Titled ‘Anam’, Saumitra’s upcoming film is about a 21-year old girl who does stunts as a sport. The film is inspired by the life of Anam Hashim, a female bike stunt performer and rider.
The tagline of the film reads ‘a bike doesn’t know your gender’. The story is conceptualized by Anam and penned by Namneesh Sharma.
Director Saumitra Singh, who had earlier helmed the award-winning short films The Wallet and Painful Pride, is gearing up for his feature debut.
Titled Anam, Saumitra’s upcoming film is about a 21-year old girl who does stunts as a sport. The film is inspired by the life of Anam Hashim, a female bike stunt performer and rider.
The tagline of the film reads ‘a bike doesn’t know your gender’. The story is conceptualized by Anam and penned by Namneesh Sharma. While the cast is yet to be locked, an A-list actor will be a part of it, the makers shared.
“I have been working on this idea for quite some time now. However, I was busy making and promoting my two short films but been working on Anam simultaneously. The script has come out well and I can’t wait to start making it,” Saumitra says.
In 2015, Anam became the youngest woman to ride to Khardung La mountain pass on a TVS scooty for the Himalayan Highs initiative. Her achievement was included in the India Book of Records.Speaking about her journey, Anam shares, “While growing up as a kid, I always was someone who was inclined towards cycles, bikes and cars. Eventually, I discovered my love for bikes and stunts through the internet.
My journey began by trying to learn how to do wheelies on others bike and it gave me enough confidence to even get my own bike. While I was finishing my 12th, I was very sure of what I wanted to do in life, stunt riding/street bike freestyle.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Entertainment> Hindi / by Express News Service / May 29th, 2020
A collaborative study between scientists in India, Saudi Arabia and South Korea aimed at discovering potential drugs to SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans has led to new findings that could pave way for clinical trials to cure the Coronavirus disease.
The recent study is titled ‘Unravelling lead antiviral phytochemicals for the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzyme through in silico approach. ‘ It has been co-authored by Dr. Arun Bahadur Gurung (North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong), Joongku Lee (Chungnam National University, South Korea) and three others, Dr. M. Ajmal Ali, Dr. Khalid Mashay Al-Anazi along with Dr. Mohammad Abul Farah (King Saud University).
The research has used screening from FDA approved antiviral drugs applying computational approach to embark on a scientific experimentation of vaccine development for the disease.
Dr Mohammad Abul Farah, originally from Ranchi in the Indian state of Jharkhand, spoke with TwoCircles.net about the study that has revealed substances and proteins having high capabilities of being used in treatment of the COVID-19 disease. An alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University, he is currently Professor at Saudi Arabia’s King Saud University and closely associated in the Genetics Laboratory at its College of Science in the Department of Zoology.
Having more than a decade of experience in academics and research in cytogenetics and genotoxicity, he is also working with Proteonik Inc, a South Korea based biotechnology research organization.
He opines that “the discovery of novel drug molecules is crucial and is need of the time” as mortality rate due to Coronavirus is rising exponentially and the speed for finding a vaccine must be accelerated with more variety in clinical lab experiments. He explained that at present there are no approved antiviral drugs or vaccines for the treatment of human CoV infection therefore the scientists in this study were compelled to use computational methods to address the problem and build on effective therapeutics against the current pandemic.
One of the co-authors, Dr M Ajmal Ali
Dr Farah informed that the researchers have proposed “potential lead molecules which can be explored as drug candidates for the treatment of the COVID-19 disease.” He further detailed the findings of the study for TwoCircles.net, beginning with the fact that “SARS-CoV-2 Mpro protease enzyme is a well-characterized drug target.” Through the study’s recent structural elucidation based on X-ray crystallography, it has opened an avenue for structure-based drug design. They have also explored “a small library of phytochemicals with previously reported antiviral properties for the identification of small molecular inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzyme” leading to identification of three lead molecules which exhibit higher binding affinities as compared to the control.
“The findings are novel and exciting as the lead molecules also demonstrated broad-spectrum antiviral activities against SARS-CoV Mpro and MERS-CoV Mpro,” he informed. He also outlined that the scientists screened small drug-like molecules from a dataset of phytochemicals possessing antiviral activities and this was achieved with the help of drug-like filters and toxicity studies. The selected molecules were evaluated for their binding affinity to SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzyme using molecular docking, from which a total of 38 phytochemicals belonging to the class of flavonoids, alkaloids, essential oils, organic acids, stilbenes and other phytoconstituents were screened. This led to identification of three lead molecules – Bonducellpin D and Caesalmin B and 5,7-dimethoxyflavanone-4′-O-β-d-glucopyranoside – all three having antiviral activities against parainfluenza virus (PI-3) and bovine (cattle) virus. These three lead phytochemicals, he says, “have potential to be developed as effective antiviral drug specifically against SARS CoV-2.”
When asked whether this identification would accelerate the process of vaccine formation or not, Dr Farah pointed that antiviral drug development takes place via classical mechanisms – usually by targeting important virus enzymes such as polymerases, proteases or neuraminidase; however vaccine against a specific virus is developed by injecting the same virus in inactive form or non-pathogenic form to activate the host immune system to produce specific antibodies against the virus. For that, he said “the current findings need further validations through in vitro and in vivo lab experiments for developing into drug candidate molecules.”
Bonducellpin D is a promising drug candidate against coronavirus, suggest the findings. While the three substances were found to be “significantly inhibiting Mpro enzyme that ultimately block the viral replication,” Bonducellpin D was identified as a unique precursor to a vaccine for coronavirus.
Discussing India’s more than 1 lakh mark of current infection rates coupled with a fourth phase of a nationwide lockdown and massive breakdown of economy unfolding with the migrant crisis, Dr Abul Farah highlighted that all the three lead molecules that need further validations through lab experiments can be obtained through a clinical manufacturing company and in case they are not available commercially, they can easily be purified from the source (plant), or could be synthesized in any chemistry lab equipped for organic synthesis.
“Of course, India can afford all these kind of research,” he said, when inquired about the feasibility of obtaining or manufacturing the same molecular binding in research labs in the country. He assured that India has “many high standard virology and clinical trial labs,” and the substances for clinical experiments can be obtained easily.
The Bollywood lyricist and poet says freedom of expression means staying within prescribed limits
People try to be politically correct, but that’s the problem. I have never tried to be: Irshad Kamil
For a lyricist, Irshad Kamil sure has a sense of irony. His caller tune is a song from the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Rockstar, sung by Mohit Chauhan. It goes: “Jo bhi main kehna chahun, barbaad kare alfaaz mere… Whatever I want to say is ruined by my words.”
Perhaps even more ironic: these words belong to Kamil himself.
I meet Kamil at a five-star hotel in east Calcutta. The 48-year-old is in town to talk about his book — Kaali Aurat Ka Khwab. It is about his first Filmfare Award and the journey to it. He is wearing a T-shirt and ripped jeans, and a jacket with shiny buttons. Perched on his nose are rimless glasses and there is a string of sweat beads on his forehead.
This is the man who has written songs such as Nadaan Parindey, Agar Tum Saath Ho, Patakha Guddi and Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai. Life. Melancholy. Woman power. Dhinchak. As we get past the exchange of pleasantries and into small talk about how his lyrics are the stuff of social media posts, the soft-spoken Kamil orders another black coffee — his third in an hour.
If moved by his songs you have ever tried or are planning to google the man, know this: you are not getting to know much beyond his work. Discreet, I ask. He replies, “I am not an advertisement.”
But that does not make him reticent either. He is happy to talk about his poetry — turns out he wrote his first one in the late 1980s. He says without sounding the least bit pompous, “The reason people like my poems and lyrics is because I don’t talk about fake emotions. I put myself in the shoes of the audience. And I talk about the real life. Aap samajh rahe hain na? Yeh reality ke zameen se nikle hue shabd hain…”
It seems no one in Kamil’s family had an ear for music. His father was a chemistry teacher at Government College, Malerkotla, and he pushed all his children to study science. Kamil, alas, was an arts enthusiast. He wrote poetry and acted in school plays. In college, he tells me with some pride, he was the prolific writer of love letters for self as well as others. He quotes Urdu poet Bashir Badr as if in a toast to those days, “Jis par hamari aankh ne moti bichhaaye raat bhar, bheja wahi kaagaz usse, humne likha kuch bhi nahin.”
Eventually, our conversation shifts to political correctness in the creative arts, in day-to-day life. “People try to be politically correct, but that’s the problem. I have never tried to be,” he waves his hands animatedly to make his point.
I nudge Kamil towards specifics before he floats away on another rivulet of verse. As a lyricist, does he have freedom of expression? He unleashes a torrent of thoughts, “Of course, there is pabandi [restriction]. What the sarkar calls unrest is basically kranti [revolution] and kranti comes through the pen, through words and writings. People know there are particular forms of art and culture where it all comes from. And this is not new. It has been there since Safdar Hashmi’s times. We have expression of freedom but there are limits too. Till you praise them or agree with them, you have the freedom…”
Kamil wrote a song called Mere Achchhe Din Kab Aayenge for the 2018 film, Fanney Khan — Do roti aur ek langoti/Ek langoti aur woh bhi chhoti/ Isme kya badan chhupayenge/Mere achchhe din kab aayenge. “Just because of this song, the movie was put on hold by the Central Board of Film Certification,” he says. The song was tweaked and later released as Achchhe Din.
Kamil talks about how he dropped out of engineering. He fled to Shimla from his hometown in Punjab. Decided not to return for the next nine months. Joined theatre and earned Rs 45 a show. On returning, he decided to pursue Hindi for his graduation. The writer Irshad Kamil was in the making. His dimples nearly swallow his cheeks as he says, “Some people say I am a closed-door rebel.”
I tell Kamil that for someone who goes by that epithet, he is surprisingly controversy-free and he furrows his brows. “Do you know about Pahal patrika,” he asks. Seeing my expression, he starts to talk about how he is the only “filmi geetkar” to have poetry published in this Hindi literary magazine. He takes out his phone from his jacket pocket and reads out loud a poem titled Jootey — a journey of the shoes by the shoes.
His poem Tum Mujhe Tanaav Do talks about problems of the increasing population and the government and ends with an altered version of the famous line by Subhas Chandra Bose. It reads, “...tum mujhe tanaav do, main tumhe khadi dunga. Tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe abadi dunga.”
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, online edition / Home> People / by Manasi Shah / May 30th, 2020
Mohammed Abdul Mannan’s ‘Behind the Mask’ details the origin and spread of the coronavirus and how it has made the world sick, panicky and topsy-turvy.
Mohammed Abdul Mannan
The novel coronavirus has infected over 5.5 million people across the world. As countries grapple to contain the Covid-19 crisis, it’s important to discuss the socio-economic fallout of the pandemic.
Mohammed Abdul Mannan’s Behind the Mask answers these questions. The book details the origin and spread of the coronavirus and how it has made the world sick, panicky and topsy-turvy.
How a virus one billionth of a metre size could trigger the 21st century’s second pandemic and why the 15th largest pandemic since the 14th century is massively disruptive on all-fronts. Can the world handle a ‘biblical proportions’ famine and will the world recoup from the US$9 trillion economic impact? The book discusses every aspect of socio-economic impacts of the global pandemic.
This is the eighth book by Mannan who has worked for Deccan Chronicle, Indian Express and India Today, Doordarshan and Zee TV in the past. He also worked as the launch News Editor of Qatar’s second English broadsheet daily, The Peninsula, and later joined Khaleej Times in Dubai. He took a plunge into PR and Corporate Communications with Dubai and Abu Dhabi tourism regulatory bodies. Winner of the first Qatar Tourism Award, his best-seller book had been Dubai – A City Making History.
Behind the Mask is available in print and digital format on Amazon.
source: http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Home> Website / May 27th, 2020
Musical journey: Tauseef Akhtar, who released the album Aamad ( The Arrival ) in November last year, is all geared up for his show this evening
Tauseef Akhtar will pay fulsome tribute to his mentor and teacher, Jagjit Singh this evening
Ghazal singer Tauseef Akhtar says he is lucky to be born in a poetic and musical environment. His father Akhtar Azad is a renowned Urdu authority, qawwal and poet. And his mentor has been none other than the late Jagjit Singh. Akhtar, who released the album Aamad (The Arrival) in November last year, is all geared up for his show this evening. “Besides my original compositions, I shall do a special segment focussing on Jagjitji’s favourite tunes. His birth anniversary is on February 8, so this will be an ideal tribute,” he says. The concert, Sham-e-Ghazal, will also feature a recital by Sadhana Rahatgaonkar
Containing eight songs, Aamad has been written by London-based poet Roop Sagar, and also features singers Sunil Sajal and Vidhi Sharma. The video of ‘Woh Chilman Se;, sung by Akhtar, was released at the time of the launch. The album is available both in compact disc format and on digital platforms. Akhtar has earlier released the albums Ishq Karo and Ghazalaw. The former is a solo collection featuring songs written by Waali Aasi, Shamim Karbani, Paayam Saeedi, Rahat Indori, Shakila Bano Bhopali and Qateel Shifai, with one ghazal by his father Akhtar Azad.
Ghazalaw, in contrast, is a fresh experiment, where Akhtar has collaborated with Welsh folk singer Gwyneth Glyn to combine the two cultures. “We figured both genres had much in common, and thus used the harmonium, guitar, Celtic harp and violin,” says the singer. The album was nominated for the BBC Radio 2 and Songlines music awards last year.
The conversation then shifts to his association with Singh. Akhtar recalls, “Many musicians like Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mehdi Hassan Saab, Parveen Sultanaji and Jagjitji visited our place to meet my father. When I heard Jagjitji on the album The Unforgettables, I was hooked.”
Akhtar was initially taught by Pandit Govind Prasad Jaipurwale, but after he passed away, needed to find another guru. When Akhtar was 12, Singh visited their home for a private mehfil. Hearing the boy sing, he was impressed. Soon, the lessons began. “Jagjitji taught me a lot in terms of singing technique, recording and stage presence,” says Akhtar. However, the youngster also got involved with film music, and soon took a break from ghazals.
In 2011, he was planning to meet Singh again when he heard his mentor had been hospitalised. The ghazal legend’s death on October 10, 2011, came as a huge shock. “Since then, I have decided to focus completely on ghazals. Somehow, I feel this genre is totally meant for me,” he says.
What’s next? Akhtar says, “I plan to render the entire Bhagavad Gita in Urdu. I have already recorded four shloks translated by poet Anwar Jalalpuri.”
Tauseef Akhtar will perform with Sadhana Rahatgaonkar for
Sham-e-Ghazal at Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point at 6.30 p.m this evening; details at bookmyshow.com
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by Narendra Kusnur / February 02nd, 2018
“My biographer has written the book so well I almost did not recognise myself. In order to be a big poet, the poet has to be a crazy lover. I could not become a big poet because I could not reach that stage.” – Rahat Indori, Poet
Celebrated poet Rahat Indori at Sahitya Aaj Tak on Sunday
Apne haakim kee fakiri par taras aata hai, jo gareebon se paseene kee kamaee maange, Saara din jel ki deevaar uthaate rahiye, aisee aajaadee ki har shakhs rihaee maange.
This was just one of the couplets recited during the unveiling of the biography of iconic poet and lyricist, Dr Rahat Indori, on the final day of Sahitya Aaj Tak on Sunday. The biography, Rahat Sahab: Mujhe Sunte Rahe Log Waqiya Mere has been written by Dr Deepak Ruhani. The author discussed the making of the biography with his subject, as well as singer-turned politician Hans Raj Hans.
Commenting on the association between Indori and Ruhani, Hans complimented Ruhani on his speed. “You have finished this biography in two years, when many writers take their time writing the and cannot complete them in one decade.”
Ruhani said his association with Indori goes back 17 years. While researching the book, one of the fringe benefits was listening to unforgettable shayari from Indori, he said. “I used to wait for a long time to come and hear him and sat on the grass while he recited the couplets.” Rahat Sahab will be officially released on November 10.
source: http://www.indiatoday.in / India Today / Home> News> Mail Today / by Mail Today Bureau / November 04th, 2019
Muslims of Ichalkaranji – a small textile town in Maharashtra donated zakat, an obligatory Muslim charity, and Sadaqah, voluntary charity to start an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) civil hospital in the wake of rising coronavirus infection across the country.
The Kolhapur town Muslims through Baitul Maal Muslim community has donated sum of Rs 36 lakh. A well-equipped ICU with 10 beds at IGM hospital which is ready to facilitate the fight against coronavirus spread was inaugurated by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr yesterday.
Applauding the initiative, the Chief Minister via video conference said, “Muslims in Ichalkaranji have shown the way for everyone in the country. Till now, we have controlled the spread of coronavirus with courage and patience. Henceforth, public participation (to fight the pandemic) is necessary. The Muslim community has set an example on how to celebrate a festival.”
The town, known as the Manchester of Maharashtra, has a population of 2.88 lakh where 78.32 per cent are Hindus as per the 2011 Census. Muslims constitute 15.98 per cent of the total population. The majority of the population works in power looms.
With growing number of Covid-19 patients, pressure is mounting on medical infrastructure in Maharashtra. Like any other government hospitals, IGM too has faced the problem of lack of funds affecting medical services to the poor.
Atul Rendale, a local said, “The hospital was in bad shape, with hardly any patients going there because of lack of adequate machinery and staff. The new facility will definitely help the poor who cannot afford treatment in private hospitals,” reports The Hindu. He added that though there are not many Covid-19 patients in Ichalkaranji, the fear of spike in numbers looms large.
Eid festivities this year was largely overshadowed by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, but unprecedented example set by Ichalkaranji Muslims are welcome shift in the traditional way of making donations.
source: http://www.theshabab.com / The Shabab / Home> Society / by Ubaid Saifi / May 27th, 2020
“It feels good to have a purpose and be able to contribute to the country during these times. We are lucky we have found our purpose even through this hopeless period,” says Afifa.
Dr Nadeem Rahman and wife Asifa Rahman in the lab
Dr Nadeem Rahman, a bio-chemist at Nu Life consultants and distributors, and his wife Afifa Rahman, a pharmacist at the same company, have spent the past few weeks working through the nights to fulfill their goal of producing 1 lakh rapid anti-body kits per day, meeting the pressing demand for such kits in India. “It feels good to have a purpose and be able to contribute to the country during these times. We are lucky we have found our purpose even through this hopeless period,” says Afifa, who adds that the couple have lost track of the time they spend in their office and laboratory since the company decided to begin manufacturing these kits.
Nu Life is one of the nine Indian companies which has received validation from NIV Pune and has been cleared by the ICMR to begin manufacturing of rapid antibody test kits, which would take less than 15 minutes to show results. There was a brief glitch in their plans due to some defective kits from China but they are back in action. “We received the approval on Monday, but we began working on producing the kits to be verified ever since the lockdown began,” says Afeefa. Without a moment lost, the team of bio-chemists, pharmacists and bio technicians working at the company began manufacturing the kits on April 14th, a day after they received the ICMR approval. Despite their quick action and fervent commitment, the team’s path towards meeting production goals is full of hurdles.
“If all the parameters are in place, which includes all the staff being able to commute to the workplace per usual, and all the raw materials for testing get delivered in time, then we can easily produce one lakh kits per day, but with current lockdown scenario and global shortage of raw materials, we are realistically producing 60,000 to 75,000 kits per day,” says Dr Nadeem, who is a founding member of the company and has driven the logistics and ideation behind their rapid test kit manufacturing project. According to his wife Afifa, even after the couple goes back to their house in Jasola, they spend time ideating on how to optimize their production. “As you can see, there is no escape from COVID 19 for us now,” remarks Afifa with a short laugh.
Before the company received approval from the government to manufacture kits, the couple would spend hours ferrying their staff to and fro between the laboratory and their homes. “Before they all got passes from the government, we had to make sure they reach home. We even worried for the women’s security, who stayed at the laboratory till late at night, finishing work, but now the UP government has provided passes to all our team members,” says Afifa. The company’s staff commutes from different parts of Uttar Pradesh, taking more than an hour to reach the office, so the team has planned to fix accommodation in the office premises soon, so that production deadlines can be met well in time. “It even limits their potential exposure to the disease which they could in turn pass on to their family members,” says Afifa.
Apart from the challenges of bringing the production staff together, Nadeem Rahman states that their biggest hurdle is the prompt delivery of raw materials. “We are getting access to these materials, but to ensure the best quality, you have to wait for the best products. The demand for antigens especially, has increased worldwide, leading to the shortage of its supply,” explains Nadeem. Antigens are the molecular structure that triggers antibody response in the blood sample deposited in the kit. It is this response which indicates the presence of SAR COV 2 infection in the patient tested for the disease.
Explaining how the testing kit is used, Nadeem states that the kit employs the same lateral testing technology which has been used in pregnancy tests. “Instead of urine though, you just place a drop of blood and if two red strips appear, it suggests that you have enough antibody response to indicate the presence of the virus,” he says. The manufacturing cost per kit is placed at Rs 500 to Rs 600, much less expensive than the Rt PCR test for COVID 19. “As we optimize production, hopefully the cost of the kits will remain close to the manufacturing cost. Either way, it should be accessible and affordable to all if goes straight to the market in the future,” says the scientist.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> India / by Chahat Rana / Chandigarh, April 30th, 2020
Eid ul Fitr celebrations take a multitude of forms in our society. As the holy month of Ramzan nears the end, markets all across the country glitter with Eid paraphernalia: confectionery, clothes, bangles, mehendi, objects typically associated with this festive occasion.
But one object is usually missing: Eid cards, because the practice of sending them out has dwindled over the years. It was once routine for most families to spend time selecting, writing and posting Eid greeting cards to friends and families.
“Eid Mubarak,” an Eid card showing two girls on a swing. The printed message starts with a salutation of a young girl to her elder sister: Muhtarma aapa saheba… (Dear respected sister, my salutations. Despite the distance between us, your favours and love still provide tranquillity to my heart. While extending the Eid greetings to you, I request you to remember me forever in your prayers). Printed by Eastern Commercial Agency, Bombay. Unused, circa 1930. From the Priya Paul Collection, New Delhi. Courtesy: Tasveer Ghar
In the digital age, people prefer to take a faster route to greeting one another. On the eve and day of Eid, they send out a vast number of mobile text messages.
But what were those cards like? Wouldn’t it be interesting to look at some of the old ones, especially when the practice began in this country?
Here are samples from the collections of Yousuf Saeed, a filmmaker, author and archivist based in Delhi, who runs the Tasveer Ghar archive, Ally Adnan, a Dallas, US-based engineer, writer and antique collector, and Omar Khan, who runs Imagesofasia.com, a collection of vintage postcards and lithographs.
“Eid Mubarak,” a floral Eid postcard, published by Hafiz Qamruddin & Sons, Lahore (probably printed in Bombay), and posted from Lahore (sender’s name undecipherable) on 24 December 1935 and arrived at Delhi’s General Post Office on 29 December the same year for the addressee Mr Noor Elahi. The season of Eid-ul fitr or Eid-ul Zuha coinciding with Christmas in these years might have had a bearing on the use of early Eid cards. The sender’s message in Urdu is mostly damaged due to a torn corner of the card. But it basically starts with a salaam and asks about the addressee’s good health etc. Note the British India postage stamps worth half anna and three pies used on the card. From the Priya Paul Collection, New Delhi. Courtesy: Tasveer Ghar
On the Indian subcontinent, the tradition of sending greeting cards on Eid started in the late 19th century, when mass-printed cards started becoming available off the shelf, although some well-off Muslim families continued to sent their own hand-produced cards, sometimes with calligraphy and artistically decorated greeting message.
The trend of sending cards was probably fuelled by the expansion of the railway network, which had increased to 25,000 km in 1880 from just 34 km in 1853, when the first passenger train service was inaugurated in India. With the expansion of railway, people began travelling far away from their homes, for employment and business. It also improved the postal service. In addition, advanced printing facilities improved the quality of cards.
“Eid Mubarak, Hamari Eid to jab hai…” Eid greetings and an Urdu couplet likening the eyebrows of the beloved to Eid’s crescent, featuring Indian actress and singer Kajjan Begum, Unused, circa 1930. Distributed by Sultan Husen Bookseller, Bombay. From the collection of Reena Mohan. Courtesy: Tasveer Ghar
We can see that the early cards resembled European-made Christmas cards, albeit modified for Eid.
In the early years of the 20th century, Eid cards began being printed with India-specific images and illustrations. Hafiz Qammaruddin & Sons, H Ghulam Muhammad & Sons and Muhammad Hussain & Brothers in Lahore, Mahboob Al Matabah in Delhi, and Eastern Commercial Agency, Shabbar T Corporation and Bolton Fine Art Lithographers in Bombay were amongst the earliest companies that came into the business of printing Eid cards in India. Postcards with Indian Muslim architecture, produced by Raphael Tuck in London, were also used for Eid.
No discussion of these vintage Eid cards would be complete without mentioning the Urdu poetry on them written for the occasion.
“Guldasta-e Eid” (a bouquet for eid) title of the chapbook published by Rashid-ul Khairi in 1927, Delhi. Although the chapbook is not a part of greeting correspondence, such literature was produced and circulated in Muslim homes for general reading and reform in late 19th/early 20th century. From the Yousuf Saeed collection. Courtesy: Tasveer Ghar
میرے یاروں کو مبارک عید ہو غمگساروں کو مبارک عید ہو عاشق و معشوق رندو پارسا آج چاروں کو مبارک عید ہو
Eid greetings to my friends, Eid greetings to my sympathisers, Eid greetings to the lovers and the beloveds, the drunks and the pious, Eid greetings to all four of them today.
ہماری عید تو جب ہے کہ دیکھیں تیرے آبرو کو ہلال عید کو اے مہ جبیں دیکھا تو کیا دیکھا
Eid is when I see your eyebrows Just seeing the crescent, my dear, is no Eid.
سب لوگ تو دیکھتے ہیں کھڑے چاند عید کا مشتاق ہوں میں رشک قمر تیری دید کا
While everyone is interested in sighting the moon, I only desire to see your face.
یہ شام عید ہے اے میرے ناقہ محمل چمک کے چل کہ دیار حبیب تک پہنچیں
It is the eve of Eid, oh my camel, Run fast and take me to the city of my beloved.
The tradition of Eid cards continued till the end of the 20th century, diminishing with the surge of mobile and online communication.
Yet those of us who have experienced the joy of handpicking, writing, sending and receiving Eid cards cannot find a substitute in the click of buttons.
This article was originally published on Dawn.com
source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> Holy Month / by Aown Ali / July 18th, 2015
How an Assam lawyer became the source of reprieve for thousands of stranded migrants during the lockdown.
Guwahati :
A few days after the lockdown, when the plight of the stranded migrant first started making news, 27-year-old Aatifur Hussain remembered how some people from his village were in Haryana. An advocate from Assam’s Barpeta district, Hussain decided to give them a call. “They were panicking because they had run out of food,” recalls Hussain, who immediately touched base with a few local NGOs in Haryana. “They got their rations within 24 hours. The problem was solved.”
The next day, however, Hussain received another panic call from Noida. “I called up the local police station where the labourers were stuck, and they, too, received help,” says Hussain. Following that, the lawyer was suddenly receiving calls from all over the country — Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra etc. “Word had somehow spread that I was helping stranded migrant workers from Assam with rations.”
In the beginning, Hussain would meticulously note down details of each and every call in his diary, but now the pages have run out. “There were just too many calls,” says Hussain, “It was almost like I was a call centre.”
Hussain did not mind — two years back, after he passed his LLB exams, he began providing pro-bono services to people caught in legal citizenship battles in Assam. “I had started an NGO called ‘Insaaf’ to aid people who needed help with National Register of Citizens (NRC) hearings or had to face Foreigners’ Tribunals,” says Hussain. The latter referred to the quasi-judicial courts many in Assam have to defend their citizenship in.
In the first two weeks, Hussain’s ‘call centre’ provided at least 2,000 people with basic rations, but a month later, he has lost count. On his phone, contacts are saved as ‘Kerala’, ‘Noida’, ‘Mhr’ (Maharashtra) — “I don’t even remember their actual names now,” he says.
One of his very first beneficiaries was a man named Habejuddin, who was stuck in Ghaziabad, with about 200 people from Assam. “We got his number on Facebook ,” says Habejuddin, on the phone from Ghaziabad, “Someone had written that this was the man who had helped people in Gurgaon, so we took a chance and dialled his number. I do not know what exactly he did but we got rations the next day.”
Hussain says his job simply involved connecting the stranded to the “right people” — administration, police, NGOs or those who could amplify their distress on Facebook or Twitter. “The first thing I ask anyone who calls is how many people there are, their address, and I trace the police station nearest to them, and then make phone calls,” he says.
In the first two weeks, Hussain’s ‘call centre’ provided at least 2,000 people with basic rations but, a month later, he has lost count.
Over the last few weeks, Rahman’s role has changed too, as people’s requirements have. In mid-April, when the Assam government announced Rs 2,000 for those stranded, Rahman began teaching people how to apply for the aid. “Since many of these people are uneducated, they did not understand anything,” says Hussain, “I would explain to them that they have to give a missed call, click on the link, fill up a form etc.” Suresh Zaman, who is stranded in Maharashtra’s Pune district, said that is how many from their group availed the Rs 2,000 service. “Someone from Assam passed us his number,” says Zaman, who is still Maharashtra, “First, he helped us to get rations; later he was the one who told us about this scheme.”
Now, with the special shramik trains introduced, many are returning home. “They often call me agitated when they don’t have information about the trains. I try to give them as many details as possible,” he says, adding that he also ‘counsels’ people who are feeling low because of the lockdown. “I am used to this because I have helped a lot of people who had depression when they received notices from the Foreigners’ Tribunal,” he says.
Just last month, a man named Abdul, an Assam resident stranded in Arunachal Pradesh, reached out to Hussain, threatening to kill himself, if not brought back. “I was very sad as people told me I will never be able to go home,” says Abdul. On May 3, when the inter-state bus services started in the Northeast, Hussain put Abdul in touch with the authorities, who packed him off on a bus from Arunachal Pradesh.
“He used to call me 10 to 15 times a day,” says Hussain, “I have one sim but maybe it is now time to get two,” he says.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Facebook presents The Indian Express / Covid-19 stories of strength / by Tora Agarwala / May 20th, 2020
