Mohammed Amir (formerly Balbir Singh), who was once an active Sangh leader and the one that climbed the dome to destruct Babri Masjid, now builds and protects mosques across India. He is building a mosque in Hafez Baba Nagar, Hyderabad.
After participation in destruction of Babri Masjid and later accepting Islam he has decided to build and renovate 100 mosques. He also pledged to protect mosques. With this in mind, he has completed the construction of 91 mosques, and more than 59 are under construction. This mosque which is being constructing in Hyderabad is his 59th which has named ‘Masjid-e-Rahimiya.’
Mohammed Amir said that last year, on December 6 he had laid the foundation of Masjid-e-Rahimiya near Balapur road in Hafez Baba Nagar. Since then the construction work has been going on. The local people have already begun to say prayers at a temporary shade. The mosque is being constructed with ground plus 6 floors on a 3200 sq yd land which also includes a madarsa (religious school) for those who have embraced Islam, he added.
Narrating the reason behind his drive to construct the mosques he said as a karsevak involved in the destruction of Babri Masjid, when he reached home after the demolition he was given a hero’s welcome fby the public. But his family’s reaction shocked him. His secular family denounced his actions as a result of which he was feeling guilty. Later, when he fell sick and began having physiological issues he decided to consult with a Maulana.
He went to the Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui in Muzaffarnagar in UP and explained to him about what he does. He also sought forgiveness for what he had done. The Maulana explained to him the Islamic values through the Quranic verses. At that time he realized what he had done was sinfully wrong. On June 1, 1993 he accepted Islam sitting before Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui. He also decided to build and protect 100 mosques. With this aim he has built 91 Mosques in this 26 years and 59 were under construction.
Mohammed Amir built the first mosque in Haryana with and named it Masjid-e-Madina in 1994. In the next three months he laid foundation of another mosque in Haryana. Almost all of the mosque’s foundations were laid on December 6. He also built one of the most famous and popular mosques in Mendu near Hathra in UP, he noted.
He built mosques mostly in the North and North-eastern states. He ia also brining about awareness and teachings about the Islam and running a mardassa for the reverted Muslims. He said that wherever he is building a mosque he and his family shift to that particular area and begin offering teachings of Islam.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Babri Masjid / by Mohammed Hussain / December 07th, 2019
Mohammad Usman Ghani busy with work in his Belgachhia home that doubles as his workstation. / Picture by Subhendu Chaki
Mohammad Usman Ghani hurries out of a crowded, narrow lane of Belgachhia Children’s Park area, a Muslim locality next to Belgachhia Urdu High School. He greets me warmly and guides me to his house in the lane. “Garib ka ghar hai,” he says apologetically, more than once.
The small room I am ushered into is occupied almost entirely by a double bed, which is his workplace. On it lie books and sheaves of paper in little piles, and a batch of wooden pens with wooden or metal nibs. A showcase stands against one wall and a desktop computer is wedged into a corner. Outside, small children shout and play, sometimes making a quick entry into the room, then a quicker exit.
As one approaches Ghani’s locality, one can see a few anti-CAA and anti-NRC posters.
Amidst all this bustle, Ghani, 38, sits quietly on his bed, his skullcap-covered head bent over a piece of paper that is filling up with beautiful Urdu lettering. Ghani is a calligrapher. The Urdu script, with its curves and swirls, is in itself quite lyrical. Urdu calligraphy, its more concentrated, cursive and complex form, is at its best like distilled poetry.
Ghani was drawn to this centuries-old art from a very early age. He was moved by its beauty. It is a very fine, elaborate and demanding art, he explains, in which every dot, dash or curl, if decorative, is also part of the lettering, and in a master’s hand they come together to fuse into an exquisite design. An ordinary name becomes a work of art.
“I was born here,” says Ghani. He first studied at the corporation school in the area, then went on to study at Mohammad Jan High School in Burrabazar. He studied for his master’s degree at Hyderabad Maulana Azad National Urdu University, passing out in 2008.
But after school, he had first enrolled at Urdu Academy in Calcutta to learn calligraphy along with graphic design. He teaches calligraphy at the academy now.
At home, he works on books, banners and signboards, but also on stone plaques for masjids or for homes, quite often with excerpts of The Quran in them. Calligraphy is central, sometimes literally, to Islamic architecture. “The gates of Taj Mahal are framed with calligraphy,” reminds Ghani.
But that is Arabic, he says. To understand the idea of Urdu calligraphy, one also has to understand the idea of Arabic calligraphy. Ghani practises both.
“A calligrapher is called a katib in Urdu. The wooden nib of the pen is called a sarkanda or a klich,” he says. They can be reed pens too. “The point is called a noqta. The curve is called a dayra,” Ghani adds. “Everything has a name,” he smiles. “How many can I name?” The elaborate terminology of calligraphy also explains how intricate the art is.
The artist M.F. Husain had trained in calligraphy, he reminds.
Arabic calligraphy, from which Urdu calligraphy evolved, was authored in the 10th century by Ibn Muqla, a Persian high official who later became a vizier in Baghdad, explains Ghani. He designed six styles. “Or fonts,” says Ghani.
Urdu calligraphy was formalised between 1330 and 1405, after Islam reached parts of India, in the Nashtaliq font by Khwaja Mir Ali Tabrezi. Urdu, the language too, was developing then from Khariboli, a north Indian dialect that had borrowed heavily from Persian words. “Urdu calligraphy uses eight fonts,” says Ghani.
Ghani cannot express enough gratitude to his two masters, ustads, Ghulam Murtaza and Wasey Ahmed.
To illustrate the differences between Arabic and Urdu further, Ghani brings out a pen and dips it in the special ink. Previously the ink would be manufactured by the calligrapher himself by burning wood, but now it can be bought. “For Urdu calligraphy, the pen has to be held at 63 degrees. For Arabic, at 75 degrees. In Urdu, the dayra is circular or oval. In Arabic, it is differently shaped.”
He offers to rewrite an Urdu phrase calligraphically and chooses a heading of a book of which he had composed the title in calligraphy.
“But Urdu is the language of love, of poetry,” he says. He begins to write on another piece of paper Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s ghazal: “Gulon mein rang bhare, baad-e-naubahaar chale/Chale bhii aao ki gulshan kaa karobaar chale… (May the flowers fill up with colours, may the early spring breeze start blowing again/ Please come back, so that the garden can resume its business again…).”
I later discover that the song was written when Faiz, a Communist, was thrown into prison in Pakistan in the 1950s for his political views. The ghazal, sung by Mehdi Hassan, was also used by Vishal Bharadwaj in his searing 2014 film on Kashmir, Haider.
But Ghani, since he is using calligraphy, selects only the first two lines, and transforms them into a sher, a couplet, and a love poem. For him, it is about the intense longing for the beloved.
Of course, the computer has changed calligraphy. Not too many calligraphers are to be found easily. “But the computer cannot do what the hand can do,” says Ghani. His work on books now mostly mean writing the title of the book in Urdu calligraphy. The rest of the text is composed on the computer.
“The keywords are composed by handwritten calligraphy,” says Ghani. Same for wedding cards, where the names of the bride and groom are written calligraphically; the rest is computer-generated. “The two are never the same,” stresses Ghani.
To supplement his income, he works at the computer himself. He, too, makes wedding cards, with the calligraphy done by hand and the rest written on the computer. He accepts orders for other kinds of commercial writing as well.
At Urdu Academy, about 25 students are enrolled in the calligraphy class, but about 12-13 attend classes. “The government should do something about promoting Urdu and Urdu calligraphy. Not only Urdu, for all other Indian languages like Bengali,” he says.
He says that once, especially in the Mughal court, many Hindus knew Urdu. Many Muslim women have contributed to enriching calligraphy.
But all these seem so far away. Now Ghani has to rush to meet someone for work. He promises to find me an Urdu book that he had handwritten himself, with calligraphy.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, online edition / Home> West Bengal / by Chandrima S. Bhattacharya in Calcutta / December 23rd, 2019
From maestro AR Rahman to latest music sensation Anirudh Ravichander, Nakash worked with almost every composer in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Bengali and…
In a very short span of time and after a lot of patience and struggle, playback singer and composer Nakash Aziz has become so popular that almost every other composer wants him to croon for at least one song in their album.
Nakash began his career as a playback singer in 2010, with ‘Suno Aisha’, a song from ‘Aisha’ movie. Much before this, he worked as a composer for many jingles and devotional albums. He comes from a family of singers and no wonder he sings so beautifully.
His name is still new to many. But once they explore, many will be surprised to know that to most of the hit songs from Bollywood in the recent times, Nakash lent his voice.
“It is my father, from whom I have learnt music. He inspires me a lot and so do others in my family. I owe the credit to him. Also, I must say that I get inspired from nature and Mumbai, the city where in live in,” says Nakash, who was born in Moodabidiri, a small town on the outskirts of Mangalore.
Besides releasing his new single called ‘Superstar’, the singing sensation sang ‘Dumm Dumm’ in ‘Darbar’ and ‘Dang Dang’ in ‘Sarileru Nekevaru’. Both these songs have become instant chartbusters and Nakash is super happy about it.
“Rajinikanth sir is the most down to the earth person I have ever met. I consider myself to have been very lucky enough to meet and work with this amazing person for Darbar. Also, talking about Dang Dang from Sarileru Nekevaru, this is my first song for Mahesh Babu and I am huge Tamannaah fan. So this song was also very special for me. I thank Anirudh and Devi Sri Prasad for having me on board. I really have to reveal my working experience with DSP. He is power house of energy and can make anything sound melodious and beautiful,” says the youngster.
Starting his career with Bollywood, Nakash has become busy in south and has back to back projects in hand. Happy with the number of songs he has been singing in Telugu and Tamil, he says, “I love south industry a lot. Also, I grew up listening to Tamil songs and always, as a kid, I hoped to be part of this huge industry. Now I am singing in other south languages and working with wonderful artistes.”
Music industry is that field where a lot of changes take place. Could be the trend or even a new singer coming up every other day, the changes cannot be predicted. In such a profession and film industry especially, sustaining for a long time is not so easy. When asked about how far he agrees with it, Nakash said that it all depends on who you are as a person. “Every day is a new day. All that you have to do is get up and do what you love. I love cinema and music. In case I fail, I take it as a lesson and try not to give up. Some major changes have taken place in sound and the technology. Things have become experimental and it needs nothing but belief,” he added.
In this current generation, where people are mad about social media and wake up to looking at what is happening on various platforms, Nakash makes sure he stays away from it. It is surprising because many youngsters of his age are addicted to social media.
“I browse the internet just to know where the world is going. I use YouTube a lot as that is where I listen to a lot of songs and watch singles. I share news about my upcoming projects and other stuff on Instagram. Literally, that’s just for professional purpose. I do not open Twitter and Facebook. Social media is okay only when you make the right use of it. Otherwise, it is nothing but a useless way of passing time,” believes Nakash.
Talking about what he does when he is free or feels bored, Nakash says that the best and favourite way of keeping himself busy is composing and listening to music. Another thing that he loves doing the most is making friends, travelling and interacting with people.
“I love listening and telling stories. I can spend hours doing either of them. So I am looking forward to tell them to others and I am working on it. Soon, I will be announcing about it,” says this singing sensation who has a long way to go.
source: http://www.thehansindia.com / The Hans India / Home> Featured> Sunday Hans / by Bhawana Tanmayi / Hans News Service / January 11th, 2020
Members of different religious communities at the congregational prayers at the Kochi Grand Mosque, Kacheripady in Kochi on Friday.
Members of various communities attend Friday’s congregational namaz
In a friendly gesture, the Kochi Grand Mosque at Kacheripady threw its doors open to members of other religious communities to attend Friday’s congregational namaz at noon.
For its first ‘open day’, possibly the first such in the State according to organisers, the mosque committee had invited believers of different religions to observe the jumma prayer and listen to the khutba, the sermon delivered by the Imam, that precedes the prayers.
“The committee hopes to make the open day a regular affair, inviting not just prominent people to attend prayers, but also encouraging believers to bring their friends, at least once in two months. Attempts will be made to encourage this in mosques across the State,” said Imam M.P. Faisal, whose sermon for the day stressed on the idea that the world subsists on compassion.
Members of the committee said in the current political climate, such a gesture was thought necessary to familiarise people with Muslim customs and religious practices to dispel the fear of the unknown.
The invited guests observed the prayers from the back of the prayer hall and addressed the congregation after the namaz.
Justices Devan Ramachandran and Alexander Thomas of the Kerala High Court who attended the prayers pointed out that it was the first time that they had got to witness the namaz.
“This could be the starting point for inter-religious dialogue and fraternity,” said Justice Thomas.
Fr. Vincent Kundukulam, professor at the St. Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary, Aluva, said such a gathering of people for prayers was in keeping with the diversity of the country, and would send out a strong message that could bring down the walls between religions and allow for conversations among those who practise different faiths.
Chaithanya Jnana Thapaswi and Gururethnam Jnana Thapaswi of the Santhigiri ashram attended the prayers, along with P.K. Shamsudheen, retired judge of the High Court.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Kochi / by Abhinaya Harigovind / Kochi – January 11th, 2020
A classroom debate moderated by this writer last week, with students of drama, brought to the fore misapprehensions regarding what one might term ‘Islamic theatre’ in India. The phrasing itself was called out as parochial in its scope, or too strongly affiliated with religious identity, and some even questioned the need for such a classification since we don’t usually talk about ‘a Hindu theatre’ (but of course we do, by glorious default). This was all compounded by the fact that there were no Muslims in the room, but arguably, one might say there were many among us whose world-views might have been influenced or even shaped by Islamic mores and values, given that we live in a country with one of the largest populations of Muslims in the world and even if insularity runs really deep, parallel cultures do meet at some point. Or, at least, we hope they do.
Rooted in culture
To explain further, when it comes to semantics, many use the words ‘Islamic’ or ‘Muslim’ as adjectives rather interchangebly, often in incorrect contexts. While the word ‘Muslim’ refers to those people who are followers of Islam and not to events or ideas or things, the word ‘Islamic’, according to scholar Ahmed E Souaiaia of the University of Iowa, “can be used to describe things that are present in Islamic societies and cultures, even if their origins are not rooted in Islam or produced by Muslim people.” It is an adjective that connotes a civilizational ethos and encompasses almost everything from architecture and art to philosophy and history and, yes, theatre. It is, without a doubt, an inclusive term, even if speaking it out loud might seem odd to our tongues, laced as they are with a multitude of conditioned prejudices. A corollary might be drawn with the word ‘queer’. For some it is an all-embracing cultural umbrella that covers an entire spectrum (the veritable rainbow), for others it remains a social label that is pejorative and reductive and can never be reclaimed. Even words like ‘feminist’ are double-edged these days, given the rise of ‘male anxiety’ culture post the advent of the #metoo movement. It is unfortunate that there are many who seek to interpret politically charged labels by being selective, or even cavalier, about the meanings that they want to extract, and that is a problematic privilege of gaze that most might be hard pressed to discard.
The notion of an Islamic theatre does not encourage the politics of exclusion or discrimination. Instead it is a canopy of cultural richness, even if the categorisation might make some uncomfortable if only due to its lustre. From aesthetic forms like the Dastangoi (or traditional Urdu storytelling) to mainstream fare like the stage adaptation of K Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam to sub-cultural gems like Bhagi Hui Ladkiyan, performed by young women from Delhi’s Nizammudin Basti, it cuts a large swathe across the cultural landscape and perhaps, acknowledging its cultural roots shouldn’t threaten those who live insecurely in majoritarian systems.
Tip of the iceberg
Plays such as Taoos Chaman Ki Myna, directed by Atul Tiwari and based on Naiyer Masud’s story, are set in a milieu where Islamic culture prevails — old-world Lucknow during the ill-fated reign of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. However, the vein of progressiveness that pervades the piece makes a strong case for its liberal credentials. This is different from a play like, say, Imran Rasheed’s Bade Miyan Deewane, based on Shaukat Thanvi’s Budbhas, where religion might be absent, but a patriarchal structure is very much in evidence, even if it lends itself to far-fetched but hilarious comic situations in the mien of the Urdu farces of yore, which wore their ‘Muslimness’ both lightly and without reproach. Then there is Deepan Sivaraman’s masterful theatrical adaptation of O V Vijayan’s Khasakkinte Ithihasam, in which Islamic religious fervour is ingrained in the soil of the small hamlet of Khasak, rather than being ‘othered’.
Where purportedly non-Muslim theatremakers come into the picture, there is usually an outsider’s gaze that might codify everything from hijabs to prayer mats to skullcaps, while often, Muslim theatremakers operate from within the status quo without commenting on ages-old practices and customs, but focusing instead on humanising the people who abide by them — Rasheed’s Phir Se Shaadi, where a divorced Muslim couple seek to remarry, but not before negotiating a minefield of Quranic regulations. As Anamika Haksar’s Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Jaa Riya Hoon showed us, these works are just the tip of an iceberg.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Theatre / by Vikram Phukan / November 08th, 2019
Tuning in(clockwise from top left) Renji Panicker and Paris Laxmi in a still from Kalamandalam Hyderali , a biopic on the late Kathakali musician; Kiran G Nath; Nikhil Renji Panicker / Special arrangement
Kiran G Nath’s biopic Kalamandalam Hyderali pays an euphonious tribute to the trailblazing Kathakali musician
There is an incident in the late seventies that, in a way, summarises Kalamandalam Hyderali’s journey in Kathakali. Festival committee members of Thalathotta temple in Haripad had invited the Kathakali musician par excellence for a recital. However, tradition decreed that only Hindus be allowed inside the temple premises. To ensure that Hyderali sang, the compound wall was demolished and the stage extended. As a result, technically, although Hyderali remained outside the temple precincts, his fans ensured that the late maestro did sing for the recital inside the temple. It was just another hurdle in the eventful career of Hyderali, a star among Kathakali musicians.
Moved by the life and times of Hyderali, cinematographer and adfilm maker Kiran G Nath decided to make his debut as a director with a biopic on the Kathakali musician. Speaking on phone from Kochi, he says that he had always been drawn towards Hyderali’s career as a musician in a tradition-bound art like Kathakali with strong feudalistic and ritualistic mooring. “Here was someone whose only calling card was his immense talent. No one could push him aside because of his gifted voice. Although he suffered a lot of discrimination, it is also true that there were greats like Kalamandalam Gopi who supported him and helped him mark his space among the greats of Kathakali vocalists,” says the director.
Son of mappilapattu singer Moidutty, Hyderali’s flair for music and economic necessity took him to Kalamandalam, the bastion of traditional art forms of Kerala. Although hounded by the orthodoxy and the casteism that were still prevalent in Kalamandalam in those days, Hyderali prevailed and completed the course.
“Nevertheless, he had to go through several trials and tribulations to practise what he had learnt because Kathakali was still a ritualistic temple art form in many places in Kerala. Since many of the temples were out of bounds for non-Hindus, Hyderali had to struggle to gain a foothold. Nevertheless, there were many who came to his rescue and thanks to MKK Nair, a patron of arts, he was able to get a job in the Kathakali school run by FACT,” narrates Kiran.
His travails and eventual success as a celebrity singer had enthused many filmmakers to plan a biopic on the singer but none of them were able to get it rolling. “In my case, when I decided to make a biopic on the musician, I was able to strike a rapport with his biographer, Vijayan sir, and Hyderali sir’s family. They told me of many incidents and struggles in his life that were not in the public domain. When I heard all that, I felt that his was a life that needed to be documented and shared with a large audience. It is relevant to the times we live in and will force each of us to introspect,” explains Kiran.
Scripted by Aju K Narayanan, the film with Renji Panicker in the lead role of Kalamandalm Hyderali reaches cinemas today. With its accent on music, the movie traces the musician’s journey to the limelight. “It is a musical biography of a youngster from a lower middle class Muslim family who captivated discerning Kathakali viewers with his evocative rendering and became a star in his own right,” says Kiran.
Finding a producer for such a subject was not easy. Kiran managed to get his film rolling thanks to Vinesh Mohan who has produced the film under the banner of Vedhas Creations. “I was lucky to get a team that put their heart and soul into the film. Renji’s dedication was inspiring and his son Nikhil Renji Panicker plays the young Kalamandalam Hyderali while Reihan Hyderali, the maestro’s grandson himself, appears in the part depicting Hyderali’s childhood. Paris Laxmi, Meera Nair, Ashokan and TG Ravi are some of the actors in the film. Moreover, this was perhaps ace cinematographer MJ Radhakrishnan’s last work for a feature film. To ensure that the music was authentic, I turned to leading Kathakali vocalist Kottakkal Madhu and Anil Gopalan for the music. Kottakkal Madhu has also rendered the padams. Sreevalsan J Menon has composed and sung the famous padam ‘Enthiha manmanase’ from Karnashapatham ,” adds Kiran.
Based on facts
Shot in Kalamandalam, Thrikkadeeri in Palakkad and Haripad, the film, which was two years in the making, depicts real incidents. Nothing has been fictionalised or added to enhance the narrative or make it melodramatic, emphasises the director. According to him, the maestro had to undergo so many trials and tribulations that there was no need to spice it up for any dramatic effect. “From childhood, he had experienced a lot of discrimination. He had mentioned in his biography how during the lunch break in Kalamandalam and in class, there would be sufficient space on either side of him to accommodate another student. That was the kind of difficulties he had to endure and surmount,” he narrates.
Despite the many hurdles that were created to prevent him from singing during his lifetime, the film does not make him out to be a tragic hero. It is a tribute to his determination and how his musicality saw him conquer the hearts of all people who enjoyed Kathakali. Says Kiran: “Hyderalimaash was a celebrity whose voice and talent immortalised him. His life and career are an intrinsic part of the spirit of renaissance of Kerala and now it is important to remember greats like him who refused to let his talent or life be hemmed in by walls of religion and caste.”
It is a musical biography of a youngster from a lower middle class Muslim family who captivated discerning Kathakali viewers with his evocative rendering and became a star in his own right
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Saraswathy Nagarajan / January 10th, 2020
Born as Salma Begum in a Muslim family of a small town Dibai, District Bulandshahar in the northern state of India, Uttar Pradesh, she went on to become the first Muslim woman in the world to do her PhD in Sanskrit (1969), India’s ancient language. After marriage she changed her name to Salma Mahfooz.
“My father, Ishtiaque Ahmed and mother, Ehsaan Fatima encouraged me to pursue my higher studies in Sanskrit as I was deeply interested in the language.
After completing high school from the UP board, I came to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) for higher studies in 1961 and opted for Sanskrit,” says Dr. Salma Mahfooz.
Salma Mahfooz completed her BA and MA in Sanskrit and finally went on to write her PhD thesis in Sanskrit on the ‘Types of Heroines in Sanskrit Dramas’ under the supervision of India’s acclaimed Sanskrit scholar Dr. Ram Suresh Tripathi. She also did an MA in Hindi literature.
“In my PhD thesis, I have analysed several roles that a woman portrays in multiple Sanskrit literary forms,” says Dr. Salma Mahfooz.
She taught Sanskrit at Rani Bhagyawati College in Bijnor and later joined AMU as a Lecturer.
Under the fellowship of India’s regulatory body for higher education, University Grants Commission, she authored a book ‘A Critical Study of ‘Sirre Akbar visa-vis-The Upanishads’ by Dara Shikoh (1615 – 1659), the eldest son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan
“I have taught Upanishads, Hindu religious texts, and various other Sanskrit literature components,” adds Dr. Salma Mahfooz.
A practicing Muslim, Salma Mahfooz has studied Hindu scriptures and texts, including The Bhagavad Gita, a 700-verse Sanskrit scripture that is part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, and Kama Sutra, an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality and eroticism.
She was a Senior Research Fellow and Research Associate at the University Grants Commission and also headed the Sanskrit Department of the Aligarh Muslim University.
source: http://www.youtube.com / www.cineink.com / Cine Ink / January 10th, 2019
Padma Shri Mujtaba Hussain who completed 50 years of humour writing in Urdu. Photo: G. Ramakrishna | Photo Credit: G_RAMAKRISHNA
Many people have learned Urdu just to read his articles
Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. But in this case, it spans the entire Indian sub-continent. Whatever he writes, creates ripples of laughter across the Urdu world.
No prizes for guessing who the writer is. If it is Urdu and humour ,it ought to be Mujtaba Hussain.
For the past half a century, this Padma Shri recipient has been dishing out what is in great short supply today – humour.
Mr. Hussain’s writings open up the lips and the heart and at the same time show the pearls and the soul.
At 77, he is anything but tired.
This Hyderabadi humorist doesn’t believe in resting on laurels. Week after week, he churns out sharp and witty write-ups that are lapped up by his growing fans club.
Two books recently published by the Educational Publishing House, Delhi, bring out some of the finest writes-ups about Mr. Hussain penned by critics and writers of no mean repute.
The book “Mujtaba Hussain Jaisa Dekha Jaisa Paya” is all about his personality while “Mujtaba Hussain Aayeinon ke Beech” deals with his art and style.
At a time when the Urdu language has few takers, Mr. Hussain has revived interest in it through his satirical writings.
Many people have learnt Urdu just to read his articles.
Today a number of people have done research on him and many waiting to do Ph.D on his art.
The enduring appeal of his writings is a tribute to his uncanny sense of humour and the Urdu language itself.
Well known writer-journalist, Khushwant Singh, is an unabashed admirer of Mr. Hussain and feels he is rare among Indian writers of humour.
Pakistan writer, Syed Arif Hussaini, calls Mr. Hussain a purveyor of wit and humour.
“He excels in his field due to simplicity of his language, racy style and absence of overlapping themes,” he says.
Sure, Mr. Hussain’s brand of humour is wholesome and straightforward.
He creates humour without offending anyone. Borrowed brilliance is not his forte, says Mohd Ali Siddique, Pakistan’s well known critic.
No compromises
In a bid to tickle the funny bone, Mr. Hussain doesn’t compromise on the language either.
The simple but literary touch in his works comes as a breath of fresh air.
“His humour is laced with a bitter truth which only a honest person can perceive,” says his daughter, Rashida Samdani. Those who have read his “Apni Yad Mein” composition will know. It is a masterpiece of self obituary wherein the author highlights his own follies while taking pot-shots at life.
The two publications unveil interesting facets of Mr. Hussain’s personality. Several real life incidents are cited to show his ready repartee, subtle intellect and scintillating humour even during trying times.
Man knows how to cry from birth, but laughter takes some learning. But with Mr. Hussain’s ready wit, the job sure becomes easier.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by J.S. Ifthekhar / Hyderabad – April 01st, 2013
Nadir Khan Sargiroh’s stories about trivial things like raasta, chuha-billi and joote are full of proverbs, puns and punchlines.
To improve is to change, to be perfect is to change often. He has done just that and is garnering significant attention. Nadir Khan Sargiroh, the new kid on the block, has come as a breath of fresh air in Urdu literary circles. With a whole new approach to humour writing, he is trying to be ahead of the curve.
What is different about him is his out-of-the-box thinking and alternative way of telling stories. As his name suggests, Nadir has novel ideas. He has chosen to move off the beaten path, think freely and creatively. He doesn’t carry the burden of his contemporaries or constraints of his predecessors. Humour gets a fresh lease of life at his hands.
Humour is usually created by poking fun at someone. Urdu humourists do it at the expense of biwi, saas and saali. Nadir Khan steers clear of these stereotype characters. He doesn’t need a fixed image to construct his story or connect with readers. He is adept at creating humour by talking about such trivial things like raasta (way), chuha-billi (mouse and cat), janwar ki dum (animal tail), joote (shoes). He sets store by well-known phrases and expressions. His writings are proverb-packed and pun-based, something unheard of in Urdu literature.
In the story Duniya Bhar Ke Raaste Waaste, he writes: Kisi bhi manzil tak pahunchne ki awwaleen shart hai raasta. Shahron main raaste iss liye banaye jaate hain ke waqt be-waqt khudai ke liye koee maqool jagah maissar ho, aur hadison ka koee bahana ho (Roads are the prerequisite to reach any destination. In cities roads are laid so that they come in handy for on and off digging and there is some pretext for accidents). About the roadways in China, he says Cheen ke raaste duniya ke raaston ke muqable main zara chain ka saans lete hain. And here is the masterstroke: Cheen ke tamam raaste Made in China hain.
Nadir Khan has developed the craft of playing on words. Idiomatic construction of sentences is his strong point. And he loves to exploit multiple meanings of a term. There is, of course, spontaneity in the use of expressions and this adds to the charm. Readers never feel that an expression has been squeezed in needlessly. In the story Hunooz Billi Door Ast, Nadir Khan’s writing prowess comes to the fore as he goes on a wordplay binge. The story is all about the terrific time rats give, their secret holes and clever exit points. There is nothing new about rat infestation, but the way Nadir Khan weaves the story with idioms and expressions makes it highly readable. Sample these sentences:
Baaz janwar dil main ghar kar jaate hain aur chuhe ghar main bil kar jaate hain. Nadir plays on the word ‘ghar’ and ‘bil’ to say how some animals make a home in hearts while some a burrow in homes. Then, he goes on to explain the ‘naak main dum’ created by rats and also the importance of ‘har-bil azeez’ rodents in medical testing. If only they stopped making runs from here to there. For this wishful thinking, he puns on Mirza Ghalib’s famous verse: Gharon main daudte phirne ke hum nahin qaail
Nadir Khan, who hails from Mumbai, is an engineer in urban designing. He took to Urdu fiction writing in 2006 but soon realised that he should write something different if he wants to stand out from the rest. Endowed with a natural flair for humour, he decided to make it his passion. But here too, he faced challenges as there are many big names in Urdu humour writing like Ibne Insha, Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi (Pakistan) and Mujtaba Hussain of India.
“I have evolved a different style of humour writing which is engaging and full of proverbs,” says the 48-year-old writer who enthralled the audience at the recently-held annual humour conference of Zinda Dilan-e-Hyderabad.
Nadir Khan is careful in avoiding double meaning words and below-the-belt remarks. His stories are humorous in a dignified way. No wonder he has a good fan-following among women. The title of his first book itself is humorous. He has named it Baa-Adab Baa-Muhaawara Hoshiyaar. His second book Nadir Shahi Tukde is almost ready and will be released shortly.
Nadir Khan keeps his short stories really short, sometimes just a few paragraphs. But, every para is laced with phrases and punchlines. When he writes about cricket, he says how Australia ‘cricket ko khel samjhta hai’. Describing the nabbing of a thief from a well he twists the well-known proverb to say ‘chor geele hathon pakda gaya’. In a ten-line write-up on Payedar Paye, he uses as many proverbs. Playing on the word ‘paya’ (goat’s legs), he writes how badi der tak paye aag par aur hum intezar main galte rahe (for a long time, the lamb trotters on fire and me in waiting kept roasting). In the short piece on Ainak Ka Bojh, he explains how spectacles rest on naak ke sar par pate ke bal while uski tangon ka bojh donon kanon ke kandhe sambhalte hain.
Writing about the shoe-hurling incident at George Bush by an Iraqi journalist, he says the media highlighted the targetted attack more than the gola-bari on Iraq. But, see the bravado of Bush who jootiyan kha ke be-maza na huva. Nadir Khan resorts to Ghalib’s famous verse to deliver the punch by replacing the word ‘gaaliyaan’ with ‘jootiyan’. His write-ups are such that readers will die laughing. And surely zindagi naam hai hans-hans ke mar janeka.
Nadir Khan’s sense of humour and irony come out in the story on matrimonial ads. He writes: Alliance is required from a teacher who is educated, a policeman who is honest, a professor who is attentive and a politician ‘jo galiyan kha ke be-maza na hua’.
Like all humour writers, a sidekick figures in Nadir Khan’s stories. This Quixote goes by the name Purjosh Puri and comes in handy for the author to take pot-shots. Many writers, including the king of humour, Mujtaba Hussain, feels Nadir Khan has the potential to emerge as the leading humour writer of Urdu.
Karta nahin hai tanz-nigari main aiyen-gaiyen
Khail hain iske rang ke khud Mujtaba Hussain
Ye Sargiroh-e-Khafila haraf saaz hai
Iss par to Urdu ke adeebon ko naaz hai
source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> Literature / by J S Ifthekhar / December 15th, 2019
Taking note of the growing incidents of drugs abuse and increase in the number of youth falling prey to drug menace in Dakshina Kannada District, local socio-religious leaders of Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada on Saturday, December 14 called a press meet and announced the launch of the campaign by Masjid Jamaths across the district against the menace.
Photo : mangalorean.com
Addressing the mediapersons Syed Mohammed Beary, Chairman, Bearys Group, said, “In Dakshina Kannada District especially in Mangaluru the drug menace has been rising rapidly and to curb the drug menace educational institutions, as well as the NGOs, are working along with the police department. If we don’t curb it now, in three years from now the situation in Dakshina Kannada will go out of control and will be worse than Punjab”.
Syed Beary further said, “The most tragic part of the story is that the curse of drug abuse has already found inroads into our rural areas wherein school going students are being exposed to the addiction. Students of sixth and seventh grades including girls are falling prey to addiction. The situation is turning worse with each passing day. Some of the youth take it as a means of easy money and indulge in drug peddling. Some take it as business and the business addiction always results in the swift increase in crime rate. This has a direct impact on the safety and security of the people in the region”.
Syed also said, “Normally almost every parent believes that their children are innocent and will not get addicted to drugs. Such an illusion prevents them from being vigilant. Mosques in Dakshina Kannada have already decided to run a campaign across the District to fight against the drug menace. Their focus is to educate the parents, the students and the youth on the issue and create awareness in every family under their jurisdiction. The 100-days campaign will include a series of awareness programs involving all the Masjid Jamaths and Committees across the region. The drive will run under the guidance and supervision of Twaqa Ahmed Musliyar and Bekal Ibrahim Musliyar, the two prominent Qazis of the region. The District and City Police have offered their full support to this campaign”, he added.
“The District and Mangaluru City Police have initiated various campaigns and drives against drugs and have been on a constant state of alert. Several voluntary organization have also been doing their bit to curb the menace. Despite all the efforts, lack of awareness among the masses, the youth, and their parents have resulted in the situation going out of control”, he stated.
Speaking at the press conference B M Mumtaz Ali, General Secretary Karnataka Muslim Jamath, Dakshina Kannada added that the Masjids alone cannot curb the drug menace in the District and called on religious leaders and places to play their part in order to make the District drug-free. There is an immediate need to educate people in the region about the power and networks of the drug Mafia, the cunning ways used by them to promote extremely dangerous addictive substances and the grave consequences of addiction. Temples, Mosques, Churches and all such places revered by the masses can play a great role in educating the masses and making the entire society vigilant against the devastating epidemic of addiction.
Syed Mohammed Beary also called for support from all sections of the society and anticipated the active participation of the leaders and representatives of all the communities, parties, educational institutions, NGOs, Social activists and various student and youth organizations in this campaign. He also called for support from the media and other organizations in the noble initiative.
Haji Mohammed Haneef, General Secretary, Zeenath Baksh Juma Masjid, Mangaluru, Haji Golthamajalu Mohammed Hanif, President, Hidaya Foundation, B A Mohammed Ali, Member, Karnataka State Food Commission and Riyaz Ahmed Kannur, President Talent Research Foundation, Mangalore were also present.
source: http://www.mangalorean.com / Mangalorean.com / Home> Mangalore News / by Violet Pereira, Team Mangalorean / December 14th, 2019
