BD Sharma
Government Gandhi Memorial Science College Jammu has remained a premier institute of education in northern India since its inception. It inherits a very rich legacy. Prof Siddheshwar Varma, the renowned linguist and Dr DN Wadia, the famous Geologist had remained in the Faculty of this college. Justice AS Anand, Justice TS Thakur, both CJIs, TN Kaul and Qudratullah Shahab both ICS, General NC Vij Army Chief etc are among the many illustrious alumni of the College. The College was established by Maharaja Pratap Singh in 1905. Located initially in Ajaib Ghar(near Civil Secretariat), it was shifted to the present location in 1912 and rechristened as Prince of Wales College to commemorate the visit of the Prince to Jammu. The College was renamed as Gandhi Memorial College in the memory of Mahatma Gandhi in1948. It was bifurcated into two Colleges, Govt GM Science College and Govt GM Arts College in 1954 but both the Colleges continued to be housed in the same premises. Govt GM Arts College was shifted to the new building on Bahu road in 1960 and was renamed as Maulana Azad Memorial College to commemorate the late Union Education Minister. Both the Colleges gradually acquired a distinct identity in their respective fields.
NOSTALGIA
By 1960 studying science had caught the imagination of the youth. Science College, as such, grabbed preeminence. Almost half of the students of Jammu province who got admission in the Engineering and Medical colleges came out of this college. In the first phase engineering became the preferred choice as a career for the youth but gradually Medicine overtook it. So in 1969 when your present author took admission in the 11th class in Science College eight out of the twelve meritorious students opted for the Medical subjects. Since there were very limited seats for Engineering as well as for Medicine so there was a fierce competition for them. Consequently majority of the Science students had to immerse themselves deep in studies in order to get admission in Medical/ Engineering colleges. In spite of giving lot of attention towards studies many students excelled in extracurricular activities also, be it in sports, debating or literary activities. In cricket it won championship quite often. In football and hockey it shared honours with MAM college. Volley ball remained in the grip of Poonch College. In other games like TT and badminton also Science college did well.
In the debating competition Science College normally made a mark. Many times the debaters from the college won State level or North India level trophies. The prominent debaters who distinguished themselves later on were Justice Tirath Singh Thakur, Dr Krishan Lal Gupta prominent doctor of PGI Chandigarh, YV Sharma President Jammu Chamber and Narinder Bhasin Dogri writer and newscaster. Debating competition at the College level was invariably presided over by Prof AN Raina, Head of Geography
Department. His introductory and concluding remarks threw a lot of liveliness in the debate. His resonant voice, penetrating eyes and signs and swings would enthrall one and all.
In order to arouse the literary talents in the students College magazine, The Tawi, was published almost every year. In 1969 when I got admission in the college its editorial board consisted of Dr SM Iqbal, Principal as Chairman and five reputed professors as members. Prof Ganjoo of the English Department was in charge of English section, Prof Satish Anand from Physics department of Hindi section, Prof RS Didwal from Geology department of Dogri section, Prof Anmol Singh from Zoology department of Punjabi section and Prof Nissar Ahmed Wani from Botany department of Urdu section. One student editor was also selected for each section.
When articles were invited for the magazine I thought of contributing some of them. This would, I thought, help me to earn some recognition as I was finding myself out of place in those early days of my college life. For Urdu section I penned a Ghazal. No surprise because every teenager coins a ghazal in this part of life, some put it in black and white and others allow them to roll over in their minds only. One fable was written which I had shrewdly imitated from an Urdu writer. An article on Words of Wisdom was also drawn up. I had memorized while browsing free the small booklets like Haatim Tai ke kisse, Kissa Puran Bhagat, Chanakya Niti, Panchtantra, Lakh Lakh Rupay ki Baaaten being sold by Pharhi-walas (Pavement vendors) at the top of Gumat Gate stairs. I stole few lines from one booklet and others from other booklet while coming back from college and consolidated them in the shape of a write-up. A poem in Dogri was penned in Persian script but its publication could not fructify. In 1969 five hundredth birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji was being celebrated and I wrote a poem on Guruji in Punjabi incorporating ideas of the Gita, Yada Yada hi Dharmsya and Iqbal’s verse Hazaron Saal Nargis apni benoori pe roti hai. It was written in Roman script but Prof Anmol Singh improved and elaborated it in Gurmukhi script before getting it printed in the magazine.
Later I thought that it would be appropriate if an article was written in English as this was the language known to all students. But it proved to be an uphill task. I couldn’t gather any mass for the article in English. Incidentally a postgraduate student of English Suraj Dev Singh came to stay with his friend Om Sharma in Brahmin Sabha Hostel. Both of them were senior functionaries of ABVP. Since much of the time they were away in connection with the activities of their organization so we would sneak into their room and browse upon their books. Three books, Bacon’s Essays, A Book of India by BN Pandey, English version of the Gita by Arnold, evoked lot of interest in me. I had been reading the Gita during my school days very religiously, a sort of “Paath” early in the morning empty stomach after having a bath while sitting cross legged. One of the prominent lessons of the Gita is that uncontrolled desires often remain unfulfilled and are the cause of many of our misfortunes. At the same time I read English translation of Ghalib’s verses incorporated in A Book of India. Ghalib had much to say about desire like not letting the desire die in one’s heart and always striving to get them fulfilled. I also happened to read an article on last Mughal King Zafar in the Sunday Express in our college library. Translation of his famous verse, “Do Gaz Zameen bhi na mili Kooye-Yaar mein” provided another dimension to desire. Since idea of desire from various sources was revolving in my mind so I thought of penning a write-up on desire for the magazine.
A line from an essay of Bacon- ‘Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man’, had captivated my mind in school days. As stated above when I got whole lot of Bacon’s Essays during those days I went through them with interest. I noticed that Bacon’s essays had been prefixed with ‘Of’ such as Of Truth, Of Death, Of Friendship, Of Ambition, Of Beauty, Of Discourse etc. So I also thought of giving the heading ‘Of Desire’ to my write-up as if I were a writer of the same repute as Bacon. But after a thoughtful consideration I found that ‘On Desire’ was a better heading than ‘Of Desire’ for the write-up. Accordingly I stitched up all my thoughts about desire which I had gathered from various sources and gave them a final shape. The same is reproduced below for the perusal of esteemed readers::
“Lord Krishna, sermonizing Arjuna, says ‘O son of Kunti ! Don’t desire for anything for which you do not think yourself capable because the desire like this occasionally results in failure. If one’s desire does not bear fruit, one loses his peace of mind. Do your duty without the desire of gift out of it. Then only you can achieve your destination.’
These holy words of Krishna are as good and as true in every walk of life. Slow and steady wins the race but desire wants a quick action. In other words, desire means greed and it is a known fact that greediness is a curse. The farmer had to repent, as he killed the hen, which used to lay a golden egg daily, because he had a great desire for becoming rich at once. A great philosopher said, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” Desire is good provided something practical is done for it.
Desire is very tempestuous and blows man like a whirl-wind on the restless road of quest. It compelled man to invent and to discover. Man’s curiosity is proverbial. It inspires the coward’s heart with valiant aspirations. Oceans would not have formed if the drops of water had no desire to go into it.
The desire moves the humble man to shoot high at a star. It blows a speck of dust to desert sand afar. Man should struggle in such a way that his desires might bear fruit. He must not kill the desire within his breast like a drop of water that falls in the desert and forms itself into a tomb. Finally, he must not retire from the carouse of desire and must desire even after death.
‘Ah ! How luckless is Zafar, when he was dead and waiting for burial, He was denied six feet of ground in the lane where his beloved dwells.’
Countless are the cravings of desire, Compelling, importunate, taking one’s breath away; Though many are the desires I have gratified; There yet remain so many unsatisfied.”
The last para is the English rendition of famous Ghalib verse, Hazaron Khwahishen aisi ki har Khwahish pe dam nikle, by JL Kaul. This 347 worded article was presented to Prof Ganjoo, in charge of English section. When he looked at the heading of the article he showed his disdain and asked if I had not something better to write about. ‘What can be written on such an abstract subject ?’, he quipped. Seeing his disapproval I put my hand forward to get back the article. But on second thought he decided to keep it with himself only. I stealthily looked around to confirm that none of my friends had listened to the unwelcome comments made by the professor on my article. I got disillusioned but thought that forgetting the incident was the better part of valour. On returning to our hostel I tore off the draft copy also to ensure that it is forgotten once for all.
After few weeks when I came back from the college I saw 5/6 students gathered in the compound of our hostel with a copy of a magazine with yellow cover, which turned out to be the latest issue of the Tawi. One of them, a student of B.Sc., to whom copy of magazine had been delivered, confirmed from me if I had written an article in English for the Tawi. On seeing the article “On Desire” in the magazine I was pleasantly surprised. He read it out before all of us. He further told that Prof Ganjoo had brought the magazine in his class and read out this article there. He appreciated the effort of an 11th class student. It may be added that the professors /teachers are a very shrewd lot and they very well know the real worth of their students. So had Prof Ganjoo done. He had observed, as was told by my friend, that a student of 11th class could not write much on an abstract subject like the Desire and had definitely picked up the material from here and there. But the way, Prof Ganjoo added, these thoughts had been identified, stitched and presented was commendable. Hearing such positive remarks of the professor, as against his initial reaction, pleased me a lot. Incidentally I had the distinction of being the only student of 11th class to have contributed articles for the Tawi.
I sometimes wonder if it was proper for me to spend time on such activities as it adversely effected my regular studies. The educationists, however, maintain that extracurricular activities are not a waste of time. They help in the harmonious growth of the students. Literary activities have also a useful role. Literature supports language development, cognitive growth, imagination, emotional understanding, cultural awareness, literacy skills and meaningful relationships. Our world is becoming increasingly chaotic and these skills can help us to harmonize it.
Presently our children are being pushed in the cauldron of competition. Preparations for JEE start even before they pass their 10th class. So is it for NEET. There is hardly any time to pursue extracurricular activities. They should, however, be encouraged to snatch some time for literary activities also, learning a Shloka here, a Doha there, a verse here, a proverb there and to use them in their daily discourse. After all a poet is sleeping inside every child. It has just to be shaken. Even greetings to friends on social media be laced in a verse, a saying or an idiom. Post ‘Tum jiyo hazaron saal’ instead of saying simply happy birthday. Such expressions make our narrations rich and ornate. Few years back during the course of hearing a case Justice TS Thakur, the then CJI quoted a Hindi Doha “Kabira Teri Jhonpadi Galkatiyan ke pass; Karen ge so bharen ge tu kyun Bhayo Udaas.” It was widely liked and appreciated. It was reported on the front pages of almost all the newspapers in the country. On the one hand it spoke of the literary skills of Justice Thakur and on the other hand it made the assertion of CJI impressive and lucid. Such are the blessings of literature.
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