Dr. Shaik received business leadership icon award and was honored by Indian Business Professionals Council, Dubai – the award was given by His Excellency Dr. Thani Ahmed A l Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change & Environment and other Senior dignitaries from Indian Consulate.
For every hundred reasons, the world presented for women to sit behind without a dream, there came a thousand reasons as to why they must chase it. Dr. Nowhera Shaik, left no stones unturned whenever she got an opportunity to contribute her bit to the progress of civilization. However, what is commendable is that it was she who created these opportunities that acted as the stepping ladder to the top-shelf of empowerment, humanity and the ever-changing corporate world. Over time, she expanded her horizons and built herself a forte in several different paths of life. She is a businesswoman to look up to, founder and CEO of Heera Group, The National President of the All India Mahila Empowerment Party, an entrepreneur and most importantly a selfless philanthropist, who wakes up every day with the vision of progressing in the world of civilisation & learning to make a difference in the life of another individual.
Some of the awards and achievements of Dr. Nowhera Shaik:
1. Extraordinaire – Powerful Women Achiever by NexBrands – Brand Vision Summit 2017-2018
2. Stardust Achievers Award 2017
3. Gulfood Award – Best New Comer Brand 2016
4. Woman of Integrity and Purpose Award 2016
5. Fastest Growing Indian Company Excellence Award 2013
She also won the honorary award for ‘Best Transfer for Heera Gold Charted from UAE.’ Further, she grabbed the Antony Gold Bullion Company Limited U.K. award and the Tajir Gold Dust and Bar Ghana Limited award.
She was the proud receiver of several awards that were an evident reflection of her expertise in the world of business and her undying passion to help the people in need. With the kind of integration of knowledge and hard work, she put across, the growth of the firm was obvious.
Her selfless service to the society and her urge to ascend the ladders of corporate success and empowerment has led her to carve a path for several young women along with serving her own purpose.
About Dr. Nowhera Shaik
Ms. Shaik was born to Shaik Nanne Saheb and Shaik Bilkis in 1973. Ms. Shaikh has followed her father’s footstep from a very early age by supporting him in his business activities even during her school days. Mr. Shaikh Kolkar Madaar Saheb, grandfather of Ms. Shaikh was a successful businessman who started S.N.S. Transports in 1920 and found success in the wholesale business of vegetables, fruits, and textile products across the entire country. The high spiritual and religious cultural and business background was inherited by Ms. Nowhera Shaikh. In 1998, Ms. Shaik Nowhera started an Islamic School for girls at Tirupati Town in the name of ‘Madrasa Niswan’ (under a society registered with the Registration of Societies Act, AP, India, No: 386), with around 150 Students. Most of the students were very poor and could not even afford to buy books and uniform. She gave such poor children free education with lodging and boarding facilities.
An inspiration to many and the reason for several newfound smiles, Dr. Nowhera Shaik believes she’s only beginning her journey and that there is a long way to go before she sees the peak of it.
source: http://www.businesswireindia.com / Business Wire India / Home> New Detail / June 28th, 2018
Many Indian dishes can be traced back, indirectly, to a 16th-century, food-obsessed ruler named Babur.
Babur Being Entertained in Ghazni, from the Baburnama, the memoirs of Ẓahīr al-din Muhammad. PUBLIC DOMAIN
ZAHIR AL-DIN MUHAMMAD, THE 16TH century Central Asian prince better known as Babur, is renowned for his fierce pedigree and proclivities. Descended from both Timur and Genghis Khan, he used military genius to overcome strife and exile, conquer northern India, and found the Moghul dynasty, which endured for over 300 years. He was a warlord who built towers of his enemies’ skulls on at least four occasions. Yet he was also a cultured man who wrote tomes on law and Sufi philosophy, collections of poetry, and a shockingly honest memoir, the Baburnama, in which he appears to us as one of the most complex and human figures of the early modern era.
Through the Baburnama, we learn that Babur was versed in courtly Persian speech and custom, yet nonetheless a populist who built strong ties with nomads and championed the vernacular Chagatai Turkic tongue in the arts. He was a pious man, but was also given to libertine escapades, including massive, wine-fueled parties.
But the first—and arguably one of the most culturally consequential—personal details he reveals is that he was a food snob. Babur loved the foods of his homeland and hated those he found when he had to reestablish himself in India, which to him was mostly a way station on the bloody road back to the melon patches of his youth. He didn’t just whinge about missing foods from home, though. He imported and glorified them in his new kingdom, laying the groundwork for his descendants to warp Indian cuisine so profoundly that they redefined that culinary tradition, as many know it worldwide, to this day.
A depiction of Babur meeting Sultan ‘Ali Mirza near Samarqand, from the Baburnama. PUBLIC DOMAIN
The Baburnama opens with a description of Ferghana, a region now split between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, where Babur grew up. Known then and now as the breadbasket of Central Asia, it follows that Babur would touch on agriculture. But in introducing his hometown of Andijan, Babur opens with a note on the quality of its grapes and melons before turning his attention to its layout and fortifications. He then ducks back to praise its game meats, especially its pheasants, which “are so fat, that the report goes that four persons may dine on the broth of one of them and not be able to finish it.” Only then does he tell us of the people who live there.
Almost anytime he describes a place back home, he starts with vittles. Margilan is known for its dried apricots, pitted and stuffed with almonds. Khojand’s pomegranates are proverbially good, but they pale next to Margilan’s. And Kandbadam is tiny and insignificant, but it grows the best almonds in the region, so it’s worth mentioning.
“Early sections of his Baburnama,” writes Fabrizio Foschini, in a report on Afghanistani melons authored in 2011, “really sound like a consumer guide to the fruit markets of Central Asia.”
A detail of date trees illustrated in the Baburnama. PUBLIC DOMAIN
Babur doesn’t forget food once he gets into the meaty war stories, either. He breaks one narrative to note that the area around a castle he just besieged grew a unique melon with puckered yellow skin, apple-like seeds, and pulp as thick as four fingers.
The Baburnama is not solely concerned with food. The bulk of it is a painstaking record of families and feuds, and Babur dwells on other seemingly random details that tickled him, such as a courtier’s talent at leapfrog. Since we don’t have a similarly honest accounting from his peers, it’s hard to say whether Babur’s epicureanism was atypical.
Given the chaos he grew up in, though, it’s incredible that Babur could spare any thought for food. Thrust to power at age 11 (by the Gregorian calendar), in 1494, he had to navigate bloody infighting amongst his relatives. Known as the Timurid princes after their conqueror-ancestor Timur, they jockeyed against each other for regional control. Babur became an active participant in this Central Asian game of thrones—he seemed particularly obsessed with taking the regional cultural capital of Samarkand. While he seized it in 1497, he lost the city almost immediately, as well as Ferghana, and (a very long story short) spent the rest of his teenage years reclaiming or losing bits of territory, fleeing into exile with remote nomadic tribes, and trying to court new followers and surge back. Although he never stopped trying to reclaim Samarkand and his homeland, by 1504, at age 21, he’d effectively been forced out of the region for the rest of his life.
A portrait of Babur. PUBLIC DOMAIN
That year, he pulled off a fantastic feat of warlord jiujitsu, flipping a rival’s forces into his service and marching on Kabul, which was vulnerable after undergoing its own contentious power shift. Babur took the city, and, naturally, set to cultivating its produce scene. In and around the city, he built at least 10 grand gardens that included a fair number of fruiting plants.
While Babur’s writings suggest a personal obsession with food, it’s hard to disentangle this obsession from homesickness. There were also political reasons for him to pay so much attention to cuisine: Food snobbery was a standard way for a Timurid prince such as Babur to make his mark and prove his elite bona fides in a new land. “The Timurids, while ethnically Turkic, based their legitimacy to a large extent on their being champions of Persianate ‘high’ culture,” says Central Asian historian Richard Foltz, “which included taste in food.”
Kabul proved ill endowed to support a successful campaign back to Ferghana, though. So Babur turned his attention to neighboring India. He got a lucky break when a new king—an inept man who clearly had dissenters and rebels in his ranks—came to power in the northern Sultanate of Delhi. Babur struck at this weakness, invading the region through the early 1520s. Despite being outmanned by a ratio of perhaps five-to-one in his final standoff with the sultan, he usurped the throne in 1526.
Babur entering Kabul. PUBLIC DOMAIN
According to Foltz, Central Asians mostly looked down on Indians, who were neither Muslims nor Persianate. Babur, his recent biographer Stephen Dale notes, was also still deeply homesick. These factors, and possibly personal tastes, led him to dismiss his new territory, and especially its food: “Hindustan is a country that has few pleasures to recommend it. … [There is] no good flesh, no grapes or muskmelons, no good fruits, no ice or cold water, no good bread or food in their bazaars.”
Babur shouldn’t have had time for food in India either. He spent the last four years of his life fighting local insurgencies and consolidating his power. In 1530, he died at the age of 48, in Agra, the north Indian city where his great-great grandson Shah Jahan (lived 1592–1666) would later build the Taj Mahal. But he wrote letters in those years expressing his desire to return home, or at least taste its grapes and melons. He describes receiving a melon from Kabul and weeping as he ate it. He planted Central Asian grapes and melons in India, which brought him some joy. He even asked local chefs to make Persianate food for him, although one of them tried to poison him.
By establishing supply chains that brought his native agriculture and cuisine to the region, Babur left a lasting legacy. “He probably played a role in bringing Central Asian influences into the elite, courtly Indian life,” says Elizabeth Collingham, a food historian who explored Babur’s life and influence in her history of curries .
Babur, on the Way to Hindustan, Camping at Jam, from the Baburnama. PUBLIC DOMAIN
Granted, Babur was not the first Central Asian lord in what is now India. From 1206 to Babur’s day, five prior Central Asian dynasties ruled from Delhi. They too imported foods from home, cooked dishes they knew, and even did some fusion cooking. Trade and migration also meant there’d always been interplay between the regions, including culinary influence. Glimpses of this cultural mingling include the first mentions of samosas in the region’s written record—in accounts of those earlier medieval sultans’ feasts.
But according to Rukhsana Iftikhar, a historian of social life amongst the Mughals, the Persian word for “Mongols” by which Babur’s descendants came to be known, many of these dishes differed in style and flavor profile from the Persian-influenced Central Asian cuisine Babur preferred. They likely had not caught on with the general Indian population by the time Babur arrived, and few of them would sound familiar to fans of global Indian fare today.
Historians like Dale and Foltz chalk this up to the fact that previous dynasties—while they had some cultural influence—seemed to see India mostly as a piggy bank. They didn’t like to mix with local elites, and their culture was not grand or stable enough to invite mimicry and adaptation.
A banquet with roast goose. PUBLIC DOMAIN
Babur, by contrast, was more statesman than raider. His pedigree and strong connections to Iran also gave him and his descendants more cultural cachet, and those descendants mixed more readily with the local populace. And for over a century after his death, Mughal rulers continued to praise the same foods Babur praised and keep the caravans of his beloved Central Asian fruits and nuts flowing. Babur’s successor Humayun brought Persian cooks to Delhi, and Humayun’s son, Akbar, was notably cosmopolitan and curious in the kitchen. Later descendents were not as invested in Persianate culture and the foods of Ferghana as Babur. But either as a means of displaying their wealth or of brandishing the superiority of their heritage, they carried on the culinary trajectory Babur set up.
Babur’s descendants also spent lavishly on their kitchens, elevating food as a status symbol. But unlike Babur, they made it a point to round up chefs from around their Indian domains, a practice that invited fusion. The grandeur and duration of their courts, argues Collingham, led local elites to copy their Persianate and Central Asian motifs and augment their own kitchens, leading to parallel fusion work in places like Hyderabad, Kashmir, and Lucknow. Over the centuries, these innovations coalesced into Mughlai food, a stable cuisine common across, although not ubiquitous in, northern India by the early 20th century.
This cuisine was defined by, among other things, aromatic, creamy curries, often incorporating the nuts and dried fruits Babur adored. It includes many dishes familiar to Western diners today: Korma, a blend of Central Asian nuts and dairy with Persian and Indian spices. Rogan Josh, a slow-cooked, Persian-style meat spiced up in the kitchens of Kashmir. And tandoori grilling, facilitated by Mughal tweaks to said grills and to marinades and spicing styles.
These dishes became ubiquitous in the West, Collingham says, because haute Indian chefs have long viewed Mughlai cooking the same way Western cooks used to see Le Cordon Bleu. Indians who set up restaurants abroad made Mughlai food the template of Indian food in the U.S. and U.K.—to the chagrin of Indians who grew up eating many other cuisines that remain hard to find outside their homelands.
None of this was a conscious project for Babur. But by setting up shop in Agra and Delhi, he created a wave that shook the foundations of India, culinary and otherwise. His tastes indirectly fueled 300-plus years of kitchen innovation. It’s no Central Asian dynasty of skulls and melons. It’s something more widespread and enduring, if unexpected or unwanted.
Gastro Obscura covers the world’s most wondrous food and drink.
source: http://www.atlasobscura.com / Atlas Obscura / Home> Stories / by Mark Hay / November 15th, 2017
FOR A FAIR CONTRACT At the discussion that followed the book release, the panellists (from left) journalist Marya Shakil, lawyer J.C. Batra, author Ziya Us Salam and Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Zameeruddin Shah) discussed women’s rights in Islam
Ziya Us Salam’s “Till Talaq Do Us Part” defogs the miasma around the issue of instant triple talaq
Triple talaq is a phrase that the citizens of India became acutely aware of post the events of 2017, when seven women petitioners moved the Supreme Court against their instant divorce brought about through the uttering of the words ‘talaq, talaq, talaq.’ The apex Court had, on August 22, ruled that instant triple talaq was a practice not sanctioned in the Quran, yet a fog of confusion and obfuscation surrounds the general discourse and public understanding of what exactly constitutes an Islamic divorce. In this context, Till Talaq Do Us Part (Penguin Random House) by senior journalist Ziya Us Salam is a book that acquires much significance as it tries to brush the dust away and bring clarity to the issue by reverting to the most authentic source for Islamic knowledge — the Quran.
Released this past evening at the India International Centre by Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Zamiruddin Shah, the book defines nine types of divorce interpreted from Quranic verses.
Among them some of the most important ones are Khula, the inalienable right of the woman to instantly divorce her husband on the grounds of his inability to take care of her needs or even simply her dislike for him; Talaq e Ehsan where the man pronounces divorce once but the woman lives with him for the next three months, after which he can divorce her or they can reconcile; Talaq e Hasan where the man pronounces divorce three times in three months, but only in the interim periods of menstrual cycles; Mubarat which takes place through mutual consent, Faskh or judicial divorce; Talaq e Tafweez which is incorporated into the Nikahnama wherein the husband vests the rights of divorce in his wife.
Lack of information
“In the present scenario within the country, the right information on Islam was not reaching the masses,” says Salam. Which is why he decided to write this book that talks about numerous aspects of marriage including the model nikahnama that the AIMPLB spoke of circulating but never quite got down to the task. He also speaks of the importance of meher, the dower paid by the man to the woman at the time of marriage, and how it is entirely neglected among Muslims in India. The meher must be paid either in full to the woman at the time of nikah, or in part with the husband giving a written undertaking that he would pay the rest in future, he emphasises. “One of the most important things is to have one regular nikahnama for all Muslims — at the most two, one for Sunnis and the other for Shias — but ideally, just one.”
Understanding halala
The book also deals with the highly controversial issue of halala, which in truth has been contorted and disfigured heavily into an abhorrent act of female exploitation. Halala, explains Salam, actually gives a woman the right to choose.
If perchance a woman’s second husband either passes away or the second marriage too results in divorce, she has the right to go back and choose her first husband again. However, with the entirely invalid and un-Quranic practice of triple talaq, instant divorces are carried out in a fit of anger and when the man comes to his senses and wishes to reconcile with the woman, they are forced into a monstrous distortion of Halala. When triple talaq gets pushed out of the scene, the question of a one-night halala would not arise at all.
Several scholars state that triple talaq was made legal by Umar Ibn Khattab, the second Caliph in Islamic history. “The important fact which is overlooked, though, is that it was made legal upon the condition that the man giving triple talaq would be flogged,” he highlights. “So why do the maulanas forget to flog the men giving triple talaq?”
A very important point here is that instant triple talaq did not exist at the time of Prophet Mohammad at all, nor the time of the first Caliph. Equally pertinently, it was later made entirely invalid and illegal by Ali Ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Caliph of Islam.
Many Islamic countries have made the instant talaq illegal and it is non-existent among the Shia sect. In fact it is illegal in all other sects except the Hanafis, but as the author writes in his book, “there is no direct word from Imam Hanifa on triple talaq.”
But social structures are rigid and herd tendencies difficult to change, which is why the Supreme Court judgement against instant triple talaq cannot be enough, just as dowry and caste system still exist despite being grossly unconstitutional. In addition, the maulanas whom the masses look to for religious guidance are ill-equipped for the task, caught as they are between rote-recitation and following customs without an attempt at understanding. “Across the country, a vast number of Imams don’t even know (the meaning of) what they have read in namaz!” avers Salam. “They prevent women from coming to mosques but at the Kaaba in Mecca, women and men pray together, perform Hajj together. There is no restriction at all upon women praying in mosques.”
The important task, then, is for the community to be educated and made aware of their rights, for people to read translations of the Quran and develop a deeper understanding. One may pick any translation and exegesis among the many reputed ones, but the most important thing is to explore. In addition, the men must be made aware of the rights of women as much as the women themselves. As Salam says, “We have reduced the understanding of the Quran to the monopoly of some aalim. But the Quran came for all of humanity, not a select group of scholars.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books> Authors / by Zehra Naqvi / May 03rd, 2018
The legendary singer extended his vocal range to foreign languages whenever he got the opportunity.
Mohammed Rafi | Sujata Dev
Mohammed Rafi’s first break as a singer came in 1942, when he sang the duet Goriye ni Heeriye ni with Zeenat Begum for composer Shyam Sunder in the Punjabi film Gul Baloch (1944). Since then, he sang an estimated 4,500-5,000 songs in 14 Indian languages and four foreign languages until his death on July 31, 1980.
Not a bad feat at all for a singer who struggled with even English. In the biography Mohammed Rafi: Golden Voice of the Silver Screen, Sujata Dev writes about how the unlettered singer would politely turn down requests for autographs as his fame grew. “He began practising his signature diligently and when Ammi (mother) enquired why he was wasting reams of paper, he told her that he did not want to deprive his fans and so was learning to sign his name in English,” Rafi’s son, Shahid, told Dev. “Soon he began signing autographs in English and enjoyed doing so. It came as a great compliment for all his efforts when a journalist mentioned that he had the best signature in the industry.”
Rafi was born on December 24, 1924, in Kotla, a village near Amritsar. Singing in English became one of his greatest triumphs, especially since the language was a stumbling block throughout his life. When music composers Shankar-Jaikishen approached him to sing English numbers for a non-film music album in 1968, the singer was hesitant. Maverick actor-writer Harindranath Chattopadhyay , an ardent fan of the singer, wrote the lyrics. He convinced Rafi to take up the assignment, helping the singer perfect his diction for the recording. The two songs were Although we hail from different lands, based on the same composition as Baharon phool barsao (Suraj, 1966), and The she I love, based on the composition Hum kaale hain toh kya hua (Gumnaam, 1965).
Rafi’s English songs pale in comparison to the command he had over Hindi songs but never one to back down, he made a valiant effort to overcome his fears and grasp his limitations as a singer. It also gave him the courage to test his vocals in other foreign languages such as Dutch, Creole and Persian.
In this clip, Rafi sings in Creole, the local language of Mauritius, when he toured the country in the 1960s. He sings Mo le coeur toujours soif zot l’amour camarade (My heart will always be thirsty for your love, my friends), based on the tune of Ehsaan mere dil pe tumhara hai doston(Gaban, 1966).
‘Mo le coeur toujours soif zot l’amour camarade’.
This video clip shows Rafi performing at a concert in Dutch. He sings Ik zal jou nooit vergeten al zal ik in India zijn (I will never forget you, although I will be in India). The music is by Shankar-Jaikishen from the composition Baharon phool barsao, which remains immensely popular among Rafi fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz2piQTmraY
‘Ik zal jou nooit vergeten al zal ik in India zijn’.
For the Persian track Aye Taaza Gul (O fresh flower), Rafi collaborated with Afghani singer Zheela.
‘Aye Taaza Gul’.
In Mohammed Rafi: Golden Voice of the Silver Screen, Sujata Dev writes, “Kersi Lord, the multi-faceted musician had a long association with Rafi. He also happened to be the singer’s next door neighbour. ‘I remember once an Iranian couple had come to India and they wanted Rafi Sahab to sing an Iranian song. He called me home to play the synthesizer as he sang the song, with a fluency that made it seem as if it was his own mother tongue. The couple was left spellbound.”
Boxer Muhammad Ali felicitates Rafi in Chicago during one of his tours. Courtesy Sujata Dev’s ‘Mohammed Rafi’.
source: http://www.scroll.in / The Scroll / Home> The Reel> Tribute / by Manish Gaekwad / July 31st, 2016
Over 1000 war rockets of Tipu era have just been found in a fort in Karanataka. Tipu Sultan was the first warrior in history to have used rockets in his warfare against the British.
Recall Tipu Jayanthi celebrated by the Karnataka Government under Siddaramaiah and the violent opposition it evoked from the BJP and Hindutva forces who overlooked Tipu Sultan’s fierce fight against British rule and only focused on his Islamic identity. An Union Minister publicly refused to participate in the Tipu Jayanti celebrations.
The fanatical opposition to Tipu Sultan by BJP and its top leadership has been so intense that it did not even accept the speech of President of India Ramnath Kovind who while addressing the Karnataka Assembly appreciated Tipu Sultan, among others, and flagged his pioneering role in employing the first ever rocket in the history of warfare against the British.
In their blind opposition to Tipu Sultan just because he was a Muslim, the BJP leaders of Karnataka did not hesitate even to diminish the dignity of the President of India by refusing to acknowledge his speech and dismissing it as as a draft prepared by the then Karnataka Government. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi while campaigning for BJP candidates in the Karnataka elections sarcastically said that the Congress Government was celebrating the Jayanti of “Sultans”.
Let us be mindful of the fact that a sketch of Tipu Sultan finds a prominent and place in the calligraphed copy of the Constitution where the sketch of Lord Ram, Akbar and other outstanding figures of Indian mythology and history occupy a hallowed place.
It is not that President Kovind is the first President of our Republic who invoked Tipu Sultan’s glorious legacy. Earlier President K. R. Narayanan in his speech delivered at the banquet hosted by the President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac, on April 17, 2000 in Paris referred to the correspondence exchanged between Tipu Sultan and Napoleon Bonaparte for the purpose of forming a grand alliance to defeat the British and throw them out of India.
In an appendix of the publication, The Sword of Tipu Sultan, authored by Bhagwan Gidwani, there is a text of letter written by Napoleon to Tipu Sultan bringing out the strategic affinity and understanding between India and France in the late 18th century.
Napoleon wrote in the letter to Tipu Sultan : “You have already been informed of my arrival on the borders of the Red Sea, with an innumerable and invincible Army, full of the desire of delivering you from the iron yoke of England.”
Before the letter could reach Tipu Sultan, the British intelligence succeeded in intercepting it. Then President Narayanan in his aforementioned banquet speech rsaid: “…Napoleon’s demarche perhaps underlined the strategic affinity that links India and France and the responsibility we hold in creating a more equal and democratic inter-national order in the multipolar world.”
It is all the more significant to note that the concept of ” creating a more equal and democratic inter-national order in the multipolar world ” was taken up by Narayanan by invoking Tipu Sultan along with Napoleon who is a national hero for the French. I recall that the leadership of France deeply appreciated this speech and thanked the then Indian President for contextualizing the strategic dialogue started between the two countries in the 21st Century by referring to the strategic understanding forged in the 17th Century.
Abdul Kalam in his writings published before he became President of India had outlined Tipu Sultans stellar contributions as the first warrior in history of warfare for having used rockets against the British who were completely on the defensive. The account given by President Kalam of the rockets used by Tipu Sultan in his war against Britishers makes a fascinating read and the younger generation should be educated about it. He also refers to the Royal Artillery Museum, London that has exhibited the rockets used by Tipu Sultan with the claim the he became the first warrior to do so.
It is rather fascinating to note that the French Revolution and its ideals deeply impacted Tipu Sultan and he celebrated the Revolution with great fervour. Possibly he was the first monarch in India who remained wedded to the enduring ideals of the Revolution- liberty, equality and fraternity- and planted a tree in Srirangapatnam to commemorate it. He enlisted himself as a member of the Jacobin Club which constituted one of the prominent political formations of the Revolution proclaiming egalitarianism and affirming a social order informed by liberty, equality and fraternity.
His strategic vision encompassed in its scope a modern navy which he founded in 1796 and set up two dockyards where ships could be used and equipped with necessary facilities for conducting warfare. It greatly supplemented his military capability based on his land based armoury and armed forces.
His critical understanding that a strong economy could sustain a strong military paved the way for him to take manifold measures to augment and expand trade and commerce and set up a chain of industries. His farsightedness in understanding the danger posed by the advancing British forces in the 18th century stood him out as an unparalleled leader with a firm grasp over military and strategic affairs. British historians have recorded his accomplishments with admiration. And recorded the fact that the conditions of the peasants of Mysore were far better than their status in the British provinces of that era.
Historians have recorded that Tipu Sultan liberally gave grants to numerous Hindu shrines and respected the faith of others. Such a legacy rooted in respecting all religions makes Tipu Sultan relevant for our contemporary period which is witnessing majoritarian tendencies.
He relentlessly fought against British occupation and aggression and eventually attained martyrdom. His heroism and bravery to fight against colonial subjugation constitutes an important portion of Indian history. It is important to celebrate that legacy and enrich it.
Jawaharlal Nehru in his Discovery Of India wrote “Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan .. inflicted a severe defeat on the British and came near to breaking the power of the East India Company.” Such a glorious phase of Tipu Sultan who almost broke the power of the East India Company and who remained wedded to ideals of French revolution inspires India of twenty first century. We need to immortalize it by affirming its enduring value which is far above party politics and ideological rivalry.
As the twenty first century India faces threat from Hindutva forces engaged in lynching people and polarizing them in the name of cow protection, love jihad and religion we need to reinvigorate the legacy based on liberty, equality and fraternity which remained at the heart of the French Revolution, guided Tipu Sultan and inspired our freedom fighters and the framers of our Constitution to shape the destiny of India based on progressive values.
(S.N.Sahu served as Officer on Special Duty to late President of India K.R.Narayanan and also as Director in Prime Minister’s Office under Manmohan Singh).
source: http://www.thecitizen.in / The Citizen / Home / by S.N. Sahu / July 30th, 2018
Where there is will there is a way, Sara Ansari proved the cliché with her exceptional qualities and abilities. Indian born Sara, who is a resident of Dubai now, has not only makes her parents proud over her success, India and Dubai too delighted over her achievements.
Born in Malegaon a small town in Maharashtra and brought up in Dubai Sara has secured 98% marks in CBSE 10th Examination which was held in March 2018 and result of which was declared on May 29th. Interestingly she got 100% in Mathematics as well as in Science.
She aims to pursue her career in Astro Physics which deals with space research. She believes that by pursuing this career she can participate in promotion of science education and eliminate the poverty and hunger from the world.
Sara is not only excellent academically but also proved her talent in many extracurricular activities.
She has been awarded by the prestigious Diana Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to society. The Diana Award is bestowed upon inspiring courageous, Compassionate young people, positively transforming the lives of others in Diana, “Princess of Wales” memory and legacy.
She is a confident speaker and an outstanding Debater too.This Year at the occasion of Independence Day, she has been awarded by “The Best Speaker “ Award by the Consulate General of India in Dubai in recognition of her performance in Inter School Debate Competition.
She is a prefect of Model United Nation Club in her school. She has visited United Nation New York, U.S.A. in July 2014 as a part of her Global Young leader conference. and attended several MUN Conferences in Dubai and Globally and achieved the Best Delegate Awards. Model United Nation also known as MUN is an extra-curricular activity in which students typically role-play delegates to the United Nations and simulate UN Committees. This activity takes place at MUN Conferences which is usually organized by High school or Collage MUN Club. Her paintings too won her many awards and accolades.
“We are so proud of her that there is no word to explain” says her father Iqbal Ansari, adding that her achievements have been a direct result of self-discipline and dedication to performing the required research and practice necessary for success in such endeavors.
The student of The Millennium School, Dubai has also won the prestigious Sharjah Award for Educational Excellence for the academic year 2015-2016. This award is instituted by Ruler of Sharjah H.H. Dr. Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi for recognizing outstanding achievers in academics and co-curricular activities, with special emphasis on social responsibilities.
The award was presented to her by Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, HH Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi in a glittering ceremony held at University City hall, Sharjah on Thursday, 21st April 2016.
“It is a glorious moment for our country, family & school that Sara Ansari was awarded the prestigious Sharjah Award for educational excellence for the ‘Most Distinguished Student’, for the academic year 2015-2016”, says her father.
Sara was also the winner of prestigious Sheikh Hamdan Award for Distinguished Performance 2015, the award recognises the students from Gulf Countries who excel not only in Academics but social, religious, cultural, sports activities. The award was presented to her during 2015 by Deputy Ruler of Dubai HH Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Sara and her partner design a Drone under theme “Drone to Rescue” which would help mountaineers for rescue, the project won first award for deigns during Makers Day 2016 which was organised by GMS. The project was chosen top 10 finalist out of 700 projects presented by different UAE schools at GEMS Wellington School Dubai. The project was selected by Arab Innovation Centre for Educational Excellence for AICE accelerator Programme, as a part of this programme they got funding and mentoring from industry experts to expand the project scope and evaluate the commercial and technical feasibility.
Social Activities: Sara’s passion is Art & craft, she knows several Art & Craft techniques like Decoupage, paper quelling, embroidery, par cord. She has taught the skills to less fortunate people in Sri Lanka, India, UAE. She was recognised for her efforts and appreciated by community members and international NGO’s. Kindly visit her website www.facebook.com/sarastalent to know more about her activities.
Sara’s talent is drawing & painting, she has won many certificates and award from different bodies and international organisations. She has a special skill of Pyrography, the art or technique of decorating wood or leather by burning a design on the surface with a heated metallic point.
She is also very good swimmer and also interest in ice skating, roller skating and participated in marathons.
source: http://www.theindianawaaz.com / The Indian Awaaz / by The Correspondent , The Indian Awaaz / June 04th, 2018
Kahkashan Parveen File photo of JD(U) member Kahkashan Parveen
In the Rajya Sabha the proceedings were disrupted as members of several parties stormed the well over various issues including India’s biggest bank scam and special package for Andhra Pradesh, as soon as the listed papers were laid.
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu did not wait and adjourned the proceedings till 2:30 p.m. observing, “One week has gone waste. This is no good. This is sad.”
Before adjourning the house, Naidu announced the nomination of JD(U) memberKahkashan Parveen on the panel of presiding officers to conduct the proceedings of the House, making her the first woman to be included in the panel in the recent times.
The move came a day after the Women’s Day when several members demanded inclusion of a woman member in the panel, which was agreed to by the Chairman.
Parveen would replace Basawaraj Patil, whose term expires on April 2, Naidu said, adding that she has been a mayor and the chairperson of the Bihar Mahila Aayog.
When senior Congress member Viplove Thakur who had demanded the inclusion of a woman in the presiding officer’s panel, rose to thank him, Naidu, in a lighter vein, said he wanted to nominate Thakur, but she would have lost her voice in the panel.
“Viplove, in our language, means revolution,” he said.
When the Upper House reassembled to take up the Private Members’ Business, Pramod Tewari of Congress tried to raise a point of order on the issue of the banking scam.
However, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien disallowed him and instead asked him to persuade his protesting party colleagues to return to their seats from the well.
source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / by DNA Correspondent / March 10th, 2018
Naira Village (Pulwama District), JAMMU & KASHMIR :
Militants late last evening barged into the house of a CRPF jawan Naseer Ahmad Rather at village Naira in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district and fired on him from close range.
For representational purpose (File | PTI)
Srinagar :
At least four security including two policemen, an army man and a paramilitary CRPF jawan, who were on leave, were killed by militants in the strife-torn Valley in over a month while another abducted policeman was spared after his family “apologised on his behalf” and appealed for his release.
Militants late last evening barged into the house of a CRPF jawan Naseer Ahmad Rather at village Naira in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district and fired on him from close range.
Naseer, who was posted in CRPF 183 bn at Police Control Room (PCR) Srinagar and was on leave at his home, sustained multiple bullet injuries in the militant firing. He died while being shifted to hospital. The slain cop is survived by parents, wife and three kids.
His wife is pregnant. Naseer was the 4th security men to be shot dead by militants while on leave at his residence. On July 21, militants had abducted and killed policeman Mohammad Mohammad Salim Shah in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Saleem had been promoted as constable from SPO and was undergoing training in Kathua.
He had come to home on leave some days before he was abducted and killed by militants. Earlier on July 5, militants had abducted police le Javed Ahmad Dar from his house at Vehil in Shopian district. His bullet ridden body was recovered by police few kilometres away from his house. Dar, who was a Personal Security Officer (PSO) of former SSP Shopian Shailendra Mishra, was also on leave at his home.
Earlier, on June 14, an army man Aurangzeb, who had availed leave and was on way to his home in Poonch to spend Eid with family, was abducted by militants in Shopian and later his bullet ridden body was recovered from neighbouring Pulwama district.
On July 28 evening, militants abducted another policeman Mudasir Ahmad Lone R/o Chankitar, Tral of Pulwama district from his home. Mudasir was the lone son of his family, which comprised his parents and three sisters. Immediately after his abduction, his mother in a video message “apologised” to militants on their son’s behalf and appealed them to set him free. She has said that her son would resign from police if released.
After the pleas of his family, the policeman was spared by militants and set free. The abduction and killing of security men is turning out to be a major cause of concern for the security agencies.
“By killing policeman at their homes, the militants want to terrorise and demoralise the entire police force. We are trying to deal with this new threat of militants by reviewing the security measures and Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs),” a senior police officer said.
Sources said police officials have directed the policemen hailing from volatile and militancy infested areas of south Kashmir to remain vigilant while being at their homes.
A security official said army and paramilitary jawans have been told to inform local units in case they go on leave to their homes in Valley, especially in south Kashmir.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by Fayaz Wani, Express News Service / July 30th, 2018
With the demise of Dr Naseer Ahmad Shah (January 5, 1929 – October 11, 2017), an era is over. A key decision maker in the health and medical education, he has many things to credit.Saima Bhatmeets some of his students, contemporaries, his widow Dr Girija Dhar, who died on July 13, and daughter to explain the phenomenon called Dr Naseer
Dr Naseer Ahmad Shah and Dr Girija Dhar
In the first week of October 2017, Noor Jahan, a lady in mid-60s was seen wandering in the corridors of Valley’s only women hospital, Lala Ded. Her only concern was to know about the well-being of her doctor, Dr Naseer. She was perturbed after hearing that “Dr Naseer is unwell.”
Not knowing Dr Naseer’s address, she knocked at the doors of all the senior doctors whom she thought could help her get exact information. She had a belief that only Dr Naseer knew “the treatment of her ailment.”
A week later, on October 11, 2017, the lady lost hope when the news broke about Dr Naseer’s demise. With the death of Dr Syed Naseer Ahmad Shah, at his at Kral Sangri, Nishat residence, an era ended.
As the relatives were preparing for his funerals, not able to comprehend the loss, Kashmir’s renowned gynaecologist, Dr Girija Dhar had a major heart attack. Dhar was Shah’s wife. As an ambulance drove her to the hospital, the coffin moved to the cemetery.
Dr Naseer was an icon, his students say. They termed his era in Government Medical College (GMC) as ‘golden era’ of medical education. Nobody before or after him, they insist, could match what he gave to GMC.
Born on January 5, 1929, in an official quarter in Booniyar (Baramulla), where his father, Ahmad Ali Shah was posted as Forest Range Officer, Dr Naseer’s family has roots in Teetwal village of Karnah. Then, it was part of the Muzaffarabad district in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The family was well-educated and most of his siblings were serving in good positions, remembers Dr Muneer Masoodi. Syed Nazir Ahmad Shah retired as district and session judge, Syeed Ahmad Shah retired as DIG police, Zameer Ahmad Shah retired as Major in the army, Mehmooda Ali Shah retired as principal of Women’s college M A Road Srinagar. Rehana Jalaluddin Qureshi, remembers Dr Masoodi, also belonged to them.
Dr Masoodi joined GMC Srinagar the month Dr Naseer opted for his voluntary retirement.
The family, according to Dr Javid Khan, a student of Dr Naseer and also a Teetwal resident, has significantly contributed to raising the graph of education in the Valley. “We have a renowned shrine near our house that actually belongs to Dr Naseer’s grandfather,” Javed said. “But his father decided to move out of that place though all their relatives are still living there.”
Dr Naseer had an interesting history. Soon after he finished his MBBS at King Edward Medical College, Lahore, Naseer, according to Meera Khana’s book A State In Violent Peace was arrested in Pakistan for his alleged role in spying. The allegation was later proved to be baseless but only after spending nine months behind the bars.
The time in Jail as shared by Dr Naseer with Khana was spent imagining the long queues of patients. Once out, he was sent to Srinagar, primarily because of his sister Miss Mehmooda’s influence.
Dr Naseer Ahmad Shah and Dr Girija Dhar with their daughter, son-in-law and grandson.
Back home in the mid-1950s, Dr Naseer tried to look for a job. But Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah was the reason he could not get it, says one of his student on condition of anonymity. This was despite the fact that Sheikh had stayed with Shah in Pakistan, earlier.
“I vividly remember during the college days Sheikh Sahib used to stay with him in Pakistan but once in Srinagar, Sheikh never helped or supported him,” he said.
Literally heartbroken, Dr Naseer left for the United Kingdom to pursue higher education. Once there, he completed his MRCP and became the member of the Royal College of Physicians in London. With one more diploma, he became the first qualified specialist in tropical diseases in northern India.
Specialisations apart, it was his stay in England where he met the love of his life, a Pandit girl, who later became his wife. The couple took seven years to decide whether to marry or not. Finally, the marriage took place on February 05, 1965.
Recuperating from the loss of losing a partner of over five decades and a recent heart attack, Dr Girija Dhar remembers their stay in England and situation before the final call of the marriage.
“We knew each other before as our families knew each other. “Actually we had a lot of understanding and many of our ideas were very similar. He was not a very religious man nor was I, so we thought we won’t do any harm to any religion by marrying each other but still, it took us seven years to decide if we should really marry.” Dr Girija said with a giggle.
Aware of the societal compulsions, the couple before coming to Srinagar decided not to disclose about their marriage but “the news reached Srinagar before we landed.”
Back home, the couple, as per their plan, started living separately. Later, Dr Girija’s mother, a widow, invited Dr Naseer to her home and asked him to take his bride home.
As Dr Girija started to live with her in-laws, she recalls her mother-in-law as a generous lady. Understanding the dilemmas, she told the newly married couple to look for a separate accommodation. “She was of the opinion that if my family wanted to visit me they will hesitate in coming or having any food in our house,” Dr Girija said.
So they got a government accommodation in Tulsi Bagh and started living there. By the time, the couple had joined the newly opened GMC Srinagar, where Dr Naseer was given the post of Assistant professor.
Dr Girija too had a specialisation. When she went to London, women in Kashmir were suffering from a disease Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF), which was usually the outcome of improper care after their delivery. “Because of the high pressure on their bladder, they couldn’t control their urine, they had dribbling urine and as a result of which their families had abandoned them,” Dr Girija said. So in London, she had a special training so that back home she could take care of new mothers in Kashmir.
Dr Naseer rose through the ranks, quickly. Surpassing his two seniors, Dr Karnal Koul and Dr (Prof) Ali Jan, the government led by GM Sadiq appointed him as the Principal and Dean faculty of medicine, GMC Srinagar in 1969. Dr Koul was appointed as director health and Dr Ali Jan retired voluntarily. Naseer retained the position for 12 years, till he opted for premature retirement in November 1981 at the age of 52 years. The reasons were ‘personal’.
The era of Dr Naseer was “golden”, says people who have seen him working. During his tenure, the college received recognition by Medical Council of India (MCI). He started multiple academic activities in the Medical School including the first-ever national conference in Pharmacology. A postgraduate laboratory was established in the Medical School for advanced biochemical laboratory tests. He strongly supported post-graduation in various specialities and used his personal influence to get it started and recognized by the MCI.
An outreach programme, the Chitranjan Mobile Hospital was his significant contribution. This hospital extended high-quality healthcare to far-flung regions of the state including border regions like Karen, Kargil, Karnah and Gurez.
Making the medical graduation impactful, GMC Srinagar had reached No 4, in an all India ranking. “This made a big impact as the acceptability of medical students at national and international level became easier and smoother,” says a student.
In between, he was also awarded the prestigious fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians, for his performance as a medical profession both as a treating physician and as a medical academician.
Besides medical competence, Dr Naseer raised the bar of GMC in many ways. During those days, Dr Muneer says Prime Minister of J&K would never dare to call the principal of GMC to the secretariat. “But with due respect, they were invited for tea in their houses. And up to Dr Girija Dhar, no principal ever visited secretariat.”
Recalling his student days in GMC, Dr Muneer vividly remembers how Dr Naseer used to book cinema for all of his students and during cultural programme or sports week, Sheikh Abdullah used to join the students. This precedence continued till GM Sadiq’s tenure, Kashmir’s ‘armchair’ Chief Minister for managing the state from his office.
“He was a fatherly figure for all of us, including the international students who used to come to GMC Srinagar under an exchange programme. He even used to buy books for the students who couldn’t afford it,” Dr Muneer adds.
There are little disagreements that some of his students talk about. One is that he permitted his daughter to avail the backward certificate to get into GMC despite being a proud city resident.
A farsighted person, Dr Naseer, however, changed lives. During his tenure as the principal, he was known for his ‘recommendations’. “I once approached him for my post-graduation seat but instead he advised me to work hard. I felt very bad that time but in the long run, that advice helped me a lot to grow,” remembers one of his students.
Family picture of Dr Naseer Ahmad Shah.
Dr Naseer helped students who were in extracurricular activities. Dr GM Malik, his student who later became a GMC faculty says he was one among the topmost students of his batch with Dr Jalal ud Din (medicine) and Dr Ashiq Hussain (surgery), “We were dropped from the MD list as he had started giving preferences to the students who were active in cultural programmes.” Malik said they had to fight with the government to cancel the list.
Malik once interviewed Naseer for his medical journal and asked him this uncomfortable question. “He accepted the fact that he used to help ‘needy’ people by going out of the way. And some people below the ladder ‘misused’ their position,” Malik said. “He was generous so he would help anybody but that was at the cost of meritorious students.”
Cited as “personal reasons” for opting voluntary retirement had actually many contributing things. The primary reason being, Dr Naseer was not “happy the way the government was treating him.”
“During Sadiq’s time he enjoyed absolute powers up to minister level and every decision was taken by him which include the selection of MBBS as well as PG candidates, even appointments in the health department used to be as per his choice, health secretary too was appointed by him,” says another student, wishing anonymity.
It changed when Abdul Gani Lone became a health and education minister. “Lone got PGI director Dr Santokh Singh as secretary cum advisor to the health department and all the selections were done as per PGI Chandigarh guidelines,” another of his students, who wish to remain anonymous, said. “When Sheikh Abdullah resumed power, DrAllaqbandh was given powers of all associated hospitals and it was parallel to the principal post and in Jammu, the responsibilities were given to Dr Zutshi.”
Dr Malik says, Dr Naseer was short tempered but at the same time he would forgive and forget things, which are the qualities of a great man. “He was a good administrator. He would not bother with smaller things. We as students could freely enter his room. He was never into corruption and he would hardly go to the secretariat. He would settle all student problems in college only,” Dr Malik said. “That was the reason why after so many decades of service, he just had only his home as the main property.”
Doctors who served under him said that he was known to stand by his principles. After his retirement, he was appointed as a member of legislative council in 1996, and he held the position for six years, left it in 2002. He was also awarded Padma Shree in 1984.
Dr Naseer being facilitated by then president of India Gyani Zail Singh
Post-retirement, he continued his practice at his Dalgate clinic. On weekends he would visit Gulmarg along with his family where he used to treat the people of Gulmarg and Tangmarg for two decades (the 60s and 70s) free of cost. He even used to distribute medicines and sometimes he would buy medicines for the destitute patients. His contemporaries say his medical practice was highly ethical.
At home the doctor couple had a girl child, Tina Angila Shah, born in 1967. A doctor by profession, 50-year-old Tina is currently practising medicine in England, the place where her parents, met, married and studied. She is married to Anil Koul.
Remembering the day Tina was born, Dr Girija says by then both families had adjusted, reconciled fully and there were great celebrations.
Tina remembers her father as a friend of whom she was never scared off. “My childhood was happy like any other normal child but I was brought up in a very liberal atmosphere where I was encouraged to think. Nothing was enforced on me and I was able to make my own choices.”
By the time Tina was four years old, her family adopted a Ladakhi girl child, Deldun, then 7, who could give company to their daughter all the time.
Deldun, now a senior technician in SMHS, was an orphan and had a posthumous birth. She says those days education was not very common in Ladakh so she came to Kashmir and got a new family.
When Tina was studying in Presentation Convent School, Deldun started her education from Kothi Bagh Girls School, and after completing their 12th exams Tina got admission in GMC and Deldun got interested in Lab and joined Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology (DMLT).
While in SMHS, Deldun says she is witness to her Dadu (Dr Naseer’s) generosity who helped a number of doctors financially. “He used to call class four employees before retiring and ask them if they have any source of income. In case of negative response, he managed employment for any of their family members,” Deldun said.
After Tina left for England, Deldun decided to stay with the couple till she got married in 1984. “We had a big shamiyana on my marriage and now for the second time it was on his death,” she said and broke down. Deldun’s marriage was a grand affair, she remembers. She said that Indira Gandhi also attended her wedding and she had all Kashmiri cuisine. “All of the father’s rights were paid by Dadu on my marriage. And after that, I used to frequently visit them.”
Deldun says he always used to wear good matching clothes and everything had to be in order, perfect and clean.
Dr Naseer’s address changed many times since 1952. It was Dalgate first, then they moved to Tulsi Bagh and later to 5 Transport Lane, behind SP College and finally to Kral Sangri in late 70’s, which they owned. Dr Naseer was fond of golf.
In March 2016, Dr Naseer had a fall in Jammu and fractured his right arm, which later became a cold shoulder. But Dr Girija says before that fall he had developed some spinal problem. For a complete year, he had no major illness but the problem was with his mobility only.
“He was a great storyteller and had a fantastic memory. If he would have been here, he could have told you each memory with dates,” shares Tina, who herself refused to talk much about her memories saying they are ‘personal’. “Generosity is the word to describe my father.”
But Dr Girija, who does not remember many things now, says that she has now realised what kind of a person he was. “We never boasted about our work but now when I am receiving patients from far-flung areas who come to pay their condolences, I am realising what kind of a person my husband was.”
After taking seven years to decide, the couple lived together for 52 years. The heart attack, moments after Dr Naseer was taken for final burial revealed the bond the two souls shared. As Dr Girija talked about Naseer, her eyes were moist.
source: http://www.kashmirlife.net / Kashmir Life / Home> Obituary / by Saima Bhat / July 21st, 2018
Asif Shaikh’s ornate art pieces are going on display at a design centre in New York.
Asif Shaikh
In his teens, Asif Shaikh had tried hard to draw the famous tree of life latticework screen in the Sidi Sayyed Mosque of Ahmedabad. He was stippling a lot those days, making images out of minute pencil dots in the manner of old halftone newspaper prints. Though many admired the drawing, Shaikh was unhappy. It was not as perfect as the original.
Some three decades later, by now a master designer and embroider, Shaikh attempted the tree of life again. This time with the aari (awl) needle and gossamer-thin Thai silk yarn on the finest handwoven silk-linen from West Bengal. As the minute chain stitches appeared, white on white, he rediscovered his fascination with the ancient stone carving. His long artistic experience allowed him to render it perfectly in his own medium.
The Sidi Saiyyed mosque built in 1572, the final years of the Gujarat Sultanate, has 10 latticework panels that represent the best geometric designs. “There is an easy symmetry in the looping branches of the tree, the leaves and flowers,” said Shaikh. “And in the centre, almost imperceptible, is the strong straight Cyprus. I find it spiritually comforting.”
Shaikh’s show, Sacred Geometry, opens on August 2 at a New York design centre owned by the furniture designer Tucker Robbins, and will be on view for nearly two weeks. This, like his earlier exhibitions, will have exquisitely embroidered art pieces – high-end wall decor – which clients have already started to book. The essentially white-on-white collection is an ode to Ahmedabad: all the designs having been inspired by the stone and wood jaalis in historical monuments around the city.
Image courtesy: Asif Shaikh.
With the Historic City of Ahmedabad, founded by Sultan Ahmad Shah in the 15th century, receiving World Heritage Status in July 2017, Shaikh’s celebration has new relevance. As a child he lived in the city outskirts, but the fort, mosques, tombs, havelis and later-era Hindu and Jain temples captivated him. Apart from the Sidi Saiyyed, he was inspired by the Rani Sipri Mosque, Sarkhej Roza and theJama Masjid of Ahmedabad.
He howeverdoesn’t make exact copies. Rather, he approaches them as a modern painter would, with his own perceptions and interpretations. “I don’t like spelling it out to the viewer,” said Shaikh. “I want them to appreciate or reject the designs freely. They should suggest their own titles to the pieces.”
Image courtesy: Asif Shaikh.
In one work Shaikh has usedparallel flowing lines. To some they may seem like rivulets but hewas thinking of roots. The roots of a tree are never seen, he explains, yet they are the strongest part of the tree, holding it upright and sustaining it through all kinds of weather. “I was also thinking of my own roots, the ancient artistic traditions which are beckoning to me now. But I can never fully comprehend all that is latent in my cultural origins, so I have left some threads hanging free beyond the border.” There are two other patterns – with a circle in the centre and straight lines – where he has tried to create an optical illusion with close parallel and concentric lines, once again trying to grasp that which is mostly invisible. “The Sun’s rays are visible only occasionally when there are clouds,” he says. “But to viewers these two frames might suggest other things.”
Shaikh is completely self-taught. He used to sit for days watching old embroiders at work and practiced at home. He signed up for formal training as interior decorator but gained fame for his embroidering skills, long before he graduated. Today he is happy spreading theword on Indian craft traditions and developing new techniques for the artisans who work with him at his studio in Ahmedabad. For his use,he redesigned the Mughal-era frame for needlework called the Karchoibe and came up with new stitches.
Image courtesy: Asif Shaikh.
For Sacred Geometry it was difficult to render the design on fabric, especially with thread that was one-fourth the width of normal embroidery thread. Shaikh is upset that he could not source silk embroidery thread from India and had to buy it from Thailand instead. “India was producing the twisted silk yarns needed for embroidery even a few years ago in Bangalore,” he said. “But now all you get is rayon. I cannot understand why silk yarn is not produced locally.”
His studio team of embroiders had never done anything like this before and they had to be guided step by step. The ancient artisans, who worked on wood, marble and sandstone, often used both the surface and the perforations for effect. To achieve that on cloth was difficult. Scholars claim that textile patterns were chosen by the early followers of Islam to make their monument as distinct as possible. From the close association of artists, mathematicians and philosophers emerged a unique form of decorative art that abjured human and animal forms for pure geometry. The patterns often repeated over and over again, mirrored in reverse colours and at times seeming to extend infinitely beyond borders seem to carry a philosophic message.
But Shaikh does not lay too much stress on the religious aspect because of the “rather sad trend in India today of labelling everything by religion”. Shaikh was witness to the murderous 2002 Gujarat riots and has since seen ugly discriminations. He was one of the victims when his neighbourhood in Ahmedabad was attacked by a rampaging mob in February. He suffered head wounds and had to be hospitalised. For months he couldn’t work. “Ahmedabad is like the rest of India, he said. “Congested roads, filth…we have it all. But like the rest of India there is also unbelievable richness and beauty of art and craft. And people, who will appreciate and support you, no matter what. I am proud to hold up this tiny fragment of heritage to the world.”
source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> Magazine > Thread The Needle / by Sebanti Sarkar / July 24th, 2018
