A man’s ability may be great or small, but if he has this spirit, he is already noble-minded and pure, a man of moral integrity and above vulgar interests, a man who is of value to the people: Death, an everyday stranger.
Good teachers live forever in the minds of their students: The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. This was Dr. Ebrahim Lowe.
Death of an old man, we are told, is like a whole library in flames.
When a teacher dies, what image does it evoke in the mind of the pupil? It is like a whole world of knowledge consumed in a volcanic eruption. It becomes even more devastating when the departed is not just a teacher but a friend, a mentor and a staunch believer in the promise latent in the future of the pupil. You meet them at every bus-stop of life.
There are no bad teachers- they all teach something positive (even if unconsciously) that ultimately shapes the us the world sees…But some clearly stand out- and we remember them at every pause, at every reboot and restart of the journey of life.
They always leave a mark, indelible (even omnipresent) in the sands of the impressionable mind. They are “waters rushed on golden sands.” They are changers of lives. Or more appropriately put, they are helpers of destinies… What marks them out is not the number of their degrees but significantly, the depth and breadth of their humanity and the deep emotional feelings their potters have for the images coming out of their matrix.
Rousseau noted that a man is valuable or good not because of his position, station in life or because of his education, rather “value is to be sought inside- in the man’s emotional core.”
Dr. Ebrahim Lowe was not the run-off-the-mill teacher that taught as a matter of duty. He brought passion and compassion into his work and these were exactly what upped his worth and estimation in the eyes of his students.
In the unforgettable years the anvil breathed life into its work subjects, Dr. Lowe made no pretense about it that he was not relating with students—he was engaged in a life-long journey of friendship with partners. He was a towering scholar and a great human being. The best of the best. Not only was he an inspiration but helped many in many ways.
