Prof Pharma and the Girls Hostel.
By Naghmi Shirin

We had another interesting personality of our college days, she was Prof. Bilquees Jamal Zafar popularly known as Madam Pharma. She was one of the best teachers, who made pharmacology not only understandable but interesting as well. There can be no two opinions about that, but today I am going to discuss some interesting aspects of her personality.

She was appointed the warden of our girl’s hostel. She shifted with her family to the newly constructed bungalow for the warden within the premises. Every morning we woke up to a loud roaring sound and we knew that some servant was being targeted. Her cursing vocabulary was quite wide and we learnt quite a few colorful Punjab words. However, I admit that she was a good administrator. She brought a revolution in the girl’s hostel. Her discipline was strict and no wrong doings by servants or girls escaped her notice.

She was fond of animals and kept a large Alsatian dog and some deer as well. One day the deer came out of the cage and the dog ran on and on after it. The whole lot of servants was running to stop the dog but neither one nor the other gave a heed to anyone. At last, the deer collapsed with a broken leg.

We in the hostel, tried to avoid confronting her. But some people liked to get her attention. She was the guardian of a number of female foreign students. She had appointed some of our class fellows who were in her good books to teach them. Though how much it helped them, is questionable...

Madam had a great collection of exquisite Saris. When we attended her class, the first thing we use to notice was her sari of the day. We really loved them. I think she never wore the same sari again.

She had a strong personality. She was often found taking a walk in the gardens of pharmacology department. Students considered that area a Red Zone. Once we went to her office for some problem. We saw a nice well-suited gentleman sitting there. She introduced him by saying 'Well girls meet him, yeh mere shauhar honey key dawadar hain' and he smiled sheepishly. Later we learnt that poor gentleman was her husband, Prof Zafar Hayat, the renowned Principal of Nishtar Medical College.