Remembrances of Bhera of Prof Nasrulla Malik (verbally narrated by him and recorded by me in his words)

Though I am living in Islamabad, mentally I am in Bhera. I often fantasize about my childhood days in Bhera. I have vivid memories of my childhood. I was born on 10 April 1932 in Mohalla Sheikhanwala in Bhera. My great-grandfather- Sheikh Ahmad – was a renowned Hakim who had a shop in Bazaar Kalan in Rawalpindi. My grandfather, Rafiuddin lived in Shahpur. My father – Ali Akhtar- was a judgment typist in the Tehsil Office, Bhera. From class 1 to 4, I studied in Primary School No 2, near Chirri Chog Darwaza, Bhera.  The headmaster was Muhammad Nazir from MohallahPakhiwaranwala and another teacher was Ghulam Muhammad who lived in MohllahPeeranwala. I had two Hindu class fellows, Sudarshan and Buchi – a smart boy. 1do not remember his actual name. My other class fellows were Fazal Ahmad from MolallaLoharan de Mori and Khawja Zafar Kapoor. A shopkeeper by the name of Roshan inSheikhanwala Bazaar used to give me cigarettes on credit. There was another fellow by the name of Parkash Habshi with jet black complexion and curly hair.He was brought to Bhera by a rich Hindu businessman from some African country as a servant. He used to play cards with us. About the names of my teachers in the Government High School, Bhera, I will tell you later. I am trying to remember their names.

9I did my matric from Government High School, Bhera in 1947/1948. Now I am 78 years old. About my last comments; among the teachers at Government High School, I remember the names of a few:  these include Lala Parmanand – English. I remember that about 15 to 20 students including myself attended his funeral (chitta).Qazi Saddique – English, he taught us in classes 9th and 10th,  Abdul Kahaliq Shah – English from AlipurSyedan; Sheikh Muhammad Mumtaz – from Mohalla Sheikhanwala, Fazal Elahi – Drawing, from Mohallah Loharan Mori; Molvi Zubair -Urdu; Mohan Lal,  probablyUrdu.  PT master was Barkat Ali from a village near Bhalwał, he was also in charge of the boys’ hostel. My father used to tell me that he got a loan from Lala Ralla Ram on my sister’s marriage.

“Comments by Samia Ali Shah, daughter of Prof. Nasrallah Malik:  We often take our father to Bhera, whenever he wants to walk down memory lane. He used to live in Mohalla  Sheikhanwala, next to Durbar Maluk Shah. We are going again this weekend to Bhera and my dad, who is Mashallah 77, he feeling nostalgic about his hometown. At present, there are no family members of ours in Bhera. We just drive around the town for him and usually buy ‘patesa’, which he says is not as good as the Hindu halwais used to make”.

 Note: Once Prof Malik requested that he would like to visit Bhere before his death, I took him. An unedited short video of his visit and an interview are given below. Prof Nasrulla Malik passed away on 25 January 2016, aged 84 in Islamabad. May Allah Almighty bless his soul! Ameen.

Zahid Mumtaz

Memoirs of Bhera – Prof Nasrulla Malik

Prof Nasrulla Malik’s visit to Bhera after many years.