He was the only one from Congress elected from this region
Undivided Dakshina Kannada, which had elected just one Congress MLA from out of the 13 constituencies, got a Cabinet berth in U.T. Khader, when he was sworn in Minister in the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal(S)-Congress coalition government in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
A fourth-term MLA representing Mangaluru (formerly Ullal), Mr. Khader had been a Minister in the erstwhile Siddaramaiah government, initially holding Health and Family Welfare portfolio, followed by Food and Civil Supplies Ministry. Seen as being close to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Mr. Khader had earned a name as a Minister in both the departments.
While the BJP swept the entire southern coast riding the Hindutva-Modi wave in the May 12 elections to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Khader held on to his turf thereby providing a saving grace to the erstwhile ruling party. He defeated BJP’s Santosh Kumar Rai Boliyaru with a margin of 19,739 votes. He had won the 2013 Assembly elections with a margin of 29,111 votes.
Mr. Khader entered the Legislative Assembly in 2007 when by-elections were held for Ullal after the death of his father and MLA U.T. Farid. Thereafter, he registered victories in successive elections in 2008, 2013 and 2018.
While Mr. Khader has the responsibility of ensuring orderly development of his constituency which is getting urbanised very fast due to its proximity to Mangaluru, the Ministerial berth has added to his responsibilities.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Mangaluru / by Special Correspondent / Mangaluru – June 07th, 2018
Attia Hosain, writer: born Lucknow, India 20 October 1913; married Ali Bahadur Habibullah (one son, one daughter); died London 23 January 1998.
The people who came to see Attia Hosain honoured at a book launch a few weeks ago could have been forgiven for expecting a subdued and fragile old lady. After all, Hosain was 84, had had a long and turbulent life and for years had been in poor health. The launch demanded nothing of her but that she sit on stage as a sort of icon and accept the homage of her admirers, while her daughter – the film producer Shama Habibullah – read from one of her mother’s early World Service pieces.
But Hosain was not one to sit back passively letting encomiums wash over her. Despite her physical difficulties, she immediately engaged with her audience, vividly sharing her emotions and memories. Her indomitability and eloquence swept problems aside, with a degree of hauteur and a magnificent sense of style.
Those qualities must have stood her in good stead. She was born in 1913 into an aristocratic family in Lucknow – a city that is a byword for Muslim scholarship and culture. From her father she inherited a keen interest in politics and nationalism. From her mother’s family of poets and scholars she drew a rich knowledge of Urdu, Persian and Arabic. Her knowledge of English came from an English governess, and subsequently as one of the few Indian girls at an English medium school. She was the first woman from her background to take a degree at Lucknow University.
From early on she was a communicator, first through feature articles for Indian papers, the Pioneer and the Statesman, and membership of the radical Progressive Writers’ Movement. The fiction came later, as a result – she recently speculated – of politics and dislocation.
In 1947, when India was partitioned into India and Pakistan, Hosain was in London with her husband, who had been posted the year before to the High Commission. The division of the two countries and the separation of two religious communities caused her great pain. Immensely proud of her heritage as both a Muslim and an Indian, she chose to remain in England and bring up her daughter and son – now the film director Waris Hussein – on her own. The change brought her a career as a regular broadcaster with her own women’s programme on the BBC World Service and a new perspective.
But the sense of damaged cultural roots never fully died away. “Here I am, I have chosen to live in this country which has given me so much; but I cannot get out of my blood the fact that I had the blood of my ancestors for 800 years in another country.” It was that, she said in her last piece – to be published in an anthology later this year – that drove her to write.
In 1953, Chatto and Windus brought out her book of short stories Phoenix Fled. Eight years later came Sunlight on a Broken Column, an evocative and carefully detailed novel which traces, via the story of young Laila, a society in transition. It was over 20 years, however, before the book was widely recognised. Brought out of oblivion by Virago in their splendid Modern Classics in 1988, it re-established Attia Hosain in the public eye and gave her a platform which she embraced with zest.
– Naseem Khan
source: http://www.independent.co.uk / Independent / Home> News> Obituaries / by Naseem Khan / February 05th, 1998
Muslim women who were at the forefront of the nationalist and feminist discourse in the country, during and after the independence movement, were eventually overlooked or excluded from the mainstream narrative.
MWF exhibition featured 21 Muslim women who contributed to nation-building during and after the independence struggle. Credit: Khushboo Kumar
New Delhi:
Most Indians today may not be aware that the national flag was designed by a Muslim woman, Surayya Tayabji, an active member of the Indian National Congress. Jawaharlal Nehru assigned this task to Tayabji, and it was her idea to replace the symbol of the charkha used and popularised by Mahatma Gandhi with that of Ashoka Chakra at the centre of the flag. Tayabji felt that the charkha, a symbol of the Congress party, might appear partisan.
Narratives like this – often forgotten or lost in public memory – were the central theme of a colloquium that was organised by the Muslim Women’s Forum (MWF), an organisation engaged in the advocacy of Muslim women’s rights. Titled ‘Pathbreakers: The Twentieth Century Muslim Women of India’, the colloquium held in partnership with UN Women showcased the achievements of 21 Muslim women in various spheres of public life during and after the independence struggle.
Other women who featured in the exhibition included Saeeda Khurshid, Hamida Habibullah, Aziza Fatima Imam, Qudsia Zaidi, Mofida Ahmed, Zehra Ali Yavar Jung, Razia Sajjad Zaheer, Tyaba Khedive Jung, Atiya Fyzee, Sharifa Hamid Ali, Fathema Ismail, Masuma Hosain Ali Khan, Anis Kidwai, Hajrah Begum, Qudsia Aizaz Rasul, Mumtaz Jahan Haider, Siddiqa Kidwai, Attia Hosain, Saliha Abid Hussain and Safia Jan Nisar Akhtar.
The speakers participating in the discussion talked about the need to reclaim the lost narratives of Muslim women and take control of their representation.
Speaking on the occasion, Seema Mustafa, an Indian print and television journalist, pointed out that these women would not fit even the current stereotypical representation of hijab-clad, oppressed and orthodox Muslim women, who need a messiah to rescue them. Mustafa, in her keynote address, said that these women had broken barriers and challenged patriarchal order in their time; they followed Islam in its liberal spirit, refusing to be shackled by societal norms. Most of them abandoned the purdah system, she said.
Speakers panel for the session ‘Recognising and Nurturing Pathbreakers’ at Muslim Women’s Forum colloquium. Credit: Khushboo Kumari
Stereotypes in modern India
The speakers insisted that the reality was and still is that Muslim women, just like women belonging to any other socio-cultural group in India, do not constitute a monolithic, homogenous entity. They come from diverse backgrounds and subscribe to varying ideologies. Muslim women have been and still are writers, teachers, artists, scientists, lawyers, educators, political workers, legislators in parliament and in assemblies. The speakers said clubbing them under the generic rubric of backwardness was a misrepresentation.
As the regular use of terms like triple talaq, halala and purdah has come to demonstrate subjugation of Muslim women, Islam has acquired the status of the most oppressive religion for women, the speakers said. Muslim women have become an object of pity.
Commenting on Islam and feminism, Farida Khan, former dean of education at Jamia Millia Islamia and former member of the National Commission for Minorities, pointed out that gender oppression is common to all religions. “Why should Islam have the burden of taking on feminism?” asked Khan. She further explained that Islam should be perceived and understood in the social and historical context of the day. Every religion has to and does evolve with time.
Referring to the exhibition, Khan said, “It makes me sad to think that you need to have an exhibition and you need to project these women in a country where they should be well known, where they should be part of the mainstream, where everybody should know their names and know the work they have done.”
Gargi Chakravartty, former associate professor of history in Maitreyi College and author, said, “Muslim women’s political and social contributions in the pre-independence period during the major Gandhian movements or in the field of spreading education, or in the sphere of literary activities, cannot be erased from history.” She shared many anecdotes that came up in her own research about largely unknown Muslim women who have extensively worked among the poor throughout the 20th century and still continue to do so.
An eminent speaker at the colloquium, Rakshanda Jalil, recently wrote a book A Rebel and Her Cause on the life of Rashid Jahan. Jalil spoke of the inspiring life of Jahan, who was a doctor, writer, political activist and member of the Communist Party of India.
Farah Naqvi, member of the Post-Sachar Evaluation Committee (Kundu Committee) 2013-2014, summed up the purpose of the colloquium and the exhibition. “This colloquium is a response. There is a nostalgia about it. But it is not just about the nostalgic nawabi Muslim. It has a political purpose, the colloquium, which is that you cannot allow any one strand of history to be obliterated from this country. Any strand. It could be Muslim women today. It could be someone else tomorrow,” Naqvi said.
Questioning if Muslim women needed to be forced into a separate constituency, Naqvi said it was indeed a tragedy that these women’s contributions were not a part of mainstream knowledge – and that reflected failure on the part of Indian historiography.
Naqvi also pointed out that the undercurrent of the entire exhibition was nation-building because they were “also responding to a moment when Muslims are repeatedly being told that they are ‘anti-national’”. She further explained that against such a background, the Muslim community in general should not take the bait of proving that they are ‘good’ nationalists. Instead they should take pride in the achievements they have made in their respective spheres of work – especially for those who stayed on in India after the Partition.
Wajahat Habibullah, India’s first chief information commissioner and the son of Hamida Habibullah, one of the 21 women featured in the exhibition, talked about Partition and how it divided his family. He said, “It is necessary to remember and nurture the memories of all those Muslim women who then very consciously, despite family pressure and contradictions within the family, opted clearly to be a part of India”.
Contribution to literature, politics and education
The exhibition showed how extensively Muslim women have contributed in the spheres of politics, literature, education and social work.
Many like Saeeda Khurshid, founder of the Muslim Women’s Forum, actively campaigned for the Congress party. Hamida Habibullah was the the president of the Mahila Congress. Few like Aziza Fatima Imam, Fathom Ismail, Anis Kidwai, Siddiqa Kidwai and Qudsia Aizaz Rasul were members of the parliament and legislative assemblies for years.
Rasul was also the only Muslim woman member of the constituent assembly.
Sharifa Hamid Ali founded the All India Women’s Conference (AIWC), with the likes of Sarojini Naidu, Rani Rajwade and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, and was involved in its work alongside others like Masuma Hosain Ali Khan and Hajrah Begum – who also founded the National Federation of Indian Women.
These women actively worked with the poor and marginalised sections of society, trying to improve their access to health and education.
Zehra Ali Yavar Jung, who was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1973, worked to improve the condition of women detainees in Hyderabad’s prisons and presided over a women’s workshop that trained and provided employment to destitute women. Fathom Ismail helped in opening rehabilitation clinics for children suffering from polio. Anis Kidwai worked tirelessly in refugee camps after Partition.
Surayya Tayabji and the Indian national flag displayed at the MWF exhibition. Credit: Khushboo Kumari/The Wire
Mumtaz Jahan Haider, who was appointed the principal of the Aligarh Women’s College in 1937, worked for women’s education her entire life.
Sharifa propagated legal reforms for Muslim women, including raising the age of marriage and drafting a model marriage contract ‘nikahnama‘.
In the field of literature and arts, these women won multiple awards. Razia Sajjad Zaheer, the recipient of the Nehru Award and Uttar Pradesh State Sahitya Academy Award, wrote novels like Sar-e-Sham, Kante and Suman. Anis Kidwai recieved the Sahitya Kala Parishad Award.
Attia Hossain used to write for Pioneer, Statesman and Atlantic monthly and wrote several novels, most notably Sunlight on a Broken Column and a short story collection Phoenix Fled. Aliya Fyzee wrote Indian Music (1914), The Music of India (1925) and Sangeet of India (1942) with her husband.
Qudsia Zaidi wrote and translated books for children, with Chacha Chakkan ke Draamae among the most loved ones. She also founded Hindustani Theatre in 1954, the first urban professional theatre company in independent India.
Khushboo Kumari has a BTech in information technology and is pursuing an MBA in marketing from MICA, Ahmedabad. She is an intern at The Wire.
source: http://www.thewire.in / The Wire / Home> History> Religion> Women / by Khushboo Kumari / May 30th, 2018
The President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind took the salute at the 134th passing out parade at the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakvasla on May 30. The passing out parade, a sombre occasion always, was especially more poignant this time. The man who put it together for the Supreme Commander’s inspection, the Subedar Major Drill of the NDA, Subedar Major Rajeev Kumar Rai, had only a few days earlier been felled by a heart attack, testifying to the pressures of performing in front of the highest constitutional authority in the land. A veteran who served in the Siachen, Kashmir and the North East, Rai was the head drill ‘ustad’ of the Academy, credited with instilling discipline into cadets. In tribute to him, cadets had resolved to put up such a show as had never been witnessed before on the Khetarpal parade ground, named after Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal one of the alumni and posthumous Param Vir Chakra awardee.
With the Subedar Major departed, the onus to deliver the message of reassurance that the future of the armed forces and the defence of the country, was in safe hands fell on the Academy Cadet Captain (ACC). It is no secret that the Academy Adjutant, who supervises the parade usually has his attention on the horse he is riding than on the parade because controlling the horse is as important as the parade. This responsibility fell on ACC Mohammad Sohail Islam a strapping Muslim youth from Assam.
Academy Cadet Captain Sohail Islam was selected for the honour from among 344 cadets who passed out of the course. Captain Sohail Islam was clearly a cut above the rest as he was an all-rounder excelling in academics, physically tough, mentally robust and importantly spiritually upright.
To achieve this position is not an easy task. Consider the hundreds of thousands of youth appearing for the Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) NDA entrance exam of which only 6000 clear the exam and qualify at the services selection boards. And finally, only 300 make it. It needs immense hard work.
Now to the parade, as President Kovind alighted from the horse-drawn carriage, he was received by the Commandant. At the far end of the parade ground, 854 cadets wearing white patrols were lined up in their squadrons on either side of the Nishan Toli, bearers of the President’s Colours, conferred on the Academy by President Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy. Standing tall, right in front was their sword-bearing leader, ACC Mohammad Sohail Islam. As he sprung to attention on the arrival of President Kovind at the Quarter Deck, the commentary paused and the chatter of the parents and siblings of the cadets stopped. And a hush fell over the ten thousand odd spectators.
After his reverberating word of command for a general salute, sword in hand, Sohail Islam marched up to the dais to report the Academy present on parade for inspection by the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Thereafter, Islam mounted the ceremonial jeep alongside the Supreme Commander for the circuit of the parade ground as the Rashtrapati inspected the smartly turned out cadets. Islam then led the parade in its march past, doing an electric ‘eyes right’ while lowering his sword in salute as he strode past the Quarter Deck, as the podium is called, styled as it is after a ship’s deck in deference to the jointness between the three services that the Academy lays the foundations of. The President was escorted by the Commandant to present the most coveted awards, to the three deserving passing out cadets. Among the three was Sohail Islam, winner of the President’s Silver Medal awarded for standing second in the overall order of merit.
As President Kovind proceeded with his very pleasant duty of inspiring the young lads, the next cadet he had to pin a medal on was Ali Ahmed Chaudhury, a Squadron Cadet Captain, winner of the President’s Bronze Medal. The President received Ali’s salute, shook Ali by the hand and pinned the medal on his white patrol tunic.
As squadron cadet captain, Ali had led his squadron march past, belting out the command of ‘eyes right’ at the Quarter Deck. A squadron cadet captain is among the top-drawer appointments, leader of over a hundred cadets of all six courses assigned to the squadron. He is responsible for steering the squadron’s showing in the competitions for the overall championship banner for the best squadron, an annual life-and-death battle at the Academy. That the contest is so fierce is because the squadron is where the cadets learn that they must be ready to die for their outfit; squadron today, a platoon, flight or a ship tomorrow. He has to be a role model in preparation for the traditional, and historically validated, the manner of leading Indian soldiers in battle; where leading means just that: from up front and ahead. Obviously, Ali measured up and how.
Son of a retired army Subedar from Karimganj in Assam, his twin brother is due to receive the president’s commission from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, this term. Ali is a Georgian, as the graduates of Rashtriya Military Schools, earlier named after King George, are called.
The one who pipped both Sohail and Ali to the top post was Battalion Cadet Captain Akshat Raj, on whom the President pinned the Gold Medal.Sohail, like Ali, is the son of an ex-serviceman, a Havaldar from West Bengal; while Akshat is a school teacher’s son. All three are from humble backgrounds, society’s bedrock that continues to offer India’s best stock for its most onerous duty. The three typify the quintessential warriors – Karmyogis of yore – trained as the nation’s warriors from a tender age.
Both Sohail and Ali exemplify the words of President Kovind in his speech ‘The parade comprises cadets from all parts of India and from a variety of communities. Its harmony speaks for our essential unity as much as our pluralism as a society.’ He had just had lined up before him Akshat, Sohail and Ali. This is what the line up suggested to him.
Sohail and Ali were right up there inspiring the Rashtrapati and rest of nation to reflect on India’s essence. That’s where Muslim youth need to be, all the time. Sohail and Ali tell that us that it is within reach, doable and, is indeed, a glass ceiling already breached. Just like the remarkable performance of Muslim youth taking the civil services exam and topping the exam, the avenue of an armed forces’ officership – ‘a calling’ for a ‘rare breed’ according to President Kovind – is open for Muslim youth to aspire and achieve. Thanks to Sohail and Ali, the President’s Gold Medal – not having a Muslim inscribed on it since the mid-seventies – is now ours to grasp next.
The author was a Squadron Cadet Captain at the National Defence Academy in the mid-80s.
source: http://www.sabrangindia.com / Sabrang / Home / by Ali Ahmed / June 06th, 2018
Back from the brink: The western wall of the Ashoorkhana shows off tiles with intricate inlays. | Photo Credit: K.V.S. Giri
Telangana government and Aga Khan Trust are working to restore the monument ahead of rains
It is a race against the monsoon as Hyderabad’s 17th century Badshahi Ashoorkhana, famed for its resplendent tile work, is restored to its original finery.
The sprawling structure, which turns into a house of mourning during Muharram, is located in a narrow bylane of the old city. On Sunday, workers were busy plastering a high wall with brownish lime mortar in the blistering sun, using the cover of a blue tarpaulin. .
On another side of the wall where the restoration is taking place, framed by an arched entrance, is the 400-year old Ashoorkhana. It was built sometime in 1611 by Hyderabad’s founder, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah.
“We are consolidating the structure before the monsoon sets in. The documentation is also being done in parallel. Once that is over, we will decide on a conservation plan. The tile work has very fine detailing. At some points, the tiles have been painted over. This will require painstaking documentation,” says N. R. Visalatchy of the Telangana Department of Archaeology and Museums.
The documentation is being done by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture with which the State government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding. “We have to do the work before the monsoon, because there are points from which seepage might occur and that will affect the tiles,” says Prashant Banerjee of AKTC. The restoration is a challenge, because materials must be moved through a narrow lane.
Heritage recovered
The restorers are using a lime mortar mix for plastering, but that is not their only weapon. “Pulped and cured wood apple is injected into the gaps. It works like a silicone sealant that expands and contracts without letting the water in. Concrete sealants become rigid, and seepage happens,” says Mr. Banerjee.
The Ashoorkhana, turns into a pilgrimage site when alams (battle standards) are installed to commemorate the battle of Karbala in 680 A.D. Ashoora or 10th day of Muharram is when the battle took place. The monument was lost for several decades when Emperor Aurangzeb’s forces turned it into a bandikhanato keep wheeled vehicles. Much later, the September 1908 floods caused havoc, washing away some tiles. In a shocking turn of events, it was turned into a garage and parking space at one time. A legal battle waged by the Moosavi family made the monument accessible again, and conservation moves followed the eviction of squatters.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Serish Nanisetti / Hyderabad – June 03rd, 2018
Students of Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Arakunnam, with the Electromyography-controlled prosthetic arm that they developed.
It will meet the basic daily requirements of an amputee
Five engineering students of Toc H Institute of Science and Technologyat Arakunnam near here have come up with an Electromyography (EMG) controlled prosthetic arm.
The students – Mereena Baby, Aysha Zenab Kenza, Nikitha Sajan, Lakshmi Mohan, and Sharon Alex – are in the final year of their B.Tech Computer Science programme.
A release issued by the college claimed that the robotic arm would meet the basic daily requirements of an amputee, even though it lacked advanced features.
The prosthetic arm is priced at ₹2 lakh while those with advanced features cost anywhere between ₹15 lakh to ₹25 lakh, which is out of the reach of the common man, it said.
The students said that the Myo-armband interprets the electric signals produced as a result of the muscle movements and converts them into accurate hand gestures. They are then read by a micro-controller through a Bluetooth dongle.
Server motors
Based on those signals read, an appropriate number of server motors are rotated to move the prosthetic limb, they said.
The release said that the product could be made faster and easier by using advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence.
The students expressed the hope that they would get support from investors to take the product to users.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / June 03rd, 2018
Many participated actively in the agitation for Statehood
At a time when the Telangana sentiment was at its peak, several Muslims and Muslim organisations jumped into the movement. Be it the 1969 agitation or, for that matter, more recently, in 2008 and 2009. And with the anniversary of the formation of the State on Saturday, some of those involved in the movement share their experiences.
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Telangana and Odisha president Hamid Mohammed Khan says that it was in 2008 that the socio-religious organisation jumped in to the fray.
The Jamaat, he says, was aware of the region’s backwardness and its causes which is why the decision was taken to join the movement.
“We formed an advisory committee to study these injustices. We analysed a lot of government released data, Planning Commission reports and the distribution of resources to Telangana region. We analysed government employment patterns too. In 2008 we decided to wholeheartedly support the movement,” Mr. Khan says.
Organised garjanas
The Jamaat, he says, was a part of the Telangana Joint Action Committee, and its organs supported the cause. “We organised Telangana garjanas in all districts and used our established units to further the cause of Telangana,” he says.
While the Jamaat formally took part movement in 2008, the All India Majlis-e-Tameer-e-Millat (AIMTM), another socio-religious organisation was active during the 1960s.
According to its vice-president Ziauddin Nayyar, it was in 1969 that the then general secretary Laiq Ali Khan was actively associated with the Telangana Praja Samithi, co-founded by the then chief minister of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh M. Chenna Reddy.
“Several of the Tameer-e-Millat’s leaders were even jailed for being a part of the agitation. Our ties were so close with the movement. Another member, Tahir Osmani, was well known for his renditions of poetry and slogans for Telangana statehood,” Mr. Nayyar recalled.
Observers said that with the passage of time and weakening of the organisation, the AIMTM could not be an active part of the later years of the Telangana movement.
“Apart from these two organisations, several individuals too took part in the movement. They were well aware of the injustice meted out to the people of the state,” an observer said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Syed Mohammed / Hyderabad – June 04th, 2018
Sayeed bin Abdul Rabb giving the final touches to a Bullet, which had come in for repair. | Photo Credit: The Hindu
The septuagenarian bike specialist just plays it by the ear to fix the bikes or restore them from scrap
He is called the hakeem — a doctor in Urdu — of the Royal Enfield Bullet. His diagnostic ability is like the practitioners of Unani medicine who can identify an ailment just by checking a patient’s pulse.
The Bullet’s famed thump is its pulse, and he only has to listen to tell what’s wrong.
Sayeed bin Abdul Rabb has been restoring Enfield Bullets since his pre-teens. His proficiency in dealing with the motorcycle’s cast iron engines is well known not only in Hyderabad but also in Marathwada.
“I was 10 years old when I started working for marhoom [deceased] Enfield mechanic Mahbub Patel. I think I’m 75 years old now. In my 65 years as a Bullet specialist, I must have repaired thousands of Bullets and restored hundreds,” he says.
A Yafai tribesman, Mr. Rabb’s grandfather, Sayeed bin Abdul Rabb, after whom he is named, arrived in the city from Hadramaut in the modern day Yemen. Unlike his countrymen, Rabb Sr. did not join the Afwaj-e-Beqidah, the Nizam’s irregular army. Instead, he dabbled in small trades.
Room for workshop
Mr. Rabb’s workshop is a room in Troop Bazaar in the city centre. Hanging on walls is an array of spares: handlebars, silencers, wheelrims and a toghra (wall hanging) with a verse from the Quran. In a corner is a rudimentary lathe machine, used to fabricate out-of-stock spare parts for other British Classics such as Norton and Triumph.
In a conversation peppered with delightful Dakhni idioms, he says: “I’ve been repairing motorcycles for 65 years, miyan. Hau? I only need to listen to the firing [for thump] or the sound of the engine. If the tapit [tappets] make a certain sound or the bigin [corruption of the world flywheel] sounds strange, I know there is some gadbad,” Mr. Rabb says.
His customers also come from Nanded, Parli Vaijnath, Osmanabad and Latur in Maharashtra.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Syed Mohammed / Hyderabad – May 26th, 2018
Shazia wanted a create a book where you feel like cooking what you see
Bengaluru’s Shazia Khan, runner-up at Masterchef 2, is out with her book What’s On The Menu
It may be easy to cook from a recipe off the Internet, or cook watching a YouTube video. But how do you know, for example, which biryani recipe to pick from the hundreds that pop up?
And therein lies the charm of a cookbook — you will go for the recipe that comes from a person you know, or whose food you are familiar with or are a fan of.
That is the logic that drove Bengaluru’s Shazia Khan, runner-up at the Masterchef India 2 series a few years ago to write What’s On The Menu? “When I started cooking, I was an amateur. I learnt from cookbooks. I wanted to write my own after Masterchef, which would feature cuisines of the world, and use easy ingredients — something that a beginner or an expert could cook from,” says Shazia smiling the smile that she was noted to flash, even under all the pressure of the TV show. “I also wanted generation-old recipes to be treasured. I wanted it to be a pictorial because it is only when you see good food that you feel like cooking.” Shazia’s food has been made more gorgeous looking by photographer Saina Jaipal.
She agrees the book is a “hotchpotch” of recipes. The book takes you through salads, soups, and sections dedicated to vegetarian, chicken, mutton, seafood, and desserts. An introductory section teaches you how to put together masalas and chilli oil and other such ingredients necessary for the dishes.
Food is something that always brought people together in her large joint family where Shazia grew up as one among seven siblings.
“Food was always a celebration and it spread a lot of happiness — something that rarely happens today among people.”
Shazia admits that food has taken on new avatars. “There is surely a food revolution. With the Masterchef craze, awareness is high. With everyone Instagram-ing food pictures, food has gone viral. People are more confident now to try new recipes. It has gone beyond being just a three-time meal. It is about being more creative and food presentation is gaining more importance.” Exposure is huge, as is availability. “When I started cooking, I didn’t even know what zucchini was. Today you will get three colours of bell peppers in your neighbourhood market.”
Having all along cooked for family and friends, it was her sons who egged her on to try for the Masterchef series. “It has almost been four years since, and I’ve done a couple of TV shows, YouTube videos and demos. I take private classes for individuals. I run summer camps,” she says, talking of the endless possibilities of what one can do these days in the food business. Shazia, who is also involved in the family-run education business, is a member of the board of management at Delhi Public School (Bengaluru/Mysuru). She hopes to start a culinary school, because “going abroad to study culinary arts is very expensive. I want to make it a finishing school for women, so they can get employment opportunities and placements as home cooks using their training. I mean who wouldn’t love to have a trained cook at home!” she says.
Kitchen talk
* Three things you will find in my kitchen: Cheese for sure! Cooking chocolate, and eggs.
* What I love eating: Thai, because it bursts with flavours.
* What I love cooking: Modern Indian food — not twisting its taste but presenting it in a different way. My tandoori chicken roulade is a good twist to the whole grilled chicken, using the French technique to make it more healthy. My grilled semolina with mushroom is nothing but the uppit presented to look like breadsticks, with mushrooms thrown in for a twist.
* When I eat out: My husband is not a big foodie. He loves Indian or Chinese. But when we are travelling, I love to experiment, try local cuisine, learn dishes and pick up recipes.
Pumpkin and peanut subzi
Shazia shares this recipe of a subzi from her book What’s On The Menu that her father-in-law enjoys, made in his village near Mandya, in Karnataka:
(Serves: 4 to 5 )
Ingredients
Vegetable oil – quarter cup
Onion – 2, (finely diced)
Ginger paste – 1 tsp
Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Tomato – 2,
( finely diced)
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – half tsp
Fresh coriander leaves – 3 tbsp,
Pumpkin – 600 gms,
(peeled, chopped &
cubed)
Salt to taste
For the Peanut Masala
Peanuts – 100 gms, (dry roasted & skin removed)
Garlic – 10 cloves
Long, dry red chilli (Kashmiri) — 8 (dry roasted)
In a pan, heat oil. Add onions and fry till golden brown. Add ginger-garlic pastes and fry for a minute. Add tomatoes, chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, coriander leaves and fry till the tomatoes become so. Add the pumpkin cubes and sauté. Add salt and cook till the pumpkin is so and done. Coarsely grind the peanut masala ingredients and add to the cooked pumpkin. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with hot akki rotis and ghee.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Food / by Bhumika K / Bengaluru – April 16th, 2016
Once again, a young sportsman of the town, Naazim Javed Khan has made the entire town proud after qualifying to represent India in ‘ITTF Para Table Tennis Spanish Open’, which will be held at Barcelona in Spain from 7th to 11th June 2018. Around 9 players from various states including Naazim Javed Khan and two others from Karnataka have been selected for this championship game in Spain.
Speaking to SahilOnline Kumta correspondent, Naazim said that he obtained two years of coaching in Maharashtra Mandal table tennis club at Hubli. As a player, he always participated in various levels of table tennis games held across the country. Recently, a team of 9 players from across India was selected by Indian Table Tennis Federation to represent India in Spain, which included him too. VRL will be the official sponsor for Naazim.
It may be noted that, Naazim had represented India in the ‘Para Asian Regional Table Tennis Championship’ in August 2017 in China and had also participated at ‘Para Table Tennis Games’ held in Thailand in 2013. Other than this, Naazim is a student of Karnataka Institute of Medical Science (KIMS) in Hubli, studying MBBS.
As the news of his selection made rounds on social media platforms, the smiles and happiness spread among the people of Kumta and many expressed their best wishes for his upcoming games in Barcelona, Spain.
On this occasion, various organizations of Kumta including the management of Kumta Jamatul Muslimeen, North Kanara Muslim United Forum, Kumta Muslim Association, and Al-Ittihad Youth Committee Kumta have congratulated him and wished him all the success in the upcoming games.
Team SahilOnline also wishes all the best for his upcoming games.
source: http://www.sahilonline.net / Sahil Online / Home / source: S.O. News Service / Coastal News – National News / by Sajjad Qazi / June 02nd, 2018
