Sahebaan UAE, a premier organization for the Urdu-speaking Muslim Community hailing from the twin districts of DK & Udupi, hosted a grand social family get-together followed by gala dinner at Al Jumairah Ballroom, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, on 4th February 2023 from 5.30 PM onwards.
The event, sponsored by the Sahebaan Business Community UAE, was a grand success attended by more than 800 community members from all over UAE, neighboring GCC countries and India. Eminent personalities from the Sahebaan Community graced the occasion.
The event commenced with the recitation of verses from Holy Quran by Master Fazil Raheel Ali. Althaf M.S Coordinator, Sahebaan UAE welcomed the gathering and stated that Sahebaan UAE has been providing a platform for the community members to come together, connect and strengthen the brotherly bond.
The patrons of the Sahebaan community Janab Hidayathullah Abbas, K.S. Nissar Ahmed and Afroz Assadi were honoured in recognition of their outstanding business achievements and contribution to the local economy, commendable humanitarian service, charity work and unstinted support to Sahebaan UAE and its activities. Janab Syed Siraj Ahmed, Suhail Kudroli, and Althaf Khalife initiated the honoring proceedings.
On behalf of the patrons, Janab Hidayathullah Abbas thanked the organisers and the gathering for the honor bestowed on them. He urged the Community to strive hard for success, prioritize family, help the Community, and give back to society, thus earning goodwill for Sahebaan.
The Chief guest of the evening Janab Kassim Ahmed H.K., founder of Hidaya Foundation Mangalore, while addressing the gathering called for the upliftmemt of the poor and the deprived.
Janab Mohd. Akram, Mohammed Asif, Althaf Khateeb and Irshad Moodbidri conducted the felicitation of Sponsors. Dr. Abdul Rahiman Beig, Professor at Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi & recognised as a top rated scientist by Stanford University and Mrs.Yasmeen Irfan, winner of Foodshala UAE 2022 were honoured on the occasion.
Janab Afroz Assadi Patron and Convenor of Sahebaan UAE presented awards to the talented Sahebaan Youth, namely, Sham Akbar Sheik, Safa Tamadur, Rafa Riyaz Khalife, Daniyal Danish Iqbal, Rafhan Balanthi Baig, Mohd. Rafan, Sheikh Saahir Akbar, Mehek Sheikh, Nuha Riyaz Khalife for excellence in academics.
Anbar Althaf and Saqib Baji for Sports achievement and Anam Aslam for performing arts.
Faizaan Khateeb, Mohd. Samiullaha, Mohd Sufiyan and Abdul Ahad presented a photo journey of Sahebaan UAE through the years.
Well-known bollywood stand-up comedian and mimicry artist Jayvijay Sachan entertained all with his mimicry & comedy. A Sufiana troupe from mumbai mesmerized the crowd throughout the evening with their melodious rendering.
Sahil Zaheer, a fellow Sahebaan and a hugely popular stage & radio artist from Mangalore, compered the program and entertained the crowd with his wit and humor.
Sahebaan Ladies Wing members Sahara Asif, Reena Althaf, Mehek Sheik and Riza Mustafa managed the children’s Program.
The function was sponsored by Hidayath Group, NASH Engineering FZCO, Northern Insurance brokers LLC, Prestige Engineering LLC, Petrosolutions FZCO, Creative House Scaffolding, Advanced Creative Techncial Services, Al Sitara Gulf Contracting, Multiline Technical Co. LLC, Progressive Technology & Services LLC, Sumtech Multiline Trading, Right Choice Trading, Al Bustan Trading, Vertex Engineering, Izza Gold & Diamonds Dubai, Cell Town, Invension Medical Requisities, Core Elements Interior Decoration LLC and Hasmai Mangalore.
The function concluded with a raffle draw and vote of thanks by Syed Mohd. Ajmal.
source: http://www.english.varthabharati.in / Vartha Bharati / Home> Gulf / by Vartha Bharati / February 13th, 2023
Siddi children performing Dance Dhamaal in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India. Courtesy Sayan Dey, CC BY-SA
The term Siddi refers to Afro-Indians – Africans who mixed with Indians through marriage and relationships. Africans crossed the Indian Ocean and arrived in India during the 1200s, 1300s and 1400s. They were transported by Islamic invaders and Portuguese colonisers as enslaved people, palace guards, army chiefs, harem keepers, spiritual leaders, Sufi singers singers, dancers and treasurers.
Today, the majority of Siddis are found in the west and south-west of India, in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana states. As they settled, they preserved and practised their African ancestral sociocultural traditions – and also adopted local Indian traditions.
This interweaving of African and Indian cultural values gave birth to various creolised (mixed) food, music and spiritual practices.
As a diversity studies scholar, I have been researching Siddi culture for some time. Working within this community in Gujarat and Karnataka, I found that their creolised cultural practices emerged as a resistance to colonisation, racialisation and victimisation in postcolonial India.
My most recent research – which can also be seen in a new documentary – has focused on the music and dance performances of the Siddi community in Gujarat, called Dhamaals.
The story of Dhamaal performance traditions reveals the rich and complex mixing of cultures in a world shaped by human movement and history.
What are Dhamaals?
Dhamaal is a mix of Sufi and African (mostly East African) musical and dance traditions. It refers particularly to the spiritual practices of the Siddis of Gujarat.
The Siddis begin almost every Dhamaal song by blowing into a conch shell. This is often followed by the slow playing of East African percussion instruments like the musindo and the slow thumping of feet that marks the onset of the singing and dancing Dhamaals. The ritual of foot thumping is a crucial part of spiritual East African dance and musical traditions.
The Siddis are followers of Islam and arrived in India from Muslim communities in East and Central Africa. Dhamaals are performed in memory of their spiritual leaders, among them Bava Gor, Mai Misra, Baba Habash and Sidi Nabi Sultan. According to Siddi folklore they arrived from Ethiopia through the Nubian Valley, Syria and the Indian Ocean to the coast of Kuda in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat.
Shipping line Shipping ports Railway line Map: Usifo Omozokpea Source: Sayan Dey Created with Datawrapper
Usually, Dhamaal songs and dances are performed to celebrate the anniversary of the birth and death of spiritual leaders. They are performed in two ways – Dance Dhamaal and Baithaaki Dhamaal. The Baithaaki Dhamaal is performed in the sitting position and the Dance Dhamaal is performed in both sitting and dance positions.
During the performance of Baithaaki Dhamaal the focus is more on the lyrics and less on the musical instruments. During Dance Dhamaal the focus is more on the sounds of the instruments. These are often played in a frenzied manner and accompanied by frenzied dance movements. The spiritual songs that are sung during the Dhamaals are known as zikrs.
A mixing of cultures
The creole cultural aspects of Dhamaals are broadly reflected through the Swahili Creole language used to sing the zikrs, the Indian and African musical instruments used to perform them and the Afro-Indian body movements of Dance Dhamaals.
Historically, the Swahili Creole language in India emerged among the Siddis through the mixing of Kiswahili from East Africa with Gujarati, Hindi and Urdu languages from India. As an example, these are the lyrics of one zikr:
Ya bolo sabaya hua wey
Ya bolo sabaya hua wey
Hu sabaya
Salwale Nabi Sultan
This zikr is sung in the praise of Siddi spiritual leader Nabi Sultan, believed to have arrived in Gujarat from the Nubian Valley. The Swahili words that have been used are “hu” (a common expression of consent) and “sabaya” (meaning that everything is alright). The zikr means that with the blessings of Nabi Sultan no evil can befall the Siddis of Gujarat.
Siddis performing Baithaaki (sitting) Dhamaal in a shrine in Gujarat. Courtesy Sayan Dey, CC BY
The musical instruments used to perform the zikrs are East African percussion instruments. The musindo, for example, is a cylinder-shaped, two-sided drum from Kenya. The misr kanga is a small, funnel-shaped instrument from Ethiopia, containing small stones. The mugarman is a large, cylinder-shaped, one-sided drum from Tanzania. These are played along with traditional Indian musical instruments. These include the harmonium (a keyboard instrument) and the dholak (a two-headed hand drum). The intermingling of Indian and African musical instruments generates creole rhythmscapes which are traditionally African and Indian at the same time.
During the Dance Dhamaal, the hand and the body movements of the Dhamaal dancers in Gujarat are very similar to the Ngoma dancers of East Africa. The Ngoma dancers thump their feet and swing their arms sideways to the rhythm of drums. The Dhamaal dancers also swing their arms sideways, but the thumping of feet depends on the context of their dance. During religious occasions, for example, the foot thumping is slow. This is because the Siddis follow many spiritual aspects of the Sufi tradition. For Sufis, heavy and frenzied feet thumping is prohibited when worshipping spiritual leaders.
Transoceanic roots
These creolised musical and dance performances allow the Siddis in Gujarat to maintain their African ancestral practices. They do so in collaboration with Indian practices so that they do not forget their historical roots yet can respect local traditions at the same time.
Siddis performing Baithaaki (sitting) Dhamaal in a shrine in Gujarat. Courtesy Sayan Dey, CC BY
These creole practices have allowed the community to build a transoceanic identity (one which crosses the oceans). This is done in a collaborative, reciprocal and diverse way.
The Dhamaal tradition of the Siddis has socially, culturally and economically empowered the community as well. Several community members, through the assistance of government and private organisations, travel across India and the world to perform at cultural festivals. This encourages the Siddis to share their creolised cultural values across the globe.
This in turn invites audiences to consider history through an interracial and intercultural lens.
source: http://www.theconversation.com / The Conversation / Home> Global / by Sayan Dey, University of Witwatersrand / February 03rd, 2023
The jury praised Johari’s work saying it shone through with its combination of meticulous reportage, humanism and empathy, all reflecting a high order of journalistic excellence.
New Delhi:
Mumbai-based journalist Aarefa Johari was picked on Sunday, April 3, as the winner of the Chameli Devi Jain Award for an Outstanding Woman Mediaperson 2021.
Instituted in 1982, the annual Chameli Devi Jain Award is a prestigious recognition for women mediapersons in India who have reported on themes such as social development, politics, equity, gender justice, health, war and conflict, and consumer values.
The Media Foundation announced Johari, who works for Scroll in Mumbai, as the winner of the award, which will be presented on Monday at the India International Centre here.
The winner was decided by a three-member jury, comprising Nirupama Subramanian from the Indian Express, writer Githa Hariharan and Ashutosh from SatyaHindi.
They praised Johari’s work saying it shone through with its combination of meticulous reportage, humanism and empathy, all reflecting a high order of journalistic excellence.
Harish Khare, chair of the Media Foundation, added that Johari’s ground-level reportage was an outstanding example of a journalist’s every day privilege to help society demand fairness and justness.
Nearly 50 journalists from print, digital and broadcast media from all over India sent entries for the award, named after Chameli Devi Jain, a freedom fighter and a community reformer who went to jail during the freedom movement.
(PTI)
source: http://www.thewire.in / The Wire / Home> Media / by PTI / April 04th, 2022
Gone are the days when the Muslims of Kerala were thought to have believed Malayalam as the language of Nairs. The Muslims of modern Kerala are greatly indebted to a number of devoted reformers whose dedicated endeavours liberated them from the yoke of illiteracy and cultural backwardness. Late C.N Ahmad Moulavi, in his book on Muslim literary heritage in Malayalam entitled Mahathya Mappila Sahithya Parambaryam, describes the contribution of such reformers.
In fact, Malayalam has been the mother tongue of the Muslims of this region but their dialect was considered relatively inferior. This was because they had neglected learning and teaching the Malayalam language and literature. They were more concerned with Quranic education. Moreover, for the purpose of imparting Islamic knowledge they used Arabic script when they wrote Malayalam. It slowly developed as a literary branch of Malayalam known as the Arabic Malayalam literature.
Arabic-Malayalam Literature The Arabic-Malayalam literature is exclusively the literature of the Kerala Muslims. It includes more than five hundred books in prose and about the same number of books in verse, on various subjects. Books in prose include translation and explanation of the Holy Quran, Hadith, Jurisprudence, history, stories and fables, narratives, criticism, lexicon, science and etiquette. Many journals and magazines were also published in Arabic-Malayalam.
Critics have wholeheartedly extolled the literary merit of the poems in Arabic Malayalam. They are highly impressed by its originality, rhythmic beauty, lucidity in imagination and expression. The majority of these poems are on religious topics. In fact, this stream of poems had been running parallel to Malayalam poetry for centuries. The earliest work so far traced in Arabic Malayalam poetry is Mohiyauddeen Mala, an ode in praise of Sheikh Mohiyuddheen. Its author, late Khazi Mohammed of Calicut was a contemporary of Ezuthcchan’s (16C) who is considered the father of Malayalam language. A comparative study of Ezuthcchan’s Adhyatma Romayana Khazi’s Mala reveals the latter’s simplicity in expression.
Moin Kutty Vaidyar elevated the Arabic Malayalam poetry to the pinnacle of its golry with his Badr pada pattu (war song on Badr) and Badrul Muneer Husunul Jamal (a love song). War and love have been celebrated topics for poetry of all ages. But what made Vaidyar’s poems real masterpieces of literature is his skilful way of blending form and content into an artistic unity. Through his poems Vaidyar created a language within language, a rare achievement in Malayalam poetry praised equally by famous critics and linguists. Chains of tunes (called Ishals) innovated by Vaidyar still remain to be emulated by latter poets. In fact he is the most popular among Arabic Malayalam poets. His poems provided the Muslims of Kerala with a unique culture identity, uniformity and redouble their pride and prestige. P.K. Haleema, Naduthopil Ayesha Kutty, Kundil Kunhamina are the poetesses whose poems left indelible imprints on Arabic Malayalam poetry.
Though Arabic Malayalam poetry boosted the morale of Muslims in their resistance to colonial invasion. The subjugation of Muslims by the invaders led to a state of stagnation in literary life. Later Muslim reformers used Arabic Malayalam poetry to rekindle the spirit of education and religious awareness. Prominent among these poets cum reformers are T. Ubaid, O. Abu and Punnayarkalam Bapu. The poems fostered by Muslims are generally known as Mappila Pattukal (Mappila songs). The salient feature of these songs is the instantly recognizable peculiarity of its tunes that have by and large influenced the cultural and literary life of Kerala as it is evident in modern Malayalam poetry and film songs.
Muslims today no more use the old script of Arabic Malayalam in their literary contribution. Modern works are all in Malayalam now. However, to a limited extent, efforts are made to preserve the identity of this language through Madrasa education.
Impact of Sanskrit Literary Tradition Though Muslim themes were introduced into Malayalam poetry by non-Muslim poets since the beginning of the 20th century, the entry of Muslims into the Malayalam literature is of late occurrence because of the attachment of the Muslim poets to Arabic Malayalam. In imitation of the Sanskrit literary tradition Maha Kavyam were composed by Malayalam poets. Rama Chandra Vilasam was written by Azakath Padmanabha. Kurp and Kattakkayam cheriyan Mappila wrote Sree Yeshu Vijayam. But Mahammadam was written only after a long period. Ponkunnam saidu Mohammad, a Muslim scholar in Sanskrit and Malayalam, wrote this Maha Kavyam in the same Sanskrit metre and here the poet attempts to narrate the story of mankind in an Islamic perspective. It also contains a description of the Quran in detail.
Yousef Ali Kecheri is a Muslim poet famous for composing poems with Hindu as well as Islamic cultural background. He has written poems on Quranic themes, the prophet and Muslim festivals. He is a famous composer of film songs.
P.T. Abdul Rahiman is another noteworthy poet who wrote a long poem on Bilal entitled, The Black Pearl.
Both Kecheri and P.T. have won literary awards.
Malayalam Fiction Anyhow, the Muslim genius made greater achievement in fiction and short stories. Viakkom Mohammed Basheer, a veteran novelist in Malayalam brought a continent of experience in life into the Malayalam literature. His compassionate attitude towards life accompanied by an ironic vision acquainted the Malayalam readers with a new aesthetic sense. His novels and short stories are translated into other Indian and world languages. Umashankar Joshi, the famous Indian writer, counted Tagore and Basheer as the only two Indian writers of originality. M. Mukandan, the pioneer of modernism in Malayalam fiction, once wrote, the Noble Prize is too small a thing to honour Basheer. Basheer’s novels are poetic expression of Muslim myth and Islamic mysticism. My Grand Dad had an Elephant and pathumma’s goats are his masterpieces. He mercilessly satirises the pervasive degeneration that infects Muslim social life. In his writings he had been attempting to create harmony in life through God consciousness.
N.P. Mohammed, another famous novelist, short story writer and essayist, traces the influence of Aryan, Dravidian and Hindu culture elements in the life of Kerala Muslims. His two famous novels named The Oil field and The Eye of God reveal the peculiar socio cultural life of a particular region. They can be called regional novels. He wrote short stories by perusing the Quranic style of expression. Punathil Kunhabdulla, another novelist and story writer, satirises the outdated view and customs prevailing in Muslim social life. Smaraka Shila Kal (Tomb stones) and Marunnu (Medicine) are his famous novels. Both N.P. and Punathil won awards of Kerala and Kendra Sahitya Academy. P.A Mohammed Koya, the father of sports literature in Malayalam, brought to light the social and religious life of the Koya Muslims of Calicut. His Island Stories have endowed the Malayalam short story with a rare aesthetic dimension. U.A. Khader beat a new path when he wrote his short stories anthologized in his famous Trikkotoor Peruma, which is highly appreciated. His style is inimitable.
The most developed literary genre in Malayalam literature is the short story and there are a number of Muslim short story writers such as T.V. Kuchu Bava, Shibabuddeen poithumkadavu, Akbar Kakratil, M.A. Rahima, N.P. Hafiz Mohammad and P.K. Parakhadavu. They are noted for their highest excellence in handling the Malayalam language in its colourfulness and rhythmic beauty.
The history of Malayalam drama will remain incomplete without mentioning the contribution of K.T. Mohammed. He criticizes the social life of the Kerala Muslims in an aggressive language. Ibrahim Vengara, Mohammed Yousef, K.A. Kondungallor and Azeez were renowned Malayalam dramatist.
Religious Writings In addition to making valuable contribution to the Malayalam literature, Kerala Muslims have been advancing in the field of religious writing. They have published many books aimed at reforming the religious life and introducing Islam to other people as well. Many publishing houses are established. The Holy Quran has been translated into Malayalam by various scholars. Tafheemul Quran of sayyid Maududi has been translated and published in Malayalam through Islamic Publishing House, Calicut, which shines like a pillar of light in the literary life of the Muslims of Kerala. Sheikh Muhammad Karakunnu, the Director of I.P.H., himself wrote about 50 books on various Islamic knowledge. Other publisher like Yuvatha, Hindustan and Al Huda published valuable works on Islam. The Muslims of Kerala constitute more than 20 per cent of the population and their literacy rate is satisfactory. Consequently they have started publishing dailies, weeklies, monthlies and bimonthlies including children’s and ladies magazines.
A close analysis of the literary history of Kerala Muslims will reveal the healthy trend of new awareness and reformation in the field of learning and thinking. And a cream of writers, thinkers, reformers, readers has emerged from various cultural groups among Muslims vying with each other for achieving excellence in developing Malayalam literature. There intense efforts and healthy rivalry enable us to envision a new sky of hope for the community and for the nation. The sea changes that have taken place in the realm of the Muslims of Kerala are promising signs of a new dawn-God willing.
(The writer teaches Malayalam at Government College, Kasaragod, Kerala.)
source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> News & Analysis / by Ibrahim Bevinje, Ummid.com / March 16th, 2011
Suddenly, Bengal has become dotted with gateways — elaborate, ugly and expensive.
MONUMENTAL: (Top right) Gate to West Midnapore, a toron near Nabanna and Haldia Gate in East Midnapore.
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.
Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Javed Khan Amrohi in Andaz Apna Apna
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.
_______
“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.
MC Stan with actor and host Salman Khan after winning ‘Bigg Boss’ Season 16. Photo: Courtesy of Endemol Shine India
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.
A sketch by Imroz.
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.
Waris Shah’s tomb at Jandiala Sher Khan in West Punjab, Pakistan. Courtesy: Saif Tahir
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’.
The hujra(small room) at a mosque in Malka Hans, (erstwhile Punjab now in Pakpattan, Pakistan), where Waris Shah composed ‘Heer’. The wall shows the opening couplet (translation above) of the Sufi poet’s epic work. Photo courtesy: Muhammad Imran Saeed
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.
People sing verses of ‘Heer’ near Bulleh Shah’s mazaar in Kasur, Pakistan. Amarjit Chandan
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
