Vintage old boy & assistant master, civil servant, writer & author, mountaineer & skier, conservationist, conscience-keeper for the underprivileged………a role model for all seasons. An article by Nalni D. Jayal (100-T '45).
When Aamir wrote in a letter to Guru and me in June last year expressing a wish to visit India from his home in Geneva to spend a few days with us in Delhi in November, he cautioned that health problems (at age 83) may change things and felt this was probably the last time he would manage to get to India!
He did of course come and his delightful account of the three days spent in Delhi, published elsewhere in this edition, among a sizeable cross-section of the Doon family, suggest, mercifully, how mentally alert and physically fit Aamir still is to hopefully repeat his visit to us this year and in the years ahead.
While driving together to Chandigarh, following our au revoirs to Aamir, Guru and I recalled our close friendship of over six decades with him, often trekking or climbing in the Himalaya or in the Swiss Alps, savouring stimulating companionship with never a dull moment enjoying Aamir’s quiet sense of humour. We felt such an iconic person of diverse interests, deep convictions, strong principles and exemplary integrity deserves surely to be better known to the Doon community. The idea grew that I should attempt this article for the Rose Bowl, and perhaps the DS Weekly, on Aamir’s many-splendoured personality.
Assistant Master at Doon School:
If you walk down the ground floor corridor of the main school building, you will see Aamir Ali’s name right on top on the Bakhle Memorial Prize panel. Not surprisingly, therefore, Aamir not only taught English when he returned to Doon as assistant master in 1944, but was also the Manager of the DS Weekly, apart from producing and acting in plays, and coaching boys in swimming.
Journalist, Editor, Writer:
Two years later Aamir took to journalism as Assistant Editor of a magazine, Trend, although he had been writing short stories and articles since 1943 in various periodicals and national newspapers – an interest and talent he retains to this day with contributions and book reviews in the Himalayan Journal and the Indian Mountaineer. In 1986 he founded Newsletter for former ILO officials and has edited it since at two issues per year. He also edited the Bulletin of the Association of Former International Civil Servants from 1993-2000, and contributes a regular feature some of which were collected and published last year under the title Of Cabbages and Kings. I cannot fail to record how brilliantly and at what amazing speed he accomplished the writing-cum-editing task I persuaded him to take on of the DSOBS publication For Hills to Climb within almost a year during 2000-01.
International Civil Servant (ILO):
Aamir had earlier in 1947 become an International Civil Servant having joined the International Labour Office (ILO) in January1947, based in Geneva where he spent most of his career, with assignments on deputation as representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the Far East at Bangkok, and as Director of the ILO Liaison Office with the UN in New York. In Geneva he has set up home in his ‘retirement’, after a distinguished career spanning 39 years. But ‘retirement’ is a misnomer, for he has since never relented from his diverse and crowded writing and literary pursuits. Moreover, the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) has also not spared drawing upon his talents by inviting him to regularly conduct training courses on ‘Effective Speaking’ and ‘Chairing Meetings’ for diplomats accredited to the UN system, held in cities of Europe, Africa and America. After ‘retirement’ Aamir was also President of the Federation of Associations of Former International Civil Servants (FAFICS) for 9 years, and Chairman of the Association of Former International Civil Servants (AAFI-AFICS), Geneva, for 7 years.
Safeguarding Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples :
Ironically, Aamir considers that the achievement of which he is most proud, involving the revision of an outdated ILO Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 was undertaken in 1989 when he was retired. Nevertheless, he played a crucial role in getting the item placed on the agenda of the General Conference. The 1957 Convention focused on integration and assimilation of ‘indigenous and tribal populations’, in keeping with the backward-looking philosophy of the time. When it came up for discussion in 1988 and 1989, Aamir had of course retired from ILO, but was called back for the Conference to serve as the Representative of the Secretary-General on the Committee dealing with this item. The revised Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal People In Independent Countries, 1989, was duly adopted which recognized, inter alia, the human rights, social, cultural and economic aspirations, environment, and ways of life of a large, underprivileged segment of peoples in most countries. The Convention has since received enough ratification, including from India, to be in force. The revised Convention, according to Aamir, hasn’t exactly changed the fortunes of Indigenous Peoples but it does give them a handle, a leverage, in fighting for their rights.
Authorships and Literary Interests:
Aamir’s prolific life-long writing gifts will be apparent from earlier observations. More profound, however, are the books he has authored at different phases of his life reflecting his values, interests and experiences. He first wrote a novel Conflict in 1947, followed in 1952 with The Story of the Buddha. In 1957 four booklets under the title Folk Tales of Asia were published. His second novel Via Geneva appeared as a satire on international civil servants in 1967, followed by a third and last novel Assignment in Kashmir in 1971. In 1989 he wrote a well researched, The Story of Geneva, and the same year A Basic Introduction to Shakespeare. In 1994 he edited the Environmental Protection of the Himalaya . He part-authored and edited For Hills to Climb in 2001, and Of Cabbages and Kings, mentioned earlier, appeared in 2006.
Aamir’s literary interests have centred around Shakespeare on whose life and works he has specialized. He founded a Shakespeare Study Group in 2001 and has conducted it since then, with most of the 20 or so members being former international civil servants.
Himalaya and the Alps – Mountaineering, Trekking and Skiing :
One can only marvel at how Aamir found the time to trek, climb and ski, in the Alps and the Himalaya, considering his many other creative interests, official preoccupations and phenomenal literary output. Yet he writes that 2005-06 was the first winter since 1947 (after 58 years!) that he did not do any downhill skiing, only Nordic skiing!
Aamir’s Himalayan experience began in 1943 when he trekked with Rusi Gandhy over the Kuari Pass to Badrinath, Mana and the Satopanth glacier. In 1945, Aamir, my brother Bidhu, T.N. Vyas and I did a long, easy trek from Mussoorrie to Simla. In 1956 Aamir, again with Rusi Gandhy, had to divert from Trisul to Harki Doon attempting unsuccessfully to climb Black Peak. In 1958, Aamir made the first ascent of Mrigthuni (22,490 ft) along with Guru and RV Singh, the team including Mahinder (Kali) Lall – all from the Doon School. In 1979 Aamir and Guru ( I had to drop out) trekked to Saser La in Ladakh.
Having lived mostly in Geneva since 1949, Aamir has climbed, trekked and skied extensively in the Alps. After initiation in rock-climbing with Raymond Lambert as Guide, and climbing with the experienced Rene Dittert and Loulou Boulaz, Aamir climbed regularly with the Swiss Alpine Club, of which he is now a veteran member of over 50 years! He has climbed some 40-50 summits in the Mont Blanc range, Valaisan Alps, Bernese Oberland, French and Italian Maritime Alps. The peaks climbed early on of course include the Matterhorn and Mt. Blanc. Most of the climbs were on weekends but for several summers he spent a week in a particular hut to do daily climbs.
Conservation Interests & Siachen Peace Park Crusade:
Aamir has been an ardent lover of Nature and an avid Bird Watcher – an interest perhaps partly inspired by his late renowned Ornithologist Uncle, Dr. Salim Ali. For instance, in January this year, a book India Through its Birds was launched in Bangalore. Aamir wrote the chapter on ‘Bombay and its Surroundings’. Aamir has written and lectured on environmental questions, especially on the protection of mountains. He was a member of the Commission on the Protection of the Alpine Environment of the Swiss Alpine Club, Geneva Section, for many years.
In an article in the Himalayan Journal 50 of 1992-93, Aamir floated the idea of an International Park on the Siachen glacier between India and Pakistan. He spoke about this at the Meeting organized in Delhi to mark the 50th anniversary of the climbing of Trisul by Gurdial’s expedition; the meeting endorsed the proposal and sent an appeal to the Indian PM. Since then Aamir has spoken about the Siachen Peace Park proposal in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and at the Doon School in Dehra Dun, and written articles in newspapers and journals, including Mountain Research and Development, Vol 22, No. 4 of Nov. 2002 which was on the Internet and received and aroused wide support. There is reason to hope that this proposal will eventually form a feasible basis for an Indo-Pakistan settlement on the Siachen Glacier, and the Siachen Peace Park will yet see the light of day.
Epilogue:
This is Aamir for you – a man of many parts, unique friend and companion for over sixty years, with rare qualities of head and heart which I wish it were possible for me to emulate; above all his deeply felt concerns for the many underprivileged in our fractured world. Perhaps the serenity of mountains and sensitivity to Nature have brought us together – some of my happiest moments were shared with him on weekend walks, savouring the beauty of the Alpine meadows and hills, whenever it was possible for me to enjoy the ever warm and generous hospitality of Aamir and his wife Clare in Switzerland.
