Vartha Bharati Journalist Shamsuddin Enmuru was on Sunday conferred the BG Mohan Das Award for Best Report on Digital Media for the year 2022. The award is presented collaboratively by Gulfkannada.com and Nirat Sahitya Sampad in honor of senior journalist BG Mohan Das.
The award was conferred during a ceremony held at Kannada Bhavan here in the city’s BC road.
Speaking after receiving the award, Shamsuddin said said that the Koraga community, the original inhabitants of the country, are still struggling to live up to their self-esteem and to come into the mainstream of society.
“Deprived of basic amenities, human rights, owing to superstition, bigotry, untouchability. An entire community is on the brink of extinction. My report was a small attempt to bring their plight to the notice of the government. I am glad that people took note of it and it was selected for this prestigious award.” Shamsuddin said.
“I am Thankful to Niratha Sahitya Sampada and Gulf Kannadiga.com team for selecting my report for the award. I am also thankful to the Vartha Bharati team for supporting and encouraging me in my career. With this award I feel I have increased responsibilities now,” he added.
G. Mohan Das’ brother, Udupi District Chamber of Commerce and Industry Joint Secretary B. G. Laxmikant Beskur said that B. N. Mohan Das was very concerned about those who were neglected in society, who were in social distress, and those who were away from the mainstream society.
Brijesh Anchan, president of Niratha Sahitya Sampad, presided over the event. Advocate Sukesh Kumar Shetty read out the introduction of BG Mohan Das.
Lecturer Abdul Majeed introduced the awardee Samshuddin. President of Kannada Sahitya Parishad Bantwala Taluk Vishwanath Bantwala was present.
Sudha Nagesh, of Sharda High School, Panemangalore presented welcome note.
Karunakar Maripalla presented vote of thanks while BM Rafique compered the event.
source: http://www.english.varthabharati.in / VarthaBharati / Home> Karavali / by Vartha Bharati / September 04th, 2022
After a tough competition among the six finalists, 14-year-old Mohammad Faiz from Jodhpur turned out to be the winner of ‘Superstar Singer 2’ and lifted the trophy and a cash prize of Rs 15 Lakh.
Instagram/ @faiz_mohammad.faiz
After a tough competition among the six finalists, 14-year-old Mohammad Faiz from Jodhpur turned out to be the winner of ‘Superstar Singer 2’ and lifted the trophy and a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh.
His soulful rendition of romantic tracks such as ‘Pehla Nasha’, ‘Kesariya’ and ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ not only impressed the judges but also the special guests, including Bollywood actresses of the yesteryear such as Padmini Kolhapure and Poonam Dhillon.
Mani and Sayisha were declared first and second runner-up, respectively. The show, which premiered on April 23, was judged by Alka Yagnik, Himesh Reshammiya and Javed Ali. It provided a platform to 15 contestants aged seven to 15 years to show their talent.
The young talents were mentored by Salman Ali (‘Indian Idol 10’ winner), Pawandeep Rajan (‘Indian Idol 12’ winner), Arunita Kanjilal (‘Indian Idol 12’ first runner-up) and Sayli Kamble (‘Indian Idol 12’ second runner-up) and Mohammad Danish (‘Indian Idol 12’ third runner-up).
Music maestro Anand also graced the show as special judges for the grand finale along with him the evening also saw popular singers Shabbir Kumar, Sonu Kakkar and Bhumi Trivedi.
Apart from sizzling performance by the contestants,the fun banter by Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa, who were co-hosting the grand finale with Aditya Narayan had added more to the entertainment quotient of the show. Furthermore, best friends and veteran actresses Poonam and Padmini accompanied the contestant Aryananda R. Babu from Calicut to perform the famous track picturised on Poonam ‘Chori chori koi aaye’ from her 1979 film ‘Noorie’ opposite Farooq Shaikh
Winner of the show Mohammad Faiz, who was from the team of captain Arunita called ‘Arunita Ke Ajoobe’ expressed his excitement saying: “Being on ‘Superstar Singer 2’ is an achievement by itself. When I gave the auditions, never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would not only be in the TOP 6 but also win the coveted trophy. I am unable to describe this feeling in words, it’s so surreal. It still feels like a dream to me.”
He also thanked his fans and shared: “I would like to thank all the viewers and my fans i.e., Faizians who have showered me with so much love and votes. I also want to extend my gratitude to everyone who has made my journey on the show special, especially all the judges and my captain Arunita di, who has been my pillar of strength, who believed in me and guided me to make this dream of mine come true.”
Arunita was elated looking at the performance by Faiz and she commented: “I am extremely elated to see our Rockstar Faiz lift the trophy and be crowned as the winner of ‘Superstar Singer 2’.”
On the other hand, Alka praised all the top 6 contestants which included Faiz from Jodhpur, Mani from Dharamkot, Pranjal Biswas from West Bengal, Sayisha Gupta from Mohali, Aryananda R. Babu and Rituraj from Kerala.
She said: “Seeing them mature, grow and flourish throughout the season has been an experience. Everyone from the top 6 contestants have been outstanding. Faiz is a well-deserved winner, his graph on the show has been so good. He has been one of the best singers the stage has witnessed, and his determination towards music and zeal to win has made him win the coveted title.”
Himesh also congratulated the winner, saying: “Faiz has been a complete rockstar right from the beginning and has consistently given his best. I am very proud of Faiz.
Javed concluded with his best wishes for the contestants and winner: “I have personally received so many messages and calls praising the kids of the show. I am extremely proud of all the contestants, especially Faiz who is a very well-deserved winner, and I wish him all the luck for a brighter and successful future. Kudos to the whole team of ‘Superstar Singer 2’.”
‘Superstar Singer 2’ aired on Sony Entertainment Television.
source: http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Home> Art & Entertainment / by IANS / September 04th, 2022
In a first of its kind, Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) is coming out of its academic cocoon and honouring a few of those whose contribution to the spread of Urdu across the linguistic communities in unmatched. Most of them are the unrecognized greats of the Urdu language, literature and culture.
The University has aptly selected Teachers Day that falls on September 5 (Monday) to honour the greats of the language. They have been named as Sitara-e-Urdu or the Stars of Urdu.
According to sources this will become a permanent feature of the MANUU calendar.
A press note from the PR Department of the university, Prof. Siddiqui Mohd. Mahmood, Dean, School of Education and Training (SET), informed that his former veteran colleague Prof. Amina Kishore has agreed to speak on “Challenges of Being a Teacher in 21st Century” at CPDUMT auditorium at 11.00 am.
Syed Ainul Hasan, Vice-Chancellor will preside over the function.
The felicitation programme has been organized by Centre for Urdu Culture Studies to mark the occasion.
Prof. Shugufta Shaheen, Chairperson of the Felicitation Committee, said that Lakshmi Devi Raj, Syed Jafar Amir Rizvi, Shahid Husain Zuberi, Oudesh Rani Bawa and Mazhar uz Zaman Khan will be honoured for their unique role in promoting Urdu in its various forms.
The celebrated music composer says the honour has made him more committed to working hard.
After Markham, a city in Canada, honoured A.R. Rahman by naming a street after him, the celebrated music composer said he now feels more committed to working hard and inspiring people.
Rahman, who completed three decades in the Indian film industry earlier this month, penned a note of gratitude for the authorities of Markham in Ontario, Canada, on Twitter.
“I never imagined this ever in my life. I am very grateful to all of you, the Mayor of Markham, Canada (Frank Scarpitt) and counsellors, Indian Consulate General (Apoorva Srivastava) and the people of Canada…” his tweet reads.
“I feel like this gives me immense responsibility to do much more and be inspiring, not so get tired and not to retire yet. Even if I get tired I’ll remember that I have more things to do, more people to connect, more bridges to cross,” the multiple award-winning musician said.
The 55-year-old, currently in Canada for his musical tour, also shared pictures from the inauguration ceremony on the microblogging site on Sunday. The city of Markham had announced that a street would be named in Rahman’s honour back in November 2013.
“The name AR Rahman is not mine. It means merciful. The merciful is the quality of the common God we all have and one can only be the servant of the merciful. So let that name bring peace, prosperity, happiness and health to all the people living in Canada. God bless you all,” he added.
Rahman also thanked the people of India and his collaborators. “I want to thank my brothers and sisters of India for all the love. All the creative people who worked with me, who gave me the inspiration to rise up and celebrate hundred years of cinema; with all the legends included. I am a very small drop in the ocean,” the composer said.
His upcoming releases include films such as “Cobra” and “Ponniyin Selvan: I”.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.in / The Telegraph Online / Home> Entertainment /by PTI / New York / August 30th, 2022
Kakkore Village (Malappuram District) KERALA / Doha, QATAR :
Abdul Kareem with his calligraphy art. | Picture by Lulu Ahsana
A graphic designer by profession, Abdul Kareem, who is popularly known as Kareemgrahy, left his job at an American company in Qatar last month to pursue his passion for calligraphy.
Kerala:
When tea-seller Abdurahman from Kerala bought a calligraphic painting from a Sufi saint to his home one day in the early 1980s, he hadn’t imagined that his six-year-old son Abdul Kareem will make calligraphy his profession. The painting had Arabic verses written in the shape of a person offering the Islamic prayer.
“That image was inscribed in my heart,” said Abdul Kareem, 44, a popular calligrapher from Kerala, popularly known as Kareemgraphy. Originally hailing from the Kakkove village in Malappuram district in Kerala, Kareem presently lives in Qatar with his wife and three children.
A graphic designer by profession, Kareem left his job at an American company in Qatar last month to pursue his passion for calligraphy.
Love for calligraphy art was imbibed in Kareem from his childhood. Recalling an incident during his Madrasa days, Kareem said when his teacher wrote some Arabic words on the board, he was moved and could see “the beauty in how the words were written and shaped.”
In 1996, Kareem had to drop out of his course at the School of Arts in Kerala due to financial constraints. He was 18. This, however, didn’t deter him from pursuing his passion. He started work as a painter of hoardings and a few years later, he moved to Saudi Arabia to earn a living, where eventually he became a graphic designer.
“The beautiful symmetrical patterns on the Roudha Shareef (where the Prophet (PBUH) is buried), and the calligraphy on the pillars and walls there influenced me a lot,” said Kareem about the city of Madina, one of the holiest cities of Islam.
Kareem said he wanted to devote all his focus to calligraphy and left his job to pursue it.
“Calligraphy has been my passion for more than 20 years, but I took to serious learning and experimentation only five years ago and left my job to pursue this dream,” he said.
Kareem credits his teachers for instilling a passion for knowledge in him and his success. “All those who give ilm (knowledge) in my journey are my ustaads (teachers),” he said.
Calligraphy art has different forms and styles. Kareem follows the contemporary style.
“Art and rule are combined in traditional calligraphy. But in contemporary art, it is freedom. I do calligraphy on things and ideas that people in my locality can relate to. As an artist, I am trying to blend different styles, without conforming to any specific script or style,” he said.
Abdul Kareem’s portrayal of a student during the Hijab row in Karnataka | Picture: Abdul Kareem Facebook
As his fame grew in the last five years, Kareem started conducting calligraphy workshops in India, UAE, Qatar, and Turkey. On August 10 this year, he attended the All India Calligraphy Akshar Mahotsav organised by the Calligraphy Foundation of India in New Delhi. He has also won a few awards for his work, including the Youth Icon Award-Doha (2017) and the Youth Signature Award (2021).
Last year, Kareem founded a centre for calligraphy in Kozhikode called the KagrArt. Its logo was launched online by famous French-Tunisian calligraffiti artist ElSeed. “I want to popularise this art. It is more important than being famous. There should be a physical space for artists to meet and interact,” he said.
KagrArt was founded by Abdul Kareem last year as a centre for calligraphy art. | Picture by Lulu Ahsana
In addition to his calligraphy works, KagrArt displays art pieces like lanterns, carpets, calligraphy and images from different countries.
In one of the programmes held at KagrArt last month, Kareem talked about his visit to Uzbekistan and his love for travelling.
“Instead of calling it a trip to Turkey or Uzbekistan, we can call it going to different people, and seeing things that they built and wrote in the past,” he said.
Kareem’s dream is to build a bridge through his art between different religions, peoples and countries, between traditional and contemporary calligraphies, between Arabic and Malayalam calligraphies, and between old and new generations.
“I want to work on a serious theme in future which would fill the minds of people with hope, and which would give the message that no one should run away from anywhere and that people can be where they are,” he added.
Kareem’s wife Fasija said that “calligraphy is more than just a passion for him.” She credits his “hard work and dedication for the success he has achieved.”
Najiya O is an independent journalist from Kerala. She tweets at @najiyao
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Najiya O, TwoCirlces.net / August 18th, 2022
He was 92 and breathed his last after battling multiple ailments at Breach Candy Hospital around 3 a.m. today.
IANS
Mumbai:
Veteran Bollywood producer of ‘multi-starrer masala films’ Abdul Gaffar Nadiadwala passed away here following a prolonged illness, his son Mushtaque Nadiadwala said on Monday.
He was 92 and breathed his last after battling multiple ailments at Breach Candy Hospital around 3 a.m. today.
Gaffarbhai – as he was popularly known in the film industry – is survived by his three sons, Feroze, Hafiz and Mushtaque, daughters, and his nephew and well-known film-maker Sajid Nadiadwala.
The last rites of Gaffarbhai – who was one of the founders of the major Nadiadwala films banner, with studios in Mumbai and Gujarat – shall be performed at the Irla Masjid Cemetery in Vile Parle, today at 4 p.m., his family informed.
In his film-making career spanning over five decades, he made several memorable movies like ‘Aa Gale Lag Ja’, ‘Lahu Ke Do Rang’, ‘Shankar Shambhu’, ‘Jhutha Sach’, ‘Sone Pe Suhaga’, ‘Watan Ke Rakhwale’ and more.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Entertainment> Bollywood / by IANS / posted by Umm e Maria / August 22nd, 2022
B Abdul Haq at the counter of Connoisseur Collection, originally the Bharath Watch Company, Chennai | Photo Credit: S Aswini Rao
The Connoisseur Collection family has been the guardian of innumerable timepieces in Chennai for the past 64 years. This Madras Week, they share a few memories.
It is easy to lose yourself in the labyrinth that is Spencer Plaza, with its narrow alleys and seemingly identical corridors. But it is worth it, for tucked away between stores selling T-shirts, phone covers and silver jewellery is a quaint space where time has stopped.
Connoisseur Collection, originally the Bharath Watch Company, was launched in 1958 in Pondy Bazaar by R Abdul Bari, then shifted to Spencer Plaza in 1999. It is now run by his son B Abdul Haq who holds aloft the 64 years of legacy single-handedly.
”My father’s work intrigued me, so I entered the field after discontinuing my education,” says Haq, who learned the craft from his father when he was just 12 years, at the shop. Here, dead watches and clocks come alive at the hands of their knowledgeable and skilled owner.
A six-decade-old timepiece at Connoisseur Collection, Chennai | Photo Credit: S Aswini Rao
Haq’s passion is evident in the way he handles the watches, and shows off his collection of rare luxury pieces from brands like Patek Philippe and Rolex. He opens a case to reveal a Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711, made in the mid-1970s by the legendary watch designer Gerald Genta. He moves on to reveal similar vintage watches like Patek Philippe Geneve watches made of 18k gold, and a Patek Phillipe 2583 specially made in 1956.
As he carefully places these prized possessions back in a box and locks them away, he reminisces about the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, and actress Sowcar Janaki visiting his father’s shop with timepieces of their own.
“The rarest watch I have repaired is a Moon Phase by Patek Philippe,” he says, adding, “Customers bring in mechanical watches, Rolex, Omega, and other expensive Swiss watches for servicing, usually to fix broken glass dialsor button malfunctions.”
The entrepreneur reminisces the earlier times of Spencer’s Mall, saying it used to be an international hub with tourists from all over the world visiting in search of high-end brands. Those brands have since migrated to other malls, and visitors to Spencer’s have dwindled. But this shop stays put, he says, as the cost of running a business in Spencer’s is reasonable, and those in the know can always find their way to him.
As the self-styled “police officer in the field of watches” fastidiously wipes dials, he disapprovingly speaks of those who run businesses motivated only by money, with no technical knowledge. Gently wrapping each watch in velvet-lined covers he states, “Custom-made watches have no value, there is no originality left in them. When a company manufactures a watch you should not change anything.”
He wears a Rolex Deepsea watch and says his one of his favourite pieces is the Nautilus series from Patek Philippe. His father bestowed him a Vulcain cricket solid gold wrist alarm from the 1950s— his most prized possession.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style / by Shivani Illakiya PT / August 20th, 2022
Who is interested to know the story of Mohsin Jamal? A gentleman who was a La Majaz and a La Sahir-rolled into one! It is certainly very unbecoming of me to contain my emotional expel, to write on a friend whom I had met around 25 years back, probably in 1997-98, and never found him to be emotionally or socially fatigued. Welcome to the world of Mohsin Jamal, someone who never had a watch or a calendar in his hamlet and was buried at Aishbagh cemetery, on July 28, 2022.
I very vividly remember, Mohsin Jamal, who was a journalist, writer, and always ‘updated’ into the world news, as once he had got a three-phase electricity, and a generator, all installed, for he wanted to see every moment of the last rites of Princess Diana. He would never let his eye slip any detail, perhaps, he was quite hitched to the departed-soul, as he himself was the one who did not find-his-love, and remained a bachelor throughout his life.
He was a virtual encyclopedia of Urdu poetry, for he remembered more than the proverbial ‘a lakh shairs’ (poetic renditions) of Asrar-ul-Haq ‘Majaz’, Raghupat Sahay ‘Firaq’, Abdul Hayee ‘Sahir’, Shabbir Hasan Khan ‘Josh’, Abdul Hameed ‘Adam’, Ahsan Danish, Faiz Ahmed ‘Faiz’, Parveen Shakir, Jan Nisar ‘Akhter’, Riaz Khairadabi, Khumar Barabankavi, Jaun Elia apart from the stalwarts like Ghalib, Sauda, Meer, Zauq, Aatish, Nasikh, Wali etc. Never there was a moment when he would not come-up with a ‘proportionate or an appropriate’ shair for any occasion. Apart from all that, what also made him was his cigarette smoking, which he never smoked till its last fag, his voice was always modulated like a professional anchor, which was God-gifted, and his sentences were always synchronized like that of newspaper-headlines. He had every prowess to impress anyone, let alone at times, even hypnotize!
His persona had everything which inculcated his cultural ethos; he was ceaselessly help a struggler in the field of media, music or into writing. He would never see the sun rise, his day started at 5 pm and he would retire back home always deeply post-midnight. He was very fond of dressing, most often a spotless white shirt, grey pants, shining always shoes, Ambedkerite glasses, pockets always loaded with wads of US Dollars, yes, Dollars, and a puffing cigarette is what was his cover-story, to hundreds of friend/associates he had in Lucknow. Never in my association with him for over a quarter of a decade did I dwell to unravel as to what he would do for his living! The question was simply out of place, for he never exuded on it. He would move always on his chartered-rickshaw! Was a darling of everyone in any function, and would, make himself overshadow anyone on any given occasion.
The veritable ease with which he would shorten sentences by his ‘dropping-words’ was always a feast to the ears. His rendezvous with theater, arts, music, voice-over, play-back singing etc made him a dynamic presence into what is called as a ‘world-of-finer-aspects’. His knack for music could not be tapped for he knew personal histories of films, songs, musicians, singers etc from Bombay. He had an impeccable memory and would delve hours on the making of films like Mughal-e-Azam, Baiju Bawra, Sita Aur Gita, Bobby etc. There were quite a few cinema stars, who knew him personally and some even often make long-distance-calls, before the advent of cell-phones, to listen from him endlessly the-‘shairs’, which was his forte. His zest encompassed Marsiye, Manqabat, Musaddas, but he was shy-enough, to get them recorded in audio form or for Youtube. Had it was done, it was to be a treasure trove, as certainly it was to be a recipe for any budding actor or a cinema-vérité. He would narrate scene after scene from Agha Hashr Kashmiri, in accordance to characters and their vile. Where? At Sarwar hotel, his favourite pastime, ay Lal Khan ka Hata, , to the rapt attention of his friends who constituted doctors, engineers, editors, lecturers, academicians, businessmen all alike. Obviously, he was always the host.
He would regale ceaselessly his gatherings at Nazeerabad, who would flock around him, not always for his poetic-exuberance but for his versatile genius in colloquial accents. He was perhaps the last of the genre who would quote Asmat Chugtai, Saadat Hasan Manto, Rajender Singh Bedi, Ali Sardar Jafri etc, on their almost unknown aspects, always much to the awe of even research scholars. He would bring the gatherings ‘alive to thrive’ on his incessant quotations from Ameer Meenai, Momin Khan Monin.
I on many occasions would carry him finally to Pioneer, the spot in Lucknow which remained opened 24X7. He would always syntax it from the words of Akbar Allahabadi, “ Ghar se aayi hai Khabar Kal hai Chehleum Unka/ Pioneer likhta hai ki beemaar ka haal ach_cha hai ( Family informs that the 40th day of the dead is the next day/ Pioneer nevertheless tell the ill is still better) in the famous retort of the poet towards the end of the British rule and Pioneer’s biased reporting to it. We would sit there until the wee hours as then I would drop him home. Once we ended up having 27 teas together, as he enamored the lines “Us se paimaan-e-wafa baandh rahi hai bulkul/ Kal na pehchan sakegi gul-e-tar ki soorat” (The nightingale is swearing by the flower/ will not be able to figure it out tomorrow as the flower will be worn-out after tears)
There are hordes of ‘listeners and moaners’ who are now no more to listen or see Mohsin Jamal. One of his friend, Himanshu Bajpayee, who is now a Daastan Go, of international acclaim, says that he could not see Majaz but ‘Mohsin Bhai’ lessened the pain, for he fathomed Majaz to the full-potential. Mohsin Bhai, therefore from now on, will remain out of the purview of people’s gaze, but will forever live in the heart of ‘everyone’ into which he kindled the fire of Majaz and would never let it flicker, until he himself flickered to it. “Haqq Magh.firat kare ajab Azaad mard tha” (May God bless the fearless-independent man) he would sometime requiem for himself.
Lucknow remained a bit same after Majaz, for Mohsin Jamal, inherited the echo, but will it now remain the same? May be yes or may be even no. Long-live Mohsin Bhai.
**
The writer is a former UP State Information Commissioner and writes on politics.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Literature> Obituary / by Haider Abbas / August 14th, 2022
Mohammed Yasin, veteran painter and one of the best calligraphers in the subcontinent.
OBITUARY
Yasin’s early works have explored all available mediums from lithography, etching, aquatint, engraving, dry point, serigraphy, mezzotint water colours, oils, gouache and egg tempera.
“85-year-old veteran artist Mohammed Yasin’s character impresses as a person and his characteristics as an artist. Perhaps the distinction is unreal, for, in his case, it is the same integrity that reveals itself in the structure of life and in self-expression through art.”
These were the words said a few years ago by a noted art critic for Mohammed Yasin, veteran painter and one of the best calligraphers in the subcontinent, who passed away on August 19.
Yasin was born in Mogalgidda, a village near Shadnagar, 30 km from Hyderabad. As a young school boy, he felt an aptitude for Art when he was just 14 years old. After passing his elementary and intermediate drawing examinations, he moved to Hyderabad city with his family members from his birthplace Mogalgidda.
Showcasing art work.
Though quiet in his demeanour, Yasin has had seriously tragic experiences. His father passed away when he was only 14 months old. He was brought up under his mother’s care and guidance. He had to grow up with many hardships. While as a boy, he was affected by tuberculosis of the spine which has left a limp which necessitates the use of a stick to aid in walking. But through a sustained musing, he has won an inner serenity.
Art works displayed in an art gallery
His most important contribution goes to the art of calligraphy. He chose to work in an abstract symbolic manner. Geometrical elements like the circle within the square, concentric circles, etc. comprise the basic structure emphasizing a symmetrical arrangement and abstract formal values–calm and quiet but they are, nevertheless, active fields. They seem to be deeply influenced by the Buddhist art. They generate impulses of colour and focus attention on the symbolic images they contain.
The use of circle, square, triangle adds to his innovation a transparency, a water colour. The orthodox prohibition of representational figuration in art made the Islamic tradition turn to calligraphy. Yasin has brought to this tradition a modernist love of abstraction and monumental geometricism.
His early works have explored all available mediums from lithography, etching, aquatint, engraving, dry point, serigraphy, mezzotint water colours, oils, gouache and egg tempera.
His works are very poetic and also dramatic; actually they are calligraphic in nature. Tantric symbolism, Sufi mysticism, echoes of the miniature schools, shades of thankas and pictorialised Arabic Calligraphy are all inspirations which could be identified in Yasin’s work.
Aseem Asha Usman is founding director of Aseem ASHA Foundation, and has been documenting the life and works of the veteran calligrapher and painter.
source: http://www.clarionindia.net / Clarion India / Home / by Aseem Asha Usman / August 20th, 2020
“I believe deep down in my heart that the great reality of spiritual revelation given to humanity by the Prophet (blessed be His name) is an infinitely greater thing than any sectarian difference (Shia & Sunni) imposed upon it by subsequent human feeling and by lesser vision than his of the inner realities from which the external life of humanity has developed.” Mirza Ismail, a Shia Muslim by faith, who was the Prime Minister of Mysore had spoken these words at the inauguration of Jamia Mosque, a Sunni mosque, in Bengaluru on 30 May 1941.
Jamia Masjid, Bengaluru
Mirza Ismail remained one of the most important politicians in India as he held the position of Prime Minister (PM) of the second wealthiest state, Mysore, from 1926 to 1941 after which he became PM of Jaipur and Hyderabad.
A Shia by his faith whose foreparents had migrated from Iran and stayed in India, Ismail remained committed to the unity of humans. He believed that Shia and Sunni, Hindu and Muslim, or any caste difference among humans could not stop them from living together harmoniously.
Ismail inaugurated the mosque at Bangalore, which was one of the most important cities in Mysore state, as his last public ceremony in the capacity of the PM of Mysore after resigning from the post. On the occasion he noted, “I am particularly happy that this function, which is the last of my period of service as Dewan of Mysore, gave me the opportunity of expressing an ideal of my life which has been foremost in the past and will remain foremost in the future.”
What was the ideal Ismail talking about? Making a mosque or something else?
The ideal he was talking about was the unity of Shia and Sunni as one Muslim community. He told the people gathered there that the non-Muslims observing this ceremony would not think much about it. In their view a Muslim had come to lay the foundation stone of a mosque of his fellow Muslims. “But to you”, Ismail argued, “fellow-Musalmans, it is not so simple. You know that in the historical development of Islam I belong to a section of the organised expression of the Faith that for centuries has been in sharp opposition to the section to which you, who are going to build this mosque, belong.” He expressed satisfaction that Sunnis had invited him for this event. He told the people that since its very inception he had taken “the greatest possible interest” in this mosque where Sunni Muslims would pray in the manner they wanted.
Ismail went on to tell the people;
“At the centre of Islam is the teaching and practice of brotherhood. You would have been false to the truth of life if, because I am a Shia by birth, you had not invited me to this function, and I would have been equally false to the brotherhood of Islam if, because you are Sunnis, I had not accepted your invitation. Our differences are transient, even trivial, in comparison with the spiritual reality which these differences tend to obscure and weaken.”
Ismail went on to state that love and peace are the essence of Islam and Muslims should stop fighting among themselves as well as with their coreligionists in the country. The mosque is one of the most important mosques in Bengaluru today.
(Author is a neurobiologist with a keen interest in history, society and culture of India)
source: http://www.heritagetimes.in / Heritate Times / Home> Featured Posts> Heritage> Leaders / by Mahino Fatima / March 08th, 2022
