KARACHI: The 92nd birth anniversary of the late educationist Professor Anita Ghulam Ali was celebrated at the Arts Council of Pakistan`s Josh Malihabadi Library on Friday with the launch of a book in her name titled Anita Ghulam Ali: Shakhsiat, Fikr Aur Khidmat that has been compiled by writers Gohar Taj and Humaira Athar.

It was a time to remember the brave and bold lady who devoted her life to the expansion of education, especially girls` education. All those lucky enough to have known Prof Ghulam Ali and have worked closely with her remembered her in glowing terms.

Classical dancer and social worker Sheema Kermani remembered Prof Ghulam Ali as one of her `heroes`.

`She stands as a giant in the history of Pakistan. She was a strong lady, with determination and strength to not compromise on her principles,` she said. `But while on one hand she could come out as intimidating, on the other she wasso soft-hearted that you could see tears in her eyes.

Educationist Abbas Husain said that she was one of the founding members of the Society of Pakistan`s English Language Teachers (SPELT). `SPELT will always be grateful for her help and nurturing,` he said.

Book publisher Ameena Saiyid remembered the time when she had approached Prof Ghulam Ali when the latter was the managing director of the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF). `I was the managing director of Oxford University Press and asked her to incorporate our textbooks in the SEF school curricula to which she informed me that they were only to use books published by the Sindh Textbook Board. Still she did ask me to give me a presentation of our books,` she said.

`Then after seeing our books, she said she liked them and will introduce them in SEF schools. When I reminded her about her donor, the World Bank and its rules, she said if there is any objection to her decision, she will resign as the standard of the OUP books was much higher, she remembered.

Idara-i-Taleem-o-Aagahi CEO Baela Raza Jamil said that she used to dream of being Prof Ghulam Ali`s student. `And it actually happened for me when I worked under her for 30 months at SEF. We both wanted betterment for education but she was careful about spending thebudget allocated to us until I told her to spend it or she won`t get more the following year,` she smiled.

Sadega Salahuddin of the Indus Resource Centre reminded that Prof Ghulam Ali`s work for education goes back to much before SEF.

`She first raised her voice for teachers of private colleges, who would get fired by their employers at the start of the annual vacations. She wanted college teachers to be employed by the government and so it happened when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto nationalised the colleges, she said.

Politician Mehtab Akbar Rashdi said that anyone who would go to meet Prof Ghulam Ali would not come back without learning something new. `She was like that,` she said. `And she would keep those who worked with her close as I know about this first-hand,` she added, remembering how she had asked her to receive her Sitara-i-Imtiaz for her when she was too unwell to do it herself. `We are all gathered here today out of love and admiration for her,` she observed.

Mona Nana, her niece, said: `Like our father, her brother, she would highlight passages in our books for us and leave us little notes in there.

``I love you Aunty`, we would say to her but she would always top that with `I love you more`,` she smiled.

Gohar Taj, one of the compilers of the book, said that she admired Prof Ghulam Ali as much as she admired her mother. `Both worked for education. I have written a lot about Anita but I thought that like me others must also admire her for her work and want to write about her. This compilation of articles about her is a result of that,` she said.

The book`s other compiler, journalist Humaira Athar, said that she had earlier also penned a children`s book about Prof Ghulam Ali. `Now when Gohar shared her idea for a compilation of articles by various writers about her, I told her that working on the project would be like a dream come true,` she said.

Earlier, well-known academic in the field of Persian literature, Dr Faizeh Zahra Mirza, read out a poem.