Monthly Archives: September 2014

Needed in Aligarh, bookstores

September 24, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Educationmpositiveone@gmail.com

ALIGARH: Reading The Fault in Our Stars, now that social media is abuzz with talks of the film adaptation of the book, maybe a tad difficult if you live in Aligarh. Despite the city being home to one of the country’s most prestigious educational institutions – Aligarh Muslim University – the absence of a good bookshops selling fiction, non-fiction or, for that matter, anything beyond prescribed reading material for students is quite a telling let-down.

“The city has somehow never really felt the need to have the kind of arrangement where you can go and buy fiction in a store that’s well-furnished with eclectic literary offerings,” says Shubhangini, a CAT aspirant. “Although there is not much of a choice when it comes to book shopping, it doesn’t mean people in Aligarh are not aware of the current scenario in the world of literature. Popular books can be procured through some of the stores by placing an order and paying a commission.”

There are nearly 100 bookshops functioning for decades in Aligarh, but they mostly cater to the madrassa-going students and sell Urdu literature. And almost all stores stock reading material that help in preparations for competitive examinations. This leaves the lover of fiction/non-fiction with little choice but to tap online sources or place an order at a bookshop, which may take anywhere between a week and 10 days (depending on availability) to deliver. The other option is to travel down to Delhi or the National Capital Region and go on a book shopping spree or, if one is a student, rely on AMU libraries to satiate the inner bibliophile.

Though education fairs are common in Aligarh, book fairs are few and far between. “It is a small city without much tourist inflow. So, there are not many stores that sell popular books. There are far more education fairs than book fairs here,” says Sandeep Choudhury, who recently organized an education fair in the city.

Students being on the look-out for better opportunities and job prospects have prompted even the oldest bookstore in the city – Malviya Pustakalaya – to stock books for competitive exams and recruitment tests. Malviya Pustakalaya, incidentally, has one of the most valuable collections of literature, religion, philosophy and Hindi novels.

“These were ordered, so we got them,” says Sanjeev Agarwal of Vimal Book Store, pointing to a stack of popular fiction and non-fiction reading material. It was only recently that 1 % of the shop’s stocks began comprising authors like Arundhati Roy and William Dalrymple. “Earlier, there used to be a store selling fiction but now it has shut down, probably because of dipping sales.”

However, what makes Aligarh unique to bookworms is its repository of Urdu literature. Home to a substantial number of madrassa and AMU students, the city’s stores have an enviable collection of fiction and non-fiction by Faiz, Firaq and Ghalib. “Urdu works are most popular as a lot of retired professors or students from madrassas or AMU reside here,” says Asad Faisal Farooqui, who frequents the Education BookHouse established in 1927.

“It is interesting to see modern English literature being translated into Urdu for them,” he says, adding, “Students have bought Urdu translations of books by Jaswant Singh, Irfan Habib and also religious texts, including translations of the Bhagvad Gita.”

However, the trend does not go beyond prescribed reading material or books talked about in popular media. As Ashok Kuckreja of Aligarh Law Books, says, “Students buy what their professors recommend, which may be pertinent to one’s course but may not help build a larger reading repertoire.”

The experienced bookseller rues never being asked for books by, say, legal humourist Marc Galanter or by the likes of AP Herbert. “Not even 1% of that genre is ordered here, I have tried so many times to bring to their notice the works of Edward Heward on Lord Denning, John Mortimer’s ‘The Devil’s Advocate’ and Krishna Swamy’s work on V R Krishna Iyer, but there is no interest,” Kuckreja says.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Agra / by Eram Agha, TNN / September 22nd, 2014

Winners of NR Group Golf Championship – 2014

September 23, 2014Sportsmpositiveone@gmail.com

A group photo of the winners and runners with the guests and JWGC office-bearers. Sitting from left: Anirudh Ranga, Partner, NR Group, Dr. S.L. Narayan, Chairman, Tournament Sub-Committee, B.M.Nagesh, Hon.Secretary,JWGC, P.M.Ganapathy, President, JWGC, Arjun Ranga, Partner, NR Group, R.Guru, Chairman, NR Group, Dr.Puttabasappa, Captain, JWGC, H.S. Arun Kumar, Hon.Treasurer, JWGC and Vishnu Ranga, Partner, NR Group; Standing from left: M.G.Changappa, M.A.Ramesh, Pranavi S.Urs, Dr. P.G. Karumbayya, Nikhil A.Pai, Dhruv Bopanna, M.S.Yashas Chandra, Hussain Vagh, Dr. Kashinath Achar, S. Ramachandra, P. Raghuveer and Brig. R.V. Seetharamaiah.

Mysore :

The prize distriion ceremony of the two-day NR Group Golf Championship-2014 was held at JWGC Club House on Sunday evening.

R. Guru, Chairman, NR Group and Arjun Ranga, Partner, NR Group, presented the trophies to the winners. P. M. Ganapathy, President- JWGC, Dr. Puttabasappa, Captain-JWGC, B.M.Nagesh, Hon. Secretary-JWGC, H.S. Arun Kumar, Hon.Treasurer, Dr. S.L. Narayan, Chairman-Tournament Sub-Committee and others were present.

The NR Cup Golf saw participation of 220 golfers from Mysore, Bangalore, Coorg, Chikamagalur, Ooty and Kodaikanal.

The following are the winners :

Strokeplay Gross: Yashas Chandra – 70 Gross (winner), Hussain Vagh – 74 Gross (runner).

Strokeplay Net (H/C 0=9): Nikhil A. Pai – 67 Net (winner), M.G. Changappa – 68 Net (runner).

Strokeplay Net (H/C 10=18): M.A.Ramesh – 65 Net (winner), P. Raghuveer – 67 Net (runner).

Stableford Net (H/C 0<=18): Pranavi S. Urs – 40 Pts (winner), Dr. P.G. Karumbayya – 38 Pts (runner).

Stableford Net (H/C 0 to 24): Dr. Kashinath Achar – 35 Pts (winner), Brig. R.V. Seetharamaiah – 35 Pts (runner).

Nearest To Pin – (8th Hole): S. Ramachandra – 20.3 Feet; Longest Drive – (16th Hole): Varun Ganapathy – 310 Yards; Straightest Drive (5th Hole): Dhruv Bopanna – 11 inches.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / September 17th, 2014

Jhelum of poet’s muse claims his house

September 23, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, World Opinionmpositiveone@gmail.com

Agha Shahid Ali’s submerged house in Srinagar’s Rajbagh. ( Source: Express photo by Shuaib Masoodi )

The Jhelum flowed through many of Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali’s poems. “When I return, the colours won’t be so brilliant, the Jhelum’s waters so clean, so ultramarine. My love so overexposed”, he wrote. Shahid’s home, his wooden desk, a rocking chair, books and papers are now under Jhelum waters.

This hut of a house of two floors, lower than the nearby road, and nestled in a wild garden in Rajbagh had become the international address for Kashmir’s literary scene. Shahid, who brought into focus Kashmir’s tumult through his poems, grew up here. He later kept returning from the US where he taught at Amherst College till his death in 2001.

A piece of old architecture, this house was Shahid’s last memory in his home city. Its rooms and the hundreds of documents, photographs and books they contained were a reminder of the poet who introduced the ghazal form to English. Today all is submerged and probably destroyed. When Shahid’s father Agha Ashraf Ali was rescued from the house in a rush, nothing else could be saved.

While the deluge has ravaged Srinagar’s roads, buildings and homes, it has also taken away something more precious — invaluable parts of Kashmir’s history and culture. Flood waters have entered the government archives, cultural academy, the building housing Srinagar’s museum and several other libraries. The flood has also destroyed scores of private collections of texts, rare religious manuscripts, letters and other important connection to Kashmir’s past.

A mile from Shahid’s home, the Valley’s best known artist Masood Hussain said he could only save his latest work: seven paintings based on Shahid’s seven couplets that he had promised the poet before his death. “When the flood came, it submerged everything in my neighbourhood,’’ Hussain said. “My brother had two rubber boats but in those hours of crisis, I forgot everything and helped rescue some 40 people. Several houses around my home collapsed.”

A Kashmiri journalist had a 250-year-old copy of the Quran that had been passed from generations in his family. He could not take it out when the flood rushed into his house in Rajbagh. A resident of Tulsibagh had letters from 1890, documenting those times, preserved in his home. They are gone too.

Idrees Kanth, who is researching Kashmir’s social history for his PhD at Leiden University in Amsterdam, said the loss is irreparable. “Many people in Kashmir had private archives. The sudden onset of flood left them no chance to save the precious material, Kanth said. “It’s not just lives and property we have lost, we have lost a part of our history too.”

He said he was praying the government’s archives are safe. “There are 20 lakh files in the archives, which aren’t even indexed. We may never know what has been lost in these floods.”

Director of archives, Mohammad Shafi Zahid told The Indian Express, that the archives are safe. “The flood water has submerged the low lying building but not the one where our archives are housed,’’ he said. “The papers are all safe.”

The archives house old Kashmiri, Persian and Arabic manuscripts which are important for their religious, philosophical and literary value. The building also houses old land records, state subject documents, bureaucratic correspondence of J&K State since the Maharaja’s times among other papers. However, Saima Iqbal of Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage said she was not allowed into the archives to check.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> India> India-Others / by Muzamil Jaleel / Srinagar – September 23rd, 2014

Daredevil riders enthral Kovai

September 23, 2014Sportsmpositiveone@gmail.com

Coimbatore :

Punctuated with gravity-defying jumps and breakneck drifts on a tailor-made obstacle course, Supercross is one of the most awe-inspiring forms of motorsports. The fourth round of the MRF MoGrip National Supercross championship, held at the Hindustan Institute grounds here Sunday had thousands of fans on their feet.

More than 95 riders from across the country showcased their skills in different categories and it turned out to be a feast for the fans. The event was dominated by TVS Racing and the newly launched Hero 9T9. Harith Noah of TVS reigned supreme in SX1, the showpiece category, while Hero 9T9 made a clean sweep of the class 6 for private experts.

However, the highlight of the weekend was ‘Locals’ class, a category instituted for the host city. Coimbatore’s Jagadish Kumar of Hero 9T9 emerged ahead of his city-mates A. Anand and Mohammed Rafiq. Another local boy, S. Azaruddin, caught the eye with an impressive showing.

The capacity crowd was in for a bigger surprise when junior ‘daredevils’ took the centrestage. The U-15 riders of JR SX class were greeted with a standing ovation.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC Correspondent / September 22nd, 2014

Yusuf Pathan’s other side

September 23, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Sports, Travel & Tourismmpositiveone@gmail.com

The cricketer, who whacks the ball around the stadium ruthlessly, is extremely gentle while dealing with animals. Pathan works with the NGO Gujarat Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The brutality with which he smacks a cricket ball makes Yusuf Pathan appear ruthless. There’s little or no expression on his face as he wields his willow. But under it all, there is a very soft spot. The one he reserves for animals.

Yusuf accepted our invitation to supper at Port Elizabeth, where India was playing a one-day international against South Africa. With Discovery Channel running in the background, he started talking about his favourite animal – the lion.

When the word ajeeb — perhaps not the most accurate one — was used to describe the king of beasts, he subjected us to a terse lecture. “How can you use the word ajeeb? Have you taken a close look at it? It’s truly a wonderful creation of Allah,” he thundered. Yusuf then went on to describe his encounter with a lion inside Johannesburg’s Lion’s Park.

“We were following this really magnificent creature. Suddenly, it turned and pounced on the car, stood on the jeep’s bonnet and stared at us through the windscreen. Its face with the full mane was awesome.

As it opened its mouth and roared, I could only think of the prey it must have devoured. The lion stood on the vehicle for three minutes and those three minutes were like three hours for us.” The calm Yusuf brings to the crease and the instinct that takes over him when he’s attacking bowlers are perhaps traits he shares in common with the animal he so loves.

This incident was an insight into the man’s love for his environment. He said he inherited his passion from an uncle. “My late maamu, Azizul Islam, was really fond of wildlife. Whenever possible, I would tag along with him on his excursions into forests.

That is how I got hooked,” he says. Initially, Yusuf says, his abba didn’t approve of him bringing animals home. But gradually, he too started loving them. “Now, when I’m not around, he takes care of them.”

The life of an Indian cricketer alternates between various stadiums around the world and the plush environs of multi-starrer hotels.

The first thing Yusuf does when he gets into his hotel room is surf for Animal Planet, which needless to say, is his favourite channel. “I don’t like watching movies. Animal Planet or Discovery is all I want in my spare time,” he says.

Whenever he tours abroad he shops for items that come in handy for a night out in the jungle. “I’ve spent nights out in deep forests and it is the most wonderful of experiences. I usually carry three to four pairs of clothes, a small tent and a torch.

To be honest, I’ve managed to spot only a few wild cats in Gujarat till now. The moment I find time, I will be off to Ranthambore or Gir to see the big cats,” he says.

But his love for animals is not confined to watching wildlife. Snehal Bhatt Bhavsar, who works with the Gujarat Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA), is full of tales of the work Yusuf does with her NGO. She says that even before Yusuf became a household name, he would often volunteer for GSPCA and take great interest in rescuing animals, even taking them home to nurse them back to health.

“He has answered our calls in the middle of night and driven around with us to rescue abused animals. It doesn’t matter if it’s a dog, a chicken, a goat, a horse, a pigeon or a baby owl. He’s always there.

He takes the animals to his farm house outside Baroda, treats them and then releases them. He currently has a couple of horses there and really loves them although he has been kicked hard by one of them once,” she says.

Bhavsar says that when chickens were being culled mercilessly during the bird flu, Yusuf was so disturbed that he would plead with people to stop the killing. “When I visited his old house, there was an open air chicken shop on the same lane.

I couldn’t stand the ghastly sight. I pointed out to Yusuf that this was happening right outside his house even though he cared so much for animals. The next time I went there, the shop had disappeared,” Bhavsar adds.

Yusuf says, “I love all animals. Like us, Allah has given them life. What I really like about them is their wafaadari (loyalty). If you give them love, despite their inability to speak, they reciprocate in their own ways. It is so touching and tells you about the greatness of God and how he has balanced things so wonderfully in this world. It’s only we humans who don’t understand.”

source: http://www.punemirror.in / Pune Mirror / Home> Others> Sunday Read / by Ehtesham Hasan / February 06th, 2011

Daughter of the soil

September 23, 2014Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Green Productsmpositiveone@gmail.com

by Mudar Patherya

From knowing zilch about crops, Zainab Husain is now one of Jalgaon and Barwani’s most prosperous farmers.

To find a Dawoodi Bohra agriculturist in the interiors of Madhya Pradesh is not everyday. But that’s not the only reason 33-year-old Zainab Husain merits a story. One of Barwani district’s most prosperous farmers today, Husain inherited her father, Sabir Husain’s 52-acre farm and pesticide and fertiliser business more as liability.

His sudden demise when she was 27, left her, his only child, in charge of the land that yielded cotton, chillies, wheat and bananas. Running the agro-products business was the true challenge, Husain realised, when she discovered that farmers owed her late father Rs 90 lakh.

To sell out, and get her married is the most practical solution, suggested her father’s family. Husain, a post-graduate in chemical science, hadn’t dirtied her hands in the fields.

Neither had she dabbled in business or chased debtors. Based in Jalgaon, a seven-hour drive from Mumbai, Husain had moved there as a child to live with her grandparents since the industrialised city offered the bright student better schooling prospects.

The farm was a good 210 kms from her home, and the family wasn’t moneyed (“We took a Rs 10,000 loan from the jamaat so that we could treat my father in Mumbai,” she says). How would she manage the farm via remote control or dare to sit months at the Barwani trading store? Just when the sale looked most feasible, a contrarian spoke up. Husain herself.

The extended family threw a fit, and just like it sometimes happens, an unlikely game-changer appeared on the scene. It was the goodwill her father had garnered over the years.

“When farmers or farm hands were in trouble,” says Husain, “he’d quietly help them with agrochemical supplies against long credit which they’d repay during the following harvest.

If they needed health assistance, my father would fund the treatment.” When Husain turned up at her store to ferret the list of debtors, she found unlikely allies. “They accompanied me from home to home, farm to farm, requesting the debtors to pay up.”

Sixty per cent of the outstanding was recovered; the family could breathe again. The early months were gruelling — negotiating the eight-hour Jalgaon-Barwani circuit while changing four bus routes; spending three months on the trot in unknown territory; communicating with 50 farm hands to enhance her insight into costing, irrigation potential and cropping patterns, and imploring the general manager of a lending bank in Mumbai to defer instalments. For someone who has been a farmer six years, Husain has a fair report.

Her cotton yields have trebled to 25 quintals per acre, she has more than doubled farm revenues, got into a positive capex cycle with tractor purchase and has plans to set up a back-ended nursery. Success gave her enough confidence to dabble in construction, building bungalows and apartments in Jalgaon. “The construction business provided us advances and perennial revenues, which we could use to fund the seasonal business of agriculture,” she says.

Over the last year, she has ploughed surplus funds into organic manure manufacture (100 tonnes per month, which has proved profitable from year one), forayed into the business of writing education support software, and is widening the construction portfolio to commercial properties.

And, she won’t stop learning. The soft-spoken lady, who could be a small time case study, is pursuing a PhD in agricultural extension.

source: http://www.punemirror.com / Pune Mirror / Home> Others>Sunday Read / May 25th, 2014

Former BSFI vice-president Jaffer dead

September 23, 2014Leaders, Sportsmpositiveone@gmail.com

Former Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) vice-president Haji Jaffer died here Sunday, according to a press release from the Karnataka Billiards and Snooker Association (KBSA).

Jaffer, a widower and an advocate by profession, was 88 and is survived by two daughters and a son.

“During his tenure as the BSFI vice-president, Jaffer moved a resolution to include cue sport in the Asian Games and it was thanks to his efforts that India won 15 medals, including five gold, four silver and six bronze medals,” said BSFI secretary S. Balasubramaniam.

Cue sports made its Asian Games debut in 1998 Bangkok and was part of the quadrennial event until 2010 after which it was dropped from the programme.

Associated with cue sports since 1952, Jaffer played a key role in the KSBA securing its own premises that also houses a club house and guest rooms besides billiards tables.

Jaffer was also instrumental in shifting the venue of the National Championship from Kolkata, then the headquarters of the BSFI, to other parts of India on a rotation basis.

At Jaffer’s insistence, the BSFI agreed to introduce a National Championship for Women and the inaugural event was conducted by the KSBA in 1989.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Sports> IANS / Bangalore – September 21st, 2014

Haji Jaffer passes away

September 23, 2014Leaders, Sportsmpositiveone@gmail.com

Veteran sports administrator and patron Haji Jaffer passed away here on Sunday.

He was 88.

Jaffer, an advocate by profession, was associated with cue sports and racing in a big way in Bangalore. He played a key role in the development of the Karnataka State Billiards Association and was its patron from 1991.

He also served the Bangalore Turf Club as the assistant judge and as first judge, besides making his mark as a commentator. Billiards fraternity benefitted immensely from the presence of Jaffer, who after joining the brigade of M Chenniappan, the founder of the KSBA, worked tirelessly to promote the sport.

It was Jaffer who mooted the idea of Women’s Nationals, successfully conducting the first edition in 1989. Jaffer, who was also the vice-president of the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India, also worked for the inclusion of cue sports in the Asian Games.

He leaves behind two daughters and a son. The KSBA has condoled his demise.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Sports / DHNS – Bangalore, September 21st, 2014

Float like a butterfly

September 22, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, World Opinionmpositiveone@gmail.com

FLASHBACK – Naved Jafri

Producer Naved Jafri on meeting heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali

This picture was taken in 1981. I was 13 years old and accompanied dad on a trip to Abu Dhabi. The Sheikh had organised a fundraiser in order to build mosques in the area. The chief guest for the night was former American professional boxer Muhammad Ali, whom I was excited to meet.

Bollywood celebrities like Rishi Kapoor and Asha Sachdev were there to attend the event as well. For entertainment’s sake, my father and Ali had a friendly match. It was hilarious to see my dad and the heavyweight boxing champion, who stood at 6 ft 3 in, in the same ring.

For comic effect, dad even scampered around as Ali pretended to pound him. The crowd seemed to love it and everyone was cheering. After the fundraiser, which was a great success, a bunch of us went out for dinner with Ali. It was an elaborate dinner in a five star hotel. But one thing that struck me about that night was Ali’s sharp sense of humour.

When saying our goodbyes, he shook my hand. It was an impressive handshake, especially since his hand was three times the size of my little fist.

source: http://www.punemirror.in / Pune Mirror / Home> Others> Leisure / by Yolande D’Mello / July 20th, 2014