Three Tales by One Traveller: Tale Two

COURAGE

The second tale is about my time at University Institute of Information Technology, UIIT. It is IT school of Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, a place which specializes in knowledge about agriculture. Yet, I stayed at this place for around 28 months. And the time I have been here has been a fascinating experience.

UIIT, It Keeps Moving with Strength

This place manages and takes care of academic careers of approximately 1800 IT students at any given time. The place is anything but elite and s very low on this list of priorities of the university under which it operates as it is not directly related to agriculture. Most of the students in this institute get admission solely based on the marks they scored in the previous degree they achieved. It is an exciting boiling pot of different ethnic, economic and regional backgrounds that represent Pakistan. The institute is very far on radar screen of the university which never likes to be bothered about career growth of the students. More than half of the students can't even afford the fees they pay let alone have a PC, Laptop or any other facility needed on their own. The children whom this institute caters are in several cases as far from computer science and IT as a camel can be from north pole. And yet this institute send approximately 500 students every year in market. Many of these students get settled in one year. How does this happen?

I understood here that the biggest weapon a courageous human can wield in facing the world is perhaps not the skill, it is perhaps not the knowledge as well...It is the courage. The people I interacted with at UIIT, administration, faculty, students may never know this. In their daily lives, demeanor, appearance, they are just ordinary folks...nothing extraordinary, worried, tense, underestimating themselves, under equipped, complaining, facing official politics everyday...a typical Pakistani of 2011. But they posses something they don't know how to value...perhaps they even don't know they have it in several cases. They are courageous to face this life everyday and get something positive out of it.

During these two and half years, we did several great things together at UIIT. We together completed a couple of successful MS sessions envy of the whole computing community of our metropolis. Our undergraduate students excelled under guidance of their teachers. They won jobs while competing against the graduated of most established and resourceful institutions. They started getting admissions in much better institutions nationally and internationally in higher academic programs. The institute is now well known in the community. People now feel no hesitation being part of this hot boiling pot whether as professional academicians or students. The institute has did it on its own. No one has come to its help. It is only the courage of people who make UIIT, faculty, students, administration who make all of this possible. They have a lot of issues. There is undeniable element of politics. They have their own grudges...withe each other and with the outside world. They may not be as expressive as many others. But still, they form a machine that continues wheeling forward delivering a lot what it was supposed to deliver. It is not perfect no doubt, far from it....but it is very impressive.

This story is not a story of an individual. There are no heroes here. This is not my story either. Unfortunately, I could not deliver any miracles while I stayed here. I was a non entity while being here. The story of UIIT will only have a fading memory of me...an easily forgettable one. This is the story of all the people who make UIIT, made UIIT or will make UIIT. These are mortals with courage. This is their story. The story of people like Dr. Nawazish Naveed, Sheeraz Akram, Muhammad Nazir, Malik Nadeem, Nasir Minhas, Saqib Majeed, Shafique, Nasir, Abdur Rehman, Azeem Abbas, AD, DD, Basit, Safdar Abbas, Mushaad Gillani, Director, students...so many students, Such a large Staff, Faculty....there are thousands, I cant even name all. They are different people. Many amongst them  may not go along fine withe each other in many cases. They may be not happy withe each other on several things. But at the end of the day, these faculty members, services people, staff, students, at the twilight of their lives may be sitting somewhere someday and they may suddenly realize....whoa..we did something wonderful together when we were at UIIT. "We did it together".

They are different people. I dedicate this story to these people. As I leave UIIT, I salute their courage to stand proud always. UIIT is waiting for its time and moving towards it. IT lives on its strength. To the people who make up UIIT, I am proud to be part of all of your lives. This is my second tale as I sign off duty at this wonderful place. Be blessed.