Saturday, May 13, 2017

MY MEMORIES - NAGHMA REHMAN, U.S.A.

  MY MEMORIES


     Br Hector, the name that has significance in each and every Josephite's life. The name that undoubtedly has touched the lives of so many in our town. When we graduated from our primary school and were about to enter high school, We were warned about there being a 'Hitler' in high school. When we met Br Hector, he was everything opposite of what we had heard. Yes, the 'Hitler' part still remained as he had a hanging skeleton in his office which, we all as kids, innocently thought that he did kill someone for real. 

     Although there are numerous memories from my stint in St Joseph's, I do fondly remember this one particular instance. It was the year 98. I was a class X student. Although we fared well in studies, me and a bunch of my friends were 'Athletically Challenged'. We were not intetested in any kind of sports whatsoever. As far as sports were concerned, we were as useless as the letter G in the word Lasagna.. It was a sunny afternoon on the dreaded Sports Day, the 800 metres relay race had just finished with all the popular athletes, including the junior class taking part. The following event was a 1500 metres relay which had no participants as all the known athletes were too exhausted to run again. Br Hector had this great idea of sending all us torpid girls to participate. He pulled us out of the spectator area, lined us up, blew the whistle and 'The Race' of our lives began. It was a hilarious sight with all the non-athletes sweating it out and trying so hard. The scene of Br hector encouraging all of us to not give up and to somehow finish what we had started, is etched in my mind to this day. After finishing 4 rounds of terrible running with our faces turned black and blue, and panting like we were just out of an olympic marathon, it finally ended and the 3 least slowest were awarded the top 3 positions. I was one of them. We were on top of the world! It might have been a small thing for Br Hector and probably he didn’t know at the time that, ultimately he sparked my inner strength and built my self confidence. I'm not saying that I became an athlete overnight. I probably never ran like that ever in my life again, but what it really did was, it inspired me to think that, if I could conquer this, I could conquer anything that life throws. That day we learnt, being the kind of person that he is, he never loses a chance in making a difference in a student's life. Eighteen years later, I still follow these life lessons he taught us that day. He eradicated the words “I can’t” from our vocabularies. No matter where in life you are, you should always push yourself harder in order to conquer your fears and succeed. In a tiny village like Bajpe, getting us out of our homes, especially muslim girls, into schools, throwing challenges at us and making sure that none of us are in our comfort zones, is what he does best and I will forever be indebted to Br Hector and all the staff of St Joseph's. I did have a lot of teachers encourage and inspire me along the way, but Br. Hector holds a special place in my heart. 

     Today I live in the United States. I've grown up to be a confident woman with a great career and a loving family. I have a 3 year old daughter, and in the future, if she ever gets a chance to be a part of such a great Institution, I would consider myself lucky! Dear Brothers, 40 years of service! And now, St Joseph's will never be the same without you all. It's hard for us to let you go, but the number of lives you've touched in these years of service is something that people of  Bajpe will hold on to forever! I'm sad that the future generation will not have what we had.. the exposure, the confidence to move forward and, of course, the hanging skeleton in your office! Good luck with your new venture Brother. 

      We will dearly miss you! Adios, until our lives cross paths again..

Naghma Rehman
U.S. A.

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