UTTAR PRADESH / NEW DELHI:

Iqrar Ahmed, a tailor from Uttar Pradesh who has been stitching clothes for over two decades, derives satisfaction from the love, affection, trust and respect he has earned across communites.

Iqrar was only ten years old when he came to Delhi in 1986 to make a living. It took him a lot of hard work and perseverance to be able to buy a tiny shop in South Delhi’s Niti Bagh market.   

In his late forties now, Iqrar still remembers the stiff resistance he faced from neighbouring shopkeepers when he bought a 36 sq ft shop in the small DDA market in 2008. Were it not for the support of his friend, Giri Raj Giri, a RSS karyakarta who has an electrician’s shop there, Iqrar would not have been able to fulfill his dream of being self-reliant. 

Giriraj and Iqrar are like brothers and share an exemplary bond. 

Giriraj brings sweets for Iqrar every Diwali and Iqrar treats him to seviyan (an India desert) on Eid. This Diwali, Iqrar carefully chose the best available fabric from his shop for Giriraj and stitched a pink silk Kurta for him. Iqrar wrapped the Kurta nicely and carried the present to his shop. Giriraj was touched by his gesture and wore the kurta on Diwali; Iqrar celebrated their friendship by making his friend’s picture in the kurta, as his WhatsApp DP (display picture) during the festival. 

Iqrar is one of the most sought-after tailors in South Delhi. He explains that he learnt social graces in the company of elderly people and good clients. Iqrar who went for Haj with his mother in 2019, cannot thank Allah enough for helping him meet benevolent people. “Hamari zero qualification hai. Khuda me mujhe lajawaab logon se milwaya. Humne kabhi tasavvur nahi kiya tha ki aisa hoga.’’ (I have no educational qualification. God connected me to wonderful people. I had never imagined that my life will shape up like this.) 

Born in Sitapur’s Bilwa Bahadurpur village blessed with an abundance of mango trees, Iqrar saw his family battle financial hardships at a very early age.  The fourth among eight siblings, he is the only one who could not even go to a Madarsa. “I was only 20 when I lost my father. My family really had to struggle for survival. In my village, I would long to go to school like other children and even went to see the village school but did not muster courage to step in.’’ he recalls. 

Iqrar is beholden to his elder sister Shehnaz who persuaded him to come to Delhi. “Both my sister and brother-in-law made me feel very comfortable in their home in Jamia Nagar but I really missed home. I would hide and cry thinking of my mother back home. Shehnaz Appi loved me a lot but I could not bear separation from my mother. I would request people to write postcards to my mother. My sister had five children. All of them went to school.

“I really loved them and was happy offering to take care of them. I too felt like going to school but reminded myself of my family circumstances. Going home to my village was a luxury and I could afford to meet my mother only once in two years.”  

Iqrar stayed with his sister for six years till 1992. During this period, he learnt stitching from his brother-in-law, Mehboob Ali. Later, he worked in a boutique in Defence Colony. After four years, Iqrar was designing clothes in a boutique in South Delhi. “For five years, I worked with a boutique owner in Gulmohar Park. Her husband, Mahesh Aggarwal, was a lawyer and liked my work so much that he allowed me to use his shop here free of cost. ‘’ 

It was at that time that Iqrar got to know Giriraj Giri who persuaded him to buy the shop. Iqrar considers Giriraj as his elder brother and cannot thank him enough for giving him the clarity on making the right investment and standing by his side. “Giriraj is always ready to help people -irrespective of what religion they follow. He volunteered all the cable work in my shop when I bought it and refused to take even a penny.’’ 

Iqrar considers himself lucky to have always lived close to a mosque and woken up with the Azan every morning. He offers namaz five times a day. What gives him enormous satisfaction is that he took his mother for Haj for 46 days in 2019. “Wahan jaakar ruhaniyatr milti hai aur lagta hai jaise dusre jahan me aa gaye hon.( One experiences spirituality there and feels transported to another world.) 

Iqrar has two sons, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Afsaar Ahmed and a daughter but he has chosen to name his boutique AD  (Aafreen Design )Indian Outfit after his 20 year old daughter Aafreen. “ Like our Prophet loved his daughters a lot, I too really love my daughter.’’ 

Sarfaraz is a graduate, Aafreen is in the final year of post-graduation and Afsaar is preparing for his MBA. 

This soft-spoken tailor also finds time to run an NGO called AUN Human Welfare Society. AUN is involved in distributing blankets to the poor every winter and notebooks to school children. “Mera maksad insaanon se hai naa ki musalmaan ya kisi aur mazhab se.’’ (My intention is to help fellow human-beings not just Muslims or people from any particular religion). 

Even though his income fluctuates every month, Iqrar has amazing clarity is his approach to work. “On an average, we stitch three suits a day as we focus on quality work.’ He goes on to explain, “Agar Kaam zyada hoga to kaam kharab hoga aur agar kaam kharab hoga to naam kharab hoga. (Excessive work will impact quality which in turn may affect our credibility.’’ 

He commands an impressive clientele of celebrities including ministers, actors and journalists. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and his wife depend on Iqrar’s tailoring. Over the years, former Home Minister Shivraj Patil,  Congress leader, Tariq Anwar, politician Akbar Ahmed Dumpy, former Home Secretary V.K. Duggal, TV hostess Mandira Bedi’s family, the late journalist Khushwant Singh’s daughters in law, former cricketer Mohd. Azharduddin and Ashish Nehra’s family have also been his clients.

Veteran journalist Shubha Singh has been going to Iqrar for almost four years to get her clothes tailored. “His work is very neat and he is always ready with patterns. Every time I wear the clothes designed by Iqrar, people ask me who has stitched them and I am happy to refer them to him,’’ she says.  

Likewise, Iqrar’s neighbour Vijay Khanduja who owns a stationery shop says, “ My wife gets salwar kameez stitched from him and is very satisfied with his work.’’ 

Over the years, many shops have closed down in the DDA market. Clearly, Iqrar has proved that the fittest survive. 

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Story / by Tripti Nath / posted by tripnathnepal@gmail.com / January 23rd, 2023

Hyderabad, TELANGANA:

Hyderabad: 

A constable working with the Telangana police’s intelligence department died in a road accident at Chandanagar on Monday morning.

Shaik Mufeed, who was working as an Assistant Analytical Officer, Intelligence department (was working in Cyberabad) was going on a motorcycle when a Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) bus hit his vehicle.

“Mufeed had fallen down from the motorcycle and sustained injuries. He died on the spot. The accident happened around 9.30 a.m,” said SHO Chandanagar, K Kastro.

On receiving information of the accident, the Chandanagar police rushed to the spot and shifted his body to the Gandhi Hospital mortuary in Secunderabad. An autopsy was performed and the body was later handed over to the family members.

The Chandanagar police registered a case against the driver of the bus and took him into custody. The vehicle was seized.

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> Hyderabad / by Mir Alamgir / January 30th, 2023

Hyderabad, TELANGANA:

It’s January; there’s a nip in the air and the humidity is low. It’s a great time to explore Hyderabad on foot. Whether you’re traveling to a new destination or want to pull back the curtain on your city, these walking tours are the best way to rediscover the streets of Hyderabad. Mohammed Sibghatullah Khan co-author of Hyderabad Deccan, an architectural and visual designer by profession and a history enthusiast, offers theme walks centered around food, architecture, cultural history, and more. 

Did you know that eminent Bollywood personalities like Kaifi Azmi, actor Tabbu, Nigar Sultana all of these had once lived at Malepally one of the oldest localities of Hyderabad during the time of Nizams? Mallepally was built by the fifth Asafjahi ruler-Afzal Ud Daula next to the Afzal Sagar tank which was one of the largest tanks. Also, did you know that Charminar, one of the most charming landmarks of Hyderabad, is the finest example of Qutub Shahi architecture? To know more take a walk with Mohammed Sibghatullah Khan to explore Hyderabad’s varied architectural styles from Gothic and Indo-Saracenic; to Neoclassical and Art Deco.

He organizes experiential walks in collaboration with local businesses concluding these with food, snacks, and drinks steeped in history.

Ratna G. Chotrani spoke with Mohammed Sibghatullah about heritage walks he conducts across Hyderabad city, the need for heritage conservation, and why archiving is important for the future. Excerpts from the interview:

Please tell me about your background and how you developed a career in the heritage sector.

I was born and raised in Hyderabad. I was always fascinated by the old structures and monuments of the city. My love for buildings grew more when I took up architecture as a profession. As part of academic research on the architectural evolution in Hyderabad city, I started reading more and more on the built heritage of the city which was vanishing at an alarming rate. With The Deccan Archive, I started to curate heritage walks and workshops in and around the city to connect to and educate people about the cultural significance of the city they call home. I have been involved in several documentation and heritage conservation efforts in and out of academia. After three years of research on monuments, I have co–authored an illustrated guidebook that talks about the built heritage of Hyderabad city.

After scraping through the limited resources available on the internet, I realized that there wasn’t enough compiled data on the city on digital platforms. This started shaping my idea of The Deccan Archive as a platform that would shed light on the fascinating and often overlooked history of, not only Hyderabad but also the entire Deccan; and would hopefully try to bring this information into public knowledge and ignite a sense of pride and responsibility in the people, so they come forward and help preserve our shared heritage.

Why did you think of these heritage walks?

I used to post details of Hyderabad’s architecture on social media and got a lot of following. To get a real deep-dive into the city’s heritage and culture to know more about its sprawling gardens and parks or to meander around Tank Bund or stroll through Paigah palace to learn of its historic past when people commuted on horseback and danced in the ballrooms of  British Residency what better way than do a heritage walk. I mooted the idea and then a few people showed interest and soon it became a caravan of people with a common interest.

How many such walks have you held, so far?

We, from Deccan Archives, have organized 70 to 80 walks since 2018. Every Sunday we meet in the early hours and move to the main topic of the walk. It could be Uncovering Hyderabad or Hyderabad’s eclectic architecture, uncovering stories of Hyderabad Deccan, and even discovering the food of Hyderabad.

You founded the Deccan Archives with a common concern for preserving the unique tangible and intangible heritage of the Deccan. How would you rate the success of your idea and venture?

The Deccan Archive initially started in November 2018 as an anonymous blog that covered the chronological history of the Deccan in chapters. For an entire year since its inception, the blog was operated solely by me. I would spend days at the State Central Library and the Salar Jung Museum Library, reading about the birth of this fortunate city and the men who shaped it. One year later, I brought together my friends from college to form a team of designers, photographers, and artists to work on this project. The group traveled to the old city of Hyderabad in search of lost and forgotten monuments, following the extensive work of Dr. Omar Khalidi as a reference for our quest. A typical outing for the group would consist of documenting buildings and damage to them, identifying their architectural styles and materials, digging out histories associated with them, and trying to preserve them digitally

Now let’s talk about food. Why should a resident need to walk with you to know his food?

We look at monuments, places, restaurants, local communities, and everything that we are surrounded with. We take our walkers to places that are not accessible to them for instance we went to Khursheed Jah Devdi,  a European-styled architectural palace located in Hyderabad. … It was built by the Ancestors of Paigah noble Khursheed Jah Bahadur, Then we went to Paigah Palace near Begumpet even the Rashtrapathi Nilayam which is otherwise not accessible to the common man. 

Do you think it helps and has it received its purpose?

Initially, only 30 people came but it went on increasing in numbers. The motive is to reach out to people and try to connect people with history and their roots. When a lot of locals come to our walk they do not know there is so much architecture, and history in a building. We try to bring that awareness about our very own Hyderabad its tangible or intangible assets. For instance, during one of our walks, we took them to the Zinda Tilismath factory which has a medicinal history in the city. Zinda Tilismath was formulated in 1920 by Hakim Hakeem Mohammed Moizuddin the very first Herbal medicine which was named “Zinda Tilismath” (an Urdu word for living magic). Many Hyderabadis and others who romanticize Unani medicine in India and around the globe pledge that this potion has a magical cure for all ailments. 

Tell us about your Food Walks.

Food walks are organized to create awareness about the local cuisine. Even as people go about their weekday routine we during the walks listen to the maitre d’share lyrical stories about dishes during Nizam’s era. We then make our walkers get to taste that very particular cuisine. We have a curated menu for instance We begin at Hotel  Nayaab at Naypul to get the taste of Malai paya – creamy lamb trotters followed by Chattha Bazar where a small local vendor sells the best Shammi Kebabs. We then head to Sheh ran near Machlikaman Charmina where we relish the succulent fish fry and the melt-in-the-mouth Shammi Kebabs made by combining minced lamb, mutton,  with split chickpeas, onions, chilis, ginger, garlic, and various herbs and spices such as cumin, red chili flakes, garam masala, and mint leaves.

Honestly, we were pleasantly surprised by the positive reception we received. The crowds on our walks get larger every week, people give us access to their private collections of old and rare photographs or share interesting tidbits about their family history, and enthusiastically show us the artifacts or medals from the Nizam era.

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home / by Ratna Chotrani / January 30th, 2023