Jammu Jottings
Squadron Leader Anil Sehgal
I wonder if it is not true that Indians celebrate death more than the life itself. We have a unique quality of ignoring and underestimating our achievers in various fields when they are in our midst. But, once they are gone, we wake up, as if from a slumber.
All of a sudden, we become aware of their talent, achievements and superlative qualities. And then, we start a long chain of celebrations in honour and memory of the deceased. This happens more in case of the poets, writers, artists and the lot, than others.
We celebrate their birthdays, death anniversaries and achievements. We hold seminars in their honour. We have speaker after speaker speaking about the enviable qualities of the dead, which were hitherto unknown to one and all. Many times, we hear the speakers who barely knew the dead. Isn’t it really so ? Haven’t you come across such experiences ?
What is so special in death that we become aware about the qualities of a person as he departs the mortal world ? Are we really so dumb that we fail to recognise these qualities and achievements during his lifetime? Here is a catch, friends. I think we all are well aware of these admirable possessions of the deceased when he is alive with us, but we refuse to acknowledge for the sake of our own fears.
We fear that our acknowledgement might raise the status of the praised. This, we fear, will set a still higher benchmark for us to surmount. It will set the bar higher, as they say. But, once dead, they pose no threat or challenge to us.
Therefore, we become brave and publicise our acceptance ( overcoming of fear ) as appreciation. Now, we sing their praises, give them awards, hold seminars in their honour, and, many times, erect their busts too. Just look around and you will find hundreds of examples
Unlike us, the Indians, rest of the educated world seems to behave differently. They recognise the talent and achievements of their fellow beings while they are still alive. They honour these special people and celebrate their achievements during their lifetime.
Before the first world war, Germany adopted a praiseworthy and unique practice. They started celebrating achievements of their academicians whilst they were still alive. They would get contributions from the honoree’s colleagues, pupils, and friends and put them together in a book form. This volume they called a Festschrift.
Festschrift is a German word that has been adopted by English with its spellings intact. It means “a collection of writings published in honour of a scholar”. Its literal meaning is “celebration writing”.
Every cloud has a silver lining, they say. The scientists who escaped the Nazis, after the first world war, carried this admirable tradition to the United States. This wonderful practice has since been adopted as a European tradition of honoring special achievements in science and culture. After the second world war, this practice is used internationally.
This brings us back to our own city Jammu. A Festschrift has presently been published in honour of a Jammuite, a Dogra, a retired professor of law, Kishori Lal Bhatia in which 15 persons of eminence in various fields, mostly law, have paid rich tributes to this self-made teacher. It is a tribute to his grit, determination and academic excellence as also to his sociable nature, frugal life style and humility. I am so glad life and achievements of a living Dogra are thus recognised through this volume.
Professor Kishori Lal Bhatia used to teach us constitutional and administrative laws at the University of Jammu. He was a young lecturer who prepared his lectures well in advance and came across as an elder friend who was keen to share his knowledge.
As a teacher, the best quality he possessed was his accessibility to his students. You could reach him in the teachers’ room, in the lawns, corridors, or even when he was criss-crossing the paths of the campus.
He was not afraid to tell you if he did not know the right answer to your questions. “I will find the answers and get back to you”, that is Professor K L Bhatia for you,
After almost four decades of gap, I reconnected with him, five years ago. On 13 November 2019, I released “Nishkasan”, my book of poems in Hindi, at Jammu. He came to grace the book release ceremony. I was touched, indeed.
Shortly afterwards, on 16 November 2019, Bhatia released his 16th book on law, at Amar Singh Club, Jammu. He invited me along with my wife.
As he released the book, I was there to greet and cheer him, along with my better half. At the ceremony, along with Justice J R Kotwal & Vice Chancellor Dr Y R Malhotra, both retired, he put on the dais his friend of long years who was his erstwhile colleague when they started their first job. They both started off as clerks in the PWD department of the erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir State.
Prof Bhatia gratefully shared with the audience how this clerk friend of his encouraged him to study further and acquire a degree in law that changed the course of his life.
Graceful admission of a humble beginning and acknowledgement of encouragement from a colleague on the public platform certainly requires grit, determination and strong character. Bhatia undoubtedly possesses these qualities in ample measures.
” Had this noble soul not encouraged me, I would have continued to slog as a clerk. His persistence brought the change that converted a clerk to a professor”, spoke the grateful teacher and writer of a score of books on law.
By recalling the good deed of a noble friend, by acknowledging it in public, and by putting this erstwhile clerk friend on stage, along with the vice chancellor and a high court judge, Bhatia reinforced my eternal love for humility and human dignity.
He requested my wife Seema Anil Sehgal to give a song on the occasion. She readily obliged my teacher and sang a Dogri Bhajan in praise of Ma Vaishno Devi. He was touched and the audience was mesmerized.
He spoke of his humble beginning in life as a clerk. His travels through the right terrains of life with courage and perseverance. His is an inspiring tale of travels through the harsh realities of life with all her shades of jealousies , denial, rejection, along with eternal rat race and cut throat competition.
Bhatia lost his mother when he was just four. Almost loveless childhood made him tough and also gave him a few rough edges that reflect as he tells you his struggles in life.
All through his schooling years, he taught students junior to him to earn the much needed money. This made him self-reliant and taught him how the world operates.
After graduation, he joined the public works department as an LDC ( Lower Division Clerk ). But, he was not happy with his lot. Something within kept telling him to surge forth and achieve better prospects. Regular prodding of a friend in the department, finally made him take up the cudgels.
He borrowed 400 rupees from a friend and boarded the train to Pune, in 1966. He enrolled in the Indian Law School. For financial support, he joined the office of the CDA (Controller Defence Accounts) of the southern command of the army.
He used to work as a UDC (Upper Division Clerk) during the daytime and attend the law classes in the evening.
” I used to get a salary of 350 rupees that I could not finish in a month ! To commute to the law institute, I purchased a Hercules cycle for Rs 208. I used to pay eight rupees as the monthly EMI for the bicycle. Life seemed livable, for a change”, recalls Kishori Lal Bhatia.
His colleagues and superiors at the southern command headquarters and the CDA invariably stood by him whenever he needed a helping hand. ” Had it not been for their unambiguous support, I would have not been able to achieve my goal of educating myself “, he says.
Having completed his studies, he was lucky to land a job with the SBI ( State Bank of India ). The bank required a security deposit of 1000 rupees. His real uncle, brother of his father, refused to help him out. ” You ask for one thousand rupees ! I will not lend you even one rupee”, he retorted.
That is the time, Jammu University was enrolling lecturers for the law department. He applied and got an offer to join ! He joined the law department of Jammu University, as a lecturer, in the year 1972.
Little did he realise that by joining the University, he was just embarking on a tough journey saddled with jealousies, pettiness and dirty politics that is so widely prevalent in our educational system.
Bhatia had to confront his colleagues and seniors alike at every step. Nothing came to him with ease and comfort. He had to strive hard to get even his well earned dues in every dimension of his teaching career.
His rise to the position of a professor was achieved after fighting dirty battles. He feels such happenings don’t befit a field of merit and excellence like teaching. ” What we teach, we don’t practice ourselves. We run down each other in a race to nowhere, which makes us lose self respect and makes us small in our own estimation. That is the real loss we fail to appreciate”, that is Prof Bhatia for you, friends.
As always, he is busy reading, thinking and writing, in his home in Jammu, in the company of an adoring wife, Veena. His fight in life goes on with certain health issues he faces, with great courage and divine faith.
Teachers are the ladders we often climb on in our journeys. They help us move up in life, but, themselves they remain where they already are. As good humans and grateful souls, we must remember these ladders that have acted as stepping stones for us.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
