होमी भाभा की लाल बहादुर शास्त्री को श्रद्धांजलि

मेहेर वान

- मेहेर वान

अपनी सादगी, सरलता और विनम्रता के लिए प्रसिद्ध लाल बहादुर शास्त्री भारत के दूसरे प्रधानमंत्री थे, जिनकी 11 जनवरी 1966 को ताशकंद में हृदयाघात के कारण मृत्यु हो गई थी| प्रधानमन्त्री बनने से पहले वह रेलमंत्री और गृहमंत्री भी रहे थे| उन्होंने भारत के प्रथम प्रधानमन्त्री जवाहर लाल नेहरु के द्वारा शुरू किये गए भारतीय परमाणु ऊर्जा कार्यक्रम सम्बन्धी गतिविधियों पर सक्रियता से हिस्सेदारी करते हुए सरकार का प्रतिनिधित्व किया था, प्रसिद्ध वैज्ञानिक होमी जहाँगीर भाभा भारतीय परमाणु ऊर्जा कार्यक्रम का नेतृत्व कर रहे थे| लाल बहादुर शास्त्री जी मृत्यु पर भारतीय परमाणु ऊर्जा विभाग और टाटा मूलभूत शोध संस्थान के वैज्ञानिकों ने होमी जहाँगीर भाभा के नेतृत्व में शास्त्री जी को अत्यंत अद्वितीय रूप से श्रद्धांजलि अर्पित की थी| शास्त्री जी के द्वारा परमाणु ऊर्जा विभाग के प्लूटोनियम प्लांट के विमोचन की पहली वर्षगाँठ (22 जनवरी, 1966) पर वैज्ञानिकों ने छुट्टी के दिन भी काम करते हुए शास्त्री जी को श्रद्धांजलि दी थी| शास्त्री जी को वैज्ञानिकों द्वारा दी गई श्रद्धांजलि के बारे में भाभा ने स्व.शास्त्री जी की धर्मपत्नी को यह पत्र लिखकर सूचित किया था| 

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23 जनवरी, 1966

प्रिय श्रीमती शास्त्री,

            हमारे पूर्व प्रधानमन्त्री स्वर्गीय श्री लाल बहादुर शास्त्री की स्मृति में श्रद्धांजलि अर्पित करते हुए 12 जनवरी 1966 को संपन्न हुई बैठक में टाटा इंस्टिट्यूट ऑफ़ फन्डामेंटल रिसर्च (टाटा मूलभूत शोध संस्थान) के कर्मचारियों द्वारा एक प्रस्ताव पारित किया गया जिसके बारे में मैं आपको सूचित कर रहा हूँ|

            22 जनवरी 1966, शनिवार जिसके ठीक एक साल पहले श्री शास्त्री ने प्लूटोनियम प्लांट का विमोचन किया था, के दिन उनकी स्मृति को श्रद्धांजलि देने के लिए परमाणु ऊर्जा संस्थान, ट्राम्बे के कर्मचारी सदस्यों की बैठक हुई| इस बैठक में एक प्रस्ताव पारित किया गया जिसके बारे में मुझे आपको सूचित करने के लिए कहा गया है| परमाणु ऊर्जा विभाग, परमाणु ऊर्जा अधिष्ठान, ट्राम्बे और टाटा मूलभूत शोध संस्थान के कर्मचारियों ने यह निर्णय लिया है कि वह 22 तारीख दिन शनिवार को, जो कि इन संस्थाओं के लिए एक छुट्टी का दिन है, उन्हें (श्री लाल बहादुर शास्त्री जी को) यथोचित श्रद्धांजलि देते हुए पूरे दिन काम करेंगे|

            मुझे समय-समय पर उनके साथ काम करने का विशेषाधिकार प्राप्त हुआ था जब वह गैर-विभागीय मंत्री बने थे और परमाणु मामलों की देखरेख कर रहे थे, और बेशक मेरा उनसे अधिक सम्बन्ध तब रहा जब वह प्रधानमंत्री थे और परमाणु ऊर्जा के प्रमुख थे| उनकी सज्जनता, उनकी विनम्रता, उनकी सहज ईमानदारी और निष्ठा ने उन्हें उन तमाम लोगों का प्यारा बनाया, जिन्हें मेरी तरह उनके साथ काम करने का विशेषाधिकार प्राप्त हुआ, और हम सब एक ऐसे महान और साहसी इंसान को खोकर शोकाकुल हैं, जिनकी असमय मृत्यु हमारे देश के लिए एक महान क्षति है| आपकी इस क्षति जिसमें सम्पूर्ण देश हिस्सेदार है, में मेरे सभी सहकर्मी बंधुओं की ओर से और मेरी और से हमारी गहरी सहानुभूति स्वीकार कीजिये|

            क्या मैं आपसे यह अनुरोध कर सकता हूँ कि यदि कुछ भी ऐसा है जिसमें मैं आपकी किसी भी तरह से सहायता कर सकूँ तो कृपया आप मुझे बिना संकोच किये सूचित करेंगी, क्योंकि शास्त्री जी की स्मृति में कुछ भी कर पाने को मैं अपना एक विशेषाधिकार समझूंगा|

भवदीय

(एच. जे. भाभा)

श्रीमती लालिता शास्त्री

नयी दिल्ली

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सेतु, जून 2018

Letter to My Dear Unborn Child

Abdulrazak Sansani

by Abdulrazak Iliyasu Sansani

Dear poor Child,

This is undoubtedly not the first medium of our communication. For this will not be  the first time we interact. Although this may precede all other interactions, we may have together in our lives. You may be perplexed by this few lines  I have asserted. But my intentions were never to confuse you rather to make you comprehend the perplexities of life.

One of the first things, I will want you to comprehend is that life is never outrightly easy. It is not a place where you 'party all through' or enjoy a ceaseless luxury. Long story short, life is not the bed of roses. Rather it is a sojourn journey full of ups and downs. Never you anticipate it to be easy. For it was not for your dad, your paternal uncles and aunts just as it was not for your paternal grand dad, grand mum or any of my forebears.

Truly, life is less stressful and less difficult for some. But it is hardly absolutely easy. So,  do not anticipate it to be what it was not for your dad or even for the most noble and most pious of mankind.  All that I want you to comprehend is that here you have to work hard, pray and believe in your abilities even if no one thinks you can,  your dad and mum included. Although it is extremely difficult to see that happening. It still rarely occurs. So,  the rarity of it happening does not in anyway alter it in entirety.

Thus, the "only path" you can follow is not in most instances the "only path", you must strive to explore other avenues even if it means inventing new ones altogether. You may be tested beyond the limit you think you can withstand but do not forget the best of all planners does that to prepare you for better days ahead and never to deter you from achieving your set objectives. So,  if you fail to thrive in this kind of situations most often than not is because  you have not striven enough or is simply not meant to be.

Do not overstress yourself contemplating about what you think is the best when it does not happen. By so doing, you lose valuable energy, rather channel these energies to other fruitful ventures. You must understand that you cannot change what God has destined to be. Even if you strive to  do everything. So,  having  that at the back of your mind will certainly help you in living an excited and less stressful life.

You must have noticed  that l keep on discussing living a less stressful life. You may not comprehend this at the initial stage of your transitory life journey but you will comprehend it eventually. Although all that I  am doing now, is to intimate you with these things you may likely encounter. And as they say to be forewarned is to be forearmed.

By this stage of reading these words from your dad to you,  I believe you must have learnt one or two things but if you have not, then you will have to go back and read these statements again but strive to do that now with less pressure than you must have done hitherto. You know,  putting yourself under undue pressure will go a long way in harming you. Yes,  you will find yourself under intense pressure and difficulty but your composure will be sacrosanct in seeing you through.

I know by now you must be wondering how you are going to find that composure in the face of great difficulty. You will not have to overstress yourself. For you will find it in the scriptures and dogmas that have been true for centuries. And have aided in so many ways, just as they have been central in finding the needed  peace for one to thrive.

Talking about thriving in life, if you really want to thrive in it then never you play with whatever God commands us to do as His servants and strive as much as you  can to not engage in whatever He asks us to abstain from. Only then will you find lasting peace and  live a happy life in a transitory home_ this world! Of course, you will be attacked from all quarters by those who know next to nothing about God and even those who have an in-depth knowledge of Him but chose to use it to gain material benefits rather than preach the true words of God.

Well,  do not worry about how you are going to overcome this tremendous challenge for this answer is not far from you and yet you have to go thousands of miles sometimes to acquire it.  My dear child what I am about to disclose to you is definitely the greatest gift I will ever give you as your dad.  Indeed it is the greatest and most essential gift any parent can give to his or her child. Perhaps by this point you must have discovered what I am talking about.  In case you have not, please again I urge you not to worry my child.  Too much worries make you weary and less focused.

Sorry my dear that I  have not yet told you about the beautiful, essential instrument that is worth our time in seeking and eventually acquiring it. I believe it is crystal clear what I am talking about. But perhaps it is not so far for you, I ask you again not to worry. For I am talking about what is vital both here and in the hereafter. Do not be perplexed. For it is not and it will never be my intention to confuse you. Rather I will want to let you know some essential things about life.

I apologise if by the time you are reading this piece you get stressed out striving to fathom what actually this is. Well,  you will not have to wait any longer. For perhaps you will have rightly guessed what I am striving to let you know, but in case you find out after I must have told you what exactly it is,  that you were wrong,  then know that you cannot be right all the time.  And in most instances you will fail to get some seemly difficult things and of course even easy things right. That does not make you less intelligent or less human than anyone,  what it does depict is that you expend more of your time seeking knowledge. You may not have noticed it but I have just told you what I have been craving to let you know.  Education is of course what I have been striving to espouse to you its essence.

Education is sacrosanct in both this life and the hereafter. We all need sound education to live a life worthy of emulation. Do not get me wrong, I do not in anyway means the higher the qualification one has the higher the chances of him or her living a life worthy of emulation. What I meant is that education plays a crucial role in shaping the lives of people. Thus, a good education may help a lot.  And when I talk about education I mean both western and religious education. Yes, I also mean both formal and informal. For I unequvoically understand the merits of education.

My dear child most of the challenges I have faced as a person in life have been as a result of my unflinching resolve to get educated and contribute my quota to my country's development and humanity! I have suffered so many heart breaks, seen so many lows, celebrated so many highs but  in all of these nothing have shaken  my resolve to get educated. Not the myriads of challenges: be it when I  was the subject of ridicule of some adolescent boys and girls whose cause I was so desirious of helping, not even when some children who barely knew me gave me no chance of doing anything remarkable, not even when some people thought I could not match their prowess, not even the sharp knife of betrayals could stop your dad; in short even with health challenges and other equally grave challenges I always gave my all and God willingly I will continue doing the same. If at all you ever get to see this letter to you my child, do not only read it but strive to utilise the vital lessons that you may find therein.

Here I am writing this letter to you without knowing, if I  will ever get to see my own child or children as the case may be.  The reality is that I may not even live long to get married and even if I do.  I may not be blessed with children as it is the will of God. And He only can decide anything which whether I like it or not I must accept. And as someone who believes in the supremacy of the almighty over all of my affairs, I will unrelentingly continue to serve and thank the Almighty God regardless of my fate. So, this letter will be therefore useful to any other child who seeks a future of decency, success and happiness. But if I am fortunate to live long and get married, and have children, then this will become useful to him or her, or even them as the case may be.

As I write this letter now my child, I do not know if I have ever met your mother. I do not know who she is now.  Perhaps we have seen each other. Perhaps we have not.  But whatever the case is, He who is the master of all planners has already planned everything and I will accept whatever and whoever she is with candour, esteem and treat her with dignity.

Pray, study hard, work hard, concentrate, invest, help the needy, forgive, care, respect and live life according to the dictates of the lord and not merely exist. I look forward to seeing you Aisha that is the name I hope to give you, I plan to name you after my late step mum or Hafsah, my mum; if you are a girl but if you are not, then Abdulrahman, Muhammad or Abdulsamad may be your name!

Setu Anniversary, June 2017