Abdul Hameed, TwoCircles.net
Mumbai: The Allama Latifi Hall of Haji Saboo Siddiq College, Byculla, thronged with students, parents and teachers on Saturday. They have gathered there from different parts of Mumbai and its suburbs to felicitate Almas Sayed who stood first in all the nine higher secondary boards of Maharashtra.
Beginning her talk with the Qur’anic verse meaning ‘Allah bestows honor upon who He wants and He humiliates who He wants,’ Almas said, “I thank Allah Almighty for my success. Besides my personal struggle, the guidance of my parents and my school and tuition teachers has played a great role in my achievement.”
With an excellent 98.5% marks in her HSC exam, Almas Sayed has emerged as an icon especially for Muslim girls. She is the first from the minority communities to have hit this magic figure.
Giving attributes to her achievement, Anjuman-e-Islam, the organization which called the meet, awarded her with a 10-gram gold medal, a shawl and a bouquet. She was also given a cheque of Rs 50,000 under the Seema Khatib Scholarship award.
“Indian history is full of great women like Razia Sultana, Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi etc. It is said the women in Europe are provided more chances, but women in India have occupied higher posts and governed successfully,” said Seema Khateeb, President of the Anjuman-e-Islam. He also advised the students to have ‘the courage to dream’, ‘self confidence’ and ‘passion for the aim.’
From moral support to favorable atmosphere, every possible facility for education was made available for Almas by her parents Dr Shafeeqa Sayed and Dr Nazim Sayed. She herself made good use of her time and abstained from parties and functions. “The best investment with sure returns is education,” said Dr. Nazim Sayed.
That her bright success has only made Almas humble is evident from her words – “I would feel proud to see students from my community surpass me.”
Almas Syed wishes to be a cardiologist. She also would like to go abroad to learn the most modern and advanced technologies in the field and then popularize them in the country. “People often forget the ladder which takes them to the zenith of success but I will always remember and work in my country,” she added.
Almas believes that a ‘fixed goal’ and ‘full concentration of one’s strength to achieve it’ by ‘maximum utilization of time’ leads to success.