Page 6 - Pakistan Link - March 17, 2023

P6 - PAKISTAN LINK - MARCH 17, 2023 OPINION
n By Dr Syed Amir Those Cherished Days, So Long Ago ten miles round trip. He was an out-
Bethesda, MD standing teacher and taught us Urdu
literature and explained subtleties and
hen I arrived at the Aligarh expressions and aphorisms. The overall richness of classic Urdu poetry. He
Muslim University (AMU) setting and institutional environment greatly helped me in developing an ap-
W School as a young, wide- seemed more sophisticated and intimi- preciation of poetry.
eyed lad of barely 12, India and Paki- dating than I had been used to. The winter session used to be
stan had only recently The headmaster, Ehsan Haider a special time as we had guest teach-
gained independence. Sahib, came from my own district, ers. Students at the Teacher’s Train-
AMU was going Badaun, but I did not know him. He was ing College enrolled for a Bachelor of
through a traumatic rather aloof and ordinarily inaccessible. Education degree came to teach us for
phase, being blamed He rode a bicycle and a peon always six weeks as part of their hands-on ex-
for supporting the stood ready to take it away from him as perience. Some of them were excellent
partition of the coun- soon as he alighted. I never saw him vis- tutors, better than our regular teachers.
try and the creation of Pakistan. How- iting classrooms or addressing student They attempted to be especially nice to
ever, as a school student I was too assemblies. Nevertheless, he was an us, lest we misbehaved and disrupted
young to be conscious of or concerned admirable teacher and taught English their class, leading to a bad evaluation
about the perilous winds buffeting the classes for the final year students and by their supervisors. At the mid-term
University. there never was any breach of discipline. exams, I did very well and received
I was an unlikely student at the Soon after I joined the school, it complimentary comments from my
AMU School (Minto Circle), now re- In time, I grew very fond of the school and its surroundings, where I had felt like an outsider was announced that the first Indian teachers who had before barely shown
named Syedna Tahir Saifuddin School. and stranger not so long ago. I was sad when the time came to leave it and move on to the next Governor General, Rajagopal Acha- me any recognition. I was gratified that
I was born in the small town of Sahas- phase. I am certain that the academic contours and cultural milieu of the school have changed rya, would come to the University and my teachers at the modest school I had
radically and would be unrecognizable to me today. Yet, viewed through my mind’s eyes, and
wan in Budaun, which had been the across the fog of time, I would prefer to see it as it was more than half a century ago pay a brief visit to our school as well. It attended in my hometown had im-
home of my family for the past five set off a flurry of activities to welcome parted some excellent basic education.
centuries. My father was a well-re- enter AMU. She suggested to my father and forced plans to be shelved. him, including rehearsals in the open In time, I gained self-confidence and
spected hakeem, and three generations that he send me to her so that I could be When my cousin took me to the school courtyard where he was to be made enduring friendships, and was
of my ancestors had followed the same admitted to the AMU School. She had AMU school, completed my admission received. The weather was cold, and selected as the co-editor of the school
profession, practitioners of the Yunani rented part of a house on the Marris papers and left me there, I felt bewil- the school had no covered auditorium. magazine. One of my school friends,
system of medicine (Tibb-e-Yunani). Road. Marris Road was the main thor- dered. The Minto Circle was indeed A slight problem arose for me. All of us Saad Mahmoud Hashmi, a favorite of
My father desired this family tradition oughfare known for its grand mansions a circle enclosed by high walls, much lining up to receive him were required the vice chancellor, Dr Zakir Husain,
to continue; however, in keeping with that were mostly neglected and in need like medieval castles, with two gates. to wear a black Sherwani, the official became a prominent member of Indian
modern trends, he wanted me to go to of repair. They belonged to Muslim za- It looked very different from my old uniform. I only had a brown Sher- Foreign Service. Sadly, while posted at
a Western medical school. mindars who had fallen on hard times, school which sat on an open field with wani—I had never needed a black one. the Indian mission at the United Na-
Yet, the chances of my gaining following the abolition of the zamind- no restrictions on coming and going. After much discussion, the headmaster tions, he suffered a massive heart attack
admission in the few medical schools aris system. The traffic on Marris Road However, my new school looked much made an exception, and I was allowed and died very young.
in Uttar Pradesh were slim. Moreover, was sparse, comprising mostly of cycles, more impressive, and classrooms bet- to join the assembly. I felt somewhat In time, I grew very fond of the
my father’s rather modest resources tongas, and cycle rickshaws, with an ter furnished. The building was double self-conscious in the reception line, school and its surroundings, where I
would not have allowed him to afford occasional car lumbering along. Many storied, with the ground floor hous- though I doubt if the Governor Gener- had felt like an outsider and stranger
my high school and medical education. owners of the aging kothis rented out a ing dorms, and classrooms on the first al himself modestly attired in a simple not so long ago. I was sad when the
My opportunities were also limited as, portion of their houses to supplement floor. Following independence, the coat and dhoti noticed or cared. Apart time came to leave it and move on to
in Sahaswan, there was only one high their dwindling incomes. number of students had fallen sharply. from his sartorial simplicity, the visit the next phase. I am certain that the ac-
school that offered no science classes, a The AMU did not have a medical Consequently, only one wing of the was full of pageantry and splendor. ademic contours and cultural milieu of
prerequisite for the study of medicine. college and my father was hoping that building was being fully utilized, the One striking feature of my teach- the school have changed radically and
The school owed its existence to the it would start one by the time I was other housed the science classes and ers was the uniformity of their religious would be unrecognizable to me today.
conscientiousness of a rare member ready to apply. Realizing the scarcity the laboratory. Two others were shut affiliations. Except for a single teacher Yet, viewed through my mind’s eyes,
of the Indian Civil Service, Panna Lal, of Muslims in the medical profession, down, giving the overall appearance of who taught us Hindi, there were no and across the fog of time, I would pre-
who served as district magistrate of Dr Zia Uddin Ahmad, vice chancellor a ghost town. non-Muslims. Among the teachers, a fer to see it as it was more than half a
Budaun in the twenties. of the AMU, had, in pre-independence Many of my class fellows came few were exceptional. Asghar Ali Sa- century ago.
Then an unexpected turn of events days, started a campaign to raise funds from affluent families, some from hib, a kindly figure with a grey beard, (Dr Syed Amir is a former As-
brought me to Aligarh at a very young to establish a medical college. The cam- South Africa from the rich Indian looked old to our eyes, lived a long way sistant Professor, Harvard Medical
age. My aunt had relocated to Aligarh paign had been progressing well when business class, and spoke English flu- away at the old city (Baliay Qila), and School, and a health science adminis-
to enable her children, my cousins, to the upheaval of partition intervened ently, although using their own strange walked to the school every day, some trator, US National Institutes of Health)

n By Julia Tong Recent Mass Shootings Deepen Stigma Yet despite the prevalence of mental
US health challenges among Asian Ameri-
J anuary’s mass shootings in Mon- around Mental Health for Asian Americans the groups least likely to seek treat-
cans, studies show they remain among
ment. Carrie Zhang, who founded the
terey Park and Half Moon Bay
Asian Mental Health Project (AMHP),
trained public attention on the
perpetrators’ mental health. But ex- racial trauma in immigrant communi- says cultural taboos and language play
perts stress the evidence linking men- ties and communities of color. She says a large role in preventing people from
tal health and violence is weak and that prevailing misconceptions about peo- seeking help.
people with mental illnesses are more ple with mental illness—that they are “Growing up, it was really hard to
often themselves victims of violence. more prone to violence—obscure the communicate things, not just because
They also warn against further root causes of violence, from a lack of of stigma, but also because of language
stigmatizing an issue that is already gun control legislation to issues of pov- barriers,” recalls Zhang, who while
considered taboo in many communi- erty, including food insecurity, housing receiving counseling and therapy in
ties. “It’s important for the public to and the need for a livable wage. college says she struggled to open up
keep in mind that the majority of folks While not a direct cause of vio- to her family about her own mental
with mental illness do not have any lence, these “systemic pressures,” health challenges. The breakthrough
violent tendencies,” says clinical psy- Wang notes, can, in isolated cases, moment came when she was in-
chologist Dr Michi Fu, who specializes compound existing traumas that an terviewed about her experience by
in cross-cultural mental health issues. individual is experiencing, making a Chinese-language publication.
That assertion aligns with find- it “difficult to understand the conse- Zhang says reading her account in
ings from organizations including the quences of their actions when they Chinese allowed her parents to con-
American Psychological Association The focus on mental health in the recent shootings in Half Moon Bay and Monterey Park, are under intense stress.” And trauma nect their own experiences with hers.
and MentalHealth.gov which agree that California heighten cultural taboos among Asian Americans around seeking help and obscure can be experienced across entire com- “My dad was like, ‘You know, ac-
the majority of people who commit vio- deeper communal traumas – EMS munities, as is the case for many Asian tually, I think I experienced anxiety
lence do not have mental illnesses. wards mental illness as the reason why were older Asian men, a rarity in an Americans who in recent years have too.’ And I was like, ‘Holy crap, (that’s)
Fu says misconceptions sur- these people acted.” otherwise troublingly familiar narra- watched as members of their commu- the first time he has ever talked to me
rounding those with mental health The back-to-back mass shootings tive of mass shootings in this country. nity have been the targets of often vio- about this,’” she recalls.
challenges can worsen the already in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay lent crime and racist attacks.
heavy stigma around mental illness, in late January came within just days ‘Systemic pressures’ “In order for there to be trauma, Seeking care
potentially discouraging people from of one another, the former claiming 11 Dr Jenny Wang is a clinical psy- you don’t actually have to be a direct re- Recognizing the signs of mental
finding help. “There’s a lot of damage victims and the latter seven—mostly chologist and national speaker on cipient of that violence,” says Fu. “You illness in a loved one is an important
to be done if we continue to point to- migrant farmworkers. Both shooters Asian American mental health and can just engage in watching the media.” (Continued on page 23)
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