In his journey of love, UP Muslim man surrenders his ‘Taj Mahal’ dream to build girls’ school

A man from UP, who aspired to build a 'Taj Mahal' in memory of his late wife, ended up building a girls' school.

Lucknow, June 24: In order to woo their beloved, many men end up making tall promises, the famous of them being, "I will build a Taj Mahal for you" or "I will bring the moon for you, my sweetheart".

Unfortunately, nobody ever fulfills these "tall and impossible" promises. In fact, even women know it well that these are just plain simple lines their lovers say to make them happy.

Indeed, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan had set some really high standards for men when it comes to express their love for their beloved by building the world famous Taj Mahal in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.

Hundreds of kilometers away from the actual site of Taj Mahal, one more man is attempting to raise another "wonder of the world" by building a mini 'Taj Mahal' for his late wife.

For a couple of years now, Faizul Hasan Qadri, a retired postmaster, is working towards his cherished dream of building a 'Taj Mahal' for his wife Tajamulli Begum who died in 2011.

The dream of the 81-year-old man from Bulandshahr's Kaser Kalan, a small village in UP, still remains unfulfilled. Instead he has managed to help build a government school for girls near his dream project by donating his land for the noble purpose. The school is on the verge of completion, but the work for Qadri's 'Taj' has been halted due to lack of finances.

It is not that he has junked his most ambitious project, but two years ago when the then Chief Minister of UP, Akhilesh Yadav, learnt about Qadri building another 'Taj' decided to help him.

However, the retired postmaster, who did not want to take any kind of help to build the memorial for his wife, asked the government authorities to spend the money on building a school for girls.

He not only gave away the monetary help from the government but also donated land to build the school.

When asked why he did not take the money from the government to build the mini 'Taj', Qadri told The Hindustan Times, "I will not take any financial help from outside. Who knows the money may have come from unfair means. Taking such money will not be good. I will get the work done out of my own savings."

These days, the octogenarian with his small pension, is trying hard to save Rs 6-7 lakh to get the marble work done in his 'Taj'. Moreover, recently he met with an accident and thus ended up spending a lot to clear his medical bills. Because of the accident he was bed-ridden for some time and now finds it hard to walk also.

The school building is likely to be completed by the end of June. "The school is part of former CM's announcement. Qadri saheb donated his land for students. We have also written to higher officials for start of classes so that we can start session by July. The fund for the school was also released. The school will hold classes from sixth standard to class twelve for girls," said Veena Yadav, district inspector of schools, Bulandshahr.

However, nobody knows when Qadri's 'Taj' will be finished. Inside the half-built structure, Qadri has left some space for himself so that after his death he could be buried next to his wife's grave.

The modern day Shah Jahan, Qadri, not only loves his late wife dearly, but his heart also beats for the needy and thus ended up building a school for girls.

OneIndia News