I have been more like an Englishman than a Frenchman here while attempting this tribute. The English man observes E.M Forster in Notes on English Character thinks first and feels later and it is vice-versa with the Frenchman. I too allowed a lot of thinking before writing this tribute cum critique on the superannuation of Prof. Ravina Hassan who has retired from the active service on 30th of April 2025. It’s been a week now that the madam has left the institution but the disturbance she has caused in the tranquil waters is yet to settle. Much has been said about her and may be certain people will go on talking about her for some more days before the memory fades or demurs like the drops on the windscreen, or some greater grief occupies us. Yes, off course, when she left there were tears gathering like vapors in the sky. Some got melted, some imprisoned in the heart, others, like that drop in the beard of a Dutch man in the arctic waters, neither melting nor evaporating but holding on the anchor like mercury in the thermometer. Why was there so much of emotion for something that is a routine and principle of life? That, we come here just to go away; that our’s is an affair of coming and going, for everything is born to die, and meeting is so short, that we all live to go one day, we are in constant flux, that time is flying and running like galloping stallions and the chariot of life is consuming us, that the concept of speed has altered and is doubly increased by technology. That to focus on a thing is the single challenge in the times of Great Acceleration, etcetera.
Yet, such reflections on time, speed, occupation, preoccupation, memory and distancing didn’t exactly explain why it was that the official departure of the head of an institution was bringing so much of creativity, engagement and imagination; that, there were colleagues like Dr. Idrees expressed his heart felt Tribute composed in powerful poetic expression. He chooses the mother tongue to carve a genuine outburst. His creative energy making a powerful statement stimulated by the proximity with the chair who had been benevolent to mental wellbeing of his staff. Ashraf zanabi and Dr. Showkat who wrote articles to make the memory go longer and defeat the churning devastation of time, that, the other colleagues took to the stag to give a went to what their heart felt, that Dr. Irshad and Dr. saki took the recourse in technology to keep the videos and memories floating, others volunteered to serve, those who served not decided to stand firmly along, buying gifts, writing poems, expressing in words, beyond words in gestures, beyond gestures in speeches, and outside speeches in the intimacy of snapshots, hugs and handshakes. Mr. Parvaz Ahmad (a beloved local fund employee broke down) like others of his ilk signifying in their tears what she meant to them. There was Dr. Waheed who teaches history and bears the burden of historical sufferings; clearing off the things and packing the personal file perhaps holding in it, the chunks and bits of the past memories. Looking at me, she remarked, I sometime would write something in it, now is the time to take it along.
And we carry on the memories. Every other thing dies and fades. Even memories fade but the faint recognition and recollection remains behind like the stalks of felling trees that had fallen to the catastrophic times. That is what exactly people said… Colleagues, friends, subordinates, teaching and non-teaching staff, people with a stamp of permanent position and the ones who hold seasonal positions (Tragically known as Need based), and the ones who are the unsung heroes doing thankless jobs behind screens- the local fund employees: all equivocal in the praise and admiration; speaking their heart, not hiding it under their sleeves, their speeches were not a double speak saying ” goodbye” and meaning ” good riddance”. They were making confessions and telling the story of a wonderful sweet journey that was coming to a culmination. They could be heard saying, kudos to you who has taught us love and compassion, sympathy and sweetness, grace and elegance, care and love, hope and despondency, rise and fall, togetherness and unity, equality and impartiality, obedience and independence, firmness and flexibility, trust and confidence, team work and recognition, admiration and respect, simplicity and beauty… You are remarkable because you had not been affectations, because you took things easy yet never lacked seriousness. You could appreciate the humble human conditions and recognize the compulsions. You don’t speak too much yet you left nothing unsaid, you don’t get us on toes, yet you managed it calmly: even the VVIP movement and Urgent Parade and Oath takings happened naturally without much fuss. You never fumed when you could have been furious, you kept composed when the NAAC was on, you didn’t pull the panic buttons and you never declared any emergency… “Take your time, I want it done, do leave it unfinished is a retributive sin. We have to answer a mighty power.” You would boost the morale of someone so low in spirit. Oh! How nicely you managed the official duty and burden without robbing and stealing your colleagues of the happiness and smiles, without encroaching in their family time. I think, your greatness is in two simple things; in appreciating we are all humans and not robots that we have families and pressures and we cannot stand the stress of disturbance at work place. That is what the colleagues said is the legacy you are leaving behind! “An ecosystem of love and the factory of mutual bonding where as the head of the institution, you stood up thick and fast with someone who had an ailing sister; you rallied behind a subordinate colleague who untimely lost a young nephew to the clutches of death, you presented yourself when a downtrodden employee was laying the foundation to his much cherished shelter. They said it frankly and tried to return the gratitude you had shown to them in a mechanical professional world: where there is a little scope for emotions and personal engagements.
There is another reason that I feel makes you so special- the recognition that no position is permanent. The impermanence of the position and power makes you a calm person. You made no claims, neither on your legacy nor on the property of the institution. You played your part well and when you left like a brave heart, you could retain the smile like an ever fixed mark that had defined your life and marked your stay as the head of the institution. Not many people retain this bewitching smile that conquers and wins many hearts, especially, of these who were vulnerable, marginalized and downtrodden. This smile defines your life and tenure. You made the tough go easy with this frank smile that made your face visible and upfront leading the institution by a great precedent and example.
Having said it, it must not go unsaid that you are a human being. And a true human is not without flaws. The immaculate human being is an imaginative fantasy and a genuine human being is not like a machine defined by swiftness, accuracy and precision. He has what we know as the “spots of commonness.” He is a bit egoist, a partly in self-love, a slightly obstinate and obdurate; he loves to be praised and envies to be chided. Despite calmness sometimes, he can lose temper, despite caution, he can make slight silly mistakes, despite calculation, and he can make miscalculations. Trust: a virtue can expose him to villainy of gullibility; love; a great value can turn him to stupidity, silence; a power can increase the scope for misinterpretation. Yet, your flaws, if any in the eyes of someone who saw and judged you in a relative situation or saw you distantly, must be educated that these flaws are tragic ones… not of weakness, meekness, a wobbling human being but of sangfroid, stolid, strong and formidable character who has left a true mission and visions of life for contemporary heads of institutions and coming generations. You are missed because you lived for so many people and even while commanding you served… You are blessed to have found meaning to life that in itself is impermanent and brief. That is our take from your remarkable service of thirty seven years.
The author is a Assistant Professor English MGDC Charar-e-Sharief
