Gaush Alam, an IPS probationer allotted to Telangana cadre, has been adjudged the best all-round probationer.
An alma mater of IIT-Bombay, Mr. Alam would receive the Prime Minister’s Baton, Home Ministry’s Revolver and the Vice President of India’s Trophy for exemplary performance, apart from six other trophies during the Dikshant Samaro.
A native of Gaya district in Bihar, Mr. Alam was brought up in New Delhi. He worked with a multinational company in Bengaluru after completing his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT-Bombay. “A year after working with a private company, I started preparing for civil services examination and got selected in my first attempt. Soon, I joined the academy in 2017,” he said. His father served in the Indian Army as Subedar.
“I have completed two years of training at the NPA and will join the Telangana cadre soon. I am quite excited about my new posting,” he said adding that he would miss the training days. Another IPS probationer Richa Tomar, who bagged 1973 Batch IPS Officers’ Trophy for the Best All-round Lady IPS probationer, was a nursing mother when she got selected for the services and joined the premier police academy.
“Shivansh (her son) was one year old when I joined the academy. I have struggled a lot to fulfil my dream of joining the civil services,” she said.
Hailing from Hassanjiwani, a small village near Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, Ms. Tomar completed her M.Sc (microbiology). “Before clearing the UPSC examination, I worked in DANIPS (Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service) and my husband is also an ACP in New Delhi,” said Ms. Tomar, who has been allocated to Rajasthan cadre.
“The training here is rigorous and challenging and my major focus after joining the cadre would be to prevent crime against women and children,” she said.
The Second Best All-round IPS Probationer of 2017 batch, Palash Chandra Dhali, is still wondering how his parents got the courage to enrol him in English-medium school, even being daily-wage labourers.
“My father, Pravhas Dhali, was a construction worker, and we used to live in Odisha. He enrolled me in an English-medium private school, which I believe has helped me in completing my engineering and clearing the civil services examination,” he said.
The IPS probationer hails from West Bengal and has been allotted home cadre. He worked with the NTPC and Indian Telecom Service before joining the NPA.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Abhinay Deshpande / Hyderabad – August 22nd, 2019
Akram Khan, Alfiya Khan along with Joint Commissioner of Police Ravindra Kadam
Nagpur Police constable Akram Khan’s 16-year-old daughter Alfiya Khan Pathan won the bronze medal in the ongoing 80+ kg category at the 3rd Nations Cup International Boxing Championship.
City’s only international boxer, Alfiya had earlier won a silver medal in the previous edition. The championship took place in Serbia on Sunday night. . Alifiya defeated Russian boxer Vorontsova Valeriia and clinched the third spot.
Alfiya Khan Pathan (Photo source: facebook)
The Indian team won four gold, four silver and four bronze medals and clinched the runners-up trophy. Also, Tamanna (48kg), Ambeshori Devi (57kg), Preeti Dahiya (60kg) Priyanka (66kg) bagged the gold medals.
In 2018, the international boxer during the Khelo India games had created history in Nagpur division after bagging the top spot.
Nagpur Police on its official Twitter handle posted,”At 16, Alfiya Khan Pathan, daughter of Police Constable Akram Khan Pathan, is leaving everyone in awe, with her commendable performance in the boxing ring. Nagpur Police congratulates Alfiya for her achievements.”
Nagpur City Police
✔@NagpurPolice
At 16, Alfiya Khan Pathan, daughter of Police Constable Akram Khan Pathan, is leaving everyone in awe, with her commendable performance in the boxing ring.
Krishna topped in implementation of the scheme and as part of it, convergency action meetings were held, community-based events and immunisation programmes were taken up with 100 per cent success rate.
Vijayawada :
Krishna District Collector A Md Imtiaz will receive the national POSHAN Abhiyan award from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday.
Imtiaz will be receiving the award for effective implementation of the PM’s Overarching Scheme for holistic nutrition (POSHAN) scheme implemented by the Union Women Development and Child Welfare Department to provide nutritious food to women.
Krishna topped in implementation of the scheme and as part of it, convergency action meetings were held, community-based events and immunisation programmes were taken up with 100 per cent success rate.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Vijayawada / by Express News Service / August 23rd, 2019
How two rulers with a common name left a rich history and culture for its people but one is more renowned than the other.
Taj-ul-Masajid, Bhopal (Photo: SNS/Aena Thakur)
In the heart of Madhya Pradesh’s capital city, Bhopal, resides Taj-ul-Masajid which literally translates to the ‘crown of mosques’. The mosque was intended to be the largest mosque in the country and was based on the design of Delhi’s Jama Masjid. In a town called Woking in England stands a mosque called Shah Jahan.
The common denominator between these three mosques is the name Shah Jahan. The fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built the Jama Masjid in Delhi and the third female ruler of Bhopal, Shah Jahan Begum built Taj-ul-Masajid of Bhopal. The Bhopal’s matriarch went a step ahead as she also funded the construction of England’s first Mosque in 1889.
Taj-ul-Masajid (Image: SNS/Aena Thakur)
In the 19th century when India was a British colony, the princely state of Bhopal had a string of female rulers for roughly 107 years. The city was founded in 1707 by Afghan ruler Dost Muhammad Khan. Surrounded by Rajputs in Rajasthan and Marathas in Maharashtra, Bhopal was a vulnerable state yet the female rulers with their loyal allegiance to the British rule survived the turbulent times.
The female dynasty of Bhopal started with the death of young Nawab Nazar Muhammad Khan. His 18-year-old wife Qudsia Begum decided that the legacy of her family shall continue and declared her 15-month-old daughter Sikandar as the rightful heir of the state. In 1819, Qudsia Begum became the first Muslim female who defied the veil and became the ruler of Bhopal. Her rule was legitimised by the British and the clergy.
Both Qudsia (1819-37) and Sikandar (1847-68) were known to be tough rulers who strengthened Bhopal’s military and trained themselves to fight. However, it was the third matriarch of Bhopal, Shah Jahan Begum who brought in the period of flourishing art and culture just like her male Mughal namesake.
Unlike Qudsia and Sikandar, Shah Jahan was not known for her tough training for battles. Shah Jahan followed the system of veil and was more interested in literature, poetry, and arts.
Shah Jahan Begam of Bhopal (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Interested in Urdu and Persian poetry, Shah Jahan Begum also offered state pensions to poets like Amir Minai, a contemporary of Mirza Ghalib.
Shah Jahan Begum ordered that a dictionary of select terms in Hindustani, Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, English, and Turkish was compiled to facilitate translation of literature between these languages. A poet herself, Shah Jahan Begum also patronized a group of female poets. According to Siobhan Lambert-Hurley’s book Muslim women, Reform and PrincelyPatronage, these gifted women included “Hasanara Begam ‘Namkeen,’ author of a diwan and two prose publications, Munawwar Jahan Begam and Musharraf Jahan Begam, the daughters of Nawab Mustafa Khan ‘Shefta,’ and several others.”
In her book, Siobhan Lambert-Hurley also mentions, “Shah Jahan’s interest in this area was so great that she charged a male poet at her court, Abul Qasim ‘Muhtasham’, to devote himself to collecting an anthology of female poets writing in Persian. Entitled Akhtar-i-taban, it publicized the work of 81 poetesses when it was printed in Bhopal in 1881 in dedication to the ruling Begam.”
Her ambitions for grand architecture is evident from the fact that her daughter Sultan Begum in her biography mentioned that she has lost count of the number of palaces and buildings, her mother made. Some of the prominent buildings that still remain are Taj-ul-Masajid, Taj Mahal, Ali Manzil, and Benazir.
Taj Mahal, Bhopal (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Unlike Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan’s Taj Mahal which is a tomb, Bhopal’s Taj Mahal was a palace for the Begum. Shah Jahan Begum also helped orientalist and scholar Dr Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner in constructing England’s first mosque which is also called the Shah Jahan mosque.
The similarities do not stop here. Just like the Mughal emperor built a planned city named Shahjahanabad, the Begum too built a neighbourhood with the same name. Hurley mentions in her book, “Shah Jahan was also responsible for building an entirely new neighbourhood of homes and offices within her capital that was predictably named Shahjahanabad. Unlike the version at Delhi, however, it was laid out on a uniform plan in-keeping with the latest ideas of town planning in Britain.”
Taj-ul-Masajid, Bhopal (Image: SNS/Aena Thakur)
Shah Jahan Begum of Bhopal encouraged female participation in education, religion, and culture. She was responsible for setting up institutions for female education, she reserved areas in mosques for veiled women to pray on special occasions, she also constructed a Pakka bazaar exclusively for women.
Shah Jahan Begum’s daughter Sultan Jahan Begum was the last Begum of Bhopal whose reign ended in 1926. The reign of female rulers in Bhopal broke stereotypes and brought in various reforms in the princely state. Even though women still continue to fight for their rights it should not be forgotten that the Begums did assert their authority in the 19th century and it can be done again.
source: http://www.thestatesman.com / The Statesman / Home> Features / by Aena Thakur, New Delhi / August 20th, 2019
Torch bearer Syed Husain Bilgrami, Special arrangement
Apart from holding high ranking positions in Nizam’s dominion, Syed Husain Bilgrami was also made a member of the Secretary of State’s Council, in London.
Nawab Imad-ul Mulk is a familiar name in the annals of Hyderabad’s 19th century history. He was a noted educationalist, civil servant, prominent administrator and a noted scholar in the Nizam’s dominions. He was private secretary to Salar Jung I, the then Prime Minister of Hyderabad State; also a tutor and conscience keeper of the Nizam — Mahboob Ali Pasha — whose government he served with great distinction. For his dedication for work, strength of character and extraordinary mastery over English language and literature, the British government also utilised his services on many occasions. He had the rare honour of having served as member in the Secretary of State’s Council .He also had the distinction of having met along with Salar Jung I, Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace in London.
Nawab Imad ul Mulk was the title that the Nizam bestowed in recognition of the services he rendered, with which he was well known in Hyderabadi circles; but his actual name was Syed Husain Bilgrami.
Syed Husain Bilgrami was born in 1844 at Gaya, where his father held high position under the East India Company administration. He was educated at the Presidency College, Calcutta from where he graduated in English literature. In 1868 he became a Professor at the Canning College in Lucknow before joining the service of the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1873. It was the time when Salar Jung I the Prime Minister of Hyderabad state was looking for English educated young men to be appointed in Hyderabad to modernise the administration and to improve educational facilities in the dominions. In 1872, Salar Jung while on a visit to Lucknow, met young Syed and was attracted to his intelligence and demeanour. He was invited to join the Hyderabad service, which he did the next year. For his impeccable English, both spoken and written, Syed Husain was taken as the private secretary to Salar Jung. The rest of his long career was irrevocably bound with Hyderabad.
The story goes that when Salar Jung asked Syed where his family originally hailed from, he answered, ‘Bilgrami’ (in the then United Provinces). The Prime Minister in a lighter vein suggested that Bilgrami could as well be added to his name and thus he became Syed Husain Bilgrami.
Bilgrami’s rise to prominence in Hyderabad was due to his sheer work as an educationalist. As the first Director of Public Instruction (1875- 1902) he initiated several reforms to improve the educational set up in the state. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Nizam College with English medium, with Dr Aghoranath Chattopadhyay, (father of Sarojini Naidu) as its first Principal. It is said that Bilgrami was the person who discovered the genius in Chattopadhyay, the first Indian to obtain D. Sc in Biochemistry from Edinburgh University. The College was affiliated to Madras University as there was no University in the Hyderabad dominions by then. Bilgrami was for some years taken by the government of India, as a member of the Universities Commission, a forerunner of the present UGC. In Hyderabad, he established Madarsa- i- Aizza, a school exclusively for the children of the nobles with a view to make them cultured and more responsible towards society. A crowning achievement of Bilgrami in the furthering of education in Hyderabad was the establishment of a girls school in 1885 with his personal funds. This was hailed as one of its kind in the country as the girls were taught besides usual subjects, needle work, household duties etc. English, besides Urdu and Arabic, was made the medium of instruction. To make girls from traditional families attend school, bullock carts with curtains were arranged to fetch them to school and back home.
In Hyderabad state, with a view to foster industrial growth, Bilgrami established three Industrial Schools at three important towns in the state, Aurangabad, Warangal and Hyderabad, which later grew to be Engineering Colleges. The State Central Library in Hyderabad also owes its establishment to the untiring efforts of Syed Husain Bilgrami.
Bilgrami was also a prolific writer in English and his books include Historical and Descriptive Sketches of His Highness, the Nizam’s Dominions, in 2 volumes, and A Memoir of Sir Salar Jung I. Besides, he had also composed several poems.
Lord Morely, the Secretary of State for India, who took Bilgrami as a member of his council.
The career graph of Syed Husain Bilgrami reached its zenith when he was made a member of the Secretary of State’s Council, in London. After the Liberal Party came to power in Great Britain in 1906, the new Secretary of State for India, Lord Morley, along with Lord Minto, the Viceroy of India wanted to initiate certain administrative and legislative reforms which ultimately resulted in the passing of India Councils Act of 1909 ( popularly known as Morley-Minto Reforms). For the task of formulating the reforms, Morley took two Indians as members to his council. The first was Syed Husain Bilgrami, who from the days of his first visit to England accompanying Salar Jung way back in 1876, had maintained friendship with several high ranking British political leaders of his time like Disraeli, Lord Salisbury, Gladstone etc. The other Indian appointed to the council by Morley was Krishna G Gupta, a senior ICS officer. Bilgrami thus played a key role in the passing of the first ever Constitutional Act of 1909.
Indian ayahs
As a member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India, Bilgrami once made history by protesting the pitiable and callous attitude to Indian ayahs and other caretaker women who had been abandoned by their British employers. Many British officials in those days, employed Indian ayahs to look after their children on the long voyage from India to Britain and the employer was to provide for their passage home. But many a time those ayahs were dismissed once they reach Britain and left to fend for themselves. Such conditions led even to the founding of a ‘Ayahs Home in East London’, where such abandoned destitute ayahs were temporarily provided with food and shelter.
Ayas House / special arrangement
In May 1908, an Indian ayah Meera Sayal from Bombay arrived in London with a British family that was returning home. But she was abandoned by the family on the busy Kings Cross road in Central London, with a mere one pound in hand. The matter was brought to the notice of the India Office in London by the manager at Ayahs Home. The British authorities were of the opinion that Indian ayahs had no legal remedy in the absence of any written agreements that they would be taken back to India and quoted a precedent when the India Office in London in a similar case in 1890 had declined to take any action.
The protest note Bilgrami wrote as a member of the council of Secretary of State for India.
But Syed Husain Bilgrami, as a member of the Secretary of State’s Council felt hugely outraged and immediately wrote a strongly worded resentment on “the dishonest and cruel European employers inveighing Indian servants to travel with them and abandoning them on arrival in Britain”. This bold stand of Syed Husain Bilgrami reflected how he was a man of lofty principles and high ideals with a strong sense of duty and impeccable uprightness. This letter dated July 14, 1908, had been quoted in many future complaints of the Asian caretakers against British employers that ultimately led to the betterment of Indian ayahs going with British families to London.
After returning from England in 1909, Bilgrami spent his retirement in Hyderabad in a villa on the slopes of the iconic Naubath Pahad, overlooking the waters of Hussain Sagar and died in 1926, aged 82. Bilgrami had four sons and all of them were brilliant as they excelled in their different chosen fields. Nawab Sir Mehdi Yar Jung Bahadur, the Education and Finance member in Nizam’s administration and who led a delegation to the Round Table Conference in London in 1930 -31, as a representative of the Nizam, was one of Bilgrami’s sons. Yar Jung as the Vice-Chancellor of Osmania University, had hosted the 5th session of the Indian History Congress (IHC) in 1941. Today Bilgrami’s progeny has a network that is spread across all the continents. Prof. Akeel Bilgrami, the California=based renowned academic intellectual, is one among the high-profile, large Bilgrami family.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture> Hyderabad Heritage / by K S S Seshan / August 19th, 2019
You can expect Kirmani, Heriz and Isfahani rugs, kilims, and Pashmina shawls at an exhibition by Sami Meer, a third-generation Kashmiri carpet-maker
The interior of Folly at Amethyst today is decked up like a bride. Sunlight streaming in from a series of square windows on top bounces off the carpets that cover almost every inch of the space. It is Sami Meer’s, a third-generation Kashmiri carpet maker, exhibition that is on display.
After inviting visitors in with a handful of dry fruits, Sami unrolls a red carpet. “It’s a kilim,” he describes the woollen tapestry, “They are travel rugs, made by the Khanabadosh people; they are nomads who go from mountain to mountain with their sheep and goats.”
His collection of almost 60 carpets, kilims and pashmina shawls is hung on the walls, rolled into bundles and made to stand in the corners, and some laid out on the floor at Folly. “Those are original Persian rugs,” he points towards one wall. “Then we have Kashmiri silk ones,” he says, running a finger along a soft velvety baby blue carpet. “The Persian weavers who settled in Kashmir imparted their weaving techniques and designs to the Kashmiris,” he says. “The design may be Persian, but the silk workmanship is Kashmiri.”
Sami sources his carpets from weavers in Iran, Balochistan in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco and Turkey. All the carpets on display are hand-knotted, he informs us. “The knottage is so unique that a collector can identify which area it is from,” he says, flipping over two carpets to show the different stitches on their underside: “The first is from Isfahan, the second from Heriz.” Similarly, he goes on to show rugs from Kirman and Nain — areas in modern-day Iran.
He not only sources these rugs, but his shop, Virasat in Neelankarai, also offers repairs, servicing and washing options. Most of the servicing is outsourced to workers in Delhi and Srinagar. “I have grown up watching my grandfather and father weave such carpets at our home in Srinagar,” he says. He, however, moved to Chennai owing to growing tensions in Kashmir in 1992. “We tried going home in 2010, but came back to Chennai in 2016 after the fallout from Burhan Wani’s encounter made it difficult for our shop to stay open.”
“The price for each carpet depends on its size and quality; for the Persian ones, it depends on which area they were made in…” he says. The silk on silk Kashmiri rugs start from ₹25,000 and the Persian ones from ₹45,000. Here, in the city, he finds customers in people who are interested in learning about Kashmiri culture, and in collectors of Persian rugs. “I go to Srinagar once or twice a year,” he says. But for now, Chennai is home for Sami, his wife and two children.
Virasat’s exhibition is on today at Folly, Amethyst. To reach out to him, call 7550016911.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Sweta Akundi / August 14th, 2019
The award will be conferred on him by the President of India on August 29
In 2018, Mirza won two silver medals at the Asian Games in Jakarta
Bengaluru :
Bengaluru’s Fouaad Mirza is currently on cloud nine. After having brought laurels to the country with two silver medals in the 2018 Asian Games, the equestrian has now made it to the list of Arjuna awardees this year. The award will be conferred on him by the President of India on August 29. Speaking to CE, the 27-year-old expressed his elation, saying, “I did not believe it at first, it took some time for me to wrap my head around it. This is a true honour.” A dedicated sportsman, Mirza, who is in Germany, said his current focus is on training but upon returning to the country, his focus will be on the award.
In 2018, Mirza ended the country’s 36-year long wait for an equestrian win by bagging two silver medals at the Asian Games in Jakarta. “A lot of hard work went into achieving this feat. One has to be physically prepared, especially for a lot of hours on the saddle and in training. We started training for the Asian Games a year in advance in order to ensure smooth execution,” he recounted.
Taking us back to where it all began, Mirza recalled his childhood as the time when things began to take shape. An avid animal lover, Mirza would spend ample time with dogs, cats and other four-legged creatures. His father, Dr Hasneyn Mirza, who is a veterinarian and specialises in horses, had a great impact on him. At the age of five, Mirza started to ride at The Embassy Riding School as a hobby but little did he know that this hobby would lead to a competitive calling.
The biggest difference over the years, however, has been the upgrade in the infrastructure of training facilities and on the young talent in the field.Talking about his next big challenge, Mirza says he has blinkers on and is focused on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he aims to qualify and represent the country.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Muneef Khan / Express News Service / August 20th, 2019
A composer who understood the nuances of Urdu and Hindi as much as the ‘sargam’ itself
If there is one word or phrase to pin down Khayyam’s music , it would be ‘literary’ or ‘poetic’. He was a music composer who understood the nuances of Urdu and Hindi as much as the ‘sargam’ itself. So, in the ideal spirit of collaboration, the songs were deeply resonant both in the thought and feeling of the writer as much as Khayyam’s own melody. No wonder some of his films had the poet or the artist as a protagonist, points out film and music expert Pavan Jha. The acme of it were Umrao Jaan (1982, Rekha as a courtesan) and even more so Kabhi Kabhie (1977 Amitabh Bachchan as a ‘shayar’), twoof the biggest successes of his career in Hindi cinema that began in the late 40s.
Yash Chopra’s Kabhi Kabhie also marked the peak of his steady association with poet-writer-lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi, the other high point of which came earlier in Phir Subah Hogi (1958) and later also in Trishul (1978).
While remaining resolutely “Indian”, Khayyam’s music spanned a range — from the classical to semi-classical, folk to ghazal. “From pahadi to Punjabi, Braj to Awadh his musical influences encompassed the entire North India. He composed one of Mohammed Rafi’s best non-film bhajans — Paoon padoon tore Shyam,” says Jha. His contribution to the light classical non-film music may have come under the shadow of the film music but was just as significant. He was the one to have composed I Write, I Recitefor Meena Kumari with the actress singing her own ‘nazms’ in the album.
Changing with the times
When it came to film music itself, he never got straitjacketed in any specific style, kept adapting with the times, the subject and characters of his films. So, in a film like Kabhi Kabhie, along with a melancholic and romantic title track and Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon he also created the youthful and energetic Tere chehre se, Pyaar kar liya to kya and Chahe chale chhuriyan. In Phir Subah Hogi he composed the devastatingly satirical Aasman pe hai khuda, a brilliant comment on the sad state of the nation, which resonates till date. As do Chin-o-arab hamara and the sad yet hopeful Wo subah kabhi to aayegi. Yet in the same film soundtrack he also had the beautiful love song Phir na keeje meri gustaakh nigahee ka gila.
Though he came out with great work in every decade that he spent in the Hindi film industry, it was not until the 70s and 80s — with Kabhi Kabhie and Umrao Jaan — that he catapulted into the big league of music composers. His amazing repertoire in the two films is what most would recollect him for, but there have been gems studded all over his abundantly rich discography. Like the Sahir creation Parbaton ke pedon par shaam ka basera hai in Shagoon (1964), Majrooh Sultanpuri’s Shaam-e-gham ki kasam sung from the heart by Talat Mehmood in Footpath (1953) or Majrooh’s Rafi-Suman Kalyanpur duet Thehriye hosh mein aa loon from Mohabbat Isko Kehte Hain (1965). There are the beautiful Aankhon mein humne, Aaj bichade hain and Hazaar raahein in Thodisi Bewafai (1980) and Dikahyi diye yun, Karoge yaad to and Phir chhidi raat in Bazaar (1982).
Kaifi Azmi was another writer-lyricist with whom Khayyam created magic in Shola Aur Shabnam (1961) with songs like Jeet hi lenge baazi hum tum and later in Akhri Khat (1966) with Bhupendra singing Rut jawan jawan, raat meherbaan. Of the present lot of lyricists, though he had a great friend and admirer in Gulzar, he collaborated briefly with him in Thodisi Bewafai and later, in the 90s, on the television programme Dard (Dil ka ek chehra dikhayi dega, sung by Jagjit Kaur and Bhupendra). There was an abandoned venture of the two, called Kharidaar, in which actor Rekha is supposed to have sung one song. Also, Khayyam and his wife, singer Jagjit Kaur, are said to have organised the sangeet for Rakhee-Gulzar wedding.
Among the playback singers he worked a lot with Talat Mehmood, Mukesh and even more so with Mohammed Rafi. Perhaps one the best examples of teaming up with Rafi was the mellifluous and haunting Kahin ek naazuk masoom ladki in Shankar Hussain (1977). Not to forget Aur kuchh der theher in Akhri Khat and Jaane kya dhoondhti rehti hain ye aankhein mujh mein in Shola Aur Shabnam, the latter taking Rafi’s voice from low notes to the high in a magical seamless musical stretch.
Lata Mangeshkar sang the lilting Baharo mera jeevan bhi sanwaro in Akhri Khat under his baton, Aap yun faaslon se and Apne aap raaton mein in Shankar Hussain and Aye dil-e-nadaan and Khwaab ban kar koi aayega in Razia Sultan (1983). He was one of the crucial figures to have helped shape Asha Bhonsle’s formidable career. The two peaked in Umrao Jaan butit was in an earlier film called Footpath that Asha got the major break of getting to sing for the lead. He also gave the film industry the booming vocals of Kabban Mirza in Aayee zanjeer ki jhankar in Razia Sultan and unique voice of Jagjit Kaur, also his wife, in songs like Tum apna ranj-o-gham apni pareshani mujhe de do in Shagoon(1964) and Dekh lo aaj humko jee bhar ke, koi lauta nahin phir marr ke in Bazaar(1982), a prophetic song in retrospect.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by Namrata Joshi / May 20th, 2019
A member of India’s Davis Cup teams from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s, Ali holds an enviable 9-2 win-loss record in the tourney – rated as the World Cup of the sport.
Akhtar Ali (R) at a club event in Kolkata. (Photo | Twitter)
Kolkata :
Notwithstanding his failing health and advanced age, India’s celebrated tennis player and legendary coach Akhtar Ali still keeps a keen eye on the courts of the eastern metropolis to spot and guide budding talent. Now a 80-plus veteran, Ali leads a simple life, spending time with his grandchildren and has little hesitation in saying: “I have no regrets”.
A member of India’s Davis Cup teams from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s, Ali holds an enviable 9-2 win-loss record in the tourney – rated as the World Cup of the sport. Proficient in both singles and doubles, he has played alongside the country’s legends like Ramanathan Krishnan, Naresh Kumar, Premjit Lall and Jaidip Mukerjea.
Later, as a coach, he guided the creme de la creme of Indian tennis — Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj, Anand Amritraj and Leander Paes. Even Sania Mirza once publicly expressed her indebtedness to Ali for having set her on the right track during her formative years.
As a player, Ali grabbed the limelight in 1955, when he first claimed the Junior national title, and continued his wonderful show to reach the semi-finals of the Junior Wimbledon.
The Davis Cup stints till bring tears to his eyes as Ali turns emotional and nostalgic.
“In 1964, I went to Lahore to play the Davis Cup. Myself, S.P. Misra and Gaurav Misra. Four matches we won, one match could not be completed due to bad weather,” he recalled during an interview with IANS.
But it is India’s 3-2 victory over Brazil in 1966 on his South Club home ground that Ali cherishes the most, though he did not get to play any of the matches.
“The Davis Cup was a big thing in those days. I was a member of the Davis Cup squad. When India beat Brazil, that was a big moment and that is the lasting memory I have. That was the first big tie we won and we reached the final,” he said.
The Brazil victory and his son Zeeshan Ali’s success as both a tennis player and coach keeps coming back as one converses with him.
“I have no regrets. I am very attached with the 1966 Brazil win. My son is also a national champion and Davis Cup coach. There is no other family in the world which has a father-son duo to have played and also coached Davis Cup teams”.
In fact, the International Tennis Federation confirmed this in 2013.
Talking about his success as a coach, Ali said: “I enjoy coaching and I work hard. I have produced the maximum national champions and Davis Cup players. I also coached Belgium and Malaysia. I went to the best coaches to learn,” said Ali, who got the coveted Arjuna Award in 2000.
He leads a disciplined and routine life in a nicely done-up South Kolkata flat.
“After I wake up, I do my namaaz. Then I go to the club (South Club). I go to the Saturday Club also. Then I come home, have my lunch and if there is bank work, I do that.
“I lead a simple life. I go to South Club again and help the players. I am not coaching anybody at the moment because I am not well. But I help BTA (Bengal Tennis Association) in finding promising players. That keeps me busy. I love coaching. I enjoy it.
“I go to bed early. Sometimes my grandchildren come over and I spend time with them. It’s good fun,” he recalled, satisfaction ringing in his voice.
However, notwithstanding his high spirits, Ali has recently had his bouts of illness.
“I had lost eight kilos. My hand was shaking and it was tough for me. I took a lot of medicine. I saw the doctor. Doctor told me this was due to old age.
“I am much better now. I am pulling on. I am fit. I train light and can run a little bit” he said.
India’s recent performance in Davis Cup, a tournament in which the country finished runners-up thrice in the past, may not be that noteworthy, but Ali is optimistic.
“We have talented youngsters, but they have to work very hard,” he maintained.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Sport> Tennis / by IANS / August 18th, 2019
Yusuf Shah Chak, the last independent Muslim Ruler of Kashmir Valley, is buried in Nalanda and his tomb is in disrepair and unprotected.
Yasir Iqbal, a descendant of Yusuf Shah Chak, at the tomb of Kashmir’s last Muslim ruler’s grave in Nalanda. (HT Photo )
With the Centre revoking Article 370 which gave special status to J&K, the Kashmir Valley is once again in focus. But Yusuf Shah Chak. the last independent Muslim ruler of the Valley, has remained obscured and unknown for a long time.
Chak is buried in Nalanda and his tomb is in disrepair and unprotected.
Chak was exiled to Bihar by the Mughal emperor Akbar. The area where he had settled along with his family and relatives in Biswak village in Nalanda and also maintained a cavalry force of 500 horses, was later known as Kashmiri Chak. Though the exiled Kashmiri ruler died in Odisha in 1592, his body was brought to Bihar and has been lying buried along with the tombs of his wife, sons and other relatives at the graveyard at Biswak near Kashmiri Chak.
Though his Mazaar is encircled with boundary wall, the land outside this wall at the cemetery is open and has remained prone to encroachments in the past. Some concrete structures and thatched roof hutments too have come up around its periphery.
Earlier, some locals erected a boundary wall around his Mazaar, but the entire area of the cemetery outside this wall is open to encroachment.
A view of the ‘mazar’ of Yusuf Shah Chak, the last Muslim ruler of Kashmir Valley. ( HT Photo )
Recently, Yasir Iqbal, a descendant of the Chak ruler’s relative, wrote a letter to the Minority Welfare Department, Bihar, drawing the attention towards the increasing threats of encroachments at the site of the cemetery .
He has made an appeal to take steps to stop encroachment and has also requested for the boundary wall at the cemetery. In the letter, Iqbal also made requests to preserve this piece of history and to take initiatives to tap tourism potential of the site.
“The minority welfare department has forwarded the request letter to the department concerned which is responsible for creating the boundary walls at graveyards and has directed to take actions as necessary,” SI Faisal, special secretary cum director, minority welfare department, said.
The site has a great tourism potential and it can be tapped. “But it’s the domain of the tourism department. They should take initiatives in this direction and should develop it,” he said.
Yasir Iqbal said many Kashmiris have been eager to come here to pay tribute to their last ruler. “Many intellectuals have also been coming here, but the place lack even basic infrastructure. Even the road to Kashmiri Chak village was developed in 1977 when Sheikh Abdulla, the prominent leader of Kashmir had arrived to witness Yusuf Shah’s tomb” he said. There is also no place at the village to stay. “You have to find the accommodation whether at Islampur or at Rajgir,” he said.
However, the biggest concern has been encroachment of the land. “The cemetery is spread over five acre land area at Biswak and over one acre land at Kashmiri Chak. But the tombs of Yusuf Shah, his wife and sons for decades remained unknown. There was almost a jungle around it and the tombs were hardly visible. Then we got it constructed a few years ago. But the area outside is still open and is being encroached inch by inch. Some concrete structures and thatched roof hutments have also come up on its border areas,” he said.
Yusuf Shah Chak ruled Kashmir from 1579 to 1586. In 1579 he was deceitfully imprisoned by the Mughal emperor Akbar, but was later released and was exiled to Biswak area of Bihar.
“He had a Mansabdaari of 500 horses. In fact, his love and knowledge of art and literature had impressed Mughal Badshaah and that became the reason for his release. He had married Habba Khatoon, the legendary poetess whose verses are still sung by the locals in Kashmir,” he said.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> India> Cities> Patna / by Reena Sipan, Hindustan Times, Patna / August 07th, 2019
