Due to his seniority, Saeed Sahib was appointed
Head of Dept of Physics at Petaro right from the
date he joined the college in 1960. He retained
this position until he left in 1989. As an
additional charge, he was appointed the Associate
House Master of Liaquat House (with
Feroz Yusuf
Khan Sahib as House Master) in the same year.
In 1965, Saeed Sahib was appointed the
House Master of Latif
House, a position he retained until 1969. This
was the same period that I was also a cadet at
Latif House and he took good care of me like he
did for all of us in the house. Saeed Sahib was a very successful
house master during our time. Latif House had been
the youngest of the houses (Iqbal and Qasim Houses
were built in 1966 and 1967), and therefore it
inherited a mixed bag of students from different
houses. It was considered as a pappoo
house, always looking only for credits for the
Credit Cup.
However, it was to Saeed Sahib's key insight
towards selecting students from the incoming new
entries that allowed Latif House to rise up to
become the Champion House. For the last 3 years of
my stay at Petaro as well as the last 3 years of
Saeed Sahib's tenure as house master, Latif House
retained the Champions Cup consecutively. It
became an all-rounder house, being the best in
Academics as well as taking many of the sports
trophies. I must say that the credit for this
achievement goes to Saeed Sahib. He made sure
that he selected some of the best cadets on both
the academic side as well as sports.
During those
years, he was also made the Director of Technical
Services and later on as Head of the Science
Faculty. When Dr.
Fazal Mahmood left the college in 1982, Saeed
Sahib took on his mantle as Senior House House
Master and as Vice Principal of the college.
Upon his
retirement as Vice Principal in 1989, Saeed Sahib
moved back to Lahore and settled down. During the
next five to six years, he worked with various
institutions in Lahore but could not settle down
to any specific job due to the health of his dear
wife, who finally expired in 1995. Since then, he
opted to lead a retired life and spend time with
his children and grandchildren.

During my years at Petaro, I remember Saeed Sahib with
fond memories of a father-like figure. He always
depicted a sort of kindness and love that was
beyond expression. And when he wrote me an
autograph (see above), it struck me that indeed these words
were a true reflection of what Saeed Sahib stood
for - although he probably had never expressed
himself in so many words to us before. Being
against malice, and stressing on charity and
firmness truly forms the bedrock of success. And
Saeed Sahib was successful in that period relying
on these very same qualities. He had an uncanny
way of expressing himself so quietly, and
maintaining discipline within the house.
In recent years, I have had the opportunity of
meeting Saeed Sahib a few times. And each time,
all I could see were the tears of love in his
eyes. He still leads a simple life, and keeps to
himself and prays for us.
For those of you who are not aware, he is the
father of Nadeem Zaigham (kit no. 808/Latif) who
was instrumental in starting Petariantalk. Saeed
Sahib now lives in Model Town, Lahore.
Saeed Sb
delivered a very passionate speech at the Golden
Jubilee Celebrations of Cadet College Petaro on 24
February 2007 at Petaro. Please
click here to
watch the speech.
May Allah grant a long life to Saeed Sahib with
health and prosperity! |