We meet so many people day in and day out... some have long lasting impact, some hardly matter and some an everlasting impact. We don't need to study anthropology, psychology or any other science to convince ourselves that people around have an impact on our lives - our psychology and the way we are.. Some of us are fortunate enough to have better confrontations and some not so lucky... I have been amongst the fortunate ones, thankfully, so far... although I also got to know people I might have been better without being acquainted with... There are people you think in very high spirits but get exposed when calamities befall and they show their back.. i don't want to give them any space here... for I want to talk about people who are the real propellers of our lives.. people with an everlasting impact...
Parents strive hard to provide their children all they desire and deserve, and it doesn't require a father or mother to be Will Smith of Pursuit of Happiness to do all this but a God given instinct.. They are the first and best teachers for a child and I was lucky to have them around to protect my childhood.. They were there to show me the path to follow- saying you are not alone... make me realize what dreamz are and how they see the light of the day... As the time passed, more people showed their way into my life... I realized FRIENDS mean people you like to have around more than others... school friends, college friends, university friends, hostel friends ,locality friends... there was no dearth of them all... but time waits for no one and some other people replaced them all. I enjoyed all the times with all the people who gave me beautiful moments of my life... the times I cherish and wish I could go back in... but time and tide waits for none... all of them found their way... and I kept thinking the relations last forever... It took me a long time to understand that only few relations last forever...
One such relation is that I share with a person whose presence I feel in all I learnt from him.. in my thoughts... in my existence. Sincere,altruistic, Honest, Courageous are only few of his attributes I can speak of.. a soul with humility , love and respect for everyone... a person someone rightly called "Khwabon ka saudagar". A person who not only showed his people how to dream big but also how to realize and achieve them. He started his journey as an ordinary young man from a small town with aims of an extra ordinary person. An epitome of simple living and high thinking, this person started a blood bank in a town where majority of people didn't even understood this jargon.. When people were in cry of rage for casualties in a bus accident in the town, this man was thinking of preventing another situation like that where majority died bcoz of non-availability of blood.. He would be the first to donate blood in the camps he organised... which numbered not less than eleven. A polyclinic where doctors of the town would serve few hours in a week for poor, a free clinical lab for diagnosis, a trust for orphans, widows and down trodden , a center for sorting disputes were few of the things he initiated against all the odds... which followed huge criticism and accusations expected from people of a small town. Accused of selling blood and branded as "ratt czoor" to amassing the wealth from trust funds, nothing deterred him from the social work that according to his own words was the only thing that gave him peace.. He always had a reply to any accusation or criticism in Iqbal's couplet:
"Phal dar ke naseeb mein hai pathoro ki choot
Gar ye hosla nahi to phir besamar raho"
In a town with a very small per capita income, he could conceive building of a huge charitable hospital for the people who left no stone unturned to make him silent. His acquiring of a land, measuring more than 32 canals, for a hospital is a long story in itself which he always spoke proudly of.. the way he collected money, his struggle with convincing landlords to sell the land, fight for demarcations, road etc all showed how he single handedly built an emperor for people who could never have thought of it even in their distant dreams. This land costs in crores this time and is located in the center of the town..
A secular by heart and religious by soul, this person opened a medicine camp for Amarnath yatris when some groups banned the yatra.. On being questioned , he would answer in the saying of beloved Prophet (SAW)
"Khairan nasu mayín fa un nas"
Better people are those who help others
He would say Prophet(SAW) never said better people are those who help muslims only but all the people and Prophet's (SAW) statements never used to be ambagious..
I am talking about a person who never compromised on his principals even if it meant going against his own interests or family. An ardent fan of Rumi, he would always give an analogy with short stories from Rumi's masnavi and quote persian poetry and literature to prove his point. He was never afraid of death and would repeatedly tell me so.. When afflicted with a disease like hepatitis B, I remember him praying to Allah to save him if He wants some more contribution from him to His creation, otherwise don't let him live to get involved in worldly affairs which are none but sin.. Allah always answers the righteous and pious... and he survived to contribute more, built four masjids, helped poor and needy...
After completing the final obligation of the faith he followed religiously and fulfilling few left over domestic liabilities, he prayed again what he had prayed some years back... but this time around, Allah had different plans.. He shifted the responsibilities to his children... for He knows best, we know not.. Abbu left leaving behind a huge lacunae for people he always has been a reason to smile... a reason to live. I remember a person coming to me while walking on a busy street..." I lost someone who used to prop my family", said a person in ragged clothes and full of tears and disappeared before I could ask him to reveal his identity..
A good orator, writer, poet, columnist, narrator, author and historian, his contributions are preserved in his books, articles, documentaries, interviews and more in the hearts of people he lived for... I lost my father, but society lost someone who even in the hospital room in an unstable position kept telling me that he is dreaming of building a hospital like that on the land he strived so much for, so that people like him don't have to come such a long distance for treatment..
I would never have justified my blog without writing about this great man in my life... I wish my eyes could allow me to write more..they have been missing him like anything all the time and protest with tears... There are many things which may left untold..but as Abbu always said.. Allah keeps record of everything and no one other than Him has the power to give rewards for what you do here... and His rewards are far more than what anyone can give you. I pray a far better world for him.
Abbu, I lost my smile with you and you will remain in my thoughts, in my prayers till my last breath and till we meet again, inshaAllah.
