Friday, December 16, 2011

Ah Farhan Sahab!

Announcing the sad demise of Dr Farhan Mujib, at 10.30PM on Thursday, December 15, 2011, he had taken voluntary retirement from the post of  Reader in the Physics Department. Burial, Lord willing, shall take place after Friday Prayers today in Minto E Cemetery of AMU. He is survived by his wife Dr Fauzia Mujib, Associate Professor in the Physics Section of Women' College, AMU. He had done his masters in Physics at AMU and had started research in Nuclear Physics but ultimately finished his doctorate in Education from London University under the supervision of a famous educationist. Naturally talented as an artist his switched to full time indulgence in art work and achieved national and international participation in this very competitive occupation. He excelled as a man of wit in private life but was of very kind heart. Though a man of very high sophistication he very adapted smooth to any situation. Very fond of talented company his personal friends circle is a veritable who's who of national talent. He'll get visited by friends from abroad whom he only knew through internet chatting. Though he was a versatile artist but his focus was mainly on collage. Sitting with him was never boring and it was his forte to keep the environment light and pleasant in any gathering. Born into a family with strong socialist connections he himself was very liberal. As a teacher in the Physics Department he was not only popular but an excellent communicator too. He had his particular brand of humour which people close to him, and is a large number, always found endearing. Living in a difficult environment he was bereft of any guile. He had numerous intellectual dimensions and one could indulge with him in very rewarding discussions on Physics, Urdu prose or poetry, English literature, Marxism, gardening and many more things. In a light conversation he'll not forget to introduce the stark reality by making a cutting edge statement. Humane is nice word to sum up his personality but that too leaves out a few important aspects. He was a man for whom the sky wanders for years before people like him arise. Both of his parents had very strong personalities and this must have contributed to shape his own personality into such a mold that the number of people who shall miss him personally will be very large. It will not be an exaggeration to conclude that he was among those individuals who grew up into an institution. He'll leave a void, and all voids are such that they can not be filled up, into many lives-the biggest one reserved for Dr Fauzia. One's heart really goes out to her for this was one lucky couple where nothing spilled out into public. This world is a test and Allah(SWT) tests us by various ways-may He grant endearing patience to her in this pain ridden moment and the strength to bear this loss. He was a classmate of  Hazrat Shaikh Hakim Muhammed Kalimullah Sahab (DB) whose sayings are reported here. Though no Sufi himself Dr Mujib was thoroughly apt in not allowing the worldly matters to bog him down. Allah(SWT) had blessed him greatly in various ways. In childhood itself he featured in one of the short stories (Three Inapts-Teen Anadi) by Ismat Chughtai, one of the four stalwarts of progressive story writers of Urdu, who was his aunt. For many years he served an the Manager of the Boys and Girls Plus Two (Intermediate) Schools and was instrumental in consolidating Plus Two teaching, introducing dress for those students (he decided that himself) and getting a boundary wall for Boys Plus Two School. He also served at the Director of Center for Promotion of Science (CPS) at AMU. During his tenure he began the activities which later on culminated into one wonderful publications programme of school level popular and text books on science by Professor Hasim Rizvi - a dear friend of Farhan Sahab. Even before becoming the Director of CPS he had contributed, indeed organized for CPS, the translation into Urdu of the science text books published by Eklaya, an NGO that operated in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh. Yours truly had the lucky opportunity to participate in the design of the CPS logo based on square Kufi.

In closed friends circle his nickname was Beelu and by now a dozen people have already posted their grief and feeling on this sad news.