He was born to Prince Moazzam Jah whose complete name was Mir Shujaat Ali Khan.
Hyderabad:
Prince Shahamat Jah, the grandson of the last Nizam of Hyderabad State Mir Osman Ali Khan, passed away at a hospital on Sunday (July 30).
He was about 70 years old.
He was born to Prince Moazzam Jah whose complete name was Mir Shujaat Ali Khan. He also went by his penname Shaji and wrote poetry in Urdu. Nizam had named Moazzam Jahi Market after his name.
Prince Moazzam Jah was the second son born to Mir Osman Ali Khan. His elder brother was Azam Jah also known as Mir Himayat Ali Khan.
His first wife was Princess Niloufer, niece of the last Turkish Sultan and Caliph Prince Abdul Majeed. Niloufer who built a hospital for children in the Red Hills area left her husband and settled down in France. She had no children.
Prince Moazzam Jahs married Razia Begum after separation from Princess Niloufer. His third wife was Anwari Begum who bore the only child to him—Shahamat Jah.
Shahamat Jah’s two marriages were unsuccessful. He remained alone and aloof and died childless.
After selling off his house at Red Hills, he moved to his sister’s home in Banjara Hills. He had a limited circle of friends. Most of the people who gathered around him took advantage of ‘innocence’ and deserted him.
In the evening of Sunday his body was being readied for burial at Masjid-e-Joodi, King Kothi, where his grandfather Osman Ali Khan has his mazaar.
Prince Muffakham Jah, Prince Azmet Jah, the titular head of the Nizam family, and his mother Princess Esra sent their deep condolences to the relatives and friends of Shahamat Jah. Himayat Ali Mirza, his nephew, who was taking care of the deceased took him to a hospital in Banjara Hills where he breathed his last.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> Hyderabad / by Mir Ayoob Ali Khan / July 30th, 2023
Long thought to be simple fare, Kokni Muslim cuisine’s unique flavours and aromas are slowly wafting out of the confines of home kitchens.
When you think of Muslim cuisine, what do you think of? Hyderabadi dum biryani, Lucknowi galouti kebab on a warqi paratha, or the lavish Bohri thaal? Dishes such as yakhni gosht (dry mutton), machli cha halduni (fish gravy), dum che Bombil (Bombay Duck made in the dum technique) are not the ones that readily come to mind as most of us are unfamiliar with the cuisine of the Kokni Muslim community.
What has kept this cuisine away from public knowledge is that it cannot be found at just about any restaurant and can be sampled only at home-dining experiences or pop-ups, that too only over the past couple of years.
One such is Ammeez Kitchen, a home-dining service on weekends at Marol, Mumbai, founded by Shabana Salauddin in 2017. “Ammeez Kitchen happened over a conversation with my mother, Ammee, while having our meal,” she recalls. “The discussion hovered around why Kokni Muslim food, which is so delectable, is unknown compared to other regional cuisines? Ammee dismissed the idea, saying our food is just ‘ghar ka khaana [simple home food]’. This strengthened my resolve, as I felt this was exactly what I wanted to showcase.”
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Kokni Muslims are a sub-ethnic group from the Konkan region, including the areas of Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. About 1,000 years ago, trade between the Indian sub-continent and West Asia saw Arab merchants coming to this region—to ports such as Chaul, near Alibaug—and, over centuries, settling along the coast, marrying into the local communities and giving rise to the Kokni Muslim community of seafarers. The Arabs brought along with them the knowledge of food such as yakhni or mutton dishes, and spices such as fennel. Besides, owing to their location, seafood became an integral part of their cuisine along with local, Maharashtrian influences.
Nujmoonnisa Parker, author of Kokni Delights (a book of recipes and history of the community) and an exponent of Kokni Muslim cuisine, explains, “The backbone of Kokni Muslim cuisine has always been what is harvested from the ground, i.e. local produce. Like the cuisine of the Goud Saraswats of Konkan and Christians in Goa, Kokni Muslim cuisine is largely dairy-free, and, in this respect, differs from the Mughlai cuisine. There are various permutations of any given recipe, based on the region, availability of ingredients and seasonality. Coconut, rice, lentils, onions, potatoes and red chilies are the main ingredients of this cuisine.”
Although a myriad spices and ingredients go into each dish, according to Shahida Khan, a Kokni Muslim from Navi Mumbai, the food is light on the stomach. “Kokum, dry mango, black sesame seeds, coconut, red chilies, turmeric—all grown in the region—are used in our cuisine. Rice, which is also common, is used in whole or powdered form in almost every dish.”
Elaborate meals are the cornerstone of this cuisine. Popular dishes include machli cha halduni, chavachi chutney (coconut chutney that is eaten as a main dish), chawrachi roti (boiled rice flour chapati), kavtacho bojar (stuffed egg), kolbi chi chutney (dried prawns chutney), alni paalni (chicken soup without salt).
“Kokni Muslim food is always a complete meal. We have roti, chawal (rice), sabzi (vegetables), saalan (gravy), kebab or talela, and tondilavayla (condiments). Many a time, the number of condiments exceeds the number of main courses, and typically include hari chutney (green chutney), sirke ka achaar (onions pickled in vinegar), kalkhand, kuldey (rice papad), thecha (chilli chutney), raita or kachumber,” says Salauddin.
The cuisine has similarities with other Konkan cuisines and yet remains distinct. Mumbai-based home chef-turned-entrepreneur Mumtaz Kazi Pawaskar, who hails from the fishing village of Harnai in Ratnagiri and runs a catering business along with her cousin Sameera Gawandi, elaborates: “We call ourselves Kokni and not Konkani. The use of coconut milk as in other Konkan cuisines is common. But we use it instead of water to make curries, and this is one such distinction of Kokni food. So much so, that coconut milk is even used to cook rice, which gives it a glaze and extra flavour.”
Pawaskar adds that the cuisine has three broad spice combinations: Fish masala, mutton masala, and haldi (a combination of turmeric and fennel ground together). Fennel, a key ingredient of Kokni cuisine, is an example of the Arab influences. “Isan is the process of adding a few prawns to some vegetable preparations like stuffed brinjals, a yellow curry with drumsticks, and yam in garam masala for extra flavour,” she explains. “In our village, during summer, all household courtyards have whole red chillies drying in the sun, while households make and store spice mixtures for the whole year.”
Each meal has some special dishes. “Ghavne and sandan are breakfast dishes made with rice flour and a bit of jaggery. While ghavne [delicate crepes] is made on a tawa with pure ghee, sandan [similar to the Goan sanna] is steamed and is lighter in texture,” Khan explains. “Ghario, on the other hand, is an evening snack made with shredded cucumber, jaggery and rice flour, deep fried and typically served with Sulaimani chai.”
Cooking methods and ingredients vary from village to village, according to Salauddin. “Every family has their own version of the recipe. Most of the Kokni families have at least one clay pot or degh in which machli ki halduni and kalsani ka saalan (fish gravy) are prepared. The wet spice mixture—coriander, chillies and garlic—is always freshly ground. There are two extremes in our cooking: An entire meal can be fixed in 30 to 45 minutes, while others that include sandan (like idlis, made of coarse rice, coconut, milk, sugar and steamed), roath (semolina-based cake), khichda (slow-cooked meat and lentils), sarole or saravale (wheat pasta), bhakorche (like rotis), and ukdi ke kanole (rice dumplings) are laborious.”
Desserts occupy an important place in this cuisine. Pelve are rice flour crepes stuffed with grated coconut and jaggery and garnished with chironji, a variety of nut. Poppy seeds are used abundantly to garnish sweet dishes like mitli (made of rice flour and coconut), peyushi (coconut milk and cashew pudding), duderi (flour and egg pudding), chonge (sweet puris) and seviya (vermicelli in milk).
Although Kokni Muslims have traditionally cooked and enjoyed their own cuisine at home, Parker feels that in the last few decades the community has learnt to incorporate various styles of cooking into their kitchens.
Saravle, a pasta made from wheat dough moulded into tiny rings, is a favourite in this cuisine. It plays a significant role in weddings as it is part of a bride’s ‘rukhwat’ (gifts) when she leaves her parents’ home. It is cooked as a savoury dish with mutton or chicken, or as a sweet when steamed and topped with eggs.
Salauddin says, “Ukdi ke kanole, small half moon-shaped rice dumplings stuffed with freshly grated coconut, sugar and nuts, are prepared on the wedding day. These piping hot dumplings are bought in a big plate and placed in front of the couple. The groom is expected to pick up the maximum number of dumplings and gift them to the bride. The belief is that the larger the number of dumplings he picks, the more likely he is to take care of his wife.”
Religious occasions, too, call for special dishes being prepared at home. “Women prepare sandan on Ramadan Eid, and roath and malido in the first week of Muharram,” says Parker.
Until recently, Kokni Muslim food had remained restricted to homes and was not considered to be a cuisine that could be popularised beyond the community. However, many women are now making an effort to help more people become aware of their rich culinary heritage through pop-ups and curated home-dining experiences.
Since 2017, Pawaskar and Gawandi have been delivering food from their home under the name of Kokni Dastarkhwan, and have joined hands with Authentic Cook, an organisation that offers unique culinary experiences hosted by home chefs. For instance, in 2019, Neel, a popular Mughlai and North Indian cuisine restaurant with branches in Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi and Powai held a Kokni Muslim cuisine pop-up with Pawaskar and Gawandi.
Salauddin’s Ammeez Kitchen offers home dining experiences on weekends, where customers can reserve their seats in advance, and also delivers Kokni Muslim fare to the homes of customers. “Most Kokni Muslims now live in nuclear families, and with the busy lives we lead we all prefer to have quick-fix meals rather than our own cuisine, which can be quite elaborate. Families have either stopped making these dishes, or are unaware of old recipes made by our grandparents,” laments Salauddin. “This is why the transfer of knowledge from one generation to another is at a standstill. While we Koknis love our food, we have always undervalued it. It is confined within the walls of our kitchens. It is now time to let the world know.”
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(This story appears in the 14 February, 2020 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
source: http://www.forbesindia.com / Forbes India / Home> Life> Forbes Life / by Mini Ribeiro / February 08th, 2020
A two-day international seminar was organised by the department of Urdu, Aligarh Muslim University here at AMU on Saturday and Sunday to mark the 300th birth anniversary of renowned Urdu poet, Mir Taqi Mir.
Presiding over the event, AMU vice chancellor Prof Muhammad Gulrez said that Mir Taqi Mir portrayed in his poetry a wide array of human emotions and feelings and his poetic thoughts are still considered valuable for serious studies in Urdu poetics.
Citing a number of Mir’s popular couplets, he said that the importance of Mir can be gauged from the fact that his poetry is popular even today, after a passage of three hundred years.
“Mir’s poetry helps common people express their feelings effectively and his love imbued Ghazals masterfully reflect the agonies and pleasures of lovers,” said Prof Gulrez, adding that research scholars should work to bring out the deeper nuances of Mir’s poetry.
Delivering the keynote address, Prof Sharif Hussain Qasmi, former chairman, department of Persian, AMU said that Mir’s poetry opens a wide range of possibilities to study the human emotions. He said Mir generously used Persian vocabulary giving currency to many Persian words in Urdu.
Calling Shamsur Rahman Farooqi’s book Sher-e-Shor Angez a milestone in the study of Mir, he discussed Mir’s Persian poetry with wider connotations. He said Mir has a unique position among Urdu poets because of the simplicity of his style and expression.
The chief guest and noted Persian scholar, Prof Azarmi Dukht Safavi said that Mir Taqi Mir’s thoughts and ideas are not limited to his era but are relevant for all times. She pointed out that for deeper understanding of Mir’s poetry, knowledge of Persian is necessary and Urdu scholars need to pay special attention to it to access Mir’s poetics. She further said that Mir’s couplets betray beauty and sadness that are essential attributes of life according to Mir.
Prof. Safavi highlighted the diversity, simplicity and meaningful dimensions of Kalaam-e-Mir and also discussed the salient features of his prose. Citing examples from the books, Zikr-e-Mir, Faiz-e-Mir and Nikat-us-Shora, Prof Safavi said that these books are the best example of his prose writing.
Prof Arif Nazir, dean, faculty of arts said that Mir’s poetry is popular because of its linguistic richness. He cited several couplets of Mir and stressed the need for the translation of Mir’s poetry into Hindi and other languages of India.
Earlier, welcoming the guests, Prof Mohammad Ali Jauhar, chairman, department of Urdu introduced Prof. Sharif Hussain Qasmi and Prof Azarmi Dukht Safavi, and highlighted the objectives of the seminar.
Dr Sarwar Sajid, convener of the seminar, conducted the programme, while Prof Qamrul Huda Faridi proposed vote of thanks.
Jaheedan Khatoon, a MA final year student, presented Mir’s popular Ghazal “Dikhai Diye Yun Ke Bekhud Kiya” in her mesmerizing voice.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities> Others / by HT Correspondent, Aligarh / July 23rd, 2023
While the response to the film in Kerala and neighbouring Tamil Nadu has been tepid, it seems to have opened the floodgates of abusive comments, both for and against.
Academy award-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty and cartoonist E.P. Unny have inspired many tweets highlighting communal harmony in their home state of Kerala, contrasting with the hate being spewed on social media following the release of The Kerala Story.
While the response to the film in Kerala and neighbouring Tamil Nadu has been tepid, it seems to have opened the floodgates of abusive comments, both for and against.
Against this background, Unny, chief political cartoonist at The Indian Express newspaper, has tweeted one of his old sketches that depicted a temple, mosque and a church that stand side by side at Palayam in Thiruvananthapuram as an exemplar of communal amity.
By Sunday evening, Unny’s tweet, dated May 5 and posted under the hashtag #KeralaStory, had been viewed by 2.97 lakh people, shared by 561 and drawn comments from 223.
Pookutty too, on May 5, exhorted people to share stories that would fit two hashtags he had created: “Guys if you have your own story of #brotherhoodinKerala share it here under the #MyKeralaStory.”
Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor shared Unny’s tweet and commented: “Proud to represent Thiruvananthapuram constituency. The Palayam example is one I often cite in my speeches. Beautifully drawn by @unnycartoonist.”
The image Unny tweeted was drawn in 2000 for his travel book Spices & Souls, commissioned by DC Books and published in 2001.
“I was not reacting to the film at all because I have not seen the film. If I had seen the film, I might have done a cartoon on it,” Unny told The Telegraph on Sunday.
Unny had already, before the controversy over The Kerala Story broke, been planning to tweet the screen grab of the sketch to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Palayam church.
“I had a screen grab of this image and thought I would tweet it at some point since I had read sometime in March that this was the 150th year of the Palayam church,” he said.
“This in itself is remarkable with a temple, a church and a mosque adjoining each other in the Thiruvananthapuram landscape.”
Soon after, a storm began brewing over The Kerala Story, which controversially suggests that Malayali women are being lured into conversion and radicalisation by the Islamic State.
“That was when discussions started about this film and highly polarising comments were made around it. That was why I tagged #KeralaStory while tweeting it (the sketch),” he said.
“What I was responding to was the noise made around this film by people, many of whom had not seen it,” Unny said.
Pookutty’s tweet found immediate acceptance, with Carnatic vocalist and activist T.M. Krishna tweeting: “Singing in innumerable temples across the length and breadth of Kerala for over two decades and always having people who belong to diverse faiths sharing in the music. People from whom I learnt a lot! Will be singing Guru in Kollam tomorrow.”
“Guru” is a reference to social reformer Sree Narayana Guru, whose verses Krishna has been singing for several years.
Pookutty’s hashtag #MyKeralaStory has led to several stories about communal amity in Kerala being shared.
Shanmugavel Shankaran, a netizen, tweeted a picture of a Muslim couple who had married off their adopted Hindu daughter to a Hindu man at Kanhangad in Kasargod district.
P. Abdullah and his wife Khadeeja had adopted Rajeshwari after she was orphaned at the age of seven. The couple educated the girl and brought her up as a Hindu.
A man named Zafri tweeted: “Rightly said, Resul. There are so many stories of love to share. Recently attended the Nikah ceremony of my sister in Trivandrum. Our stay, our commuting as well as the marriage reception arrangements taken care of by the groom’s non-Muslim friends. #MyKeralaStory.”
Many tweeted a video clip of a Hindu wedding at a mosque that was recently shared by Academy award-winning composer A.R. Rahman. The video is about how the Cheruvally Muslim Jamaal Mosque in Kayamkulam, Alappuzha district, held a wedding for Anju and Sharath Sasi on January 19, 2020.
The event happened after the bride’s mother, a widow, sought help from the mosque committee for her daughter’s marriage. The committee fully sponsored the Hindu wedding, held on the premises of the mosque.
A man named Raj P. tweeted: “I looked after a child with a severe illness on a ventilator. The family couldn’t meet the expenses. Their church raised some money to help them. The neighbourhood mosque committee heard about this, collected funds from Muslim families, and helped the child. #mykeralastory.”
Many stories have been shared also about how Malayalis had cut across religious communities to help one another during the devastating floods of 2018.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> India / by K.M. Rakesh, Bangalore / May 08th, 2023
Today, Google Doodle commemorates the birthday of Zarina Hashmi, an influential Indian American artist who would have turned 86 today.
The doodle, designed by guest illustrator Tara Anand from New York, pays homage to Hashmi’s artistic style by incorporating her signature geometric and minimalist abstract shapes.
source: http://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / Home> English Edition> Business News> Magazine> Panache / by ET Online / July 16th, 2023
“I used to write criticism of every book or article which I believed needed to be countered. Apart from these, I had written fiction, non-fiction, satires, and novels. Unfortunately, I could not publish any of these works because my Father-in-Law (May Allah Bless him with Paradise) was old-fashioned. In his opinion, good women did not write or engage with the public. Still, I got a few of my articles published in magazines under a pseudonym.”
These are the words of a Muslim woman writer from Patna who lived about a century ago. She was Nisar Kubra, one of the first women Urdu poets from Bihar to get published. She had written at least 50 books that were never published. In fact her works got destroyed by natural calamities. Her first notebook with her poems was torn by her elder brother, who questioned her daring act of being like Sauda (a famous Urdu classical poet). The poems were lost.
Probably, looking back, one could have reconciled to her plight had she been from a less-educated or backward family. Kubra’s mother Rashid un Nisa was the first woman author to publish a novel in Urdu. She had also established one of the first girls’ schools in Patna. Her father-in-law was Syed Ali Karim, who took part in the 1857 revolt and was a well-known scholar of his time. Kubra’s family and her in-laws belonged to Patna’s intellectual class.
In her memoirs, Kubra wrote that in the early 20th century “women’s education was considered to be evil, and teaching them the art of writing was no less than a grave sin”.
Muslim women are taught to read the Quran but without understanding it. They weren’t taught to read or write Urdu, Hindi, or English. She was no different. The female tutor hired for her didn’t know anything but the Quran, without understanding its meaning.
Kubra would have ended up like other girls of those times, uneducated but for her passion for reading and writing. She imitated alphabets on waste papers with the help of a piece of straw dipped in colour. One day her mother, who was an advocate of women’s education but couldn’t do much against the wishes of male members to help her daughter, saw Kubra trying to write. She was moved. She immediately gave her pen, ink, and paper. A tutor was hired for her. A female tutor who herself didn’t know much about writing could teach only the basics. But, this was enough for Kubra. She started practising.
Kubra learnt Arabic by comparing Arabic with Urdu translations; English from male family members’ books and Hindi from a Hindu maid at home. She would read any scrap. She followed her mother’s advice that girls should be exposed to both good and bad literature. Their minds should be developed in a fashion that they could distinguish between good and evil.
Kubra and her niece, Asghari, started writing poems. Once, when the Urdu poet Shad Azimabadi was shown her poems, he appreciated those and said that she should have been sent to a formal educational institution. Professor Syed Abdul Ghafur also appreciated her writings but Kubra’s elder brother did not endorse a woman from the family writing poetry. He tore down her notebook of poems. Kubra recalled, “This humiliation killed my passion for poetry and I would not write another poem for years to come”.
Kubra felt independent only in 1934, after the death of her father-in-law. Her children had grown up by then and she was on a pilgrimage to Arab. She got her poems published and called it Khayalat e Kubra (Kubra’s thoughts).
Kubra’s poems written before 1934 were lost because she also feared the rage of male members of her family if she discloses her passion.
Kubra wrote on religion, women’s rights, political movements, social movements, freedom struggle, Hindu-Muslim unity, and education.
In one of her poems on Hindu-Muslim unity, she wrote, “Suno aey Hindostaan waalo tum aey Hindu Musalmaano, Tumhi aapas ke kul jhagdo ko bekhatke mita sakte” (Listen my Indian people divided into Hindus and Muslims only you can solve these internal communal feuds).
Kubra also wrote about the need for education among women. She welcomed the freedom of women with a caution that Indians should not get carried away with western ideas. Kubra was satisfied. She wrote, “Now the times are changing. Women are attaining freedom, rather they have gained freedom. Old traditions are now past. We have no dearth of teachers for girls. Girls’ schools are being opened. Muslim women should also move forward with women of other communities to educate themselves. They should not lag.”
source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Story / by Saquib Salim / July 21st, 2023
The mini Taj Mahal constructed at a cost of Rs 5 crore at Tiruvarur in Tamil Nadu which is the hometown of the businessman is drawing crowds from across the state.
Chennai:
In a unique love for his mother, a Chennai-based businessman has constructed a mini Taj Mahal in memory of his mother.
The mini Taj Mahal constructed at a cost of Rs 5 crore at Tiruvarur in Tamil Nadu which is the hometown of the businessman is drawing crowds from across the state.
Family History
Amrudeen Sheik Dawood Sahib is a hardware businessman in Chennai and the only male member among the five siblings. His father Abdul Kader Sheik Dawood was a businessman in Chennai and dealt with leather goods.
However, Abdul Kader Sheik passed away while his children were very young. His wife, Jailani Beevi was a person who did not give up easily and struggled hard to run the business and to bring up the five children, including four girls. All the children grew up and after the four sisters were married off, Amrudeen Sheik also got married.
In 2020 Jailani Beevi passed away, which was a major shock to Amarudeen, as he was the one who had helped his mother from a very tender age in the shop and was always moving around with her. She passed away on a new moon day and Amarudeen decided to feast 1,000 people on every new moon day with biryani.
However, Amarudeen thought that this was not enough and later came across the idea of constructing a mini Taj Mahal for his mother. He bought one acre land at his ancestral village, Ammayiappan, and with the support of a builder friend started constructing the monument.
What’s inside this Taj Mahal?
He bought marble from Rajasthan and made pathways and walkways around the monument just like in the Taj Mahal at Agra and on June 2, the monument was opened to the public.
It has meditation centres where people of all faiths can meditate and a madrasa where 10 students are presently staying.
Amarudeen, however, did not give publicity to the Taj Mahal of the South and people came to know of this through word of mouth.
source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> Life & Style / by IANS / June 11th, 2023
‘Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar’, initiated in 2011 to promote language and literature, has served as an inspiration in the lives of youth in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the rise of their interest in the Kashmiri language.
Sahitya Akademi New Delhi had started this award in 24 languages. Nine writers have received this award for the Kashmiri languages so far, according to a report.
The latest in the list is a Srinagar-based young writer Shaista Khan who won the award for her fictional collection “Brand Birs Peeth” in 2022.
“It has been observed that due to this award, other novice writers are also getting inspiration and they are getting interested in Kashmiri language and literature,” the report said.
According to the report, the previous recipients of this award in the field of fiction, poetry, and criticism in the Kashmiri language include Nishad Azam, Farooq Shaheen, Adil Mohiuddin, Nighat Sahiba, Diba Nazir, Sagar Nazir, Muzaffar Ahmad Pare, and Razi Tahir Baghat.
A young writer, Nisar Azam, was the first one to receive this award in 2011 for his poetry collection ‘Pathalej Zone Dars’.
Farooq Shaheen was awarded this award in the year 2012 for his literary criticism book “Gash Miller”. Adil Mohiuddin received this award for criticism in his book “Zol Dith Sardars” in 2016. Nighat Sahiba was awarded the Yuva Praskar in 2015 for her poetry collection “Zardpankh Dear” while Diba Nazir won the award for her fictional collection “Zarin Zhom” in 2018.
Sagar Nazir won the award for his poetry collection “Thar Anganch”. Awarded in 2019 for Uva Proscar while the 2020 Yuva Proscar was won by Muzaffar Ahmed Pray for his poetry collection “Wauch Baath” and the 2021 Uva Proscar recipient in the Kashmiri language is Razi Tahir Bhagat who received this honour for his fictional collection “Yela”. Awarded for “Ain Phath”, the report said.
A certificate of Rs 50,000 is given to writers up to 35 years of age in a grand ceremony.
“This is a welcome step by the Sahitya Akademi to encourage young writers. It gives more inspiration to the writers and encourages them to produce quality literature,” the report quoted researcher Mohammad Salim Salik as saying. (ANI)
This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
source: http://www.theprint.in / The Print / Home> India / by ANI / January 01st, 2023
Budding Photographer Mohsin Javed’s Photographs were selected for the France Exhibition, which will be held in Paris from 4 to 13th July 2023.
According to a release by the organizer of the exhibition, 24HourProject, Photographs of 120 photographers will be on exhibition at La Maison Hall.
24-hour Project is a climate action supporting NGO. The income earned through the selling of Photographs will be used for environmental causes.
Mohsin Javed told that his three photographs will be on display at the exhibition. These photographs document many faces of Delhi.
Mohsin Javed’s Photographs were also exhibited at Kirkkonummi, Finland from 13-29 August 2021 and at Hong Kong Exhibition from 3rd December 2022 to 3rd January 2023. AT Hong Kong exhibition introducing Mohsin’s Photograph World famous Photographer P H Yang described it as ” a very exceptional Picture.”
Mohsin, who has a Diploma in Electrical Engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia, realized his passion for photography when he was in class 8 and took it seriously after class 10.
His picture of Humayun’s Tomb was selected for the International Photo contest “Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads” organized by UNESCO’s Silk Road Project 2019. The international selection committee chose his picture as one of the best 60 pictures among 6625 entries.
UNESCO in a letter of appreciation to Mohsin described that his picture was selected by “taking into consideration its quality, creativity, and diversity.” This picture was later published in a coffee book by UNESCO.
Mohsin Javed’s pictures have been widely carried by many national and international agencies and publications including international photo agency Getty Images, Germany’s Public International Broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) website, and various magazines in India. He is also contributing to the International news photo agency, Pacific Press Agency (PPA), Philippines.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Indian Muslim> Positive Story / by Muslim Mirror Network / July 01st, 2023
Traders from the Middle East introduced the beverage to the Mughal empire but the British made tea the subcontinent’s preferred drink.
The sun sets behind regal yet dilapidated Mughal mansions and the magnificent dome of the Jama Masjid as the call for the evening prayer fills the auburn sky in Old Delhi.
Chandni Chowk’s bustling streets reverberate with the sound of honking cycle rickshaws navigating the serpentine lanes.
The sunset marks the beginning of business hours in the neighbourhood, which emerged during Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s rule; a pocket within the once spectacular walled city of Shahjahanabad, founded in 1648.
Immersed in the soundscape, one’s senses are drawn to the aroma of food being prepared, complemented by the unmistakable scent of masala chai – the Indianversion of spiced tea.
Tea stalls, resembling busy beehives, draw Delhiites patiently waiting for their daily dose of evening tea – some having travelled from the far ends of the city to satisfy their craving.
Tea is without a doubt a national obsession in India. However, the incredible popularity of the drink in the subcontinent is less than two centuries old and only came about as a result of British rule in the region.
It may come as a surprise, but before the arrival of the British, it was coffee that Indians preferred.
Sufis and merchants
Coffee was brought over from the Horn of Africa to Yemenat some point in the 15th century and later spread north into the Near East and then to Europe by the 16th century.
The beverage also spread eastwards, and India’s Mughal elite was quick to adopt it as their beverage of choice.
While the Mughal Emperor Jahangir had a penchant for wine – preferring the Shiraz variety – both Hindu and Muslim nobility in his court freely indulged in coffee.
Edward Terry, a chaplain with the English embassy at Jahangir’s court, mentions that members of the court were captivated by the then-novel qualities of coffee, believing it could “invigorate the spirits, aid digestion, and purify the blood”.
The coffee bean was brought to the subcontinent by Arab and Turkic traders who had strong trade ties with the Mughal Empire.
They not only brought coffee, but also other items, including silk, tobacco, cotton, spices, gemstones, and more from the Middle East, Central Asia, Persia, and Turkey.
Such goods would reach the farthest corners of India, including the easternmost region of Bengal. By the time Jahangir’s son, Shah Jahan, ascended to the throne (1628-1658), interest in coffee had spread across society.
Coffee was considered a healthy drink, an indicator of social mobility, and an integral part of Delhi’s elite social life.
Like Terry, another contemporary European visitor, the German adventurer Johan Albrecht de Mandelslo, wroteabout his travels in the east through Persia and Indian cities, such as Surat, Ahmedabad, Agra, and Lahore in a memoir titled The Voyages and Travels of J Albert de Mandelslo.
In 1638, Mandelslo describes kahwa (coffee) being drunk to counter the heat and keep oneself cool.
In his workTravels in The Mogul Empire (1656-1668), Francois Bernier, a French physician, also refers to the large amount of coffee imported from Turkey.
Besides its use in social settings and supposed effects to ward off heat, the drink also had a religious purpose for the subcontinent’s ascetics.
Like their brethren in the Middle East and Central Asia, India’s Sufis consumed coffee before their night-long reverential rituals known as dhikr (the remembrance of God).
Legend has it that a revered Sufi saint named Baba Budhan carried back seven coffee beans in the folds of his robe on his way back from Mecca in 1670, planting the seeds for Indian-origin coffee cultivation in a place called Chikmagalur.
While this story may or may not be true, today the Baba Budhangiri hill and mountain range in the Indian state of Karnataka bears his name and remains a significant centre for coffee production, as well as housing a shrine dedicated to the Sufi saint.
In another variation of the legend, shared by the government’s Indian Coffee Board, the Sufi saint travels to Mochain Yemen and manages to smuggle out the beans discreetly despite strict laws on their export.
Culture of consumption
From the 16th century onwards, India became host to a cafe culture influenced by the one emerging in the Islamic empires to the west, particularly cities such as Damascus, Aleppo, Cairo, and Istanbul.
The nascent coffee culture found expression in Shahjahanabad’s own “qahwakhanas”, or coffee houses.
In her essay Spilling the Beans: The Islamic History of Coffee, food historian Neha Vermani describes the coffee served at the Arab Serai, which was “famous for preparing sticky sweet coffee”.
The Serai, which was commissioned in 1560 by Hamida Banu, the wife of Mughal Emperor Humayun, still stands today as part of a Unesco heritage site ; the wider complex of Humayun’s tomb.
Historians say it was used as an inn by Arab religious scholars who accompanied the royal on her pilgrimage to Mecca and that it was also used to house craftsmen from the Middle East who were working for the Mughals.
Historian Stephen Blake in his 1991 workShahjhanabad: The Sovereign City in Mughal India 1639-1739 describes coffee houses as places where poets, storytellers, orators, and those “invigorated by their spirits” congregated.
Blake described how vibrant these coffee houses were, their milieu of poetry recitals, storytelling and debates, long hours of playing board games, and how these activities impacted the cultural life of the walled city.
Coffee houses of Shahjhanabad, like those of Isfahan and Istanbul, accelerated the rise of a culture of consumption and a thriving food culture, with residents frequenting snack sellers offering savouries, naanwais baking bread, and halwais specialising in confectionery.
This is a legacy that continues to be felt in Old Delhi’s Shahjahanabad area to this day.
While Blake’s descriptions paint a picture, there are no extant visual depictions of the interiors of these establishments, and unlike their Ottoman or Safavid counterparts, there are no miniatures or Orientalist artworks depicting what they would have looked like.
Rembrandt depictedMughal men drinking something very closely resembling coffee but the Dutch artist does not identify the contents of their cup, and never visited India. But his images were inspired by Mughal paintings brought over to the Netherlands by Dutch traders.
The man who swore by his Turkish coffee
Provincial courts sought to replicate the ambience of Shahjahanabad and embraced the cafe culture on offer there. Among them, none cherished coffee more than Alivardi Khan, the Nawab Nazim of Bengal.
Khan was of Arab and Turkman descent and ruled Bengal from 1740-1756. Known as a diligent ruler, coffee and food were the two biggest pleasures of his life.
Seir Mutaqherin or the Review of Modern Times, written by one of the prominent historians of the time, Syed Gholam Hussein Khan, offers a fascinating description of Alivardi Khan’s routine.
He writes: “He always rose two hours before daylight; and after having gone through evacuations and ablutions, he performed some devotions of supererogation and at daybreak, he said his prayers of divine precepts, and then drank coffee with choice friends.
“After that he amused himself with a full hour of conversation, hearing verses, reading poetry or listening to some pleasing story.”
This morning routine was followed by a bespoke Persian dish prepared by the nawab’s personal chef.
Khan’s portrayal presents Nawab as a man of fine taste, who valued the luxuries of courtly life as much as effective governance.
A connoisseur of exquisite food, witty conversations, and premium Turkish coffee, Khan went to great lengths to acquire the best coffee beans, importing them from the Ottoman Empire and bringing them all the way to Murshidabad, his capital.
He believed in nothing but the best for his court. Not only were his coffee beans imported, but his kitchen staff also hailed from places renowned for their culinary excellence, such as Persia, Turkey, and Central Asia.
The royal household employed a diverse range of professionals, including storytellers, painters, coffee makers, ice makers, and hakims (physicians).
Khan personally handpicked his baristas (qahwachi-bashi), who brought along their specialised coffee-making equipment.
The descriptions paint a vivid picture of courtly culture, a world of opulence, artistry, and a profound affinity with caffeine.
It is puzzling, therefore, to pinpoint exactly when Mughal coffee culture vanished from pre-colonial Bengal, but it likely lasted until at least 1757.
Siraj ud-Daulah, Khan’s grandson and successor, could not live up to his grandfather’s legacy, and faced with threats from the British, the courtly culture swiftly dissipated, along with Bengal’s fortunes.
When Bengal lost the decisive Battle of Plassey in 1757, the East India Company took control of the region, and slowly coffee vanished from public consumption and consciousness.
Tea farming takes over
The rise of the East India Company, which was the primary agent of British control in India, marked the end of the subcontinent’s dominant coffee culture.
Britain’s penchant for tea began in the late 17th century and China was its main supplier.
Lizzy Collingham writesin her book Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors that between 1811 and 1819 “70,426,244 pounds” out of a total of “72,168,541” pounds of imports from China were associated with the tea trade.
She remarks that Britain, therefore, had an “interest in finding an alternative source for tea”.
With its fertile soils and appropriate weather conditions, India was the perfect spot.
In February of 1834, then Governor General William Bentick appointed a committee to look into India’s potential as a place to set up the East India Company’s own tea production unit.
In the native Indian population, they found not only workers who would cultivate and harvest the leaves but also consumers of the beverage.
As coffee production became overshadowed by tea farming, Indian tastes also shifted to the latter.
Further consolidating the decline of Indian cafe culture was the British ban on Indians visiting coffee houses, which were barred to all but Europeans.
Nevertheless, reports of the death of coffee in India were premature.
Regardless of British influence on local culture, the subcontinent was not immune to global trends.
The Indian historian and author, AR Venkatachalapthy, writes in his 2006 book In Those Days There was No Coffee: Writings in Cultural History that there was no escaping the physical effects or symbolism of coffee in late 19th century British India.
“Drinking coffee, it appears, was no simple quotidian affair. Much like history, the nation-state, or even the novel, coffee too was the sign of the modern,” he writes.
Enthusiasm for coffee grew at the turn of the 20th century, and the same book quotes adverts for coffee in south India in the 1890s: “Coffee is the elixir that drives away weariness. Coffee gives vigour and energy.”
This energy and vigour were first reflected in the east, in the colonial city of Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) where the first Indian-run coffee shop, named Indian Coffee House, opened in 1876.
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Turning into a chain in the 1890s, by the first half of the new century the name Indian Coffee House would be adopted by a growing network of 400 coffee houses run by Indian workers’ cooperatives, with only Indian-origin coffee.
These were the people’s coffee houses where any Indian could walk in without being discriminated against on the basis of their race.
Today, the ambience of the Indian Coffee House reminds one of the inclusivity of coffee shops in historic Shahjhanabad.
The chain is one of many Indians can visit, with others including the Bengaluru-based Coffee Day Global, which now has more than 500 outlets in the country despite only opening its first in 1996.
Six years later Starbucks entered India’s voluminous urban market and the rules of the brew changed forever in the subcontinent.
source: http://www.middleeasteye.com / Middle East Eye / Home> Discover> Food & Drink / by Nilosree Biswas, New Delhi / June 05th, 2023