My time at Air University (3)

( ...........Good times turn Bad............... )

I got a satisfactory result in technically my first semester and felt very confident now thinking that things have finally turned my way, but I was totally wrong and that was one of the worst mistakes I had ever made. This was the summer semester and my second. I had to take the three main courses so I could get back to the normal course schedule. The semester started and I was very confident. I was assuming it to be as easy as the previous one and forgot that I had to study.

Dr. B.A.Saleemi is a top mathematician of the world and his way of teaching was not very easy to understand. I still remember the day when he made me stand up and asked “What’s the difference between a cow and a chair?! “ I was totally shocked hearing such a strange question and when I could not reply and in the hot and humid weather wiped my forehead, he said “Hmm when you don’t answer, you always wipe your forehead”. This was kind of embarrassing actually. He used to teach high class and all of the class actually was never interested in the lecture including me, and I had to pay the cost later.



Electric Circuit Analysis was the course that was much talked about by the students of my batch. The strictness of Sir Nauman Naseer was very famous and this was going to be my first experience with him. Complete silence in the class, assignments that had to be submitted within two hours after it were given, tough quizzes, no one to be allowed to enter the class if they are even a second late. That by the way was the second and last instant when a teacher made students follow its rules after Sir Khurram Javed in the first semester for my batch.  It sure was tough, My health was going down and I lost my confidence in ECA totally. I did not even try knowing that I will fail! But I must admit I had very good experience with Sir Nauman later in the semesters as he taught us the most courses up till now.

Statics was easy and Sir Liaqat taught well, he always did. Starting from the basics and taking you to the higher level gradually, there was no fear during his lectures and that made things really easy, Oh and you never got bored as well. He knew about everything, talked about everything. All the ingredients collectively I never got less than B+ in his subjects (will talk about the teachers in detail later) I was sure I will pass this subject with a good grade.


Then the worst times started, one day I had this severe pain in my left body and I could barely even talk. I did not want to tell anyone at home about my condition as they were already upset with what had happened in first semester with me. I tried my best to attend the lectures, I tried my best to stay active but that did not happened. I could barely even see the white board sometimes, the teachers were strict, It was summer time and the suffocation during the lectures increased the pain most of the times (I was never able to attend the labs because of the same reason (only Dr Tasneem Shah knew about it) But the misery had to end, I called home and told my parents that I was not able to study or concentrate on anything, they visited me at the weekend and thanks to my room mate, came to know what the actual problem was. We decided to freeze the semester.

This perhaps started the worst period ever! We applied to freeze this current semester the application was considered and accepted by the then head of department Dr Shaiq. We did the basic regulations, I was interviewed and the medical certificate was provided and I went back to Multan. I was admitted, medicated, got a little better and was on a rehab when one day our coordinator called and told that I was dismissed from the university!!! She told that my application was rejected and I have been awarded F grades in all the three subjects because summer is already an optional semester. I had never seen my parents so upset and furious about anything ever! My mother called back and got a really rude response from the coordinator..They decided that I quit Air University.

I never wanted that especially when I chose it from the eight options I had. Air University has a feeling of Lasalle and that's what I loved about it. I convinced them to come with me to Islamabad and solve the problem. We came here at the start of the next semester and got a cold shouldered response from almost everyone. The registrar listened to our complain and thought that we surely had a valid reason as I left the semester only after I was awarded the leave from the university. When we went to the higher authority, instead of listening to me I was told " If you ever think about filing a case against us you will lose it " ... The HOD was very kind with me, he listened to me, said that he will do anything possible for me to solve the issue as it was he who granted the leave. I still remember the time when he called to I don't know who and said " If this boy is not staying in the university, I'm going to resign. Don't I have any authority or does my post mean nothing?! " .. this I will never forget! :)

The registrar helped and assured us that he will recommend a strong case to the VC, he did and my grades were reverted back to "I" grades and I was allowed to join back. These few days took a lot out of me. I decided that I won't let something like this come anyway near me again, I have never feared in life after that and thankfully I was able to perform really well in the next semester and things were back on the track....

Good times in the next part!! :)

My time at Air University (2)

I was dismissed from the University!! My dreams were shattered, and I was broken.

There were about 20-30 students who were dismissed from the University. I was in Multan when I saw my result, and my SGPA was Just 1.01. Having a GPA above one and below 1.75 meant that I was dismissed from the University but would be allowed to rejoin after a year’s gap. I couldn’t tell anyone about what had happened, my parents only knew that I had a bad result and advised me to study harder. I went back to Islamabad and locked myself in my Hostel’s room praying to God that a miracle happen, and so it did. Some how or the other my parents acme to know from the university that I have been dismissed and they, consoling me asked me to come back and prepare for the next year. I was about to leave that night, when in the evening I received a call from my mother telling me that I, along with other students have been allowed to rejoin the current semester. It was to be our first semester again and we would finish our second semester in the next two summer semesters.

This was not the start of good times but perhaps it was first of the many miracles that had to take place during my University life. I would like to thanks Dr. Tasneem Shah, who according to my knowledge was the real force behind this decision. We started the semester in January, late than the others. We were around 25 students who were in the same class but from different departments. The subjects were the same, Calculus was with Dr. Tasneem Shah, Physics was taught by Mam’ Saima Zaman, C++ by Mam’ Uzma, Workshop Technology’s teachers were the same, whereas Communication Skills was taught by Sir Rashid.

This was the only semester where all my concentration in life was on studies, I did not have any other thought in my mind, I did not have any other distractions, all my concentration was on studies.

Dr Tasneem Shah was very kind to us and whenever we had any sort of problem we talked to him, He was in fact our class advisor. He taught us really well and also introduced us to Mat lab software in the very first semester. He taught us calculus and made this subject very easy for us due to his way of teaching. It was the most interesting subject of the semester for me and we never missed a class.

We as a group of three, Sheraz Ahmad Abbasi, Tehseen Baqir Khan, and me were very strong alliance in that class as we worked very hard together, making notes and visiting professors for solutions. I was a very active student in all of the subjects actually. Workshop technology was a mere formality for me as Sir thought I was a really good student, believe me that Sir marked us for the final by just watching our faces and marking our grades. C++ was easy in the first half but gradually failed away.  Our madam was not at all serious to teach us and was mostly busy on the telephone. I had the top marks in the Mid term exams but after the mid term I understood nothing of this subject and fortunately for me, I requested for an I grade just on time. 

Physics was going smoothly as well and Madam Saima Zaman was also very lenient. That was the most relaxing lecture of all as we had the measure of Madam even in the regular semester. As we had also studied from Madam in the previous semester that was the reason we did not have any problem with her, UNTIL Dr. Abdulla Sadiq came along from no where. He took over as our senior professor of physics and madam was sidelined. His way of teaching was way too high class. We did not understand anything of his and Icing on the cake was that he asked us to give a viva worth 20% marks of the final. No one was able to pass that viva and we knew that trouble was near. Each one of us tried very best to get rid of him one way or the other but failed.  I just had 17 internal marks out of 55 and it took another miracle to pass that. I dropped C++ just because I did not want to fail in physics. Madam was very supportive once again and assured us that she will try her best to give us as many marks as possible. I did pass the paper, although atone stage I was sure that I will fail.

‘Communication skills’ was my favorite subject of the semester. It had always been my favorite as this was the subject due to which I am currently in this University. I got an A grade in this subject and that’s why my GAP was above one. Things were not different even this time as I got the same grade in this subject.

I had some memorable moments this semester. Of course rejoining was one of them, and then the result of Midterm exams was another but the better one was the sports week. It was the first time a sports week was held in our university. It was a five day event and I stayed here for only the first two days. Initially it was very boring as we were bound to the university premises by the authority and we re not allowed to leave the university for the full day. But then without any planning we started doing something that lit up the event all together.

There was a Meena Bazaar to be held in the IAA Lawns and on the first day not many stalls were active. We (Tehseen Baqir, RaafayAshraf, Nauman Khalid, Raheel Abbas, Sami Ur Rehman and a few others) went inside an empty stall and started shouting. There was just a single fan placed there and we sat down and initially did loads of stupid things. Later on as the crowd gathered at the place we thought we could enjoy a lot more than what we already were. We made that stall our own by giving it a name of ‘Come and Shout, get your frustration out.’ Many people including the staff and professors came to our stall and shouted, we also had soothers as a gift for anyone who was willing to shout. We also decorated our stall by empty bottles, rubbish and stolen goods from the girl’s stall next to ours. When in the evening the actual stall holders came (They were the famous KFC) they enjoyed with us a lot as well and also took photos of ours. It was perhaps the most enjoyable time I had in my University life.  

One other Incident that was interesting was with our current Mathematics HOD, Dr. Tasneem Shah. Due to my Ill health he had advised me that whenever I find uncomfortable and am not fit to take the class I should just tell him. One say when I was not willing to take the class I went to his office and told him that I have to go to the hospital for checkup so I cannot take the class. He was wise enough so he started inquiring me. He asked which hospital I have to go, I did not know any hospital name and told him that it’s some hospital in Rawalpindi and my fathers’ friend is the doctor. He asked the doctor’s name which I could not tell as well. Then he asked for my father’s phone number which I told him that my father does not have any cell phone. I was getting tenser when he asked my mother s phone number which I had to give. He also took me to HOD but instead of making me the culprit he told him about my health and that I need to go back home so he asked the HOD to call my mother and tell him, which thankfully the HOD never did.

What happened next, will tell you in part III.

For Part 1, click here

My time at Air University (1)

It was a day that I will remember throughout my life. I'm already starting to miss my days at Air University. Although I had a real tough time here and things were so difficult but I'll put it to this very University who gave me the courage to stand up to the tough moments and cross the hurdles. It also gave me the knowledge and confidence, my happy and sad moments, my proud and best days to me.
I had always wanted to be a part of Air university, amazed? Its true because of two reasons. First, that my parents always wanted me to do my bachelors in Mechatronics. Although they only had heard the name of this engineering and were not at all familiar with what it is all about. Secondly, two of my elder cousins were already studying at this institute. I still remember the day when I got admission at Air University. It was July 25, 2007. Initially when I had seen the result on the Internet it was "sorry, you could not qualify" but somehow I received the letter informing me that I have been selected.

Beautiful view of Air University

I passed the admission test for six or seven universities but chose Air University in the end , a decision that I will always be proud of. My first official day at the University was Monday September 3, 2007. I had reached Islamabad on the 29th of August and when the bus drove through the mountains of the capital I knew that my life had changed. I was never a brave enough person, I had never been to any other place alone but things were going to change now. Judging my past that I'm always low on confidence but that day,somehow or the other I was really excited and pumped up for the first day of my university life.

Nauman Khalid: The Life of BEMTS

My first semester brought me the best and the worst time of my life for me, good in the sense that I gained a lot of confidence over that period both in the class and overall living my life alone in Islamabad. I enjoyed alot being in the class BEMTS 1C with all the class gelled together and lots of fun during the University time. I did not study much in this semester but was very active. The first half went fine but the later period of my semester was perhaps the worst time of my life so far, and its consequences I'm dealing with even now. My health got worse and I had to go back to Multan for a week or so. Before going I had checked my attendance and It was all above 90% but when I came back after my checkup I was amazed to see that in almost three subjects my attendance was around 50% and there was no chance for it to reach 75% which was the minimum requirement. Thanks to the Coordinator who displayed the wrong attendance before I went to Multan.

Anyways, I remember that when I first reached the hostel where I had to stay and my first night there when the seniors took me to their room for ragging and I was made to speak everything in Urdu but I made many mistakes and had to pay the fine of 700 rupees. My next ragging was by my room mate and It was a good one when he brought loads of things and made me to eat and drink them and I did that gladly.Change person in the university, but in the hostel I was still the quiet boy that I have always been tagged to be. My hostel name was The Boys Hostel and If not in the start, I had some of the best moments of my life in Islamabad there.

I was fortunate enough to get some really nice Professors at Air University and that is the one great speciality of Air University. The first ever class I attended here was of Computer Programming C++, and my teacher was Sir Khurram Javed who later turned out to be one of my all time favorite teachers. He was really strict about the rules he had set on the first day and never, not even once did he showed any flexibility and that was the thing I like about him the most. He was simple, efficient strict and yet nice, just like an extraordinary professor should be. He left the university next semester due to the internal politics of the University and that was really sad to know.

My Calculus I' professor was Dr Tasnim Shah and he really is a teacher worthy of respect, he helped me though the difficult times that were to come in the next few semesters and I shall always be thankful to him for everything he has done for me. My next Calculus in the same semester was Mr. Muhammad Ali (baja), the first day he came to our class we could stop laughing after hearing his voice but he later turned out to be my biggest enemy. No doubt he was an excellent teacher and he had to lose his job just because of what he did to me and I still don't feel good about it. Our Physics Mam' Saima and she was a very nice teacher who once again helped the rejoining student alot even though she was about to leave the University she was so easy to get along with.

I Still remember Nauman Khalid(Don) sitting at the last seat in the conference hall saying that I sit behind because I cannot see the White board from in front. Crossing the chairs just like a child who doesn't even know how to walk and Sheraz Ahmad Abbasi writing Poetry on the white board when Mam' was busy talking to other students. Our communication Skills Mam Nailla Riaz is favorite of each and every student who has studied under her. Workshop technology is by far the least favorite subject of every student of Mechatronics department. Ratta( Akram) is the enemy of all and friend of none,not even himself. Still remember when Umair Nawaz Malik was almost snapped by the lathe machine that enenthough Zeeshan Hussnain was the one who saved him, Ratta did nothing still he made himself a hero.

My first and Best frriend at Air University was Raheel Abbas and I really enjoyed his company in the first semester. At the end of the semester I was dismissed from the University and with me many other students, although my story at Air University continued after that there were some of them who left our class. Talha Bin Saeed, Yousaf Khan, Usman (Rocky) and Zeeshan Sajid (Arnold) were a few I remember.