GREATNESS tends to be measured more by worldly accomplishments than by character. On both counts my late father, Mr. Abdul Hannan, stands tall. His long life was a sharp contrast to the excesses and wastage that we see. He was born on October 5,1926 in Burdwan, West Bengal. He died on October 2,2009.

Two factors made it highly improbable that he would one day rise to high office. When he was seven, his father died. In the neighbourhood where he grew up, a young boy was more likely to get attracted to gambling than to books. Abba steered clear of the distractions around him. He always topped his class in a place where Muslim students were a small minority. Before the matriculation examination, his teachers believed he would be the first Muslim student to top the overall merit list under Calcutta University and receive the Haji Mohammad Mohsin Award.

He narrowly missed the award but stood 4th in the overall merit list, and first in the Presidency Division. In intermediate examination he stood 5th in the merit list of Calcutta University. The improbable journey of his life took him in 1946 to Bengal Engineering College near Calcutta. In 1950 he received B.S. degree in civil engineering. In 1951 he joined PWD in Dhaka.

,In 1952 he was one of the first Bengali recipients of Ford Foundation and Fulbright Scholarships, under which he obtained M.S. in civil engineering from Purdue University, US. Rather than pursue Ph. D. degree he returned home to serve a new nation. As an assistant engineer he served in Siddhirgani Power Station and then Dhaka Municipality. After a 2-year stint in Pakistan he joined EPWAPDA in 1959. In 1968 he was awarded gold medal for meritorious service. In 1970 he was a chief engineer. In 1977 he was deputed to the Planning Commission as division chief of Water Resources Division. He was often in charge of multiple divisions until his retirement in 1983.

Abba was involved with the design, planning, or execution of some landmark civil engineering projects: Kaptai Dam, Muhuri Project, DND Project, GK Project, Teesta Project, etc. He worked in all phases

of civil engineering: planning, design, and construction. Mr. Abul Hayat - 1961 graduate of BUET - remarked: "I do not know of any other engineer with expertise in all phases of civil engineering. He was a com -plete engineer." He further remarked: "Planning Commission offered him the opportunity to serve the nation at a macro level. He has the unique distinction of working not only in all aspects of engineering but also in policy making at the macro level for seven years."

The striking aspects of his life are many: his amazing memory and mental

faculty, his discipline and punctuality, his sense of justice and equity, his care and compassion for people, his honesty and sincerity, his Spartan and austere life.

One statement captures the strength of his mental acumen. About forty years back when 1 was in Class X at Rajshahi Cadet College our Vice-Principal Dr. Abdus Salam remarked in our class: "Hamid's father was one year senior to us. He could not only solve all problems in Chakravarty's arithmetic textbook, he also had all the answers in his memory."

His whole life was governed by clockwork precision. By looking at his daily activities we had a rough sense of the time of the day. To him time was a blessing not to be wasted.

His sense of justice and equity Is reflected in the fact that none of his five sons and one daughter can say he preferred one to the others. The same goes for his 18 grandchildren. Engr. Abul Hayat commented: "As director, planning for three years he was responsible for select ing consultants for Wapda. He treated them with such impartiality (hat none felt he preferred any firm unduly. He treated his subordinates with fairness. These traits are a reflection of his intellectual honesty, something very rare in today's society." Former foreign secretary and ambassador Moflehur Rahman Osmany worked under abba for about three years in Wapda. He told his friend Mr. Hayat: "Mr. Hannan was the best boss I have worked for."

Information Minister Mr. Abul KaJam Azad was abba's colleague from 1963 to 1969. He said: "Mr. Hannan was a brilliant person and an epitome of honesty and sincerity. At the same time he was an outspoken person and fearless in Iris

speech. Throughout his life he would call a spade a spade.

His care and compassion for people made him embrace charitable service' throughout life. Many near and distant relatives got long-term refuge in Iris home as they struggled to get established in life. Through his devotion to humanitarian activities thousands of individuals received help from charitable contributions that were channeled for many years through him -- many in far-flung villages. His many relatives and friends received regular visits and inquiries about their wellbeing.

it was possibly easy for him to lead an honest life because he led a highly austere life, and could rein in unbridled ambition. Early in life he learnt the difference between needs and wants. He shunned wan ts and strove to meet basic necessities in an austere way. I le lived in a modest 45-year old one-story house -- the only one he built with loan from Wapda. He made no modification to it. He did not eat fish and meat at the same meal. He used inexpensive personal effects. He would not dispose off an item as long as it served the purpose.

He would say: "A wasteful person is a friend of shaitan." But he was not a penny pincher. His children had their needs reasonably well met. His austerity mostly revolved around himself. The intense urge to lead an honest life may have forced him to lead an austere life. But when his income increased few times, his lifestyle did not change a bit.

His pride was the worldly successes of his five sons and one daughter. They were influenced by Iris exemplary life. I\vo of Iris sons are professors in the US, one is the Chief of General Staff, Bangladesh

Army, one is a businessman, and one is a professor at DMC. His daughter, settled in Canada, is a former teacher of Viqarunnessa School.

Former MP Professor A.N.M. Nazrul Islam reflected on his three-decade relationship with abba: "In my life I have not seen so many qualities blossom in one person as 1 saw in your father. He possessed the best of human qualities." Professor Dr. Abu Ahmed Chowdhury, the renowned surgeon and a neighbour for 35 years asserted: "He was a man of perfect purity."

Neither capable of self-promotion nor of flattery, his rise to high office was by sheer dint of his extraordinary professionalism and efficiency. He was so incapable of self-promotion that he hardly ever spoke to his children about his extraordinary past.

He was blessed in death as he was in life. He received and continues to receive the respect and reverence of countless well-wishers, not because he had power or riches but because he was upright, forthright, honest, caring, trustworthy, and led an austere life. He was blessed to die on a Friday. A couple of thousand devotees attended Iris janaza prayer after Jumma. An unprecedented number attended his burial. Nearly a thousand came to his doa mahfil on a rainy evening.

His extraordinary lifestyle, character, and conduct seek to admonish global society steeped in senseless excesses. It is to our collective benefit that we shun wastage and excess so we have to rely less on the world's limited supply of energy and resources, and so that we may retard the looming danger of global warming.

S Abdul Hamid. PhD is a Professor of Finance/Economtcs E-mail: sahamidffiqmail com