December Fourth.

For the past eight years, December Fourth has been an important date because of a personal reason. Incidentally, it seems to have become even more significant because of today; I conducted my last exam at the university. The turning point in life had come earlier but today my stint as a teacher finally came to an end. I surely did not want this day to go undocumented. I have mixed feelings. In fact, the day was filled with mixed feelings...

The weather has become a wee bit chilly in Karachi so I woke up in Fajr welcoming the change. Hastened to the university at around 8 am and reached the exam room at 9.05 am. The exam started at 9.13 am and then I was all to myself. I spent three hours reminiscing about my life at this university, first as a student and then as a teacher. Memories came flooding. I consciously made an effort to think about all the teachers and my friends who had touched my life in innumerable ways. People I can never pay back. I thought about Asma. I thought about Salwa. I thought about S.N. I thought about Sir Iftikhar and Sir Tayyab. I thought about all the associations I had made with this place. I looked at the trees outside the window. I looked at the road which I used to walk with my friends everyday after our classes would get over. Everything seemed static; still in time...

("sab gardish-e vaqt ki baate~ he~ vo me~ na sahi vo tu na sahi/ kuchh aur nae chehre ho~ge shaadaab puraani galiyo~ me~" - Firasat Ali Rizvi)

Now, life has to move on. I have to move on. There are certain responsibilities that shall be fulfilled. There are some new roles beckoning to me in life, which require me to revisit the activities I have so far indulged myself in. Hence, I decide to take a break from my 'career' (if there was any!). Would this be just a hiatus or a permanent arrangement, I do not know. Will, at some point in life, I would return to this 'profession', I do not know. All I know is that this is just a parting from the formal aspect of teaching. The act of teaching, otherwise (informally, that is!), comes to me naturally and I can never help being a teacher. As for education and learning, it surely won't end, inshaAllah. Learning would continue for as long as I live, inshaAllah. The aspiration to learn is something I can never, and would never want to give up on. As for being nostalgic, well, it had its own charm... Who would not want to  revisit the old alleys in one's memory! :)

Everything is from Allah SWT and He knows best when and where to place his servants...

*****

December Fourth is a day of promise. It was thus eight years ago. It is today as well. The promise I made then would soon be fulfilled, inshaAllah; and as for the the promise(s) I make today, only life would tell if I am able to keep them (and may Allah SWT help me fulfill them because they are not just about me but concern a number of other people too). 

*****

I thank Allah SWT for everything from the depth of my heart. I thank Him for bringing December Fourth in my life, and would, inshaAllah, continue to do so for as long as I live. 

Life, however, has to come to a halt one day. Today, I have given up on something because I have faith that I would be blessed with something better. InshaAllah. But ultimately it all has to come to an end. And the end is what I do not wish to forget about...

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