EULOGY

IKHLAQ-UL-REHMAN MIR

In loving memory of my Baba!

Life throws, at times, unpleasant surprises at us. Life feels bitter when someone close to us leaves us without saying a final goodbye.  Death is inevitable.  Life dances on the tones of death. Death dreads. Death stares at everyone.   It spares none.  There is no way to foretell when grief will take your breath away, send you scurrying to the places where no one can see the big fat tears trickling down your cheeks.  My life has not been same since Baba left us. We are shattered. We miss his radiant eyes that evinced a million tales or the curated words that conveyed so much beyond what was spoken.  Sun shines, clouds cover sky, moon moves, everything is routine but my world has turned turtle.

Baba, a free and a fearless soul, took a hurried flight to heavens. He was full of life. But cruel clutches of life consumed him. He was an Institution unto himself- a gentleman of the tribe.Mohammad Hamza Mir was born in Kalmoona, a decrepit village in frontier district of Kupwara. He lost his father at 10, faced countless challenges but didn’t give up. He completed his matriculation in early 1960’s and served in Sheep and Animal Husbandry department. Baba tried his level best to contribute to society is whatever way possible. He was a religious figure, greatly revered. He was a one-man army; he used to write letters in times when there was no source of communication. People would bank upon him and reach out to him to solve their domestic disputes. He was disciplined, creative and a man of method. He taught us to learn, lead, respect everyone and harm none. He got me admitted to school. My first school bag was gifted by him. He was sweet and strict.

He used to get up early for pre-dawn (Tahajjud) prayers. But on August 13, 2023, that fateful night, he chose eternal sleep. He was a poet. He loved painting his thoughts in words. He wrote in his mother tongue but never got published. He left a great legacy behind. He sacrificed his desires for people. He burned midnight oil to update himself about the latest happenings around. His contributions will always be counted. He was once in a millennium soul. Today, when I pray, I feel him around, calling my name. I struggle hard to hold warm tears but…. I crave for his single glimpse. I know he can’t be back but his memories are the hope against the hope. We lost a jewel. Being his laadla, I feel his demise has created a huge void in my life.

He was a compassionate man with high-spirits.  He lived 80 years and lived a full life. Listening, caring, inspiring, sharing, encouraging and always loving, he was there for me- in both elation and distress. He always taught me to love, to be humble, and to help people in whatever way possible. He was once in a millennium soul. When we submitted him to soil, I recalled John Didion, “Certain losses don’t get past you but you incorporate them into who you are. It is always a part of you.”

A compassionate, benevolent, selfless and a high-spirited man he was. He was popularly known as “Dervish” for being so involved with the hereafter affairs. His needs were limited. I fail to describe his magnetic persona. Baba was a hope and a guardian for the needy. He was a pillar of support for orphans, a friend of the downtrodden. He was a true feminist. He always stood for the right of women, as given by Islam.

He taught me to show humility and always keep shoes and ego outside whenever I enter any space. I never knew that my Baba would leave me so early.  He had a desire to see me as a groom but life takes unexpected U-turns as I mentioned in the beginning of this tribute. His wish remained unfulfilled. Death be not proud- is what he taught me all his life.

The Author is the Doctoral Candidate (JRF) in the subject of Media studies at Institute of Kashmir Studies, University of Kashmir

Malik Nisar

At the age of 20, talented and fearless Naveeda Hassan is creating a niche in the field of art and setting an example for the young generations of Kashmir. Naveeda is a self-taught female artist from Delina, Baramulla, who has been inclined towards art since her childhood. Self-taught female artist from Baramulla.

“I have been drawing people for a long. As a self-taught artist whenever I pick up a paintbrush or sit down to draw, my heart draws me towards portraits. Over the years, I have drawn portraits of many famous personalities of India as well as the world,” says Naveeda Hassan, a fifth-semester student at Government Women’s College Baramulla.

For Naveeda, art is a way of storytelling, giving life to her creativity. Over the years art has become her identity and she has done remarkably well and produced some eloquent work. The location of the artist’s studio is the key to finding a perfect harmony between inspiration and peace.  In Naveeda’s studio that peace and inspiration are visible from every corner through the work that, she has maintained over the years. The portrait of Baghat Singh, Virat Kohli, and Nelson Mandela, besides the painting of lush green mountains and various calligraphy works are all eye-catching.

 Everything in her studio has a deep message hidden behind it, one can consider this studio as her world of dreams, every small thing has meaning for her.

“Apple craved on the stone is my favourite because it’s the identity of Kashmir, Ranjeet Singh, when I read about the history of Jammu and Kashmir, I got inspired, I draw his painting my wish was to present it in Amer Mahal. The painting depicts the message of care same care as parents care for their children’s

“I usually do portraits, calligraphy, wall painting, watercolours painting and stone art. Although, I have also worked on various other themes as well like nature, entertainment, and drug abuse. Presently I am trying to work on the social issues faced by women in our society like domestic violence and dowry. I will try to do a series on it,” says Naveeda while showing her artworks.

Naveeda considers Raja Ravi Varma as an inspiration because she feels his work depicts a story and inspires the common man. Raja Ravi Varma, an artist and painter, is considered a legend in the history of Indian art.

“There are many great artists, but I follow Raja Ravi Varma because his work has a unique attraction and message,” she says.

Apart from being an artist, Allah has bestowed Naveeda with a melodious voice. She recently won the first position in the online Naat competition organised by Indian Broadcasting and News Network (IBANN) and in the past, she has also won various Naat competitions held at zonal and district levels.

“Naat recitation is the God-given talent. I started reciting naats from Class 11. The more I tried it, the more I got better at it. It brought me more accolades and recognition. It’s all Allah’s blessing and nothing else,” she says.

Naveeda feels Kashmir is a big canvas for artists due to its unique culture, history, and picturesque beauty, but the government should come forward and provide them with a platform so that their talent won’t go waste.

In Kashmir, there is no dearth of talent be it art or anything else, but it goes unnoticed and overlooked because of the apathetic policies of the government. They should groom the young talent and encourage them for a better future and peaceful Kashmir,” says Naveeda.

Daughter of a farmer, Naveeda aspires to achieve ‘big’ in life and wants to see women of Kashmir gleaming in every field as she feels over the years women of Kashmir have faced a lot of discrimination on various fronts.

“In Kashmir, an artist is bound to many restrictions and when it is a woman, it becomes more challenging due to socio-political taboos. But I want to change this because everyone must have the right to express her or himself,” says Naveeda.

“Well informed and well-educated women play an important role in society. Their thoughts, ways of working and value systems lead to faster growth and development of the society. In the stability of women the society is stable,” says Naveeda.

“My message to the womenfolk of Kashmir is that if you have talent don’t hide it. Express it,” she concludes.

maliknisar350@gmail.com

We should have a separate well-defined management science for doctors. One which will mentor them and teach them: how to manage themselves. How to manage their interactions and behaviour toward patients and society? And how to deal with the community around them

BY Mohammad Mutaher Zerger

We have a disciplined and scientific way to every field/discipline, which teaches us, mentors us and guides our trajectory throughout that particular field. We have human resource management, marketing management, general management, hospital management and so on. Very recently, I somehow felt we should have a separate well-defined management science for doctors. One which will mentor them and teach them: how to manage themselves. How to manage their interactions and behaviour toward patients and society. And how to deal with the community around them.

And that management science should have well-defined guidelines to teach our society as well. Our society needs awareness at different levels. How to behave with the doctors – the healers of humankind?  How to treat them in day-to-day life. And how to manage them and make their social life better for them? They are the healers of our society. Round the clock, they do a great job of healing every wound and pain of our society. Let the society come together and help the doctors and offer them, even, a healing medium. To perform their job flawlessly, they need a conducive environment.

Let us look at it through two different dimensions: one glancing through and being in the shoes of a doctor and walking in the society they live or be part of, and another staying in the shoes of the society and visualising our day-to-day interactions with our doctors.

A Doctor from age 20 onwards sees pain around him. His day-to-day life starts with people and episodes which have intrinsic pain, and he is taught how to treat this pain of others. How to take this pain out of the situation? Managing pain and minimising the pain of others becomes the primary day-to-day activity of the doctor. How much pain he manages, how much pain of others he relieves, how much pain he deals with becomes a benchmark of his performance. One which measures his performance development index, on which his career growth depends. Others pain becomes the means of his livelihood and growth. He becomes a merchant who sells his skills to deal with the pain, and in the process, the pain of others becomes his associate. One he has willingly or unwillingly got married to since the time he plans to do his MBBS. So pain is rendered a toy in the hands of a doctor. He lacks the emotional feeling towards that pain. The pain of others no longer provides a stimulus to his endorphins, and they do not respond to the pain of others in a manner other members of society do.

Here we have an individual who, if we see from the perspective of society, is the one who behaves entirely different than another person of that society. Death, disease, pain is just another process to him; these things usually rattle other beings of the same society. One will tend to observe these individuals totally unresponsive towards the emotional outburst of their patients. They are on track and want their patients to be on that one straight track, to be exact and to the point. While on the other end, the patient, who is in pain, wants the doctor to be responsive to his pain on the same emotional intensity, as will the other members of the same society. Both these individuals forget the perspective of others. The process leads to noise, either of the nature of distrust or discomfort.

So, here we need our scientists, thinkers and educationist to step in and make some chapters of management science that will primarily teach our healer how to manage a patient. How to gauge the intensity of pain of his patient? And how to give it the due respect/ response it deserves. We need to take our healers through a regular process and make them balance their world full of pain and the society scared of pain. We need to teach them the intensity of responses they should give to the pain of others, and at the same time, treat this pain.

On the other end, when the doctor is out of his doctor’s chair and wants to immerse in society as another social being, society knowingly or unknowingly does not allow him to be one. We often treat him as a healer, even when he is in a different role in society. When he simply wants to relax and relieve himself from stress. We are ready with a number of complaints or episodes, which have to deal with his job rather than self. We are eager to seek his consultation for our various conditions, even if he is in the middle of dinner. Otherwise ready with the complaints that he did not attend to our calls the other day (by the way, that time he was in the middle of major surgery). In the process, we render him a being, which of course is elite but not a social being, which he sometimes or more often wants to be.

Here, our educationists and reformists need to devise some chapters, which will deal with this. That will teach our society how our healers should be responsible when on the healers’ chair. And how they need to be treated when they are off that chair.

Well, I strongly feel this branch of management needs to be devised and devised very soon. At least a beginning towards a continuous process for seeing the interaction between the society and healer reach a level, which will put both of them at comfortable places. A healer, knowing he is a part of the society and a similar social being as are others and a patient feels his healer has touched him with similar levels of the emotional quotient as he wants him to touch him with. To society, these lessons can be incorporated at different levels, at a school level, at the college level and even at a career level. And to a doctor, these teachings can be an integral subject (both theory and practical) of his professional course. One, he has to pass with good grades like he has to pass anatomy or biochemistry.

P.S: Very recently, for having an inner view for this article, I spent a day with one of my close doctor friends; in his OPD, ICU, emergency and in-patient ward and this one day, just one day only, made me visit a psychologist for the socio-psychology effects it had on me.

A corporate who’s who and renowned business consultant, the author has worked at top positions of a number of MNCs, including McDonald’s, Microsoft, Mumbai Airport, Zomato, LensKart, Yateem Group of GCC