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Sir Syed Day in the age of AI and Flying cars!

It's mid-October in New York..fall season in America. While I see pumpkins and golden leaves on the streets, my social media feed is full of AMU tarana and tributes to Aligarh.

As I was humming the AMU tarana, nostalgia took me down the memory lane. The year was 2004 when I entered the historic Bab-e-Syed in a rickshaw. I spent almost a decade in AMU which qualifies me as a "purana chawal" I presume! We don't have sophomore or freshman in Alig dictionary.

I walked in almost all the hostels of AMU from the old school Abdullah Hall to the newbie Begum Sultan Jahan. Aligarh gave me wings which landed me at The Ohio State University. Interesting fun fact here about this journey where I got to work with my supervisor's first PHD student and did I mention I was the last? So, the lab members would call it the academic triangle (pun intended). Life does come full circle for some people!

In 2026, I tell this story to my 8-year-old daughter while we are having breakfast on a Saturday morning.
She asks me, "Can I go to this university too"?  And it makes me smile although reality kicks in. I tell her there are great universities here in America. I am a nightingale (bulbul) who cherishes her garden but can't help lament. In the words of Iqbal, "Naale bulbul ke sunoon, aur hama-tan gosh rahoon..
humnawa main bi koi gul hu ki khamosh rahun"?

Aligarh was a movement meant to challenge the status quo and shatter glass ceilings. It is about time we revisit Sir Syed's dream. The great reformer envisioned scientific advancement at that time where Muslims were lacking basic education. Fast forward to 2026, and we are witnessing the boom of AI, robots and flying cars. The next reel on my Instagram after the Sir Syed day tribute showed me Elon Musk launching the Tesla roadster! My daughter exclaimed again, "is this car real"? Exciting time to be alive!

Which brought my thoughts back to Sir Syed Day. While we take pride about being an Aligarian today, we also need to reassess Sir Syed Day. Is this day just about nostalgia, remembrance or could it be some day the dawn of a new era. AMU students are on the streets protesting for restoration of Student Union and rightly so. I was wondering if there is a similar passion in the next generation of my alma mater towards science, inventions and breaking the glass ceilings!

Love AMU to the moon and back, but deep inside I manifest  Aligarians on the far side of the moon in a space rocket named after Sir Syed Ahmad Khan! These dreams are the essence of Aligarh movement and Sir Syed Day. I saw a post today which really struck a chord with me. Aligarh produced doctors, lawyers, engineers, activists, actors and leaders but it could not produce another Sir Syed!! 

With this thought for you to ponder, it is time for me to leave with a cliched Aligarh tradition. An Urdu couplet from a poem by Allama Iqbal which he dedicated to the students of AMU.

Auro ka hai payaam aur mera payaam aur hai....
Ishq ke dardmand ka tarz e kalam aur hai....

Comments

  1. Zaiby17 October 2026 at 14:16

    This man took sadaqah jariyah to the next level by building such a great institution, educating thousands of students each year. May allah grant him the highest place in jannah. Ameen

    ReplyDelete

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