Suddenly, Bengal has become dotted with gateways — elaborate, ugly and expensive.
In Burdwan, Curzon Gate was built even earlier, in 1902, to celebrate the coronation of Maharaja Bijay Chand Mahatab. It was named Curzon Gate later when Lord Curzon paid a visit. Other examples abound — the Pathar Darwaja of Bishnupur Fort in Bankura district; the four gates that lead to the palace of Siraj-ud-Daulah in Murshidabad; Namak Haram Deorhi, so named for his fabled treachery, leading to the house of Mirzafar, also in Murshidabad; the gates leading to Fort William and so on. Recently, there was a proposal to build a gateway to Metiabruz in southwest Calcutta, to mark Little Lucknow, which was Wajid Ali Shah’s home when he was exiled.
Back to the present.
The enormous Biswa Bangla Gate in Calcutta’s New Town came up in 2019. It was designed in 2015 at the time of the launch of the beautification project for New Town. Then there are the Beleghata Gate, Nabanna Gate, Uttarpara Probesh Duar, Jalpaiguri Gate, Birbhum toron, Haldia Gate, West Midnapore toron, Digha Gate, Tarapith toron. The Biswa Bangla Gate cost Rs 25 crore, according to some estimates.
“What is the use of these gateways,” asks Minakshi Mukherjee, who is the state secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the CPI(M)’s youth wing. She continues, “There is one in Birbhum that lies on the way to Anubrata Mondal’s house in Bolpur’s Nichupatty area. A government tender of Rs 8 crore was sanctioned for this. There is another one in Midnapore, a few kilometres away from Suvendu Adhikari’s house. It was also built on a government tender of Rs 2 crore.”
Mukherjee has reason to be vociferous — the Left, after all, does not have a history of using gateways to make a power point.
“But in 2005 (during Left rule) a very fancy gate came up on Kona Expressway. The ornate gate with horses and elephants was built by the Unitech group,” says Joydeep Mukherjee, a Calcutta-based architect. He adds, “As an architect, I have always thought of gates as something that gives one a sense of reaching or destination. Gates, in modern times, have been used as a line of demarcation. And these recent additions appear to me to be really ornate gates sans any particular motive.”
It is unlikely, though, that so many torons would come up without fulfilling some expectation somewhere but there are no answers, only theories blowing in the wind.
Anindita Chakrabarti, who teaches urban sociology at IIT Kanpur, says, “The gates in ancient times had quite a different connotation. Fortification was important; security mattered. Rajasthan and Gujarat have walled cities. In Rajasthan, even the smallest village was known to have a toron. But the same was not true for Calcutta. The gateway is an Islamic import. It came from Central Asia — in Iran and Iraq, there are gates leading to religious buildings.”
Chakrabarti adds how the Kashmere Gate and Lahori Gate of Delhi’s Red Fort were thus named because one led to the road that goes to Kashmir and another led to Lahore. She says, “They were made with the purpose of the movement of the battalions.”
No matter what purpose they serve or where they draw inspiration from, gates in Bengal continue to mushroom. As you get off the bridge to Nabanna, there is a toron that has two ornate pillars and a football atop them. It appeared in 2021.
The Digha beautification project involved the construction of the Digha Welcome Gate. It was completed in 2014; about Rs 6.57 crores were spent. The Haldia Gate was built in 2017- 18. Another gate came up around the same time at the juncture of Kharagpur and Midnapore. It is decorated with photographs of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Shahid Khudiram. The one in Bishnupur has a huge “Om” carved in the middle.
“It is not a Calcutta-specific phenomenon if you ask me,” says Rezavi exasperatedly. “Right here, in Aligarh, where I stay, every now and then a gate is constructed. The purpose could be to welcome someone or to commemorate something.” He adds, “In the medieval era, they were a requirement. Gateways were constructed mostly in the western part of the country where the weather is hot and dry, and also in South India. The gates provided respite to people coming from the scorching heat. It was almost like entering heaven.”
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> Culture / by Moumita Chaudhuri / September 04th, 2022
Javed Khan Amrohi’s Chak De! India co-star Shilpa Shukla also posted a tribute.
A tribute to late actor Javed Khan Amrohi was posted on Aamir Khan’s Instagram handle on Wednesday. Javed Khan Amrohi, a familiar face from TV and film, died of lung failure in hospital on Tuesday; he was 73. In an Instagram post, Aamir Khan Productions wrote, “Javed Ji, You never failed to fill the room with joy and warmth. Your pure heart and positive energy will be dearly missed.” Aamir Khan is not personally on social media, having officially quit in 2021 and the accounts run by his production house post on his behalf.
Javed Khan Amrohi appeared in three films starring Aamir Khan, starting with Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke in which he had a small role. In Andaz Apna Apna, he played Anand Akela, one of Raveena Tandon’s many suitors who withdraws from the field to assist Amar and Prem, played by Aamir and Salman Khan. He was cast as Ram Singh in Lagaan, where he had a glorious moment of screen rebellion in which he quit the service of his British masters as the climactic cricket match was played.
See the post shared by Aamir Khan Productions here:
Javed Khan Amrohi’s Chak De! India co-star Shilpa Shukla also shared a tribute, writing: “Tell your friend that in his death, a part of you dies and goes with him. wherever he goes you also go. He will not be alone.” Team ke Sukhlal ji. With you Sir. Rest in peace.”
Javed Khan Amrohi started his career on stage and appeared in films like Satyam Shivam Sundaram and Noorie in the 70s.
He had prominent roles in TV shows like Nukkad, yeh Jo Hai Zindagi and Mirza Ghalib.
He was best-known for his work in TV and later film appearances like Andaz Apna Apna and Lagaan.
source: http://www.ndtv.com / NDTV / Home> Bollywood / by Gitanjali Roy / February 15th, 2023
Urdu Library in Malegaon turned 100 this year and the library, which has helped many Ph. Ds in their research work, is all set to get University affiliation for research work.
Exceptions are always there, but contrary to general perception, Malegaon, since its instigation, comprised literate and intellectual people by and large. And with two libraries sustaining 100-year, it only confirms this notion.
When it comes to any good library it is the book-collection, not the infrastructure, which is counted but a visit to Urdu Library in Malegaon depicts how beautiful combination of book-collection and infrastructure increases one’s thrust for library.
Founded in October 1903, this 100-year old Library-cum-Research Center, the first kutubkhana, Urdu Library, in Nashik district, is a magnificent two-storey building with separate sections for women and children. Started with just 325 books, it has more than 30,000 systematically arranged books today. Rarely available Kalmi–Nuskhe, hand-written books, and 1901-1950 magazines, are the gleaming-trinkets on the shelf, which any library can envy and aspire for.
How the management has maintained this library with a very small budget is surprising. Khalid Umar Siddiquee, the chairman, said, “Along with the existing splendid structure, the 100-year old visit-book portraying the details of the visiting-dignitaries and the expressions written by them, are enough to show what we have achieved in hundred years.” Although the library always lacked the funds, they persisted with the policy of extending full support for Research Work and free membership to the students up to SSC level, he added.
Reading under an ideal milieu always gives a clutching effect and Urdu Library is again on top to provide this. The ideal reading room, combined with the collection of systematically arranged rare books, transformed this library into wannabe-Ph. D’s paradise. Doctors after doctors have acknowledged the support they had received from the library in completing their thesis.
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“Despite small budget, Urdu Library extends full support for Research works and offers free membership to students up to SSC level.
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Dr. Ilyas Waseem Siddiquee, renowned laureate of the city observes, “Although I had visited several libraries in various cities, nowhere I found the kind of rare books that is available here in Urdu Library. To research and for doctorate on Literature, this is perhaps the only library in Maharashtra.”
When they received five-lakh grant from the state, it was, as if they have found some khazana for the library. With this money whole library was renovated in such a way that it is giving totally different look. The amount also helped in computerizing the library and implementing the bar-code system.
Mohd. Saeed, the librarian since past twenty-three years said, “The library is the first fully computerised library in Malegaon and the implementation of bar-code system has helped in easing the daily library routine.”
With the computersation, the library has started its course towards becoming first fully functional DIGITAL LIBRARY, the dream venture of the management, with many more projects to follow very soon.
source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home / by Aleem Faizee
The Pune rapper and producer hails the national spotlight from the reality show as a win for the Indian hip-hop community.
After four months in the Bigg Boss house, Pune rapper and producer MC Stan aka Altaf Tadavi Shaikh emerged as the winner of Season 16 of the reality show, taking home the trophy and a reported cash prize of ₹31.80 lakhs following public voting. With this, Stan is the first Indian rapper and musician to win the long-running reality show, which has generally been dominated by actors and film industry celebrities.
“The journey has been very powerful. I got a lot of experience,” Stan said in a post-win press conference in Mumbai. After actor and host Salman Khan held up Stan’s hand to judge him the winner, the first photos from his win came with the rapper holding the Bigg Boss horse trophy with Khan.
In an Instagram post celebrating the win, Stan wrote, “We created history, stayed real throughout, repped hip-hop on national T.V. Ammi ka Sapna poora hogaya [My mother’s dream came true]. Trophy P-town aagayi [The trophy has come to Pune].”
Seated amongst press in a black leather jacket, with all his chains and rings in place, Stan was reflecting where Indian hip-hop can reach in terms of public consciousness. “If you go to see, this is a win for a lot of people; the rap community — whoever’s here from the gullies and [those] areas — I don’t know honestly what people saw and liked in me, but I’m grateful for their love,” he said at one point.
Winning and surviving 133 days in the Bigg Boss house through public voting, Stan acknowledged the role that the public played in keeping him in the competition. He adds, “I saw a lot of housemates talk about how they want to win, but I didn’t think I could make that claim, because it’s not in my hands. Woh Hindustan ka haath mein tha [It was in India’s hands].”
By January, it was clear that MC Stan was a top contender to win Bigg Boss Season 16, owing to how he often kept his head down and just went with the flow, although he was occasionally involved in a few fights with other housemates. In addition to his in-house concert with hip-hop acts like Seedhe Maut and Ikka, MC Stan was at first adamant to get done and go home, but eventually stuck it out to win.
source:http://www.rollingstoneindia.com / Rolling Stone India / Home> HomeFlashbox> News & Updates / by Anurag Tagat / February 13th, 2023
With an intent to highlight the role of Islamic leaders in the pre-independence freedom struggle, a group of Muslim youths have decided to organise a function on the occasion of Republic Day, during which sacrifices of unsung heroes from their community would be highlighted.
Besides organising an elaborate programme after unfurling the Tricolour at the Dehliz Chowk on January 26, the enthusiasts will also install banners displaying portraits of more than 20 prominent Muslim freedom fighters at various locations.
The organisers say the gesture will motivate Muslim youths of the region to come forward and play active in nation building, irrespective of their political, social or religious allegiances.
Zeshan Haidar, the convener of the scheduled event, said youths from various Muslim organisations of the area had been roped in to work in tandem for restoring the lost glory of leaders from their community, who had made supreme sacrifices in struggle against the British Government and played a major role in getting freedom for the country.
“Unfortunately, successive governments have failed to recognise the contributions of Muslim leaders in the freedom struggle and a majority of Muslim freedom fighters and martyrs have remained unsung during functions held to celebrate national events such as Republic Day and Independence Day,” Zeshan Haidar said, adding that these names were also missing from history books.
The enthusiasts have shortlisted names of about 100 Muslim leaders of pre-Independence era and portraits of 20 from them will be displayed in the region.
Maulana Shah Abdul Qadir Ludhianvi (grandfather of Shahi Imam Punjab Maulana Usman Ludhianvi), Zakir Husain, Begum Hazrat Mehal, Maulvi Ahmadullah, Abadi Bano Begam, Ashfaqulla Khan and Husain Ahmed Madni were cited among more prominent Muslim freedom fighters whose portraits figure on the proposed banners.
source: http://www.tribuneindia.com / The Tribune / Home> Ludhiana / by the Correspondent, The Tribune / January 24th, 2023
Waris Shah’s 300th birth anniversary on January 23 may have gone unnoticed, but the Sufi poet’s magnum opus — a narrative of threatened love in a space governed by unbending socio-religious norms — still finds huge resonance. He remains, by far, the most important Punjabi qissakaar.
I FIRST heard the name literally in my infancy. In the semi-refugee colony where I grew up in Delhi, I recall faint invocations of this name, Waris Shah. It must have been in the late 1950s.
The streets of Naiwalan were now full of people who had been displaced from the multiple regions of Punjab during the Partition of 1947. They spoke different dialects and were not always comfortable conversing with people from other regions.
There were a few culturally uniting features though. For the young, the great unifier was the Indian film music and All India Radio. For the rest, there were the gurdwaras and the unbroken chain of Gurbani recitation, and singing on the one hand and the rare but energising jagrata gatherings on the other. The Muslim presence had nearly been wiped out from the cultural imagination of the Punjabis, who had been thrown into alien lands full of unfriendly sounds. However, the feminine work culture had retained an inherent link to a past. Early morning, my mother and foster grandmother would recite verses from Guru Granth Sahib under their breath even as they went about setting up the house for the day ahead. Most prominently, we would overhear Baba Farid being mentioned — from whom the Sufis had drawn much of their local identity. That was one side of the story. The other was Farid’s formidable presence within the field of language from where all Punjabis drew their ethical core. The very grain of their existence would wake up to his ‘dar derveshi’.
Outside of this religio-cultural space, there were two Muslim poets that, as children, we heard on almost a daily basis: Baba Bulleh Shah and Waris Shah, who could well have been near contemporaries, separated as they were by nearly 40 years of age difference. I wonder if the two ever met, especially as both shared a fiercely transgressive spirit.
Waris Shah’s 300th birth anniversary, which fell on January 23, went unnoticed on both sides of Punjab. That the State is past caring is a no-brainer, but how could the community of litterateurs forget the day?
Waris Shah was born in Jandiala Sher Khan of Sheikhupura (now in Pakistan Punjab) at a time when the Mughal empire was showing early signs of disintegration. There was, hence, an abounding atmosphere of increased repression and latent rebellion all around. Waris grew up as an orphan. He is said to have been a keen observer of the ordinary life — a fact to which his magnum opus bears testimony. He remains, by far, the most important qissakaar of our language and among the finest across the globe.
There were a few editions of Waris Shah in Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi in our library, which I was unfortunately not able to read as I went to a Hindi medium school. However, there was one particular passage from ‘Heer’ — “Doli charhdeyaan maariyaan Heer cheekan” (Ascending the palanquin, Heer cried out bitterly, complaining) — which was repeatedly played on the radio and which initially seemed to catch everyone’s attention. The singer happened to be the iconic Asa Singh Mastana, who was more than an acquaintance of my father and had visited us a few times in the 1960s. His arrival was always greeted with excitement. Those were the days when I heard Waris Shah being mentioned in almost axiomatic two-liners that the wise and elderly would often use to clinch an argument…
It was much later in life that I heard Mastana singing a passage from ‘Heer’, where this newly married rebel of a girl named Heer pours her heart’s pain out to her father before being put into the palanquin and ceremoniously sent away to her husband’s home. This singing seemed as much about forced exclusion as the pain and suffering the refugees had experienced as part of the exodus from their homeland from which they had not quite recovered.
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Kehi Heer di tareef kare shayar: Matthe chamakda husn maahtab da ji…
How does the poet praise Heer:
Her crown shimmers like the beauteous moon…
A Couplet from Heer
Begin by remembering the Cosmic Self
Who created the world in the image of love
He began first by Himself falling in love
The Prophet Nabi Rasool is His beloved
Opening Couplet from Heer
Aashiq, bhaur, faqeer te naag kaale/bhaajh mantron mool na keeliye ni
Lovers, bumblebees, faqirs and king cobras cannot be tamed without special spells
A Couplet from Heer
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The song was unlike any other I had heard as a child. The melody unfolded in a slow, languorous narration. It had a feel of haunting simplicity that encouraged many of us to try it out in the seclusion of our houses. However, things became a little complex when within the same slow rendition, there arose a sudden burst of fast, quivering, high notes around a single word, or even a lone vowel sound. It was like an unexpected gush of turbulence in the otherwise gently flowing waters. This melodic surge returned equally suddenly to its sedate narrative core, but by now the maelstrom of emotions that had been stirred moved the young and old to look deeply into what had hit them.
Women often cried as the poetic narration took off in musical notes. Men, too, were visibly moved even if they soon recovered their wits to make parodies of these verses to restore their somewhat damaged masculine ego back to health. Many years down the line, when I became a little known as a singer, the impassioned audiences would still persist with requests to sing Heer’s heartbreaking send-off, even if that passage had by then been declared as an unacceptable interpolation.
‘Heer Waris’ stood out as an emotive link to our erased folk memory. The poetic thread ran through an incredibly detailed landscape of a people’s life — their mornings, evenings and nights; their work cultures; their rites of passage; their undying bonds, desires and envies; their transgressions of the social, religious and gender codes; their masquerades. No other poet had been able to embark upon such a vast cultural map with a comparable poetic intensity and masterly conviction. Through his qissa, one could enter the playful piety of playful hamds (Odes to the Almighty) and manqabats (Odes to the Dervishes) of the Punjabi Sufis; the spaces of longing through the lived carnivals and heartbreaks of the ordinary lives; thus, the Punjabi qissakari tradition would come alive spontaneously and with unmistakable signs deep of yearning, despite the unexpunged ghosts of Partition. Thanks to Waris Shah, we were still the people that we once were… Heer-Ranjha’s tale of almost willed displacement in languorous pursuit of love, as against the forced exodus of the people, had its lasting lure. There was still hope for a creative resurgence of a community of people who had walked through the inferno of 1947 and lost the rhythmic beat of celebration and had fallen into a litany of pain…
I walked across the other part of Punjab primarily through how ‘Heer’ was rendered by a range of iconic singers and how it had been received by both the ordinary folks and the cognoscenti. The sheer experience of being exposed to such an incredible range of styles and diverse grain of voices was a heady experience. To begin with, I was introduced to Tufail Niazi Saab’s rendition by a non-Punjabi and my dearest friend, the late Safdar Hashmi. Tufail Saab is, in fact, the reason why I took to singing beyond the anonymity of my house. Listening to his singing, I understood why ‘Heer’ demanded a melodic narration without the support of percussions. Both he and Inayat Bhatti Saab would interrupt their singing with ready dialogic wit and commentary. I heard the distinct flavours of their dialects from Doab and Gujarat interacting with the poetic registers of Waris Shah’s Majhaili. This was quite unlike the ‘Heer’ I had heard in our part of Punjab. This also became a way of recovering a lost cultural selfhood that the unfortunate Partition had buried so insensitively. Through ‘Heer Waris’, I was able to significantly break down the uneasy gap that had created a tangible ‘other’.
Much later, when I was gifted an audio tape of ‘Heer Waris’ rendered by the matchless Sharif Ghaznavi by Ajoka Theatre’s Shahid Nadeem, I felt nearly ready to take the narration of ‘Heer Waris’ on to public platforms. It was the time in the late ’70s and the entire following decade when nothing was making sense anymore. The State and the ideologues of a particular persuasion were engaged in a fiery exchange. For me, the singing of ‘Heer’ by Waris and the Kaafis of Baba Bulleh Shah sublimated into cri de coeur and eventually an act of faith. The melody, its projection and its interpretations on stage were beginning to change, especially as the real stakes of existence were getting increasingly intractable and no longer easily resolvable. Waris’ text was coming out of a limited cultural interiority to now address larger anxieties all across. This was approximately the time when I heard Rabbi Shergill’s angry outpouring to the so-called neutral letter writer about his grievously wounded love. As Bob Dylan would have put it, ‘The times they are a-changin’…
— The writer is a composer, musician
source: http://www.tribuneindia.com / The Tribune / Home> Features / by Madan Gopal Singh / February 27th, 2022
Andaleeb Wajid is a Bangalore-based writer who attempts to authentically portray India’s Muslim diaspora through novels that focus on life, food, family and relationships.
Modestly dressed in a pretty headscarf and shalwar kameez, the Bangalore-based writer Andaleeb Wajid smiles as she talks about her short but successful writing career – she has published five books in six years, most of them featuring a Muslim setting and credibly representing the community in India.
Wajid, 36, says she has been writing since she was 10. Her first book, Kite Strings, was released in August 2009 followed by Blinkers Off (August 2011), My Brother’s Wedding (May 2013) and More Than Just Biryani (January 2014). No Time For Goodbyes, released in April this year, is her latest book and the first in the Tamanna Trilogy series, books on time travel targeted at young adults. The other two will be released in September and December this year.
How did you begin writing?
I have been writing stories since I was 10. When I was in Grade 12, I was left very confused about what I would do with my life. There weren’t many options for girls from orthodox Muslim families. Then it occurred to me to take up writing as a career. I was certain that no one would stop me.
Is there a reason why many of your books have been set in a Muslim milieu?
I’m quite amused with the way Muslims are depicted in Bollywood films and on television in India. My stories attempt to show a slice of Muslim life, which is no different from anyone else’s. I wrote More Than Just Biryani only because I strongly felt that the world has labelled us as just biryani-eaters and I wanted them to be aware of the diversity in Muslim cuisine. Kite Strings discusses the issues a young girl from an orthodox Lababin Muslim [a community from Tamil Nadu] family faces. But a large number of non-Muslim fans also reached out to me, saying how much they identified with the character, which proves that some things transcend religious boundaries.
More Than Just Biryani was conceived as a recipe book. What prompted you to turn it into fiction?
My brother and I had thought of writing a culinary memoir but the idea never took off because I realised early that I could never do justice to non-fiction. Instead I wrote about three women and the role food plays in their lives. Nearly every chapter of the book has a recipe, which is woven into the story.
Have you drawn upon your personal experiences to craft stories?
Yes. Like most writers, I started off writing about what I knew best. In Kite Strings, the protagonist Mehnaz is a rebel without a cause and behaves a lot like I did as a teenager. The story is set in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, where as a child I spent several holidays with my grandparents. In More Than Just Biryani, one of the protagonists loses her father. It was the most painful chapter I have ever written.
What else is in the pipeline?
I have one more young-adult novel in my kitty, about a girl whose mother has left the family. Then there’s another about a crochet teacher and the four women who learn this beautiful craft from her and end up baring their lives to her.
• Andaleeb Wajid’s books are available on Amazon
artslife@thenational.ae
source: http://www.thenationalnews.com / The National / Home / by Priti Salian / July 05th, 2014
Al Afadhil’s branches in Dubai and Sharjah are known for their spiced, slow-cooked kebabs.
When Syed Jafar Husain arrived in the UAE from India in the 1970s he longed for home.
Like countless others who came in search of a better life, he missed family and friends but there was also one other important ingredient missing — the food.
He longed for the spiced, slow-cooked kebabs and thick sweet lassi of his native Lucknow.
Mr Husain left his job in sales and opened a small restaurant named Al Afadhil dedicated to the traditional food of his home city.
He never hired a chef and made the food himself. Al Afadhil first opened on Dubai Creek in 1979 and moved several times before settling in its current location in Al Nahda, Sharjah in 1990.
Today, trucks from the adjacent industrial area rumble past the dark wooden doors, while the clank of weights drifts across from a nearby gym. On the side of the wall is a simple sign stating: “Lucknow Kabab”. Inside is a collection of small tables and booths. A simple menu, barely unchanged in decades, lists only seven recipes.
Mr Husain died in 2018 but his legacy is being carried on by his two sons, Mohammed, 30, and Mustafa, 27.
It has become renowned among generations from Lucknow and, to this day, has only a handful of items on the menu.
“My dad simply missed the traditional food of Lucknow,” said Mohammed. “In the early 1980s there just weren’t as many options.”
One of the specialities is “galouti kebab” that takes about 14 hours to prepare. The dish has its roots in the historic royal kitchens of Lucknow and consists of tenderised, soft lamb mixed with spices, slow-cooked and served with a tamarind chutney that is a family secret.
This dish costs just under Dh14. A thick sweet lassi that people dip their paratha into is also a favourite.
“Nothing can be changed in the recipe,” said Mohammed. The two brothers work seven days a week from 4am to the afternoon to ensure they respect their father’s legacy.
Customers who have left the UAE have also spread the name of the restaurant far and wide. They even catered a wedding in Bonn, Germany. “We have fans across the world,” said Mohammed. “They tell us our food has to be there when they have guests over.”
Al Afadhil (it loosely translates as “generous”) moved from its first location in Dubai to Sharjah’s Bank Street in the 1980s. Bank Street has since been restored to a heritage area known as the Heart of Sharjah but it was here where the restaurant made its name. Scores of workers in offices and banks there came in droves in search of a taste of home.
“Customers used to fight to get into the place,” said Mohammed, with a smile. “The majority of the crowd told dad to increase their prices and stop giving it for cheap but he said no. He never wanted to overcharge. To this day customers say the same. We say no.”
After Bank Street, it moved to Al Nahda. A second branch opened in Dubai’s Karama in 2014 which is now the most popular of the two.
The pandemic and rising costs hit the business, but now the brothers said it is back to about 60 per cent of what it was.
Today they employ more than 20 staff across two branches. People from the Lucknow community travel from across the UAE to eat there, while it also attracts celebrities from the cricket and entertainment world.
“My dad never thought of customers’ money,” said Mustafa. “He just wanted them to be happy.”
Mohammed said: “It is more than 40 years of legacy here. If we can improve and provide the same quality, then we will be following in our dad’s footsteps.”
source: http://www.thenationalnews.com / The National / Home> UAE / by John Dennehy / February 04th, 2023
A museum in Bhatkal is a treasure trove of Nawaiti culture and heritage.
Bhatkal (Uttara Kannada):
There stands a heritage building in Bhatkal. This 150-year-old edifice is home to a very unique museum. Within its halls is a trove of artefacts, which visitors want to touch and feel. But Ajaib Shabbir stands guard with his eyes roving around, warning people against doing so. “Do not touch anything! Just look at them,” he repeats every now and then, concerned about the safety of the property. In the museum is the collection of a community’s culture, that of the Nawaitis.
The old house — a unique Nawaiti museum — was opened by the Navayathi Mehfil. On entering, visitors are greeted by a replica of an old boat with a mast. On entering another room, there are old brass, porcelain, and other artefacts made of tin and iron. Just below the high-beam lamps, hang at least two dozen lanterns collected over a hundred years.
“These have been collected from various people in Bhatkal, who have preserved them like treasure. I requested them that these be displayed in a museum and they obliged. Many families like those of Damudi Abdulla and Saeed Shoupa, and others, donated their collections. A few even lent them,” says Shabbir, whose brainchild is this museum.
Pointing out to some of the lanterns, he says these were our means of lighting before the advent of electricity in Bhatkal, sometime in the 1960s. Then turning to a visitor, he describes a writing desk nearby, saying, “This would act as a writing desk and a jewellery box. It’s a 100-year-old design. You can hide your valuables and lock it, and then cover it with materials for writing to use as a desk.”
Moving on, there are areca cutters, hookahs, and coconut graters in designer brass, which look like they are from another era. Explains Shabbir: “The use of these tools in households stopped several decades ago… Maybe when I was a child. These are all very valuable.”
The porcelain products displayed at the museum are among his most valued possessions, and he reminisces how his forefathers collected them from various places. Lifting one of the exhibits, he says, “This plate is from Holland. It was in the possession of a family here.” He adds, “We have materials from Italy, Yemen, England and other European countries, contributed by various families. We are all proud of them,” he says.
Large copper pots, both carved and uncarved, pans, kettles and other products are displayed too. The latest exhibit to join the collection is about 50-years-old, while the oldest is at least 150 years. “We do not look at our exhibits as old articles. They are aimed at explaining how we lived in our past, and the place we came from. That’s why we placed a replica of the ship in which legendary historian Ibn Batuta came to Bhatkal. We consider him as our pioneer,” said businessman and philanthropist Jaan Abdul Rehman Motisham.
Replicas of several old mosques have also been highlighted in the museum. One of the mosques, said to be the second oldest in the country, has undergone several changes except to crucial parts inside, and in its dome.
“These are some replicas of old mosques, how they were in the days gone by,” he says, adding that this museum is a symbol of co-existence as both Muslim and Jain communities have been living in harmony here. Likewise, the Basti constructed by Chennabhaira Devi, the queen of Gerusoppa, is a living holy spot where the devout come and worship.
Preserving culture
The Navayathi Mehfil, which began the museum, came into existence 20 years ago, with an aim to preserve Nawaiti culture, language and social life. The language spoken by the community is a unique mix of Marathi, Urdu and Konkani.
Communal harmony
Nawaitis share a special bond with the Jain community, and both have coexisted in Bhatkal for centuries. According to studies, Nawaitis claim that they have a 1,400-year-old culture. Accordingly, they came with horses for trade and immediately liked Betkal (the name for ancient Bhatkal), the place where they landed. According to Ajaib Shabbir, their culture matches with Yemenis, Arabs and Jains. They consider Ibn Batuta, the great traveller who visited the court of the Vijayanagara Rayas, as their pioneer.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Subhash Chandra NS / Express News Service / February 05th, 2023
The inaugural ceremony of the Masjid Hajira Hassan and Sullia Community Centre is being organized by the Sullia Educational and Charitable Trust (SECT) on Sunday, February 12.
The Masjid and Community Centre will be inaugurated by Mohammed Yunus Hassan, entrepreneur, Al Khobar and trustee, Team B-Human, at 9.30 am on Sunday, SECT has said in a press release.
The inaugural will be held in the presence of T Arif Ali, general secretary, JIH; Maulana Shoaib Hussaini Nadwi, Khateeb, Kutchi Memon Masjid, Mangaluru; Muhammed Kunhi, Khateb, Masjidul Huda, Thokkottu; Hussain Kamil Saqafi, Khateeb, Juma Masjid, Shanti Nagar, Velam; Maulana Yahya Thangal Madani, Khateeb, Havva Juma Masjid, Bolangady; U T Khader, MLA, Mangalore Constituency, former Minister for Urban Development and Housing; Sri Angara S, MLA, Sullia Constituency and Minister of State for Fisheries; A K M Ashraf, Member of Kerala Assembly; B M Farooq, MLC, Karnataka; Zakariya Jokatte, CEO, Al Muzain Saudi Arabia and trustee, Hidaya Foundation; M Sharif Bolar, CEO, Whitestone Group, Saudi Arabia, and trustee, Team B-Human; Mr. Vinay Kumar Kundadka, president, Sullia Town Panchayat; and Mr. M B Sadashiva, state spokesperson, JDS Karnataka, said the Trust.
SECT has added that Riyaz Kattekar, Mrs. Sushila Channappa and Shareef (Kanti) members of Sullia Town Panchayat; Sheik Karnire, MD, Expertise Group, Saudi Arabia; Mansoor Azad, MD, Azad Group, and chairman, Hidayah Foundation; Riyaz Bava, Bava Group and vice-chairperson, Hidayah Foundation; H U Farooq Tarikere, former president of Tarikere Municipality; Inayath Ali Mulki, general secretary, KPCC; Shahul Hamid Ujire, Well Done Group, Saudi Arabia, and president, Al Khobar unit of Team-B Human; Hanif Golthamajal, Hajaj Group, and president of Mangaluru unit, Hidayah Foundation; Mohammed Basheer, Al Falak, Saudi Arabia, and president of Jubail unit, Team-B Human; Ibrahim, Baikampady; K Ahmed Bava, MD, Deals Group; Abdul Salam, CEO, Raqwani Group, Saudi Arabia; Ibrahim M Hussain, MD, Raqwani Group, Saudi Arabia; Mohammed Wazir, vice-president, Sullia Community Centre; Salman Noor Hasan, S/o Late Hajira Hassan; H K Kasim Ahmed, founder-chairperson, Hidaya Foundation; Ashkaf Abdul Hameed; CEO, Plant Solutions; Dr. Abdul Majeed U, general surgeon, Mangaluru; S E Mohammed Kunhi, Koynad; Muhammad Ali, Tamarachery, Sullia; Ibrahim Goonadka, Abdulla P M, Abbas B, Dr. Umar Beejadakatte, Abdul Razak K C and Mohammed Noorullah of Sullia; K M Shareef of Mangaluru; Abdussalam U, Nazim-e-Ilaqa, JIH, Mangaluru Region, and Asif Deals, chairperson of Team-B Human, Mangaluru, Abdul Nasir Luckystar, chairperson of Dakshina Kannada District Wakf Advisory Committee, have been specially invited for the inaugural.
source: http://www.english.varthabharati.in / Vartha Bharati / Home> Karavali / by Vartha Bharati / February 09th, 2023