Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Where the kathi rules

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Travel & Tourism, , , ,

Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

KathiRollsKOLKATA03dec2017

 

Old timers in Kolkata swear that a kathi roll from Nizam’s doubled the thrill of a cricket match at Eden Gardens

If you have feasted on hot, succulent double-egg kathi rolls wrapped around chunky pieces of mutton or chicken instead of home-packed cold jam sandwiches and boiled eggs at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, chances are that you managed to scoot across to Nizam’s, near New Market (24, Hogg Street, New Market) to pick up a few rolls, just as the batsmen pulled off their gloves and play broke for lunch.

Nizam’s rolls and cricket matches at Eden Gardens enjoy a long and deep relationship.

Back in the early 1950s, during an exciting Test match between the MCC and India, a group of enterprising young men hopped across the Maidan — the lungs of Kolkata (Calcutta those days) — crossed over to Chowringhee Road, and dived into the narrow and deep-set bylanes around New Market, to pick up sizzling hot kathi rolls from a then-hole-in-the-wall shop called Nizam’s.

The walls were black with soot and grime, collected over the years from wood and charcoal fire, and greasy from the fumes hissing out of fiery hot tawas and iron seekhs. The young men galloped back to the stadium with the warm newspaper-wrapped kathi rolls where other friends eagerly reached out. As they unwrapped the newspaper, the aroma wafted through the stands, turning heads and inviting a volley of queries about the source of this unique snack.

Deep-fried inspirations

One of those young men happened to be my father — a fresh graduate from Scottish Church College — taking a break from dreary balance sheets at his chartered accountancy classes and articleship.

The now 86-year-old remembers with obvious pleasure that it was his older siblings and friends who first discovered Nizam’s, at a time when the average Calcutta Bengali was still unaware or wary of eating out at these cheap eateries.

Nizam’s sold kebabs and rotis or parathas, and the ‘sahibs’ of colonial Calcutta often drove up for a late-night kebab-paratha meal. Eventually, the shop devised a way to package the meat into the paratha and wrap it up neatly in newspaper so that the sahibs wouldn’t have to soil their fingers. And thus the ‘Nizam’s roll’ was born.

Apart from occasional labour unrest followed by shut-downs, the forerunner of the Kolkata kathi rolls had a relatively steady career till recently, when there was a fire scare. A neighbouring shop went up in flames dangerously close to the walls of Nizam’s. Social media erupted in panic as someone reported that Nizam’s was gutted. “Oh no! Had the loveliest mutton rolls just recently!” wrote Maria Bhattacharya of Indian Oil Corporation on WhatsApp, while Dr Saswati Das exclaimed, “Oh dear! Can’t believe this! One of our childhood joints gone up in flames.” They were both vastly relieved to learn that Nizam’s was in fact unharmed.

“Nizam’s would invariably be our dinner destination after a night show. Thereafter, we’d walk back to the hostel. The police ticked us off so many times because of all the noise we made,” Dr Das laughs, as she recalls her student days at the Calcutta Medical College in the 1980s.

A hangout for many

Night birds flock to Nizam’s to savour its chicken, mutton, egg, aloo and beef kathi rolls, besides juicy kebabs and other Mughlai dishes, not available at home. My father remembers dropping in at Nizam’s for beef rolls well past midnight, and sitting on the benches outside munching on crisp hot rolls, with some of the prettiest and best crooners of the Park Street pubs and restaurants of the 1950s and 1960s.

Devarati Mukherjee remembers being there for late-night snacks even as a kid in the 1960s. “In winter, it was a given that on late nights we would end up at Nizam’s,” she says.

Medical Officer at IOC, Haldia, Dr Sutapa Pal’s memories of night duty at Calcutta Medical College and Nizam’s are forever married. “We’d walk to Nizam’s for a good hot meal. We were always hungry those days. Seems like another age.”

In this weekly column, we take a peek at some of the country’s most iconic restaurants.

sourcce: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Food / by Mohua Mitra / November 30th, 2017

Humaira Gowher, A Kashmiri Scientist who is making Kashmir proud worldwide

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, NRI's / PIO's, Science & Technology, World Opinion, , , , , , ,

Srinagar, JAMMU & KASHMIR / Indiana, USA  :

HumairaGowherMPOsaug2017

“Never cease to question” is a prime rule that scientific acuity fosters upon. Here Gyawun in association with Insha Rasool representing JKScientists.org, brings an in-depth series of interviews with the scientists from the valley, who are doing cutting-edge research in different parts of the world.

Early inquisitiveness metamorphosed a Kashmiri girl into an expert in molecular biology research at Indiana, USA.Bringing the first in the series, here we discuss with Humaira Gowher, about her early life in Kashmir, her motivations and aspects of science that she finds most exciting and more importantly, the expertise she brings to University of Purdue, West lafayette, USA. Her research currently focuses on understanding the regulation of DNA methylation in development and disease.

Tell us about yourself

My name is Humaira Gowher. I was born and raised in Srinagar until I was 19. I was always lucky being among the first few batches to attend Caset Experimental School, headed by Prof C. L. Vishen, a visionary and an exceptional educationist. He followed Montessori style of primary school teaching. Back then, it was unknown in our part of the world. It was through discussions about inventions and discoveries in Vishen’s classroom, I treasured the feeling of becoming a scientist. The further excitement in the science of life was added by lectures from Physics and Biology professors.

I received my college education from Aligarh Muslim University, where I graduated with Bachelors (Hons) and Master’s degree in Biochemistry. I was again blessed with mentors including Prof. Imrana Naseem, Ms. Aziza Rizvi, who instilled the love for biochemistry and sports during my college years. The supporting culture of the Women’s College wiped every tear and healed wounds of separation from the homeland. Women’s College, AMU, was and still continues to be a place where you experience personal freedom. It creates a no judgment zone for young teenagers, who are given different opportunities to excel in cultural, sports, or academic championships, and I am thankful for those opportunities.

What motivated you to study at IISc, which is the finest institute in India? How comfortable was the transition from AMU to IISc and did your background in biochemistry helped you to adjust there? Share your experience with us; especially in what way did it help you to shape up your career?

During my second year in the Biochemistry Master’s program, I was exposed to experimental research as a summer trainee for a couple of months in Dr. S. E. Hasnein’s lab at the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi. I always wanted to become a scientist, however, the experience in Dr. Hasnein’s lab gave me a realistic feel of what that means and I yearned for it more than ever. I was looking forward to getting my PhD degree from a premier institution in India. I applied to the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and based on my high score in GATE and my performance in a series of interviews at IISc, I was able to secure a position as a PhD student in the Department of Biochemistry.

I stayed in the program for 2 years but due to family reasons, I had to move to Germany where my husband was placed in a Computer Engineering program in Essen-Duisburg University. I continued my PhD thesis work in Germany in the Department of Biochemistry, at Justus Liebig University. The field of research, “Epigenetics”, offered to me was the one I had acquired experience in and was close to my heart. It was very easy to work hard and publish, simply because I enjoyed doing it. With prior experience from IISc, I was able to finish my thesis in 2 ½ years and was awarded Summa Cum laude (Award of Excellence) for publishing 7 first author peer-reviewed manuscripts during this time.

After completion of your PhD, what kept you motivated in Science and how did you choose your position at the National Institute of Health (particularly in terms of place project and funding)?

Motivation to do science comes only from the passion to do it. It needs tremendous perseverance to stay in science given that you have to put up with failures and success is a rare occurrence. The act of doing the experiment excites me and I worry little about its failure. Similarly, I worry less about the experimental result that does not support my hypothesis, because if it does not, then I have more to do and figure out why which often is the fun part.

Like anyone else’s, my life was not just about doing science and publishing papers. It had all the other elements that helped balance it. After I finished my PhD, I continued to work in the same lab as a research associate for 2 more years until my husband got his degree. In 2005, after our first born, Hana Khan, turned 2, we decided to cross the Atlantic to continue our exciting journey. I was offered a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Health to work with Dr. Gary Felsenfeld’s, while my husband was easily assimilated in the Big IT world in the United States, thus helping us reach our respective career goals. Dr. Felsenfeld is a pioneer in chromatin biology and epigenetics. With my previous experience and his lifetime of expertise, I was looking forward to the most exciting and stimulating time in my scientific career. NIH provides a well-funded environment for your ideas to take the shape of an experiment with little to worry about the cost of doing it. Of course, one has to justify the experiment and make sure it is well-designed and expected to minimally open new ways of thinking in your field. Around Gary, at NIH, I found myself rubbing shoulders with people who had received the highest laurels for their achievements in science, had experienced the growth of knowledge, and understood the complexity of these systems.

Could you tell us about the most exciting project that you have worked on so far. How did the research community respond to the outcome of that study? 

Most exciting project….nothing I did until now was less exciting, so it is a tough question. Well, few things I discovered had more impact on the scientific world than others. During my PhD, my work was the first to show that the short catalytic domain of the mammalian DNA methyltransferases Dnmt3a and 3b are active without their large N-terminal part, which led to characterization, crystallization, and many studies of these enzymes by ours and multiple other labs around the world. My current lab continues to work on understanding the regulatory potential of these enzymes during development and in cancer. During my postdoc, my work on the regulatory elements of the genome called insulators was indeed very exciting given that these elements can control the expression of genes that are megabases away from them. It introduced me to the field of chromatin folding and architecture and its role in the regulation of gene expression, which I continue to work on.

What were the critical factors and considerations that you contemplated about while opting for the position at Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA?

I worked at NIH for some years and after gaining some experience decided to take the next step, which was to establish my own research program. In the US, most of the scientific research is supported by universities and medical schools. With my interest in teaching biochemistry, I was inclined to take a position at a state university, if offered. In 2011, due to an economic downturn in the US, only few positions were open and I was competing with over 400 applicants for each position. It took a few rounds of application and few more years and finally in 2013, I was offered a position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the Purdue University. During my interview, I not only had to consider Purdue for the potential to do the research I wanted to, but also for possibilities for my husband to find a job in the vicinity and an environment where I could raise my children with dignity. Although Purdue offered my husband a possibility to work at the university under a faculty recruitment and retention program, but he got few offers from private industry in Indianapolis which was only an hour away. Purdue is one of the more diverse university campuses I have seen, which is reflected in the diverse population of students attending the neighborhood schools, thus providing a viable solution for my 10yr old Hana and 6yr old Ahmed.

What obstacles and challenges did you face while setting up your laboratory in the initial years?

Setting up a new lab has many challenges. It is like a small business and you have some investment, which you have to spend correctly to ensure the return. To make a decision on hiring people is the most challenging job since I never did it before. You interview a bunch of people for a position and hope you are looking for the right thing. I did take a lot of advice from my senior colleagues and my mentors while making these decisions. Nevertheless, of course, it did not work well every time. The other challenge is time management; you have much more responsibility now, teaching, service, research, home front, kids and yourself too…. switching hats and changing roles and doing it to its best is what drains you in initial years. Then I figured out the best possible ways of doing it. I also needed time to analyze the data, write papers, write grants, write lectures, write, write, write…something I was not previously used to at that scale.

In the recent decade, research has broadened immensely. How different does it feel to mentor a current lot of students as opposed to the training that you received at your time? What is your idea of mentoring in the current academic setting?

I agree that research has broadened and perplexingly, it is intricately connected, which makes it challenging. A student today requires knowing much more than when I started my graduate school. In research, every new idea comes from what we know from the previous research and it is challenging to keep it all together and carve your niche, which is unique. I encourage my students to read more and present the research from other peer-reviewed publications to get them to the speed. Since I traveled various continents during my education, I was exposed to various kinds of mentoring techniques, which are of course influenced by the social setup too. The objective of effective mentoring in an academic setting is to provide your mentee with all information you have acquired through your experiences and help him/her strategize his/her career path. To be able to help your mentee realize their true potential and in an honest but polite manner help them meet the reality. I mentor undergraduate, graduate, post-doctoral fellows and some high school students too. It is the most rewarding feeling when you get a Thank You card from your mentee and he/she got admission in the top school or got a job they wanted. My personal struggles in achieving and retaining the academic position come to a full circle through these achievements.

You have also written a book “How Do I Sing Nursery Rhymes in the Kashmiri Language? ” tell us something about how it happened

I left home, Kashmir, when I was about 19, a long time back. Wherever I went I simply cannot leave behind the person who my culture made out of me, my language, my hospitality, my favorite food, clothing, jokes, curses, poems, music…all that had compiled my personality in those 19-20 years. A couple of decades later, I find myself struggling with transferring this emotional relationship to all that is Kashmiri in me to my kids. Truth is that you know a culture when you can laugh at its jokes that is when you can speak its language. The Kashmiri diaspora in the United States decided to have an annual meeting to celebrate Kashmiri language, art and culture. Many of my friends complained that it was difficult to raise children bilingual with both Kashmiri and English as spoken languages. Most of us also agreed that at the baby/toddler stage, the introduction of English language happens through Nursery Rhymes and that our kids didn’t have a Kashmiri version of the popular rhymes to tune in. We thought it would be easy to have popular English rhymes translated to tune in Kashmiri so that they can simply sing them on the same rhythm.

I took this on me and thanks to a hidden poet gene (from my mother), I was able to translate six common Nursery Rhymes to English keeping the original tune in mind. My own kids could sing these within hours given that the words simply rhymed with the tune that they memorized as babies….it was truly satisfying.

What advice would you give to the students in research who are looking forward to becoming independent researchers?

If excelling is what you work toward, it is enough to advance you towards your goals.

Muslim Lifestyle Beyond Maqbara, Masjid and Madrasa

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , , ,

Aligarh,  UTTAR PRADESH :

Housed in the Ibn Sina Academy, Aligarh, the museum is one man’s effort to preserve articles of Muslim lifestyle or tehzeeb that include textiles, crockery, manuscripts, and musical instruments among other things.

While Taj Mahal may be the edifice of the moment, caught in the eye of a political storm and being showered with both barbs and bouquets, not very far from it is a museum of Muslim ‘tehzeeb’ that brims with tales of nobility and sophistication. Housed in the Ibn Sina Academy, Aligarh, the museum is one man’s effort to preserve articles of Muslim lifestyle or tehzeeb that include textiles, crockery, manuscripts, and musical instruments among other things.

The academy is primarily a museum of Medieval Medicine and Sciences, founded by Padma Shri Hakim Syed Zillur Rehman in the year 2000, but soon it diversified into chronicling Muslim lifestyle and tehzeeb of the past. People wonder why a science museum would be generous enough to grow into accommodating the articles of Muslim lifestyle. And he answers all of the queries with a note of hope and love for future, “I have the articles of Muslim houses preserved in the cupboards of my museum, from the royal families of Bhopal, Hyderabad, and Rampur etc.”

He said that he is preserving all this for posterity – “After acquiring education, prosperity and wealth there will be a time when they would want to know their civilizational facts, culture and past and at that time my museum will give the future generation a glimpse into their tehzeeb and lifestyle. It will respond to their search for roots.”
There are almost 4,500 articles of Muslim tehzeeb showcased in his museum – which include crockery that keeps the food warm till the last bite because of the vacuum that takes hot water, there are dupattas three meter long that were tied differently in different Muslim societies of Hyderabad and Bhopal etc., there is a fruit tray from the dining table of Begum Sultan Jahan of Bhopal, her brooch made of precious stones, with her name inscribed in gold, a chogha that belonged to the Qazi Shamsuddin of Rewari, dating back to 1830, a paandaan weighing over 5 kg and a betel stand to name a few.

There are other items that chronicle Muslim culture through objects like: gramophones, harmoniums, costumes for weddings and trays for biryanis designed keeping the sense of style and comfort of those times. There are heavy paandaan (a box for preserving items used to make paan), ugaldaan (spittoon for the pan user), fancy haath ka pankha (a hand fan), and pretty batua (wallet), gem-studded gharara (a dress item), there are also silver-lined razais (quilts). The museum grew out of his fondness for all things with rich history, some of which were also priceless – coins from ancient times, stamps, pens and other artefacts. He makes sure to mention the source of the specimens he gets from Muslim families and pin them in the cupboard with the name of the person donating it or belonging to.

Times for Muslims have also changed in many ways, he said, “Somehow they are not able to think beyond maqbara, masjid and madarsa. They are always ready to contribute in the growth of masjid and madarsa but don’t understand the values of museum of heritage and culture of Muslim families. In this time of collective ignorance about out past I designing this for the future generation that will come in search for roots,” he added. Some of the objects on display were inherited by him. Some were gifted by people who saw that he had the wherewithal to preserve priceless items for posterity.

He takes pride in showing the guests original royal orders of Mughal emperors that have come to Rehman from his father, and a paper weight made of shells that was used by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. These orders come from Aurangzeb, Babur and calligraphy by Bahadur Shah Zafar. When asked how he continues to enrich the museum of Muslim past in times of attack on Taj Mahal, he said, “The attacks on Taj Mahal or anything associated with our past are just seasonal things, it is more to do with politics than our society and its commitment to celebrate history.”

In his view these attacks don’t mean anything in the larger picture of history, “Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar are part of our pride, we cannot be attacking them because they were made in medieval times. By that logic Connaught Place and Parliament should also be broken down because they were made angrez (British),” he added.

Rahman served as a professor and chairman, department of Ilmul Advia at the Ajmal Khan Tibbiya College, Aligarh Muslim University. After serving as a dean, faculty of Unani medicine, he retired after 40 years. He is the author of 45 books and several papers on different aspects of Unani and boasts of being the possessor of the largest collection of books on Unani medicine. Conferred the Padma Shri in 2006 for his contribution in the field of Unani medicine he is now expanding his museums to start taking items like animal skin, which formed an important part of households of the past.

Also, unsure of who will take it forward after him, Rahman has given this endeavor to a Trust to take charge of it. There is huge collection of Ghalib’s work, which he claims to be one of the largest in South Asia and attracts scholars from other parts of the country to study. In his library lined with thousands of books, manuscripts and dedicated works of Ibn Sina and medieval medicine, sciences, youngsters from all backgrounds especially economically weaker come to study in the quiet atmosphere.

source:  http://www.news18.com / News18.com / Home> News18> India> Sunday Feature  / by Eram Agha, News18.c0m / November 05th, 2017

Principals take charge

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Leaders, , ,

Patna, BIHAR :

Patna:

Padamlata Thakur and Ejaz Ali Arshad on Wednesday took charge as principals of Magadh Mahila College and Patna College respectively.

The Patna University issued the notification for the appointments on Tuesday night.

Thakur who took charge as 22nd principal of Magadh Mahila College was earlier working as head of the history department and she was also the coordinator of the Department of Women’s Studies.

Arshad, who was appointed principal of Patna College, had served as vice-chancellor of Maulana Mazharul Haque Arabic and Persian University, Patna, from February 2014 to February 2017.

Arshad whose tenure completed this year as VC of Maulana was working as head of Urdu department at Patna University. Arshad had also worked as dean students’ welfare at Patna University.

Thakur said: “It is a proud moment for me to become the principal of Magadh Mahila College which is one of prestigious educational institutions of Patna University.”

Thakur said she had called a meeting of teachers, staff and members of college students’ council to discuss ways for academic and infrastructure development.

“My first priority will be to look into students’ issue. As MMC is a women college, ways to strengthen gender-sensitisation cell will be a priority and so is girls security,” she said.Arshad said his priority was to restore the glory of Patna College. “Improvement in academics and infrastructure facilities will be my top priority.”

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Home> Bihar / by Special Correspondent / November 02nd, 2017

National Education Day celebrated at Farooqia College of Pharmacy

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Leaders, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mysuru, KARNATAKA :

FarooqiaCollegeMPOs01dec2017

Mysuru :

The National Education Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was celebrated at Farooqia College of Pharmacy at Tilaknagar here recently.

Speaking on the occasion, Taj Mohammed Khan, secretary of Farooqia Educational Institutions, encouraged the students to follow the footsteps of Maulana who fought for the freedom of India and brought a revolution in education with his reforms as first education minister of post-independent India.

Dr M Sayeed Ahmed, secretary of Farooqia PU College, who was the chief guest, gave a detailed power-point presentation on Maulana’s life.

He said it is Maulana who first opposed the partition and separation of India and Pakistan. Maulana was a firm believer in the co-existence of religions. His dream was that of a unified Independent India where Hindus and Muslims can live peacefully.

Kolar Mustafa said that nowadays the institutions like UGC, AICTE and IITs are still running without modification in their regulations due to the broad based think tank of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

President of RMET Prof Riyaz Ahmed in his presidential remarks briefed about the post- independent educational system and highlighted Maulana’s simplicity, who didn’t amass property and wealth for his own family members and relatives even though he was an education minister for 10 long years.

Prizes were given away to Essay Competition winners on “Life of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad after post-independent India.”

Maryam Postdar, a D Pharma student, recited verses from the Quran. Principal Dr MD Salahuddin presented a video documentary on Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s Life.Sara Ateeq, vice-president, Pharmaceutical Society and others were present.

source: http://www.citytoday.news / City Today / Home> Headlines> Mysore / by CT Bureau / November 30th, 2017

Qutb and Mehrauli: The Past and Present of an Iconic Site

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , , , , , , , ,

Minnesota, USA / NEW DELHI :

In Delhi’s Qutb Complex, Catherine B. Asher goes beyond Mehrauli and Delhi to look at the afterlife of the iconic tower that is the Qutb Minar.

Qutb Minar. Credit: lensnmatter/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Qutb Minar. Credit: lensnmatter/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Mehrauli is truly a magical place. The average visitor skims but the surface, marvelling at the towering Qutb Minar and taking a cursory stroll through the other buildings that lie within the popular UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Qutb complex. Those who go beyond, into the neighbouring village, may visit the shrine of the Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, or a restaurant. There is now, of course, a smaller group of more adventurous explorers who are discovering the treasures of Mehrauli – particularly in the village and the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, mainly through the medium of increasingly popular ‘heritage walks’.

But though one may visit these monuments and learn the stories that lie in this locality’s long and eventful history, there are many layers that lie awaiting a more rigorous and meaningful analysis. A scholarly study by a leading art historian is, therefore, a very valuable addition to what is admittedly the rather sparse literature on the subject.

Catherine B. Asher Delhi’s Qutb Complex: the Minaret, Mosque and Mehrauli Marg Publications, 2017
Catherine B. Asher
Delhi’s Qutb Complex: the Minaret, Mosque and Mehrauli
Marg Publications, 2017

Catherine B. Asher’s Delhi’s Qutb Complex: The Minar, Mosque and Mehrauli starts by setting the monuments of the Qutb Complex within the physical space and history of Mehrauli, and in the context of its many historic structures. Construction on the oldest congregational mosque of Delhi and its attached monumental tower began in the late 12th century, and was commissioned by a newly-arrived political power, the Turks – under Muizzuddin Muhammad bin Sam, also known as Muhammad Ghori – as part of a capital complex that comprised fortifications, palaces and water works. Many structures had of course already been standing there, the legacy of the earlier regimes – those of the Chauhan and Tomar rulers.

Some of these relics of the earlier period were appropriated and modified, such as the city wall. Others were cleared away and their materials reused. Notable here are a number of temples, destroyed during the conquest, whose stones were used to build the congregational mosque. Asher relies on recent research to analyse the complex nature of this appropriation and reuse, and its cultural ramifications. The systematic way in which the various elements were placed in the newly constructed mosque suggests that they were not treated as random spolia. For instance, the largest and most elaborately carved pillars were used in the western arcade, the part of the mosque closest to Mecca, and therefore the direction in which the congregation faced.

While the tower, the mosque, royal tombs and some waterworks were commissioned by the rulers, significant construction in Mehrauli in that period is attributable to the many other inhabitants of the capital city. Important remnants include mosques, tombs and shrines of Sufi saints, which added a layer of Islamic sacred spaces, in addition to the pre-existing Yogmaya Temple, an ancient site dedicated to a revered goddess, and the 11th century Dadabari Jain temple.

Over the succeeding centuries, as the centre of power shifted and the capital moved to newer sites in Delhi, the character of Mehrauli shifted in favour of its spiritual significance, as the site of important shrines. The book describes many of the religious structures – dargahs, tombs, mosques, temples, a church and a Buddhist centre, that have been constructed here right up to modern times. It also details the many secular structures that were built as Mehrauli became a popular resort for those fleeing the crowded conditions of urban life in the capital city. These structures included mansions, gardens, the 19th-century palace of the last two Mughal emperors, and British ornamental ‘follies’. The overwhelming impression is one of the continuing importance of the site. This importance was reinforced through longstanding traditions, not only of religious observances such as the Urs of the Sufi saint, but of festivals like the Phool Walon ki Sair. The latter was instituted by the later Mughals in the early 19th century, and involved veneration of both the dargah of Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki and the Yogmaya Temple.

Catherine B. Asher. Credit: University of Minnesota website
Catherine B. Asher. Credit: University of Minnesota website

Asher has gone beyond Mehrauli and Delhi to look at the afterlife of the iconic tower that is the Qutb Minar. She shows us how strong its impact was on later structures, which mimicked its form in miniature, either as freestanding towers or engaged columns. Examples of such appropriation range from structures as far flung as the Qutbuddin Mubarak Khalji’s mosque in Daultabad, to several in Delhi itself, for instance the 16th century mosque in Lodi Garden.

And yet the meaning of the original tower and its attached mosque is not uncontested. There have been suggestions, expressed first by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, that the Qutb Minar was built by the Chauhans. While this is an opinion that is not generally espoused, at least by an educated readership, more common is the interpretation of both mosque and tower primarily as signifying the triumphalism of Islam. This is done on the one hand through an emphasis on the temple destruction associated with the site. On the other, it is fostered by the ASI signage and publications calling the mosque Quwwat al-Islam, literally, ‘strength of Islam’. This name, in fact, was not used for the mosque before the 19th century.

Asher questions many of these popular ideas, which often have their roots in colonial scholarship. She follows recent scholars such as Finbarr Flood, whom she refers to several times, in asking for a more nuanced reading of the site and what it signified in the past. Yet she does not break free of some of the more well-entrenched notions. Dichotomous ‘Islamic’ and ‘Indic’ traditions are treated as a given, without going into details of the motifs that are seen on the early Sultanate architecture to analyse their roots. The problem of the discipline of history becomes very apparent in such cases. A scholar of ‘Islamic’ art and architecture is trained to see the Qutub complex as Islamic architecture. The author, while she makes detailed comment on the calligraphy that adorned the early Sultanate structures, has no comment on the use of motifs like the lotus and the kalash, Indian motifs which also feature in the surface decoration. These motifs, in fact, persisted as an integral part of the ornamentation of mosques and tombs in Mehrauli and elsewhere, through the centuries, till the end of the Mughals.

Moreover, while it is important to study the architectural creations of the Ghurids in Afghanistan, as Asher has done, to understand their buildings in Delhi, it may not be enough to trace the roots of Ghurid architecture in Afghanistan merely to the previous ‘Islamic’ dynasty – the Ghaznavids. There were examples of pre-Ghaznavi art and architecture that abounded in the landscape – notably the great Gandhara tradition. It is time that its significance for later developments is also studied.

On the whole, however, the book is a valuable resource and informative read on a very important archaeological site. The inclusion of a large number of contemporary photographs and also archival images, match the scholarship, and live up to the standards set by the Marg series of scholarly volumes.

Swapna Liddle wrote her PhD thesis on the cultural and intellectual history of 19th-century Delhi. She is the author of Delhi: 14 Historic Walks and Chandni Chowk: The Mughal City of Old Delhi.

source: http://www.thewire.in / The Wire / Home> Books / by Swapna Liddle / November 30th, 2017

Remembering Umrao Begum

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, Travel & Tourism, , , , , , , ,

Basti Nizamuddin, NEW DELHI  :

RAVE CONCERN Umrao Begum’s grave, covered in green cloth in Nizamuddin | Photo Credit: V. Sudershan
RAVE CONCERN Umrao Begum’s grave, covered in green cloth in Nizamuddin | Photo Credit: V. Sudershan

The unmarked resting place of Miza Ghalib’s wife deserves an epitaph

The grave of Mirza Ghalib’s wife, Umrao Begum, in Basti Nizamuddin, just at the side of her husband’s tomb, lacks an epitaph, probably because nobody tried to inscribe one on it in 1955 (when the poet’s memorial was built) or because she preferred anonymity as per the strictest tenets of Islam. Even so she deserves one for posterity’s sake. Umrao Begum was a pre-teenager when she married Ghalib, who himself was just 13 at that time, and the two shared conjugal bliss for nearly 57 years.

Umrao Begum was a kinswoman of the Nawab of Loharu, an erstwhile State now merged with Rajasthan, and her cousin was Bunyadi Begum, Ghalib’s sister-in-law. The begum, who was the Nawab’s sister, gave her haveli in Gali Mir Qasim Jan to Ghalib when he was in need of accommodation.

Umrao Begum bore seven children, all of whom died in infancy, leaving her and the poet heart-broken all their lives. Even the nephew, Nawab Zainul-abadin Khan Arif, whom they adopted, died young at the age of 18, though he had made his mark in Urdu poetry by then.

Strict lady

Umrao Begum was a strict Muslim lady, whereas Ghalib was not at all orthodox. After the First War of Independence of 1857, the poet was accosted by an English officer who asked him if he was a Muslim (as most members of the community were suspects in the eyes of the British). Ghalib replied “Half”. The officer sought an explanation to which Ghalib said that though he drank, he did not eat pork. The amused officer, marvelling at his wit, left him in peace.

Once Ghalib came home with a man carrying a basket full of wine bottles, bought with his first pay. Umrao Begum asked him why he had spent all the money on liquor, to which his reply was that God had promised to feed everyone but had not made any provision for drink, for which one had to make one’s own arrangements.

At another time he entered the courtyard of the house with his shoes on his head. To the Begum’s query, he replied that as she had made the whole haveli a masjid by her piety he had no other option. Umrao Begum died in 1870, a year after Ghalib, when Mahatma Gandhi was only a few months old and was buried according to her wish next to the poet.

Unfortunately, the Ghalib memorial built 85 years later became a barrier between the two graves, both of which should have come within its ambit. But it’s never too late to make amends for an oversight — if need be with Government help.

Her love for Ghalib was intense or he wouldn’t have been able to lead the carefree life he did. She was the one who took care of the house despite the poet’s love for gambling and dance girls, one of whom took undue advantage of him. Despite mischievous gossip by mohalla women, Umrao Begum was unruffled because she was convinced of her husband’s goodness of heart. Even when there was paucity of funds, she managed to see it to that Ghalib and nephew Arif got three square meals a day.

After the death of her children, she was the one who comforted her Mian Nausha so that the misfortune did not affect his mental equilibrium, without which his wit would not have continued to flow like the sparkling Thames.

Facing the music

Ghalib spent most of his time outside the haveli, except when he was writing poetry, having his meals or resting. So it was Umrao Begum who faced the creditors as she was the one who responded to the knock on the door in the absence of a regular maid. When the fat Kotwal of Delhi tried to bully Ghalib, as he disliked the poet because of their love for the same tawwaif and considered him a potential rival (as he always stole the limelight at the kotha), his wife was the one who confronted the Kotwal’s importunate minions at the haveli’s entrance and sent them away with the proverbial flea in the ear.

When Arif was grooming Alexander Heatherley “Azad” as a shair, despite his Anglo-Indian antecedents, Umrao Begum took it upon herself to see to it that they were not disturbed and had some refreshments too during the long hours of coaching. Ghalib who had earlier imbibed the love for shairi in Arif, also fawned on him and when he died an untimely death, poured out his grief in a heartfelt elegy (quoted from memory) that is among his best poems: “Jatey huey kehtey ho qayamat ko milenge kya khoob, qayamat ka goya din hai koi aur!” (While departing you say will meet on the Last Day of Judgement, what an excuse on the pretext of a reunion on a vague day in Eternity).

Reading the elegy Umrao Begum burst into tears and told Ghalib not to rub salt into her raw wounds, according to Arif’s pupil, Alexander Heatherley’s descendant, George Heatherley who died in Perth a few years ago. Umrao Begum’s grave close to Ghalib’s is testimony enough, if one were needed indeed, of the emotional link between the two. Then why deny her the courtesy of an epitaph to seal the bond for the benefit of future generations? No matter how distant may be Arif’s final place of repose.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> Down Memory Lane – History & Culture / by R.V. Smith / November 27th, 2017

Shrines of sand

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, , , , , ,

Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

Tucked away in the locality of Urdu Shareef is the shrine of a sufi saint

The sand graves of Hazrat Arifullah Syedna Shah Saadullah Saheb Naqshbandi and others in Urdu Shareef. Photo: Hrudayanand
The sand graves of Hazrat Arifullah Syedna Shah Saadullah Saheb Naqshbandi and others in Urdu Shareef. Photo: Hrudayanand

The Deccan region has been blessed by the influence of many sufis, saints, gurus and spiritual leaders. It is said that 1400 paalkis (palanquins) came to Deccan, symbolising the number of sufi-saints. They spread the message of universal brotherhood, love, tolerance, peace, harmony, humanity and amiable relations between the two major communities. Many devotees and followers also embraced Islam. The entire Deccan region and the city of Hyderabad, in particular was visited by many god men, who not only commanded respect and reverence from common man, but also from nobilities and elite class of the society.

The old city of Hyderabad i.e. the southern part has shrines of many famous Sufi-saints, whose annual Urs are still celebrated with great devotion.

A little away from Pathergatti High Court road is the locality called Urdu Shareef, where the army of Mughal Prince Kaambakhsh stayed during that period. The palace of Kaambakhsh was also constructed in the vicinity.

It is in this area that you will see the shrine of Hazrat Arifullah Syedna Shah Saadullah Saheb Naqshbandi. The 175 year old shrine has a large dome with beautiful architecture housing four graves made of fine sand. It is an uncommon and unusual sight, as graves are usually made of cement, mortar, lime and stones; and rarely are covered by marble, the graves appear like sand dunes, and lie adjacent to one another. The biggest grave is that of Hazrat Saadullah Saheb.

The adjacent one on the left side is of his brother, Md Osman Saheb, the next one is of Osman’s wife, while on the far right is the grave of his favourite disciple, Mirza Ashraf Ali. The entire area of these graves is seven feet long and four feet wide. The sand is changed annually and many devotees, both Hindus and Muslims pay their respect and seek his blessings.

Hazrat Saadullah was born in the Frontier Province. He came to Deccan during the reign of Nawab Nasir-ud-daula, the fourth Nizam, and settled here. Many nobles including, Maharaja Chandu Lal, used to come to seek his blessings. A great scholar, he was an Arabic and Persian poet as well. Since he was physically disabled, he would sit on the back of a disciple when roaming around the city.

The impressive dome was constructed by one of his ardent followers, Maulvi Mohd Hussain, who was the tutor of the fifth Nizam, Mir Mahboob Ali Khan.

Just opposite the shrine is a small mosque built by Hazrat which bears similarity with Charminar. The architecture on the parapet, minarets and the ceiling is extraordinarily magnificent.

source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> SundayScape> Telangana Diaries / by Dr. Anand Raj Varma / October 15th, 2017

Mughals were leaders of first independence war, says NALSAR University of Law V-C

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Leaders, World Opinion, , , , , , , , , ,

Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH :

SirSyedMPOs22nov2017

Lucknow :

These are times of aggressive nationalism we are living in, said vice chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, Faizan Mustafa, where we have started to consider Mughals not part of the country. Mustafa speaking at the grand 200th bicentenary birth anniversary celebrations of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in Lucknow on Tuesday went ahead to say that Mughals were in fact leaders of the first war of independence of 1857 and were considered so by the likes of Tipu Sultan, Tatya Tope and others.

“Mughals were an integral part of India who could not be fragmented from its soul and now we are here in these times of aggressive nationalism where we are having doubts about them. And this nationalism has not only made us target the Mughals, but also recently there were similar talks about Rabindranath Tagore,” said Mustafa who was the guest of honour at the Sir Syed Day organised by Aligarh Muslim University’s (AMU) Old Boys’ Association. Filmmaker Muzaffar Ali was the chief guest on the day, both of whom being former pupils of the university, recounted their time spent at AMU.

Mustafa also cleared that now when criticising the government is equated to being seditious, it was in 1860 after a fatwa (decree) from clerics at Deoband against the British that the law of sedition as a charge was enacted. Mustafa also exhorted his fellow Aligs (as past pupils of AMU are popularly known) that the dream of Sir Syed has not yet been realised with Muslims lagging in both modern education and securing government jobs.

In his brief speech, Mustafa also touched upon the controversy around AMU’s minority status and said, “People say that the minority status was for the college and with AMU a university, it does not stand now. I researched for this when I had to submit in Allahabad high court as AMU’s stand on the case and I found that when Sir Syed laid the foundation of the madrasa it was the university he had in mind and when he gave his first speech in 1877 when the school was raised to the college level, in front of Lord Lytton he said that one day the college would be a university.

Mustafa also said that blaming Sir Syed for the two nation theory was not just wrong but also absurd. “In several of his recorded speeches, he has identified and defined both Hindus and Muslims as not separate identities but one qaum (community) and one nation. Mustafa considered an authority on law also said that reforms in Muslim personal laws were needed and could only be possible through the ideas of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

ON the day, the AMU Old Boys’ Association and its members that had gathered in the city from different parts of the state passed the resolution to raise demand of Bharat Ratna for Sir Syed and to generate funds for a Sir Syed House in Lucknow to carry on his Aligarh movement of education.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Yusra Hussain / TNN / October 18th, 2017

Jamia Milia Islamia alumni meet evokes nostalgic memories

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, NRI's / PIO's, World Opinion, , , , , , , ,

NEW DELHI :

The ex-Jamia students came all the way from India, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UK for the meet
The ex-Jamia students came all the way from India, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UK for the meet

The meet not only fostered the alumni bond, but also extended a helping hand to fresh graduates

It was an evening steeped in nostalgia, as over 500 alumni of New Delhi’s central university and one of India’s most famous – Jamia Millia Islamia – came from all across the world to celebrate their alma mater’s 97th birthday.

Scores of ex-Jamia students who travelled all the way from India, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UK along with their families, attended the event at Hyatt Regency, Dubai Creek Heights.

Apart from the distinguished guest list that included Ambassador of India to UAE Navdeep Singh Suri, the university’s vice chancellor Talat Ahmed and other dignitaries, successful alumni shared nostalgic memories of their time at the school.

The programme began with a recitation from the Holy Quran, followed by the university’s anthem called sung with full enthusiasm.

Addressing the gathering, prominent alumni Parvez Akram Siddquie welcomed the guests and JMI alumni and highlighted the university’s key objectives. He spoke about starting a medical college in the university’s campus, expansion of the campus, and campus placement for students.

Talking about the role of the alumni meet, Siddquie added: “The heart of the alumni meet lies in giving back in kind to their alma mater. Such meets not only aim to bring together and foster a bond among alumni, but also are a means of extending a helping hand to fresh graduates in different aspects, from job-hunting to settling down in the UAE. Many a time, the alumni chapter has also generated funds for pressing needs like a hostel accommodation at the university.”

Dr Haji Ibrahim, co-chairman of Malabar Gold & Diamonds, announced the company’s support in building the hostel facility for students, on the Jamia campus.

JMI vice-chancellor Talat Ahmed delivered a powerful speech on the values and ideals that define the university. Stating that JMI is a confluence of modern and age-old values of brotherhood and mutual coexistence, he said: “JMI is a platform from which students embark on a journey of learning and self-discovery. It is a model of national integration where children of every religion, sect, and denomination study together,” Ahmed said.

“We recalled our college days today, as we met our batchmates and friends after so many years, even 20 years in some cases. We shared the same jokes that we cracked as students and had a great time catching up,” said Imtiyaz Ahmad, a JMI alumni and one of the meet’s organisers.

Suri assured his support in getting the Global Jamia Alumni Network (GJAN) official recognition and registration in the UAE.

Talking about the role of Indian expats in the UAE, Suri said: “I was talking to some very high officials in the UAE government, and they said we have been told to drive the India-UAE relationship because our leaders believe that Indians are the people we trust. Why? ‘Because, at home, we leave our children in the care of Indians, in hospitals we put our lives in the hands of Indian doctors, and in banks, we put our money in the hands of Indian bankers’ he said. There is a lot of goodwill earned by the Indian community.”

The show concluded with the vote of thanks by one of the main organisers and JMI alumni Nadeem Hasan. Others key alumni members who helped in organising the event were Imtiyaz Ahmad Ansari, Eqbal Ahmad, Abdul Khaliq, Abbad Khan, Ahmad Khan, Riyaz Khan, Shams Khan, Jalal Ahmad, Rizwan Ahmad, Salauddine Ansari and Amjad Khan has been appreciated to make this event successful and Syed Nadeem Zaidi.

saman@khaleejtimes.com

source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> Nation / October 24th, 2017