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by Sir Cam
Daily Times, Lahore, 30th October 2002
 Such is KK's love for his teacher that he has
single-handedly set up the Bokhari English Prize at
Cambridge University, awarded annually to the best student
of English at Emmanuel College.
"Eureka'" exclaimed the retired professor researching in
the reference section of Cambridge city library. His
excitement knew no bounds. Hunting through the
Cambridgeshire Collection for days, he had now managed to
unearth a rare photograph for a biography he was working on.
No earth-shattering event for us ordinary mortals, but for
this old researcher it was the find of the century.
So happy was he on discovering the photo - a
simple black and white portrait of a Cambridge undergraduate
- that he hugged the poor librarian' "You don't know what
this means to me'" he said emotionally. The librarian was
puzzled and managed a sympathetic smile. "He was my teacher,
you see," explained the researcher. Other people in the
library looked up from their desks to see what on earth the
commotion was about? The librarian looked embarrassed,
turned red, as the English do on such occasions, but he at
least sensed the old man's emotional attachment with his
subject matter.
That was in November 1998, when Professor KK
Aziz was in Cambridge collecting material on his teacher:
Professor Ahmad Shah "Patras" Bokhari (1898-1958). The last
biography that KK will probably write will be Bokhari's, the
renowned man of letters and diplomat. This means that KK
will have the rare distinction of writing on two Emmanuel
College men: Rahmat Ali and Bokhari. Bokhari was at
Cambridge from 1925 to 1927 (the photo he found was taken
during this period). Rahmat Ali arrived three years later,
probably influenced by Bokhari, who was also at Lahore.
Bokhari was KK's English teacher at Government College,
Lahore and later, when KK himself joined the staff of the
College, Bokhari was the principal, from 1947 to 1951.
When we visited Azim Husain, Sir
Fazl-i-Husain's son, in London three years ago, KK asked him
about his impression of Bokhari. Azim had seen and been in
touch with Bokhari in two different capacities. When Azim
was a child, Bokhari was his English tutor. He used to go to
Bokhari's flat in Lahore twice a week. There were no
children in the house and he rarely saw Mrs Bokhari. Bokhari
was a "kamal da teacher," and was unmatched. He was
accurate, with very proper pronunciations, and didn't get
angry.
Later in life, when Azim went as an Indian
delegate to the United Nations in New York, he met Bokhari
again. Bokhari was the rival Pakistani delegate. Azim found
Bokhari to be very "competent" who "ran around" and did his
job properly. Despite the bitter Indo-Pak conflict, Azim
admired Bokhari's fairness and his gentlemanly behaviour. He
didn't swear and get involved in "gali-galoch". This, Azim
observed, was "a very ghair-Pakistani harkat"' Or Indian for
that matter, I may hasten to add'.
Khalid Hasan, who in the bad old days used
to write for Dawn before shifting over to Daily Times, has
written in Dawn, April 30, 2001: "Bokhari was a highbrow. As
the United Nation's head of information, he returned a poem
by Robert Frost to the poet because he did not think it was
up to par. The poem had been sent for a UN campaign. When I.
A. Richards, the eminent literary critic, who was a close
friend of Bokhari, sent him his new book, Bokhari wrote
back, "I have received a copy of your posthumous book" which
meant that Richards had already published his best work."
Zafar Aftab has also commented in Dawn,
January 25, 2002 that "During his (Bokhari's) service in the
UN, he was very jolly and cheerful, but inwardly he was very
sad." Dr. Anwar Dil has provided an excellent source on
Bokhari at the UN - "On This Earth Together: Ahmed S.
Bokhari at UN", which deserves a separate piece. Gilani
Kamran has said that "Bokhari's early articles in the Ravi
had a sprinkling of what can be regarded as pure humour,
which was something new in the writings of the
Subcontinent." (Nation, January 13, 2000).
In his book "Diary of a Diplomat" (1986),
Afzal Iqbal gives an example of Bokhari the prankster.
During a trip with friends Bokhari was "obliged to slow down
and stop his car on the Grand Trunk Road, near Shahdara, a
suburb of Lahore. The road was being obstructed by a long
caravan of bullock carts carrying fodder for the market.
Lanterns were dangling below the carts, bells round the
necks of bullocks were tingling and the drivers were fast
asleep in their seats. Bokhari, annoyed, at this
obstruction, stopped the car, got out, took the leading bull
by the rein and turned him in the opposite direction. The
caravan, instead of proceeding to Lahore, started moving
towards Gujranwala. 'The bastards', exclaimed Bokhari, 'they
will learn their lesson in the morning when the wake up in
Gujranwala'".
Finally, such is KK's love for his teacher
that he has single-handedly set up the Bokhari English Prize
at Cambridge University, awarded annually to the best
student of English at Emmanuel College. Makes one wonder
about student-teacher relations in this day and age, doesn't
it?
--- Sir Cam Cambridge, England |
