Silently fades: ‘No buyers’ of what Sajjad Shaikh stood for

Students, colleagues and friends hold condolence reference.

ISLAMABAD:

His death went unreported. That was a moment of worry for all of us, said Irfan Afzal a student of Professor Sajjad Ahmed Shaikh, who died on March 18, at the condolence reference held at Pakistan Academy of Letters on Friday afternoon.

Referring to the ninetieth century English poet Thomas Hardy’s poem “No Buyers” - where a family carrying brushes, baskets, cradles and chairs on a pony drudge along on a rainy day but find no buyers - he said likewise Shaikh’s contribution to the profession of teaching and literature looks like a merchandise which has no market here.

The organizers ran a short documentary that carried excerpts from his lectures.



Referring to another poem “Children and Sir Nameless” he said that Prof. Shaikh will never be nameless. “We all are your children and you will live on” addressing the deceased professor he said.

Shaikh, born on October 15, 1938 primarily was a teacher and spent half of his professional life teaching at the Gordon College, Rawalpindi. Besides, he also earned a place in literary circles on account of his contributions as a critic and translator of Urdu and Punjabi authors and poets.

He served in the Gordon College in two stints and retired in 1998 from the same college.

The Gordon College was established in 1893 as a school in Rawalpindi near Liaquat Bagh. Over the years, it has lost its splendor and repute but the building still reminds of a glorious past that it has been a witness to. The college is known to have produced people who served in high offices.

Shaikh completed his Masters in English in 1961 and soon after was appointed as a lecturer in the Gordon College.



Dr Ravish Nadeem said “we do not yet realise how important a person we have lost.”

His students still remember his lectures which would last for, at times, upto seven hours. A student who did not name himself said that he maintained a distance with his students yet he was widely respected for his knowledge and devotion to profession, he said. “He was an embodiment of beauty, grace and truth,” said an old friend and a teacher of the English Sajjad Haider Malik.

His famous lecture serious on Shakespearian tragedies for Pakistan Television (PTV) was recorded in one go which his student Afzal said they were trying to retrieve from the archives.

His colleague Prof. Yousaf Hassan said he “had an insatiable desire to teach.”

Shaikh wrote on and translated the likes of Saadat Hasan Manto, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, Aftab Iqbal Shamim and Punjabi sufi poets.

His contribution towards his profession and literature are indeed valuable,” said Aftab Iqbal Shamim

He compiled two anthologies for the University of Punjab degree courses. A participant said that his selection for anthologies speaks volumes about depth of his knowledge.

Mrs. Shaikh and other family members were present.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2014.