پروفیسر حبیب الحق ندوی
فروری کا معارف چھپ چکا تھا کہ پروفیسر حبیب الحق ندوی کے انتقال کی اندوہ ناک خبر ملی۔ وہ باڑھ (پٹنہ) کے سادات کے ایک معزز خاندان سے تعلق رکھتے تھے، مدرسۃ الاصلاح سرائمیر میں میری طالب علمی کے زمانے میں ان کے دوچھوٹے بھائی بھی تعلیم حاصل کررہے تھے جن سے ملنے کبھی کبھی حبیب الحق صاحب بھی آجاتے تھے، وہ خود بھی یہاں زیر تعلیم رہ چکے تھے، پھر پاکستان چلے گئے اور عرصہ سے جنوبی افریقہ کی ڈربن یونیورسٹی سے وابستہ تھے، مولانا سید ابوالحسن علی ندوی مدظلہ سے بیعت تھے، ان سے ملنے لکھنؤ آتے رہتے تھے، اسی سلسلے میں ایک دفعہ بے سان و گمان دارالمصنفین بھی پہنچے، لکھنؤ سے اعظم گڑھ کا یہ سفر بڑا مشقت طلب رہا مگر دارالمصنفین کو دیکھتے ہی ان کی ساری کلفت دور ہوگئی، سرائمیر جانے کی خواہش کی جہاں کی سادگی اور اپنے زمانہ کے استاذوں کے ایثار و قناعت کے بڑے مداح تھے۔ ایک اور دفعہ ندوۃ العلماء میں روس کی آزاد مسلم ریاستوں کے بارے میں میں نے ان کا پُراز معلومات خطبہ سُنا تو انہیں اعظم گڑھ آنے کی دعوت دی یہاں بھی ان کی تقریر بہت پسند کی گئی جس سے ان کے علم و مطالعہ کی وسعت، حالاتِ حاضرہ سے باخبری اور ملی درد کا اندازہ ہوتا ہے۔ دارالمصنفین سے ان کو قلبی لگاؤ تھا، معارف پابندی سے پڑھتے، اس میں ان کے مضامین اور خطوط بھی شایع ہوتے تھے، اپنا سہ ماہی انگریزی رسالہ اور تمام کتابیں یہاں بھیجتے، ادھر عرصہ سے ان کا حال معلوم نہیں ہوا تھا، دفعتہ ان کے ارتحال کی خبر آگئی۔ اﷲ تعالیٰ غریق رحمت کرے اور متعلقین کو صبر و شکیب بخشے، آمین۔ (ضیاء الدین اصلاحی، مارچ ۱۹۹۸ء)
Travancore was the first and foremost among the princely states of India to receive the message of Jesus Christ. According to tradition, St. Thomas the Apostle came to India in 52 A.D. He made many conversions along the west coast of India. It had to the beginning of the Christian Community in India from the early Christian era. He attained martyrdom in 72 A.D. At Calamina in St. Thomas mount, Madras. He was the first to be sacrificed for the sake of Christ in India. During the close of the second century A.D. The Gospel reached the people of southern most part of India, Travancore. Emperor Constantine deputed Theophilus to India in 354 A.D. To preach the Gospel. During this time the persecution of Christians in Persia seemed to have brought many Christian refugees to Malabar coast and after their arrival it strengthened the Christian community there. During the 4th century A.D. Thomas of Cana, a merchant from West Asia came to Malabar and converted many people. During the 6th century A.D. Theodore, a monk, visited India and reported the existence of a church and a few Christian groups at Mylapore and the monastery of St. Thomas in India. Joannes De Maringoly, Papal Legate who visited Malabar in 1348 has given evidence of the existence of a Latin Church at Quilon. Hosten noted many settlements from Karachi to Cape Comorin and from Cape Comorin to Mylapore. The Portuguese were the first European power to establish their power in India. Under the Portuguese, Christians experienced several changes in their general life and religion. Vas-co-da-gama reached Calicut on May 17, 1498. His arrival marked a new epoch in the history of Christianity in India. Many Syrian Catholics were brought into the Roman Catholic fold and made India, the most Catholic country in the East. Between 1535 to 1537 a group of Paravas were converted to Christianity by the Portuguese. In 1544 a group of fishermen were converted to Christian religion. St. Francis Xavier came to India in the year 1542. He is known as the second Apostle of India. He laid the foundation of Latin Christianity in Travancore. He could make many conversions. He is said to have baptized 30,000 people in South India. Roman Congregation of the propagation of Faith formed a Nemom Mission in 1622. The conversion of the Nairs was given much priority. As a result, several Nairs followed Christian faith particularly around Nemom about 8 k.m. South of Trivandrum. Ettuvitu pillaimars, the feudal chiefs began to persecute the Christians of the Nemom Mission. Martyr Devasahayam, belonged to the Nair community and was executed during the reign of Marthandavarma (1729-1758). It is an important chapter in the History of Christianity in South India in general, and of Travancore in particular.
The purpose of this Action Research was to improve my teaching skills of creative writing using short stories. The study was conducted in an English Language class of grade VII in a private secondary school in Karachi where English is used as a second language. The research had qualitative paradigm of action research. For this study, students were taught to write creatively using short stories as prompts for their writing. The data of the study was collected through classroom teaching sessions, observations, field notes, document analysis and semi-structured focused group interviews. The findings of this research revealed that stories have very powerful effect on students and can be used for numerous teaching strategies. In order to help student enhance their learning teacher have to enhance their teaching strategies and this can be achieved by continuous professional development, self-motivation, reflection on the teaching methodologies, and having interesting and motivating techniques helping students to express their ideas. It was also found that students feel ownership of their work if they are allowed to think outside the box and develop their ideas. Moreover it was found that the process approach was more fruitful than the product approach. During the study it was also found that positive feedback and evaluation by the teacher helps generate interest in creative writing by the students. This study will be an addition to repertoire 'of knowledge generated by previous researchers and will be beneficial for teachers and stakeholders who are involved in teaching of Creative writing especially as a second language (ESL) across the globe.