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Professor of Mathematics (1962-1977)
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Prof. M.S. Toor - 1969
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By Kazi Zulkader Siddiqui
Prof. Muhammad Saleem Toor (known at Petaro as M.S. Toor) was
professor of Mathematics at Petaro. He joined the
college in 1962 and left in 1977.
He was born on
15 May 1932 at Rahimpur Kichiyan near Sialkot. He was married to the late Mrs.
Salima Toor on 13 July 1983. They have three children.
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Prof. M.S. Toor - 1966
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Toor Sahib's father was a clerk in the Health Dept
in Sialkot. Thus his childhood was spend in that
city and he acquired his early education up to
secondary school level there. His family home was
in Chavinda, and he completed his matric from the
Chavinda High School. He then joined Murray
College Sialkot from where he completed his FSc in
1952 and BSc in 1954. Moving to Lahore, he then
graduated with an MA in Mathematics from
Government College Lahore in 1956.
Soon after completing his education, he joined the
Agriculture Dept in Lahore in 1956. There had been
severe floods in 1954, and Toor Sb was given the
task to do research on floods control. He worked
as Research Officer and wrote two books on Floods
Control and Relief during this period.
In 1962, he turned towards education, and joined
Cadet College Petaro as a teacher in Mathematics.
He was also appointed the Assistant House Master
of Latif House during 1964-1967. In fact, he was
our Assistant House Master when I joined the
college.
In 1967, when Qasim House
was created, Toor Sb was appointed as the first
House Master of that house. He remained the house
master until 1970.
He was also the In Charge of
Aeromodelling
Club during 1966-1967.
While still in service at Petaro, Toor Sb was sent
on deputation to Zambia on behalf of the Ministry
of Education to teach at the Masala Secondary
School in Ndola in 1974. He remained in Zambia
until 1983 and then returned to Pakistan.
While he was still in Zambia, he officially left
Cadet College Petaro in 1977. Thus, upon his
return to Pakistan in 1983, Toor Sb moved to
Lahore and settled down there.
Between 1983 and 2009, Toor Sb was affiliated with
different schools in Lahore as Professor of
Mathematics. His last job was with Crescent Model
School in Shadman Colony, Lahore.
Finally at the age of 77, Toor Sb took retirement.
Throughout his career as a Professor of
Mathematics, he was considered to be one of the
best in Lahore even today.
I was probably extremely fortunate to have the
best of Mathematics teachers. My favourites were
Bhatti Sahib and Toor Sahib. It
was these two great teachers of mine who I should give
full credit for my love for Mathematics and my success
in the subject. It was rare that I would not score 100%
in the subject.
Toor
Sahib had full trust over my command over the subject.
Whenever he would mark my examination paper, he would simply
mark every question 100% right without even going through the
details. And then he would get me to write the answers on the
black board after returning the papers.
I
realized this when once when he returned my paper, I found out
that I had made a mistake in one question for which he should
have deducted 2 marks, and he had not done so. I walked up to
him and asked him to re-check that question. He smiled and
took the 2 marks away, and then gave me one mark for honesty.
I got 99.
It was
Toor Sahib who forced me to go see an ophthalmologist because
I couldn’t see the blackboard clearly although I used to sit
in the first row.
Toor
Sahib was a feared man. He would not tolerate any nonsense,
and quite a few of his students would recall (with great
pleasure) how Toor Sahib would box them when he lost his
temper.
The
uncanny part of Toor Sahib was that he had a squint eye. So
you would never know which direction he was actually seeing.
This was probably a great boon for Toor Sahib, as he would
catch boys when they would least expect him. They would think
he was looking at someone else while he would be watching
their antics. And he was unforgiving.
He rewarded sincerity and hard work, and was severe with those
who played games with him. This is so well reflected in the
simple line he wrote for me below.
Toor
Sahib has not been keeping good health over the past few
years. He suffers from heart disease and is restricted in his
travel. May
Allah grant Toor Sahib a long life with health!
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