This ubiquitous garment owes its origin to the 17th century with the techniques changing over the years
Hyderabad Based photographer Soumyajit Basu is known for his keen eye for intricate creations. This time he took up capturing the ‘Khada Dupatta’ which are the first choice of any true blue Hyderabadi ladies. He captured the beauty of the work with his models Afreen and Mehak and makeup done by Ayesha.
Originating in the 17th century, craftsman from Turkey and Persia were invited to India by Mughal Empress Noor Jehan and passed on the secret art of crafting to the nobles and their descendants. Later, the begums of Nizams of Deccan adapted the original Mughal style, especially in the form of khada dupattas which became the traditional attire of Mughal ladies.
Though this was a culture that was more defined in the later half of Asaf Jahi dynasty in Hyderabad, the montage gallery at Chowmahalla Palace, exhibits the royal dresses of Nizams Begums which include khada dupatta. The gallery also displays a tableau on the life of the begums. Quite a few don the khada dupattas — a four-piece ensemble that includes a trailing dupatta, one such khada dupatta adorned with intricate zari work weighs a whopping 17 kg.
The dress comprises of churidaar, a veil/dupatta which is six-yards in length, a kurta where the dupatta falls straight due to its heavy weight. This is accompanied by heavy jewellery which compliments the dress embroidered with zari and other work to give it a rich look. The dupatta is the largest part of the outfit and is made of tissue material.
Today, however, brides opt for net and even Banarasi dupattas since tissue does not fall gracefully. The colours preferred are usually golden yellow/ red and green. The silk tissue is hand-crushed and reduced to the width of a half metre. The border is adorned with handiwork of dabka, beads, mirrors, kundan and tikkis.
Golden trimmings on both sides of the borders give an antique touch to the royal ensemble. Front and back panels are embellished by handmade borders which are adorned with zardosi embroidery. Due to this, it has now become a traditional dress for all Muslim brides in Hyderabad.
The culture still exists in Hyderabad today, more largely among Hyderabadi Muslims. The improvisation has been a gradual process. “So as a fashion and portrait photographer, it was necessary to visit the fashion history of the City of Nizams, as even today khada dupatta makes many ladies stand out when paired with right accessories,” says Soumyajit Basu.
source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> Lifestyle> Fashion / by Madhuri Dasagrandhi / January 27th, 2020
Most people know of this hierarchy but how much do we know of the women behind this great dynasty?
Mughal empire
The Mughal Empire (1526-1707) was established by Babur defeating Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat. His reign went on for four years (1526-1530). His successor was his son, Humayun. Then arrived Akbar, followed by his son Jahangir, followed by Shah Jahan, and the, the last great Mughal ruler– Aurangzeb.
Most people know of this hierarchy but how much do we know of the women behind this great dynasty?
Here’s a list to educate you about the same!
source: http://www.indiatoday.in / India Today / Home> News> Education Today> GK & Current Affairs> History / by India Today Web / New Delhi – May 06th, 2016
Saidullah has won many trophies (Pictures: Prashant Ravi)
Mohammed Saidullah, a resident of Motihari in the Indian state of Bihar, has received many awards and trophies in the last few years for his innovation.
In 1975, when his Jatwa-Janerwa village was swamped under flood waters – an annual monsoon menace – he pleaded with a local boatman to take him to safety.
When the boatman refused to give him space unless he paid for it, the young Saidullah looked for other ways to tackle the floodwater.
Necessity met creativity and in just three days, he made an amphibious bicycle which could easily negotiate the floodwaters.
He modified the conventional bicycle by adding four rectangular air floats to support it while it moved on water. Two fan blades were attached to the spokes of the rear wheel which enabled it to run on both water and land.
The blades were arranged in such a fashion that the cycle could be driven in reverse direction too.
Shining moment
Later, Mr Saidullah demonstrated the prowess of his vehicle before a stunned crowd, which included the then state governor, AR Kidwai, when he crossed the river Ganges in Patna city.
His big shining moment came in January 2005 when the then Indian President, APJ Abdul Kalam, presented him with the National Innovation Foundation’s (NIF) lifetime achievement award.
In the same year, he was selected as one of the 12 finalists for the prestigious Wall Street Journal Asian Innovation Awards.
Saidullah takes his grandchildren for a joy ride in his cycle-rickshaw
He was also profiled for the Discovery Channel’s “Beyond Tomorrow” programme.
In fact, he has won so many awards that he has lost count of them all.
An impressed NIF took away his bicycle and offered to get it patented.
But three years later, Mr Saidullah has neither got the patent nor the bicycle.
Today, he lives in penury.
Everyday, he pedals about 30 kms on his bicycle to sell honey so that he can feed his family of 16.
But the work brings him a paltry 1,500 rupees ($37) a month.
Grinding poverty
Unable to make the ends meet, he has now put up his roadside half-thatched, half-concrete house and the small plot of land – in Mathia Dih locality of Motihari in East Champaran district – on sale.
His disillusionment is such that Mr Saidullah wants to return all his awards and trophies.
“If you want to destroy someone, give him an award,” he says.
After the bicycle, Mr Saidullah also invented an amphibious cycle-rickshaw which he demonstrated before the BBC team in a nearby pond.
“On this, I can take my grandchildren for a joy ride in the water,” Mr Saidullah told the BBC.
The workshop is his favourite place
“But I feel hurt by what the NIF has done to me. They used us for their promotion,” he says.
“May I know how many innovators like me have been benefited and how many of us have been destroyed by them?” asks Mr Saidullah, with pain creasing his face.
NIF executive chairman, Anil Gupta, is sympathetic to Mr Saidullah’s plight: “We tried a lot, are still trying and will keep trying to explore things being done for Mr Saidullah’s amphibious bicycle. But yes his frustration is completely understandable.
“Despite our best efforts, for some reasons we failed to generate any entrepreneurship for his bicycle. We’ve given him the innovation fellowship of a fixed amount and we are ready to support him in future too,” Mr Gupta said.
There is still a chance that things may look up for him.
A senior official in Bihar state’s science and technology department, Ajay Kumar, told the BBC he would do all he could to help Mohammed Saidullah.
“Though there is no structured schemes for commercialisation of such innovations in my department but we would certainly help him in getting his product patented after talking with the NIF,” Mr Kumar said.
According to Mohammed Saidullah’s son, Mohammed Shakilurrahman, the family was not always poor. Mr Saidullah inherited acres of land, orchards, elephants and a big house from his father.
But, the rural scientist sold all his property to pursue his innovations, his son says.
New things
He blames his father’s “sheer madness” for the family’s poverty.
He too sells honey in the state capital.
However, Mr Saidullah’s bitter past experience has not stopped him from moving on to new things.
After the amphibious bicycle, he developed a key-operated table fan which can run non-stop for two hours, a mini-water pump that needs no fuel and a mini-tractor which can run for two hours on just five litres of diesel.
Saidullah names all his innovations after his wife, Noor
Now, he claims he’s making a helicopter which would cost the equivalent of $62,500 and a car that would be powered by air energy.
His dark, dingy workshop is crammed with a hand-made lathe machines and countless corroded nut-bolts littered on long rusty iron racks.
But it’s his favourite place. “I love to be here all the time,” he says.
Where would he go once his house and land is sold off?
“I’ll make a three-storey moving car with folding cots, pack my family in and park it on an open government land by the roadside anywhere,” he says.
The maverick innovator says he draws inspiration for his innovations from his everyday experiences. He has named all his creations after his loving wife, Noor Jahan.
“Noor means light and Inshallah a day would come when there would be light in our life too,” says Saidullah.
source: http://www.bbc.co.uk / BBC News / Home> South Asia / by Amarnath Tewary / Motihari – Bihar / March 03rd, 2008
Noor Jahan and her daughter Nargis encouraged villagers to build a toilet in their homes.
Lucknow:
In next two weeks, Papna Mua, a small village on the outskirts of the city will be free of open defecation-thanks to the efforts of a mother-daughter duo, who along with building a toilet in their own house motivated 418 families of the village to do so.
For the last six months, Noor Jahan and her 11-year-old daughter Nargis have made hectic efforts to encourage fellow villagers to build a toilet in their homes.
Living with her spouse and two children, Noor Jahan initially faced serious opposition from everyone including her husband who abandoned for sometime for taking up the social cause. “People used to kick me out literally when I went to tell them how important a toilet is in every household. They had problems with me interfering in their personal lives but my agenda was always clear-I wanted every house of this village to have a toilet,” shared she told TOI.
Owing to her constant efforts presently nearly 300 families of the village already have a toilet and in rest of the houses, construction is underway. Besides telling people the hazards of defecating in open and how it can hamper the safety of young girls, Noor also tells them about the government scheme to sanction money for building toilets for those who can ill afford one.
It all started with an Anganwadi workshop where women were apprised of the necessity of a toilet. While every other woman only attended the workshop, Noor took a serious lesson from it. “On that every day in the evening I started digging a pit in the backyard of my house with my hands and in few days I had the first toilet of the village right in my house,” said Noor.
She involved her class VI student daughter Nargis in spreading awareness about it. While Noor approached other families in the village, she asked her daughter to tell her friends about the importance of a toilet. “Nargis also tells her friends about other basic sanitation practices like washing hands before eating and brushing teeth daily. Now, her teachers support her too,” said Noor.
For their commendable efforts, Noor Jahan and Nargis were felicitated by district magistrate Raj Shekhar on Tuesday and they also received a monetary reward of Rs 2,000.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Vidita Chandra / TNN / May 11th, 2016
