For the love of books

Arzaan Chacha is a quaint blessing in disguise for students struggling financially

Arzaan Chacha or ‘economical uncle’ is the affectionate name given to Saeed Bacha, a janitor at Islamia College Peshawar. In the age of predatory commercialism, Arzaan Chacha has devoted his life to the well-being of poor students, opening up a bookshop where he sells books and other stationery items without any retail profit. You even get two free ballpoints free when you buy a book.

Chacha has devoted his time to facilitate children who are mostly orphans or from low-income backgrounds. He hopes to help them overcome the hurdle of poverty in their road to education. He is sensitive to the pains of deprivation as he himself could not go to school because of financial considerations. Belonging to a poor family, he barely went to school for three days when he had to start earning to support his family.

Arzaan Chacha was born in the village of Dallo Khan in Lakki Marwat and since there was no custom of recording birth dates in those days, he is not sure about his age. According to his parents, however, he was born in 1947, after the birth of Pakistan. Always a bright child with an avid interest in things around him, it was unfortunate that he did not get to study in a school. He joined the Pakistan Army as a constable and took part in the 1965 and 1971 wars. In 1982, he retired from the army.

The 1987 appointment letter from the Islamia College for the post of a watchman is what marked his journey to fulfill his one wish in life — to work for the promotion of education. While performing his watchman duties, Chacha observed that many students from less affluent backgrounds were unable to buy books and pens. This was the trigger which led to him opening his own bookshop. He invests the amount of both his pensions into buying books at concessional prices and helping students who have no other way.

The practice of giving free ballpoints with the purchase of every book has earned him a lot of respect from the Islamia University staff as well as students. Other book sellers are, however, unhappy with Arzaan Chacha’s ways of selling stationery because their own businesses get affected and they usually complain about him. They even threaten him but he goes on, unflinchingly serving humanity. “Education has become a flourishing business and a source of making money, which is not a good sign for the already deprived younger generation of the country,” he says.

During his employment at Islamia College, he has encountered a lot of extraordinary students who were unable to continue their education because of lack of resources. “It is true that people cannot be educated without financial help, but using the education system to make money is unethical and inappropriate,” he says.

Expressing his dismay, he says the system of education in Pakistan is rotten to the core. “Although the number of educational institutions is increasing day by day, it is horrifying to see that these institutions do not aim to educate, but to generate funds and popularise their own brand,” laments Chacha. “My only wish is to see an educated, prosperous Pakistan.”

Sabir Shah Hoti is a coordinator at the Peshawar Bureau of Express News.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, November 8^th, 2015.