Part-1: Pre-NED
My first son would become Doctor and second one an
Engineer; father used to utter this
phrase every now and then in front of my mother while strolling from one end to
the other of our living cum bed room measuring 20 by 24 feet, and especially
when we used to be around there. He had been a Patwari in Revenue Department,
Govt of Sindh but forcedly retired in early Z.A. Bhutto era. Therefore, he had
a fair idea of the power, authority and wealth earned through serving as an
Engineer in the Irrigation Department. Similarly he also had a good idea about
importance of becoming a Doctor. To achieve this goal he allocated some money
for our tuition expenses in order for us to improve on our studies for getting
high marks in the exams. We all wished including our mother who prayed that his
dream comes true. It was in 1975 when I joined Govt Degree College, Larkana for
doing two years Intermediate studies in pre-engineering. Better standing in the
exams would send me in Mehran Engineering University, and bad score would dump me
in Sindh University. Whatever the case, I was destined to land in windy
Jamshoro, a university town with three universities; engineering, pure sciences
& social sciences, and medicines. My elder brother was a year ahead in
college doing Intermediate in pre-medical and according to our father he was
all set to join Chandka Medical College, Larkana in late 1977.
Our education from
class - 1 to 10 in Sindhi medium (including all science subjects in Sindhi too)
had been a comparatively smooth sailing. Getting a second division in
matriculation exam was considered a respectable score in mid 1970s. I managed
to get first division with 63% marks only but still it was a matter of
celebration at home, and with classmates and friends. Parents expected to
repeat the same feat in intermediate exam too. However, English medium from
class -11 onwards was altogether a daunting task.
Our pre-engineering
class (only one in the entire Larkana district) had exactly 100 students, with
almost half of them commuting from outskirts and nearby villages and towns on
daily basis. Students belonging to Hindu and Shaikh families always dominated
in terms of intelligence and hard working (as well as cramming) respectively.
Don’t remember exactly their combined strength in the class but must not be
less than 15-20 numbers. They were the source of excellent exam notes because
of their relations with senior students from the same community. The syllabus,
especially science subjects, was hardly covered 50% in the class in both first
and second year respectively. All had to rely on tuitions and exam notes
prepared by classmates and obtained from senior students. The guess papers and
guidebooks were not readily available during that era.
The results of my
first-year exam and my elder brother’s second-year exam were not a surprise for
us; our marks stood in top second-class category i.e. less than 60%. Parents
were indeed petrified from shock on our unsatisfactory standing. Brother opted
to take another shot at the exams by repeating all first and second year
subjects together next year. I took my brother’s unsatisfactory score as an
inspiration to put in extra efforts and time in the second year exam. Doing so,
I cut on my time spent on going to cinemas for watching Pakistani and Hollywood
“action” movies by opting out of former movies only. Similarly weekends’ time
spent on playing cricket couldn’t be compromised either and I continued enjoyed
wasting time on playing cricket. Meanwhile I kept taking Mathematics tuition in
the second year as I did in the first year.
Our results of
second year exam came in mid 1978. We ran early morning to the Railway Station
to buy a copy of Sindhi newspaper from the train that brought our results from
Hyderabad. Luckily, we, both brothers, stood in first divisions with nearly
identical score of 62% marks. Only 3, including me, out of 100 students from
the whole Larkana district achieved this feat i.e. securing first division in
pre-engineering exam. My parents were extremely happy with our achievements.
They could now visualize their dreams coming true.
After having
crossed the mammoth hurdle of intermediate exams, the way forward looked an
easy ride. Soon after, I submitted the application for admission in Civil
Engineering Department of Mehran Engineering University, Jamshoro and waited
anxiously for an interview call. The wait was not long though. In July 1978, we
received calls to appear for interview at Jamshoro Campus. While getting ready
for the day, I came across a senior student of Mehran University who informed
me that since I had obtained good score in the intermediate exam therefore I
stood a chance of transfer to NED University of Engineering and Technology,
Karachi. For that matter he advised me to submit an application for transfer to
NED during the interview. I followed his advice and submitted a hand written
application that I wanted to go to NED for studies.
A fortnight later,
a telegram arrived at my home address that read: REPORT FOR ADMISSION AT NED.
This five worded short sentence danced before my eyes. I don’t remember how
many times I read this small piece of paper strip. While I was undergoing
euphoria of going to Karachi for studies and having merry moments with family,
my classmate Ashok Kumar knocked on the door panting and brimming with ecstasy,
carrying similar telegram.
Now, the funny side;
some wise senior friends interpreted the telegram as: REPORT (To Mehran Univ)
FOR ADMISSION AT NED, and therefore advised us accordingly i.e. go to Mehran
University Jamshoro for onward admission in NED. Later in the evening, we followed
the free and precious advisory service, boarded the night passenger train and
arrived at the administrative block of Mehran University early morning next day
before they could open the office. We met the Registrar upon his arrival in
office and showed him our telegrams. He just threw a mocking smile at us and ordered: Go and join NED. Continued….
