Thank you Sir Nausherwan

Do you all really want to know who the biggest idealists currently present at LUMS are? May I introduce to all of you Mr Mazhar Chinoy and Mr Yasser Hashmi who promised our parents on the day of our orientation that they would look after us as their children and that this institution was built on the notion of familyhood where everyone is treated as a family member. On that day Mr Hashmi claimed to our parents, and I quote, that "we request all of you to entrust us with your children. From this day onward, let us share your responsibilities of taking care of your children and meeting all of their needs. Your children are now ours. We will do everything in our power to look after them just like the way you have been looking after them till now. From this day onward, your role of parenting ends and our role of guardianship begins. Your child has every right to run after our instructors and make lives miserable for them. They are there to serve you and your children. Their doors are always open for the students. Therefore, we urge all the students to take full advantage of this opportunity extended by LUMS and make the best use of the services that they provide you. Parents need to not worry about the well-being and security of their children because I can assure you all that they are now in great hands." Unfortunately in this case, realism has overridden idealism. This may be a hard pill to swallow but the reality is totally different from the picture portrayed by the administration on our orientation day.

So far I have found the attitude of administrators, most of the instructors (not all of them), and the individuals belonging from Registrar Office towards the students to be very cold and weak. On the very first day, they inject students with the belief that that are on their own, which makes it arduous for the freshmen, especially belonging from special backgrounds, to adapt themselves with the surroundings. Most of them have to figure out by themselves about where the tuition fee is generated from, how to select courses and that too before the available seats in that particular course run out, how this institution works and above all, what is really expected from us as students. I have learned all of these procedures through the hard way. Most of the instructors, once again not all of them, that I have come across so far follow this criterion for teaching: give lectures, surprise students with quizzes for which they have to memorize the concepts which would be quizzed, assign them essays and other assignments, mark them and then in the end grade students. Although this standard of teaching is fine, I don't see how this standard or routine makes students feel being part of some family as it allows for minimal interaction between a student and an instructor. I know couple of students who have tried meeting instructors during their office hours and had terrible experiences. What an instructor expects from students before meeting him/her during office hours is that they must consult their problems with his/her teaching assistants. If they fail to satisfy the students then they can pay their instructor a visit during his/her office hours. In most cases, the instructor looses his.her cool somehow for slightest of excuses and ask students to either leave or consult the TA again. Once again I would like to emphasis here that not all the instructors behave in such a manner. I did come across very caring and humble instructors as well but you all have heard about the similar extreme incidents, also involving suing instructors etc,, that have taken place in the past.

I haven't felt part of such a family till the second session of this course. I receive this email, after the third session, with the subject "meet and greet" by Sir Nausherwan. Out of my curiosity I open that email and can't believe my eyes after reading it because this idea of meeting each and every one of the students in person was something new and not that popular here. For a second I questioned myself, have I read it wrongly? After reading it one more time, I assured myself that my eyes were not playing tricks with my mind and that I have correctly read the email which requested me to choose the time slot which would be convenient for me to meet and introduce myself to my instructor. When I knocked on his door, he opened it and warmly welcomed me to a room which serves as an office space for three instructors. I was glad that I decided to show up. During our conversation, I found Sir Nausherwan to be humble, friendly and caring and who also gave patient hearing to me and to the expectations that I had set for this course. Before leaving, I acknowledged sir for taking the initiative of meeting each and every one of us in person and contributing in minimizing this unavoidable communication gaps which exist between students and instructors and between students and the administration. After meeting him, I realized how sincere this guy was to his profession and how serious he was in fulfilling all the duties that are expected from a good instructor to perform. After that meeting, I also realized that if he is willing to go an extra mile to cooperate with us and comment on hundreds of blocs written by us, then I also have the obligation to cooperate with him and make contributions as well that are expected from a student. From that day onward, I made a pledge with myself that no matter what, I have to get a very good grade in his course and the reason why I made such a pledge is because his personality inspired me to make efforts from my end. Having those long discussions, pissing each other off, passing jocular remarks in every session, commenting on others' blocks, and respecting each others' opinions etc. forced me to feel that I was a member of  this little family that was created by our instructor. Sir Nausherwan is the only instructor that I know so far who has emphasized a lot on writing. He equipped us with writing skills which I believe that every student here must possess them; the writing techniques and standards that should have been taught to the students in their very first semester. The Writing and Communication course that I took failed to equip students with proper writing techniques and I know couple of students, who took this writing course, who are still suffering in writing good pieces and articles. But unfortunately, no one here has given too much importance to writing.

Although my ambition is to become an entrepreneur, this course has developed my interests in International Relations and I am glad that I took this course. Above all, I was blessed to have such a caring instructor like Sir Nausherwan and I pray to Allah to bless all of us with instructors like him for the remaining semesters. Last but not the least, I wish you sir all the best for your future endeavours. May you accomplish your PhD degree with flying colours. Just like you are expecting us to be the future leaders who would be bringing positive changes, likewise, we also hope that you put your PhD degree in good use and therefore play your part in making this world a better place for all of us to live in.