Death of any human can stir tears. And if\nsomeone dies young, the grief not only wells up \nthe eyes, but shakes the soul also. When I heard about Zaheer\u2019s death I\ncould not, but wail out the opening stanza of the Shelly\u2019s elegy on Keats. Even\nthough \u201chis fate and fame shall be an echo and a light unto eternity, I felt as\nthough light had gone out of my life!\u201dHe was my student, and I taught him\nEnglish speaking skills, one year ago, at NUML.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Donne passionately wailed, \u2018death of\nany human diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind.\u201dIt is far truer for a teacher, since sudden death of any of\nhis student diminishes him. And Zaheer was no ordinary student. Elegantly\ndressed up, wearing a broad smile at his face, Zaheer would always greet me in\nthe class with attendance register in his hands, for he was the CR of the\nclass\u2014not because he was the senior most, he was hardly twenty some—but\nbecause he had an extra ordinary sense\nof responsibility and willingness to accept \nthe challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such was the charisma and genteel\npersonality of Zaheer that his classmates, many of them much more senior to\nhim, age and experience-wise, would hold him in high esteem. Such was the\nappealing force in him that everyone, friends and teachers alike, would yearn\nto greet him. Never did I find him without enthusiasm and brimming curiosity to\nparticipate in the class. The diploma course which Zaheer was participating in,\ncame to an end rather quickly, but our bond\ngrew sterner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quite infrequently, Zaheer would send me\nbeauteous texts on my cell phone and always ask for prayers for him. Though,\nthe students like Zaheer do not really need to ask for prayers, for the souls\nlike him, sincere prayers themselves spring out—for their success and safety.\nBut heaven has different designs, other schemes to unfold. Some prayers are\nrewarded with in heaven, not on earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two weeks ago beeped my mobile. \u201d I m\nleaving for my hometown after three years, messaged Zaheer. With my heart my\npounding, (cannot really explain why), I managed to write \u201cfee ama nillah\u201d.\nLittle did I know that Zaheer would never text me again, call me anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was only after three days when I read a\nwailing story in the newspaper crying the death of Zaheer and two other\npassengers heading their homeward in Baltisatan. He perished in mountains, the\nyoung, the handsome Zaheer. Angles must have received you. May heaven be your\neternal abode, o ye the son of an ill-\nfated mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The saddening death of Zaheer also\nrefreshed the tragedy of Haider, my 9th<\/sup> grade student of Beaconhouse\n(BEC),two and half years ago.Willowy Haider, in his late teens, was an upright\nsoul. His eyes down, and an innocent smile at his face, Haider would always\ngreet every teacher with deep respect. His\nchest naturally expanded, he would walk so impressively, wave so manly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vividly, I remember Haider standing with\nhis peers, all clad in colourful outfits, to participate in annual funfair.\nThere was a bandana tied around his head, his cloud black hair dancing with the breeze. However, there was an eerie\npaleness at his face. Nobody knew, Haider would leave them the next day—for\never.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we reached at campus the next\nmorning, every eye was wet. With a mournful voice ,one of his friends, asked\nfor prayers for the life of Haider. He\nwas lying in ICU ward at CMH, unconscious.\u201d plenty of blood has drained out of\nhis body,\u201d bewailed the student. Speechless, I stood there for long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After almost an hour, we, the teachers and\nhis fellow friends, were there at Harder\u2019s home, he smiled no more , spoke \nno more. His grave was too young.Grief stricken, when I came back home,\nI thought of looking at the tests of his class IXC.C. The first term exams had\njust finished and we had to mark the papers.\n\nWhile marking Hider\u2019s\ncreative writing part, my pen came to\nan abrupt halt. Haider had carved the names of two teachers who fascinated him\nthe most. One was his sports teacher Mr.Khurram and the other was I. For a\nwhile, the earth seemed to be spinning in opposite direction. Light of my life\nappeared to be diminishing too. Allah may bless the departed souls with paradise.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Death of any human can stir tears. And if someone dies young, the grief not only wells up the eyes, but shakes the soul also. When I heard about Zaheer\u2019s death I could not, but wail out the opening stanza of the Shelly\u2019s elegy on Keats. Even though \u201chis fate and fame shall be an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sliklight.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sliklight.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sliklight.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sliklight.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sliklight.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sliklight.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43,"href":"https:\/\/sliklight.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions\/43"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sliklight.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sliklight.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sliklight.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}