A slice of history

There is a slice of history in every page that you turn, in every day that you live and yes especially in the place where you reside . Jamia has a history smeared on every part of it, which gets revealed when someone who has seen it taking birth narrates the lost memoirs of a place which has a special part in history.The unique history retold by a living history, my grand father, Mr. Abdul Sattar, a unique personality , though he never managed to write a lot about his experiences, the bits and pieces narrated to me , give me an interesting picture of the past of Jamia. Mujeeb Sahab(Prof.Mujeeb), Zakir Sahab(Dr. Zakir Hussain) were among his teachers, the people who he says have taught him a lot in life..to be a human being first and anything else later. Jamia started from a small school in carol bagh to what it is today in Okhla , Jamia Millia Islamia, a distinct university. Though I've never been a student of Jamia, still theres something about it that gives me a sense of belonging, maybe because I have grown playing in its corridors .As nana narrates his stories the pictures just keep appearing like a moving reel in my mind. The area that comprises of the popular Mass Communication of Delhi used to be the fields where farming took place , it belonged to nana, he still gets lost in the memories of the days when he used to sit on his comfortable charpoi , looking over the fields and yes taking part in the work aswell . Jamia was a different place at that time , surrounded with fields and fruit yards, a small community comprising of a few families , but very close knit area.With utmost pride he still remembers the plays that he used to write sitting on a bunch of hay, with a small transistor playing in the background, I really enjoyed listening to the fact that cows and buffaloes were tied on the stage to give it a real feel. His plays were an intant hit!
The talimi taraqqui dept has a special part in my grandpas memories, it was a department for Adult Education. Jamia at that time had an educational system which is being adopted in private schools today, a far developed educational system ,much ahead of its time..hats off to the excellent faculty that it had..Theres so much that I want to write about it and I wish to unfold the lost history of Jamia through the memories of my grandfather....hope I am able to put it together someday. Theres a lot that needs to be explored.
"Words become history when written down on paper,
and memories become a legecy when they seep down through ancestors ".