900 kilometers south of Islamabad, in the arid heart of Manzaki, Balochistan, Muhammad Ikram — a teacher and an entrepreneur — is waging war against illiteracy.
The story of Ikram, his school, his students — and even Manzaki as a place — is an unusual one. As an institution, Taleemabad has made it a point to discover unsung heroes; teachers teaching in the most difficult of circumstances. But despite the thousands of teachers that we’ve now met, there are very few like Ikram. This is a ‘once-in-a-generation’ type of individual, and today, we’re not only celebrating his story, but joining his قافلہ (caravan) too.
Morning assembly at the Gulistan School.
Ikram was born and raised in Manzaki, a small settlement on the outskirts of Pishin in Balochistan. His village used to be filled with orchards of apples and grapes. Over time, as climate change kicked in, tobacco became the only dominant crop in the barren land.
From the beginning, his mother had an outsized effect on his journey, becoming the biggest champion for his education. But after completing his Masters in Persian, Ikram discovered the works of renowned Persian poet Shaykh Saadi. Where others with his credentials would have migrated out of Balochistan, Ikram came all the way back to Manzaki. Without any cash, and nothing but a shovel and a chalk, he began building and teaching. Ikram’s first class took place under the tree; and he named his school Gulistan (after Shaykh Saadi’s book).
Ikram in his early days, building with his students.
When we visited Ikram’s school last month, nothing could’ve prepared us for what we saw.
The school houses 350 students — a large majority of them girls. When we tested the students, we found their performance, their curiosity and their general wellbeing better than most other schools we’ve visited (and we’ve talked to thousands of them now).
When we asked their teacher what was so special in his teaching, he replied it was his love and passion. The same teacher who had enabled these children had been a street vendor in Karachi before switching professions and being coached into teaching greatness by Ikram.
As we sat in the classrooms, chickens waded in and out. They pecked on scorpions and ate them, protecting the children in the summers. When the harsh Balochistan winter rolled around, they would become food for the students. Outside in the courtyard, students tinkered with a solar panel they had set up that charged devices and pulled water from the ground. A month before, children had worked with Ikram to set up a rain-harvesting system, ensuring water supply in an otherwise parched environment. Around the school there was a vegetable garden that Ikram and his students tended. While Islamabad is full of seminars and workshops on environmental literacy, Ikram was effortlessly teaching it in the most actionable way we’ve ever seen.
This list is endless. Last year, Ikram organised a bicycle race. Girls and boys raced around the village, turning heads and perceptions through one simple act. Within the boundaries of the school, girls play football in slippers. These may seem like ordinary acts, but they’re extraordinary in Manzaki’s context. Ikram has faced stiff resistance from his community, but like all great entrepreneurs, he has persisted.
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A girls’ football game at the Gulistan School.
Ikram’s journey reminds us of verses from Gulistan by Shaykh Saadi, and the story he narrates of the conversation between a schoolboy and his teacher. There is عاجزی (humility) and love in every act by teachers at this school.
Once the boy said to him: "As you strive to direct my studies, direct also my behavior. If you perceive anything reprovable in my conduct, although it may seem approvable to me, inform me thereof that I may endeavor to change it." He replied: "O boy, make that request to someone else because the eyes with which I look upon you behold nothing but virtues."
The ill-wishing eye, be it torn out
Sees only defects in his virtue.
But if you possess one virtue and seventy faults
A friend sees nothing except that virtue.
باری پسر گفت: آن چنان که در آداب درس من نظری
میفرمایی در آدابِ نفسم نیز تأمل فرمای تا اگر در اخلاقِ من ناپسندی بینی که مرا آن پسند همینماید بر آنم اطلاع فرمایی تا به تبدیل آن سعی کنم.
گفت: ای پسر! این سخن از دیگری پرس که آن نظر که مرا با توست جز هنر نمیبینم.
چشم بداندیش که برکنده باد
عیب نماید هنرش در نظر
ور هنری داری و هفتاد عیب
دوست نبیند به جز آن یک هنر
For twelve long years, Ikram has fought this battle alone. But recently, a lot of his work has been undone by the floods. Gulistan’s classroom were made of clay, and since their submersion in the water, have been eroded. There’s termite that is now eating up what’s left.