Minoo Mumtaz aka Malikunnisa Ali, the veteran Hindi actor and comedian Mehmood’s sister, died in Toronto in Canada on Saturday.
She was recently diagnosed with cancer and her health deteriorated quickly, leading to her demise, ETimes reported.
Mumtaz’s nephew Naushad, confirming the news to the publication, said, “Since she was old, 80 plus, there wasn’t much to be done. She was one of the loveliest people I had ever met”.
Her younger brother Anwar Ali, who is also part of the film industry and is now a producer, wrote, “Regret to inform that my loving sister Minoo Mumtaz, passed away (in Canada) a few minutes ago… Deep gratitude to the film fraternity, press, media, fans, friends, for decades of love and adulation showered upon her.”
Born to a family of four brothers and four sisters, Mumtaz was the daughter of Mumtaz Ali, a dancer and character artiste in Hindi films in the 1940s. She was renamed Minoo by actor Meena Kumari, her sister-in-law and Mehmood Ali’s wife.
While she started her career as a stage dancer, Mumtaz appeared in several Hindi films in the 1950s and 1960s as a dancer and character actor. She made her debut with Sakhi Hateem, and moved on to play the lead opposite Balraj Sahni in Black Cat (1959) and appeared in several Guru Dutt films including Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960) and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962). Other Hindi films that she appeared in include Taj Mahal, Alibaba,Ghoonghat, Ghar Basake Dekho, Insan Jaag Utha, Sindbad, Jahanaara, Aladin, Gazal, Dharmaputra. She also appeared in the 2002 television serial Chalo Chale Pardes.
Expressing her condolences on the late actor’s demise, author Bhawana Somaaya wrote, “#MinooMumtaz lead dancer of Hindi movies in the 50s and the 60s dies in Canada. Condolences to #AnwarAli family.”
Actor Nasirr Khan also mourned Mumtaz’s death.
Mumtaz is survived by her husband Sayyed Ali Akbar, son and three daughters who lived with her in Toronto.
Namrata Ganguly is a Correspondent at Silverscreen India, and can be reached by email at namrata@silverscreen.in
source: http://www.silverscreenindia.com / SilverScreen India / Home> Hindi> News / by Namrata Ganguly / October 23rd, 2021
Barsa, written by Kadeeja Mumtas, is the first Malayalam novel to be set in Saudi Arabia and as its introduction states, is a record of “a woman’s scrutiny of Islamic scriptures and Muslim life”.
Barsa, as its introduction states, is the first Malayalam novel to be set in Saudi Arabia. Written by Kadeeja Mumtas and translated into English by K M Sherrif, the book acts as a record of “a woman’s scrutiny of Islamic scriptures and Muslim life”.
Sabitha, the protagonist of the novel, after moving to Saudi Arabia, starts questioning every aspect of her every day life – including religion.
The novel traces her personal journey as she is caught amidst culture, religion, and personal agency, and struggles to assert her own identity.
One hot afternoon, Rasheed and Sabitha first stepped out like refugees on the large expanse of land surrounding the grand mosque which housed the holy Ka’aba. Other travellers who knew their way hurriedly moved on while the two of them stood hesitantly at the crossroads, unsure of their next step. The coppery glare of the sun sat on their heads like the legs of a giant spider.
Rasheed glanced at Sabitha. He could sense her discomfort in the headscarf and the abaya, looking like a lawyer’s coat, which the Malayali workers at the airport had helped her buy. But he thought that even in those uncomfortable clothes, Doctor Prabhakaran’s niece, with her wheatish complexion, had a particular charm. He wanted to tell her this with a little smile, but with his tongue stuck to the roof of his dry mouth. He just couldn’t do it, which was a pity. If he had, maybe the wrinkles on her forehead would have lost at least one crease.
A yellow taxi backed up and stopped near them. Th e face of a man with a shabby headdress clamped down by a black ring came into view, and an arm jerked out of the window at the driver’s seat. “Fain aabga ruh?” Rasheed guessed he was asking where they wanted to go and replied, “Mudeeriya Musthashfa”—the Health Directorate. He had gleaned the Arabic expression from the conversation he had had in halting English with the Palestinian doctor they had met at the airport emergency service. He had seen Sabitha too write it down in her diary.
“Ta’al ”—come. Th e driver opened the car doors and invited them in. As he could not understand the driver’s sarcastic remark, directed obviously at his fairly large suitcase, Rasheed, with some embarrassment, chose to put it on his lap as he sat down and leaned back comfortably.
As the car sped at breakneck speed, Sabitha felt a tremor run through her, but she suppressed it immediately. She felt helpless at having to depend on a complete stranger, an Arab driver whose language she did not know. But she was also reassured by Rasheed’s presence. They had reached this far, trusting strangers, many of whose languages they did not know.
As they boarded the Saudi Airlines flight to Riyadh from Mumbai, Thambi, the man from their ticketing agents Ajanta Travels, had said reassuringly, “The flight will take about four and a half hours. Someone from the Ministry will be waiting to receive you. There is nothing to worry about, Riyadh is a nice city. Okay then, happy journey!”
From the moment Thambi, with that characteristic city dweller’s way of waving goodbye had raised his hands and walked away, Rasheed and Sabitha had taken comfort in each other’s presence. They could make this journey together only because of their decision to stick to each other, come what may. At the interview in Mumbai, it was Sabitha who was selected first, as a lady gynaecologist. The interview for ophthalmologists had not yet been conducted and, as there were a large number of applicants, Rasheed was not too hopeful of getting in. When she was asked to sign the contract, Sabitha hesitated, “I will sign only if my husband too is selected.” She had by then realised that lady gynaecologists were much in demand. “You sign; even if he is not selected, he can come with you on a family visa and then try for a job there.”
The man at Ajanta Travels, a go-getter, tried to hustle her. “No, I am not that keen to go to the Gulf to work. I will go only if he also gets a job there.” Her stubbornness paid off . An interview was fixed for Rasheed as a special case.
Excerpted with permission from Barsa, by Kadeeja Mumtas, Yoda Press. You can buy this book at 20% off at the FII-Yoda Press Winter Book Sale on 21st and 22nd December 2018 in New Delhi. For more details, check out the sale page.
source: http://www.feminisminindia.com / Feminism In India – FII / Home> Culture> Books / by FII Team / December 21st, 2018
The narrative is lucid, and the book is an important read for individuals, policymakers and think tanks to understand the ground reality.
pix: amazon.in
Written by an independent scholar Omar Khalidi, the book Muslims in Indian Economy tries to describe the economic condition of Muslims in India. The narrative is lucid, and Khalidi’s target audience are laymen along with policymakers and think tanks.
The whole book is divided into two major sections. The first is the description of the economic condition of Muslims at the pan-India level. It has two sub-sections dealing with the economic status of Muslims: in colonial India and Independent India. The second major section is the description of the economic conditions of Muslims in the six states of India: Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. These two sections are followed and preceded by an introduction and conclusion chapter, respectively.
Written by an independent scholar Omar Khalidi, the book Muslims in Indian Economy tries to describe the economic condition of Muslims in India. The narrative is lucid, and Khalidi’s target audience are laymen along with policymakers and think tanks.
The book states that the revolt of 1857 and the Partition of India in 1947 were the two most important events that affected the lives of Muslims. The Mutiny of 1857 nearly completed the destruction of the Muslim aristocracy in northern India, thus curtailing the prospects of the soldiery, intelligentsia and artisans dependent on feudal patronage. However, the event which affected a significant population of the Muslims of South Asia was the partition of India. It had severe economic consequences, as the poorer Muslims had to stay in India without any protection from the elites. Some Congress leaders also took an anti-Muslim stance during the partition. Similarly, Operation Polo had an enormously negative impact on the Deccani Muslims.
From its extensive research, the book elucidates how a detailed description and analysis of the state of education among Muslims during British times are absent. An 1870 report shows Muslim students to be a lower percentage when compared to other communities. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs sponsored a survey in 1981 of forty-five districts in states with a large Muslim population. It showed that Muslim enrolment in elementary, secondary, and high schools was poor.
This is not to deny that Muslim elites in various parts of the country made efforts for the promotion of modern education. Nawab Syed Wilayat Ali Khan’s efforts for Patna College, Syed Ahmad Khan’s for MAO College, which later became AMU and Khan Bahadur Mir Abu Saeed’s endeavours for an educational society in 1865 in Bihar need to be focussed upon.
The whole book is divided into two major sections. The first is the description of the economic condition of Muslims at the pan-India level. It has two sub-sections dealing with the economic status of Muslims: colonial India and Independent India. The second major section is the description of the economic conditions of Muslims in the six states of India: Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. These two sections are followed and preceded by an introduction and conclusion chapter, respectively.
Jawaharlal Nehru and his colleagues like Mahavir Tyagi (Minister of State for Defense) were well aware of the declining number of Muslims in the central services and armed forces in the 1950s. Suren Navlakha, in a study of the elite Central officers like IAS and IES, found that there is a proportionate representation of all religious groups except Muslims and Buddhists. Muslims are not in proportion to their population in the Railways, Armed Forces, and various PSUs.
A Panel headed by Gopal Singh (1983) showed that the economic condition of Indian Muslims was at par with that of the Scheduled Castes. A vast majority of Muslims are landless labourers. More Muslims are unemployed than Hindus. The majority of the big trading and banking concerns are Hindu owned, where Muslims and Dalits are nominal. Contrary to popular perceptions, Muslim women, especially those of the working class, are involved in economic activities.
The book stresses how a major educational institution such as Jamia Millia Islamia also became a victim of the partition and was forced to move from its campus in Karol Bagh to Okhla. It also explains how before Independence, Urdu was the language of instruction in a number of schools. Since the early 1950s, Urdu has been edged out of government schools. One reason many Muslim organisations want to establish their own schools is to escape this discrimination.
One of the major reasons for the poor education among Muslims is the discrimination by both the State and the society. A survey in Delhi showed that poor Muslims are concerned about female education. A psycho-social examination of slum-dwelling Hindus and Muslims showed no difference in positive attitude toward education.
The book stresses how a major educational institution such as Jamia Millia Islamia also became a victim of the partition and was forced to move from its campus in Karol Bagh to Okhla. It also explains how before Independence, Urdu was the language of instruction in a number of schools. Since the early 1950s, Urdu has been edged out of government schools. One reason many Muslim organisations want to establish their own schools is to escape this discrimination.
Similarly, the book concludes that the major reason behind poverty among Muslims is discrimination in the job market. It can be as overt as anti-Muslim pogroms and/ or as systemic as State apathy. Interpersonal discrimination is usually couched in the form of efficiency. Unlike the stereotypical image of Muslim women, various studies find that Muslim women are not averse to earning their own living if conditions are proper. Daily wage earners are normally a highly insecure group dependent on the management’s hire or fire at will. The book narrates how sometimes the government itself has segregated Muslim artisans from the mainstream of business at international fairs!
It has been well established by vast scholarship that communal violence is mainly to quell the upward economic mobility of Muslims. It happens particularly in places where Muslims have either made inroads into or displaced Hindu businesses. As long as the Hindu-Muslim relationship in businesses remains asymmetrical, peace tends to prevail.
Throughout the books, various issues come to light. Political representation for religious minorities was accepted by Vallabhbhai Patel in 1947 but rejected later. Recent scholarship has shown that discrimination against Muslims and Dalits is rampant in the private sector. Muslim Dalits and Christian Dalits do not get SC status. Leaders like Ijaz Ali demands giving SC status to OBC Muslims.
Years after years, the government has constituted committees to estimate poverty among Muslims and the policies to remove it. The majority of those were just for tokenism. For example, Justice Ranganathan Mishra headed National Commission for Religious & Linguistic Minorities (NCRLM), and Justice M.S.A. Siddiqui headed National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI), and Justice Rajindar Sachar headed the Prime Minister’s High-Level Committee for the Muslim Community of India (PMHCMCI).
This book must be read by all those who are sensitive to the plight of minorities in an increasingly parochial society and development practitioners who work for an inclusive plural society.
Zeeshan Husain has done BSc (AMU), and MSW (TISS). He is presently pursuing PhD in sociology from JNU. His research interest is in the society and polity of Uttar Pradesh. You can find him on Twitter.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam (second from left) was the guest of honour at the federation’s 30th anniversary celebrations on Oct 27, 2023. PHOTO: BERITA HARIAN
Singapore :
The Federation of Indian Muslims – the umbrella body encompassing 18 Indian Muslim organisations – is now known as the Federation of Singapore Indian Muslims (FSIM).
The federation unveiled its new name and logo at its 30th anniversary celebrations held at The Grassroots’ Club in Yio Chu Kang on Friday.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam was the guest of honour at the event, which was attended by 500 people including community leaders.
Four individuals were honoured during the event for their contributions to the Indian Muslim community in Singapore.
Hindu Endowments Board chief executive T. Raja Segar and former Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) president Mohammad Alami Musa were presented the FSIM Harmony Award.
The FSIM Community Service Award was presented to the federation’s founding member, Mr Shaik Alaudeen Osman, while fellow founding member A.R. Mashuthoo was presented the M.K.A. Jabbar Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award is named after FSIM’s founding president, who was also a former MP for Radin Mas.
Speaking at the event, FSIM’s president, Mr Mohamed Bilal, 55, paid tribute to previous generations of Indian Muslim community leaders.
“In the coming years, we strive to focus on the educational development of students, welfare of youth, identifying young leaders, and honing their skills,” said Mr Bilal.
In recent years, the federation has been reaching out to young people. It has co-opted IMYouth, an Indian Muslim youth organisation, as its youth wing.
source: http://www.straitstimes.com / The Straits Times / Home / by Irshath Mohamed / October 29th, 2023
This is an excerpt from Afsar Mohammad’s latest book ‘Remaking History: 1948 Police Action and the Muslims of Hyderabad,’ which documents witness narratives of violence.
Bahadur Yar Jung with young Hyderabadi Muslims / Mohammed Ayub Ali Khan
Continuing our Deccan Series in collaboration with the Khidki Collective, this set of six articles presents alternative perspectives on the 1948 Police Action in Hyderabad. These perspectives challenge, modify, add nuance to the mainstream narrative of Hyderabad’s integration as ‘liberation’, a narrative currently used to further divisive politics.
The following is an excerpt from Afsar Mohammad’s latest book ‘Remaking History: 1948 Police Action and the Muslims of Hyderabad,’ published by Cambridge University Press (2023). Here, the author documents almost one hundred witness narratives of the 1948 violence. This chapter narrates the memories of Quddus Saheb, a folk-performer of Muharram and Prophet Mohammed’s stories. He was one of the witnesses of Police Action. With most witnesses having now passed away, this book then remains the last document of their life stories. Since the 1948 Police Action has been barely discussed, these witness narratives or testimonies offer fresh insights into the documentation of different aspects of everyday life during 1948 in Hyderabad and Telangana.
Note from Khidki: Oral histories not only offer us different perspectives of the past but also provide insights into how those who have lived through momentous times make sense of the challenges of the present. In this excerpt, Quddus Saheb’s account reveals how much Muslim life was affected in post Police Action Hyderabad, with many being branded Razakars and not being able to carry on with their daily lives. For him, contemporary India and the difficult place of Muslims in it is a persistent and poignant reminder that the after-effects of Police Action, such as the decimation of Muslim political leadership, continue to reverberate even now.
The five-day-long “battle” of the Police Action was certainly still fresh in their memory. But they also stressed that the “main history” or “official history” (pradhāna caritra or adhikāra caritra in Telugu) was centred on the celebration of the formation of the Telugu linguistic state of Andhra Pradesh and the leftist-centred Telangana armed struggle. The celebrations of the formation of a new state of Andhra Pradesh became a form of nationalist rhetoric, while the Telangana armed rebellion turned into a leftist campaign for the general elections of 1952. According to the Deccani Urdu literary historian Samala Sadasiva:
The very usage of the term Andhra was meant to relegate the history of Hyderabad and Telangana into some immemorial past. While growing up in the late 1930s or ’40s we all identified ourselves with the term Telangana as it represents the mixed history of Urdu and Telugu. Along with the new usage of Andhra, the state-sponsored histories gradually erased the centrality of Hyderabad and its Muslims. The khoonrezi (“massacre”) of the Police Action was totally removed from the recorded histories.
Sadasiva’s comments took me back to what the folk singer Abdul Quddus Saheb said in the introduction of this book. In 2006, when I was about to wrap up our conversation, he mentioned the statements made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1998. Specifically, Quddus Saheb spoke of the Home Minister LK Advani’s speech in Hyderabad—a mammoth public meeting and, in fact, one I attended. Referring to the Police Action, Advani made a call to “celebrate” September 17 as a “day of the liberation,” later translated as vimōcana dinam in the Telugu public sphere. Advani’s usage of the term “liberation” triggered a new debate about the Police Action in the local print and electronic media, as well as in various political writings after 1998. Responding to Advani’s statement, several historians and social activists also began to revisit the history of the Police Action. Along with the events that led to the Police Action, what to do with Muslims of Hyderabad was again a question, while Muslims were also in a dilemma about their future. The chronology of this history was repeatedly considered in the public discourse as activists from different social and political groups continued to debate.
Quddus Saheb said:
Advani and BJP had actually stirred the hornet’s nest for their own political benefits! Not that we have all forgotten about it, but the way Advani fueled this issue was quite disturbing! We should talk about the Police Action, but the way Advani and his followers entered into this debate was all hate speech that caused a new antagonism between Muslims and Hindus. He and his party were just using this entire history—tārīkhu—of the Police Action to take advantage of Hindu vote.
Either Islamic or Hyderabad-related, the events from history—tārīkh— had always been a source of passion for Quddus Saheb. Growing up in the critical era of the late 1930s and 1940s, he had developed a keen interest in reading history materials both in Urdu and Telugu. Being a well-known folk performer and a public figure during the late 1940s, Quddus Saheb had also witnessed many historical events during his lifetime—from the powerful public speeches of Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung (1905–1944) to the beginnings of the Telangana separatist movement in 2004. Quddus Saheb recalled for me that:
Bahadur Yar Jung’s party Itteh ād, later known as Majlis-e-Itteh ād’ul Muslimīn (MIM) became extremely powerful and led many political and social movements. He was such an inspiration—josh—to the young Muslims of Hyderabad that we [knew] all his words by heart. He actually provided a language for our emotions and thoughts. Most importantly, he made us realise that young Muslims need to speak out about contemporary politics and understand how Islam could contribute to improve them.
Many times, during our conversations, Quddus Saheb tried to compare the late 1990s to the late 1940s. Of particular and significant concern for him was the lack of “proper” leadership—in his eyes—in the Muslim community. Even now I remember how Quddus Saheb’s eyes glowed when he spoke about Bahadur Yar Jung’s accomplishments. In the midst of his enthusiastic recollections of the speeches of Bahadur Yar Jung, he concluded, “These days we need such an orator and activist who can inspire with words and actions. More than that we need a force that unifies the entire Muslim community from the city to the remotest village in Telangana.” When Quddus Saheb said these words, he was not so much being nostalgic, but he was speaking from a pragmatic viewpoint. Bahadur Yar Jung, according to Quddus Saheb, was a combination of many dimensions—including leadership qualities, oratory, and political awareness—that the Muslim community should emulate in any period, and he emphasised, “particularly after the saffron wave of Hindutva.”
In speaking about the Police Action, Quddus Saheb repeatedly referred to the Battle of Karbala (680 CE), which he described as “the historical event that demanded many sacrifices from the Muslim community.” It took me a while to understand that he was making an important connection between the life story of Bahadur Yar Jung and the martyrdom of Imam Hussein in Karbala. “Just like the Imam Hussain, Bahadur Saheb was also a martyr in the battlefield.” While Quddus Saheb’s own life was filled with many tragic events, such as the loss of family members and close friends in the violence of 1948, he had also witnessed many persons who had gone incognito, been displaced, or had had their lives uprooted, and had seen a new generation of Muslims face the stigma of “being Muslim.” Explaining further about this stigmatisation, he said:
You know how hard it was when you were being labelled as a criminal and antisocial in the name of the Razakars. All Muslims, particularly, the younger generation between the age group 18 and 30 were stigmatised as the Razakars and hunted down. They had a hard time finding work, food, and shelter in their own hometown.
I included several such testimonies from my field research in Chapter 2; some of those testimonies also stressed that “not all Muslims are extremists or Razakars.” Conflating the identity of ordinary Muslims with the Razakars was one of the narrative strategies in many nationalist writings too. According to Quddus Saheb, such demonization was due to a lack of “proper” leadership. He said:
As the times had changed, Muslims had also lost that support and empathy. Now the very word Muslim arouses some fear for many people. Things have gotten even worse now and I feel so bad about the current generation of Muslims. Where have we come?!
Quddus Saheb stressed the Urdu term hamdardi (empathy) and noted a lack of empathy towards Muslims and Muslim issues. Despite all the hardships and tragedies in his personal life, Quddus Saheb had also contributed much to the making of this new generation of Muslims. A devoted performer, he successfully inspired at least a few young men, both Muslims and Hindus, and trained them in the folk performances of Muharram (known as pīrla pand. aga or “the festival of pīrs”) that memorialises the martyrdom of Imam Hussain and the Prophet’s family in the Battle of Karbala. As a performer of Muharram songs, Quddus Saheb had travelled extensively in various regions of the Hyderabad state and the current state of Telangana. Since he feared having to abandon such public performance, he was also passionate about training at least ten or twelve young men to continue the tradition. That way, he was always in communication with the new generation Muslims and Hindus wherever he traveled. He said:
Of course, I can say I was really successful in training more than twenty young men and then it arrived—the saffron wave of the Bharatiya Janata Party. At this moment, even young Muslims were not ready even to participate in any public rituals related to Muslims. I then started witnessing another phase of hatred. For Muslims now in India, it is like every day is a Karbala. Muslims are being killed for no reason and just for a few political motives.
Quddus Saheb was not alone in comparing the fate of Muslims under Hindutva to Karbala. Many interlocutors and contemporary political activists use similar metaphoric language, particularly to speak about their condition in the times of what the political scientists like Angana Chatterji call “a normalised majoritarianism and hostility to Muslims.” During our many conversations, Quddus Saheb often referred to the Babri mosque demolition on December 6, 1992. According to him:
It was nothing but another mode of Police Action, as both religion and governmental politics had joined hands once again to destroy the entire Muslim community in India. In fact, this demolition was more than destroying a mosque and a direct attack on the Muslims. As a person who witnessed the Police Action, I felt like this one is another testing moment, not only for Muslims, but also for Hindus. Here we are at the end of the twentieth century, and I just also heard about what is happening in Gujarat—the killings of Muslims.
As a response to Advani, several Muslim activists returned to the Muslim question discussed during the Police Action. They were concerned about how the “hasty” decision of the “military invasion” by the Union government of India had led to its tragedies. Some now describe those five days between September 13 and 17 as a “battle” and as the earliest phase of Hindutva.
pix: amazon.in
Excerpted with permission from Cambridge University Press.Afsar Mohammad is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning South Asian scholar working on Hindu-Muslim interactions in India. He also focuses on Muslim writing and Telugu studies. Afsar teaches at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
The Khidki Collective is a network of scholars committed to building public dialogue on history, politics, and culture. This series has been curated by Yamini Krishna, Swathi Shivanand, and Pramod Mandade of the collective.
source: http://www.thenewsminute.com / The News Minute / Home> Telangana / pix: edited / September 16th, 2023
Abdulla Madumule (On the left), Ibrahim Adkasthala (On the right)
Mangaluru:
In an announcement made on Tuesday evening, the prestigious DK District Rajyotsava Awards have been revealed, recognizing the outstanding contributions of 46 individuals and 17 organizations. Among the awardees are figures such as Prominent Non-Resident Indian (NRI) businessman Abdulla Madumule, journalist Ibrahim Adkasthala, and literary expert Dr. Prabhakar Neerumarga.
Ibrahim Adkasthala is a senior correspondent at Vartha Bharati.
Additionally, recognition has been bestowed upon organizations, including the Ullal Syed Madani Charitable Trust, for their noteworthy work in various fields.
A notable recipient of this honor is Badruddin Farid Nagar, the former president of Harekala Gram Panchayat, acknowledged for his significant contributions to rural development.
The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place at Nehru Maidan in the city on November 1, starting at 9 am. Dinesh Gundu Rao, the DK District In-charge Minister, will preside over the event, with Speaker UT Khader in attendance to present the awards to the deserving recipients.
source: http://www.english.varthabharati.in / Vartha Bharati / Home> Karnataka / by Vartha Bharati / October 31st, 2023
Housed in the Le Grande Hotel in Tashkent, the restaurant is a definite stopover for tourist groups from India and is popular for its Bollywood nights
Wall dedicated to Indian celebrities who visited Raaj Kapur restaurant in Tashkent. | Photo Credit: PTI
In the heart of Tashkent, a city known for its rich history, stands an Indian restaurant celebrating the legacy of legendary Bollywood actor Raj Kapoor and the love of the Uzbeks for him even 35 years after his death.
Styled on the Bollywood theme, the ‘Raaj Kapur’ restaurant which is one of the three major Indian restaurants in Tashkent, is not new but at least 16 years old and is a hit among not only Indian tourists but also locals for its lip-smacking dishes.
Three superstars from the Kapoor family — Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor — have also dined at the restaurant on different occasions.
“People in Uzbekistan are crazy about Bollywood and generations of people from Uzbekistan and Russia – even the young – are aware of Raj Kapoor and his cinema and regard him as Bollywood’s numero uno. The restaurant attracts more crowd for its name and less for Indian food, which most visitors discover after enjoying a meal,” Sameer Khan, Resident manager, Raaj Kapur restaurant told PTI.
‘A definite stopover’
Housed in the Le Grande Hotel in Tashkent, the restaurant is a definite stopover for tourist groups from India and is popular for its Bollywood nights where Uzbeks also groove on top chartbusters from the 90s.
While Khan, who is originally from Mumbai, manages the property, the idea of the restaurant was first conceptualised by Jay Al Atas, an Indonesian who fell in love with Indian food during a visit to the country and was also impressed with the craze for Raj Kapoor in Russia and Uzbekistan.
“A lot of Indian tourist groups come here on a regular basis while Uzbeks enjoy the food on occasions and also love clicking pictures here. Whenever a Bollywood celebrity from India comes here, there is a bustling crowd,” he added.
The restaurant is also the official caterer for the majority of Indian events — be it the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit or ones like a recent Bollywood night which saw performances by Daler Mehandi and Ravi Kishan.
Five chefs from different parts of India are behind the variety-loaded menu at the restaurant.
“We offer all kinds of cuisine that are available in India. Our bestselling dishes are butter chicken, biryani, cheese naan and dosa,” said chef Kalamuddin Sheikh who hails from Orissa.
Wall dedicated to Indian celebrities who visited Raaj Kapur restaurant in Tashkent. | Photo Credit: PTI
Celebrity guests
A wall in the restaurant boasts of the renowned people who have visited the restaurant be it politicians like Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh or Bollywood celebrities like Mithun Chakraborty, Shibani Kashyap, Daler Mehandi, Gulshan Grover, among others.
“We have placed signed sketches of the celebrities from India who have visited us. The restaurant is a big hit here,” Sohail Khan, Quality Manager at the restaurant told PTI.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Food / by PTI / October 30th, 2023
Siddiqui Masroor Azar and his family have lived in their Dh85,000 apartment for two years.
Siddiqui Azar and wife Nikhar Khan live in a two-bedroom apartment in Jumeirah Garden City with their two-year-old daughter. All photos: Chris Whiteoak / The National
My Dubai Rent takes you inside a reader’s home to have a look at what they get for their money, how much they pay and asks them what they like and don’t like.
Two years ago tourism boss Siddiqui Masroor Azar decided to swap his Abu Dhabi apartment for Dubai life.
The Indian citizen, who works as a lead data scientist at a bank, pays Dh85,000 ($23,140) for a two-bedroom apartment in Jumeirah Garden City, which he shares with his wife, Nikhar Khan, who owns a tourism company, and their two-year-old daughter.
The couple also run a YouTube channel, Indians Abroad, which they launched during the Covid-19 pandemic, that shares guides to Dubai with their followers.
They speak openly about the cost of living in the emirate, as well as the rules and regulations around visa applications.
One of their videos, in which they share a six-day itinerary for Dubai, as well as the most affordable places to eat and visit, has already garnered more than 1.2 million reviews.
Here, the 36-year-olds invited The National to take a tour of their property to show us why Dubai is the city for them.
What can you tell us about your apartment?
It’s a two-bedroom apartment that has a living room and a kitchen.
It’s around 1,500 square feet.
The building also has a rooftop pool, where we have great views of the Burj Khalifa.
Where did you live before?
This is our fourth apartment since we moved to the UAE in 2016.
Our first apartment was in the Al Nahda area in Dubai.
Then we moved to Abu Dhabi for work and rented an apartment in Al Nahyan.
Two years ago, we returned to Dubai.
Why did you choose this district?
We came back to Dubai because my office moved from Abu Dhabi to Dubai.
The best thing about Jumeirah Garden City is that I don’t get stuck in traffic.
My office is in Jaddaf, so it’s only a 10-minute drive from our apartment.
What kind of facilities do you have around you? We are in the middle of everything.
It takes us around 10 minutes to reach several places including the Dubai Mall, Old Dubai where they have all the restaurants we love, and La Mer Beach.
The Museum of the Future is also two minutes away.
The best thing about Jumeirah is that during winter time we can take our two-year-old daughter to Satwa Park, and it’s about a 10-minute walk.
We also have a pharmacy and supermarket nearby.
The couple brought their blue sofa to Dubai from their Abu Dhabi apartment. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Is it a sociable neighbourhood? It’s a bit difficult to make friends since we live in a city and everyone is busy with their own lives.
We do have a few friends but it’s hard to catch up. If you have time, you can make friends.
How have you made your house a home and personalised it? Before furnishing our apartment, we watched a lot of YouTube videos and explored many websites to find what suited us best.
We brought our blue sofa from our previous apartment as we love how bright and joyful it looks.
We also bought a wooden dining table, as well as plants to put in the living room as it adds a sense of cosiness to the apartment.
Any features you would change? The view from our balcony could have been better. Unfortunately it’s obstructed by surrounding buildings.
Do you think living here delivers good value for money? The rent is high everywhere in Dubai.
Location-wise it’s great because it’s close to all the places that we like to visit, so it makes it worth it.
If you compare our apartment to others that are older, you’ll understand that it’s completely reasonable for its price.
Do you plan to stay in the property?
We’ve been paying rent for years and we wanted to have our own apartment.
So last year we bought a two-bedroom apartment in Jumeirah Village Circle and we will be moving next year.
It took us around three years to save to buy the property but we’re excited.
source: http://www.thenationalnews.com / Th National / Home> Living in the UAE / by Eiman Alblooshi / October 08th, 2023
Even when nothing works out as you planned, don’t lose your trust in yourself, this is what Mr. Shamsudheen has to share with us.
Being the Managing Director of Nellara Groups, Address apparel, and more venture, Mr. Shamsudheen a successful Multipreneur from Kerala, has a story of dreams & hard work to share with us.
Since his teenage years, he started working to earn money to pursue his passion, establishing a business. He kept a keen interest in designing shirts, and from a native tailor, Mr. Shamsudheen acquired skills to stitch them, not knowing it would be a turning point in his life.
As he grew up, his dreams got life, and ‘Nellara food products, ’ a chain that provides premium quality food products, was born.
Still, his passion to design fashion was the same, and the concept of gifting people the best ones at an affordable range gave life to a clothing brand, ‘Address Men’s Apparel’.
With cunning strategies and proper implementation, Address caught global attention, and it is now a brand with 60+ outlets across 12 countries. Team Address focuses on designing desired outfits in premium quality that every man dreams of.
Address, a brand exclusively for men, was a dream of Mr. Shamsudheen, and with years of research and market study, the brand was revealed with an exceptional array of supreme comfort shirts. They have a well-experienced and truly professional team of fashion designers to gift everyone the best outfit.
Offering a wide range of shirts, including Supima, Cargo, and Solid shirts, Address Apparel promises superior quality garments because their team leader, Mr. Shamsudheen, believes in extending everything at the best level without compromising quality.
Mr. Shamsudheen Nellara, One who believes in making changes by marking goodness, carries the title of one of the best entrepreneurs in India with all commitment and future goals.
source: http://www.freepressjournal.in / The Free Press Journal / Home> Business / by FPJ Web Desk / July 04th, 2023
On Friday morning, author of the famous and most resourceful Madinah Arabic Book, Shaikh Dr. V Abdur Raheem, passed away in Madinah, Saudi Arabia at the age of 90.
A master of the Arabic language, a world renowned Islamic Scholar, multi-linguist, author, teacher and translator he dedicated his life to extraordinary contributions to Arabic literature by helping millions learn the Arabic language in his over 50 years of experience.
Born in 1933 in Vaniyambadi, Tamil Nadu, he obtained his B.A in English from the University of Madras and M.A in Arabic from the Aligarh Muslim University, India in 1962. He also held a M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in Arabic Philology from Al-Azhar University, Egypt.
A recipient of the National Award from the President of India in 1997 for his services in teaching, he was a self made man who learnt Arabic from the scarcest resources available to him in his little town. His three-volume series, Madinah Arabic Book, a one of a kind in its field, is the official curriculum of the Madinah University, Saudi Arabia, and is also used widely in schools and universities across the world to teach students the Arabic language.
Former Professor of Arabic Language for 30 years at the International Islamic University of Madinah, he has taught Arabic Language at Islamic Universities around the world including at Omdurman in Sudan, Germany, Washington D.C and British Guyana. An expert on European Languages and their etymology, phonetic change and semantic development he was a former Director of the ‘Institute of Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language’, at the Islamic University of Madinah.
A close associate of the Islamic Foundation Trust (IFT), Chennai, majority of his books have been published by IFT.
Along with the Madinah Arabic Book series he has to his credit a host of other books too including ‘Let’s Begin to Read Arabic: A Beginners Guide to Learning the Arabic Language and the Qur’aan’, ‘AL-TIBYAAN – Easy way to Qur’aanic Reading’, ‘Arabic Course for Non-Native Speakers of Arabic: Originally Devised and Taught at Islaamic University, Madinah’, ‘From Esfahan To Madinah In Search of Truth: Salmaan al-Faarisi’s Hadiith’,‘Both These Lights Emanate from the Same Niche’ – Hadiith of Umm Salamah (raDiyAllaahu “anhaa).’ ‘Suurah al-Hujuraat – With Lexical and Grammatical Notes and DVDs’.
His passing is indeed a great loss to both the Muslim world and to Islamic literature.
source: http://www.thecognate.com / The Cognate / Home> News / by The Cognate News Desk / October 21st, 2023
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