In 2004, she completed her PhD from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on “Central Asians in Mughal India: Migration, Settlement and Impact on North Indian Culture”.
Prof Tasneem Suhrawardy (Photo | Twitter)
New Delhi :
Tasneem Suhrawardy, a well-known Indian medieval history academic who was teaching at the Delhi University’s St Stephen’s college , died at the Fortis hospital in Gurugram on Tuesday. She was 58.
Suhrawardy passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest in the morning. She was ailing for some time and was being treated at the hospital for pneumonia.
Suhrawardy graduated with an Honours in History from the St Stephen’s college in 1986.
In 2004, she completed her PhD from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on “Central Asians in Mughal India: Migration, Settlement and Impact on North Indian Culture”.
Besides teaching at the St Stephen’s college, she was also invited as a guest teacher in prestigious American and Indian educational institutions.
Suhrawardy was an associate professor at the St Stephen’s college and was well known academically for her specialisation in Indian medieval history.
She was the daughter of late Syed Saeedul Haq and late Shahida Suhrawardy.
Her brother Anis Suhrawardy was a noted lawyer who died in 2012.
She is survived by her sister Nilofar Suhrawardy, a senior journalist, and other relatives.
Her demise was described as a great loss to the academic world by her students and colleagues.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Delhi / by PTI / December 26th, 2023
Three years older than Hakim Ajmal Khan, one was reminded of him when Ajmal Khan’s great-granddaughter came for admission to Hamdard University last week, accompanied by her father.
While Ajmal Khan’s name lives on beyond his ancestral haveli, Sharif Manzil in Ballimaran, Hakim Nabina had no fixed abode and believed to have been born in the Walled City too, got most of his fame in South Delhi where he was brought by some dealers in Unani medicine.
Born in the same year as Rabindranath Tagore, he was 105 when Dr. S. A. Ali of Hamdard met him in 1965 to seek medication for a digestive problem. The hakim, who had probably been born blind or had lost his vision in childhood, felt the patient’s pulse and diagnosed that his heart and liver were in good trim but not his digestive system. “Did you by any chance eat arbi (yams)?” he enquired. Dr Ali confessed that he had in fact had a piece of the vegetable though he was not fond of it. The hakim told him to have light food in future and prescribed some medicine which cured his ailment.’
Syed Ausaf Ali, himself an octogenarian now, says Nabina lived at Hazrat Pattey Shah’s dargah, behind Humayun’s Tomb. What he prescribed was dispensed by dealers in Unani drugs. When someone complained that the charges were very high, he advised them not to go to the dispensers but take medicine from him directly.
Pattey Shah or the saint amid tree leaves was actually named Shamsuddin Ataullah and died in AD 1300 during the reign of Alauddin Khilji. He got the nickname because whenever Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya visited his khanqah or hospice, he would hide behind bushes and tree leaves, saying he was not worthy of coming face-to-face with the Auliya. This is what has been affirmed in Sadia Dehlvi’s book on the Dargahs of Delhi. It is said that the Shah belonged to the Chishti silsila or order of saints. “During the day he would light a fire and cover himself with its ashes, while at night he slept in a grave-like hollow (something emulated by the eccentric Spanish painter Salvador Dali, who spent his nights in a coffin). When he died Hazrat Nizamuddin led the funeral prayers as per the Shah’s last wish. Hakim Nabina seems to have developed a spiritual rapport with Pattey Shah and lived most of his long life at the latter’s shrine. When he died is not known but it was probably during Indira Gandhi’s first prime ministership, which would mean that he was nearly 110 years old at that time.
The hakim is not to be confused with Hafiz Nabina Doliwale, the blind mendicant who lived under a tree near the southern gate of the Jama Masjid. Nobody knew his real name also, except that he was one who could recite the Quran by heart (Hafiz), was blind (Nabina), wore no clothes and loved to travel free in a doli or palanquin. He and Hakim Nabina were both born in the same year (1860), when Bahadur Shah Zafar was passing his last days in Rangoon. But Hafiz Nabina died at the age of 87 much before the hakim sahib. Everybody in the city knew him and he also finds mention in Ahmed Ali’s “Twilight in Delhi” as he often visited the hero of the book, Mir Nihal. He was regarded as a majzoob (a man possessed), lost in himself and supposed to be in contact with the jinns, without much care for hygiene.
However Hakim Nabina, despite his mystical leanings, never gave the impression that he was a majzoob. His direct communion was with Pattey Shah and he passed his life in the service of those who came to him to be healed. That he could tell a patient what his illness was merely by touching him and pointing out, “Thou ailest here and here,” was a sign of his deep knowledge of human nature and anatomy and the Unani system of medication. Like Hafiz Nabina, he was a recluse but of a different sort who did not discard the ways of the world in matters of dress, behaviour and etiquette. Old-timers remember him as a worthy contemporary of Hakim Ajmal Khan, who had acquired the halo of Massiha (messiah) of the ailing populace!
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> /Down Memory Lane / June 22nd, 2014
Nida Ansari, is a Delhi based development practitioner and consultant with over 12 years of experience in working with national and international non-profit foundations, grassroots organisations and funding agencies in the field of youth centric development, organisational development, agency and ending violence, community development and social entrepreneurship. She describes herself as a community campaigner, and an ‘Arctivist’ with a decade of experience of designing, facilitating and leading large scale national programs and campaigns.
She is also the co-founder of Mazdoor Kitchen, and has been closely involved with many grassroots initiatives, public campaigns associated with food security, public health, education and rights-based movements with workers, farmers, women and marginalised communities.
Q. How did the idea of the Kitchen come to be?
ND: Mazdoor Kitchen is a citizen run voluntary initiative, working to provide meals and subsistence to daily wage workers in North Delhi. Run by a dedicated team of volunteers comprising professors, students, artists and people from the community itself, it has been providing meals and ration kits to hundreds of people across north Delhi, ever since the beginning of the lockdown since May 2020.
In March, my parents – Delhi University professor Nandita Narain and her husband Rashid Ansari, a martial arts instructor and performing arts practitioner-director, joined a collective of teachers in North Delhi to start ‘Mazdoor Dhaba’ (workers’ café). It had 3 community kitchens running under its banner in North Delhi, from the garage of the Principal’s house in St. Stephens College. I remember my mother, Nandita saying , “I’d heard from many of my colleagues that this isn’t something we, at the age of 60+ years, should be doing. But we felt that even if there is risk involved, we want to take that risk; after all, when there are wars, people who volunteer, go to the frontiers to support wounded and war-affected people. And if they can do that, then the risk is surely not greater for us.”
By July, the lockdown in Delhi had ended and many in the group felt the need to shift operations away from cooking to other relief work. But my parents decided to venture out independently and started ‘Mazdoor Kitchen’ (a citizen-run voluntary workers’ kitchen) in Jawahar Nagar, Malka Ganj- as they felt there was still a need to support people with food and rations. I recalled what my father said to me in 2020 – when hoards of migrant workers walked back to their homes, on feet – “how can I be comfortable sitting in the confines of my home, eating a hot meal, when there are people on the road who have to travel thousands of kilometres just to be safe and alive?’,”
Q. In what capacity are you associated with MK? Pls describe the team and their responsibilities.
ND: I have been associated with MK right from the beginning supporting my parents, raising funds, running the crowdfunding campaigns and building collaborations with many grassroots groups, CSRs, partners, voluntary groups.
Q. What are the pros and cons of running an independent, voluntary citizen run initiative?
ND: The 500 meals, ration kits and monthly rations that we’re able to support people with, is the pros. These meals are distributed to individuals and marginalised communities, who do not have the socio-economic means to feed themselves. Cooked meals are given in North Delhi across- Nigambodh Ghat – Monastery market road, behind geeta mandir, north delhi. These areas have a growing population of displaced vulnerable people, living on the streets – homeless, beggars, daily wage workers, migrants, rickshaw drivers, rag pickers etc. For some of these folks, the cooked meal packet that they get from Mazdoor kitchen, is their only source of food in the day.
For many migrant families, these cooked meals allow them to save some of their meagre daily earnings, which they can then put to use for other purposes of everyday living like medicines, rations , education of their children and deal with inflation. We have also been able to generate livelihood, medical and education support through direct reliefs/ cash transfers to different families, individuals from marginalised socio-economic communities. We’ve also been able to support disaster responses to support groups during floods, and extreme hunger through kits, ration, blankets, clothes, medicines and other relief material across the country.
We’ve been able to demonstrate how a community owned – and run kitchen can benefit countless people and bring people together. But there have been a host of challenges – running a community kitchen is not easy! From being a small team, to managing with small budgets and the constant challenge of raising more funds, persuading people to donate – in face of the widespread belief that ‘since the pandemic is now over, people in the community are alright. ‘ This is a complete mismatch with reality, because poverty, unemployment, rising expenses and cost of basic living all remain a stark reality and crisis for those on the margins.
The country has been witnessing unending cycles of migration and now, reverse migration of workers who found no support in the cities and now, find no sources of income in the villages too. Most who have lost employment as industries stand devastated by the economic repercussions of the virus and the safety concerns brought about by physical proximity, will not see opportunities open up for months to come. The need to continue the work of the kitchen remains urgent. Several beneficiaries of the initiative have no other source of income or subsistence.
Q. Apart from cooking daily meals, what are the other issues MK deals with?
ND: While the initiative was born in the middle of the pandemic, as a response to the urgent need of the hour, over the last few years it has developed deeper relationships with the local communities it serves in slum colonies of Kingsway Camp, Pul Bangash, Bahadurgarh Road, Azad Market, Roop Nagar, and Patel Chest, Nigambodh Ghat. Many working-class people and migrants who had travelled back to the cities hunting for jobs depend on that one meal a day that the kitchen provides. In the heightened phases of Covid till 2021 they fed up to 800+ people daily in different communities and supplied dry ration kits, blankets, and gas cylinders, even relief material and clothes in the areas. Currently the kitchen runs daily and feeds people with up to 500 meals in a day, and supports 20-70 families with ration kits in a month.
Through a sustained effort, the initiative has also developed a keen relationship with members of the community. We also give monthly ration kits to families, medical relief and gas subsidies, Aside from food and ration, we’ve has also started a ‘livelihoods initiative’ , under which local community members (women) have been making and distributing thousands of masks and other small vendors like balloon sellers and food carts have been able to restart their businesses with small funds, Our relief efforts have included helping those struck by natural disasters with material or monetary support, supporting students from underprivileged communities pay their college fees, rickshaw pullers procure a new rickshaw if needed and medical fees.
Q. Would you like to share an incident that personally left a deep impact on you?
ND: In 2020-21, a migrant worker, who received daily meals from MK, from bada hindu rao- Bulla, a daily wage labourer from Bihar, had an accident and his spine was dislocated. He was admitted into Safdarjung hospital and had an operation on his spine. Bulla was living alone in Delhi, in shanties on the streets, and after hearing about his accident his family had just come to Delhi. His time in the hospital was dismal and scary to say the least, as none of the family members were literate and struggled to engage with a chaotic hospital system. Our team, including my parents, visited the hospital- and talked to the floor doc, name of the unit head etc. Bulla has had one surgery, doesn’t require another, but was paralysed from the waist down, with physiotherapy after the stitches are opened, might regain mobility in maybe six months, maybe longer, maybe never! Our team, along with the help of good folks like Ankit Jhamb of Aao Khilayein, were able to facilitate Bulla’s discharge from the hospital to a rented accommodation that we managed to procure and furnish in time for him to get there, including a much-needed air mattress.We tried to provide all the necessary things required for day to day living, and what is needed for his medical care too. We have engaged a day nurse, Raj Rani, to come and do his dressing etc. every alternate day. His recovery is going to be long, arduous and difficult. We and more importantly, Bulla and his family, needed all the help that they could get. While initial surgery costs have been taken off by the hospital, we knew that supporting a family who has no source of income ( as bulla was the main bread earner), rented accommodation for 6 months, food, medical expenses, nurse for day care, physiotherapy- will cost anything from 2.5-3 lacs in total. We were able to raise the funds to pay off Rajrani who was a compounder in a hospital and would go and do his physiotherapy every day. But eventually the trauma from his accidents were too grave – and he passed away. For me – this was a mirror image of the shattered socio-economic structure of our society – it felt futile and overwhelming, just how deep this structural inequality goes. I had the same feeling in 2022 when I started hearing about more and more migrant suicides. It made me more resolute to keep trying to do whatever bit we can, no matter how small the impact.
Q. Have you come across issues of caste purity and untouchability with respect to the menu?
ND: While distributing food we have by and large not come across caste purity and untouchability with respect to our food. All the 400+ people we feed, love our meals, they wait for us graciously. In the middle when we were shut for a week, while shifting to a new place – when we went back the 1st day so many of them came howling to us – ‘ where were you? had you forgotten about us ? ‘ Many people distribute food near nigambodh ghat, but often it is baasa, waste food. My father had told me, “The other day I had people take 2-3 meals from me; they sat on the pavement and ate those meals, telling me how hungry they were. We give the food packets to them in their hands and we ask them to take care. We give them as many meals as they ask for, as long as we have it. We try to ensure that everyone who’s standing in the line gets food. I don’t differentiate between a rag picker or a drunkard or someone who’s dressed well. I don’t question anyone; I just give them food.”
Q. Do you see MK as a long term venture especially when the State is refusing to perform its basic duties of providing food and shelter?
ND: While it is constantly challenging to raise enough funds to sustain the kitchen – we are always trying. In a country like ours, if communities were to go an extra mile, support their own local vulnerable populations just around their homes – the 80% of this country on the margins would not be as vulnerable as they are right now. Why can;t we have a community owned, run, funded and employed community kitchen in every mohalla ? Despite everything, we are trying to continue this initiative as long as we can. My father says, “This might be just a drop in the ocean, but it is a regular consistent drop,”. My mother said to me once – ” ” There was this idea amongst friends that this sort of work doesn’t really bring about any social transformation. You are just doing charity. You are just filling in where the government should be doing it. But I don’t even see it as charity. I see myself as a beneficiary of this inequality. The fact that I have got a public funded education, there is a debt of gratitude. There is a debt. On my soul, or psyche or whatever you call it. And that is a debt that I cannot repay in one lifetime. ”
Q. Anything else you’d like to share?
ND: I would like to thank the supporters and funders of this initiative and would appeal to more people for funding. Because of them MK has been running for almost 3 years, supporting people from marginalised communities with cooked food, ration and financial assistance. I have never been prouder of our small team of 10 community members which keeps the kitchen going. With 1 in 4 suicides in India being of a migrant worker, the need for food, rations and financial assistance for marginalised communities is still very dire.
We are currently running out of funds and may only be able to sustain till the end of the year. To keep the kitchen running till 2025 and beyond, we need support to raise funds.
Dr Rakhshanda Roohi Mehdi, prominent fiction writer and a teacher of Syed Abid Hussain Senior Secondary School, Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi has bagged the prestigious Hamid Saeed Khan Award of Madhya Pradesh Urdu Academy for her Urdu short story collection titled “Monsoon Store” and will receive Rs.51,000/- as award money.
This award recognizes the efforts of progressive women and the exceptional achievements of women who have broken barriers and demonstrated outstanding skills in their respective fields.
JMI Vice Chancellor Prof. Najma Akhtar congratulated Dr Rakshanda Roohi for her great achievements and wished her good luck for her future endeavours.
Dr. Rakhshanda said, “I am deeply honored and grateful to have been selected for this award. I am passionate about my writing and this award truly reflects what I believe in – a woman’s courage and her strong role in improving lives. I am committed to continue my efforts and empower women in the society”.
Apart from “Monsoon Store”, Rakhshanda has also penned another Urdu short story collection “Magar aik shaakh e nihaal e gham”. She has also written “Aik khwab jaagti ankhon ka”, a Hindi short story collection and one Book on Sufism named “Alakhdas.”
She has also translated two novels namely “Aakhri Swariyan” and a Pakistani novel titled “Naulakhi Kothi” in Hindi from Urdu.
Earlier, DD Urdu has broadcasted a tele film “Chilman k paar” which was based on her story named “Bahut sambhala wafa ka paiman magar…”.
A play “Kahan hai Manzil e Raah e tamanna” on her story has been staged in Ram Lal Bhawan New Delhi.
In addition to this, she has authored many articles which have been published in renowned magazines and newspapers. She is a regular participant of talk shows and story narrations of All India Radio and DD Urdu.
She has been honored with many other awards for her literary work.
source: http://www.ismatimes.com / Isma Times / Home> Country> National / by Afzal Shah Madudi (headline edited) /May 03rd, 2023
Wealth of Muslim community and government spending on the rituals of Islam for centuries would have been better utilized for establishing universities and technical and research institutes.
Title: The Scientific Muslim: Understanding Islam in a New Light
Author: Mohammad Aslam Parvaiz
Publishers: Konark Publishers
Pages: 184
Price: Rs 595
These are undoubtedly troubled times for India. Never before were the minorities, Muslims in particular, made to face such vicious communal hostility. The Hindu rightwing is at its aggressive best, combining facts with fiction to attack almost everything Muslims hold dear – their prayers, festivals, dress, even cuisine. Muslims are constantly provoked. If they respond even verbally, they face more wrath. It could not have been worse.
Hats off to Mohammad Aslam Parvaiz for coming out with his book on the problems Islam faces now. No, this is not a book about how to deal with Hindutva forces; far from it. A man of science, Parvaiz complains that Muslims across the world have jettisoned Islam’s true nature by sticking to parts of the Quran while ignoring much of what it says on how one must lead one’s life.
As a student of spirituality, I am convinced that the book will make waves in India and much of the Islamic world.
Ignoring Quran
The Quran, the author says, tells people how to lead a peaceful and meaningful life. While it asks those who read it to understand and explore nature, these intellectual pursuits are almost missing in those who claim the Quran to be their guidebook.
Parvaiz moans that Muslims born in Muslim households are taught to ‘read’ Quran without understanding it. Over the last many centuries, Muslim society has cherry-picked certain verses of Quran as binding on them. These include five-time prayers, fasting during Ramzan, offering ‘zakat’ and making a pilgrimage to Mecca. The Quran, he says, is much more. By deserting the Quran, “we ‘Muslims’ have deserted Islam”.
This is the main reason the Muslim society seems to have turned its back to scientific principles in which it once excelled, giving a tough competition to Europe. A sizeable section of Muslims even feels that contemporary education churns out atheists. The result? Ignorance about Quranic teachings coupled with limited ‘religiosity’ has led to the curriculum which is followed in most madrasas today.
In the process, Muslims are widely misunderstood by others. Non-Muslims think a Muslim must be one who sports a beard and a skull cap, goes to a mosque to pray five times a day and slaughters animals to eat. But these are visible symbols. Parvaiz contends that the one who follows the guidance given in the Quran and grooms himself accordingly is alone a true Muslim.
Also, some Muslim rulers had a knack of not tolerating any criticism about themselves or their religious beliefs. Consequently, wars and persistent battles rendered the once-prized academic atmosphere unfavourable.
Based on the Quran, Muslims must draw a road map for acquiring knowledge in every sphere and put it to the service of humanity. Parvaiz details what all the Quran says for human betterment. For instance, it underlines that one must meet his needs judiciously and avoid extravagance. As long as the Muslim followed the divine way, they ruled over the world and promoted justice, equity, peace and public welfare. When they began to neglect the Quranic system, it led to their disgrace and humiliation.
Islamic decline
Unfortunately, Muslims are at present unable to understand or act on the Quran. According to the author, the wealth of the Muslim community and government spending on the rituals of Islam for centuries would have been better utilized for establishing universities and technical and research institutes.
The absence of these is a key reason for the decline of Muslims as a productive part of the society or country where they live. “Their love for wealth, progeny and glory have made them indifferent to patronizing knowledge… It is time that we transcend sectarianism and shed false notions about our understanding of Islam and our intellectualism.”
According to the author, one reason why Muslims were hooked to a ritualistic lifestyle is because of the birth of a plethora of confusing and contradicting literature based on different sects that began to flourish. Slowly, Islam began to get diluted.
Also, some Muslim rulers had a knack of not tolerating any criticism about themselves or their religious beliefs. Consequently, wars and persistent battles rendered the once-prized academic atmosphere unfavourable. Muslim mobs in 1857 plundered the library of Delhi College, tearing apart books on English and science; Arabic and Persian books were looted.
Parvaiz without doubt has complete faith in the Quran. Yet he tears to shreds those who he feels are following it selectively, ignoring all that it has said about how to be in tune with Divine creations. “Soulless rituals cannot provide any food for thought. These may arouse our sentiments. Yet they cannot produce those Muslims who may lead communities of the world.”
He goes on: “Today, Muslim localities are notorious for their filth and rubbish. We throw all rubbish outside our homes and shops. The drainage system is rotten. We encroach upon roads, making life difficult for everyone. We erect all sorts of barriers on roads. We generate various forms of disorder. The industrial smoke coming out of small- scale work units in every house and alley adversely affect the entire atmosphere. All this amounts to disobeying God’s commands.” (It is another matter that much of what the author says about Muslim neighbourhoods can be said to be true for areas populated by other communities in India too.)
Way forward
Parvaiz explains what needs to be done. “Water, air, earth and all that is inside the planet are God’s signs. As Muslims we should not even think of disrespecting or destroying these signs.” His complaint is not directed at one section or country of Muslims. “No group, community or country of Muslims has ever prepared its progress model which is in accordance with the Quranic principles of justice, equity and selfless service.”
God, he says, has subjected everything to His laws. Indeed, all creatures who abide by divine commands can be called believers. Lip service and verbal claims alone will not and cannot help Muslims discharge their duty towards God. In real life, humans who are blessed by God seek to hold and hoard resources provided to them. Ownership and monopoly, he warns, are satanic concepts.
Parvaiz feels that the time has come to free Muslim educational agenda from religious and sectarian bias. Muslims should welcome all beneficial branches of knowledge. Character development has to be encouraged. One needs to train and produce Muslims who will follow Islam in full and not confine it to only a mosque or prayers.
“Islam will be their guide and mentor in every activity of life. This is the Muslim community which lost its way one thousand years ago.”
Non-Muslims too must read this eye-opener of a book as much as Muslims.
(The reviewer is a veteran journalist and author)
(Published under an arrangement with South Asia Monitor)
source: http://www.thenewsagency.in / The News Agency / Home> News Pops> India / by M R Narayan Swamy / April 28th, 2022
Aasif Sheikh has been honoured by the World Book Of Records for playing 300 different characters on Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai. The actor shared his picture with the certificate on social media.
Aasif Sheikh holding his certificate from World Book of Records.
Who doesn’t love Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hai’s Vibhuti Narayan Mishra? With his quirky ways of flirting with the neighbour’s wife to portraying different hilarious characters, Vibhuti is the show’s favourite. Did you know that Aasif Sheikh, who plays the role of Vibhuti, has also portrayed 300 different characters on the show? The actor has now been bestowed with a special certificate from the World Book of Records, London, for crossing 300 characters in Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain.
Aasif Sheikh Honoured by World Book of Records
Aasif Sheikh has won a million hearts with his constant hard work and amazing comic timing. He has now received a special award for portraying various characters on Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hai. Aasif posted his picture with the certificate on his Instagram account and wrote, “Thank you guys for making it happen. Crossed 300 different characters in bhabhiji ghar par hai (sic).” In the picture, the actor looks elated holding his certificate while wearing a blue check shirt.
Saumya Tandon is ‘Super, Super Proud’ of Aasif Sheikh
Saumya Tandon, who earlier played the role of Anita bhabi on the show congratulated Aasif Sheikh and commented, “Huge Congratulations, no one else deserves this more than you. It’s all the years of hard work , labour of love and passion for your craft. Super proud (sic).”
About Aasif Sheikh
Aasif started his journey in 1984 with India’s first TV serial Hum Log. He then appeared in a number of TV shows and Bollywood films. The actor featured in popular shows such as Yug, Champion, Tanha, Muskaan, Gul Sanobar, Chandrakanta, Yes Boss, Dill Mill Gayye, CID and Chidiya Ghar to name a few.
source: http://www.indiatoday.in / India Today / Home> News> Television> Celebrity / by Grace Cyril, Mumbai / October 21st, 2021
Shelly Oberoi, the councillor from Ward No. 86 in Patel Nagar, is AAP’s Mayoral candidate, while the name of Aaley Muhammad Iqbal has been proposed for the post of Deputy Mayor.
New Delhi:
Weeks after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wrested control of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) from the BJP, which was at the helm for three consecutive terms, AAP on Friday announced its candidates for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
Shelly Oberoi
Shelly Oberoi, the councillor from Ward No. 86 in Patel Nagar, is AAP’s Mayoral candidate, while the name of Aaley Muhammad Iqbal has been proposed for the post of Deputy Mayor.
Oberoi (39) joined AAP as an activist in 2013 and was the party’s Mahila Morcha vice-president till 2020. As a first time councillor, she registered victory on a BJP stronghold in West Delhi. A former visiting assistant professor at Delhi University and a first-time councillor, Oberoi contested the elections from former Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta’s home turf of East Patel Nagar, and defeated her rival Deepali Kumari by 269 votes.
Oberoi holds a PhD in management studies from IGNOU’s School of Management Studies. Along with Delhi University, She also taught at several other universities such as NMIMS, IP and IGNOU.
The first-time councillor, who is a lifetime member of the Indian Commerce Association (ICA), has several awards and accolades to her credit that she received in different conferences.
“I am feeling honoured as it will be a big responsibility. I shall give my best to fulfil the expectations of people and my respected party members”, Oberoi had said after she was named AAP’s Mayoral candidate.
From an ordinary AAP worker to being nominated for the Mayor’s post, her journey has truly been overwhelming, she said in a tweet.
Her main focus, Oberoi said, will be fulfilling the 10 guarantees promised by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by working together with all the councillors to knock off the city’s ‘garbage capital’ tag.
“My eyes are full of dreams to fulfil the committments of Arvind Kejriwal and his 10 guarantees,” she said.
However, it should be mentioned that AAP has named her candidature for only three months.
At the first MCD meeting to be held on January 6, the 250 municipal councillors will take oath and elect the Mayor and Deputy Mayor besides six members of the standing committee. The post of the Mayor is reserved for a female councillor in the first of the MCD’s five-year tenure.
After the Mayor is be elected on January 6, she will remain in office till April. Election for Mayor’s post will be held again in April.
Aaley Muhammad Iqbal Aaley Muhammad Iqbal is 3rd Time Muncipal Councillor of MCD ward Chandni Mahal and former Chairman City Zone MCD.
He is a businessman.
source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> India / by Ummid.com with inputs from IANS / December 25th, 2022
The literary work is the fourth translation and the first Urdu work to win the JCB Prize
(Left to right) Mita Kapur, literary director, The JCB Prize for Literature; Sunil Khurana, chief operating officer, JCB India; winning author Khalid Jawed; translator of ‘The Paradise of Food’ Baran Farooqi and jury member AS Panneerselvan JCB Prize
Khalid Jawed’s The Paradise of Food has been awarded the JCB Prize for Literature 2022. The book was chosen by a panel of five judges.
The Paradise of Food has been translated into English from Urdu by Baran Farooqi and published by Juggernaut. The Rs 25 lakh prize was awarded to the author virtually by Sunil Khurana, chief operating officer, JCB India, and A.S. Panneerselvan, chair of the jury for 2022, at a hybrid event organised at The Oberoi, New Delhi. Khalid Jawed also received the trophy — a sculpture titled ‘Mirror Melting’ by Delhi artist duo Thukral and Tagra.
The Paradise of Food, which is the fourth translation to win the JCB Prize and the first in Urdu, is a bildungsroman that traces the narrator’s journey through life anchored in a middle-class Muslim joint family.
The jury comprised Panneerselvan, journalist, editor and columnist; author Amitabha Bagchi; J Devika, historian, feminist, social critic and academician; author Janice Pariat and Rakhee Balaram, assistant professor, Global Art and Art History at the University of Albany, State University of New York. The award ceremony began with a welcome note from Mita Kapur, literary director of the JCB Prize, and an address by Deepak Shetty, CEO & managing director, JCB India. Classical dance performances by Shriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra led up to the grand announcement.
Speaking about the merit of The Paradise of Food as a piece of literature, Bagchi commented, “This singular and moving book shines a scintillating light on the violence at the heart of human civilisation. The language contains several beautiful and unusual formulations that are a literary achievement by both the author and the extremely skilled translator. A literary landmark in a less-celebrated genre of Urdu’s grand literary tradition, this work deserves to be widely read in India and beyond.”
Other members of the jury, too, unanimously appreciated Jawed’s book. Rakhee Balaram described the work as a “book of indescribable brilliance” and to J. Devika, it was a “powerful ice-pick in the winter of civilisational crisis that has engulfed the countries of South Asia”.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / Telegraph India / Home> My Kolkata> Events> Literary Event / by My Kolkata Web Desk / November 20th, 2022
Sahil had a love for vehicles since childhood but he started getting fond of vintage cars when he bought one and got it restored.
New Delhi:
Syed Sahil Agha, a resident of Abul Fazal Enclave in Delhi’s Okhla, has more than 50 American, British cars as also the cars of the erstwhile Rajas and Nawabs in his collection.
Sahil had a love for vehicles since childhood but he started getting fond of vintage cars when he bought one and got it restored.
People would look in awe every time he drove out in his car. Soon enough, another connoisseur of vintage cars, bought his car and paid him a good sum for it. Sahil invested that money into buying two more vintage cars.
Gradually, he fell in love with these cars and started collecting them. Today, his collection of more than 50 vintage cars, includes a Singer 6 of 1931 and Standard Sports of 1929, which are the only two in the whole world.
Apart from these, Sahil also owns a 1947 V12 Lincoln, a Mustang and many special sports cars.
Sahil also included the cars of many rajas and maharajas in this journey to preserve vintage cars.
He believes that awareness should be raised amongst people to save such vehicles. He also helps the owners of such vintage cars in fixing them.
Agha says his motive is to preserve these cars which were usually scrapped, he does so by buying and restoring them. He believes that these cars are a part of India’s history which cannot be brought back once extinct.
Sahil is a graduate from Jamia, Delhi and has done his Post Graduate Diploma in Acting from Shri Ram Bhartiya Kala Kendra, Delhi. He is the son of senior journalist Mansoor Agha.
source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> India> Life & Style / by IANS / October 21st, 2022
New Book , First ever English translation of Nizami’s invaluable Urdu book Begumat ke Aansoo
pix: amazon.in
Apart from the fifteen years that Sher Shah Suri snatched upon defeating Humayun, the flag of the grand Mughal Empire flew over Delhi undefeated for over 300 years.
But then, 1857 arrived and the mighty sword fell helpless in the face of a mightier British force.
After the fall of Delhi and Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar’s tragic departure from the Red Fort in 1857, members of the royal Mughal court had to flee to safer places. Driven out from their palaces and palanquins onto the streets in search of food and shelter, the dethroned royals scrambled to survive. Some bore their fate with a bitter pride, others succumbed to the adversity.
Through twenty-nine accounts of the survivors of the Uprising of 1857, Khwaja Hasan Nizami documents the devastating tale of the erstwhile glorious royalty’s struggle with the hardships thrust upon them by a ruthless new enemy.
In vivid and tragic stories drawn from the recollection of true events, Nizami paints a picture of a crumbling historical era and another charging forward to take its place.
With the reminiscence of past glory contrasted against the drudgery of everyday survival, Tears of the Begums – the first ever English translation of Nizami’s invaluable Urdu book Begumat ke Aansoo – chronicles the turning of the wheel of fortune in the aftermath of India’s first war of independence.
source: http://www.amazon.in / Amazon / Home> Books> History> World / as on August 06th, 2022
