When Gandhi & Jinnah smiled…

We were recently invited for the 70^th Republic Day celebration by Grade One students at The Millennium School (TMS) in Al Nahda, Dubai where our son studies. I must admit that my trip to school was with the least of expectation since I was anticipating only a routine school celebration. Little did I realize that I was in for a big surprise!

The whole celebration lasted just about an hour and was an absolute example of harmony between various departments in the school. These included IT, music, dance and various class teachers along with a whole bunch of kids aged 7 or so putting up a show that was truly a memorable one! The auditorium was filled with pride of a nation celebrating 70 years of owning its own constitution. Musical notes complemented every dance move by the tiny hands and feet. A well written skit depicting scenes from the life of Mahatma Gandhi was executed with utmost perfection as a precursor to every performance.

The faculty and the students deserve a round of standing ovation for the amount of hard work they’ve put in for such a fabulous show!

It didn’t end there. The icing on the cake was yet to come. I was quite amused to see the invited Guest of Honour for an Indian school for the Republic Day celebration. It was none other than Mr Imran Waheed, the Principal of His Highness Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum Pakistan School (SRAMPS) Dubai situated at a stone’s throw away from TMS. An eminent educationist hailing from Pakistan and joining as a Principal of the school a year ago, he delivered one of the shortest and most effective speech I’ve ever heard in my life.

He was quite candid in stating the fact about how SRAMPS was a failure when he took over as the Principal. The school looked upon TMS as a model of success and was humble enough to reach out for help. TMS to its credit, was quite a sport and agreed to hand hold SRAMPS by sharing the knowledge of the tried and tested methods of teaching. The result was magical!

A year later when reviewers from UK came down to evaluate SRAMPS, they were quite surprised to see the improvement made by the school. The surprise gave way to a state of absolute shock when they learned that it was an Indian school that helped this Pakistani school to achieve what it did! They even asked Mr Waheed how this was even a possibility since they couldn’t comprehend the fact that schools that belonged to ‘enemy nations’ were capable of such a feat.

Mr Waheed’s response to the contingent from UK will go down in the history of TMS and SRAMPS as the highlight of the 70^th year of Republic. He said, “We’re trying to overcome the burden that you folks left us with!”

Somewhere high above in heaven, both Gandhi and Jinnah heard this and smiled at each other!

The DNA Machine

“Oh my God! Shahjahan, you have changed a lot! I didn't even recognize you!” Jolly’s voice came screaming through a message in our WhatsApp group recently created after 23 years of passing out of school.

He was commenting on a photo posted by Shahjahan which showed a dad and son posing right next to Mohanlal, a famous actor in Indian cinema industry.

He continued, “I can see you in your son. He is exactly how you were back in school!”. The rambling went on for a while. He even tried to evoke the emotions that were long lost. The message probably was the lengthiest reliving the nostalgic moments from yester years.

He concluded the warm and loving welcome with an invitation to Ireland where he is currently working as a physio. Much love and affection was clearly written all over the voice note!

A few minutes of silence followed, in an otherwise super active group, vibrant with the energy of a school reunion after almost quarter of a century!

We then saw one of the group admins typing. Soon enough, a message appeared on the window, “That’s not Shahjahan”.

It was just another random forward of a father-son duo posing with the movie star along with some funny caption which was promptly mistaken by the jolly good fellow.

Jolly is now called, ‘The DNA Machine’!

Living in the dream

It was a bright and sunny morning in the summer of 1962. Ralph woke up with all the excitement in the world! It has been a while since he was part of a military training academy stationed in a peaceful neighbourhood in the city of Nowark. Armed forces were not called for any action for a long time and he was getting quite bored with the mundane life at the academy. To make things worse, being the most junior commissioned officer he was always the butt of the jokes from senior folks around.

The day promised to be different. He was finally getting introduced to the Kalshnikov, one of the most widely admired piece of weapon used by all major armies across the world! The training was scheduled for early morning. He reached well before time which gave an opportunity for the seniors to make him do a bunch of sundry duties. Hiding his displeasure he finished all what they asked him to do by keeping his mind focused on the AK-47 rifle that was placed on an elevated stand nearby. It was a long cherished dream he was going to live soon!

The moment of truth came and he finally got to touch the beauty. He had read all about the power of this beast and how he should be careful handling this mean machine. But even before he could apply his learning, he was called again by the seniors for another round of senseless exercise. This time he couldn’t help but to let out a grunt which was duly registered by Sergy, the Commander-in-charge. He spared no wrath on the poor chap. Devastated will be an understatement to refer to his state of mind by evening. Kalshnikov remained a distant dream.

He entered his bunk tired, but more so, dejected. Shortly after he let the comfortable bed receive his depleted self, he could feel himself walking the border of the kind of sleep which only comes with absolute exhaustion. All these years of hatred against the high ranking officers was taking a toll on him. Without his conscious mind even being aware, the disgust in him was turning itself into a monster. He could barely see the Kalshnikov still standing high at a distance through the window of his bunk.

He started feeling quite strange. The rifle appeared to turn itself in the direction where he was lying and started nodding its head as if beckoning him. All the images of his tormenters started doing a parade in his mind. He couldn’t hold his anger any longer. The next moment he was out of his bunk heading to the stand. Just before he got out, he saw his reflection in a mirror that was hanging on the wall. His face appeared quite different and features distinct. He was a new man!

Fraction of a second and the rifle was in his strong hands. He held on to it as if this was his last resort to regain his life. He went around the academy and unleashed his fury on all those figures marching in his mind. He kept a count. 11 in total. All that was left was just one more round of ammunition in the rifle and one last man to be addressed.

Ralph turned around and faced his worst fear! Sergy was standing right there. The moment of truth. The final opportunity to finish off what he started. He aimed at the Commander and fired expecting the body of the officer to land on his toes asking for his pardon post his death. Instead he saw Sergy reaching out for his own revolver. The muzzle of the Kalash got jammed! An unheard disaster for this legendary rifle. Even before Ralph could attempt anything a severe blow from Sergy with the revolver knocked him out and he hit the floor head first!

As soon as his head touched the floor, Ralph woke up and sat straight on his bed. For a few moments it was a state of absolute delirium before he could realize how terrible a nightmare it was. The clock struck three in the morning. He emptied the bottle of water in the room and giving himself a whack at the back of his head, went back to whatever remaining of the sleep he could catch.

Voices of chaos woke him up the next day while the sun was beginning to seep through the cracks of the bunker. He got out to see a state of commotion around the academy. His eyes caught the headlines of a newspaper lying on the floor which read “Unknown man attacks military academy: 11 dead, Commander missing”. There was even a picture of the attacker.

It looked exactly like the face he saw in the mirror in his nightmare!

God’s Nightmare!

The noise of the crowd was so deafening that it even startled him in his mother’s womb where he was getting ready for an afternoon nap. He had sensed something wrong from the day he started taking shape in her. He could feel his mom quite tensed from day one, but couldn’t figure out why. He listened to the noise, everyone in the crowd was jeering at her. His mom was made to sit in the middle of a ground where convicts were brought in for punishment. A pile of rocks awaited their chance to rewrite her destiny.

A beautiful young woman she was and from a simple family in the neighbourhood. Belonging to a society where marital norms were strictly followed, getting pregnant before being married was considered an unpardonable offense, the price of which you pay with your life. The verdict for this was known to all. Stoned to death!

He forgot about his siesta and straightened up in the womb. He wanted to reach out and kiss his mother on her forehead and pacify her. While the punishment was imminent, a sweet smile crossed his face. He was seeing a scene from future. There was another woman this time, who incidentally shared the name with his mom, awaiting a similar sentence. He saw himself stooped down and writing in the dust with his finger while a crowd demanded an answer from him. He stood up and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” The accusers hearing this, slipped away one by one until only he and the woman were left.

Today, the scene was different. No one heard him. The crowd was getting violent with every minute passing. People started to pick the stones to hurl at the woman who brought shame to the community. Another minute went by and the first stone shot through the air aimed right at the young woman’s head. He could feel her mother all shaken up and resigned to her destiny. He felt himself being cringed inside the womb, where a baby is supposed to be safe from all danger.

The stone almost hit her right at the forehead. That’s when it happened! A man with powerful arms, typical of a carpenter, blocked her from the deadly stones with a cloak that carried the image of Gabriel, the archangel. He looked up from the womb and was so happy to see the loving face of the man who was chosen to save him not just once, but twice, while he was among the mortals. He screamed with happiness, “Dad”!

He woke up from his nightmare to see the smiling face of Joseph and Mary sitting right next to his bed. He reached out and hugged his dad and mom just the way he hugged them earlier in the evening at the Church where they thought they missed him!