Appendix I

Glimpses frolll the life of
Professor Sahib Singh
Professor Sahib Singh was born on February 16, 1892, at
village Fatehvali, Tehsil Pasroor, in district Sialkot (now part of
Pakistan). His father, Hira Nand, and his mother jamna, alias Nihal
Dei, though illiterate, were very sincere, devoted and diligent persons.
His father was a petty shop-keeper in the village and throughout
his life had to fight hard for livelihood. A few babies were born to
them, but none would survive. When Sahib Singh was born, his
father was forty-five years of age. They made a small aperture on
one side of the nasal wing of their new born son, and put a magical
thread there, called “Nath”, in order to ward off any danger to life.
Thus the child was named Nathu Ram. His father was running a
small shop for general supplies in the village, which did not yield
enough profit to make both ends meet. He, therefore, with his family,
moved to another village in the area, called Therpal.
When the child attained the age of four and a half years, he
was admitted in a primary county school, and graduated from the
5th grade in 1902 A.D. There is an interesting story of when he
‘was tested for promotion from 1st to the 2nd grade. Under the
directions of the inspector of the schools, the students of all the
primary schools were gathered at a central place. Sahib Singh tells
us that his father took him to the place where all students had
gathered for being tested. The poor father gave half a penny (dhela)
to his son, to encourage him, which unfortunately got lost. The
inspector of schools came, and began asking questions from the

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