|
June 27, 2003
In Memory of a Versatile Genius
Anyone who met him even casually, came directly under the spell of his scintillating personality. He was a jewel of many facets and the most brilliant of them was his infinite capability to purvey happiness to all who came in contact with him.
Hashim Ali Akhtar, who died of heart failure on June 14 in Chicago at age 79, will be missed and mourned immensely, and for a long, long time, by his innumerable friends, admirers, relations and colleagues. An inveterate optimist, he made his own heaven and enjoyed it as he went through life. He faced adversity with a smile and clasped warmly even the murky hand of death.
I used to go and see him frequently every time he came to California to spend some time with his only son, Anwar. He would be alone in the house, every one else being at work or at school. But, he gave the impression of taking a vacation at home, as when lonely, he was in the most accomplished and best company - his own.
As a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), he had made his mark and carved a niche for himself in the upper echelon of the complex Indian bureaucracy. As a scholar and educator he rose up from the rank of a Lecturer to be the Vice Chancellor of two eminent universities - Aligarh and Osmania. His tenure at these two institutions was marked by a conspicuous absence of student agitation. Following a visit to Aligarh, the eminent Parliamentarian, author and intellectual, Khushwant Singh, remarked that a bureaucrat had succeeded in achieving at a turbulent campus what professional educators had failed to do.
When I asked him about the secret of his success with his unruly wards of Aligarh, he said: “That was no problem. I treated the students as if they were what they ought to be, and they behaved accordingly.”
Evidently, he had planted kindness and gathered all round respect. He described a couple of incidents in which groups of highly agitated and frothy students had approached him in an apparently irreconcilable mood, but after listening to his balmy talk and humorous discourse returned fully assuaged and smiling. He showed that humor is to life what shock absorbers are to automobiles. Never leave your home, he would say, without a sense of humor.
His selection for the civil service, he mentioned to me, could be attributed to a great extent to his sense of humor. He made the members of the Service Commission laugh throughout his interview. Humor was an outstanding feature of his character. Ability, no doubt, can help a person get to the top but it is his character that keeps him from falling. He was gifted with a combination of both - an outstanding ability and a sterling character laced with an uncanny sense of humor.
He has left behind no asset beside the invaluable memories about his kindness, generosity, contentment, humor and helpfulness. Wealth to him was but a state of mind, contentment was worth more than riches. Happiness does not consist in things but in thoughts. He was a cornucopia of the latter. I am one of its beneficiaries, for he was my guide and mentor.
The demise of his wife in 1993 was perhaps the greatest tragedy that entered his life. He disposed of all his worldly belongings and moved to the US to spend the rest of his life with his son and two daughters already settled in the States.
His time was spent in reading, writing and above all as a purveyor of happiness. Helping other people with their troubles helped him dilute, if not forget, his own. His kindness was the sunshine of his social life. He sowed courtesy and reaped a rich harvest of friendships.
He had been suffering from arthritis for over a decade. It had eaten away the cartilage from his knee joints and backbone. So much so that he had lost 3-4 inches in height. He had a by-pass surgery. He was seldom free of physical pain, but he endured pain with dignity. He was, despite his physical setbacks, rarely idle. He was comfortable doing rather than being. The door to success, he maintained, was marked “push”
He realized the imminence of death and that made him live more intensely. He rejoiced in life: and, his passion for it allowed him to lead a passionate life till the end. His cheerfulness had kept a kind of daylight in his mind. A self-effacing man, he bore no grudge or ill will towards his detractors. He had no chip on his shoulder and his conscience was absolutely clear. This served him as his coat of armor.
Among his assets is the voluminous work “The Essence of Islam”, some other publications and scores of learned articles. Here I must mention that he had a distaste for the Mullah. He often maintained that a simple and straight-forward religion had been roiled by the ignorant Mullahs by introducing into it their own superstitious beliefs, false interpretations and self-serving ideas. He had the talent of simplifying the complex, while the Mullah excelled in turning a simple matter into a complex issue.
His book is an anthology which responds to the growing desire among both Muslims and non-Muslims to know about the basic teachings of Islam. Quran and Hadith are the two basic sources of Islamic law, ethics, and social life. He has allowed both these sources to speak direct to the readers.
Most of his other publications touch on the problems of Muslims, particularly the Muslims of the sub-continent. Some of these are: “Indian Muslims at Crossroads”, “Peace Thy Name is Islam”, and “Pluralism and Peace Between Religions”. The last named publication is, in particular, much thought-provoking. A good Muslim by conviction, he preached and practiced secularism in all matters concerning a polity and state. Naturally, he was not at peace with the Hindu nationalism of BJP, the concept of Hindutva and the moves to give the hue of saffron to the multi-cultural, multi-religious Indian society.
It was Khushwant Singh’s book “The End Of India” that he was reading when he developed the heart ache which culminated into his death. Khushwant too has argued, I am informed, that the discriminations against the minorities, particularly the Muslims, had rendered meaningless the secularism enshrined in the Indian constitution.
To recap, Mr. Hashim Ali Akhtar, a versatile genius, had lived well and faced his end with joy, dignity and peace. He was a good role model. May his soul rest in peace. (Arifhussaini@hotmail.com Ph: 714-280-1902)
| 
