No wonder, under Nazir Sahib’s tutelage, music became a permanent feature of Government College’s character
With the demise of Tariq Farani sahib, the world is poorer in having lost a selfless and dedicated person. His unflinching loyalty to Government College University, Lahore, and to his life-long passion — music — made him unique among all his colleagues and peers.
He was an incarnation of Nazir Ahmed Music society. (The society was first founded in 1930s and went by the name of Culture Club. It was later named as Nazir Ahmad Music Society.) Prof Nazir Ahmad, a former Government College principal, was a great music enthusiast. For him, like Friedrich Nietzsche, a life without music would be a mistake.
No wonder, under Nazir sahib’s tutelage, music became a permanent feature of Government College’s character as it cultivated a nuanced cultural expression. It also enabled students to appreciate aesthetics and inculcate in them humanism. It helped protect them against parochialism.
Farani sahib proved a worthy successor to Prof Nazir Ahmad. He took Music Society forward and under his care it flourished. Meeting him and watching him at work I had always been reminded of Plato’s discourse on music which “gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”
He was indeed a rare individual. Now that he has embarked on his journey to the Hereafter, the sustenance of GCUs’ Music Society appears to be in jeopardy. The reason why I say so is that hardly anybody elicits the passion for music as Farani sahib educed. A person so enlightened and educated, with so unmitigated a passion for music, is hard to come by. His salary was never commensurate with the services he rendered. Besides serving the cause of music, many of his trainees found employment.
Farani was an idealist and as Henry Ford very aptly said, “an idealist is a person who helps other people to be prosperous.” So was Farani sahib. He invested his entire life to ensure that the Music Society remained one of the best-run societies of GCU and those mentored by him are good enough for the job market.
He was a person with very few aspirations. The pursuit of a passion for music was the only reward that he cared about. Ironically, his selflessness won him very few admirers in his lifetime. Those admirers adored him like a guru, which he actually was.
His love for the GCU was unequivocal and serving his alma mater was the goal of his life. With a degree in English literature, Farani sahib opted to take the road ‘less traveled by’ perhaps in the hope that it would eventually make all the difference. To realise his passion for music - he played flute with extra ordinary finesse - he devoted his life and didn’t think of switching over to a lucrative career.
Teaching English language and literature would obviously have stood him in good stead. But he preferred pursuing his passion and did what he believed in. For that he must have withstood tremendous pressure from his family and friends. He would make no compromise.
He was a person with very few aspirations. The pursuit of a passion for music was the only reward that he cared about. Ironically, his selflessness won him very few admirers in his lifetime but those admirers adored him like a guru.
Despite an innocuous exterior, Farani sahib was rock solid inside. That way he was an idealist to the core. He was an embodiment of what South Korean singer, Choi Minho has said, “I’m idealistic so my life outlook is to never give up even if something seems absolutely impossible, I will run as hard as I can go.”
As no university, including Pun jab University with which Government College, Lahore, was affiliated, taught music in the 1980s, he joined the college as a Programme Officer Music, a position created specifically for Government College, Lahore.
His career, if at all it was one, began in 1963. Thereafter, he made it his life-long mission to train the youth in various fields of music. Despite the fact that education in music did not exist in public sector educational institutions, Farani sahib made it a point to impart the necessary skills to aspiring musicians with the result that many of them were gainfully employed in schools as music teachers.
Besides, a large number of singers and music players spent their formative years under his vigilant eyes. Thus, he fomented a liberal image of GC University even in the days when music was looked down upon as something otiose and vulgar. The stressful times could not dampen his enthusiasm and he persisted with a steady zeal and gusto.
At the GCU campus, Farani sahib did not have many friends, particularly from amongst the faculty. Probably it was because of the indifference shown to him by the administration as well as the faculty that he rarely mixed up with many at the campus. Like a religious ritual, his daily routine was quite set.
Access to his office situated on the upper story adjacent to the Bokhari Auditorium was through a narrow spiral staircase. Those with weak knees find the climb arduous. At the far end of the room sits Mr Jaffer who plays the tabla and keeps giving tips to young vocalists. He would leave at dusk unless a musical performance had been scheduled.
Every Thursday, without fail, there was a music concert. Everyone was welcome to perform and to listen to the music. That day the room would be usually full to capacity. I request Prof Zaidi, the vice chancellor of GC University to name the room after Tariq Farani and to institute an award in his name for the best singer of the year.
To conclude, let me state on behalf of the Ravians and Old Ravians, I pay tribute to the selfless soul, Traiq Farani sahib, to whom all of us owe a tremendous debt of gratitude. Farani sahib, you will not be forgotten.
The writer is Professor in the faculty of Liberal Arts at the Beaconhouse National University, Lahore