From the disappointment of not making it to the Indian team despite being called for two national camps, to donning the India jersey, Mohamed Raheel Mouseen travelled eight years trying to impress the national selectors and chief coach of the Indian Hockey team, Graham Reid.
25-year-old Raheel, finally made his India debut against New Zealand in the FIH Pro League Hockey Championship in Bhubaneswar in October.
“It was a wonderful feeling to be wearing the India jersey. Dream come true. I played Hockey only to play for the country,” says an excited Raheel.
As providence would have it, he played his first match for the country in the same stadium where he had come as a teenager to watch an India-Pakistan match.
Way back in 2014, Raheel was among the few trainees of Sports Authority of India Sports School, Bangalore who came to the Kalinga stadium to cheer for the Indian team in a Champions Trophy match against Pakistan.
“I played hockey only to play for the country”
“I still remember the atmosphere was electric. I visualized myself playing on the turf with so many people watching,” he says.
The dream that was in its nascent stage, took a firmer shape that day. “The crowds, the national anthem playing, the frenzy in the stands, the pride I saw in the players…it all stitched together and I knew one day I will play for India,” adds Raheel.
“I knew one day I will play for the country”
But he also knew it won’t be as if he will wake up the next day and someone will hand him the India jersey. “I was determined to do the extra yards to earn the India cap,” he adds.
A sports buff, who follows the English Premier League and the fortunes of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, Raheel comes from a family of Hockey players.
His father was a state player who played for the Hindustan Aeronautical Limited team in the local league. His elder brother was twice called for the junior national camp. All good achievements but not good enough to etch their names in the annals of Indian hockey.
“I have ensured the one missing piece is added to the family wall,” Raheel says with a smile.
He started playing Hockey at the age of five. So impressive was his growth as a player that by the age of 15 in 2012, he got selected to join the Sports Authority of India Sports School. After graduating from there he joined the Centre of Excellence.
“It was at SAI, my Hockey went on to the next level,” he says. Under the guidance of renowned coaches including former international, Jude Felix, Raheel continued to sharpen his skills as a striker in the hope of catching the attention of selectors and the senior team management.
“Olympics is a definite box I want to tick”
He was called for the senior national camp in 2018, but did not impress enough to make the final cut. However, his stellar performance in the domestic circuit, earned up a call for the Hockey 5s tournament in Lussane, Switzerland in 2022. There he emerged as the top-scorer with 10 goals, and was a key to India’s title triumph in the inaugural championship.
From there, it was only a matter of time before he made it to the India team in the proper format.
His performances impressed Graham Reid and after a few months in the national camp, Raheel was called to do India duty in the FIH Pro League. He is currently in Australia where India is playing five matches in preparation for the upcoming world cup in January.
Raheel who considers former internationals from Karnataka, VS Vinay and Arjun Hallapa as his role models, wants to now ensure the opportunity that has come his way does not slip off easily.
“I am looking for longevity in the Indian team. I want to play for the country for as long as possible. Olympics is a definite box I want to tick,” he says looking at the India jersey he wore in the FIH Pro League.
And fans will be hoping he weaves the same magic on the field as a Mohammed Shahid or a Zafar Iqbal for a good time to come.
source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Sports / by Nakul Shivani, New Delhi / November 30th, 2022
Billionaires in Africa, Maha tycoons follow father, feed thousands in hometown
Yavatmal :
Decades ago, a humble Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) district driver Abdul Narsinghani had a strange habit before going off to work.
Every morning he would instruct his wife Fatima to pack a few ‘rotis’, he put them in his pocket and at various stops of his ST bus en route, would distribute them among a few poor people he encountered.
His young kids — sons Aman, Aslam and daughter Farida — closely watched all this but often wondered at their father’s undue concern for others when they themselves eked out a bare existence in a 200 square feet slum tenement in Yavatmal.
Years later, Aman, 45, and Aslam, 43 are successful business magnates in Congo, (formerly Zaire), Africa, and Farida I. Budhwani is a housewife in Mumbai, but now they warmly cherish their simple father’s small acts of charity for fellow beings.
“We brothers completed our high secondary school (Class XII) and got jobs in Uganda, so we went there in 1998. In just three years (2000), we got an offer to start a pharmaceutical business in the adjoining country, Congo, and we grabbed the opportunity,” Aman told IANS.
That was the turning point for the Narsinghani brothers, and they became the first Indians to start a business in Congo, and their venture is named Sara Pharmaceuticals.
“Many Africans have a fetish to pop in medicines for everything… We imported various types of medicines from India or China and then sold them there… Slowly, that tiny business has grown into a pharma-cum-electronics empire with a turnover of over Rs 1,200 crore per annum,” said Aman.
On their frequent trips back home from Africa, they never forgot their father’s daily habit of donating ‘rotis’ or his wise advice – ‘Let nobody go empty handed from my door’ – and decided to do something to take it forward.
“From 2009, we have launched a community kitchen that feeds around 750 people for lunch and some 250 for dinner daily… 98 per cent of the beneficiaries are the local poor people, irrespective of religion or status, all are equally welcome…” said Aman.
The daily offering through ‘Khidmat-E-Khalk’ (Selfless Service) is either good quality rice-vegetables, lip-smacking vegetable or chicken biryanis and other foodstuff as the people may desire, and distributed at a couple of locations in Yavatmal, 365 days a year.
It was during the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2021) lockdown that the small kitchen proved its true worth and utility for lakhs of deprived people, especially the migrant folks stranded far from home.
“In the first six months of the stringent lockdown, we fed over 1.50 crore people. We also distributed food-kits of around 25 kg rations worth Rs 2 crore to the helpless people who had lost their jobs,” said Aslam.
After the lockdown eased a bit from October 2020 onwards, the Narsinghani brothers shifted their attention to the local Shri Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College & Hospital, where they served free food to all the patients for over one year.
As the pharma business of the siblings flourished in Central Africa, the duo also progressed, upgrading from their humble 200-sq.ft. slum abode to a palatial 10,000 sq.ft mansion in Yavatmal, where they rank among the most esteemed citizens.
The devout Khoja Muslim, Abdul Narsinghani, who gave his children an invaluable lesson to care for fellow humans, witnessed everything with joy and pride. He passed away peacefully in 2015, while his widow Fatima, 71, continues to guide and support her two sons in all their ventures.
Doing business in Africa is not everybody’s cup tea, given the political turmoil in many countries there, plus the social, cultural and language barriers, but the Narsinghani brothers managed to learn Swahili in just a couple of years and were accepted with open arms in Uganda, Congo and other countries in Central African region.
“Though we have seen a lot of social-cultural-political upheavals there in the past 25 years, but luckily, the Indian community there does not face problems from any quarter and we are probably treated as ‘more than equals’ among the rest,” Aman smiled.
The pharma business has gradually expanded within Africa, and lately the duo diversified into electronics trading which is picking up hugely through their several retail outlets.
“The Almighty has been magnanimous and benevolent to us and coupled with what our parents bequeathed us, we are trying in our own little way, to repay all the blessings,” acknowledge the Narsinghanis. — IANS
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Culture> Indian Muslims / by IANS / December 04th, 2022
Since time immemorial, people across cultures have been looking down upon women for their assumed enfeebled existence, but curiously the invincible might of the nation-state is primarily imagined in terms of feminine sensibilities. Nation and women share several traits, such as purity, chastity, and piety that must be protected.
This flimsy admiration aside, women continue to be the object of the stifling affliction of subjugation, marginalization and gender equality. The pitiable condition of Muslim women in India, their boundless deprivation and their servitude to patriarchal misrepresentation of religion look self-evident. Not many know that through determination and self-belief, daughters of destitution knocked over many unsurpassable hurdles and attained unprecedented success.
Undeterred by searing double jeopardy, some determined Muslim women weaved a gripping and admirable narrative of self-discovery and phenomenal individual growth that strengthened collective consciousness, empowerment and national aspirations in the six decades. They have had many firsts to their credit. The fairly long list includes the names of Fathima Bibi ( the first female supreme court judge who took over in 1989); Suraya Tyabji; (the incredible artist who designed our national flag in 1947); Begum Akhtar (the first female singer who judiciously wrapped up Vivadi Sur in Ghazal singing and earned the title of Ghazal Queen), Sania Mirza (the first Indian woman to win the ATS tennis title) Rokeya Sakhwat Hussain, ( jotted down the first female utopian novel, Sultana’s Dream”, 1905 in which gender roles were reversed.) Ismat Chughtai (the first fiction writer who explored various dimensions of the forbidden female sexuality in her short story Lihaf), Rasheed Jahan (edited an anthology of short stories, Angare that presented a poignant and heart wrenching account of exasperating struggles that women have to confront in the patriarchal society) and Qurratul Ain Haider (who judiciously used stream of consciousness to explore and reflect upon the gender injustices). Some Muslim women such as Razia Sultana, Chand Bibi and Begums of Bhopal, especially Sultan Jahan, committed themselves to the male-driven and exhausting path of leading the country, and they mapped new terrains of courage, bravery and governance. However, their contribution to collective life is not adequately documented.
These vital pieces of information largely lay in oblivion and have been aptly articulated and cogently documented in an astutely edited anthology of Muslim women trailblazers, Apostle of Transformation, published recently (Peter Lang, 2022). The anthology, edited by a well-known Islamic scholar Akhtarul Wasey and a promising academician Juhi Gupta, carries an assortment of 23 articles that engages the constitutive acts of turning mundane life into moments of epiphany by Muslim women. Their pulsating and coming-of-age experiences need to be told candidly.
Akhtarul Wasey and Juhi Gupta took pains to upend the widespread but erroneous perception that hardly considers Muslim women beyond being silent and passive onlookers. The book produces a gripping and layered narrative of those women who are to be reckoned as role models, but why their awe-inspiring efforts have not fetched the requisite response? As a central premise of the study, this question hardly took off, and the editors dish out a laudatory and partially plausible answer instead. For Wasey and Juhi, Muslim women, by and large, sump up a story of hope and resilience, and they assert, “In reality, Indian Muslim women, in the past and the present, have exerted their freedom, identity and agency. One way or the other, they have found ways to create, contribute, act and participate in various fields and ascended to prominence. Be it art, science, nation-building or politics, there have been hordes and hordes of Indian Muslim women pioneering, participating and contributing to development in the specific field.”
The creative dexterity, sweep of learning and speculative intelligence of Muslim women resonate with almost every genre of literature and non-fiction, and Urdu is not the only beneficiary. Azarmi Dukht Safavi, Rakshanda Jaleel, Rana Safavi, Annie Zaidi, Sami Rafeeq, Nazia Erum, Rana Ayub, Ghazala Wahab, Huma Khalil, Zehra Naqvi, Reema Ahmad, Nasra Sharma, Sadiqa Nawab Saher and the like make it for Persian English and Hindi with remarkable success. Their stories bear witness to what the editors asserted in the preface.
Several prominent authors and academicians, including Syeda Hameed, Rasheed Kidwai, Madhu Rajput, Bharthi Harishankar, Shahida Murtaza, Sabiha Hussain Ayesha Muneera, Azra Musavi, Shiangini Tandon, excavate details and they set forth a discourse whose emotional arc looks irresistible.
The book zeroes in on many prominent women by employing the case study method. Syeda Hameed, in her ear-to-ground and empathetic story of an accomplished author Saliha Abid Hussain whose fifty books, including her profoundly consequential autobiography, Silsila-e- Roz-o- Shabh (sequence of Days and nights), hardly got the recognition she deserved. It rightfully peeved Syeda Hameed, who candidly enumerated her oeuvre by observing that she was a chronicler of her times with natural talent for storytelling and, above all, a woman who believed, practised, and propagated her religion in its most liberal and humanitarian spirit.
Not many knew that Qudsiya Sikandar, Shah Jhan and Sultan Jahan were more than fortuitous rulers of Bhopal. Rasheed Kidwai employed laudatory idiom for adeptly documenting how their rule saw justice, gender sensitivity, peace and reforms even as faith and traditions remained intact. Surayya Tayyabji’s incredible artistic dexterity and pivotal role in designing our tricolour continue to elude public attention, and Shahida Murtaza’s academic rigour-filled succinct article, Surayya Tayyabji, the Resolute woman, supplements it.
The dreadful and calamitous partition is dotted with poignant tales of sufferance, and heart wrenching stories of the abducted women remained inarticulated. It was the turn of a celebrated author and activist, Begum Anees, who put together permeating and nuanced memories of the event and its earth-shattering aftermaths from the standpoint of women subjected to unprecedented affliction. Azra Musavi made her autobiography, Azadi Ki Chaon Mein (In Freedom’s Shade), the object of a single pristine look. Azra’s lucid close reading of the text draws forth an informed debate on how the two states faltered in fulfilling the aspiration of people.
Ayesha Muneera astutely spells out the contours of Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain’s creative world, and she argues that Sultana’s Dream is a feminist, political, and ecological utopia. She sides with Nilanjana Bhattacharya by terming it an anti-colonial text. For her, the novel works against India’s colonialization and internal colonization of women within Indian society. Rokeya’s trail-blazing text subtly conjures a dystopian world where gender roles are reversed, but the environs remain dreadful.
Naima Khatoon produced an evocative piece on Begum Akhtar, one of the most accomplished singers of Ghazal, Dadra and Thumri that India ever produced. She blended music and poetry with remarkable ease.
In her article, Sabiha Hussain ropes in feminist and cultural studies tools to map the creative terrains of Ismat Chughtai and Qurratul ain Haider.
Juhi Gupta turns her attention to the family of Sheikh Abdullah, the pioneer of Muslim women’s education, and she perceptively analyses the contribution of Begum Abdullah, well-known educationist Mumtaz Jahan, famous author Rasheed Jahan and prominent actor Begum Khurshid Mirza (Renuka Devi).
Shah Alam insightfully unravels the vanguards of change, and his laconic account, Vignettes of Muslim women Politicians in India reads well.
Faiza Abbasi, Mayuri Chaturvedi, Chand Bi, Tauseef Fatima, Bharti Hari Shankar, Rekha Pandey, Abida Quansar, Madhu Rajput, Bilal Wani, Naseem Shah, Shirin Sherwani, Shivandgini Tandon, Ruchika Verma, Anam Wasey and Huma Yaqub are the other contributors who made the anthology an intriguing read.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Featured News / by Shafey Kidwai / November 12th, 2022
A well-known writer and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) faculty member, Prof M Shafey Kidwai has been appointed as the Chairman of the renowned Qatar-based literary organisation ‘Majlis-e-Frogh-e-Urdu Adab’.
MFUA had the late Indian theorist, literary critic, and Urdu scholar, Prof Gopi Chand Narang on the honorary post of Chairman of that organisation.
The ‘Majlis-e-Frogh-e-Urdu Adab sets forth a platform to encourage fresh litterateurs in the domain who are mentored by experienced writers and poets with distinctive styles and practices. As the Chairman of the Adab Aalmi Award Jury Committee from India, one of the important roles will be to acknowledge those adept at the art,” said Majlis Chairman, Mohammad Atiq.
Extending congratulations, AMU Vice-Chancellor, Prof Tariq Mansoor said: “I am pleased to see that Prof Kidwai has been chosen to head the jury of a prestigious award. The university community is celebrating the dedication he has shown on the way to a well-deserved and earned success”.
Prof Kidwai is a known scholar, academic, bilingual critic, translator and author.
He has been writing for a number of reputed Urdu and English journals. His reviews and articles regularly appear in The Hindu, The Hindustan Times, The Indian Express, The Outlook, The Book Review, The Indian Literature, The Frontline, Siasat.com and others.
He has authored five books in English and eight in Urdu and published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
He is a recipient of the Sahitya Academy Award (2019), Kalinga Literary Award (2021), Iqbal Samman (highest literary award of Madhya Pradesh Government, 2018) and Amir Khusro award (highest literary award of Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy, 2017).
Prof Kidwai has been teaching communication studies, film studies, broadcast journalism, sports journalism and Urdu journalism for over 35 years at the Department of Mass Communication, AMU.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Featured News / by siasat.com news desk / August 13th, 2022
Kumrava, Nawada District) BIHAR / Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :
He had accompanied Mahatma Gandhi on the Dandi March and later spent several days with him in a prison in Cuttack. In 2007, he was conferred with the Padma Bhushan for his fight against the British rule in India.
Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Quadri being conferred with the Padma Bhushan by the then President APJ Abdul Kalam.
Late on Monday night, Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Quadri, who was affectionately referred to as hakim sahab in his neighbourhood in Rippon Street, passed away three days after celebrating his 114th birthday.
Quadri, a renowned Unani practitioner who was instrumental in founding the Unani Medical College and Hospital in Abdul Halim Lane in central Kolkata, was born on December 25, in 1901 when Kolkata was still the capital of the country and Mahatma Gandhi had not returned to India.
“My father was imprisoned with Gandhiji by the British in Cuttack. He would accompany him everywhere during the Civil Disobedience Movement,” said son Manzar Sadique in the family’s home in 84/9 Rippon Street.
“In October, abba had travelled to Lucknow where he was the chief guest at a conference of Unani practitioners. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had invited him over to his house,” informs Sadique.
Quadri was born in the remote village of Kumrava in Nawada district of Bihar on Christmas Day in 1901. His family moved to Calcutta in the mid-1930s. Hakimji would begin his day with Fajar (the morning namaaz) at the break of dawn followed by his visit to his chamber, Swadeshi Dawa khana on Haji Mohammed Mohsin Square, where patients would already be waiting for him. He would examine more than 100 patients every day free of cost, says son Sadique.
“Unani was his passion and he could identify the ailment just by feeling the pulse of the patient,” says Sadique.
The centurion who specialized in treating infertility would never miss his customary walk after work. “He suffered from arthritis which is why he took special care of his fitness,” said Sadique.
Quadri who began an informal school for children and triggered an adult literacy campaign in Rippon Street was the founder member of the
Once Quadri once revealed the secret behind his fitness and longevity to his friends. “I drink two glasses of neem juice every day,” he has said. This fitness mantra was handed over to him by his father Mohammad Mohibbudin who had died at the age of 121 years!
Hasnain Imam, a teacher and resident of Rippon Street fondly recalled the time he had spent with “hakim sahib” when he was in college. “He was a treasure trove of knowledge. From politics to medicine to Sufism, we would discuss a wide range of topics. They don’t make people like them anymore,” said Imam.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Times of India / Home> News> Kolkata News / by Zeeshan Javed / TNN / December 30th, 2015
Spirit of Engineering, published by ME alum Najeeb Kuzhiyil in December 2017, tells the story of two freshman college students and their journey to discover what engineering is. Image courtesy of Najeeb Kuzhiyil
A novel penned by a mechanical engineering alum tells the story of two freshmen college students and their journey to discover what engineering is.
“So I thought before you begin your undergrad studies, you should understand what engineering is in simple terms,” said Kuzhiyil. “I really wanted to write a book that was simple enough for high school students.”
The book took about a year and a half to write and started out as separate essays covering four pillars of engineering: methodical approach, practical skills, abstraction, and creativity.
“One morning I was lying in my bed and I thought why don’t I tell this as a story. I can include all of these concepts and wind them into a nice plot,” Kuzhiyil said.
The target audience for the book is high school students or perhaps even freshmen in college. The plot is set in modern times and follows around two main characters who are both first year engineering students at an unnamed Midwestern college: Matt from northern Iowa and Maya from India.
Matt and Maya come across a presentation about the Wright Brothers which piques their interest to the point that they decide to travel to the Wright Brothers museum in Dayton, Ohio in an attempt to better understand what engineering really is. During their travels they meet an experienced, middle-aged engineer who helps them understand how math, physics, and other natural phenomena apply to engineering.
Kuzhiyil said that his PhD advisor Robert C Brown, Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering, was a major influence on him personally and with his writing style specifically.
“He’s a wonderful engineer and he’s a great writer because we as engineers aren’t always great writers,” said Kuzhiyil. “Before coming to Iowa State I never paid attention to my English but Dr. Brown told us ‘You might be great engineers but you also have to learn how to write well. It’s very important to be able to express your ideas.’”
Brown, who also serves as director of the Bioeconomy Institute at Iowa State, wrote the foreword of the book. He said he thinks the book can be helpful for the next generation of engineers.
“I would have benefited from this book when I was in high school, at the time having no clear idea of the engineering profession. Even today despite the emphasis on STEM education, engineers are rarely portrayed in popular culture except for the occasional less than flattering role of bumbling technocrat. Najeeb’s book helps to overcome this stereotype,” Brown said.
Kuzhiyil cited Brown, whose research focuses on biorenewable resources, as a major reason why he chose Iowa State to pursue his PhD. Kuzhiyil is originally from the state of Kerala in southern India. He attended school in the city of Kochi and began developing an interest in chemical engineering in high school. He attributed his interest in engineering to his older brother, Dr. Abdul Kader, who studied chemistry and worked at a fertilizer manufacturing company.
“I didn’t know anything about chemical engineering, but as a kid I thought it would be cool to learn about it,” he said, adding there was a large petroleum refinery close to home that always fascinated him.
Kuzhiyil graduated with a bachelor of technology in chemical engineering from the University of Calicut and went on to work as a tech service engineer for Indian Oil Corporation.
After a decade in industry, Kuzhiyil decided to pursue an advanced degree. In graduate school his interest shifted from chemical engineering to renewable energy. He graduated with a MS in Combustion and Energy from the University of Leeds in England in 2005.
Kuzhiyil came to Iowa State in 2008 and was involved in various groups outside of his engineering studies, including serving as president of the Indian Students Association from 2009 to 2010. Despite spending just three years in Ames, Kuzhiyil said he made friends and memories that will last a lifetime.
“There were so many moments I really enjoyed at Iowa State,” said Kuzhiyil. “Our research group was so big we had people from all over the world. We had people from India, China, Europe, Africa, from all over and we had discussions on science, on politics, on life, on love, on everything. They were all great for me because different viewpoints and perspectives on different things were really insightful. I really had a blast and enjoyed every moment of my PhD.”
Kuzhiyil added that he loved the beauty of Iowa State’s campus, especially during the spring bloom, and that he enjoyed participating in the International Food Festival during the annual VEISHEA celebration.
After completing his PhD, he worked as a fuels and lubricants technologist at General Electric for six years. In November 2017, he was hired as a staff engineer in synthetic lubricants at ExxonMobil Corporation. His current work focuses on engine oils and gear oils and how it relates to fuel economy.
“By using synthetic lubricants we can improve fuel and the energy efficiency. Synthetics are more of a move toward a sustainable future,” Kuzhiyil said, adding that the job has been a nice marriage between his interests in chemical engineering and renewable energy.
During his career, Kuzhiyil has studied or worked on three different continents. He said that these diverse experiences have contributed to his professional development and have been helpful when approaching challenges.
“In engineering most of the problems we deal with are open-ended. There’s no single answer to many of the problems. You can design things in different ways so the engineer’s job is to design a product or a process or whatever, within the constraints of resources, environment, culture and weather. All of those factors play into the engineering,” said Kuzhiyil.
“Because I come from India, and I lived in Europe and the U.S., all of these places are different if you look at the available resources, the weather, the philosophy, etcetera. I really got a lot of examples of how the same product can be different on these three different continents and I think that’s been helpful in getting me to where I am today.”
source: http://www.news.engineering.iastate.edu / Iowa State University, College of Engineering / by Nick Fetty (headline edited) / April 02nd, 2018
The young nurses believe that more Muslim girls across the country should opt for the nursing profession to serve society.
Patna (Bihar) :
Two Muslim nurses Naziya Parveen and Shabrun Khatun from Bihar were awarded this year’sNational Florence Nightingale Awards (NFNA) by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier this month.
The National Florence Nightingale Awards (NFNA) were instituted in 1973 by the Government of India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a mark of recognition for the meritorious services rendered by nurses and nursing professionals to the society.
Sajeeda Banu of Karnataka, Ahmedullah Wani of Jammu & Kashmir, and Mohammed Kasim AB of Lakshadweep are the other Muslims who were awarded this year.
She was among 51 people from around the country who were awarded in different categories by the President. Her citation states that she has contributed to the establishment of the labor room and for helping in preparing the standard operating procedure.
32-year-old Naziya Parveen receiving the award from the President Murmu. | Picture by arrangement
Hailing from Sultanganj, Bhagalpur, Naziya is the eldest of three sisters. She is married to a microbiologist Mohammad Shams of Gaya. After completing her high secondary education in Dumka, Jharkhand she studied nursing for GNM at JawaharLal Medical College, Bhagalpur, and worked with Jamia Hamdard in New Delhi for six years. It was challenging to move from Delhi to Araria but her family supported her as “there isn’t much scope of work in Sadar Hospital.”
“I feel quite proud to be awarded as our society does not recognize the work of nurses. I am elated for being a Muslim awardee as we don’t get nominated for such awards. I was asked if I was from Kashmir as I was wearing a hijab,” she said.
Mother of two kids, Naziya has inspired other Muslim girls to take admission to nursing courses. Local newspapers in the state ran stories featuring her.
“We need to change our attitude towards this profession. It is a good job and one can draw good income from it. The nursing course is such that even if one does not opt for a job, they can get the chance to serve from home and earn. I am of the view that more Muslim girls should study nursing as a profession,” she said.
28-year-old Shabrun Khatun was awarded in the ANM (Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife) category. | Picture by arrangement
28-year-old Shabrun Khatun was awarded in the ANM (Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife) category. She works at Darbhanga Sadar primary health center. She had applied for the award previously but it was her work during Covid-19 that won her an award this year. She recalled how she went for a door-to-door screening of Covid-19 in April 2020 while being on fast and continued to work in 2021.
Shabrun told TwoCircles.net that receiving the award from President Murmu was quite encouraging.
Her journey to success has not been smooth. She had to work in local hospitals to support her family but this experience helped her. “I was good at studies in school and got prizes for my co-curricular activities. I wanted to be a medical doctor. I was selected for MBBS at a private medical college but did not have enough money to take admission. I also wished to be an officer in administration but my father’s proximity to doctors got me into nursing.”
Shabrun’s father Mohammad Akhtar is a tailor who would stitch clothes for operation theaters of hospitals nearby. She had cleared the preliminary test for selection in the police department but finally settled for a nursing course after her graduation in Zoology from her hometown of Rosera Bazar in Samastipur district in Bihar.
Shabrun said that she had to face unfriendly treatment in society after she chose to become a nurse. “But seeing my success now, everyone is happy,” she said.
She is of the view that Muslim girls who are not able to qualify for MBBS should consider nursing as a career as “it gives the satisfaction of serving humanity in one small way.”
In December this year, she would be felicitated on the foundation day of the Darbhanga district.
Sami Ahmad is a journalist based in Patna, Bihar. He tweets @samipkb
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / November 25th, 2022
The less fancied 27-year-old Rahman dished out a cool calculated performance to outshine the experienced Pasha and smoothly cruise to a deserving 25-0, 21-16 without much ado.
Unassuming sixth seed Abdul Rahman of Uttar Pradesh cornered all the glory recording an authoritative straight sets victory against international and fourth seed Zaheer Pasha of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the men’s singles final of the 49th Senior National Carrom Championship on Monday.
The less fancied 27-year-old Rahman dished out a cool calculated performance to outshine the experienced Pasha and smoothly cruise to a deserving 25-0, 21-16 without much ado and clinch his maiden crown in the national championship organised by the All-India Carrom Federation (AICF) and hosted by the Maharashtra Carrom Association (MCA).
In the women’s competition, international and fifth seed Kajal Kumari of PSPB (Petroleum Sports Promotion Board) overcame the spirited challenge from fourth seed Nilam Ghodke of JISL (Jain Irrigation System Limited) snatching victory in two closely-contested sets, 15-12, 17-10 to emerge champion.
Pasha, who had knocked out teammate and top seed Prashant More in the semi-finals, was erratic and surprisingly missed some easy shots which proved to be his downfall.
In contrast, Rahman played steadily and confidently executed his shots and gradually gained the momentum which he hung on to throughout the contest, which turned out to be a one-sided affair.
In the first set, Rahman settled down quickly and won the first six boards to pocket the set 25-0 and open up a 1-0 lead. Pasha showed signs of fighting back as he won the opening two boards to take an 8-0 lead in the second, but Rahman bounced back and steadily won the next three and with the eight points won on the fifth board he jumped to a 20-8 points lead.
Pasha managed to win four points in the sixth to narrow the lead to 12-20, but he lost a close seventh board as Rahman led 21-12 going into the 8th and final board. Pasha was left with an uphill task of getting 10 points from the final board and he tried his best but lacked consistency and with that, his hopes of staying alive faded away. Rahman capitalized on every chance to sink his black coins and ensure his success.
Meanwhile, Mantasha Iqbal of AAI (Airports Authority of India) defeated Debagani Tamuly of DASCB (Defence Accounts Sports Promotion Board) 8-25, 19-15, and 22-11 in the women’s third-fourth place match.
In the men’s third-fourth place match, Maharashtra’s Sandeep Dive defeated World champion and top seed Prashant More of RBI 25-19, 18-1.
