My First Day in Murray College

It was September 17,2019 (Tuesday). The ringing of the alarm by creating hustle-bustle in my ear made me awake. With a lovely mood, I started looking at the books lying vertically on the shelves of my mini-library. I passed my finger on the back side of each book, suddenly; my sight caught a look at ‘Armagan-e-Hajaz’, Allama Iqbal’s fomous book. I took it out of its place and started reading the work of Iqbal. I went through a lot of poems including ‘Iblees ki majlis-e-Shoura’, ‘tasweer-o-Musawar’, ‘Bhory Balooch ki Naseehat beetu ko’, etc. Reading it, from somewhere within me I heard the voice, “Sialkot, I am coming” After sometimes, I came across a kind magical experience which took my imagination outlying from my home, floating through the fields and roads, away from the worldly wrangle I found myself amidst different kinds of buildings. I saw boys and girls wearing white shirts, black pents and white shalwar kameez having different dupatas repectively.

When I walked there a few steps, I saw the footprints. On my deep attention to it, I was told, “You are on the one of the most prestigious places of the world; the igniting flame, the brightest Star, *Govt. Murray College Sialkot*. And as far as these footprints are concerned, Iqbal Sahib used to walk here"

Life has changed its way it behaved to me. Sitting in the ground under a tree, I was enthralled by the melodious music of nightingale which was a source of attraction for everyone. On soft green grass like a soft pillow, I was observing the movement of insects crawling on the trees, chirping of the birds sitting on the trees, dew drops on the flower. By and by, I saw a continuous, coherent beam of light coming out from the back side. When I turned to see the scene, I came to know that the Sun was rising whose rays were reflecting through the window panes of *English department (M.A block)*. It looked as though a horrible night full of thunder and lightning had been conquered by bright daylight which allowed the birds to come out of their nest, trees to be looked more green.

I stepped in the department, paced through the corridor. I saw the portrait of Shakespeare, T.S Eliot hanging on the wall. I felt the wind that travelling through the each corner was fanning my face owing to which my hair was flattering. Then, by having some information from the security guard, I entered the classroom. By and by, classroom was crowded by the the boys and the girls of different colour, creed and race having their unique identity, students.

The first lecture starts at 8:30am. Each period consists of 45minutes. Each teacher comes, introduces himself and tells about his particulars. After that a group of students stages before us and welcomes us whole heartedly. Each of them narrates his experience and motivates us. “You are lucky,” one of them starts, “to be here at the land of *the poet of the east*, the home of *Faiz Ahmad Faiz*”

Some of the super senior students also came with winsome smiles on their faces and presented their opinion before us. “ We are here all the time,” a student speaks, “whenever you want to seek help” By observing the feelings of deep sincerity on the behalf of seniors, we could not help filling the department with the echoing sound of clapping. Soon after it they left and we returned to home
   It was a quite wonderful experience to be there.

By: Muhammad Abrar