Man is made of dust and shall permute into dust itself, but only the rarest of rare has the calibre to leave one’s footmarks behind. These people are often endowed with phenomenal qualities. One such sporadic persona was Hassan Mohammad Wazir Ali (1939 – 2000) of Sivsagar, Assam. The pages of history may not possess the name of this charismatic man, but the upcoming brood should never be deprived of his perplexing works of him. Born and brought up in Sivsagar, Assam, H. M. W. Ali took to writing from an early age. He was a meticulous child who often amused his preceptors and peers with his expertise in the fields of annals, poems and literature overall. He excelled in various fields and often showed keen interest in pursuing new amusements, his dearest being playing cricket. Since childhood, he had his principles imprinted in his mind and tried to execute them in his day-to-day ventures.
But this isn’t another biography you get to read on the internet about some random person. I will not explain his whole journey or the hardship he went through as a child. What makes his life more interesting is the fact that he never went to an English medium school, nor did he have a Master’s degree in English, yet he is the best columnist I have ever known. You must be wondering who I am or maybe how I know so much about the person you are reading about.
Well, we will get there sometime later. As a matter of fact, I never met him in person, yet I somehow am so fond of this man. I know a lot about him, yet I am in the dark about what he looked like as a child, a teenager or perhaps as an adult who wrote about stuff so esoteric that it was not decipherable to the typical English reading audience. I have heard from people that he was a man with a clear mind and thoughts, always positive and wished good for others. I am sure he was like so. He worked as the Joint Director of ONGC and went on voluntary retirement in the year 1993. I am baffled by how he used to manage his professional life alongside his avocation, as he would say, so exquisitely. He wrote for a number of newspapers and magazines. His works also include numerous articles, poems and even a biography about Parag Chaliha ( an MP from the Sivsagar district)
It wrecks my heart thinking about how only a few, (maybe) somewhat less than a thousand people of Assam have read the works of this fascinating man, who, if were to be recognized by the readers, would have been reckoned as one of the most versatile writers of his generation. His works now lie in the family archives, arenaceous, one to be seen and (conceivably) read by few of the members. I always wonder how hard a few people understood what he was trying to vocalize through his writings. His voice should’ve reached to the audience who anticipate reading something that would take their subconscious minds and grasp the true essence of life, love or even politics. It is known to me, what being devoid of reading a piece you have always yearned for, seems like.
“The words shared from one righteous mind to another is the only legacy we leave behind.” I hope he will forever live in our hearts through the legacy he left behind in the form of his writings. In a world full of writers and poets, somewhere lies the works of my favourite, Hassan Mohammad Wazir Ali, under a pile of dust. He succumbed to his prolonged illness on the 10th of December 2000, with his works known to many (sadly) remembered by none. I am more than honoured to share his archaic endeavours with you to relive the triumph that he always talked about in his poems.
Tanisha Hassan, granddaughter of H. M. W. Ali. May his soul rest in peace!