BY MUHAMMED SHAFI KHAN
Nisar Rahi was a man of piety, an observing Muslim, who used to be the soul of social gatherings at Rajouri, Poonch, and Shopian also. He was religious but not a bigot, rather a liberal to the core.
He was an Islamist with a broad posturing for modern views on religion, particularly his own – Islam. He was a broad minded person who believed in broader concept of Islam.
He was concerned about the plight of Muslims all over the world and would share his ideas regarding progressive Islam with his friends and acquaintances everywhere.
He was an impressive seminarist who took keen interest in organising seminars at Jammu, Rajouri, Poonch. He was a man of culture who took measures to cultivate and improve upon Pahari culture at Rajouri.
He was also a poet who composed in Pahari language beautiful poetry to enthral his fellow brethren in symposia. I remember one such symposium or Mushaira which was jointly organised by men of letters from Srinagar, Rajouri and Poonch at Peer Ki Gali, years ago on a sunny day in the lovely environs of mountains and meadows of Peer Ki Gali.
Nisar Rahi was representing the Rajouri delegation of the meet along with Farooq Muztar and Ahmad Shinash. As usual his poems in his sweet voice were quite enthralling to the audience.
Another such occasion which I remember about Nisar Rahi is his speech at Girls Higher Secondary School Shopian’s large ground to a large audience comprising the educated elite of the town – teachers, poets and students from college and school.
He spoke for about an hour on human values and the value of education worldwide In the modern age. He was a speaker, an orator, who would grip the audience in his beautiful Urdu.
The writer of these words had a long association with Nisar Rahi spread at his native village Dodason Bala In Rajouri where he happened to be on duty as headmaster High School Dodason Bala and also at Jammu where Rahi used to visit his son Mumtaz – a police officer in J&K police department.
Rahi was a voracious reader as well. His subjects of study would be History, Poetry, Philosophy, Islam and Literature. He had a scholarly study of English and Urdu literature. Rahi sahib was a unique personality.
In conversation and dialogue he would be serious enough to impress. His personalty was lovable and one would be naturally attracted to him when In contact. Such a human being, an asset, is not born so often under the sun.
An attractive part of his speech would be his humour to make the proceedings lively and colorfull. He will be remembered long for his services in the field of education. He was a teacher whom his students would remember for a long time for his quality of teaching. He was a devoted teacher who served as lecturer of English at Rajouri.
His command over the languages English and Urdu was mesmerizing. One would like to listen to him more and more. What was striking was his sweet voice with which he would utter his words though impromptu but each with meaning, purpose and requirement.
He would not talk much but when he would, it would be soul-touching to make an impression. Nisar Rahi was thoroughly a gentleman who loved society and social connections. He had a good number of friends who would now miss him after his sad demise.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.