Humility, charity, faith and labour D T
7
DAWN, Saturday, February 5, 2011
Parsi contribution By Nagina Imtiaz
riving down M.A. Jinnah Road after 1.00pm and getting stuck in the extra traffic generated by the end-of-school rush outside that stone, corner building may be a nuisance for the other motorists but not me. Overcome by nostalgia, my foot lifts from the accelerator as my head turns towards the left as honks from behind urge me to keep moving ahead at a steady pace. But the crisp white uniforms and bright blue jumpers take me back … back inside those long winding halls, those big airy classes where I, too, spent my impressionable childhood. Having come to Pakistan from Delhi at the age of one in 1947, and having been admitted to the school in 1952 at six, I happen to be one of its initial batches of Muslim beneficiaries who not really realising the bigheartedness of the institution, may even have taken it for granted. But as we girls gathered in the hall week after week to chant our precious mantra: “Let us march on to knowledge, the girls of The Mama School,” there
was another assembly gathering of boys at another school not that far away from ours where they sang their school song: “Bai Virbaijee Parsi School, glorious and beautiful, strong as iron, hard as stone are thy walls. None can break the walls of love, raised together from above, no one can shake the base though heavens fall.” Instilling the same old-fashioned values along with providing the encouragement to come up with modern ideas and fresh thought, both schools are, in fact, offshoots of the grand tree planted by Seth Shapurji Hormusji Soparivala and his family in 1859. The Bai Virbaiji Soparivala (BVS) Parsi High School was then a small Parsi Balakshala housed in the residence of a gentleman by the name of Mr Dadabhoy Palonji Paymaster. But as the schoolgoing community increased, it had to move to a bigger place. In 1869, Seth Shapurji, who was anyway the school’s biggest benefactor, donated Rs10,000 to the school with the request that it be named after his late wife, Bai Virbaiji. The new school building at Abdullah Haroon Road was completed on March 24, 1905. Its second storey was completed during
1920 and 1946. Says Ardeshir Cowasjee, a BVS old boy or Virbaijeeite, as they call them, “The school, instead of remaining exclusive to Parsi children, opened its doors to children of all faiths in 1947 at the request of Mr Jinnah, who made a similar request to all the Christian missionary schools here.” He adds, “BVS was a big educational institution. It was a high school with a capacity of 1,000 children and there were only some 80 Parsi boys studying there at the time. But the school constitution said that Parsis shall be the only beneficiaries. So Jinnah requested a meeting with the trustees to convince them to change their rules to allow children from other faiths to study there, too. The change was made and today Muslim children outnumber the other faiths there. The fine standard of education, of course, remains the same.” “The majority of boys studying at BVS today are Muslim. But the difference in colour, class, religion or race is not an issue for any of our students as all here are treated the same,” says Principal of BVS, Mrs Kermin Parakh. Backing that point, she says:
“Even when we give a prize to a student who got the highest marks in Islamiat, we have a prize for a Christian, Parsi or Hindu student also who came first in scripture, Zoroastrian or Hindu studies. So there is no discrimination of any kind at the BVS.” About their methods of teaching, she informs, “We understand our duty to prepare the boys for the changing world of today. We expect them to lead rather than be led, help the downtrodden and become the voice of those who can’t speak for themselves.” As the Parsi religion is itself based on charity and helping out others, its importance is ingrained in all the boys at the school right from an early age. “It has now become a regular practice for our boys to arrange Iftari for the poor during Ramazan,” says Mrs Parakh. “They pay for the food from their own pockets and we allow them to use our vans to distribute that food,” she adds. “They even outdid themselves in helping the flood victims recently.” As the good work is carried on at the BVS, the Mama Parsi School, too, doesn’t stay that far behind in any such matter. The school, after all, is an offshoot
of the BVS. I am talking of the time when the Parsi Balakshala, started in 1859, was co-education. The need for a separate school for Parsi girls was felt only after the number of girls studying there increased. It was in 1903 when Mr Eduljee Dinshaw first proposed establishing a high school for Parsi girls but the idea failed to take off due to shortage of funds. Eight years later Mr Dinshaw again put across his idea, this time also with a generous offer of Rs50,000, but they were confronted by legal problems and the project was shelved. The Mama Parsi School was finally established in a portion of the BVS School in 1918 thanks to the efforts of Jamshed Nusserwanjee Mehta. But one year later, it was shifted to another building on the same road known as the Mama Mansion. Later, big help in the form of donations by Khan Bahadur Ardeshir H. Mama, the Seth N.N. Pochaji Trust and Eduljee Dinshaw’s family made possible the construction of the present Mama Parsi Girls’ High School building. The school in its new premises started academic lessons in April 1925 and opened its doors to girls of other
Photo by Fahim Siddiqi / White Star
Humility, charity, faith and labour D
Imparting more than education faiths in 1947. And as a proud Mamaian today, I stand before my alma mater with our school motto “Let humility, charity,
faith and labour light our path” etched in my heart. What I learned here I will carry with me all my life. ■
Language issues By Taimur Sabih
Tongue twister
T
supply and as a result, many language institutes are operational nowadays. Some of them have branches all over the country, some are restricted to the major cities while others are functioning in their respective neighbourhoods at a very low level. However, not all of them
countries into their curricula along with the teaching of the language. Their syllabi integrate fluency activities like different contextbased role plays or simulations that are close to the actual environment of an English speaking country. Moreover, different versions of English being spo-
Photo by Qudsia Bhatty / White Star
here was an era in the history o f mankind, especially t h e Medieval Ages and a few centuries that followed, when an individual who claimed to be a learned one could only earn the true esteem of the people by acquiring adequate proficiency in more than a few languages. To name a few, knowing Latin, French, Greek and German were considered the sign of a literate person, and perhaps it was justified as these classical languages embodied most of the enlightening research done by prominent scholars of the olden days. This trend, however, changed as the centuries rolled by and the world progressed towards the contemporary phenomenon known as globalisation, and languages also played their part in it. Granted, even today a multilingual person has his worth in gold, but the language that stands out from the others beyond the shadow of any doubt is English. Today, whether we look at countries in the Far East, Middle East, South Asia, Africa, Europe or even South America, ‘Englishfever’ has made its impact all over. And Pakistan is definitely not an exception. The need for proficiency in English is being felt by the entire nation. From a housewife who simply wants to socialise to a struggling university student wishing to become a professional and scale the ladder of success, everyone is concerned with gaining proficiency in English. With demand comes the
Tall claims can be termed professional institutes nor can their faculty be called perfect linguists. Some of the prominent names in the language industry today are the Pakistan American Cultural Center and Berlitz Language Center. These institutes stand out because they have made an attempt to incorporate the culture of the English speaking
ken all over the world are also focused on. For instance, the word ‘dough’ means money in American English while the word ‘bread’ has the same meaning in British slang. Now, such minute details and rigorous, context-based teaching of the language do give the students confidence and they start speaking and understanding the language to a certain extent, but they
generally do not gain more than a superficial level of proficiency. Although such institutes tout a foreign syllabus, absolutely no emphasis is laid on the teaching of the basic rules and fundamental principles of the language, thus the accuracy and writing skills of the students are compromised. Consequently, even after going through a year-long language programme, the students tend to lack the essential reading and writing skills. At this point, another facet of these institutes that should be kept in mind is the fee structure which can sometimes be preposterously high. A student starting in Berlitz at the initial level, by the end of a year will end up paying a little over a hundred and twenty five thousand rupees. The affordability factor makes the students turn to second tier institutions that are operating within the city. Such institutes conspicuously do not provide the same sort of orderly environment or cultural understanding, but their fee structure is naturally more tenable. One could cite the example of Domino here. The teaching methodology certainly differs from institute to institute. At some, the instructors precisely focus on the fundamentals of the language which helps to develop grammatical accuracy in the students and enhance their writing and reading skills. However, when it comes to speaking, students sometimes lack the appropriate fluency and desirable confidence. Predicting the success or failure rate is not possible
for any of these institutes as there are many factors that contribute towards it like a learner’s passive knowledge, previous educational background and most importantly, the effort that a learner is willing to put in. Another aspect of the language industry is the prodigious network of those, not so famous language institutes that are working in the shadow of these big names. Such institutes have neither a good
With demand came supply and as a result, many language institutes are operational nowadays. syllabus nor good instructors. Their target market is
mainly those dejected clients who have either
failed to meet the requirements of the top institutes or they cannot afford them. Usually, the learners end up wasting their money without gaining anything at these institutes. Conclusively, perhaps a safer bet for a student would be to acutely analyse his own needs as a learner and get some feedback on the institutes operating in the city before endeavouring to learn the global language that we call English. ■
DAWN, Saturday, February 5, 2011
Parsi contribution By Nagina Imtiaz
riving down M.A. Jinnah Road after 1.00pm and getting stuck in the extra traffic generated by the end-of-school rush outside that stone, corner building may be a nuisance for the other motorists but not me. Overcome by nostalgia, my foot lifts from the accelerator as my head turns towards the left as honks from behind urge me to keep moving ahead at a steady pace. But the crisp white uniforms and bright blue jumpers take me back … back inside those long winding halls, those big airy classes where I, too, spent my impressionable childhood. Having come to Pakistan from Delhi at the age of one in 1947, and having been admitted to the school in 1952 at six, I happen to be one of its initial batches of Muslim beneficiaries who not really realising the bigheartedness of the institution, may even have taken it for granted. But as we girls gathered in the hall week after week to chant our precious mantra: “Let us march on to knowledge, the girls of The Mama School,” there
was another assembly gathering of boys at another school not that far away from ours where they sang their school song: “Bai Virbaijee Parsi School, glorious and beautiful, strong as iron, hard as stone are thy walls. None can break the walls of love, raised together from above, no one can shake the base though heavens fall.” Instilling the same old-fashioned values along with providing the encouragement to come up with modern ideas and fresh thought, both schools are, in fact, offshoots of the grand tree planted by Seth Shapurji Hormusji Soparivala and his family in 1859. The Bai Virbaiji Soparivala (BVS) Parsi High School was then a small Parsi Balakshala housed in the residence of a gentleman by the name of Mr Dadabhoy Palonji Paymaster. But as the schoolgoing community increased, it had to move to a bigger place. In 1869, Seth Shapurji, who was anyway the school’s biggest benefactor, donated Rs10,000 to the school with the request that it be named after his late wife, Bai Virbaiji. The new school building at Abdullah Haroon Road was completed on March 24, 1905. Its second storey was completed during
1920 and 1946. Says Ardeshir Cowasjee, a BVS old boy or Virbaijeeite, as they call them, “The school, instead of remaining exclusive to Parsi children, opened its doors to children of all faiths in 1947 at the request of Mr Jinnah, who made a similar request to all the Christian missionary schools here.” He adds, “BVS was a big educational institution. It was a high school with a capacity of 1,000 children and there were only some 80 Parsi boys studying there at the time. But the school constitution said that Parsis shall be the only beneficiaries. So Jinnah requested a meeting with the trustees to convince them to change their rules to allow children from other faiths to study there, too. The change was made and today Muslim children outnumber the other faiths there. The fine standard of education, of course, remains the same.” “The majority of boys studying at BVS today are Muslim. But the difference in colour, class, religion or race is not an issue for any of our students as all here are treated the same,” says Principal of BVS, Mrs Kermin Parakh. Backing that point, she says:
“Even when we give a prize to a student who got the highest marks in Islamiat, we have a prize for a Christian, Parsi or Hindu student also who came first in scripture, Zoroastrian or Hindu studies. So there is no discrimination of any kind at the BVS.” About their methods of teaching, she informs, “We understand our duty to prepare the boys for the changing world of today. We expect them to lead rather than be led, help the downtrodden and become the voice of those who can’t speak for themselves.” As the Parsi religion is itself based on charity and helping out others, its importance is ingrained in all the boys at the school right from an early age. “It has now become a regular practice for our boys to arrange Iftari for the poor during Ramazan,” says Mrs Parakh. “They pay for the food from their own pockets and we allow them to use our vans to distribute that food,” she adds. “They even outdid themselves in helping the flood victims recently.” As the good work is carried on at the BVS, the Mama Parsi School, too, doesn’t stay that far behind in any such matter. The school, after all, is an offshoot
of the BVS. I am talking of the time when the Parsi Balakshala, started in 1859, was co-education. The need for a separate school for Parsi girls was felt only after the number of girls studying there increased. It was in 1903 when Mr Eduljee Dinshaw first proposed establishing a high school for Parsi girls but the idea failed to take off due to shortage of funds. Eight years later Mr Dinshaw again put across his idea, this time also with a generous offer of Rs50,000, but they were confronted by legal problems and the project was shelved. The Mama Parsi School was finally established in a portion of the BVS School in 1918 thanks to the efforts of Jamshed Nusserwanjee Mehta. But one year later, it was shifted to another building on the same road known as the Mama Mansion. Later, big help in the form of donations by Khan Bahadur Ardeshir H. Mama, the Seth N.N. Pochaji Trust and Eduljee Dinshaw’s family made possible the construction of the present Mama Parsi Girls’ High School building. The school in its new premises started academic lessons in April 1925 and opened its doors to girls of other
Photo by Fahim Siddiqi / White Star
Humility, charity, faith and labour D
Imparting more than education faiths in 1947. And as a proud Mamaian today, I stand before my alma mater with our school motto “Let humility, charity,
faith and labour light our path” etched in my heart. What I learned here I will carry with me all my life. ■
Language issues By Taimur Sabih
Tongue twister
T
supply and as a result, many language institutes are operational nowadays. Some of them have branches all over the country, some are restricted to the major cities while others are functioning in their respective neighbourhoods at a very low level. However, not all of them
countries into their curricula along with the teaching of the language. Their syllabi integrate fluency activities like different contextbased role plays or simulations that are close to the actual environment of an English speaking country. Moreover, different versions of English being spo-
Photo by Qudsia Bhatty / White Star
here was an era in the history o f mankind, especially t h e Medieval Ages and a few centuries that followed, when an individual who claimed to be a learned one could only earn the true esteem of the people by acquiring adequate proficiency in more than a few languages. To name a few, knowing Latin, French, Greek and German were considered the sign of a literate person, and perhaps it was justified as these classical languages embodied most of the enlightening research done by prominent scholars of the olden days. This trend, however, changed as the centuries rolled by and the world progressed towards the contemporary phenomenon known as globalisation, and languages also played their part in it. Granted, even today a multilingual person has his worth in gold, but the language that stands out from the others beyond the shadow of any doubt is English. Today, whether we look at countries in the Far East, Middle East, South Asia, Africa, Europe or even South America, ‘Englishfever’ has made its impact all over. And Pakistan is definitely not an exception. The need for proficiency in English is being felt by the entire nation. From a housewife who simply wants to socialise to a struggling university student wishing to become a professional and scale the ladder of success, everyone is concerned with gaining proficiency in English. With demand comes the
Tall claims can be termed professional institutes nor can their faculty be called perfect linguists. Some of the prominent names in the language industry today are the Pakistan American Cultural Center and Berlitz Language Center. These institutes stand out because they have made an attempt to incorporate the culture of the English speaking
ken all over the world are also focused on. For instance, the word ‘dough’ means money in American English while the word ‘bread’ has the same meaning in British slang. Now, such minute details and rigorous, context-based teaching of the language do give the students confidence and they start speaking and understanding the language to a certain extent, but they
generally do not gain more than a superficial level of proficiency. Although such institutes tout a foreign syllabus, absolutely no emphasis is laid on the teaching of the basic rules and fundamental principles of the language, thus the accuracy and writing skills of the students are compromised. Consequently, even after going through a year-long language programme, the students tend to lack the essential reading and writing skills. At this point, another facet of these institutes that should be kept in mind is the fee structure which can sometimes be preposterously high. A student starting in Berlitz at the initial level, by the end of a year will end up paying a little over a hundred and twenty five thousand rupees. The affordability factor makes the students turn to second tier institutions that are operating within the city. Such institutes conspicuously do not provide the same sort of orderly environment or cultural understanding, but their fee structure is naturally more tenable. One could cite the example of Domino here. The teaching methodology certainly differs from institute to institute. At some, the instructors precisely focus on the fundamentals of the language which helps to develop grammatical accuracy in the students and enhance their writing and reading skills. However, when it comes to speaking, students sometimes lack the appropriate fluency and desirable confidence. Predicting the success or failure rate is not possible
for any of these institutes as there are many factors that contribute towards it like a learner’s passive knowledge, previous educational background and most importantly, the effort that a learner is willing to put in. Another aspect of the language industry is the prodigious network of those, not so famous language institutes that are working in the shadow of these big names. Such institutes have neither a good
With demand came supply and as a result, many language institutes are operational nowadays. syllabus nor good instructors. Their target market is
mainly those dejected clients who have either
failed to meet the requirements of the top institutes or they cannot afford them. Usually, the learners end up wasting their money without gaining anything at these institutes. Conclusively, perhaps a safer bet for a student would be to acutely analyse his own needs as a learner and get some feedback on the institutes operating in the city before endeavouring to learn the global language that we call English. ■
