Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Mother– The most loving and caring human being


Some kids, when they are young, sometimes ask their parents if they loved him/her? And if they did, how much? These are fairly simple questions. However, it is difficult to quantify for parents how much they love their kids. You can’t put a number to parents’ love. So, for a kid, it is difficult to know how much love he/she is getting. However, parents do remind their kids to wait for this answer until they have their own kids. That is when; they would really know the answer to their questions.

This had happened to me too. You would think that you have stumped your parents with these questions. But once you become a parent, the whole ball game changes. That is when you find out what your parents have been through to raise you and showered you with their love, care and affection. 

When I became a parent, I tried to do my part as a father. It is a painstaking work. But when I compare my work with a mother’s, I think they beat us on all fronts, fair and square. The kind of patience and love which they have been gifted, nobody can come close that. Sometimes, it just leaves me with awe. When God wanted His people to know how much He loves them, He compared His love to a mother’s love. He said that He loves His people 70 times more than their mothers’ love them. He could have compared His affection and care for His people to a father’s love too. 

Mothers are also big institutions for learning for their kids. I remember when I was very young and used to leave me village for my education, I hardly remember my mother showing any sadness or weakness. Now, as a parent, I can understand what she would be going through at the time of my departure. But she did not show her feelings to make me weak. Now, I can understand how much she loves me and cared for me that she held her tears for me to get my education, and become a decent human being. She knew that she may not be able to see her six year old child for next three months at a stretch. 

Presently, I have heard mothers telling their husbands that they would not want to put themselves through like my mother did for me. These mothers don’t care whether their kids are educated from the best or the mediocre schools. They just don’t want to send their kids away for such a long time. I can understand what they mean. It really takes so much courage and strong heart to bare such an extended separation from the young kids. That is why I salute to my mother for her sacrifice. She could have also demanded my father to put me in a school close to home. But she wanted the best for her child.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Aitchison days - Junior School (v)


In K-1, our movement was closely watched as we were new to the school. It was also to keep us away from older boys. In K-2, there was more independence compared to K-1. We could come to the classes and go back to the boarding house without any supervision. However, there was still a limitation. We were not allowed to leave the Junior School premises in any circumstances. 

Again, the days were full of activities. I enjoyed my classes. Some boys had already developed friendships from K-1 and some were still making friends. Most boys were mischievous in nature. Some were pretty calm and cool. 

The evenings were filled with even more activities including evening games. As mentioned earlier, I enjoyed my stay in Aitchison due to availability of spacious grounds and people to play with. Some days, it was Cricket, some with Hockey and some we just hung out and did nothing. It was that care-free time.
There is a big swimming pool behind Gwyn House for Junior School. We had swimming time allocated during summer. Aitchison College is famous for its horses and riding club. But the riding does not start till class K-4. There is also Junior School canteen next to the swimming pool. It has a fruits’ section and bakery section. There is also a tailor shop adjacent to the canteen for the boys. Our clothes were normally tailored in that shop. There is a full ground for swings and slides for the kids in the Junior School. 

I think we had three full months of summer vacations in those days. The winter break was for a month in December. In those days, we were only off on Fridays. Tuesdays were the visiting days. The last weekend of the month was a long weekend and the parents were allowed to take their kids on Thursday evening to spend ore quality time with them. Then we had our spring break for a week in March right after the Founder’s Day. Plus there were some days off for Eids and other religious occasions. 

I had my boarding roommates from all over Pakistan. Some even came from abroad to study in Aitchison College. There were so many kids from Sindh, Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Kashmir. There was nobody from my hometown. But there were plenty of kids from Multan and D.G.Khan area. The day boys were from Lahore. They belonged to all kinds of family background. There were kids of businessmen, politicians, army men, bureaucrats, landlords etc. All kinds of families were represented too like Qureshi, Gardezi, Jamali, Khosa, Bhayo, Khakwani, Sukhera, Durrani, Wattoo, Chaudry, Malik, Shirani, Sindhu, etc. 

I think many of these kids were born with silver spoon and were very privileged kids. Their parents wanted the best for them in this world. No wonder they were sent to Aitchison College in their early days for studies. However, I do believe the environment in Aitchison neither promote nor discriminate on the basis of family background. A kid has to prove his talent and must work hard for it. The high ethical standards have been set decades ago. So we were all judged based on the earlier standards. 

Over my years at Aitchison, I have seen all kinds of examples like kids were being expelled for cheating, unsportsman like conduct, plagiarism, bad behavior etc. So we were all aware of these things and tried our best to be on the right side of the history. Nobody wanted to leave Aitchison for bad reasons. That’s why I think Aitchison sets itself apart from other institutions for its  high moral and ethical standards. 

To be continued....