TOWARDS BECOMING A DIPLOMAT
It was rainy season in the month of September in the year 1963 in a hospital in the city of Hyderabad where a new-born baby was the cynosure of all eyes. The parents were full of ecstasy for their first child was born. that was me! My father, Late Mr Awaz Sayeed, worked for a public sector undertaking as an administrative assistant till he retired in 1982 as a gazetted officer. His life was a transition from great opulence to wanton struggle. Born to a Yemeni father who was the Chief Treasurer of the King of a small Principality called Mukkalah in Yemen, my father was the youngest of his 5 brothers and 4 sisters. A reckless wastage of wealth by some of his elder brothers forced him to join government service at a tender age. He took up short story writing in Urdu at a young age and earned great fame in life. Being scholarly and intellectual he used to involve his two children --- me and my younger sister, in his literary activities. Any new story written is first narrated to us before it is finalised for publishing or narration on the All India Radio. His commitment to story-writing was so great that other aspects of life like monitoring the children and disciplining them was of lesser importance to him. That is where our mother filled the gap and took exceptional pains for our education and brought up. Being the daughter of a Sessions Judge, she realized the importance of giving proper education to her children and convinced my father to put us in a good missionary school, the St. George's Grammar School in Hyderabad.
I had already studied up to the fifth standard in an obscure school, called the Jawahar Upper Primary School in Hyderabad, which contributed in nothing except bringing to prominence the hidden negative traits in my personality. perhaps the influence of the locality Mallepally. The transition from a purely ordinary school to a missionary school was not a smooth one for me and very soon I became one of the most prominent back-benchers of my class. My favourite avocation was to bunk classes and go to theaters on the Abids Road and watch movies while still in 6th or 7th class with a blithe lack of concern for academics. I had to ingenuously tamper my score cards every semester to save myself from the wrath of my parents for scoring outrageously low marks. I remember the incident when I had scored 2 out of 200 marks in mathematics and when I took the courage in asking my teacher why he has given no marks for practical geometry in which I thought that I had constructed circles, triangles, etc, he had looked at my shabby work and remarked " Is this construction or destruction?".
When I reached the tenth grade, much to the anguish of my parents, I decided to leave the school and appear for the SSC examination as a private student, as I perceived it to be a much simpler education pattern than the ICSE. I got through with reasonably good marks. but definitely not the first division. and secured admission in a neighbourhood college, the Anwar-Ul-Uloom Degree College, in Intermediate (10+2) with Biology, Physics and Chemistry as my optional subjects.
When I completed my Intermediate with first division in 1982, my parents wanted me to take the MBBS entrance test, as was, and still is, the most popular trend among all science students in India, http://51shoujika.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=38028 - http://51shoujika.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=38028 . I declined to oblige them, for I was not interested in becoming a doctor. In fact, I was not sure what I wanted to do. probably a typical characteristic of the present-day youth. My parents were heart-broken and completely gave up on me and owed to make my sister a doctor. My sister, Seema Nishat, who was a brilliant student right through, always used to add feathers of academic accomplishment in her cap and getting admission into MBBS was only a matter of routine for her. I vividly remember the announcements made on the annual day celebrations of the St. George's Grammar School (Girls Section) during the price distribution ceremonies year after year " first in class, first in maths, first in science, first in english. Miss Seema Nishat" and amidst thunderous applause my sister would go and receive all those tropies, barely managing to hold them together. I definitely thought that she is a nut ! She is at the moment a successful practising doctor residing in Tampa in the United States with her husband Dr Wajahat Ali and three children.
Coming back to me. after declining to appear for MBBS entrance, I took a passion for writing articles on topics of science which were published in many students' magazines, http://www.storethomas.co.uk - thomas uk . Being, least interested in sports, I used to utilize my spare time in acquiring technical skills like typing, shorthand, telex, etc. In fact, I had obtained a Higher Technical Degree in Typing and a Lower Technical Degree in Short Hand! My short-hand instructor's dream was to make a first grade steno!!
Then I decided to join graduation in the PG College of Science, Saifabad taking a rather rare and lesser known subject called Geology, about which I knew nothing. My parents were now almost certain that I was a nincompoop. However my life turned from this point of time and surprisingly I started taking exceptional interest in studies so much so that I passed my graduation as a top ranker in my college and also scored the first rank in the entire university in the entrance test for securing admission into the Masters. My penchant for studies saw me emerge as the brightest student of Osmania University in the field of geology which won me a gold medal in the Masters. Thereafter, I received scholarship from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a premier organisation for science and research in India, again after securing exceptionally good marks in their qualifying test. This enabled me to register myself as a research fellow in the Osmania University in Hyderabad.
It is at this point of time that one of my professors called me and advised that I should look beyond my normal career options and make a go at the Civil Services examination, which is one of the toughest competitive examinations in India for entry into different prestigious services in the government. I took his suggestion to my heart and started very serious preparations, working almost 12-15 hours a day for nearly an year. It was a phase when the thought of getting into Civil Services used to linger in my mind day in and day out. I was obsessed by this ambition. Even when I was with my friends or relatives I used to think and plan about the exam while making it appear to them that I am happily conversing with them on subjects of their interest. My efforts paid off when I got selected for the Civil Services examination in 1988 and joined the service in August 1989.
While preparing in my subject, geology, for the Civil Services examination I had faced certain difficulties like paucity of good reading material, lack of awareness of the examination pattern, etc since the university professors were not fully conversant with the pattern of competitive examinations and were unable to guide me properly. This prompted me to write a book entitled 'Trends in Objective Geology for Civil Serivces' for students like me who aspire to become civil servants. This book is now in its 8th year of publication and is one of the most popular books for the geology students.
Joining a prestigious service, http://www.baojimodel.com/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=186072 - http://www.baojimodel.com/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=186072 , http://www.2013spring.co.uk - cheap prom dresses , like the Indian Foreign Service, did not deter me from continuing my studies. I continued with my research work, which was half completed when I joined the service, and finally obtained a Doctorate in Philosophy in 1992. This immensely enhanced the levels of my academic satisfaction. I am a firm believer in the concept that a man learns at every stage of life and should therefore never be complacent.
After a rather long probation period lasting for about two years during which I was exposed to various facets of diplomatic and office work in India, I was sent to Egypt in 1991 as a language trainee to learn Arabic and familiarize myself with all aspects of work in diplomatic missions abroad. I studied in the American University in Cairo for three semesters and picked up the Arabic language to the best of my abilities, http://y187006.51host.net/bbs/read.php?tid=212244&ds=1 - http://y187006.51host.net/bbs/read.php?tid=212244&ds=1 . After two memorable years in Egypt during which I extensively travelled and explored this ancient country, I was posted as the Regional Passport Officer in my home city of Hyderabad in India in May 1993. It was a challenging job which required me to meet between 500-1000 people a day and try and solve their problems. I tried to devote my time to simplify procedures and make life easier for the common man unmindful of the stiff resistance from vested interests in different quarters and the consequent personal inconveniences that I had to bear, which are best left un-described here.
I joined the Consulate General of India, Jeddah in January 1995 as Consul (Haj) and spent one year in ameliorating the hardship of 60,000 odd pilgrims from India who came to Saudi Arabia for performing the pilgrimage. Thereafter, in March 1996, I was deployed with the Embassy of India, Riyadh as First Secretary (Economic and Commercial), an assignment which I would not forget for providing me with lot of challenges and for enabling me to contribute my mite for giving a visible thrust to the vibrant Indo-Saudi bilateral economic and trade relations. This was followed by my posting to the Embassy of India, Doha, Qatar as a First Secretary/Counsellor (Commercial). After completion of 17 years of diplomatic service, I am now working as Consul General of India in Jeddah . I have three smart sons, Faateh aged 15 years and Faaleh, aged 11 years and Azhaan aged 8 years, http://www.idresslondon.co.uk - prom dresses 2013 . I am fortunate to have a good, caring and loving wife Farha, who is an egg artist and a painter. This sums up in a nut shell my journey from childhood to adulthood and to a career as a diplomat!
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