A Life of Purpose and Principle, In Memory of My Papa Abdul Rashid Qureshi

The bond between a father and his child is something that usually follows not just the time of upbringing but also the aspect of outlook and purpose in life. My father, Abdul Rashid Qureshi, has been an inspiration, during his time and now in the years following his passing in May 2009. A life filled with determination, hard work, and dedication serves as an enduring legacy of what it means to live a life with purpose, compassion, and integrity. I write this article sixteen years after his death. It was that profound an experience that still brings reflection on the lessons he taught me and how his influence is shaping my journey even today.

- MUKHTAR AHMAD QURESHI

EARLY LIFE.

Abdul Rashid Qureshi was born in 1956 in a village called Nambla in Tehsil Uri, Baramulla within the northern landscapes of Jammu and Kashmir. Although his early life was characterized by the simplicity of village living, certain values including hard work and perseverance were instilled in him by his parents. His father, Ghulam Mohi Ud Din Qureshi, was a postmaster a respectable profession that brought with it the need for dedication and service to the community. That woman, Aisha Begum, was almost an ideal homemaker because of the way she would kill a portion of her time attending to the needs of the family and its children, shaping honesty and integrity in them through action.

He grew up in Boniyar, and by life standards, he had a traditional childhood of any village boy who used all his or her time playing in the natural surroundings of his or her home and learning through the simplicity of rural life the basic lessons in life. My father attended Govt. Boys Middle School in Boniyar, where he studied hard to complete 8th standard schooling. It was a simple beginning, but one he had tackled with seriousness and resolve that would later identify his life. But life did not get along with him for long. An early tragic loss, the sudden death of his father, forced him to discontinue studies. Thus, at a very young age, his formal education had to be called to a premature halt. His father being dead, he had no other choice but to take care of and support his family. In the most challenging phase of life, that was a time of test to his emotional as well as physical strength. But instead of submitting to tragedy, he fought it and lived a life that was the epitome of the kind of strength he would later pass on to his children.

EARLY ADULT STRUGGLES.