for Rs.1,000/and incurred the debt which we could not pay.
The other community was of the Lingayats, and they
were in trade and business. One of them was Basappa Shetty,
who was a money lender. He charged heavy interest. We
too became his victims. My father had borrowed just about
Rs.100/-. He could not pay it back. The interest accumulated
over the time. My father passed away. Basappa Shetty
brought our house for auction. My mother got perturbed. I
was a student of IX standard at that time. My mother had
some jewellry, gold necklace and bangles. She gave them to
me and said, go to Hassan and sell them, bring some money,
so that we can wash off our hands from this affair. I took
them and went to Hassan. I contacted a benefactor, Janab
Jamal Saheb, who was a social worker of great repute known
for his sympathy and help to any needy. He understood the
8
My Life
problem, and helped me to contact several jewellers. I could
still recall that experience going from jeweller to jeweller who
would quote a little less than the previous buyer. I got
exasperated. At last, the fourth or the fifth jeweller offered
a price and I struck the deal. By that time it was already
late in the day. My village from Hassan is about 20 miles,
but it is not on the direct line to Hassan. The bus would go
from Hassan to Sakalespur. Five miles before Saklespur there
is a place, Baggi, where one had to alight and walk two miles
to reach my village on the road to Belur. By the time I got
down at Baggi, it was past 10 p.m. utter darkness, all alone,
cash in the pocket, fear of a sort that would chill the bone.
Again, there was a bush on the road, famous as a haunting
place of devils – that was the common belief at that time –
and I was walking reciting all Quranic verses to take me home
safely. What is important to remember is not my agony but
the anxiety of my mother. Poor lady was feeling miserable
all day long, having sent a boy with the treasures of her life,
the wedding bangles, necklace and savings of her life. The
boy had not yet returned even late in the day. Every minute
seemed an hour to her, and he was no where to be seen. She
was anxiously waiting and waiting. He would not turn up.
At last when she spotted me coming, it remains to be
imagined with what glee she hugged me, Oh! my dear you
have come back. That scene is still green in my memory,
when I recall the tears that bubbled out of her eyes. There
is nothing like mother in this world; nothing is equal to her
love, and none but God could gift the bliss of love, for love
is the source of all life. Love is the hunger of the human
soul for divine beauty. Love is the manifestation of Divinity
in man. Love is the movement towards sublimity. Love is
not the feeble emotion or passing sentiments, but an attitude
of life, mind and feeling which are strong, deep and enduring.
God created mother to make it known what love is. Nothing
has struck so hard on my mind as that hugging of my mother
My Life
9
to me on that horrible night.
I could recall several instances of my mother’s love,
courage and boldness. My father was soft, saintly, gentle
and noble, but my mother was very dynamic. My uncle,
father’s elder brother, was very terse, hard working and our
immediate neighbour. In fact, his house and ours had only a
common wall separating the two houses. My uncle was very
harsh, aggressive and quarrelsome. He would demand many
things from my father. Relatively we were more affluent and
he was poor. I have witnessed frequent quarrels between the
two brothers. My uncle would give blows to my father. Once
I saw my uncle sitting on the chest of my father and giving
blows. My mother would not tolerate. She took a broom,
went straight to my uncle and said, “leave him alone or else...”
She lifted her hand. Suddenly, my uncle released my
father, but said not a word to my mother. Such was the
culture that my uncle did not utter a word to a lady, for he
respected the ladies, the quarrel was with the brother, and
not with the sister-in-law. Next day, my uncle again would
come to our door and call “Mohidin Sab” – that was the
name of my father – “go and get something for me to eat”.
My father knew shooting. We had a muzzle-loading gun; he
was a good shot; the request was to go for hunting and bring
something from the forest. My father would immediately
start loading the gun, and my mother would start her sermons.
“Yesterday, you were receiving blows, and today you are going
hunting for him”. My father would not listen to her, and he
would disappear soon, only to come back with a fowl or a
rabbit in his hand, which he would hand over to my uncle.
The barometer of my mother would rise high, but she could
do nothing, for my father believed in the philosophy, “do good
to them that hate you; bless them that curse you; and pray
for them that persecute you”.
My uncle was also a very fascinating man. He too
was learned. Once he would start explaining something, he
10
My Life
would do so much that you would be itching to get released
from his clutches. He knew smattering English. Once he
asked me, when I was in Upper-Primary class, what is the
difference between dative and subjective predicate. I could
not answer; he explained to me the difference. A farmer, a
rustic, and one who never had any formal education would
know so much about English grammar. He was so hardworking that in the process of digging in his paddy field at
least one spade should lose its blade before the year was over.
Another instance of excitement I could recall is the
outbreak of plague in 1929. People had to move from their
houses to temporary sheds somewhere in open fields. We
shifted to our own dry land in the outskirts of the village ;
down below lay our own paddy fields. It was a picturesque
place, up and down water flowing everywhere, all greenery,
plenty of playing ground, which we enjoyed. My father built
zinc sheet shed of one big hall which was to serve all
purposes, cooking, dining and sleeping. In the summer it would
become very hot and we would come out and sit under the
shade of trees. It was a kind of picnic to us, but my mother
had to work very hard. We had a helper. My mother, had
adopted a girl, Fatima, who was with us as a family member.
She was with us for long until we got her married. She would
do all hard job such as fetching water from a well, grinding,
washing and so on. Holidays had been declared for the school.
My sister had her shed in a different place, quite far, more
than a mile, and some time we would go there. Any way, we
enjoyed the life as it was quite different from the routine.
Yet another instance I could recall of my childhood
which was interesting was the annual fair at Hassan. It was
a cattle show held in the last week of December every year.
It was quite well-known in the State as one of the finest
cattle-shows. Hundreds of the finest bullocks were brought
for sale from all over the State. It was held for eight or ten
days. It was not only a cattle show but a kind of
My Life
11
“super-market” where all sorts of shops were installed. There
were rows of sweet-meat shops, children’s toys, hosiery,
copper vessels, fruits, dates, but for children the greatest
attraction was the circus. My father once took me to the
fair. Obviously, the circus was surely in the agenda. Nothing
delighted more than the pranks of the joker. We were
dumb-founded when the ring-master entered the lion-cage.
Every item of the circus is still green in my memory. My
father got me a pair of sandles, called “chadavay” but my
brother got shoes. I became furious, for I too wanted a pair
of shoes. I got so angry that I threw away the sandles. My
father had no alternative but to get me also a pair of shoes.
These little things of childhood are unforgettable.
Yet another time of excitement was Ramzan, and the
Eid-festival. Although the parents did not desire that small
children should also observe fasts, we insisted. We would
get up and would do our “Sahri”. My father would console
us that elders observe only one fast a day, but children have
the advantage of three fasts in a day. You eat with us now,
and then at 12 noon, and then at 4 pm, and then at 7 pm.
And thus you would have three fasts in a day. He had
wonderful ways to please every body. Eid-day was a great
day when we would have new clothes and go to Eid-gah, a
place about a mile from the village, all in a group, chanting
“takbir” and returning from a different route. In the evening
there used to be sports. It was quite thrilling to see people
with beards playing “Khakoo”. The playground was just
opposite to our house. This affair in the evening after “Asar”
prayer until “Maghrib” prayer was very enjoyable. Another
delightful day was “Good Wednesday” in the month of Safar.
Nearing the shopping centre of the village there was a tree
which would suddenly become the centre of attraction.
Merry-making youth would bring long ropes, tie them on the
top of the tree, joining the bottom ends to a bamboo ladder,
making a kind of swinging cradle. They would drag any one
12
My Life
walking on the road to have a swing. The villagers would get
quite annoyed, but the mischievous would enjoy.
In the Indian traditions whether Hindus or Muslims
or Christians, almost every month of the calendar is a month
of feasts and festivals. Islamic calendar begins with Muharram.
Though the month is meant to mourn the great tragedy of
Karbala, somehow it had been over the centuries turned into
the celebration of a peculiar type. Alava is dug, a pit in which
fire is kindled, Tazias are made and on the tenth day
processions would take place, boys dancing and shouting. It
would remind us of the Ganesha festival of the Hindus. Young
men would colour their body to make them look like a tiger,
and they would dance. Wrestling would take place. All people,
Hindus and Muslims, would join in the processions. The Shia
community would celebrate Muharram with greater fervour.
Lucknow was known for it. All those rituals have now
disappeared but they were very much in vogue in my
childhood.
The second month of Muslims, Safar, would have the
“good Wednesday” whose reference has come above. The third
month is Moulud, the month of the Holy Prophet’s birth on
the 12th day of that month. That is celebrated with great
fervour even to-day. On all the twelve days people would sit
in the mosque after maghrib prayer, that is after sun-set, and
listen to the life and teachings of the Prophet. That tradition
continues to this day. The fourth month witnessed the
remembrance of the great Sufi saint, Khwaja Abdul Khadar
Jeelani, who is greatly revered as saint of the saints (Peerane-Peer). He was from Baghdad and belonged to the Qadariya
order of Sufism, which reconciled temporal and spiritual forces
within man to acquire moral personality. Sufism is a doctrine
which relates to the purification of heart, ascension to higher
knowledge through penance and piety, and to indulge in great
devotion so as to experience what is Divinity. A Sufi is so
My Life
13
much lost in the love of God that in the ultimate analysis,
he becomes a part of that spiritual force. Sufism is mysticism,
and mysticism is a part of every religion whether Hinduism
or Buddhism or Christianity or Islam.
The fifth and the sixth months are blank, significant
in the negaqtive sense that no good things are undertaken,
no marriages are celebrated. The seventh month, Rajab, is
the month to remember one more saint, Jafar Sadiq, of the
scion of Hazrat Ali. I remember my mother would celebrate
it with great zeal, the house was white-washed or at least the
room where Fateha or prayer would take place. A special sweet
called Puri would be prepared. They would be put in earthen
bowls called Kundas. No meat was to be served. It was
pure vegetarian feast. The eighth month was Shaban whose
fifteenth day was Shab-e-Barath supposed to be very sacred.
We celebrated it as our Diwali day with crackers and other
fire-works. The ninth month was Ramzan, the month of
fasting which would bring great joy. The whole month was
a month of rejoicing, although it imposed restrictions in
touching any eatable. Getting up in the mid-night, eating at
that time and preparing nice dishes for Iftar in the evening
together with special congregation prayers in the night called
Taraveh were all items of great relish to every Muslim. Very
very special night is the night of 26th Ramazan, when Quran
was supposed to have been revealed to Holy Prophet. A
good part of that night is spent in prayers. That night reminds
us of the Christian celebration of Christmas eve. The first of
the tenth month, Shawal, is Ramzan festival, the greatest day
of the Muslim calendar when all faithfuls celebrate it with
great gusto, with new dresses, with special prayers in Eid-gah
and with special dish called Khurma. Citing the new moon
the previous evening is considered as a moment of great
excitement and joy.
The year closes with the Bakrid festival, the month
of pilgrimage to Mecca, the obligatory duty of every Muslim
14
My Life
who could afford the cost, to go to Mecca at least once in
life and pray at that sacred place of the origin of Islam.
Millions from all over the world gather to rekindle in their
mind and conscience the unity of God and the unity of man,
the two cardinal revolutionary principles of Islam. It is also
the festival that links the three great religions of the world,
Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Ka’aba was built by Abraham,
the Prophet respected by all the three great Scematic religions
of the world. It is significant for the supreme sacrifice
intended to be performed by Prophet Abraham, namely to
sacrifice his own son, Ismail, in the name of God. It was a
testing time for the father to show whether he was willing to
sacrifice his own dear son. When the son and the father
actually demonstrated that they would not hesitate to do so,
God was so pleased that he spared the life of the son, and
placed a goat in his place whose throat was cut. It is a
single example in the entire history of mankind where the
father went to the extent of cutting the throat of his own
son, but God being pleased with this action, not only saved
the life of the son, but blessed the family with such glory
and honour that Abraham became the founder of the three
great religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Thus, the Islamic calendar starts with the supreme sacrifice
of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Holy Prophet Muhammad
and ends with the intended sacrifice of Ismail, the son of
Abraham, imparting a lesson to mankind that life is suffering
and suffering is life. You achieve nothing without paying a
price for it, and the value of what you achieve would be in
direct proportion to the value of what you sacrifice.
Sometimes the value of your sacrifice would be manifold
higher, as in the case of Abraham who became immortal. His
name is recited by Muslims every time they perform Namaz
or daily prayers.
Another instance I could recall of my childhood is
the Muslim Educational Conference that was held at
My Life
15
Chikmagalur in 1933. The foundation of that Conference was
laid way back in 1887 by the founder of Aligarh movement,
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. It was one of his instruments apart
from the Aligarh College and the print media to bring about
social change among Muslims, turned them towards modernity,
forced them to have western learning, and made them change
their ways of living and thinking. Very rightly he thought that
modern education was the key to lead a good civilised life.
One such instruments he used was this annual educational
conference which was religiously held from 1887 every year in
some important city of India. It was a conference of three
days when people from all sorts of sections, rich and poor,
enlightened and ignorant, traditionalists and modernists, men
and women, rural and urban, all gathered to take stock of
the Muslim situation, devise ways and means how best to
improve their lot, and plan methods how best to implement
them. It was the turn of Chikmagalur in 1933 to host
that Conference. The general or local Secretary of that
Conference was Janab G.S. Abdul Hameed Saheb, who
was no other than my own cousin, and later on my own
father-in-law.
Messrs Hameed Brothers were top coffee planters in
those days owning coffee lands of over a thousand acres in
three different places, Gadabanahalli, Hetkekool and
Gundikan. They were three brothers, G.S.Abdul Basith, G.S.
Abdul Hameed and G.S. Mohamed Yahya. Mr.Abdul Hameed
was very prominent in political circles also, as he had been
elected to the Mysore Legislative Council from the Planters
Constituency. He had studied up to graduation level from
Presidency College, Madras. He was an educationist and a
social reformer in his own right, an enlightened and dynamic
leader. He was the Local Secretary of the Conference. My
father decided to attend the Conference, for it was being
organised by his own nephew, sister’s son. Moreover, my
father had great attachment for that family which was reputed
16
My Life
all over Malanad not only as an affluent family, but also as
an enlightened one serving the cause of the community. My
uncle, that is father of Janab Abdul Hameed Saheb, was named
Sheik Ali, and my father had named me after him, indicating
how much regard he had for him. It seems I was born after
his death; to perpetuate his memory I was given that name.
He was also a social reformer being influenced by Sir Syed
whose renowned periodical, Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq, he had
subscribed and had its full file. He had adopted his
neighbouring village, Hosahalli, which he named Islamabad,
and which he had improved a lot. The whole village was
prosperous and progressive. It was he who sent his son to
Madras for graduation.
Any way, when my father decided to attend the
Conference, my mother said “I would also come with you”.
My brother was away for Higher primary in another place
called Gullanpete and I was the only child in the house. As
children are not desirable in such Conferences my father
cajoled me to stay back with my sister, and I agreed. Just
when the bus came for them to get on, I jumped into the
bus refusing to get down, a promise which I broke. Willy
nilly, my parents had to take me. We went to Gadabanahalli
bungalow where my aunt, elder sister of my father, and the
whole family lived. Janab Abdul Hameed had a large family,
four sons and five daughters, the eldest of whom, Sufia Bi,
I married later on. I was just a boy of 7 or 8 years at that
time when I visited Gadabanahalli, which had so much to do
with me in later life. My aunt hugged me and got me a coat
(Jacket) which was blood-red in colour. I had never seen in
my life such a big bungalow, with such fine furniture, cutlery,
crockery and several items of luxury.
I attended the Conference also which was held in the
open ground of Government High School, Chikmagalur.
Delegates from all over the country had come. A lady from
My Life
17
the Punjab by name Miss Hijab delivered a very forceful
lecture on Muslim customs and the urgent need for educating
women. Professor Abdul Wahab Bukhari Saheb of Madras
was very prominent. People paid particular attention to his
address. My father-in-law was the Local Secretary who was
very busy organizing the entire show. He was a very good
friend of Mirza Ismail, the Dewan of Mysore, who had
visited Gadabanahalli more than once. Any way, that
Conference was memorable, and it is still green in my memory.
I never thought at that time that destiny would link me
with that house where I reached accidentally, despite the
unwillingness of my parents.
Another instance of my early life is the kind of
experience I gained after the death of my father. In my
childhood I was more attached to my father. I lost him when
I was still in my teens. His loss was a terrible thing. The
sorrow persisted for days and months together. Every
moment his figure stared my imagination. I would simply sit
and brood why destiny denied me his company. I would not
reconcile to his loss. Now I understand why there are so
many passages in the Quran stating none could gauge the
emotions or feelings of an orphan. I used to be depressed so
much as to feel that life was not worth living. This state of
affairs persisted for long. Added to this misfortune was the
economic misery that besieged the family. My cousins took
advantage of our situation and started harassing us. The
creditors made our life miserable. My brother became
mentally unsound and my mother would not allow me to
discontinue my studies. One could imagine how brave was
that lady. She had to manage not only the household affairs
but also the landed property in three different places, one
was a mile away, another four miles away and the third fifteen
miles, two acres of coffee land called Tumbekad, our ancestral
property near Henly Estate.
18
My Life
It may be of interest to say something about this
ancestral property. My grandfather from the paternal side,
Janab Gulam Nabi Saheb, was a very rich coffee planter
owning nearly a hundred acres of coffee and several acres of
paddy land. He had four sons, and three daughters. My
father was the third in line, and my aunt of Gadabanahalli,
whose grand daughter I married was the third in the line.
After the demise of my grandfather, my eldest uncle named
Henly Lala Saheb seized all property, gave nothing to the
three younger brothers and drove them out to Belagodu
village where they got some wet lands. With great difficulty
my uncle from Gadabanahalli, brother-in-law of my father,
my name sake (Sheik Ali) intervened and forced Henly Lala
Saheb to give two or three acres each to the younger
brothers. That is how we got that Henly land where we had
two acres of coffee and two acres of wet land. After the
death of my father, my mother had to manage this coffee
land, fifteen miles away, where apart from coffee there was
cardamom also. In fact cardamom was more and coffee was
less.
In the first year after my father passed away, my aunt
in Henly (wife of Lala Saheb) allowed my mother to stay in
their bungalow and pick the cardamom crop. But my aunt
served notice to my mother in the following year that she
should not stay in the bungalow any more, and that she should
make her own arrangements. My mother bought a hut in an
open field for Rs.40/- and started living all alone along with
a little girl, who was her grandchild, named Sarabi. This little
girl was the only support to my mother. They lived in a
deserted place all by themselves, picking cardamom, drying
them, selling them, and managing the whole show. Even in
this situation my mother would not allow me to discontinue
my studies. She would say, go, do your work and I would do
mine.
My Life
19
During the holidays I did something which is
memorable. We had more than two months of holidays. My
brother-in-law (sister’s husband) named Belagodu Abdul Sattar
was also in great economic distress. He had a large family
and it was difficult to support them. We decided to do
something. That was the season in April and May
of soap-nut crop. We took sacks and a measure, went
door to door in villages. Buy them and carry on the
shoulders. If the load became too heavy, keep them in some
one’s house to pick some other time, take a fresh bag and
hunt for the commodity in some other place. Like this we
worked hard for more than two months. I would get
exhausted. It would be nine or ten in the night by the time
we would reach home. Once it so happened that walking all
day long, I got so exhausted that I declared to my bortherin-law in the forest that I would not move an inch further
and that I would stretch this sack as a bed under this tree
and go to sleep. I did exactly that. Both of us on that dark
night, only two of us, slept under the tree and never knew
how quickly the time passed. It was early dawn when we
woke up. Then we moved on doing the business as usual.
At the end of our business project, when we calculated our
gain, it was a grand sum of Rupees eleven each. Out of that
money I got one quintal of ragi for the family, and bought a
copper pot to fetch water from the well. The old one was
so leaky that I got all my shoulders wet by the time I brought
water home.
It should be said at this stage that I witnessed such
hard days that I would not have 25 paise to pay for the bus
tickets from Hassan to Belagodu. I have walked the distance.
It was about 18 miles almost 30 Kms. Even now I know every
twist and turn of the road between Hassan and Belagodu.
Adversity is really a good school, for the rich experience of
that school brings good dividends in later years. When I
became a Professor I bought an old Austin car. My daughter,
20
My Life
Shahida, to whom I would take her to the college once
remarked, “Daddy, my friends tease me saying that we have a
pre-historic car”. It touched me so much that I sold my
ancestral property of Tumbekad and bought a new
Ambassador car to please my daughter. Getting a new car
after selling the old one is not that significant or unique as
the turn of events, nor how the same person who did not
have a few pennies to pay the bus fare would go to the extent
of buying a new car just to please his child. It makes us
think that change is the law of nature. Constancy is death.
Life leaps like a geyser if only you cut through the rock of
inertia. Success requires love labour, patience and
perseverence. Being a student of history it makes me think
history is liquid philosophy which is in motion. Life is not
subject to physical laws of cause and effect, but it is subject
to Divine Law where what happens, good or bad, is all for
our own benefit; if adversity comes, it has its own advantages
and disadvantages, if prosperity, it has also its plus and minus
points. Curzon planned his life. It went on as per his schedule
to some extent. His ultimate goal was to become the Prime
Minister as per his plan, but he never became one. We have
to have faith in the dictum, man proposes God disposes. It
does not mean that cause and effect do not operate in life,
but beyond cause and effect there is that logic and reason
which is best known only to God. That is necessary, for
man would have caused many more havocs.
Another instance I could recall is the last phase in
my mother’s life. She was all alone in a jungle only with a
little girl, doing the hard job of picking the cardamom from
the garden, never allowing me to do anything except to
prosecute my studies, and it was her dogged determination
and supreme sacrifice that made me what I am to-day, or
else I too would have been one among the unknown. I had
reached the College level at that time and was in the First
year of History Honours course. When Dasara holidays came
My Life
21
I went from Mysore to see her. First I went to Belagodu
and then I went to see her in Tumbekad. I got up early in
the morning, did my morning prayer, and started walking
briskly. She was living at a place which was twelve miles by
the nearest route and fifteen miles by the road. I had to be
back at 11 a.m. in Sakleshpur to catch the bus back to Hassan,
so that I could get the train to reach Mysore. Starting around
6 a.m. I walked so fast, and in some places even ran that I
was with my mother by about 9 a.m. covering a distance of
more than 12 miles. My mother was immensely pleased, served
me my breakfast, and we talked all mundane things. My
thoughts were all on time how to get back to Saklespur which
was four miles away to be on time at 11 a.m. to catch the
bus. I said her good-bye around 10 am. This good-bye is
historical to me, because that was the last meeting before
she fell ill and passed away. The tears that were bubbling in
her eyes to say me good-bye are enough even to day to make
me emotional. Mother, mother! What a gift God has granted
to man! Could there be anything greater! In my work on
the life of Maulana Azad I have sketched the parting scene
of Azad with his wife, Zulekha, on 3 August 1942, when he
left Calcutta for Bombay for presiding over the historical
Working Committee meeting of the Indian National Congress
to pass the memorable resolution of Quit India movement
on 8 August 1942. His wife said good-bye (Khuda-Hafiz) but
Maulana said, “She was not saying good-bye because I was
on journey but because she was herself about to start a
journey”. The same thing was true of me. My mother was
not saying good-bye because I was on journey, but because
she was about to proceed for her eternal abode in the celestial
world. Great moments in one’s life are not those when one
earns laurels but those when he begins to understand the
mysteries of life. This parting was in the month of October
1942, the same year of Quit India movement.
The next news I got of my mother was a few weeks later
22
My Life
that she was very ill, and that my cousin, Henly Abdul Wahab
Saheb, got a bullock cart and sent her back to my sister’s
place in Belagodu. That was in the second week of December
1942. I rushed to Belagodu. She was in the last leg of her
journey. I saw her and she exclaimed, “Oh! you have come
back. Thank God, I saw you before I breathed my last”.
That scene still haunts me. The billion favours she had
showered on me, the love, the care, the suffering she had
suffered on my behalf. More than all her grip over her
determination, “let what may, I would not make my child
discontinue his studies”. Special connotations are there for
the meaning of love, affection, service and sacrifice in the
dictionary of a mother.
She was critically ill of pneumonia. We did not have
enough resources to take her to a good hospital. We got
her admitted to Belagodu Dispensary. There was a ward
where she was kept for a day. The Doctor said her blood
must be examined. There was no laboratory in the village. I
was asked to take the slide to Hassan General Hospital, get
it tested and bring the result. I borrowed the bicycle of one
coffee planter, Abdul Majeed. In the village all are relatives.
This Abdul Majeed’s family now is very prosperous. All of
them are living a good life, and one of them is doing social
service running a High School, called Al-Ameen Hilal High
School in Saklespur. Having taken his bicycle I started
peddling to Hassan, about 18 miles, got it tested, and brought
back the result to the Doctor. I covered 36 miles of distance,
up and down, in about 3 hours. The result was chronic
pneumonia. She did not survive. Doctor said, she is breathing
her last, take her home, let her not die in the hospital. We
took her home. Early next day, at the moment the Muezzin
was saying “Allaho-Akbar” she breathed her last. She was a
wonderful day, who did the greatest service to the society,
undergoing all sufferings herself, but inscribing on the sands
of time the idea that greatest wealth on earth is knowledge
My Life
23
and greatest poverty is ignorance. Herself an illiterate she
had the perception and the insight to realise the value of
learning. That is why they say nations are not renewed from
the top, but from the bottom, and that history has definitely
established the fact that the real wisdom of human life is
compounded by the experience of ordinary folks. A poor lady
did what many wealthy people had not done. Sacrifice yourself
to educate your child.
2
Education
If life is a gift of God, good life is the gift of good
education. Knowledge is light, knowledge is life, knowledge
is power and knowledge is Divine. God is all knowing and He
gave man intellect to know the mysteries of life and the
realities of this universe. Man has made both good and bad
use of knowledge, good use resulted in skill and wisdom, new
attitudes and values, new humanism and peace, and bad use
is to create instruments of human destruction like bombs,
and tanks and guns. Nevertheless, man is fully engaged in
acquiring knowledge and the result is the modern age of
science and high technology.
As my father was a very learned person he was keen
to give good education to his children. All three of us, one
sister, one brother and this humble self, were fairly good in
studies. My sister who had passed just primary level was
highly literate; she could not only read but also explain any
difficult book of theology or philosophy. Her memory was
amazing, her hand writing was very attractive. In our
family the hand writing of all of us is very good, perhaps in
the genes. My father used to write beautifully well, and
instructed us also to pay particular attention to our
handwriting. Not knowing what graphology is, that is the
26
My Life
science of hand writing that would reveal even your psychology
and your temperament, he took particular care to see that
his children should cultivate this art. My brother would write
well. I have four children, two boys and two girls, and all of
them write so well that people may say they are calligraphers.
My eldest son, and my eldest daughter write so well that it
looks like a print. My grand daughter, Shama, won All India
Gold Medal for calligraphy. It was all because my father sowed
the seeds into this field and all of us are reaping the fruit.
Our primary school was just in front of our house,
within a stone-throw. The primary school had two-teachers,
and sometimes only one. It was only a lower-primary with
four classes, and the strength never exceeded forty. Apart
from this Urdu Primary there was a Kannada Primary School
and both schools had all four classes in one single big-hall.
There were only a few benches, not sufficient to seat all
children. First year and second year children would sit on
planks, third and fourth year, on benches. Head Master had
a chair and a table and also a big wooden box in which he
kept registers and stationery. The Assistant teacher just had
a chair. I had heard a good lot how harsh and severe were
teachers on rowdy boys. Caning was normal, frowning was
usual. Not in my days, but earlier there was one teacher by
name Rasool Saheb whose very look would terrorise the
children. I had heard awful stories how he used to beat the
boys. Standing up on the bench, bending down and holding
the ears through the two legs like a monkey, twisting the
ear-lobes with a tiny pebble, were all different types of
punishments for misbehaving or not learning the lesson. Spare
the rod, spoil the child was the principle. Caning was the
technique then to teach. Days have changed. Now teachers
have to carry toffees to cajole the children
When I was four or five I was put into school. I still
remember I would hide somewhere in order to avoid going
to school. My father is to hunt for me in order to drag me
My Life
27
to the school. From the lap of the mother to the glare of
the teacher is a journey from heaven to hell. If mother
appears to be an angel to the child, the teacher, at least in
those days, seemed to be a devil. This lasts until the child
settles down to the routine. In the text book there was a
lesson on a horse which belonged to “Radha”. That silly
lesson I could not follow. My sister would take a cane, make
me sit with a slate and ask me to write, “Radha-ka-Ghoda”.
I would not write and she would beat me until my mother
would come to my rescue. That “Radha-ka-Ghoda” still sticks
in my mind.
My father was very affectionate. He would go to the
river and bring reeds to make a pen and would teach how to
write Urdu. He would first write a line on top and would
ask me to copy exactly like that. He would daily spend some
time to teach me both reading and writing. Along with Urdu
my father would make me read the first para of the Quran,
how to perform Namaz and so on. I did not receive any
punishment from my teachers for not studying well. I was
the brightest student in the class. When I went to primary
fourth year, we were only four, that means I was on the top
of the class which consisted of four children. Even at that
time I could recall I loved history. Even now I remember
how much I liked Delhi Sultanate, particularly that mad king,
Muhammad- bin-Thughluq, who is called the mass of
inconsistencies, the mixture of opposite and the bundle of
contradictions. The lessons of Queen Razia, Chand Bibi, Nur
Jahan and Tipu Sultan were of special interest. I liked
mathematics also, and I used to draw a kind of special pleasure
doing the sums.
When I passed primary IV class I could not be sent
to Middle School, because there was no such school in
Belagodu, and I could not be sent elsewhere because our
parents could not afford that much money. Moreover, my
brother was studying for Upper Primary in Gullanpet at my
28
My Life
uncle’s place, (my mother’s sister’s husband) and hence my
father put me in Kannada Primary School where I started
from Kannada alphabets. Very quickly I started reading
second and third year text books. One year I passed in
Kannada and my brother finished his Lower-Secondary. He
passed that examination which was in those days very
creditable. That was the year 1933.
My father decided to continue my education. The
nearest Urdu Middle School was in Arehalli Village of Belur
Taluk. There was a Hostel for out-station students built by
a planter, Habibullah Saheb, a rich coffee planter, who had
realised the need to promote education of rural children.
There were about twenty boarders in the hostel, and the
Warden was K. Abdul Rahman, a relation of our own. Even
in Arehalli there were many families who were some way or
other related to us. I joined the first year of Middle School
and got interested in studies which were no problem to me.
What struck me most of those days was the heavy down pour.
The monsoons were so rigorous that on several occasions
holidays were declared because children could not reach the
school. I remember once we went to a place, while returning
we were caught in a quagmire, the road became so marshy
that our feet were knee-deep in the slush. Perhaps we might
have covered a furlong in one hour. My maternal
grand-father’s place was Nagenhalli which was hardly six miles
from Arehalli, and I would often go there in holidays. There
were two or three cousins of mine there with whom I used
to have good time. We had five uncles there, who were
planters. The eldest of them, Abdur Razaq Saheb, was a
very learned person. He was the only one who was equal to
my father in oriental learning. My father was very sober and
saintly, but my uncle was more daring and dashing. It seems
he confronted for a very long time a rival family in the
village, which was Qazi Ghrana, and fought legal battles for a
long time. I remember my mother telling me all his
My Life
29
exploits, and how he won the court cases. He would ride a
horse and had quite a few acres of land. There were very big
bungalows in Nagenahalli, and I used to be greatly impressed
by their grandeur and beauty. Even my grand father’s house
was very big and impressive. The village Urdu Primary School
was also just in front of that bungalow, as was the case in my
own native place, Belagodu.
In holidays other cousins of ours from Gullanpet
(my mother’s sister’s children) would also come, and we would
all have gala nice time, good food, care free roaming about,
visit to several other uncle’s houses, having dinner parties
there, going to the garden where a kind of ripe
jack-fruit, small, wild variety, very juicy which we used to call,
Pad-Phanas, we used to enjoy. We had at that time four
uncles, Abdul Razaq, Abdul Sattar, Abdul Kareem and Abdul
Wahab, and the fifth uncle, Abdul Quddus, had passed away.
I remember how we had rushed from Belagodu when we got
the news of his death. Perhaps I might have been just five
or six at that time. It was a rainy season. A car had come
from Nagenahalli which belonged to Hirehasadi planters. They
were cousins of my grandfather, Haji Fakhruddin of
Nagenahalli and my uncle Sheikh Ali of Gadabanahalli. The
car belonged to Mahboob Ali, one of the sons of Hirehasadi
Sahukar whom we called Pasha Saheb. This Mahboob Ali was
the son-in-law of my eldest uncle, Abdul Razaq Saheb, married
to his eldest daughter, Zulekha Bi. This lady was a little elder
to my sister, Khateja Bi, and both of them excelled each other
in knowledge and learning of that time, very good in reading
and writing, and in remembering great events of the past.
This Mahboob Ali was very fair, handsome, well-built, sober
and looked like a prince. I could still recall how gently he
broke the news of the death of my uncle, Quddus Saheb, and
how he consoled the grief of my mother when she became
emotional at the news. Perhaps for the first time I had a
ride in a car along with my mother. We went to Nagenahalli.
30
My Life
The scene of the funeral rituals is still green in my mind.
This Quddus Saheb had two sons, one of whom was of my
age, and we called him “Pachalal”. I was called “Sabulal”.
Pachalal later became a Doctor and had a large family. The
other son, Showkat was dumb and deaf.
We stayed for quite a few days in Nagenahalli at that
time.The deceased uncle, Quddus Saheb, was the most
dynamic of all my uncles. My mother, who had brought him
up, used to love him immensely, and would tell me a lot about
his adventures. He was a good-shot, and had lately bought a
fine rifle made in England. The beautiful catalogue of that
rifle carried hundreds of pictures relating to guns. It was quite
thick in size and we used to admire the taste of our uncle.
He had bought a gramaphone as well. I had not seen a
gramaphone before. Our hobby was to listen to the records
and wonder how music would come from black discs. Any
way visits to Nagenahalli even in later days were a source of
great joy and merriment.
When I was in Middle School at Arehalli, I got the news
that another uncle of mine, the third in line, Abdul Kareem,
whom we used to call Ajji Mamun, passed away. I rushed
from Arehalli. My mother and father too had come there.
A year or two later, another uncle, Abdul Sathar Saheb, also
passed away. The other two uncles, Abdul Razaq and Abdul
Wahab lived for long time. Abdul Razaq Saheb’s son, Nazir
Ahmed, is junior to me by year or two. He is still alive. He
became a Doctor and made three of his sons Doctors and
one engineer. All his children are very bright and even his
grand children have come up very well in life. They have made
a mark in the educational sector and have topped the list in
this competitive life. Dr.Nazir Ahmed, my cousin, is deeply
religious and belongs to a group called “Tabligh-e-Jam’at”
which believes in the propagation of faith. All his children
subscribe to this group. In our family from maternal side,
My Life
31
Dr. Nazir Ahmed is the only person who has done very well
in life.
With great difficulty my father was able to maintain
me in the Hostel for one year. Adversity was such that he
could not afford for the next year, and at the same time he
would not allow me to discontinue the studies as well. He
thought of a plan to seek the help of his affluent nephews of
Gadabanhalli. The eldest of them was Janab G.S.Abdul Basith
Saheb who lived in Chikmagalur. His house was located in
the heart of the town on the main road and it was a twostoreyed building quite close to Jamia-Masjid, Sangeen Masjid
and Lababeen Masjid. He agreed to have me in his house
and I joined the second year of Middle School. His eldest
son, Iqbal Ali, was quite senior to me, and he was in First
year of High School. His second son, Sarvath Ali, was much
junior to me, and he was in Primary School. There was one
more daughter, Asma, who was senior to Sarvath Ali. After
I left their house, two more children, Amir Ali and Fatima,
were born. They treated me very well and I was quite happy.
It so happened that the eldest son, Iqbal Ali, fell seriously ill
suffering from small-pox. His mother was a very wise,
far-sighted, frugal and gentle lady and she was very
affectionate towards me. I was as if one of their children.
She realised that small-pox was a contagious disease, and it
could infect others also. Therefore, she decided, not to send
me back to my place, Belagodu, but to send me to her Estate,
Hetkekool, coffee garden, about 20 miles from Chikmagalur
towards Tarikere Road.
It was a very nice, big, spacious and beautiful
bungalow built in the midst of picturesque landscape down
below the Bababudhangiri Hills. It was built by my uncle,
Janab Sheik Ali Saheb of Gadabanahalli whose reference has
come earlier in this book. One should appreciate the spot he
chose for the Bungalow, the design and plan of the bungalow
and its beauty. Coffee lands have a glory of their own, tall
32
My Life
shade trees, everywhere greenery, coffee plants of about four
or five feet spread over the entire land, as if a green Persian
carpet is spread over the entire area, and the hilly tracts of
ups and down. A Keats or Shelly or Byron would be
prompted to burst out into lyrics, which might touch and
stir the soul. I was there for more than a fortnight doing
nothing but enjoying. There were brooks whose running water
made a kind of sweet melody; there were birds and cukoos
whose fluttering and chirping would be a kind of delightful
music.
The Middle School was located about one Km. from
the house. Strength in each class was not more than eight
or ten. There were four teachers, one of them was Wasey
Saheb, a poet in his own right. He lived for a long time and
we had good contacts in later days. He was very affectionate
towards me. I remember how he would teach geography. In
order to make us understand the causation of night and day
he would bring a globe and a candle, shut all the windows,
make the classroom a dark-room, lit the candle and say the
bright part you see is the day, and the back of it is the night.
He would turn the globe and say how God in His wisdom
has blessed every part of the earth with night and day. We
had another good teacher who would teach English and
arithmetic. There were some dull boys in the class. He was
very harsh on them. There were bamboo sticks covering shade
plants on the road. Every day he would bring a stick and
break it on the back of the boys. During my stay in
Chikmagalur I remember the visit to the Urus of
Bababudhangiri Hills.It was a gala affairs, hundreds of people
both Hindus and Muslims would gather there. The fakirs
would perform miracles, they would cut their belly and join
it. It was unbelievable. It seemed so to us, whether it was
true or not, or just a show or magic, we don’t know. Another
point of interest I witnessed was the swimming
competition.There was a lake very close to Chikmagalur Town.
My Life
33
On a particular day all competitors would gather and show
their skill in swimming. Prizes would be distributed at the
end.
The house I lived in Chikmagalur belonged to the
three sons of my uncle of Gadabanahlli, namely Janab Abdul
Basilh Saheb, Janab Abdul Hameed Saheb (who later became
my father-in-law) and Janab Mohamed Yahya Saheb. The last
two brothers had married two sisters of the same family, they
lived together in Gadabanahalli, and they had joint properties.
They had become very big planters owning coffee lands of
nearly a thousand acres in four different places, namely
Gadabanahalli, Koonmakki, Hetkekool and Gundikan. The
two younger brothers were very dynamic, progressive, western
educated, very informative both in politics and in plantation,
possessing qualities of leadership. My father-in-law, Janab
Abdul Hameed Saheb, was in politics also having been a
member of Legislative Council and a good friend of the
Dewan, Sir Mirza Ismail. He had good connections with the
big planters of the area. Very ambitiously they had expanded
their empire of coffee land to a thousand acres at a time
when there was boon in coffee prices. This they had done
borrowing heavily from the Banks, particularly from Mysore
Bank. Suddenly there was a crash and coffee prices came
down from Rs.20/- a maund to Rs.4/-. They were all in soup.
It was a disaster. They could not pay even the interest. In
1934 when I was in Chikmagalur the crisis had not reached
the peak. They were still struggling hard to make both ends
meet. The two younger brothers had their differences with
their eldest brother, Janab G.S. Abdul Basith Saheb. They
were not even on talking terms. They would come from
Gadabanahalli, go up straight to the First floor of our House,
hold their meeting or Darbar, when all sorts of people would
come there to meet them to discuss social, economic or
political matters, have refreshment there and proceed further
after an hour or two to their coffee estates in Hetkekool or
34
My Life
Gundikan. This was the routine twice or thrice a week.
While holding their darbar they would get all sorts of snacks
or biscuits or fruits from the bazar. They would not eat all
of it, and they would leave a lot behind. After their departure
it was our turn, the children, who would fall on the residue
and enjoy to our hearts content. I still recall those nice
biscuits from England. Any way I had good time in
Chikmagalaur. There was another cousin of mine by name
Abdul Ghafoor Saheb, who was the eldest son of Henly Lala
Saheb, my uncle. He had not married. He lived all his life
with Basith Saheb taking care of his affairs and more so of
his children. Every one called him “Taya Saheb”. His main
duty was to take the daughter of Basith Saheb to school and
bring her back. One year I spent in Chikmagalur in 1934-35
studying second year of Middle School.
It was not Arehalli or Chikmagalur where I completed
my Middle School Education. It was at Hassan which
became the main centre both for the Middle School and High
School education. In those days Mysore State consisted of
only eight districts of an area of about 29,000 sq. miles.
Except in Bangalore and Mysore where there were more than
one High Schools, the rest of the District headquarters had
just one Govt. High School. S.S.L.C. was almost a terminal
course for most of the students, College being a privilege of
only a microscopic minority of the rich and the influential.
There were only two Colleges in the State at that time, one
Central College which was for science in Bangalore and
Maharaja’s College, which was for Arts in Mysore. This was
the liberal general course, for professional studies Bangalore
had an Engineering College and Mysore had a Medical
College. Thus Bangalore and Mysore were the only two
prominent places for Higher education, which most of the
people would not afford.
I had to leave Chikmagalur for personal reasons. I
My Life
35
complained to my parents that Iqbal Ali, eldest son of Janab
Abdul Basith Saheb is not very happy with me. He teases
me, frowns upon me, and once he threw away all my books
and trunk into the street. My mother and father got worried
and thought of the alternatives.They did not like to
discontinue my studies as well. The only idea that occurred
to them was to think of another relative who would be willing
to take me. My father thought of her niece in Hassan, who
was the daughter of Gadabanahalli Sahucar, Janab Sheik Ali
Saheb of revered memory, who was his brother-in-law, with
whom he had very close relations in the past. If I could
recollect those relations narrated to me by mother, they would
be very interesting. This Gadabanahlli Sahucar was a very
rich planter, well-known in whole of Malanad for his wealth,
for his progressive ideas and for his humanity. His first wife
died and he was hunting for a new bride. It seems my aunt,
father’s elder sister in Henly, was a beauty queen. He had
heard of her and wanted to see her before believing the stories
of her beauty. He disguised as a stranger and went to her
house saying he was thirsty and he needed water to drink.
People in the family asked this girl to quench his thirst. She
took water in a jug and not in a glass, perhaps he disguised
himself as a beggar. The girl came before him. He sat on
his knees, joined two hands together like a cup to get water
and drink. It was customary in those days that untouchables
should not touch the vessels and hence water would be poured
into their hands. This man who had gone not seeking water
but seeking beauty did not fold his hands property to receive
water, but being seated on his knees had focused his eyes up
on the girl. He was amazed at the stunning beauty of the
girl, at once fell in love with her and got married.
My mother had told me the events subsequent to this
love affair. He was a rich man, and my grand father, Janab
Gulam Nabi, was not so rich. After the wedding Sheik Ali
Saheb, the new groom, asked his father-in-law what dowry he
36
My Life
would give him. My grandfather was very resourceful. He
said “Take these two sons of mine, keep them as your boys
and bring them up. This is my dowry to you.” The two sons
that joined their sister and went to Gadabanahalli were my
uncle, Mahmood Shah Saheb and my father, Janab Gulam
Mohiyuddin Saheb.
Thus my father stayed for long in Gadabanahalli,
When he married he took my mother also to that place. They
spent two years of their married life at that place where one
of the babies that was born, namely Janab Muhamed Yuhya
Saheb (younger brother of my father-in-law, Abdul Hameed
whose reference has come earlier) was nourished by my
mother. It was my mother who took care of this baby. The
youngest and the last child of this family was Fahimunnissa,
popularly called “Bee-jan” who became my next patron at
Hassan. She was married to a planter, Janab Abdul Rahim
Saheb, who owned a Rice Mill at Hassan. He was known as
Mill Abdur Rahim. He was a graduate, very enlightened,
sober, a person of only a few words, very gentle, noble and
affectionate.
My father contacted this family and they were glad
to have me in their house. That was the year 1935. He had a
large family, ten children, seven daughters and three sons.
When I was with them the sixth child, Firoz Nusrat Rahim,
was born. All children were young, the eldest being not more
than seven or eight. I was the eldest among the youngsters.
I would do very happily all odd jobs, going to Mill, keep
accounts, do shopping, help children and so on, besides my
studies. Janab Rahim Saheb was very kind, and my cousin
(Bijan Bu) was also very affectionate. Janab Rahim Saheb had
very small circle of friends, but they were of high
society, lawyers and others. He was a tennis player. He
would play tennis with his pyjama on. He was very fond of
cross-words puzzles which he would diligently attempt to solve
My Life
37
that which appeared in the Illustrated Weekly of India, very
popular periodical of those days. He would read “The Hindu”
newspaper for a good part of the day. He would smoke and
he was fond of fish. My cousin would fry the fish in a way
that would become very delicious. He was fond of good food,
very punctual about meal times, very knowledgeable in world
affairs. Those were the days when the British monarch, Edward
VIII had abdicated the throne and his younger brother
George VI had ascended the throne. That was big news and
he would discuss that. That was the time of the rise of the
Nazis and the Fascists, the invasion of Abyssinia, and the
expulsion of Arabs from Palestine, the great depression,
unemployment and human misery.
We had four teachers in Middle School, the Head
Master, Janab Mohamed Ghouse Saheb, popularly called
Mujeeb Saheb, was a double graduate, B.A., B.L. and
another teacher was also Mohamed Ghouse, popularly called
“Sabulal” which was also the nickname I was called. He owned
a coffee estate also. He was a very good teacher. The English
grammar he taught us still remains fresh in my mind. Urdu
Munshi Saheb excited great interest in language and literature.
Our Kannada teacher would explain the meaning of Sarvajnaya
poet so well that the whole class would listen attentively.
He was a very orthodox Brahmin. A mischievous boy once
did a horrible thing. He brought an egg and broke it before
the teacher, who almost collapsed by the shock. The result
of this school was very poor. In those days passing Lower
Secondary examination was something like passing a
competitive examination of the present days. When we were
in the fourth year or final year of Middle School a new
teacher by name Syed Abdul Ghaffar joined the school. He
was a very strict and disciplined teacher. I still remember
the way he taught us geography. He would say South America
is divided into A, B, and C; ‘A’ means Argentina, ‘B’ means
Brazil, and ‘C’ means Chile. We would remember all the great
38
My Life
mountains in the world, all the great rivers, all the
capitals, and so on. Nearing the examination, he said, “Boys,
after your dinner, come to my residence exactly at 8 p.m.”
We took our bedding also. We were eight of us. He would
teach us in a separate room of his until 10 p.m. He would
make us go to bed exactly at that hour by switching off the
light. He would make us get up exactly at 5 a.m. He would
call us once. If we did not get up, he had a long twisted
rope like a hunter’s and he would use it forcefully on us.
We were all nervous at his glare whenever he got angry. But
the way he tutored us was so effective that it would stick in
our mind. The result of his hard work was such that out of
eight seven passed in the examination that year which was a
record in the history of the school.
I could recall an instance of this great teacher in my
life. He had passed just SSLC of those days, and seven or
eight years later it occurred to him that he should become a
graduate. He passed his Intermediate and then joined
Maharaja’s College for B.A. He took History as one of the
optionals. By that time I had become a Lecturer in
Maharaja’s College and was teaching European History to
B.A. class. He used to be seated in the front row. It was a
strange phenomenon. A humble pupil of his was on the stage,
who was once shivering at his sight, and that mighty teacher
who was once, was now listening to the lectures of his own
student. He would listen attentively to my lecture on French
Revolution how Rousseau had harnessed the horses of reason
and how Voltaire had unchained the tigers of emotions, and
how Montesquieu had warned humanity, don’t cut a tree to
get at the fruit. After the class he would meet me, and say,
“My boy! You have done well”. Those were the moments of
my blissful joy.
I remember I had joined the Scouts Movement.
There was a rally in Chitradurga. Pattabhiraman was the
My Life
39
State Scouts Chief, a very impressive personality. We
boarded the train from Hassan to Arsikere, changed it to
Poona line, got down at Chikjajur and took the train to
Chitradurga. We reached in the evening around 7 p.m. In
big open ground large number of tents had been pitched. One
of them was given to our school. We were four of them.
Perhaps that was the first time I boarded a train. Dinner
was served at 8 p.m. I still remember how I relished “HuliAnna” Our trip to the Hill where Haidar’s troops faced defeat
at the hands of a lady is still green in my mind. Why he
could not conquer that fort, and the great jamboori of the
rally are all fresh in my memory.
Our school was known for sports, particularly football.
There were a few very good players and we used to beat the
High School team and bring shield and prizes. That was
something great. Things were going on smoothly. Studies
was no problem to me. But something else happened which
was very disturbing. I was in my cousin’s place quite happily
doing the routine work, both household and studies. Along
with me the nephew of Janab Abdur Rahim Saheb by name
Abdul Lateef was staying in the house. He was studying in
High School and I was in Middle School final year,
examination being hardly two-three months away. Mr.Lateef
and I were in the Veranda; suddenly I was called in to go
somewhere and fetch something for the house. I left the
place and went to the market. Next day I was told that the
wrist watch Mr.Abdul Lateef had was missing. They suspected
me I had taken it. That was the height of disgrace. All people
in the house doubted, because they consulted an astrologer
and he gave a hint, they said, that fitted me. I was annoyed
when they persisted in doubt, despite my forceful denial,
taking even an oath. In the open Veranda who stole the
watch no body knows, for ever so many people could come
and go. Lateef Saheb had kept it by his bed-side and had
gone to sleep. By the time he got up, it was not there. Things
40
My Life
became unbearable for me. I ran to my place, all the 18
miles, and reported the matter to my parents. My mother
who was a very sensitive lady said, let what may happen I am
not going to send my child again to the same house. My
father was puzzled, but the voice of my mother prevailed. To
her, honour was more important than studies, death should
be preferred to dishonour. She compelled my father to go to
Hassan and withdraw her child from the school.
My father met the Head Master, Mujeeb Saheb, and
narrated the whole story why discontinuation had become
inevitable. The Head Master said, “Your son is the brightest
boy in the class, and I would never allow you to discontinue
his studies”. My father asked him what was the alternative.
Mujeeb Saheb said “I will adopt him, I will make all
arrangements. You don’t bother about it”. My father took
his advice, left me to his care and went home.
Mujeeb Saheb Hazrat put me in his eldest brother’s
house, Janab Jaffar Mohiyuddin Saheb of revered memory.
He was a retired Police Sub-Inspector having a large family
of eleven children, and my addition made it a full dozen. His
house was just opposite to Jamia Masjid called Sangeen
Masjid, which was later on renewed by the kind interest and
funds of Janab Ziaulla Sheriff Saheb, the renowned
chairman of India Builders.The house we lived in Navayatwadi
was not a large one, but one big hall and two other small
rooms. There was no water connection to the house. We had
to fetch it from the public tap, which was quite close by.
Our schedule was quite regular. We would get up early in
the
morning,
study
our
subjects
as
the
examination was not far off, then go to the school. In the
evening after dinner we would go to Hazrat Syed Ghaffar’s
place, spend the night, and study until 8 or 9 a.m. come back
home, take breakfast and go to class. One of the sons of
Janab Jaffar Mohiyuddin, my new patron, was Abdul Ghani,
My Life
41
whom we called Nawab Saheb, was my class-mate. He was a
very good football player, younger to him was Daulat Saheb,
who later got a chance to enter Mysore Civil Service, but
after partition, he left the country and went to Karachi.
It was a very lively large family of eleven children,
five daughters and six sons. Daughters were Naseeba, married
to Nazeer Ahmed Mecci Saheb, who was in a good Gazetted
job of the Government of Mysore, Ta’lia’ married to a very
rich contractor, Ahmed Jan Saheb, Sughra, who had not been
married at that time I was with them. Mahmooda and
Nurjahan, they were junior to me still studying. The sons
were Baseer Saheb, the eldest in the family who lived for a
long time. Aleem Saheb, who became a graduate, got a good
job, but left for Pakistan, the third was Nawab Saheb, my
class-mate and good foot-ball player, Daulat Saheb, mentioned
above, Shaukat Saheb who retired as a Principal of a
Politechnique and Shuja Saheb. The mother of the family was
a very gracious, gentle and noble lady. She was very
affectionate towards me. She took care of me as if I am
one of their family members, perhaps a little more than that.
For a long, long time thereafter our relations remained very
cordial. I never missed visiting her whenever I had a chance
to be in Hassan. I remember the routine of breakfast we
would have every day. It was exactly two small Dosay with a
tea-spoon of ghee and nothing else. Hot dosays straight from
the oven would be served to us, and that with ghee would
make delicious dish. For lunch which was served early,
almost daily a piece of meat cooked with leafy vegetable, dal
and rice would be available. Large family, small pension needed
extra income for the family which Janab Jaffar Mohiyuddin
Saheb supplemented by hard work in his dry farm land which
was six or seven miles away from the town.
Thus, I had a different taste of life in the company
of new set-up, new people which nevertheless added much to
42
My Life
the rich experience. We never anticipate what is our destiny,
who are our friends, who are our foes, who are our rivals,
who are our benefactors. Our blood-relations, first cousins
gave a hell of time making our lives particularly of my mother,
miserable. They went to the extent of suspecting robbery
on my part. Strangers came to the rescue, and helped a boy
build his future. In particular I am grateful to Mujeeb Saheb
Hazrat, whose humanity, help and vision, shaped the destiny
of a poor boy.
High School Life :
There was a sudden change for good in my life as a student
the moment I entered High School. My parents were
delighted that their child had moved up on educational
ladder. Perhaps I was the first child in our village who saw a
High School. Although our family affairs in the economic
matters were growing from bad to worse, with more pressure
from the debtors, more depression in the coffee prices, and
so on, my life as a student was on a stable-footing, with no
probolem of any sort until I became a double graduate,
because from High School to College level, I got Govt.
scholarship, which was good enough to maintain myself. At
some stage later, I would save something out of this also,
and send it to my mother when my father passed away. My
father died in the very first year of my High School when I
was 13 years old. He died on Wednesday the 11th of April
1938. I still remember the date and the day. For a long,
long time some foolish and superstitious thought had ingrained
in my mind that both 11th day in the month and Wednesdays
of every week are bad, because they stand for the death of
my father.
As I have indicated earlier, nothing in life had depressed
me so much and so much as the death of my father. I could
not reconcile myself to his loss at all. Every conscious
My Life
43
moment of my life, he would be glaring in my vision. His
picture, his face, his talk, his behaviour, his kindness, his
goodness, all would haunt me, as if from a bliss a person is
thrown into hell-fire. Emotional attachment that I had with
my father knew no bounds.
Life in the High School became quite different from
the four years of Middle School. That seemed to me the
end of my tribulations to find support for the continuation
of my studies. The State took over that responsibility. From
High School I year to Post-graduate level I got Govt.
Scholarship which was good enough to maintain myself both
in Hassan Hostel and later in New Muslim Hostel in Mysore,
which became my life-long link to this day. In a way High
School became a turning point in my life, when I need not
have to bow before others, need not be at the mercy of others,
and need not wash dishes to get two meals a day. The
scholarship amount was small at the High School level but it
was quite a bit at the college level, when I could send a
fraction of it to my mother as well.
Hassan High School had a vast open field, which was
a play-ground, for foot-ball and other games. Abdul Wahab
Saheb was the Head Master. He was Bar-at-Law from
London, very disciplined and hard task master. He ordered
that the School open-field and play ground was not a
thorough-fare and the public should not take it that way. He
spotted a lawyer crossing the field, he sent for him and warned
that he should not do it again. Next day the same lawyer
was doing the same thing. Again the Head Master showed a
cane he had in his hands and told him frankly he would use
the cane on him if he repeated his habit a third time. The
lawyer was shivering in his shoe. That was the last the lawyer
was seen on the field. Those were days when Spartan
discipline was maintained in the Schools.
I joined High School I year in 1937. That was the
44
My Life
year when the curriculum was changed. Before that all courses
were general. From that year optionals were introduced in
three streams, Humanities, Science and Commerce with
two papers each, apart from languages, general science,
mathematics and social studies.I wanted to take science
stream, but my friends frightened me that Maths would be
tough. I did not go for Humanities as well, but chose
commerce in which I did very well in the Final examination
when I scored 84% which was supposed to be very high in
those days. We had Sri Narasimha Iyengar for Mathematics,
a very good teacher, thin, lean, tall, fair and smiling. I loved
Geometry, particularly the theorems and solving the problems.
I was good in Mathematics also. Needlessly people scared
me at that time. Perhaps destiny had a different turn for me
or else with science I might have gone for engineering or
medicine, ending myself with mundane engineers and doctors.
In life we have to believe man is not a master of himself; he
is controlled by several other external factors like company,
environment and more than all destiny, which means Will of
God.
We had Somasundaram who taught us English. He was
a fat man who excited a lot of interest in English language
and literature. The Science teachers were Parsarthy who later
became a Professor in Central College and Aradhya who
taught us Biology. All these three teachers, Somasundaram,
Parasarthy and Aradhya became good friends of mine later
when I became a teacher at Maharaja’s College. Once
Somasundaram attended a lecture of mine in Bangalore at
Theosophical Society on Philosophy of History, appreciated
it so much that he patted on my back and said, “Oh! Boy
you have done very well”. Both Parthasarthy and Aradhya
would often greet me and recollect our past at Hassan High
School. Our Commerce Teacher was Shama Rao, and he was
very good in his subject, and would make such a dull subject
like Accountancy very fascinating. The sense of interest,
My Life
45
involvement and love for the subject was there in those
teachers, who would take teaching not as a profession but as
a privilege.
Our Hostel life was quite unforgetable. There was a
tank called Beeranahalli tank quite nearby, which is now dried
up and houses have come up there. I was very fond of
swimming. I would daily go there, attempt to learn
swimming, but would not be successful. Others who were
proficient in it would laugh at me. There was one very senior
person from Arehalli by name Abdul Ghani, a very nice man
who later became a great social worker and a rich Coffee
Planter. He was also a student, but quite senior to me. He
said to me, you would never learn to swim, come here I would
teach you how to do it. He dragged me into the water, kicked
me and pushed me far into the water. I started struggling,
not to get drowned. Suddenly I felt I was swimming. I
learned the art, and later that became a passion with me. I
would never miss swimming. I loved it so much that I
continued it for long in Mysore as well, where in Kukrahalli
tank I would not only swim but also float. There were
electric poles over the bund, each at a distance of 30 or 40
metres. Some of us in the Muslim Hostel would daily go
there and challenge each other that I would do a pole more
than you. At one stage we would swim to six or seven poles
along the bund. It was a wonderful exercise, quite enjoyable.
When the strength of the students increased in the
High School, the authorities built not a pacca building but
temporary sheds with open windows and no bars on them.
The mischievous students particularly Muslims, would sit in
the class until the teacher took attendance, and then quietly
slipped out through the windows unseen by the teacher. Their
next resort was Beernahalli tank when in the hot sun they
would swim to their hearts content, until the lunch time. I
remember our Urdu classes; Maulvi Abdul Ghafoor Saheb was
46
My Life
our Urdu Munshi, very pious, religious, dignified Maulvi. The
first question he would put was whether we performed our
morning Fajar Namaz. Fearing God we would not utter a
lie, and would confess we didn’t. The only reaction of the
Maulvi Saheb was, tears would flow down his cheeks. At
least next day we would not miss Fajar namaz. That was how
our teachers taught us morals and manners. Another good
Urdu teacher was Ruknuddin Salik Saheb, a poet in his own
right, quite different from Maulvi Abdul Ghafoor Saheb. Salik
Saheb Hazrat used to like me very much. He would ask me
to visit his house. I would take lunch or dinner with him
and Salik Saheb would instruct me on several affairs.
My High School days were eventful both from personal
point of view and in world affairs. Personally I lost my father
at that time which was the greatest tragedy that befell me.
On the world affairs it was crucial period almost a turning
point in history. The great depression persisted causing
misery all over the world. There was a serious crisis in
British monarchy when an Emperor had kicked a throne,
empire, pomp and power for the sake of a foreign beauty, an
American divorced lady Mrs. Simpson causing a sensation all
over the world. That was the time when the Nazis were
rising, and Hitler was emerging as a terror to the colonial
powers. That was the time when Mussolini had invaded
Abyssinia causing concerns in the chanceries of Europe. That
was the time when the Jews were displacing the Arabs in
Palestine, demanding a separate home in the Biblican land
that had been for over a thousand years under the control of
Arabs, ever since Hazrat Umar, the Second Caliph, entered
Jerusalam, leading a camel on which his servant was seated,
and he was on foot. That was the understanding between the
servant and the Master that they would cover the entire route
from Medina to Jerusalam, when the servant and the Master
would ride the camel alternatively by turn. When they
entered Jerusalem it was the turn of the servant to ride.
My Life
47
When the Jews saw this scene, they surrendered without a
word saying that no social order could excel this kind of
equality. Ever since 1916 when a Jewish Minister of Great
Britain, Balfour, conspired with Jews to hand over Jerusalem
after the Mandatory Powers would withdraw from that zone,
the British had sown a seed of discord which is still yielding
bitter fruits of Arab-Israeli conflict. In 1936 the Jews forcibly
occupied Palestine land causing great tension in the Arab
world. I still remember how in our village we had offered
sincere prayers to Almighty God to help the Arabs to retain
the sacred place, which is next only in importance to Mecca
and Medina.
This was also the time when I felt miserable not only
by the death of my father but also two greatest Islamic
personalities of the world. One was Allama Iqbal who had
stirred the imagination of the Indian Muslims by his exciting
revolutionary poetry, and the other was, Mustafa
Kamal Pasha of Turkey who had saved Turkey from total
disintegration and had Europeanised and modernised his
country to such an extent that it had become a good part of
Europe as also of Asia. But more important than these was
the declaration of the Second World War in 1939 which
changed the very picture of the world. Ever since the British
Prime Minister Chamberlain surrendered to the dictates of
Hitler and signed at Munich, which compromised the
superiority and authority of the British who were supreme
for over a century, there was consternation in Great Britain.
But the last straw was the invasion of Germany over Poland,
which forced both Britain and France to declare war. That
was the beginning of the Second World War which resulted
in the utter disintegration of the British empire. In India
there was an imperceptible glee over the successes of Hitler,
for the freedom movement in India ever since the birth of
Indian National Congress was struggling hard to gain
independence. In fact, many people in Bangalore started
48
My Life
learning German language hoping English was no good and
the German language would be an asset in days to come.
With these international affairs, at home the political
scene was vastly changing. The British Government in India
had implemented the Government of India Act of 1935 by
which dyarchy had been introduced at the Provincial level.
The Congress had formed Ministries in several provinces, and
the League was displeased because the Congress had
ignored it. It led to the rise of Mohamed Ali Jinnah who
raised the slogan of “Islam in Danger”, organised the League
so effectively that it passed in March 1940 the Lahore
Resolution that sowed the seeds of Pakistan.
The decade from 1937 to 1947 is very crucial in the
history of Indian national movement. That was the time
when with diarchy at the provincial level to full independence
was achieved, with the horrible holocaust of partition. It
started with tussel between the Congress and the League for
sharing political power. The seed for partition was sown by
the small step the Congress took to deny the League a place
in the U.P. Ministry. Jinnah said at least two ministers of
the League, Choudhry Khaliq-uz-Zaman and Nawab Ismail
Khan be taken into U.P. Cabinet as League quota. Pundit
Jawaharlal Nehru said he would take them provided they
subscribed to Congress ideology, and not that of the League.
This infuriated Jinnah who said that would be death knell to
the League, for what would remain of the League if its ideology
were to be lost. Punditji would argue that the British
parliamentary system of government would require joint
responsibility and perfect harmony where conflicts of ideology
had no place. The idea of coalition governments had not
matured at that time. The League Members were not taken.
That widened the gulf. The Peerpur Report was prepared
by the League which was an indictment of the Congress. The
League was left out of power which humiliated Jinnah so much
My Life
49
that he thought of the partition of the land. Hardly three
years later in 1940 the Lahore Resolution of Pakistan was
passed. Meanwhile, the Second World War broke out in
September 1939, when the Congress Ministries in
several provinces resigned as they refused to cooperate with
Government in the prosecution of the War. The subsequent
events of seven years from 1940 to 1947 are very eventful
which witnessed the dawn of freedom. They would be
discussed later in their proper context.
My Hassan life makes me recall that there was no
electricity in the town before 1935-36. When the first
street-lights were lit we were delighted, and greater was the
wonder when connections were given to houses. Sir Mirza
Ismail was the Dewan at that time. Electrification of the
State was his big programme. I remember a few important
Muslim personalities of Hassan. One of them was Haji
Muhammad Hussain, a Coffee Planter, originally from
Arehalli, who became such a big planter as to own ten
thousand acres of coffee land. He was perhaps the biggest
planter excluding the colonial corporate concerns. But in
the depression all his assets were washed off, and he fell into
huge debt. All his income was not enough to meet the
interest of the debt. But he was a very remarkable person,
taking a lot of interest in social reforms. He donated his own
bungalows for the residence of the Muslim students. The
Hassan Hostel where we resided was his property. The
Chickmagalore Muslim Hostel was his property. The New
Muslim Hostel, Mysore came into existence because he met
half of its cost. The Central Muslim Hall of Bangalore which
Kalami Saheb and Abbas Khan Saheb built were out of the
donation, at least a good part of it, he gave. His Ford Car
would be like a public conveyance which provided a lift to
any one known to him on the road. Whether any one built
a house or school or a mosque, the wood of his coffee estates
was available free for doors and windows.
50
My Life
Our own village Belagodu mosque and Golgonda
mosque were built by him. He was popularly called Sahukar
Saheb. He was a social reformer advocating frugality and
simplicity in the celebrations of the wedding. Formerly,
wedding celebrations would go on for three days. He reduced
them to one-day. The groom had to go to the bride’s place
just on the day of wedding and leave soon after the lunch.
The Mehar or the groom’s obligation to the bride as per
the religious sanction used to be a fancy figure, much beyond
the ability of the groom to pay, and many a time it was never
paid. Sahucar Saheb made people fix a reasonable figure,
sometimes it would be as small as Rs. 97-50 p popularly known
as. Sahukar Saheb would never go to any wedding unless
these conditions were fulfilled, and the presence of the
Sahucar Saheb was a privilege to the family. The status of a
person in Malanad was determined by the fact whether
Sahucar Saheb attended the wedding or not. It was his policy
not only to promote education through his deep interest in
it but also to financially support those who were needy. In
fact when my father died, he came a few days later to offer
his condolences to my mother, and asked her whether I was
studying or not. When she said it was difficult for her to
maintain me in the Hostel, he said “I would help you”.
Consequently, he looked at me and said, my boy, come to
our House once a month and collect something. I used to
go and he would give me a rupee which meant a lot in those
days. He did not survive for long. He died in 1939, a year
after my father’s death.
Another dignitary I remember of Hassan was Amir
Hussain who was an Assistant Commissioner, a very big post
in those days for Muslims. He was a retired person for
having drawn the pension for over three decades. He had a
beautiful bungalow, it was a piece to see, with tall greenary
and trees all around. He was very charitable and had plenty
of 25 paise coins always available – and 25 paise in those days
My Life
51
had quite a bit of value – he would give it to any one who
came to his door. Another big officer, an Assistant
Commissioner, who was still in job was Janab Abdul Razaq
Saheb, whose sons Asif, Manzoor, Marghoob were all known
to me. Manzoor Saheb got married to Amina Bi, my wife’s
cousin, daughter of Janab Mohamed Yahya Saheb, younger
brother of my father-in-law. Marghoob who was junior to me
was a good foot-ball player. Both Asif and Manzoor were
senior to me. Their sister, Mateen later on became my
student and did her M.A. in History. Manzoor Saheb
educated her children very well and they are all abroad in
USA in good positions.
Yet another personality of Hassan who was once very
popular was Mohamed Jamal Saheb, owner of a Shoe shop.
He was a great social worker, and once very rich having
a fleet of buses. Spending much time on service and
neglecting his own affairs resulted in the loss of everything
he had. He too had a large family, but people would go to
him for any help. He was the right hand man of Sahukar
Mohamed Hussain Saheb. The most famous Lawyer of
Hassan was Nanjundaiah. He had a very spacious plot of land
for a big house that remained still incomplete. His son was
Pattabhi Ramaiah, Scouts Commissioner whose reference has
come earlier in the diary.
3
Higher Education in Mysore
With my shifting to Mysore city for college studies came a
big change in my life. That was the turning point of my life
which shaped my destiny. I never moved basically from this
city to this date, and perhaps, I may breathe my last here.
Mysore city is a beautiful city called the paradise of pensioned
people, nay to others as well. Its salubrious weather, its
enchanting environment, its cleanliness, its quiet life, its wellplanned structures make it so fascinating as to attract lovers
of beauty from the four corners of the world. Apart from
other things it had in those days three important land-marks,
one the Chamundi Hills, the second the Maharaja and his
palace, and the third Maharaja’s College. Of these only the
first has survived as the solid gift of God, and the other two,
creations of man, have lost much of their glory. The
Maharaja is no more what he was with the advent of political
changes, and the Maharaja’s College too has faded into
insignificance, because of the shifting of the campus to
Manasagangotri, the great University Centre of to-day.
Besides, Mysore had become famous for a few more things.
One is Dasara which was renowned world over. Secondly, it
was de-jure and not defacto capital of the princely State of
Mysore, for the effective power was all there in Bangalore,
where the British Resident resided and where the Govt.
Secretariat was located called Atthara-Kacheri. It was from
54
My Life
Bangalore, the administrative Head Quarters from where the
Dewan or the Prime Minister of Maharaja exercised his
authority. But the Head of the State was Maharaja, who
resided in Mysore, and he was not only the constitutional
Head, but also the final authority, the Sovereign, within the
implications of the Subsidiary System.
When I first came to Mysore in June 1940, the
Maharaja, Krishna Raj Wodiyar IV, was still the ruler, and
Sir Mirza Ismail was the Dewan. My first landing in Mysore
was exciting, for I had not seen anything so fine, so nice, so
beautiful in my life. When I got down at the Mysore City
Railway Station, it seemed to be a wonderland; it was so
impressive and so big. In those days there were Shah-Pasand
Tangas, some of which have survived to this day. That was
the main instrument of transport for common man. Four of
us could ride on it.I went to New Muslim Hostel,
Saraswathipuram, Mysore, the famous residential Home for
Muslim students from all over the State. There were only
two colleges at that time, one in Bangalore for Science and
another for Arts in Mysore. I was lucky that I got a seat in
this Hostel with which I have had life-long connection. Even
to-day, I am associated with it as the President of its
Executive Committee.
The Hostel life was exciting for me. This Hostel was
built in 1927 by the generous gifts of two great philonthropists,
one was Arehalli Muhammad Hussain, whose reference has
come earlier. He met half of its cost, and named it after his
younger brother, Mohamed Imam Saheb, who passed away
during his Haj Pilgrimage in Mecca. The elder brother, who
loved knowledge so much, that he donated a handsome
figure for the construction of this Hostel. When depression
came and coffee prices crashed to rock bottom, he sold the
timber of his Estates to meet the cost of construction. Such
was his zeal to promote Muslim education. The other donor
was Haji Sir Ismail Sait, the great philonthropist, who had
My Life
55
generously donated seveal institutions in the State. The plot
of land, quite spacious, almost five acres in extent, was gifted
by Sir Mirza Ismail to the Muslim community, along with it
to three other backward communities. Altogether about
20 acres of land had been granted to those who were
educationally backward, so that students from those
communities could find residential facilities to prosecute their
higher studies in Mysore.
When the plot of land was granted, the task of putting
up Blocks was taken up by Sadiq Z. Shah, who was Private
Secretary to the Maharaja of Mysore. It should be said to
the secular character of this State that not only the Dewan,
the Chief Executive Head, was a Muslim, but also the Personal
Assistant of Maharaja himself was a Muslim. Sadiq Z.
Shah was also from Iran, just as Sir Mirza Ismail was.
Incidentally, it must be said that Sir Mirza Ismail was a
class-mate of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, and that Sir Mirza’s
father was Ali Askar, a very influential Iranian settled in
Bangalore, who played a significant role in the Rendition of
Mysore in 1881. That means what Lord William Bentinck had
done in 1830, namely taking over Mysore State from the hands
of Krishnaraja Wodeyar III, and establishing direct British
rule under Commissioners, one of whom was the
famous Mark Cubbon, in whose memory Cubbon Park was
formed, was annulled. After the events of 1857, the British
had learned a lesson not to be arrogant towards Princely
States, as Jhansi, Sitara, Nagpore, Oudh and other States
had taught such a bitter lesson that the British had almost
lost in a week what they had gained in a century. Ali Askar
took advantage of these historical factors, went to England,
pleaded with people who mattered most there and thus played
a key-role for the transfer of power from the British to the
Maharaja. Thus Chamaraja Wodeyar came back to the
throne, for which the Wodeyar family remained grateful to
Sir Mirza Ismail’s father. This service perhaps was one of
56
My Life
the factors for the elevation of Mirza to the highest post in
the State.
For the construction of this Hostel, not only Sadiq
Z. Shah, but also one of the local leaders, a social activist,
Janab Sattar Sait Saheb, father of Aziz Sait who rose to be a
prominent political leader and Minister in Karnataka in
subsequent days, took great part. This Sattar Sait was the
younger brother of Muhammad Abba Sait, a dynamic Muslim
leader of Mysore State. He was very close to the palace. It
seems they were cloth merchants, and the palace people were
also his customers. The Sait family played a great role in
the social service of the community. When the Hostel was
built, a Managing Committee was formed with the Principal
of Maharaja’s College as its President, and one of the teachers
of Maharaja’s College as its Secretary, and the Warden of
the Hostel. When I came to the Hostel, the President was
J.C. Rollo, the Principal of Maharaja’s College, and the
Warden was Janab H.R. Abdul Majeed, Lecturer in Persian
of Maharaja’s College. He was from Hassan, a relative to
Hazrat Mujeeb Saheb, whose word about me to Majeed Saheb
extended good support to me. Majeed Saheb became our
Urdu teacher in the College as well. He belonged to Persian
Department whose Head was Agha Abbas Shustri, a Persian
himself from Iran. In those days Persian was given more
importance than Urdu. Shustri Saheb had written in Persian
a book on Lord Krishna, which was a course-book in the
syllabus. This indicates how liberal were the days when there
was so much of respect and regard for oriental cultures,
whether of Hindus or of Muslims. Greatness was respected
wherever it existed irrespective of caste, creed or class.
I entered into this Hostel and was allotted a seat in
Block ‘A’ Room No.1. There were six Blocks of two rooms
each together with a long Central Block which had a Dining
Hall, behind which were built a Kitchen and six bath rooms.
Behind this Kitchen Block were located toilets. These were
My Life
57
all tiled structures, but the timber was teak. These were
separate Blocks built as if to take the entire spacious open
ground into possession, and also to facilitate quiet atmosphere
for serious studies. In my room the two other boarders were
Mr. Syed Shah Ali and Mr. Mohamed Haneef. The former
was in Urdu Honours which was started just that year in
1940, and the latter was in Philosophy Honours, the reputed
Department of the University, headed by the renowned
scholar, Prof.A.R. Wadia. He was a Parsi, and was held in
very high esteem in the scholarly world. His Department
was lifted so high that the entire Maharaja College was called
Philosophy College. It had a band of very distinguished
scholars, like Raghavendrachar, an authority on Vedic studies,
Yamunachar, very erudite and profound teacher whose lectures
would become magnets to attract large crowd ; Raghavachar,
who had done research on Hegel and Raja Rao, who had a
very sweet tongue, whose melodious voice was a treat to listen.
Mr.Haneef, who had joined this course, was no other than
the son of Janab Muhammad Imam Saheb, in whose name
Sahucar Mohamed Hussain Saheb of Arehalli, had built three
Blocks in the Hostel. Mr.Haneef was quite sober, refined,
gentle and deep in his thoughts. He was very punctual and
regular in his habits. Mr.Syed Shah Ali was altogether of a
different temperament, a bit assertive, dogmatic, ambitious
and demanding. He became my preceptor, almost guardian,
giving and helping me in everything including morals, manners,
habits and behaviour. He was in Urdu Honours and he would
bring Urdu books, and I would read them. Later on when
he did his Ph.D. from Lucknow University, he took a lot of
help from me. In those days there were no Urdu typewriters
and the thesis had to be written by hand. As my hand-writing
was better than his, I wrote the thesis. After partition, he
left the country, went to Karachi, settled down there, became
a Professor in one of the Universities, and recently he passed
away.
58
My Life
Mr.Haneef contested for the Vice-Presidentship of the
College Union, and won the post. It was a very prestigious
position. The College Union in those days was on the
models of Oxford and Cambridge University Unions. Only
very dynamic, competent, imaginative, sociable and popular
students could win high posts of the Union. When I was a
student, I knew two Muslims who held high posts in the
Union, one is this Haneef, and the other was Mr.M.Abdul
Khader who became the College Union Secretary, the most
important position. He was a student of Prof.Abbas Shustri
of the Persian Department. He had taken English as one of
the optionals, and hence a student of J.C. Rollo. He was a
very good orator with a lot of organizing ability and skill.
Later on he went to Aligarh and did his M.A. in Urdu under
the renowned Urdu Professor, Janab Rasheed Ahmed Siddiqui
of great repute in the scholarly world of Urdu. He tried his
utmost to become a Professor in the University, but was not
successful. He joined St. Philomena’s College and did great
service to Urdu language and literature.
Hostel life was exciting and exhilerating to me.
Students from all sections, rich and poor, of different age, of
different places, of different disciplines and of different
habits and thoughts lived together. It was a good social
mingling where academic cross fertilisation would also take
place. Mr. Baig was in Economics Honours, and we would
hear a lot about Matlhus or Keynes or Marshall. Prof. V.L.
D’Souza was the Professor of Economics, a very witty, jovial
and sociable Professor. His talk would be hilarious. In those
days academic functions, whether special lectures or debates
or talk by visiting dignitaries, were very exciting and we would
not miss them. Any function presided over by A.R. Wadia
or Prof. D’Souza, or Rollo, or Yamunacharya or Narasimha
Shastri of Sanskrit Department would be exhilerating.
Likewise, we would get benefited in the discussions on
subjects like Philosophy, Psychology, Literature, History,
My Life
59
Politics or Economics. These were the main disciplines taught
in the College.
One, Mr.Abdul Quddus Patel, was a student of
Philosophy, a boarder in the Hostel. He was unique in several
respects, very gentle, refined taste, soft spoken, very jovial.
He had a lota or a mug of his own which he always carried.
He was very punctilious in his dress, very clean, neat, spick
and span. He was well built, quite stout, an impressive
personality in his own right. Another Urdu scholar by name
Muhammad Haneef, wrote a very hilarious article in the
Hostel magazine, called “Patel-Ka-Lota” caricraturing the
habits of Mr.Patel. He suffered from epilepsy. Whenever
he had very hot water bath, not very often, he would be
attacked by this ailment which would make him miserable
and at that time he needed particular attention.
The Hostel life in the first year of my stay underwent
a peculiar phase of confrontation between two groups. The
butt of attack was on the administration. Some supported
the existing system and some opposed it. Lively discussions
would take place in the dining Hall, which would become a
battle ground between two rivals. The strife went on for a
year which affected the examination results so much that many
did not pass. This taught them a lesson. When they came
next year, the first thing they did was not to repeat the
performance of the previous year, not to indulge into any
confrontation, and to be friendly with one and all. That was
the last of the bitter experience. Since I was in Junior
Intermediate it did not affect me.
A few more instances of this Hostel life could be
narrated. There was a medical student, Mohamed Amin from
Channapatana. He had brought a basket-ful of mangoes which
he would bring to the dining table and eat himself without
sharing them with others. One day when he was away, we
robbed that basket and nothing was left for him. He would
60
My Life
bring a bottle of ghee and samething would happen to it.
The menu in the Hostel was rice and dal with vegetable palya.
Dr.Amin would help himself with the dal so lavishly that
Dr.Nasiruddin, another Medico, would remark, “Amin Sab,
are you hunting for grains of rice in the pool of dal in your
plate ?” This Dr.Nasiruddin Saheb who had done earlier his
L.M.P., who was already in a job, and who had married the
daughter of Abdul Razaq Saheb, Assistant Commissioner
(brother-in-law of Manzoor Saheb, married to Amina Bi,
cousin of my wife and also a student of mine) had come to
Mysore to do his M.B.B.S. He was a remarkable person.
He had a large family, and all of them were highly educated,
some of them are now well-settled in USA. Later on
Dr.Nasiruddin became a member of the Hostel Managing
Committee, but more solid work he did was the establishment
of Azam Bait-ul-Mal, a charitable institution that collects
funds for helping the needy and the poor. Even now this
Institution exists in Mysore rendering yeoman service.
Another tradition of this Hostel was a very fascinating
way to see-off boys going to public examination on the first
day. All boarders would gather to garland them, not with
flowers, but a string of leaves, and they would march in
procession chanting and greeting as far as the college
premises. It was a sight to see pumping up the spirit of the
boys in a real comradery of social solidarity. During the
Dasara or Christmas or summer holidays, the boys would go
to different places to collect funds from the public to help
the poor boys with free-boarding. Deserving boarders would
get this help. I would actively participate in this venture. An
interesting personal experience of mine in the Hostel could
be recalled. Once when all boys had gone home in summer
holidays I was all alone in one of the rooms. Suddenly the
weather changed and took a cyclonic trend. It was night
time. There was a huge eucalyptus tree quite close to the
Hostel Block. In the dead of the night, the gusty winds
My Life
61
became so severe that a big, quite heavy, branch of the tree
fell on the roof of the Block. All tiles of the Block littered
the whole room. It was a big crash, as if a bomb was
exploded. Suddenly when I woke up I found it was all dark,
lights were off, leaves, twigs, branches were there all over
the room, but not a single tile, not a twig, not a branch had
fallen exactly on the spot where my cot was placed. I was
safe, as if destiny had taken care to protect the area where I
had slept.
I could recall another instance in my life, much later
of 1959 when I was in London. On a particular day when I
was crossing a road near the Trafalgar Square in London, I
never noticed a bus was fast rushing. Suddenly a powerful
hand, as if of a Gama Pahlevan, came across my chest and
made me stop. A second later the bus passed. Had he not
prevented me I would have been no more. The English man
having done this great service did not look at me, for I may
stop him and waste his time thanking profusely for saving my
life. Forget the politics of the English, as a race they are a
gem of people. All qualities of high character are
concentrated in them. That is why they ruled over the world
for quite a long time, nearly for two centuries.
Life in Intermediate College :
Mysore had only Degree College that was Maharaja’s College.
The present First Grade College, adjacent to Maharaja’s
College, was in those days only an Intermediate College of
Arts and Science for two years. That was the only
Intermediate College, apart from one in Bangalore, in the
entire State. I joined that College in 1940. For all purposes
both this College and the Maharaja’s College were regarded
as one unit having one common Union, common canteen,
common play-ground, and all facilities being common. The
teachers of Maharaja’s College were taking classes of
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My Life
Intermediate College, and the teachers of Intermediate
College were taking classes in Maharaja’s College. We used
to attend all functions of the Maharaja’s College. J.C. Rollo
was the Principal of Maharaja’s College and Nagaraja Rao
was the Superintendent of Intermediate College. He used to
wear a close-collared coat with turban. He was popularly
called “Coachman”. My subjects of study were History,
Economics, Logic (HEL) as optionals with compulsory English
and Urdu as languages. In history, we had British History,
Greek History and Roman History. I used to like Greek
History taught by a very good teacher, N.Kasturi. He would
make the subject so interesting, as if it was a romance of the
bye-gone days. The Pelopennesian Wars, the Marathan Battle,
the Legislative Assemblies, the art, architecture, Philosophy,
literature, drama, politics, every thing of Greek history would
be made so interesting by Sri N. Kasturi that we would not
feel how the hour passed. He was called “Nataka” Kasturi
(His initial was N) and this talent was manifest in the art of
his teaching. In the Final Intermediate examination I scored
the highest marks in History (72%) which they say was a
record, for no one had scored earlier more than 70%.
British History was taught by M. Seshadri, and he
was also a very good teacher with his own peculiar
pronunciation of English. Later on he went to England for
higher studies and became the Director of Archaeology.
Another History teacher was Dr.B.S. Krishnaswamy Iyengar,
later rising to Professor’s Chair in Manasagangotri. He would
utter “Umm, umm” at the end of every word. Some one
asked him, why he did so. He shot back “Is it so omm ?” In
Economics we had, Principles of Economics and Economic
History of England. S.L. Rama Rao would teach us Principles
of Economics. Those teachers had a knack in making the
students understand the essence of a subject, and even today we have not forgotten the basics they taught. The kind
of examples they gave us for supply, for want, for demand,
My Life
63
for the agents of production, land, labour, capital and
entrepreneur are all still fresh in our mind.
Logic was a dry subject, both Deduction and
Induction. Sri Hanumantha Rao would teach us Latta and
Macbeath were the authors who had written a text book on
Logic and we would make it a Bible. We developed taste in
Logic as it made us think what to infer, how to infer, and
how important was what inferred. We observe the
phenomenon what is created is sure to perish. Man is no
exception. We observe X, Y, Z, all die. X is a man; he will
also die and hence all men are mortal is the inference, a reality
that is writ so large in the scriptures. Hence logic is that
reasoning that would stand firm in mind to help us to take
right decisions.
Our language teachers were wonderful. English
language was on top of all subjects in those days. Europeans
were still there in the University at that time, such as
Mc’alpine, Macontosh, Rollo, Eagleton and others. Indians
too were superb in the grasp of that language. B.N. Shama
Rao, Rangauna, B.M. Srikantaiah, Narasimha Murthy,
Govinda Rao, Mallaraiah, Keshavan, and a host of others were
there to excite our interest in English, which even to-day
is the lingua-franca of the world. Shakespear’s dramas were
compulsory. We had “ Merchant of Venice ” in the
Intermediate Class and “Hamlet ” in the Honours Class. We
still remember how the character of Portia, of Shylock, of
Antonio, of Bassanio were drilled into our ears, and
how exciting it was to listen, to discourse from our
teachers “All that glitters is not gold”, “Life is a tale told by
an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”; “To be or
not to be, that is the question,” and so on. We have learned
that drama or poetry or good piece of prose is that which
touches, stirs and teaches us delightfully. There were
occasions when we would be waiting when the English hour
would come.
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My Life
If this was the case with English, much more so was
the case of Urdu language, which we loved from the bottom
of our heart. It was so, particularly because our Urdu teacher,
Maulvi Muhammad Khan Saheb was unique in several
respects. His depth of knowledge, his wit and humour, his
way of explaining, his perception of men and events, his
diction, and his inimitable way of presentation were all such
that it was a life-time experience to listen to him. Our text
was “Chand Hum Asar” biographies of some great Indian
personalities written by Baba-e-Urdu. Maulvi Abdul Haque.
Maulvi Saheb had an unique incisive ability to judge, fathom,
estimate and assess the potentials of great personalities, and
he would throw light both on the positive and negative
aspects of the achievements of those people. Urdu Drama
was another feature of those days. There was an Urdu
Association which would put up every year a drama which
was very popular. I remember in 1941 they presented
Shakuntala drama which was very much appreciated. A boy
by name Nazeer Ahmed, a very handsome figure, whose
features were feminine, became the heroine, Shakuntala, and
Urdu Honours student, Mohamed Haneef Kaleem, became
the hero, Dushyanta. Both these characters acted so well,
and so well, that they attracted repeated applaus. I was also
allotted a minor role in that drama. That was the first time
I appeared on the stage. In the Urdu Department of
Maharaja’s College the photo in which I too had figured was
hanging for a long time. Kannada dramas were also very
popular in which teachers too would take part. Our History
teacher, N. Kasaturi, was a very popular figure in that field.
Union activities, functions, debates, sports, public lectures,
gymnasium, and Coffee House were the other sources of great
attraction of those days.
In the Hostel life we would not miss any great movie
of those days. Hindi films were very popular. Saigal’s tunes
would be reverberating in the bath rooms next day. Mr.Baig
My Life
65
would be singing and singing “ So ja, so ja, meray raj dulare
” etc. The standard of movies like “Pukar”, “Sikandar-e-Azam”
“Dunya-na-Manay”, “Shadi” etc, would be very popular.
Woodlands, or Prabha, or Olympia theatres would screen
these Hindi films. English movies were not much in vogue
those days in Mysore. Swimming was yet another important
past-time. In those days in Saraswathipuram there was
Mekhri garden which houses at present JSS Women’s College
and other institutions. Tall cocoanut trees, betel leaves, and
betel-nut trees with running water would make an exceedingly
pleasant and ideal spot in hot summer to prepare for the
examination. We would go there in day time to prepare for
the examinations. Some of our class-mates were very bright.
There was keen competition among us to excel each other.
Mr. Muneer Ahmed (whose elder brother, Abdul Hameed,
was my teacher in Hassan High School) was a very bright
student. He had taken geography and I had taken history.
Geography was first introduced in the University at
Intermediate Class level in 1940, and a year later in
Maharaja’s College, where Janab Nazeer Ahmed, fresh from
Aligarh Muslim University, had been appointed. He played
an important role in motivating our community to take up
to higher studies. He was a fine gentleman deeply interested
in social service, and in helping the community. Mr. Munir
became his student, later on went to Aligarh to do his M.A.
in Geography. He left the country, went to Baghdad, and
then to USA where he settled down. He is no more now. He
married the daughter of Ismail Shariff Saheb, who had retired
from a high post in the State service. He was the first Muslim
to pass Mysore Civil Service. His sister, Dr. Habeebunnisa,
became Professor of Urdu later in Manasagangotri.
4
Graduation
My entry into Maharaja’s College was yet another
mile-stone in my life. I was linked for ever with that
institution which stood for knowledge and learning. I was
associated with that College for over two decades either as a
student or as a teacher. That was the College that shaped
my destiny. It was a wonderful College of high repute with
men who possessed both aristocracy of intellect and sublimity
of soul. An idea, a great desire, lurked in my mind and soul
that I should also be one among those. They rightly say that
if one concentrates more and more on a particular point, one
becomes a part of that point. I had scored high percentage
of marks in optionals, History, Economics and Logic at the
Intermediate examination. My mother was still alive at
that time and she was very happy that I was doing well in
studies. She encouraged me to go ahead. Maintenance
was no problem, as from High School I was getting merit
scholarship and that was enough for the purpose.
When I passed the Inter exam, two choices were there,
either to go for Pass Course or for Honours Course. I decided
the latter, for in the sub-conscience it was working you would
not be a college teacher unless you did M.A. The next issue
was which Honours to choose. I preferred at that time
Economics Honours. People said it had better prospects in
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My Life
life. I filled the form for Economics Honours, saw
Prof.V.L.D’Souza, who became later my great benefactor,
guide, philosopher and friend. I had contact with him until
his death. He liked me very much. Later on, he became the
Vice-Chancellor also. After retirement he shifted to
Bangalore, where he had bought a bungalow in Cantonement.
I used to visit him there and he would highly appreciate my
respect and regard to him. He was too happy to give me a
seat in Honours, both because I had scored high marks in
Economics and because there was a trend in those days to
encourage deserving boys from the backward communities,
more so minorities. At that time some one informed
Prof.M.H.Krishna, Professor of History, that a Muslim boy
had scored record percentage of marks in History (72%) in
the Inter examination. He sent for me, looked at the Marks
Card, got up, hugged me, and said, “My boy! You must do
History Honours”. I was nervous. I had been warned by
friends not to go for History Honours, for I would not get a
fair deal at the hands of Prof.M.H.Krishna. He is communal.
He is bitter on the Muslim rule in Indian History; he poures
poison on Aurangzeb; not a single soul belonging to Muslim
community had joined History Honours till that day. This
was the information that had been drilled into my ears, and
hence I was nervous, and in two minds. But the affection
with which he greeted me touched my soul and I promised
that I would join History Honours.
In Economics Honours there were over twenty students,
but for History only six had joined, and they too were not of
high calibre. The brightest of the students would join either
English Honours, which was in high demand with European
staff, or Economics or Psychology or Philosophy. These
Departments were headed by stalwarts.If English
Department had a galaxy of brilliant stars, the Psychology
Department was headed by Prof.M.V.Gopalaswamy, a
psychologist of international repute, whose book was a text
My Life
69
in England. He was perhaps the first in the country to start
experimental psychology at the college level. He was the one
who coined the word “Akashvani” for radio transmission. He
started this in his own residence, broadcasting usefu
educational information. Dr. Kuppaswamy was another good
teacher of Psychology Department. Philosophy was headed
by Prof. A.R. Wadia, who was held in very high esteem in
the scholarly world. Both Wadia and D’Souza were popular
icons in the eyes of the students. History Department too
had very good staff. Prof.M.H.Krishna had a London Ph.D.
having worked under Rapson, who had edited the First
Volume of Cambridge History of India in six volumes,
regarded world-wide as an example of high-class European
research work.
Prof.M.H. Krishna became the Director General of
Archaeology a year later after I joined the Honours Course.
Dr.Venkatsubba Sastri, who too had done his Ph.D. from
London joined the Department. Earlier he was in Bangalore.
Dr.Sastri had worked on Munro System of British
Statesmanship in India. If M.H.Krishna was a specialist in
Archaeology and ancient Indian History, Dr. Sastri had worked
on modern India touching Constitutional History. History
Department too had very distinguished scholars like Radha
Kumad Mukherji who had written History of Indian Shipping
and Unity of Indian Culture. Venkateshvarlu also had served
this Department and had written Essentials of Indian
Culture.
In fact, what Oxford is to Great Britain, Maharaja’s
College was to Mysore State, the Centre of higher learning
that gifted superiority of mind to our youth. It excited
in them the thought that living is not merely defending the
boundaries of life but also to make them creative, committed
and cultured. It was a great institution that humanised man
with new attitudes and values to face the challenges of life.
We could say, it was a kind of power-house that converted
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My Life
the Chemistry of man into moral energy. We felt that this
college was a centre where the past, the present and the future
melted to mingle in order to inject the wisdom and the
knowledge of the past into the mind and conscience of the
present generation so as to build their future. This college
was busily involved in advancing, diffusing, conserving and
examining knowledge. They rightly say that any institution is
organised energy that perpetuates an impulse through time,
and this institution perpetuated the impulse that if you suck
the honey of pure thought then you would know the meaning
of real life. This college stood for that high ideal.
I joined the History Honours course, whose
importance I realised later that history is the vital magistrate
that passes the final verdict on men and events. Here I learned
that history is the memory of man without which a man would
ever be a child, and that a nation that forgets the past would
be condemned to re-live it. A galaxy of brilliant teachers made
me love this subject so much that I made it my profession
to eke out my existence through it.
I was a student of Maharaja’s College at a time when
such European Professors as J.C. Rollo, Mcontosh, Macalpine
and Eagleton were still on the staff. Macalpine was the ViceChancellor and Rollo was the Principal. It was an intellectual
treat to listen to Rollo, particularly on Shakespear’s dramas.
He was so diligent in his work that he would correct the
composition exercise books meticulously, bring them to the
classes, and point out how grave were the mistakes we had
committed in not knowing the difference between “pass by”
and “pass away”. His alacrity and smartness are still green
in my mind how he hopped over the stairs of the college. It
was an admirable scene to watch the Principal rushing up
from the ground floor to first floor. He would not hold a
drama text in his hands to teach, for he knew the whole text
by heart.
My Life
71
Our own Indian Professors whether A.R. Wadia, or
M.V. Gopalaswamy or V.L. D’Souza, or M.H.Krishna, or
B.M. Srikantaiah, or K.V. Puttappa, or Narasimha Sastry,
or Yamunacharya, or Purushottam, or M.V. Krishna Rao, or
B.N. Shama Rao were second to none in the excellence of
pedagogy. It was all music to listen to them how they would
pour out wisdom and knowledge in rhythmic melody. They
would touch, stir and move the hearts of the students to
teach delightfully.If it was a class of B.N. Shama Rao on
Wordsworth, daffodils would dance in the heart of the
students. If it was a lecture of Purushottam, the lava of
Vedantic philosophy would bubble up in the soul of the
students. If it was a debate on the current problems of the
day, the hilarious talk of V.L.D’Souza would fill the hall with
mirth and laughter. If it was a symposium, the diction of M.V.
Krishna Rao would recall the memory of Dr.Johnson. If it
was a Kannada play, N. Kasturi would steal the show. In
any walk of life, the college had such illustrious stars as to
outshine any in the world.
The Union of Maharaja’s College was a training yard
of democracy for the youth to learn the art of election
campaign. Commencement of academic year would always
be so exciting as they would herald the dawn of election fever
in the Union. The entire student community would get
excited to know who among them would be a winner.The
candidates would put up a tough show, would work hard to
canvass their case, and would excel each other in asserting
their merit. It was almost a replica of either Oxford or
Cambrdige union. The European staff encouraged the boys
to show their persuasive power, debating ability and
organizing skill. The hub of activities would be College canteen
at that time whose contractor, Krishna Iyer, would harvest a
bonanza in his business. The candidates would empty a good
lot of their purse to win votes.
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My Life
The major programme of the Union was to organise
good functions, debates, dramas, lectures and cultural
programmes. They would invite local, national and foreign
dignitaries. Any V.I.P. to Mysore would not miss visiting
the College Union. These functions would take place either
in the Junior B.A., or Senior B.A. Halls or in the Quadrangle.
Even Arnold Toynbee visited Maharaja’s College.
I was associated with this College nearly for a quarter
of a century, ever since I came to Mysore in 1940. Those
were hectic years of the Second World War, the Cold War,
the exciting era of national movement, the trauma of partition,
the period of national reconstruction, the era of Jawaharlal
Nehru’s regime, the educational reforms, and the phase of
the linguistic re-organization. The College was actively
involved in the academic discussion of all these issues. I have
witnessed the phase when the students of this College plunged
themselves deep into Quit India Movement of 1942. J.C. Rollo
was the Principal, a great disciplinarian who would not allow
any agitation in the campus. The students were defiant and
would not listen to any. There were two powerful student
leaders, one M.V. Krishnappa from Mulabagal who later
became an Union Minister and the other was Ghaffar Khan,
whose fiery speeches attracted large crowd. Tension was built
up until we saw with our own eyes the Deputy Commissioner,
Nagaraja Rao, shooting with his own pistol a young boy by
name Ramaswamy, who died on the spot, and in whose
memory the present five-lights circle in Mysore near 100 ft.
Road is named as “Ramaswamy Circle”. Those were indeed
very exciting days.
Let me recall my own History Department. The
College was well-known for two disciplines, Philosophy and
History. Such great scholars as Dr.Radhakrishnan, who
became Rashtrapati, A.R. Wadia, Purshottam,
Raghavendrachar, Yamunacharya, Raja Rao, Hanumantha Rao,
Raghavachar taught philosophy, and such renowned teachers
My Life
73
as Denham, who became the first Registrar of the University,
K.T. Shah, C.R. Reddy, Radhakumud Mukherji,
Venkateshvarlu, M.H. Krishna, Venkatasubba Sastri, Srikanta
Sastri, Pranatharthi Haran, P. G. Satyagirinathan, B.S.
Krishnaswamy Iyengar, N. Kasturi and M. Seshadri were
connected with History Department. M.H. Krishna was a
student of Rapson of London, the Editor of the First Volume
of Cambridge History of India. Prof.Krishna was a great
Archaeologist who had done extensive excavation of
Brahmagiri, Chandravalli and Siddapura. He would teach
cultural history of India stressing its salient features of unity
in diversity, identity in multiplicity, continuity in change, and
reconciling the irreconcilable. Venkatasubba Sastri and M.
Seshadri also had studied in U.K. In those days, a dip-inTigris, meaning a Degree from U.K., was absolutely essential
for promotion in academic field. I too became crazy that I
should have one such Degree from that country which had
become a Super star in those days.
We were lucky to have a galaxy of brilliant teachers.
We had Pranatharthi Haran who would teach British
Constitutional history, particularly the Documents, in such a
manner that the terse language of the Documents, which
would otherwise be unintelligible, would become fascinating
tales of a fairy land. We had P.G. Sathyagirinathan, who would
teach European history in such an inimitable way that what
he taught on French Revolution is still ringing in our ears. If
Voltaire harnessed the horses of reason, Rousseau unchained
the tigers of emotion. He was so witty that we would be
longing for his class which seemed to pass so quickly. He
would be spending half the time in general talk which was all
full of rich experiences of mankind. We had Srikanta Sastri,
an erudite scholar of encyclopaedic knowledge on Karnataka
History. We had Raghavendra Rao, a Maratha gentleman,
who would glorify Maratha exploits, as if they were heroes of
the land.
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My Life
We had N. Kasturi who would teach Greek History
making it a romance of a foreign land. We had B.S.
Krishnaswamy Iyengar, whose style of teaching was amusing,
as he would utter “Oom” at the end of every sentence. When
some one asked him why it was so, he retorted, “Is it so –
oom?” We had M. Seshadri who would teach British History
where Henry VIII, his romance with Anne Bolyne and
Reformation chapters were most fascinating. These teachers
gave us an insight into the nature of history that it is liquid
philosophy teaching through examples; that it is unfolding the
drama of human freedom; that it is a science, no less and no
more; that it is a barometer of the rise and fall of man and
that being the quintessence of wisdom, happens to be the
only philosopphy and the only psychology.
Maharaja’s College was a place where those who
studied or taught became Rashtrapati of the land, Chief
Ministers or Governors of State, ambassadors, lawyers,
thinkers, teachers, poets, artists, diplomats or beareaucrats.
This College has played a vital role in the development of
individual personality, in the promotion of new attitudes and
values, in the enhancement of knowledge and skill, in the quest
for new humanism and peace, and in the integration of science
and culture. This College had a great hand in helping our
youth shine in all sectors of life such as moral, material,
intellectual, aesthetic and physical. This College attempted
to objectify the main purpose of higher education, namely to
bring up to surface the best an individual possesses, to make
him live harmoniously and graciously with his own fellowmen,
and to give him creative vision, good conduct, finer taste and
nobler aims.With the rise of a new campus in Manasagangotri,
the glory of Maharaja’s College faded out into the limbo of
the past, and yet as the custodian of our culture, the promoter
of higher values, and the inner conscience of our society it
played a vital role in the recent past. I am very proud I was
a product of this College.
My Life
75
In December 1942 when I was in I Year Honours,
my mother passed away. Earlier I have sketched that
situation. The personal bond which was once connected with
ambilical chord was severed, and the only link that remained
with my native place, Belagodu, was my eldest sister and my
elder brother, who unfortunately had lost his mental balance.
After the death of my father perhaps the shock aggravated
his conditions. He was three years elder to me and there
was a gap of over twelve years between him and my sister.
As it has been mentioned earlier my parents did not have an
issue for seven years when my sister was born, and there was
again a gap of a dozen years before my brother was born,
whose name was Altaf Hussain. He was very good in his
studies, he passed his higher primary and then Lower
Secondary examinations, became the Shanbhog of the village.
I remember a Muslim Assistant Commissioner came to
Belagodu from Saklespur for Jamabandi. In those days all
Govt. jobs were the monopoly of only the Brahmins, for
they were the only literate people. When the Asst.
Commissioner came to know that a Muslim boy had passed
Lower Secondary, and that he knew Kannada, he wanted to
encourage him. He made him a Shanbhog, but my brother
could not discharge the duties properly, as he was not cut
out for that job. My father made him earn something by
putting up a small stall in the Weekly Shandies (bazars) which
were held in Bikkodu on Tuesdays, in Saklespur on Thursdays
and in Belagodu on Saturdays. He started small business
and earned a tiny bit, but the job was too heavy. He had to
carry goods, the betel nuts which he sold, on his back, walk
to the Shandies for 8 or 9 miles, spend all day long there,
and come back exhausted later in the night. I remember
how anxiously my parents waited for him, each minute seemed
an hour. It was very hard job; he could not carry it for long.
It occurred to my father that a primary school teachers job
would suit him better. My father went to Hassan, and met
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My Life
D.E.O. fortunately one, Abdul Gafoor Saheb, who appointed
him as a teacher in Hassan. He was happy with that job.
When my father died, and when my mother did not like my
discontinuation of studies, there was no alternative but to
resign the job and come home to assist my mother in
plantation. We had nearly 15 acres of Coffee land in three
places. My brother was doing fine, looking after the lands
and assisting my mother, who was a very dynamic lady.
It occurred to my mother that she should find a bride
for my brother. Negotiations started, and the tragedy began
with this affair of total disappointment in marriage
negotiations. Not in one but in two places she had to face
defeat. The first was Malsavar, a place three miles from
Arehalli. They were big coffee planters, and the negotiations
had almost come through. My paternal uncle, younger
brother of my father, Alauddin Saheb came to know of it.
He rushed to Malsavar, poisoned the ears of those people
and said the boy was no good and that his own son, Mohamed
Jaffar, was far better than Altaf Hussain. When those people
thought that my uncle was their well-wisher, broke their
promise to my mother, and gave their daughter to Mohd.
Jaffar, and not to Altaf Hussain. This was a shock both to
my mother and my brother.
My mother continued her effort. My maternal uncle
in Nagenahalli, Abdul Wahab Saheb, who was her own
brother, whom she had brought up as her own son when my
grandmother was no more, had daughters, the eldest of whom
was Amina Bi, about to be married. My mother pleaded
with my uncle to give Amina Bi in marriage to my brother.
Again disappointment was in store. There was a better offer
to that girl from a very rich family, brother-in-law of Janab
Gulam Mohamed Saheb, one of the biggest planters of
Malanad. My uncle settled the affairs with that family and
gave Amina Bi to Abdul Hafeez of Balehonnur. That was the
My Life
77
last straw on the camel’s back. My brother lost his mental
balance. He loved Amina Bi. Had the marriage taken place,
perhaps a life would have been saved. The mental illness
continued. We tried to treat him. He became out of control.
One could imagine the agony of my mother. He would not
come home for days together, roaming about here and there,
sleeping in the veranda of some village folks, eating something
if they offered. This shock was one of the major factors of
my mother’s demise.
After the death of my mother, it occurred to me that
some–how I should take my brother to Bangalore Mental
Hospital and get him admitted there for treatment. It was
a problem to take him there. In the first place it was difficult
to trace him where he was. He would spend most of the
time in the jungle and eat something if some one fed him.
Once a way he would drop at my sister’s place. After my
mother’s death there was none to look after him. He did
not turn up even for her funeral. With great difficulty I
traced him and used all my skill to take him to Bangalore.
The next problem was where to stay in Bangalore. I had never
seen Bangalore. I had heard it was a big city. Fortunately
at that time my aunt of Gadabanahalli with her two sons,
Janab G.S.Abdul Hameed Saheb who later became my fatherin-law and his younger brother, G.S. Mohamed Yahya Saheb,
were staying in Bangalore in order to follow a legal case. They
were staying in a rented place at 10, Mission Road, just
behind the Corporation Block, in front of which was the Road
leading to Lal Bagh. It was a two-storeyed building. They
lived in the ground floor and the first floor had been rented
out. There were three or four big rooms with an independent
separate Kitchen Block. The inmates were my aunt, and her
two sons with a maid, named Rameeza Bi, a very fat lady of
very peculiar habits.
They were staying there because there was a legal case
pending relating to their properties. As said earlier they were
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once one of the richest planters of the State, owning nearly
1000 acres of land. Janab Abdul Hameed Saheb was quite a
prominent leader of the community, a Member of the
Legislative Council, a graduate from Madras University, a
friend of Sir Mirza Ismail, a social reformer and an activist
and quite well-known to European planters. He was a man
of great ideas, a large family of four sons and five daughters
– one daughter and one son died and the rest three sons and
four daughters led a good life, the eldest daughter, Sufia Bi,
being my wife. This family landed itself into great economic
misery, because in their limitless ambition to expand their
empire, they bought so many estates, heavily borrowing from
State Bank of Mysore that all their properties were mortgaged
to the Bank including their residential bungalow at
Gadabanahalli. Their position became so bad, and the
debtors were so many that it was very, very difficult to face
the challenges. It was a joint family of these two brothers
with their young children, all of them growing upto the school
age. The children were in Gadabanahalli in Estate itself and
only three of them, mother and two sons were in Bangalore.
The legal case against the Bank which had appropriated all
their assets leaving them nothing was a long drawn one, and
yet with patience they were pursuing it, which was the reason
for them to stay in Bangalore.
I landed in their house. They sheltered me, and they
were very cultured and humane, I managed to locate the
Mental Hospital, took my brother there, first to the outpatient, and then requested them to take him as in-patient.
One formality for that was a certificate from a Magistrate
that it was a genuine case of a citizen of Mysore State, for
which I had to take my brother also to the court to present
him before the Magistrate. As my brother was not mentally
sound, it was a hell of a job to take him there. I was all
alone. For two or three days I struggled hard to get that
certificate. I remember the office was at Nrupatunga Road,
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very close to the present Y.M.C.A. I got him admitted. He
remained there for a few months. I went back to Mysore for
my studies. They discharged him later. He did not get better.
He resorted to his old habit of roaming in the jungle. His
appearance was pitiable. I had taken him to Bangalore in April
1943. He survived for six more years. I got married in 1948.
He was not aware of anything. It was a paranoid case of
great intensity. Then I got a letter from Bangalore in 1949,
that my brother was found dead in some place, he was taken
to a mosque, was given a bath and then in Bangalore grave
yard he was given a religious burial. The Millia people of
Banalore, did this great service to me. I went to Bangalore,
enquired the expenses Millia people had incurred, re-imbursed
that, went to the grave where he was buried and recited the
Fateha. This was the tragic end of my brother. I reflected
two of my uncles, one from father’s side, Allauddin Saheb,
and the other from my mother’s side, Abdul Wahab, should
share a part of the blame in destroying the life of their
nephew. In case he had not been disappointed in love, he
would have perhaps led a normal life. But it is too much to
expect of them. Naturally, every one in this world is selfcentred, and would ignore all moral rights to do good to their
children. Perhaps, it is not fair to blame my uncles, for they
did what worldly wisdom dictated them to do. We have to
ultimately console ourself that it was all God’s Will. If He
wished otherwise, things would have changed. This is the
story of my brother Altaf Hussain.
My stay in Bangalore for over a month makes me
remember a few things. I became a member of the family
and my aunt loved me very much. She was a very wise and
rich lady. She had saved quite a lot of money of the affluent
days. Her foresight, wisdom, frugality and common sense
had made her actually the guardian of the family of two great
sons who shone once as bright stars on the horizon of politics
as well as good social life. Now the picture had suddenly
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My Life
changed reducing them to great helplessness. Those who were
once Lords were now in want even for a few pennies. I
remember that when Janab Abdul Hameed Saheb would start
his day to go to Lawyer or other work, he needed money,
and she would spare a little saying this is for newspaper “The
Hindu”, this is for bus-fare and so on. She was in fact the
treasurer who would run the show even of maintaining the
large families of two brothers in Gadabanahalli. There was a
baby – Austin Small car in the house, but it was very sparingly
used only for aunt or for some special occasions, such as a
wedding or some function. On such occasions I would be
given six annas and six paise to fetch half a gallon of petrol
which was thirteen annas per gallon (4 litres). I would take
a can and go to get it. The battery of the car would be
down, and it would start pushing it down road.
I could recall two such occasions when they were good
enough to take me also. One was the inauguration of the
present Jamia-Masjid near the City Market which is to-day a
very important centre of learning as well. It should be said
to the credit of Maulana Riaz-ur Rahman, the present Imam
and Khateeb who has brought about a revolutionary change
in our thinking that a mosque is not merely a place of worship
but the training and learning yard to build the future of our
children. Nearly 2000 children, both boys and girls, study
here from Nursery level to High School, learning computer
application, tailoring, stitching and other crafts. Round
the pulpit to build an educational complex is indeed a
revolutionary thought of the present Maulana. This mosque
was built early in 1940’s whose inauguration was done at the
hands of Sir Mirza Ismail, who was the Dewan then.
I attended that function, and his words are still ringing
in my ears. He said I am thankful to you for inviting me to
do a sacred job. If you had not invited me thinking I am a
Shia, not fit for opening a Sunni mosque, you would
have been guilty of a crime. If I had not come thinking,
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why should I go to declare open a Sunni mosque, I would
have been guilty of a crime which God would not have
forgiven me. Then he spoke about the basic message of
Islamic teachings of the unity of God, harmony, solidarity,
equality, love and brotherhood.
The second important event that remains green in my
memory is the visit of Muhammad Ali Jinnah to Bangalore
and his address near the Lal Bagh gate. They took me to
that function as well. I remember what he said. “I do urge
you to educate your children, particularly your daughters,
without which there is no solution to the problems of the
community.” He was a tall, lean and well-dressed man, whose
every word was so distinct, loud and clear as if gun-shots
coming out of a barrel. Since my father-in-law was also a
politician, he appreciated the lecture so much that he came
home and explained the whole gist of the talk to my aunt
who could not come.
One little incident of the personal life of that family
could be narrated here. Janab Mill Abdur Rahim Saheb of
Hassan, who was the son-in-law of my aunt, in whose house
I had lived during my Middle School days, sketched earlier
in this work, visited his mother-in-law. Naturally she (my
aunt) was pleased and gave me money to bring Biryani from
Darbar Hotel which was not very far. I rushed and brought
it. All had a good lunch and felt very happy. At that time
the two brothers, Janab Abdul Hameed Saheb and Jabab
Mohamed Yahya Saheb were also present. After the lunch
when Rahim Saheb left the place, Yahya Saheb very jokingly
said, “It was a good thing Rahim Saheb came, and we had a
chance to eat Biryani”. It was a bomb-shell. My aunt burst
out, lost temper and scolded her son, Yahya Saheb, in such
severe terms that it might have been his life-time
chastisement. He pleaded and pleaded for forgiveness, but
she would not cool down. She would repeat, how many times
I have fed you Biryani, and only once when Rahim Saheb
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My Life
came, I got him something, you are taunting. The bitter
temper lasted for hours until evening. My father-in-law would
not open his mouth. Any way, my Bangalore experience
remains fresh my mind.
Those were the days of the Second World War. The
Nazis were in the offensive. Discussions would daily take place
at home of their exploits. Bangalore South-Parade and
Cantonement street were all full of British soldiers.
Bangalore in those days was not so congested as it is to-day.
We were not far from Lal Bagh. It was within walking
distance. My aunt was very fond of flowers and we would go
for flower shows. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour
and their offensive in the Far-East were topics of hot talk
every where. Anyway, my first visit to Bangalore was in days
of great excitement. The Japanese advance in Indonesia and
Burma was causing great concern to the colonials in India.
The daily newspapers were full of rumours that Japan would
attack India, that Subhash Chandra Bose was active in the
Japanese camp, that he had formed Indian National Army
(INA), and that it was marching towards Nagaland, Imphal
and other places. The British were thinking scorch=earth
policy in India, destroy all industries so that nothing could
fall into Japanese hands. All great leaders, Gandhiji, Nehru,
Patel, Azad and a host of others were in jail after the Quit
India Movement. All jails were full to the brim filled
with nationalists of every hue, liberals, conservatives,
revolutionaries or reactionaries. The only exception was
Muslim League which was strengthening its cause to have a
separate State of its own.
When Japanese pressure increased, the Americans
under Roosevelt, who were involved in the War after the
attack on Pearl Harbour, brought immense pressure on
Chruchill to win Indian support through promises of reforms
and freedom after the end of war. Hence, this was a period
of several commissions, Sir Strafford Cripps was sent by
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83
Churchill to negotiate with the Congress, whose President
was Maulana Azad, who remained in this office for quite long,
from 1939 to 1946, the longest in the history of the Congress.
This was the most crucial period when the shape of the world
was fast changing. Cripps offered the Congress a post-dated
cheque that Britain would grant independence to India after
the war, in return for full Indian support in the war, which
meant all resources of the land together with the entire
man-power to become gun-fodder for the British to win war.
Besides, Cripps attached some other conditions which hinted
the partition of the land on communal lines. This prompted
the Congress to reject the proposals, although the initial
response of the Congress was positive. This was the time when
Rajaji, (C. Rajagopalachar of Tamil Nadu, a great leader, who
became the first Indian Governor-General of India) came out
with his own formula to solve communal problem.
It may be of interest to know that when Rajaji first
visited Mysore as Governor-General, a big function was held
in the open ground adjacent to DC office in front of Crawford
Hall. Naturally, there was great excitement in the massive
gathering. Great, great were the encomiums showered on him.
In reply he said something, which is still ringing in my ears.
He said, “We the politicians or the leaders are like the
Ganapathi Idols, who would be honoured, worshipped,
cherished, nourished for four or five days, and then thrown
into a river or a tank – (he was facing towards the Kukrahalli
tank, he pointed at it) – there you see”. What he meant was
fleeting pleasures or momentary exultation of power would
not last long and that he would not ever be a Governor
General and hence this love and respect were transitory. This
incident is of much later days of 1948 when Mountbatten
had gone and an Indian was chosen as Governor General.
But in 1942-43 Rajaji was big in news for he had come
out with a formula which had become highly controversial.
He had envisaged the partition of India on communal lines,
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My Life
which became a reality in 1947. He had said that those
provinces in the North-West and in the North-East, where
the Muslims were in majority should be given full autonomy.
This provoked the Congress so much that he was forced to
resign from the Congress Working Committee, and he became
the persona-non grata. But such was the foresight and wisdom
of Rajaji that what he had envisaged quite a few years earlier
became a reality later. Perhaps, if the Congress had taken
his advice seriously, reflected on the various issues involved,
negotiated with skill and open mind with the League, the
trauma of later day, the holocaust, horrible human tragedy
of the partition days could have been averted.
The Americans were again bringing pressure on Britain
with the successful campaigns of the Japanese in the far-east.
Japan had invaded Chinese land as well and they were too
the enemies of Japan. Hence, Chang-Kei-Shek came to
India, and negotiated again with the Congress to plan a
strategy to defeat the Japanese. Again Maulana Azad was
the President who had a series of talks with Chang-Kei-Shek.
Thus, the period was greatly exciting until the Quit India
Movement when the harsh measures of the Government
silenced all political activity of the Congress. The excitement
again arose when Gandhiji went on an infinite fast. His life
was despaired of. There was great anxiety. Rumours were
rife that the British would not compromise and were prepared
for eventualities. They had stored enough sandalwood in case
something happened in the jail. This was also a time when
Maulana Azad lost his wife, Zulekha, when he was in
Aurangabad jail. He did not ask the Govt permission to go
and see her last. Instead, he expressed all his feelings and
emotions in his letters to Nawab Habib-ur-Rahman of Aligarh
which were all collected and published under the title of
Ghubar-e-Khatir, a classic of Urdu literature, the like of
which is rare in any literature of the world. Those who have
read this piece of literature would know the depth of feelings
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85
he had for his wife, the patience and turmoils she had
undergone during his entire political life, the love and
dedication she showered on him, particularly in those days
when he was writing Tarjuman-ul-Quran every day until 2 a.m.
in the night, when she would be fanning for fresh air in hot
summer when not even a fan was available to them. What is
very moving and touching is the scene he has depicted of her
last farewell to him when he set out in the last week of July
1942. She said
Good-Bye, and Maulana detected
in her eys the last farewell, not to him, but to herself from
this transitory to a better world, which is eternal. That letter
he wrote on getting the telegram of her demise, is such that
one could not go through it without one becoming highly
emotional.
Thus my student days in Maharaja’s College were very
eventful not only in my personal life but also of the nation,
nay of the whole world. The entire globe was on fire with
thousands daily losing their lives in the war, with every
chancery of the world busily engaged how to win the war,
with Bengal famine in India when thousands were dying of
hunger, with the colonials sucking the resources of this land
for their own advantage, and with misery, sorrow and
distress of every sort. One could remember in those days
how true what Ghalib had said :
meaning what else could there be the cure for the misery
of life except death, for the lamp has to burn in any case
until dawn.
As for the Maharaja’s College, there were changes.
Rollo retired, one of the finest scholars, administrators,
educationists and disciplinarian. We learned from him British
punctuality, regularity, sense of duty and devotion to the cause
we hold dear. The cause was to learn and educate ourselves
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My Life
for which a character-building and man-making programme
was needed. The European Staff stressed more on sports than
class work, for sports is the field where we learn team-spirit,
work ethics, determination and the will to win the game.
Another area the European staff stressed was the debating
society where you would be judged how you would put your
ideas across, for in life whatever the profession one adopts,
whether of a teacher or a lawyer or salesman, one has to use
one’s tongue to eke out the existence. Hence, every one
should know how to talk, what to talk and when to talk.
Needless talk also leads to trouble. God has made our tongue
boneless, it could be twisted anyway you like, and one ought
to be very careful how you twist your tongue, right way or
wrong way. The third thing we learned from the Europeans
was their industry, their hard-work, their love, labour, patience
and perseverance. They would say, life leaps like a geyser if
only you cut through the rock of inertia, and that happiness
is out of the reach of laziness. By and large, Indians are
easy going, pleasure loving, indolent and lazy. The smartness,
the quickness and the agility we find in the West are missing
in the east, perhaps due to weather conditions. Our summers
are hot and hence enervating, but the cold weather in the
west makes them active to keep their blood warm. Anyway,
we learned a lot from them. After Rollo, another European,
Macontosh, became our Principal. He was very unlike Rollo.
Being a Scot he had all their traits of sobriety, depth,
imagination, calmness and gentleness. He was not dynamic
or as agile as Rollo was. A kind of grace and tranquillity was
writ large on his face. His accent was Scottish and hence we
did not find it so fascinating as that of Rollo. His wit and
humour was of a very refined type which needed deep
understanding to appreciate. He too taught us English
dramas. Political conditions at the national level were getting
too hot for students to pay more attention to academic or
union matters. Macalpine was the Vice-Chancellor. I have
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87
seen the days when N.S. Subba Rao was the Vice-Chancellor,
an Economist of high repute and an intellectual of high
degree. I was not his student, but have seen him as ViceChancellor. It is said of him that he would come to the class
with a book freshly released. For a few moments he would
turn its pages quickly glancing the passages, and then would
say to the students, take down a review of this book. It
would be a brilliant gist of the entire work. Such were the
sharp intellectuals of those days.
Perhaps the first Indian Principal of Maharaja’s
College was Prof.M.V. Gopalswamy, the great Psychologist,
whose reference has already come above. Keeping with the
national trend he changed his dress. All Professors, in fact
every member of the staff would come to college only in
western dress, suit, tie, shoes in tip-top conditions. There
was no exception to this.
One day we found
Prof.Gopalaswamy appearing in Kurtha, Pyjama. It was a
surprise to all, but people soon realised he was the advance
guard of a new trend which was soon to follow in the country.
Independence came two or three years later, and the Principal
of Maharaja’s College heralded that era that imitation of the
west in every detail of life was not needed – have your own
identity.
We had quite a few other new figures in the college
who attracted our attention. One of them was Dr. Khizer
Ali Khan, who had done his Ph.D. from Cambridge University
in Persian language under Nicholson, the great Persian scholar
of those days whose study of Sufism was a classic. Dr. K.A.
Khan was in prime of his life, fresh from U.K. well-built,
plump, with rosy cheeks, well-dressed, walking in a style of
his own. There were not many to study Persian. Our Urdu
teachers, like Mohamed Khan, Hasan Khan, Majeed Saheb
and others were enough to take Urdu classes. Dr. Khan was
very reserved, would not talk to unless provoked, but once a
discussion on any academic issue was ignited, he would come
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My Life
out with a brilliant discourse. I used to put him questions,
and he would explain. I would be deeply impressed by his
profundity. Later on he became the Warden and also the
President of the New Muslim Hostel. He had done his
research on Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi’s, Fi-ma-Fih, a highly
mystic work. I persuaded him many a time kindly to publish
that work. He did not do so. After his death, I asked his
children to do. They too paid no heed. I don’t know what
has happened to it. But he translated into English about 36
dreams of Tipu Sultan, whose habit it was to record what he
dreamt in the sleep, and most of those dreams were related
to his passion to eliminate the colonials from the land.
Another teacher that attracted my attention who was
also educated in Great Britain, was Dr.Balakrishna, Reader
in Economics, who was a very handsome, tall figure,
well-dressed, and highly sophisticated. He was taking
Principles of Economics, and would explain Keyn’s theory. I
could detect those teachers who had been trained and
educated abroad would present the essence and soul of a
subject, and they would not beat about the bush. Another
teacher of Economics who was popularly called “Tatachar”.
He would come to the College with Indian dress which he
would change for European dress. Young teachers always came
trimmed to the class.
When for the first time a full-fledged Professor of
Urdu was appointed, we were all delighted. There was
Urdu Honours and Urdu M.A. course, but a qualified Urdu
Professor was not there. Urdu was taught by those who had
done M.A. in Persian or had passed Maulvi class where
Persian or Arabic was major and Urdu minor. Hence, the
appointment of Professor Abdul Khadar Sarvari from Osmania
University, Hyderabad, which was “Mecca” of Urdu in those
days was hailed as a victory by the Urdu loving public. Sarvari
Saheb was a great scholar in his own right, author of several
books, a critique of great depth, and quite proficient in
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exciting literary interest in students. We learned a lot from
him. Translation classes from English to Urdu were very
interesting; in our class, there was Mir Mahmood Hussain,
popularly called Abdulla Jan, who was very good in
translation and he would do it in no time. He had a long
beard and appeared a Pakka Maulana. He was very good in
organizing skill. He became a member of Urdu Department
and served long in the University. He was good in Persian.
Later on when he became a colleague in the University, I
joined him in collecting over a hundred Persian manuscripts
from all over the State and deposited them in the Oriental
Manuscript Library of Mysore University. Later on they were
shifted to Archaeology Department. Prof.Sarvari served
Mysore University for six years, from 1942 to 1948. When
my wedding took place at Gadabanahalli on 4 March 1948 he
was present along with another class-mate of mine, Major
Khalilur Rahman. He and Prof. Sarvari Saheb, sitting in the
Wedding pendal composed a complimentary poem in Urdu
which was hilarious in content.
Sarvari Saheb could not stay in the University for long,
because Police action had taken place in Hyderabad and all
those who were from that place were likely to be arrested.
From our Wedding day he was not seen again in Mysore State.
Quietly he disappeared and managed to go back to
Hyderabad. My relations with Professor Sarvari continued
in later years, and whenever I visited Hyderabad I would call
on him. He was a gem of a person, and I cannot forget his
affection towards me.
Another teacher of Urdu and Persian Department was
Janab H.R. Abdul Majeed Saheb who served for long as the
Warden of New Muslim Hostel and also as one of the
Directors of Scout Movement in Karnataka. He was a nice
man, a good teacher whose scholarly excellence students would
not appreciate and would take his classes lightly. We had a
text “Tais” a novel written by a great French novelist, Anatole
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My Life
Francie whose work had been translated. It was about a
prostitute who attained her redemption through her good
deeds. The message was exactly the same which Hafiz-eShiraz summed up in his verse:
It means, the pious monk was proud, never reached his
destiny, but the prostitute through humility and devotion
reached the heavenly abode of safety. Majeed Saheb would
explain the meaning, and Khalilur-Rahman who was sharp,
witty and sarcastic would put embarrassing questions to the
teacher. Any way, student days of that period were packed
with moments of great exhileration.
I could recall a few teachers of other Departments,
who were remarkable in some respect or other, namely
Keshavan, Murthy Rao, Ranganna, Rajagopal, Parthasarthi
(popularly known as Pachchu), Narasimha Murthy, Govinda
Rao, Mallaraiah, C.D. Narasimhaiah, Bharatraj Singh,
Ramaswamy, some of whom were my contemporaries and all
of them belonged to English Department. Kannada
Department had a galaxy of brilliant stars like K.V. Puttappa,
T.N. Srikantaiah, Narasimhachar, B.M. Srikantaiah, Krishna
Sastri and others. Ekambaram was a great Professor of
Statistics, who rose high at the national level as Advisor
in the Planning Commission. As mentioned earlier there
were good teachers in History, one of whom, was
Venkatadesikachar, a short man with a smiling face, who
later went to Delhi and joined in the section where
Dr. Ambedkar was involved in the task of drafting the
Constitution of the Republic of India. When we were in
Honours course he took us on a tour to several South Indian
temples in Tamil Nadu, such as Kanchi, Conjeevaram,
Trichinopoly, Tanjore, Madura and Rameswaram, finally to
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Coimbatore and Ootacamund. It was a very exciting, and
instructive tour and we enjoyed the trip. In those days entry
into certain temples of non-Hindus even of Daliths was
prohibited. When the priest would ask my name, suddenly
our Teacher, Desikachar, would say “He is our Shankar”.
Shaikh had become Shankar in those days. I did not know
Tamil, and it was a problem when we sat for lunch or dinner
in the Hotels. I learned two basic Tamil words, one was
“Pour” meaning enough and “More” I want rice. One of the
great Sociologists of India, C. Srinivas, younger brother of
Parthasarthy of Maharaja’s College was also a student of our
College. He became later one of the founders of the Indian
Institute of Social and Economic Change of Bangalore along
with Dr V.K.R.V. Rao, a great Economist, who became a
Minister in the Government of India.
I could recall a few contemporaries who were with
me in Maharaja’s College. One of them is H. Sarada Prasad,
who is a great intellectual who played a key-role in Govt. of
India as a Press Assistant to the Prime Minister, Indra
Gandhi. He hails from my District Hassan, coming from
Holenarasipur. The great cartoonist of repute R.K. Lakshman,
was also my contempory whose pencil-sketches adored the
bill-boards of the Union in those days. He rose to be an
international figure in his own right. Even to-day Times of
India carries his cartoon “You said it”. There is a kind of a
miracle in the lines he draws which offer more meaning than
many volumes. They teach us more than many sermons, and
expose inner realistic view in such bare and naked form as if
an anatomist has dissected a dead body to know the functions
of the tissues. He is indeed a very celebrated personality, as
much as his elder brother, R.K. Narayan, who earned name
and fame all over the world.
Yet another class-mate of mine who is also now my
next door neighbour is T.S. Satyan who is a photographer of
national and international fame. He was for a long time in
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My Life
Delhi and has toured all over the world and earned great
name in his field. He has published a great work entitled
“In Love with Life: A Journey through Life in Photograph”.
It depicts man from the womb to the tomb, from birth to
death, and all those photographs are breath-taking. Another
contemporary who is alive is Rajasekhar Murthy, who entered
into politics, hopped from party to party, was a Minister of
Karnataka during Veerendra Patil Ministry, and at present
in Janata Dal (S) with Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy. He
played a key-role in the bye-election of the Chamundeswari
Constituency when Siddaramaiah contested for the post
against Shivabasappa of JD (S) nominated by Devegowda on
the advice of Rajasekhara Murthy. Siddaramaiah won the
election with as small a margin as of 257 in the total of over
three lakh votes. It was all an excitement drama o December
2006, when the whole of Karnataka Government of
Kumaraswamy camped in Mysore to canvass their candidate,
when money was used as water and when muscle power was
displayed as if every one was Bhima. In other words my
contemporaries are still active to-day in several important
sectors of life.
In 1945 I passed my Honours course securing First
Rank and winning Candy Gold Medal for General Proficiency.
It was my first Degree which was to change my life from
dependence on others to standing on my feet. Education
had made me aware of the importance of four things, of one’s
life, one’s faith, of one’s honour and of one’s earning. It had
taught me happiness depended on four more things, your good
health, your economic independence, your good relations with
others, and your ability to reach the goal. Graduation is
only the passport for further learning, and even to-day in my
80’s I have to learn a lot. Many a time I have to acknowledge
that the horns that come later are sharpen than the ears
that come earlier. Many time youngsters have shown greater
skill, knowledge, wisdom and understanding.
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After my B.A. (Hons.) I joined M.A. in History. It
was only one year course. The result of my Honours Course
was a stir in the Department of History and became a big
news. For a long time it was the talk that History
Department was a monopoly of a particular high caste, and
that no non- Brahmin could get full justice there. Although
I had been awarded the First Rank and the Candy Gold
Medal for general proficiency, there had been one more Medal
reserved for Indian History which had been denied and had
been given to some one, they alleged, who was a favourite of
the Professor, and who belonged to his caste. Those were
very tense days of Brahmin and non-Brahmin controversies.
Prof.M.H. Krishna in whose days I had joined the Honours
Course was not there being transferred as Director of
Archaeology and his place had been filled by Dr.Venkatasubba
Sastri, against whom an enquiry was held, why a boy who
stood first in all subjects could not secure high marks in the
subject which had been valued by this Professor. The matter
became so serious that the Syndicate (in those days Executive
Council) in which Khan Bahadur Abbas Khan Saheb was also
a member, passed a resolution that an enquiry be held, and
that the Paper which Dr.Sastri had valued should be reexamined by a foreign examiner. Accordingly my papers on
Indian History, (two in number) were sent to a foreign
examiner. It was revealed that I deserved many more marks
than what Dr.Sastri had given me, and that the other
candidate whom he had valued high, did not deserve so high.
The matter came before Executive Council which decided that
it was a deliberate case of partiality, that the concerned person
was guilty of offence, and that he should be punished.
Perhaps, for the first time in the history of Mysore, a
Professor was sent home. He was removed from service, and
I felt miserable that it was on my account a teacher of mine
was punished. Even now I pray Almighty Allah that such a
thing should not have happened. Strong spokesmen of non-
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Brahmins in the Syndicate were the Registrar Gordon,
Prof.V.L. D’Souza, Abbas Khan, Gurva Reddy and Gubbaiah
(the three great G’s were Gordon, Gurva Reddy and
Gubbaiah).
It should be said to the credit of Dr. Sastri that a few
years later, almost seventeen or eighteen in 1964, when my
first book “British Relations with Haidar Ali” was published,
and when it was sent to him for review, he was so appreciative
of the work that his review helped me immensely. He said,
“This work is a miracle of the century, and that it can be
classified as a classic.” When I applied for the post of
Professorship in Manasagangotri at a time when I was only a
lecturer, this review came as a great boost. Dr. Bisheshwar
Prasad, an expert from Delhi University on the Selection
Committee, quoted this “Review” to Dr. Srimali, ViceChancellor of the University, saying whether there could be
any better evidence of the merit than this. Dr. Srimali wanted
to make me only a Reader, and not a Professor, but Dr.Prasad
stood firm, and I walked away from a Lecturer’s post to
Professor’s chair. In a way this was the gift of Dr. Sastri,
a person who had suffered on my account, perhaps making
amends for the past sin. Any way, ways of God are
mysterious. No one could say what is in the womb, what
will happen. This much is certain that whatever happens is
always for our own good.
5
University Service
The last week of December 1945 was a very fortunate week
for me. I was a student of M.A. having passed my Honours
course. Five more months remained to take the examination
in May 1946. Suddenly on the eve of Christmas I got a
letter from the University of Mysore appointing me as a
temporary lecturer in History. I was thrilled with joy. I never
expected it, I never even applied for it, let alone try for it, a
kind of wind-fall, as if showers of mercy from heaven. It was
the same Dr. Sastri who recommended my case for the job
against whom the enquiry was still going on and the case was
pending. But he had no alternative, for the rules required
the first rank candidate had to be recommended, in particular
when that person happened to be from a backward community.
This order contained two others with me, one was Prof. D.
Javare Gowda, who later became Vice-Chancellor of Mysore
University, a great literatteur in Kannada, a prominent figure
of Karnataka, and a good friend of mine, although much elder,
and the other was Samuel Appaji, who became IAS and a
Secretary to the Government of Karnataka. He was
appointed as a lecturer in Economics. Thus, the first order I
got carried the names of three great communities, Hindus,
Muslims and Christians, of three great disciplines, Kannada,
History and Economics, indicating three great principles of
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this land, social justice, unity in diversity and identity in
multiplicity. We were asked to report on 9th January 1946,
the day when College would be re-opened after X’mas.
I remembered my Creator, the Supreme, the Sublime,
the Highest radiance, and the Greatest Spirit that sustains
this universe for the grace and mercy, and then I remembered
my parents who would have been so delighted to see the son
in a good position. But the college job to a young man was
very challenging. To teach for one hour I needed preparation
for five hours. They say teachers work for one year, and repeat
that for 30 years to draw the pension. Thereafter, they count
30 days to draw their salary, and count 30 years to draw their
pension. I wanted to be a little different from others. The
joke of the History lecturers was current in those days, that
a lecturer was a dictator, for he dictated notes. One of the
boys in the last benches was not taking down the notes. The
teacher asked him why he was not taking down his precious
notes. The boy replied, “My father was your student, Sir,”
meaning you are dictating the same notes without changing a
comma or a full stop. Pedagogy required hard work. The more
a teacher labours to learn, the better teacher he would shape.
It was a total transformation of the personality.
Going to the class as a student in shirt and pyjama was quite
different from going there as a teacher, who needed suits,
boots and a tie. The better trimmed you were, the better
impressed you were in the eyes of the pupils, apart from what
you lectured, and how you lectured. The ability of a teacher
was determined by the fact how calm, quiet, attentive and
disciplined was the class where he lectured. This required
good preparation for the class. In those days, our Professor
(HOD) would come and sit in the class in the last row to see
how we lectured the class. I was given both B.A. Class,
Honours Class and Intermediate Class. It was very heavy
job to prepare for different classes and prepare for my own
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97
studies of M.A. Class. I had not yet finished that course.
Half-way through I had been offered that job. Therefore, I
worked hard night and day, and God was good to me every
day.
Once a function was held on H.G. Wells, the
renowned historian and the celebrity of the age. It was in
his honour, an obituary tribute. Being a history man I was
called upon to speak in that public function. Dr.Purshottum,
the great orator of the day was the President. I had prepared
well, and spoke with gusto. Dr. Purshottum was so impressed
that he said, “This man speaks so well when he is still so
young, and I don’t know what he will be when he grows up”.
I was immensely pleased, for I knew success is the fruit of
love, labour, patience and perseverance. Demonsthenese, the
greatest orator of the world, was a stammerer. He wanted
to overcome this disability. He would put pebbles in his
mouth, run on the bank of a river, and repeat what he wanted
to utter in a function. This dogged determination paid him
so well that he broke all records in oratory. That is why they
say, “The great heights people have reached are not sudden
flights; but they, while their companions slept, toiled hard
upward in the night”. Our youngsters these days shirk work,
seek comfort, easy ways, and follow the shortest of the short
cut, which results in the longest of the long cut. Our sweetest
of the songs are those that say the saddest of the thoughts.
The year 1946 from January to December was the first
full year of service when I was teaching both at Maharaja’s
and Yuvaraja’s College, which needed full preparations to teach
more than three subjects. I was given World Civilisations
also for Honours class which was a minor subject to them.
At the end of the year something happened which was
memorable. Ever since 1935 or 1937 All India History
Congress would take place in December in some important
place being sponsored by some University. It would be a big
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mela when historians from the four corners of the country
would flock to present a paper. Collective effort would
promote a discipline more quickly than individual efforts. But
more important than academic was the social purpose of the
Congress, which would be a platform to meet, mingle, talk
and know more about the local history; it was more siteseeing, visit to historical places and have an idea of customs,
manners, life, interest, ways of living and thinking in
different places of our country. The University would
encourage such trips and would depute two scholars from each
Department provided they presented a paper. I was just a
young scholar, hardly with a service of a few months, and I
never expected I would get a chance to attend the Congress.
Since I belonged to Backward Class and the E.C (Executive
Council) was interested in encouraging Backward Classes, some
one proposed my name and I was selected.
The Congress in that year (1946) was at Patna, the
capital of Bihar. I struggled hard to write a paper on one of
the Sultans of Gujarat, Mahmood Begadha, whose mother
had made him immune to poison. Being aware of the great
risks of those who sat on throne, she had fed him a tiny bit
of poison every day from his childhood, with the result that
it had become a part of his diet. It was certain that no one
would kill him through poison. Even otherwise, he was a
fascinating ruler, who attempted to defeat the Portuguese. I
consulted the sources from Elliot and Dowson Volumes, and
to the best of my ability prepared a paper. It was a long
journey from Mysore to Patna. I did not even reserve a
ticket. When I asked at the Railway counter to give me a
ticket to Patna, he asked me, “Is it Srirangapatana?”. I said,
No, it is the capital of Bihar. It took some time to calculate
the route and the fare. I had to change the train at several
places, from Mysore to Bangalore, from Bangalore to Madras,
from Madras to Calcutta, and from Calcutta to Patna, a very
long route of four days. The Congress was for three days
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99
from 29th to 31st December. I left on 25th December itself. I
should say God had blessed me with stamina to travel in
third class compartments for days together on limitless
number of times, for later on when I had to do research for
Ph.D. degree, I travelled at least a dozen times to Aligarh,
and thereafter to several other places in India for the
collection of material.
This was my first long journey. To a person from a
village who had not seen much of India, the entire journey
was thrilling and exciting, with varied types of food at the
railway stations, varied dresses, tongues, manners, customs,
landscape and so on. I got an idea, how rich, how vast, how
varied is our land. In those days at the railway stations they
would have “Hindu Pani”, “Muslim Pani”. Even water was
not common. I reached Patna, was well-received as a delegate.
Galaxy of brilliant stars of those days had gathered there. I
saw Jadunath Sarkar, Tara Chand, Eswari Prasad, Radha
Kumud Mukherji, Muhammad Habib, Shafa’at Ahmed Khan,
Askari, K.K. Datta, Bisveshwar Prasad, Beni Prasad, Tiripathi,
Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, Haroon Khan Sherwani, and a host
of other great historians including Nilakanta Sastri, Narendra
Krishna Sinha and others. I had known them earlier through
books, but now I had a chance to see them in person.
In those sessions the most dominating feature was the
inaugural function when some high dignitary, Governor or Chief
Minister, would inaugurate, and the President elect would
deliver the Presidential Address, which was supposed to be a
land-mark, the zenith of the entire show. This session was
almost like the “Nikah” Majlis of a Muslim wedding which
would attract everything vital, the rest being all
details. This affair went on for three days which witnessed
different sessions on ancient, medieval and modern history of
India. Now they have added History of countries other than
India. Numismatics Society of India would also hold a
separate session there. A historical exhibition of arts, crafts,
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My Life
manuscripts would also be arranged. Delegates would be
eagerly looking forward to the historical tour of the city. Our
guide for the tour was Prof.Hasan Askari of Bihar University,
a very interesting man, whose graphic description of the
historicity of the places is still ringing in my ears. He was a
lean, tall person with black sherwani with Rampuri cap,
chewing betel leaves, and describing “here was the camp of
Sher Shah, here did Shahjahan halt” and so on. Another
feature of those conferences was the cultural show arranged
to entertain the delegates, music, dance or qawwali. Every
night there would be special dinners arranged either by the
University or by Government.
Having gained rich experience of this Congress, I
proceeded to Delhi. Those were very eventful days. In August
1946 Jinnah had declared “Direct Action Day” in Calcutta
which inaugurated the tragic blood-bath. Its repercussions
were there in Patna. A number of Muslim scholars showed
me the photos of the revenge Hindus had taken on Muslims
in Bihar because of the riots in Calcutta. They were horrible
photos which I saw. The trauma that followed for two or
three more years until the assassination of Gandhiji are the
darkest pages of our history. I took a train from Patna to
Delhi. In the Conference I met a Professor from Peshawar,
Prof. Mohamed Jaffar, who gave me his books on Mahmud
of Ghazani. He had a flat in Lodhi colony of Delhi. He was
also going there. He said to me, “You are welcome to stay
with me in Delhi”. That was a God-send opportunity. We
travelled together to Delhi. That was my first visit to our
great capital. New Delhi seemed to be a part of Paradise, so
clean, so green, so well-planned. I visited Qutub Minar,
Chandini Chowk, Lal-Khila, Jamia Masjid, Cannaught Place,
Parliament House, Viceregal Lodge, Purana Qula, Humayun
Makhbira and so on and stayed with Prof.Jaffar Saheb. He
was a Pathan, and the Pathan hospitality was well-known. For
the first time I had tasted the delicious Mughlai dishes, those
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101
roomali-roti, Khurma and so on. Having enjoyed fully my trip
for nearly a fortnight from 25 December 1946 to 6th or 7th
January 1947, I was back for duty on 9th January 1947 at
Maharaja’s College.
This Indian History Congress became a part of my
life. I never missed its sessions later in any year. It gave me
an opportunity to present my research, as also to build wide
contact with the scholarly world. This conference was in a
way an international gathering, as many delegates, whether
from France or England or Russia or America or Pakistan
would attend. After independence India was rising high in
the esteem of the world, particularly under the leadership of
Nehru whose non-aligned foreign policy had lifted India as
the leader of the Third World, after USA and USSR. Not
having the economic strength of America or the military
power of Soviet Union, India was commanding the respect of
both because of its moral power, which under Gandhiji had
given a message to the whole world that non-violent action
was more powerful in the ultimate analysis than violent action,
for the former would bring peace and order, and the latter
would result in death and destruction. India at that time
appeared on the front pages of the world media, although
today it has become a nuclear power, yet no one listens to
our word.
Subsequently, when I became the Professor of History
in Mysore University, I myself organised the Indian History
Congress Session in Mysore in 1966. That was a grand
function. Over a thousand delegates attended that session. I
had to work fingers to my bone to make that Session a
success. In these Conferences Aligarh Muslim University
would play a great role. Its specialisation was medieval Indian
history, and its contingent of delegates would always be large.
Since the days of Prof.Muhammad Habib of revered memory,
my Professor and father of the present distinguished historian
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of India, Prof.Irfan Habib, the trend in Aligarh University
was of the leftists. In this IHC there were three important
trends, the conservatives, the nationalists and the leftists. The
conservatives were reactionaries, who would sing a song only
of India’s glory; the nationals were liberals, and they wanted
history should play the role of unifying the land. The leftists
being influenced by Marxists wanted poverty to go, equality
to prevail, and masses to be lifted. Very lively debates would
go on in the session of these conferences, where special
lectures on specific topics would be arranged, and the topic
of the talk would depend upon the orientation of the
incumbent President, whether he was conservative, liberal or
leftist.
The Mysore Session I arranged in 1966 was memorable
for Prof.Nur=ul-Hasan, who later became Union Minister and
Governor in Orissa and West Bengal, himself a leftist,
encouraged me greatly. I booked all available accommodation
in all important Guest Houses, both of the Government and
Private institutions including every room available in our
University. The main problem in these conferences is of
menu, the food, the quality, variety of which would determine
the success of the session. Non-Vegetarian was preferred,
and it should be of high order. Transport arrangements for
taking the delegates to different historical places was a
problem, as Karnataka was so rich in art and architecture
that it attracted the lovers of art from the four corners of
the world. If that was the case, more so was the case of the
historian whose business was to study art and architecture.
Such places as Belur, Halebid, Somanathpura, Sravanabelagola,
Srirangapatam, Badami, Aihole, Pattadakal, Bijapur, Gulbarga
which are all of great historical interest made the delegates
eager to visit those places. It was a problem for me to
arrange these trips. Any way this Conference was a great
success in every sense of the term, in its academic excellence,
in its social purpose and in its cultural performance.
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Another important event of my life as a young lecturer
was the experience I gained as an Archaeologist. In the
summer of 1946, when I had put in hardly three or four
months of service, the Government of India organised a big
excavation of megalithic culture in Bellary District of
Karnataka. The Director-General of Archaeology at that time
was Dr. Martimer Wheeler, an Englishman who had served
in the army as a Brigadier-General and had conducted
excavations in Rome. He was regarded internationally as an
Archaeologist of high repute. It should be said to the credit
of the English people that as a race they had taste for things
ancient, and had contributed much, much to the discovery of
the past. But for Sir John Marshall, we would not have
known Indus Valley culture. It was he who pushed our history
back to 3000 B.C. making us own a past of 5000 years. In
March when the College was closed for the summer holidays,
I came to know of the project of excavation at Chandravalli
in Bellary District. It occurred to me that I should not
miss the chance. Instead of going home and loitering there,
it was good to engage myself in some useful pastime. I went
to the Vice-Chancellor, Sultan Mohiyuddin, who was in charge
before the regular appointment of Singarvelu Mudliar. I
requested the Vice-Chancellor kindly to permit me to undergo
the training under Mortimer Wheeler. He was too happy to
permit me to do so. It was a very rich experience that I
gained at that time.
Dr. Martimer Wheeler was a very tall 6.2 ft. hefty
man with thick moustaches with all the rigorous gestures of
a soldier who had strayed into academic field to reconstruct
the past with as much zeal as a crusader intent upon gaining
his objective. This area was known as a site of megalithic
culture, a link between neo-lithic culture and pre-history when
man learned the better use of stone and buried his dead in a
particular manner. It was a very big team, not only of the
officials of the Department of Archaeology but also of
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scholars. For odd digging and other physical work, a large
number of local labour had been engaged. Large number of
tents had been pitched. Common kitchen had been arranged.
It was hot summer, temperature touching 45°C. Every one
was given a separate tent with a bamboo cot wrought with
rope. It was truly a national gathering, Assamese, Bengalis,
Punjabis, Gujaratis, Tamilians, Kannadigas, Keralites, Telangis,
Marathis, people from all parts of India, speaking their own
language among themselves, hardly intelligible to others, but
English was the common lingua franca.
Our job was to go to a pit and scrape the strata to
find out the era or the age parameter to which that site
belonged. We got several articles of that culture in the pits.
When we dig down below we found the burial deposits neatly
packed in earthen vessels or in some other ways disposed.
Not only skeletons and bones but also beads and several other
things would be unearthed, which we would collect, carefully
hand over to the supervisor. These articles would be brought
to the notice of Director-General who would analyse the data
to draw proper historical inference. It is a science in which
Wheeler was adept and he would do the job carefully. Our
job as scholars was to collect the data and learn the art of
excavation.
Once I was working in the pit which was about 5 or 6
feet deep. Suddenly Wheeler appeared, jumped into my deep
pit and saw my scraping the layers. He shouted, “Young
man! What are you doing ? You have destroyed all evidence.”
He was mad with anger. I was doing the job all in a wrong
way. There was a particular way to scrape the earth. It was
the calendar indicating the time. Each layer would take a
specific time to get deposited there and that was the key to
know the century to which it belonged. Because I had done
the wrong, Wheeler took the instrument of scarping from
my hand and showed me the correct way to do the job. I
still remember his thundering voice, and later his paternal
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105
pat on the back, saying “Young man, be careful, do it this
way”. Good old days.
Evening would be hilarious. One Mr.B.B. Lal, who
later became Director-General of Archaeology, was just then
appointed as Probationary Superintendent. A few others, such
as Banerji, Gupta, K. Somasundaram and others who became
my good friends, were all there working with me in the pits.
That was the site where scorpions abounded and they
would bite some one which would be unbearable. There was
a gentleman from Bihar who would rush to the victim of
scorpion-bite and say “I have a cure”. He had something which
he would burn and ask the man to breath its smoke. The
smoke was more painful than the bite, and the victim would
cry, the pain had gone. Mostly Bengalis and Punjabis
dominated the Department and they were in large number.
There were a few Muslims and we would go together for
prayers on Friday. Whenever any chicken was cooked not
according to Islamic way, the cook would announce it was
not meant for Muslims. Any way I learned a lot under Dr.
Mortimer Wheeler. Those days were of great national
movement, and the talk was mostly on politics in our spare
time. No one liked partition, and all of them were bitter on
Jinnah.
One great advantage of these two events, the Indian
History Congress sessions and my experience of excavations,
was the intensive desire that was excited in my heart to do
research and to take a Ph.D. degree. It became almost a
craze, a life ambition, a day dreaming when that day would
come when I would also be called “Dr so and so”. When the
summer of 1946 was passed, days became hectic in national
movement, for India was on the eve of independence.
History was rolling by, with events of momentous nature, the
League and Congress clash, the Simla Conference, the atom
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the defeat of the
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Japanese, the defeat of Winston Churchill in elections in Great
Britain, the formation of Attlee Govt. of Labour Party in
U.K., the “U” turn in British policy towards India, their desire
to grant independence to India, elections in India, success of
the Congress in all provinces, the cry of Pakistan by the
League, its increasing role in Indian politics, but its failure
to get clear majority even in Muslim dominated provinces of
Punjab, N.W.F.P., Sind and Bengal. Maulana Azad managed
to set up a coalition Government in the most important
Muslim majority province of the Punjab with Khizar Hayat
Khan as the Chief Minister. This victory of Maulana Azad
had adverse effect on his political career, for he was removed
from the Presidentship of the Congress. Jawaharlal Nehru
did not like the Congress link with the Zamindari party of
Khizar Hayat, who was a feudal lord. Both Hindu and
Muslim Zamindars dominated the Union Party of Khizar
Hayat. If this was the reason for Nehru to have his
differences with Azad, Patel too became an adversary of Azad,
for he did not like a Muslim to be at the head of Congress
affairs at a crucial time of transfer of power to India. Again,
Azad had been in the saddle for too long, nearly for seven
years, the longest period in the history of the Congress.
Added to these Gandhiji too wanted a change of leadership
in the Congress, for he did not like Azad’s opposition to Quit
India Movement in 1942. He was overruled at that time
which was not to the liking of Gandhiji. All these led to the
downfall of Maulana Azad who was the single leader who stood
solid like a rock for an integrated, indivisible, united India,
for both Patel, Nehru and Gandhiji, all agreed for the partition
of India under the ill-guided advice of Lord Mountbatten.
It was only one Muslim, Moulana Azad, who never deviated
from his stand, and never compromised on his principles.
In such a situation when Simla Conference failed, the
Direct Action of Jinnah caused much havoc and led to chain
reactions which never ended until the assassination of
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107
Gandhiji. These were the days when I was a young lecturer
witnessing the daily drama of the national scene. When
general elections in India were held, my would-be father-inlaw, Janab G.S. Abdul Hameed Saheb also contested the
election. He was not given a League ticket, which was needed
to win the election, as the Muslim League had become very
popular. He lost the election and was very bitter. Meanwhile,
his brother, Janab Mohamed Yahya Saheb’s wife – who was
the sister of my mother-in-law – was ill of tuberculosis and
had to be admitted into Mysore Sanitorium. They rented a
small out-house in Vantikoppal in the backyard of the then
Police Station. I used to visit them often. I had become a
lecturer then. This was the early contact with that family
which resulted in life-long connection, as I married in that
family. More details would follow in another chapter on my
married life, but here it is enough to say that I built up very
close rapport with that family.
As indicated earlier, it was my craze to do research. I
got married on 4 March 1948 with the eldest daughter of
G.S. Abdul Hameed Saheb of Gadabanahalli. At the time of
marriage negotiations I hinted whether those rich people would
support me for higher studies abroad, but the response was
negative. I did not pursue the matter further, nevertheless I
married in that family. A year passed, a baby boy, Nusrat,
was also born. He was hardly three or four months old, fell
ill of diaharreah and passed away. It was a shock to my wife,
Sufia Bi, who at this time when I am recording these events
is 77 years old, very, very ill. When we lost the baby, all of
us were sad, but reconciled to the Will of God.
When Colleges were re-opened in June there was one
more shock. I was transferred from Maharaja’s College in
Mysore to a newly established First Grade College at
Chitradurga. They said a newly started First Grade College
needed good teachers initially, and since I was considered a
good teacher I became a victim for the transfer. I reported
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to duty in July 1949. But that became an excuse to try hard
to pursue higher studies some where, if not abroad at least
within the country. Mysore University did not have the
provision for Ph.D. programme as a course, it had only D.Litt.
programme, which was not a course, but only submission of
a thesis by any one which if merited a degree would get a
degree without any regular course or training under a
supervisor of the University. But Ph.D. course was available
in Aligarh and I had seriously corresponded with Prof. Mohd.
Habib of Aligarh Muslim University. One day I got a very
encouraging letter to come and join the course. That led to
my Aligarh experience.
6
Aligarh Muslim University
My ambition for higher studies received a fresh momentum
when I was transferred to Chitradurga First Grade College.
It was a sea-change in my life, quite different from what it
was in Maharaja’s College, Mysore. The environment was quite
different. That scholarly world of knowledge and wisdom was
missing. The company of those stalwarts who had a tradition
in scholarship was missing. Even the charm and beauty of
Mysore city of palaces and mansions, the centre of attraction
from all parts of the world was missing. Moreover, the loss
of my first child, living alone in a room in a new place, where
everything was strange, were all factors pressing hard on mind.
The teaching work was also not challenging, as the students
of first intermediate did not require that degree of homework to teach as students of B.A. and M.A. The mind was
working intensively how best to escape this misery. It
occurred to me that I should pursue seriously my
correspondence with Prof. Mohd. Habib of Aligarh to take
me as a Ph.D. Scholar. The matter did click. He was very
kind enough to say that I was welcome. He suggested me
also what to do. He said, don’t leave your job, apply for
study leave, come here for a year, register yourself for Ph.D.
and then carry on your research as also the teaching back
home in your University, until your work reaches the standard
of Doctorate Degree.
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I took his advice and started correspondence with the
University and also with the Government of Mysore. In those
days the University was a Department of Government, and
all such matters as the sanction of study-leave needed
government approval. Fortunately the Under-Secretary to
the Govt. in Education Department was an young probationer,
Haumanthaiah, who was known to a friend of mine. I first
applied to the University to forward my papers to the Govt.
Mr. J. Imam of Jagalur, who was once a Member in the
Dewan’s Council (almost a Minister) was in the Executive
Council of the University. I met him. He was good enough
to help me. Papers were forwarded with recommendation.
The Govt. processed the papers and sanctioned me study leave
for one year. It carried half the salary of what I was drawing.
The salary of a lecturer had been increased from Rs. 75/- to
Rs. 100/- in 1949. I was allowed half the salary, that is Rs.
50/- together with full D.A. and that was Rs. 15/- altogether
Rs. 65/- along with Rs. 5 00/- book grant.
This was again a wind fall to me.I had gone to
Chitradurga in July, worked there only for two months, July
and August, got relieved on 1 Sept. 1949 to proceed to Aligarh.
First, I went to Gadabanahalli where my wife was living, all
in grief at the loss of baby. But, I told her that it was all
for our good if I were to qualify myself with a Degree for
better prospects in life. I also assured her that if I went to
Aligarh, I would take her too there at a later date. She had
joined First year Intermediate in Maharani’s College, which
was located at that time in the present CFTRI campus. She
had discontinued her studies after first year Intermediate. I
told her that there is provision in Aligarh Muslim University
that girls could take directly Inter examination without joining
the regular course, and that with her knowledge of first year
course in Mysore, it might not be difficult for her to take
the Final Intermediate Examination in Aligarh. She agreed
and I left for Aligarh.
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Along with me there were two others who joined me
to proceed to Aligarh. One was Abdul Basith who wished to
do his M.A. in Geography at Aligah, and the other was a
Brahmin, Venkataramaiah, who wanted to join M.Sc. in
Zoology under Dr.Babar Mirza, a reputed scientist of the time
who headed Zoology Department in Aligarh. Mr.Abdul Basith
was the son-in-law of Abdul Rahim Saheb of Royal Transport
in Chitradurga, who was a very rich man owning buses that
plied between Chitradurga and Shimoga. This gentleman had
become a good friend of mine also. He was my next door
neighbour where I lived in Chitradurga. Quite often he would
invite me to dinner. In his house ragi-mudde was also a
delicious dish. I too used to enjoy it. He had plenty of
time and I too. His son, Saifuddin, was my student. This
Saifuddin later entered into politics and became the Chairman
of Karnataka Wakf Board.
All three left for Aligarh via Bombay and Agra. We
had to change the train at V.T. in Bombay, board a train to
Delhi, alight at Agra and catch the train to Aligarh. On 10
September we reached Aligarh, and that was a Friday, a
holiday in the University. I did not know where to go and
stay. It was a big University campus. I just enquired whether
there was any student from Bangalore whom I could contact.
Aligarh boys cried out immediately there was one, who was
Mazhar of Basavanagudi, popularly called “Ustad” staying there
for over seven years, never completing his B.A. course, quite
a character of funny type, mischievous, yet quite popular with
Aligarh boys. They took me to his room in Sir Syed Hall. It
was Friday. We reached at 11 A.M. hardly an hour or two to
get ready for Friday prayer. The mosque was quite close.
While starting for mosque he asked me whether I had spare
chappal. I had only one pair. He asked me to lend them to
him, which I did. I used my costly wedding shoe which were
very nice. We finished our Friday prayers and came out,
searched for the shoes. They were missing. I was annoyed.
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They were sentimental gifts and their loss disturbed me much.
I did not know what to do. I became peevish. He said,
“Look here, there you see our Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Zakir
Hussain, go and complain to him what has happened.” I
approached the Vice-Chancellor, bursting out in fury. But
he was all smiles. That was the first time I saw the face of
the great nationalist, humanist, rationalist and the
educationist par-excellence of our times. What he did at
Jamia Millia is a land mark in the history of education. It
became a model and a symbol of man’s nobler aims. Education
is the art of training our youth how to live harmoniously
and consciously with their own fellowmen. Dr. Zakir Hussain
was a great leader, who saved Aligarh from a calamity. He
rose to be the first Muslim to become Rashtrapati of the
land. His services to the cause of education particularly the
Wardha Scheme of basic education, the concept of workschool and not book-school, and the idea to base education
on the values and culture of the land are worth written in
letters of gold. The eight system of values he wanted to inject
in education, such as individual values, social values, ethical
values, spiritual values, values in the field of economics and
politics are all such which could lift a society to high level.
Although my initial contact was funny, later I got more
interested in the field of his passion, namely education. I
wrote four books on Dr.Zakir Hussain, on his life and work.
When I burst out at him in my ignorance not knowing how
to talk to a great man, his response was to cool me down.
He simply said something which amounted to Urdu verse :
Nevertheless he ordered his people to close all gates of
Sir Syed Hall, and watch at the gates whether any one was
walking away with my shoe. Sir Syed Hall is like a fort with
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four main-gates, which if closed, no one could enter from
anywhere. I was destined to lose my sentimental shoes, but
my Aligarh experience started with those shoes which
became more memorable in my life. Even to-day I am a
member of the Aligarh University Court, which is a policy
making body. Aligarh did play a vital role because of Sir
Syed, on whom as well I did something and brought out a
volume entitled, “A Leader Reassessed: Life and Work of Sir
Syed Ahmed Khan”.
I should record here what I feel about Sir Syed. As
one of the greatest reformers of the 19th century, Sir Syed
Ahmed Khan was destined to shape the destiny of Indian
Muslims and change the course of history. It was he who
brought about a rapprochment between the British and the
Muslims, who had been characterised for over a century as
the inveterate foes of the colonials. It was he who lifted the
Muslims from the depths of despondency and despair to hope
and faith and made them march in the direction of modernity.
He laid more emphasis on the people than on governments,
more on mind than on matter, more on realism than on
idealism, and more on liberalism than on conservatism. He
reconciled the intellectualism of the west with the tradition
of the east, and planted a “Cambridge” in India at Aligarh
which brought about a renaissance in the thought process of
the Muslims. As a social reformer, a political leader, a
religious thinker, and as a moralist, a rationalist a humanist
and a jurist, he contributed much to the realm of theology,
philosophy, religion, ethics, history, literature, education and
politics, besides building institutions which aimed at
eradicating ignorance, apathy and superstition of his people.
I had reached the hub of his activities, namely Aligarh
on a Friday when soon after the prayers, and confrontation
with Zakir Saheb, I stepped out the stairs of the mosque to
see the eternal resting place of Sir Syed where I offered my
obeisance, my prayers. I reflected on the long journey I had
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to cover before the cherished goal of a degree could be
reached. Next day I met Prof.Habib and reported myself as
a Ph.D. candidate. He was very keen to help me, and I
wanted he should be my guide for the Degree. One problem
stood in the way. In a way he was entirely responsible for
my going to Aligarh, as I did not know any one except he in
Aligarh, but just at that time the Department of History
was split into two, History and Political Science. Earlier
Universities did not make any distinction between History
and Political Science as they considered history as the root
and politics as the fruit, and that the roots and the fruits
form one entity of the same tree. But with the specialisation
in disciplines they separated the two for academic purpose,
although knowledge is all one whole. Prof.Habib Saheb
preferred the fruit, political science although all his major
work was on History, the root. He loved Hobbes, Locke,
Rousseau, Voltaire, Mostesquien and other political thinkers
so much that political thought became the major area of his
attention. Therefore, History Department was headed by
Shaikh Abdul Rashid, a specialist in medieval India,
particularly of the Sultanate period. Aligarh had specialised
in medieval India. It was a very popular
Department. Prof. Habib had lifted that Department very
high at the national level, and his work on Mahmud of
Ghaznavi was a classic.
I was assigned Shaikh Rasheed as my Supervisor. He
was popularly called “Shaikh Saheb”. One Shaikh from the
South became a student of another Shaikh from the north,
Shaikh means Chief, Head. Shaikh Saheb thought over
seriously on the topic of my research. He said “You come
from the land of Tipu Sultan, the great martyr. Devote all
your time and energy to do research on Hazrat Tipu Sultan
Shaheed”. As Mohibul Hasan Khan of Calcutta University
was interested in the life of Tipu in general, I was assigned a
highly specialised area of Tipu’s work and achievements, namely
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his Diplomacy and Confrontation with several
powers, particularly the British, the colonials. In other words
my research was on the Foreign Policy of Tipu, his relation
with the English, the French, the Turks, the Afghans, the
Mughals, the Marathas and the Nizam.
When the topic was finalised, the work of collection
of material was the next problem, together with the
preparation of a good synopsis which would be the framework
of the project. Prof.Habib Saheb asked me, with whom I
maintained constant contact despite the fact that Shaikh
Saheb was my Supervisor, whether I knew Persian.
I asked him how to go about research. He said, what
topic had been selected for me. I said, it was Tipu Sultan.
He said, do you know Persian, because Persian was the main
source of material for that period. I said I know Urdu and I
have not studied Persian as a language. He said, Urdu is sixty
per cent Persian and that those who know Urdu would very
quickly pick up Persian. You do one thing. Take “Hamlat-e”, the Persian work on that period, go and buy a
Haidari”,
dictionary of Persian into English, translate that into English
and you would get working knowledge of Persian for your
research. I did accordingly. That “Hamlat” had 500 pages.
Working 18 or 19 hours a day, I finished translating that work.
Sitting in my room, doing nothing else, sleeping hardly for 5
or 6 hours, night and day, I worked for a fortnight translating
that work, showed it to Prof.Habib Saheb, and he felt very
happy.
My admission into No.7, Mcdonald Hostel of Sir Syed
Hall is also interesting. Admissions into Hostels start in July
itself, and I went late in September. As a Research Scholar
for Ph.D. and as a lecturer in the University I wanted a single
room in some Hostel. The authorities understood my
problem and sympathised with me, but pleaded their inability
that there was not a single room any where in all the
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University Hostels. There are only a few of them and all of
them had been filled up. Yet I insisted some how to provide
me a single seated room. At last they came out with the
suggestion that there was one room in MacDonald Hostel,
but for quite a few years it was not occupied by any one
because of a superstition that a ghost was staying there, and
every one was scared to enter there. I said I would face the
ghost, please allot me that room. They did, and I occupied
the Ghost Room No.7 of MacDonald Hostel. Even now
whenever I go to Aligarh for court meeting I visit that room.
The reason why it had become a ghost room was, a boy had
been electrocuted there, since he had touched a wrong wire
of electricity. Since he died accidentally, people thought it
was not an auspicious room. Since the days of Sir Syed, all
Hostels had been designed as dormitories of the type of
Cambridge University, with Verandah, spacious rooms, every
room having an attached bath room, wide ventilators, high
roof, very big wide quadrangle, only one secure gate, as if the
whole Hostel is a strong fortress, with a big Dining Hall.
two rotis and two
Aligarh mess was known as
pieces of mutton, only two meals; roti would be
Tanuri,
quite enough either for lunch or for dinner. Lunch would be
ready by 12 noon, no breakfast for any one, boys would prepare
their own morning tea. Aligarh breakfast was very light like
the French and not the British breakfast. I have lived in
France and I know that their breakfast was a bowl of coffee,
very delicious and crisp bread from a very long loaf, which
looks like a walking stick. The loaf is twisted to look like a
walking stick. In Aligarh with this tea we used to have broad,
thick buscuits. Aligarh was known for dairy also, and its butter
was famous. The popular things of Aligarh were six – its
butter, its flattery (
) (or buttering)
and its locks, (Aligarh locks are well-known). Again the place
was known also for musquitoes, for flies and for its dusty
roads. The roads are very dusty. The entire Indo-Gangetic
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plane is very flat, not a stone even to hit a nail, soil is fertile,
soft and sandy.
I did not eat in the Hostel, for it would not agree
with me, as they served only wheat and not rice. I used to
dine outside. I had piles and Hostel food would cause either
constipation or bleeding.Therefore, I preferred milk
products, fruits and rice. Weather was hot, and even
oppressive, particularly to those who had been used to the
salubrious climate of Mysore or Malnad. I started the work
seriously. In the evening, we used to go for walk and get
adjusted to the academic and social life of the University.
Aligarh debating society, Aligarh Union and Aligarh Sports
field were famous. It was the particular design of the
European staff earlier to give Aligarh boys special training in
debates, in cultural activities, and more so in sports,
including horse-riding. Aligarh University was known as the
national level for its foot-ball. They were good in hockey and
cricket also. Prof. Rashid Ahmed Siddiqui, the icon of Urdu,
the great literatteur, was very fond of sports and he
encouraged the boys to take keen interest in sports, for it is
in the field one could show one’s skill, agility, discipline,
determination, devotion, zeal, interest and competitive spirit
how to win and how to face defeat. Qualities of leadership
could be acquired only through the extra-curricular activities
of the students either in the Union or in Sports.
Aligarh boys were known for mischief. Their pranks,
daring, dashing, wit, humour, poetry and care-free life were
all a class by themselves. They might not be very good in
studies. The majority would not touch books until Aligarh
Mela which was known for Kabab and Pratha. They were
very delicious. Their prathas would be as big as a cyclewheel. I used to watch with great interest how they were
fried, very crisp, tasty, which would be cut, weighed in the
balance and served with Kabab and no one of the University
would miss this Kabab and Pratha. The Mela would last for
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My Life
nearly a week and only after it was over, the boys would touch
books. Once they took to books, they had nothing else to
do; they would be drowned in books, and would work so hard
as if they were born as beasts only to bear the burden of
studies.
Aligarh care-free merry-making life could be indicated
by an instance. Sir Ziauddin is a great name in the
University. He built the University and he died as its
Vice-Chancellor. He had a deep role in national politics. He
belonged to Sir Syed School of Thought, as opposed to
nationalists who wanted to compromise with those ideals and
join with the Indian National Congress. In the Khilafat days,
Maulana Mohamed Ali Jauhar, Dr. Zakir Hussain and others
joined the Congress to oppose the English who were colonials.
They were the founders of a rival institution to Aligarh and
that was Jamia Millia Islamia which was inaugurated in
October 1920 by Mahmood-ul-Hasan of Deoband who is
known as Asir-e-Malta. He had been sent to jail in Malta
for his nationalist activities. At that time Sir Ziauddin, tripos
from Cambridge, a brilliant mathematician and a shrewd
politician, was in the other camp which upheld Sir Syed’s ideals
of loyalism with the British.
At one time in late 30’s a vacancy occurred of
Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh University. The favourite
incumbent for that post was Aftab Ahmed Khan, a scion of
Sir Syed. He was appointed. He was a good friend of Sir
Ziauddin, who secretly nourished the desire himself to
become Vice-Chancellor. But the authorities denied him the
post and appointed Aftab Ahmed Khan as V.C. It hurt
Ziauddin and he planned a strategy. He was a very popular
Professor and he excited the boys to go in the mid-night and
start stoning the residence of Aftab Ahmed Khan. The boys
were overjoyed at the opportunity, and perhaps excelled his
brief. The annoyed new V.C. called his good friend, Ziauddin,
and sought his advice what to do in the matter. Ziauddin
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said, solution is simple, take a quarter sheet and say I
relinquish my job. The authorities would come and beg of
you to withdraw the resignation, and suitably take the boys
to task. The new V.C. acted accordingly and drafted the
resignation. Ziauddin rushed to him, took that paper, went
to the authorities and said, since the other man was not
willing, and had actually vacated the place, the same may be
given to him. The authorities accepted the resignation of
Aftab Ahmed Khan and appointed Ziauddin as ViceChancellor, a trick the latter had learned from Islamic history
relating to the case of the Khilafat of Hazrat Ali.
When there was a tussel between Hazrat Ali and Amir
Mauwiyah for the Khilafat, and when in the battle of Saffain,
Muwiyah was virtually routed and Hazrat Ali was on the
winning point, it was Omar Bin-ul-Aas the conqueror of
Egypt who planned the strategy to turn the table against
Hazrat Ali. What he did was to show in the thick of the
battle the flag of truce, and raised Quran on a spike. Hazrat
Ali asked what it meant. The answer was, “let us sit down
together and do what Quran says”. When Quran was brought
in between, Hazrat Ali had no choice. He agreed. The
decision was that let both parties appoint one representative
each and entrust them to suggest what was best in the matter
as per the Quran. Hazrat Ali appointed Musa Asha’ri, and
Muwiyah appointed Omar-bin-al-A’as, the person who had
proposed this solution. The two representatives met and
decided that Khilafat should not be given either to Hazrat
Ali or to Muwiyah, but it should be left to Umma to choose
whom they wanted. When it came to the announcement of
this proposal, Musa Ashari declared that he would renounce
the claim of both Hazrat Ali and Muwiyah and that the public
be asked to nominate some one suitable. Then it was the
turn of Omar-bin-al-A’as to declare his opinion. He got up
and said, “You have just now heard that Musa had renounced
the claim of Ali for the post, and I too agree with him and
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My Life
reject the claim of Ali, but I retain the name of Muawiya. I
am his representative, and I am not renouncing it”. It was a
shock to Hazrat Ali. Confusion prevailed. Nothing could be
done. Ultimately Muwiyah became the Caliph, and Ummaya
dynasty was established. Politics is a dirty game, where
neither friends are eternal, nor foes are eternal, only interests
are eternal.
Ziauddin played the same game on Aftab Ahmed,
who was his bossom friend. But it should be said on sheer
competency Ziauddin deserved the post, for he was very
far-sighted, dynamic and pragmatic person. The boys came
to know of the whole trick Ziauddin had played. They wanted
to have fun at his cost. They arranged a function to celebrate
the victory of their Professor. They staged a drama called
“Field of Judgement” (Hashar ka Maidan) made one of them
sit on a grand chair, called him, “The Creator, the Supreme
and the Sublime” (God) and introduced all Prophets from
down to our Holy Prophet (PBH), and then all great Islamic
figures down to the present period. In each case God would
stand up and say “How do you do Adam, …. Or Noah ….
Or Abraham … or Jesus,… or Joseph… or David…. Or
Solomon”. At las the turn came of the present incumbent of
Aligarh University. God did not get up from his seat to say
“How do you do, Ziauddin!”. He said that while being seated.
The boys complained, oh! God, why this insult to our
beloved V.C. who has done so much, and so much. To every
one you got up to say “Hello”, but to our esteemed VC, you
did not show that courtesy. God said, “If I get up and say
hello, this Ziauddin is so clever, he would immediately
occupy my chair”. That was Sir Ziauddin.
He did great service to the University, lifted it very
high. There was no Medical College. It was he who laid the
foundation and collected the required funds. It is also
interesting to know how he did. The Aligarh boys were spend
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thrift. They would not pay the mess bill. It would
accumulate to thousands. The only way to collect the arrears
was to withhold the Hall-ticket at the time of examination.
The Registrar would say there was no way you could take
the examination without either paying the arrears or getting
the permission of V.C. to take the examination. Since their
pockets were empty, the other alternative was the only choice.
They would rush to V.C. and beg for permission. He would
say I would permit you only on one condition. You must
stay in the University at least a fortnight or so after the
examination. The boys were very glad to do so. He would
permit them to take the examination, and after that he would
draft very powerful appeals which the boys had to take to
the four corners of the country and collect funds for the
Medical College and other developments. The boys did
exactly that, roamed about from Peshwar to Calcutta,
Kashmir to Cape Comorin and collected lakhs and lakhs.
It was Aligarh that strengthened the hands of Jinnah
to win Pakistan. They had become a terror. It was their
advocacy that overpowered even Maulana Azad to say that
no one could excel Aligarh boys in winning their point. When
Ziauddin died they wanted to bury him in the general
grave-yard, but the boys thought that he deserved to be
buried by the side of Sir Syed near the Jamia-Mosque, where
one place had been reserved for his grand-son, Aftab Ahmed
Khan, the same man who yielded to the strategy of Ziauddin.
The boys secretly dug a grave there and forcibly buried him,
despite the protests of Aftab Ahmed Khan. It is said that
in a hurry they buried him in a wrong way making his face
turned not towards the West but towards the east. When
the error was brought to the notice of the boys they said,
Don’t worry, Ziauddin is very smart. His dead body would
turn itself towards the west on its own, if that was needed.
Aligarh boys were mischievous. Even as V.C. he would take
classes. He was a renowned Professor of Mathematics with
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My Life
Cambridge Tripos. Once, before he entered the class, they
wrote on the Black Board
That means, you are well renowned in mathematics;
please measure the length of long wait for the beloved. He
saw this on the board and just wrote underneath “Infinity”.
Stay in Delhi :
My guide suggested that I had to go to New Delhi to
consult the records in the National Archives for research,
for in Aligarh libraries there was not much material except a
few published works, which I consuted in a few weeks. I
planned to go to Delhi. The question was where to stay.
My monthly half-pay salary including DA was only Rs. 65/-. I
went to the Vice-Chancellor, Dr.Zakir Hussain, and explained
my problem. He was quite helpful, as are all great men who
understand genuine difficulties of others. He said, “Go and
stay in Jamia-Millia, and I will speak to those people”. That
was a boon to me, for I was getting free accommodation.
Early in November 1949 I left Aligarh for Delhi. In Jamia
there was a farm land where in a solitary house two or three
persons were staying. Zakir Saheb gave me a place not in
the boarding house but in a quiet place. The winter was
starting. It was already cold. Jamia is in Okla, almost the
end of Delhi, where U.P. border would start. National
Archives was in the Centre of New Delhi at Janapath Road.
Transport was so cheap that I had to pay only 12 paise from
Jamia to Janapath, although the distance was over 10 Kms.
And it would take nearly an hour to commute.
The Director of the National Archives was Dr .B.A.
Saletore, a renowned historian, hailing from Dharwad
in Karnataka. He was very kind. After completing all
formalities, he accepted me as a scholar and permitted to
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consult the records. It was my daily routine to leave Jamia
at 8 AM, go to Archives and work there until 5.30 pm and
get back in the evening. On week-ends I used to go to old
Delhi to see the Red Fort, Jamia Masjid, Chandni Chowk
and other historical places. Along with me in the guest house
there was a Maulana from Bihar who subscribed to Jama’t-eIslami School of Thought. He would persuade me to present
Tipu in true Islamic colour, but I would say history is a
science, no less and no more, and that we could not deviate
an inch from what the sources say. The record had to speak
for themselves, and that Tipu blended in himself both
nationalist and Islamic spirit. No doubt he was a true
Muslim, a great scholar of Islamic learning, but he was more
a patriot, a freedom-fighter, a nationalist who desired to end
the colonialism in India. His greatness is that he offered his
blood to write the history of free India, and that he attempted
to modernise his State to such an extent as to be on par
with the West. I would say Italy had renaissance, Germany
had reformation, France had revolution, but India had Tipu
who blended all these three movements of renaissance,
reformation and revolution to bring about a great change in
his land. But Maulana was saturated in his own conviction
that it was our job to present Tipu as the spokesman of
Islam, which is not true. But one thing I did at that time.
Taking advantage of the presence of that Maulana, I started
learning Arabic language. I did so much as to understand
simple Arabic sentences. Maulana taught me Arabic grammar,
and its syntax which is so scientific that the infinitive is the
root for all derivatives.If you knew the meaning of that
infinitive, all noun forms or verb forms or adjectives or
adverbs could all be known. Because of the lack of touch
with Arabic in later days, I have forgotten much, but whenever
I read Quran I could easily follow the meaning even without
looking into its translation.
In the evening we would go for a walk. That was the
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My Life
area – Jamia – where hardly one or two years earlier in the
wake of partiition blood-bath had taken place, and that Zakir
Saheb had sheltered thousands and thousands of refugees
there. All that area was revenue land where without any
planning township emerged in a haphazard way. Even to-day
the campus of Jamia Millia University does not look like a
planned campus because of the extraordinary exigencies that
arose at that time. Stories were afresh of the atrocities that
took place at that time. Just in 1947 Zakir Saheb had
celebrated the Silver Jubilee of Jamia Millia, for it was way
back in 1922 that Jamia had come to Delhi. That was a
momentous occasion, just prior to independence, when the
Interim Government headed by Punditji had been formed.
Zakir Saheb had invited him to inaugurate the Jubilee, along
with all other illustrious stars of politics like Maulana Azad,
Gandhiji, Jinnah and others. That was a memorable occasion
when, what Zakir Saheb said at the Inauguration, became
historical document of everlasting value. Just then the
communal riots had taken place. Zakir Saheb, a great
humanist and a nationalist, exerted his utmost not only to
render relief to the disturbed but also to extinguish the fire
that was raging.
His emotional speech before the galaxy of brilliant
political stars is a classic, even as a piece of literature. Never
had India passed through a trauma, a holocaust of that order
when humanity was shaken to the roots. I would listen to all
this, as they were all fresh events of a year or two, deeply
inscribed in the heart, mind and soul of every one present
there. What a hell it should have been when communal fire
was raging all around, when trains would arrive at every
station packed with dead bodies brutally murdered. Any way,
I stayed in Jamia, a place which had witnessed the holocaust
and which under Zakir Saheb had rendered yeoman service
to humanity.
It was also the time when the Constituent Assembly
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was yet drafting the Constitution, when the Governor General
was Rajaji, when the President of the Constituent Assembly
was Dr. Rajendra Prasad and when the Education Minister
was Maulana Azad. The assassination of the Father of the
land, Gandhiji, had put an end to the communal killing, and
India was bracing itself to come out of the mess of several
problems such as refugee problem, Kashmir problem, food
problem, integration of native states and Hyderabad problem.
Dr.Venkadesikachar, my teacher in Maharaja’s College, had
been working in the ministry which was entrusted with the
task of drafting the Constitution. I used to meet him and
he would explain to me the importance of certain sections of
the Constitution. In those days the foreign policy of
non- alignment and third world leadership of Nehru was very
much in the news. The Daily newspapers carried that
information; which was to become a part and parcel of the
political, social and economic life of to-day.
It should also be said that the framing of the
Constitution of our country was completed by the end of
1949, and that the date 26 January 1950 was fixed for its
inauguration. I was present on that day in Delhi, and I did
attend the function of the public in which the entire Cabinet,
along with several dignitaries were present. I did listen to
Punditji. It was arranged in the open field just outside the
Red-Fort. The function was in the evening and also a cultural
show and a Mushaira (poetic-competition) had been arranged.
I listened to the patriotic verses composed by several reputed
Urdu and Hindi poets. One of them was from Bangalore,
Akhtari Begum. Punditji stayed until she recited her poem
and then left. I still recall the kind of security that was there
to escort him outside the hall. The whole of New Delhi had
been illuminated. It was a very grand function.
At the end of December 1949, the session of the
Indian History Congress was scheduled in Calcutta. I wanted
to attend, for those sessions had become a part and parcel
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My Life
of my life. I desired to go straight from Calcutta to my place
to bring my wife to Aligarh for her to take the Intermediate
examination. She had not completed that course in Mysore,
for we got married and she discontinued. The Calcutta session
is also memorable, and quite green in my memory, the galaxy
of brilliant scholars, the University campus, the high standard
of research papers, the historical tour of different places, the
cultural shows, the music consorts, and the series of dinners
arranged both by industrialists and by the Government. Fish
was a favourite dish. In one of the Dinners, all cutlery was
of earthen-ware. It was traditional and supposed to be for
very high dignitaries. The session was useful to me as I met
Prof. Mohibul Hasan Khan who was also working on Tipu
Sultan. A good lot of material on Tipu had been transferred
to Asiatic Society of Calcutta after the fall of Tipu. I met
Prof.Narendra Krishna Sinha also who had done very good
work on Haidar Ali. In whole of India Historical research of
quality was done only in four or five places, Poona, Delhi,
Aligarh, Allahabad and Calcutta. It was only scholars of
Calcutta University who had a national vision, who would do
research not confined to their region only but much beyond.
Hence, they had come out with good work on the Mughals,
as for example Jadunath Sarkar’s five volumes on Decline and
Fall of the Mughal Empire. Likewise, on the Marathas,
Peshwas, Sikhs, Sultans and Mysore Rulers, both Haidar Ali
and Tipu Sultan, the Bengali scholars had thrown much light.
The visit to Victoria Memorial and the Botanical Garden was
so pleasant that I still remember those good old days when
Calcutta was not so congested. It was of interest to me
because Tipu’s family was shifted from Vellore to Zakria
Street in Calcutta, and that one of his sons, Muhammad
Sultan Shah, rose to be a Mayor of Calcutta, built a beautiful
Mosque and also a Golf Club. He left huge property and
instituted a charity fund, from which the poor and the
destitutes even of Mysore were benefited.
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127
I returned to Gadabanahalli, stayed there for a week
and planned to take my wife to Aligarh. That was perhaps
her long journey. She was also very fond of travel, meeting
people, quite intelligent and hard working even in studies.
We took a train from Kadur to Bombay and from Bombay
to Agra and Agra to Aligarh. She stayed in Girls Hostel which
was established by Abdulla Saheb, Sir Syed had not paid
attention to the education of the girls. It is said of him that
he had neglected two areas, one, women’s education, and the
other technical education. He was for liberal education which
would turn out leaders, lawyers, administrators, teachers and
so on. There was so much and so much to do that one
cannot blame him for neglecting these two areas. What he
did in planting “Cambridge” was itself a miracle. Any way,
my wife took her studies seriously. It was winter and we had
to go for warm clothes, particularly overcoat. I was staying
in Delhi. I would periodically visit her in Aligarh.The distance
from MacDonald Hostel, where I stayed to Girls College and
Hostel was hardly a K.M. During a week-end, we planned to
visit Delhi. She had not seen that place. We booked a room
in a lodging and stayed there for two or three days visiting
all historical places like Red Fort, Jamia Mosque, Qutub
Minar, Viceregal Lodge where Mughal Garden show was open
to public. There was a big fair in Rama Leela open ground.
There were three wheeler big rickshaws in which four people
could be seated. We used to take that.
In Aligarh we did one more thing. In Hosahalli
Village, quite close to Gadabanahalli there was Urdu Middle
School, where all the children of my father-in-law studied,
including my wife. One of her teachers was Rasool Saheb,
who desired to do his B.A. in private, for which there was
scope in Aligarh. He approached me and expressed his desire
when I had gone to Gadabanahalli to bring my wife to Aligarh.
I promised to help him completing all formalities of admission.
The examination was in May. He arrived in Aligarh in
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February. I shared my room with him. I was mostly in Delhi,
only visiting periodically. He had taken Persian as one of
the optionals. Being an experienced teacher and also well
motivated to take the degree, there was no doubt of his
success in his examination. Same was the case with my wife.
He did his B.A., and she did her Intermediate. All three of
us returned home with all our exploits in Aligarh. It was
quite a venture, an experience in the north, useful for gaining
knowledge, helpful for advancement in life, both to me and
to Rasool Saheb. To my wife it was the end of her studies.
When I asked her to continue for B.A. and M.A., in private,
she said when I got Masood, that was B.A., when I got Asma,
that was M.A., when I got Shashida, that was Ph.D. and when
I got Zakir, that was D.Litt.
My work was just beginning. Rasool Saheb got his
B.A. and my wife, her Intermediate Certificate. But my Ph.D.
was not so easy. This job is so hard that one could recall an
Urdu verse :
That means, the proverbial patience of Prophet Ayub
and the grief of the Prophet Jacob were all not enough to
solicit your favour. You cannot imagine how much I have
suffered and sacrificed in the way of your love. I had to
struggle for six long years before I was awarded the Degree
of Ph.D. signed by the great national leader, and educationist,
Dr.Zakir Hussain.
My leave was upto September 1950. I was back in
the estate in mid-May. My wife had completed her course of
Intermediate. She had acquired sophisticated style of Urdu
language which was different from the Deccani of the south.
She was quite an amazing piece to many at home. It was a
worth-while experience which she had gained. Ambition and
avariciousness are permissible only in one area, and that is
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129
acquisition of knowledge. It was an end of the educational
career of my wife, but I was in the mid-stream. The degree
was far off. I had to struggle hard, roam about all over the
country, Madras, Hyderabad, Poona, Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta,
Pondicherry and so on, collect material, analyse it, synthesise
it, and present it in a form acceptable to the examiner. This
process took nearly six years. It was only in 1954 that I was
awarded the Degree.
For the collection of material I had to go to Madras
Archives. I stayed hardly a week at the estate, for between
May and September I wanted to collect as much material as
possible so that I could analyse it while doing my job as a
lecturer. For this purpose I left for Madras. Lodging was in
a Serai, Aba Serai, not far from Railway Station in George
Town, in the heart of the city, quite close to the sea and the
University, and also the Archives. Some philonthropist had
built it, and the rent was very cheap, just one rupee a day.
Food was also very cheap. Two or three rupees would do for
three meals a day. There was no furniture in the room, just
an empty cell, for the oppressive heat was such that one could
not sleep in the room. There was a mattress, which we would
carry to the roof and sleep under the sky. The fresh breeze
from the sea-side, the open sky with twinkling stars, the
refreshing quiet atmosphere, and after the whole-day
exhaustion of hard work, would make our sleep so sweet that
we felt, we were in a bliss. Those under the fans or airconditioned rooms would not be blessed with that sound sleep
which a person toiling all day would get.
The Director of Tamil Nadu Archives was one Dr.
Baliga, a person of South Kanara in Karnataka, who was very
helpful. It was his routine to go to the desk of every scholar,
know their subject of research, and help them with the
required type of material. It should be said to the credit of
the British that while their politics was wretched, their love
of knowledge was supreme and sublime. A nation is as great,
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and only as great as the intensity or passion of that nation
for knowledge. They have preserved every tiny piece of record
of their rule in India. They run into thousands and thousands
of volumes, well preserved in Delhi, Madras, Bombay
and Calcutta. They had found out advanced method of
preserving the records of centuries. Each sheet of the record
had to be wrapped in thin cloth, which was like plastic so
luminent, as to make the writing visible. In those days plastic
lamination was not in vogue. Special kind of material was
imported from Japan for that purpose. There was a special
section in the Archives which did this preservation.
I started diving deep into the records day after day.
The material on Haidar and Tipu was enormous in the
Archives. I had to visit that Archives, not once but several
times, whenever I got either Dasara or Christmas or Summer
holidays. In one of those trips, my father-in-law too joined
me in Madras, and we lived in the same Aba-Sait Serai.
My trip to Pondicherry was also memorable. It was
still under the French control, and had not been transferred
to India. All records were in French, and also in Persian and
Marathi.I learned French enough to understand the
meaning, but not to talk. French pronunciation is very
peculiar. The French culture, language, customs and
manners still existed there, and I used to appreciate it much.
What I did not like is the excessive use of liquor in the
lodgings or hotels. In the evening, which was very pleasant I
used to walk along the beach, and reflect how the foreigners
were bold enough to come from seven seas across and colonise
our land. The days of Dupleix and Clive would come back
to my mind, and I would recapitulate how Haidar, who was a
friend of the French, was roaming with all his dashing
exploits in those zones, and how Tipu inflicting blows to the
English in the First and Second Mysore Wars, and how
destiny forced him to disappear from the scene, and how it
buttressed the foreigners to bloom in our land for nearly two
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131
centuries. I would reflect history is a strange drama of man’s
struggle in which who becomes the master and who becomes
the servant was best known only to God, but do your part,
either of a prince or pauper, high or low, rich or poor, man
or woman. I still remember a fat French lady who was the
Curator of the Archives, who would not speak English, and I
did not know the French, and I had to struggle hard to
convince her I was a genuine scholar.
My trip to Poona was also interesting. There was
plenty of material in Bharat Itihasa Samsodak Mandali
(Archives) of Poona. Its curator was Dr. G.S. Khare, a great
scholar who knew Persian as well. The people of Maharashtra
were the only people in India, who had great historical sense,
who loved their past, who had preserved their past, and who
had seriously engaged themselves in the reconstruction of the
past. It is said that all deities of knowledge existed in India
except “Clio” the “Muse” the goddess of history. This was
one area which the Indians had neglected. If history is a
science, that was absent in India. If chronology is the eye of
history ancient Indian history was blind. But the Maratha
scholars had attempted to rectify this. Strong historic sense
existed only in the Sarcenic people, the Jews, the Christians
and the Arabs, who all belong to Biblical culture with strong
convictions that the present is the outcome of the past, and
hence cannot be neglected. I stayed in Poona for nearly a
month, and visited that place more than once. There was a
friend of my father-in-law in Poona, Mr.Gokhale, whom I
visited.
Not only in Madras, Pondicherry and Poona, but also
in Hyderabad there was plenty of material on Tipu. There
was a friend of mine in Aligarh from Hyderabad, a Nawab,
who welcomed me to his residence where I could stay with
them any length of time for research. Accordingly I planned
to stay in Hyderabad for quite some time as Tipu’s relations
with that State were of vital importance and that there was
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plenty of material in several record offices, libraries and
Archives of Hyderabad, particularly in Daftar-e-Diwani-O-Mal,
which was indeed a treasure house of historical material. I
went to Hyderabad and felt very happy that it had retained
the Islamic relics of the past, the glory of ancient days when
nearly for 700 years the Muslims had ruled over the land.
People in Sherwani and fez-cap, every where Urdu sign-board,
Urdu speaking public, whether Hindu or Muslim and Islamicgreetings of “Adab-arz” and so on were a part of their culture.
Abid Road, the main thoroughfare, was broad, well planned,
illuminated, Moazam-Jahi market, King Koti, Golconda Fort,
Salar Jang Museum, Basheer Bagh were all very impressive.
What was very significant was the daily routine of the
Nizam’s visit to his mother’s tomb through the main Road
from his palace – Kings Kothi, very unimpressive, unlike
Mysore Palace, which is so grand – when all traffic would
come to a dead halt, police will whistle, it was all only for a
few moments, the exact time was all pre-planned, correct to
the second, people would stand where they were, no
movement of any sort, as if everything had come to a
stand-still, and he would pass off with terrific speed in his
Mercedes. It was quite a good show to the strangers.
My work was mainly in two places, Usmania Library
and Daftar-e-Diwani-o-Mal, which was the Record Office.
The Library contained quite a large number of manuscripts
in Persian which were useful to me. It was located on the
bank of the river Moosi, which once flooded itself so much
that many houses were washed off. It should be said to the
credit of Nizam’s administration that it had paid sufficient
attention to collect good number of books, records and
manuscripts. More important than this Library was the
Record Office, where thousands and thousands of records
were preserved, the catalogue of which itself would run into
volumes. They were mostly in Persian, as Deccan had been
under Muslim rule ever since the Bahmani Kingdom which
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133
was established in 1347, and then this region witnessed the
rise and fall of several dynasties such as the Nizam Shahi,
Adil Shahi, Qutub Shahi, Barid Shahi and Burhani Shahi. They
played a vital part and were in confrontation with the
Vijayanagar Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Maratha Empire,
the Portuguese, the French, the Dutch and the English. Apart
from this the local dynasties particularly the Satavahanas and
others played an important role. Consequently, the region
produced historical records of varied type in Persian, in
Telugu, in Kannada, in Marathi, in French, in Portuguese and
in English. Much of the material I needed was in Persian,
and in this Record Offices, there were experts in Persian to
read the Shikastha style of writing in Persian, Modi Marathi
and Modi Kannada. Over the centuries languages too undergo
metamorphic change, and one should know paleography as
well to do historical research. My stay in Hyderabad was
comfortable. As mentioned above, a friend from Hyderabad
had generously invited me to stay in his house. A separate
room with all facilities was provided to me. I would not dine
with them. It was just accommodation. I would eat outside.
But meanwhile Ramazan came. Those people insisted that I
should accept at least the Sahari if not Iftar. Accordingly
exactly at 4 a.m. they would serve me Sahri and I would
observe fasting. In Rikabganj, a friend of ours by name Abdul
Wahab, whom we had met in Mysore, was residing. He was
a relative of a Nawab of Hyderabad, who had made
Vantikoppal in Mysore as his permanent residence. This
Wahab had become a good friend of my cousin, Janab Yahya
Saheb, and through him I had known Mr.Wahab. Once he
met me and took me to Golconda fort, where I saw muskets,
guns and other armaments of the past. The entire Golconda
history was revived in my mind. Those were the pre-police
action days, when Qasim Razvi was still very much in the
news. Hyderabad was in the last throw of its past glory and
this Wahab Saheb would speak a good lot of Hyderabad
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My Life
traditions, achievements and contributions to sum total of
Indian culture. He took me at the end to a good Hyderabad
Restaurant where we had special Hyderabad Biryani. Each
grain of rice was half red and half white. It was quite
delicious. No one can deny that Muslims have contributed
much to the culinary art of this country. The Mughalai
dishes are well-known. The Oudh Dastar-Khan is quite
proverbial. Wajid Ali Shah’s massoor-ki-dal costing three paisa
but masala costing three hundred rupees is much talked about.
The Muslims, whether Arabs, Turks, Persians or Afghans
brought their dishes to India, tested them in the crucible of
the finest of Indian dishes and evolved techniques to prepare
their own dishes which could not be excelled by any others.
They say that the downfall of the Muslims was because of
this rich food – the nobles, the lords, the kings, the jagirdars
and the wealthy were all very fond of good food which would
make them lazy and comfort-loving. They forgot
that on dry bread was laid all the
strength and force of Hazrat Ali.
I came back from Hyderabad, but continued my work,
going every summer either to record offices or to Aligarh to
seek the guidance of the Supervisor. At last this work came
to a conclusion in 1954 when I was awarded Ph.D. the
Certificate signed by great man – Dr.Zakir Hussain. That was
a great day. My stay in Aligarh coincided with the stay of
Dr. Zakir Hussain as Vice-Chancellor in Aligarh, for he
resigned the job in 1955.
7
Married Life
Nature demands pairs. To bear the burden of life a
partner is needed. Its root is love, and love is not a feeble
emotion or a passing sentiment, but an attitude of life, will
and feeling, which are strong, deep and enduring. It is an
urge within gifted by God, who is all love conceived in the
highest sense of the term. Love is the hunger of the human
soul for divine beauty. The lover is eager not only to find
beauty, but also to create beauty and to perpetuate beauty.
That is why nature prompts men and women to love each
other, so as to perpetuate human race. Parents love children
in order to leave behind successors in the eternal quest for
beauty. This is the law of nature manifest in all living beings.
In January 1946 when I got a college job, the first
phase of my life was over, and the second phase was soon to
begin. Destiny operates in strange ways and opens channels
unseen, unheard, and unknown. As stated earlier, one of the
members of the Gadabanahalli group of planters fell ill and
had to be admitted into the Sanitorium of Mysore City. The
aunt of my would be wife, Sufia Bi, (her mother’s sister, and
wife of his father’s brother, about whom references have
already occurred in this work) came to Mysore for treatment.
Earlier they had gone to several places, Bangalore and so on,
but no where in those days they had diagnosed what the
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My Life
problem was. It was only in Stanley Hospital of Madras that
a Doctor by name Khalil diagonised that she suffered from
tuberculosis. They were scared. In those days they thought
it was highly contageous and incurable. They brought her to
Mysore, rented a house in V.V.Puram (Vantikoppal), an
outhouse behind the Police Station of that place. They
admitted her to Sanitorium. I had joined the College just a
few monthsearlier. As that family was well-known all over
Malanad, our own benefactors, and my first cousins, I used
to visit them often. They too needed the company of some
one in a strange place.
It so happened that just in that year, 1946, the eldest
daughter of one of the members of that family, namely Alijanab
G.S.Abdul Hameed Saheb, by name Sufia Bi, had passed her
SSLC examination and had joined the First year Intermediate
in Maharani’s College of Mysore, which was located at that
time in Cheluvamba Mansions, the present CFTRI. It should
be mentioned here that my would be father-in-law Janab G.S.
Abdul Hameed was very modern, progressive, enlightened in
his outlook, being the first person in Malanad to advocate
education for women. He was very forceful in his pleading
for educating girls, and himself set an example by sending his
daughter to a college. His own relatives criticised him bitterly
that he was sending his daughters to college to dance on the
stage. He would not mind it, and he would go a step further
and would advocate the removal even of purdah or hijab. He
would quote Beverely Nichols who had said that human
ingenuity could not devise a better incubator of microbes than
Muslim purdah. This is a very subjective statement of a
prejudiced mind but Mustafa Kamal (Ataturk) would agree
to enforce his reforms. My father-in-law was also of the same
bent of mind, highly desirous of bringing about reforms. He
had two brothers, one elder, Janab G.S. Abdul Basith Saheb,
who had his own views on interest on charged capital as
stipulated in Islam, and he had an younger brother, Janab
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137
G.S. Mohamed Yahya, (whose wife was in Mysore Sanitorium)
who had a passion to advocate payment of Zakat. All these
three brothers considered themselves as social, reformers,
one holding Purdah as irrelevant, another, payment of interest
as charged by bank as relevant, and the third, holding
zakat as the only remedy for Muslim upliftment.
When Sufia Bi had joined Intermediate in Maharani’s
College, Mysore, she was staying in the same Hostel as well.
The Maharaja had donated that entire mansion both for the
College and the Hostel. Once in a way she would visit her
aunt in the Sanitorium, and also her uncle in Vantikoppal. I
was also introduced to her by my cousins, both Alijanab
G.S.Abdul Hameed Saheb (her father) and Alijanab
G.S.Mohamed Yahya Saheb (her uncle). She was a great beauty
in my view. As per the family relations, in a way she was my
niece, my cousin brother’s daughter, and hence her uncle, and
she called me also at that time as uncle.
Once she asked me whether I could help her in
paraphrasing Keate’s, Shelly’s and Byron’s poems. I said I
would do that, and I did that. Then some more home work,
and some more. We built up good rapport. Perhaps the fire
of liking was also ignited in each other’s heart The year
passed. She was only in the first year of Intermediate.
During that period I might have met her perhaps half a dozen
times. The summer holidays came in 1947. I went to
Belagodu. My sister’s mother-in-law, who is my aunt (Father’s
sister) a very elderly lady, the eldest daughter of my grand
father broached the topic whether I was willing to get
married in Gadabanahalli family, and if so she would be too
happy to go there and negotiate the affair. In a way she just
said that what was in my heart. When a person finishes his
education, gets a job, he becomes a centre of attraction in
society as a prospective groom. Many eyes were there on
me from several directions. No body would bother when a
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My Life
poor boy was utterly in need of some help for his school or
college fee, but all would be his fans once he would earn a
few chips.
Incidentally, one more incident could also be stated
here. After the death of my mother, my sister, Khateja Bi,
was almost like my mother. I was no where to go except to
her. She was the one who would look after my brother also,
who had lost his mental balance and would be visiting her
from his wanderings. My sister had four daughters and two
sons; one daughter and one son died. The eldest daughter
Hafiza Bi, was married to one Imamuddin in Belagodu. The
second daughter, Sarah Bi, the one who stayed with my mother
in Henley Estate until she breathed her last, was married to
one Badruddin of Aldur. He was a clerk in a Defence
Department. It occurred to him that there were better
prospects for him in Hyderabad before police action. He went
there and my sister wanted that I should take her daughter,
Sarah Bi (Badruddin’s wife) to Hyderabad to join her husband.
Hyderabad had not acceeded to Indian Union. It was in a
defiant mood asserting its right to be independent. There
was great confusion all over India in the wake of India gaining
independence, the refugee problem, the Kashmir problem,
Junagarh problem, Hindu-Muslim problem and Hyderabad
problem. In such a situation I took Sarah Bi along with
another group from Aldur which was migrating to Hyderabad.
They were followers of a Muslim sect called
Chandbashweshwars, whose Headquarters was Hyderabad.
We reached the place. That was my first visit to Hyderabad,
which I had to visit again and again later for my researh.
Badruddin was staying in a small out-house of a
Nawab. I had become a lecturer but was still a bachelor, a
prospective groom. Mr.Badruddin began coaxing me to get
married in Hyderabad and settle down. He also said that the
Nawab had a marriagable daughter also, and if all things went
off, the matter could be settled. He even saw the Nawab
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139
and discussed the affair. I got scared and ran away next day
to Mysore. That was the first venture.
A few weeks later, my sister in Belagodu persuaded
her mother-in-law, my aunt to go to Gadabanahalli, and sound
whether they were willing to accept me as a member of their
family. She went there, sounded them and found them
willing. Sufia had discontinued her studies. They were also
willing to get her married as early as possible. Parents with
five daughters were eager to dispose them as soon as the
opportunity would arise. I was also keen to get married, as I
had seen her before. A more responsible person than an old
lady, my aunt, was required, to finalise the negotiations. They
thought of Ali Janab Abdul Wahab Saheb of Henly Estate,
another cousin from father’s side. He was the brother-in-law
(sister’s husband) of my would be father-in-law, Janab
G.S.Abdul Hameed Saheb. He went there with the proposal
which seemed acceptable to them.
Meanwhile, I put a condition. Having known that
they were very big planters, quite affluent, I desired to know
whether they would be willing to support me for higher
studies in U.K. which was my passion. They got infuriated.
Unpleasantness was followed for a while. The General
Manager of the Estate, almost the care-taker of the whole
family, was one Abdul Qayum of Hoshalli, who was serving
the family for a long time. He had a long discussion with
me. Meanwhile, Abdul Wahab Saheb also did not play a
helpful role. Negotiations seemed very strained at one stage.
I thought over the matter, that I should not seek the favour
of any one for my project. I should do it myself, self-help is
the best help. They may crow all their life that they built
my future. Therefore, I told Qayum Saheb that I would not
insist on that issue. The rest was all easy.
Marriage was fixed on 4 March 1948. I applied for a
fortnight leave, went to Belagodu, arranged a bus from
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My Life
Belagodu to Gadabanahalli to take all relatives and friends.
It was a grand function. In making arrangements from my
side, one Mr.Imamuddin, son-in-law of my sister was very
helpful. I did not spend much money, perhaps gold worth
about a thousand rupees and dresses worth less than that
were purchased. My father-in-law was a social reformer, and
did not like lavish expenditure on weddings, Prof.Abdul Qadir
Sarvari Saheb of Urdu Department, my very intimate friends
Dr.Syed Shah Ali, Major Khalilur Rahman Saheb had come.
Earlier a reference has come that Prof.Sarvari Saheb and
Major Khalilur Rahman sitting in the Wedding
pendal composed a complimentary poem for the
occasion, one of its verses was :
meaning, very quietly Shaikh managed to get what he
desired, and Abdul Hameed lost all earnings of his life.
This Gadabanahalli family where I married was a
reputed family of Malanad planters. Two brothers, Janab
Abdul Hameed and Mohamed Yahya who had married two
sisters of the same family of Arehalli, daughters of a very
venerable soul, Alijanab Abdul Ali Saheb, a big planter, wise,
mature, far-sighted, dignified and gracious. He was the
brother-in-law (that is sister’s husband) of the illustrious Haji
Mohamed Hussain, whom I regard as Sir Syed of Malanad,
who had done so much and so much to uplift the Muslims of
Malanad in educational and social sector. Alijanab Abdul Ali
Saheb was still alive when I married. He blessed me, and
grand-mother of my wife was also present.
In the family where I married, my wife Sufia was the
eldest daughter, younger to her was a brother, G.S. Abdul
Wajid (he is no more, passed away in 2001); and their three
daughters, Muneera married to Gulam-e-Ahmed of Hassan
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141
(both are no more now); Maimoona married to Dr. S. Abdul
Kareem, Joint Director of Health Services of Karnataka, who
became the Administrator of Al-Ameen Medical Services and
built Al-Ameen Medical College at Bijapur (now no more)
and Azra Banu married to Mr.Mukhtar Ahmed of Arehalli.
Azra built the Mountain view chain of educational
institutions which are still functioning very well. From a
humble start of just six children in a rented building near
Jamia mosque, she was able with the active and wise support
of her husband, Mukhtar Saheb, to build a huge complex of
several educational institution in a sprawling campus of nearly
35 acres on the outskirts of Chikmagalur Town where over
2000 children are being educated from Kinder-garten to postgraduate with facilities of all sorts including Hostel facilities,
good play ground, indoor games, Old age home and so on.
Not only this big campus but also a school in a congested
area of Chikmagalur Town is also functioning well. It is
indeed a matter of great, great satisfaction that a Muslim
lady could achieve so much within her own life time. It was
all the fruit of love, labour, devotion, patience and
perseverance. The dynamic role of Azra with appreciative
wisdom of Mukhtar Saheb brought about something which
the community could be proud of. The Muslims have touched
the bottom line in this country in all sectors of life, social,
educational, economic or political. The built-in inhibitions like
purdah, lack of education, social pride, laziness, ego, poverty
and conservatism together with political discriminations have
reduced this community to miserable level. In such a
situation to build an educational complex whose assets may
run into several hundred crores is indeed a matter of great
pride.
Next to Azra is her brother, Khalid Ghani, who
became an ornothologist, became a good friend of Salim Ali,
the world-renowned “Bird-Man” and the President of All India
Zoological Society, Bombay. Mr.Khalid holds a British
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My Life
Passport as well, he lived there for long, worked there in
Wales Museum, has built a house near Mountain View School,
which is like a mansion. He is a very sophisticated man,
well-loved by members of his family and friends. He is very
fond of wild life, and has toured widely in India, (Rajasthan),
Africa, Indonesia, America, Europe and other places. He is
a photographer par excellence, which has earned him good
number of prizes.
The third and the youngest son is Shaeeb Ali. He
was born three months after our marriage in June 1948. It
is something that had happened in my case as well, namely I
was born when my sister was of marriageable age. He stayed
with us for his education in Mysore, and many thought he
was my son. He is very smart, witty, jovial, active and
dynamic. We lived in Saraswathipuram, Mysore where every
one in the neighbourhood knew him and liked him. If he
travelled in a bus to the school, all passengers would be
pleased by his pranks. If he went to a tutor for private
tuition, the entire group would be electrified by his lively
tricks and escapades. Once his tutor admonished him in his
house for his pranks, he disappeared and hid himself in a big
barrel. Every nook and corner of the house was searched
and he could not be found. His exploits had become talk of
the town. Once, we wanted to go to Calicut in our old model
Austin car. He was driving and the car needed repairs. We
could not move beyond Sultan Batery. He halted there for
the repairs and I proceeded to Calicut for the important work
of negotiating with Prof.Shukoor Saheb to give his daughter,
Rafath, in marriage to Abdul Wajid, my eldest brother-inlaw. I did the job and returned next day to Sultan Batery
where he was ready with the repaired car. It was 1940 model
Austin car, very rickety. While returning to Mysore, some
one in a brand new car wanted to overtake us. Shaeeb Ali
would not allow him. He raced our car with speed, with
more speed, and the other man was also challenging us, until
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143
he approached quite close to us and pointed the tyre which
was likely to burst. If only we had not stopped, in another
moment a terrible accident would have happened. God was
great. Not one but hundreds of escapades of this nature
have occurred during the last fifty years.
Shaeeb Ali has married Rafikha of Hassan who was
my student. He has brought up a lively family of two
daughters, who are all married. He started a Service Station
and also a petrol pump. What is very appreciative of him is
the fact that he initiated a Charitable Trust, which runs an
orphanage with nearly 100 children, not far from Chikmagalur,
in an area of over three acres of land, a mosque, a school, a
residential boarding and so on. He is a Rotarian as well and
a Member of other social service organizations.
I must say a word about my eldest brother-in-law,
Abdul Wajid, who married the daughter of Prof. Shukoor
Saheb, Professor of Economics, working in Farooq College of
Calicut, whose reference has come just above. Mr.Wajid too
stayed with us for his studies at Hardwick High School,
Mysore, but only for a short while. We were just married
then, in 1948, and were living in Jalapari Mohalla of Mysore.
He had a knack in agriculture. Even as a School boy, he
raised a Kitchen garden yielding good vegetables. Later,
without being an agronomist he cultivated paddy fields with
such modern methods that people suspected he must have
been trained in Japan. About 20 miles from Chikmagalur near
Sakrapatana, he bought about 20 acres of land on his own,
near a big tank and cultivated paddy and other dry crops so
well that he had become a role-model. Even as a boy in a
high school, he took a gun on a Friday, when we had gone for
prayers, and by the time we came back, there was great news
that “Wajid Saheb had shot a tiger”. We were all amazed
and wondered how a boy of sixteen, seventeen could go alone
and do a thing of that sort. His farm called Hakkibail was
our picknick spot. In vacations we would all visit that place
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My Life
and have very good time. He has built a beautiful house in
the Suburb of Chickmagalur, not consulting any architect, but
so well designed that even an architect should learn a thing
or two from him. He had varied hobbies including collection
of coins (numismatics) poultry, farming, dairy, gardening,
riding, shooting and so on.
It should be said of his wife, Rafath, that she too is a
wonderful lady, a graduate, who took to farming, learned all
the techniques of farming from her husband, who is
unfortunately at present no more, but Rafath all alone, all
by herself running the entire farm-land, raising cabbages, peas,
potatoes, cultivating paddy and so on. She is a very pious
lady, so devoted to her prayers, she has a son, Nadeem (with
two daughters) and a daughter Hina, who is married to an
engineer, now in Toronto, Canada (with two children).
I must say a word about another sister-in-law of mine,
the youngest, Nazeera, who too was with us for her Middle
School and High School education. She was a very lovable
child, but could not cope with the studies. She appeared for
SSLC examination. On the day the result was announced the
whole family including my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, my
brother-in-law (Mr.Wajid) were all in Mysore in my
residence, Warden’s Quarter, New Muslim Hostel,
Saraswathipuram, Mysore. I had gone to Hunsur with my
father-in-law for some official work in Hunsur Coffee Works.
By the time we returned by lunch time, there was great
tragedy at home. That little girl, Nazeera, who had appeared
for SSLC in private had failed in the examinination. She was
so much dejected that suddenly she decided to commit
suicide. She ran to the Kukrahalli tank, and drowned herself.
People ran after her, but could not save her life. Mr. Wajid
too ran and fell into water, but could not rescue. There was
commotion. Wajid Saheb did not know swimming. Any way,
he came out of the water, but she was lost for ever, an untold,
horrible, disastrous, unheard of tragedy in the family. The
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145
pity was the whole thing happened in my house. Grief knew
no limits. A precious life was lost, a budding rose was
smothered before it bloomed. The grief of Azra was
unsurpassed. The youngest girl was the darling of all, and
her loss was unbearable. It was the way she died that touched
one and all.
It is indicated earlier that my father-in-law, Janab
Abdul Hameed Saheb and his younger brother, Janab
Mohamed Yahya Saheb had married sisters and had led for a
long time joint family. They had risen high in acquiring huge
landed property, nearly a thousand acres of coffee lands spread
over in three or four different places, such as Gadabanahalli,
Boonahalli, Kunmakki, Hetkekool and Gundikan.This
“empire” was the result of an ambitious plan which burst out
like the South Sea bubble in the economic depression of late
20’s and early 30’s of 20th Century. They plunged themselves
into disaster incurring heavy debts from different sources. All
their property was mortgaged. More than a decade of
troubled life they led before situation changed during the
Second World War. Coffee prices again shot up, debt was
redeemed, and out of the large property of a 1000 acre, they
were able to save nearly 200 acres, in Gadabanahalli,
Boonahalli and Koonmakki.
This was the family situation of the two brothers, who
lived in the same bungalow of Gadabanahalli, a huge
mansion of several rooms, built up by their father. The
younger brother had a small family of only one daughter,
Amina Bi, and one son, Zahoor Ahmed, whereas the elder
had three sons and five daughters. All these children lived in
the same house like brothers and sisters, and not as cousins.
In the joint family of Indian social system, all members have
same rights and privileges, and share everything good or bad.
They had lived like this for long when inevitable desire to
have a separate identity made Janab Yahya Saheb, the younger
brother, to build a bungalow of his own, not far from the
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My Life
main bungalow. At the time of my marriage they had shifted
to their new house. Janab Yahya Saheb was a very remarkable
person, whose passion was coffee cultivation. He knew so
much about it that even the specialists in that field could
not excel him. He got Koonmakki as his share, and he had
made the Estate a model Estate.His knowledge of coffee
cultivation was encyclopaedic. He was very well-versed both
in English and Urdu. Although he was not a graduate, his
command over English language was surprisingly very high.
He was very fond of the philosophy of Allama Iqbal and had
a good library of his own. His general knowledge was also
amazing. These two brothers took a lot of interest in social
work, community upliftment and general well-being of all.
His daughter, Amina Bi, did her M.A. in History and
became a student of mine in Maharaja’s College. She got
married to a contemporary of mine, Mr.Manzoor Ahmed, son
of Janab Abdul Razaq Saheb, who was Asst.Commissioner at
Hassan when I was studying in Middle School. He joined as
Employment Officer in the Labour Department of Karnataka
Government.
He
had
two
sons
and
four
daughters, and all of them have now settled in USA.
Mr. Zahoor Ahmed married Naseema, daughter of Nazeer
Ahmed of Aldur Coffee Works who shifted himself to Karachi
where he opened a Book Shop “Thomas and Thomas” which
belonged to the Europeans before they left the sub-continent.
Mr.Zahoor got interested in art and craft, and has now settled
down at Koonmakki.
This is a rough picture of all the members of the
Gadabanahalli group where I married. I was the eldest
son-in-law of the house. Being in the education field, they
expected of me to take care of the education of their children,
since I stayed in a premier city of education and higher
learning. Consequently, when I married in March 1948, I set
up soon a house in Jalapari Mohalla of Mysore City, on the
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147
eastern side. It was a newly built house rented at Rs.30/- a
month, nearly 30% of the salary. It belonged to a fruit
merchant in K.R. Market. It had a big compound, two rooms
,hall, kitchen and other facilities. Two of the children, Wajid
Saheb and Muneera, were entrusted to our care. Wajid Saheb
joined Hardwick High School, and Muneera joined St. Mary’s
Convent, which was quite near by. Their parents used to
visit us. Once when they came, two big planters from Coorg,
Omar Khan Saheb and Yusuf Khan Saheb invited my fatherin-law and his younger brother, Janab Yahya Saheb to visit
their newly purchased Estates of Blottery and Bykere, near
Mercara. They asked me to join the group and I did. They
had just bought a new Dodge Car. Five of us left Mysore
for the Coorg and reached the Coffee estate, Bykere, which
once belonged to an English man, Mr. White. He had built
a beautiful bungalow which was well-furnished and had all the
modern gadgets, electric generator, water pumping sets,
European style toilets, well-planned garden, particularly
orchids and so on. It was coffee picking season. Weather
was fine. Long walk in the garden and tire-some journey
together with non-stop continuous talk on Coffee, particularly
from Yahya Saheb, had excited great hunger. We did justice
to the lunch, and again went round, up and down, several
blocks of Coffee Estate. From there we went to Rasoolpur,
their own paddy fields where a few members of their own
family resided. That place was named after the father of
Omar Khan Saheb, Rasool Khan, who was very enterprising,
who had built up huge landed property. One of the members
of this family, Mr. F.M. Khan, son of Yusuf Khan, entered
into politics, became very prominent being a close associate
of Sanjay Gandhi. But after the death of Sanjay Gandhi, he
faded out from importance. He is at present staying in the
same Estate of Blottery. He was a good friend of Gundu
Rao who became the Chief Minister of Karnataka, and helped
me in being selected as Vice-Chancellor of the new University
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My Life
of Mangalore. His younger brother, Mr.Noor Mohamed, has
married a cousin of my wife, Almas, and thus became
relatives. Her husband, Noor Mohamed, is a Trustee of
Sultan Shaheed Education Trust, which I have established at
present for social and education work.
I lived in the Jalpari house for less than a year. In
the first year of our wedded life itself, my wife was in the
family way, a new experience to her, very difficult to bear.
She was to stay in the Estate with the parents. A baby boy
was born whom we named “Nusrat”, but he did not survive
for long, hardly for four or five months. His death and my
transfer to Chitradurga College were the factors that led to
my going to Aligarh, the details of which have already been
sketched above. After the expiry of one-year study leave I
reported to duty in Maharaja’s College, but another unhappy
surprise was there for me. The University transferred me again
from Mysore to Chikmagalur, where a new Intermediate
College had started. I took this with mixed feelings. There
were both positive and negative aspects in this transfer. The
positive aspect was that it was so close to my wife’s place
and residence was no problem as that was the place of my
cousin, eldest uncle of my wife, Janab Abdul Basith Saheb, in
whose house I had once lived for my Middle School education.
But the negative aspect was that a transfer from the
prestigeous Maharaja’s College to a remote place of an
Intermediate College was no promotion but demotion. As it
was only first year of Intermediate there was only one hour
a day of teaching. It was all boring, with no academic
environment, no library, and more so my Ph.D. work was yet
to be completed for which I needed a place like Mysore.
Moreover, living too long with relatives was also not desirable.
I was there in Chikmagalur for hardly a month or two when
another happy surprise took place. The Superintendent of
the College, Mr. Nazeer Ahmed Saheb, Geography
Department a very fine gentleman with whom I had good
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149
rapport was transferred back again to Mysore, and my
teacher, Mr.P.G. Satyagirinathan was posted to his place.
Since he was a History Professor, there was no need for me
in Chikmagalur. Since he had come from Maharaja’s College
I was sent back to his place in Mysore. I thanked God that
events turned out very luckily in my favour. I felt very happy
that I was back again in my alma-mater which I loved from
the bottom of my heart. God in his grace
disturbed me from that place only for a short period of two
months in Chitradurga and another two months in
Chikmagalur. Both these transfers were blessings to me in a
way, for in the first case I struggled hard to get study leave
for Ph.D. and in the second case I tried hard to complete
that project seriously devoting my time for that purpose. We
have to infer from this that whatever happens in life is for
our own good, although in our ignorance we feel sad at the
turn of tough things and feel excited at the turn of good
things. Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
With the transfer to Mysore, late in 1950, for three
or four months I stayed in the same old New Muslim Hostel,
which was like a home to me for a good part of a decade
from 1940. Soon after the Summer holidays which I spent
going to Madras Archives for collection of material, I had to
set up the family in July 1951. I searched for the house which
was not an easy job and ultimately found one small twin outhouse in Laxmipuram, near Police Station, belonging to Ali
Khan Saheb. There was a very big compound, quite spacious
open ground, with the main house facing east to the main
road, on the Southern side cross, an outhouse was located,
which had been turned into two apartments, one of which
had been
occupied and the other remained to be letout. I took that house on the monthly rent of Rs. 20/-. My
salary at that time was just Rs. 100/- with Rs. 20/- as D.A.
By that time God had blessed me with another son on January
21, 1951, whom we named Masood Mohiyuddin – Mohiyuddin
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My Life
being my father’s name. He was a lively boy and we shifted
to this new place which was very, very small, three small
rooms, hardly of 8‘ x 10‘ with a small kitchen and a toilet.
One of which we made a drawing room, another a bed-room,
the third a dining hall. Into this house would visit my parentin-law’s as well. Once my father-in-law and my mother-inlaw also had come and stayed with us, when the news came
from Arehalli that grand-mother of my wife was no more.
Suddenly arrangements had to be made for a taxi. It was
already very late in the evening. Luckily Qayyum Saheb also
had come. It was almost dead of the night by the time they
reached Arehalli. It seems the Driver was dosing while
driving. It was the alacrity and smartness of Qayyum Saheb
that made them reach the place safely.
Another guest who visited this place was Henly Abdul
Wahab who had come to Mysore hunting for a bride to his
eldest son, Wazir Jan, (Mohd. Saleh) who ultimately married
a girl from Channarayapatna.
Another unforgettable bad experience of this house
was that a scorpion bit my son, the baby, Masood. It was a
horrible experience. The baby was almost on death-bed. We
had already lost one baby, and we were terribly afraid and
became nervous. We could not bear the weeping and crying
of the baby from the terrible pain. We rushed him to K.R.
Hospital in a Tanga. God was gracious to save his life. He is
now on the staff of NITK at Surathkal College of Technology
in DK., a genius in his own right.
A year earlier maternal grand father of my wife, Ali
Janab Abdul Ali Saheb had been to Mecca for Haj pilgrimage.
He passed away there which was a matter of great grief. He
was the second person from that place to die in the holy
place, for in 1927 or so Janab Muhammad Imam Saheb,
younger brother of Janab Sahukar Mohamed Hussain Saheb,
too had passed away in Mecca. It was in his memory that
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151
Sahukar Saheb had donated generously funds to build the New
Muslim Hostel of Mysore. Janab Abdul Ali Saheb too was a
very remarkable person, of sterling qualities, gracious, noble,
mature, wise, very affectionate and kind. Such people of high
character are becoming rarer, and rarer these days.
The 50’s of the last century was in a way a formative
period of my life when all four children of mine were born,
Masood, Asma, Shahida and Zakir, with an interval of
exactly two years in between. Masood was born on 21-1-2951,
Asma Kulsum on 23-7-1953, Shahida on 22-7-1955, and Zakir
Hussain on 15-8-1957. It was during this decade that I got
my first Ph.D. Degree from Aligarh in 1954, and the second
Ph.D. Degree from London in 1960. It was in this decade
that I built a house of my own in Saraswathipuram. It was
during this decade that I spent more than two years in
England and Europe for higher studies. It was during this
period that I struggled hard to get promotion from a
Lecturer’s job to an Asst.Professor’s job, but was not
successful in the efforts, the failure being a blessing in several
ways.
It should be stated that I was ambitious and anxious
to get the next higher grade in my profession, and that was
an Asst.Professor’s job, but I was denied despite the fact that
I had obtained a Ph.D. and had put in 10 years of service, a
gold medalist and an acknowledged good teacher. My grief
reached a high point in 1956 when I was utterly disappointed
in the race for promotion. Two vacancies occurred in the
University during that year. I tried my level best, used even
influence by going all the way to Jagalur with my father-inlaw to see J.Imam Saheb, who was an Executive Council
Member. I saw the Chief Minister, Sri Nijalingappa through
one Basappa Shetty of Aldur, who came along with my
father-in-law to speak to the Chief Minister. I tried my level
best, and yet success slipped my hands. One post was given
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My Life
to Dr.B.S. Krishnaswamy Iyengar, my own teacher, which I
did not mind. But the other post was given to my own
student, Narasaiah whom I had taught in M.A, and who had
put in hardly six months of service. He had not even been
permanently appointed as a lecturer. When the results were
announced I was totally shaken. I could not reconcile myself
why fate had denied me that choice, not knowing at that
time God disposes what man proposes, only for the good of
man. It was at that difficult time in my official career, my
wife came to my rescue. It was her talk that gave me relief.
She proved wiser than I did. She said, “Cool yourself! Be
calm; think it may be a blessing for us, which we cannot see
at this moment. The hidden hand of God’s mercy would not
immediately reveal what is best in our interest.” She went
on consoling me, for two or three days I could neither eat
nor sleep. I passed through a hell, for a boy whom I had
taught had become my boss, my superior.
My wife was right and I was wrong. I thought what
cannot be cured must be endured. But from that moment
things took an upward trend. From nearly six to seven years
I was crazy to go abroad for further studies, not being
satisfied with an Indian Ph.D. In those days Full-bright
Scholarships of USA were very much in the news. Several
times I had applied, only to be rejected every time. At last I
applied for British Council Scholarship. The interview was
held in Delhi. This time I was fully prepared, worked hard
night and day, to face the interview in a way to win. Many
in the Selection Committee were Europeans. One of them
asked me the cause of the First World War. I said, it was
because of Frederick the Great of Prussia. He said, “Are
you mad ? I am asking you the question of 20th century and
you are referring to a person of 18th century.” I said, wait a
minute, Sir, let me make my point clear. Wars do not
originate in a spur of moment. We have to go to the roots.
In the first place let us examine who sowed the seed of war.
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153
Was it not the ambition of Frederick that led step by step
to the strengthening of Germany as a great power? Is it
not because of Frederick that Bismark became the Iron-Man
of Europe? Would you not believe that all wars originate in
the mind of man, and was not Frederick’s mind the first
congenial soil for this seed of war to grow. The latter events
are all commentaries to what Frederick had designed.” I went
on like this non-stop throwing light on the psychological and
philosophical causes of the war, which impressed the Selection
Board. They were more than satisfied and I got the
Fellowship. They had paid me sumptuous First Class fare for
travel. I had travelled in Second Class. Bought a few gifts
to my wife, a shawl and other things and returned home.
A few days, hardly a month or so, one day I had gone
to the College, came home and found my wife excited. The
moment I entered she hugged me and said, “I have some
surprise, but I would not reveal until you promise something”.
She said that again and again, and she would not tell what
that was about. I said, surely I promise, please do let me
know what it is. At last she said, we have received a letter
from the British Council which says you have been awarded
a fellowship, and you are going to U.K. If you go there, you
have to please take me as well. This you have to promise on
Quran. I said, surely I would do that provided first I go there
and then I would take you having saved something. She agreed.
Accordingly I did. I went abroad, got a Ph.D. from
London University, got selected for the post of Professorship
straight from a Lecturer’s chair to HOD of History
Department. This was all a blessing, for if I had been selected
in 1956, I would have been sent to a Degree College in
Tumkur as Asst. Professor, where that vacancy existed, and
to which place Mr.Narasaiah was posted. I would not have
struggled hard to go abroad and to qualify myself for still
higher post. I would have contented myself, being elated at
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My Life
the promotion, in a moffissil area, leading a routine life of a
college teacher. I would not have gained that world-wide
experience which I did in Europe. I would not have produced
that research work which was acclaimed by a scholar as “the
miracle of twentieth century.” (Review of my work by
Dr.K.N.V. Sastri on “British Relations with Haidar”, which
fetched me Professorship.) The person, Narasaiah, was
rotting in Tumkur, when I had risen high in the scholarly
world. A time came when the same Narasaiah approached
me to seek help for his promotion later as a Professor in
Bangalore University. I forgot the past disappointment at
his hands, and spoke to one of the experts in the Selection
Committee of that University, Dr.Bisveshwar Prasad, to help
Narasaiah, as he came from the Scheduled Caste, perhaps
the only one in that community to have earned Ph.D. from
USA. Although the calibre of this Narasaiah was not that
high, he was selected as Professor in Bangalore University,
much, much later than I got selected, after all he was my
student, and there are only two persons in the world who
irrespective of the past rush to the rescue of a person in
need, one is the mother, and the other is a teacher, who take
pride at the rise of either a son/daughter or a pupil. This
incident of my life is significant because man many a time
gets frustrated by the immediate events, not knowing what
happened could be only for his own good. Patience and faith
in God are indispensable conditions for success in life.
In the married life to bring up children, maintain
family and come up in life with limited resources are difficult
tasks. God had blessed me with four children, and I should
say, my wife exerted her utmost to bring them up on right
lines. She worked hard day and night fingers to her bone to
feed them well, and to take care of them. They would fall ill
frequently and that would be a testing time, for hospitalisation
was excessively expensive. I remember that there were
occasions when I did not have money to buy medicine. Zakir
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was critically ill. He was hospitalised in Mission Hospital.
Dr. Tovey was the Medical Officer, an Englishman, very
competent, polite, helpful and kind. He examined Zakir and
said “Oh! God!” We were all shivering in the shoe. You should
have seen the face of my wife at that time. We were all
pale. We thought something terrible might happen. Dr.
Tovey wrote a prescrpiton to buy medicine. I did not have
money. I rushed to the shop of Ishaq Saheb, a good friend
of mine for the last half a century, borrowed some money
from him. God was good and gracious. Zakir recovered from
illness. We thanked God, but those moments were
unforgettable. Like this on some other occasion either Shahi
or Maji fell ill. Doctor wrote a prescrpiton for medicine and
I did not have money. Luckily, my co-brother, Gulam-e-Ahmed
too was present. He gazed at me and read my face. He was
so good as to snatch the chit from my hand saying, you don’t
worry I will rush to bring medicine. He did that. Mr.Gulame-Ahmed was a very gentle, noble and a person of sterling
character. I would say he was nobility personified. I have
never heard one word from him ill of others. He was a rich
planter who would help all to the best of his ability. Likewise,
his wife, Muneera my wife’s younger sister, too was very
generous, very helpful, very talented, kind, good and
compassionate. She was good in cooking as well, and her
dishes were very delicious. God did not bless the couple with
an issue. They adopted a boy and a girl and reared them as
their own son and daughter. The boy is Faiz Ahmed, who is
Mr.Ahmed’s own nephew, sister’s son, and the daughter is
Nagina, a girl Muneera adopted from a family that had
discarded the child. This girl was very sweet, with all the
features of a great beauty. She grew up to be a fine lady, got
married to Janab Sulaiman Sheriff, and at present bringing
up her two children. Her daughter, Noor-ul-Huda, was
married just recently on 12th December 2006.
Another problem of my married life was to solve the
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problem of residence. As stated earlier, when I got married,
I rented a house in Jalpuri. When Masood was born, we
shifted to Laxmipuram house, where a scorpion bit him. We
did not stay for long in Laxmipuram, when we were asked to
vacate. With great difficulty I made the Rent Controller
allot me a house, and he fixed a very good house in
Saraswathipuram V Main at Rs. 40/- p.m. belonging to one
Mr. Sadasivaiah, an officer who had been transferred to
Shimoga. He was a nice man. The house was a newly built,
very spacious and very convenient. We had lived hardly a
year or two when we had to vacate it also. A small outhouse, quite close by belonging to one Lingaiah was rented
out. Family was not shifted as my second child, Asma, was
to be born. It was a very inconvenient house. Therefore,
we shifted to a new house, the fifth shift, in the same locality
of Saraswathipuram built by Housing Board. It was quite
convenient and sufficient for the family. Hardly a year we
were there, we had to shift again to another model house of
the same locality, which was the sixth shift. I got disgusted
in this process of every tim finding a new house.
Luckily in 1951 when all lecturers were applying to
CITB (City Improvement Trust Board) for a site, I too had
done, and CITB had allotted me a corner site of the
dimension of 43˜ x 57˜ in 3rd Cross, 7th Main for a sum of
Rs.514/- which I had taken four years to clear the amount.
You could imagine that a sum of only Rs. 514/- took that
long for payment, as the days were so hard that every penny
was precious. The site was there. It occurred to me that I
should build a house. I applied to the University for house
building loan, which was permissible at that time under
Government rules. The Government was good enough to
sanction me a loan of Rs. 6,600/- I had saved about Rs. 2000/
- having sold the property of Belagodu, both a house to
Imamuddin Saheb for Rs. 500/- Golgonda Coffee land of 2
acres for Rs. 500/- and Mylariah Coffee land of 4 acres for
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Rs. 1000/- to Janab K. Abdul Khader Saheb, popularly known
as Baba Bhai, who was the father of my co-brother,
Mr.Gulam-e-Ahmed. This amount together with the sale of
a site I had in Saraswathipuram, Mysore, for Rs. 2000/- was
sufficient to build a house for myself in Mysore.
I must say how I owned a site in Saraswathipuram,
prior to the allotment of the site by CITB on which stands
the house now I reside. Once I happened to go near the
New Jyoti Studio, at present J.S.S. Educational Complex in
Saraswathipuram, where a lot of people had gathered. Just
for curiosity I went there and found that CITB was auctioning
sites for the needy in Saraswathipuram newly-laid lay-out.
This plot of land was once Mekhri Saheb’s garden, so green
with areca and cocoanut trees on which fresh betel leaves
creeps, had made this an enchanting spot where we would go
in hot summer days to prepare our lessons for examination.
I saw the people bidding the sites. There was one site which
was being auctioned and I too participated in the bid. It
was going on from 100-150-200-250-300 and so on until it
touched Rs.1450/-. For curiosity sake I called out loudly
Rs.1500/-. The Chairman of CITB, a noble figure, a great
nationalist and a patriot, Sri.Pallalhalli Seetharamaiah, looked
at my face. He detected a Muslim was bidding the site, and
that too a Muslim Lecturer, almost a rarity in such a
gathering. He suddenly said, “Once, twice and thrice”, job is
done, site stands in the name of this young man, Sheikh Ali.
People were wondering, why this haste, we would still bid
higher and higher. But the President of CITB was bent upon
giving that site to me for Rs.1500/-. Had I kept that site of
40˜ x 60˜ to-day, it would have fetched me more than 20
lakhs of rupees. In this country there were people, and I
feel there are still there who believe in social justice, who
rise above caste, creed and class, and who would go out of
the way to help the disadvantaged. I sold that site later for
Rs.2000/- an increment of just Rs.500/- to Kempegowda, who
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owned Iron and Steel shop. He did not pay me any cash but
supplied all the iron and other fittings for the house.
The construction of my present residence at 59, 3rd
Cross, 7th Main, Saraswathipuram, was started in March 1956
and finished in October 1956, in just about six months costing
me less than Rs. 10,000/- for a house of 1200 Sq. feet, apart
from a garage, measuring 9’ x 18’. Construction was entrusted
to a contractor named Papaiah, who was building houses for
three other colleagues of Maharaja’s College. One was
Professor Krishnan of the Psychology Department, who owned
a site at the northern end of the same cross. The
second was Dr. Ramakrishna Reddy, Professor of Chemistry
who was later on transferred to Commerce College,
Bangalore. His house was also a corner house on the 3rd
cross, 5th Main. The third person was Prof.Seetharamaiah,
Professor of Sanskrit. All these three persons are no more,
the last mentioned person passed away very recently in
January 2007. The construction excited me great interest,
and I would spend a good part of my day supervising the
construction. When I used to go home late for lunch, my
wife would lose her temper, for she too waiting for me would
not have taken her lunch. She would scold me saying you are
a crazy person who goes mad on things you like. I would
understand her feelings. I should say my wife was a source of
great help, and she had many, many good qualities of my
mother, frank, bold, hard working, honest, mature and Godfearing. To bring up four children with meagre salary was
not easy for a lady who came from an affluent family.
I should say here exactly 20 years later in 1976, when
I had become a Professor in the University, I added the First
floor to this house, making it 2500 sq.feet in plinth area with
five bed-rooms. It became a necessity to do so, for over a
decade from 1965 to 1976 we were residing in a very
comfortable big quarters of Manasagangtri, No.P5 in Teachers
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Lay-out. In 1976 an IAS Registrar, Mr.Das, served notice to
all those teachers who owned a house in Mysore City and
still occupied University Quarters to vacate the building. I
had rented out my house for Rs.250/- to a Shetty who was in
the University. We protested, and protested but the Registrar
was tough and would not budge. I went to him and explained
that a person who became a Professor would have over the
years a large family with sons and sons-in-law, daughters and
daughters-in-law, and hence a house built by him as a
lecturer would not be sufficient for the growing needs. My
house with two small rooms is not enough for me and is not
suited to my status. He asked me what I was aiming at ? I
said I need a further loan from the University to add at least
first floor to the house. He agreed and immediately
sanctioned me Rs. 12,000/- as loan. I had some more money,
and had saved something from Visiting Professorship of mine
in USA to complete the First Floor to the house costing
Rs. 75,000/- what had costed me less than Rs. 10,000/- in
1956 needed more than seven times that figure for a dimension
less than the ground floor. This again shows whatever happens
is for our own good. If the Registrar had not been strict in
his order, I would not have struggled hard to add First floor.
Man in his ignorance frets and fumes in his present misery,
but those tears turn gems in course of time. Don’t be lost in
the fleeting pleasures of to-day, and like the little ants build
for the rainy day.
I should say here that I should be grateful to God a
billion times for such favours which I never dreamt. All my
life I have been fed on the nicest of the dishes. Even as a
poor boy I have lived in houses whose speciality was rich
food. Nobody could cook so well as my mother-in-law did.
My wife got that quality in her genes and passed it on to my
daughter, Asma, who too excels in this art, herself being
proficient in food and nutrition. Added to all these, even
against my will, I am dragged to the table of those who take
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pleasure in serving me nicest of the nice things. I feel all are
not so fortunate in this respect, unless God wills it so.
Secondly, God has inscribed in my destiny the work of
construction which gives me a lot of pleasure. This work
may result in black and white on paper, or build the career
of the generations of students, or erect structures for
schools, colleges or hostels, or build institutions of great
importance such as Universities. Ever since I occupied a new
house in 1948 soon after my marriage to this day in 2007,
nearly sixty long summers I can’t imagine in how many new
houses I have lived, and how many new Blocs I have
constructed as the first Vice-Chancellor of not one, but two
new Universities, a rare privilege not given to many. In one
single place, Bambolim in Goa, construction was the order of
Crores and Crores, and the Architect’s fees, Mr.Satish Gujral,
younger brother of the past Prime Minister, I.K. Gujral, ran
to a figure of half a crore. Even now as a Retired person I
am engaged in the construction work of Sultan Shaheed
Education Trust where something is added every day. Again,
as the President of N.M. Hostel I have taken up a commercial
complex of nearly two croses. This again shows that God
answers the prayers of those who believe, in His Will is our
peace, and that it is not our desire but that His Will may be
accomplished through us. Just do your duty well at all times
and in all circumstances and God would reward you with that
which you have never dreamt.
In the married life the main problem one faces is how
to educate one’s children well. By God’s grace I did not
have much problem in this regard. All my children at present
are double-graduates, one is M.Tech in Mechanical
Engineering, who studied abroad in USA, the other son is a
Doctor, M.D.(Pediatrician) now employed in Brunei, one
daughter is M.Sc. in Food Science and Nutrition, employed
in Maharani’s College, Mysore, who has, now been awarded
Ph.D. Degree and the other daughter, Shahida, is
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M.S.W.(Master’s Degree in Social Work). My eldest son,
Masood, is almost a genius. His I.Q. is very high. His
memory is fantastic. He could quote the entire State of Union
Speech of Abraham Lincoln. He is very fond of philosophy,
particularly Aldus Huxley. He has read a lot. His hobby
was reading. In his childhood I never saw him without a book.
He is inventive and creative. We could observe that from
the very beginning he would examine a toy carefully and try
to understand its mechanism. We would not see him busy
with the course books, but he was always first in the class.
We thought of making him an Engineer, and he became one,
at present teaching in NITK. He loves calligraphy and has
taught all others that art. He was very fond of Meccano in
his childhood, and we had bought a full set. That excited his
creative ability. He was moody, and would not talk much.
But whatever he would say would be prophetic. When Rajiv
Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the country, he would not
agree with his policies, particularly sending a force to Sri
Lanka. Once he told me frankly, “Daddy, I suspect great risk
to his life by this venture”. It happened exactly like that.
Once he asked me the causes for the rise of a culture. I
explained to him whatever I knew from history. He was not
satisfied. I said, you tell me what you think as the root cause.
He summed up in one word, and said, it is “Reinforcement”.
He elaborated the idea that water, the liquid and cement,
the soft powder, mixed with the hardest of the hard things
like iron and rocks would make concrete with which we build
houses. It is the fusion of the opposite, reinforced with skill,
that causes something to grow. How very true! How original!
And how deep in thought! On umpteen number of issues I
have discussed with my son and found him to be a philosopher.
I am immensely proud of this boy. One difficulty with him
is, that he is very shy, intraward, simple, unassuming, reserved,
unsociable, and not in very good health. He is married to
Shaheen, a very charming lady, M.A. in English from Madure,
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B.Ed., now teaches in a High School, very good as a teacher
and I thank God that he blessed me with such a good
daughter-in-law. She is taking care of my son, Masood.
My second child is Asma Kulsum. She is also very
intelligent, and she is the one who objectified my dream that
at least one of my children should take to high research and
gain a Doctorate Degree. She fulfilled my desire and she is
now Dr. Asma Kulsum. She is also very knowledgeable, widely
read, and worked very, very hard for her higher
research. She is blessed with a son, Faisal Hasan, who is my
only one grand son. I lift my hands in sincere prayers to
bless this boy with a happy, peaceful and prosperous life.
My third child is Shahida, who is very sharp, witty,
intelligent and remarkable in memory, remembering the birth
days of almost all kith and kin, including their telephone
numbers. She is married to Commander Najeeb.Ibn-e-Arif,
an officer in the navy, who rose to a high position and then
took VRL. He has settled down in Bangalore, Mathikere,
having built a house of his own. He is blessed with two
daughters, Shama and Saba, both of them very, very bright.
Shama did her M. Sc., in Psychology. She has already gained
a placement for a good job in an American Company. She is
very intelligent. Her hobby too is calligraphy. The famous
News Agency Reuters had offered her job. Hopefully her
future is very bright.
My youngest son, Dr.Zakir Hussain, did his M.D. from
Mangalore Medical College. Being the youngest in the
family he was brought up with fond love. It was he who had
once fallen critically ill and even Dr.Tovey was almost
despaired of his life. He too is intelligent, most industrious,
hard working among all my children. When he was studying
Medicine, either myself or my wife, had to pull him out of
his chair at 2 A.M to make him go to bed. In the childhood
whenever I would take him to a market, he would spot a toy
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and would not allow me to move until I got it for him. In
the midst of the public he would put his head in between my
two limbs to make me stop until I bought it for him. Once I
took him to a function which went on for long. I asked him
what did he like best in the function, expecting he would say
cultural programme, but he said, “jana-gana-mana” – national
anthem that gave him relief from the function. Once I took
him to a mosque for Friday prayers. Later he said that he
would never again go to that mosque. I asked him, why ?
He said, Maulvi Saheb did not know the difference between
Hydrogen bomb and Nitrogen bomb. Every time he was
saying “Nitrogen” bomb. Children at school many a time used
“Nitrogen bomb” phrase to indicate bad gas from the tommy
and Zakir was making fun of the Imam Saheb for not
knowing the difference between hydrogen and nitrogen.
When Zakir completed his MBBS, I was very fond
that he should do his post-graduation in some clinical subject,
but he was very fond of Pathology. I was Vice-Chancellor of
Mangalore University at that time in 1980’s and getting a
seat in any branch of PG was no problem. We persuaded
the boy again and again to choose some clinical subject, but
he would not budge. Time was running out. He insisted he
would do only Pathology course, and I was not very happy
with that. At last I asked a friend of mine, Dr.Hussain, to
convince the boy to take some clinical course. Dr. Hussain
took him aside and in a matter of a few seconds he changed
Zakir’s mind. We were wonder-struck how come Dr. Hussain
could do a job in a moment which we could not do in a month.
Dr. Hussain said, I asked Zakir only one question and that
did the miracle. I asked him, “Zakir, are you born to hold a
test tube or a stethoscope”? That did the miracle for
immediately it went to Zakir’s head what was implied in the
test tube. Zakir is happily married to Farheen of Udupi, and
blessed with two daughters, Zainab and Raisa. Zainab is at
present in II year PUC and Zakir is keen to make her a
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Dentist. We pray Almighty to answer his prayers.
I should say our family does not roar in wealth but
lead a simple life as good citizens. Two of them are in the
teaching and one in medical line, both being the noblest of
professions. I have not left them much property. It was
only after my retirement as Vice-Chancellor of Goa University
I was able to purchase a few sites. On the material side what
I did was to build a house in Saraswathipuram, where we are
residing at present, bought a site in Udayagiri, 60‘ x 70‘ from
MUDA where Zakir has built a good house. It is allotted
from MUDA, two houses, one HIG for Masood in
Vijayanagara III Stage, Lay-out, and another MIG in Bogadi
for Asma, besides purchasing two more sites in Rajiv Nagar.
I have built a house for my daughter, Shahida, over one of
these two sites, and gave another site to Zakir, over which
he has built a house which is at present vacant. The house
he has built at Udaigiri is rented out to Tanveer Sait Saheb,
S/o Azeez Sait Saheb. The present house where we reside is
meant for Asma Kulsum. Apart from this two more sites I
bought in Yelwal area, where Noor Mohamed Saheb resides
in a Farm land, one site for Asma and the other for Shahida.
Thus there are altogehter five houses for the family, one each
for Masood, Asma and Shahida and two for Zakir. I gave
only the sites to Zakir, and Zakir built these houses at his
cost. The rest of the three houses were built or bought at
my cost. It is not what you give in brick and mortar that is
important. No body could give anything to anyone, it is God
who should give, and if God wills, He would give that which
would be of lasting value.
In married life one passes through all sorts of
experiences. One such experience we had was house burglery,
not once but four or five times. Saraswathipuram was not a
fully built up area at that time. In fact our house was in the
last line beyond which Neelamma’s garden edging a fence
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where Shaeeb Saheb would hunt for turn-coats. We would
be away in Dasara or Christmas or Summer holidays locking
up the house. That was an invitation to burglers. Once
they robbed everything of the house. A fortnight later a
Van came with police people and a few persons who were
thieves. In the Van they had several things. A constable would
lift something and would ask, “Is this yours?” Blankets,
Vessels, several and several other articles. They took me in
the Van, and went to some other house and repeated the
same process until we ended up in the law courts, where after
a few days we recovered some of the things we had lost. At
another time we were all sleeping in Warden’s Quarters of
New Muslim Hostel. The burglers had broken open the
windows, entered into our bed room where all of us were
sleeping, opened the cup-boards and robbed, many things, and
we were so fast asleep that we never noticed anything. Shahi
had kept her dolls in a big box which looked like a jewellery
box. They had taken it and had opened it in our compound,
and finding no jewels in it had scattered the toys and dolls
helter skelter all over the place. They had taken a bunch of
my office keys and I had a problem in making duplicates.
We lived in Warden’s Quarters nearly for a decade,
as I was the Warden of that Hostel which had the benefit of
a rent-free house. Thinking that I could rent out my house
and get some thing out of it I let out that for a monthly
rent of Rs.100/- to the Post Office, who used it for 3 or 4
years before they shifted to their own building. Then I let
out to two or three other persons, one was Nasir Ali, Session
Judge, who was the co-brother of Muhammed Ali, Former
Minister of Karnataka hailing from Gulbarga. Another tenant
was Jaykumar Anagol, IAS, who was the Controller of
Examinations in the University. Later on, he rose to be a
Principal Secretary to the Government. He had four daughters
in a row and was desirous of having a son. The refrain of
the house was: “saaku saku savithri! Beku, beku, Baanappa!”.
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It so happened that a son was born to the family while they
were residing in my house. They were excited with joy, and
sent a basketful of sweets to us when we were residing at P5,
Gangotri Layout. Another tenant was a Physics Lecturer,
who later moved to America. This family lived for long in
our out-house, when we occupied the main house, for one of
them passed away leaving a widow and a son. As they had
no where to go they stayed in only one big room which we
had constructed as lumber room.
Children’s education was the most important business
of married life. They offered me no problem in
their admission to several courses. Masood got a seat in
Engineering N.I.E, but he shifted to J.C.E. as it was quite
close to our P-5 Quarters of the University in Gangotri. For
two years he was in N.I.E. We had an old Austin, 1940
motor car, which he would take to the college, and would
not be back even late in the evening because of some function
or other. A car in a boys hands who took it to the other
end of the city 10-15 Kms away, and not returning home early
would cause me and my wife a lot of anxiety. Both of us
would be watching the way for the sight of a black-colour
Austin. Later, when he got admission to JCE, our problem
was solved. I would take my daughter, Asma and Shahida to
Maharani’s College. Once Shahida said, “Daddy, my friends
make fun of me that you come in a pre-historic car. Do
some thing and buy a good car..” I sold three acres of our
Henly Coffee land, where my mother had spent her last days
for Rs.8000/- borrowed some more money, as car-loan from
the University and bought a brand new Ambassador car from
a show-room in Bangalore. It was difficult in those days to
buy new cars, for supply was less and demand was more. For
a Fiat Car one had to book, pay advance, and wait for 2 or 3
years. For Ambassador cars waiting was a little less. To
obviate the difficulty I went to the Governor Dharam Vir,
when Karnataka was under President’s rule in 1971 under
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Section 356, met him in the Secretariat, and pleaded for a
permit under Govt. Quota. The Governor frowned upon me
and said, “Why do you waste your money on a luxury like
this, which would be a perpetual source to empty your
pocket?” I still pleaded for the permit, and he wrote out
immediately a permit which enabled me to buy a brand new
car. All this was because Shahi taunted me that I was not
maintaining the standard of a Professor’s position. In life good
or bad things stick into mind. Whether I did a wise thing
or not in selling a property and buying a thing of comfort, I
did please my children. This car served me very well, which
I had bought for Rs.21,500/- and sold it for Rs.25,000/- when
I became Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University.
Another small instance of life is the visit of one of
my Primary School teachers, Janab Fakhruddin Saheb, with
whom I had contacts for several years in Belagodu. Once he
visited us at P-5 Gangotri (Professors Quarters No.5) and
stayed for three or four days.It was quite a big and
comfortable quarters with three big bed rooms, a study, a
veranda, a very spacious drawing hall with other facilities. We
lived in that Quarters for over a decade.Our Primary School
teacher noticed our Frigidaire, Godrej, which we had newly
purchased. He had not seen it at any time before. He asked
me what that white box was. I said it was a Refrigerator,
and we use it for preserving meat and vegetables for we cannot
do shopping every day from this distance to the city. He
asked me to open it, and I did and showed him the vegetables
we had kept there. He said in Urdu “ Baigan ka dabba ”
“Oh! This is bringal box! Then he asked its price. I said it
was Rs.3500/-. He was shocked. He twisted my ears and
said, you are a fool for having spent over Rs.3000/- for a box
of bringals. You should have rather purchased some jewellery
either to your wife or daughters”. Such was the affection,
frankness, boldness, guidance and advice of our teachers.
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We had very good life in Gangotri. That was the
finest part of our married life. Mr.Khuraishi Saheb lived in
R.C.E. (Regional College of Education) Quarters. Prof.Razi
and Dr.Safiullah, Professors of Botany, lived in the same
campus, just behind our house. P-6 was of Geology Professor,
Dr.Viswanathaiah. He had two sons, I had two sons. One
of his son was an Engineer and another was a Doctor. Same
was the case with me. He struggled hard to get UGC
Advanced Centre for Geology, and I did the same for History.
He became the Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University, and
I became the Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University.
The only difference was I was called upon to build two
Universities, and I am still breathing whereas he became a
V.C. of an established University, and at present he is no
more.
There were other great Professors in the Campus such
as Prof.S.Chandrashekhar of Physics, Prof.Rajasekhar Shetty
of Zoology, Prof.V.P.Singh of Education Department, and
others. Prof.V.P. Singh was from Lucknow, our immediate
neighbour at P4. His memory was terrific as he knew Urdu
versus quite a few which he would quote appropriately. His
chaste Urdu of Lucknow style, particularly of Mrs.Singh
would make us very friendly. It was quite a good company,
and we enjoyed that life. Frequently family members from
Gadabanahalli Estate also would visit. Children were
studying hard either in Schools or Colleges. Life seemed to
be a song with endless challenges. R.P. Misra was yet
another neighbour who was the HOD of Geography
Department. He was also from UP and he built in the
University a Department of Human Development, brought
lot of funds from abroad and established an Institute of
Development Studies which is still functioning very well.
Dr.Patnaik was yet another neighbour in the same row of
Professor’s Quarters. He was the Director of the Central
Institute of Indian Languages, which was very popular.
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Manasagangotri was growing into a big complex of several
important educational and training Institutes. Apart from
this Central Institute of Indian Languages, there was the
Regional College of Education and Demonstration School
where my son, Zakir was studying. There was the All India
Central Institute of Speech and Hearing. There was the
Central Institute for Coffee Research, as also the Institute
for Cooperative Studies, apart from the Jayachamarajendra
Engineering College which was spread over a very large
campus.
In the married life as we grow children will also grow
and they come of age after education to get married. My
daughter Asma got married in 1976 to Mr.Tassaduq in
Bangalore, another daughter Shahida got married to
Najeeb-Ibn-e-Arif who was at that time in Navy as Lientenant
; my eldest son, Masood, got married to Shahin from Madras,
and the youngest in the family Zakir Hussain got married to
Farheen in Udupi. It took nearly a decade from Asma’s
wedding in 1976 to Zakir’s in 1987. God blessed me with a
grandson, Faisal Hasan to Asma in 1979, Shama and Saba to
Shahida, and Zainab and Raisa to Zakir Hussain. It was God’s
will that Masood did not have any issue. It is my earnest
and most sincere prayers of mine to bless my children and
grand children with good life, health, happiness, peace and
prosperity. Let them grtow to be useful citizens of this land,
and let them regard their wealth and talent as a trust from
God to serve people; let them be good and great, and let
them remember the law of nature to realise that everything
in the world is in the process of development, contributing
as much as they can to society. Let them know that they
possess a conscience which should be kindled with the torch
of learning, and when that is done, they would realise the
responsibility they owe to the society.
8
Experiences in England
As indicated earlier, it was my life passion to study abroad.
A dip in Tigris – London river – was a treasure key for
Indians. Professors of Maharaja’s College were like
angels in my eyes, and I desired to be one among them.
Others might have taken one Doctorate Degree to become a
Professor, I desired to take two such degrees. Others might
have qualified either from India or from abroad, I desired to
be qualified from both. That was the reason why from the
day I became a Lecturer I was struggling hard, and had
broached the topic even with the parents-in-laws. When that
did not happen, I exerted utmost to get at least an Indian
Ph.D. which I did from Aligarh. But that did not quench my
thirst. I went on trying ceaselessly and at last it clicked
when I got the British Council Scholarship in 1958. By that
time I was not only a married man but also the father of
four children with a good deal of responsibilities to bring them
up and to educate them, and yet the craze within for
advanced studies would not be suppressed. How I got the
British Council Scholarship, what was the response of my
wife to that news; how I had earlier sold my house and
property to go abroad; how I had booked a ticket by ship to
London through Thomas Cook; how I had to cancel that
because of the advice of my wife, and how I had used that
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money for building a house, have all been narrated in several
chapters above. Here I would just recount my experiences
what I did abroad.
It was the summer of 1958 when I had gone to Delhi
for the British Council Scholarship which brought the good
news that I was successful in the effort. It excited more my
wife than it did to me, for she exacted from me a promise
that I should take her too to England. She also loved travel.
She had already been to Aligarh for her college studies. I
had made it a point every year to take her to Indian History
Congress Sessions, and she had visited quite a few cities in
India. We heard from the British Council that they had
booked a berth for me in P & O. Liners, Straitheden, which
would be coming from Australia to Bombay on 2nd September
1958. It would take 21 days from Bombay to London Docks.
Travel those days was not by Air-ways, it was only by seaways. I arranged everything for departure including once again
study leave, and also the leave at my credit. Fortunately at
that time Janab Mahmood Shariff Saheb was a Member of
the Executive Council of the University. He was able to help
me to sanction one-year leave with full pay. That was a
windfall for me, for all that amount was deposited in a bank
to pay for my wife’s travel. The house was there in Mysore
when all my children including my sisters-in-law, brothers-inlaw (Mymoona, Azra, Khalid and Shaeeb) lived in that house
for education. Shahida and Zakir were still too small for
school. Only Masood and Asma were there with their aunties.
My wife stayed mostly in the Estate as Zakir was hardly 2 or
3 years old.
The whole Gadabanahalli family was thrilled with joy
that I was going to England, which was considered as a Kashi
or Ka’aba of good fortune. The whole family including my
father-in-law, mother-in-law, Wajid Saheb, Muneera, her
husband Gulame Ahmed, Khalid, Shaeeb, Nazeera, my wife
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and all my children, planned to see me off in Bombay. It
was a very pleasant trip, except that Muneera lost her moneypurse in Poona, which was known for pick-pocket.
We stayed for two days in Bombay. Family members
were all busy in sight seeing of different places. We took a
family photo also. Mr.Gulam Ahmed bought for me a very
big iron trunk which is still with me, and which caused a lot
of trouble in London while shifting from one residence to
another, and yet it was helpful in keeping safe all my things.
At last the day of boarding the ship came and all of them
wished me happy journey and safe return. It was my first
experience of a sea voyage. It was all done at the British
Council cost, as if I am a V.I.P. It was a comfortable,
enjoyable and very pleasant voyage. I was allotted a double
seated nice cabin. The P & O Liner, Stratheden, was a very
large passenger ship, accommodating over 2000 passengers
with a crew which exceeded a thousand. It was coming from
Sydney, Australia, and was passing through Bombay, Aden,
Alexandria, Cyprus, and Gibralter to London Tillbury Docks.
It would take 21 days to cover the journey and it would stop
on the ports of Call just mentioned above. It was a luxury
boat, not the best like Queen Elizabeth or Queen Victoria,
but quite comfortable, with all facilities of ball room, library,
shopping centres, swimming pool, smoking rooms,
well-furnished Dining Hall, and at the top a very spacious
promenade where we could walk and breath the fresh ozone,
enjoying God’s wonders of blue sky, the round oceans, the
fresh air, the rising and setting sun, the twinkling stars in
the night, the shining moon. I used to go round and round
from one end of the boat to the other. It was a care-free
holiday of 21 days, no need to worry where the next meal
would come from, no botheration of either preparing for the
class or purchasing provision for the house, or rushing to the
clinics for medicine to the children. The table talk with copassengers from different parts of the world in the Dining
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Hall was exhilerating on almost all topics under the sky. The
ports of Call were more exciting. Hawkers would rush into
the boat to sell their merchandise. If it was Aden the fresh
dates and dry fruits and other commodities were plenty. When
we reached Aden, which was then under British control, we
touched the land which gave birth to the great religion of
Islam. I remember what Allama Iqbal had said while passing
through the same straits to his higher studies in Europe. He
wrote :
It means, “Oh! Arab land, you were just a bundle of
rocks, which the architects of world culture had rejected as
useless, but we do not know what miracle an orphan child
did that you became the base of all great world civilisations.”
The journey from Bombay to Aden took three days.
Night and day, from morning to evening we could see
nothing but sea, water, water every where, with ripples as
the boat moved forward, nothing else to be seen except dark
greyish colour of water. Red sea was very rough. We took
almost a day from Aden to Alexandria. It was very hot. Our
cabin was not air-conditioned in those days, only fans would
work, and yet the hot breeze and the sultry weather would
disturb the sleep. We reached Alexandria where the ship
would halt for a day so that passenger could visit Cairo and
the Pyramids. Tour Agencies would make all necessary
arrangements. The rate was very reasonable. I had carried
some cash. The British Council itself had given some
advance for sundry expenses on the voyage. I too joined the
tour. It was very interesting and instructive. I landed for
the first time on the soil of an Islamic country which had
been conquered by Umar-bin-al-A’as during the Caliphate of
Hazrat Umar. Egypt is perhaps the only country which is
having the longest history, for with the discovery of Rosetta
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175
stone, its past goes back to the heirographic age, much earlier
than the days of Pharoh and Prophet Moses. We were taken
in big American luxury Taxis. It was the same Thomas Cook
which was arranging the tour. They had fixed places to show
such as the world famous Museum where the mummies of
Pharaiah’s period are kept, Mohammad Ali Mosque, and Giza
where pyramids are built. The mosque impressed me most,
particularly its pulpil, which was very high. The art,
decorations, arches, minarets and design are all so exquisite
that it could be regarded as one of the finest pieces of man’s
creativity. The pyramids too are wonders of the world. Each
stone is a block almost 5 tons in weight. We can’t imagine
how in those days, thousands of years before Jesus Christ,
they could carve those stones, bring it from the quarry, fix it
with such precision as not to vary even a centimeter from
top to bottom. We should appreciate the love, labour,
patience, perseverance and imagination of those who built
those pyramaids, as tall as nearly 300 feet. We boast of our
present day science and technology, but we wonder how in
those days without the modern tools they reached such
heights of excellence. We had lunch at a Hotel, which was
once a palace of King Farooq. I went to a variety shop to
buy some souvenir. The shop-keeper greeted me, “NehruNassir, Habeebi, Rafeeqi, welcome, welcome” meaning you are
welcome from the land of Nehru who is an intimate friend of
Jamal Nassir. It was in 1956, just two years earlier than my
visit to Egypt when the Suez Canal Affair had exploded,
England had invaded that country, and Israel had joined
Britain in the invasion. It was a very big confrontation which
could have led to a mighty conflagration but for the
intervention of the sensible President of America, Gen.
Eisenhower, who made British Prime Minister, Antony Eden,
to stop the war. It was a big victory to Jamal Nassir, who
nationalised the Canal, and liberated himself from the clutches
of Great Britain. It was at that time India played a major
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role as the leader of the third World, and Pundit Nehru had
supported the cause of Nassir to decolonise the countries
still under the control of Europe.It was this reference that
shop-keeper was indicating that our two countries, India and
Egypt, were so friendly. In fact Egypt did play a major role
in the policy of non-alignment. The shop-keeper first greeted
me as an Indian and then asked my name to know my
identity. When I disclosed my name he hugged me and felt
so happy that he did not accept even the price of a few
souvenirs I brought from the shop. This shows religion even
in this century has a force which cuts across frontiers and
barriers, races and colours, links all into a solidarity of
brotherhood. Greater still should be the bond of humanity,
but man has erected so many narrow walls that it is difficult
to skip from one barrier to another.
The next port of Call was Limassol in Cyprus, which
was the first Islamic conquest during the time of Muwiyah,
which was a part of the Roman Empire at that time. Even
now half of its population is Muslim, and it had been under
Turkish rule for a long time. It has become now a bone of
contention between the Greeks and the Turks. These ports
of call were essential for the fresh water and other essential
things had to be picked up for those who were on board the
ship, as many as 4,000/- both passengers and crew, almost a
small township on the move over the seas. We entered into
the Mediterranean, the African vast coast on one side and
several and several ports of Europe on the other. There were
only two more ports of call before we reached Tillbury Docks
in London, one Marsailles, belonging to France, and the other,
Gibralter, at that time under British control. At Marsailles
we got down, the French Travel Agency had arranged a tour
of the town. We listened to the French Guide, whose English
with French accent seemed very strange to me. France was a
rival of Britain for a long time, and was supposed to be an
Imperial power, next only to Britain, controlling several
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colonies, mostly in Africa. France too is a highly developed
country, and at one time during Louis XIV and in the
Napoleonic era, the super power of the world. France is
known for its refinement, for its culture, for its art, literature
and for its sophistication in every field. The way the Guide
was explaining the importance of historical places we visited
in the town gave us the first glimpse of European advance in
material culture. This country, France, had much to do with
Mysore, for both Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan had very
intimate relations with that country. Tipu’s embassy under
Gulam Ali Khan had received red-carpet reception at the
hands of the French King, Louis XVI on the eve of the French
Revolution in the year 1787.
We did not stop for long in Gilbralter, but I saw the
rocks and the rugged landscape where the Islamic Armada
under Taraq-bin-Zayyad in 711 A.D. had touched the shore
to conquer Spain where the Muslims ruled for over 700 years.
It was that dashing decision of Taraq to burn all the
boats soon after the army landed on the coast which led to
momentous events of later days, for Taraq made it clear to
his troops that there was no alternative to do or die, for
“The boats are burnt and hence no question of retreat, even
if we are defeated. If you win, you are Ghazi (victors) if you
lose, you are martyrs (Shaheed) in either cases you will be in
the bliss, in the first case as victors in this world, and in the
second case as martyrs in the heaven in the next world”. All
that Islamic History which I had taught to the students was
recapitulated in my mind at the site of Gibralter, which was
named after this great conqueror, Jabl-ul-Taraq or the Hill
of Taraq, Anglisised as Gibralter.
We entered into Bay of Biscay which was the terminal
part of the Atlantic shore. From the calm, cool and pleasant
voyage through Mediterranean to the rough sea of Bay of
Biscay was as if a change from spring to a hot summer, but
we were quite near the British Channel dividing England and
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France, where the salubrious weather greeted us, heralding
the English proverbial weather of wet, very wet, and wettest.
At last we touched Tillbury Docks. All arrangements had been
made by the British Council to receive us. We got an idea of
the European efficiency, promptness, courtesy and punctuality.
All formalities of disembarking were over soon, and we were
taken to our lodgings in London. We were about eight
scholars from India, one of them was Subramaniyam from
Hyderabad, who did his M.A. from London in English
language, and subsequently served in the Institute of English
Language in Hyderabad. He was also my cabin-mate in the
ship.
The British Council arranged for eight days an
orientation course, how to live in Britain. It was certainly
an interesting programme including both lectures and tours.
Lectures were on several aspects of British social, economic
and cultural life. Politics was a taboo. We were told not to
discuss politics of any sort, neither colonial policy of the
British rule in India, nor the Hindu-Muslim politics of our
land, and not even the political parties of Great Britain.
We should not discuss Churchill or Atlee, liberals or
conservatives. On all other aspects we were free to discuss
and put questions. Experts were invited to give us an idea
of the educational system, the health system, the British way
of living, thinking, their taste of sports, media, films, music,
drama, art, industry, business, morals, manners, likes and
dislikes. A complete sociological picture was presented of
this small country which was not bigger than Karnataka, but
had played such a vital role in the politics of the world that
its sway prevailed over a good part of the globe. There was
a time in the 19th century, particularly during the Victorian
era when the British supremacy prevailed over the five
continents, whether Asia or Africa, or America or Australia
or Europe. That was the country in the van-guard of
invention and discoveries, in explorations and voyages, in arts
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179
and sciences, in conquests and consolidation, in
literature and philosophy. That was the country which was
called the mother of parliament. That was the country where
a King (Charles I) was executed, for he did not respect the
rule of law. That was the country which was integrated and
united in the strong cement of nationalism and patriotism.
That was the country which gave birth to Church of England
which defied Catholicism, strengthened Protestantism and
divorced the Church from the State. That was the country
which built up the tradition of unwritten Constitution where
the will of the people prevails. The English people are
sober, silent, calm, serene, but very deep, reflective,
accommodative, gracious, kind and compassionate. Glory to
that land that built up the educational system of Oxford and
Cambridge, which are the towers of higher learning,
knowledge, skill and wisdom. I should say the key to their
success was their passion for learning, acquisition of
knowledge, power to probe, dive deep, observe, absorb,
understand and enact. That is the country that has given
humanity Shakespear, Milton, Byron, Keats, Shelly,
Wordsworth, Huxley, Bernard Shaw and Elliot. That is the
country that has given Newton, Watt, Stephenson, Darwin,
Priestley and others. That is the country that has given
Hobbes, Lock, Mill and Christopher Wren. Take any walk of
life, the English man in modern times appears to be at the
helm of affairs. At present others have stolen a march over
them, but there was a time nearly of two centuries when
Britain was at the top of the world. Into that tiny land of
great people I had landed for higher studies. Justice requires
that we must pay the devil his due. Every thing is good in
England except their craze to rule over others. They are
certainly superior, and they are conscious of their superiority
which they use to overpower others and dominate over others.
If you ignore this weakness of the British, they are a gem of
a people.
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My Life
Through the orientation programme we got within a
short time many essential aspects of British life. It dispelled
many of our notions that their life was one of extravaganza.
For example, we were told that if we were to be served a cup
of tea by a host, “please stir your tea well, so that the sugar
should not go waste.” I was shocked at this statement, for a
nation that ruled over the world paid attention even to such
a little detail as not to waste the sugar in the tea. It means
a lot to a poor country. Waste not want not; save the pennies,
pounds would take care of themselves. We were also told
that if you visited a house, don’t drag on too long there, for
if it were to be lunch or dinner time, the host would be
embarrassed, and would count how many eggs were there in
the fridge. We were asked to see as much of Britain and
know as much of its culture as possible. We were told about
the British courtesies that an average Briton repeats at least
a thousand times the words “thank you”, “sorry” and “please”
in a day.
After a week we had to shift to our lodgings. The
British Council fixed a lodging for us. They had a directory
which contained all accommodations available in the City of
London suitable to the needs and purse of different people. I
got a place in Clapham Common, a suburb of the Victorian
age with rows of houses, two storeyed, similar in design. The
roof was of tiles. The owner was one Mr.King. He and his
wife were the only two persons in the house. The extra rooms
in the house had been let out. I got one of them for £ 1.5/for a week. The total scholarship was £ 45/- per month. We
were asked to open an Account in a Bank. I chose Barclays
which was not far from my place. Three months scholarship
was credited to the Account. Cheque books are not free in
that country. Each leaf meant one penny, hence we were
careful in issue of cheques. Payment was not for a month as
rent, but every week we had to pay. From the Orientation
Course in Commonwealth Square, Central London, to
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Clapham Common in the South I shifted. It should be said
to the credit of British courtesy that the Director of the
Council himself accompanied me in the taxi to drop me at
the lodging. He was once a Brigardier-General in the army, a
tall, hefty and well-built man. I had very heavy luggage.
Mr.Gulame Ahmed had bought me a huge iron trunk which I
could not lift. The Director himself lifted it on his back and
climbed up the two storeys to place them in a room. I was
dumb founded. He was the Executive Head of the British
Council and he had such dignity of labour as to do a cooly
job to a foreigner who had come at his cost. In our country
such a thing is unthinkable. My day in a new lodging began
with an unforgettable lesson that one should not hesitate to
do any job however menial it could be.
Mr.King fixed every thing for me. In this lodging I
learned a few other things. Whenever Mr.King visited my
room he would use his left-hand palm as ash-tray. He was
used to smoking and I did not have an ash-tray. He would
not drop the ashes on the ground, for that would dirty the
floor, hence he would rather bear hot ash on his palm than
dirty the floor. Small little things add greatness to a man’s
character. A nation which pays attention to such small details
was bound to rise high. It is the totality of such small
collective efforts to keep the country clean that makes it
beautiful. I could recall the British sense of duty to their
job even among the lower sections of the society. A maid
servant was mopping the floor. I asked her something, she
answered. I wanted to know something more, she answered.
On my third question, she burst out and said, “Gentleman!
My master pays me wages to mop the floor, and not for
answering your questions, please go away”. Again, I learned
a lesson, duty at all times in all circumstances is the highest
form of culture. This maid servant is having such a high
sense of duty that she would not waste a minute in silly talk.
The wages there were paid as per hour, and hence a minute
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lost was an unearned income.
There was plenty to eat. I would cook my own food
which was not difficult. Breakfast was easy, toast, egg,
corn-flakes, milk, tea or coffee. Lunch we would take either
in the College or in the Library. It was all cheap. In two
Shillings you would have good lunch, vegetables, curry, rice,
bread or some dessert. For dinner, I would buy a loaf of
bread, and prepare some meat curry. If on Sunday the curry
was prepared, it would serve three or four days.
In the first few days adjusting oneself to the new
environment, and mostly its climate was a problem. Any time
was a drizzling time. Rarely did the Sunshine present itself
to the people. When it did, they would cry in excitement,
what a great day! The talk of the English is mostly on
weather. They are a wise people who have chosen a noncontroversial subject to talk to. Moreover, it affects all. It
is the concern of everybody either to enjoy good weather or
suffer bad weather. Coming from Karnataka where all seasons
are air-conditioned seasons, neither hot nor cold, English
weather for a few days was terrible to me. But in course of
time I got used to it. The first thing I did was to buy a
weather-proof long coat and a cap to cover the head. With
that I could walk about any where at any time. Another
thing I noticed was the briskness of the people. Even old
ladies would walk faster than I did. That was the only way
to keep their blood warm. That would not only make them
active but also keep them healthy. The smartness, and
quickness of the English impressed me most. A few other
traits were also noteworthy. They were a quiet lot, not fussy,
not talkative, not extravard, but calm, quiet, silent, deep and
wise. We would be moving in a train, but so silent are the
people that you would hear even if a pin dropped. They are
the people who listen more and talk less. They would not
utter a word until the other man finished his talk, unlike we
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Indians who are experts in simultaneous talk. They are a
courteous lot as well. If you ask some one on the way the
address of a place where you want to go, they would explain
in such a way that you would not miss the way. Sometimes
he might even accompany you until you reach the place.
Having settled down in the lodging my next job was
to attend to academic work for which I had gone to U.K. It
was good thing that the British Council had arranged all
preliminary things, as I had indicated them my area of
research and they had even finalised my admission into the
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) the famous
Centre of London University for oriental studies. It was
located in the Centre of London, quite close to British
Museum, not far from India Office Library, later named as
Commonwealth Library with several other Colleges. It was a
renowned Centre of higher research for humanities, so
specialised that there were nearly 150 experts in various fields,
but the strength of the students exceeded hardly one hundred.
The Head of the Department of Indian Studies was Prof.
A.L. Basham, the great Professor who had authored “India,
the Wonder”. He was a specialist in Indian History of
Ancient Period. I have yet to see a person so gentle, so
kind, so affectionate. It was a joy to listen to him. For the
first time the sweet honey in its pristine purity of the English
language, I heard from his lips. We learned the real meaning
of a noble soul, an enlightened person and a great teacher.
He conquered me in one look at me. But he could not be
my guide, for my field was Modern Indian History. Earlier I
had done work in India on the History of Karnataka, Tipu’s
period for my first Ph.D. from Aligarh University, and I
desired some subject close to that area would suit me well.
For a week or so, I was shunted from Department to
Department to identify the exact area of my research. As I
knew a bit of medieval India as well, I was sent to Prof.
Peter Hardy, expert in medieval India to explore if I was
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My Life
interested in medieval historiography. Dr. Hardy had written
on the Historians of the Sultanate period. I met him but
did not like the idea of working with him, as my knowledge
of Persian sources was not very deep. Finally, I was sent to
Kenneth Arthur Ballhatchet, who had done work on 19th
century British India, particularly on Elphinstone. I met him.
He too was a very soft spoken, gentle person. He asked me
several questions on my work in India and when I mentioned
that I had worked in Aligarh, Delhi, Poona, Hyderabad,
Madras and Pondicherry on a subject that had much to do
with the British rise in India, he finalised the topic that I
should do work on “British Relations with Haidar Ali”. It is
an allied subject; I was aware of the sources ; it would
complete a phase of Muslim rule in Karnataka. It would
throw light on British role also in Indian politics. Finally, I
agreed to do research on this topic.
The other members of the staff at SOAS were Major
Harrison, who was an expert on Mughal India, Mr. Yepp on
Modern India, Prof. Bailey on Turkish and Prof.C.H. Philips
who was the Director of SOAS and specialist in Modern
India. Since India had figured largely in the British Empire,
Indian History Department was the most dominant
Department at SOAS. Such a renowned scholar as Prof.
Rapson who had edited the First volume of Cambridge
Indian History hailed from this school. Dr.R.S. Sharma, the
great scholar of Ancient India, Dr.S. Gopal, son of
Dr. Radhakrishnan, Dr. Barun De, a great scholar, were all
contemporaries of mine at this time working at SOAS. I
started my work in right earnest. It was a tradition of that
School to hold weekly seminars in which every prospective
researcher was expected to speak on his subject. The expert
would listen to him for over one full hour, and then would
comment upon him, and would suggest any improvement if
needed. I was also given a date to hold the Seminar and I
presented my paper which was quite satisfactory.
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The guide would take a lot of interest in our work.
He would ask us to do a particular thing and show that to
him on an appointed day. Normally, the appointments were
fortnightly when we were supposed to collect the data and
analyse it and present it to him, on which he would make his
observations. Whenever I did something and showed it to
him he would simply write on the margin, “more analysis”.
Once I asked him that I did not fully comprehend his remark
of “more analysis”. What he explained opened my eyes. I
had done research earlier and had even gained a Ph.D. but
the full significance of “analysis” had not dawned on me. He
said that research is a creative work where you reconstruct
an unknown thing. It is not merely narration of an event
but to discuss causes, conditions and processes of events in
its entirety. It could be known only through an example as
to what is meant by “analysis”. Supposing a theft has taken
place. We have to find out who the thief was, how, when
and from where did he enter, how did he rob, what tools he
used for the theft and so on. A detective would reflect on
each and every aspect of the theft, and he would go on putting
on theories after theories, and he would find the real answer
to the problem. Research in history is similar to that issue
where the past is unknown and we have to reflect more and
more on it. This would require putting more and more
questions and answering those questions correctly. The value
of the research or the quality of research would depend upon
the quality of questions you would raise and the answers you
would find. My guide said that what I had done was the
description or narration of events. It is not an analysis, for
you have not dived deep into causes, conditions and processes.
That opened my eyes, and I learned what formed the spirit
and soul of research.
The British research guides were very punctilious, very
thorough in guiding the scholars. Only one example is enough
to show what interest they took in every detail. English is
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not our mother-tongue, and we cannot speak or write Queen’s
English, still Indians are good in this language and have
produced great orators, scholars, writers, novelists, yet by and
large thorough control over a foreign language is not the cup
of tea of every Indian. Here and there I would commit small
mistakes. For example, in my research the name of Warren
Hastings figured frequently. Once the guide told me that
since Hastings name ended with the letter ‘S’ I should put
the apostrophe of possessive case at the end of ‘S’ and not
before ‘S’. In my fast writing I was not careful to follow this
instruction and the apostrophe was placed once or twice
before the letter ‘S’. The Guide became furious and wrote
in the margin “How many times should I tell you to put
apostrophe correctly”? I shivered in my shoe. Here is a
country where putting a comma in a wrong way was a grave
offence, and how would they take it, if I were to commit
serious errors ?. To a reflective mind little hints of this nature
would go a long way in rectifying oneself.
It is not hitting a jack-pot in research that is
important, but the self-improvement. The climax in England
is perhaps to be a gentleman, a refined person who would
radiate at least a few good qualities of head and heart.
Education is all a business of character-building programme,
which I should say, I learned a bit more in England than any
where else, more so in the cluster of scholars of SOAS. My
Guide suggested that I should go to France and work in the
Paris Record Offices to collect more material on Haidar Ali,
who had very intimate relations with France. He wrote to
British Council to provide me the necessary funds for a month
or two for stay in France. They did, and I went to Paris and
worked in such records offices as Bibliotheque Nationale, their
Foreign Office Records, their War Officle Records and in
other libraries. Having come back after collecting a good
deal of material, I reported to the Guide what I had done in
France. He said, “Bring me all the material you have
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collected, and I will have a look”. I did. He took all that
material home, and returned it a week later. He had gone
through every page of that material and corrected something
here and there if I had erred. Such is the diligence, care and
interest of those English Professors not only to help the
scholars, but also to find out whether the Indian Scholar had
a paid-holiday in Paris at British Council cost. Since the
British Government had spent money on me for Paris visit,
my professor was
careful enough to check whether
that money was usefully spent or not.
We had to be very regular and punctual in our work.
The British are renowned for their punctuality. It is said
that the greatest contribution of the West is a watch, not
the mechanical watch that ticks, but the sense of regularity
and the punctuality. They built up the consciousness of time
through “Time-Bank”. That means, suppose if a person were
to tell you that he would give you a sum of Rs. 1,84,000
today on one condition that it should all be spent to-day
itself, for tomorrow it would be counterfeit, what would you
do ? You would spend all that money most usefully, and
would invest in such a manner as to bring good dividends
tomorrow. The same thing is true where a day consists of 24
hours, each hour is of 60 minutes, and each minute is of 60
seconds. If you multiply 24 x 60 x 60 you will get 1,84,000
seconds, of to-day which will be lost tomorrow. This only
indicates how precious is time. My guide had given me a
time to see him. I was two minutes late, as my watch was
slow. I pleaded excuse, but the Guide said, “Throw your watch
into a gutter, and buy a good one here”. He would not hesitate
to be harsh if it was a matter of principle. The whole nation
follows the principle of punctuality. It is said of Winston
Churchill that he took a Cabinet-Minister to task for being
a bit late. He pleaded he was late because of London-traffic.
Even for that Churchill had an answer, and said, “Having
known London traffic, why did you not start early enough ?”
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I should state one or two more instances of my Guide,
what sort of a person he was. When I wrote out my thesis,
he was to go through from end to end. He was to go to
Europe on holiday with his family. They move with tents, so
that they could camp in some country side and enjoy. After
two or three weeks he came back and returned the chapters
having scrutinised them all. The point to note here is that
he was on a holiday trip and yet he would not forget the
business of his student. Even in holidays he does the official
work. While giving back the chapters he asked me to get all
the chapters typed except the first chapter. I said, how would
the paging be done if the first chapter was not typed. He
said, don’t bother about it, go to the market, buy a numbering
machine, and number them after the first chapter was typed.
I did accordingly. When the whole work was over, and when
I went to his residence to thank him before I left the country,
he asked me how much I had paid for that paging machine I
said, perhaps it was 2 or 3 pounds. He said, please give me
back that machine, I will pay the cost, for because of my
suggestion you bought that and incurred an expenditure. I
was amazed at his thoughtfulness.I said it would be a
Souvenir for me, and I would consider that as a precious gift
of my teacher. He hosted me a high tea on that day. He
had a chubby, hefty son. I tried to lift him. He said, the
baby is too heavy, (he was two or two and a half-years old)
you may ache your arm. Such is the English character. They
pay attention to the minutest details. They use their mind,
body and soul to draw maximum advantage from every gift
of God. It is not the information, facts, details, events,
occurrences or happenings of the past that is history, which
is my subject, but man and his behaviour how he has used
his faculties and potentialities over the centuries in order to
build those institutions of social change which would confer
on man civilised and refined way of life.
Research in western countries is a comprehensive
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whole of what, how, and why of events, and not merely what
happened in the past, which would mean just narration or
description of events. One has to probe deep to find the
causality of events to explain the phenomena, which would
require intensive reflection. Research in history is mostly a
mental process of bringing to light the unseen, unknown past.
Records are the evidence, but records too are subjective. If
you like a man you praise him; if you don’t like him, you
would pour blemish on him. Napoleon is hero in Paris and a
villain in London. Since history is a science, no less and no
more, the historian should rise above all prejudices to be very
objective and scientific. Ranke, a German, who is called the
father of scientific history wrote about the French in such a
manner that no French man could find fault with it.
Any way, I got adjusted to London life and academic
work. It became my regular routine to spend every minute
of my conscious day in London to work fast enough to
complete the job on time. There were many places where
the material on Haidar was available, in India Office Library,
in the British Museum records section and manuscript
section, in Cambridge and Oxford, in the custody of individuals
whose ancestors had served in India. The greatness of the
West was it had preserved every tiny piece of the past as a
treasure, as the British loved the antique. Collecting the data
spread over different places was my first job which was to be
scrutinised, analysed and synthesised later. This job took long
time and I went on doing it diligently.
On week ends I would go outing mostly to Hyde Park.
It is a wonderful place, very, very spacious situated in the
heart of London on a sprawling area of quite a few acres.
Its greenery is enchanting, particularly its lawn, and tall trees
and well laid-out path ways. People throng to that place
walking, playing and in some corners making love. It should
be said that the standard of moral ethics in respect of sex is
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quite different in the West from what it is in the East. We
think open display of making love in public is shameful, but
that is fashion there. Hyde Park is a heaven, for such
display. My eyes would not believe to what extent young men
and women would go in making love in public. Sex is a
weakness in the West, and that they have accepted
permissive society is a part of their life.
If this is the negative aspect of Hyde Park, the positive
aspect is the public meetings in different corners of that Park
on varied subjects. There was a poets’ corner, which was very
exhilerating. Poets and creative writers would gather there.
People would cluster round, and they would present there
creativity. They would get applause. There was also a
soap-box jovial corner, where funny jokes and other arts of
entertainment would attract the attention of the people. In
such meetings the retort of the public, the prompting and
the witty observations were of great interest. Some one said
my father was an electrician, and there came a remark from
the crowd, “you were the result of the first shock.” Soap-box
speakers are very popular.
London is an old city of many historical places. In
the London Tower they have preserved the royal jewellery,
which is displayed open for the public. They have kept the
British Crowns, one of which contains the world famous Kohe-Noor diamond taken from India. This diamond is supposed
to be the biggest diamond in the whole world. It was
originally quarried in Golconda in the Deccan. It changed
many hands and was ingrained in the Crown of many rulers,
kings and emperors. It was there in the crown of Shah Jahan.
The Mughals retained it until the days of Mohamed Shah
Rangela when Nadir Shah took it away in 1739. How he did
is also interesting. Mohamed Shah knew very well that Nadir
Shah, the Persian ruler, would demand it. To prevent it he
thought of a device to hide it in his own turban and say it is
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not any where. A search in the treasury and everywhere was
done, but to no use. Finally, Nadir Shah came to know where
it was. But in the royal decorum, it was highly disgraceful to
snatch the head-ware of a reigning monarch. He arranged a
banquet, and at the end he said, “It is the Persian custom at
the end of banquet to exchange the crowns of the ruling
monarchs.” He removed his own head-ware and placed it on
the head of Mohamed Shah and took Mohamed Shah’s
head-ware, and kept it on his own head. This trick gained
him the greatest jewel on earth. But the curse is that
whoever wears that jewel, downfall was the sure result. The
Qutub Shahi rulers wore it, they fell; the Mughals had it,
they fell; the Iranians had it, they fell. The British took it
and thedownfall of their empire was also brought about in
the Second World War. The British, despite their rationality,
believed in this superstition of curse, and hence removed it
from the crown of the ruling monarch and placed it in the
crown of the previous monarch. It is not in the Crown of
Elizabeth II, the present monarch, but in the crown of her
mother. Lots and lots of other jewels are kept here, whose
value cannot be imagined. Earlier in history the Turks had
looted precious stones and jewels from the four corners of
the world, and now the British have done the same job of
looting.
There are quite a few other places of historical
interest in London. Madam Tussad’s Wax museum is one
such where a French lady developed this art to such perfection
as to make it a world wonder. All sorts of great historical
figures, rulers, emperors, poets, inventors, philosophers,
leaders, scientists, every one worthy to remember either for
good or bad is present there in wax. When you see those
figures, you would think you are meeting a living personality,
such exact, so precise and so meticulous is the art. Even
Gandhiji, Nehru, Jinnah are there. Poets, rulers, statesmen,
leaders, film stars, sportsmen, painters, musicians and even
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in the chamber of horrors, figures of Hitler, Mussolini and
other world famous villains are there to greet you.
The Royal Art Gallery is a rich treasure house of
painting which is a must for tourists. London is famous for
theatres as well. My Fair Lady of Bernard Shaw is so famous
that tickets for its show are sold quite a few months in
advance. Unless you book a ticket at least a year in advance,
you can not enter that theatre. The only possibility is to
buy a standing seat, which I did for myself and for my wife.
We enjoyed that show which is still green in my memory.
That play is there in a movie also.
Sometime I would go to Woking Muslim mosque in
Surrey, a beautiful place about 20 miles from London. It
was perhaps the first mosque built in U.K. by the Muslims.
Although it was built by the Qadianis, it was open for all.
The Ramzan and Bakrid festivals were held in great grandeur
there. They would make arrangements for Eid Dinner for all
the people, the entire community, men, women and children.
It was a gala nice occasion to greet one another and show
Islamic solidarity. I used to meet the Imam and discuss
issues relating to Islam. He said that if true Islam exists
anywhere in the world, it was here in England, for Islam
stands for the ethical concepts of love, brotherhood, unity,
equality, solidarity, justice, knowledge and creativity, and all
these values are present here. Please tell me whether Iran,
or Iraq, or Egypt or Syria or Saudi Arabia excel England in
these concepts which Islam possessed once, and now others
are following and we are neglecting them. Open the pages of
encyclopaedia of recent days and search for Muslim names
there as inventors, discoverers, philosophers, thinkers, poets,
scientists and technologists, you will rarely find any name
following the faith of Islam, and all of them are from the
West, and most of them are from this small island called
Britain. How true was the Imam! Is it not time for us to
open our eyes instead of simply singing the songs of the past
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that we were this, this, and this. It may be true, but what
are you at present. Some one has rightly said :
” you were surely once Sultan, but what are you now. It
is said “
” In Delhi they are ‘begging and
they don’t get even alms’. These are the people who were
once intoxicated with thrones and crowns. Sometimes I would
go for Eid to East of London, where Muslims particularly
from Bengal had rented a building for Namaz, and where they
celebrated the Eids.
In London, a Pakistani from Lahore, Mr. Faiz Ahmed
became a good friend of mine. He was also doing research
in the same school, SOAS. He had come earlier than I did,
and was still working when I left. His guide was Dr.A.L.
Basham, the celebrated Professor of Ancient India, who
subsequently went to Canaberra, Australia, where he
organised an International Oriental Conference. He had
invited me which was my first visit to Australia in 1973, when
he had made me the President of one of the Sections of that
Conference, which was indeed a great honour. This Faiz
Saheb became a very intimate friend of mine, and we used to
meet, mingle, chat and talk on several things. His memory
particularly of Urdu poetry was terrific. He remembered a
good lot. Urdu literature in a foreign country where hardly
any one whom you met would speak that tongue was a boon
to me and I used to enjoy it. He was very affectionate,
kind, courteous and gracious towards me. He too worked
collecting material in the same India Office Library as I did.
In fact his desk was only next to my desk, and we wish to go
to lunch together, and talk there to our hearts content. He
had one weakness. Soon after lunch he would come to his
table and go to sleep. He would fold his hand, make it a
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pillow, put his head on it and sleep. But he would not sleep
quietly, he would snore. He would do it so soon, as if he
had smelled chloroform. His instructions to me were kindly
to shake him up whenever he snored, or else he would become
a laughing stock in the entire lobby of researchers. Apart
from this weakness, he was very kind and affable. Our common
talk would be mostly on India-Pakistan politics.
India was making steady progress, and Pakistan after
the assassination of Liyaqat Ali Khan was fast slipping into
the hands of self-seekers who were mortgaging their country
for a few favours to America. Whereas Pundit Jawaharlal
Nehru was emerging as a World leader at the head of the
Third Block, Pakistan was sliding into Western Block of
NATO as a subsidiary of United States. At that time the
Dictator and the Military Leader Ayub Khan visited England.
There was a meeting open to all Pakistanis. Fayyaz Saheb
took me also to the meeting. I listened with rapt attention
to Ayub Khan. It was all a justifying plea for his coup d’etat,
excuses and excuses why he took over, what he intended to
do, what the problems were of that country, how he would
solve. It was all a pep talk. That country never had good
leadership. Zulfikhar Ali Bhuttoo was hanged. Bengaladesh
became an independent country, being cut off from Pakistan,
93,000 troops of Pakistan became prisoners of India, and so
on. Although these events had not taken place at the time
I was in U.K. but things were moving in that direction. Our
discussion with Faiz (perhaps his name was Fayyaz) would
rotate round those topics of policy, programme, progress and
developments in both countries. We became so intimate that
he wanted me to shift my lodging to his lodging where he
found a big separate room for me to stay. When my wife
joined me in 1960 March, we were staying in the same
lodging, and he was of help to me in several ways. I found
him to be more talkative and less serious about his research.
I did not find him writing any fresh chapter which was
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approved by his guide. In two or three years he had hardly
done a quarter of the work expected of him, whereas in less
than two years I had almost finished my thesis, and enjoying
trips to various places along with my wife, who had joined
me as promised when she first received the Fellowship
sanction letter from the British Council.
One small incidence of the India Office Library sticks
in my mind. I was using a Parker Fountain Pen for writing
which had been gifted to me as a Wedding presentation by
the nephew of my father-in-law, and hence it was a sentimental
thing. I have still preserved that pen. The model of that
pen was such that at the tip of that there was a syringe to
suck ink, and that syringe was covered by a small cap. I had
an ink-pot in my desk. Whenever the ink was exhausted in
the pen, I would refill it then and there itself in the Library.
This was the routine. Once so happened that by some
mistake that tiny little cap to cover the end portion of the
pen fell down and disappeared. I was embarrassed. A pen
without that cap was almost useless. It fell into the heating
system which was centrally arranged. The entire building was
kept warm in that cold country through pipes for hot air
which were laid under the floor covered by perforated steel
sheets through which hot air would keep the entire Hall warm.
This tiny piece fell into the hole of the perforatd steel
coverings. I felt miserable, not because it was difficult to buy
another pen, but because that pen was sentimental. Earlier I
had lost my sentimental shoes in Aligarh, and now I am
making another gift useless. With regret I reported the matter
to the care-takers of the Library. They attempted to trace
but it was impossible. With great grief as if I lost something
precious I reconciled myself. Next day I came to the Library,
and found that little cap on my table, with a note. “Dr. Ali,
please be careful hereafter. We had to employ an army to
trace your lost thing.” It seems the authorities had to cool
down the entire heating system, remove the perforated steel
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sheets of the flooring, hunt for the tiny little thing, trace it
at last, as if the jewel of a King was missing somewhere.That
is the efficiency, that is the devotion to duty, that is the
sense of responsibility, that is the love, labour, patience and
perseverance which have made Britain, Great Britain.
In June 1950 when I had almost completed the
drafting part of my thesis, my wife joined me in London. That
was also her ambition as indicated before for which she had
exacted a promise at the time we got the news of the British
Council Scholarship. She had waited for two long years
taking care of four children and educating them. Of course
my parents-in-law helped her and her sisters and brothers too
who were all young and of college going stayed in my house
in Saraswathipuram, which luckily I had built. Even then
without an elderly persons to manage the household, she was
able to do the needful, hoping she would visit London
Fortunately, the leave salary of mine had been accumulated
in the bank to pay for her travel charges. We booked the
ticket from the same Thomas Cook & Son, both for my wife
and for my father-in-law, Alijanab G.S. Abdul Hameed Saheb.
He had a great liking for English people, and many of his
friends were European planters. It was also his long desire to
visit Europe. Now that an occasion arose he jumped at the
idea of bringing his daughter, Sufia Bi, my wife, to England.
They sailed from the same P. & O. Line, which this time
touched Athens, Greece, and they had the chance to see the
world-renowned historical places of Greek culture. They
arrived at the Tillbury Docks in London.
There is a train from London to Tillbury. I went to
the Railway counter and asked for the ticket to the Docks.
At the ticket counter a lady was in charge to issue the ticket.
I said my wife was coming from India, and I was going there
to collect her. She scolded me, and said you are a fool to
waste your time in our country. You might be having better
job to do than merely going there to collect a lady, who has
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come across the seas from her place to this place. Can’t she
manage to cover another 20 miles to your place ? With great
difficulty I had to convince her that our bringing up, our
social set up, are all different from the West. When I had
earlier indicated that my father-in-law was also accompanying
her, you could imagine her fury how much she argued before
issuing the tickets for all three. This indicates the
interest even of the common man to guide people in right
direction to make people stand on their own and not depend
on others. Even though it may seem strange to us, it exhibits
the psychology of the West, the work-ethics of the West,
the time consciousness of the West, and also the helpfulness
of the West.
I went a few minutes before the ship was brought to
the landing place. I was eagerly looking for the fond faces
which I had missed for two long years. Finally, I spotted
them in the long line of people up on the ship who were all
focussing their eyes on their kith who had come to receive
them. My father-in-law and my wife were waving their hands.
They landed, and I brought them to London from where we
took a taxi to our lodging. I had booked a separate room in
the lodging for my Father-in-law, who stayed for more than
three weeks with me. It was all a holiday for much of my
work had been completed and only final touches had remained.
I planned the places to visit, and I took him with my wife to
several and several places of great interest in London including
Greenwhich. He was a planter, and was interested in coffee
market. England was for a long time the major country for
distributing coffee from India, Brazil and Kenya to several
countries in Europe. We went to the coffee testing place
and other areas which were connected with Coffee industry.
We went to Rathod-stead-Farm also which was the centre
from where industrial revolution had taken shape. I had
earlier indicated to the Director of the Farm of our visit,
and he was kind enough to spend more than two hours
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My Life
explaining the whole history of the scientific progress of the
Farm.
I took him to Kew Gardens, the botanical garden of
world renown. He enjoyed that visit, as he was a planter,
lover of greenery and plants, limitless in variety. Any fool
could write poetry, only God could make a tree. Their size,
colour, variety were all such that man appeared too tiny and
insignificant before the great grandeur of nature. If KewGarden was a wonder land of Botany, the London Zoo was
of Zoology, which was also the world-renowned place for the
variety of animals. The British people could rightly take pride
that they were in the vanguard in the race of scientific
research in recent times. At present America has excelled
England and Europe, but it was England which was the
pioneer in this field.
London weather did not suit my father-in-law. He
had wheezing problem because of Asthama. One day when he
coughed I spotted blood in the sputum. I got frightened.
In a foreign country, nothing could be worse than falling ill.
I planned his return back home. Although he had return
ticket by sea, I decided that he should not wait that long. I
arranged to send him back by air, although flight was expensive.
We managed. Before he left England, I wanted him to see a
bit of Paris as well. A conducted tour of that place was
arranged. He visited Paris from where he took a flight to
Bombay. He felt very happy having visited Europe.
After my father-in-law left London, I got busy
finalising my research programme. My wife too helped me in
odd little things of physical labour. When I had too much
to do, going to libraries, meeting the guide and doing all kinds
of duties, she felt boring all alone at the lodging. I would
not take her everywhere, for that would cause too much of
exertion. Nearly six months she was with me. A great friend
of mine who owned a chain of Indian restaurants, Mohamed
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Shah Saheb, would invite us. He owned not one but four
restaurants in London. He was an illiterate person from
Siddalgatta in Kolar District of Karnataka, who went to
England with a Lady as her attender. Fortune smiled on him
so much that he was able to own four restaurants, which had
become so popular that people had to stand in a queue to
find a place to sit. He specialised in preparing Mughlai dishes.
He would pay fabulous salary to Lucknow cooks who would
prepare these dishes. People would relish them, and the
majority of the customers were Europeans. Kufta-malai was
a favourite dish. He had married a lady from Bombay and
he would invite us to his home where her wife became very
friendly with my wife. He lived in a very potsch locality of
London called Golders Green where only the richest people,
millionairs and billionairs lived. Very often we would have
lunch or dinner. He had become so rich that he had
appointed an English lady just to keep company with her,
for she was all alone, and God had not blessed the couple
with any children. He owned a very big mansion in the
prestigious West of London, the back-yard orchard itself was
of two or three acres.
Another very pleasant trip we had was to visit
Dr.Shahjahan (Dr.Abdul Waheed) son of Janab Ghouse
Mohiyuddin, Cloth merchant of Hassan, who had settled down
in England. He was a Doctor working in a Hospital in Wales.
He was all alone, and he had not yet married, which he did a
little later to an English lady. He invited us and took us in
his car to several places in United Kingdom including Scotland.
Spending nearly a week visiting many important places was
really enjoyable. We had many good friends both Indians
and Pakistanis. Stay in UK gave us really rich experience in
life.
When the Guide approved all my chapters which he
had taken to scrutinize while he was camping in Europe on
holidays – even in holidays they do work to help foreign
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My Life
students – I started getting it typed which took eight or ten
days. My wife helped me a lot in the physical processes of
arranging papers and other sundry jobs. I submitted the
thesis. The British Council bore all costs, not only of the
University Examination fee but also typing and binding
charges. Within a fortnight the examiners valued the thesis
of over 600 pages and sent the report. In India for a thesis
to be examined and results to be announced would take
months together and sometimes more than a year. It was all
done there within a few days. Prof.C.C. Davies of Oxford,
an authority on modern India was one of the examiners. The
first question he asked me, was, why did you write such a
long thesis. It made my arm ache carrying all the way. I
answered all other academic questions. They were all very
kind, courteous, typical example of British excellence in
manners. When the Viva was over, my job of the thesis was
over, and I would not wait until the result was announced,
for my leave in the University was all exhausted, and there
was no scope for any further extension. Therefore, I hastened
to return home, but not before taking my wife on tour of
some places in Europe, particularly France, Switzerland and
Germany. I went to Thomas Cook and asked them to arrange
a conducted tour for a fortnight of these places. They did it
wonderfully well, and booked the passage to India by the same
P. & O. Liner. Before leaving I went to the British Council
Office to thank them all, and to my Guide’s home in Surrey,
Dr.K.A. Ballhatchet lived in a beautiful cottage about 20 miles
from London. When my wife and I called on them, they
were very gracious. It was on that occasion the question of
paging machine which I had bought on his suggestion that
arose. A reference to that has occurred already earlier. He
gave us high tea, and we took leave of them. We bid goodbye to London.
We first went to Paris. Crossing the British channel
in a boat, a distance hardly 20 miles, was exciting. A country
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just across was a different world. England and France have
long been rivals, two poles apart of different customs,
manners, cultures, language and thoughts. For centuries they
were serious rivals, and it is only in the 20th century after
the First World War they came together. When I was in
U.K. the rivalry was again emerging, for France and Germany
with four other countries – Italy, Belgium, Luxemburg were
for European Union, and England with six others including
Scandinavian countries were for free Europe or old order.
The tussel was between the “Sixes” and the “Sevens”. It was
all big news at that time how a few were powerfully arguing
for European Union, France being at its head, and a few
others were opposing it, England being at its head. This
confrontation went on for two or three more decades until
England had to yield and herself join the European Union
with a common currency, common market, common economy
and common foreign policy. It was France and Germany that
won the battle. European Union at present is a reality having
such a powerful Block that even American is afraid of it.
We stayed three or four days visiting several historical
places including Louvre Museum, where unique exhibits of
renaissance days are preserved, one of which is Mona Lisa,
the painting of Leonardo D’Vinici whose worth is the wealth
of entire United States of America. The tour of this Museum
exhausted my wife, and she was grumbling and grumbling. It
was indeed very tiring business to her, but to me very
exhilerating. We went to Copenhagen, Denmark and from
there to Loussan, a place in Switzerland, very picturesque.
It was a historical place to me for after the First World
when the Greeks invaded Turkey, Mustafa Kamal Ataturk
inflicted a blow on them, drove them out from Anatolia, and
the Europeans brought about a peace through the Treaty of
Loussan, which ended the conflict. As I had taught Turkish
History to our students, the place was very familiar to me.
My wife bought a few souvenirs, particularly watches in
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Switzerland. Then we moved to Germany, Bonne, the new
capital. We got an idea of Germany.
It is not England but Germany which is the
intellectual capital of Europe. That is the country of
enlightenment era that gave Reformation and produced men
of the order of Kant, Schopenheur, Nietzche, Karl Marx,
Freud, Martin Luthur, Frederick the Great, Bismark, and later
Hitler who took the whole world by storm. It was this
country which Allama Iqbal liked best and it was this country
which attracted Zakir Hussain to skip U.K. and study here
to become one of the greatest educationist of our land. We
stayed hardly two or three days in Bonne, bought a nice
binocular for my brother-in-law, Mr.Abdul Wajid, which he
had kept it for a long time. We enjoyed the Natural History
Museum of Bonne, where we would be thrilled at the man’s
ingenuity in presenting nature in its original landscape. This
single piece of Museum is enough to appreciate German
thoroughness and perfection. They say German discipline is
such that not even a dog crosses the lawn. The sense of
system, order, cleanliness, regularity, industry are all
remarkable. That country was defeated in the First World
and raised to the ground. Within a decade it reconstructed
itself so well as to challenge its rivals again and declare the
Second World War. When the whole world was united and
struggled for six long years, it was defeated again and raised
to the ground, but again recovered so fast as to be a leading
nation of Europe again, and as a primary and major unit of
European Union. When Germany after the Second World
War was at the lowest ebb, it was a German Chancellor,
Erhaard, who lifted it high through one single idea of his
creativity. He said, to his people: “I would do a miracle, if
only you promise me one small little thing. Please come to
office just half an hour earlier to your schedule time and go
home just half an hour later than your schedule time. Don’t
look at your watch at the time you work. Think that you
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203
are a beast of burden from Monday morning to Friday evening,
and enjoy yourself from Friday evening to Monday morning,
as if life is just a sweet song”. The people took his advice,
followed it faithfully and religiously, with the result they made
Germany once again a highly developed nation on the face of
the earth. Surely enthusiasm could be a human jet propeller
which begets boldness, kindles confidence, dispels doubts and
excites energy which is the source of all accomplishment. I
wish Indians could learn a lesson from Germany.
We went to Italy and saw Rome and then took the
boat to India. On the way we stopped in Egypt again, for
my wife had not visited that place. The usual conducted
tour took us to different historical places, including Al-Azhar,
Muhammad Ali mosque, Museum, Giza pyramids and so on.
We landed in Bombay Docks in the last week of December
1960 where the whole Gadabanahalli group was present to
receive us. We stayed in Bombay for two or three days for
the children to see interesting places including the Acquarium.
We came home. My stay in England was very fruitful, not
only in the academic sense but also in widening the vision.
Seeing is believing and doing is learning. The contact with
men of
better knowledge and experience would give us
that which has cost them much, but we get it for nothing.
There are many doors and many vistas to be opened in
knowledge, skill and wisdom.
9
Professorship
A kind of satisfaction had gripped my soul that with London
and Aligarh Ph.D’s I had gained what I had dreamt for long.
But the struggle of a different type was still there before me,
how to rise in my profession. Life was very
competitive, with many stumbling blocks on the way. I had
missed many buses before, when in 1956 with two vacancies
of Readership I could not get one, despite the fact I was
most qualified, and the one who got it was my own student
whose teaching experience was hardly a year. These thoughts
crossed my mind again and again. I reported to duty in
Maharaja’s College again as a lecturer, whereas men with much
less qualifications and experience had risen high. By the
time I returned home, University system had greatly changed.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University was Dr. K.V. Puttappa,
popularly known as Kuvempu, who was the Principal of
Maharaja’s College in 1958, when he relieved me to go to
London, and he was now the V.C. at a very turning point in
the educational system when the U.G.C. was coming in a big
way to build a grand University campus. It was Kuvempu
who named it Manasagangotri, or the source of knowledge.
They identified a very sprawling campus of over 300 acres in
the West of Kukrahalli tank which was earlier called
Jayalaxmivilas Mansion. Krishnaraja Wodeyar had built a huge
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My Life
mansion for his sister here, which was all acquired by the
University for its campus.
A number of structural changes were made in the
Univesity system. The campus meant exclusively for
post-graduate studies and research, without any encumberance
of undergraduate studies. Both Maharaja’s College and First
Grade College became only under-graduate colleges of Arts
and Science respectively, and they were called Constituent
Colleges, a part of the University quite separate from PG
classes. They were feeding colleges to the University
Departments. It was the first experiment in Mysore
University and in the initial stages it led to some confusion.
It meant down-grading Maharaja’s College which from
decades had occupied a very prestigious place. There were
men like Prof.C.D.Narasimhaiah who were not very happy with
the changes, and they desired to uphold the dignity and status
of Maharaja’s College. Those who were teaching at the Postgraduate level were considering themselves as
superior,
as if Maharaja’s College was a primary school and
Manasagangotri was a High School.
Since my lean was in Maharaja’s College I had to
report there when Prof.C.D.Narasimhaiah was the Principal.
I had taught hardly a month or two in Maharaja’s College,
when the need arose for my transfer to Gangotri, for I was
the most qualified person with two Doctorate Degrees. All
others who were senior to me did not possess a Ph.D except
one, Dr.B.S.Krishnaswamy Iyengar, who was my teacher.
There were two others besides B.S.Krishnaswamy Iyengar, who
were senior to me, one was Shardamma and the other D.S.
Achyuta Rao. Both of them did not possess a Ph.D. a
requirement to guide research. After the retirement of Dr.
M.V.Krishna Rao there was no Professor in the Department
of History. When History Department was started in
Manasagangotri, three persons were posted there, Dr. B.S.
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207
Krishnaswamy Iyengar, D.S. Achyuta Rao and myself. Dr.
B.S.K. also retired in 1962, when there were only lecturers
to manage the show. The keen competition for promotion
was among three of us, Shardamma, Achyuta Rao and myself.
They were in service senior to me, Shardamma almost on the
verge of retirement and Achyuta Rao, a good teacher but
very jealous of me. He was a Brahmin whose only credit was
his long service, as against me who had not one but two
Ph.D’s, one of which from London. At that time the
Maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, was still the
Chancellor of Mysore University. The rules for the regular
appointment of Professors and other staff had not been
finalised. At least as an Ad-hoc measure to name a person
as Acting Professor, the matter was referred to the
Chancellor by the Vice- Chancellor, Prof. Nikam, who was
V.C. at that time. The Maharaja called three of us for an
interviews, Shardamma, Achyuta Rao and myself. We went
to the Palace and he called us one by one. When my turn
came he asked me a series of questions which I answered
well. My record of qualifications was much higher, but in age
I was junior. Moreover, the caste factor was also there.
Both of them were Brahmins and I was a Muslim, both
communities intellectually high but politically low. Had there
been a Vokkaliga or a Lingayat competitor, perhaps pressure
lobby would have worked, the Chancellor would have taken a
decision. He did nothing, deferred the matter, sent back the
file without taking any decision.
Mr. Achyuta Rao was making a lot of fuss and was
doing an intensive propaganda against me. His contention
was that the post should go only on the basis of seniority
and not on qualification. As I was from the minority
community without any political lobby, he intensified his
hostile campaign. He started moving earth and heaven.
When the new post-graduate classes were started in
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My Life
Gangotri, Achyuta Rao was not posted there. Only B.S.
Krishnaswamy Iyengar and I were taking classes. In that
mansion, Kannada, Political Science, Economics and
History were accommodated. History Department got a
place in Kalyana Mandapa of that Mansion which was very
well furnished. In 1962 B.S.Krishnaswamy Iyengar also
retired and I was given charge of the Department as H.O.D.
I took an important decision that publication of a standard
work would go a long way at the time of decision for any
promotion. Therefore, even if it was expensive I should
publish my London Ph.D., for that was the question of publish
or perish. I went to Mysore Publication House, when the
son of Prof.Hanumanth Rao, Raghavan was in charge. He
was a leftist, and was helpful. I gave my manuscript for
publication. It took some time, proof reading was a tough
job in those days. I did it all, and at last my first work,
British Relations with Haidar Ali” came out from the press.
“British
It was a great achievement. That was the solid ladder
through which I moved upward. It is rightly said, of all the
graces of God the art of writing well is the master-piece.
That was the first step in the journey to pen books and
journals which are quite a few to my credit.
Meanwhile Prof.Nikam retired as V.C. He was the
teacher of the Maharaja to whom he had referred my case
for decision. The Maharaja took no decision and the matter
rested at that stage. But I had gained one little thing, the
designation of H.O.D. in the Post-graduate Department of
History and Research in Manasagangotri, although I was only
a lecturer. My competitor, Achyuta Rao was working at
Maharaja’s College, which had been reduced to
under-graduate level. Hence, junior in service, I was
academically senior to him in status. When the situation
was of this nature, Nikam retired and Sardar K.M.Panikkar
became the Vice-Chancellor of Mysore University. He was a
person of international stature, once a Professor of Aligarh
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209
University, an author of sixty books, an Ambassador to China,
a close friend of Jawaharlal Nehru, and a known communist.
With his advent in the University, a sense of alertness,
smartness, discipline and devotion to duty and care for
knowledge and scholarship, all seemed to emerge. He was a
terror, a person head and shoulders above the pigmies of this
place. By 1960 all bright stars of the University had
disappeared and for want of proper recruitment only the tails
were doing the job of heads. I saw him and presented my
book on Haidar Ali. He was pleased.
I made a small representation to him. I said : “Sir,
they had made me H.O.D. of the History Department which
carries a small remuneration of Rs.50/- per month, but even
to this day they had not paid me anything although it was
over a year and half since I am doing this duty”. He sent
for the file and wrote on it, “Having taken the services of a
man, not to pay his wages is a criminal offence. His
remuneration should be paid immediately”. Next day I got a
cheque for the entire period. Such was the efficiency of
Sardar Panikkar. He would send for the Professors and test
them how good they were in the field. Many, many in the
University started shivering in their shoe. Unfortunately God
did not spare his life. Having served just for a year or so he
passed away in Mysore to the great grief of all of us. The
kind of tribute Dr.Zakir Hussain, who was at that time, VicePresident of India, paid deserves to be remembered. Sardar
Panikkar did belong to the category of great men of India,
which stands for humanism, liberalism, eclecticism and
universalism.
After the death of Panikkar for a few days, bureaucrat,
Janab Rahmatulla, was appointed Acting Vice-Chancellor. He
was the second Muslim I saw in that chair, as I had seen
Sultan Mohiyuddin Saheb, who left for Pakistan. Both these
persons were in charge V.C.’s, not regularly appointed, our
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My Life
University is yet to see a full-fledged Muslim Vice-Chancellor,
although that post was filled by our community in other
Universities of Karnataka, such as Mangalore, Kuvempu and
Karnataka. It took some time before a new Vice-Chancellor
was appointed to our University. That was the time when
Sri Nijalingappa was the Chief Minister of Karnataka. He
was a very powerful man in the Congress Party, and he played
a major role in the politics of the country soon after the
death of Nehru. He was responsible for the split in the
Congress, one branch of which was called Congress (U) or
United and the other Congress (S) or secular. The latter
was headed by Indra Gandhi, daughter of Nehru, who became
so powerful as to cut Pakistan into two, for the eastern wing
of that country became Bangladesh. She reached to a height
where some of her fans shouted “India is Indira, and Indira
is India”. The other wing under Nijalingappa (Congress-U)
did not fade out but played an insignificant part. But
Nijalingappa did one good thing to Mysore University. He
brought from Delhi Sri Srimali as the Vice-Chancellor of
Mysore University. Srimali had served as a Minister of State
for Education in the Union Government.
The advent of Srimali changed the character of Mysore
University. His regime deserves to be written in letters of
gold in the history of Mysore University. He did seveal things
to put our University on the educational map of India. He
had certain advantages. One was his earlier position in the
Central Government. Anything that went to U.G.C. under
his signature would come back approved, as he had once
controlled UGC as the Union Minister. Secondly, he had
the full support of the State Government because politically
he belonged to Congress (U) group which was under
Nijalingappa’s leadership. Hence, anything particularly
finances, that went to the State Government would come back
approved. Thirdly, the new campus of Manasagangotri
became a pet project of both State Government and U.G.C.
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211
who poured crores and crores of rupees to make it one of
the finest campuses of the land. Fourthly, it was easier to
plan and build something new than to repair an old unit.
Srimali was a man of ideas and vision. It so happened that
Mysore attracted the attention of the Central Government
to establish several central institutions of great importance,
such as Regional College of Education, the Central Institute
of Indian Languages, the All India Institute of Speech and
Hearing, the Central Institute of Coffee Research, the Central
Institute of Cooperation and Panchayat Raj. Earlier the
Central Institute of Food Technology and Research had come.
All this was in the same Western zone of Mysore city,
Manasagangotri, where a big plot of land was given by
Maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar to Suttur
Swamiji to establish Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering.
Added to this Srimali appointed a dynamic Registrar,
Sri K.R. Ramachandran, IAS, who had worked earlier under
him in the Central Secretariat. Ramachandran was a very
competent, hard working and sober person who knew the art
of getting things done. A rare opportunity presented itself
to build a fine University from the scratch. Land was there,
funds were there, ideas were there and will to execute things
was there. Consequently this era witnessed tremendous
growth and development. The first job of Srimali was
recruitment of staff to the University. For the past several
years nothing but make do things had happened, just carry
on. Every Department was functioning only with skeleton
staff. The tails were doing the job of Heads. Quality of any
concern would depend upon the quality of the head, and when
the head was missing, and when only the tail was wagging,
one could imagine the state of affairs. More over, Mysore
University was the first experiment in the State to have all
faculties, Science, Arts, Commerce, Education, Law and so
on in one campus. Earlier Mysore was the Centre only for
Arts and Humanities, and Bangalore was the Centre for
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My Life
Science and Engineering. Now in the new system there was
a structural change, all finest flowers of Central College which
was a Science College, flocked to Manasagangotri. It
became a centre of excellence. All renowned scientists of
Bangalore became Faculty Members in Mysore, which
suddenly jumped into the era of great development. Dr.S.
Chandrasekhar of Physics, Prof.Vishwanathaiah of Geology,
Prof. Rajashekhara Shetty of Zoology, Prof.Narayan of Botany,
and another Prof. Narayan of Chemistry, Prof.Venkateswaran
of Mathematics, all left Bangalore and joined Mysore
University which now possessed a galaxy of brilliant stars.
This process was going on slowly before the advent of
Srimali. He intensified it. The Arts and Humanities were in
very bad shape. U.G.C. had made the University jobs very
attractive as it had revised the scales. Rs. 1000/- was regarded
as very good sum in those days, for the starting pay earlier
was only Rs. 400/-. As lecturer I started my career only
with Rs. 75/-. Dr. Srimali took up the job of filling up the
several vacancies, which were scores and scores in different
Departments. It was all a period of excitement to
incumbents. Prof. D.Javare Gowda was appointed U.G.C.
Professor of Kannada. He became very influential in the
University, along with Dr. Thotappa, who was appointed to
Political Science Department.
The question of History Department loomed large.
It was once the most famous and the oldest Department
presided over by such reputed scholars as Dunham,
Radhakumad Mukherji, K. T. Shah, C. R. Reddy,
Venkateshvarlu and M.H. Krishna. It had fallen on bad days
when such small persons as Achyuta Rao, who had once upon
a time taken M.A. Degree and had done nothing else
thereafter except to go to class, teach something, count thirty
days and draw the salary. The concept of University system
had much changed when from mere teaching one had to rise
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213
higher to research work, creative vision and extension of the
horizon of knowledge. Teaching was merely imparting what is
there in the cess-pool of mind, but research is a running
brooke bringing fresh water from uphill areas and fertilising
the banks all along on either side. The U.G.C. had injected
new concepts of University system with Dr.Radhakrishnan
Report, and our University with Dr.Srimali as the head was
attempting to implement some of the creative thoughts of
that Report.
Therefore, when the University advertised several
vacant posts of History, I did apply to all of them. I was
nervous because of the bitter experience of the past when
despite my better qualifications I had missed the bus. I had
put in nearly 19 years of service as lecturer, was a
Gold- Medalist and possessed two Doctorate Degrees with
published work which had been acclaimed as a classic and
miracle of 20th century.
When my book on “British Relations with Haidar Ali”,
the work I had done in London, was published, it was sent
for review to Dr.K.N.V. Sastri. He appreciated it so much
that he used the words “Classic” and a “miracle of 20th
Century in historical research”. I was greatly, although
happily surprised at these words, for they were all beyond
my expectations, and I never thought it would be appreciated
so much. I had very carefully preserved that Review and
had enclosed it along with my applications for the University
posts. It was Geetha Book House people under Rao and
Raghavan name who had published my work and it was
Sathyanarayana Rao of Geetha Book House who had arranged
to get my work reviewed.
Meanwhile, it occurred to my rival, D.S. Achyuta Rao,
that without Ph.D. he did not have a ghost of chance to
become Professor. Therefore, he worked hard, cooked up
something and submitted it to Mysore University for Ph.D.
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My Life
Degree. It so happened that his thesis was referred to a
foreign examiner in U.K. who was none other than my own
guide in London, Dr.K.A. Ballhatchet. Achyuta Rao rushed
to me and pleaded that I should write to Dr. Ballhatchet to
hasten the Report so that it should come before the selection
date of the Professor’s post. I could not refuse, and thinking
that he might misunderstand me that I had misguided the
foreign examiner, I recommended the case and handed it to
Achyuta Rao for him to glance what I had written and post
it himself to satisfy his desire. The Report came. It was
negative. Even the other Indian examiner had rejected it.
Research is a difficult area which needs long penance, labour,
love, patience and perservance. It could not be done in a
hurry to meet some exigency.
At last the ‘D’ day came, when interviews for several
posts, Readers, Lecturers and Professors were held. In the
morning the Selection Committee met for Professor’s
post. One of the members of the Committee was
Dr.Bisheshwar Prasad of Delhi University, who incidentally
was my examiner earlier for Aligarh Ph.D. He was a great
scholar in his own right belonging to the Liberal School of
Allahabad Circle of Dr.Tara Chand, Shafat Ahmed, Beni
Prasad, Tripathi, Ishwari Prasad, and a host of others, who
were well-known in the country. Moreover, when I was in
U.K. he too had come and had watched me working there,
and he was well aware of my worth. I was called in for
interview and grilled nearly for an hour on several aspects of
history. They asked me a hypothetical question how would I
organise the Department in case I became its head. Since
I had worked under several great scholars both in India and
abroad, and had a good knowledge of research activities, I
gave them a very good account of my plans and measures to
build a great Department. They were greatly impressed by
my performance both on academic and administrative side.
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215
When the question of selection for the Professor’s post
arose, Dr. Srimali thought that I was only a lecturer, I should
be given only a Reader’s post, and not directly a Professor’s
post. He felt it would be too much if a person was
immediately placed from a Lecturer’s to a Professor’s chair.
It was at this stage Dr.Bisheshwar Prasad acted as a Godsend angel to me who pleaded my case so powerfully that
even Dr.Srimali had to be silenced. Dr.Bisheshwar read out
the Review of Dr.Sastri about my work, quoted above, and
said “show me a person of this stature in the whole country,
and I would accept it.” Moreover, I had enclosed a certificate
from my London Professor, Dr. A.L.Basham, the
world-renowned scholar who had said about me “There could
be no body in the world who knew more about the State of
Mysore under Haidar and Tipu Sultan than Dr. Ali”. This
certificate and also the Review of Dr.Sastri on my work were
powerful agents to shape my future at a critical time. The
matter was discussed for long. It was difficult to convince
Dr.Srimali who was in favour of a candidate who had come
from Andhra. Another factor that helped me was that the
other rivals were all from other States of India, and not from
Karnataka. Mr.Achyuta Rao who had harassed me for long
and acted as a powerful rival was no where in the picture.
The other member in the Selection Committee from the
Syndicate was Dr.K.B.Y. Thotappa, who was although junior
to me in service had become a Professor and a very
influential person in the University. He too helped me. But
it was the voice of Dr.Bisheshwar Prasad that counted most,
and it was his skill and art that turned the table in my favour.
When he stood firm like a rock and did not budge an inch,
Dr. Srimali became helpless. It should be said to his credit
that he was interested in helping the Department. Being a
person who had worked in the cabinet of Pundit Jawaharlal
Nehru, he was liberal enough to ignore communal
consideration. It was a tough fight for me and I have to
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My Life
thank none but God for bringing about a situation where
despite heavy odds, things worked out in my favour. The
lesson we have to draw is just this; have faith in God, work
fingers to your bone, leave no stone unturned to win the case,
take things easy, if you win thank God, if you lose, take it
there is something good in that as well, for whatever happens
is for our own good.
This victory of mine from a Lecturer’s job straight to
a Professor’s chair came as a happy surprise to me
as well, for I was not very hopeful of it, having been
disappointed several times before. It should be said that I
had not spared any effort to compete with others, and had
gained every time some new experience how to struggle in
life. What I had dreamt a quarter of a century earlier in
1940 to becom a Professor was a reality late in 1964. There
was rejoicing in the family. Dr. Bisheshwar Prasad was so
good and so kind to us that he visited our house, when we
were living in the Warden’s Quarters of the Hostel to break
the news to my wife, who was very resourceful to greet the
great guest with Ghalib’s verse:
He was pleased. He had tea with us. We became fast
friends thereafter. Thereafter whenever I used to go to Delhi,
I would call on him at his Delhi University Quarters.
The turn of the fortune was such that in the morning
I was a candidate facing the interview for a post before the
Selection Committee, and in the afternoon I was myself a
member of that Selection Committee to choose other
members of the Staff for the Department. Dr.Srimali was good
enough to suggest that a person who was to be the H.O.D.
should choose his own team to run the show, and hence he
should have a voice in the selection of his colleagues.
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217
Therefore, I was made to sit in the Selection Committee.
The next vacancy after Professorship was that of a Reader,
for which quite a few candidates were there from different
parts of the country. The first to enter the room was
Mr.Achyuta Rao, my rival, who was facing me to answer my
questions. What a turn of events! It was embarrassing for
both of us, he was far senior to me in age and service, but
not in qualifications which had enabled me to be his boss.
He was selected as a Reader. He had appeared as a candidate
in the morning for the Professor’s job, and now again in the
afternoon for a Reader’s job. If he failed in this attempt also,
life would be miserable for him. He had submitted his thesis
for Ph.D. and the result had not yet been announced. Any
way on the basis of his long service as a good teacher, and
having had submitted the thesis for Ph.D. he was selected as
the Reader of the Department. He joined duty as Reader as
well. A few days later, Reports of his thesis came which
were negative. Dr. Ballhatchet of London University and
Nilakanta Sastri of Madras were the two external examiners,
and both of them had rejected the thesis, and hence there
was no scope even for re-submission after revision. It was
such a great shock to him that he did not live for long. Hardly
a week or so later, he collapsed. He died of heart failure. I
felt very sorry, it made me humble. It taught me a lesson,
first deserve a thing before you desire it. If you desire without
deserving it, destiny will punish you. If you deserve a thing
and even then you are denied of it, feel, even that is good
for you, for something better would happen in course of time.
This had happened in my case. Eight years earlier in
1956, I had missed the bus to become a Reader, when my
own student, Narasaiah, walked over my head.I felt
miserable at that time. Had I become a Reader I would
have been rotting as a Reader in Tumkur College. I would
not have gone to London, I would not have published a book,
I would not have seen Europe and gained experience, and I
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My Life
would not have become a University Professor, which was
much higher than a Reader’s post in a moffisil College of
Tumkur. The same Narasaiah who was in a College as a
Reader had to approach me a few years later seeking my help
for his promotion as Professor in Bangalore University. In
1963 a separate Bangalore University had come into existence.
When the time came for the appointment of a Professor of
History there, Dr. Narasaiah was a candidate. Being a S.C.
he had a good chance. Even then he needed my help as a
Professor to speak to one or two Selection Committee
External Members recommending his case. I did that and he
became a Professor in Bangalore. He remained grateful to
me. I thank Almighty God for the gracious favour to me to
help my rivals, Narasaiah who had earlier become senior to
me, and yet needed now help for his promotion and also
Achyuta Rao who had sown thorns all my way to ecome a
Reader. It was all God’s glory that my rivals became my
subordinates.
The family celebrated my promotion. It was my
co-brother, Dr. S. Abdul Kareem, who took the initiative.
He was the only person who joined our family outside our
own clan of patwegars. He was from Srinivaspur in Kolar
District, a Medical Graduate, working in the Health
Department of Karnataka, very sharp, witty, social, active
and resourceful. He made my mother-in-law garland me
expressing joy that a Muslim rose high in academic circles.
In fact, I was the first Muslim in the history of Mysore
University to become a Professor outside the faculty of Urdu
and Persian languages. Later, I had also the distinction of
the first Muslim Vice-Chancellor in the State although Sultan
Mohiyuddin and Rahmatulla held that post temporarily for a
few months, but not regularly appointed. Added to that,
God had smiled on me to be the first Vice-Chancellor of not
one but two Universities, and that too in two different States,
Karnataka and Goa.
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I assumed charge as Professor, and two of my
colleagues, Achyuta Rao and Venkataratnam were appointed
as Readers and Muddachari was appointed as Lecturer. Four
of us formed a team and all of them had been my choice, for
I had a say in the Selection Committee as a Member.
Venkataratnam, a junior to me, reconciled to his position,
and Muddachari was my own student, and hence no problem.
But Achyuta Rao who was senior to me, and had all along
schemed to outwit me would not swallow his position as a
subordinate to me. Something was working within him which
was adversely affecting his health.The result of his hurriedly
prepared thesis for Ph.D. had not yet been announced. It
came a few days after the Selections. It was highly
disappointing to him and he could not stand the shock. As
mentioned earlier, he did not survive. He died of heart failure.
Building up the Department was challenging. This was
a period of great development, in fact the golden era in the
University, when every day was a day of inauguration of some
project. New Departments were opened, new institutions
were coming up, new projects of research were in the air,
construction of buildings for various Departments was briskly
going on. New faculty members were added almost every
day. As many as 300 appointments took place at that time.
There was suh a fresh air and dynamic activity in the campus
as if a stiff campaign was there to gain the laurels of
academic excellence. What Dr.Srimali did was to inject new
blood into the system.The old stagnated cess pool was
rejected, and making the entire nation as the recruting field
for faculty, he brought several new faces to Mysore from
different parts of India.
We were shifted from the Kalyana Mandapam of
Jayalaxmi Vilas Mansion to our own new Humanities Block,
a huge structure of three floors with an Auditorium in the
Centre which housed all Arts and Humanities Faculties. We
got the ground floor with a separate chamber for H.O.D.
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separate rooms for faculties, lecture halls, seminar room,
library and so on. The massive structure of the Library Block
was on one side of our Department and the Mathematics
Block on the other side. In the back side of our Block at a
little distance were located several Science Blocks, one for
Physics, another for Chemistry, the third for Botany and
Zoology, the fourth for Geology, and quite close to that was
built a separate Block for History and Geography, beyond
which was the Block for Psychology, and yet another for
Bio-Chemistry and Home Science. It was well planned in
the shape of a Square with structures on all sides. On the
southern side emerged the Central Institute of Indian
Languages, and in the northern side came up the huge
Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies. The entire campus
was well designed, well planned and well executed in a
sprawling area of scores and scores of acres of open land.
On the extreme western side faculty Quarters were built for
all Professor, Readers, Lecturers, non-teaching staff. Beyond
that was located Regional College of Education, All India
Institute of Speech and Hearing and Sri. Jayachamarajendra
College of Engineering. In that campus I lived nearly for a
decade in Professor’s Quarters No.5.
On the academic side I did two major things. One
was to bring to our University from U.G.C. a Centre of
Advanced Study of Research in History to the Department.
It was a very ambitious project. I had to work very hard to
get it. I had to prepare plans and projects which should be
accepted by U.G.C. to release huge funds to build a
Department of History which would be unique in structure.
The idea was to extend the scope of history where all facets
of man’s life would be taken into consideration whether it
was sociology or economics or politics or anthropology. It
should be an inter-disciplinary Departments where specialists
from different fields would act as a team to throw intensive
light how man has built civilised societies through the ages
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and how he has drawn inspiration from several sources acting
as an organic whole. It was like the study of human pysiology
how the nervous system, the respiratory system, the digestive
system and the several other systems have cooperated
harmoniously to help man’s intellect in creative endeavours.
It was the thinking at the higher level in the U.G.C. that the
country should have at least a few centres where advanced
research of a type which would probe deep into recesses of
man’s mind to reconstruct how in the evolutionary process
man has been benefited by his multiple faculties. This probe
should be with particular reference to India’s contribution to
the realm of thought, deeds and ideas. I had prepared a
project and submitted to U.G.C. for approval.
The U.G.C. sent a high-power team headed by such
great scholars as Dr.S.Gopal, son of Dr.S. Radhakrishnan,
Dr.Misra of Baroda and others. For three days they discussed
the project with me and I persuaded them to accept it, as
we would honestly work to implement it. It was sanctioned
by the U.G.C. which meant huge financial assistance both
recurring and non-recurring. Non-recurring expenditure
involved construction of a building or extending it for more
accommodation, library grants, funds for equipment and so
on. Recurring expenditure was for the appointment of staff.
From four teachers, the number was increased to nineteen
members, four Professors, Six Readers and nine lecturers.
They should be from different Departments for interdisciplinary approach. Hence, specialists of Economic
History, Sociology, Political Science, Ancient India, Modern
India, American History, European History were all appointed.
It should be said to the credit of our Department in
History that we were one of the six such Centres of advanced
Study in the entire country. U.G.C. had assisted or
established such Centres only in five other places, Delhi,
Aligarh, Varanasi, Baroda and Calcutta. We were the sixth,
and the only one in the entire Deccan and South of India.
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Neither Maharashtra, nor Andhra, nor Tamil Nadu nor
Kerala had such a Centre of Advanced Study in History. That
means there were five in the north and only one in the South.
Dr. Gopal said that as the Chairman of the Visiting team for
the Selection of the Centre, he was recommending our case,
for he had great faith in me, and that I would rise up to the
occasion. One of the conditions for the grant was that the
recurring expenditure for the staff was the commitment of
the U.G.C. only for five years, after which the University
should bear the expenses. It was a huge commitment for which
I had to work hard to make the University commit itself to
this expenditure.
We started our work. One of the proposals was to
bring out a Comprehensive History of Karnataka in six
Volumes on the pattern of the Cambridge History of India.
I assigned myself a volume, and worked hard to see it through.
It was on the Gangas of Talkad. Although my specialisation
was 18th Century History of Karnataka, I deliberately chose
Ancient India to justify the concept of inter-disciplinary
approach that narrow specialisation would not bring out the
entire truth. They say specialisation is knowing more and more
about less and less until you know everything about nothing.
Historical synthesis required broad vision when a man would
have a grip on the entirety. This volume was published,
although I had to work hard on ancient history sources,
mostly inscriptions with which I was not very familiar before.
I had assigned other volumes to different people.
Unfortunately, no one was able to bring out anything. Mine
was the only volume that saw the light of the day. I had to
admit it was easy to do a thing ourselves, but very difficult
to get it done by others. This project of the Comprehensive
History of Karnataka became a reality, not through Mysore
University, but through the Kannada University, thanks to
the vision of its Vice-Chancellor Dr.Chandrasekhar Kambar,
who took up this project, made me its Chief Editor, and got
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the entire Seven Volume of History published in five years. I
assigned two volumes to myself in this series, Vol.IV on
Bahmanis, Bidar and Bijapur History and Vol.V. on Haidar
Ali and Tipu Sultan. Dr. Kambar was so pleased with this
work of mine that he conferred the Degree of D.Litt.
(Hon.Causa) on me.
The other projects I thought of were to bring out a
half-year Journal of Historical Studies from the Department
which I did. Quite a few issues were brought out as long as
I was there in the Department. The third project was to
bring out several volumes of the sources of Karnataka History.
It was only Dr. Srikanta Sastri who had brought out a small
volume on sources of Karnataka History. On the inscriptions
side the work had been done as the Department of
Archaeology had edited several volumes of Epigraphia
Karnataka, which Mysore University had up-dated and had
freshly published those volumes when Prof.D. Javare Gowda
was the Vice-Chancellor. My idea was to publish literary
sources spread over in several languages, not only in Kannada,
but also in Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Persian, French, English,
Portuguese and others. I prepared a blue-print and collected
some material. But the problem was the same. You cannot
win a war single-handed. You need an army. I had an army
but that was useless. It only counted thirty days to draw
the salary. We built a Centre of Advanced Studies, but after
I left the Department it did not do much.
Yet another project I had in view which I carried out
successfully was to hold a series of Seminars, Workshops and
Conferences. I was the one who founded the Karnataka
History Conference which is still in existence, holding its
session every year in some place or other. It was a forum to
excite interest in the regional history and to make our people
know how rich is our culture, and to excite our scholars to
throw intensive light on some aspects of Karnataka history
and culture. I held a number of seminars as well, one of
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which was on Hoysalas. The proceedings of this Seminars were
published in a book form which is even to-day a very
valuable addition to the History of Hoysalas, who had
contributed so much to art and culture.
Another contribution of mine as a Professor was the
introduction of Karnataka History in the syllabus of
Under-graduate studies. Our students did not know anything
of the Satavahanas or Kadambas or Gangas or Chalukyas or
Rashtrakutas or Hoysalas or Bahamanis or Bijapuris or
Vijayanagara or Wodeyars. They were lost either in Greek,
or Roman or British or European or World History. They
were totally ignorant of their own heritage.I am happy that
this aspect was well-taken care of and even today Karnataka
History is a subject of study. Yet another contribution of
mine is the introduction of Kannada as the medium of
instruction at the Post-graduate level. It had never been heard
of that Kannada could be used to teach M.A. Classes. Once
I introduced it in History Department others followed suit.
It is so popular today that almost all Departments of
Humanities use Kannada as the medium and that nearly 90%
of the students opt for this medium. Holding All-India
Conferences whether it was All-India History Congress or
South Indian History Congress became a feature of our
Department under my leadership. To organise All India
History Congress was not a small joke, for over a thousand
delegates would come. Their accommodation, boarding, tours
and other arrangements involved great labour, planning, team
work and imagination. I did it in 1966. It was very successful
experiment. So also the South Indian History Congress,
whose sessions I arranged. My job was to extend the horizon
of knowledge from the class room to the social sector where
our people should also know how much Karnataka has
contributed to the mainstream of human culture in general,
and Indian culture in particular in the realm of art,
architecture, literature, philosophy, religion and politics.
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225
My other major contribution to the University was
the establishment of a separate Department, as if a satellite
of the main Department, called Department of Middle
Eastern. Studies.The U.G.C. was also encouraging area studies
programme where our Universities should take interest not
only in their own region and country, but also of the wider
world. Some Universities were taking interest in South-East
Asia, some in Central Asia, some in USA history, some in
African or European. I thought we should take interest in
the Middle Eastern history or West Asian history which
included Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Arabia. This was the
hub of the ancient civilisations from Assyrian, Babylonian,
Egyptian period to the days of Islamic glory, when the world
famous Abbasid Caliphate built up a high culture. How this
Department came into existence is also interesting. Dr.
Srimali thought that the University should establish separate
research chairs to promote the culture of several sectors in
the society, such as Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity; and
Islam. For this purpose he desired to induce those who
professed that faith to come forward and institute a chair in
the University, which would take care of its academic
programme. This was the popular and traditional method in
the West to promote cultures of the different sections of
the society, and different aspects of knowledge. Working on
this concept he announced the proposal and the people
immediately responded positively to the call. He said those
who donated three lakhs of rupees – that amount was quite
handsome in those days – and name of the area of research
they desired, the University would act accordingly. In no
time our Hindu friends came forward to institute a chair of
Hindu philosophy in the University, and Dr.Ramakrishna was
appointed to that Chair. In no time our Jaina friends came
forward, and instituted a Jaina Philosophy and culture chair
in the University and Dr. Upadhyaya, a renowned Jaina
philosophy scholar, was appointed to the Chair. In no time
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our Christian friends came forward, donated three lakhs of
rupees and instituted a Chair in Christian philosophy. Dr.
Srimali invited the Muslims too to come forward, donate
rupees three lakhs and institute a Chair in Islamic philosophy.
No body budged an inch. I tried my level best, met seveal
people, explained to them its importance, but the response
was not only poor but utterly disappointing. Hardly two or
three thousand rupees were collected, a drop in the ocean.
The matter rested at that, and Dr.Srimali would not care
whether Islamic Chair was instituted or not.
Ways of God are mysterious. I had a friend by name
Kareem in Kerala, who would often visit me. He was a small
industrialist of Malapuram District manufacturing furniture.
But he was a good social worker, well-informed person, quite
enlightened and helpful for community cause. We used to
have long chats on how best to improve the conditions of
our people. In those discussions I broached the topic of
Islamic Chair in the University. He was excited and he
induced me to try one more source. He said Mohamed Koya
was the Education Minister in Kerala, and he is such a
dynamic person that he would simply jump at the idea of any
cause that might promote Islamic culture. He also said this
was February, and soon the financial year would be over, and
hence act fast in the matter.
I thought why not try. I went to Dr.Srimali and asked
his permission to go to Kerala, and make an effort. I explained
to him that there was some hope in the venture and even if
we fail, nothing would be lost, and that the hope of instituting
a Chair with the help of Karnataka Muslim was absolutely
nil. They are not the one who would realise its importance,
but the people of Kerala in general and Mohd. Koya in
particular were of a different mettle. When I had a chat
with Dr.Srimali, the matter went into his head. He did not
permit me to go. He did something better. He thought I
was too small a man for that job. He decided himself to go
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to Kerala. The very next day he moved from his house, went
to Kerala, met Koya, explained the whole thing. Koya Saheb
was greatly impressed by the former Union Minister of
Education, now the presiding deity of an important temple
of learning, begging not for Hindu cause, but Muslim cause.
He was moved and immediately wrote a cheque, not for three
lakhs, but for two lakhs. The rules did not permit a Minister
in his descretionary powers to donate more than two lakhs
for a cause not within Kerala but outside Kerala. His hands
were tied, or else he would have donated the full amount of
Rupees three lakhs. Any way in one shot Rupees two lakhs
were also handsome figure. It was the month of March and
hence funds were also there for quickly to be disposed of
before the close of the financial year. Very happily Dr.Srimali
returned with a cheque of Rs.2 lakhs for Islamic Chair.
But the question of one more lakh still remained. Do
what you may no body would open the purse for a penny.
Two lakhs were deposited in a separate account in the
University. Days passed. Time came for Dr. Srimali’s exit.
He laid down office in 1970. My good friend Prof. D. Javare
Gowda took charge as Vice-Chancellor. He sustained the
tempo of development initiated by Dr.Srimali. A lot of good
things were done in his regime particularly on the humanities
side, the Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies and Culture,
the Folklore Museum, the Kannada Encyclopaedia project in
several volume, the Ephigraphia Karnataka Revision Project,
the Kannada Dictionary project, the Dasa Literature project
in 10 Volumes, the History of Karnataka in 6 Volumes
project, the Fine Arts College project, the establishment of
South Indian Studies, the Jaina Department and so on, would
all stand to his credit. It occurred to me that I should revive
the project of the Islamic Chair. He was a good friend of
mine, a colleague in the same college. In fact, as mentioned
earlier, he and I were appointed on the same day as lecturers
in Maharaja’s College way back in the month of December
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1945. The University Order listed on the same sheet, three
names as lecturers, Javare Gowda, Samuel Appaji and Sheik
Ali.
I had good response from D. Javare Gowda. He
constituted a committee of three to examine the whole issue
de-novo. Its chairman was Dr. A.A.A. Faizi who was the
Indian Ambassador to Egypt and later Vice-Chancellor of
Kashmir University; the second Member was Humayun Mirza,
son of Mohd. Ismail Mirza, former Dewan of Mysore, and
myself as the Secretary. Faizi Saheb and Humayun Mirza came
two or three times to Mysore. We had long discussions. It
was Faizi’s idea that a Chair in Islamic Philosophy was too
narrow a field, why not the entire history of the Islamic
World. He said we should be realistic of the situation that
anything in the name of Islamic Philosophy, or culture, or
history would not go well with the Hindus who have not yet
pardoned us for the partition of the country. We should be
secular in our approach, and at the same time achieve our
purpose tactfully. What is there in the name? A rose called
by any name would smell as sweet. Discretion is better part
of valour. Therefore, he suggested that we should go for
area-studies programme, choose the heartland of Islam as the
subject of study, throw light on wider aspects than theology
or faith or philosophy or religion. The idea of “Middle Eastern
Studies” or West Asia would be more appropriate which would
cover the Islamic world where you could concentrate not only
on its culture and history but also its politics, society,
economy, geography, language and literature. I was also
thinking of an area-studies programme for a long time which
was a pet concept of U.G.C. When Faizi Saheb gave a twist
to the Islamic chair in this way, I thought I would be shooting
two birds in one arrow. I jumped at the idea.
We met the Vice-Chancellor. He agreed to the
proposal and showed me the green signal to go ahead. I had
to prepare the details, the draft rules, regulations, syllabus,
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and every little detail connected with it to bring out a new
baby into existence. All the necessary statutes, rules and
regulations were drafted by me for this new Department.
M.A. Programme consists of eight papers to be studied in
two years. I divided the syllabus into two parts, language
part and subjects part. In the language part which should
have four papers, I gave the choice either of Arabic or
Persian. Language is the key to know a society’s culture. If
our people were to have a good knowledge of Arabic that
would open vast vistas of opportunities of jobs in the Gulf
area or in Saudi Arabia. If they study Persian that would
also be helpful for seeking jobs in Persia, but also to know
the language which would be helpful for research in medieval
India as all our sources of that period are in that language.
Hence, half the course I devised was either on Arabic or
Persian.
The other half was on history, economy, society,
politics and geography. The detailed syllabus of these
subjects were also prepared. The Academic Council approved
the course of studies and the Syndicate sanctioned the
establishment of a separate Department, as a unit of the
parent Department of History. The second part of the
syllabus had History of the Middle East, Economics of the
Middle East, Geography of Middle East, Politics of Middle
East, and Sociology of the Middle East. Fortunately there
were competent staff to teach these subjects in the
University. I was taking History and Culture classes; Mr. Salar
Masood was taking Geography, Dr.Rafeeq Ahmed was
taking Political developments and Dr.Sadasivaiah was taking
Sociology. The Arabic part of it was entrusted to D.Khizer
Ali Khan. He framed a syllabus to teach Arabic which was a
novel innovation. He chose simple Arabic sentences from
Quran and taught the grammar and syntax. He would teach
from Alphabets. His method helped not only in learning the
language but also the world of God which is Quran. Thus a
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very comprehensive programme was prepared to teach Islamic
History and Culture. We wanted to have a Chair in Islamic
Philosophy with one individual to do research. What we got
was a separate Department with several academics to teach
different aspects of the Islamic countries. We made it
secular, wide-spread, more comprehensive, inter-disciplinary
and non-controversial, which is functioning today. Even Ph.D.
was carried out in this Department. One of my students of
this Department Dr.A.K. Pasha, now occupies a very high
position in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, as the
head of the West Asian Studies Programme.
I did one more thing to make this programme popular.
In the University. There was no scope for double course in
any subject. One could not choose Master’s Degree
simultaneously in two subjects.Ours was the only exception.
We made this an evening course. Any body could opt for it,
whether Arts or Science or Commerce graduate. In this way
it was an unique course. The Faculty was not regularly
recruited staff, but guest faculty who would come from
different Departments in the evening. They would get a
nominal remuneration per hour. The University had earned
interest out of those two lakhs which was spent on this
Department. It was no extra burden. It would not mind to
work an hour extra not only to get themselves enlightened
but also to enlighten others. More non-Muslims sought
admission into this Department which is still functioning
very well.
Later on a few people thought that we have diluted
the concept of Islamic studies. Other chairs were
concentrating exclusively on a particular faith but here we
have widened the scope to cover an entire region and the
people. But I feel what we have done is the right thing.
Ibn-e-Khaldun, one of the greatest thinkers of the world,
thought of writing the history of tribe, the Barbers of North
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Africa, but thought why only a tribe, why not an entire North
Africa; then thought, why only of North Africa, why not of
the whole Arabia; then thought, why only of Arabia, why not
of the entire Islamic world; then thought, why only of Islamic
world, why not of an entire mankind; then thought, why only
the history of mankind, why not how history is made. That
is why he added his prolegomena, which became the science
of culture, or the most profound philosophy of history. Our
experiment too bears a distant resemblance to Ibn-eKhaldun’s thought.
Apart from these two major contributions what I did
in the Department was to motivate the staff to rise high in
scholarships. We had one or two very bright students, whom
I took on the Staff. One was K.S. Shivanna who did his
Ph.D. under me. He was from a poor Brahmin family. His
father Srikantaiah was a bus driver. It should be said that
Brahmins are very cultured and bright.They are the cream of
the society. They hold the upper hand from centuries. The
reason is their intellect. They focused their attention on two
essential sectors, learning and priesthood. Knowledge and
religion lifted them high at all times and in all circumstances.
Their mental superiority made them guides, teachers, friends
and philosophers who filled all govt. jobs. They became
advisers to the court. Simple living and high thinking made
their position as important in the society as head is in the
human body. Tradition also says that from the head of
Brahma, the Brahmin was born, from the shoulders,
Kshatriyas, from the Stomach, the Vysya and from the feet
the Sudras. Any way, this Shivanna was my student in M.A.
when I took him as lecturer when he passed with distinction.
He joined me as research scholar also, and was not completing
his job even after a long time. Whenever I asked him about
his work, he would say, “I am collecting material Sir”. Once
I called him and told him a story which made him move so
fast that within three months thereafter he submitted his
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thesis.The story I told him was this. There was once upon a
time a great King with a large, happy and prosperous
Kingdom. He had one weakness, to listen to endless stories.
He announced that he would give half the Kingdom if any
one were to relate stories until he said “enough”. If they ended
the story before he said “enough” they would lose their head.
Many, many would compete, and would lose their head. One
clever person came and challenged for the coveted prize. He
started telling the story that there was a king with a large
Kingdom. God blessed him with prosperity. There were heaps
and heaps of corn in the fields. A bird came, picked a grain
and flew away. A bid came, picked the grain,…. A bird came
and picked the grain and flew away. The same thing of the
bird coming and picking the grain, he repeated again and
again, day after day. Whenever, the King asked what then,
what happened thereafter, the story teller would simply say
there were plenty of birds, Sir, plenty of grain. This story
became endless, and the King at last said “enough” of his
story. The King lost the game and the story teller won the
prize. I told Shivanna, this is your case. Whenever I ask
you about the completion of your thesis, you simply say,
“collecting the material Sir” like that bird picking the grain.
The lesson went home to Shivanna, and he acted so fast that
in no time he completed the job. He became a very good
teacher, rose high to the Professor’s Chair, made a name as a
good scholar, went abroad several times and contributed much
to the Department. Unfortunately his last days were not
very happy. Love of money led him to wrong path. He met
a tragic death.
Another good scholar I produced was Syed Azam, who
was very bright, hard working, honest, sober and deep. His
incisive ability to focus on vital forces in the causality of
history was very impressive. There was another student of
mine, a lady from Malanad, named Rashida, whom he
married. She too was very intelligent and rose to be a
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gazetted officer in the Government of Karnataka. Prof. Azam
too rose high in academic circles, and occupied the Chair as
Professor and contributed much to the development of the
Department. He is still working with me in social sector as
the warden of the New Muslim Hostel of which I am the
President. A third person of the Department who did Ph.D.
under me was Muddachari. He was very hard working but
not deep. Yet another student whom I liked very much and
who also did his Ph.D. under me was Surendra Rao of Puttur
in Dakshina Kannada District. He was one of the brightest
students who did work on Utiliterian Theory of James Mill.
Perhaps, he is one of the very few scholars in the country
who have attempted to do research on intellectual history. I
have not come across any one else entering into this field.
Long ago in the Department of Philosophy of our University,
there was Raghavachar who had done research on the
philosophy of history of Hegel, but from the rank of
historians I have not come across any one.
I was very fond of this intellectual history and felt
happy to guide Surendra Rao who too rose as Professor of
History not of Mysore but of Mangalore University. Like
Syed Azam he too married another student of mine, Radha,
from Coorg who was his classmate. Unfortunately this Radha
passed away very recently. Surendra Rao is still working as
Professor in Mangalore University, whom I had the
opportunity to appoint when I was Vice-Chancellor of that
University.
As Professor my job was not merely to teach students
in the class and guide research scholars for Ph.D. but also to
write and publish my own works. By God’s grace there are
over thirty books to my credit, and countless number of
research papers read in the Seminars, or Conferences or
contributed to research journals. My first publication, as
elations with H
aidar Ali”
Relations
Haidar
mentioned already, was “British R
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which in a way gifted me the Chair of Professorship. This
work was so well received that Indian Council of Historical
Research got it translated into eight other Indian languages.
My second great publication was from Macmillan on
“History: Its Theory and Method”. This is a very important
work which brought me lot of credit and was published
seventeen times. It is on the theory of history, its nature,
philosophy, methodology and historiography. I wrote it in a
very short time of only 100 days. I feel I had become a
recluse or a saint or a Sufi at that time, for nothing, nothing
was rotating in my mind at that time except this work. It
was a very difficult period for me at that time for Shahi was
not too well, and she would ask me to fetch something from
a shop. I would move from my chair with only Spengler or
Toynbee or Hegel or Ranke or Thucydides, or Herodotus or
Ibn-e-Khaldun ruminating in my mind, whom I would churn
in my mind to draw the essence of their thought so that I
could put it on paper. It was a period of thyaga or tapas,
and at the same time very exciting and satisfying to the soul.
This is the only book which had brought me a lot of money
and is still bringing me money. A book of 418 pages with a
price of only Rs.178 brought me once in a single year
Rs.30,000/- with only 10% royalty. That means at lest more
than a thousand copies must have been sold to fetch me
that much amount in that year. This is almost the reference
work and a text book in the country on historiography,
methodology and philosophy of history. Whenever I go from
Kashmir to Cape Comorin to any University History
Department scholars greet me with respect the moment they
know I am the author of that work. Real moments of joy
are those when your soul is thrilled.
My book on “Tipu Sultan: A Study in Diplomacy on
Confrontation”, and another work on Tipu Sultan brought
out by National Book Trust of India, New Delhi were also
well received. My book on “Islam: A Study in Cultural
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Orientation” published by Macmillan was so well received that
its first publication was sold out soon. In Goa, Panaji, when
I was staying in a Guest House, some one from Bombay
looked at it, borrowed it for glance, and next day, he returned
it, saying that he would go to Bombay, buy all copies from
the shop and distribute them to different libraries. He did
that. Later on I wrote four books on Dr. Zakir Hussain and
another major work I did was on Sir Syed Ahmed Khan,
“A Leader Reassessed”.
I invited scholars from Russia and America to our
Department. From the University of Moscow a scholar came
and worked with us for a month or so. I took him to
Gadbanahalli Estate also apart from Belur, Halebid,
Sravanabelagola and Somanathpur. Likewise, another scholar,
Prof.Bingham, came from America, gave a series of lectures
in the Department and became a good friend of mine. He
was also helpful for the visit of Masood, my son, for higher
studies in U.S.A. Another US Scholar from the University
of Buffalo was Howard Senghbush. He and his wife, Beatrice,
became very friendly with us. They stayed also a year in the
campus in the same row of Professors. We would invite them
often for dinners. We took them to Gadabanahalli Estate
and also to Malapur Estate which belonged to my co-brother,
Mr.Gulame Ahmed.
On the social side I became a Member of the Lions
Club, which was newly started in Mysore City. An advocate,
Gururaj Rao, induced me to be a Member. Monthly dinners
would be held. Once I took the family to a Dinner, when
Shahi was a young child. It was a buffet Dinner. People
rushed to the table with plates. Shahi made a bitter remark
about people rushing to the table. That was the last of my
membership of the Lions Club. But the social life in the
Campus was quite exciting as we had very good friends in
R.P. Singh, K.R. Ramachandran, Vishwanathaiah, Rajasekhar
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Shetty, Patnaik, Razi Saheb, Safiulla, Khuraishi Saheb, R.P.
Misra, Alexander and others. We would daily meet and chat
and sometime invite each other to table. It was in our house
that the engagement of Prof. Razi Shaheb’s daughter took
place with Haroon, son of my cousin, Henley Abdul Wahab
Saheb.
I would go to the Department before 10.00 a.m. and
return home only around 5.30 p.m. skipping the lunch. It
was my habit in the Department to collect the colleagues
and initiate an academic talk, so that they would be provoked
to think. We made it a forum of discussion. My colleague
Rangaswamaiah would highly appreciate and enjoy these group
discussions. My special field was philosophy of history and
intellectual history which I would teach with delight, for
history is all mind and events are merely clothes. History
unites the objective with the subjective. That means history
translates what is in the mind. The thinking process is more
important, for ideas rule the world. History merely
comprehends the brain waves igniting creativity which takes
concrete shape, the narration of which is history. The Union
of the two functions, thinking and doing differentiates
history from other sciences where either thinking is there or
doing is there. In literature and philosophy thinking is there,
but in science and technology doing is there. In history we
combine both, for a culture is the product of both thinking
and doing and the growth of man’s culture or progress is the
main theme of history. Where the knowledge of the physical
world is involved, for example in Physics, we enter into the
realm of science, but in history we have both science, which
is investigation of realities or facts and the analysis and
synthesis to draw proper inferences or lessons, which is arts
or thinking process. Therefore history is the only subject
which is both arts and science. In history we have different
concepts. It is a kind of knowledge, a kind of impact which
results in progress or culture, sometime decay and decline.
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In nature the law is conditioned to a set plan, but in history
there is greater complexity which exceeds the processes in
nature. Things in nature are predictable, but man who is
vain, fickle, credible is most unpredictable. Hence, many a
time expected things do not happen. Asoka having won a
war did not gloat over the victory, but renounced the War.
Bismark, lost in hunting, shooting, riding and in the fleeting
pleasures suddenly gives up all that and becomes the iron
man of Europe, the maker of history. Moses goes to fetch
fire and returns as the Prophet. History abounds in examples
where accidents play a vital role. Brutus is friendly to-day
to Caesar, but stabs him next day. Since historians is both
an investigator and a story teller, he is both a scientist and a
poet, thus uniting in himself the subjective and the objective.
The world is ruled by ideas. There are two types of
ideas, the practical and the philosophical. Practical ideas get
filtered through human will to result in realities.
Philosophical ideas are theoretical. Buddha renounced the
throne. Socrates drank the cup of hemlock. Jesus went up
the cross. All because of ideas that were not practical.
Normally monarchs do not renounce the throne, home, power,
wife, child and take to penance. People do not go to the
extent of themselves ending their life when they think they
are right. Thus a historian is not a photographer holding a
camera, but a painter lost in his skill to produce a Mona
Lisa. A historian is a statesman of ideas and a poet of the
mind.
It would give me a lot of pleasure teaching generation
of students this kind of philosophy of history and also to
explain the profound thoughts of such great thinkers as
Thucydides, Hegel, Spengler, Croce, Comte, Toynbee, or
Ibn-e-Khaldun. The greatness of India was that it absorbed
ideas from any quarter, which got fertilised in its rich
tradition of assimilation. Culturally India has been
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reinvigorated by mental contact with the West from
Alexander’s time, with the Middle East from the rise of Islam
and with Europe from the time of Vascoda Gama. More
than the students I was greatly benefited by the teaching
profession, which I consider the noblest job on earth.
10
Experiences in America
After the Second World War, America emerged as
super-power. Its superiority was there in all sectors of
material and intellectual spheres, if not in moral and
spiritual. In science and technology, in wealth and treasures,
in physical comforts and prosperity, in inventions and
discoveries, it had excelled all other nations of the world.
Added to its economic strength was there the military power,
which made it claim the leadership of the world. When it
dropped its atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
the world was shocked. It was a catastrophe of unimaginable
proportion, which took long to recover. The physical
disintegration of atoms to produce a bomb resulted in the
moral disintegration of man when greed took possession of
man’s soul. A keen competition took place among nations
to waste their resources on possession of these atomic
weapons, which became a prestigious issue, a symbol of
superiority. Soon Soviet Union entered into that race,
followed by Great Britain, France and China. Now even
developing nations such as India and Pakistan have entered
into the field and Israel already possesses a few of these
weapons. Hence, science and technology meant for human
welfare is used wrongly for human destruction. America gave
a lead in this direction, and other nations followed suit.
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This is only the negative side of the United States of
America, which is having limitless number of positive sides as
well. That nation has become a role model for others in
material prosperity, in economic development, in democratic
structure of State functioning, in the educational sector, and
in science and technology. Soon after the Second World War,
it did quite a few good things, one of which was Marshall
Plan which lifted Europe from the debris of Second World
War. It desired to present its picture of welfare states
through a series of philonthropic measures such as Fullbright
Fellowships, which invited a number of scholars from abroad
to study in USA and gain experience. I had applied for those
fellowships but could not get it to do research there. Instead
I got a chance to go to England and study there. Years
passed and I became a Professor.
In the year 1976 a pleasant surprise came on its own.
Several Universities in USA took up a programme to know
the history and culture of other nations in the world. It
should be said to the credit of America that it spares no
efforts and no money on advancement of knowledge in any
field. It suited its global ambitions to know more and more
about other countries. They took a lot of interest in Indian
history and culture, and many Universities had separate
Department of Indian Studies, and those that did not have
such Departments desired to have them. Hence, a College of
Georgia University in Atlanta by name Augusta College
desired to develop the Department of Indian Studies. It
advertised the post and called for applications. I applied for
the same and it clicked. We received information from United
States Education and Culture Foundation that I got selected.
Scholars in those days were eagerly looking for a visit
to United States, and it had been a very prestigious issue.
Many, many Indian scholars had gone there, and quite a few
of them had settled down there. Quite a few million Indians
are there in USA in all walks of life, scientists, engineers,
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241
doctors, teachers and so on. People from all parts of the
world had flocked, but the door was open only to the best,
only the cream of every country was eligible. Just at this
time when the news of my appointment as a Visiting Professor
to teach Indian History and Culture in Georgia University
was announced, negotiations were going on for the wedding
of my first daughter, Asma Kulsum. I wanted to take the
whole family, my wife and four children to USA so that they
too could get a chance to see that country. My eldest son,
Masood, had already finished his course in Engineering. He
had done his B.E. and also M.Tech from IIT, Madras. We
were very keen he should go to America and study there. In
fact our focus was on that point. My eldest daughter, Asma
had finished her M.Sc. Shahida had finished her B.Sc. and
the youngest son Zakir Hussain was still doing his M.B.B.S.
This news came at a very critical time when we had to plan
the future of our children.
The whole family went to Madras to secure the Visa
for the family, all six of us, four children, husband and wife.
Before obtaining Visa, all of us had to get our passports. It
was not very easy in those days to get passports. Several
and several formalities had to be undergone and we went
through all of them. Then we went to the American Consulate
to obtain Visa for four of us, for Masood, Shahi, Sufia and
myself. Asma got married before we left to USA and Zakir
was in the Medical College, and we did not like to disturb
him. Our great anxiety was to obtain a Visa for Masood.
He had already done his B.E. and M.Tech and we wanted
him to do some higher course in USA, get trained, and either
stay there or come back. Man proposes but God disposes.
It is not man’s wish that is operative in this world, it is God’s
will. Even that would be in the best interest of all. We
were disappointed. The officer in charge of American
Consulate, a Black Gentleman was gentle towards three of
us, my wife, my daughter, Shahida, and myself, but not towards
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Masood. He said this young man is already graduate and we
are afraid he might stay back there which is not our policy in
inviting you as the Visiting Professor. You are a V.I.P. but
not every member of your family. However, we understand
that your daughter, Shahida, is still unmarried, and both of
you, husband and wife, are away, she cannot be left alone at
home. Therefore, we are giving a Visa to three of you and
not to Masood. That was at that moment bitter
disappointment to us. We had planned and focused all our
attention to see our eldest son would go abroad woud get
another higher degree in engineering in USA, and if all went
well he would get there a good job.This dream of ours could
not be materialised. Our short-sightedness was such that we
did not think whatever happened was for our own good. It is
a different thing that we sent Masood later on to USA for
higher studies, but at that time it was too much of a
disappointment to see that what we had planned was not
coming through.
Any way all three of us, husband and wife, and
daughter left for USA via U.K. Mr. Khalid Ghani, my wife’s
younger brother, was in Wales. He was an Ornothologist
working in Wales Museum. He came to receive us and we
stayed with him for three days. He showed us a few things
in UK to Shahida, for that country was not strange to me
and my wife as both of us had stayed there before. We landed
in USA.
I had been invited to Augusta College of Georgia
University as a resource person to teach and set up a
Department of Indian Studies. My job was to advise all
Institutions of Georgia University, not merely August College,
on matters of Indian History and Culture. I was expected
to teach a course. A Professor of that College, a lady, had
been entrusted to take care of us in finding all facilities to
settle down there and also to chalk out our academic
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programme. She was a Professor in Fine Arts College. She
did all that was necessary for our stay, finding a house for
our residence, health card, telephone, and arranging official
work in the College. We got a small house of two rooms
with all facilities in August a City. It was a quiet place with
plenty of open space. The landlord lived in a separate house
about 50 yards away from our house. Augusta was a beautiful
city of Georgia about 200 miles from Atlanta, the capital of
Georgia. Augusta is world renowned for Golf, as its lawns
are perhaps the largest and finest in the whole world.
My impressions of United States are blended with
most appreciative factors and also not so appreciative. Perhaps
appreciative would tilt the balance in its favour, but a few
negative factors would dilute all its good things. There are
many, many good things which the world could emulate and
learn from America.Their inquisitiveness, their love of
knowledge, their craze for good things, their hard labour, their
restlessness to achieve more, their stress on quality and
perfection, their enterprise, their resourcefulness, are all such
that they deserve high appreciation. In political field they
have built up a democracy where the will of the people
prevails. It is a Welfare State where the largest good of the
largest number is the objective. It is a country where full
scope exists for individual enterprise, freedom of speech, of
movement, of faith, of belief, of thought, of action, and every
sort of freedom and opportunity to everyone to grow.
America is a country which is Europe writ-large. That means
after renaissance and reformation in Europe, a situation arose
where conflicts and confrontation forced the finest elements
to leave their countries in Europe and move to America for
better prospects and for free expression of their thoughts
and deeds. Thus the whole of Europe, every country of this
continent, was, as it were, transplanted in the new world.
Those who migrated were the best of the lot. They carried
their special traits as well. They did not make it a colony of
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their home country, but they made the new country their
new home. With the result the white man of Europe built a
composite culture, Christian in faith, democratic in polity,
capitalist in economy, intellectual in thought, progressive and
dynamic in action.
For a long, long time America adopted an isolationist
policy, not having much to do with other countries. In 18th
and 19th centuries when Europe was aggressively colonising,
and forcibly dominating over Asia and Africa, America was
quietly involved in developing its own land in every sector of
life. Her liberation from British colonisation and winning the
war of independence under George Washington was a great
step in her history for march towards progress. She never
looked back again. She invested all her talents in building up
the nation, and did remarkably well in business, in industry,
in science, in technology and in building institutions that
would bring wealth, welfare, prosperity, power and glory.
‘Twentieth century dragged America from its isolation.
Woodrow Wilson, a visionary, entered into First World War
and introduced USA into the vortex of World politics.
England and France would not have won either the First or
the Second World War without the massive help and
cooperation they received from America. If Woodrow
Wilson gave League of Nations to the World, Roosevelt gave
the United Nations to the world. The League of Nations
did not prevent the Second World War, and we wonder
whether the UNO would prevent a third World War. That
brings us to the negative aspect of USA.
With all the good things in the kitty of America, there
are a few bad coins as well, such as its ego, its limitless
ambition to remain a super power, its anxiety to dominate
over others, its superiority complex that “we alone are the
best in the world”, its lust for resources of others particularly
the oil wealth of the Middle East, its exploitation of the
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weaker nations through such crafty devises as its aggressive
policy to impose its ideology on others. Its ideology is
capitalism, free market, free enterprise, free society,
democratic structure, free press and so on. In theory its
policy seems to be good, but in practice it is not in the best
interest of all. Increase in wealth increase inequality. One
cannot be rich without making others poor. We need kindness
more than cleverness. We need compassion more than
passion. We need equitable distribution of wealth more than
mere reckless production; we need direction more than mere
speed; and we need God more than goods.
America in its craze for world power has become the
greatest threat to world peace. Resistance is building up to
its aggressive expansion. Its invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq,
its policy towards Syria, Lebnon and Iran, its role in Jordan,
Gulf States, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, all point in the
direction of a new type of crusades against Islam. More
frightening is the factor of Star-Wars. It is spending billions
to reach space and build such weapons of destruction which
no body could challenge. On the one hand it is preventing
every other nation not to go for weapons of mass destruction,
(the latest campaign is against Iran) on the other hand it is
busily involved and arming itself to the teeth with weapons
of mass destruction. It speaks of freedom of action and
freedom of speech, but prevents others from doing what it
does. This hypocricy has alienated the Muslim world as well
as the Latin America. This has diluted all its positive factors
of massive aid to others. It talks of human rights and denies
those rights to others. The inhuman behaviour it committed
in Abu Gharib and in Guotinamobay prisons are the latest
examples.Into this country of paradox I went with my family
to live there for a year, know more about them and share
what I knew about my country and culture.
Augusta was a small town of just over a lakh of
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people, but it was very picturesque, green, well planned. It
was a historical place reminding the colonial days when the
British had named the province Georgia. It was in the midSouth. In the north was Carolina, and in the south, Albama.
It was not a highly industrialised area and hence pollution
free. It reminded me of the hill stations of India like Ooty,
andulating up and down, every where bush greenery, tall trees,
eighteenth century old designed cottages, reminding one the
country side of England. It was more British than American,
away from the tall towers of either New York or Chicago.
That country was named “Peach country”. In America they
name regions or provinces by the prominent fruits that grow
there. This region was famous for peaches. There were apple
trees every where, and they were in such plenty that
basketfull of them were kept on the entry doors of grocery
to attract customers. You could pick any number you like.
There were of course famous shopping centres, like Kay
Market and other chain of Super Markets where you could
buy anything you need. Shahi used to like shopping. I got
her admitted first to a computer course, a diploma. She did
not like it. We changed it to a social work course. She was
not interested in studies, but she needed something to keep
her occupied.
Before we bought an automobile, a big Ford Car, a
gas guzzler, we had to walk to the College which was not far,
but perhaps we were only three, my wife, Shahi and I, who
were on the road walking. Every one had a car. It was too
much for us also to bear this situation. In the very first salary
of mine I decided to buy an used car. A brand new Toyato
was in the range of just $ 2000/- but I did not like to spend
that much money. My salary was just $ 1450/- per month.
But that was too much from our standard of life. Things
were very cheap. If you spent just $ 10/- you would get all
that you would need for a week. We looked into the
advertisements for used cars, and we found a good Ford Car
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247
for $ 650/-. It was a very large, very comfortable vehicle,
which we used for one full year roaming all over the country.
While returning, we sold it again for $ 600/- losing just $ 50/
-. Petrol was less than a dollar for a gallan, that is 4.5 litres.
It would hold 55 litres, and if I paid $ 10/- the tank would be
full and that would suffice for one full month. We used to
go to Atlanta, the capital of Georgia, a very big city, in this
car and enjoy the trip. First, we landed in Atlanta airport,
and were surprised at its largeness. It should be acknowledged
that Americans have done marvels in science and technology
lifting sky-high man’s physical comforts.
On the academic side, my work was easy. I had two
types of job, one was to teach in the College and the other
was to lecture in other units of Georgia University on Indian
history and culture. I had to help such colleges in setting up
Departments of Indian studies if they were so interested. I
was introduced to the Dean, a very refined and noble
gentleman. I had to give a few lectures to the faculty and
students on Indian society, politics, culture and history,
besides teaching two courses. One course I chose on Modern
India and the other was on Islamic History. It did not take
much time for me to take classes on this subject, for what I
knew was more than enough. What I observed in American
students different from our own students was that the former
were very inquisitive, and before I finished a statement, a
hand would go up, saying “Dr.Ali, please elaborate a bit
further on what you just now said.” They would put a series
of questions and would make the class a discussion class.
That was a very lovely affair, contrary to our Indian
experience where it is one-way traffic, the teacher speaking
all the time and the students listening all the time. Here we
do not get the impression whether the students have
understood a point or not, but there, we were very sure.
They would clarify all their doubts in the classroom itself.
They would ask what the next topic would be, and they would
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come back well prepared to ask questions. In other words
they were really interested in the subject and made good use
of the opportunity to learn what they paid for.
This brings us to yet another important difference
between the two systems of education. In India higher
education is highly subsidised. The students pay a nomianl
sum as tuition fee. That fee is paid by their parents or
guardians. But in USA the fee is very high and the fee is
met not by their parents or guardians, but by their own
efforts. They earn the money working somewhere to pay the
fees. When that fee which is too high is all paid by dint of
their own efforts, the students realise the value of money
and make good use of it. In other words American system
makes students more motivated and more serious. They plan
their life. They prepare well for that plan. Life is very
competitive. Unless they excel others, there is no chance to
come up in life. The whole ecology is such that survival
depended upon great struggle. There is an urge in them that
they should not be satisfied without anything but the best
and the chances are they get the best.
Our psychology is different, our ecology, our
philosophy, our approach, our values, our training, are all
different. We love our children so much that we do all their
jobs. The parents take lot of interest, engage tutors, or they
teach themselves without exciting the children to think on
their own. We do their homework. We make them parasites
depending too much and too much without pushing them into
outer world to mend themselves. This makes our youth
careless, irresponsible, lazy, indolent and apathetic. Easy
money doled out to the children would not make them realise
its value. Moreover, our system is degree for job. It is the
qualification, the certificate for movement to next higher
grading without checking the quantum of knowledge gained.
The third defect in our system is that there is no work
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experience. It is all book-schools; it is not work-school. It
is all theory, no practicals. We have forgotten that any
knowledge which is not applied knowledge is no knowledge at
all. The Americans are very pragmatic and they have made
their system such that any institution of higher learning
should stand on its own. It should be self-sufficient and hence
high fee. Once they charge high fee they ensure quality as
well. Quality would depend on love, labour, patience,
perseverance and imagination. They have built up over the
years a system of management where planning, organizing,
modernising, and monitoring are all highly pragmatic, effective
and fruit-bearing. Centres of excellence hold the key for the
advancement of America. We have very few such centres,
such as IIT’s, but in America that is the general pattern and
almost every institution conforms to the general rule, they
do not compromise on quality.
We went at a time in 1976 when it was election fever,
a rare opportunity for visitors. The American political system
is praiseworthy. They have devised a structure where
separation of powers exists in the three wings of the State,
the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Each is
independent of the other, and functions in full freedom.
There are checks and balances also whereby if one wing goes
wrong, mechanism exists to rectify it. Two years before we
went there, that is in 1973-74, a crisis occurred when President
Nixon was found guilty of a grave misdemeanor. He was about
to be impeached when he resigned on the condition that no
legal action would be taken against him. His Vice-President,
Jerry Ford, who took charge of the Presidency pardoned his
lapses in office, and did not allow impeachment procedures
to follow. Nixon was very much in the news for his mis-use
of his executive power called “Watergate”. In a free society
he had attempted through secret services to bug the talk of
dignitaries by installing high technical instruments. This was
a very serious breach of the trust, and the President, the
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role model of the entire nation, should not have committed
that offence. Therefore, he was removed from office.
It was a difficult time in world affairs, when the War
in Viet Nam was not yet over, when emergency had been
declared in India under Indira-Gandhi, when China had
emerged as a nuclear power and when the Soviet Union was
still a super-power. Ford continued the Viet-Nam War, and
causing heavy casualties of American life, not to speak of
billions of dollars. There was a crisis in Pakistan as well, where
another military general, Zia-ul-Huq, was emerging. Hence
the media was daily ablaze with international news. At such
a time the heat of the election campaign gripped the American
public, and we were watching this drama with great interest.
Elections in USA are quite different from what they are in
India, where excitement prevails in the constituency as the
candidates spare neither muscle nor money to win. As a
contrast, election campaigns in U.S. are very sober.
Meetings and functions do take place, but with great
discipline, restrain, decency and decorum. The media is fully
utilized, both print media and electronic. People watch T.V.
listening to the persuasive powers of two candidates.
One great difference between ours and their system
is we have limitless number of parties but they have only two
parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. The Democrats
are liberals and the Republicans are conservatives. Nixon
belonged to the Republicans, and Jerry Ford who succeeded
him was also a Republican. His rival was Jimmy Carter the
Democrat, one of the finest Presidents, after Roosevelt
and John Kennedy. Ford was moving earth and heaven,
permissible under American rules, to win. Elections in USA
are also very expensive. Millions and millions of dollars they
spend, not in a week or two, but over a period of a few
months. The selection of candidates there is also different
from our practice. In our country, whether deserving or not
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any one is eligible to contest the elections. Consequently
multiple number of independents would also enter the arena
of contest. As against this the Americans choose their
candidatesafter great deliberations spread over quite a few
months, examining the suitability thread-bare of every
individual candidate. Several preliminaries will be held before
the selection. Only two candidates emerge from the parties,
one from the Democrats and the other from the Republicans.
As Ford had put in only two years in office and had become
President not through direct vote to the Presidency, but by
virtue of his office as Vice-President, as an exigency had
occurred because of the breach of trust of Nixon. He had
been successful in getting his name approved through the
party. Likewise, Jimmy Carter had been nominated by the
Democrats.
We watched the elections, the speeches of both
candidates, their powerful and persuasive arguments and the
analysis by the experts on T.V. of the mutual merits and
demerits of both candidates. On the election day we went
to a booth as foreign visitors, and we were shown the machines
used as ballot box and explained the entire procedure. Again
in America, the candidate is not chosen directly but through
a peculiar procedure of their own. They vote to the Electoral
College. That means each State depending upon its
population would have certain candidates who form the
electoral college. A big State like California would have larger
number of candidates and a State like Navada, which is
sparsely populated would have smaller number of candidates.
The number of candidates for each State is fixed, and each
candidate has certain number of values. The votes would be
cast in favour of these local candidates who would be either
Democrats or Republicans. When the election is over,
counting would be done on the basis whether Democrats or
the Republicans are in large number in that Electoral
College. Success of Jimmy Carter or Jerry Ford would
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depend upon how many Democrats or Republicans are there
in the Electoral College of each States. Americans do not
vote to the person of Jimmy Carter or Jerry Ford, but they
vote to the Party, and each party nominates its own candidate
in every State. In the final analysis that party wins which
has larger number of candidates in the Electoral College. This
procedure is quite different from what it is in India, which
follows the British Parliamentary System and not the
American Presidency System. Any way, the Americans have
made their system workable, and it is functioning quite well.
We watched this system with great interest.
After the election, my guide took me to Atlanta, where
Jimmy Carter, who had won the elections had come for thanks
giving function to the public. I was introduced to Jimmy
Carter, as an Indian Visiting Professor. One thing should be
said about American democracy that there is perfect freedom
and equality, and that kind of snobbishness of high and low
that exists here is not there. However humble a person may
be he could have access to the President in a public function.
One interesting incident may be related here. As the
Visiting Professor to set up Department of Indian Studies, I
went to a College where Jimmy Carter had once studied.
Being excited naturally, that college invited the President to
honour him. A Professor narrated an incident to me that he
took his small child, hardly five or six years old, to the
felicitation function to the President. Obviously, the
President looked affectionately towards the child. But the
reaction of the child was quite unexpected. The child burst
out to the embarrassment of one and all, “Jimmy! I do not
like you at all”. All were flabbergasted. But President Jimmy
Carter, smiled and said, “The only person in the whole world
who has understood me correctly is this child.” All had a
hearty laugh. It was a History Professor whose child had
expressed what he felt frankly.
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This incident reminds me of a story narrated in
Gulistan of poet Sa’adi. A great King visited the house of
his Vazir, whose young child greeted the king. The king had
a bright diamond ring on his finger whose sparkling light
attracted the child. The king asked him, have you seen
anything brighter than this diamond? The child said
spontaneously, “Oh Surely! This is just nothing ?” The King
was greatly surprised and asked what it was. The child said,
it is not the ring or the diamond that is bright, but it is the
finger that wears the ring. The King was immensely pleased
with the resourcefulness of the child. It is also said in the
tradition that it was a child who decided the final fate of the
prophethood of Joseph (Yusuf) when he was caught in a very
agonizing situation. He was blamed for attempting to molest
his own land lady, whose servant he was, at a time when his
master was at the door. Zulekha, the land lady, complained
to her husband, Aziz-e-Misr, that his servant, Yusuf,
attempted to molest her, and the proof was the torn shirt
which was on his body. This was an utterly false charge, the
reality being Zulekha was herself infatuated by the
extraordinary handsome features of Yusuf, the very
embodiment of beauty. But it was difficult to say who was
right and who was wrong merely on the basis of the torn
shirt on the body of Yusuf. A child decided the issue, they
say, by suggesting if the shirt was torn, from the front, Yusuf
was wrong, for he was offensive and the lady defended herself
by tearing the shirt. On the contrary, if the shirt was torn
from the back, the lady was guilty, for he attempted to run
away, and she dragged him to her side. The shirt was
examined. It was torn in the back. It became clear that the
lady was in the wrong, which was really the case. This
incident is narrated in the Holy Quran, in the chapter on
Yusuf, but Quran does not say it is child who pointed out.
It simply says, it was some one, but a tradition attributed it
to a child. Any way, the lesson is children are sometimes very
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resourceful beyond our imagination.
My stay in USA was the fourth stage in my academic
pursuits of higher learning. First, it was Mysore, second,
Aligarh, third England and fourth America. The entire effort
was an organic process, just as the growth of a natural tree,
which has roots, stem, branches, fruits and flowers. Mysore
was the basic, the foundation or the roots which initiated
the process. It grew into a stem when I went to Aligarh and
initiated myself into research field. It blossomed into fine
flowers when I went to England, where I must admit I learned
more than any where else. In the fourth stage of my stay in
USA I gave what I possessed; I shared the fruits of my
research. I was in the ripe age of fifties having gained much
experience both in teaching and research when I went to USA
and hence that was the place of sharing my knowledge rather
than gaining anything fresh.
Nevertheless, there were many peripheral advantages
of my stay there. For example I gave a series of lectures on
Islamic culture and conducted a course to the students. It
occurred to me why not elaborate it into a book form so
that others too could be benefited. I started doing it and it
resulted in a publication by Macmillan entitled: “Islam : A
Study in Cultural Orientation” which later took the form of
“Essentials of Islam” which is still available. Secondly, I
reflected a lot on current events of the time in order to give
public lectures. That was the time of emergency in India,
and the American academics were very keen to know the
events from the mouth of an Indian scholar. That was a very
sensitive topic. If I condemned the emergency, which the
Americans wanted, I would be betraying my own country. If
I defended it, it would be against my own conscience. Very
diplomatically I would manage in the discussion that would
follow the lecture. I had in mind the concept of diplomacy
which Disraeli had used with good effect. Once a very
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intimate friend of Disraeli desired that as the Prime Minister
he should help his friend to become a member of the House
of Lords. Disraeli knew that his friend was not deserving
and he could not deny his request either. Disraeli said to his
friend that he would elevate him higher than the House of
Lords. You publicise this fact that Disraeli pressed me to
become a Member of House of Lords but I declined the offer.
This would create an impression that you are so high that
Lordship is just nothing. This is diplomacy by which Disraeli
shot two birds in one arrow. He pleased his friend also and
at the same time did not offer the position to an undeserving
person. Therefore, I would manage the questions on
emergency in a tactful manner.
I had chosen the Nehru Era for public lectures, and
that gave a lot of scope to throw light on the economic and
political developments of India. What I liked best was that
American society bestowed serious thought on making every
individual think for himself. There were thinking tanks in each
sector of life, a group of intellectuals who would
provoke people to reflect deeply and come out with
suggestions to solve the problems of the day. I would take a
lot of interest in such discussions. Sometimes the Faculty
members would invite us to dinner and after the dinner
discussions would follow. They were greatly interested in
Sufism and often I would talk on that subject. A society
steeped in materialism, physical comforts and fleeting
pleasures would listen attentively to Islamic mysticism which
had been much influenced by mystic thoughts of other
religions as well.
Our social life in USA was the weekly meetings in
Islamic centre. America had become the last resort of the
finest individuals from all over the world to seek gainful
employment and settle down. As the country was rich,
very large in size and resources and thinly populated, it
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encouraged emigration, and hence qualified, talented, skilled
and enlightened folks from all parts of the world had flocked
to that country. There were quite a few Indians, Pakistanis,
Japanese, Chinese, Arabs and from every conceivable place
on earth. There was a sizeable proportion of blacks in their
own population. Therefore, America has become a melting
pot of various races, colours, cultures, languages, manners and
morals. Those who had come from outside knew very well
that their survival depended on giving their best to the land
where they stayed. Hence they worked fingers to their bone
and tried to excel the locals in every way. America
exploited this situation to its own great advantage. It got
cheap labour. What they should have paid to the Americans
for a particular job, they got it done in less than half of it
through Chinese or Japanese or Indians. All these three races
were very intelligent, industrious and resourceful and have
contributed much to the American society.
Among South Asians there were both Indians and
Pakistanis. Ever since 1947 Pakistan was in good books of
America being a member of the Western Block. As India
had formed a third Block, America regarded India as a rival.
It was closer to Soviet Union than to America and hence
more Pakistanis took advantage of this situation and migrated
to America. There were quite a few of them where I lived.
Because of cultural affinity they became very friendly.
Besides, the large number of Islamic countries as many as 55
in the world had contributed its own quota of emigration to
USA, and that country had become a mini-Islamic world of
Egyptians, Iranians, Saudians, Syrians, Palestinians,
Pakistanis, Iranians, Indonesians, Bengaladeshis and so on.
They would all come to the Islamic Centre on Sunday which
is the meeting ground. Men, women and children would
gather there, and it would be a good social gathering. Each
family would bring some refreshment or the other to the
Centre and we would share it. It was a good gathering
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particularly to the ladies, for they needed more than men a
place to chat to. I would take my wife and Shahida and they
would enjoy it. A Pakistan gentlemen and his wife Shahla
became good friends. He would supply us “Halal” mutton
which we would store in fridge.
Social life included a kind of picnic to some place of
interest. The Pakistani friends would arrange the trips to
some place and we would join them on Sundays if we did not
go to the Islamic Centre. More interesting were our trips
to some country side in the company of Prof.Smith, who
became a good friend of ours. He was from the English
Department and Shahi had taken a course in English. He
became very friendly with us. He would often take us to
dinner to some Restaurant, mostly Chinese, where we would
enjoy not only the meal but also his chat. He was a bachelor
and had a good library. As a Professor of English language
the talk was on literature which was of much interest to me
as well.
I had a chance to visit Wisconsin University which is
in the mid-west of USA. A friend of mine, Dr. Frykenberg,
Professor of History in that University, was also there in
London when I was doing research. He was also at that time
a scholar of London University. His father was a priest once
in Andhra, and he too knew Telugu very well. He invited me
to lecture in the University on the sources for the history of
Tipu Sultan. As the budget he allotted for the trip did not
permit me to take my wife and Shahi too to Wisconsin, I
went alone, not for long, only for two days. He had built a
good Department of Indian Studies there. A person from
Varanasi, Dr.Narain, whom I knew in the Indian History
Congresses, was the Head of the Department of Ancient India
in Wisconsin. He too invited me to his residence and we
had a long chat. University systems all over USA have a
common pattern, and Wisconsin was no exception. It was to
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invest very liberally on research work and that fund was to
be used most effectively by the Faculty. The sense of
responsibility the Faculty had, the commitment they had for
creativity were all common features of all Universities.
America became a Super-power by the intellectual power of
those who had a vision that Universities must be supported
because they stand at the summit of higher learning which
holds the key for the welfare of man. There is very close link
between the academics on one side and the executives of big
business and industries on the other side.The latter endow
heavily on Universities to do research on areas which the
industries need, and the former utilise that fund most
effectively to advance knowledge. Both are benefited. The
industries get the know how at a much less cost by instituting
special chairs in the Universities than what they would have
incurred in case they wanted to set up separate laboratories,
infra-structure and faculty. Likewise, the Universities would
feel happy that they were getting massive support from the
industries to do that which would have cost them much. The
type of linkages that exist in America between the academics
and the big business is something very praise worthy.
As the travel from Augusta to Wisconsin and back
was through night journey, for the night flights are at half
the price of day flight, I travelled both ways in the night. I
had parked my car in August airport itself. While returning
it was 1 AM when I reached Augusta. I was driving home
which was more than 20 miles from the Airport when I
noticed some body was following me. I speeded up the car,
faster and faster, and noticed that the car was also briskly
following me, until signals were given that I should stop the
car. I did. It was the police car. They checked my passport,
licence and all other documents and found them all correct.
They allowed me to go. This indicates the vigilance of the
Police and the sense of security they have. If this was the
case thirty years ago, long before 9/11, one could imagine the
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type of security they are having at present, when every second
of their life is gripped by fear, because of what they have
done in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Another instance of interest I had in America was
my trip to Washington through the same night flights which
are cheaper. Because I had to buy the ticket for personal
work in Washington I could not afford day-flight. I had to
go to Foreign office of USA in connection with the Visa to
my son, Dr. Zakir Hussain, who had been left behind in India,
and who desired to join us, so that all of us could return
together. There was some problem about the issue of Visa,
and they needed a clarification for which I had to personally
go to Washington. From August to Washington, it is just
one hour flight. I reached Washington at 2 a.m. in the night
and had to pass the night in some hotel. The Air-port was
quite a few miles from the Centre of the City. I took a taxi
and told the Driver to take me to a Hotel of medium size
where the charges were moderate. He took me to several
Hotels, and every where the same refrain was there, the Hotel
was full. He roamed and roamed from one motel to another,
from one hotel to another but to no use. I could not find
accommodation any where. It was almost 5 a.m. for nearly
three hours up and down we traversered the boulevards of
the sprawling Washington, the hub of global power. At last
I asked the taxi driver his name. He said my name is Yusuff.
He was a black Muslim. He enquired my name. When I
mentioned he was thrilled. One could imagine how happy I
too must have felt at that moment of night. He suggested
that he would take me to his home where I could pass the
night. I hesitated and he guessed I was not willing. He placed
an alternative which I accepted. He said “ I would take you
to a mosque where you could rest for a while. It is already
5 a.m. fajar is not far off. It is a mosque where only blacks
come. You too could join us for morning prayer. Because
you are a Professor – I had indicated to him my identity and
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the purpose of my visit to Washington - you may address
the congregation on Islam after the fajar namaz” I agreed
very happily. He took me to the mosque, which was not
very big, had my vazu or ablution, rested for a few moments
when morning Azan was called out. I joined the prayers and
after the Namaz addressed the gathering on a few essentials
of Islamic teaching. They felt very happy.
Mr. Yusuff brought me break-fast at 8 a.m. He was
with me almost the whole day. At 10 a.m. he took me to
the Foreign Office, waited there for one or two full hours
until I got my job done. The Foreign Office, External Affairs
was called HEW – (Home, External Affairs and Welfare) –
was a massive complex. At last I went to the desk where my
work was due, and the officer was again a black person, this
time a lady. She was also very kind and courteous, and got
the job done in no time. It took hardly 10 or 15 minutes in
her office for the whole paper work to be processed. I was
free thereafter. I had to pass the whole day in Washington
because my flight was again in the night at 12 a.m. Yusuff
became my guide to take me to several places of Washington.
I was very keen to see the Capitol Hall, the hub of legislative
power, the White House, the Centre of World power, the
Smithsonian Museum, the symbol of intellectual power, and
the office of the National Geographical Magazine, the focus
of man’s explorations. Yusuff took me to all these places.
White House, Capital Hill, we glanced from outside but I
spent quite some time in Abraham Lincoln place, and
Smithsonian Museum where I saw the relic of what Armstrong
had brought from the moon. It was a piece of attraction for
all visitors to the Museum, a small rock kept in a glass box,
not different from any granite rock. I went through the entire
Museum. I went to the office of the National Geographical
Magazine, which has done yeoman service to the realm of
knowledge in
throwing intensive light on God’s wonder in
creativity on this earth. History is a drama which is enacted
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on the stage of Geography, and hence a student of the drama
of history desired to inspect the stage which had been made
so explicit, so clear, so exhaustive so informative and so
interesting. I had a chat with one of the staff there, and he
was very kind enough to enlighten me on the history and the
mission of this wonderful Magazine.
When Zakir joined us we toured many places in
America, and visited many friends. A relation of ours
Mr.Maqbool Hussain, son of Janab Mohd. Ishaq Saheb of
Baidney Estate, was working in the neighbouring State of
Georgia. He was an engineer working in a firm. He once
called on us and stayed with us for a day. In return he invited
us to his place. We went there and had good time for two
days. Zakir was also with us. A neighbour of his, an old lady
wanted some help, to move her furniture from one place to
another. Thinking it would be a help to an old lady, myself
and Zakir voluntered to help her. We went to her flat and
physically moved the cots, chairs, bureaus and other furniture
from one place to another, wherever she desired, hoping the
best she could do at the end was to say thank you for our
labour. But she calculated every minute and every second of
our labour, and calculated that in terms of the permissible
wages as per law for every hour. It came to a few dollars,
perhaps 10 or 12 dollars. Despite our protests and protests,
she insisted that we should take that amount, or else here
conscience would prick. This shows the individual ethics of
those people, who did not like to take undue advantage from
any one. Apart from the politics of that country which has
shown increasing tendency to dominate over others, to exploit
the resources of others, and to exhibit their superiority over
others, the common man had built up a different kind of
ethics which is very praise worthy.
We would often go to the residence of the Dean who
was very kind and particularly his wife would solve any
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problem we had, She would offer to calculate my income-tax
account, which was a bit complicated in the sense that there
was scope for tax deductions in several ways which we did
not know, and she would help us in this regard. After Zakir
joined us we went to Florida to see the Disney land. Both
Shahi and Zakir enjoyed the trip.
Now we could recall that our experiences in America
benefited us in a few ways. It was a good change from the
routine. We had heard a lot about that great country which
had made progress in all sectors of life. We had a chance to
visit that country and get ourselves acquainted with their
positive and negative points. The positive points are their
quest for knowledge, inquisitiveness, urge to move forward,
hard labour, enthusiasm, imagination and perseverance. They
were on top of the world in science and technology, in business
and commerce, in industry and inventions, in economic power
and military strength and also in political shrewdness to spread
their influence over the world. It is certainly a functioning
democracy where the will of the people prevails. To prevent
monopoly of power, no President could have more than two
terms, however, popular or powerful he may be. To avoid
making him excessively powerful there is the separation of
powers, where by the legislature, the executive and the
judiciary act independently and enjoy specific powers
exclusively without fear or favour. This has resulted in checks
and balance and also integrated them into one whole. For
example any bill passed by the Congress, that means the
House of Representatives and the Senate would not become
an Act until it receives the assent of the President. He has
the right to send the Bill back for review, but he does not
have the power to reject it. That means what the legislatures,
the people’s representatives pass should have the approval of
the Chief Executive also, who is also directly elected by the
people, but stands on a different footing. He is like the King,
the only one standing at the summit of constitutional
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authority, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the
Head of Government with powers over every Department of
State, appointing his own cabinet controlling, guiding, planning
and executing all decisions. Likewise the judiciary is all
powerful as a watch dog to observe whether the two other
bodies are functioning in accordance with law or not. That
is the political machinery is a functional democracy which
translates people’s will in all important State affairs.
The Americans are God-fearing people as well, and
they are deeply religious. But they have separated the Church
from the State, and have not allowed the Church to play any
part in politics. The negative aspects of their culture is that
it is highly materialistic, dollar-oriented, money minded.
Every one asks the question, what could I get out of it, how
is that helpful to me. It is an individualistic society highly
motivated to make progress in every sector. Each for himself
is the motive, with the result that children when grow up
would not care for the parents. Old age is a problem. Senior
citizens have to pass their life in Old-age homes. There is lot
of laxity in morals. It is a permissive society. Even gaymarriages are heard of. Woman is commercialised in the sense
her body or beauty is used to advance business.
11
Vice-Chancellor of a New Universities
A University standing at the summit of higher learning holds
the key for the welfare of man. I had never imagined that I
would one day hold that key. I had of course, dreamt of
something, and that was to be a Professor, which was life’s
ambition, which God in His mercy, had bestowed on me, not
only in India but also in America. But it was beyond my
imagination that Divinity had in view something higher than
that to me. I feel the intended position was the highest in
the world, for Mr.Harold Macmillan, who was the Prime
Minister of Britain, the most powerful nation on earth those
days when it had won the Second World War, when offered
the Chancellorship of Oxford University, he had said that he
regarded this offer of the University higher than the post of
Prime Ministership. One could imagine the dignity of the
office to preside over a temple of learning. When a person is
asked to set up a new University, where none existed before,
it could be still higher honour, for he would be the architect
of a structure that would shape the destiny of our youth.
I returned from America in June 1977 with my family,
staying with Khalid in U.K. for two or three days. I reported
to duty to the University, but I had to do some urgent work
of the completion of the building in Saraswathipuram which
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was only half-finished at the time we left for America. I have
indicated earlier that a new Registrar, Mr.Das, an IAS
Officer, had served a notice on all the staff who owned a
house of their own to vacate University Quarters, if they had
occupied.
Since I owned a house, I was not eligible to
continue my stay at No.5, Professors’ Quarters in
Manasagangotri. Our protests in this regard did not have
effect, but it was a blessing in that we thought of adding a
floor to the house, for which the University was good enough
to sanction a loan of Rs.12,000/-. The house I had built in
Saraswathipuram in 1955 was 1200 sq.ft. Addition of the first
floor in 1975, 20 years later would cost 7 times more, for in
1955 I had built not only the main ground floor of 1200 sq.ft.
but also 180 sft. of garage also in less than Rs.10,000/-. But
only for 1200 sq.ft we needed nearly Rs.75,000/- in 1975, the
cost had escalated so much. Thirty years later now in 2005
or in 2007, the cost would be around six lakhs, that means
10 times more than what it was in 1975. Such is the inflation,
and such is the devaluation of our money. With only
Rs.12,000/- borrowed from the University the house could
not be completed. I had to struggle hard. Fortunately, I
had saved something from the salary as the Visiting Professor
in America, which came to my rescue. The completion of
the house in the last stages would require both money and
time. We had vacated the University Quarters when we left
for USA. A student of mine, Dr.M. Nanjundappa, Lecturer
in JSS College, was staying in our house until we returned
from abroad, for renting out to any one was highly risky as
he would not vacate it when we needed it. He had taken
good care of our house during our absence, including planting
two cocoanut trees, one of which is still bearing fruits.
Since the house needed some more work, I left my
family in Gadabanahalli Estate itself. Masood had become a
Lecturer in JCE College, and Zakir had not yet finished his
Medical course. Asma had been married and staying either in
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Bangalore or in her Coffee Estate. Within a few weeks I
finished the needed work of the house, and my wife returned
from the Estate. The three years we passed from 1977 to
1980 were not very happy, as Shahi was not feeling too well,
Asma was not happy with married life, and Masood before
joining JSE was working in Kudremukh Iron Works which
was not a good place. He fell ill, got jaundice and came
back. My wife too developed some irritating temper and did
not have any cordial relations with me. Domestic life showed
increasing tensions. I had to take Shahi several times to
Bangalore. During this time of stress I thought the best
anti-dote to sorrow was work and got intensively engaged in
creative work. I produced three books, of importance besides
several other publications.
What gave me great relief is the authorship of my
book, “History: Its Theory and Method” brought out by
Macmillan. Apart from books on Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan,
this is the one that brought me a lot of credit. I had taught
philosophy of history, methodology of history and
historiography, that is history of history for years, and it
occurred to me that I should write a book on it. This work
was completed in a record period of 100 days, something
lurking in my mind of Napoleonic 100 days. I still recall,
those were days almost of penance, when my heart, mind and
soul were fully immersed in this task, when I was never aware
of anything else in the world except the contents of this work,
which were daily flowing through my pen on paper. While
walking or eating or even talking to any one, what was upper
most in my mind was either Hegel or Spengler or Toynbee
or Thucydides or Livy or Tacitus or Ibn-e-Khaldun.
The second book published by Macmillan on Islam
also gave me a lot of pleasure, but the draft of it I had already
written in America. My work on Gangas of Talkad engaged
my day time in the Department where I dictated it to the
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Research Scholar Lakshamma. It also came out very well
and was published by Prasaranga of Mysore University. The
fourth book on Tipu Sultan was published by Geetha Book
House under Rao and Raghavan. Besides, a few other books,
such as on West Asia, South India, Hoysalas were also
published. Holding Seminars, attending conferences, guiding
scholars, teaching students, writing books and running the
household had become the routine of the day after my return
from America.
In the Spring of 1980 some hot news started spreading
that the Government of Karnataka was seriously thinking of
establishing two more Universities, one in Mangalore and
another in Gulbarga, which would be the addition to the
already existing three Universities of Mysore, Bangalore and
Dharwar. The Government had appointed a committee to
examine all aspects and report the possibility of starting these
Universities. V.K.R.V. Rao was the Chairman of this
Committee which had prepared a feasibility Report.
Discussions were going on like this for quite some time, when
there was a change in the Government. Mr. Gundu Rao
became the Chief Minister of Karnataka, first time a
Brahman in office. At the centre the power-centre was Sanjay
Gandhi and some young Turks like F.M. Khan were close to
him. Suddenly, the new Government decided to do
something spectacular, and one of them was to set up two
new Universities, one in Mangalore and the other in Gulbarga,
areas which had become important parts of Visala Karnataka.
Obviously, the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor was
the first step to go about this job. This office has been much
sought of by academics these days, who do not leave any stone
unturned to get this job. The appointment of V.C’s in the
Universities has a set pattern under the Statutes. First, a
search committee is constituted, normally of four members,
one a nominee of the Chancellor, the second of the Senate,
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the third of the U.G.C. and the fourth of the Government.
The nominee of the Chancellor becomes the Chairman of the
Committee which chooses three persons, of whom one is
picked by the Chancellor, at present by the Government, as
the Vice-Chancellor. In the case of a new University this
procedure is not followed. A person is directly nominated
by the Chancellor, who is the Governor of the State, on the
advice of the government. There was hectic lobbying in
academic circles for this post, and I was watching the game.
Sri Govind Narayan, a very gentle and refined person was
the Governor of Karnataka in those days. Day in and day
out several names were floated in air for this job. Normally
such jobs have been politicised. Gone are the days when mere
merit, ability, knowledge, wisdom, skill and experience were
the criteria for the selection; now it is caste, creed and
influence. As good luck would have it, my name appeared in
the news. Suddenly, it occurred to the Government that
minorities and scheduled castes have long been ignored in this
sector of academic life, and they should be given a chance.
When it was the case of Scheduled Caste, the name of
Narayana, Professor of Botany in Central College figured out
and when the turn of the minorities came up, they turned
around and searched for a good academic. There were hardly
two or three full-fledged Professors among Muslims in the
Universities. It is a pity they are as rare as the horns on the
head of a horse. Fortunately, they thought of me. I suspect
it was Mr. F.M. Khan, who was very close to Gundu Rao,
who might have suggested my name. Both of them hailed
from Coorg.
When my name was floated there was not much of
a controversy. There were no rivals to me in my own
community, and other communities could not pick any faults
in me to oppose my candidature. I was tipped for Gulbarga
University, where the sacred Sufi, Hazrat Gesu Daraz, had
once played a major role in the spread of Islam. Newspaper
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flashed our names, Dr. Narayana’s for Mangalore, and mine
for Gulbarga. But God knows what made the Government
change their mind, the reality moved in the opposite
direction. I was selected for Mangalore and Narayan for
Gulbarga. It was all very surprising to me. I had never
dreamt of that, never lobbied for it, never desired it, never
expected it. What I had struggled hard was for a position
first of a Reader or Asst.Professor, which I never got, and
then of a Professor which I got in a very graceful manner. I
was very happy in this position of both teaching, guiding
research students and doing research. I felt I was not cut
out for this kind of a mundane job of setting up a University,
which involved not only administrative skill, academic stature,
but also political tact to manage the affairs in a sensitive
area such as Mangalore. This job required great tact to deal
with the staff, the students, the parents, the public and the
governments, both at the State level and at the Centre, where
U.G.C. holds the purse. Therefore, when my name was floated
I was all alolng nervous whether I would size up myself to
the requirements of the job . Still there was a bit of inner
delight in the soul that the chair would automatically offer
the required potential, and that God would be good to us if
we sincerely attempt to use the gifted intellect to the full.
The family too rejoiced at the thought that I would
be promoted. They had witnessed a long innings of 16 years
as lecturer, and another innings of 16 years as Professor
without any substantial change in the mode of living and
status. A teacher’s job is noble in character but poor in
economic return, and those who measure life in monetary
terms would not be very happy. A Sub-Inspector in Police
Department or a clerk in Sub-Registrar’s office earns much
more than what a Professor does, and hence people sometimes
think that a Professor is only a church mouse. Perhaps, my
family too thought what I earned was not enough for the
growing needs, and it was a fact also, for as a Professor my
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account in the Mysore Bank was never written in black ink,
it was always written in red-ink, that means over-draft. Even
from economic point of view, the promotion was a great relief,
apart from social status.
In September 1980 I got a call from the Governor’s
office that I should meet him. I went to Raj Bhavan and
the Governor was very gracious enough to break the news
that the Government had decided to appoint me as the ViceChancellor of a new University, a very challenging job. We
had a long chat nearly for an hour discussing the multifarious
activities involved in building a new University. I should say
God blessed me with the honour of being the V.C. of not
one but of two Universities and both these were new
Universities. One could be a V.C. of some established
University, or of one to be newly established, but the task of
establishing of two new Universities in two different places,
one in Karnataka and another in Goa, is something rare. I
have to thank God, and feel very fortunate that Almighty in
His mercy bestowed on me this honour. Sometimes, in lighter
vein, I used to say that to be a V.C. of an established
University is something like going to the show room of
Maruthi Car, buy the vehicle, put petrol and drive home, but
to set up a new University is something going to a Workshop,
fabricate a machine of motor car, give it full shape of a vehicle,
and then drive the car. This was Mangalore, where there was
already a workshop, a P.G. Centre and a campus. But to be
of another University in Goa, was much more difficult, because
it was something like going to the iron-ore, dig the metal,
bring it to the workshop and then fabricate the machine. In
Mangalore there was at lest a campus, but in Goa I had to
actually buy the land, for in the middle of Government land
in Bambolim, there was private land which we had to
purchase, the negotiation of which itself involved hard labour.
This experience of being the Chief Executive prompted me
and Janab Hashim Ali of Hyderabad, who too was V.C. of
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two Universities, but they were established ones, (Osmania
and AMU) to think of a joke. A person who was V.C. went
to God and pleaded that he should be given at least in the
heaven a good berth, for he had suffered much as V.C. on
earth. God was pleased to oblige him and gave him a good
berth. Yet another person, like Hashim Ali and Sheikh Ali,
went to God and said, “Oh! God, please give me a still better
berth, for we have suffered more setting up two Universities.
“God said, “Go to hell, you are used to hell; having known
what the job was, why did you accept the second job” ?
The month of September has gone well with my stars.
That was the month I went to Aligarh, that was the month
when I went to London, and that was the month when I
went to Mangalore to report as Vice-Chancellor. The earlier
two occasions were to gain knowledge, and the last was to
administer and manage how best to diffuse knowledge. It
was a new experience, and I had my own doubts whether I
could be successful in this field as well. When I look back
from this distant time I feel God was very good to me every
day, I worked hard night and day, and He blessed me with
unimaginable success. It was a Friday when a car came from
Mangalore to pick me. One Mr.Mani, an Asst.Registrar, had
come to take me. The family was very happy at the prospects
of a change in the situation of life. They gave me a warm
send off. I had to go alone, for the family could not be shifted
before residence was arranged there. We left around 9 A.M.
and stopped near Mercara at the coffee Estate of F.M. Khan,
Blottery and Baikere, and had good lunch. On the way we
performed our Friday prayers. For quite a few weeks I had
to stay in the Government Circuit House in Mangalore.
I took charge of the office. The P.G. Centre was about
18 Kms from Mangalore at Konaje. The University was born,
but it was as helpless as a human baby. It had no structure,
no office, no staff, no infra-structure of any sort. Every thing
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had to be created afresh. The first question was to fix an
office, a building had to be located. It had to be only in
Mangalore, not in Konaje, a village where no facility of any
sort was available. Luckily we found a building owned by the
Church very close to St.Aloysius College, near the Fort Eidgah
in the Centre of the Town. One Fr.Roni Prabhu was in charge,
a very fine gentleman who became very good friend of mine.
We rented out that building. It was an old bungalow with
plenty of space. The Government had posted a Registrar, an
IAS Officer, a lady, Mrs. Malti Das. Her husband, Mr. Das
was also IAS and was the Deputy Commissioner of the
District. This was a good augery, for DC of a District
commands a good deal of influence, and when his wife is my
Registrar, a key administrative position in the University, it
would facilitate many matters. The first problem was the
basic core minimum staff, non-teaching, such as
Superintendents, Clerks, Attenders, peons etc. We could not
immediately advertise the posts and fill them, for that would
be raw hands, absolutely without any experience. Hence, we
requested the D.C. to spare on loan or deputation staff from
his office. He obliged. We got a number of clerks and other
non-teaching staff to the University. As for higher staff as
Asst.Registrar, Deputy Registrar etc., we got it from our own
P.G.Centre.
One great facility in Mangalore was there existed
already a Postgraduate Centre where a few Science, Arts and
Commerce Departments were functioning. It was this P.G.
Centre that was to be up-graded as the nucleus of University.
The Univgersity was to do two important functions, one was
to organise postgraduate teaching and research, and the other
was to affiliate Degree Colleges within a particular zone,
conduct examinations and award Degrees. There were more
than 50 affiliated colleges within the jurisdiction of Mangalore
University which consisted of two Districts, South Kanara
and Coorg. Coorg had very few colleges, and only Mangalore
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and S.K. District had plenty of them. Most of these colleges
belonged to the Catholic Church which was foremost in the
educational field. The second category was of Manipal groups.
Dr.Pai of Manipal had done wonders in the educational
sector by his new concept that educational doors should be
opened to one and all, in particular to those who could afford
to meet its cost. Technical and Professional education, like
engineering and medicine, available at Govt. institutions had
very limited seats, and only a few highly merited or those
who came under the reservation quota alone would get
admission. In such a situation when private initiative entered
the field and opened a chain of institutions, it opened a flood
gate to education market. But it was available only to those
who would pay donations or high cost to run these
institutions. Dr. T.M.A. Pai revolutionised education sector
through his privatisation policy, which led ultimately to a
business when some unscrupulous persons exploited the
concept and made a lot of money. The Manipal group entered
into yet another lucrative field of finance. They opened a
chain of Banks like Syndicate Bank. Mangalore became a hub
of such banks where not one but 25 banks took their birth,
five of them like Syndicate Bank, Canara Bank, Corporation
Bank, Vijaya Bank and Karnataka Bank were nationalised.
The surplus money was invested into the educational sector
which brought them double advantage, fostering higher
education and gaining good profit through this safe and useful
investment. It was the resourcefulness of Pai family which
gave a good lead to put education on the national map of
India.
Apart from the Church and the Manipal group the
Bunts of S.K. District had a number of educational
institutions. They too were very wealthy, educated and
enterprising people. Thus I was dragged from mere pedagogy
field into the wider world of vast vistas where I had to deal
with several people of diverse interests with different
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problems, sometimes very naughty. Only one instance is
enough to show how complex and difficult was the job of a
new V.C. who was a novice in the administrative field. The
different colleges whether Arts, Science, Commerce,
Engineering or Medical of S.K. District and Coorg had all
been affiliated so long to Mysore University. Now a change
had to take place from Mysore to Mangalore University. The
procedure was to inspect these colleges to find out the
functioning and the infra-structure and then take a decision,
a kind of required formality. The sensitive institutions were
technical and professional which were money-spinning and
greatly in demand, particularly medical. I appointed a
Commission to inspect the Medical Colleges of Manipal group
both in Mangalore and Manipal, with Dr.Y.P. Rudrappa as
the Chairman, who was then the Director of Health Services
in Karnataka. I never knew that Dr.Y.P. Rudrappa and the
Manipal people were at loggerhead. He was very up-right,
disciplined and strict officer who would go to the depth to
probe weaknesses and short-comings of any institution. He
reported that there were many short-comings in those
institutions with hardly any full-time Professor. All of them
were retired Doctors who had their own private clinics and
they came as guest-speakers and took classes on part time
basis. This suited both the management and the staff. The
Management would get the services of most highly qualified
persons with rich experience at a minimum cost, just a token
of one or two thousand, and those Doctors were happy not
only because they got a chance to update their knowledge
through teaching but also because they would get a wider
area to popularize their practice in the clinic.
A very adverse Report was presented by Dr. Y.P.
Rudrappa that the whole position was very unsatisfactory. It
became a serious problem to me. If I listened to the Report
I had to serve notice to Manipal to rectify the matter or get
ready for disaffiliation. Both these issues were impracticable.
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They would not change the course, for that would affect both
their purse and also the quality of teaching for the new
recruits would not teach so well as the retired seasoned and
matured professors. I could not afford to alienate the
Manipal group, who were like terrors, most powerful in
political influence, financial strength, management skill and
human resourcefulness. I was in a fix. The press too was in
their hand. A new Vice-Chancellor inexperienced, a Muslim,
could be an easy target in their hands for virulent attacks,
and I was no match to them. It should be said of them that
they did not immediately burst out at me.
The Registrar of Manipal Academy was Ram Das Pai,
a sober and fine gentleman. I sent for him. He came and I
told him not to get impatient, not to get offended, and not
to take hasty steps. I knew without the support of those
people who had a big empire I could not function even a day
peacefully. I told him I would rectify the matter and I needed
some time. He agreed and said he would wait for some time.
What I did was under some technical flaw the Report was
not to be implemented but to be revised, for which I set up
a fresh Commission with Chairman who was not hostile but
friendly to Manipal group. It was done. A fresh inspection
team came, inspected the Institutions, reported the matter,
which was favourable to Manipal, and thus the matter was
happily solved. Ram Das Pai was very happy with my action.
He became a good friend of mine.That group remained loyal
to me thereafter, and supported me in every venture I took.
Our friendship continued for a long time. This is only one
issue. There were many, many occasion when I had to tread
very carefully for that office is full of thorns. I remembered
what Lord Ashby had said about this office.
Another instance of my experience in the early days
as Vice-Chancellor could be narrated. We had a peon in the
Accounts Section who was corrupt. He would demand a graft
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from those who needed a certificate or a voucher or some
other work to be done. After taking the bribe he would go
to the concerned office staff and say, “Registrar wants this
to be issued early”. The concerned staff would believe him
since he was using the name of Registrar and would do the
job immediately. Once he was caught. The Registrar was
present and it was evident he had black mailed. Registrar
said she had not ordered. Since Malthi Das was a strict IAS
Officer, who later rose to the rank of Chief Secretary to the
Government of Karnataka, she wanted to take disciplinary
action. She wrote on the file that the attender must
be dismissed. When the file was put up to me, I wrote
“approved.” Later, in the evening I reflected that for a small
fault it was not good to dismiss a person from service.
He would lose his livelihood, and he would be no where
thereafter, as it would be a serious black mark. Next day,
I called the Registrar, and said I wanted to give him a less
severe punishment and hence the order of yesterday, on
revision of the situation, I would like to withdraw. She said
“no way, it could be done; once you have passed the order, it
could not be revoked”. She further added that if we overlook
this matter which is a serious one, we would be laying a bad
precedence. If we are strict in the initial stages itself, we
would not face problems later. I reflected a bit on the matter
and recalled what Napoleon had said, “If the people call a
king a kind man, his reign is a failure”. Again, what
Radhakumad Mukherji had written about Mauryan Empire
that its downfall was brought about by Asoka’s policy of the
renunciation of war. In politics if justice is not done, that
would be worse than crime. This initial step of punishing
one man brought about a system and order, and the staff
was careful not to repeat it again.
Limitless number of problems confronted me. The
choice of three officers was crucial in any University system,
one is the Registrar, the second is the Controller of
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examinations and the third was the Finance Officer.
Government had appointed the Registrar, Malti Das had
joined duty even before I went there. Appointment of Finance
Officer was also the concern of the Government for they
would depute on loan for sometime an officer from the
Accounts Department. That was also not my affair, but the
choice of the Controller of Examinations was left to my
discretion. I wanted to take some one from Mysore University.
I knew one B.K. Shivanna, who was in the Kannada
Department of Mysore University, a reliable, competent and
resourceful person. I appointed him. There was an uproar in
the whole of Mangalore that Mysore University people were
invading Mangalore. Very stiff opposition was built up. One
Mr.Shenoy, the Principal of Canara College was particularly
in the vanguard. He was hoping to get that job. Examination
work needed great integrity, as any leakage would cause
scandals. Mr.Shivanna did his job so well, and organised it
on such a high level that when he wanted to go back after a
year there were pressing demands for his retention.
At the lower level we wanted to have good Deputy
Registrar. I took Dr. K.V. Kaveriappa from the Academic
side. He was the Reader in the Department of Bio-Sciences,
which was a good Department. He too rose high later in
life, and at present he is the Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore
University. This choice was also good. We needed in the
administration honest, hard-working and reliable men. My first
job was to have a good team so that new creative and useful
thoughts could be effectively implemented. I wanted to have
a good Personal Assistant. The choice fell on Vivek Rai,
who rose high later in office. He too became Vice-Chancellor
of Kannada University at Hampi and later of Karnataka State
Open University in Mysore. A good number of scholars I
had encouraged or recruited rose high and occupied the chair
of Vice-Chancellor in several Universities.One was
Gajendragadh of the Chemistry Department whom I brought
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from the Regional College of Engineering in Suratkal to be
the Professor of Chemistry. He became Vice-Chancellor of
Kuvempu University. Dr. Abdul Rahman of the Bio-Sciences
became the Vice-Chancellor of two Universities in Kerala.
Dr. Siddappa and Dr. N.R.Shetty became the Vice-Chancellors
of Bangalaore University. Dr. S.N. Hegde of BioSciences became the Vice-Chancellor Mysore University.
Dr. Vivek Rai became the Vice-Chancellor of Kannada
University and Dr. Kaveriappa of Mangalore University.
Thus several persons whom I had either recruited or
promoted occupied high office.
When I wanted a reliable personal staff, I chose Vivek
Rai of Kannada Department as the Personal Assistant. He
was with me only for a few months when I realised he was
wasting his life in administrative work, whereas he could do
more useful work in the academic field. He was doing
research and his thesis was in advanced stage for completion.
I suggested to him to take his Ph.D. asked him to submit his
thesis soon. He did accordingly, got his chapters typed by
more than one typist within a short time. He submitted the
thesis and I saw to it that the processes of declaring the
result would not take long. The Board of Examiners was
appointed who valued it and within a few weeks his thesis
was approved for Ph.D. That was the first Ph.D. under my
regime. A vacancy of a Reader was created and he was asked
to apply for it. Within no time he was selected, for he was
the most qualified person. Others were senior but had not
produced anything worth while. The image of the University
was boosted that I meant business, that I encouraged talent,
that I helped the deserving and that things moved fast under
my administration. This helped me in the eyes of the public
that the University stood to do something substantial.
A deserving candidate in the Department of
Bio-Sciences by name Abdul Rahman, different from
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Dr. Abdul Rahman, who was the Head of the Department,
was waiting for a long time to join the Department. I issued
him an order and appointed him a lecturer, who later worked
hard and rose to the rank of the Dean of the Faculty of
Science in Kuvempu University. I had not yet shifted my
family to Mangalore. The place of residence had to be fixed.
I asked my staff to find a suitable bungalow. The University
provides free residence to the Vice-Chancellor. It was
Dr.Abdul Rahman who found a good bungalow in Jappu
belonging to a Pierce-Leslie Company which was vacant for a
long time. Before independence the British firms had
dominated every sector of economic life and were doing
roaring business. This particular Company was very popular
in the coastal area dealing with coffee and other
merchandise. It was a big bungalow, typical of the British
architecture with very long, broad and spacious verandah, big
drawing room, bed-rooms and toilets, which were so large as
to make some one remark that they were big enough to
accommodate a family, if that much space was available in
Bombay. We lived for 4 years in this bungalow celebrated
Shahi’s and Masood’s weddings here, hosted parties, invited
guests, and enjoyed a comfortable life there.
There were a few pressing things to be done at the
University level. One important decision to be taken was
where to locate the University. A serious debate was going
on for a long time whether a suitable place elsewhere was to
be found for the campus or it should come up in Konaje
village itself where Mysore University had located the P.G.
Centre. It was Dr.Srimali who had fixed it at the tail end of
D.K. District, from where the boundaries of Kerala would
start. The public desired that it should be centrally located
to facilitate all. The Manipal Group wanted somewhere close
to their campus, various interested groups wanted their own
choice. I visited many, many places to identify a suitable
place. Every place had its plus and minus points. In the
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thick built up central region of the District there was not
much open land for expansion. Near Regional College of
Engineering there was a beautiful bit of land facing the shore
of Arabian Sea, but it was too small. Dr.K.S. Hegde, who
was at that time Vice-Chancellor of Mysore University, and
who was from that District suggested a place near Puttabadri,
the Central point of the District, but that was not suitable.
At last I decided that I should not taken the decision, for
whatever the place I might choose however suitable it might
be it would not escape criticism, and they would blame me.
Therefore, I left the matter to the Government, invited the
Chief Minister, Mr. Gundu Rao, to the P.G. Centre, to
inaugurate the University and also to fix the place where the
University to be located. I had submitted a detailed report
of my survey of the different places, and he had made a good
study of it. He finally declared that the University would be
located where the present P.G. Centre existed, for it had
many, many advantages. It was a quiet place away from the
bustling hectic crowd of the city life, very congenial for
academic pursuits. It commanded picturesque landscape with
hills and dales presenting most enchanting scenario, and hence
an idealistic place. Moreover, being a village there was lot of
scope for expansion as plenty of land was available for future
development. Later on, after two years when I invited Sri
Rama Krishna Hegde to the University, I requested him to
declare that not even an inch of land in the periphery of a
few kilometres be alienated for any other purpose, for it was
all reserved for the University. Thus an important issue of
the location of the University was settled. It was already
about 300 acres of land to which another 100 or 150 acres
were added to make it a beautiful campus.
When Sri. Gundu Rao visited the University, a public
function was also held in the City to honour him. That was
his first visit to the City, and the Congress Party had made
very elaborate arrangements for his reception. They invited
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me also to speak as the first Vice-Chancellor of the new
University which was a feather in Gundu Rao’s cap. A very
interesting thing happened when I stood up to speak. I paid
him glowing tribute for conceiving the idea of a University
and making it a reality which was a boon to the public.
Having said that I made some very embarrassing remarks as
well. Mr.Gundu Rao hailed from Coorg and in the Taluk he
came from, Somawarpet, he had established a First Grade
College. As Vice-Chancellor I inspected that College, for
Coorg also came under my jurisdiction. I found it to be
most unsuitable, as the building chosen for the college was in
a busy market area, the first floor of a structure where down
below there were a number of shops both provision stores
and cloth emporium. One could imagine that was the least
desirable place for the academic purpose.
Having praised the Chief Minister for establishing the
University, I added this unpleasant note that, if any one other
than the Chief Minister had chosen that place for the College
I would have put a lock to it. It was a very embarrassing,
harsh and critical remark on no one other than the Chief
Minister, and one who was my benefactor, for it was he who
for the first time in the history of Karnataka had chosen a
Muslim as the Vice-Chancellor, and that Muslim was making
such bitter remark throwing aspersions on his own boss.
People, my friends, who had listened to my speech told me
that evening that I should prepare myself for the worst, and
better pack up my baggage to go home. Next day, very
expectedly I got a call from the Circuit House where the
Chief Minister was staying to see the Chief Minister. I went
there nervously and saw Sri.Gundu Rao. He was gracious.
He patted my back and said “I admire men of integrity who
do not hesitate to speak the truth to the face of the highest
authority”. It was a very appreciative gesture on his part.
He did not scold me, nor did he snub me but praised me
saying that he adored honest and bold persons. Only such
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men were helpful to the society.
Another instance of importance that sticks in my mind
is the experience I had with yet another Chief Minister of
Karnataka. He was Ramakrishna Hegde whom I invited to
the University, when it was facing very serious problems.
He was staying in the Circuit House and I went to take him.
His wife too had come. We three of us, CM, his wife and I
sat in the back seat of the car and the P.A. was in the front.
I had planned that I should brief him effectively during this
travel time of 20 or 30 minutes from Circuit House to the
Campus. When the car moved the husband and wife were
busy in their talk and I was growing impatient that I was
losing precious time meant for briefing the C.M. At the
same time I dared not interrupt the couple from their talk.
At last I burst out with a statement which was sensitive to
him. I said, “Sir, we have planted 1500 trees in the Campus”.
He was amazed. I knew he liked greenery and afforestation.
Suddenly he turned towards me from his wife and said “Is
that so?” I said, “they are all dying”. He was surprised and
asked why? I said there was no water. He said, “What should
be done?” I said “River Netravati is flowing quite close by.
If you kindly permit us and help us to lift water from there,
the problem could be solved”. He said: “How much it would
cost?” I said, “Engineers estimate it would cost two crores”.
C.M. sanctioned that money. We worked hard thereafter to
complete that project. The Chief Engineer was a Muslim
whom I knew, and he was very helpful in hastening all
processes. There is no water problem in the campus today,
because from nearly 10 Kms. water is brought from Netravati.
In one minute, I solved the major problem of water.
I continued my talk with CM and said, “All our bright
scholars in the campus are idle”. He was shocked and said,
“What for?” There is no power, no electricity, and we are at
the tail end of the District, and the load is so low that we
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cannot lit even a tube light”” He said, “what is to be done
?” I said, “Engineers want a new powerful transformer was
to be installed”. He said, “How much would it cost?” I
said, “They estimate a crore of rupees”. He said, “I would
sanction that much amount”. He did that, and in another
minute I solved the second major problem of power shortage.
I had a third project also in mind. I said, “I am very anxious
to motivate our faculty to do good research work, but they
are unable to do so”. He said, “Why is it so?” I said because
of the lack of infrastructure, laboratory equipment and other
facilities. By this time we were moving on the long bridge of
Netravati river. Very jokingly I said, your predecessor, Chief
Minister Gundu Rao had done exactly what Dushyanta had
done to Shakuntala in Kalidas drama. He said, “what has he
done?” I said, Sri Gundu Rao brought into existence a
University and forgot all about it thereafter, just as Dushyanta
loved Shakuntala, gave a ring to her and forgot all about it
thereafter. I added, perhaps, Mr.Gundu Rao must have
thrown that ring into this Netravati – we were at that time
crossing the bridge and the river was flowing just below us –
I added further that God must have sent you to find that
ring somewhere here. He had a hearty life, and was good
enough to sanction ready cash of Rupees sixty lakhs for
infrastructure in the University. Thus within a few minutes
of a pep-talk with CM, I got 3 crores and 60 lakhs to the
University. The shape of the University turned bright
thereafter. One point to note here is the fact later I was
told that the name of Mrs.Ramakrishna Hegde was also
Shakuntala. He must have enjoyed the indirect compliment
I paid to him that he was undoing the error his predecessor
had committed.
When I took him to the Campus, the reception to
CM was unpleasant. There was dharna and agitation. The
students were on strike. Although the agitators wanted to
say that my regime was no good, but I turned their agitation
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to my advantage and told CM that what else could the
students do except agitate when lack of water, power and
infrastructure defeated the purpose of their coming here. CM
understood the point and announced in the meeting what we
had discussed in the car. Added to that he did one more
thing. He asked the Deputy Commissioner not to alienate
even an inch of land in the periphery of the campus within a
radius of a KM and reserve all that land to the University.
This was another great contribution of mine to the Campus.
I admire Ramakrishna Hegde for the great help he rendered
to the University.
Earlier water problem was really serious. When I took
charge I was told many of the bore-wells were failure. I had
sent for a geologist. He had spotted a place which yielded
good results. In my early days of office before the visit of
Hegde, I got a call at one O’clock in the night that the
bore-well we had dug was a great success and water like
fountain was gushing out. At that time I sent for my driver,
Ramachandra, who was living not very far, and we went to
the Campus in the dead of night at 2 a.m. just to see how
water was gushing out. It was a sight to see. I was immensely
pleased and thanked God for being so merciful. That was
the only bore-well that was meeting the major demand of
water in the Campus.
On the construction side we were doing good job.
Before the ministry of Ramakrishna Hegde, Gundu Rao
Government whose Finance Minister was M.Veerappa Moily,
had sanctioned quite a sizeable sum for construction work,
and we had undertaken the construction of Faculty Block,
particularly for Science Faculty, a Library Block, Residential
Houses, Hostels both for boys and girls, shopping centre. A
new University needed several facilities. The need was great
for a good, competent, honest and hard-working Executive
Engineer. I thought of one Appajappa, who was the cobrother of Kadidal Manjappa, once the Chief Minister of
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Karnataka for a short period. He was working in the Ministry
of Janab Abdul Samad, Minister of Health in the Govt. of
Gundu Rao. I approached him. He was reluctant to relieve
him, and yet I persuaded him to spare me his services. He
agreed and we got Appajappa. I am yet to see a person of
his calibre, integrity and efficiency. He was very diligent in
his duties. Mangalore monsoons are very severe – down pour
would be there all the time. I would see him on the roof of
the buildings supervising the concrete work. He would himself
be there not allowing the work to the junior engineers. We
had one Kadiyal also, a junior engineer, who was also very
good in his job. I was very much interested in the
construction work, and I would be there quite early in the
Campus. I too wanted to see the concrete work up on the
roof. Appajappa would cry from the top, “Sir, don’t climb
the ladder, you may slip”. What I appreciated was the
concern of those people, the hard work they did, the
commitment they had, and the team spirit we built up.
Construction work has been a part of my destiny. Even since
I got married I have lived mostly in houses newly built. I
have built houses for myself, for my children. Not in one,
but in two new Universities, construction galore has been my
achievements. Countless number of structures have come
into existence under my orders and under my supervision.
Even after my retirement I have established a Trust, where
construction work of crores has taken place. I am the
President of a Hostel, where construction work is still going
on. I thank God for this great opportunity to be a part of
construction work every where.
Constitution of the several University bodies such as
Syndicate, Senate, Academic council, Board of Studies and
framing of rules, regulations and ordinances took some time.
The Syndicate was the most powerful body and it had three
powerful non-official members, who took great interest in the
University affairs. One was Mr.Mohamed Kamal, an
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Advocate, who became a good friend of mine. He was very
influential person in the District, and also very resourceful.
He stood by me in all affais. The other was Madhava Rao,
who was also an Advocate, who would be careful to
scrutinise every word in the proceedings recorded in the
meetings. The third was Mr.Nanaiah of Coorg, who later rose
to be a Minister of Karnataka. If he attended our Syndicate
meetings they would be finished in no time, for he was so
quick in perceptions that he would at once go the bottom of
the problem, and would suggest what was to be done. It is
seen in the meetings that matters drag on and on endlessly
not in useful talk. Nanaiah meant business. As it was a new
University, we had a chance to fashion it on right lines. I
should say members cooperated in all matters, and things went
on smoothly without any fuss.
But more important task was to motivate the staff to
do good work. There were certain Departments such as BioSciences, Physics, and Marime Sciences which were doing good
work. I encouraged them to take up research projects which
should be relevant to the needs of the society, do
quality work, and finish them within a specific scheduled time.
These were the three parameters I placed before them, namely
relevance, quality and time schedule. They responded very
well and very soon we built up what I used to say “academic
ecology”. To the junior staff also I asked them to qualify
with research degrees if they did not have one, and indulge
seriously either in contributing research papers to the
standard journals or publish books of their own. In science
subjects, it was the question of research papers, and in arts
and humanities, it is the publication of books that mattered
most. Publish or perish was the motto. In subjects like
Kannada or languages, books were the criteria to judge the
output. I should say Mangalore University did well in this
respect.
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We added a few Departments which were not existing
before, particularly in Humanities and Social Sciences. There
were only a few Departments such as Kannada, Economics
and Commerce in the Humanities. We added a few others
such as History, Political Science and Sociology. In Science
there was Bio-Science Department and also Physics and
Marine Sciences. We added Chemistry, Marine Sciences in
the Coastal District was very useful. Besides, a programme
to organise seminars, workshops and conferences was also
arranged.
On the personal side we made Shahida join the M.S.W.
(Master of Social Work) Course in Roshni Nilaya. It was
during my tenure in Mangalore that Masood went abroad, to
USA, for higher studies, and Zakir did his M.D. in Mangalore
Medical College in Pediatrics. It is indicated earlier how he
was keen to do post-graduation in some non-clinical subject
but we desired he should do it in some clinical subject. It
was Dr. Hussain, younger brother of Dr. Abdur Rahman,
Professor of Bio-Sciences who persuaded him in no time to
accept our proposal. What Dr. Hussain told Zakir was this,
“You have done your M.B.B.S. to hold a stethoscope and
not a test tube”. That settled the issue, and he gave up his
idea to become a Pathologist. I went twice, thrice to Cochin
to negotiate the wedding of Shahida with Najeeb, which came
off very well. It was again during this tenure in Mangalore
that an International Conference took place in Ankara to
which I was invited.
The trip to Ankara in Turkey was very memorable.
Dr. S.Gopal, son of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, was also a delegate.
I took my wife also. We visited the famous Museum of
World renown TopKapi in Constantinople. I had read and
taught a lot about Turkish history, but had no chance to
visit that country before. It is like Europe, but not so welldeveloped, yet a modern country of Islamic world. We visited
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the tomb of Ataturk (Mustafa Kamal Pasha) the architect of
modern Turkey, who saved it from the clutches of the
Europeans and Westernised and modernised the country. We
planned it in such a way that on our return we could do our
Umra Mecca and go to Medina as well. First, we went to
Jiddah and stayed with Dr. Khaleelullah, Professor of
Mathematics, brother of my student, Samiulla, who was kind
enough to take us to Meeca for Umra. Jiddah is a modern
city and that was our first visit to Saudi Arabia. Later on I
had a chance in 2001 to do full haj but this time we did only
Umra. Later we went to Medina also and stayed there for
two-days. We had the privilege to perform Namaz in Masjide-Nabvi.
We were away for a fortnight. The Registrar was in
charge of my office. She could not manage things well. There
were already disgruntled elements in the campus. Politically
too the District was in the grip of B.J.P. They tried to take
advantage of my absence and organised a plot for a general
strike and dharna. The whole campus was in agitated mood.
I had not yet even stepped into the house from the journey,
I got a call from the Registrar that I had to rush to the
campus, for things were going out of her hands, she was
gheroed and the boys were in a very rebellious mood. The
ring leader of the whole conspiracy was a student by name
Somesh. He came from Scheduled tribes. He was no good
for studies, but ideal for agitation. It was the set policy of
the rightist political party for itself to remain in the
background, and push forward some one from the most
backward class to demand all sorts of undesirable concessions.
This student leader Somesh was leading a dharna with scores
and scores of students demanding all sorts of facilities. It
was also a fact that Rome was not built in a day and that
surely there were a few shortcomings of infrastructure such
as power, water, equipment, housing, transport and others. I
was trying to solve one problem after another. As already
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indicated I had already attended to water, power and
equipment problems through my talk with CM, but their
implementation would take some time. It was not magic when
in a twinkling of an eye things would be done.
The moment I entered into the campus, there was a
lot of hulla, bulla, shouting slogans, attacking me in all sorts
of ways. I had to deal carefully. I did not call the police
which would further complicate the problem and make things
worse. I did not see here and there, but rushed to that boy,
Somesh, who was the ring leader. The first thing I did was
to hug him, greet him, embrace him, as if you are meeting a
friend on Eid-day in Eid-gah; he had a beard. I started with
my both hands touching his face, as if a barber smears the
beard of a youth. I spoke to him in the gentlest manner and
started counting our own faults, our own short comings, our
own weaknesses and our own drawbacks. I started
sympathising with the boys, saying if I was a student I would
have done much worse. I became also one of the agitators
too with them. I thanked them for the agitation and for the
strike which would strengthen my hands in bringing home to
the authorities the plight of the University. For ten or fifteen
minutes I spoke at the top of my eyes, as if I am myself the
ring leader of the agitation. The staff and the administrative
folks and teachers would not believe what I was doing. That
solved the problem. Boys became quiet. I did not allow
Somesh to open his mouth. Whenever he tried to talk, I
would say, “one moment, please”. This “one moment please”
refrain was very effective. Then I sat down, took a piece of
paper and started listing all the things they needed. They
said, we want this, this and this. I jotted down everything
and promised that within the shortest time I would solve
them. That Somesh, the rebellious boy became a very good
student. Later, I was told he entered into politics. I wonder
whether he is still alive. Some body recently told me he is
no more.
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The matter did not stop at this. It took a different
turn that night, not from the students but from the teachers
and the non-teaching staff. They came to my residence
agitated in the night and said I let them down all, joined the
students, humiliated the teachers by not punishing the guilty,
and that my conduct would further aggravate the situation
by causing more agitation in the future. To the teachers I
had to explain the psychology of the masses how we have to
deal with the mob. Defending ourselves in such situation would
be putting oil on fire, confession is dousing the fire. If
husband and wife were to quarrel, a tear in the eye of the
wife would melt husband’s heart. My sermon to them which
Jesus had given on the Mount silenced the teachers, who said
we have to-day learned a lesson and that we have a unique
Vice-Chancellor.
A few other contributions of mine are these. The
Govt. has limited funds to spare to higher education. It starts
Universities to please the public, and diverts funds towards
primary and secondary education, thinking it had first to
strengthen the roots. Therefore, those in the administration
of University should think of generating alternative sources
of raising funds. I thought of establishing a couple of research
chairs in the University through raising funds from the public
sector or from the philanthropists. I approached State Bank
of India with whom we had accounts. Their General
Manager had come from Bombay. I met him and had a long
discussion. They have a very small percentage, 0.1, of their
profit to plough into research sector for advancement of
knowledge. Hyaving come to know of it I suggested that
S.B.I. should institute a Chair in the University to advance
research into marketing. That would be helpful to the Bank
as well, for better type of marketing would result in more
profit, more funds, and more flow of money into the banks.
The University too could be benefited by lending its
expertise in two ways, it would employ more research
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scholars helping the youth and extend the horizon of
knowledge which is the purpose of the University. I told him
it was mutually beneficial to both, the University would get
funds from the Bank, and the Bank would get expertise from
the University. He agreed and sanctioned a corpus of five
lakhs, as one time grant, which was deposited in the Bank
itself which would allow a little high rate of interest. The
amount thus accrued would be released to the University for
research. The General Manager was so good that instead of
waiting for one year for the interest to accrue, he sanctioned
that much amount in advance. Thus a new Chair was
established in the University and I publicised it everywhere
so that others too can come forward. This Chair is
functioning very effectively even today in that University.
This was only the beginning. I added six to seven
such Chairs in the University. The next Chair was the Chair
in Christianity. Such a Chair existed in Mysore University
which Dr. Srimali had started in the wake of Golden Jubilee
of the University. I met the Bishop and told him how
important it was to diffuse highest absolute values of every
great religion. It is moral right that finally asserts itself, might
is not always right. If the Church were to invest Rs.5 lakhs,
a Chair could be instituted whose business would be to go to
the depth of the moral teachings of Christianity and make
them public. Moreover, it could organise Seminars and
lectures to promote mutual understanding and harmony among
all faiths. He agreed and in no time Christianity Chair came
into existence.
I went to the General Manager of Canara Bank and
made him institute a Chair. I contacted the Chairman of the
Syndicate Bank and placed before him the same proposal. He
asked me how much money I needed. I said five lakhs. He
said take six lakhs. He wanted to give a little more than what
others had given. There was keen competition among Banks
to excel each other. There was Corporation Bank which also
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instituted a Chair. It should be said to the credit of
D.K. District it excelled all others in the sector of banking
and finance, for as many as twenty five banks took their birth
in that district, out of which five banks were nationalised.
The Vijaya Bank also instituted a Chair.
To induce students to work hard and to promote
different disciplines I thought of instituting gold medals to
be given in the convocation of the University. When I went
to the public, the response was very good. Several people
came forward. You could imagine how enthusiastic were the
public by one example. When I met Ram Das Pai of Manipal
Academy, he said, please institute not one but 25 medals in
the name of Manipal Academy. He wrote out a cheque of
Rs.3 lakhs for 25 medals in the University.
Yet another contribution of mine is to encourage
work-ethics in the constituent and affiliated Colleges and the
University. One example is enough to show how knowledge
could be related to life. A father of a Catholic Church, who
had been to USA and had brought some funds for education
came to me and said he wanted to start a College and that
he needed affiliation to the University. I said, “go ahead and
start the College, and we will do the needful”. A few weeks
later he came back and said that college would not be a day
college but evening college. I said, fine, start the Evening
College itself. A few weeks later I visited that college and
was very happily surprised to see it was a new and wonderful
experiment. What the father had done was to buy near
Brahmavar, beyond Udupi, a big plot of land, nearly 30 acres,
made arrangements for water, built hostel facilities for both
boys and girls, made that a residential complex, announced
that it was all free boarding, free lodging and free education,
but it was on one condition. The students should do what
the Management wanted them to do. The Father planned
to make every student work in his farm, four hours before
lunch in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. Classes
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will be held from 4.30 pm to 8.30 pm. In the farm the boys
had to do physical labour to grow vegetables, fruits and
flowers. It was a garden worth seeing. Bananas, sapotas,
tomatoes and all sorts of vegetables yielded quite a bit of
money. The College was self-sufficient for its maintenance.
As it was a church institution, the teaching staff was also of
the Church, which would not mean heavy burden on salaries.
The children were not only learning and getting a degree but
gaining the experience of farming which would be helpful later.
Dignity of labour was there, diffusion of knowledge was there,
acquiring the skill in farming was also there. I appreciated
the venture, an imaginative step helpful to a country like
India.
In that District, not only the Church but others also
had conducted the same experiment. Dr. Hegde of
Dharmasthala, who had established a chain of institutions,
had opened a Hostel for nearly 300 children where boarding
and lodging was all free, subject again to the same condition
that the boarders should do physical labour at least for two
to three hours. He appointed an Agronomist who would take
care of the technical side of farming and guide the students
how to do the job. Again he had not appointed the kitchen
staff. The boys themselves had to do cleaning, serving, cooking
and all sorts of things by turn.
I should say the Western coast of India, particularly
D.K. District could be a role model for India, not only in
education but also in living and thinking. They are very
enterprising where education was not only privatised but was
also directed into new channels most useful to the society.
Private initiative from several sectors had brought up almost
100% literacy, had lifted the standard of life, and made
their region a hub of commercial and industrial activity.
Leadership certainly counts. Dr. T.M.A. Pai was one example
who almost revolutionised the concept of education to all
who could afford it. If you cannot afford, beg and borrow,
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but educate your child. Manipal was lifted not only to national
but also to international level when students from different
parts of the country went there for studies. They
concentrated more on job-oriented courses such as medical,
engineering and business management. They helped others,
and helped themselves also, with the result that these
institutions became money-minting machines. Not only
Manipal group but also others like Dharmasthala chain of
institutions, Nittay chain of institutions, Church chain of
institutions were all there to compete with one another in
onward march towards development.
At the University level I motivated the staff to do
research, and at times went out of the way to encourage them
to do research. One example is enough to indicate my humble
efforts. I was in the midst of a meeting when I got a call
from Delhi from one of our teaching faculty. It was Dr.
Madhyastha who called from UGC office in Delhi that there
was a possibility of a fellowship for him to go to USA if only
I were to nominate him from our University. Soon after the
meeting I dictated a letter and sent post-haste to U.G.C. It
so happened that my letter clicked and he got a chance to
go abroad. He stayed there for a year and he got his wife
too, and enriched himself academically. I would very often go
to the several Departments, before going to my own chamber,
sit with the faculty, have a chat as to what they were doing,
what they want to do, and what they need from the University
to do. Many a time some facilities or financial assistance
would go a long way to motivate them to do creative work.
To the HOD’s I would say that they were a mini-University
on their own, they have the liberty to generate funds from
any quarter, they have the freedom to choose the area of
research, to recruit research scholars, and make a name for
themselves in the scholarly world. The best way for academic
atmosphere or intellectual ecology was to organise workshops
and seminars, invite scholars, discuss, debate and at the end
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publish the proceedings. If quality work was the result of
such labour, they would move up very quickly in the eyes of
the scholarly world.
Thus very quickly three years passed from September
1980 to Sept. 1983, when my first term was over. The
Chancellor was Mr.Banerji, the Governor, who had to either
appoint a new Vice-Chancellor or give me an extension of
another term. He did neither, but did something in between.
He extended my term by one year. He had his plans to find
a suitable candidate from the Scheduled Castes for the post,
and no one was available. When he ultimately spotted one,
in Dr.Y.P. Rudrappa, he was not willing for Mangalore, and
had to be appointed in Mysore, where a vacancy had occurred.
Any way I got a chance of one more year to carry on the
work of building a new Univesity. Three years was too short
a period for a new University where every thing from the
scratch had to be built. By the time you plan and find enough
resources, the time will be up.
Execution of the plans would take some time.
Moreover, to work in a place of diverse forces, different pulls
and pressure, almost in a hostile atmosphere, where political
thoughts of all sorts were prevailing was not easy. In any
University system cooperation from every direction, from the
Government, from the public, from the faculty, from the
students and from the administrative staff was absolutely
essential. Finance held the key for the whole affair. Gundu
Rao’s government started the University, but forgot to fund
it adequately. I had to persuade its successors to feed the
University with necessary funds for its growth. Luckily, he
did. The second most important function is to motivate the
faculty to do creative work. This is also a very difficult task
in an environment where University system is a white elephant
consuming enormously and producing little of effective
output. Elephants are either in the temples or in palaces for
show purpose. To put these massive animals to good use
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requires great skill. Our faculty, by and large, believes in
counting thirty days, draw the salary and count thirty five
years draw the pension. Of course there are a few notable
exceptions, but majority do not size up to expectations. Our
Universities have become white elephants, ivory towers, with
high qualifications but the net result is, they dig a mountain
and bring out a mole. In such a situation to motivate the
staff to creative work and bring about an intellectual ecology
was a hard job. I am happy to say, Mangalore University
became a University with a difference. Despite strong
pressures we recruited the suitable faculty. Teachers form
the king-pins in the University system. I won their heart.
They responded in equal measure. They appreciated my
sermons that life leaps like a geyser if only you cut through
the rock of inertia. A team spirit was built up. They took it
as a challenge, and each one to the best of his ability exerted
his utmost to justify his existence as a scholar. Even now
Mangalore University tops the list in the State in work-ethics.
The other factors such as the functioning of the
University bodies like Syndicate, Senate, Academic Council
and Board of Studies, building of infrastructure like lecture
halls, hostel buildings, library, laboratory, water, power, were
all matters of details to which also we paid attention, and
did what we possibly could do. What I feel very happy is the
rapport I built with the public, their love which I won, the
way I induced them to donate generously for establishing
special Chairs in the University, the academic atmosphere I
created through Seminars, Workshops and Conferences, and
also the linkages I established with business and industries,
together with the funds I brought from U.G.C. and several
Central Research Organizations of Government of India, are
some of the things I could look with pride, and think that I
did not waste any time. It was an opportunity to work hard,
and to the best of my conscience I did work hard.
12
Vice-Chancellor of yet Another New
University (Goa)
Few are given a chance to establish two new
Universities. My extended term of one more year also
expired in September 1984, yet the Chancellor was not
taking any decision to appoint a successor to me. Mr. Banerji
was the Governor and the Chancellor, an IAS man ridden
with rules and regulations to do justice to minorities and
Scheduled Castes. He appointed a Selection or Search
Committee to prepare a panel of three incumbents, and he
was not satisfied with it, as it did not contain the names he
desired. My term was extended by a month. Again another
Search Committee, and yet another, and yet another, and this
process went on every month for more than six months.
Every time I would get an order that my term was extended.
This was very disgusting and all were fed up why at least my
term was not extended for the prescribed period or why a
new suitable person was not appointed.
This process was going on in Karnataka when another
development was taking place in the neighbouring State of
Goa. For a long, long time for more than a decade that
State was thinking of having a separate University of its own,
disaffiliating itself from Bombay University. Ever so many
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My Life
committees and commissions had been appointed to prepare
the feasibility report. Enormous literature had been produced
in this behalf, and immense discussions had taken place on
this subject ever since Goa was liberated in 1960. At last
when Dr.Gopal Singh was appointed as the Governor things
took a different turn. He was a dynamic person, very
pragmatic, resourceful and matter of facts. He took it to his
head to expedite the matter and appointed yet another
Committee to examine the whole issue and submit an early
report. The Education Secretary to the Government was
one Mr. Bhatt, IAS, from Mangalore. In the Selection of
experts to prepare the report, he thought of me, for the
simple reason that a person who had already established a
new University would be in a better position to offer useful
suggestions. Moreover, he too was from Mangalore and
perhaps regional affinity too might have influenced him to
pick my name. I was invited to Raj Nivas, Governor’s
Mansion, where the meeting was held.
It was a Committee of more than 15 members with
Governor as the Chairman, with Chief Minister, Education
Minister, Heads of Education Department, representatives of
the public and all those who mattered most were present.
In the discussion how to go about, what sort of University
Goa needs, what should be its aims and objectives, faculties,
disciplines, infra-structure, functioning and a good deal of
other details, it was I who dominated the talk. Since I had
full experience of building a new University, and had undergone
severe stress and strains, I was in a better position to explain
them all issues. They were all impressed. No one else could
throw more intensive light on the subject. Dr. Gopal Singh,
the Governor, and Pratap Singh Rao Rane, the Chief Minister,
were listening to me attentively. The meeting went on for
more than three hours from 10 A.M. At last when it was
over, and when we were moving out, the ADC of the
Governor came rushing to me and said that the Governor
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would be pleased if I were to join him for dinner in the night.
I accepted the invitation with thanks.
The vehicle from Raj Nivas picked me at 7.30 p.m.
and we had a Dinner from 8.00 p.m. in a very relaxed mood.
I found out that Dr.Gopal Singh, who had been the Chairman
of Minorities Commission appointed by Indira Gandhi, was
from Peshawar. He had migrated in the wake of partition.
He knew Persian and Urdu. He was sympathetic towards
the minorities being himself the Chairman of that Commission
with full knowledge of their conditions. He had been brought
up in the midst of Islamic culture. Besides, he was a
historian too, having written a good book on the Sikhs of
the Punjab. Added to that he was a poet and literary figure,
having written much both in English and Gurumukhi. His
own expectations were so high that one day he hoped he would
get a Nobel Prize for his contributions to literature. Besides,
he was interested in Sufism and knew a lot about Baba Farid.
All these factors were such that excited my interest in him,
and I too participated in the discussions that followed at the
table to my heart’s content. We discussed every thing under
the sun, on politics, religion, philosophy, art, literature and
of course on University system and higher education. There
and then itself we developed a liking for each other. The
friendship proved to be ever lasting. Until he died in 1993,
we were in touch with each other. That dinner is yet green
in my mind, a memorable event when I talked to a Governor
as a friend, as a historian, as a scholar and as a human being.
We were on the same wave length. What was very pleasing
was Urdu poetry. I would quote Ghalib or Mir, or Zauq or
Hali or Shibli or Iqbal, and he too would respond with equal
measure. This dinner went on from 8.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m.
in the night. The attenders there were surprised that what
sort of dinner was this which was endless.
I came back to Mondvi Hotel where accommodation
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had been booked for me. Next day I returned to Mangalore.
A few days passed when I was in the midst of a meeting. I
got a distant call. Some one was saying, “I am Gopal Singh,
I am Gopal Singh.” I was responding, who, who? At last he
said, “I am Gopal Singh, Governor of Goa”. Then I realised
the caller was the dignitary whom I had met in Goa. Then
he said that he would appoint me as the Vice-Chancellor of
the new University that was to come up in Goa. He enquired
whether I was willing to accept the offer. That was the time
when every fortnight my term was extended causing anxiety
as to what to do next. It should be said to the credit of the
public of Mangalore, particularly to my good friend, Mohamed
Kamal Saheb, who did not spare any stone unturned to get
my term extended. He collected nearly a few thousand
signatures from the public requesting the Prime Minister of
India, Sri Rajiv Gandhi, to extend my term. In those days
decision was all in the hands of the Chancellor, and not of
the Government as at present. But Banerji did not yield. He
wanted to appoint a Dalit to Mangalore, but Dr.Rudrappa
did not agree. When Dr.Hegde retired from Mysore,
Rudrappa was appointed to Mysore and Dr.Safiullah was
appointed to Mangalore.
When I gave him my consent, within a week I received
an order that I was appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Goa and
that I should join as early as possible. This happened in the
month of March 1985. I resigned the job. My resignation
hastened the process of the selection of my successor. When
I look back on these events, it occurs to me that ways of
God are mysterious, that whatever happens is for our own
good, that man should have hope and faith, and that we
should never pray to God that He may grant what we desire,
but that His will may be accomplished in us. In His Will is
our peace. I informed the Governor that I would join on 4th
March, the day of my wedding anniversary. I gave charge of
my office on 1st March, returned to Mysore on 2nd March,
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proceeded to Goa the next day in conditions of great stress
and strain.
I took the flight from Bangalore to Goa and reported
to duty to the Governor, who was very pleased. They fixed
the Circuit House, a suit of rooms for my residence, which
became my permanent residence during all my stay of 5 years
in Goa. I never shifted to any bungalow which I could have
done if I wanted. This Circuit House was located on a hill
top called Altino, and it was quite comfortable to a man who
had passed through a hell in life. The job of a new University
was very challenging. First problem was to make my
presence there acceptable to the public. As indicated earlier,
this University had come into existence after a very, very long
gestation period of 13 years. The people had discussed, and
discussed over it thread bare, only because a particular
person had an eye on the post. He was a Christian gentleman
who had stayed in South Africa for a long time, had gained a
lot of experience in education, not in setting up Universities
but in teaching. He had a powerful political lobby. Goa was
under the Portuguese rule for the longest period, continuously
from 1510 to 1960, a period of over 450 years where the
European influence was quite deep. Many had adopted
Portuguese as their mother-tongue. It was the medium of
instruction too, which was gradually changed to English.
Portuguese customs, manners, and ways of living were still in
vogue. There is quite a strong political lobby of this group
in the affairs of the State. This group wanted one of them to
be appointed as Vice-Chancellor so that he could shape things
according to their tastes.
As against this group there was the Hindu Konkani
element, who opposed the domination of Western influence
and wanted some one from their rank should occupy the chair.
Apart from these two, there was a third element of the
Maratha speaking people, who were industrialists, very wealthy
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and rich, who wanted some one from the Marathi-speaking
group should occupy the chair. In this struggle of three
different forces nothing had happend during the previous 25
years. When Dr.Gopal Singh took charge as Governor, he
tried to reconcile the rival groups to come to some
understanding and fix a consensus person. They could not do
it. He was a realist and dynamic person, who took a decision
of his own in consultation with the Chief Minister, Mr.Rane,
who headed a Congress Ministry, which was secular and
liberal.The Governor had a soft corner for the minorities,
being himself the Chairman of a Commission having known
their plight. When a person of the minority community had
already gained good experience in setting up a new University,
and when he had impressed all members of the Expert
Committee set up for that purpose, they decided that I should
be given a chance. That is how I was in Goa.
Did they welcome me in Goa ? No. There was an
uproar, almost a war against me. All three forces that were
aspiring for the post, joined together in attacking me,
opposing me and making my life miserable for a few days. I
had to pass through a hell before I was accepted. They
planned their attacks through a series of seminars and
meetings to which they would invite me as the President. I
could not refuse because they were on the University system.
The idea was to grill me trying to know my abilities, to test
my patience, my plans whether I could size up to their
expectations or not. This went on for long. A number of
speakers would roll out their thoughts with the intention that
I would not respond to their challenges. I would answer all
their points, if they were positive and constructive, but to
their polemics, I would simply say, “Oh! God, forgive them,
they know not, what they say ?”
This affair went on nearly for three to four months,
when a series of meetings made Goa University front-page
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news in the media. Every day my name was there in the
newspapers. The media was very hostile. It would say, “why
did our Governor smuggle a non-Goan in our midst, as if no
one was competent among us?” Columns after columns were
pouring daily on me. In such a situation the Governor went
for more than a month to USA to see his daughter. In his
absence the virulent attacks were intensified. When all these
measures failed to cow me down, they thought of the last
resort, to go to a court and file a law suit. Goa Court would
not admit such a case. They went to Bombay High Court.
It was a new problem. The baby University dragged into legal
complications. The area of my struggle extended beyond the
boundaries of Goa State. Periodical visits to Bombay became
inevitable. We fixed an Agency, Mullah and Mulla, legal
experts as our lawyers. The party to the case was not only
Bombay University but also the Government of Goa, with
Governor as Chancellor, and the newly appointed ViceChancellor. The case went on for a few months. That gave
me an opportunity to shuttle myself often between Panaji
and Bombay. There was a University Guest House in
Bombay, near the beach, where I would stay. I still remember
the long walks I would take on the beach. The case was
decided in our favour. They would not admit it, saying it was
silly. People ought to feel grateful to the Governor for giving
them a citadel of higher learning instead of putting breaks in
his way. Yet another time when I was walking on the same
beach, a refined gentleman spotted me, and asked me whether
I was Sheik Ali. He had seen me some where, and had
examined all papers we had submitted to the court. He was
the judge himself who had thrown out the case. He
congratulated me and said, “Don’t worry, go ahead with your
job.” This judge later became a judge of the Supreme Court.
Thus a long battle had to be won before I was
accepted in Goa. The judgement of the Court was the last
stone they threw at me. Thereafter they realised there was
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no point in opposing me. They not only reconciled themselves
to my stay, but also started appreciating my work.
The next important job after winning the court case
was to inaugurate the University, for which several other
measures had to be taken. First, where should it be
temporarily located before a permanent campus was thought
of. In the suburbs of the capital, Panaji, near Bambolin, a
big hospital complex of several and several buildings together
with accommodation for the Medical College which was in
the heart of the town had come up. It was a huge complex,
but all empty, almost with a deserted look. At that distance
few would go for treatment. Neither the Hospital was there
nor the Medical College, only brick and mortar structures
were there, that too quite a few. Goa was a new State, freshly
liberated hence the pet child of the Union Government which
had pumped in massive funds. But the people had yet to make
full uses of the generosity. They had built the complex filling
the purses of the contractors, but the human utility thereof
was yet to begin. In that complex, they allotted one building
as the University office. The first thing I did was to put a
Board.
Before shifting to Bambolin, the University was the
residence Room No.5 in the Circuit House where the ViceChancellor was staying. On the day I landed, they made
arrangements for my stay there. They provided me a chair
and a table. That was the whole of the University office. I
got my letter-heads printed. The University consisted of one
individual, V.C. without a P.A. or an attender, or a typewriter
or assistant, or Registrar. At least in Mangalore all those
facilities existed, but in Goa the University was one God above
and one V.C. below. All day long I had to attend the several
Seminars and meetings that would be arranged to grill me, or
hunt for places where the new University should be located,
or meet the authorities, either Chief Minister or Finance
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Minister to find finances, or visit the P.G. Centre to talk to
the teachers. This P.G. Centre was located in the heart of
the town, in a market place, a few rooms in the first floor of
a private rented building, down below there were provision
shops. The entry to this floor was through narrow stairs a
situation of Gundu Rao’s College in Somwarpet of Coorg to
which a reference has already occurred. At least that was a
college, but here it was post-graduate Centre of higher studies
which was to be a nucleus of a new University. Such appalling
conditions could not have existed any where else. When the
Chancellor, the Governor, visited that place, to which I invited,
he became furious, and he got his shoes and dress drenched
in the rainy water that was dripping on the stairs.
My initial hard work in the first few weeks resulted
in yielding some good things. Fortunately, the Chief Minister’s
residence was next to the Circuit House in Altino where I
stayed, and it was easy for me to meet him often. That
facilitated things and they moved fast. I wanted a good
Registrar, and he released Dr.Gandhe, Secretary to the
Government in the Revenue and Finance Ministry, a very
mature, and experienced IAS, with a Ph.D. and a Degree from
London University. His appointment quickened the process.
Because he was already in the Govt. and knew all naunces
and intracacies of bureaucratic functioning, things started
taking shape. Before that, I had to write in my own hand
letters to U.G.C. and do all sorts of paper work single handed.
Clerks, typists, accountants, attenders and all the parapernalia
of an office were all made available. We shifted our office
to Bambolin Hospital and Medical College complex. People
laughed and said that University is sick, that is why it was in
the hospital. I would respond saying that a healthy baby is
born under the care of expert Doctors in a good hospital.
The second most important work was to constitute
the University bodies. We needed a Syndicate, a Senate, an
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Academic Council and several Boards of Studies. They could
not come into existence all at once. One at a time was the
rule. First, the Syndicate, the Cabinet or the crucial body
on which would depend the entire functioning. It had to be
constituted by the Governor in consultation with the Chief
Minister who was also the Education Minister. They
constituted the Syndicate, one of them was Salgaonkar, one
of the three great industrialists of Goa, the mine owners,
millionair. He was a young man, a shrewd person, a nominee
of CM. The Syndicate had to constitute several SubCommittees, one of which was construction committee in
charge of the entire building programme. Salgaonkar was
interested in being himself in the Committee. A ticklish
problem arose for me. The Governor, Dr.Gopal Singh was
not interested in him, but the C.M. Mr.Rane was interested.
Both gave a hint to me, one not to take him, the other do
take him. I could not please both. The majority was in
favour of taking him and he was taken. In any society
political interference in the University affairs was inevitable.
They would not leave it to the discretion of competent
functionaries. The Building Committee commanded lot of
influence in choosing contractors, which meant money. At
least in Mangalore, which was away from Bangalore, the
political pressure was not so pressing as in Goa where we
had to function in the power-house of all political authority.
When the Senate and other bodies were appointed
they were all from different sections of the society, and only
a few knew what higher education was. Persons drawn from
industry, business, art, film, music, politics, church, and
religious institutions would have no knowledge how to build
a University. They would talk all irrelevant things. Mangalore
was quite different where enlightened souls knew what was
best for their children. Here is Goa, it was Alice in
Wonderland. I had to manage in such a complex society where
expectations were high but in-put was very low. For this
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purpose I had to prepare a detailed report, almost a book,
on higher education, its purpose, aims, objectives, methods,
expectations and so on.
What I said was that a University was an apex body
to revitalize the entire educational system. A University
standing at the summit of higher learning holds the key for
the welfare of the people. It acts as the conscience of the
community. It is an organ of civilization, a sanctuary of the
inner life of a society, which produces intellectual pioneers
who shape the culture of the society. In modern times,
Universities have become the instruments of social change,
and the main agency for national development. Again, the
functions of a modern University have become extraordinary
complex. Its main job is not merely to train the mind, body
and soul, but also to draw the best in an individual to the
fulfilment stage, to teach him the art of living harmoniously
and graciously with his own fellow being, to equip him to
face the challenges of tomorrow, and to excite in him the
strength of character which possesses finer tastes and nobler
aims. It has not merely to conserve, transmit and diffuse
knowledge but to act as an agent of great change in the
development of new attitudes and values, in the enhancement
of knowledge and culture, in the quest of new humanism and
peace, and in prmoting skill, wisdom and understanding. It
should inculcate in our youth creative potentiality, a critical
mind, a sincere soul and an imaginative outlook.
In the detailed Report which I prepared on the
Education Policy of Goa University, I listed several useful
measures how to go about planning, organizing, staffing,
directing, controlling, co-ordinating and monitoring. It
required clear classification of all facts and issues, correct
perception of the inner relations among those facts,
formulation of right decisions to solve problems, and bold
implementation of those decisions. At the same time there
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must be some scope for revision and modification of those
decisions, if need be. In any venture, the need is great for
innovative measures, for creative things, something more useful
and attractive than what it existed before. In this
report I furnished a conceptual framework of what a
University ought to be. Apart from the traditional functioning
of acquiring, preserving disseminating and extending
knowledge, it should promote scientific temper and rational
outlook; preserve cultural traditions and enrich regional
languages; inculcate basic human values and virtue; develop
work ethics and dignity of labour; cultivate the arts and
broaden the humanities; and thus enrich the quality of life.
It should be an agency for a creative integration of culture
and technology, and it should inculcate in our youth a sense
of social responsibility, and a sense of hope, faith and pride
in the future of our country. It was a very comprehensive
report on all aspects of University system, on academic affairs,
on administration, on faculty, on teaching, on research, on
curriculum reforms, on examination system, on extension
service, on extra-curricular activities, on students, and on
problems of affiliated colleges. It was such a good report that
it could form a useful book on higher education.
When this Report was furnished to those who
mattered most, some were deeply impressed that the V.C.
would do something useful to Goa, and others who were biased
said, it was a tall talk, more a theory than pragmatic approach.
What they wanted was just a degree to get a job, and the
report was ambitions to make our youth enlightened in every
sector of life. The debate went on for some time until we
settled down for real business.
There were many things to do. New Departments had
to be created, faculty to be recruited, infra-structure to be
provided, buildings to be constructed, rules, regulations and
ordinances to be framed. We started doing one after
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another. First, the University was to be formally inaugurated.
It was a very big function. Almost a good part of Goa turned
up for the function. The Governor was to inaugurate and
the Chief Minister was the Chief Guest. We had to work
hard to make this function a great success, for, on it depended
our image. I spelled out our objectives and programmes. Dr.
Gopal Singh, the Governor, too was a good speaker, a man
of clear thinking, and of effective communication skill.The
University was well publicised
The next important work was to find a suitable place
for its location. All along the Governor took personal
interest in all affairs of the University. We surveyed different
places, as we had done in Mangalore, for a good campus.
Ultimately, we spotted the area overlooking the sea in
Bambolim, which was not far from the Institute of
Oceanography, a spot about 300 acres on the suburbs of
Panaji. A good part of it was Government land which had no
problem in acquiring it, but in its midst, there was a bit of
private land, which we had to purchase. Obviously,
negotiations were very tough. People do take adantage of
the situation, ignoring the cause however noble it may be.
At last nearly for two crores that land was acquired. The
land was now available, but several other things had to be
done. What should be the design, the shape, the plan of the
University had to be decided. This could be done only by a
high-class Architect, a top expert in this field. Dr. Gopal
Singh had a person in view. He was Satish Gujral, the younger
brother of Inder Kumar Gujral (I.K.Gujral) who became the
Prime Minister of India. Satish Gujral was well-renowned as
a painter of modern art as well. He had indulged in
architecture and had designed very many projects in Delhi,
including Belgian embassy. His designs were all very modern,
very innovative, very peculiar away from traditional designs.
They were neither western nor Indian but blend of his own
mind. It was the decision of the Governor that he should
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appoint him as the architect. There were others also,
particularly from Bombay, but the Syndicate had to approve
the name of Satish Gujral as the architect. He was a very
difficult man to deal with. He was hard of hearing. His wife
would come with him who knew the art of communicating
with him. He prepared the design. We fixed 4% of the cost
of the building as his fee. The total out-lay on all buildings
that came up in a period of less than three years exceeded
20 crores, and the architect drew nearly 50 lakhs as his fee.
The first building we designed was the Administrative
offices. It was a mansion unique in its own design, very
appreciative in the eyes of some, and highly critical in the
view of those who were pragmatic. Any way all buildings of
Goa University are unique in their own right, reflective of
the imaginative creativity of a modern architect, who had an
aesthetic sense of his own. My term in Goa was more than
5 years out of which in less than three years, we completed
the construction work, and I functioned in the new campus
for more than two years.
Apart from the Administrative Offices, several other
structures such as Faculty Blocks, Guest House, V.C.’s lodge,
faculty houses and so on came up. The question of fixing
the contractors was also an issue. If the Architect was named
by the Governor, the contractor would have the blessings of
the Chief Minister. But it should be said that both took
great interest in their jobs and executed the work promptly
and efficiently.
On the academic side I took great interest in starting
new Departments which were relevant to the needs of the
society. Apart from such fundamental sciences as Physics,
Chemistry, Mathematics, we went for Bio-Technology,
Computer Application, Management Sciences, Marine
Sciences, Micro-biology, Bio-Chemistry and so on. On
Humanities side we opened History, Political Science,
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Sociology, Economics, Commerce, Konkani, Marathi, Hindi
and so on. We inherited some staff to which we added a few
more. My contribution was to motivate the faculty for
creative work. They needed facilities and funds. We provided
them what they needed. Funds were really the crucial factor.
I asked the Departments to prepare such projects which were
relevant, turn out quality work, and finish them within a
reasonable time. These three parameters of relevance,
quality and time-schedule were drilled into their mind. To
provide them with money I had to run frequently to Delhi
to meet several agencies, Government Departments and
research centres who should invest money for research
projects. I was to a great extent successful in this venture,
for I invited the Heads of those organizations to Goa, made
all arrangements for their comfort to keep them in good
Hotels, feed them well, please them so much as to extract a
promise to help the University.
This process went on for long. We got funds for our
new departments. This required periodical visits to Delhi,
but they were all very useful. Added advantage was the rich
experience of Dr. Gopal Singh, who was a political force in
Delhi as well. He knew Nehru family. He invited Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi to Goa, held a banquet in his honour.
I was also an invitee. No function or dinner of Raj Nivas
would be held without inviting me. After the dinner in the
free discussion with the Prime Minister in the lounge, the
University figured very much. I elaborated with great details
our projects and programmes. Rajiv Gandhi was very much
pleased. The Governor also explained the problem of the
nescent University and the help it needed. The Prime
Minister was quite helpful. This factor together with the
letters I could carry of Dr.Gopal Singh to several Heads of
Research Institutions resulted in a boon of funds to build
the University on lines of our dream. At one stage, I met
the present Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and others in
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the Planning Commission. Since Goa was a new State,
liberated from the Portuguese there was a lot of good will
and helpful attitude in Delhi circles. Most of the Babus in
Goa government were IAS people having served in Delhi had
links with policy makers. This also helped the University.
The first two or three years were very challenging.
First was resistance of a small section to the very existence
of the University which was challenged in a court of law.
When they lost the case they tried to obstruct the functioning
that it was not planned on right lines. When a detailed report
was presented as to what its aims and objectives were, and
how it would shape the future of their children, they were
silenced. When we attempted to bring massive aid from the
centre, recruit qualified staff, organise research projects and
opened several useful departments such as Bio-Technology,
Computer Application, Management courses and Marine
Technology, they realised that what was being done was helpful
to them. They started cooperating with me.
That was the second and useful phase of my stay in
Goa. Early in the morning I would call our Registrar, S.K.
Gandhe, to do this, and this and this. In the evening he
would call me back saying, “I have done this, and this and
this”. It was a very happy team spirit. Any problem we would
personally discuss and solve them. The Registrar was a very
competent man and knew the art of getting things done. My
job was to give him ideas, and it was his job to implement
them. It was my job to find funds for the project. It was
my job to motivate the faculty to do creative work, and it
was the job of the faculty to come up to my expectations.
When we wanted to open MBA programme, we
needed a good Professor. We advertised the post and one
Dr. S.M .Bijli, applied for the post. He had earlier served in
the faculty of Commerce and Management in Aligarh Muslim
University, and had served for long in UNESCO. He was a
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very dynamic, refined, enlightened and knowledgeable
person. His memory was terrific and his oratory was superb.
We appointed him. He built up the Department on very
right lines and lifted it high. He became a very good friend
of mine, almost a life-long friend until he breathed his last.
Later on he shifted to his own residence which he built in
Aligarh. Whenever I visited Aligarh we would meet and have
nice time. In Goa we would go for a long walk discussing all
sorts of things under the sun. He got interested in Islamic
culture because of my contact. A Professor of Commerce
wrote several books on Sufism, Islamic Philosophers and
thinkers. In Prof.Bijli we had a wonderful scholar.
I thought of two important projects on humanities.
One was Konkani Encyclopaedia. Konkani was the language
of the masses, both of the Hindus and Christians, and when
the University took up this project the people felt very happy.
A very competent person was appointed as the Director of
the Project. The work went on briskly and before I left
Goa, the First Volume of the Konkani project was released.
The second project was the Comprehensive History
of Goa in several volumes. This was also received with great
enthusiasm. The Christian friends took it seriously as it meant
Portuguese rule in modern times. The work was started under
the Directorship of a good scholar, Testonic D’Souza. The
project was called “Goa Through the Ages”. Its first volume
was released by the time I left Goa.
In the initial stages the job was very challenging as I
had to be accepted first by the society, which reacted very
adversely, but once it realised that I had programmes
and projects, which would help their youth, they started
cooperating with me. For this my appearance frequently in
public functions was a positive factor. By God’s grace my
well-thought-out speeches convinced the public that a
sincere scholar with a vision was struggling hard to do
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something good to the society. In this endeavour; Dr. Gopal
Singh was also very helpful. He too was a great orator, very
pragmatic and resourceful. He would provoke me to arrange
good functions in which the public could be taken into
confidence. Kala Academy in the Centre of Panaji had a huge
Auditorium which could accommodate more than a thousand
persons, and the Governor wanted our functions to be held
there. For academic functions the response from the public
was poor, and it would become a problem for me to get the
audience so as to make the hall full. Dr. Gopal Singh would
not be satisfied with any thing except a packed-hall. We
would intensely publicise and make all students and staff to
be present. In the lighter-vein Mr. Krishnan, the Private
Secretary to the Governor, and myself had a joke that the
only alternative left to fill the hall was to make every patient
of the neighbouring Hospital attend the function. But the
net result of our efforts was all very healthy, in the sense
that the value of higher education was drilled down their ears.
The public came to know that a great Institution of higher
learning was fast coming up in their midst, and that they
should extend a helping hand to it, and not throw spokes
into its functioning.
The other good thing I did was to motivate the staff
to be serious in their work, devote their full time and energy
to bring out something relevant and useful, and that they
should do it diligently and promptly. For this I encouraged
them to hold seminars and workshops, for I realised that such
collective effort was the sure method to do something good
in the shortest period, as also to excite interest in creative
work among a larger section of scholars. These seminars,
became so frequent that the Registrar, Dr. Gandhe, came to
me and said we were over-doing the job, and that a respite in
this regard was required.
In Goa I built up very good rapport with the Church.
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The Christian influence and culture was much more in Goa
than it was in Mangalore. They had a number of educational
institutions and the percentage in population was also higher
in Goa than it was in South Canara. The Portuguese rule
had increased their percentage and had given a different
western culture. The British in India were Protestants in faith
but the Portuguese were Catholics, and Catholics are more
religious and more orthodox, particularly the Syrian Catholics.
My subject of history and my interest in mysticism and
philosophy helped me enormously to build very good relations
with the Christian folks. They would invite me very often to
their functions and I would utilise those occasions to tell
them all about our plans and programmes of the University.
Likewise, I built up good relations with big business houses,
and they were really interested that a good University should
come up soon, which would feed them the required managerial
skill for their concerns.
The Muslim population in Goa was very small. One
of the Ministers in Goa Government when I took charge was
Haroon Hasan who became very friendly with me. But the
Advocate, Agha Ashraf, was the one who became very
intimate. He initiated an Urdu Weekly, called “Nida-e-Goa”,
and came to me to contribute an article. I said I had never
written anything in Urdu, which although I knew and I loved,
had not been my field to bestow attention. He insisted and
persuaded me to write something for his first issue, and I
wrote an article on “Islam and Knowledge”. That was my
first article in Urdu ever published anywhere. It was so well
received that many letters of apreciation came from different
persons and places. That was the beginning, and thereafter I
never looked back. Urdu became a favourite subject. I wrote
not only three or four books in Urdu, but started an Urdu
periodical, Noor-e-Baseerath after my return from Goa, which
became very popular. It had a character of its own. It was
thematic, either on some important personality like Hali,
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Shibli, Azad, Iqbal, Sa’adi, Hafiz, Ghazali, Rumi, Jauhar or
on Islamic art, architecture, philosophy, khilafat or history.
Twenty six issues on various themes were brought out. That
became a major contribution of mine to the world of Urdu
literature and language. I became the Chief Editor of Urdu
eeklyy SALAR, besides bringing
Daily SALAR, and Urdu Weekl
out in two volumes one hundred great personalities of the
Islamic world from the holy Prophet of Islam down to the
present times of Ali Miyan of Nadva. It was all because of
the fact Agha forced me to write in Urdu. Nida-e-Goa was
the seed that was sown to grow into a full blown rose-wood
tree into my mind.
Dr. Gopal Singh was succeeded by Khurshed Alam
Khan, son-in-law of Dr. Zakir Hussain, as the Governor of
Goa. I served him for more than a year. Rajiv Gandhi was
the Prime Minister, and Khurshed Alam Khan had served
for a short while in the Union Cabinet as well. He became
the Chancellor of Goa University, and I came very close to
him. It so happened that the Tata Group of concerns
published the biography of one of the greatest industrialists
of Goa, Salgaonkar. His son was a member of the Syndicate.
The Senior Salgaonkar who had built up an empire of business
houses was no more, and his family people were very much
pleased when Tatas offered to get his life published by a
reputed scholar. The book was ready for release. It was a
gala function arranged in the sprawling campus of Goa
University, when the Governor, Khurshed Alam Khan, was
to release that book. The whole of Goa, as it were, was
present on the occasion. The volume was brought out by Nani
Palkiwala, the famous jurist of the land, who was also present.
The policy of the Tatas was to identify some great Indian
personality, publish a book, and distribute it free to all
libraries in the country, but not allow it to be marketed.
While the book was being released, Khurshed Alam Khan
told Palkiwala that the scheme of bringing out the life of
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319
great personalities was very laudable. If so, why not the Tatas
think of bringing out an authentic work on Dr. Zakir Hussain,
the great nationalist, humanist, educationist and the past
President of India. Palkiwala readily agreed to do so,
provided the work were to be done by a good scholar. When
Khurshed Saheb found an agency to publish a work, he was
in need of a person to write the book. Next day I got a call
from Raj Nivas that the Governor wanted to see me. He
wanted that I should undertake the job of writing the
biography of the great man. He also said that I should do it
in the shortest period, and that he would furnish me all the
required material. I agreed to do so. My term of five years
was already over by that time. He went on extending the
tenure month by month. I worked hard night and day. We
would meet very often, sometime almost every day in the
evening to discuss the points mentioned. I would furnish
him the chapters I drafted. He would go through and make
comments. This process went on nearly for seven to eight
months, until I finished the work in November 1990.
This gave me an opportunity to reflect a lot on
education, which became my second love thereafter. Life of
Dr. Zakir Hussain was very fascinating, as he was the finest
flower of Indian renaissance, the first person to lift
Jamia-Millia to great heights, and conduct an experiment in
educational system of India. He was the person to give shape
to the Wardha Scheme initiated by Gandhiji, and he was the
person to implement the idea of work-school and cultural
goods. He was inspired by the great German educationist,
Kreschensteiner, who had conceived the idea that no knowedge
which was not applied knowledge was knowledge at all, and
that all such knowledge should be based on the cultural
foundation of that society. Dr. Zakir Hussain had built up a
system of values without which education would have no value.
This book was not published by Tatas, as their policy was
not meant for the sale of the book. They would give it as a
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My Life
complimentary copy to a few libraries. Therefore, Salman
Khurshed son of Khurshid Alam Khan Saheb, found a
publisher, Vikas, of New Delhi to bring out this volume of
more than 400 pages on Life and Times of Dr.Zakir Hussain.
By the time the book was published, my term was over and I
had to come back home. Meanwhile great changes had taken
place. General elections had been held, Rajiv Gandhi had been
assassinated, Narasimha Rao had become the Prime
Minister. The book was released by Narasimha Rao in the
premises of the Prime Minister.
It was a gala function in New Delhi, when the elite
had come. I was made to sit as the author along side the
Prime Minister, and Khurshed Ali Khan was seated on the
other side of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister praised
the work, and spoke a lot about the great services of Dr.
Zakir Hussain. This was the occasion when Mr.Narasimha
Rao broached the topic of the Five Volume Comprehensive
History of Indian National Congress. In 1984 when Rajiv
Gandhi was the Prime Minister a project was conceived to
write an exhaustive history of Indian National Congress, in 5
Volumes. It was to be a collective effort of all great thinkers
and scholars. Different Chapters had been assigned to
different persons. I was also assigned a chapter, when I was
in Goa to write the History of the Congress from 1960 to
1965, a crucial transition period when Nehru was yet alive, at
the peak of his glory, very soon to be dampened by the
Chinese War, the shock of which was so great that he did
not survive for long. Soon after Lal Bahadur Shastri took
office, he had to fight the Second War with Pakistan, when
Gen. Ayub Khan was the Dictator of Pakistan. I had traced
the History of Non-alignment, the causes for the Chinese
attack, and the events that led to Indo-Pakistan War of 1965.
The Chief Editor of this volume was P.V. Narasimha Rao,
who remembered on this occasion the Chapter I had written.
He said the busy schedule of Prime Minister’s job was not
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321
allowing any time to scrutinise the material for the fifth
volume, and hopefully he would do it soon sometime. That
day never came, and the volume was never released.
Any way I had the satisfaction that what I had done was
acknowledged by the Prime Minister.
In the General Elections of 1990 in Goa, Mr.Rane
lost power. It was a period of great confusion. One
Mr.Churchill became the Chief Minister of Goa. As long as
Rane was in office, I had absolutely no political interference
in the affairs of Goa University. On the other hand Rane
was a pillar of support to the University particularly in
financial matters. Things changed enormously under the new
regime. They became so bad that I would get a call from
C.M.’s office that “so” and “so” deserves to be the Captain
of the Food-ball team. Please appoint him the captain of the
team.
I should mention here that Goa foot-ball team was
well-renowned in the country. The people took a lot of
interest in Sports and Foot-ball was their pet game. I had
appointed a lady, a dynamic lady Susan D’Souza as the Sports
Director, whose life-passion was to see her team win the
match. We had arranged from the University All-India
Foot-ball Tournaments. It was an exciting team. The
Director had exerted her utmost, and had spared no efforts
in training and motivating our boys to win the trophy. It
was a very prestigious occasion. Several teams from different
parts of India had come, and the duration of the competitions
was more than a week. Our University team went on gaining
scores, defeating many in the initial stages, until it won the
Semi-final as well, and entered into the finals. That day when
the final match was played was the day to be seen in Goa, as
if the sports field was Mecca where the devotees of Football had come to pay their homage. The entire area was jampacked to see how the nascent University would fare against
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My Life
the stalwarts. Our boys exhibited their best, fought tooth
and nail to win the game, and at last were supremely
successful. That was a memorable day. They had won the
laurels. The Governor, the Chief Minister, and the whole
Cabinet was present. Goa felt as if it had won the World
War. Our joy knew no bounds. Cheers from every direction
filled the air. My stock in the esteem of public went up
high, and they thought that not only on the public platform
I could excel in talk, but also in the field of action where
competition was tough I could bring glory to Goa. This
happened in the very first year of my office. The initial
resistance that was simmering for sometime died down, and
I settled down with some peace for the real business of
building intellectual ecology in Goa.
With the completion of my book on Zakir Hussain,
my term was drawing to a close. I had stayed in Goa for 5
years and 9 months and the month of November 1990 was
fast approaching when I would be 65 years, the maximum
age for any V.C. to stay in office. I started my regime in
turmoil when hostile glares greeted me from every side, and
I ended it in tranquillity when every one appreciated that
something good was done to Goa. When I look back on those
days, I feel satisfied that I did justice to the job to the best
of ability. It had always been my philosophy that there is no
security anywhere in life, but there is always an opportunity.
Make the best use of the opportunity. You are in the
examination hall, where every second matters most, make the
best use of those moments, for very soon the duration of
examination would be over. It would depend on how and
what you did in that hall to build the future of your life.
Success in life needs planning and action, love and labour,
patience and perseverance. Journey in life involves twists and
turns, uphills and downhills, thorns and thistles, we cannot
avoid them. We have to face the music.
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323
My experience of over a decade in the University
system tells me that a person with integrity and industry
would get on well even in the midst of most adverse
circumstances. What is required is interest, involvement,
which should touch the degree of crazyness, and madness in
the job you are entrusted with. Success is a greasy pole,
where every inch of upward movement needs all your energy
but failure is so swift that the moment you loosen the grip,
you are drown on floor. One had to be careful all the time,
for one small slip was enough to drown him into the deep
sea. The second thing I learned was that there was an art of
getting things done. It was the method of Socrates, who said
that the only thing he knew was that he knew nothing.
Keeping your own profile low, appreciating the work of
others, a friendly gesture and consistent follow on action would
go a long way in getting things done. The third thing I learned
was the selection of personnel with whom I had to work,
particularly the subordinates. I was lucky both in Mangalore
and Goa to have very reliable staff. The three key posts in
the University system are the Registrar, the Controller of
Examinations and the Finance Officer. It is the integrity and
industry of these three officers which would bring credit to
the University. I was fortunate in having very competent
and honest officers in both these Universities. Particularly in
Goa, I had Dr.S.K.Gandhe, a mature and experienced IAS
Officer who had filled many high posts in the administration.
It was my job to tell him to do this, this and this, and he
would do that all very promptly and efficiently.
The fourth thing I learned in the University system
is the kind of relationship you build with several sectors of
society, with the staff, with the students, with the public and
with the Governmental agencies. Development would depend
upon how you would draw the best from each of these
sections. If the staff is not happy, if students are restless, if
the parents and public are not cooperative, and if the
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My Life
Governmental agencies do not release the funds in time, the
whole system would collapse. Hence, tact and diplomacy,
vigilance and courtesy, articulation and understanding would
all be required to deal with all these sectors. Napoleon said,
if people call a King a kind man, his reign is a failure. Hence
too much of softness would breed indiscipline and apathy.
Likewise, too much of harshness too would invite trouble.
Not making any compromise on quality, understanding the
problems, ability to solve them in time, imaginative,
innovative, helpful and relevant projects, promptness,
efficiency and tact are some of the things that would go a
long way in achieving our goal.
When I look back I feel satisfied that I came out
from both Universities in such a manner that when I visit
those places, people shower praise on me.They have a good
word about me, and not a feeling that my exit was a good
riddance. When people do not talk ill of you, that by itself
is glory enough, for human nature is such that they take a
microscope to find the faults of a person and a telescope to
find any good is there in him.
13
Social Service
Man is a social being. History is all evolution of men in their
individual as well as typical and collective activity as social
beings.I thank God for the opportunity to do
something as typical individual as also collectively as a team.
The building of two Universities was a collective game, but
apart from that when I look back I feel I have contributed
individually also to the total social good. One has to
remember the dictum, give more, and you will have more. It
may be wealth, talent, knowledge, ability, love, loyalty,
friendship or experience, sharing these values would not
diminish their quantity, but increases it. Your worth would
be determined by the quantum of talents you share with
others. Look at nature. It is all giving every where. The lamp
burns itself, gives light to others. The cow grazes the grass
and gives milk to others. It does not drink its own milk. A
tree does not deny shade even to the wood-cutter. The honeybee works hard only to produce honey which you relish.
Nothing exists in this world for its own sake, every thing is
for everything else whether it is Sun, or Moon, or hill or
river. Man is the only exception who thinks first of himself
and then of others. The wisdom of self is the wisdom of rats
that are sure to leave the house before its fall. We need the
fidelity of dog that never deserts its master.
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My Life
In the busy schedule of University service to find time
for any constructive social work is difficult, but where there
is a will, there is always a way. Having passed through the
school of adversity myself, I could well realise that we should
be agents to relieve the distress of others, and to extend a
helping hand to those who are involved in such work. Still
better service would be to initiate some project which would
be beneficial to the society. I feel happy in both these sectors
I have contributed a tiny bit of my own ability.
As the Warden of New Muslim Hostel, as the founder
of Muslim Education Society, as the funder of Sultan Shaheed
Education Trust, as the Editor-in-Chief of Urdu Daily
SALAR, and Weekly SALAR, as the founder, publisher and
editor of Ujrdu quarterly periodical, Noor-e-Baseerath, as the
founder President of Dars-e-Iqbal and as the President of
Mountain View Chain of Institutions, I have rendered a tiny
bit of service to the society.
For over a decade I was the Warden of the New
Muslim Hostel, Mysore, and at present its President. It was
this Hostel which initiated me into social work, and it was
this place which sheltered me during my entire period of
education. While I was still a boarder of this hostel, it
occurred to us that we must collect some funds to help the
poor boarders. I myself being a beneficiary of such help, I
took deep interest in this project during the holidays, mostly
during summer, when we would go to different places and
collect funds. I still remember several visits to Bangalore City
where we would go shop to shop and collect small donations.
It is not easy to raise funds in such a manner. People would
suspect that we might misuse money and hence they would
first check our bonafide. Very few would open the purse. Still
we would collect something. At other times in Dasara or
Christmas holidays we would take receipt books to collect
donations from our native places, but the yield was not
always much. Two other methods we adopted were fairly
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327
successful. One was to use the occasions of both Eid-ul-Fitr
and Eid-ul-Azha, when we boys stretched our towels before
the congregation in the Eidgah and begged donations. The
response would be not much below the expectations. But the
second method yielded substantial results. It was to approach
the proprietors of Cinema houses to give us a benefit show.
At least two or three theatres would give us such shows in a
year. We would work hard for nearly a fortnight selling the
tickets, go door to door and persuade people to purchase
the tickets. If the picture was good, we would get more
money. Out of this we had to pay a part of it to the
proprietor towards electricity and other incidentals, and even
then we would save a lot for the Hostel.
This activity was there when I was still a student and
boarder of the Hostel. When I became a lecturer, the range
of activities was extended. It was Mr.Mohamed Ishaq, at
present oil merchant, in those days keeper of a Provision
Stores, who persuaded me to accept the office of the Warden.
It was the year 1956, when I received a post-card from him,
stressing the need in a persuasive way to accept the job. Ishaq
Saheb became a good friend of mine thereafter, and even to
this day, more than half a century, our good relations persist.
He is a very fascinating person, deeply involved in social work,
helpful in many ways to the students, and in particular to
Medical College students, perhaps not a single Muslim Medico
might have escaped his contact. He knows them all, their
social background, and their entire history. He is
knowledgeable on current history, political figures, religious
dignitaries and other intellectual personalities, such as Maulvi
Mohamed Khan Saheb and others. His memory is fantastic
and he could quote Urdu verses in any number. He is a
member of the Hostel Managing Committee and even to-day
he takes interest in its activities.
When I took charge of this Hostel, two things I did
which are note-worthy. One was to motivate at least a few of
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My Life
them to bring up to surface the best they had. Our boys
have talent, but it must be tapped properly. I found a few of
them were very intelligent, and they would prove to be a great
asset if we bestow a little time on them guiding them on
right lines. One of the boarders was K. Rahman Khan, M.P.
at present Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, who has risen
very high in the political ladder. He was the first Muslim to
pass the Charters Accounts Examination and became a
successful Chartered Accountant. Then he entered into
politics, and became the first Muslim Chairman of Karnataka
Legislative Council at a very young age. He laid the foundation
of Amanath Cooperative Bank, which reached the status of a
Scheduled Bank, a rare honour. He was for a long time, over
a decade, the Chairman of Al-Ameen Education Society,
lifting it sky-high to have as many as 150 different
educational institutions. Inspiring the youth to high ideals,
prompting them to be creative and imaginative, guiding them
to use their time, energy and talent in right channels, would
surely result in very rewarding fruits.
The other example I could quote here is of Qamruddin
Abdul Rahman, who hailed from a poor family, but had the
spark of intelligence. I extended him all support and helped
him in his educational career. He was sharp and resourceful,
industrious and intelligent, good in expression and clear in
thinking. My guidance to such boarders shaped their future.
Later he made a name in life, served in different places, in
Baghdad, in U.K. in Africa, in USA, and even in UNESCO.
What is more significant is that one individual from a very,
very backward section of the society lifted all his kith and
kin, near and dear to high position, and they are leading a
very good life in different parts of the world, may be in
Germany or in USA. This shows that social service involves
detecting talent, scratching diamonds, even polishing pebbles,
which would shine like bright jewels.
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329
Not only these two but also several others were
transformed into bright jewels. One interesting change is of
a mischievous medico turned into a noble soul. He was from
Shimoga and was very naughty. Once in the playground he
beat another player with chappal. The matter was brought
to my notice. I sent for the boy and told him that the only
alternative I had with me for his heinous act was to inform
the Principal of his College about his conduct. It could be
end of his career as a Doctor. He pleaded for mercy and I
did not yield and said I was firm in my decision.Then I asked
him who was the victim of his aggression. I was told he was
a boy from Mudigere, a distant relative of mine. When I
came to know that the victim was my relative, I told the
Medico that I would take no action against him and that I
have pardoned him only with the warning he should not repeat
what he had done. He was astonished at my sudden change
of attitude and enquired why it was so. I told him, the
instance of Hazrat Ali in a campaign. Hazrat Ali had
overpowered a rival in a battle, and he was about to strike
him with a dagger sitting on his chest. The helpless foe down
on ground did not know what to do when death was staring
at his face. All he did was to collect spittum in his mouth,
and spray on the face of Hazrat Ali. The reaction of Hazrat
Ali was strange. He did not hasten to finish him off with
one blow. He got up, released the foe and said, you go, you
are free. It was indeed very strange behaviour in the light of
what the foe had done, and he asked the cause for the strange
act. Hazrat Ali said “I was killing you for a righteous cause
in the war, and now that you spat on me I would be guilty of
taking revenge for a personal cause, if I killed you. Righteous
cause was different from personal cause.” The same thing is
true in this case also. Earlier I was about to complain the
Principal about your conduct for maintaining discipline in the
Hostel. Now, if I were to do that, it would mean I took
revenge on you because you insulted my relative. To avoid
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My Life
this blemish I am taking no action against you. This action
of mine impressed the boy so much that he turned an
exceedingly good boy, started praying five times a day and
became a fine gentleman. He proved to be a very successful
medical practitioner in Shimoga. Thus mercy many a time
would prove more effective than poetic justice.
Another instance of this sort, although not of Muslim
Hostel, but of Ghousianagar, where later I started a School
under Sultan Shaheed Education Trust, could be stated here,
because it was also of similar nature. Ghousianagar is a slum
area, poorest of the poor, where standard of behaviour was
abnormal. A poor lady went to the police Station and
complained to the Inspector, Ismail Shariff, that her husband
was a drunkard and that daily he was beating her mercilessly.
Mr.Shariff sent for the man and kept him in remand for three
days. On the fourth day the lady came pleading for his
release, saying he was at least feeding me and now I am
starving. Shariff said it was she who complained his bad
conduct, and again it was she who was pleading his case for
release. Mr. Shariff called the man and said he would release
on certain conditions. He agreed. First, he was to get up
early. Second, he was to go to mosque for fajar namaz, and
third, he was to report to the Police Station daily. He did
that religiously and became a fine gentleman thereafter. Social
reformation is a difficult task, but there are certain ways
which would do miracles.
As for the Hostel life I decided that the
accommodation available was not enough for the growing
demand. As early as 1927, about 15 rooms had been built which
could accommodate only about 40 or 50 students, but the
strength of boarders was yearly increasing. There was no
dearth of space. Fortunately, Mirza Ismail Saheb had donated
a sprawling plot of nearly 5 acres in the heart of the city.
From 1927 to 1957 not a single room had been added. Thanks
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to Sahucar Mohamed Hussain of Arehalli and Sir Haji Ismail
Sait of Bangalore there was a roof for a few needy. I decided
to put up a Block in the open ground. That had become a
necessity for one more important reason. A sprawling 5 acres
of land was being used hardly by a few boarders, and much
of the land was vacant without being used to any purpose.
Moreover, the vacant land was all towards the main road,
which attracted the attention of the Corporation. It had bad
designs, why not pay some compensation and acquire this
prime land ? When such rumours were there, I was greatly
frightened and hastened to do something which would
protect the prime land near the main road from the evil
designs, of some hostile forces. Although my predecessor, Dr.
Ziauddin had put up compound to our Hostel, yet the
property was not safe.
In such circumstances I decided to build a big
residential block towards the North side which was exposed
to Main Road. Fortunately the boys I had trained in the
Hostel were very helpful. They came forward to collect funds
from different places. I had an idea that those who paid a
sum of Rs.1,500/- would be acknowledged as donor by putting
a slab of their name above the door of that room. This idea
occurred to me because that was exactly what Sir Syed had
done in Aligarh. Sir Syed Hall, Aftab Hall and all other Halls
carried the names of the donors inscribed on marble visible
on the room they built. The cost of construction was so cheap
that a room of 10 x 15 = 150 cft would cost just Rs. 1500/-.
We started hunting for donors. Charity begins at home. I
first tapped my own father-in-law, Janab G. S. Abdul Hameed
Saheb of Gadabanahalli, who very kindly donated one room.
Next I approached his elder brother, Janab G.S. Abdul Basith
Saheb of Chikmagalur, who donated another room. The third
room from Janab K. Abdul Khader Saheb of Golgonda Estate.
I had to struggle very hard to extract money from him. At
last I was successful. For the fourth room I had to make a
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My Life
long journey to Koppam in Andhra Pradesh, where the
father-in-law of Mr.Firoz Nusrat Raheem, a big granite owner
was living. He was kind enough to donate a room. Mr. Anwar
Pasha of Chamarajanagar donated one room.
In this endeavour, Mr. Ishaq Shaeb of Mandi market
helped me enormously. He would accompany me every where.
An interesting instance could be related how we both faced a
very bad situation. One Mr. Sikandar Ali, was the DSP of
Mysore, known to be very generous for good social cause.
He was a bachelor, and being in the Police Department quiet
well off. Mr. Ishaq Shaeb and myself went to his bungalow,
one evening when it was getting dark. He thought that some
beggars had come for charity. He let loose his bull-dogs on
us. We ran from his house like mad persons nearly for a
furlong. I could still remember that day how frightened and
excited we were. It should be said to the credit of Sikandar
Ali that next day when he came to know the purpose of our
visit, he came to our Department, apologised for what had
happened and gifted a munificent cheque of Rs. 500/- quite a
handsome figure in those days.
Another experience of mine in the process of fund
collections could be narrated here. I approached a very
wealthy Coffee Planter, who owned hundreds of acres of coffee
land, and had lakhs of rupees cash in the bank. I spoke to
him for three hours, and the only response I got from him
was that if I were to repeat my performance of persuading
him consistently at the rate of three hours per day for three
months, he would not pay me three paise. With this reply I
came back disappointed. A few months later he passed away.
I approached his son and told him that I had bet with a
friend that if your family were to give five rupees to our
Hostel, I would give him Rs.100/- please see I should not
lose the bet. This trick worked so well that he donated Rs.
500/- to the Hostel.
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For the construction of this Block I had to go from
door to door, address the Congregations in the mosques and
do every thing to collect even a few rupees. At last I was
able to add ten new rooms to the Hostel, which was in those
days Herculean task. I should say the Hostel boys were very
helpful to me in this task.
The second important thing I did to the community
was the establishment of Mysore Education Society (MES)
which is by God’s grace functioning very well. It is an obvious
fact that the Muslims are very backward in educational field,
and even at present after sixty years of independence we are
at the lowest rung of the ladder. Education holds the key for
their improvement, which our people have not realised. The
masses are ignorant, and the oppressive poverty is such that
they are forced to be victims of child labour, for what the
one individual earns is not enough to meet both ends meet.
Because of purdah, women stay at home and do not add to
the income by working somewhere. Social, economic and
political factors have reduced them to a helpless level.
Politically they are not powerful after partition to make their
voice felt at higher quarters, for the blame that they were
responsible for the partition of the land still hangs on their
head. All these factors have contributed to keep the largest
minority in poverty, ignorance, apathy and superstition.
Reflective minds even individually could contribute
something to relieve the situation. While I was even a
boarder in the Hostel I had entered into the field of social
work, as indicated earlier that I was collecting funds for the
poor boys of the Hostel. I was as a student going to the
Mandi Mohalla for adult literacy classes in the evening. In
those days adult literacy campaign had already started. But
what made me think of an organized institution to do
something substantial was my contact with Dr. P.K.Abdul
Gafoor of Kerala. He was a dynamic person who brought
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about a great change among Muslims, both in educational
and health sectors. It was he who established in Kerala
Muslim Education Society which did yeoman service in
starting several schools, colleges, hostels, hospitals, and even
entering into the field of media. In order to encourage
education, he instituted even scholarships to the deserving
students. One of my relatives coming from a poor family
had secured a seat in Medical College and it was difficult for
the parents to meet the expenses. Dr.Gafoor had a scheme
of scholarship even for students outside Kerala. I approached
him, went to Calicut two three times, met him, personally,
saw the good work they were doing including running an
orphanage on very good lines. I was deeply impressed by the
type of training in craft these orphans received in a wellplanned campus near Calicut. Dr. Gafoor had brought about
a revolutionary change. Even to-day Kerala could be a role
model for the Muslims of the whole country. My contact
with Dr.Gafoor continued for a long time.
It occurred to me why not we open a branch of MES
in Mysore? The idea was good and I did that. It was at
that time my wife suggested to me that if I was inclined
towards social service, why not I bestow more attention to
the roots of the problem, namely pre-primary education.That
is the foundation which we have to make it strong. If good
pre-primary or nursery schools were to be started, we would
catch them young, mould their habits, and sow such seeds
which would yield them good results. The idea was good and
I started implementing it. In Mandi Mohalla near a mosque
we rented a room and the first Nursery or Phool-Band came
into existence. First, it was a branch of Kerala MES. Later,
we thought we could be independent of others, for contact
from one State to another would create problems. We
established our own Muslim Education Society which was
registered.
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I became the President of the Society, and Dr. Jalees
Tareen of the Geology Department of Mysore University
became its Secretary. He was a very dynamic, industrious and
imaginative person. Together both of us started building a
fine structure of pre-primary schools. One after another we
opened nearly sixteen Nursery Schools in very thickly
populated areas of Mandi Mohalla and Lashkar Mohalla. It
did a few good things. It excited interest among the parents
that the child could as well spend the time at school rather
than at home until he reached the age of admission to first
standard. The School would not only take care of the tiny
tots but also put them on right lines for his good future.
The parents would be relieved of this duty for a few hours
which they could utilise for some fruitful tasks. From the
educational point of view that is the period most crucial for
shaping the future of the child. No service could be more
useful than to mould the character of the child.
Starting the schools was not so difficult as maintaining
and sustaining these schools. For any institution finances form
the heart of the problem. Who would give money ? If we
charge high fees the Schools would be closed, for utter
poverty of the parents together lack of infra-structure on our
part would force the institutions to be closed. We passed
through difficult times. Unemployed ladies who had nothing
else to do at home had joined our institution, but they too
had to be paid. At one stage we reached a crisis when salaries
had to be disbursed. I approached Janab Aziz Sait Saheb,
who had become a Minister at that time, and explained to
him our problem. He went inside and came back with a
bundle of Rs.5,000/- and kept it on my palm. My joy knew
no bounds. That was in a way the seed money. It was as if
a blessing. We were so exhilerated that from that day we
did not look back. We had faith in Almighty who tests your
love, your labour, your patience and your commitment to the
cause. If you are honest and steadfast God’s bounty descends
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from the heavens. Your interest, involvement, integrity and
industry are the bricks with which the mansion of any
educational institution could be built.
Fortunately, a few dedicated individuals too extended
their support to us, one of them was Baba Saheb, a very fine
gentleman, who had a heart to help others. He extended full
support to me. The idea was to seek Govt. grant. How to
do that was the job. Govt. rules permitted grants to preprimary schools of minorities. We had quite a few of them.
The salary of the teachers was a meagre figure. He hatched
a plan. He told me that some agency would get us the grant
cumulatively for the past two or three years since the
inception of the Nursery Schools, provided a certain figure
by way of inducement was offered to them. The demand was
for Rs. 8,000/- which was very high figure for us, but this
would be an inducement to receive the arrears since the
inception of the schools which would be nearly 2 or 3 lakhs.
When we were struggling for a few pennies it was a problem
to spare Rs. 8,000/- although the temptation to get the grants
was urging within. But common sense would prompt us also
to think that we would be risking too much, and it would be
a high stake, for we never knew it could be a deception to
walk off with our assets. Nevertheless, we took the risk,
collected Rs.8,000/- for which Baba Saheb was responsible,
paid that to the Secret Agency, and awaited the results.
Fortunately, it clicked. It was not deception or conspiracy
but the reality of the situation that miracles are possible in
governmental affairs, provided sufficient greasing the palm was
done.The Government sanctioned grants to eight of our
Nursery schools, and we got the arrears of nearly three lakhs,
which was substantial sum, with which we moved up from
pre-primary to primary and higher primary schools. Later we
moved up vertically, took a big plot of land in Eidgah ground
where not only a high school but also a College is functioning.
This happened after I laid down the office of the President
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of MES to take charge of V.C.’s post in Mangalore in 1980.
It should be said that the developments of MES were
not exactly what we wanted to achieve. Our aim was to
strengthen the base first, make the pre-primary and primary
strong to feed good students to higher classes, and pay
attention to wide-spread horizontal growth of educational
sector. This did not happen in MES after I left it. They
concentrated on higher education, college level, vertical
growth neglecting the horizontal growth, the base. The
neglect of pre-primary and primary led to disastrous results.
Problems galore arose which the Management was not able
to respond. We had received govt. grants for these schools,
and that should have enabled us to build quality education,
and make them as popular as the Christian convents or Rotary
Schools. Far from that a situation arose where many of these
nursery schools were closed, an unspeakable tragedy of Muslim
short-sightedness, apathy and incapacity. Great is the man
who saves a drowning man; what to say of a man who drowns
d
Phul-Band
a swimming person ? That is what happened to Phul-Ban
or Nursery Schools, which were more than a dozen, and which
had been raised by sweat and tears and blood of mine.
The tragedy happened because of a technical difficulty
which could have perhaps solved by a little tact. We had
received government grants, the salary was on par with
government schools, ours were aided-schools where the
teachers were entitled not to provident fund, but to pension.
Some mischievous elements excited the teachers to demand
provident fund benefit as well. The teachers said that the
pension would be too meagre fund for their oldage and wanted
provident funds. The Central Government also supported the
teachers and the result was a crisis. The Management had to
shell down lakhs and lakhs towards the arrears of so many
years of the past which they could not afford. The teachers
too remained adamant. Instead of solving the problem the
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Management decided to close down the schools which were
more than a dozen in number, located in the heart of the
city rendering service to the poorest of the poor Muslims in
the thick pockets of the community. It was a terrible tragedy
reflective of the incompetency of the Management. Any
excuses to justify the closure would not hide the fact that
we are very, very poor in organizing schools. The only saving
clause is that MES is now concentrating on vertical
expansion.
If this was a partial failure of our efforts to build
educational institutions to promote pre-primary and primary
education, there was a total failure in my efforts to build Sir
Syed Hall in the City of Mysore, a project of social work
conceived not only to provide a good congregation hall for
functions, social and educational, but also a centre to provide
craft skill to the youth to stand on their own. After my
retirement as V.C. of Goa, I invested lot of my time and
energy in this project. The year was 1998, the centenary
year of Sir Syed’s death, the leader who had brought about a
renaissance in the Muslim thinking and had changed the
course of history. The whole of 19th century was Sir Syed’s
Centuary, but for whom we would not have been what we
are to-day. This much of ability to hold high our head was
all due to the services of Sir Syed. Being a product of Aligarh
and a fan of Sir Syed, I desired to commemorate his name in
Mysore through a Memorial Hall.
For this the first requirement was land. I struggled
hard nearly for a year to get a good plot of land. Luckily
there was such a plot of land down below the Eidgah mosque,
a part of which had been acquired by a Motor garauge repairs.
Adjacent to that on the road side there was an open ground
which was ideal for our project. It was a Wakf property
which could be leased out for certain period on a few
conditions. I moved earth and heaven to get this land, and
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was finally successful. It needed all my efforts, energy, time
and resources moving up and down to Bangalore. Fortunately
for me the Chief Executive Officer of the Karnataka State
Wakf Board was Mr.Miniruddin, a KAS Officer, who was
known to me. He was very helpful. I saw him several times
and finally the matter reached the finalisation stage.
I got the information one day that I should come with
all the documents for the papers to be signed and finalised.
He gave me a time at 10 A.M to see. I went there at the
appointed time and handed over all the papers. He said the
documents were all to be scrutinised by a legal expert, and
hence I should see him at 2 p.m. by which time the matter
would be scrutinised. I went there at 2 p.m. and the Legal
expert had done the job, but Muniruddin had gone for lunch,
he was not there to sign the papers. At 3.30 p.m. I got a
call from Muniruddin that he was held up in a court hall
where some legal issues needed his presence, and that he would
be back latest by 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. I sat there waiting for
Muniruddin. The clock struck 5, and then 6, and then 7,
and then 8, and Muniruddin was no where to be seen. I was
there in his chamber sitting like a statue, unheard unseen,
unknown to any one there. At 6 p.m. even the attender left
the office saying his Boss would be coming any movement.
To my misfortune even electricity was off around 7.30 p.m.
and there was no candle near by. None was there except
one soul. I was simply sitting doing nothing, just waiting;
each moment seemed an age. At last around 9 p.m. I got a
call from Muniruddin enquiring whether I was still there in
the office. I said yes, and also the fact that there was no
light. He apologised and explained his helplessness in the
tribunal case where his presence was essential. Around 9
p.m. he rushed to his office, and we signed the papers under
the candle light. He searched for the seal and that was done.
I got the clearance from Wakf Board, and the property now
belonged to our Sultan Shaheed Education Trust. I went
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My Life
from the office late in the night to my daughter’s place in
Mathikere, overjoyed that I had won the battle of Waterloo.
The next step was to prepare a suitable plan for Sir
Syed Hall. Mr.Mubeen, the Architect, prepared the plan
which was not so attractive. Another Bangalore Architect
who was engaged by Al-Ameen Education Society, saw the
plan, and he would prepare a fresh one. He did it so well
that Sir Syed Hall of my dream seemed Viceregal Lodge of
Simla. We presented the Plan to the Corporation and
religiously followed the procedure to get its sanction, paying
the fee which was around Rs.60,000/-. The whole project
would cost at least 2 or 3 crores. We got the sanctioned
plan. Now the inauguration of the project engaged our
attention. We made elaborate preparations. Nearly 24 to
30,000 rupees were spent on arrangements. I persuaded
Janab Syed Hamid Saheb of Delhi, former Vice-Chancellor
of Aligarh Muslim University to come and be our Chief Guest.
He agreed and came all the way from Delhi. We invited
Aziz Sait Saheb, former Minister of Karnataka, and Muslim
leader of great repute. He was alive then. We invited
Dr.Mumtaz Ahmed Khan Saheb, Janab Ziaulla Sheriff Saheb
and other dignitaries. A gala function was held, and all wished
us well.
Then came the task of starting the work. One,
Madanna, was our contractor. He did its “gudli pooja” and
was about to start excavations for the foundation, when the
whole project was tarpedoed. A few elements raised a hue
and cry that such a Hall should not come in the precincts of
the mosque. That would disturb the prayers. The mosque
itself needed ground. All sorts of silly excuses made them
obstruct the work. They physically forced our contractor
not to dig. The matter became serious. We pleaded the
mosque people that it would be an asset to the community,
it would provide many amenities; it would do constructive
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341
work of training the unemployed for some job; it would
provide a Community Hall for social and educational functions
and so on. They would not listen. The matter reached the
notice of Wakf Board. They called several meetings. The
Mutwalli of the mosque was Akbar Saheb. He was the main
impediment. For quite a few months we struggled hard to
convince the people. They would not listen until the matter
came to a crisis.
At first they started abusing me. A series of phone
calls in filthy language aimed at making us abandon the project.
It was a nightmare every time to listen to this filthy language.
When that attempt failed, they tried a last ditch, which was
successful to their cause. One evening I received a phone
call stating that my good friend, Janab Mohamed Ishaq Saheb,
Mandi Market, unfortunately suffered a sudden heart attack
and that he was no more, and that the Namaz-e-janaza would
be held in Dargahi mosque after maghrih namaz. I believed
the story and was about to start to go to the mosque. Even
then it occurred to me that I should check the story. I called
our Secretary Muneer Pasha to inform him that such a thing
had happened. He was very resourceful. He telephoned Ishaq
Saheb’s and Ishaq Saheb himself answered the call and said
that he was not dead, but hail and healthy.
It was a serious plot. The idea was to watch my
movement. When I was somewhere in the streets they
intended to physically harm me, if not kill, at least to beat,
or make me fall in the ditch. It was all done to force me
abandon the project. They had engaged goondas for the
purpose. Their last ditch acted in their favour. I abandoned
the project, I had no stomach to proceed further. I did not
like to invite further trouble. I gave up the project, although
Aziz Sait Saheb came forward and attempted to persuade me
not to abandon the project, and that he would see no physical
harm would be done to me but I did not yield.
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My Life
When we look back we feel whatever happens is for
our own good. It was a blessing in disguise that I gave up
that project, for I would not have devoted so much time and
energy for my own pet educational projects which I had
undertaken in Ghousianagar and Radhakrishnanagar. Ways
of God are mysterious, we judge things by their immediate
results, it is the long term effects that are mere important.
I thank God. He saved me from more troubles and led me
towards more beneficial channels.
In service to society I could count that I founded a
Dars-e-Iqbal”, an academic club which
literary circle called “ Dars-e-Iqbal”
would meet every month on third Sunday in some place to
have a discourse on the thoughts, philosophy, teachings and
poetry of Allama Iqbal, one of the greatest thinkers of Islam
in the 20th Century. If 18th Century was of Shah Walliyullah
for the Muslims of India, and the 19th Century was of
Sir Syed, the 20th Century was of Iqbal, who was a thinker,
philosopher, reformer, poet and leader in more than one sense.
Perhaps, no one in the sub-continent has attracted so much
attention as this poet, on whom enormous literature, as much
as 4000 books, they say, have been written in different parts
of the world. It occurred to us that reflections on his
thoughts and teachings would be useful to us, for we can
make our own life better than before. With this intention we
Dars-e-Iqbal. In this endeavour,
established a forum called Dars-e-Iqbal
Mr.Sarfraz Saheb of Majestic Electricals was very helpful. The
first question was where to meet. We had no place of our
own where we could meet. A helpful person, Attar Basheer
Saheb came to our rescue, who said he had a big house in
the Centre of Mandi Mohalla near Sultan Park, where in his
big drawing hall, which can accommodate even a hundred
people, we could meet. Before we shifted there, we met for a
few weeks in a house near Govt. Mosque, not far from
Central Police Station. We needed an expert on Iqbaliat.
Fortunately we got Prof. Agha Suroosh, who had spent a
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343
lifetime teaching Iqbal to College students. I was also deeply
interested in Iqbal, and I was and even now I am the President
of the Forum.
Allama Iqbal’s philosophy is very profound for certain
key concepts such as self
creativity
liberty
action
change
search for truth
and most important love
purpose of life
.
He has written more in Persian than in Urdu, but even his
Urdu poetry is very, very significant which throws light more
and conquest of nature
on improvement of the self
.
His poetry has three important phases, the early phase
which is reflective of his love of the land, patriotic feelings,
need for Hindu-Muslim unity, and high appreciation of the
beauty of India, such as Himalayas, its rivers, and its culture.
The second phase is what he wrote in Europe. His visit abroad
totally changed his thoughts. He condemned the western
domination in every sector, their limitless greed, exploitation,
sense of superiority and proslytisation. Religiously we are
meeting in that forum. Agha Suroosh would explain the
meaning and implications of some of his verses and hold a
discourse, and I as the President would make a few
concluding remarks. Fortunately this forum is still alive.
After Basheer Saheb shifted his residence from Mandi
Mohalla to his new and big mansion in Bannimantap, we held
for some time our discourses there, but then he fell ill and
we did not like to disturb him. Prof. Riyaz Ahmed, General
Secretary of Azam Bait-ul-Mal, offered his library building
located in Ashoka Road cross near St.Philomina Church, and
we are now holding our meetings there. Agha Surosh is still
active, although he has grown old and has his heart problem.
Although I am not very regular, still I keep company with
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them. It is indeed a matter of great satisfaction that a
literary forum is still alive. Knowing the psychology of the
Muslims who are like soda-water, very enthusiastic to start
with, and also very quick to cool off. This has not happened,
fortunately, and that is the great thing about Dars-e-Iqbal.
But my major contribution to the society is the
ust, which is
establishment of Sultan Shaheed Education Trust
even to-day rendering yeoman service to the community. It
was registered in 1992, and ever since that time it has gone
on building institutions after institutions. A brief history as
to what led to the establishment may be helpful in
understanding the background of this Trust. I was in Govt.
Service until my 65th year and retired from that service having
been a lecturer, a professor and a Vice-Chancellor of two
new Universities. For a period of nearly 45 years, I was in
teaching, research and administrative job, when every minute
was occupied doing govt. duty or taking care of the
family. Now that I was free from both of those functions
when children too got married and settled down some where,
I did not know what to do. My coming back from Goa in
1991 caused me great unrest, for a busy man had nothing to
do except eat and sleep. It was a kind of torture and every
day I was growing mad. Nothing worthy of me suggested itself
to me to keep me engaged. At that time, Mr. U. Nisar
Ahmed was a S.P. of Mysore and he became a good friend of
mine. We would meet often and discuss matters of common
interest, mostly of the Muslim situation. I told him that I
wanted to do something but did not know what to do. He
took me to several places of Wakf land, and sugested that I
should acquire some property or vacant land of the Wakf
Board to do some social service. He took me to seveal vacant
Wakf lands in the city. Nothing seemed to be suitable. In
the first place to acquire the land from the Wakf Board itself
was a Himalayan task. Even if we were to get it, where were
the resources to put up structures and build institutions ?
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It would take ages, and resources of Tatas. I wanted some
thing more pragmatic.
Once he took me to Ghousianagar, a slum area built
on unauthorized revenue lands, with 7000 houses with no
power, no water, no roads and no drainage system. This
pocket of land seemed to be of stone-age. In the midst of
that slum, some one whose name was Abdul Jabbar, had built
a Shadi-Mahal a wedding Hall. It was all a vacant building
measuring about 60 ft. by 60 ft. Who would go there to
celebrate the weddings? It seems Jabbar Saheb had mentioned
to Nisar Saheb that if some one were to use the building for
social work, he would give it for half the amount he had spent
on its construction. He had spent Rs.3 lakhs and Rs.5000/had yet to be paid. That means the entire property would be
available for Rs.1,55,000/-. We went to Ghousianagar, walked
the distance for more than a furlong, saw the building which
had two very big Halls, almost of 60 x 40’ and four or five
small rooms with other facilities of kitchen for watchman, a
bore-well and so on. In the entire locality that was the major
bore-well to supply water. He showed me this building and
said this was ideal place for real social service. You would
be helping those who deserved the help most. You would be
doing that which would please not only the country and the
community but also God. I seemed willing, for I would be
getting a ready-made structure and that it was for half the
price. It was a wind-fall, blessing of God, Lord’s mercy and
my good fortune. When I showed my inclination, Nisar
Saheb did not drop me at my residence, but took me to his
own residence.That was almost 8 p.m. dinnertime. He
telephoned Jabbar Saheb, summoned him immediately to his
residence. We had a chat. Jabbar Saheb said that he would
not only part with the property for half the price but also
hand over the property immediately if a part payment of just
Rs.50,000/- was made to him. I thought this was adding a
jewel to the crown.I agreed immediately although I had no
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My Life
ready cash at the moment. The bargain was struck on
condition that I would pay him the amount in two days.
I came home that night, next morning I got up early,
took my State Bank of India Mutual Bonds which had not
yet matured. I had invested some money in those Bonds
while in Goa so that the savings could be helpful for my
retired life. I went straight to Bangalore SBI main branch
near St.Marks Road and told the Manager that I wanted to
sell those bonds. He said why do you sell those bonds premature, wait for some time, you will get full money, otherwise
you would lose quite a bit. I said I wanted money urgently,
and I do not mind losing a part of it. I got the desired
money of Rs.55,000/- came home, handed over the money
to Jabbar Saheb, got the keys for a School. That is how the
seed was sown for some social service.
Earlier something had happened before I got the
property, and those events were also of great significance in
bringing about our Sultan Shaheed Education Trust. Soon after
I came back from Goa, not only the thought of how to
keep myself engaged agitated but also something more. My
brother-in-law, sister’s husband Janab Belagodu Abdul
Sattar Saheb was blessed with long life. He was alive in 1991
when I was a retired person. He would be crossing a century
in another two years, for he was born 1893. Ideas were
crossing my mind how to celebrate his centenary if he touched
100 years in 1993. My sister was also alive, who had four
daughters and two sons. One daughter and one son were no
more, the rest were alive. The family had grown with many
children and grand children. I mooted the idea with this large
family of quite a dozen. We had a meeting in my own house
of important members of that family. One idea was to
celebrate the centenary by a feast when we should hold a
grand party in Belagodu and have a function and a dinner.
Not only this idea, but several other ideas were also discussed.
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I said feasting was not desirable, please suggest something
more useful and more lasting. Such ideas as instituting a
scholarship to the poor, or building a room in his name in
the New Muslim Hostel, and so on were proposed. Nothing
gained unanimous approval, until T.C. Muneer Pasha, one of
the family members, husband of Dr. Naseema Akhtar, granddaughter of my sister, suggested that the best thing was to
start a school, even if it is a nursery school in the name of
grand old man, for no investment is greater than investment
in knowledge. I supported the idea and all agreed, and that
is how the idea of Belagodu Abdul Sattar Nursery School
came into existence in the building I had purchased in
Ghousianagar. It was inaugurated on 6 February 1993, the
Centenary year at the hands of the same U. Nisar Ahmed
Saheb, who was instrumental in getting me that property in
Ghousianagar. The first step of a long journey had been
taken.
By God’s grace we started the first nursery school in
a slum area where there were no roads, no drainage, no water
and no electricity. It was a slum area of over 7000 houses,
a thick pocket of revenue lands where people were living in
miserable conditions. There was a bore-well in the compound
of our building for which there was great demand. You should
have seen how people, men, women, children rushed to the
truck which once in a day would bring water. Once I took
Qamruddin Rahman whom I had helped to come up in life,
and who had risen high in life working in UNESCO. He saw
the scene of women rushing to get water from the truck and
he actually shed tears at the plight of Muslims. In such an
area we started a school in the name of Belagodu Abdul
Sattar Saheb on 6 February 1993. By God’s grace it proved
to be a great success. Things to-day have greatly changed.
Roads are laid. Water is provided in taps. Electricity is made
available and drainage facility too exists now in the locality.
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My Life
Since I had some idea about education, we did not
confine our attention only to pedagogy in the school. We
desired to make the school an agent of social change, for
which we undertook different schemes. The first was to
remember God. Muslims have to have faith in the Supreme
and sublime Almighty and hence Deeniyat was the first
programme we attached to the school. We designed to have
our programme soon after fajar namaz, when children would
come to know the basics of our faith. Nearly for an hour or
two children, both boys and girls, nearly 200 to 300 would
come around 6.30 a.m. to learn how to read Quran and also
to know the elements of our creed. We appointed teachers
for this purpose. There are nearly eight teachers involved in
this job to teach children at different level, some very basic
from alphabets, and others advanced how to read Quran. We
taught them the basic teachings of Islam as well, such as the
life of Huzur Prophet Muhammad and so on. I should say
that another NGO with which Sarfraz Saheb and a few friends
of Kerala are involved have extended support to us. Deeniyat
was the first auxiliary to our Nursery School.
We thought that the conditions of Muslims would
improve not only through the eradication of ignorance but
also through the removal of poverty. Oppressive poverty in
a way was the root cause for all over problems, for it does
not allow the poor even to educate their children, who are
used as instruments to earn something in their childhood in
order to help the family survive. Therefore, we thought any
help rendered to remove poverty in however humble way it
may be, would be most welcome. In our social system women
are confined to the four walls of the house.There is a kind of
division of labour, man to earn, and woman to cook. With
growing population, scarcity of resources, lack of skill and
unhelpful traditions have all contributed to our economic
misery. If women, who are the roots of culture in any society,
remain ignorant and unemployed, that society would ever
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remain backward. To remove this backwardness, we thought
of providing some gainful employment to women who form
half the humanity. Craft or skill is one of the ways to earn
something. We approached Karnataka Women Development
Wing of Wakf Board to sanction us some sewing machines,
so that we could train the women in stitching and dressmaking. Luckily the Women Development Board has a scheme
to provide such facility if our Trust were to bear half the
cost. They would waive the other half. Every year we started
getting 30 to 40 Sewing machines from the Wakf Boad,
engaged a teacher to train them and then gift the machine
to the trainee so that she could use it at home to earn
something. The only condition was that she should not
alienate themachine, should not sell it, but use it for the
purpose of earning, to supplement the income of the family.
This scheme we ran for quite a few years and distributed the
machines free to women who were deserving and who had
undergone the training in our school. We added a few more
crafts to this Centre like Zarri work, painting and flowermaking etc.
Apart from Deeniyat and Craft Centre, we thought
of a clinic for women and children. We started the clinic in
the evening by appointing part-time Doctors. Dr. Naseer
Abbas of Mamta Clinic in Nelamangala was very helpful in
providing us the required drugs and medicine for the
purpose. Dr. Naseema Akhtar, Professor of Medicine of
Mysore Ayurvedic and Unani medicine, was the physician who
rendered free service for quite a long time. As the
pressure of work was too much on her, this work is
under-suspcion for the time-being. Hopefully we will start the
programme as soon as suitable incumbent would be
forthcoming.
Yet another facility we have added in this campus of
Ghousianagar is the school for disabled children. Luckily the
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My Life
Rotany Club of Mid-Mysore also came foreward to help us,
and we run a school for challenged children where 30 to 40
children are being taken care of under three teachers.
This school is in great demand and deserves to be developed.
We are now seriously thinking how best to improve this.
If possible, it is our desire to buy a vehicle for the transport
of children. We are seeking assistance for this purpose.
As our idea was to make this school an experimental
laboratory of social work, we desired to have some activity
from morning six O’clock to evening eight O’clock. We
thought of adult literacy classes, which was so essential in
order to remove ignorance. But a serious difficulty was that
there was no power supply in that area for night classes.
Khurshed Alam Khan Saheb was the Governor of Karnataka
at that time, and I knew him very well since the days of my
stay in Goa. In fact he liked me so much that he desired
that I should stay with him in Raj Bhavan. Very often, he
would assign me some writing work or other. This happened
while he was still in Goa, when Sahitya Academy of India
assigned him the job of writing a book on Zakir Hussain with
special reference to his contribution to literature. Khurshed
Alam Khan Saheb desired that it should be a joint work of
both he and I, and that I should go over to Goa for a couple
of days and stay with him in Raj Nivas doing nothing but
writing the book. When this call came to him, I had laid
down my office in Goa and had come back home. Responding
to his call I went to Goa and stayed with him for nearly a
month working full time on Zakir Hussain. He provided me
all facilities and I worked fingers to my bone daily to produce
a work. In the evening the Governor himself would step into
my room, check what I had done day long, discuss certain
issues which needed clarification, and he would add if
something was missing. This went on for weeks until I
completed the work.
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351
My stay and work in Goa, earlier on Life and Times
of Zakir Hussain and later, his contribution to literature,
impressed Khurshed Alam Khan so much that he became very
fond of me, every time saying I should stay with him full
time. Any way he assigned me a room in Raj Bhavan,
Bangalore, to come and stay whenever I liked. Taking
advantage of this I told him the social work I had started
and that the programme I had to start a night school for
adults which needed the special permission of the Government
to have electricity. He gave a recommendatory letter to the
Commissioner of MUDA (Mysore Urban Development
Authority) which was the proper authority to give power
supply. With that letter of the Governor I went to the
Commissioner of MUDA, an IAS Officer by name Siddhartha,
and presented that letter. He did not know who I was, and
I had not seen him before. He took the letter, glanced
through it and said, “Well, you have brought a letter from
the Governor, the Head of the State, and yet there is
something higher than that, the law of the land, the rules
and regulations which we the bureaucrats are supposed to
follow strictly. The rules say that power should not be given
to that area which are unauthorised, and which are illegally
occupied by people in revenue lands. It would lead to serious
complications. If I violate the rules and give you power, the
Government would take serious action against me. At that
time the Governor, whose letter you have brought would not
come to my rescue.” I said what I should do, as I am keen
to do some social service to the poorest of the poor. He
said, “You seem to be an educated person. Why do you waste
your time and energy on slums. Why don’t you do some quality
work in a good area. We have invited applications for CA
(Community Amenities) sites in the City. There are quite a
few CA sites available to those who wish to do real social
service”. He pulled the draw of his desk and gave me a copy
of MUDA notification calling for applications to CA sites.
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My Life
He also said that if I were to apply, he would help me to get
one of those sites.
I took the notification. There was hardly a week for
the last day to apply. The rules said that only a Registered
Trust or a Society could apply for that, and that an initial
deposits for each site of application should be credited to
the Bank Account of MUDA. As the time was short, I worked
very hard first in forming the Trust. I took 15 members as
Trustees.That was the time of the celebration of the
Centenary year of my brother-in-law, Belagodu Abdul Sattar
Saheb, and hence mostly members of the family such as
Dr. Naseer Abbas, T.C. Muneer Pasha, Nafees Ahmed,
Mumtaz Ali, Khaisar Mahmood, Mohd. Ishaq (Munawar),
Humayun, Noor Mohamed (Coir Merchant), Noor Mohamed
(Yelwal Farm land) Mohamed Ishaq (Oil Merchant), Syed
Azam, Zakir Hussain, Maqdoom Hussain and Sarfraz
(Majestic) together myself as the President, were constituted.
It was a long list of 15 members. I myself drafted the aims
and objectives, and with the help of a lawyer, Iqbal Hussain,
we framed the bye-laws and the structure of the Trust, which
was quite a long document. We went, all 15 of us, to the
Sub-Registrar’s office in November 1993 and registered the
Trust as a social institution with the exclusive purpose of
service to the community.
The expenses for the registration of the Trust was
quite manageable, within a thousand rupees, but the
application fee and the deposit amount for the selected site
in Sadgalli Layout, near Rajiva Nagar, which was in dimension
1 acre, was quite heavy. It was in those days nearly Rs.
60,000/-. We did not have a penny in our pocket. I had
sold out my mutual bonds of the State Bank of India to buy
the property in Ghousianagar. I did not know what to do.
God came to our rescue. In the Trust Deed we had made
Dr.Naseer Abbas as the Vice-President and T.C. Muneer
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353
Pasha as the General Secretary, and this humble self was
the President. I explained the difficulty to Dr. Naseer Abbas.
It so happened that he had saved a summ of money to pay
as the capitation fee to secure a seat in a Medical College
for his eldest son, Saqlain. But Saqlain was so intelligent and
hard working that he got a seat under merit quota. When
the family felt so happy at the success of the boy, the amount
they had kept in the Bank for the purpose remained surplus.
Dr. Naseer Abbas had the large heart to spare Rs. 60,000/
- to the Trust as gift to pay the initial amount for the applied
site.
Thus working very hard all these hurdles of forming a
trust and arranging the initial deposit were all over, and we
submitted our application for CA site in Sadgalli Layout. We
waited for the results. True to his word Siddhartha, the
Commissioner, recommended our case in the sub-committee
and our Trust had the prospect of getting a vast sprawling
plot of an acre and a half in the fast developing city of
Mysore. The only thing that remained was the final
ratification of this sanction by the full Board of MUDA.
Then the bomb-shell came. Siddhartha was transferred from
MUDA. Some one elase became the Commissioner. Politics
strayed into administration. Powerful political lobbies came
to know that a Muslim Trust was getting quite a chunk of
land in the city. Forces started working against us. To our
misfortune just at that time D. Banumaiah, a Political figure,
a social worker, and an educationist who had built institutions,
the most famous being Banumaiah College opposite to Palace,
passed away. His wife started a campaign that as a widow
she deserved most the CA Site recommended to our Trust.
When the full Board met, she won the case less on
sympathetic ground and more on political pressure. Her lobby
was very powerful, and we were not aware what was happening.
Our Trust was on God and then on Siddhartha, but Siddhartha
was not there to argue our case. But I should also say to
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My Life
the justice of MUDA that they did not completely ignore
our demand. As a compensation instead of 1 acres of land
they sanctioned us an acre of land, something better than
nothing, a crumb if not the full loaf. We would have been
delighted if we had got the larger plot, but we should not
grumble that we did not get what was recommended; we got
what God wished we should have. It is God’s Will that
finally prevails. Our site was not in Sadgalli, but in
Yarganahalli Teachers Layout, which is at present named as
Teachers’ Layout in Dr.Radhakrishna Nagar, Rajkumar Road,
Mysore-570 011. This plot of land is over 230 feet in length
and 110 feet in width, totally about 24,000 sft. Even this is
a gift of God. The entire amount we had to pay for that
was about three lakhs, which we somehow managed to pay.
Thus, our Trust entered into the second phase of our activity
with the allotment of a good plot of land in posch locality.
We were working very hard in Ghousianagar to build
a School, and develop that in different dimensions, so that it
should not be merely a book-school, but also be a workschool. We desired to make it a multipurpose institutions,
and hence thought of technical education as well. The idea
was to train the unemployed dropped out youth in some craft
such as fitters, mechanics, radio-repairs, electricians and
others, mid-level technicians. It did not require deep theory
classes, but only practical training. We tried for some time
in these crafts, taking the help of J.S.S. The Govt. of India
Schemes encouraged these crafts. We ventured into this field
as well. We had two wings now in Ghousianagar. One for
women and the other for boys. Women were engaged in
sewing and men in machines. Taking advantage of our
initiative, others too entered into this field of social service.
Prof. Habibur Rahman also opened his Hilal Education
Society and he did exceedingly good work. For six or seven
years he worked very hard to build Hilal Education Society.
It should be said to his credit that he attached a mosque
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355
also to his school. In the month of Ramzan, on the holy
night of Shab-e-Qadar, himself being present in his own
veh
mosque, having performed the Tara
araveh
veh, while presenting the
honorarium to Hafiz-e-Quran, he collapsed in the mosque
itself. What a noble soul he was! How sacred was the end!
How gracious God was on him! He breathed his last having
performed the Taraveh on 27th day of Ramzan. One should
have seen the way the people paid tribute to his memory by
assembling in hundreds and thousands. Noble souls never
die. They live in the hearts of the people. Good deeds make
them immortal. Very few chosen by God would have such
peaceful end and deparfture to the heavenly abode. May God
bless his soul, and would to God Mirza Habibur Rahman could
become a role model to one and all.
We were like this in Ghousianagar when other NGO’s
also got interested in social work. One of them was MEWA
(Muslim Employees Welfare Association) which set up a
training centre for unemployed youth, and took up the
mid-level technicians job which we were doing. It relieved us
to concentrate more on women crafts and on educational
programmes. At this time I attended a very important
meeting in Delhi presided over by the Prime Minister of
India, late P.V. Narasimha Rao. The Governor of Karnataka,
Khurshed Alam Khan had become so good to me that he
made me one of the Trustees of Dr. Zakir Hussain College
in Delhi. This College had a history of its own. It was
formerly called Delhi College set up by the British soon after
the events of 1857 in order to please the public that the
colonials were interested in promoting the culture and learning
of the Indians. This Delhi College was the most reputed
college where Maulana Hali, Mohamed Hussain Azad,
Zakaullah, Inayautullah and other great luminaries of the
scholarly world had taught. It was doing exceedingly good
work when in the wake of partition it fell a victim to almost
total destruction. In the riots and holocaust of those days
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My Life
its library and all other things were destroyed. The refugees
had almost occupied the entire area, when Dr. Zakir Hussain
risking his own life saved this college from total destruction.
When he became the President of India, the Government
honoured him by naming that as Dr.Zakir Hussain College
and created an autonomous Trust for its functioning, the
Chairman of this Trust being no other than the Prime
Minister of India. There are a few permanent members of
this Trust and also one or two rotating Trustees picked from
all over India who have a standing in education and social
work. I had the good fortune to be a Trustee of that very
prestigious institution for a short time.
When a meeting of that Trust was held, I was invited
and it was held in the evening at the residence of the Prime
Minister. The HRD Minister of the Government of India
was also ex-officio member of this Trust, and at that time
Gaekawad was the Union HRD Minister. He too came to
the meeting and also Janab Sayid Hamid Saheb, Retired IAS
and former Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University
whom I knew since the days of my Goa tenure. We were all
chatting because the Prime Minister with his busy schedule
would not be prompt in attending the meeting of an
educational Trust. We were waiting and waiting. I was sitting
next to Hamid Saheb, and talking everything under the sun
to pass time. Naturally when we meet on such occasions the
topic of the talk would be backwardness of the Muslim
community, their ignorance, poverty, apathy and the need how
best to improve their lot. In such a discussion sketching the
conditions of the Muslims, I quoted the verse of the Urdu
poet, Mr Taqi Meer, who had said :
When I recited this, Hamid Saheb was excited to listen
to this. It was a graphic description of the utter apathy,
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357
negligence, carelessness, indifference and hopelessness of the
Muslim community which would be in deep slumber even on
the last day of judgement, the crucial day of accountability
when the fate would be decided either to go to hell or to
heaven. Even on such a critical day the Muslim would like
to have a snap until his name was called out by Almighty to
present his records. He is saying to a way farer, if you
happen to pass by this way, at the time my name is called
out, please be kind enough to wake me up. When Hamid
Saheb who is so quick to discern the full implications of this
verse, listened to what I intended to convey, he said, you
seem to be well motivated to do good to the community.
Why don’t you build a good educational institution, which is
the only key we have for the Muslim upliftment. I am the
Vice-Chairman of Maulana Azad Education Foundation, New
Delhi (MAEF) and this Foundation extends help to all those
who are readily interested to do some good work, not for
name or fame, but only to please Allah. He also added that
it was a grant mostly for women education, and that if you
could prepare a nice project in this regard, MAEF was
prepared to grant even 50 lakhs, which was the upper limit,
and not more than that. When I listened to this, my inner
joy knew no bounds. God was in His mercy showering blessings
and blessings. I said I would surely do that.
Having come back home from Delhi, the first thing I
did was to prepare a nice project on “Maulana Azad
Residential Girls High School”. I mentioned we had already
a good plot of land in a posch locality given to us by MUDA
for community service, and that if grants were given to us
we would build a good institution. I realised the maximum
limit was 50 lakhs and hence I prepared a project for 48 lakhs
and sent it with all documents of our land, the Trust deed
and other details. True to his word Hamid Saheb was helpful.
He processed the papers speedily. Luckily the financial year
was likely to end soon, and hence they acted fast. Within a
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My Life
month I got the good news that our Trust got the grant of
Rs.45 lakhs to be paid in two installments for the project we
had prepared.
When I got this letter my eyes would not believe what
was contained in the letter. Rupees Forty five lakhs as grants
was quite a sum to a person who had not counted anything
more than hundreds. To a person who was begging for
pennies for a social cause, who was selling calendars to fetch
one or two rupees for the poor boys of the Muslim Hostel,
who was going from door to door to collect tiny amounts to
build a block in the Hostel, who was selling Cinema tickets
for the same cause, and who was delivering sermons in
mosques to get charity, a lump sum of Rs. 45 lakhs was
something like Prophet Moses
going to Mount Sina
to fetch a cinder of fire, and there he would be blessed not
only with the vision of divinity but also the miraculous staff
with which he could frighten the Pharaoh of Egypt. My
position was exactly that.
Ways of God are mysterious. God certainly helps
those whose intentions are good, whose actions are good and
whose relations with one and all are good. This was the seed
money which came in a big way to build the several
institutions of the Trust, which are nearly a dozen at present.
I thank God, I thank Hamid Saheb and I thank MAEF for
extending such a generous and helpful hand to me. It is
interest, involvement, integrity and industry that pleases God.
It is love, labour, patience and perseverance that pleases
God, who says, you sow a tiny seed and I would reward you
with countless number of fruits. The law of nature is there
before us to learn the lesson of love and service. God tests
our integrity and industry, gives us an opportunity to show
your mettle, if you size up to Lord’s expectations, His graces
would shower on you like monsoon downpour.
MAEF was a milestone in the history of our Trust.
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359
There was no looking back thereafter. We had a dynamic
Secretary, who knew the art of getting things done. We
planned Maulana Azad Residential Girls High School. There
were two things to be done, first, get the building constructed.
We had a good plot of land given b y MUDA. We applied
to the Corporation for licence, we got an architect, Mubeen,
to design the building; he did; one Madanna was the
contractor. Munir was there to supervise. Things went on
smoothly. In less than a year in 1996 we completed the
building. To obtain Govt. sanction for English medium school
was a problem. It needed several visits to Bangalore. I did
it. Fortunately a helpful officer was there who was good
enough not to cause us great worry, and not to make us spend
money greasing the palm. We got the Government sanction
late in the month of June of that year. Although it was very
late for admissions to High School First year, we did not
hesitate to start the classes. By God’s grace our High School
in the name of Maulana Azad came into existence. It is
functioning exceedingly well, the results in the year 2006 were
100% success with several in First Division.
We developed Ghousianagar school as well, which was
our first step. It carried on multipurpose training programme,
with Deeniyat, nursery, primary, upper primary, women’s craft
centre and a clinic. The building we bought from Jabbar Saheb,
which was Shadi Mahal was not enough for our purpose. Not
far from there we bought on the main road of that Mohalla
a revenue site measuring 75’ x 25’. Some one had put a
foundation on it. We started constructing a building to
accommodate our growing needs. Attached to this plot of
land, there were six other small sites of 25’ x 20’. We desired
to buy it. Once I had engaged an auto-rickshaw to go to
school which was driven by a person who had only one leg.
He took me to the school, and on the way we chatted what
we were doing in that locality. When he came to know what
we had launched in the locality, he said his mother-in-law
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My Life
owned a site close to our newly acquired plot of land, and if
we were interested we could buy it. I jumped at the idea,
and said, surely we would do it. The price was also negotiated,
and in the bargain we agreed that we would pay them Rs.
18,000/-. He agreed. I discussed the matter with our
Secretary, T.C.Muneer Pasha, who is very resourceful. The
parties came for the final deal. Mr. Muneer argued that the
price of Rs.18,000/- was too high for the revenue land. It
might have been purchased once for 500 or 600 rupees, and
that we were doing charitable work for a good cause, and
hence we could not afford that much. Those people were so
much convinced that they were prepared to reduce the
negotiated price and came down to Rs. 12,000/- giving us a
concession of one-third of the original agreed price.
The other people in the area who owned five other
plots came to know that we would buy the land in any case.
We were of course interested to make it a big plot, and I
was not only eager but also anxious to acquire the whole unit
before others entered into the competition. Then came the
brokers for the other plots. They were all elderly, hale,
healthy, unlike the poor auto-rickshaw driver who did not have
a limb at all. These people seemed very pious with long beard
in true Islamic guise. We sat for the negotiations. For the
same bit of land which we had paid Rs. 12,000/- these people
demanded Rs. 75,000/-.I argued and argued, and spent three
hours to reduce the price. They would not listen. Our
Secretary too used all his intelligence and persuasive powers
to make them yield to a reasonable price. Just a week ago we
had bought the same extent of land for Rs. 12,000/- and now
these people were insisting on five times that price. Our
Secretary was not at all for paying that much money, but I
had an eye on the land, and felt land value would not come
down. We are in their grips, they want to exploit us; if we
miss the bus, another opportunity may not come again. With
great difficulty we reduced Rs. 2,000/- we paid Rs. 73,000/-
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361
and bought this land.
These are lessons of history. Human nature is
complex. The poor have the heart of gold. A disabled
person, and poor-widow could understand what we were
doing, but people with the guise of piety have a shylock soul.
Their look is different from their deeds. That is why Allama
Iqbal has said :
Any way, through these transactions we gained rich
experience. God was good and we bought all the plots one by
one to make it a presentable unit where we built two storeyd
building, ground plus first floor in two wings. Out of those
six plots we got five. The sixth one was not available as he
was not prepared to sell. We added quite a few class rooms
in this building which is quite sufficient for Nursery, lower
primary and upper primary. A part of this is being used for
literacy mission, Sarva Shikshana Programme
Programme. Nearly 500
children are studying at present in this school. We have made
the upper primary classes of VI and VII standards English
medium, so that our children should not be behind any one
in the competitive world.
It should also be said that it is all up-hill task to give
quality education in this slum area. The social background,
the lack of interest, poverty, apathy are all inhibitive forces
that impede progress in quality work. That was one reason
why we concentrated in a different area for quality work. If
Ghousianagar School was for masses for basic education,
Maulana Azad institutions in Radhakrishna Nagar were for
quality education.
In Maulana Azad institutions we aiamed at shaping
the future of our children on right lines. Fortunately we got
good staff. In Mr.Mahboob Sharieff we got a good,
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experienced and mature Head Master. The initial stages are
very crucial, and we did our level best to see quality was not
compromised. We started nursery and primary classes also
here. Our Secretary took pains to see that our infrastructure
was second to none. We can boast that our nursery and
primary schools in Radhakrishna Nagar are of high standard,
on par with Rotary Schools or any Convent. Our idea was
to have good feeding school of our own.
Building institutions is not easy task. It takes every
ounce of the energy and every moment of one’s life to plan,
implement and monitor the project. It is not only physical
and mental labour that is required but also financial resources
which are hard to come in our community. We have to beg
for every penny. People suspect that their hard earned money
would be misused. It is also the case in certain instances where
institutions in the name of social service have become
commercial houses to exploit people’s good will. In such a
situation good institutions too would suffer. Fortunately I
have waded through very hard waters and come through
unscathed. I could recall how myself and our Secretary,
Muneer Pasha have laboured hard, and both of us know every
brick that has gone into the structures, every door and window
would bear witness with what care we fixed them there. I
would sit back seat on his scooter, a pinion rider, to move
about here and there, and every where to find whether we
could save a penny in the purchase of the material for
construction. Muneer would ride a distance of 5 Km if he
knew a particular truck load of sand would cost Rs. 5/- less
than what others had quoted. He was on the staff of an
engineering college and had gained immense experience
constructing a number of houses, and hence knew what was
available where, and at what price, and of what quality. This
experience was a precious asset to us when we got an
unbelievable grant of Rs. 45 lakhs. Every penny we have
utilized in the right manner and we erected structures at a
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363
cost which was less than half the cost quoted in the market
or at the prevailing rates. Not only we
completed
the ground floor, the first floor of the main school building
but also the Hostel for the girls. We built nearly 250 sq.m.
costing just about 30 lakhs, which would have been double
the cost in the normal circumstances. The rest of the amount
we spent on equipment and building other structures.
Thus within five or six years we created assets of over
a crore to the community, but our structures were still half
complete. We needed funds. When 20th Century was over
and when we stepped into 21st century, two good things
happened to me in the year 2001, one was the haj-pilgrimage
with Nafees Ahmed and Ashraf Jahan, which is already stated
in this account, and the other was my visit to USA with the
main intention of fund raising. Every year the Muslims of
USA and Canada hold a convention in some big city or the
other to take stock of the Muslim situation in the whole
world and to suggest how best to make progress. In the year
2001 the Convention was to be held in Chicago. Dr. Naseer
Abbas and Nafees Ahmed, both of them Trustees of our
organisation suggested that we should go to USA and try
our luck in fund raising. Their main interest was visit abroad,
as they were very keen to see America, and my interest was
fund raising, and not sight seeing, for I had been to USA,
had stayed there for a year and had lectured there in the
University of Georgia. But they planned in such a way that
we should roam about the whole of USA, they would be
visiting places for sight seeing and I would be lecturing at
several Islamic centres to explore the possibility of fund
raising. They planned that all expenses of my stay and tour
in America, they would manage as they had friends and wellwishers all over, and I had to bear the cost of only air-journey
to USA and back.
The whole thing was well planned. The Convention
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was to begin on 1st September 2001, and would go on for
three days in Chicago. We were to leave India on 28 August.
When all plans had been finalised, my wife fell ill. She was
almost on death-bed and had to be hospitalised. I thought I
would not go. It was almost my final decision. My wife
recovered a bit. She was discharged from the hospital. Even
then I hesitated, for we never know the ways of God. It was
at that critical hour, Mr.Muneer, our Secretary goaded me
to go. He said God is great. You are going for a good cause.
God will not let you down. He knows your intentions and
purpose. Be bold and take a positive step. Opportunities
knock at the door but once. Who knows something good
may turn out from this venture. I listened to his advice and
said, God’s will, and I shall trust in God and hope best for
my wife.
We left for America. Nafees was good in planning.
Their main interest was tour of Europe and America, and
hence they had planned exceedingly well with the help of the
Tourist Bureau how best to see maximum number of places
in the shortest time at the least cost to our purse, and mostly
at the expense of the several Airways who had been engaged.
We had several stops on the way to see Frankfurt
and other countries in Europe before we touched New York
from where we went to Chicago. In Chicago we stayed at
the place of Dr.Mohamed Ismail Saheb, relative of Dalvi
Saheb, well known to Dr.Naseer Abbas and a well-wisher of
our Trust. We attended the Convention. I addressed a group
and presented our activities. We had prepared a
comprehensive CD exhibiting all social and economic activities
of our Trust. One Dr Ghori was the Chairman of the Muslim
Relief Fund where I had a power-point presentation. We met
several dignitaries. Those days were prior to September
Eleven, just on eve of that the good days, when the Muslims
of America were on top of the world. The Convention was
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something like a mela when thousand and thousands of people
had gathered under one roof, several discourses, lectures,
presentations and resolutions were taking place. It was quite
an enjoyable occasion. Visa to Muslims in those days was so
easy that both Dr.Naseer Abbas and Nafees Ahmed just for
applying got a VISA for ten years at a stretch. Later on
when they tried for the VISA for their wives, Dr.Salma and
Ashraf, it was denied. What was given to the husbands for
10 years before 9/11 was not given to their wives even for a
day after 9/11.
When the Convention was over, which was more
academic to me than funds yielding, I planned a visit to
Appleton, Wisconsin about 300 miles from Chicago. Naseer
Abbas did not accompany me, for he wanted to go to his
niece’s place, whose name was Asma married to one Abdul
Khader. Nafees and I went to Appleton, where Dr. Majid
and Nasreen were living. Nasreen happened to be daughter
of Nazeer Ahmed Saheb Mecci and Naseeba, whom I would
regard as my own sister, for Naseeba happened to be the
eldest daughter of Alijanab Jaffar Mohiyuddin Saheb in whose
house I stayed during my school days. A reference to this
already exists in this work. Dr. Majid was also from Hassan,
son of Janab Abdur Rub Saheb of the department of
Agriculture. Dr. Majid as a medical practitioner was leading
an affluent life in Appleton in a big bungalow over looking a
nice lake, owning even a Yatcht. As a successful doctor he
had earned a lot and was enjoying a luxurious life. Both
Dr.Majid and Nasreen were very happy at our visit, took us
on their Yatcht to row over their lake. It was a picturesque
place, almost like a paradise, so enchanting where nature stood
in its pristine purity and beauty. It was Nafees Ahmed who
enjoyed this visit more than I did. My job was to meet the
circle of friends, both Pakistanis and others, presenting before
them the projects we had, the kind of service we were
rendering to the poorest of the poor, and the kind of help
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we needed for them. Dr. Majid also did a good lot of lobbying
for me. Our project was to add Second floor to our existing
building. He invited a good number of his friends to dinner
where I explained our projects and programmes. They were
generous and helpful in giving $ 4,000/- to build two lecture
halls one in the name of the father of Dr. Majid, Abdur Rub,
and the other in the name of Fox-Valley Association, the name
of the donor organisation. Thus my first campaign was
successful when I got four thousand dollars. Dr. Ismail Saheb
was surprised and felt happy at my success, for fund raising
whether in India or in America was not an easy task.
My next visit was to Mr.Mohd Ismail of Columbus in
Ohio. Mr.Ismail happens to be the younger brother of
Mr. Noor Mohamed, son-in-law of my father-in-law’s elder
brother, Alijanab Abdul Basith Saheb of Chikmagalur.
Mr.Ismail is an engineer who rose to a high position in USA
as the Director of Road Transport System of Ohio State.
He is very intelligent, God-fearing and helpful person who
was very generous towards our Trust ever since its beginning.
It was through him I got the sponsorship of Masood, my
eldest son, for higher studies in USA, and it was through his
sponsorship that Dr. Naseer Abbas, Mr. Nafees Ahmed and
myself could plan a visit to the American convention in 2001.
We had planned that I would stay with him for three days at
Columbus, on 6th, 7th and 8th of September 2001. Soon after
the convention in Chicago which was over by Sept. 2, I went
to Appleton for 3 days to stay with Dr.Majid, as stated above.
After that visit I planned to go to Columbus on 6 th
September. Suddenly on the night of September 5, we got a
call from Mr. Ismail that he and his wife were forced to go
to Atlanta, because of the tragic death of his niece, sister’s
daughter, who suddenly died because of an accident. She was
the daughter of Murtuza, my contemporary in New Muslim
Hostel, whose children had settled down in USA.
Nevertheless, Mr. Ismail told me that I could visit him, that
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all arrangements would be made for my stay in Columbus,
despite the fact he would not be present.
Accordingly I left alone for Columbus from Chicago,
where Dr.Naseer Abbas and Nafees stayed back to see more
places of USA around Chicago. I landed alone in Columbus
where a Pakistani friend of Mr.Ismail, Janab Kokan Saheb
was present at the airport to receive me. He took me to
Mr.Ismail’s house, which was locked because of his visit to
Atlanta. It was a very nice house in a quiet locality amidst
picturesque surroundings. The neighbours took care of me.
In the same town of Columbus lived Dr. Aziz-ul-Haque, son
of late Janab Nabi Saheb of Basavanagudi of Bangalore, good
family friends of my father-in-law. I visited him. His wife,
Dr. Malika Haque, from Madras, a Medico, who was
teaching in a Medical College, told me that she had devised
a course in Islamic teaching for all the medical students of
her college. The authorities accepted her suggestion that faith
had healing touch, and would be very helpful in fast recovery
of the patients. The basic tenets of all faiths which teach
goodness, compassion,love, generosity and good will would all
be helpful in the treatment of patients. It should be said to
the credit of American open-mindedness that the authorities
accepted her suggestion and introduced a course in Islamic
theology in the syllabus of the Medical College. Dr. Azeezul-Haque took me to a very important Rugby Football match
of a University. That match was the final of a tournament,
and people had booked the tickets for months in advance.
He possessed the tickets and we spent two to three hours
watching the game. To me it was all funny. We were used
to see regular foot-ball, cricket, hockey and tennis matches,
but this American rugby seemed a little strange to me when
the players would fall one upon the other, as if involved in a
scuffle. Any way, it was a game, and the crowds would get
excited whenever one team scored a point over the other.
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My Life
I could not collect much from Columbus, as Mr.
Ismail was away from the town, still I could recall the warm
reception of the Pakistani neighbours who did everything to
make my stay very comfortable.
My stay in Columbus for three days was sorrowful
for one more reason. If Mr.Ismail had to rush to Atlanta for
the sudden death of his niece, I heard from home the sad
news that my eldest brother-in-law, Mr. Abdul Wajid suddenly
collapsed in Chikmagalur. As stated earlier, my wife was not
feeling too well at the time I left for America. For a good
cause I took the risk of being away despite her illness. She
was in Chikmagalur, and she had been admitted again into a
Clinic as she too had some problem. A day previous Mr.
Wajid, it seems visited my wife in the Clinic, felt sorry that
she was so ill, went home, took his dinner, went to bed, but
suddenly at 2 a.m. or so he felt the chest pain. It was a
massive heart attack. By the time he could be rushed to the
hospital, he collapsed. This sudden news flashed to me to
Chicago from where I got it at Columbus in Ohio. This
sudden death of a dear one made me very sad and depressed.
I was all alone, in a different land, none but a telephone wire
being the only link between me and the whole universe.
Moments of sorrow ignite memories of the past. I sat down
and reflected and reflected on the past, events of over half-a
century when several and several things had happened, some
very good and some very bad. In 1993, suddenly a co-brother
of mine, Mr. Muktar Ahmed, husband of Azra, collapsed
suddenly doing yeomen service to humanity. He had helped,
guided, and steered the ship of Azra’s educational empire,
and he died within a few hours even before he could be taken
to Unity Hospital in Mangalore. In 1997 another co-brother
of mine, Dr. S. Abdul Kareem, the pride of our family, a high
star officer of great repute, who had risen high in official
cadre, retired as the Joint Director of the Health Services of
Karnataka, a loveable person of great undestanding, wise and
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369
mature, far-sighted, passed away, being admitted to Mallya
Hospital. He had left us green memories of his goodness
and affection, sharpness and intelligence, integrity and
industry, which were all put to so good use that he lifted the
Al-Ameen Medical College at Bijapur to a high level.
We had hardly recovered from this shock in 1997, soon
followed in the next year in 1998 the death of another
co-brother of mine, Mr. Gulam Ahmed of Hassan, a
gentleman to the core, a person who would go out of the
way to help others, a person who had in his genes the qualities
of his grand father, Al-haj Sahukar Mohamed Hussain of
repute, so generous, so hospitable, so service-minded, so
compassionate and so humane. Hardly had this happened we
lost another member of the family, Muneera, wife of
Gulam-e-Ahmed, younger sister of my wife, who too
possessed qualities, which were all highly admirable. Her
hospitality knew no bounds. God had not blessed the couple
any issue of their own. They adopted two children, a boy and
a girl. The boy was Faiz, nephew of Mr.Gulame Ahmed, and
the girl was Nageena, a destitute, whom Muneera adopted
and loved more than her own child. Nageena was an
extraordinary beauty, so good looking and charming that
every one appreciated the good taste of Muneera. She
brought up these two children, gave them good education,
married them and endowed on them enough property for
them to lead a good life. Muneera passed away in 1998.
When all these three shocks were not as if enough, I got the
news, that too in a distant land that Wajid Saheb was also
no more.
Wajid Saheb was unique in his own way. He possessed
immense creative power. His special field was agriculture.
Not having been a student of any agricultural college, he
thought of the Japanese way of paddy cultivation. He
introduced that in his paddy fields and was so successful in
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his experiments that others followed his example. He was very
original in his thoughts. Away from the plantation at
Gadbanahalli, he set up a farm of his own near Sakrepatana,
over 20 acres, near a big beautiful lake, and the farm had
both wet and dry lands. There was a farm house. He had
married Rafath, daughter of Prof. Abdul Shukoor, who was
once my colleague in Maharaja’s College, later became
Professor of Economics in Farooque College in Kerala.
Rafath is a remarkable lady, so pious, God-fearing, hard
working, lovable and affectionate. We would go to their farm
on vacations, and enjoyed the trips, the lake view, the forests,
the birds, the wild animal. Shaeeb Ali was a good hunter,
and we would enjoy to our heart’s content in that farm. The
couple had two children, Nadeem, a boy and Hina, a girl,
both of whom very promising in life. They have settled down
now in life, Hina is in Canada married to an Engineer and
Nadeem doing business in Bangalore. All these facts flashed
my mind when I heard the sad demise of my brother-in-law,
Mr. Wajid.
But more tragic, more disastrous news of world
significance was to follow within two days after my return
from Columbus. I came to Chicago, and joined the group of
Dr. Naseer Abbas and Nafees to proceed to San Francisco,
California, where Mr. Inamdar Saheb would be our host. We
landed in Sans Franscisco on September 9, 2001, where
Inamdar Saheb had made all arrangements. Hardly a day,
Sept. 10, was over, we were having our early morning tea at
6 a.m. when suddenly Nafees Ahmed rushed to my room,
and asked me whether I had listened to T.V. and heard the
ghastly news. I said “No”. We switched on the T.V. and lo!
We were witnessing the most horrible, the ghastly, the tragic
news of World Towers in New York burning. They were
literally on fire. The flames were rising sky-high, there were
black clouds all around, the T.V. announcers loudly crying,
“America is under attack, America is under attack”. You can’t
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imagine what was happening. Not only New York World
Towers, but also Washington’s Pentagon too were under
attack. Not bombs, but planes which were high-jacked by
terrorists were dashing against these structures and reducing
them to ashes.
History of the world was being changed. We were
witnessing it over the television what was happening. If a
personal dear one were to pass away through natural death,
it was a personal loss of an individual, but if a country were
to be attacked, it was disastrous to humanity, to the world
at large. If that attack were to be on a country which was
super-power, leader of the world, shaping the destiny of many
other nations, at the summit of political power, financial
power, intellectual power, in the vanguard of inventions,
scientific discoveries, military power, economic strength and
political hegemony, one could imagine what a terrible havoc
it would lead to.
September eleven became a tragic day in the history of
the world. What happened thereafter and what is happening
even to-day was all the product of what happened on 9/11.
It was a catastrophic day that turned history. America
was a super power and none could dare look at it in a
sarcastic way. Far from that now its places of pride, the
citadel of strength, power, command, and the towers of
world’s wealth, the financial hub of whole globe, the marvels
of
technology, the Mecca of financial wizards were all
under attack. The whole world was witnessing the drama that
the pride of America was up in flames. The wallowing and
weeping, the distress and the disaster, the havoc and the chaos
were such as to escape description. The hell itself, as if, was
let loose, and man was aghast at what he was looking at.
Man has witnessed many a Waterloo before, but never had
one seen so few, hardly 19, done so much havoc to so many
and in such a short time. Accidents, chances and coincidences
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change history, but here was a lava burst out on one who
had perpetrated misery in every corner of the world, and the
nemisis was over taking a Dracula, who had in the guise of
bringing a new world order caused so much misery to
mankind.
Quite a few days before dropping the atom bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, America had bombed Tokyo in May
1945 which killed as many as 1,90,000 men in a few
moments. That was the carpet bombing. Then followed a few
weeks later atom bombs which took the life of hundreds of
thousands. Greed poisoned the soul of America which
attacked for no good reason, Korea, and the war took a heavy
toll of innocent men, women and children in numbers that
could not be counted. A country that was united was divided
into North Korea and South Korea to perpetuate tension
between two brothers for all time to come. As if the war in
Korea was not enough, America invaded Vietnam and fought
a war of attrition, nearly for a decade. Here it used even
chemical weapons, but liberty is so dear to man that
Vietnamese were equal to the task to defend their land. They
stood firm and retaliated the attack with such good measures
that America lost thousands and thousands of its soldiers,
drained its resources in this perfectly useless war, raised loud
protests within its own country and was forced to withdraw
under humiliating conditions.
Far more grave was the American policy to support
the Jewish lobby to create Israeli which was injecting poison
into the conjugal vein of the Arab land. Palestine was Arab
land from hundreds of years since the days of Hazrat Umar,
when peacefully in 637 A.D. the people of Palestine, the
Christians, had handed over authority to the Muslims. When
the Christians attempted to seize it during the crusades,
Salahuddin Ayubi was brave enough to inflict a blow on them
and recover the sacred place. Ever since that time in 1147
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A.D. Palestine was under the control of the Muslims. It was
in the First World War of 1914-18 the imperialists
maneuvered under mandates to occupy Palestine and
encourage Jewish immigrants. But it was America soon after
Second World War that was responsible for the creation of
the Jewish State of Israel in 1948, which ever since that date
drove away the majority of the Arabs from their home land,
occupied more than 70% of the Palestine, fought three major
wars in that area, occupied a good part of West Bank, Gaza
and Golan heights of Syria, enslaved the Arabs, forced them
as refugees and inflicted such pain and misery that even now
the Palestinians are under the control of Jews. More than
50 years of misery was all due to the consist support of
America to the Jewish State of Israel.
Apart from these political interference in the Islamic
world, America had sucked the resources of the Islamic
World. In the guise of friendship towards the Shah of Iran
it sucked all the oil resources and made the Iranians so angry
that there was a back lash and a revolution in Iran where
Ayatulla Khomeni threw out the Shah and established an
Islamic State. It is again America that has exploited and is
exploiting all the oil wealth of Kuwait, Muscat, Saudi Arabia
and the Gulf States of the Emirates. It has controlled the
oil wealth of the entire region. It was the American policy
towards Palestine that was the root cause for all the lava
bursting in the heart of Muslim world. Sensitive Youths who
were saturated in the glory of the Islamic past would not
stomach the continued humiliation, western domination and
cultural degradation in not responding to colonial challenges,
which had erupted in the new guise of liberalization,
globalization and privatization.
As a result of all these simmering causes a few youth
had been powerfully influenced by the reactionary forces that
had emerged under the leadership of a Saudi, Wealthy
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resourceful leader named Asama-bin-Laden. He is from the
aristocracy of the ruling class of Saudi Arabia, who had been
in the American Camp as long as Soviet Union had occupied
Afghanistan. He played a key-role with the help of the
Americans to drive away the Soviets from Afghanistan. He
learned all the arts and tactics of underground work of
subversion. When the Soviets left Afghanistan, the vacuum
was filled by a group called Taliban. They were reactionaries,
deep in the religious thoughts of reviving the glory of the
past and introducing Islamic law or Shariat in the State
administration. When they over-powered all their rivals and
established their own authority, they had a chance to enforce
Islamic laws, which they did. This infuriated the whole
Western world. It was here in Afghanistan where Asama Bin
Laden initiated his Al-Qaeda movement, which was to
liberate the Islamic world from the clutches of Western
domination.
His movement was intensified because of one more
important political reason, and that was the First Gulf War
of 1991-92 when Bush the Senior, President of America,
declared war on Iraq, defeated Sadam Hussain, President of
Iraq who had foolishly provoked this war by needless
invasion of Kuwait. The Americans who were waiting for
an excuse to fish in the troubled waters of West Asia,
immediately jumped into the fray, organised a global
coalition of several western powers and fought a war against
Saddam. Unfortunately, Islamic States too such as Saudi
Arabia and the Emirates of Gulf and Iran too joined this
coalition. Iran had a reason to join because Iraq had invaded
Iran in the 80’s and had fought a long war of attrition.
Obviously a small State like Iraq could not stand against such
a powerful coalition of several mighty powers, such as USA,
UK, France, Germany, Australia and Canada.
The result was disastrous to Iraq. Saddam was not
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only defeated but was humiliated in the sense that the
Security Council imposed long-drawn sanctions which crippled
its economy and inflicted severe hardships on its people.
Worse still this war gave an opportunity to America to station
its armed forces in seveal Islamic countries such as Kuwait,
Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
It is the presence of these American forces in Saudi
Arabia that infuriated Bin Laden. He planned retaliation. He
could not fight a war, as an individual or at best a terrorist
group could hardly face the Super Power of the day. What
he did was to train a few youth in terrorist activities to hurt
America in the most sensitive areas. No place stood more
glaring in his eyes than New York and Washington, one the
Centre of Wealth and the other, hub of Political power. The
World Trade Towers of America were the symbols of modern
marvels of financial manipulations where the human skill had
touched the peak in the art of commercial sorcery. Again
Washington, the nerve-centre of Super-Power where
Pentagon was located, was the command and control of the
modern Pharah or Alexanders, claiming America was the
Centre of the Solar System round which all others had to
rotate.
It was this country that was under attack on that
day 9/11. About nineteen pilots organised a conspiracy to hijack four commercial aeroplanes taking off from New York.
These youths, mostly Saudi Arabians, dodged all security
checks, boarded the plane, kicked the pilots, hijacked the
plane and dashed against the World Trade Centres, twin
towers, one after another, and set ablaze them in a manner
the World had never seen before. The third plane aimed at
Pentagon, hit that centre, damaged a good part of it, but did
not destroy it completely. The fourth plane planned to hit
the White House, the power centre, the residence of the
President, but the passengers overpowered the hijackers and
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diverted the plane to a different place where it crashed. All
passengers were killed but White House was saved.
This affair that happened was at a time when I was
in San Fransisco witnessing the whole drama on T.V. which
was showing again and again the Towers going on flames. It
was the most sensational and disastrous day for America which
was so long boasting that none could point a little finger at
it, and that any attempt to shoot at it would be frustrated
the moment you think of it. Now the destruction had become
an actuality and the millions and millions not only in America
but also in the whole world had witnessed how helpless
America was to prevent its own destruction. Never had
America suffered greater humiliation at the hands of so few
and so suddenly. The whole world sympathised with America,
which thought of taking revenge in a brutal way on the entire
Islamic world.
A question arises who was responsible for it ?
Obviously they say it was Al-Qaeda of Asama, who had
planned very skillfully the entire terrorist attack. But several
other theories have also been advanced. The secret service,
CIA, was aware of it. Deliberately it let loose something to
happen in order to gain an excuse for attacks on Islamic
countries. Mr.Bush, the President was not present on that
day in the White House. He was away in Texas in his own
Ranch. Not a single Jew went to work on that day to the
Centres of World Trade. Nearly 3000 people were there.
Except the Jews all others were present. Why were they
absent ? Again when Pentagon was hit, it was damaged, but
not destroyed. When World Towers were hit, they went on
flame, the whole of them, not one or two storeys but the
entire structure which were so strong, so well-planned,
so fire-proof, yet in no time they were reduced to ahses.
Research is going on into this question, and American
scholars are advancing the theory that without prior planning
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of the destruction, just the hit of the plane would not have
caused this havoc. Whatever the cause, the hijackers opened
a new chapter in history where man reversed his march from
development to destruction.
The new chapter that was opened was one of
confrontation, wars, ravages, invasions, occupations, misery,
death and destruction, mostly of the innocent, of the masses
belonging to the Islamic world. America went beresk, lost
all sense of balance, invaded Afghanistan, removed Talibans
from power, occupied that country, and caused untold misery
to the people. Afghans are freedom loving people. They
would not tolerate foreign domination. But a backward
country could not openly challenge a host of powerful foreign
powers with all their deadly weapons. What the liberty-loving
Afghans are doing is to surprise the foreigners through suicide
attacks. It is a powerful weapon, a human bomb, where selfrespect results in self-destruction, but not before hurting the
foe, who coming seven seas across, is attempting to establish
his authority, his ways of life and culture, his institutions and
his own morals and manners. The war is still going on and
will go on until truth and justice prevails.
Not being satisfied with the occupation of Afghanistan
and liquidation of Taliban, America took revenge by
capturing hundreds and thousands who were not only
imprisoned but also sent into captivity to a distant land near
Cuba, Guintanoma Bay, where inhuman, brutal, savage
punishment and torture were inflicted on those who were
fighting for the liberty of their land. Those who were not
involved in the attack on America have been needlessly put
to torture. It is a blot on the fair name of America which
boasts itself of high civilisation. It is a curse on that country
which is inviting the wrath of God sooner or later.
Bush was not satisfied with the invasion of
Afghanistan. The neo-conservatives dream of converting the
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whole world to their way of living, thinking and doing. They
need the oil wealth of the Middle East. There is no end to
their greed, nor to their high handedness. A dragon would
invent some excuse to devour whatever comes his way. Bush
planned invasion of Iraq.
USA policy towards Iraq was most inconsistent.
There was a time when Sadam was their darling. They helped
him with arms to the extent of becoming a power in West
Asia, so that he could wage war against Iran. They
encouraged him to invade Kuwait. Once they thought that
he was powerful enough to stand on his own, and not become
a puppet, they changed their policy and became his bitter
enemy. Very adroitly Sadam was playing the game of making
one Western power a rival of the other in the economic field.
Both European Union and United States wanted the share
of the oil wealth of the Middle East. Saddam was adopting
the policy of best advantage to Iraq. He tilted his balance
from United States to European Union and made Euro the
currency for the exchange of oil wealth. It was at once a
great blow to dollar and America, the Super Power was set
ablaze in anger. It started to bring about a regime change in
Iraq. The first attempt was the First Gulf War. Saddam
some how survived at that time. Despite the crippling
sanctions, he was still in power. Then came the elections of
2000 when the Democrats lost power and Republicans gained
authority. Bush Jr. came to power. His father had fought
the First Gulf War. This Bush was more ambitious and less
mature. He desired to excel his father in war glory. The
Republicans formed a clique called Neo-conservatives, with
colonial ambitions, expansion of American ideology,
domination over the whole world, exploitation of world
resources, and sucking the blood of all to lift America to
new heights. Bush Junior was more hawkish, more greedy,
more aggressive and more impatient. He belonged to a group
called Round Heads who were akin to Nazis of Hitler’s days.
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America had set an example of a really civilised, humane,
liberal and helpful country which desired peace in the world,
goodwill of all, prosperity of every nation. Soon after Second
World war it had poured billions and billions under Marshall
Plan to reconstruct Europe. When Israel invaded Egypt with
the help of Britain, Eisenhower, American President,
intervened in an effective way to stop aggression. British
Prime Minister, Antony Eden, was forced to resign and Israel
got a slap on the cheek. Such good deeds of America had
become things of the past, and the regime of young Bush
reversed the gear and set a policy of aggressive
aggrandisement. For this policy the Jewish lobby of America
was responsible. The Jews in America are very few, but they
play the same part in the body-politic of America as brain
plays in the human body. Their sharp mind, financial
resources, hold over the media, control of business and
industry, and the persuasive ability to get their things done
make the Jewish lobby most effective pressure groups in
America. They are the most powerful exponents of Israeli
interests in the United States, and their desire is to make
Israel the dominant power in West Asia. This policy resulted
in scheming and scheming which at last resulted in the
tragedy of 9/11.
Bush thought of regime change the moment he
removed the Talibans from power in Afghanistan. The whole
of 2002 was devoted to false propaganda that Saddam had
hidden weapons of most destruction (WMD). Britain joined
the refrain. Bush hastened the planning of invasion. America
excels the whole world in having the deadly weapons of
destruction. Its stock of atomic weapon itself is so much
that it can blow off twenty times the size of our own globe.
Even in conventional weapons its stock exceeds perhaps the
stock of nearly three-fourth of the world. Except Russia and
China none can reach even a fringe of its potential in
destructive mechanism. In March 2003 America invaded Iraq,
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used all its deadly weapons, caused havoc in that country,
destroyed the oldest civilisation on earth, levelled down the
whole country to the ground, killed hundreds and thousands
of innocent souls, and made rivers of blood flow in the street,
overthrew Saddam and occupied Iraq. This occupation still
continues at the time when this account is being written.
What followed the occupation is the most disgraceful
blot on the face of America. The colonial power exceeded all
limits in greed in looting the oil wealth of the land, the main
purpose for which the invasion had takes place. It destroyed
the entire administrative machinery that was existing. It
dissolved a social order that was functioning. It incurred the
hostility of the whole Islamic world for its unprovoked,
unjust war. Worse still, it started a system of punishing the
people in the Abu Garib jail which shocked the whole world.
Brutality, savagery and vulgarity seemed personified in
American soldiers who treated the Abu Garib prisoners,
the innocent freedom fighters who resisted the foreign
occupation, in a manner devil too would acknowledge their
superiority in vulgarity. Even to this day their terror is in
full force. Yet it should be said to the credit of freedom
fighters who have become human bombs that they are
inflicting severe blows on the invading army.
The tragedy of Iraq War is the civil war that was set
in motion because of the wrong policies of the Americans.
The Shias and Sunnis who were so long living like brothers
under Saddam have become bitter enemies and are killing one
another. The tragedy continues because under the
American influence they have framed a constitution and
installed a puppet Government which is highly sectarian,
giving all power to Shias and denying the rights and
privileges of the Sunnis. Under the name of democracy, a
powerful minority which was so long in authority is totally
displaced, and it would not reconcile itself to the loss of
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power, hence tension, violence, disorder, terror and misery to
the people persist in the land.
All this is the result of 9/11 which I witnessed in
America. Mr.Inamdar Saheb, our host in Sanfrancisco asked
us not to go anywhere for four or five days, for tension was
already building up in American cities at what had happened
on 9/11. There were riots, attacks on Muslim mosques and
violence here and there. It was almost like emergency in US
when police was there everywhere, severe checking was there
in air-ports, masses were gloomy and distressed. They were
angry on the Govt. which could not avert the tragedy. Despite
consistent report from CIA that terror attacks were possible,
no effective steps were taken. It was in such situation that
we were on a trip to America to raise funds for our Trust.
Despite this tragedy of 9/11, we were able to do something in
different places. For five or six days we stayed in
Sanfrancisco where two people were immensely helpful for
fund raising, one was Inamdar Saheb, a saintly soul, very
helpful to our Trust ever since its inception, and the other
was Mr.Junaid, son of Noor Mohamed Saheb of Mysore. What
these two people did was to organise a fund-raising dinner of
$ 100/- each. The response was so good that Inamdar Saheb
was able to collect in all $10,000/- in Sansfrancisco including
his own personal contribution of $1000/-. In Chicago I had
collected $ 4,000/-. This good response was perhaps due to
a series of lectures I delivered at several Islamic Centres and
in mosques soon after Isha prayers. It was Inamdar Saheb
who had organised these lectures. Soon after Isha prayer, he
would make me sit on a chair and speak to the congregation.
I would speak mostly on Islamic culture, our history, our
contribution to knowledge, to well-being, to art, to the
administration, and present a picture of to-day how we have
fallen down, and what the need of the hour was to lift us
again to a better position. This became a routine in every
city or place we visited.
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We went round the whole of America, from coast to
coast, from Chicago to San Francisco, from San Francisco to
Florida, and from Florida to New York. Our next destination
was Florida, where our good friend, Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed,
originally from Tumkur, who was another patron and
benefactor of our Trust ever since its inception was staying.
He had been a pillar of support to us at every stage of our
development, including B.Ed. College, for which he
personally contributed nearly two lakhs of rupees. He and
Inamdar Saheb were particularly helpful to us. We stayed
for three days at Oriando, Florida, with Dr. Imtiaz, enjoyed
his hospitality, went round several places including Space
Research Centre, which had put man on moon. Dr. Imtiaz
is a very generous person for community cause. He has
established an Islamic Centre, just as Inamdar Saheb had done
in Sanfrancisco. Dr. Imtiaz has married the daughter of an
educationist, Janab Ahmed Hussain, and this lady too is truly
saturated in Islamic spirit. We collected nearly 2000 dollars
here for our Trust. Our visit to both Francisco and Orlando
remained memorable.
From Orlando we went to New Jersey near New York
where Dr. Noori Nisar and Dr. Nisar lived. Dr. Noori is the
daughter of Prof. M.A. Khader of Mysore, a renowned
literary figure of Urdu language. We had very close rapport
with this family as Dr. Noori was also one of the strongest
supporters of our Trust from its inception. I stayed with
Dr. Noori for three days. Dr. Naseer Abbas and Nafeez
would go sight-seeing to New York which was hardly a few
minutes distance by train from New Jersey. I did not
accompany them except once, when we went to the place
where the World Trade Centres were once standing, but now
raised to the ground causing world-wide havoc sketched above.
We visited Dr. Tasnima Shamim also who was also one of
the great benefactors of our Trust. She had once given us a
sum of one lakh of rupees at a stretch. She is the grand
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383
daughter of Prof. Habibunnisa, who was the sister of Isamail
Shariff, the first Muslim Officer to have passed the Mysore
Civil Service (MCS) examination. We visited Mr. Mahmood,
son of Prof.M.A. Khader and brother of Dr. Noori, who has
married the sister of Tasnim. They are living in places quite
close by leading quite a decent, dignified and affluent life.
Having spent more than a month, we returned home, once
again seeing different places in Europe on our way at the
cost of different Airways.
Our main purpose was to raise funds for the Trust.
By God’s grace we were able to collect more than $26,000
equivalent to 13-14 lakhs of rupees which were needed both
for the extension of our buildings and also for our B.Ed.
programme which we were planning for a long time. It needed
quite an outlay, at least of Rs.15 lakhs. We would have
perhaps collected a little more if only that incident of 9/11
had not happened. Any way we must be thankful to Allah
for what we got, for there is no limit either to man’s ambitions
or to greed. Our last lap of journey was from Chicago where
we had landed, and from where we took off. Dr. Md. Ismail
was our host, and he too did a lot in fund raising. He invited
to dinner the cream of intellectuals in Chicago with whom
we had an academic chat of great interest. We felt that
America was lucky in attracting the finest brains from all
over the world who were gifting America the finest and the
best of their creative potentiality. In return they were earning
enough to lead a very comfortable life which they could not
have thought of in their own country of birth.
In conclusion of our visit to the Mecca of our modern
western culture, I should say it has both plus and minus
points. The plus points are modern science and technology
which has lifted the standard of life to a high degree. The
Americans enjoy all the comforts of life, every kind of
facility to meet your physical needs. You have a good
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My Life
house, well furnished; you have good transport, dazzling
automobiles; you have good jobs demanding your skill either
of managerial type or productive type; you have liberty and
freedom of every sort, where you feel proud that your
democratic system has bestowed on the common man the
right to choose the government or the party which would
serve him best. A visit to any American city would impress a
visitor of its planning, of its hustle and bustle, of its throbbing
life as if every one is in a hurry in an examination hall before
the duration is over. You will also get an idea that every one
counts every moment in terms of dollars, what do I get out
of it. Life is labour; life is hard work; life is doing; life is
enjoying. From the material point of view, from knowledge
point of view in inventions and discoveries, and from the civic
point of view in having a welfare state which takes care of
the physical needs of man, America has done exceedingly
well.
The negative point is its global vision where it desires
to assert its own superiority to dominate over the whole
world. It is indeed a very rich country, perhaps one-third of
the wealth of the whole world is concentrated there. It is at
the top in every sector of life, financial, intellectual, political,
social, economic and cultural, but it is directing its wealth in
the wrong channel of armaments. Its defence budget is
astronomical. If only she had spent a fraction or at least 1%
of it in eradicating poverty, ignorance and ill-health of poorer
countries, she would have been adored and worshipped.
On the other hand, its production is in the area of mass
destruction, its earning is through the sale of those weapons,
and its superiority is through the threat of the use of these
weapons. As if not being satisfied with weapons that are
deadly to blow the surface of the earth, it has poured billions
and billions on Star-wars, weapons that would be deadly
in space. Research on star-wars, missiles, atom bombs,
hydrogen bombs is not the only item that is sucking the wealth
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385
of America, but also invasion of other countries, whether
Japan, or Korea, or Viet-nama or Cuba or Afghanistan, or
Iraq or Palestine. The third minus point is its desire to impose
its own ideology on others, its own institutions, its own trade
and commerce, its own way of living and thinking for which
it creates zones of influence, whether it is Israel, or Egypt
or Japan or Saudi Arabia or Kuwait or Emirates. It desires
to have a circle of dependencies which would act according
to its whims and fancies. Yet America is a great country.
After returning from USA with some funds we took
up the work of increasing accommodation for our development
plans. We had envisaged for a long time to add a B.Ed.
College to our campus. For this purpose I had struggled hard
ever since 1998 the centenary year of the great educationist,
Dr. Zakir Hussain. At that time his son-in-law, Khurshed
Alam Khan was the Governor of Karnataka with whom I
had close rapport since the days of my Goa stint. He too
was keen to leave behind some worthy memorial to that great
man. A Committee to celebrate the centenary was formed,
of which I was the Convenor and the Governor was the
Patron. Ever so many meetings were held, and ever so many
ambitious programmes were chalked out, including a
B.Ed.College in his name. The Government promised a crore
of rupees provided matching funds were collected from the
public. Not a pie was collected and not a pie was given by
the Government. It was all a tall talk, eye-wash to please
Muslims. Added to this, differences arose between the
Governor and Janab Roshan Baig Saheb who was an important
political figure. A war of words followed resulting in no
development. But I took up the cause of at least one small
thing, a B.Ed. College in Mysore. I exerted so much that at
one stage the Chief Minister, J.H. Patel gave us a NOC to
start a college. At that time there was a blanket ban on the
starting of B.Ed. Colleges, for the Government thought that
there were so many B.Ed. College that there was no need for
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My Life
any more. As a special case in some mood CM wrote it may
be given. I went to his residence with the application at a
time when a good friend of mine, Mr.Nanaiah was present.
He was once a Syndicate Member of Mangalore University
whom I knew very well, and who had subsequently become a
Cabinet Minister in J.H. Patel’s ministry. His presence at
the time at “Krishna”, CM’s residence, was helpful to me
and I managed to obtain the NOC from Chief Minister.
I felt very happy that at least my dream to have a
Teachers’ College would be objectified. With that letter I
went to the Secretariat to get the proper sanction from the
bureaucrats, the administrative machinery. Lo! They turned
it down. The Principal Secretary said it is true CM has
okayed it, but to-morrow other applicants would go to the
court that discrimination had been made in giving the sanction
to one and denying it to others. In that case it is not CM
who would go to the court, it was the Secretary and hence
when total ban was there, not even CM had the authority to
break it. I was totally disappointed. But we went on with the
other programme in extending our buildings and adding one
more floor to the existing structure. From 1998 to 2002 I
waited for four long years, when the election season came.
The Congress was in power. It wanted to win the new
elections as well. It lifted the ban on B.Ed. Colleges, and
invited applications for the College. Hundreds of people
applied, and we were also one among them. One Dr.
Parmeshwar from Tumkur was the Minister of Higher
Education. Here also politics played its dirty game. Those
who paid huge amounts to Congress Party funds got the
sanctions, and since we could not afford to pay, we were
ignored. When the results of the sanctions were announced,
we were utterly disappointed to find we were ignored. I met
Dr. Parmeswar ; he felt sorry and said you should have met
me before. That means you should have brought the purse
which others had bought.
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387
Being totally dejected I resorted to one more last
trick. I met Mr.Veerappa Moily, former Chief Minister of
Karnataka whom I knew very well since our Mangalore days.
He had very soft corner for me and regarded me highly. He
took up his phone to Dr.Parameshwar. He was on a tour to
Gulbarga. He contacted him there and banged him what great
injustice had been done to a renowned scholar, a genuine
educationist, and to a person who deserved it most. It was
the last day to apply to NCTE for its approval, or else a
year would be lost. It was 30th December 2002. 31st December
was the last day to submit papers to NCTE in Bangalore.
Dr. Parameshwar sent a Fax to secretariat sanctioning the
B.Ed. College to us. We heard it over the phone. A lot
more had to be done to prepare the papers. Hardly a few
hours were there to complete the process. The application
form was down loaded on the night of 30th December at 1
a.m. in the night. Scores and scores of formalities were there
to be observed, including taking a DD for Rs.40,000/- in
favour of NCTE from a Bank, and swearing before a
Magistrate in Law Courts. We worked hard every second
and rushed to Bangalore to submit the papers to NCTE
before 5.30 p.m. on Dec. 31. We did everything, umpteen
number of things. In Law Court fortunately I met a student
of mine, an officer, who was very helpful to get the Magistrate
sign our papers and put the seal. We caught the Shatapbdi
Mail to Bangalore at 2.10 p.m. reached Bangalore 4.15 p.m.
rushed to NCTE office Jalahalli and submitted the papers
within the time prescribed. We got the sanction for B.Ed.
Course after a few weeks.
When we look back on all these things we feel that
the ways of God are mysterious. He knows best what is
good for us. We are in a hurry, God is not. We are
impatient, nature is not. God in his wisdom gets things done
in moments, in minutes and seconds, which man despite his
best exertions would not do in years. I was struggling since
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My Life
1998, and even a year earlier in 1997 when centenary
celebrations of Dr. Zakir Hussain were in progress. I built
up a file for B.Ed. College which was daily growing thick, but
nothing had happened. Yet when time came, things moved
so fast that I saw Veerappa Moily at 11 O’clock, got the
sanction from the Minister who was in Gulbarga, and obtained
the order from the Secretariat the same night. Fortunately
Nafees Ahmed was present in Bangalore. He sat in the
Secretariat late in the evening, greased the palm of the staff
who acted with the speed of electric current, to translate a
fax from Gulbarga into a GO of the Education Ministry.
That GO was faxed to us, and we down loaded the application
from computer processed it non-stop within a few hours. It
shows that we should never pray to God that He may grant
what we desire, but that His Will may be accomplished in
us, and that in His Will is our peace. This is the lesson we
got from our adventure to start a B.Ed.
College.
The major steps of Government sanction and
application to NCTE for approval being over, we had still
stupendous tasks to perform, as there were limitless
conditions from these different authorities before we could
say the baby of B.Ed. College was born. The three authorities
were first Government sanction, second Mysore University
affiliation, and the third NCTE approval. Of the three only
Government NOC we had on hand. We had to deal with the
other two. Once we got the Government sanction we
contacted the University College Development Council. They
have raised affiliation fee sky-high. It was nearly one lakh
sixty thousand. We deposited the amount. Then we turned
towards fulfilling the conditions of NCTE which had furnished
us a long list, the required infra-structure, accommodation,
library, laboratory, equipment and staff. The recruitment of
staff was crucial. They wanted eight members of staff, seven
teachers, one Principal and two or three non-teaching staff.
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389
We advertised the posts, invited the applications, and had
good response. Fortunately, for the Principal’s post we got
Prof. T.S. Gopala Krishna, the retired Principal of Sharadavilas
B.Ed. College. He happened to be the younger brother of
Dr.T.S.Rao, whom I had appointed as Professor and Head of
the Marine Sciences in Goa University. Prof.Gopala Krishna
had heard of me through his brother, who is at present
unfortunately no more. On the day of interview he was not
present, but had sent a letter that he would be willing to
serve us, given an opportunity. Our Secretary telephoned him
whether he would come for a chat. He agreed and came
within a few minutes. We found him most suitable,
experienced, matured, sober, competent, well-informed,
exceedingly good both in academic and management. He
joined us. He is a great asset to us. Since he joined us our
institution has vastly improved. He is a committed teacher
who does the job not for the remuneration but for love, for
service, for doing good to society. Although he joined to set
up our B.Ed. College, he is helping us to improve and manage
all our institutions from KG to PG (K.G. is our Kindergarten
and PG is our Post-graduate B.Ed. College). His subject is
Chemistry. When we had a shortage of a Science teacher
for our High School, he said, “Don’t worry, I will take
Chemistry Classes”. Thus we are very happy with our
Principal, Prof.T.S. Gopala Krishna.
The other members of the Staff, Shabana Tabassam,
Rana Tabassum, Shaheen, Nagaraj, Somasekhar, Kempanna,
Nanjundaswamy, and all others are all very helpful. We had
already two batches of B.Ed. and all of them passed, and all
of them got first division. We are indeed very happy with
this performance.
With our available finances and the funds collected
from USA we constructed the required lecture halls,
laboratories etc. for the B.Ed. College. We must acknowledge
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My Life
that B.Ed. College required at least 20 lakhs and at this hour
of need Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed and Mr.Mohamed Ismail came
forward in a big way to help us. Dr. Imtiaz single-handed
helped us to the tune of more than two lakhs and Mr.Mohd.
Ismail, nearly a lakh of rupees. The Trust is highly grateful
to these gentlemen. The visiting teams that came to inspect
the College, both from the University and the NCTE were
greatly impressed by what we had done. This B.Ed. College
which was my dream came into existence, and by God’s grace
it is functioning very well.
When this Teachers’ Training College project was fully
realised, we thought of the next step of development, a
Pre-Degree College, for what we had was only upto
matriculation, only Secondary level. We wanted to move up
to tertiary level which is the terminal course for any
professional admissions, either of medical, or engineering. A
good PUC College was also essential. In the year 2004, AFMI
(American Federation of the Muslims of Indian Origin)
thought of honouring this humble self ; Mr. Akram Syed, who
hails from Bangalore, and who had risen high to the rank of
President of AFMI, was the person who thought of an award
to a man from Karnataka, who had done some social good.
His choice fell on this humble self. This organization of USA
holds annually a session in India to confer an honour to some
one who had done some goodwork. I was invited to Delhi
and Sir Syed Award was conferred on me. Taking advantage
of that function I expressed my desire to Mr.Akram Syed
that we wish to start a PUC College and that we needed
help from AFMI. Mr. Syed was good enough to have a
positive response and within a few months we heard that
AFMI would extend us to the extent of Rs. 12 lakhs if we
start a PUC College. We agreed and started processing the
project.
Anything in India needs elaborate preparations, a lot
of paper-work, officla procedures and red-tapism. We applied
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391
for the College and the authorities would not move papers
until palms were greased. This is apart from the prescribed
fees and deposits which run into lakhs. Fortunately we got
everything done, and the PUC College came into existence.
Our Principal, Prof.Gopala Krishna looked into all the
details relating to academic and administrative affairs of this
College. The permission came to us late in the year 2006 by
which time admissions had all been over. Yet we did not like
to lose a year. Our PUC College was started in June-July
2006, hardly about 25 joined the First Year PUC.
I must say our experiment of PUC proved very
challenging. It is not upto our expectations. The boys who
have joined are not motivated, are not used to hard work;
they are not what they ought to be, quite indifferent, callous,
mischievous and irregular. It has become a problem how to
shape them. Our staff are doing their level best to improve
matters. Our High School is in good shape; our Nursary,
Primary and Higher Primary all are in good shape; our B.Ed.
College is in good shape, but not our PUC. Hopefully we
will mend matters.
When we had B.Ed. College, it occurred to us that
why we should not have a D.Ed. College as well. It is the
Nursary and Primary that matters most. It is the root that
is to be strengthened. Our B.Ed. was a successful project,
and we had built up good infra-structure. We applied for
the course. The Government sent us soon its NOC,
sanctioning the D.Ed. College, but the NCTE took long.
Although we applied in 2005 to start the course in the
academic year of 2006-07, they did not move the files. Now
in April 2007 they have sent an inspection team to report
the feasibility. This team came on 12th April 2007 consisting
of two members and have reported their findings to the
Regional Committee of NCTE in Bangalore. It is now
approved. D.Ed. classes will start from the year 2007-08.
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My Life
As mentioned earlier, we have two campuses, one at
Ghousianagar, and the other at Radhakrishna Nagar. What
we have at Ghousianagar is only Nursery, Primary, Upper
Primary, Deeniyat, Craft Centre and School for Challenged
children. In order to improve standards we thought perhaps
English medium from VI standard would be helpful. For this
we struggled hard for three years to get the Government
sanction. Red-tapism, and graft are so intensive that things
would not move. At last we got the Government sanction
for English medium at High Primary level.
We have started Nursery and Primary at our
Radhakrishna Nagar Maulana Azad Campus as well. By God’s
grace it is functioning very well. We have built good
infra-structure. Our idea was to have a good feeding school
of our own for our High School classes. Here also from VI
Standard we wish to have English Medium School for which
we have submitted the required papers. Lately I have
initiated two more projects, one is Dars-e-Quran in the New
Muslim Hostel where we wish to inform our boarders the
essential features of Islamic teachings. The other programme
is in the City of Mysore where all the NGOs of the city,
nearly 35 of them, have chosen me as the President of the
uslim Welfare Council
Central M
Council, an organisation which
Muslim
intends to bring about a great social change in the conditions
of Muslims, who have fallen low in every sector of life,
whether social, educational, political, economic or cultural.
This Organisation is a Registered Society with several working
groups to do intensive social work. Hopefully it may have
some impact. Its inaugural function took place on April 17,
2007.
A reference has been made earlier in this chapter that
while passing through the journey of life, one faces
sometimes moments of intense depression, one such was in
September 2001, when on personal level we lost Wajid Saheb,
a dynamic member of the family on Sept. 7, 2001, and four
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393
days later on 9/11 the world witnessed the catastrophe both
in New York and Washington. A similar tragedy occurred
on April 9, 2007 when suddenly another dear member of the
family, Mymoona Kareem, passed away in a few moments.
She was a source of help to each and every one of the family,
whenever any help was needed. Ever since the demise of
Dr.Kareem in 1997, she would shuttle from Bangalore to
Chikmagalur, and Chikmagalur to Mysore, wherever any one
needed her help. She was a wonderful lady, unique in several
respects, so talented, so witty and cheerful, and so proficient
in household affairs. Just three days before I had been to
Chikmagalur where she attended an Urdu Mushaira on
Friday, and an Annual Day Function of Basera, an Orphanage
run by Shaeeb Ali, on Saturday. We were together almost
the whole day not knowing her last days were drawing so
near. On Sunday, I came back to Mysore and on Monday,
April 9, I got a call, Mymoon fell down, was rushed to the
hospital where on scanning it was detected severe hammerage.
She was advised to be shifted to Bangalore. An ambulance
was arranged and Rafath, W/o Wajid Saheb, was the only
member of the family accompanying her in the ambulance,
which had hardly covered half the way she breathed her lost
near Channarayapatna. The stroke was at 9 a.m. and the end
was at 2.p.m. hardly five or six hours duration. The lady
who served so many and so many, did not take the service of
any one to have a glass of water. She was laid to rest next
day, on April 10, in the grave yard of Neelasandra, Bangalore,
next to the grave of her own husband, Dr. Kareem, who had
passed away ten years earlier on October 10, 1997. He too
was an unique person who had earned the love and affection
of multitudes. When I reflect I feel I had a hand in the
negotiating process of bringing these two to wedding lock.
God bless their soul, for they lived, not for themselves, but
for the well-being of all. It is not I alone who was involved
in social work, but many, many who have contributed much
to our efforts.
14
Intellectural Pursuits
God is all intelligence. Greatest gift of God to man is mind,
source of all intelligence. It is this gift that has done wonders
on earth. Now man has landed on moon, scanned the sky,
swept the floor of the oceans, split the atoms, and is reviving
even a collapsing heart. What was man only a few thousands
years ago? He was in the stone age. It was the miracle of
mind that brought him from that age to the modern age of
science and technology, when man is challenging the powerful
forces of nature, and is imitating God’s creativity and
precision. In the evolutionary process, necessity prompted
him to become more and more inventive, productive and
creative. Destiny acted as an organic human jet propeller to
lift him higher and higher into the realm of civilised life. He
dreamt of things, he thought of things and said, why not these
things. One thing led to the other rationally, collectively,
instinctively and intuitively. When things went wrong,
reformers came forward to set right things. Prophets rectified
the morals and manners. Philosophers explained the unknown.
Scientists invented new things to make life comfortable.
Leaders thought of better art of governing. The individual
learned to live in society, and build better institutions to
march on the path of progress. The State became a powerful
institution to protect life, liberty and property. The family
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My Life
became a loving unit to perpetuate human race, and the
society became an organ to evolve culture and civilisation.
The source of all these activities is man’s mind which has
wrought miracles on earth.
Each one of us has to put the question what have we
added to the sum total of man’s culture. As every leaf has a
role to play in the life of a tree, so too every individual is
supposed to contribute something to the society, however
humble and tiny it may be. The quantum of contribution
would depend upon the quality of mind. Some contribute so
much that they become immortal, and some, so little that it
is not even noticed. But in the wisdom of God’s creativity,
destiny has assigned each a role which is being irresistibly
played, whether we are conscious of our own role or not.
The mother, the father, the leader, the teacher, the artist,
the scientist, the thinker, the philosopher alone are not the
agents of change, but also those great unknown struggling
masses of men and women, who are at the base, and they are
the real dynamic force that lift a society to a higher level.
Judged in this perspective this humble soul too has done a
tiny bit, which is just a grain of sand on the shores of human
wisdom.
It is rightly said that of all the graces of God the art
of writing well is the master-piece. Solidity is only to the
writing. Aristotle or Plato, Newton or Mecaulay, all live in
history only because of their pen. God be praised that this
humble self too was initiated into this realm at an early date
of his service in the University. Hardly a year after my
permanent appointment as a lecturer in 1948 I took up to
research working for Ph.D. of Muslim University Aligarh from
1949 onwards. Although the Doctorate Degree was conferred
only in 1954, which appeared in a book form much later, I
started contributing articles to learned societies and journals.
All India History Congress was the forum which became the
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397
main media for my research.
I attempted to understand the significance of history.
The best prophet of the future is the past, for the seeds of
the future lie buried in the grave yard of the past. A person
or a nation that forgets the past has no future, for history is
the memory of man, and if memory is lost, his life would not
be worth living. He would ever be a child. History is all rich
experience of man, and what we do in history is to revive
and reconstruct those experiences, find new meaning and new
directions to those experiences, so as to put man on the path
of progress. Again, history is man’s mind, clothed in events.
Events and occurrences are the products of man’s thinking,
which is the root for all things to happen. Hence, probing
deep into man’s mind is more important than mere narration
or description of what happened. The three questions a
historian puts are, what, how, and why, and they indicate the
upward movement of a historian’s job. ‘What’ is the base,
the elementary observation or information of the reality, which
presents the unknown. When we move to say “how” that
reality happened, we take one step higher, and when we
analyse “Why” did it happen, it is the highest step, for we
have moved from effect to cause. Processes of causes
and conditions are higher steps in history than merely
presentation of facts. Hence, history is a science that
investigates and presents in psycho-physical causality facts
determined in time and space of the evolution of men in their
individual, typical and collective capacity as social beings.
This is the correct definition of history which takes
into account the full implications of history, where history is
a science, no less and no more. That means a systematic
knowledge whose main aim is to reconstruct the reality in its
entirety, and then examine it in the light of both objective
and subjective, physical and psychological context the causes
and conditions that brought about those happenings. Since
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history is the story of man, and man is so complex that there
are no limits to the dimensions of his activities, history is a
very comprehensive subject, where many doors have to be
opened and many vistas have to be covered. It is not possible
for any single individual to comprehend the totality of
history and hence, he chooses a narrow area and throws
intensive light on it.
For my part I chose a tiny part on this globe called
Karnataka, and in the vast history of Karnataka
from paleolithic age to modern days with the rise and fall
innumerable dynasties and empires, I chose two actors, Haidar
and Tipu, who played a vital role, just for about 40 years,
which had world-wide impact. In other words the field of
my specialisation is Mysore history of the period of Haidar
and Tipu Sultan from 1760 to 1799. It is not the duration
that is more important, it is the paramountcy of the events
that are more significant. I am supposed to have thrown some
intensive light on the role of these two great makers of
history, devoting over a dozen years from 1949-1961,
working hard in different places, both in India and abroad.
First I took up Tipu Sultan (1782-1799) as a subject
of my study for Ph.D. degree of Muslim University, Aligarh,
for which I took six long years from 1949. Even on Tipu, it
was an aspect of his foreign policy, his relations with the
Marathas, with the Nizams, with the English, with the French,
with the Turks and with the Afghans that engaged my
attention. Later on Tipu became almost a subject of my
life-long study, who left on sands of time deep impressions of
the aristocracy of his intellect. It was Tipu who fought not
one but four wars against the colonials, and inflicted severe
blows in two of those wars. No State had fought four wars
against the English except Mysore under Tipu, and no State
had humiliated a colonial power which was proud of its
superiority and invincibility. Even Sir Hector Munro who
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399
boasted himself as the hero of the battle of Buxar where he
had defeated the combined forces of three great rulers of
India, Shah Alam of Delhi, Nawab Shuja-ud-daula of Oudh,
and Mir Qasim of Bengal, had to run away from the field
throwing all his guns into the tank of Conjeevaram and sought
shelter in the fort of Madras, when Tipu confronted him in
the Second Mysore War. Earlier, the commander of a British
force, Colonel Bailley was captured and his entire army was
either cut or captured. The same thing had happened to
Braithwaite, who too was captured. The English had to beg
before Tipu for peace which they signed in the Treaty of
Mangalore, accepting humiliating terms. Earlier in the First
Mysore War (1767-69) Tipu had inflicted a blow on the
English, and had almost taken the entire cabinet of Madras
Government captive, when they ran and took shelter in the
ships on the shore. In the entire history of British rule in
India, no one had defeated them except Haidar and Tipu, no
where had they suffered so much as in Mysore, and no one
was a more formidable foe than Tipu.
It is not in the battle field alone that Tipu’s rule is
significant, but also in inventions and innovations. His
reforming zeal touched almost every department of life
including coinage and calendar, weights and measures,
banking and finance, revenue and judiciary, army and navy,
morals and manners, and social ethos and cultural affairs. Had
he not been engrossed in exasperating wars, he would surely
have ushered Mysore into an industrial renaissance and
reformation of great magnitude. It was he who was the father
of rocket-system, which is so much in the news to-day. It
was he who had thought of a navy, and had built nearly a
hundred ships, both for war and commerce. Among scores
and scores of rulers and emperors, none had thought and built
a navy in India. It was Tipu who thought of building a dam
across the river Cauvery, which became a reality a century
later, but it was he who thought of sericulture in Mysore,
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My Life
and got the silk-worms from Bengal, sowing the seeds of an
industry which has gained a place of pride in Mysore. It was
Tipu who built iron factories in four different places of
Karnataka, in Srirangapatana, Bangalore, Chitradurga and
Bidnur and called them Tara Mandal
andal. The temper that was
given to the guns manufactured in his factories was so
superior as to attract appreciation even from his enemies. It
was Tipu who established a Technical University at his capital
moor
called Dar-ul-U
Dar-ul-Umoor
moor. It was Tipu who started the first Urdu
aujiAkhbar
newspapers, F
Faujiauji-Akhbar
Akhbar,, in Srirangapatan. His interest in
trade and commerce, was such that he established trade
centres not only in India but also in such distant places as
Najaf, Basra, Muscat and Pegu. Tipu’s concept of the nationstate, his elimination of feudal system, his creation of an
efficient civil service, his introduction of modern laws and
procedure, were all such as to make his state a model State.
No less an authority than James Mill, the great thinker, has
observed:
“He (Tipu) had the discernment to observe what is
so generally hidden from the eyes of rulers in a more
enlightened state of society, that it is the prosperity
of those who labour with their hands which
constitute the principle and cause of the prosperity
of the State. His country was accordingly the best
cultivated and its population the most flourishing
in India, while under the English and their
dependencies of the Carnatic and Oudh, hastening
to the state of deserts, were the most wretched upon
the face of the earth”.
Tipu never allowed either pleasure or sloth, bigotry
or conservatism to interfere in his administration. He was
eager to profit himself by western science and western
technology. His mind was restless and energetic. He was
one of the most industrious rulers of the time, a fascinating
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401
figure of 18th Century who offered his blood to write the
history of India. He preferred death to dishonour, and his
dictum was that the life of a lion for a day was far better
than the life of a jackal for a hundred years. He would say,
don’t cut a tree to get at the fruit and that history is nothing
but the drama of human freedom, political freedom, economic
freedom, social freedom, and freedom from want, hunger,
ignorance and superstition. Nothing lay outside his scope,
science, medicine, religion or military strategy. The result of
his policy is well summed-up by his own contemporary, an
English man who was by no means friendly to him, a foe who
fought against him in the Third Mysore War. Edmund Moore,
a captain, is on record, “When a person travelling through a
strange country finds it well-cultivated, populous with
industrious inhabitants, cities newly founded, commerce
extending, towns increasing and every thing flourishing so as
to indicate happiness, he will naturally conclude it to be under
a form of government congenial to the minds of the people.
This is a picture of Tipu’s country, and our conclusion
respecting its government”. Many great men have failed in
their mission, whether Jesus or Imam Hussain, Napoleon or
Gandhiji, yet history has placed the crown of honour on their
head. Tipu is also one among them.
My magnum opus was on Haidar Ali, the father of
Tipu Sultan. It was Haidar who built up the Kingdom which
humiliated the colonials. It was he who had become a terror
to Leaden Hall Street in London, which was the Head
Quarters of East India Company. It was his cavalry that
had horses, which the British soldiers believed had wings to
fly over their forts. It was he who won not one but two
wars against the English. It was he who brought into existence
Vishala Karnataka. It was this work which I did in London
that brought me great credit, and won highly enthusiastic
reviews from such scholars as Prof. K.N.V. Sastri who
observed:
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My Life
“No single historian in India has ever touched this peak
in the twentieth century. It is a model of historical research
regarding the sources, selection of facts, interpretation, style,
background and general erudition. Rarely does true history
thrill or inspire but this historical writing performs this
Deccan Herald, 22-2-1964
miracle”. (Deccan
22-2-1964).
It was this review that made me jump straight from a
Lecturer’s chair to the Professor’s chair. As indicated earlier
in the Selection Board for the Professorship, it seems, one of
the experts who knew the worth of my work, threw a
challenge to show whether any one else was of this calibre.
That silenced the Chairman, who was insisting that I should
be first made a Reader before putting straight into the chair
of Professor. Any way God be praised that my labour brought
me full reward.
It was because of Haidar Ali, the son of a soldier,
who possessed neither the privilege of birth nor of wealth.
His personal abilities had a profound effect on the events of
the time. He was bold and enterprising. Although he could
neither read nor write, he had an extraordinary memory, and
could go through arithmetical calculations of some length with
equal accuracy, and more quickness than the most expert
accountants. His military abilities were acknowledged even
by the English whom he harassed. He was not selfcomplacent, and adopted his own methods of war. His
political abilities exceeded his military abilities. His clear
perception of an issue would make him take right decisions.
His shrewdness would extricate him from difficulties. His
resolution, prudence and activity would translate his designs
into reality. His presence of mind and sagacity never failed
him even at times of his worst difficulties. Such an important
person was bound to play an important part in the politics
of the period.
He played a vital role in the history of mid-eighteenth
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403
century which was a period of great confusion in India. It
witnessed the clash of three powerful, interests, the Mughals,
the Marathas and the Colonials. The Mughal power was on
the decline, that of the Marathas at the peak, and that of
the Europeans, just rising. The period offered a fine
opportunity for ambitious persons to carve out almost
independent Kingdoms. Ali Vardi Khan in Bengal, Nizam-ulMulk in the Deccan, and Shuja-ud-daula in Oudh had carved
out a separate Kingdom of their own, which were independent
in all except in name. Likewise, the Maratha chieftains owed
no allegiance to their central government in Poona. Another
feature of the age was the divorce of the de facto power
from de jure
jure. Both in the Mughal and the Maratha courts
the ministers were all powerful, and the sovereigns were made
mere figure heads. Shah Alam was almost a prisoner in the
hands of Najaf Khan. The Peshwas usurped power from
Shivaji’s descendants, only to be treated likewise by their own
ministers. No other State offered a better example of both
these features, namely that of the rise of ambitious persons
to the peak of authority, and that of reducing the legitimate
rulers to a non-entity than Mysore, where Haidar Ali Khan
rose into prominence.
The regime of both Haidar and Tipu began with wars
against the English, and ended in wars against the English.
From 1760 to 1799, Mysore had become the most formidable
foe of the English. Haidar’s possession of a long sea coast, a
navy, his quick reduction of a number of neighbouring
principalities, the discipline and training of his troops on the
Western lines, and the control of a chain of strong forts on
the Karnatic frontier made the English highly nervous. Under
his leadership Mysore army proved a school of military science
to India. The dread of an European army no longer wrought
any magic on him. With Haidar as the neighbour other
powers learned to unite on the threat of attack from the
English. It was during Haidar’s time and because of his
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efforts, a powerful confederacy of Indian powers, the Nizam,
the Marathas and Mysore, was formed in 1780 to fight against
the English. Haidar’s success in the First and Second Mysore
Wars did much to damage the English reputation as an
invincible power. Grant wrote to Shelburne, “An English army
much superior to one which under a Lawrence or a Clive,
five and twenty years ago made Hindustan, nay some of the
powers of Europe tremble at the bare recital of its victories,
now for the first time retreating in the face of an Indian
army”. We read in Alexander Dow’s history”, we were alrmed
as if his horses had wings to fly over our walls”. Yet another
British observer made a remark: “He (Haidar) is in Hindostan
what Zingis Khan, Timur or Nadir Shah were or would have
been, under the same circumstances south of the Krishna”.
Thus, both Haidar and Tipu are important because
they elevated a small principality to the position of a powerful
State, and because they brought that State into contact with
the bigger world. Haidar sent his agents as far as Iran and
had contact with France. Tipu further enlarged that contact
to be in touch with Turkey, Afghanistan and the Middle East.
As long as Haidar and Tipu were alive, the British never had
a chance to promote their interests.
I am supposed to have written over 25 books both in
English and Urdu, but I feel happy only about a few of them
which gave me great satisfaction. Some of them are merely
run of the mill, which I wrote under the compulsion of my
profession or as a natural sequence of duty in the University.
Such books are: The Hoysala Dynasty; A Short History of
World Civilisation; Essentials of Indian Culture; History of
Modern Asia; History of South India; Goa Wins Freedom;
Approaches to Harmony. These are not substantial works.
My substantial works are: “British Relations with Haidar Ali;
Tipu Sultan: A Study in Diplomacy and Confrontation;
History: Its Theory and Method; Gangas of Talkad; Islam,
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405
A Study in Cultural Orientation; Zakir Hussain, Life and
Times; A Leader Reassessed, Life and Work of Sir Syed; and
Maulana Azad: Life and Work.
It is History: Its Theory and Method, which has
become well-known all over the country from Kashmir to Cape
Comorin. Any one in any Dept. of History of any
University, who has not seen me before were to meet me
suddenly, he would greet me with respect and regard as the
author of a work which has benefited generations of
scholars. I have taught the subject of Philosophy of history,
its method and historiography, and I thought that I should
put it into black and white, which I did in a record period of
100 days. I recall I had become a Sufi during those days, not
caring anything else except the contents of this work on which
I poured every ounce of my energy, time and knowledge. This
work has three aspects, namely, the theory of history which
is nothing but nature and philosophy of history, the
methodology illustrating the several processes involved in the
art of writing history and historiography, which is the history
of history or how history has been written through the ages
ever since its inception to the present day in different lands
and at different times. In the first part of this work, detailed
analysis is given about the theoretical problems as to what
constitutes history, its nature, value, subject matter,
philosophy, structure and form. The second part is about
methodology, wherein a graphic account is given on the
technique of writing history. All aspects of methodology from
conceiving a subject to the completion of the work are dealt
with. The third part is on historiography from the earliest
period to the present day. The merit of the book lies in the
interpretation of ideas. A lot of thinking has been bestowed
and difficult concepts have been made lucid and intelligible.
A special feature is that all concepts are illustrated with
suitable examples from Indian history and world history. On
many aspects such as the nature of history the author has
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My Life
presented some of his original and creative ideas. This work
was published by Macmillan India Limited and was printed
seventeen or eighteen time. This is the only work which has
benefited the author financially to a very great extent.
The fourth book which gave me great satisfaction is
“Islam: A Study in Cultural Orientation” again brought out
by Mcmillan India Limited. I was a visiting Professor in USA
in the University of Georgia where I taught Islamic Culture
for a year. I made a deep study of that subject, started
reflecting on its several aspects. The result was a book which
was in effect essence of Islam throwing light on several
aspects such as religious aspects, ethical principles, mystical
trends, philosophical approach, social order, political spirit,
intellectual pursuits, art and architecture and Islam in recent
times. Islam in its hay days touched almost every sector of
civilised life. In the religious field it played such a vital role
as to attract millions to its fold, and today it is the third
largest faith in the sheer number of its followers, being in
majority in as many as fifty six countries. In its efforts to
offer intellectual guidance and spiritual solace, it attempted
to reconcile rationality and transcendentalism. It emphasised
the idea that truly religious spirit is not where you acquire
miraculous powers through piety, but where one earns the
daily bread through sweat of brow, and having earned it, shares
half of it with the needy fellowmen. Thus Islam presented
the highest social ideals of equality and brotherhood. In the
sphere of art, literature, philosophy and culture, it contributed
so much as to form an essential strand with which our entire
civilisation is fabricated. This work examines the structure
of Islam in terms of its inherited, borrowed and original
aspects. It assesses the place of Islam in the battle of faiths
and ideologies and it takes into account the impact of the
modern world on areas that vitally concern Islam.
A reference was made above to my book on
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407
historiography. I feel that part of the book has a lot of food
for thought, beneficial to man all his life. For example
Thucydides, one of the greatest thinkers of the world, only
13 years younger to the father of History, Herodotus of
Greece, has summed up beautifully the nature of man. He
wrote and narrated the great Peloponesian wars of the Greeks
for an unimaginably long period, and then reflected
philosophically on the consequences of those wars. He said
what would remain maxims all time to come.
(1) Not every brave man wants war.
(2) Nemesis follows upon good fortune.
(3) Justice is better than expediency.
(4) Love of fame often lures to destruction.
(5) Revenge though sweet is not always successful,
though it may be just.
(6) God protects the right, might does not become
right.
(7) Death penalty will not frustrate; too severe
punishment is inexpedient.
(8) Political injustice is worse than violence.
(9) Human nature is prone to transgression and to
domineer over the weak, to be credulous, jealous,
fickle, prone to error, vain but fundamentally the
same.
Likewise, the most celebrated Arab historian, Ibn-eKhaldun has contributed so much that his philosophy was
made the foundation of all the modern theories of history.
He was the first to write the history of the world, not of a
region or a tribe or a country but of the entire mankind.
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My Life
He was the one to analyse the science of cultures and show
how they rise, grow and decline. He offered four factors,
the material, the mental, the moral and the final causes in
his analysis of the science of culture. Very rightly he said,
without material factors such as food, shelter and clothing,
forests, minerals, rivers and land, where would man live and
how could he make progress ?. This material factor was made
much of by the modern theorists such as Karl Marx, Darwin,
Bury, Buckle and others, who laid great stress on economic
determinism. But a single factor of matter alone is not
enough. Africa is rich in material resources, and it is called
a dark continent. Hence, the next factor of man’s mind, his
resourcefulness and ability to put these resources to right
use becomes important. Man thinks rationally, collectively,
instinctively and even intuitively and produces some things
he needs and cultures come into existence. Ibn-e-Khaldun
made the State the main instrument of mental activity to
organise all things properly for man’s march towards progress.
He has analysed all types of governments, aristocracy,
oligarchy, timocracy, plutocarcy,
democracy, monarchy,
kingship, dictatorship and so on, and says that rational state
is good which is in the best interests of the people. He has
examined the Islamic polity also in this connection. But he
says that this second factor of the State too is not enough,
as so many States exist and yet they have brought misery to
man. He says that the material and more mental factors must
be supported by moral factors, such as unity, harmony,
cooperation, solidarity, goodness, righteousness, compassion,
kindness, truth, justice, knowledge, value, virtue and creativity.
This third factor too is not enough until man knows what
his destiny is, his objective, his goal, his ultimate aim. It is
the spiritual factor that finally decides. In other words it is
the ideology of that society that is the final factor. All great
cultures had their own ideology. Confucianism stood for
balance and order. Hinduism for humanism and tolerance,
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409
Buddhism for patience and compassion, Jainism for nonviolence and truth, Christianity for love and service, and Islam
for equality and brotherhood. Thus, Ibn-e-Khaldun became
the father of the science of culture.
History is a special subject of study of the Semetic
people whether Jews or Christians or Muslims. It is the
weakest link in the Indian system of thought. They had
forgotten even such a great emperor as Asoka until Princep,
working in a mint, found out through coins that there once
lived a great emperor like Asoka. Later on researchers dug
out the ancient Indian history. It was the Muslim rule in
India that brought historical consciousness to this country.
Their contribution is so great that Elliot and Dowson have
summed up in eight bulky volumes just the short contents of
the chronicles the Muslims wrote in India. Muslims paid
great attention to the study of history and regarded it in
importance next only to religious texts. As for example
Ziuaddin Barani, author of Tarikh-e-Firoz Shahi lists seven
benefits in the study of history. (1) It introduces us to the
lives of great men, prophets, saints, thinkers and sultans, (2)
It opens us to the wisdom of the past. (3) It excites in us
reason and judgement by the study of the experiences of the
past. (4) It comforts us in our misfortune and adversity; it
prevents us from worrying about hypothetical dangers; it offers
us warnings of dangers ahead; and it prompts us to be sober
at times of success and glory. (5) It encourages patience and
resignation. (6) It provokes respect for the righteous and
contempt for the wicked. (7) It is the strongest foundation
of truth. It is the depiction of the drama of right and wrong,
justice and oppression, obedience and rebellion, and virtue
and vice. Barani was a historian who wrote as if he had a
mission in life. He thought that the duty of a historian is to
teach the lessons of history.
These were all the books I wrote while in service, besides
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numerous research papers published in periodicals or speeches
delivered at Seminars and conferences. But after my
retirement in 1990 when I had full time at my disposal to do
what I liked, I devoted more time to creative work. At least
six books in English, five in Urdu and 26 issues of Noor-eBaseerath, a Urdu periodical, each of which is a volume in
its own right written entirely by me, were published. Three
of these English books are on our great leaders Sir Syed
Ahmed Khan, Maulana Azad and Dr. Zakir Hussain, on whom
I have done very exhaustive work. Since I am a student of
Aligarh University, I had a passion to write on Sir Syed, who
was destined to shape the destiny of Indian Muslims. It was
he who brought about a rapproachment between the British
and the Muslims who had been characterised for over a
century as the inveterate foes of the colonials. It was he who
lifted the Muslims from the depths of despondency to hope
and faith, and made them march in the direction of modernity.
He laid more emphasis on the people than on governments,
more on mind than on matter, more on realism than on
conservatism. He reconciled the intellectualism of the West
with the traditionalism of the east, and planted a “Cambridge”
in India at Aligarh which brought about a renaissance in the
thought process of the Muslims. As a social reformer, a
political leader, a religious thinker, and as a moralist, a
rationalist, a humanist, and a jurist, he contributed much to
the realm of theology, philosophy, religion, history, literature,
education, art and politics, besides building institutions which
aimed at eradicating ignorance, apathy and superstition of his
people.
We could say Sir Syed’s vision penetrated time and
space. His firm grip over the past with full knowledge of the
present enabled him to plan for the future. His fertility of
mind made him realise that reason and knowledge were man’s
imitation of divinity. His nobility of soul made his whole life
a long saga of service and sacrifice. His intense dynamic
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411
activity brought about a renaissance and a reformation among
Muslims within his own life-time. His heart to God, mind
to think and hands to work melted the frozen rigidities of
centuries, as he warned that those pools which are stagnant
activate no mills. His unselfish intellect rose like a perfume
over the polemics of his critics. The harmony of his desires,
emotions and ideas excited a lava in his people to march
towards higher objectives. In short his life summed up an
age which witnessed great moments of history, not those that
built up an empire but those when good things of mind were
obtained, and freedom of will was gained.
Sir Syed has left an indelible mark as a builder of
institutions, as a reformer of social change, as the architect
of Aligarh movement, as the path-finder of a new trend in
Urdu literature, as an educationist Par-excellence and as a
humanist and rationalist of high repute, and more than all,
as the saviour of a community that was on the verge of
collapse.
Despite his monumental work, Sir Syed has become
controversial on two scores, one is his religious thoughts and
the other political leanings. I have thrown intensive light on
these two aspects why it was so, and have titled the work
“A Leader R
ea
ssessed”
Rea
eassessed”
ssessed”. Sir Syed regarded religion as a storehouse of ethics. Its essence is truth rather than faith. He
identified truth with nature, and thought that natural laws
support a moral code acting as a base of social ethics. The
logic of natural laws would necessarily indicate a final cause,
a Prime Mover, which is God, and it is faith in this God
which is the cardinal principle of Islam. Thus, Sir Syed’s
interpretation of Islam was so much based on rationalism and
nature that his critics called him a heretic. He disagreed with
the close association of fikha relating to such concepts as
miracles, hell, heaven, jebrail. He said they should not be
taken in the literal sense but in the allegorical or symbolic
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sense. They must be interpreted in the light of the Arabic
idiom of the Prophet’s time. Sir Syed’s main idea was to
prove that Islam is a very rational and natural religion.
His political thought also came under hostile scrutiny.
He was accused that he did not join the main stream of
Indian National Congress. For this we have to understand
that he had to fight on two fronts, against his own community
to change and against the British to adopt a more liberal
attitude towards the Muslims, who had fought for over a
century a ceaseless war against the colonials, and had
hopelessly failed in every venture. He defined his own
position in the context of scenario. He laid down his
principles clearly which were two in number. One, to the
Muslims he said that they should take to western education,
and second, to the British he said that Muslims were not
opposed to them. In other words he thought of a
reconciliation which would be in the best
interest of both. It would win the support of the largest
minority which could play a balancing role in the politics.
Sir Syed said that the British had so long supported the
Hindus, who having gained much from the western learning,
had enormously changed their position, and the Muslims had
been left far behind. The position was to be reversed. He
thought that Hindus had learned enough from the west to
oppose them, and that was because of western learning and
knowledge. Muslims too should first acquire that knowledge
and skill before they could oppose the English.
The British were shrewd enough to know that prudence
lay not in adopting a constant policy but in alternating it to
suit their interests. Therefore, they changed their policy, and
the Muslims too had realised the depths of their despondency.
To them Sir Syed exhorted a more realistic approach to
forget the past excesses of the English and focus on the
advantages they would gain in remaining loyal to the English.
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Loyalty became the principle of Sir Syed. He urged them to
believe that there was only one way left for them to survive,
namely loyalism in politics and modernism in institutions.The
Muslims were not aware how progressive and advanced was
the west in intellectual pursuits, in science and technology,
in economic and social sector, and in military might and
political insight, and hence he urged them to know, learn,
understand and then enter into politics.
He brought about an intellectual change in a moribund
society. This he achieved through the establishment of schools
and colleges, through educational conferences, through the
media of his own powerful press – Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq, Aligarh
Gazette, through the setting up of a Natural and Scientific
society, which undertook the task of tranalsation, and through
the collection of a band of selfless workers like Hali, Shibli,
Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Viqar-ul-Mulk, Deputy Nazir Ahmed,
Zakaullah, Maulvi Chiragh Ali, who became the Nine Jewels
or Now-Ratans , a galaxy of brilliant stars of the Solar
system, the Sun being Sir Syed himself. The tasks of
evaluating western civilization in terms of the extent of its
absorption by the Muslims, the theological response to the
increasing missionary zeal of the west, a re-orientation of
Islam in terms of the rationalistic traditions of Mutazila
School of thought, and the appreciation of Christianity in
terms of the common values, ideas, code and conduct with
an ethics of love and service were all herculean tasks in
nature, but Sir Syed performed the miracle. He tried to
resolve the conflict between religion and science. His service
to Islam in the theological field began in 1870 when he applied
the western techniques to the study of Islam. In short Sir
Syed’s contributions to Islam in general and Indian Muslims
in particular were so profound that he could easily be listed
one among the great men of Islam. He gave new life to a
dead society, which within a short period regained its vigour
and self-confidence to such an extent as to demand a separate
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State for Muslims in India. Such a separate State was in the
best interest of the entire Muslim population of the subcontinent is a different question, but the reality is that in a
way he laid the foundation of a State which would have been
the largest on the face of earth, if only it had not been split
into Pakistan and Bangladesh. Both his political and
religious thoughts carried within them debatable points, both
positive and negative. Which of them were overwhelming
history has yet to prove, but this much is certain that he
changed the course of history. If we could name one
person, who shaped the destiny of millions and millions,
we could boldly say it was Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the man of
Nineteenth Century.
My main subject is history but from 1990 I shared
that love with yet another subject, and that was Education.
This interest was developed in Goa when I was in the last
leg of Vice-Chancellor’s post. It was the Governor of Goa,
Janab Khurshed Alam Khan Saheb, who initiated me into the
subject when he asked me to write a comprehensive work on
the life and times of Dr. Zakir Hussain. A reference has
already been made in this account how it occurred to
Khurshed Alam Khan Saheb to speak to Palkiwala of Tatas
to undertake the publication of work on Zakir Hussain, how
he agreed, how the necessity arose to find an author for that,
and how finally it fell to my lot to write the biography of
that great man. I took up the job seriously, worked hard night
and day and finished the work within the stipulated time. In
the process I developed great interest in the discipline of
education, for Dr. Zakir Hussain, the finest flower of Indian
renaissance, was one of the greatest educationists of our age.
When I dived deep into that subject I found it was
worthwhile to get wedded to yet another subject, apart from
history.
Education became a fascinating subject. Education is
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415
the art of making people live harmoniously and graciously with
their own fellow being. It is the training of mind, body and
soul. It is sowing the seeds of knowledge that should fructify
on the horizon of human fellowship. Education means
character building, creative vision, finer taste and nobler aim.
It is a process of revising human experiences, reconstructing
human experiences, finding new meaning into those
experiences and finding new directions to those experiences.
It is the job of bringing up to service the best one possesses
and to excite the best in others. It is the job to move up
from knowledge to skill, from skill to wisdom, and from
wisdom to understanding. It is the development process of
not only the individual but also of the society, of the State,
of the nation and ultimately the humanity at large. Thus,
when I entered into this subject many doors were opened,
many vistas were writ large and I was so infatuated that I
entered even into the field of building educational institutions.
I found Zakir Hussain was an educationist, a humanist,
a nationalist, a writer, a leader and a statesman, who nourished
perfectionist conscience in the quest of humanism and peace.
History has judged him as one of the most creative
educationists of modern India, who stressed the concept that
national renaissance could come not through the narrow gates
of politics but through the flood gatges of reformative
education. He presented a social philosophy which desired to
resolve the crisis of the present times with the value
system of the past, gifted to humanity by the Indian sages,
Sufi saints and the Western philosophers.
Dr. Zakir Hussain fought against dehumanised,
irrelevant and alienating education, and made life-long
commitment to the promotion of new attitudes and values in
the society, to the creative integration of a composite culture,
to the fostering of social responsibility among the different
segments of the society, to the inculcation of a sense of hope,
faith and pride in the future of our country, and a sense of
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urgency to live harmoniously and graciously with our own
brothren. He stood for the socialisation of education which
reflected the thought process of Plato’s humanism, Hegel’s
idealism, Kerschenstiner’s ratonalism, Dewey’s pragmatism and
Gandhiji’s liberalism.
Dr. Zakir Hussain would ever be remembered as the
builder of Jamia Millia, which became a national laboratory
for his creative thought, and also for the Wardha Scheme of
basic education, which if implemented would have
revolutionised our entire system of education. He placed
before us the concept that the goal of mankind was
knowledge, and not pleasure. His plan of action to free India
from the colonial shackles in the educational field, his zeal
to force the Muslims into the mainstream of national life,
his patriotic fervour in the national movement, his intense
love to identify himself with the hopes and aspirations of
the people, and his stewardship as the President of the nation,
all entitle him to a high place in history. But the gentleness
of his mature mind, the compassion and love of his sensitive
heart, the humanism and liberalism of his inner soul, the
unifying and pacifying love for all mankind, and the
simplicity, sincerity and purity of his life, mark him out as
one of the finest flowers of Indian renaissance. The hunger
of his soul for truth and beauty, for value and virtue, for
knowledge and wisdom, for service and sacrifice and for social
good and peace bring him closer to the Aristotelian concept
of ideal man.
I have written four books on Zakir Hussain. One is
his biography about which I have just said something. The
second is his work as “ A Great Teacher” where I
concentrated mostly on pedagogy. The third is his
contribution to literature which Sahitya Academy, New Delhi,
brought out. It is a joint work of myself and Janab Khurshed
Alam Khan Saheb. This was done after my return from Goa.
He invited me specially for this purpose to Goa, made me
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417
stay a couple of days in Raj Nivas with him and complete
the work. For this we got the remuneration as well from
Sahitya Academy. The fourth book is the translation which
I did of the Urdu lectures of Zakir Hussain entitled “Talime-Khutbat” which were published by Har-Anand Publications,
New Delhi under Education and National Development”.
In the work “A Great Teacher” I said Dr. Zakir
Hussain was a great teacher who had a vision of man’s destiny,
which was to move towards higher objectives of life. This
movement was to be through intellect, the greatest gift of
God to man. Intellect yields knowledge, skill wisdom and
understanding which should be transformed into moral
energy in order to build a system of values that would help
civilised life. His modus operandi for translating this idea into
reality was the education of India’s masses. He said the
destiny of a nation was made in the classroom and the
architect of that destiny was a good teacher.
A good teacher is one on whose life volume is
inscribed not “knowledge” but “love”. The love of books, the
love of children, the love of work and the love of whole
universe would transform the entire personality into moral
personality which would build bridges of understanding
between man and man, which would change kinetic energy
into moral energy, which would inject new attitudes and
values, and which would bring new humanism and peace. It
would stimulate a search for truth and a quest for those
creative ideas which sow the seeds of higher knowledge. It
would make one realise that God dwells in man and that is
his conscience, and when you kindle your conscience with the
torch of learning you would understand the responsibilities
you owe to the society.
Thus Zakir Hussain believed education alone held the
key for human welfare and progress, and that a great social
change could be brought about in India not through the
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My Life
narrow gates of politics but through the flood gates of
reformative education. He was not happy with the system
of education imposed by the colonials which was good enough
only for subordinate jobs as clerks in offices. He desired to
change this pattern through his experiment in Jamia Millia
where he introduced not “book schools” but “work schools”.
He believed any knowledge which is not applied knowledge
was no knowledge at all. His second great contribution was
the emphasis on value-based education which he called as
cultural goods. Any system of education would be
worthwhile if only its foundations were to be laid on the value
system that society chrerishes and nourishes. If India stands
for humanism, liberalism, secularism and universalism, it has
to fashion its education on those values. If USA stands for
liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation, it has to focus
on these concepts in its educational programme so as to sink
deep into mind and conscience of the masses. So also if
Russia and China believe in communism, they cannot run away
from those concepts. If Islamic countries believe
in equality, brotherhood, freedom, unity, harmony and
solidarity, they have to make these concepts fundamental in
their educational programme. Zakir Hussain not merely
propounded this kind of educational philosophy but
implemented it through Jamia Millia which proved to be a
national laboratory to evolve a new pattern of education which
would suit the Indian needs. He really proved as a teacher
of new trends.
My third work on Dr. Zakir Hussain was on his
contributions to literature as one of the makers of Indian
literature. His integrated personality manifested itself in
different ways. A child of Indian renaissance and nationalism,
he was a renowned educationist and a humanist, but he
cannot be ignored as a liminary of literary art as well, for his
writings covered the entire gamut of human experience, and
he became the pace-setter of a new trend in literary craft.
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419
All exposure of sensitivities, impulses, emotions, joys, sorrows,
ideals, and ideas of man associated with great literature are
also reflected in the writings of Dr. Zakir Hussain with one
difference. They are all channelised through his own value
system with the intention of making man a better man. His
writings are not mere mirrors which reflect the realities of
man, but they show the direction of man’s march towards his
destiny. He is fully immersed in the substance of life whose
meaning and significance he has fully explained in his
writings. The inner link between life and literature and his
full involvement in all aspects, from the chair of a teacher to
the throne of Rashtrapati, have resulted in a class of literature
which entitle him to a high place even among literary figures.
His essays, speeches, addresses, books, writings are in
themselves gems of exquisite beauty that touch, stir and move
the hearts of the people and teach delightfully. As a thinker,
philosopher, educationist, humanist, psychologist, economist,
sociologist, nationalist, reformist and a statesman, he had to
think, speak and write enormously. His rich experience,
profound thoughts and beautiful style enriched the treasures
of literature. Many a time he reflected not only on man but
also on plants and stones. “Cultural goods” is the new
concept he introduced into our literature. He said our
country did not need our warm blood to ooze out from our
necks, but it needed the sweat of our hard work, sincere work,
ceaseless work and serious work. The peasant, the artisan,
the teacher were the three parameters round whom he built
his social philosophy. Only one example is enough to show
how he injected into youth the habit of reading through the
importance of books. He said:
“The book indeed is the life companion of modern
man. And indeed it is a marvelous companion. It never
speaks unless it is spoken to, and alternatives listened to. It
can wait extremely for your approach. It is ever ready at all
times of the day and night to oblige and to offer the best it
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My Life
has; to whosoever seeks it, it instructs, advises, inspires,
rebukes, but stops immediately you have had enough of these.
It never gets irritated at the silly questions one sometimes
tends to put to it. It just smiles and holds its breath. Yet
the book is a wonderful companion. It is a wonderful teacher
for those who wish to learn, and it is a wonderful source of
enjoyment”.
My fourth book on Zakir Hussain is the translation
into English his Urdu lectures published by Jamia Millia under
the title “ Talim-i-Khutbat ”, 14 in number delivered at
different times and at different places. They cover a very wide
range of educational activity with precious gems of wisdom
and knowledge, on such topics as Education and National
Development, Basic Education, Good Teacher, Character
Formation, Importance of pre-primary and primary education,
Twenty years of Jamia, Problems of National Education from
Muslim point of View and Address to Aligarh Students.
On”Good Teacher” he says, a good teacher is one on whose
life volume is inscribed not “knowledge” but “Love”. He loves
the children, loves the books, loves his work, and loves the
whole universe. There is no one above the level of a good
teacher, for he is the one who is the architect of a nation’s
destiny. When the whole world gets dejected of a child, just
two souls kindle hope and faith in the child, one is his mother,
and the other is his good teacher.
These lectures are significant because they scan the
inner recesses of a mighty mind involved in the training of
child, a trust from God. The training does not start when
the child goes to school. It starts from the birth of the baby
and perhaps even before. The baby inherits the genes, and if
intentions, ideas, thoughts and ideals of the parents were to
be of finer and nobler type, they go in the formation of the
baby. When the baby is born, the mother’s lap is the first
and best school. It is her gesture, fondling, curdling, care
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421
and love that form the bedrock of all his impulses which help
him later to become human. It is the early phase when he
looks around and begins to understand that is crucial for his
future. How would you regard your child – as an intruder
into your conjugal life, as a toy to amuse your fancy, as a
playful sweet little thing to remove your boredom or as a
trust from God to inherit the globe, to advance human
culture, and rule as Viceregent of God on earth? A myriad
psychological and pragmatic issues are discussed in these
lectures, all with the intention of making the child grow into
fine personality.
Education according to Dr.Zakir Hussain was to be a
dynamic force in the development of individual personality,
in the promotion of new attitudes and values, in the
enhancement of knowledge and culture, and in the quest for
new humanism and peace. He can be rated as the father of
humanistic trend in educational philosophy which blended in
itself such other trends as realistic, idealistic, aesthetic,
pragmatic, utilitarian and intellectual. He mooted the idea
that real education should combine science and culture. It
should stimulate a search for values. It should promote a
passionate quest for truth. It should aim at perfection and
excellence. It should become an instrument of social change.
He desired not merely to impart information but also to
inculcate a sense of social responsibility, a sense of hope, pride
and faith in the future of our land, and a sense of feeling to
improve the quality of life by respecting the dignity and unity
of mankind, his faith, belief and religion, and also his life,
labour and intellect.
For this purpose Zakir Hussain fought all his life
agaainst de-humanised, irrelevant, and alienating type of
education. He struggled hard to change the pattern of our
education which had caused a fateful alienation of teachers
and students from the realities of life which had distorted
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the methods and goals of national development. Our
educational pattern had been cut off too long from the main
stream of life. It had moved too far away from our roots
and cultural moorings. It had buried too deep into the
theoretical and abstract concepts making the study of even
science as mere book learning.
In these lectures Zakir Hussain has stressed on applied
aspect of knowledge, on work-schools and not book-schools.
He proposed a basic education, by which linkages could be
established between thoughts on one side and actions on the
other. He desired all the three agents of change, the head,
the heart and the hands should be fully used to face the
challenges of life. A good teacher is like a child, believing,
trusting, loving, smiling, forgiving the faults of others, and
ignoring the pride of the misguided. As long as the teacher
retains the childhood, he would know the secrets of the
children’s heart. A good teacher should possess the qualities
of a good dramatist, a good novelist, a good psychologist and
a good guide. Plato said a good teacher would be like a
person in a dark cave with children whom he would not give
eyes to see but simply would turn the eyes of those children
towards the opening of the cave from where light is coming
for them to see. He simply guides them.
Knowledge, value and freedom are the three sides of
Zakir Saheb’s educational pyramid. He made head, heart and
hand the three instruments to gain knowledge. He made the
harmony of realism, idealism and humanism as the bedrock
of education. He made the individual, the society and the
State as the parameters of his educational philosophy. He
flooded his educational sphere with such cultural values as
love, truth, beauty, justice, knowledge, creativity and honour.
His educational philosophy reflected the sociological purpose
of man, the intellectual urge of the wise, the philosophical
essence of the mind, the economic necessity of man, the moral
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423
thirst of the spirit, and the spiritual hunger of the soul. His
humanism prompted him to regard the whole world as his
country, the whole of India as his home, the whole human
race as his kith and kin, and all Indians as members of his
family. He would love beauty in things from flowers to
stones, from poetry to calligraphy, from music to painting,
and from children to cats. He had drawn freely from Greek
reason, Buddhist patience, Hindu liberalism, Christian
compassion, Islamic brotherhood, Sufi love, Arabic diction,
Persian refinement, Indian intelligence, German idealism and
English pragmatism. These lectures speak volumes of his
fascinating personality. They are a veritable treasury of
precious thoughts of a master mind.
Yet another great personality on whom I have the
honour to sketch his life and work is Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad, who is one of the makers of modern India. He stands
out prominently for his high ideals. Love of liberty, love of
man and love of God were his targets. Liberating the land
from colonial rule, integrating the people into a composite
whole, and igniting in them the lava of love for God were his
main objectives. A peaceful, progressive, enlightened and
unified State was his dream. As a thinker, a leader, a
nationalist, a rationalist, a moralist, a humanist, a visionary
and a revolutionary, he struggled all his life to bring about a
new social order. He was like a full blown rose with velvet
petals, each of which would recall the fragrance of human
excellence in some specific area or other. Some one would
shine either in social or cultural, or religious or literary or
aesthetic field. But he was the one who blended in himself
the finer aspects of several faculties. He was gifted with
that rare intellect which prompted Sarojini Naidu to remark
that he was forty at the time he was born. Niyaz Fatehpuri
said if Azad had concentrated on Arabic poetry, he would
have excelled Badi-uz-Zaman; if on theology, he would have
become Ibn-e-Taiyima, if one philosophy, he would have ranked
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Urufi or Naziri; and if on Sufism, he would have
surpassed Rumi or Ghazali. The loss of these branches was
the gain of politics and religion where he left indelible
impressions of his mature mind.
He could be compared to Allama Iabal in profundity
of thought. Both were critics of the west, both were
interested in helping Muslims regain their self-confidence and
both had a passionate love for Islamic principles. But their
approach on several vital issues was quite different. Iqbal
as the principal source for
uses reason and consensus
the interpretation of Quranic injunctions, but Azad is in
favour of reconsolidation
and argues that what is
needed is not free or new legal speculation but a consolidation
of Islamic fundamental truths. Iqbal’s approach is methodical,
dialectical and metaphysical, and Azad’s is traditionalistic and
fundamentalistic.Azad studied in Arab lands and was
influenced in the process thoughts of Iraq, Syria, Hijaz, and
Egypt, and not in Europe. He was much influenced by
Jamaluddin Afghani and Muhammad Abduhu. His two
newspapers, Al-Hilal and Al-Balaghu, dealt with religious and
political themes in a forceful and passionate manner. Azad
offered humanism and not rationalism, and sought all answers
to the basic problems of life, ethics, morality and politics in
the Quran. But his treatment of these problems was entirely
different from the classical commentators.
Azad explains man’s relations with God in terms of
or
three main attributes of God, namely, creativity
the process of careful nourishment leading to the fullest
sustaining this
development, mercy and love
development, and justice
maintaining the balance or
equilibrium in life. Sir Syed had conveyed the idea of God’s
creative power through the laws of nature, and Azad did the
same through his concept of creativity or rububiya; Destiny
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425
or taqdir is nothing but the assignment of a role
conditioned by certain limitations in its growth. Reason helps
man in understanding the environment around and intuition
guides him on a higher plane in his spiritual and ethical life.
Construction and productivity are aimed at creating the value
of beauty, in bringing about everything in perfect proportion,
and making it very attractive by giving each the necessary
colour or light or shade or rhythm or other attributes.
Azad’s aesthetic sense is of a very high order. His
concept of beauty is a novel note in Islamic literature. It is
perhaps the influence of mystical thought
in him.
The bond sustaining between God and man is love, and the
love of God is expressed through love for His creatures.
Azad’s emphasis on beauty brings him close to the Greek
concept of beauty, while his stress on love, to the Christian
thought. These two streams prompt him to explain at length
monistic eclecticism, as also his basic humanism. But his
concept of love differs from that of Christianity in that he is
reluctant to go against human nature. He does not advocate
that one should love one’s enemies and submit to aggression.
The Quran extols forgiveness as a great virtue, but permits
retaliation when unavoidable. The ethical element is
modified by law to maintain peace and order, as justice
appears to be very necessary for the sustenance of life.
Azad’s view of the creation of the universe is not
evolution but devolution. His religious thoughts conform to
the mysticism of the Middle Ages transplanted into
modernised traditionalism. In this he appears to differ from
Aligarh School of thought and also with Iqbal. He does not
think that Islamic law deserves to be changed. On Jehad, he
was more conservative than liberal. Iqbal had placed man at
the centre of the universe with the capacity even to change
destiny, but Azad gave man very little to achieve except to
become good through a balanced and tolerant moral life.
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My Life
Despite his conservatism, Azad is more humanistic. He does
not think that religion should be the link between mankind
to have good relationship. Humanity should be the link that
should take the place of all other links.
According to Azad the social contract implied in Islam
is essentially humane, and Islam recognises no affinity other
than that of human brotherhood. Azad stood for an idealised
extension of pan-Islmism into an idealized humanism. It is
very strange that the modernism and liberalism of Sir Syed
led to the identification of the Muslims as a separate cultural
group, while Azad’s Conservative School advocated a
nationalism in which Hindus and Muslims would live as
brothers. In Indian politics Iqbal the philosopher with the
western enlightenment advocated a separate Muslim State,
whereas Azad, the fundamentalist and the traditionalist stands
for the concepts of composite nationalism and religious
universalism. Iqbal touched the hearts of the people through
his soul-stirring poetry, while Azad’s colourful and sweeping
literary prose of difficult style appealed only to the Ulema,
who became the votaries of United India. However Azad
offered much to the Islamic thought in his new interpretation
of the basic concepts of Islam.
The century from 1857 produced several greatmen both
among Hindus and Muslims. Ghalib, Zauq, Dagh, Hali, Shibli,
Iqbal, Jigar, Firaq, Faiz illuminated the realm of literature.
Mahmud-ul-Hasan, Ubaidulla Sindhi, Muhammad Ali Jauhar,
Allama Mashriqui, Zafar Ali Khan, Hasarat Mohani, and other
quickened political consciousness. But the most prominent
leaders who left great political and social impact were Sir
Syed, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Iqbal and Maulana Azad.
Sir Syed was the main “Ganges” of which others were the
streams. If Sir Syed had not launched the boat, others would
have been still in the mid-ocean of ignorance and apathy.
There was a lot common between Sir Syed and Maulana Azad.
Both were deeply religious, and both were maligned by their
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427
own people, though both won the love of all in the end. Both
used the press as an instrument for their reforms. What
Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq was to Sir Syed, Al-Hilal was to Azad, the
instruments for social change. Both possessed the
fertility of mind and nobility of soul. Both were powerful
writers, speakers and thinkers. Both wrote commentaries on
Quran, and the commentaries of both became controversial.
Both promoted Islamic heritage, and both were great Islamic
scholars. Both were lovers of Urdu. Both believed in service
and sacrifice, and both believed in the unity of all great
religions.
The comparison ends there. Both were polls apart.
Sir Syed built loyalism to the administration; Azad destroyed
that loyalty. Sir Syed kept the Muslims away from the
Congress; Azad dragged them into its fold. Sir Syed believed
in modernity; Azad was steeped in oriental lore. Sir Syed was
the path-finder of easy, lucid and simple style in Urdu for
the benefit of the masses; Azad loaded it with high-flown
Persian and Arabic diction which delighted the elite. Sir Syed’s
forte was social reformation; Azad stood for political freedom.
Enlightened colonialism was not nasty to Sir Syed, as the west
was far advanced in science and technology, but Azad believed
all history was nothing but unfolding the drama of human
freedom, political freedom, social freedom, cultural freedom,
and freedom from want, hunger, ignorance and apathy. In
short Sir Syed stood for cooperation with the English, and
Azad advocated confrontation. Sir Syed wanted the English
to modernise India with western learning, Azad desired
elimination of the English for building a secular, and
democratic India.
A comparative picture of Azad and Jinnah too would
reveal points of agreement and disagreement. Jinnah too was
nationalist, as Azad was. In 1916 during the days of Lucknow
pact Motilal Nehru had called Jinnah an ambassador of
Hindu-Muslim unity. Jinnah had once said to Sir Tej Bahadur,
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My Life
“Sapru, I think I have a solution for the Hindu-Muslim
problem. You destroy your orthodox priestly class, and we
will destroy our Mullas, and there will be communal peace”.
Jinnah was not happy with the Khilafat movement, and it
struck him extremely unwise to enrol “the ignorant, and
fanatical Muslims in the movement”. Such a person turned
communalist for quite different reasons. Azad never deviated
from his path of nationalism. Both were great Muslim
leaders, but Jinnah, advocated for Muslims safeguards and
guarantees which would give them a little more share than
what was due to them, as for instance one-third
representation in the legislatures. Azad was for amicable
settlement of these issues after the English left the country.
Both wanted the English to quit India, but Jinnah would not
hasten the process until the communal issue was solved, but
Azad desired immediate elimination of the colonials. Jinnah
stood for the Zamindari lobby and also for the educated class,
who wanted jobs. Azad was for the socialist policy of the
Congress for helping the poor Muslim masses. Jinnah was a
highly westernised person, a legal luminary, but Azad was
deeply rooted in Islamic learning, and yet he supported the
western concepts of nationalism, secularism and democracy.
An orientalist stood for indivisible, united and integrated
India, but an ultra-modern leader stood for a State based on
religion. East was for unity and West was for partition.
Strange are the twists and turns of history. These
comparisons between Sir Syed and Azad, and also between
Jinnah and Azad would bring out in full focus the political
thoughts and leanings of Maulana Azad.
Azad ‘s dream of united India was shattered to pieces
not by Jinnah but by Congress leaders themselves. Jinnah
accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan so assiduously drafted with
the help of Azad, which in effect was his plan. But neither
Patel, nor Nehru, and not even Gandhiji had the patience to
give it a fair chance to function. It was Nehru who killed
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the Cabinet Mission Plan on 10 July 1946 in a Press
Conference in Bombay where he said the Congress would enter
the Constituent Assembly “completely unfettered by
agreements and free to meet all situations as they arise”.
When pressed further whether the Cabinet Mission Plan
would be modified, Nehru replied that the Congress had
agreed only to participate in the Constituent Assembly and
regarded itself free to change or modify the Cabinet Mission
as it thought fit.
This was the bomb-shell that sowed the seeds of
partition. The League rejected the Plan as the Congress had
not accepted it. At a crucial juncture of the transfer of power
the Congress did not act wisely. There were four power
centres in it pulling in different directions. Gandhiji injected
moral force which others respected in principle but acted
otherwise. Nehru was an idealist and a socialist who was
self-righteous in judgement. Sardar Patel was a pragmatist,
and shrewd in maneuvering and helping the cause of
capitalists. The fourth power magnet was Azad, committed
to certain values which were not in demand in the political
market.
In a way the architect of partition was Mountbatten
who took charge on 24th March 1947, hastened the process
of blood-bath. It was his plan to partition the provinces of
Bengal and Punjab and concede the demand of Pakistan. He
first convinced Sardar Patel that partition was the only
solution to the problem. Mountbatten lured Patel by saying
he would give Congress the cream of India, he would give
Bengal and Punjab provinces as well, the majority provinces
of Muslims by cutting those provinces on communal lines.
What would be left for Pakistan was only the deserts of
Baluchistan and Sindh together with the hilly tracts of NWFP
and the teeming millions of East Bengal. Patel fell a game to
this. It was difficult to convince Nehru. Lady Mountbatten
was dragged into service. She did the required job. Only
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one stumbling block remained and that was to convince
Gandhiji, who had said, Partition would be “only over my
grave”. He came to Delhi on 31 March 1947. In the morning
when he met Azad, he (Gandhiji) said, “Partition has now
become a threat. It seems Vallabhai and even Jawaharlal
have surrendered. What will you do now? Will you stand
by me or have you also changed ?” Azad said, “My only
hope now is in you. If you stand against partition, we may
yet save the situation. If you however acquiesce, I am afraid
India is lost.” Gandhiji said, “What a question to ask! If
the Congress wishes to accept partition, it will be over my
dead body. As along as I am alive I will never agree to the
partition of India. Nor will I, if I can help it, allow Congress
to accept it.”
This was the trend at 10 a.m. on 31 March 1947. At
4 p.m. after two hours of talk of Gandhiji with Mountbatten
and Patel, Gandhiji was a different man who was repeating
to Azad the same arguments which Sardar Patel had used.
Partition became inevitable. Just a talk of two hours with
Mountbatten and Patel pulverized the solid rock of united
India which Gandhiji had in mind. Only one person stood
firm till the end. He was Maulana Azad.
My major work after retirement was perhaps in Urdu
language. Although I wrote four books in English on Zakir
Hussain, one on Sir Syed and another on Maulana Azad
besides writing two volumes for Comprehensive History of
Karnataka one on History of Bahmanis and Bijapuris, and
another on Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan which were translated
into Kannada and published by Kannada University of Hampi
(the English versions are yet to be published), yet the bulk of
my publications are in Urdu language. I wrote five books in
Urdu, titled as (1) Hind Ki Chand Mayanaz Hastiyan, (2)
Roshan Nuqoosh, (3) Irteqa-may-Insan Ka Muqam and (4)
Alam-Islam-Kay-Jawaharpare, in two volumes, which are the
short biographies, life and work of one hundred great
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431
personalities from the life of holy Prophet (PBH) to the life
of Ali Miyan and (5) Ilm-e-Tarikh-kay-Makhtalife Gose. This
carries all great men whether they were Caliphs or Sufis or
scientists, or jurists or reformers or philosophers or
leaders whether men or women. Besides as the chief editor
of Urdu Daily SALAR I have contributed nearly 300 articles
on the current topics of the day. I have preserved a copy of
these articles in my files. Hopefully, they may also be
published, at least a few of them.
But I feel my greatest contribution to Urdu language
is my quarterly periodical Noor-e-Baseerath, which I brought
out nearly for a decade and brought out 26 volumes. This is
a thematic journal which carries the essence of some
personality or subject with the intention of informing the
public our rich cultural heritage. It is mostly on the
contribution of Islam to the various branches of knowledge,
the role of its great men and women and lessons of history.
Each issue is a book in itself and most of the issues are from
my own pen. Hence they add up to a large number of my
works in Urdu. Some of these are quite interesting as for
example Jalaluddin Number, Imam Ghazali Number, Shaikh
Sa’adi Number, Hafiz-e-Shiraz Number, Sufiya-e-Kiram
Number, Talimat-e-Islam Number, Tipu Sultan Number, Sir
Syed Number, besides special Numbers on Hali, Shibli, Iqbal,
Azad, Jauhar, Zakir Hussain and others. Special issues on
Scientists, thinkers, rulers, caliphs, jurists are also important.
The last issues is on 1857, as we had to celebrate in 1947, the
150th year of the first war of Independence.
But my main interest has all along been history, which
took the medium of either English or Urdu, which strayed
into either ancient or modern periods, and which landed either
on Indian or Islamic fields. But in history there was
one aspect that always fascinated me, and that is intellectual
history, the history of ideas on which I delivered my main
Presidential Address to the Indian History Congress, 47th
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Session in Kashmir on October 7-9, 1986. There I said
history is the constant interaction and reciprocity among all
the various manifestations of human brain, power and
emotions. One has to think deeply to identify ideas that
motivate our actions. If we probe deep into events,
occurrences and personalities, we might discover some system,
some order and some relationship among things which give
them a concrete shape. The deep insight to know the inner
relationship, to feel their pulse and to concretise them is to
perform the operation of intellectual history. It is in other
words cartography of ideas, tracing their roots, knowing their
activity, and understanding their impact. It is a process to
know how far man’s imagination, his hopes, fears and ideals
have brought forth events, in what channels they have passed
through, what problems they faced, how were those
problems solved and with what effect. Every thing in the world
is moved by an urge to become something greater than what
it is, and we have to find out what urge was that, whether
ethical, moral, political, religious, ideological or personal
ambition. Again, everything in the world is guided towards a
certain direction and we have to find out what that direction
is, whether humanism, liberalism or universalism. At present
strong currents are there of globalisation, privatisation and
liberalisation. The whole world is in a process of change, and
great debates are going on whether all this is in the best
interest of man or not.
Every epoch has been inspired and dominated by some
specific ideas which became their ideology. Confuciansim stood
for system and order, Buddhism for compassion and patience,
Jainism for truth and non-violence, Hinduism for humanism
and tolerance, Christianity for love and service, and Islam
for equality and brotherhood. The history of these faith is
conditioned by the ideology it professed. This is by and large,
true, although deviations were not missing. We in India
desired to move in the direction of secularism, liberalism,
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433
socialism and democracy. To a great extent this has been
the direction of our march, although human nature causes
some obstacles on the way. The communists want egalitarian
society, Americans want free enterprise. The Germans are
rationals, the Japanese are pragmatic, the English are
evolutionaries, the French are revolutionaries, the Indians are
eclectic, the Arabs are easy-going and the Jews are
hard- working. But each idea has the other side of the coin
as well, and hence Hegelian concept of action and reaction
also follows. The thesis produces an anti-thesis, which together
results in synthesis.
Subsequent to what was written during the last year
and a half, I should say productive work was quite satisfactory
to this day, as three books were published, namely Javeed
Nama, Jalaluddin Rumi and Imam Ghazali, all in English.
Material is ready for press for two more books, Hafiz-e-Shiraz
and Shaikh Sa’di. After the termination of the project,
Noor-e-Baseerath, I have taken up to writting in English
under Islamic Studies Series brought out by Knowledge Society
Publications of my own. Please pray this programme
continues untill I breath last.
15
Epilogue
This work began with reflections on life. It has to end with
reflections on life. When I look back on life, it is all a drama
of exciting interest to those who have an insight. Open your
eyes, you will see mothers loving the children, fathers sweating
to earn the daily bread, children struggling to gain some
knowledge, the youth facing the challenges of life, the rich
roaring in wealth, the poor counting their days in misery, and
the wise attempting to understand the world. Everywhere
pulsating things are happening. Even after writing the
preceding pages a few months ago, so much and so much has
happened that it by itself would need a volume.
Enough for me to say both good and bad things have
happened to me. One good for which I feel happy and proud
is the award of Ph. D. degree to my daughter, Asma Kulsum.
It was my dream that at least one of my children should get
a research degree in the academic field, and that dream was
fulfilled. She worked hard for four or five years, and her
work has been much applauded.
Secondly, the academic world was so good and so
gracious on me that it conferred the third D.Litt. Degree
(Hon. Causa) on me. Earlier Kannada University, Hampi,
had conferred to which Karnataka State Open University,
Mysore, and Tumkur University, Tumkur, also added that
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honour, for which I feel extremely grateful to them. Perhaps,
I may be thankful to University of Mysore as well for the
similar honour. Thirdly, the Government of Karnataka too
loaded me with an honour for my little work in social and
educational field to backward communities, for which I thank
them immensely.
Fourthly, more important from my point of view, is
the productive work of publications when five works saw the
light of the day, four in English and one in Urdu. My work
on Maulana Azad which I had finished nearly a decade ago
had not seen the light of the day. I have already discussed
its significance in chapter XIV. It was assigned to me by
Maulana Azad Education Foundation, New Delhi, when Dr.
F.U. Siddiqui was its Secretary. When I sent him the
manuscript after working two long years, he could not publish
it because there was a change of Government at the Centre.
It was lying there nearly for five years when I contacted
Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, whose
Vice- Chancellor, Prof.. M.A. Pathan, immediately agreed to
publish the work, but his office took three long years to do
it, although I had given him the proof corrected copy. Anyway,
I am thankful to that University for releasing the work in
November 2008.
I am happy about the three other works. Javeed Nama
is Allama Iqbal’s master piece, an epic in search of perfect
man, a fascinating imaginative travelogue which takes us to
several planets, the climax of which is an audience with
Almighty God. It is a reflective and reformative piece
inspiring a decadent society to rise up and play again its
historic role. It rotates round three important parameters of
life, namely religion, politics and society. It has focused on
the value systems of different faiths presenting a drama where
actors ranging from prophets and saints to tyrants and traitors
have played a vital role. It is a message to the younger
generation how to face the challenges of modern age.
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437
Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi is the star thinker of the
Islamic world, who has touched the sensitive chord of every
mental and moral activity. His profound philosophy, high
metaphysics, sublime ethics, vital history and delightful
poetry form the rich heritage of mankind. His profuse
writings range into 50,000 verses in the Diwan and six
volumes of Masnavi which is regarded as Quran in Persian
language. What is most fascinating is the treatment of his
subject through parables, stories, anecdotes and illustrations
which would make even the most difficult issues so simple
and so lucid that even a child could understand, but so
profound that even a great scholar would find it hard to
gauge their full significance. He is more a mystic than a
philosopher who traces the path of ascension to higher
knowledge, where the transformation takes place of the whole
of man, his will, his intellect and his emotions to pass away
from the self into the essential unity with God. I feel happy
that I have attempted to present the contributions of this
mighty soul to the English knowing public.
Yet another work of great value I have brought out
is a treatise on Imam Ghazali, the brightest star on the
horizon of “Spiritual Life”. He was the one who perfected
the Sufi system of thought. Among his 70 books two are
very important. One deals with philosophy of light in Mishkatul-Anwar based on just two verses of Quran. The other work
Ahya-ul-Uloom is encyclopedic in nature, intended to take
man to his destiny of “Perfect Man” or “Super Man”. He
tells us that we cannot live pleasantly unless we live wisely,
justly and generously for which we need two things, good mind
and god character. No darkness is greater than ignorance
and no light is brighter than knowledge. Ghazali ignites in
man that knowledge, unity, solidarity, harmony and freedom,
which like diamond would have two qualities, its glow and
weight. The glow of the culture he advocates is unity of God,
and the weight of the culture is unity he adores of man. Faith
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My Life
in God would gift unity in everything and love of man would
gift a social order of peace and prosperity. Faith is related to
truth, love, justice, beauty, knowledge and creativity. In short
Ghazali’s works are that rich treasure house of knowledge
and wisdom which have illumined man’s mind, soul and
conscience even to this day. I feel happy I have introduced
Ghazali to English knowing public.
The Urdu work on different dimensions of History is
a reference work both for students and general public on
three aspects of history. One is what is history, what is its
philosophy and how to write history. The second part is how
history is written in India from the earliest period down to
this day, the different cultures in India, and a brief account
of the political, social and cultural history of India. The third
part deals with the world culture, particularly the western
culture, and their contributions to science and technology. It
is a broad survey of the civilization of man.
Apart from these accomplished programmes, I intend
to throw light on two more great men of Islam, namely
Hafiz-e-Shiraz and Shaikh Sa’di, I have been able to add to
our social and educational activities two more units, one is a
D.Ed. College and the other is a School of our own for
disabled children. By God’s grace we now have both B.Ed.
and D.Ed. programmes in our campus. I was very keen that
we should strengthen our primary and pre-primary educational
sector, which is the base and the root. D.Ed. is two year
programme, and we have now a full-fledged D.Ed. College with
qualified and motivated staff.
A reference to our Disabled children school has already
come before which was functioning with the cooperation
of the Rotary Club, but that Club hijacked our school to a
different place. Consequently we had to establish our own
school which we have now done. Hopefully it will come up
well in course of time.
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439
Yet another development for which I feel happy is
the project we have now initiated in New Muslim Hostel,
Mysore. I am the President of that Hostel with which I am
associated almost during the last 70 years, first as its boarder,
then as its Warden, and now as its President. We have already
built a sprawling commercial complex yielding good revenue,
out of which we erected three structures, one a dining hall,
the other a dormitory and the third, extension of the prayer
hall. Apart from this main plot of land for boarders we had
Warden’s Quarters on the other side of the Kantharaja Urs
Main Road, adjacent to fire-brigade. It was also a fairly big
plot of land measuring 120x100 feet, prime land of great
value. We decided to put up a commercial complex on this
plot as well. It was not an easy job, first to complete the
formalities, to get the licence from the city Corporation,
and to find enough resources to construct a building with a
cellar, ground floor together with three more floors. We have
now come to the stage of getting the Corporation licence
and also find a party which should advance funds that would
meet the cost of one third of the project. For the other twothird we are hoping to raise a loan from the Central Wakf
Council, New Delhi. The entire project may cost more than
two crores of rupees. It is my prayers to Allah to bless this
project with success.
If these are the good things that have happened in
my personal life, something good has happened on the world
scene as well. President Bush is gone and Barak Obama is in
power who has promised a change for the better. It remains
to be seen. But the tragedy of Bush was such that he was
greeted with boots when he went to Iraq. He brought about
a calamity to the whole world being instrumental for the loss
of millions of lives. His wrong policies have brought about
the worst depression since 1930, when the whole world is
facing the melt down. What is most fascinating is the
American choice of a black as the President of USA. Although
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Churchill had said that democracy was the worst form of
Government and had hastened to add there was no
alternative to it, this election proved anything was possible
in America. The racial prejudice of the whites against the
blacks was such that Abraham Lincoln had to fight a civil
war against his own people for human rights, and John
Kennedy had to struggle hard for social justice, both these
leaders losing their life in the process. In such a situation a
black to be elected to the highest office, who is the son of a
Muslim at a time when a crusade is going on against the
Muslim world, is something unimaginable, and that has
happened.
As for the bad things that have happened to me is
the loss of life-partner, my wife, Sufia Bi, on 19th January 2009,
whose qualities of head and heart were immense. She was a
lady of great courage, strong will, frank, wise, honest,
generous and hospitable. Her depth of understanding of men
and events was far superior to mine. Her hand of generosity
was far higher than what I could afford. Her love and
affection, kindness and courtesy to our kith and kin, near
and dear, were all of larger measures than what had fallen to
my share. Her fertility of mind, quick perception, dogged
determination, dynamic fervour and indefatigable labour were
all surprisingly high. She guided me through thick and thin,
brought up a large family, took good care of their education,
moulded their character and conduct, helped them to plan
their future, and assisted even her brothers and sisters. As
the eldest in her family, she worked hard, fingers to her bone,
serving them while they were with us in Mysore for their
education. Her unique features were her generosity,
large- heartedness, warm-feelings, love and affection for all,
more so to the needy and poor. If only she wanted to save
money, she could have amassed a lot, but she spent it all in
charity. A commoner had married a Duchess and the Duchess
sized up to the pranks of a commoner. Only one instance is
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441
enough to indicate here her wisdom. In 1956 when a student
of mine with hardly an experience of a few months
superceded me for the post of Assistant Professor in the
University, making me miserable, distressed and depressed,
she consoled me in such terms, “Cool yourself! Be calm, think
it may be a blessing for us, which we cannot see at this
moment, The hidden hand of God’s mercy would not
immediately reveal what is best in our own interest”. Her
words proved prophetic. Had I got that job, I would have
been shifted to Tumkur college, where at best I might have
become a Professor. All that I became later was only because
of that disappointment when I went to U.K. for still higher
studies, got a London Ph.D., became a University Professor
in India, a Visiting Professor in America, and a V.C. of not
one but two new Universities. It is all because of the support,
guidance and help I got from my wife. She was very hard
working and active all her life, except during the last few
years when she fell very ill. In her last days she had become
immobile and we had to engage a full time nurse to take care
of her. Any way I owe a lot to her and sincerely pray for her
soul to rest in peace and to find the finest of the fine abode
in heaven, Amen!
One more bad thing that has happened to me is my
sight. When I checked with the Opthothalmologist he said
my right eye retina was damaged, and nothing could be done
about it. I could see but not read or write with the right
eye. I went to Bangalore to consult a super- specialist. He
said the same. I reconciled myself to the loss and said to
myself, thank God, at least left eye is safe, take good care
of it. That is also the advice of the Doctors. There are people
with one lung, one kidney, one limb. I too must carry on
with the vision of one eye. God forbid if anything were to
happen to it, I would not wish to live any more.
Finally, I have to say I have lived a ripe age. Every
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My Life
day that passes is an extra bonus. I have seen the full drama
of life, both good and bad. It is God’s glory, I have large,
very large circle of friends who shower their affections on
me. God has not denied me any thing. He blessed me with
everything I prayed for, in measures much more than I
deserved. I have one last wish. I must meet God holding my
pen in my hand. I have reached a stage where I could say :
(What concern have I with the world, when pen is my domain;
I shall be buried in books with pages as my coffin)
House Where I was born, Belagodu, Hassan Dist.
Urdu Middle School, Hassan.
M Massod (Elder's Son)
Shahin Massod
(Daughter-in-law)
Zainab Hussain
Dr. Zakir Hussain (Son)
Farheen Hussain
(Daughter-in-law)
Raisa Hussain
Comdr. N.I. Arif (Son-in-law)
Shahida Arif
(Daughter)
Shama Arif
Saba Arif
Faisal Hasan
Family Group in
1962
M Masood with members of the family
on Convocation Day (B.E. Degree)
Family Group with Asma Kulsum Gold Medalist in B.Sc.
Family Group (25-10-1973)
Asma Kulsum Gold Medalist
in B.Sc with Grand Parents
Commonwealth
Library
in London
Bank Cheque
Medical Card London
ID Card Paris Library