IIn 1961, there were only two top-class colleges in Lahore. One of them was the Forman Christian College, commonly known as F. C. College, now an accredited university. It was established in 1864 by American missionaries. Its campus sprawled over 100 acres of land, the largest campus in the whole of Pakistan, encompassing the classrooms, hostels and faculty residences. It had several beautiful and well-maintained lush grass lawns and tall trees laid between wide and well-maintained roads. The whole environment was pollution-free, windy and pleasant. You could just enjoy the environment by sitting on the lawn or walking on the pathway. Cars and motorcycles were not allowed to enter the inner side of the campus. You could only see the kids of the faculty members cycling around.
I appeared for the admission test to get into the first year (freshman) of college education in arts. I was just asked to write an essay on the founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. I passed the test, got through the preliminary interview by a couple of faculty members and sent to the Principal for the final. Dr Ewing, an American professor who had been living in Pakistan for several decades, was the Principal at that time.
Dr. Ewing was quite impressed with the language and style of my essay but a bit surprised over my third division in the high school examination. I could think of only one blatant lie that I fell sick before the final exam and so could not study hard enough to earn a better grade. He smiled meaningfully and approved my admission.
I stayed at the college for four years from 1961-65 passing out the intermediate and the bachelor's in second division. This time, it was Economics that overturned my grades. Just like maths, I could not get along with Economics. To me, the economic theories just did not make any sense or at least I could not make any sense of them. In addition, the professor who used to teach Economics would just walk into the classroom, sit on a raised platform and start his lecture forthwith. I don't recall he ever asked any question from any student or floated a topic for general discussion in the classroom. The students were also least interested in asking him questions. He was followed by a young, nice and supportive lecturer who had just come from college after doing his master's in Economics. The poor fellow was never taken seriously by the students and he, too, was a bit nervous, I guess, to teach at a very prestigious institution. So, we let him talk and he let us listen--no question-answer session from either side.
The one subject that I really enjoyed was General History, taught by an American professor Dr S.E. Brush. I always scored 80-90 percent marks in General History. He was a lively teacher always smiling and helpful during and after the class. Political Science, taught by another American professor Dr Carl Wheeless, was as dry as Economics, all theory, but I passed it with fairly good marks in every test and exam. Dr Wheeless always bore a serious face, appeared tough and intolerant of nonsense. He often did not ask questions but everyone in his class was attentive and serious-looking just in case he put a question. Dr Wheeless had a superb memory. He remembered the name, roll number and face of each and every student. Outside the classroom, Dr Wheeless was altogether a different person. He was soft-spoken, polite and helpful if anybody asked for help or just shared his toughts with him.
After graduating from F. C. College in 1965, I joined the two-year post-graduate Master of Education (Technical) Business programme of the Institute of Education & Research at the University of the Punjab. The institute, commonly known as I.E.R., was established as a joint venture between the Punjab University and the Indiana University (Bloomington, USA) in early 60's. The Department of Business Education was headed by an American professor Dr. Hamish Maxwell, a thorough gentleman, decent and pleasant. He was a lively, caring and friendly professor, admired equally by the students and the faculty members.
Prior to taking admission at the I.E.R., I had also appeared for the admission test for an MBA programme at the Institute of Business Administration, University of Karachi, the most prestigious and the only institute of its kind in the country. I passed the test and the interview. However, due to financial constraints, I could not move to Karachi and bear the tuition fee and living expenses as my family still lived in Lahore.
At the I.E.R., I earned A grade in each of the five subjects of the first term of the business education programme. As a result, I was awarded full scholarship of Rs. 95 per month. The amount was sufficient to pay for the tuition fee and to meet personal expenses. Text books, mostly U.S.-published, were provided by the I.E.R. for each term on returnable basis. Each term lasted for 3 months except in summer when the duration was reduced to 2 months. We had only one-month summer vacations in a year.
My interest in business subjects coupled with good teaching methods, open and lively classroom discussions and friendly environment helped me a great deal and propelled me to become a superstar among the students. I excelled in every classroom quiz, test and terminal exam by earning A grade in every subject. There were 36 courses in all, spread over two years.
I never missed a class in 2 years except when I suffered from fever for a week before the final exam of the second and final year.
Punjab University used to award University Gold Medal to the student who topped in the final examination of each of its multiple post-graduate programmes. All the programmes offered at the I.E.R. were, however, excluded probably for the reason that we used different testing and evaluation methods, based on the American system, of filling-in blanks, multiple choice questions and so on. Our system was called objective testing system and that of the Punjab University subject testing system, based on writing comprehensive essays.
I made a written representation to the then Vice Chancellor of the Punjab University Prof Hameed and convinced him that the topped students of I.E.R. also deserved Gold Medals. He agreed to my proposition and allowed award of Gold Medals in the Convocation held in Feb 1968. I was also one of the recipients of the Gold Medal in Business Education.
My years at the I.E.R. were just superb, though very demanding in time and space context. I used to get up early morning at around 4:30am. It took me one hour to get ready and take my breakfast of one fried egg, two toasts and one cup of tea at 5:30am. I usually left home around 5:45am to catch the bus at 6:00am from a walking distance. It took almost 2 hours to reach the campus around 7:45am. We used to have our first class session at 8:00am. I was almost always on time.
Classes were usually off around 2:00pm. I would then go to the library to study and complete home assignments and prepare myself for the next day lectures. It took me anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. If I had time in between, I would join a friend and play table tennis or badminton. Normally, I left campus between 5:00-6:00 in the evening. The journey back home had a different route. I would first take a bus to a point and then board a tonga (4-person carriage driven by a horse) to reach home, spending almost the same time as in the morning.
Once at home, I would normally go to sleep for two hours. On awakening from the nap, I would take my meal. After meal, I would again sit down and study for the next day or complete remaining home assignments. The session lasted beyond midnight.
My daily routine remained almost the same during the boiling hot summer and the chilly winter. The only change that I had to make at times when I missed the bus at 6:00am in the chilly winter. I would use a bicycle to go to the railway station, park the bicycle there and get a bus to campus. Yet, I reached in time. Throughout these two years, I remained very energetic, hardworking, tenseless and engrossed in my studies, most of the time. I had little time to play sports at the campus. It was only on Sundays that I played cricket in a public park. We had 6-day a week and 11- month a year academic sessions but I really enjoyed every moment of the two years that I spent at the campus.
A couple of interesting episodes took place at the campus. We had four departments at I.E.R. One of them was Master of Education. Most of the students were girls, many of them really beautiful or charming. Our own department of business education had very few girl students. I developed liking for a girl student from the department of education by the name of B. I was always eager to have a look at her. She was slim, tall, whitish in complexion but charming in looks. We would often look at each other for several minutes while she was coming my side or I was going her side. But we never spoke to each other.
One of the teachers at the department of education had just returned from the U.S. after doing her Ph.D. She was young, tall, fair complexioned and quite attractive in appearance. I became fond of her but could never muster courage to speak to her. She probably knew my interest in her but she never took an initiative nor could I.
In the second year of my studies, I decided to contest election to become general secretary of the students union of I.E.R. I had to go to each student to ask for his/her vote. Many girls at the institute knew about my academic record, envied it but also admired me and were on the lookout to have a chance to talk to me or befriend me. It was quite usual at I.E.R. to have cross gender friends. I was always reluctant to befriend a girl, stroll with her along the canal running along the campus, sit with her in the library to talk in low tone or entertain her at cafeteria with or without her friends. Many boys indulged in these activities. There were plenty of hideouts, though there was no restriction on being together with girls.
I was one of the most well-dressed, well-behaved and good-looking boys at the I.E.R. and, I guess, that carried a premium for friendship with a girl. At my earlier college, we had just ONE girl student. Here at IER, there were so many outnumbering the boys. Most of them were really beautiful, charming and friendly. The province of Punjab was known for beauty and beautiful gals. We had girl students from all over Punjab, from all classes and creeds. I always admired beauty wherever it was found, whether it were beautiful surroundings, flowers, animals, landscapes, and obviously girls. At the same time, I also felt in my heart that I should have friendship with a girl who could be mine for ever i.e. be my wife. I could not afford to opt for marriage at that time for building a good career was my first priority.
Before the elections, I was supposed to approach girls, side by side boys, who could be found in groups on the institute's lush green lawns to solicit their support. I was not used to doing such a thing, was obviously shy and reluctant but without showing it. Every dame had a group of friends. Befriending one dame would mean losing support of the other dames and their friends. The problem seemed to be insoluble. So, I thought it would be better to avoid being associated with a particular group and just ask for support from all. That was probably not acceptable to any of the groups. Girls being in majority voted me out and I lost the election by 19 votes.
Next day, I was back at the institute without carrying the signs and symptoms of a loser. Again, it was a big surprise for the girls more than the boys. I behaved as if the election was just an event that passed the previous evening and left no emotional scars on me. I am unable to recall whether it was natural or made-up posture on my part.
Soon after the elections, I contested and became the president or vice president (don't recall the exact position) of the Business Students Club of the department of business education. That erased the remnants of the loss in the previous elections. I also realized later on that my studies might have been badly affected if I were elected as general secretary of the students union. I thought my defeat was a blessing in disguise.
On the day of the Convocation on Saturday 10 Feb 1968 to receive my degree and a gold medal, I was quite tense. I had become a perfectionist during the previous two years. I felt nausea but somehow managed to walk upto the stage to receive my degree and the gold medal. I had a photographer lined up to take my pictures. But something went wrong with his camera and the pictures that he took turned out to be completely dark. I was very fond of photography right from an early age. I started taking pictures at the age of 10 with a Kodak box camera. I have had the largest collection of pictures of family members, friends, relatives, landscapes, and places we visited from time to time. It was quite a shock to miss the pictures of my own Convocation.
I remember how perturbed my father was. I could feel he was very concerned and prayed for my quick recovery so as to be able to maintain the top position in the final examination.
Before the elections, I was supposed to approach girls, side by side boys, who could be found in groups on the institute's lush green lawns to solicit their support. I was not used to doing such a thing, was obviously shy and reluctant but without showing it. Every dame had a group of friends. Befriending one dame would mean losing support of the other dames and their friends. The problem seemed to be insoluble. So, I thought it would be better to avoid being associated with a particular group and just ask for support from all. That was probably not acceptable to any of the groups. Girls being in majority voted me out and I lost the election by 19 votes.
Next day, I was back at the institute without carrying the signs and symptoms of a loser. Again, it was a big surprise for the girls more than the boys. I behaved as if the election was just an event that passed the previous evening and left no emotional scars on me. I am unable to recall whether it was natural or made-up posture on my part.
Soon after the elections, I contested and became the president or vice president (don't recall the exact position) of the Business Students Club of the department of business education. That erased the remnants of the loss in the previous elections. I also realized later on that my studies might have been badly affected if I were elected as general secretary of the students union. I thought my defeat was a blessing in disguise.
On the day of the Convocation on Saturday 10 Feb 1968 to receive my degree and a gold medal, I was quite tense. I had become a perfectionist during the previous two years. I felt nausea but somehow managed to walk upto the stage to receive my degree and the gold medal. I had a photographer lined up to take my pictures. But something went wrong with his camera and the pictures that he took turned out to be completely dark. I was very fond of photography right from an early age. I started taking pictures at the age of 10 with a Kodak box camera. I have had the largest collection of pictures of family members, friends, relatives, landscapes, and places we visited from time to time. It was quite a shock to miss the pictures of my own Convocation.
I remember how perturbed my father was. I could feel he was very concerned and prayed for my quick recovery so as to be able to maintain the top position in the final examination.
Next episode 1969-1979: Journey to Corporate World on http://livethylife3.blogspot.com/. Read previous episode 1943-1961: Birth to Teens at http://livethylife1.blogspot.com/.
Click below to view my views, values and concerns
http://livethylife10.blogspot.com
Topics: Religion and Spiritualism, Life, Community, Global Issues, General Topics, Governance, Judicial Activism, Media, Politics, International Relations and Professional Services
