Pakistani woman dies in Boston fire

BOSTON: A Pakistani woman from Karachi was killed in a fire in an apartment in the Boston area in the early hours of Feb. 12.
She was living on her own in Cambridge city adjacent to Boston since her elderly husband left for Pakistan a couple of years ago to join their adult children there.When firefighters pulled the woman out of the second-floor apartment on Prospect Street she had gone into cardiac arrest. They administered CPR to her before the ambulance took her to the hospital. She was later pronounced dead.

News of the death jolted members of the Pakistani and Indian community, who have been emailing and calling each other to obtain details. They identified her as Farzana Khan — confirmed by the Pakistani passport the police found in the apartment. Her date of birth listed in the passport is Nov 2, 1955.

“We are trying to find her family in Pakistan and to ensure that she gets a decent burial with the proper religious rites,” said Nuzhat Siddiqi, a Pakistani origin Cambridge resident, who knew Ms Khan for the last 13 years.

Pakistan’s Honorary Consul General in Boston, Barry Hoffman, has since spoken to the deceased woman’s son-in-law Umair Jamal in Pakistan, and put him in touch with the Mass State Police in order to complete formalities.

The family has conveyed that she should be buried in Boston. The Muslim community has stepped forward to take on this responsibility and the funeral is expected to take place on Saturday.

According to those who knew her, Farzana Khan made ends meet by baby-sitting, providing care to the elderly, and working in restaurant kitchens. A few days ago, she told a friend that she was worried about her husband Rustam Khan who is diabetic and had fallen down recently in Pakistan. She had also asked for help in finding a cheaper apartment.

Nuzhat Siddiqi said that the second-floor apartment that Farzana Khan rented had no heating. With a relentless cold wave driving temperatures to well below freezing, she was using a heating device to try and stay warm.The blaze was caused by an electric baseboard heater, which might have malfunctioned, or had an electrical wiring failure, or had items on it that caught fire, said the fire marshal.

Career counselling: questions & answers

Q1). I have done Doctor of Pharmacy from Baqai Medical University, Karachi. What is better for me in future, either I should work as a hospital pharmacist or do MPhil or should I try for job in any other country. Please guide me. (Jahanzeb Sultan- Karachi).

Ans: I shall recommend that you should go for MPhill and then enter into teaching profession. At the same time you should pick up a good research topic and do your PhD in the same area.

Q2). I am writing to get a piece of advice that I got MPhill Zoology degree in 2004 from GCU, Lahore (Government College University) with GPA 3.71. After this I joined a private Higher Secondary School and still I am teaching there. I have decided to do PhD, but only from Lahore. I am based in Gujranwala, so please guide me which subject suits me and from which university should I do it. (Nadeem Hussain-Gujranwala).

Ans: I suggest you to start writing a good research synopsis and choose a topic in Animal Genetics if possible. Once you have decided your research topic, you must start searching for a supervisor at GCU or PU and I am sure you will find a good supervisor.

Q3). I have done my graduation in Botany, Zoology and Chemistry with high first division. Now I have taken admission in MSc Biochemistry and I want your guidance about the scope of the subject and tell me that should I continue this course or should I switch to MSc Chemistry? (Zehra Anwar-Islamabad).

Ans: Biochemistry is the right subject and therefore you should pursue your MSc in Biochemistry. It is important however that you should choose a topic which is relevant to the current developments within its highly potential areas including visiting Forensic Sciences, DNA analysis and New Drug research areas.

Trials are being made and biochemists are currently working in all these areas.

Q4). I will like to have your expert opinion and suggestion for my younger son in selecting his career. He is studying in Inter (Pre-Eng). In the first year he secured 86.7% with Math’s- 96, Physics -98 and Chemistry-92 marks.

He likes to take either Electrical or Mechanical Engineering as his career studies. Your expert advice is required which field he should opt for, or some other in your opinion. (Khurram Munir-Islamabad).

Ans: I will recommend that your son should look at doing Telecom Engineering with Mobile or Wireless Specialty. If he wants more hands on field he can then look towards doing a B.Eng in Mechatronics which has comparatively more better job prospects.

Q5). I will like to state here that my son and daughter both are the students of Class V in a private school and they are attending basic education on Computer at School in Karachi. They very much insist me to provide them a Computer in home, but due to abusive information and advertisement I almost avoided fulfilling their demand. Your kind advice is required in this regard. (Tahir Ibrahim-Karachi).

Ans: Keeping in view the interest of your children and their mental/intellectual growth I think you should get them a computer and get it fixed by the IT people for limited access. Since your children are still in grade 5, so they will not be requiring unlimited access to every website.

(Syed Azhar Husnain Abidi is a renowned educationist in Pakistan, with more than 20 years of experience as provider of education counselling services.

He has represented Pakistan in over 100 national and international seminars, conferences and forums. He is the recipient of the most coveted civil award Tamgha-e-Imtiaz).