It might come as a surprise to the members of this forum – and to the envy of a few – that I spent three years as a resident of Abdullah Hall during the period 1961 – 64 when my father was away in the UK, and my mother functioned as Warden of the New Hostel; we stayed in a block of dwellings located between the compound housing the Girls’School, and the Wahidia and Sultania Hostels and the New Hostel which was commissioned in 1961 itself.

This brought me in touch with numerous Apas who doted on me as they would on their kid brother they might have left home. Of course, I also had company of girls of my age group as I studied in the Girls School from Class II to Class V up to which a few lucky boys were permitted to study – there were five of us among forty odd girls. Anyway, in the session 1963 joined yet another Apa, Hamida Hasan, who had passed her Senior Cambridge with distinction from Allahabad where her father Shaikh Nafisul Hasan was the Chairman State Public Service Commission and was just returning to his native Etawah.

The new entrant soon became Hammo to her compatriots. She became an instant celebrity as a B.A first year student as she was not only a friendly neighbourhood girl with whom her class-fellows and hostel mates related, she had the then rare trait for a Muslim middle class girl of UP – she was fluent in English and a keen debater in that language. What possibly added to her aura was her religiosity – I can say that students of the Women’s College then (is it still so, now?) were not overtly observant Muslims except during Ramzan or possibly on the eve of a difficult exams when two girls, properly covered with dupattas would hold the Holy Book over their heads and the timid examinee will pass under the ‘arch’. In that somewhat relaxed religious atmosphere Hammo Apa with her Namaz coupled with Angrezi was an outlier and popular for that reason with the students and teachers alike – she was particularly a darling of the larger-than-life Principal Mrs Mumtaz Jahan Haider or simply Mumtaz Apa.

She soon became an ace debater not only within the College but across the University though Bait Bazi being even more popular, the cult figure was the late Huma Haider (a niece of Quratulain Haider) who later became Huma Hasan as Hammo Apa co-opted her as her bhabi.

Hammo Apa was charming without being a beauty, in which Department so many of the other Apas excelled. But with her personality she simply stood out and outshone others without, however, any of the competitive aggressiveness that marks the scene in the educational institutions now. She was sincere, friendly, studious and yet easy going always encouraging me with something from Aesop’s fable or reciting passages from Pippa’s Passes. And I suppose she was the same with all others though the solitary male resident remembers her more for treating him as just a kid instead of a toy whose cheeks could be pinched as mark of passing affection.

When I look back I find that this epitomised her personality, affectionate, considerate and with a sense of proportion.

On leaving Abdullah Hall I lost touch with her for some time though when she was doing M.A Psychology during 1966 – 68 I would occasionally meet her around the Faculty of Arts as we were them staying towards the back of that building and possibly she was dropping in there once in a while. It was when she joined as Lecturer in Psychology in the Women’s College and the issue of her marriage cropped up that my mother swung into action (possibly at the prompting of Mumtaz Apa) and she was instrumental in arranging her marriage with Mr ‘Khwaja’ Shamim Ahmad of the Department of Civil Engineering who was the younger brother of one of my mother’s class-fellows. My parents had gone with the barat to Etawah and my mother came with amusing accounts of the proceedings, the highlight of which was a speech delivered by her father urging her to be an exemplary wife and daughter in law. Whether this sobering address marred the bridal bliss one does not know but she surely lived up to paternal exhortations.

After her marriage our association resumed as the couple would frequently drop in and they made a fine couple with the husband full of anecdotes and Hammo Apa adding her own quite wit. She was an astute observer of the environment around her – politics and society, persons and trends. One trait of her which I recall – and which a good number of Aligarh faculty members lack – was her ability to size up people accurately without being unduly critical and to remember redeeming features even if warts were to be taken note of. She made her points effectively and with emphasis with none of the shrillness and vehemence that one associates with chronic debaters. Her students in the College and University will be in a better position to comment on her performance as a teacher but I would be surprised if the outcome would be less than admiring.

She occupied many administrative positions in the University but I suspect that her gender came in the way of her administrative and organisational talents being fully utilised but I am sure that her training as a Psychologist and her well rounded personality she left an imprint on whosoever came in contact with her. I remember that the late Prof A.M Khusro who was particularly admiring of her many qualities of head and heart, had recommended her for a Vice Chancellorship, she had not shown interest in the proposal for family reasons. Of course, her indifferent health for the last fifteen years or so would have also precluded her participation in serious leadership positins. I have seen few people enduring lingering, painful illnesses with the fortitude that she displayed. Never complaining, always matter of fact about her state of health, and with no hint of self pity.

Hammo Apa was clearly a gifted person and a woman of substance who made most of her personal and professional life within the various constraints to which mothers of three kids with a load of responsibility extending to the extended family have to bear. She should be a role model for many Aligarh Old Girls.With her a part of my own childhood memories also goes into oblivion. Shamim Bhai is at an age and in a state of health where the loss of a devoted and gifted lifelong partner is a colossal trauma. May he take vicissitudes of life in his stride with the empathy of his loving offspring.

A Poem by Iram for Prof Hamida

Unke jane ki andohnak khabar suni thi yakbastah
Zehan va dil hogae sunke yakh bastah
Ghar-v- diwar ko bhi hua hai gham se saktah
BAGH-E-HASAN ka gale mil ke pooche hai har ek pattah
Phool ki bin bhi bana hai kahin guldash
Jism le jao ai farishton Khushboo-e -rooh yahan rehne do
Unka sabr unka istaqlal yahan rehne do
Lafz nikle hain labon se ki jhare hain phool
Ghamzada dil bhi sune, ho jaae masroor
Naa ummidi mein bhi jaga de jo jine ka suroor
Nasheb-o_faraz mein bhai qayam chehre pe sukoon
Unka tabassum unka ikhlas yahan rehne do
Jism le jao ai faishton khusbue rooh yahan rehne do
Unka sabr unka istaqlal yahan rehne do
Qom parh jae meri yeh khuli aankhon ke Khwab
ILM ki roshni se ho har talib-e-ilm sairab
Chah ho taron ki or phir koshish din raat
Jiske hausle kare hain hawa mein parvaz
Na thaken na rukavat na raat -va -din ka hisab
Raah mein Us rehbar ke qadmon ke nishan rehne do
Jism le jao ai faishton khusbue rooh yahan rehne do
Num aankhen karke sabki voh chalin rahe adam
Ghar hai khamosh or veerana hai chaman
Unke jaane se mehfil mein bhi hai khalipan
Dil mane hi nahin, na raha REHBAR-O-HAMDAM
Duaon se bhara AE RAB unke liye sab ka daman
BAHISHT khol do FARISHTON sood-o- ziyan rehne do
Jism le jao ai faishton khusbue rooh yahan
rehne do
Unka sabr unka istaqlal yahan rehne do

‎میں نے یہ جانا کہ گویا یہ بھی میرے دل میں ہے