Gotla Palli Mauza (Padamul Mandal) Tandur Town (Vikarabad District / Hafeezpet, Hyderabad, TELANGANA :
Mohammad Ashfaq
Mohammad Ashfaq of Tandoor, a small town in Telangana, who cleared the Civil Services examination 2023 on his fourth attempt gives credit to his family, especially his mother, for his achievement.
Muhammad Ashfaq said that his mother realized the importance of education and despite he being the only child sent him to Delhi to do his graduation and post-graduation studies. “For my bright future, my mother looked alone after the family and never bothered me with problems at home.”
A sensitive soul, Muhammad Ashfaq gives full credit for his success to his parents.
Speaking with Awaz-The Voice, Mohammad Ashfaq attributed his success to his parents and elder sister. He said that his father dreamed that his son would become a civil servant. “At every stage of my life, my father not only encouraged me but also instilled determination to reach the goal in me. His words motivated and made me determined to clear the examination.”
Mohammad Ashfaq said at the time he thought of picking a corporate job but his father reminded me of my dream and goal. “I can never forget the role my parents and elder sister played in my educational journey,” he said.
Muhammad Ashfaq was a bright child from the beginning. He passed his SSC from Janapriya High School and completed his graduation in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi in 2020. Two years later he completed his master’s in Economics from Delhi School of Economics.
Mohammad Ashfaq with his parents posing in front of the UPSC office in New Delhi
He joined coaching for the civil services from his intermediate class. He wrote his first civil services exam in the year 2020, soon after completing his graduation.
He did not succeed. It was the same in his next two examinations. Failures did not deter him; he continued to pursue his dream with renewed determination and courage.
Muhammad Ashfaq is a native of Gotla Palli Mauza of Padamul mandal of Tandoor. Currently, he resides in Hafeezpet, Hyderabad. His father Mohammad Jafar has an engineering works company at BHEL Ashoknagar. Mother Rizwana Begum is a homemaker.
Mohammad Ashfaq’s elder sister Uzma Sultana is a dentist. His father Mohammad Jafar dreamt of his children having good careers and he is the happiest man today.
Mohammad Jafar moved to Hyderabad in 1992 from Tandoor and started working as a scooter mechanic for a small salary. Later he established his engineering works company.
Ahmed Ashfaq’s grandfather Abdul Razzaq and Grandmother Syedan B live in their ancestral village. They were overjoyed at Nabirah’s success in the civil services examination and celebrated it by distributing sweets among the villagers.
Muhammad Ashfaq is thus the epitome of a never-give-up spirit. His story tells the youth never to be a victim of despair hopelessness or failure.
He said that instead of being discouraged by failures, one should get motivated and try to move forward by addressing one’s shortcomings. He said that hard work never goes in vain.
Muhammad Ashfaq said that as a civil servant, he will focus on the development of the country, service to the people as well as the elimination of corruption. He said that corruption has become a problem in the administration today. They know that they cannot eradicate corruption alone, but they will try their best to eradicate corruption with the cooperation of all honest officials. He said that he would try his best to bring the administration to the doorstep of the people.
Muhammad Ashfaq said that although he has achieved success in civil services, he may get a job in IPS or IRS depending on his rank, but his aim is IAS and he will write the exam again for it.
source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Stories / by Sheikh Muhammad Yunus, Hyderabad / April 23rd, 2024
Shabnam Shabbir Shaikh of Aambijalgaon, Maharashtra, trashes stereotypes of Indian women. Having picked wrestling as her field, this 28-year-old woman has broken all the shackles that a girl child faces while growing up in a small village.
Hailing from the village Aambijalgaon, Karjat, of the district Ahmednagar Shabnam was born in Jammu where her father Shabbir Sarabhai Shaikh was posted in the Indian Army. She is the third child of her parents and she grew up seeing her mother Rizwana Begum looking after the house and the family. However, Shabnam’s father always wanted his daughter to be brave, self-reliant, and break social stereotypes.
A great votary of women’s education Shabbir Shaikh encouraged his wife Rizwana Begum to complete her MSc degree after their marriage.Due to her father’s frequent postings across the country, Shabnam did her schooling mostly at the Army schools in Ambala, Udhampur, Srinagar, and Ahmedabad. After her father’s retirement, the family settled in their native village and Shabnam joined the local school.
She joined the 11th class in the Dada Patil College, Karjat, in the science stream. despite an irregular and sluggish bus service to Karjat, she somehow managed to study and also attend coaching for wrestling.
Coach Shabnam with her team
Shabnam completed her Bachelor of Physical Education (BPE) from Aurangabad (Sambhajinagar). She also got a diploma certificate in Coaching from the National Institute of Patiala, Punjab, and later did her Master’s from Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University and then registered for her PhD studies.
Shabnam’s wrestling career began at the age of seven with her father as her coach. Shabnam says, “’My father is my first guru.”
Shabnam came from a family of wrestlers: her grandfather Sadarbhai Shaikh and great-grandfather were well-known wrestlers in the area. Their ancestral house has a wrestling arena where she watched male members of her family and neighbours practice wrestling.
Shabnam had to face the scorn and disapproval of her extended family and relatives when she started practicing wrestling. People even asked her family why she was allowed to wear shorts.
Shabnam at the convocation of the University
Shabnam started with Kabaddi, a game that requires a lot of alacrity and stamina.
Initially, she did not get to enter the arena where her brothers wrestled, so she took to Kabbadi. “I used to think that if I wrestle and win that will be my victory. Even if I lose, it will also be my failure. Will happen… I expressed my desire to wrestle to my father. He responded positively.”
Shabnam’s father had a precondition for training her. He wanted her to concentrate on training and practice for the first two years. She started receiving training from her father and two elder brothers.
Every morning at 4 o’clock she was sent to pick lemons from their farm located about 10 km away. She learned the nuances of wrestling and participated in her first competition in Ludhiana (Punjab). She bagged a silver medal and there started her winning streak.
Shabnam says, “Once in my village, my father came to know about a competition in Delhi. I was just 10 years old at that time. He gave me a paper with the address written on it and a train ticket and wished me good luck for the journey.”
At that time she wondered why she was going alone, ‘Why don’t my parents come with me? But my father always used to tell me that some battles in life have to be fought alone,” she says going down memory lane.
Shabnam Shaikh with her trophy
Shabnam won the title of ‘Women Maharashtra Kesari’ in 2010. She has won the gold medal in ‘Shirdi Kesari’ for three consecutive years since 2009, the gold medal in ‘Latur’ in 2011, gold medal in the ‘Maharashtra State Kustigir Parishad’ competition for six consecutive years.
She has also participated in four inter-university competitions, 10 national competitions, and more than 15 state-level competitions. In the national level ‘Great Bharatkumari Wrestling Competition’, Shabnam is the first winner not only from the Muslim community but also from Maharashtra.
Shabnam says her father taught her that one doesn’t need an outer veil. “Always keep the veil that differentiates between good and bad people in front of your eyes!” he told her.
Shabnam says, “People used to question my parents’ ways. A girl should not play sports like wrestling. Teach her to fast (during Ramazan) and pray. Don’t you want only boys to play wrestling? Hundreds of questions were asked but my parents did not let the pressure of society affect me.
“My father never changed his opinion under the pressure of society. He never let these things affect my game. I always got the support of my parents and my elder brothers.”
Shabnam’s mother Rizwana Begum says, “I have not two, but three ‘sons’! My brothers did not give me a share of our parents’ property. But, I will not let this injustice happen to my daughter. I will give her everything she deserves. Shabnam has brought glory to us. As a mother, I will always be proud of her.”
Shabnam’s thesis for her Ph.D. degree is ‘Comparative study of emotional maturity of rural and urban women wrestlers in Maharashtra’. She toured the entire state for research.
Shabnam is the first woman in India to do a doctorate in sports studies. While doing her Ph.D. in Wrestling, there were often deliberate attempts to embarrass and thwart her effort to earn a doctorate.
In the year 2017, Shabnam was selected as the junior coach of the Wrestling Women’s Association of India; she imparted wrestling training to Anushka Sharma and Salman Khan for the film ‘Sultan‘. Shabnam has represented India in Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.
She currently works as a ‘Senior Trainer’ in the ‘Wrestling Women’s Association’ of India. India has never had success in the ‘World Women’s Wrestling Championship’ till now. However, in the ‘Under-20 World Championship’ of 2023 India won seven medals in ‘Women’s Wrestling’. Out of these, three are gold medals.
Shabnam Shaikh after her victory in a foreign location
Dr. Shabnam Shaikh is today known as the ‘International Wrestling Coach.
Shabnam says, “I was selected as the coach of ‘Maharashtra Team’ for the national tournament held in Gujarat last year. Twenty-four hours ago, my name was canceled! I was not given any idea about this.”
“Many times, despite having the right credentials and qualifications, I am not given a chance. Probably, because I live with self-respect! I always think that when someone asks me, “How did you get all this?’ I should proudly tell him, ‘I have earned it through my hard work.’
Shabnam says, “Wrestling gave me identity. Sometimes I wonder, ‘Is wrestling a curse or a blessing for me?’ Initially, relatives and other people of the society hated seeing me wrestle.
“Later, when I started winning competitions, people would post the news of my success on their ‘status’ on various social media platforms and write the caption, ‘Congratulations and best wishes to our sister or relative.’
After reading the news of my winning, I became everyone’s relative at that time! But, they speak against me on behind my back! However, now they hesitate to speak against me openly!”
Shabnam says, “Most of the time I am rejected for marriage. I play wrestling. The suitors who come to see as a potential candidate for marriage, see my trophies and see ‘Doctor’ written next to my name. When they go home their answer is, ‘We don’t want such an educated girl.'”
Shabnam continues to work hard to ensure that other girls do not face what she has.
Her advice to the youth: “No matter what happens, do not get tired. Do not give up the fight.” Her dream is to build a wrestling center for girls.
source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Story / by Chaya Kaveri / February 29th, 2024
26 teachers from Government Primary Schools and 11 teachers from Government High Schools from Yadgiri and Kalaburagi districts were felicitated during the Best Teachers Award Ceremony held at Vintage Palace Function Hall, Kalaburagi on November 16.
The awardee teachers were shortlisted after screening under three criteria – Commitment and Dedication to the profession, Should not be recognized elsewhere with awards and preference was given to teachers working in remote rural areas –
“Purpose of this award program to recognize and felicitate teachers who are doing significant work in Government schools which ultimately helps to improve the outcome of Govt. schools and helps inspire other teachers to do still better” an official statement stated.
Best Teacher Awardees felicitated on event day are :
Sedam: Md Abdul Faheem, Nayeem Sultana, Sujata Hiremat, Asha Taskeen
Chincholi: Umar Huddar, Rizwana Begum, Mubeen Fatima
Jewargi – Md Yousuf, Sarfaraz, Rudrappa Gouda
Afzalpur- Asma Shalam, Shabana Begum, Mohammed Asif Attar
Aland- Seema Rubee, Merajunnisa Begum
YADGIR District: D Subiya, Venkatesh Nayak, Khudeja Begum, Mukhtar Ahmed J Mulla, Zareena, Kasim T
SPIRIT OF EDUCATION AWARD given to three teachers (out of 37 teachers) – Sameena Farzana, Zohra Khanum, Masoom Khan for their outstanding contribution to education beyond schools and school timings.
There were five academic achievers (Dr. Saba Sultana, Zeenat Begum, Nazneen, Md Shujath Hussain, Md Shakir Ahmed) were felicitated and one for Social cause (Jb Jainuddin Shirnifarosh) also felicitated for outstanding social services.
Smt. Surekha Jagannath Dengi, Govt High School Bandarwad, Tq Afzalpur, Dist. Kalaburgi
The program presided by PM Qutubuddin, other guests/speakers invited were Kashif Raza, Dr. Abdul Qadeer (Shaheen Bidar), Mazhar Hussain(Sr Lecturer), Surekha Dengi (National Awardee Teacher 2020), and Mohammed Ali & Mohammed Faiyazuddin (Vintage Palace Function Hall).
The program was a joint initiative of Ummeed Welfare Association, GURMITKAL Yadgir Dist. and Helping Hands Foundation, GURMITKAL Yadgir Dist.
source: http://www.english.varthabharati.in / Vartha Bharati / Home> Karnataka / by Vartha Bharati / December 11th, 2020
