"Dad": An Epitaph

Published in "The News" - City News Section


Friday, January 28, 2011

I pen this eulogy in memory of Mehoob Francis Sada, a heroic national father figure, educationist, director of the Christian Study Centre, former vice principal of St. Patrick’s School, Rawalpindi, writer, poet and author of several works in the national language, who worked tirelessly for peace, social harmony through interfaith dialogue and upheld the idea of ecumenism at the national and international level. The list is endless due to his sincere efforts in various other humanitarian and philanthropic goals.

His sudden demise on the 14th of January 2011, has been a tragic loss for the nation and the family with only the usual prayers to resort to for refuge from pain. It is ironic how fate works and shapes ones destiny. Being destined for further greatness due to the immense input towards pioneering initiatives in order to uplift the rights of not only humans, but minorities and the weaker gender, fate intervened and completely dashed all hopes of furthering his utopian objectives. The rational mind will never understand the nature of God, if such really is His role, while the firm believer will accept it as the hand of The Almighty. I merely ask, “ Would God be actually so cruel to one so kind?” Why should man blame God for

his failures every time?

If I talk about Mr. Mehboob’s life then this article will hardly do him justice due to his unsurpassed achievements in the various fields already mentioned and the rich accolades he received by the state in acknowledgement of his services.

I really was amazed at the large collection of ‘awards’, and the simplicity and humility of the personage who had dined at various occasions with the President and the Prime Minister yet loved ‘home cooked’ meals, would walk through the streets of Rawalpindi specially, Lalkurti, drink ‘lassi’ and listen to folk and classic music and chat away with old acquaintances from his childhood.

Other than this he exulted in the company of his grandchildren who would be molly coddled by him and were able to extract gifts from him quite regularly!

He certainly had travelled far and wide; from America in the west right down to Australia in the South, just to voice his noble ideals on the international forum bringing pride to his nation and valiantly tried to efface the tarnished image of our country and promote it as a peaceful and tolerant nation due to the existence of a multi-religious populace.

Yet, despite having such unique accomplishments he lived with his ‘feet on the ground’, which is why he was able to reach out to the ‘masses’ and embodied the true Christian spirit of simplicity.

He excelled at multi-tasking and worked at various organisations initially to provide the ‘best’ for his family and to live according to a specific code of standards and principles.

From the poetry of ‘Bhullay Shah’, the verses of ‘Faiz’ to the ‘naats and qawwalis’ of Islam and Sufism, the meditative hymns of Buddhism, The ‘punjabi’ ‘Bhajans’ and ‘Hymns’ of Christianity and Sikkhism, Mr. Mehboob upheld the unique philosophy of the ‘universality’ of all religions exposing the common characteristics of all through comparative analysis, thereby emphasising his philosophy of ‘humanity’ sans religious borders. Having a strong link with different ‘churches’ across the country, he was opposed to ‘sects’ and strongly supported ecumenism, regardless of frictional relationships with a particular church clergy. He extended this belief through the annual celebration of an ecumenical ‘prayer’ specifically on his date of birth, which is 18th of January.

Driven by a high-level of energy to achieve his objectives ‘Dad’ gained international fame and recognition and had numerous interviews by the BBC Radio during which he would always portray the ‘positive’ aspect of a particular issue regarding his beloved country.

Mr. Mehboob was a voracious reader and if one had to get to know him intimately, then get to know his ‘gargantuan library’ with books on almost every subject. Having brought back rich reading material from his wide travels on various social, psychological, political, and religious subjects, his first priority would be to translate them so as to reach out to the locals. Being an educationist he was keen to update the local population with the latest knowledge, which was part of his philosophy of, ‘development of the mind’.

For him ‘dialogue’ as a gateway to healthier relationships was always the better way for a positive solution to any prevailing issue, which is why as a consistent reformist and humanitarian activist he was part of innumerable ‘peaceful demonstrations’ regarding a communal problem, minority rights, corruption, educational reforms and discriminations etc.

So how do we cope with this void? An ebullient and highly vivacious personage, who created a field of energy with his presence and touched everyone’s life even within a few seconds of interaction! Let us close with the consolation and pray that ‘Dad’s’ metaphysical presence will be at rest, peace and enjoy that ideal harmony in the world above which he continually struggled to achieve in his temporal abode.

We all therefore salute you ‘Dad’ and will painfully miss you! May Mr. Mehboob Francis Sada rest in peace.

By Dr. Sanjay Rao