The last member of two generations of distinguished schoolteachers from my family passed away at the age of 97. Nawaz Anwer Hussain (pictured, alongside and below) born Nawaz Banu (Naju) Ferozeshah Bastawalla in 1926, was my second cousin; both her grandfathers were brothers of my grandfather!
Naju had a distinguished career in primary school education in the state of Hyderabad/Andhra Pradesh and was the first headmistress of the new Hyderabad Public School (HPS) Primary Section. She joined the HPS in 1955, the same year I earned a State Merit Scholarship and studied at that School until my Senior Cambridge examination in 1958.
Naju grew up in a challenging environment as her parents Ferozeshah and Khursheed separated when she was nine years old. Along with her three brothers and mother she was sheltered by her maternal grandfather, Dr Kersasji Bastawalla. Following schooling at the Rosary Convent she got a job as a kindergarten teacher in the prestigious Mahbubia Girls School. In 1950, when she was 24 she married Mirza Anwer Hussain much against her family’s wishes. Anwer was an engineer at the Taj Glass Factory until it was looted during the Police Action in 1948. He then became a successful Life Insurance Corporation agent, selling life insurance policies to Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots as the IAF did not provide the benefit at that time. A motivated young woman, Naju continued her education as an independent student while teaching at Mahbubia School, obtaining her BA, MA, and BEd, degrees.
Following the Police Action, the Jagirdar’s College was converted to the HPS and a search was launched to recruit a headmistress to revive its defunct primary section. Naju hesitantly applied, but withdrew her application because her government job offered better benefits. But the interim principal, Rai Shivraj Bahadur, persuaded her to change her mind. The Primary School grew in numbers and by 1958 was housed in its own building, then called the New Hostel. Naju instituted an enhanced curriculum for the children, adding extracurricular activities, school trips to various Hyderabad locations like the Golconda Fort and other recreation areas, giving the kids enriching exposure.
During the 1950s HPS was led by two stalwart Gordonstoun (leading UK boarding) School veterans, John Kempe and Adam Arnold-Brown. After the latter left, the School’s focus changed; Naju was reassigned to teach math and English in the high school.
An enterprising all-rounder, she developed the hobby of puppetry and made her own hand puppets. After retiring she helped in a few start-up schools around the city and was a sought after professional.
Naju always faced challenges boldly, quietly and decisively. I recall my last Zoom call with her. Her eyesight had begun to fail and she fondly mentioned my father, a teacher for the blind, saying, "I wish Sheheryar Mama was living today. He would have taught me how to read and write in Braille!”
She was ostracized and denied her inheritance by her father’s family because of her marriage to a Muslim. Yet, more than seven decades later, I was touched when her son Nizwer told me that she recited prayers from the Avesta regularly!
Twenty-one years after she set the pace with her marriage, my own marriage to Irene Israel in 1971 had fewer bumps in the road! YEZDYAR KAOOSJI
California, USA
yezdyk@gmail.com