A video created by a team of students of the Department of Social Work, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on confronting an increasingly urgent challenge in the fight against the Covid pandemic was selected for the first prize in the ‘Regional Level Video Competition for COVID-19 Awareness in various Regional Languages/Dialects in Uttar Pradesh’. The team comprised of students namely Kapil Sharma, Nijda Zehra, Tanvi Gautam, Ilma Parveen and Anuj Sharma.
The team had participated in the competition of the National Coordinating Institution – IIT Delhi under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan for the region-wise celebration of the 75th Independence Day (Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav) throughout the country which had experts from IIT Delhi and Regional Coordinating Institutions (RCIs) as judges.
“This video is our effort to spread a word of awareness. It shows the importance of vaccinations, hand sanitisation, face masks, avoidance of crowded places and close contacts with people, staying at home if you are unwell and getting information from trusted sources,” said the team members.
Congratulating the student team, Prof Naseem Ahmad Khan (Chairman, Department of Social Work and Nodal Officer, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, AMU) said, “AMU community stands proud of these students, who are creating awareness content to reach out to the masses. I wish them more success in future endeavours”.
source: http://www.amu.ac.in / Aligarh Muslim University / Home> AMU News / by Public Relations Office, AMU / August 27th, 2021
My name is Umaimah Islam, I’m currently studying in 9th class. I was born in Delhi. When I was around 11 years old, I suddenly got interested in arts and paintings. Now, I’ve been painting for almost 2 years. I’m a self-taught artist and I know have a lot more to learn and improve upon.
Nature’s beauty inspires me to paint. I used to paint sceneries and landscapes, sometimes getting ideas by the work of senior professional artists and sometimes adding my own ideas as well but I used to be really insecure that I’m not doing good enough, but what I think that made an improvement in my work was the appreciation and encouragement by my elders.
Now, when I compare my previous artworks with recent ones, I myself feel really happy seeing the marked improvement. I’m trying to constantly get better and make my parents proud.
A year ago I also an account on instagram @Umaimah_Art, because of how curious I was and I really wanted to see if people like to see my artworks or is it that my family and friends praise my work just to make me feel good. The response is good and people have started following my account and the feedback is good. I’m happy with it as well.
That’s it for now. Thank you so much, I’m glad that I got a chance to introduce myself and tell about my passion.
A book entitled “Nizaam-I-Bhopal”, highlighting the forgotten facets of Bhopal’s military history, penned by Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Milan Lalit Kumar Naidu, PVSM, AVSM YSM, the former Vice-Chief of Army Staff, was recently released.
The book was released by current Vice-Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. C. P. Mohanty at Dronachal, the headquarters of Sudarshan Chakra Corps, in Bhopal.
Lt. Gen. Naidu’s untiring efforts gave shape to his book “Nizaam-I-Bhopal”. It took five years of research, poring through Farsi (Persian) and Urdu records that led to the book.
It is only befitting that this wistful narrative is brought out by Bhopal’s very own son, Milan Naidu, who personifies that gentility, sophistication and aesthetic refinement to do justice to any literature to do with Bhopal. As a thoroughbred officer-and-a-gentleman with the highest military credentials and an illustrious career behind him only could have produced such an exquisite and masterful body of work “Nizaam-I-Bhopal”. The unforgiving ravages of time, circumstances and dominant instincts that governed its leadership from time-to-time, have been minutely analysed, explained and postulated for posterity. The rich, unsung and often unknown facets and tapestry of Bhopal’s military traditions, legacy and its continuing imprints are generously captured, documented and brought alive in this book.
In the book “Nizaam-I-Bhopal” Lt. Gen. Milan Naidu (Retd.) has charted the transformation story of rag-tag forces of the Indian princely states, from the 18th century to that modern Army. He has lucidly described the socio-economic-politico environment which existed in those times and analysed the evolution, rules, service conditions, ceremonials and battles fought by state forces, with special reference to Bhopal State.
The Book is a historical analysis of the Militaries of the Bhopal Princely State. Bhopal had the singular position in the comity of Princely States in British India, with a 175 years’ continuous line of Begums rulers. They were visionaries, educated and erudite. They displayed tremendous administrative ability, leadership qualities and diplomatic acumen, coupled with comparable skill at horse riding and arms. These Rulers set the tone of the Militaries and its motivation. The Bhopal Battalion, as part of the Indian Expeditionary Force, was the first non-Europeans to have disembarked at Marseilles in France to fight the War on foreign shores battling the weather and enemy alike.
A Bhopal battalion was even awarded one of only nine Victoria Crosses given out to Indian soldiers in Mesopotamia in the Great War. That same unit is part of Pakistan now. In the 1965 India-Pak war this battalion was awarded “Nishan-e-Haider”. The icing on the cake was that its Militaries were demobilized in a peaceful and a placid manner, to be absorbed by the Civvy Street in a symbiotic equation.
With such historical genesis and background of the State Forces, Lt. Gen. Naidu (Retd.) helps us to understand how much of our present Army developed its traditions, values and ethos; the singular character which it win the Kargil war despite the severe adversities.
This book is of true historical value, especially of the painstaking research, much from many primary sources, obtaining information from abroad (including Pakistan), interviewing progeny of the soldiers, and finally putting all of it in order.
The author’s observations on the governance and policies of the rulers help us to trace the developmental process of the state. How these issues impinged at various times on the States Forces is reflected subtly. Some of the anecdotes narrated in the book are hilarious and some quite poignant.
Kalim Akhtar, a historian and researcher says: “It is interesting to read how the Bhopal army collaborated with the British and fought the World Wars as well. It presents a true picture of history after years of research of Farsi (Persian) and Urdu records maintained in libraries, as far as the UK. It will be of great interest to lovers of history and especially those who love Bhopal.”
While Iram Khan, a housewife, in her comments about the book says: “It is well researched and attention grasping and would recommend it to anyone who has even a slight curiosity about the old world charm that the city of Bhopal still exudes”.
Meanwhile, the author of the book, Milan Naidu joined the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the famed Rajput Regiment in 1967. He served for 41 years, holding several key positions – including worked as Military Attaché in Germany; Commanded 5th Battalion the Rajput Regiment in Sri Lanka; Commander of the Corps in Ladakh and GOC-in-C Army Training and Doctrine Command at Shimla before being made the Army Vice-Chief. He attended Canadian Forces Command and Staff College Course in Toronto. After retirement, he was appointed a member of the Armed Forces Tribunal at New Delhi.
His other assignments include: Working Chairperson of the Organising Committee for the Military World Games 2007; Member of the Executive Council of the Indian Golf Union; Chairperson of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies; Member of the Executive Council of the United Service Institution of India.
Lt. Gen. Naidu (Retd.) was born and brought up in Bhopal, the state capital of Madhya Pradesh. He did his schooling from Bhopal passing out X Class (Matric) from St Josephs Higher Secondary School, Bhopal in 1963. I may mention here that he was seven years senior to me in the school where I too studied in the sixties.
He did his M.Sc. in Defence Studies from Madras University in1984-85. Later on he did M. Phil in Defence Management in 1989-90. He completed Post Graduate Diploma in Environment and Ecology, Barkatullah University, Bhopal in 1996-97.
He won the Junior Small Bore in the National Shooting Championship in 1963. He was awarded ‘Shooting Blue’ in NDA.
source: http://www.maeeshat.in / maeeshat.in / Home> Books> Business / by Pervez Bari / August 02nd, 2021
This year’s seven Wikimedian of the Year award winners were announced today at the 2021 virtual Wikimania convening .
Read the interview below with Dr. Netha Hussain, recipient of the Honourable Mention Award.
Dr. Netha Hussain has been a Wikimedia volunteer for over a decade, as well as a medical doctor and researcher who has contributed to English and Malayalam languages of Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Meta-Wiki.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Netha wrote, updated, and translated dozens of Wikipedia articles to ensure reliable information about the pandemic is available for everyone. She also recently launched a project to improve information about vaccine safety topics on Wikipedia, helping combat misinformation. In the process, Netha has collaborated with Wikimedians around the world and inspired many others to ensure information is verifiable and reliable.
“The idea of sharing free knowledge with millions of people around the world excites me, and this serves as a motivation to keep doing more.”
Additionally, Netha has contributed to outreach and research surrounding the diversity of participation and content on Wikimedia projects, particularly of the gender gap. In 2020, she was recognized by Red Hat as a 2020 Women in Open Source Award winner.
The Wikimedian of the Year Honourable Mention award recognizes exceptional Wikimedians who already have a strong presence in the movement, as well as public exposure such as press coverage, local recognition, and national titles. pix02
This recognition is one of seven awards made this year to celebrate contributors who have made an exceptional impact on our movement. The awards were announced at this year’s virtual Wikimania celebration by Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales (watch the announcement!).
“Dr. Hussain is a role model in the Wikimedia movement for her staggering medical and scientific contributions to Wikipedia, contributions she balances alongside her own medical career. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, her work has brought increased visibility to Wikipedia’s unique role as a source for reliable public health information about the virus and the vaccines. In addition, her constant advocacy to address the gender gap and her support for Indic communities demonstrate the values of collaboration and contribution that are integral to our movement.”
– Jimmy Wales
We spoke with Netha to learn more about her experiences and perspectives on the Wikimedia movement. Here are some highlights:
Q: Can you share a favorite memory from your time contributing to Wikimedia?
“Creating my first article is a special memory that I cherish to this day. The process did take a long time because, back in 2010, I was running on a 128 kbps internet connection in a six year old desktop computer on an old version of the browser.
I wanted to create an article about an Indian cuisine called chutney in Malayalam language Wikipedia. I wasn’t sure about the rules one has to follow while editing, but I thought I will make a try anyway. I created some text and saved it as a new Wikipedia page. The next day, I was surprised to find out that other editors have improved upon that page by adding media and more content. This was the first nudge which paved the way for the rest of my Wikimedia volunteering journey.
Another memory was when I saw that a pathology image that I added to Wikimedia Commons was re-used on a prominent medical website. This made me reflect on the scarcity of good quality medical images in online sources, and prompted me to start the first of its kind GLAM [galleries, libraries, archives, and museums] collaboration with Government Medical College, Kozhikode.”
Q: What motivates you to contribute to Wikimedia projects?
“I am motivated by the satisfaction of having done a small part in making the world a better place. The idea of sharing free knowledge with millions of people around the world excites me, and this serves as a motivation to keep doing more.”
Netha Hussain presenting at the Wikimedia Diversity Conference in 2013 (Christopher Schwarzkopf (WMDE), CC BY-SA 3.0)
Q: How has Wikipedia helped tackle COVID-19 disinformation and misinformation?
“Wikimedia was able to play a large role in tackling COVID-19 disinformation because of its people, technology, and policies.
The people who make up the Wikimedia movement are experts from a wide variety of subject areas. They perform tasks such as copyediting, structuring, and adding rich media to Wikimedia pages. Wikimedia has robust policies around verifiability, neutrality, and original research, which warrants the use of sources with high credibility. The technology used in Wikimedia provides a simple interface for editing and has provisions to counter vandalism.
All these factors taken together, as well as learnings from the movement’s previous experience in responding to crisis situations helped Wikimedia tackle disinformation effectively.”
“It is hard to imagine all the ways that Wikimedia will influence the future of the ecosystem of free knowledge in medicine, but I am convinced that Wikimedia will continue to occupy a central role in the process.”
Q: How does your work on Wikipedia contribute to the future of medicine?
“I was a medical student when I started contributing to Wikimedia in 2010. At that time, I worked on concepts that I learned at medical school. Later on, I focused on building content around specific topic areas. My current focus is on creating content related to COVID-19 and vaccination. The articles created by me in English and Malayalam languages are being edited several times by other editors and are becoming richer and more comprehensive by the day. I think that these articles will continue to educate (and perhaps also entertain and enlighten) people in the future.
The text and media that I and fellow editors created will continue to be remixed, curated and magnified several times by third party sources such as search engines, websites, and virtual assistants. Additionally, the edit history of the work that we performed on Wikimedia is likely to serve as a historical documentation of how events unfolded in time and how scientific evidence changed over time.
Our discussions on talk pages would serve as a reminder for how and why we made some decisions regarding the policy or structure of Wikimedia entities. The metadata of our edits are likely to act as data points for researching about trends and patterns in editing, paving way for insightful conclusions regarding the growth and diversification of Wikimedia projects. The structured data contributed by us would serve as the database for search engine and machine learning algorithms. It is hard to imagine all the ways that Wikimedia will influence the future of the ecosystem of free knowledge in medicine, but I am convinced that Wikimedia will continue to occupy a central role in the process.”
“In the process of researching health conditions and treatment options, people…eventually to Wikimedia projects. Therefore, it is important that Wikimedians should work in the interest of public health.”
Q: What is Wikipedia’s role in public health?
“Wikipedia is the largest non-profit website in terms of pageviews. Wikipedia has become a popular source of healthcare information because of its simplicity of content, higher ranking in search results, easiness in accessibility, availability of citations, presence of photo/video illustrations, ability to edit quickly and possibility to navigate in multiple language editions.
Most often, in the process of researching health conditions and treatment options, people go online, and eventually to Wikimedia projects. Therefore, it is important that Wikimedians should work in the interest of public health and invest resources for making its medical content reliable, comprehensive and updated.”
“I wish everyone knew that they have something to contribute to the Wikimedia movement.”
Q: What is one thing you wish everyone knew about Wikimedia projects?
“I wish everyone knew that they have something to contribute to the Wikimedia movement. People usually shy away from contributing to Wikimedia because they think that the expertise they have is trivial or irrelevant for Wikimedia.
We need not only content creators and curators, but those interested in technology, outreach, fundraising, strategizing, to name a few. We need to make non-content related contributions more visible and rewarding so that everyone knows what is possible for them to do on Wikimedia projects, and enjoys doing what they love or care about.”
Congratulations, Netha!
About the 2021 Wikimedian of the Year Awards
The Wikimedian of the Year is an annual award that honours contributors to Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia editors, to highlight major achievements within the Wikimedia movement in the previous year. The tradition dates back to 2011 and has evolved since then in dynamic ways to welcome and celebrate Wikimedians from different backgrounds and experiences. This year’s celebration is bigger and more inclusive than ever before, recognizing seven exceptional contributors to the Wikimedia movement in six categories , including Newcomer of the Year, 20th Year Honouree, Rich Media and Tech contributors, and Honourable Mentions, as well as the Wikimedian of the Year.
*This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
source: http://www.diff.wikimedia.org / Wikimedia.org / Home> Wikimania 2021 / by Wikimedia Foundation / August 15th, 2021
Khan says that the story her grandmother told stayed with her for years and when she started researching the Rampur culture, it kept coming back to haunt her while she walked through the old settlement of Rampur city.
New Delhi :
She doesn’t really remember when she heard the story of the woman she named Feroza Begum in her book. Perhaps it was one of those tales her grandmother narrated when the children gathered around in the courtyard of their rambling home. “We loved to listen to the stories of bygone years as they had an immediacy, a reference point – about some relative or friend we knew,” she recalls.
Author Tarana Husain Khan, whose book ‘The Begum and the Dastan’ (Tranquebar) recently hit the shelves goes back to the year 1897 where in the princely state of Sherpur, Feroza Begum, beautiful and wilful, defies her family to attend the sawani celebrations at Nawab Shams Ali Khan’s Benazir Palace. Feroza is kidnapped and detained in the Nawab’s glittering harem, her husband is forced to divorce her, and her family disowns her. Reluctantly, Feroza marries the Nawab, and is compelled to negotiate the glamour and sordidness of the harem.
Khan says that the story her grandmother told stayed with her for years and when she started researching the Rampur culture, it kept coming back to haunt her while she walked through the old settlement of Rampur city.
“I wanted to know how Feroza lived her life, her thoughts and aspirations and her death. I was surprised by my emotional investment in the ancient tale. It made me feel suffocated and vulnerable at the same time maybe because it was a sort of cautionary tale for young girls,” she tells IANS.
Talk to her about the metamorphosis of Feroza’s character — how she starts to ‘accept’ the circumstances with the Nawab, and if a modern reader would be comfortable with that, and Khan asserts that the protagonist’s options were limited by her predicament.
“She was confined in the Nawab’s harem and her family had abandoned her. How did a woman in the late nineteenth century deal with such circumstances? It might be difficult for the ‘modern’ or ‘feminist’ person to understand her actions. I didn’t want Feroza to be a modern woman dressed in ancient clothes. I didn’t want to project these sensibilities to Feroza’s character. In fact, I had to restrain myself from putting my words and thoughts into her persona. She belonged to a certain time in history and her actions and thoughts had to mirror those times.”
The author, who has weaved two timelines in the book, insists that at the core of ‘The Begum and the Dastan’ is the question of patriarchy. “I began with writing Feroza Begum’s story but the question of the state of the girl child in small town India had been troubling me because of my first hand experience teaching young children. Ameera who lives in modern times poses the question — has anything changed for the young girls today. I wanted my readers to think beyond Feroza’s plight. Patriarchy affects young girls in Indian homes by restricting their vision of themselves as well as posing physical constraints. So the life of the veiled Begums and their limited options has a modern counterpoint in Ameera’s life,” she says.
While researching Feroza’s story, Khan realised that there were many women who had disappeared from the pages of history and whose voices inhabited oral history. There were women who left their imprint on political decisions and on cultural developments but rarely found mention in cisgender male histories. “In giving cadence to some of these voices, this book was born,” says Khan, whose previous books include ‘I’m Not a Bimbette’ (2015) and its sequel ‘Cyber Bullied’ (2020).
Currently, Khan is researching on Rampur culinary archives, which is a part of ‘Forgotten Foods: Culinary Memory, Local Heritage and Lost Agricultural Varieties in India’, a project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council that brings together researchers and practitioners.
“So my translation of nineteenth century Persian cookbooks meets the skill set of the khansama and we create something that is workable. The ultimate aim is to expand the repertoire of the local khansamas and enhance their employability. This should also popularize the ‘forgotten’ dishes of Rampur cuisine.The penultimate aim is to publish a cookbook of the forgotten dishes and to showcase the dishes at a cultural fest, the ‘Jashn e Benazir’, which we plan to host in Rampur in 2022.”
Editing a book on Rampur cuisine and culture which is slated for publication in April 2022, Khan is also writing a novel. “It is still in its initial stages. I am essentially a storyteller, a dastango like Mirza Kallan, a character in my book, who spins tales till the boundaries of reality and fiction blur,” she concludes. — IANS
source: http://www.clarionindia.net / Clarion India / Home> Books / by IANS / August 02nd, 2021
Born and brought up in New Delhi, twenty-year-old Kaif Ali is an architecture student at Faculty of Architecture & Ekistics, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Ali was honoured with The Diana Award 2021 for his work on Covid-19 Innovation–Space era recently, which is a module for demountable and portable shelter space for Covid-19 era. This is his story.
New Delhi :
Every child has drawn their family with a house in the background and most probably made sandcastles at beaches too. However, in the grownup’s world, not everyone can have a house built like that. Twenty-year-old Kaif Ali, an undergraduate student of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi after entering the world of architecture found out that homelessness is a major issue in the world and there are many without proper houses.
Born and brought up in New Delhi, twenty-year-old Kaif Ali told TwoCircles.net, “Just 200 meters away from my apartment is a settlement made above the sewage lines. In nights, the people there sleep on footpaths since snakes sneak out of sewage.”
Ali could not help noticing how unjustly the metropolitan city is majorly designed commercially for a few per cent of the population. After witnessing these inequalities, Ali wanted to take up architecture as a profession and develop a sustainable model.
Beyond survival Homeless people are of many types, which include urban poor, migrant labourers and refugees. However, the government made arrangements for these homeless people can barely be called a home. There is no privacy nor any sense of security as sought by a family since most facilities are gender-separated. Open cooking and sanitation, poor waste management, unavailability of electricity and potable water, the list go on.
Ali recollects that it was a documentary called “Cry for Syria” that sensitized him into the refugee crisis. As an attempt to address the issue, Ali went on to design shelter spaces for Syrian refugees, during his early college days.
When asked whether he is concerned about these temporary shelter spaces becoming the permanent settlement of refugees and others, as is the norm, Ali said that his concept of shelter is a home for living and not for mere survival. Therefore, along with houses, Ali also designs schools, gyms, and other recreational spaces using the same modular technology, which facilitates easy assembling and dismantling.
Quoting a few success stories of refugee assimilation with the host country, Ali believes that if refugees are housed holistically, they will not remain on the fringes. “Shelter is the start of all,” he said.
From housing to quarantining For the last two years, Ali has invested himself in designing shelter spaces for the homeless. As the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Ali witnessed the dire demand for quarantining thousands in cramped up cities.
That is how he began working with his project last March and designed a portable intermediary quarantine facility of 2.5m x 6m, using PUF panels or shipping containers, which can be assembled with ease, have massive room for expansion, with natural ventilation and 6 layers of social distancing.
The facility can also be later used as refugee camps or disaster relief camps.
Kaif Ali was awarded the international Diana Award 2021 for the same. His design follows all Covid-19 protocols and is more efficient than home quarantine or mass quarantining facilities.
Ali’s quests stem from his immediate realities. Even his intermediary quarantine shelter came up observing the spread of the virus in enclosed spaces through the air, even before WHO confirmed the spread through the air. “That is the power of observation and study. I apprehended that Covid-19 would spread through the air from my study and by keeping this in mind, I have designed the quarantine facility,” Ali said.
Thinking architecture ‘out of the box’ Having varied interests, Ali is good at juggling different pursuits. The twenty-year-old has taken home several awards in architecture and photography. It is the introduction to various international competitions that expanded Ali’s network.
Upon winning Climate Innovation Lab conducted by Climate Technology Centre and Network, Ali has been receiving mentorship of Biplab Ketan Paul, IIT Kanpur incubation mentor and social entrepreneur.
Referring to Ali’s Covid-19 relief work, Paul said proudly, “Kaif Ali is a good samaritan.”
Soon, Ali’s design would shelter the people of Lagos in Nigeria. His project has received appreciation across the world from architects of Germany, Iran, South Africa, Turkey, the US, & Brazil. Ali has also featured in the United Nations top 11 emerging innovation start-ups solving climate action.
Twenty-year-old Ali has not shied away from approaching several state governments. After the Karnataka government appreciated him, organizations working with the Maharashtra government are willing to implement his project.
To make his designs financially viable, Ali said he uses his father’s counsel, who is in the construction business. “His advice comes in handy, especially when deciding the materials and other factors. It is the context that is my foremost priority,” Ali said, elaborating that climate and clients’ context guides his design.
Moreover, Ali aspires to make the language of architecture accessible to common people. His drawings are easily readable for policymakers and politicians alike. “Future architectures cannot limit themselves to space and cost crises alone. In times of rising refugees of climate, wars and poverty, expanding socially responsible entrepreneurial perspective in architecture is a must,” concludes Ali.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Arfa Backer, TwoCircles.net / July 30th, 2021
On Al Mirqab Street at Al Nasser is a tiny carpet store that’s been there since 2000. Its neighboring stores come and go but this one hasn’t changed its location for 21 years. Now, sandwiched between a shawarma restaurant and a telecom shop, the store regularly brings handmade rugs and carpets from Kashmir and Afghanistan. The store is owned and managed by a man known as ‘The Rugman of Doha’. Why is he known by this name and what is special about his carpets and rugs?
The Rugman For Handicrafts shop on Al Mirqab Street, Al Nasser.
The ILoveQatar.net (ILQ) team reached out to ‘The Rugman of Doha’, Riyaz Bhat, to learn more about his passion for tribal rugs and how he sees each rug he brings to Qatar as a work of art. Let’s get to know him better!
ILQ: Please tell us something about yourself.
The Rugman of Doha’. / Image credit: Riyaz Bhat
Riyaz: My name is Riyaz Bhat. I was born and raised in Srinagar City in the valley of beautiful Kashmir in India. Since I was a child, I have always been fascinated by rugs handcrafted by my family of weavers — how they would fill tiny knots one by one with natural fibers like silk or wool, and then how those tiny knots on looms would take the shape of a beautiful carpet with amazing patterns. When I was in grade 8, I was given permission to use the loom and eventually learned how to weave rugs.
After I finished college I was planning to go for higher education and take a business course, but my destiny had something else planned for me. When I read the story of the nomad tribes of Central Asia and learned about how they make quality handmade rugs, I decided to travel to Afghanistan to see the process myself. So, in 1987 I started my adventure to war-torn Afghanistan. It really was a difficult journey, but very rewarding. I witnessed how the talented nomad women of the region would weave the most beautiful and fascinating rugs, which they would trade for food and money. I traveled back and forth to Afghanistan for more than 10 years, and as I learned more about designs, patterns, and dyes, my passion for carpets and rugs grew more as well.
ILQ: How long have you been here in Qatar and how has your journey been so far?
Riyaz: In 1999, while I was working with my uncle in Pakistan, a customer visiting from Doha came to our store and bought a few rugs from me. He introduced Qatar to me as a fast-growing and developing country and encouraged me to open up a store here. At first, I hesitated but destiny again planned one more great adventure for me. I landed at the old Doha Airport for the first time in October 1999 with a 14-day business visa, and that visa was extended and extended, and I’m happy to say that it’s my 22nd year now in this wonderful country.
ILQ: How did you get the title ‘The Rugman of Doha’?
Riyaz: After searching for many places here, I finally found a location for my store. On 4 April 2000, I opened my showroom at Al Mirqab Street in Al Nasser and have never changed location since then. During the first few days, customers started coming and my store was introduced to a great group of people from VCUarts Qatar. Among them was Cathleen Ferguson Huntington who upon entering my shop saw me and said, “Are you the Rugman?” And that’s how the ‘The Rugman of Doha’ was born.
ILQ: What do you value most about what you do? Why do you love what you do?
Riyaz Bhat weaving a silk rug on his family loom in Kashmir, India. / Image credit: Riyaz Bhat
Riyaz: Weaving rugs has been my passion since childhood, and I really love and value what I do. I value the times I’m with tribal groups and get to introduce nomad women designers and their amazing artworks to the world. By doing this I feel satisfied with what I have done in my life.
I also welcome students and small groups of people in our store for a free discussion about rug art and history. I enjoy discussing and providing information about the history of rugs and the beautiful story behind each rug that we have. I am thankful that I am gifted with the talent to weave and tell important stories.
ILQ: How will you describe your shop to people who’ve never seen it before?
Waji Khan, cousin of Riyaz Bhat, holds a 150-year-old pure wool handmade Shiraz tribal rug. It’s a wedding sufra (dining) rug, made by the mother of the bride.
Riyaz: My store, The Rugman, is not just a carpet store. It is rather a learning class for art and history and I bet once you listen to our stories and see our collections, you are going to love it for a lifetime. Each carpet has a story. Each rug is an art.
ILQ: What motivated you to bring your carpets to Qatar?
Riyaz: As soon as I arrived in Doha, I went around the city and strolled to see different places. I went to markets and to the lone mall during that time – The Mall at D Ring road. I saw one rug store inside that mall with many customers. I also went to the old downtown where there were more rug stores, and I saw people buying rugs. That’s when I decided to open a store here.
ILQ: Was it easy to set up a carpet store here in Qatar?
Riyaz: Yes, at that time it was very easy to open a store and I was very lucky to find a great sponsor who also became my investment partner. He helped in every way to open my shop. Qatar is one lovely country, and living and working here has been a lot easier compared to other countries and has been very encouraging for my business.
ILQ: What kind of rugs and carpets will people find in your shop?
Riyaz: We have extremely high-quality handmade rugs from my family of weavers. Besides that, we also have genuine handmade rugs made by nomads like Turkmen, Kazak, Balouch, Uzbek, Shirwan, Ghazni, and many other small tribes of the region. Each rug collected from them tells a beautiful story.
ILQ: What is the biggest difficulty you have faced in bringing these carpets and rugs from Afghanistan to Qatar?
Riyaz Bhat (left) in Jalalabad, Afghanistan in 2005. / Image credit: Riyaz Bhat
Riyaz: Going to Afghanistan, collecting these rugs from these nomads one by one in person and getting them shipped to Pakistan first by trucks, and then from Pakistan to Qatar by plane. It really is an extremely tiring process.
ILQ: Have you participated in both local and international exhibitions?
Waji Khan, cousin of Riyaz Bhat, describes one of the rugs available in the shop.
Riyaz: Yes, I have participated in both local and international exhibitions and shows. I recently returned from my shows in Houston, Texas, and Arlington, Virginia. These were my 5th and 6th shows in the USA. I have also done many shows for American Women’s Association Qatar, Tuesdays Ladies Group Qatar, Qatar Expat Women, US Embassy Qatar, Exxon Mobil Oil Qatar, Shell Qatar, and many other private shows.
ILQ: Do you have both local and international customers? How do you ship the rugs/carpets to your customers?
On the second floor of The Rugman store.
Riyaz: Yes, we have local and international customers and we ship our rugs all over the world. Our foreign customers are mostly from the USA, Canada, and Europe. We have a very economical door-to-door shipping facility.
ILQ: Why should people own at least one of the carpets/rugs you offer?
A rug inspired by the famous Ardabil Carpet is available at The Rugman store.
Riyaz: Our rugs are not like those commercial rugs you see in many stores. Our rugs are made by nomads and purely handmade using natural resources. These are the rugs that if taken good care of can end up in museums as they are extremely strong.
ILQ: What is the price range of rugs and carpets in your store?
Carpets/rugs and other souvenir items are available at The Rugman store.
Riyaz: It depends on the quality, the material, and the work put into it. Sometimes a very small rug costs much more than a huge rug. But I would say rugs in our collection range from QR 600 up to QR 70,000. It depends on how crazy you are about rugs and how much budget you have.
ILQ: What do you think is the future of handmade tribal rugs and carpets?
Carpets/rugs and other souvenir items are available at The Rugman store.
Riyaz: Carpet weaving is one difficult and time-consuming job. One must be very patient and creative to create rugs. The new generation is not taking it as a vocation, and it’s becoming a dying art. Sad to say, I feel that in the next 30 to 40 years we might not see genuine handmade rugs anymore.
ILQ: What message do you have for the people of Qatar?
Riyaz: Work with all the enthusiasm and confidence in you, and your achievement will just be right there at the corner. Obey and respect the rules and laws of this wonderful country.
In the present day world, where the number of birds and animals is dwindling fast due to environmental issues and man-made calamities, a bird lover has made an attempt to provide shelter to sparrows at his home.
Salauddin, class I civil contractor of Manvi town of the district, is the Good Samaritan, who has given shelter to sparrows in his house for the past four and a half years. He has installed bamboo, tires, pots etc and feeds water and food to these birds through these equipment. In addition, he has built a small house for these birds. The birds use water and have food in this house. Salauddin is well known for his love of birds in the district like another bird lover Saleem Ali.
Salauddin’s house has become a tourist spot. Everyday hundreds of school children visit his house during school days.
Salauddin says that protecting the birds is his aim. In addition to sparrows, he also has Myna, Robin and Bulbul birds making nests in his house. His wife and children provide him full support in his noble work.
Salauddin opines that birds and animals have as much right to live on this earth as human beings. He says that everyone has to at least make arrangements to provide water to birds especially during summer.
source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Daijiworld.com / Home> Top Stories / by Daijiworld Media Network – Raichur (MS) / August 14th, 2021
As a child, Ayesha Fatima aspired to become a doctor. But all her dreams were shattered when the most trusted and loving person in her life- her father, abandoned her at a very young age. Survival became a tough battle. The responsibility of feeding the family fell on Ayesha who gave up her studies and started working as a salesgirl for a minimal salary.
Ayesha then turned to Rubina Nafees Fatima and her NGO – SAFA, for help. She joined the ITES course for training and later got placed as a data entry operator at a private company. “The course changed my life,” she says.
Since 2006, Rubina Nafees Fatima’s Hyderabad-based organisation, SAFA, has helped thousands of women and youth from marginalized, socio-economically backward communities by empowering them to earn livelihoods through education and skill training and capacity building.
Rubina is a determined woman and a passionate social worker. She was conferred with the FLO Women Achievers award by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce (FICCI) towards ‘empowering women to bring about a change in society’, the Social Enterprise award for ‘social impact’ by the Deshpande Foundation and the Australia Award by the Export Council, government of Australia.
‘Proud Muslim Woman’
Rubina believes that it is the duty of every Muslim woman to contribute positively to society.
“Women need to assert themselves- within their families and also in the outside world- they need to be proud of their culture, their heritage and everything about themselves.”
“Be a proud Muslim woman,” she says.
Rubina grew up with four sisters. “My father encouraged us all to be extremely independent. I believe economic independence is a freedom that every woman should have”, she says, adding that this led her to believe that women need to have a suitable platform to utilize their potential. “To first realise their potential and then use it to the maximum.”
A Leap Of Faith
“I was generally looking around for avenues and how I can contribute my bit, I feel it’s my duty, as an educated Muslim woman,” says Rubina who has been an active volunteer in various development programs since her college days. “I wanted to be working with Muslim women, largely because I feel I know the dynamics of the community. I feel, being a part of the community, I understand the challenges of the community. I know where the roadblocks are,” she says.
Rubina had initially set up a commercial venture for training and placements in Hyderabad. “I had to shut that down because I wanted to get into SAFA full-time. This didn’t make many people happy in my network,” she recounts.
“After the initial three years, I was on the verge of a shutdown. I picked a very difficult slum in Hyderabad. The crime rate was very high over there. No NGO had worked there for decades, as they felt they would not see any results,” Rubina says while narrating how the absence of a team and funding caused her to almost give up.
“But then I took a leap of faith,” she says.
“In each phase, there have been a different set of challenges and we continue to have them. It never stops. But I feel it builds our resilience, to face the many more to come,” Rubina adds.
SAFA has been conferred with the ‘e-NGO Challenge Award’ in the Southeast Asia category by Digital Empowerment Foundation and the Manava Seva Dharma Samvardhani – Fellowship Award. It was titled the ‘Pride Of Telangana’ by Round Table India in the ‘emerging NGO category’ and the ‘Trendsetter Award’ for innovative practices in Urban livelihoods by United Way Hyderabad.
‘Women Were Not Even Allowed To Come To Our Training Centres’
SAFA’s vision is to bring about change whilst retaining the cultural ethos of the community. Women are also given the freedom to work from home after being trained. “Our processes are designed in such a way that if the woman has a machine at home, she can work from home and give us the products,” Rubina says.
“Initially, women were not even allowed to come to our training centres,” she recounts.
“We were very open in talking to the male members of the family and addressed the concerns they had about letting the woman come in and get trained. Men could have some insecurities that stop them from encouraging women to go to training centres and NGOs, it could also be a concern for the woman’s safety, coupled with the socio-cultural context.”
Rubina stresses the need for Muslims to talk about the issues that exist in the community. “In the urban slums of Hyderabad, every second home has an alcoholic husband. Why aren’t there any detox centres for Muslim men? Why are we still sweeping our issues under the carpet,” she asks, adding that “these issues will only get worse if left unaddressed.”
SAFA’s Empowerment Initiatives
Rubina, along with her team at SAFA are currently working on 14 three-year-long projects.
SAFA sets up skill training centres for women and youth who drop out of college or have discontinued school education. They are later connected to jobs. Currently, SAFA runs seven skills training centres in Hyderabad.
However, for semi-literate and illiterate women, SAFA trains them in culinary skills and tailoring. These women are later employed at Luqma Kitchens, a packaged food and catering service run by SAFA or Artizania – a manufacturing unit for apparel and eco-friendly lifestyle products.
“The end result is that women need to be engaged in some kind of a meaningful income generation in order to make a decent living,” Rubina says.
‘Luqma’ was launched to empower underprivileged women through a commercial community kitchen. It currently functions with two kitchens in the slums of Hyderabad, catering to fresh traditional Hyderabadi food and packaged products.
“Luqma is not just about food, it’s about the empowerment and livelihood of women. Most women working here are victims of domestic violence, deserted or abandoned and from below the poverty line,” she says. These women are trained in basic culinary skills by expert chefs and can cook up to 400 meals at a time.
Right next to the kitchen, is a space that can accommodate about 20-25 people – the Luqma Studio, which Nafis Fatima says is a ‘safe space’ for Muslim women. “Activists have been telling me that Muslim women are still reclusive and it’s challenging to find ways to interact with them. So, I thought why not create an open and safe space for them?”
Women from different communities engage in discussions on social and political issues at Luqma Studio. “Largely I want to bust stereotypes of Muslim women. I feel other communities do not get a chance to know about Muslims, especially Muslim women. The moment they think of Muslim women, they start stereotyping- they are the victims of patriarchy, are an oppressed group and other such notions,” she says.
The studio works as a platform for Muslim women to unwind, engage in dialogue, network, exchange ideas, and find out about other communities.
SAFA also helps in setting up micro-enterprises for women and connects them to banks for larger loans. With capital as little as 10,000 women have started small shops, tailoring shops and grocery stores.
Many Muslim women don’t even have bank accounts, especially those who hail from poor conditions. “All our women have bank accounts, now,” she says.
SAFA also runs self-help groups across Hyderabad, largely for Muslim women. “Despite 45,000 self-help groups existing on city records. Very few of them have Muslim women,” Rubina says.
With many more women approaching SAFA, their network and impact on the social landscape of Hyderabad is increasing by the day.
NOTE: SAFA is looking to expand its social enterprise product sales in India and abroad and looking for partners. You can reach them at rubina@safaindia.org / 9866174665 or visit their website www.safaindia.org
source: http://www.thecognate.com / The Cognate / Home> People / by Rushda Fatima Khan / August 11th, 2021
It is Henry Ford who said, “Anyone who stops learning is old — whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” While it isn’t a crime not to know who AR Rahman is, one must also know icons who fill each cell of your body with pride are hard to come by. A true legend of his craft, it is never late to know a thing or two about the gifted man who has made every Indian proud. Here are 10 facts that could help a complete stranger to know the giant AR Rahman is, and why he is a true emotion that bonds the entire country.Winner of six National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, fifteen Filmfare Awards and seventeen Filmfare Awards South, AR Rahman is fondly called “the Mozart of Madras.”(Photo | AP)In 2012, AR Rahman revealed that he was invited for a dinner at the White House by the family of the President of the United States. (Photo | AP)Considering his professional experience ARR was given the scholarship to study at Oxford’s Trinity College, where he received a degree in Western classical music. (Photo | PTI)AR Rahman is the first Asian to win two Oscars in the same year. (File Photo)In 2013, a street in Markham, Ontario, Canada, was named after him to honour his contributions to the world of music. (Photo | Twitter)In 2000, a French TV commercial for Volvic starring football icon Zinedine Zidane used a piece of theme music composed by ARR for the movie ‘Bombay’. (File Photo)In 2011, GQ (formerly called Gentlemen’s Quarterly), an American international monthly men’s magazine, elected him Legend of the Year. (File Photo)In 2003, ARR-composed ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ from ‘Dil Se’ was voted 9th in “The World’s Top Ten” songs of all time by BBC World Service. (Photo | PTI)ARR composed Airtel’s signature tune, which had over 150 million downloads by 2019 – the most in the world in the mobile music genre.(Photo|Facebook.com/arrahman, BTOS PRoductions)In 2009, Rahman’s soundtrack for ‘Lagaan’ was ranked No. 45 on Amazon.com’s “The 100 Greatest World Music Albums of All Time” list. (Photo | Youtube screengrab)11 / 13‘Roja’, ARR’s debut soundtrack, was listed in TIME’s “10 Best Soundtracks” of all time by film critic Richard Corliss in 2005. (File Photo)‘Heroes get remembered, but legends never die!’: Max Holloway (File Photo)
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Galleries> Entertainment / July 22nd, 2021
