Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

24 Hours In Life Of Rofikul Islam: Quack-Quack, Hoot-Hoot — Of Ducks And Owls

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Green Products, Sports, Travel & Tourism, , ,

ASSAM  :

Rofikul Islam is a professional wildlife guard and much in demand for his amazing knowledge of birds and animals. Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is among his top clients.

RofikulIslamMPOs22nov2019

Quack! The gander gives away the nest’s position behind an arbour of foliage. Mrs White-Winged Duck responds with a quick quack-quack. Rofikul Islam raises an arm, winks at his team. And they, finger on trigger, behold Assam’s state bird—so elusive and endangered that perhaps only 200 pairs rem­ain in the wild on this planet—with unabashed sideways glances of looky-loos. They go click, click, click. But the light is low; the sun has just yawned out on this island in the Jia Bhoroli, the livewire of Nameri national park straddling Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

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Will he stop prying into Mr and Mrs DUck’s private moments? He won’t.

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Rofikul, a professional wildlife guide with AllIndiaBirdingTours, has prepared well for the sortie. This morning is a long trek—boating, fording, and pushing their trusty legs to their limits. Waking up to a burst of tweets, retweets, pa-chip-chip-pa-tip (sounds like potato chip and dip?), breakfast is hearty in the camp. “By noon, the team logs nearly 80 species of birds,” says Rofikul, a Kaziranga nat­ive who turned 30 this November. Growing up near the fam­ous park helped him hone a guide’s primary asset: like telling a Crested Kingfisher from a finch by their calls. Booked through the year, his adventures are on unplumbed land—jungles on the Assam plains, in the Northeast’s hills and snowcapped Sikkimese mountains. His guest list? Long and impressive; includes Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

Back to camp, lunch,  another exp­edition (short; sundown gathers pace), tea/cookies/Maggi, and it’s almost time for dinner around a bonfire. The thatch-and-bamboo cottages, the snug beds wait invitingly. But the guardian owl is on his nightly run. Hoot hoot! Everything screeeeeee-s to a halt.

source: http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Home> Magazine> National / by Rituparna Kakoty / November 21st, 2019

Faith no barrier

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, , , , , , , ,

Srinagar, JAMMU & KASHMIR :

A Muslim woman is taking Sikh boys and girls in Srinagar closer to their religion by teaching them kirtan singing. Tasleema Langoo is a regular at Gurduwaras and finds applause even in the Golden Temple. Shazia Yousuf reports.

TasleemaLangoo01MPOs22nov2019

As she recited a shabad from Guru Granth Sahib at the Golden Temple Amritsar, almost everyone was engrossed in the melody of the kirtan. As soon as she finished, an old woman came towards her, almost crying, kissed her hands and hugged her.

“Now you are the voice of Sikh women. You have done what no girl could do, you are the honour of your Sikh community now.” The old woman said while taking off her golden earrings and gifting these to her.

She didn’t know the girl she was praising was a Kashmiri Muslim.

It is a three year old incident, but Tasleema Langoo’s association with kirtan is almost two decades old. The 26-year-old from Shaheed Gunj Srinagar has been teaching Kirtan to Sikh boys and girls since she was 14. She is perhaps the only kirtan tutor for the community in Srinagar.

She comes from a family of musicians. Her great grandfather sang for Maharaja Pratap singh, her grandfather Ghulam Qadir Langoo was a court singer of Maharaja Hari Singh. Her uncles and aunts have worked as musicians with Radio Kashmir. Tasleema’s father Abdul Majeed Langoo teaches music at Women’s college MA road.

Tasleema was five or six years old when some Sikh girls approached her father for learning music for religious purposes. “They were my father’s students from college. They would call him Langoo Veerji and wanted to learn harmonium and tabla from him for kirtan singing. I was the youngest daughter and would follow him like his shadow, watching and observing him,” Tasleema says while composing a shabad for her students at her Alochi Bagh residence where the family has recently moved in.

Every morning, Sikh girls would come with a shabad from Guru Granth Sahib and Tasleema’s father would compose it for them, “I would sing with them. Though there was music in every room of our house, but kirtan would excite me most,” she says.

It went on for many years. The students kept changing. And Tasleema’s love for kirtan compositions kept growing. She insisted on joining her father’s class where she would help his students in playing instruments who in turn would write shabads in Urdu (Arabic script) for her, “I was first hesitant, I thought it is disrespecting to sing something we don’t believe or mean. But she loved and respected it more than them,” says Tasleema’s father Majeed.

The class swelled with every day. It was now Tasleema who would sing to the compositions of his father for the students. “They were thrilled to hear her mesmerising voice that they couldn’t find in their community for years. Even the parents of students would come to listen,” says Majeed.

In 1998, when Tasleema was in 8th standard, she decided to start her own coaching class. “By now I was fully trained. The only difficulty was reading Granth Sahib in Punjabi. My father got a Urdu version from Amritsar for me,” she says. Tasleema says, she would start her day with morning prayers (Namaz) and recitation from Quran. “Then I would open Granth Sahib, memorise a new shabad and compose with the help of my father, for my students.”

In 2000, Tasleema left her studies after high school. The same year she gave her first performance in a gurdwara. Tasleema sang in the Gurdwara at Lal Chowk Srinagar on the invitation of a Sikh family. “First not many people were attentive, but when I sang, they were all humming and praising in Punjabi language.” She could hardly understand their words and kept pleading the family not to reveal her Muslim identity.

But when they came to know of her Muslim identity, she earned many blessings. More and more invitations for kirtan darbars followed. “There are two to three invitations in a month. On Sundays I sing in Chatti Padshahi Gurdwara. I sang in many kirtan darbars outside the state. People invite me to sing at Baisakhi and other festivals,” she says.

In 2001, a known singer Harjinder Singh spotted her in Chatti Padshahi gurdwara and advised her to go to Radio Kashmir. She went for an audition, qualified, and began singing kirtans for Radio Kashmir.

Afterwards, late Ghulam Nabi Sheikh encouraged her to go for Kashmiri auditions too. She did and thus began to sing in Kashmiri too for the radio.

Most of her time, however is spent in teaching. She has taught more than 200 Sikh boys and girls. At present she has 15 students. She charges Rs 300 each. And what about her neighbours and relatives. How did they react?

“Our home in Shaheed Gunj was adjacent to mosque. Once I was singing loudly with my students when the mosque imam entered our house. I was ready for a reprimand, but to my surprise, he gave his blessings and told me that I was doing a wonderful job by maintaining communal harmony at a time when our place needed it most,” she says.

Tasleema, however, gave in to her apprehensions in testing times. After the Chattisinghpora Massacre in which 36 Sikhs were killed by unidentified assailants, she stopped her classes. However she could not keep herself away for long and resumed her classes.

For the small Sikh community of Kashmir, she is a saviour of their traditions. “You cannot imagine what she is for our community. It is she who teaches us verses from our holy book every day,” says her student Supinder Singh of Bemina, a postgraduate student at University of Kashmir.

“We never feel she is different from us, she absorbs herself in every verse,” says another student, Manpreet Singh, an engineering graduate.

In 2007, when her magical voice reverberated in the Golden Temple,  Sikh religious leader, Harbans Singh visited her house to thank him. “He told me, ‘you are doing us a favour’ and he gave me some money as well,” she says.

source: http://www.kashmirlife.net / Kashmir Life / Home> Faith> Music / by Shazia Yousuf, Kashmir Life / June 27th, 2010

Book Negates Stereotype Image of Muslim Women

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Community Involvement / Social Issues, , , , , , , ,

Nizamuddin Basti, NEW DELHI :

The book “Resilience: Stories of Muslim Women” was released by noted journalist and author Sagarika Ghose at a function at the India International Center, New Delhi on Wednesday. — Photo: Caravan Daily
The book “Resilience: Stories of Muslim Women” was released by noted journalist and author Sagarika Ghose at a function at the India International Center, New Delhi on Wednesday. — Photo: Caravan Daily

‘Resilience: Stories of Muslim women’ released in New Delhi

New Delhi :

At a time when her stereotypes as meek and submissive entity are used by a political class to further its agenda, a new book catches Muslim woman in her multidimensional persona and in the process blasts many a myth surrounding her. In each of the varied fields of human endeavour, these Muslim women have come out in flying colours.

The book “Resilience: Stories of Muslim Women” was released by noted journalist and author Sagarika Ghose at a function at the India International Center here on Wednesday in the presence of many woman activists.

Speaking on the occasion, Ghose said the book negated the stereotype image of Muslim women as it illustrates that no matter what the economic impediments or social taboo, given the means and empathy Muslim women could also scale the height of success.

The book explores the lives of 11 resilient Muslim women who fought against all odds and got the opportunity to study in a tiny adult education centre. She congratulated these women and lamented in the scientific age woman have to face many odds and discrimination in every community.

The book release ceremony was followed by a discussion on the condition of women moderated by Nazia Erum, author and media advocacy head of Amnesty International India.

Social activist Shabnam Hashmi, the spirit behind the success of these women, said the book is like fresh air in the present political environment of the country in an oblique reference to the Modi Government’s push for enacting controversial Triple Talaq law which seeks to criminalise a civil matter like marriage.

She claimed stereotypical images of Muslim women are being used to further marginalise the minority community.

In early 1980, we started teaching the Nizamuddin Basti girls but it was a bumpy journey as girls had to struggle against severe hostility from the Basti residents whom Muslim girls going to study was “ anti-Islam or anti-Deen”, she added.

Shubha Menon, author, who documented the life of girls and women of Nizamuddin Basti, Delhi, said these were mostly dropouts or had not studied at all. She said she was touched by their stories and decided to bring the brighter side of the Muslim women.

On the occasion, many of these women narrated their stories of struggles.

Farida, who is a daughter of a Maulvi attached to Tablighi Jamaat, said she fought patriarchy, gender bias, poverty, and triple talaq to become a graduate.  She said there was no discrimination on the basis of gender at home as her father loved her much but did not in favour of sending her to school.  She told she was made to wear a burqa at 9, married off at 13 abandoned with two children at 16.

Farida, who now runs an NGO, has a sister Syeda whose story is also the same. “Both the sisters married to two brothers, unpaid labour in their matrimonial home, sloggers, beaten at the whims of a cruel matriarch, bearing children and hardship in one go. Their father, a Maulvi of Tablighi Jamaat, caught between the demands of his fellow Jamaatis and love for his daughters. The two sisters return home with meager belongings plus four pairs of mouths to feed. Then from rock bottom poverty, they extricate themselves. Their horizon widens and they rise and thanks to Seher Study Centre”.

Ayesha said she not only fought for her education but brought up her son to be an MBA and her daughter a Master in Science.  Mussarrat, who now works for an international NGO, told that her grandmother kept her locked at home.

Other women Asma, Ishrat, Parveen, Shahjahan, Farhat, Parveen,  and Najma’s stories are similar but not identical.

Shabnam said the mentors of Seher Study Centre in the Basti; teaching, counselling, chatting, encouraging the oppressed girls to break out of their fetters and manacles and ultimately from their cloisters.

From verbal threats to lathis, they not only bore them but spun them around to give great leverage to the girls they were grooming, she said.

The book, which chronicles the stories of successful women, also highlights the Markaz versus the Dargah which is another contradiction of the Basti. Stories of the Dargah dot the entire book. For example, Nizamuddin’s disdain for power is a poignant anecdote. Rulers of the Sultanate, Tughlaqs and Khiljis were not permitted to enter the Pir’s Khanqah. The Saint’s priority was not to pay obeisance to the ruler but to feed the poor and indigent no matter of what faith or of what caste while the Markaz propagates orthodox Islam. The author does not deride one practice at the cost of the other. Their parallel existence may occasionally clash but seldom becomes a major eruption.

She makes the reader a partner in her adventure as a reader is taken through the winding gulleys, narrow stairs, tottering houses, all the time surrounded by a mass of humanity; namely Muslims who live and breathe Nizamuddin. There is a constellation of girls who were transformed by the Seher Adult Education Centre. The stories unfold one by one.

The author Menon concludes that Seher comes out as a unique experiment, which not only transformed all those women who studied there but their future generations as well.

source: http://www.caravandaily.com / Caravan Daily / Home> Books / by Abdul Bari Masoud, Caravan Daily / August 29th, 2019

India’s top 5 revenue generating monuments were all built by Muslim rulers

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , , , ,
Taj Mahal | Commons
Taj Mahal | Commons

The Taj Mahal and 4 other monuments earned Rs 146.05 crore, more than half the total revenue generated by centrally-protected monuments, in 2017-18.

New Delhi:

 Fringe Hindu groups and even some BJP leaders may have sought to belittle their significance but official data shows that India’s top five revenue generating monuments were all built by Muslim rulers – the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Qutub Minar, Fatehpur Sikri and Red Fort.

While Qutub Minar was built by rulers of the Delhi Sultanate, the rest were constructed by the Mughals.

These five monuments together earned the government Rs 146.05 crore in 2017-18, according Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) data. This is more than half the total revenue of Rs 271.8 crore generated by all centrally-protected monuments.

The Print
The Print

The Taj Mahal, which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent years, with the Supreme Court last month pulling up the ASI for its poor maintenance, continued to be the highest earner at Rs 56.83 crore.

While some politicians sparked a controversy last year by arguing that the Mughal-era monument did not represent Indian culture, the number of visitors to it, both Indian and foreign, only increased since 2016-17.

A total of 64.58 lakh people visited the Taj Mahal in 2017-18 compared to 50.66 lakh in 2016-17.

Last year, the UP tourism department had even omitted the Taj Mahal, a UNESCO world heritage site, from a brochure listing the state’s principal attractions.

With total earnings of Rs 30.55 crore, Agra Fort built by Mughal emperor Akbar, another UNESCO world heritage site, was the second highest revenue generator in the last financial year.

While the Konark Sun Temple in Odisha came second after the Taj Mahal in terms of number of visitors (32.3 lakh), it generated only Rs 10.06 crore as revenue. This, officials said, is because the temple is mostly popular only with Indian tourists, with 32.21 lakh domestic visitors making the trip last year.

While Indian tourists are charged Rs 30 per head as entry fee to world heritage monuments across the country, foreign tourists have to pay Rs 500 each.

“It is impossible to communalise the entire Indian population through the meaningless political venom spewed by politicians,” said historian S. Irfan Habib, explaining the increase in visitors to the Taj.

“No matter what they say about the Taj Mahal and Red Fort, Indians will continue going there,” he added.

source: http://www.theprint.in / The Print / Home> India> Governanace / by Sanya Dhingra / June 07th, 2018

Tipu, legend in the West

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Karnataka (under research project), Leaders, World Opinion, , , , ,

Srirangapatnam, KARNATAKA :

TipuSultanMPOs07nov2019

It is an irony that Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, whom the current government in Karnataka wants to remove from its history, is celebrated in Britain, France and the US in song, drama, opera, novel, poetry and paintings. A wealth of Tipu’s  personal effects, curiosities and artifacts have found way into numerous art galleries and museums in many countries in the West. There’s not a major museum in the UK that does not exhibit some artifact related to Tipu.

The 75th Highlanders were a regiment raised in Scotland to exclusively fight Tipu. Scottish generals like Sir Hector Munro, Baillie, Beatson, Fraser, Gordon, Dunlop and others participated in the wars against Tipu. The Scots, more than the English,  were in the forefront of the British forces in all the Anglo-Mysore wars fought by Tipu as well as his father Hyder Ali. That explains the importance of the display of Tipu memorabilia in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

After Tipu was finally defeated and killed in 1799 by the British, under the command of Arthur Wellesley, the future Lord Wellington who 16 years later defeated Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Waterloo, images of Tipu, his capital Srirangapatam (Srirangapatna) and his numerous impregnable forts and fortresses, proliferated throughout Britain. No other Indian ruler ever captured the imagination of the average Englishman as Tipu did. It is said that British housewives would quieten their babies by whispering “else, Tipu Sultan will come and get you.” Even three decades after Tipu’s death, his name was such a terror that when Ram Mohan Roy visited England on a mission from the then Mughal emperor, hostile crowds confronted him in London, mistaking him to be related to Tipu because his headgear resembled Tipu’s iconic turban.

Tipu Sultan, his capital city Srirangapatam, and the wars he fought against the British became favourite subjects for paintings, sketches and etchings by some of the most famous artists of the day in England and Scotland. When Ker Porter, the famous  Scottish painter’s Panorama — a single large painting of Tipu — was displayed in Edinburgh, there was euphoria among the public as they rushed to have a glimpse of it. JMW Turner, the renowned British painter, painted portraits of Tipu  and scenes of Srirangapatam and other places in Mysore kingdom. Sir David Willkie, another famous painter, was commissioned by the widow of David Baird to paint the poignant “Discovering the body of Tipu Sahib on 4 May, 1799”.  It was exhibited in 1838 in the Royal Academy of Arts in London. David Baird had spent several years in Srirangapatam as Tipu’s prisoner, and had his revenge in the final assault on him.

Alexander Allen travelled to India to personally see the hill forts of Mysore kingdom and produced captivating scenes in his paintings. William Darnell Beckford, Holmes, Hunter and many others made several stunning paintings of Tipu and his palaces. Sir Walter Scott, the great Scottish novelist, wrote works of fiction based on Tipu and his times. Charles Dickens, Wilkes Collins and Jules Verne have all depicted themes from Tipu’s life in their novels.

The numerous artifacts of Tipu Sultan, pilfered, looted and spirited away by the British after the fall of Srirangapatam, became collectors’ items. Tipu’s dismantled throne, his numerous swords, daggers, bejeweled sword belts, hookahs, ivory caskets , nutcrackers, gold watches, precious jewels and many other priceless items occupy the pride of place in museums in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Wales.

The most awesome of these artifacts is the life-size toy tiger depicted devouring a British soldier. It has cast a spell over generations eve since it was spirited away by Wellesley to England where it was displayed at the Kensington Museum, now  known as Victoria and Albert Museum (V& A Museum). This toy tiger in bright yellow strips has in its belly a mechanical pipe organ hidden, which creates wailing shrieks and a loud road when its handle is turned. There was near stampede for months in front of the museum when people flocked to see the wonder toy of Tipu Sultan. The fact that it is kept in an exclusive large room in the otherwise crowded V&A Museum, and with separate security, speaks of the importance that is accorded to this curious Mysore object. A replica of it is at the Scottish National Museum in Edinburgh. It was commissioned in 1999, when the bi-centenary of Tipu’s death was commemorated, as the original one at V&A could not be moved for fear of damaging it in transit.

The most significant of Tipu’s artifacts are at the Edinburgh castle. Inside the castle is the ‘National War Museum’, in which the battle honours of the Scottish Regiments are displayed. Here are seen several swords and arms used by the Scottish generals against Tipu and his Mysore armies. What is interesting are the words Carnatic, Mysore, and Srirangapatam engraved on the granite slabs displayed on the walls.

At a private museum in Powai Castle in Wales, one can see Tipu’s camp tent, made of silk and heavily embroidered, his camp cot made of sandalwood, his hookah and many other personal items, besides two large cannons.

A painting of Tipu with his war rockets hung on a wall at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia in the US was seen by young APJ Abdul Kalam when he was on a visit there in his early years at ISRO, about which he wrote as an inspiration many years later.

At the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), held annually in August, Tipu’s memories come alive during the closing ceremony’s fireworks display when the Scots burst explosives and fire rockets around the castle to create scenes of their soldiers encountering deadly fires around Tipu’s forts in Nandidurg, Savandurg and other places.

Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, died 220 years ago, but his legend continues in the lands of those he fought fiercely against, who appreciate his valour, unyielding spirit and reckless courage. In the land that he defended from them, his memory  is sought to be erased from school textbooks.

(The writer is a former Professor of History at the University of Hyderabad)

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Opinion> Comment / by K S S Seshan / November 07th, 2019

Inter-college debate contest held

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, , , ,

Chennai, TAMIL NADU :

SafaTabassumMPOs06nov2019

Team from Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College wins

Safa Tabassum and Mayura Varshini from the Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women won the Elihu Yale Inter-Collegiate Debate 2019, organised by the Indo-American Association (IAA), Chennai, in association with the Consulate General of the United States of America, Chennai, at the Women’s Christian College on Monday.

They were presented the Elihu Yale Rolling Trophy 2019, and Safa was also recognised the Best Speaker among the participants.

The topic of the debate was “Presidential form of government for India: Will it work or fail?”, and students from nearly 18 colleges participated.

Giving away the prizes, Consul-General Robert G. Burgess, Consulate General of the United States of America for South India, spoke about how competitive debates have had a long and rich history in civil discourse.

“These debates promote a deeper understanding and greater appreciation of values, rights and responsibilities that are inherent in democratic societies,” he said.

A team from the Women’s Christian College, comprising Shilpa Srinivasan and Sharada Sharma, were the first runners-up, and Shaina Dewan and Parth Gupta from the Great Lakes Institute of Management were the second runners-up.

J. Prasad Davids, president, IAA, said the debate was a small gesture of the association to strengthen ties for the advancement of education and research, as well as to strengthen Indo-U.S. relations. Chairman of the panel of judges, M. Ganapathy, former secretary west, MEA; principal, Women’s Christian College, Lilian Jasper; and past presidents of IAA P. Murari and Meera Ramanathan were present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – October 15th, 2019

Roti Bank: Unique effort to fight hunger, provide food to the poor in impoverished region of UP

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, FREE : Food, , ,

Mahoba ,  Bundelkhand Region , UTTAR PRADESH :

RotiBankMPOs04nov2019

Everyone in Mahoba knows Haji P Mohammad alias Haji Muttan and can guide a visitor to his home.

After all, he is the man who had opened the first Roti Bank, a unique initiative to ensure that no one stays hungry in the town. It has been a huge success story and similar Roti Banks were late opened in different parts of the country & even outside India.

But it was not an easy journey when Haji Muttan started the Roti Bank. The beginning was in the year 2014. It was decided that rotis would be collected–volunteers would go from house to house and collect them, in order to provide food–rotis and sabzi for the needy, so that no one went to bed with an empty stomach in the town.

In the backward and impoverished Bundelkhand, which often suffers from drought, lack of employment opportunities and extreme poverty, everyone was aware that there was a need for a public participatory movement to tackle the level of hunger and malnutrition.

However, he managed to form a team of such people–like Jaspal Singh and Pankaj Anuragi, who were ready to dedicate themselves for the cause. ‘Many households were eager to provide at least two rotis and sabzi. The request was just to ensure the food was fresh”.

There were so many needy people who had no one to look after them, some had to be provided food at their home. But people realised that it was a cause that was worth an effort. Youngsters came and joined him. “I always wanted to do some social service, something for the sake of humanity”, says Haji Muttan.

Over the years, the Roti Bank became a symbol of pride for the town. After all, hundreds were getting benefited everyday. Later, others got inspired and more Roti Banks were opened in the region and in other cities of Uttar Pradesh from Varanasi to Rampur and Gorakhpur, and then across India.

Om Narayan, who has been associated with the work from the beginning, says that the aim was service. “People from all religious communities came together, joined the movement”, he says. “After Roti Bank’s success, similar projects started in Banda, Chhatarpur and other cities in Bundelkhand”, he added.

“Apart from Haji sahab, Jagannath Prajapati and Father L Masih are also part of the team. There are many volunteers who do it with dedication”, he further said. After Tsunami, when Indonesia witnessed destruction, and there were large number of destitutes and orphans, Roti Banks was started at different places there also.

Haji Muttan also visited Indonesia. A non-governmental initiative that is being run with public support by dedicated inviduals, it has set an example how to fight hunger, especially, when a huge population still suffers from extreme poverty and the country needs to wage a war against hunger and malnutrition.

source:  http://www.newsbits.in / NewsBits.in / Home> India / by Shams Ur Rehman Alavi

Meet new heroes

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), ,

Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

Though he has just released a new book, Mohsin is already working on his next graphic novel series, a science fiction set in ’90s, with the working title of E.T Club.

RahilMoshinMPOs30oct2019

Bengaluru :

Rahil Mohsin is sure living his dream as a comic book creator. After having spent his childhood watching and drawing cartoons, nothing much has changed for him since he continues his hobby and even publishes it for others. The journey began with him being an avid comic book reader as a child, which led to a BA Honours in Animation later. Today, he has been a comic book creator for eight years and is all set to launch his fourth book, a comic series called Catdad & Supermom. The first issue of the same will be launched at Bengaluru Comic Con this year.

Looking back at the initial years, Mohsin recalls how in 2011 he was approached by Sufi Studios, a city-based Indian comic book publisher, with whom he went on to illustrate three graphic novels. Later, he moved to self publishing to create his own content and was successful in publishing his three one shots, called The Big Sheep, Kiss Kiss Blam Blam and Blame it on Rahil, respectively. “I realised that being an artist for hire wasn’t that difficult. But once you start publishing by yourself, there’s business along with promoting, printing and marketing at different conventions,” he told CE at Champaca Bookstore, Library, Café, where he conducted a creativity and imagination workshop for children.

His latest work, Catdad & Supermom, is a creation of Mohsin’s friend, a Florida-based independent comic book publisher named Robert Gregory. Ask Mohsin to describe the work and he says, “A group of silly superheroes with wholesome family entertainment where we teach kids about serious topics.” Entertaining and educative, the first issue of the series deals with the concept of bullying and how a kid imagines superheroes who teach them how to stand for himself and help people who are in need. “The characters were created by Robert Gregory and I have designed the characters artistically, and I also wrote the story and drew it in a comic format,” he added.

Comics are generally assumed to be targeted at teenagers and young adults. And as someone who ‘grew up on comics’, Mohsin knew he too wanted to work on comics for the same age group. “Since I am Bengaluru-based, I used to frequent the many second-hand bookstores of the city to buy my comics. Once I grew up, I realised most of the content was not kid-friendly. This is close to my heart as I used to work with kids as a schoolteacher before I started making comics. I wanted kids to have entertaining stories with superheroes and a lot of comedy in it; they also need to take something home it shouldn’t be just about entertainment. They need to have a message to carry along with them,” he explained.

Though he has just released a new book, Mohsin is already working on his next graphic novel series, a science fiction set in ’90s, with the working title of E.T Club.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Priyansha / Express News Service / October 30th, 2019

From the Nawab’s Kitchen

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Travel & Tourism, , , ,

Murshidabad, WEST BENGAL :

Murshidabad, the seat of Mughal power in Bengal, serves up an impressive cuisine

A vegetarian thali; dal bada; bhapa maach; gosht biryani;
A vegetarian thali; dal bada; bhapa maach; gosht biryani;

Mention Murshidabadi cuisine, and many foodies would look at you wonderingly. A well-kept secret, this district, which in the 18th century was a Mughal seat of power and ruled over undivided Bengal, Bihar and Odisha, can surprise you with its subtle flavours. Executive Chef Syed Mustaque Murshid, a descendant of one of the earliest settlers in the region, introduced some signature dishes from the Murshidabadi platter to the Delhi palate at Zambar, Ambience Mall, Gurugram, during a weeklong Murshidabadi Utsab this month. Tracing his roots to 23 generations, Murshid learnt cooking from his mother.

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He says, “Murshidabadi cuisine is one of the oldest cuisines of India. Being a chef from Murshidabad, I want the masses to know more about this and reassert that West Bengal is more than just Bengali cuisine. Food has always been known to break barriers between communities and Murshidabadi cuisine is the best example of how we slowly imbibed the Persian culture and married it with our local flavours to come up with something delectable.”

Murshidabadi cuisine is often known as a lighter version of the rich Mughal food and like any Mughal dish, it involves the trademark slow preparation, grounding of the masalas on a sil-batta, etc. It emerged at a time when ‘Mughaliya’ cuisine—or the food that the Mughals brought with them to India—was merging with different Indian tastes and giving birth to newer cuisines. The popular Awadhi and Hyderabadi cuisine were born during this period, as were the cuisines of Rampur, old Delhi, and of course, Murshidabad.

The influence is quite apparent in dishes such as the dalchini gosht (mutton flavoured only with cinnamon), boti seekh kebab, and of course, the trademark biryani—which is actually a poorer version of its richer Mughal cousin. The biryani comes with equal portions of mutton and potatoes and is more rustic in its use of masalas, unlike the subtle aroma of the Mughal version. The tikiyas that come in a variety of kinds—from prawns, to mutton to beetroot—are a firmer version of the typical succulent Mughal kebabs. Unlike its Mughal counterpart, the most sought-after qormas in Murshidabad are vegetarian—the aloo qorma and yam qorma.

The cuisine also boasts a fair amount of Bengali influence. There is the very traditional shukto (a milky mix of vegetables tempered with paanch phoron), albeit with fried nuts and sans the bitters. There is also the bhapa maach (a steamed fish with curd, mustard and coconut). A very subtle dish, Murshid’s version was truly magnificent.

Vineet Manocha, Senior Vice President, Culinary, Lite Bite Foods Pvt Ltd, shares, “At Zambar, we strive to offer local flavours from different regions of India. Murshidabadi Utsab was in line with our philosophy to promote regional cuisines and we received encouraging response from food enthusiasts in the city.” This amazing cuisine also includes tok murgi (a sour chicken curry), savoury rice pancakes, and of course, a host of posto or poppy dishes in keeping with its similarities with the Bengali cuisine.

In fact, they also boast a posto halwa, which is often a crowd-pleaser. Unfortunately, it was not something our palate took to positively when we tasted it. Too sweet, it still retained its distinct ground flavour which goes well with savoury items. But the zarda pulao (sweet pulao) more than made up for the halwa.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Lifestyle> Food / by Medha Dutta Yadav / Express News Service / October 24th, 2019

In Conversation With Aaliya Sultana Babi: The Royal Paleontologist

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Balasinor (Mahisagar District), GUJARAT :

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Aaliya Sultana Babi is a princess who, along with her figurative crown, also wears—quite literally—the broad-brimmed hat of a paleontologist! She is the daughter of the Nawab of Balasinor, and traces her ancestry to Sher Khan Babi, the founder of the state of Junagadh, who was bestowed the nawabship by the Mughal emperor Humayun. Tens of millions of years ago, during the Mesozoic era, the lands of Aaliya Babi’s forefathers teemed with ancient reptiles and dinosaurs, and the rocks of Rahioli village (which has earned the moniker of India’s Cretaceous Park) near Balasinor are now etched with the remains of bones, eggs, teeth, and skulls, approximately 67 million years old.

These prehistoric giants include long-necked titanosaurs, an enormous snake, and a crested abelisaur often referred to as “the T-rex of India”—the deadly Rajasaurus narmadensis. Aaliya Babi is an ardent advocate for the protection and preservation of this rare and precious fossil site in Gujarat, which is one of the largest dinosaur fossil sites in the world, and she champions the cause of dinosaur education and conservation in India.  As a dinosaur enthusiast who admires and has closely followed her work, including the Dinosaur Fossil Park and Museum that she has set up in partnership with Gujarat Tourism, I am honored to have been able to interview this Dinosaur Princess!

AALIYA BABI IS AN ARDENT ADVOCATE FOR THE PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF THIS RARE AND PRECIOUS FOSSIL SITE IN GUJARAT, WHICH IS ONE OF THE LARGEST DINOSAUR FOSSIL SITES IN THE WORLD, AND SHE CHAMPIONS THE CAUSE OF DINOSAUR EDUCATION AND CONSERVATION IN INDIA.

Bhavika: I really admire your contributions to the field of dinosaur conservation. What sparked your interest in dinosaurs?

Aaliya: As a young girl of about four or five, I was fascinated with dinosaurs, despite the lack of exposure to dinosaurs that we grew up amidst. While learning the English alphabet, I would say “A for Apple” and “D for Dinosaur” instead of for “Dog”! I also knew the spellings of “brontosaurus” and “diplodocus,” which were both my favourite dinosaurs! All this was forgotten when I was shipped off to a boarding school, but when I came back after completing my schooling, the interest was rekindled.

Bhavika: I wish more children in India shared your enthusiasm and fondness! Do you believe it’s important for children to be familiar with dinosaurs? What would be your advice to a child who dreams of becoming a paleontologist? 

Aaliya: Not just children, but, according to me, everyone should know about our prehistoric earth, and the fascinating creatures that inhabited it. Through our museum and fossil park, we are trying our level best to educate the people. I, in my own way, am trying to create awareness through lectures, presentations, and exhibits held across schools, colleges, universities, and museums, both in Gujarat and abroad, and have received favourable responses. If children want to take up palaeontology as a career, it is unfortunate that in India, we currently don’t have much scope in the discipline, as only limited educational institutes offer subjects related to paleontology. But we need to rectify that. There are some talks going on to include geology into school curricula in the future.

Bhavika: That’s lamentable. India has a wealth of fossils, but these are unexplored and undervalued. Why is this so? What are the current challenges? 

Aaliya: There are a lot of challenges which I have faced over the years in trying to get the fossil site protected. First and foremost, we, in India, don’t have any legislations pertaining to fossil protection, and we don’t care for our heritage. It has taken me more than twenty-two years to get the site duly recognized and protected, but still it’s open and vulnerable to vandalism, as we have limited well-trained guards. Secondly, we don’t possess the required funds for excavations and the subsequent studying of fossils, and hardly any good-quality museums exist to exhibit them. We are also lacking in trained professionals.

THERE ARE A LOT OF CHALLENGES WHICH I HAVE FACED OVER THE YEARS IN TRYING TO GET THE FOSSIL SITE PROTECTED. FIRST AND FOREMOST, WE, IN INDIA, DON’T HAVE ANY LEGISLATIONS PERTAINING TO FOSSIL PROTECTION, AND WE DON’T CARE FOR OUR HERITAGE.

Bhavika: Do you believe that there’s potential for dinosaur tourism in India?

Aaliya: There is a huge, huge, HUGE potential for dinosaur tourism in India. You see, in the earlier days, people were not very aware about dinosaurs. The Jurassic Park movie series, based on Michael Crichton’s books, has sparked interest in dinosaurs, and now we also have access to so much information and literature on them. I’ve come across both three-year-olds and eighty-year-olds who want to know about these fascinating creatures that ruled our earth for millions of years! I get children who are so deeply interested in dinosaurs that they want to become paleontologists, and so times are changing!

Bhavika: How does the Garden Palace Heritage Hotel that you run from your royal palace go toward this mission?

Aaliya: The Garden Palace was built in 1883, and we began offering the palace as a homestay around 1997. From having only 1 renovated room, to now 13 rooms, we have come a long way! When we get visitors for the fossil park, we often have them stay at our property or take their meals here, as this is the only place in the area for a comfortable accommodation and a decent meal. We are famous for our cuisine, as my mother, Begum Saheba Farhat Sultana Babi of Balasinor, is a true connoisseur of food, and has carried forward the legacy of the signature Balasinori cuisine.

Bhavika: Can you tell us about the Rajasaurus? Do you believe it should feature in one of the next films from the Jurassic World franchise?

Aaliya: Yes, definitely, the Rajasaurus should feature in the coming Jurassic World movies! The fossilized remains of the Rajasaurus narmadensis were excavated by Dr. Suresh Shrivastav and team in 1983. The dinosaur was approximately 9 meters in length and 2.4 meters in height and weighed approximately 4000 kgs. It is a genus of abelisaurid theropod carnivores from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of India, and is represented by one species, Rajasaurus narmadensis. It was formally described in 2003 based on a partial braincase, spine, hip bone, a leg and tail—a first for an Indian theropod dinosaur. The dinosaur had a single horn-like structure on the forehead, which was probably used for display and head-butting. Like other abelisaurids, Rajasaurus was probably an ambush predator and hunted in packs. Numerous theropod eggs and nests have also been found from the Rahioli Balasinor region.

Another similar dinosaur which has been named after the village of Rahioli is the Rahiolisaurus gujaratensis. Rahiolisaurus is another genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of India. It fossils were excavated by teams from the GSI (Geological Survey of India), Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, and Texas Tech University in the USA, between 1995-1997, from the Lameta formation of Rahioli, and it was formally described as Rahiolisaurus gujaratensis in 2010. It can be distinguished from the Rajasaurus by its more slender and gracile build. It is known from a pebbly sandstone containing seven different individuals—from a juvenile to a fully-grown adult. It was 8 meters in length, 3 meters in height, and weighed approximately 2 tons.

Bhavika: Do you believe dinosaurs are linked, in anyway, to the myths and folklore of India?

Aaliya: Yes. We have heard tales of dinosaur eggs being worshipped by villagers, as they resemble shivlings. We hear that ammonite fossils (salagramas) are also worshiped, as they are believed by many to be natural manifestations and divine symbols of Lord Vishnu. The shell’s circular form, with its radial markings, resembles the discus (chakra) of the deity.

Bhavika: Is it especially challenging to be a woman in the field of science and conservation?

Aaliya: I think I am the only woman, as of now, from an aristocratic family in India, who is involved with fossil preservation and conservation. It definitely had its ups and downs, but I think I have used my family name and connection for the protection of the fossils and the betterment of the villagers.

This definitely was a roller coaster ride, but it has been a wonderful ride, nonetheless. Times are changing now, and women, today, are in all fields. I have had the support and blessings of eminent paleontologists like Dr. Ashok Sahni and Dr. Suresh Shrivastava, among others, who have helped and guided me throughout this phase, and have imparted so much of their knowledge to me. And I have a simple motto: that nothing is impossible in life; if we set our hearts and minds to it, we can achieve anything and everything! The word “IMPOSSIBLE” shouldn’t exist in our dictionary!

Featured Image Source: Indian Women Blog

source: http://www.feminisminindia.com / Feminism In India / Home> Society> Environment / by Guest Writer / posted by Bhavika Sicka / October 28th, 2019