Four Golden Years at FCC
By Syed Ahmad Hashmi October 6, 2008. It all started from an Urdu class where all the young men and women who were Freshmen were sitting observing each other as if they all were on an airbus lost in the clouds. I never knew that this airbus would take me to the heavens in the next couple of years. E-103. Who can forget that room, the appreciation, the encouragement and the noise of the applause after a presentation? Being the class representative in most of the business courses and working in that capacity with all most every business school teacher, I soon realized that this business school would achieve new heights under our Dean Dr Bashir. The Leadership Forum was something which we made an integral part of SoM during our tenure. The students’ interaction increased so much that we had almost 90% voter turnout in every year’s election. The student body grew substantially and there came a time when events like FCC’s Got Talent set new benchmarks in FCC for all societies. The guest speaker culture was groomed by SoM in FCC and today I feel proud when I tune into a TV channel and see an FCC event being telecast as a special recorded broadcast. There was a time when I thought that studying general courses didn’t add much to the degree major subject but it was entirely the opposite. Psychology from Ms Ayesha Ateeq, Man and the Environment from Dr Kanwar Shoaib, Political Science from Ms Shakila Sindhu and Sociology from Mr Ather Azeem were subjects that need to be applauded for their ability to fit into whatever major a student has chosen. FCC showed lots of love and care every day as we made that long walk from the parking lot to E Building. The beautiful trees, the dancing bushes, the melody of the pigeons and the sweetness of the FCC breeze never made me feel that I was there only to study and get a high GPA. An average student throughout my academic career before FC, suddenly getting 97% in my finals in BSc was something unbelievable. Forman Christian College Lahore gave me a lot to cheer about in life. I am now waiting for the day when I give back to this institution the same honour and appreciation it gave to me when I required it the most. If you are a Formanite, you should know how lucky you are. You will realize this once you are out of there and in the real, tough, practical...
First Formanite to win MC
Between the years 1889 and 1902 Indrajit Singh, the son of Raja Sir Harnam Singh, was a student of the College. Subsequently he went to Cambridge and took his degree in medicine and was appointed to the Indian Medical Service. Early in 1914 he was attached to the 57th Wildes Rifles and when the War broke out he accompanied the regiment to France. In November 1914, he was killed in action and was buried at Bethune, where the writer of this account visited his grave. For his gallant conduct in the filed he was awarded, posthumously, the Military Cross. The College Magazine for November 1914, gives an account of the Memorial Service held in the Hall. His memory is kept alive in the College by an endowed scholarship, known as the Indrajit Singh Scholarship, which was founded by his father and is awarded to a Christian student preparing himself for the profession of medicine. During the War two other former students won military distinction and were awarded the Military Cross. Text: S. K. Datta’s “The History of the Forman Christian College: Selections from the Records of the College 1869-1936”. Image: Photograph by H. D. Girdwood (1878-1964) of British and Indian officers of the 57th [Wilde’s] Rifles taken on 6 August 1915. In the possession of the British Library. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_and_Indian_officers_of_the_57th_Wildes_Rifles_(Photo_24-277).jpg Note 1: According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (www.cwgc.org), Capt. Kanwar Indrajit Singh of the Indian Medical Service died on 24 November 1914 and is buried in grave 1. A. 23. in Bethune Town Cemetery, France. Note 2: Capt. Dr. Indrajit Singh MC was not the only son of Raja Sir Harnam Singh to attend FCC. According to http://www.royalark.net/India/kapurth3.htm, at least three more of his sons were Formanites: Raja Raghubir Singh, OBE (c 3.6.1919). b. at Kapurthala Palace, Badshah Bagh, Lucknow, 3rd May 1876, educ. Harrow Sch, Mdsx and Forman Christian Coll, Lahore. Joined the ICS, Asst Cmsnr Punjab 1902, Deputy Collector Ludhiana. Succeeded to the title of Raja on the death of his father, 20th May 1930. Rcvd: Delhi Durbar silver medal (1911). The Hon Kunwar Sir Dalip Singh. b. at Kapurthala Palace, Badshah Bagh, Lucknow, 2nd June 1885, educ. Forman Christian Coll, Lahore, Pembroke Coll, Cambridge (BA), and Lincoln’s Inn, London. Barr-at-Law in private practice at the Lahore High Court 1912-1926, Sec Punjab Legislative Assembly 1921-1922, Assist Legal Remembrancer Punjab 1922-1924, Advocate-Gen Punjab 1924-1925, Additional Judge Lahore 1926-1930, Puisne Judge Lahore High Court 1930-1943, Presiding Officer of the Judicial Cttee and Judicial Adviser for the Mandi, Suket and Simla Hill States 1943-1946, Chair UN Cttee on the Progressive Development of International Law and its Codification 1946-1947, Legal & Treaties...
Founding of “The Fifteen”
Mowbray Velte first came to this country when he was hardly one year old in 1894, and then as a short termer in 1915, the youngest and handsomest member of the Forman Christian Staff, hardly distinguishable in age, appearance and temperament and activities from his pupils with whom he mixed so freely. During his brief stay of three or four years he founded the famous ‘Fifteen’ the premier literary society of the college and the province. Among the first members of the ‘Fifteen’ were distinguished gentlemen like Shi Gulzari Nanda, Mr D. K. Sen both of them holding supreme positions in India as senior member of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru’s cabinet and Prime Minister of Patiala respectively, Principal Khanna, A. N. Das Gupta, C. L. Aggarwal and myself and the deceased Mr Mohammad Aslam, Income-Tax Commissioner and S. Kartar Singh Advocate. The ‘Fifteen’ founded in 1916-1917 has continued now for more than forty-five years. The idea behind the founding of the ‘Fifteen’ was the revival of the traditions and achievements of the Literary Club, founded by Dr. Johnson during the eighteenth century of which he was the Founder-Dictator and Garrick, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Goldsmith Boswell and Edmund Burke were the distinguished members. The ‘Fifteen’ has produced quite a galaxy of eminent scholars, statesmen, poets and men of letters. Dr Velte had something of the great Dr Johnson about him. His charming personality, his love of the best that has been thought and written and his first hand knowledge of the latest and most ancient classics in art and literature. The members of the ‘Fifteen’ were equally at home in classical literature as well as the Roman and the great apostles and pioneers of modern literature. We liberally surveyed the extensive domains of literature from China to Peru, that is, from Geoffrey Chaucer to Oscar Wilde and from Oscar Wilde to Pearl Buck. Leonard Da Vinchi, Rembrandt, Goethe, Tolstoi, Tagore and Iqbal were exhaustively discussed and criticized at these meetings. Dr Velte was the soul of the whole assembly that met each fortnight and Mrs Velte our chief hostess and patron. None who has been a ‘Fifteener’ can forget those meetings and fruitful and creative discussions. Some of the most distinguished members of the Bar, the Bench, the Civil Services and even those who are in the cabinet on both sides enjoyed this rare privilege and are really proud of it. Mr Mumtaz Hasan, Finance Secretary, Mr Wazir Ali another Finance Secretary; Mr Ata Ullah Kalim, Chief Controller, Military Accountant, Principal M. M. Anwar and great many of the younger and older members of the Pakistan Civil Service and...
The Long and Short of It
In an irreverent 1917 publication by students of FCC, the photograph (and title) above had the following caption: “On the right a student of the First Year Class; on the left a student of the Sixth Year (M.A.) Class. The contrast illustrates the remarkable physical development which accompanies the mental culture which F. C. C. gives her students.” Image and text: Pictorial Number of the Forman Christian College Monthly, August, 1917. Published by Rev R L Wilson, Forman Christian College, Lahore. Printed by Edwin Haward at The Civil and Military Gazette Press. While the photographer has not been named for this photograph, the final page of the publication states: “The Editors gratefully acknowledge their obligation to Mr. Ferger for the majority of the pictures herein...
A Donkey in the Class
by Alfred Sohan Lall Dr Thoburn used to take a large general Physics class in P-10, maybe three or four sections together. This is the large auditorium on the ground floor of P Block and it has a door leading directly outdoors at one end of the room. During those days there was construction going on in the campus and donkeys were used to bring bricks and gravel and other material. One day a donkey wandered over towards P-10, probably because it felt the cool breeze coming from inside. The students opened the door, brought the donkey in and tethered it to the front of the class. When Dr Thoburn came in, he completely ignored the donkey and proceeded to take attendance. When all the students had been accounted for, he pointed towards the donkey and asked them, “What is the name of this student?” The students felt so embarrassed, that two of them quietly got up and led the donkey out of the auditorium. This story was told to me by Dr Thoburn himself. He was the head of the Physics Department when I joined FC in 1961. Image of donkey is in public domain. Photograph of P-10 in FCC...
Historical Sketch
The Forman Christian College is an aided institution, preparing students for degrees in Arts and Sciences of the Punjab University. It is under the care of, and supported by, the Ludhiana Mission, of the American Presbyterian Church, United States of America, and is controlled by a Board of Trustees appointed by that Mission. It was formerly called the Lahore Mission College, but in November, 1894, by an action of the Ludhiana Mission this name was changed to that of “The Forman Christian College”. Dr. Forman’s actual connection with the College covers a period of only a few years, yet his work was the necessary preparation for the enterprise and forms the foundation on which it will ever rest. Any sketch of the history of the Forman Christian College would be incomplete without a reference to the older institution, the Mission School, out of which it grew, and with which its early history is interwoven. First Beginnings. On December 19th, 1849, the Rev. C. W. Forman, D. D., opened a small School near the Bhati Gate. It was the first A. V. [Anglo Vernacular i.e. English medium] institution in Lahore, and indeed the first North of the Beas. It began with only three boys, for there was little desire for education among Panjabis in those days, and the first pupils had to be paid to induce them to come to school. But the people soon began to see where their interests lay, and under Dr. Forman’s wise and able management the school rapidly grew, until after a period of 20 years there were some 1,600 pupils reading in the Rang Mahal and in Branches connected with it. It was now felt by Dr. Forman that the time had come for completing his educational system by the establishment of a College Department. Accordingly, Collegiate classes were opened by him in 1864, and, on his departure to America, the Rev. Alexander Henry, M. A. became the Principal of the new institution, while the Rev. W. J. P. Morrison occupied the chair of English Language and Literature. The College enjoyed a brief but prosperous existence. Within the four years that it remained in operation it was successful in passing the following Graduates and Under-Graduates at the Calcutta University Examinations:- GRADUATES. G. S. Lewis, Esq., Extra Judicial Assistant Commissioner, Amballa. Lala Thakur Das, Assistant Inspector of Schools, Rawalpindi. (Died 1890.) UNDER-GRADUATES. — (F. A.) Jacob Basten, Esq., Head Master, M. B. School, Jullunder. Pandit Prem Nath, Examiner of Accounts, P. W. D., Punjab. Lala Sulakhan Mall, Accountant, P. W. Department. Lala Dina Nath, Munsiff, Jullunder District. In 1868, owing to Mr. Henry’s sudden...
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