Source: ET
Film-makers Zakir Thaver and Omar Vandal express their love for science through a documentary on Mohammad Abdus Salam. DESIGN: ABEERA KHAN / FAHAD NAVEED
Over a decade ago, in 1996, the year of Salam’s death, Science/Education Media Producer Thaver, and PhD from the Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Vandal, met and discussed the idea.
“Later that year, when Salam passed, we talked about him over a meal… we didn’t know enough about him then and the conversation was somewhat superficial — Pakistan’s only Nobel Laureate, marginalised by his motherland because he was born to the ‘wrong’ sect, etc,” they said in an email interview.
“After college, the both of us were in New York and revisited the idea. In retrospect, we thought in the post 9/11 climate, by way of challenging emerging stereotypes. Our minds began to query icons from our own culture, as opposed to the usual Einstein poster that almost all science majors have up on their dorm room walls.”
Focusing on a more culturally-associated science icon, who to them seemed far more relatable, led the duo to the untold story of Pakistan’s most illustrious intellectual. “What struck us immediately on researching Salam was that he was so much more than just a scientist…we had no idea,” said Thaver and Vandal. “He was a giant on the world stage of physics and ranked amongst the most influential scientific personalities of the 20th century. Others from Pakistan, we discovered, had even less of an idea. So we felt it was a story that just had to be told.” The producers strongly feel that it’s extremely tragic that a kid on the streets of our country hardly knows much about the influential scientist and the documentary is, in a way, an attempt to highlight this significant point. “Perhaps a unified or consolidated, significant point is to look at what Pakistan lost out on because of prejudice. Virtually all scientific effort in Pakistan owes its existence to Salam.” “Salam was quite a superhuman… so yes, the science and his marginalisation are just two of several themes. Salam was so much more than just a stellar scientist,” they added.
I would like to donate to this cause & would like other people to do the same. Can the editors of TMT help with that?
I also received a request about it. Even though I cannot personally donate for it, I request senior Ahmadi media members to look into it please. The message should be spread with some guidance.
Donation link;
http://www.kailoola.com/abdussalamdocufilm/donate.php
Thank you TMT, Zubair Khan and Hasan!
Here’s the 6 minute fundraising teaser:
Best,
Zakir Thaver
Producer, Abdus Salam Docufilm