THE FIRST PERIOD

At about seven in the morning, I was suddenly awakened by the sharp bells of the alarm clock. For a moment, I could not understand the exact nature of the noise. When I looked out of the window, I found that the skies of London were once again covered with white clouds that morning and perhaps, light drizzling was also going on. Then, I remembered that my regular classes were to start from that day and in order to attend the first period at nine, I must reach the subway by eight o' clock. The reason was that if I missed the 8-10 train, I would surely miss the first period which was to start at nine. Human nature is very strange indeed. If a certain restriction is imposed on man, gradually, he starts considering it to be a burden for himself. In ordinary conditions, even if I had got up after a whole sleepless night, I would not have disliked it so much as I disliked going to the University so early that morning. Kamran had already gone. With an unwilling heart, I had a shower of lukewarm water, gulped down a hot mug of coffee, changed my dress and went downstairs. You may go to any city, but everywhere you will feel that its mornings are quite different from and at times, much more pleasant than the rest of the day, because, it is the time when all the people wake up from their sleep and go about their daily business. Same was the case with London that morning. The female Spanish guitarist had just got down from the tram, carrying her usual guitar case. The freshness on her face and the slight drowsiness in her eyes had made her much more charming and attractive than before. By that time, we had become quite familiar with each other and she smiled as soon as she saw me. I brought out a few coins from my pocket but with a smile, she refused to take them. As I looked towards her in astonishment, she explained to me in her incoherent English that she got money from the people only after entertaining them with the tunes of her guitar. As she had not yet played any tune, she would not accept any money from me. I was much impressed by what she had said and made another attempt to give her the money. "The fact is that these are not today's coins. A couple of days ago, I stood at a distance and listened to your tunes for a long time. But then, I didn't have coins in my pocket to pay you. Take these coins now for that day." Hearing this, she smiled and got the coins from my hand. For the first time that morning, she told me that her name was Jenny and asked about my name. It was not so easy for her to repeat my name, which she pronounced as "Aamad." I laughed at her pronunciation. Then I told her the shortened form of my name "Medi" which she happily repeated as "Signor Medi." I laughed and resumed my journey. By the time I reached the University, the light drizzling had assumed the form of rain. All the students were present in the class. Sir Isaac was to take the first period and as soon as he entered the class, all the students became silent. The only sound that could be heard at that time was that of the rain falling on the high glass windows and at times, this sound became almost musical. During the first period, sir Isaac talked about some important aspects of Economics. But I could understand only half of the lecture, because, for along time, I had been away from the books. Moreover, I was not fully attentive towards the lecture. While going through the time table sheet, I realized that one subject was completely new for me. It was called Humaneering. Its first lecture was to be delivered at 11-30 in Hall 7. I was surprised when sir Isaac clad in his black gown once again entered the class. It was revealed that this particular subject had been included in the course at sir Isaac's own request. The word Humaneering is made up of two words: human engineering. You may regard it as a study of the build up of human psychology. Sir Isaac was of the view that after receiving education from his university, the students should not only be able to make an excellent start in their own fields, but should also be mentally and psychologically strong enough to enforce their decisions in their respective departments. For this reason, he had decided that he himself would teach this particular subject during the course. The topic of the first lecture was "Too much wisdom is the other name of stupidity." Sir Isaac was of the view that while we are loving some people most intensely, we are unconsciously nourishing in ourselves a sort of irritation for them. But as long as we are in love with them, our feeling of helplessness and our fear of losing them, prevent us from expressing these opposite feelings in front of them. Sometimes, it so happens that our inward irritation intensifies and takes the form of strong hatred for them. As a result, whenever such relations of intense love break up, they are transformed into severe hatred. This hatred does not spring up all of a sudden. It is the essence of the negative feelings which we have been nourishing for a very long time. During that lecture, I realized that besides being an excellent economist, sir Isaac was also a good philosopher and intellectual. When the lecture was over, he invited the students to express their views on the topic. When it was my turn to speak I said, "The feelings may be of intense love or hatred. But in both the cases, they shatter the man. I personally believe that love is a more dangerous emotion than hatred and---.) Before I could complete my sentence, a golden haired girl sitting in front of me, turned and looked towards me in an angry and disdainful manner. "Some people are naturally inclined towards disagreeing with everything," she said and continued, "The elements of stubbornness and conceited non-compromise are deeply rooted in their training." I did not know that girl by name, but her roll-# was 22. From my very first day at the University, I had noticed that this girl along with four or five members of her group had been constantly satirizing and making fun of my religion and nationality, in one way or the other. Generally, I ignored their taunting remarks because, I did not wish to get involved in such irrelevant and useless things. But on that particular occasion, I lost control over myself and hit back. "I find this type of inferiority complex in those people who are apparently very proud of their training but in reality, somehow or the other, their inward ignorance is exposed." As soon as roll-# 22 heard these words, her face became red with rage. She turned around to answer me. But before she could speak, sir Isaac drew our attention towards himself by loudly beating the duster on the rostrum. "Please, please! Don't quarrel like that. Everyone has the right to disagree, but it should remain within the limits of morality. Miss Sarah Perez, meet me in my office after the lecture." In the meantime, the bell rang and the lecture was over, but by that time, I had come to know that the name of that belligerent girl was Sarah Perez. Who apparently belonged to a well off and reasonable family. Looking towards me with blood thirsty eyes, she went out of the classroom along with the rest of the members of her gang. I too went out carrying my bag and found that the rain had stopped but the intensity of cold had increased. I rubbed my hands and put them into the pockets of my jacket. Before I could go ahead, I was told by the attendant that sir Isaac wanted to see me in his office. Hearing this, I stepped into that corridor at the end of which, there was sir Isaac's office. After giving a gentle knock at the outer door, I opened it and saw Sarah sitting in an infuriated mood on one of the chairs across the table opposite to sir Isaac. In the short span of time, I heard only a few words spoken by her. "I'm at a loss to understand as to why you granted admission to a Muslim in your university without any particular reason. Don't you know that---." Before she could complete her sentence, I had entered the room and as she saw me she said, "Come on Hammad." Sarah became silent and I sat down on a chair in front of her. After noting something in the file that lay before him, sir Isaac closed it and looked towards both of us. "I wanted to introduce you to each other. It might be helpful in understanding the matters. Sarah, meet him. He's Hammad Amjad Raza. His grandfather held a very high post in the personal staff of the British Viceroy in united India. He has fulfilled all the strict terms and conditions for getting admission in our university. He has always been an excellent student." Sarah heard all these words in an arrogant and indifferent manner. Then, sir Isaac pointed towards Sarah. "Mr. Hammad, meet her. She is Sarah Isaac Perez, who has been a position holder for the last four semesters. She is my daughter and I hope you did not mind her bitter words so much." So this monstrous girl was sir Isaac's daughter, a Jewess. That is why, she always talked to me in a venomous tone. Even at that time, she was sitting in a proud and spiteful manner, with her face towards the other side, to give the impression that she regarded the person sitting on the chair next to her, not as a human being but a contemptible worm. Then, sir Isaac delivered a short lecture about the classroom manners and university discipline and expressed the hope that in the times to come, the atmosphere of the classroom would not become tense because of us. Both of us listened to him silently and then we were allowed to go. Almost at the same time, we left the office and began walking in opposite directions without looking at each other. On that very day, I had realized that it would not be so easy for me to get the Economics degree from this university. The cold war that had just started between me and Sarah, might soon turn into a major confrontation.