Her: Dawn article on Sindhi scholar

[Nadeem Jamali <jamali@CS.UIUC.EDU>]

Friends,

Just saw an article in today's Dawn (www.dawn.com) about Dr. Fahmida
Hussain.  Dr. Hussain holds the Shah Latif Chair at University of
Karachi and has been playing a very important role in promotion and
preservation of Sindhi language and culture.  Some friends may also
be interested to know that she is sister of eminent Sindhi scholar,
saiin Sirajul Haque Memon, who was also my personal mentor during
my most formative years.

The article is attached here.  You can also read it at Dawn's
website at http://www.dawn.com/weekly/review/review6.htm

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Dr. Fahmida Hussain: An erudite scholar

By M. Khalid Rahman

When she speaks about the legendary characters of Marui, Sassui,
Sohni, Nuri, Rano, Lila and Sorth as they have been immortalized in
the verses of Shah Latif Bhitai, they spring to life. History unfolds
itself before your eyes when she traces time, starting from the
matriarchal Moenjodaro civilization, where woman was the
queen-goddess, right down to the present patriarchal age in which
woman is reduced to a mere object.

Dr Fahmida Hussain has been teaching at Sindhi Department, University
of Sindh, for 22 years. She holds the Shah Latif Chair at the
University of Karachi - a well-earned position of distinction for a
researcher and teacher of her exceptional calibre. Many people know
her through Shah Latif ki sha'iri mein aurat ka roop (the image of
women in Shah Latif's poetry), her Urdu work (published in 1996 on the
252nd anniversary of Shah Latif) which is based on her PhD thesis that
was in Sindhi and later published in a book form. She has translated
the work herself as she is equally adept at Sindhi, Urdu and
English. Her work on literary criticism, art and history is the first
Sindhi book on this subject and a compulsory study for university
students. She has also written the biography of Pir Hussamuddin
Rashidi, and a travelogue. Her Urdu translation of Grearson's The
Linguistic Survey of India (volume 8: chapter 1) was published in book
form by Pakistan Academy of Letters. Several others of her
publications, including a selection of her short stories and an
anthology of noted poetesses of the world, are under print.

Dr Fahmida Hussain, called Fahmida Memon before her marriage, has also
been known as Tasneem Yakub which was her nom de plume under which she
used to compose poetry since her teens. She understands that good
education is the foundation-stone of a good life and she was fortunate
enough to get it at an early age. She thinks she would not have been
such an accomplished woman were it not for her father, Mohammad Yakub
Niaz, a scholar who translated Diwan-i-Hafiz into Sindhi (published in
1970). He devoted most of his time to intellectual development of his
children - tutoring them and discussing things, people and concepts
with them. Her eldest brother, Sirajul Haq Memon - the well known
intellectual and former editor of Sindhi daily Hilal-i-Pakistan - is
another source of inspiration for her. She also holds dear the memory
of Professor Syed Ikram Ali who taught her English at school. He was
my ideal teacher and in many ways I try to emulate him. Not many
children are so lucky as to have a university teacher to teach them at
school level. (Fahmida was one of those fortunate few who studied at
the Model School of the University of Sindh during the early sixties
when the teachers of its Education Department taught at this school as
well.) As she loved to read books and could understand well what she
read, it helped her in building her career in teaching, writing and
research. She has a distinguished academic record although, she
believes, she never put in any extra labour or "burnt midnight oil".

The foundation of a bright future is laid on the bedrock of good
childhood education, she believes. "If one does not have a sound
school education, one is apt to use crutches all one's life. I did not
have any difficulty nor did I have to work very hard to get good
grades because I had developed a reading habit from my childhood and,
fortunately, my father, my brother and my school teachers had all
helped me nurture that habit. I had already read all the classics
before I got admission to Masters in English Literature. And much
before I decided to take admission in Sindhi, I had gone through all
the Sindhi literature. So it was only a matter of channelizing what I
had already known. I did not have to work hard anywhere in my academic
life. If you have the habit of reading, like I have, acquiring
knowledge get so much easier."

The only debacle she faced in her life, or career, was when she came
to Karachi to join the university; she was appointed as a lecturer
although she had prior experience of teaching for almost three years
at the Sindh University. "Why don't I go for PhD? I thought. It wasn't
too difficult and I just went ahead and did it. I became professor
just after three years of not-so-hard work. Nothing to complain! Just
like having a double-promotion."

She did her first Masters in English and taught the subject at Sindh
University for three years. (Prior to that, she was a student of
Microbiology at the DJ College at Karachi where she was recognized as
"the best short-story writer".) She did her second Masters in
Sindhi. She also holds a Law degree and a diploma in Hindi
language. Her reputation as a researcher has reached people interested
in Shah Latif's poetry and thought wherever they live and she has been
recognized at different platforms - especially by Sindhi Adabi Sangat
(1993), Pakistan Academy of Letters (1994), and Sindh Graduates
Association (1995).

She maintains that the "image" of the heroines in Shah's verse is as
much an ideal for the woman of today as it was hundreds of years ago,
and believes that being a feminist does not mean that one should be
against men; it means that you stand for the right of women - in this
sense it makes perfect sense if a man claims to be a feminist.

"A feminist is one who thinks that women and men must have equal
rights and that gender bias is unjustified on human grounds," she
says. "In Sindh's historical past, woman has been given a respected
place. Pick any civilization that developed in the riverine plains and
you'll find woman in a prominent position there. In contrast to that,
in arid plains and mountains, especially in tribal setups, woman holds
a very low position. Patriarchal attitudes abounds in the people in
the mountains and rocky plains," she adds.

"Since the days of the Indus Valley civilization, it has been Sindh's
tradition to protect and respect women. And this tradition, in some
form, still exists in Sindh. The word that most aptly describes a girl
or woman in Sindh is "Niani" and yet it does not have an exact
equivalent in any other language. It connotes love, care and respect
for her from friend and foe alike. If a Niani goes to an enemy's
house, he covers her head with a dopatta in an expression of respect
for her and just because she had entered his home, forgives and
forgets a vendetta. If there is misunderstanding between relatives, it
is their girls who visit each other's homes and all the differences
vanish into thin air." Through her work on the image of women in
Shah's poetry, Dr Fahmida Hussain has tried to depict the glory of
those days when woman was given her appropriate place in society.

"Shah Sahib is against oppression in any form; whether it is depriving
women of their due rights or domination of those in power over the
weak ones. Take the character of Marui, for instance: this poor girl
of the desert refuses to marry the Soomra king, Umar; rebuffs his
offer to become the queen, and persists to return back to her own
people. Sassui faces her community's wrath but nobody is able to break
her strong will and free spirit. Shah Sahib wanted women to be strong
and firm in their will and opinion. In my doctorate thesis and book I
have tried to capture the image of the typical Sindhi woman as
depicted by Shah Latif: She belongs to the poor or middle-class
family. She has love and affection for her father, brothers and other
family members; and she is devoted to her husband and children. It is
through their actions and dialogues that our Sufi poet unravels the
universal truth. Take Shakespeare, or Wordsworth, you won't find any
central character from amongst the poor or the middle class.

"Even in the Urdu poetry, woman is presented as a courtesan. Most of
the Urdu poetry is replete with the mention of sweethearts who are
untrustworthy and deceitful. It is only in Hindi poetry that we find
faithful and husband-worshipping women. One thing that is common to
both Hindi and Sindhi poetry is that it is expressed by woman while in
Urdu, Persian and Arabic, it is the man whose feelings are stated in
the verse.

"Shah Latif has glorified woman in his immortal poetry. No doubt, Shah
Latif is one of the greatest poets ever born. I must point our that in
Sindh woman has always be respected. It is under the influence of
Sindh's invaders and conquerors that now this land has such horrendous
customs as karo-kari. It had historically been a land of love and
devotion, and I hope that it regains its original values and
traditions.

"It is so unfortunate that the Sindhi woman of today has been
suppressed to the extent that a Marui or a Sassui cannot possibly
emerge from amongst them. Our village lasses cannot even think of
loving a man of their choice in the present oppressive social
environment. From the moment she is born, she is treated as the
creation of a lesser god; her mind is stamped with indelible marks
that she is an inferior being and will always remain so," she
laments. But how can we change all this? "Education. Only education,
and good education at that, can liberate our girls and women and the
minds of our men. The feudal set-up is dead against it; the waderas do
not want the sons and daughters of their haris to get educated because
then they would become aware of their rights as humans. But if we love
our people, we must try to change the system if we want to spread the
light."

Dr Fahmida Hussain is a humanist at heart. She abhors all sorts of
prejudice whether it is racial, religious, linguistic or
gender-based. "Woman and man are companions and not adversaries; both
of them have been made for each other. So there should be no
irresoluble conflict between them," she argues. She is not happy about
the way some people think of themselves as superior than others just
because they speak certain language or belong to a specific culture or
place. "I am an urbanite. My best friends are mostly Urdu-speaking -
for instance, Nilofer Abbasi, my classmate at the DJ College. I speak
Urdu like it's my mother tongue. Sometimes it happens that when I meet
someone and they find that my mother tongue is Sindhi, they think that
I come from some village in interior Sindh." This really puts her off.

She is happy with what life has brought her way and it was plenty:
charm, love, success - "what else can one desire!" But what are most
contented moments? "When I am sad," she answers with a smile. It is
perhaps because she is an extremely sensitive person. One who likes to
share happiness with everybody but who keeps one's sorrow to
oneself. When she was young, her affectionate father was one she loved
most. Now it is her home, husband and children. She has a loving and
caring husband who has always been very supportive. They have three
children: two daughters, Sunita and Aruna, and a son Shahmir. The
eldest one, Sunita, is about to become a dental surgeon - not a PhD
like her accomplished mother and she has all the potential to reach
the top - like a chip off the old block.

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--
Nadeem Jamali                                           jamali@cs.uiuc.edu
Department of Computer Science
University of Illinois-UC                   http://osl.cs.uiuc.edu/~jamali