Leonard Nimoy and Me

To tell the truth I am more of a ST-TNG fan than the original series and thats because my introduction to Star Trek came in the form of TNG in the late 80s on Pakistan Television. I was 11 and was blown away, spent hours on an imaginary space ship of my own, giving orders and defeating threats. The desktop of my school desk was littered with the designs of my imaginary touch screens.

Only when satellite tv came to us in the mid 90s I got a taste of the original series which seemed weird and wacky to me, but in it there was a voice, a voice of reason and logic which appealed to me and thats when I fell in love with a tv character called Spock.

As I grew up and went through various re runs and books related to Star Trek I began to understand the appeal of an utopian society where logic and science ruled, where there was no poverty for the most part, where there was no need for money and everyone was free to pursue their dreams, most of these books were written by Leonard Nimoy.

Thats the extent of my knowledge and relationship with Mr. Nimoy and yet I feel his loss as if passing of a close family member.

When I expressed these sentiments on twitter the other day the reaction from some (pakistanis) was bordering ridicule, living in Pakistan is like living in a deep well and those who venture to look beyond the walls are meet with contempt. Makes one feel even more sorry at the existence of such individuals who will never know how to look beyond their own self erected boundaries.

In a society where there is no place for scientific inquiry and the need to gain knowledge has been replaced by petty desires, people like Dr. Abdus salam didn't manage to get the status they deserve, what place is there for a fictional character and the one who portrayed him.

As the world mourns his passing I mourn too, you lived long and prospered Mr. Spock, may you have eternal peace.