Dear Nabila,
Do not feel distressed. My father is not dead. He has gone to heaven.
Yours,
Nabila.
(i) Your dad has disappeared, not died, because the Soul is Immortal.
(ii) Whom gods love they die young.
(iii) Why cannot be cured must be endured.
(iv) God knows better.
(v) Sometimes death is better than life. Your ailing sister’s indeed was.
55_Park Lane,
Lahore.
January 1_1994.
Dear Laila,
Here’s a Happy New Year gift! I am sending you a money order Rs.500/_. Begin the New Year with thrift. As the saying goes. “Money saved is money earned.” It does not matter how much you can spend. What really matters is on how little you can live. The more you earn and the less you spend, the happier you will be in life. Everybody is busy getting money and spending money. Those who spend all they get are often hard up. We must save something for the rainy day. It is by spending less and earning more that there can be any progress in life. So let us see how far the Rs.500 will go with you in the New Year. After you have spent the money, send me your account. With lots of life.
Yours,
Mummy.
25_Latif Lane,
Sailkot.
January 9_1994.
Dear Riaz,
Have you heard of Socrates? He was one of the greatest men in the world. He was a Greek philosopher. When he went out shopping he did not say “I want this, I want this.” On the other hand, he looked into the shop and said, “I do not want this, I do not want this.” He found that he could live without most of the things which other people wanted. He did not want many things which other people were almost dying to get. The more you want, the more you want, the more you will have to earn. Your nerves will break down, and one day you will have to earn. Your nerves will break down, and one day you will turn a thief. Most of the well-to-do people we meet today are legal thieves. But we can hardly blame them. Their expenses are running like a hare while their incomes crawl like a snail. They spend more than they can earn. They have to make both ends meet by hook or by crook. Socrates, Quaid-i-Azam and other of their status were happy and honest because they kept their wants of the barest minimum. Be like one of them.
Yours affectionately,
Daddy.
Dear Anita,
A man is known by the company the keeps. A bit of gold in a lump of brass will begin to look like brass. One reason why all of us cannot find diamonds is that they are mixed with thousands of tons of coal. Therefore, always keep good company whenever you are_ _ _ at school or in the street. You will make better and quicker progress. You will learn many useful things without effort. Everybody will love and admire you. With heaps of love.
Yours lovingly,
Auntie.
R_676 Krishan Nagar,
Lahore.
January 4, 1994.
Dear Jalis,
I am pained to learn that you do not obey your elders and teachers. This is not a good news. If you want to command, you must first learn to obey, As you know good soldiers make great commanders. If you do not know how to obey you will learn how to command. You know the word “understand.” It is made of two words—- “under” and “stand”. If you want to learn something, you must stand under your teachers. You will learn nothing if you try to over stand your elders and teachers. With evergreen love.
Yours affectionately,
Anis.
Jinnah Memorial School,
Gurjat.
January 5, 1994.
Dear Naveed,
Your college report has pained me. I am sad to learn that you are not doing well in your studies. I learn you are more than fond of sport. Games are quite good, but you must not nuglect your studies. Too much of games is as bad as is too much of studies. Remember, too much of anything is bad. By playing too much and not reading at all, as they say, you feed the body but starve the soul. Do not neglect your studies now that your Intermediate Examination is at hand. You passed your Matriculation at a very young age. I hope you will not pass your B.A. in old age. Do not be like the rabbit who went fast in the beginning but then he slept, and the snail soon overtook him. With love and a box of sweets.
Yours Lovingly,
Daddy.
Ratan Street,
Sibbi.
January 6 1994.
Dear Hafiz,
I find you are very soft with children. They are getting out of hand. You know the ancient saying, “Spare the rod and spoil the child>>!” No need to write more.
Yours sincerely,
Pirzada.
Rose Villa.
Quetta,
January 7,1994.
Dear Pirzada,
Spare the rod and do not spoil the child. Do not think the ancients were always right. I do not mean to say that the ancients were always wrong. Their sayings were conditioned by their circumstances. Let us not forget the modern circumstances demand new approach. Let us learn who is best in all the ages. Our maxim should be. “Gather ye the wisdom of East and West.” In modern times more children are spoiled by using the rod than by spraying it. If you want to bring up a child well you must treat him as your equal. You must not beat him for everything. Rather beat everything into his head. You must win him over to your ideas. You must convince him about the rightness or wrongness of an action. It will be more fruitful than mere violence. You can force a child to follow you, but you cannot make him your follower by force. Only when he is convinced of the rightness of your advice will he do as you tell him. Logic alone than love. You must always appeal to his heart rather than to his head. To appeal to the long stick in education is to destroy education. It is like burning the house to drive out to rat. Maybe, the house is burnt and yet the rat is not driven out. He sleeps snugly in a hole below the floor and at last burrows his way out of the ashes. So use your head rather than your stick in dealing with a child. Verily, he is more afraid of your tongue than your rod. Even more than the stick, a good tongue can succeed. A gentle understanding eye does ever better than a talkative tongue. A sympathetic silence is the real part of education. An ounce of example, as they say, is worth of ton of precept. Think! Think! Think! Help the child to think and bring out his best.
Yours sincerely,
Mofiz.