Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

The coming-of-age story of Rani Rudrama Devi on television

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, , , , ,

Mumbai, MAHARAHTRA :

Producers of the Telugu TV serial ‘Rani Rudrama Devi’, Alind Srivastava and Nissar Parvez explain why period dramas need a rich storyline to go with its technical brilliance in order to connect with audiences

The legendary warrior queen Rudrama Devi of the Kakatiya dynasty was celebrated for her valour. But how many of us are aware of her formative years, her emotional journey and of her hardships as an eight-year-old girl who was brought up as a boy?

Star Maa’s new period drama Rani Rudrama Devi depicts the emotional journey of a little girl before her transition into a fearless leader.

Nissar Parvez   | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Producers Alind Srivastava and Nissar Parvez, of Mumbai-based Peninsula Pictures, explain over phone that a team from the Star Maa channel had approached them last year with the story pitch. The duo says that there were “so many emotions” to tell about her and the other characters who aid her journey. “We realised the story is not just about the warrior queen,” Alind remarks.

Once the research team finalised the storyline (after drawing references from various books) the project got rolling in October 2020. A set was constructed at Naigaon, Mumbai.

Right ingredients

Peninsula Pictures has prior TV experience; two of their shows currently on air are Aladdin – Naam Toh Suna Hoga and Hero — Gayab Mode On, which is telecast on Sab TV, but the Telugu-language serial Rani Rudrama Devi marks their début in the vernacular space.

A set was constructed at Naigaon, Mumbai by mid-October. While the technical crew including a team of technicians, director Santosh Badal, director of photography Kunal Kadam and costume designer Niyati Pathak from their VFX studio in Mumbai give it the required grandeur and scale, the cultural nuances and Telugu flavour are enhanced by artistes, a language editor and dialogue writer from Hyderabad.

The main challenge, however, in a period drama is the familiarity. While it can serve as an advantage, with audiences able to connect to the story easily, the familiarity also brings about scrutiny. “The moral of the story has to be absolute correct. It is the same story being told, but what matters is the way it is presented,” says Nissar.

“Visual effects, colour palette, music and acting will make for a visual spectacle, but only a rich storyline will excite the audiences. The glamour, glitz and technical chutzpah of a historical drama is present but at the heart of Rani Rudrama Devi is the story of a girl. We want our presentation to make the viewers think, ‘Oh, I know the story, but never imagined it like this’,” Alind adds.

Alind Srivastava   | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Having previously watched the Anushka Shetty-starrer Rudhramadevi (2015), which was also based on the warrior queen, the duo feels that the movie cannot be compared to their TV series.

“We didn’t emotionally connect with the film which we feel we have achieved in our series. Unlike the movie, we are trying to show how Rudrama became what she became. Also, the interpersonal equations between the characters is something to watch out for in our series,” says Alind.

Aladdin and Hero Gayab Mode on Sab TV are their two shows currently on air. With this first historical drama in Telugu, the production house has made its debut in a regional space.

Rani Rudrama Devi airs weekdays at 9pm on Star Maa.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment / by Neerja Murthy / Hyderabad – February 03rd, 2021

Indian woman who won Dhs15 million in Big Ticket raffle, says she bought the ticket for the first time

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

KERALA / Doha, QATAR :

Thasleena Puthiya Purayil with her husband and children.

Indian expat based in Qatar Thasleena Puthiya Purayil has hit the Dhs15 million Big Ticket jackpot in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Thasleena who lives in Doha bought the winning ticket online.

Thasleena, who hails from Kerala, took home the mega prize amid pandemic.

Big Ticket Abu Dhabi wrote on Facebook, “Congratulations to Thasleena Puthiya Purayil, from India, with winning ticket no. 291310. She won Dhs15 Million in The Fantastic 15 Million series 224.”

Thasleena told Big Ticket officials that she brought the ticket for the first time.

In Qatar, Thasleena and her husband Abdul Gaddaf run a chain of restaurant and their business is doing quite well.

The happy couple has 3 children, a son who is studying in a University in Dubai, daughter and an infant.

Big Ticket also wrote, “Congratulations to Wilma Danthi with Ticket No. 001517 from India for winning the Dream Car Range Rover series 1!”


Apart from Thasleena, 7 other Indians won prize money between Dhs350,000 to Dhs20,000 in the raffle draw.

The Big Ticket, the longest-running and biggest raffle draw in the UAE is hosted at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Al Ain Airport and online at www.bigticket.ae

The raffle draw said, “What started out with a Million Dirham cash prize, gradually grew over the years and now on Big Ticket’s 29th year, we’re giving away grand prize’s of up to 20 Million Dirham.”

The raffle draw guarantees cash prizes vary from month to month with Big Ticket giving away a minimum of 10million dirham up to our biggest jackpot of 20 million.

source: http:///www.gulftoday.ae / Gulf Today / Home> News / by Gulf Today, Staff Reporter / February 06th, 2021


Gauahar Khan wedding LIVE UPDATES: Gauahar and Zaid look stunning at their reception

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, , ,

Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

Gauahar Khan and Zaid Darbar’s wedding will be an intimate affair attended by family and close friends.

Gauahar Khan and Zaid Darbar at their wedding reception. (Photo: PR Handout)

Actor Gauahar Khan is set to marry choreographer Zaid Darbar today. The couple hosted their chiksa and mehendi ceremonies earlier this week. Sharing pictures of her mehendi, Gauahar wrote, “Writing our love story on each other’s hearts forever with the blessings of our family and friends and above all Allah. ❤”

Announcing her wedding on Instagram, the actor had written, “The year 2020 has been anything but ordinary and our love story through it all has been nothing short of extraordinary! It gives us immense joy to announce that we are tying the knot and embarking on a journey of forever. Keeping the current scenario in mind, we will be celebrating the big day with our family in an intimate ceremony. We seek your blessings & love & are eternally grateful for the constant support & the outpour of warm wishes we have received. We hope for every soul to find its mate and pray for every heart to find it’s reason to beat. All our love, Gauahar and Zaid.”

Gauahar Khan had previously shared an animated video on Instagram, which detailed her love story with Zaid Dabar. She shared with her followers that the two bumped into each other during the lockdown as they shopped for groceries and hit it off instantly. They started texting and their dates comprised of long drives and Zoom calls.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Entertainment> Television / by Arushi Jain, Kriti Sonali and Sana Farzeen – New Delhi / December 25th, 2020

How Sumiya Faruq Built Taqva, The Islamic YouTube

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

Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

While the majority of children today are born with gadgets loaded with raunchy music and sensual dance videos, 25-year-old Sumiya Faruq wants to change the way kids are growing up.

Meet the Hyderabad-based entrepreneur and founder of Taqva — the single largest video repository of Islamic content, who is fast replacing irrelevant music and inappropriate videos with faith reviving content, inspiring the younger generation to honour integrity, morals, values, ethics, and principles to adopt righteous behaviour.

Started as a way to help toddlers and kids of the digital era to find a safe online audio-visual zone, and to shield young minds from exposed danger of inappropriate video content that has now overtaken creative online space with distracting adverts, and illicit pop-ups, Taqva was created to provide virtuous online space for families and children, where scholarly erudition of faith, etiquettes and mannerisms are being taught at the forefront, gradually but firmly establishing reverential consciousness of God.

Realising the monumental threat to the 21st-century children being exposed to explicit online content, Sumiya recalls the earlier times where the online space was still non-existent.

“During my childhood, my parents used to have a collection of cassettes and CDs containing Islamic content. We used to exchange and share these collections with friends and relatives. Over time, this practice changed as the content was being available and accessible by anyone on the internet, thanks to content sharing websites such as YouTube, Vimeo, etc. But unfortunately, these sites are like a jungle. You can find any and every type of content on there and it’s possible for a person watching Islamic videos to get lost in that jungle and get into “haraam”/ forbidden zone. Even the advertisements on these channels could be distracting and often have forbidden content.”

“Internet has become a huge jungle where kids might soon end up learning things that are completely inappropriate for their age,” says Sumiya Faruq, who also holds a Masters degree in Psychology and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science & Engineering.

Taqva, a video-aggregation platform of beneficial videos was created to jeopardise the great peril of early exposure to illicit websites. Created and curated with the assistance of volunteers from various parts of the world. Taqva comes with the ability to link the best of videos from content sharing websites such as YouTube, Vimeo, Vine, etc.

The videos are suggested by a group of enthusiastic volunteers who analyse the Islamic videos’ quality of content, such as the content’s suitability, reliability, and authenticity, along with various other important parameters.

“There are various categories of Islamic videos on Taqva such as — Quran recitation, Tafseer, Hadiths, Islamic reminder videos, Prophetic stories, Inter-faith debates, Revert stories, Islamic cartoons for kids, etc” adds Sumiya.

However, Taqva’s major USP is the Kids section, which is a huge collection of Islamic cartoons for Kids. It is one of website’s most viewed sections — a testimony that its audience love it.

Gaining a popular momentum, Sumiya and her team are making their online presence felt by marketing their brand using social media as their marketing tool. Taqva is available and active on major platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest, as “TaqvaOfficial” added Sumiya who has created a niche of her own with her brainchild — Taqva, which is an exclusive one-stop destination for all Islamic Videos.

Today, Taqva has become the YouTube of Islamic videos. “Currently, we are reaching to 50,000+ users and have over 20,000 active followers on Social Media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & Pinterest. Our Target viewership for Taqva is definitely, all the Muslims across the globe — and of course, many non-Muslims too! We want Taqva to be the go-to website for Islamic Videos” says Sumiya, who believes Taqva.com is an “Islamic” video hub.

“It has been designed to be intuitive, easy to use and clutter-free. Also, it’s Ad-free and all the videos are neatly categorised into several relevant categories making it easy for users to browse Islamic content says Sumiya excitedly. The Taqva team also curates posts based on Islamic quotes, mainly from the Quran and the Hadith (authentic sayings of the Prophet), featured videos and shares them on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

“We are not biased towards any particular school of thought. We fundamentally believe that there is only One Islam, the religion completed by our Prophet” she further explains.

With Taqva, this determined entrepreneur is sure to influence and change the way Muslim families are engaging with online platforms. The enterprising youngster who also works full time at a Multinational corporation as a software engineer aims to extend her team of dedicated volunteers, to help identify and list the best of Islamic content being produced in various languages across different countries.

“By 2020, we envision Taqva to become the largest video repository of Islamic Content reaching to millions of Muslims across the world,” she adds.

source: http://www.thecognate.com / The Cognate / Home> Startups / by Hajira Firdouse / March 02nd, 2018

Kashmir’s first-ever igloo restaurant turns selfie spot for tourists

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Gulmarg (Baramulla District) , JAMMU & KASHMIR :

It’s well furnished inside and leaves one wondering in awe, says a visitor

With the minimum temperature plummeting to minus 18 degree Celsius in north Kashmir’s tourist hotspot Gulmarg, a spherical 22-feet-wide and 15-feet-high igloo restaurant has become a major attraction among the tourists, more for selfies than food served inside.

“We threw the igloo restaurant open to the public two days ago. It’s the country’s biggest igloo ever made. It took 15 days to construct it with the help of 20 workers,” Waseem Shah, managing director of the Kolahoi Resorts, told The Hindu.

The all-snow covered restaurant has eight tables, serving lunch and dinner inside it, and can accommodate 18 people simultaneously. The novel idea has been picked from the cold places of Europe.

“I have travelled to Switzerland, Norway and Finland and saw similar snow sculptures. We too have snow in abundance and can experiment on such projects,” Mr. Shah said.

He said the cafe shall make it to the Limca book of records as Asia’s biggest igloo. “So far tourists come more for selfies than food. But I am happy they are leaving with cherishable memories,” he said.

Sonia Kapoor, a tourist from Delhi, said the restaurant is a must for a selfie. “The sight of igloo is amazing. The fact that it’s well furnished inside, leaves one wondering in awe,” Ms. Kapoor said.

The idea has come as a shot in the arm of tourism, which was struggling in Kashmir, first due to the abrogation of special status in 2019 and then by the pandemic.

Director, Tourism, Kashmir, G.N. Itoo said Kashmir is fast emerging as “an all season destination”.

“Kashmir is offering visitors not only mesmerising beauty of its natural landscape, its perennial rivers and lakes, gardens and meadows, mountains and valleys, forests and wildlife but also diversity of tourism products with its adventure potential, cuisine, heritage, pilgrimage circuits and plenty of leisure tourism,” Mr. Itoo said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Other States / by Peerzada Ashiq / Srinagar, January 28th, 2021

Eight Muslims selected for Padma awards this year

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NEW DELHI : 

The BJP-led Hindu nationalist government has conferred Padma awards on 119 personalities. The awardees include eight Muslims.

Two renowned Islamic scholars, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and Maulana Kalbe Sadiq have also been selected for the award.

Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award have been presented to Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, while Maulana Kalbe Sadiq have been provided Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award.

Both the scholars had urged Muslims to give away their claim on Babri Masjid. Currently, a Ram Temple is being constructed on the site where Babri Masjid was standing till its demolition by Hindutva mobs, aided by BJP-RSS veterans, on 6 December 1992.

The awardees include, polymath Ali Manikfan, who has been awarded with the Padma Shri for his contribution in grassroots level innovations at Lakshwadeep. Born into an aristocratic family in 1938 in the Minicoy Island of Lakshwadeep, Manikfan is as marine researcher, ecologist, shipbuilder, agriculturist, and a polyglot.

Gulfam Ahmed from Uttar Pradesh for his contribution in the field of Art, Lakha Khan for Literature from Rajasthan, and Ghulam Rasool Khan for Art from Jammu and Kashmir, Sanjida Khatun for Art from Bangladesh and Col Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir for Public Affairs from Bangladesh are among the recipients of the Padma Shri.

These awards cater to various disciplines including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service. While ‘Padma Shri’ is awarded for distinguished service in any field, ‘Padma Bhushan’ is awarded for distinguished service of high order. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service.

source: http://www.muslimmirror.com /Muslim Mirror / Home> Featured / by Muslim Mirror Staff / January 28th, 2021

Ayodhya’s Dhannipur mosque project launched with unfurling of tricolour on R-Day

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Ayodhya, UTTAR PRADESH :

The Dhannipur project includes a mosque, hospital, museum, library, community kitchen, Indo-Islamic Cultural Research Centre and Publication House.

A plantation drive was also organised to mark the launch of the Dhannipur project(Sourced)
A plantation drive was also organised to mark the launch of the Dhannipur project (Sourced)

The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board (UPSCWB) formally launched the Dhannipur project on the allocated five-acre land at Dhannipur village of Ayodhya by hoisting the national flag and planting saplings to mark Republic Day celebrations on Tuesday.

The Dhannipur project includes a mosque, hospital, museum, library, community kitchen, Indo-Islamic Cultural Research Centre and Publication House. The land was allotted to UPSCWB in compliance with the Supreme Court directives in the Ayodhya title dispute case in which the apex court, on November 9, 2019, paved the way for construction of Ram temple at the disputed site.

“I believe there is no better way than to start the project by planting saplings on the five-acre land. The plantation was carried out in the area of the project meant to be developed as a green area. The area will have plants and trees from all different geographical regions of India and from different parts of the world in order to create awareness about the imminent threat of climate change,” said Athar Hussain, spokesperson for Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) which has been set up by UPSCWB to look after the construction of the Dhannipur project.

Senior members of the board along with the members of the IICF hoisted the flag at 8.30 am on the 5 acre land in Dhannipuur village. The flag hoisting was followed by plantation drive where members and trustees of IICF planted saplings.

On December 19, the trust had released the blueprint of the mosque and other structures designed by Professor SM Akhtar, a Lucknow-based architect and town planner, whom the trust has hired to design the mosque that would come up in Dhannipur in place of the Babri Masjid that was demolished in 1992.

Akhtar is the founder dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Jamia Milia University, Delhi.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> India News / by HT Correspondent / January 26th, 2021

The kitchen’s calling: Rahul Verma reviews ‘Desi Delicacies: Food Writing from Muslim South Asia’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Community Involvement / Social Issues,

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A mouth-watering collection of stories and essays, each chapter ending with a recipe

It is the season of black carrots — and a refreshing drink called kanji. Prepared with these antioxidant-rich carrots and spices, the velvety, reddish drink helps us battle the cold in North India. Chilled to the bone in a long cold spell, I had been thinking of kanji when a book arrived at my doorstep with an ode to the drink.

There was no kanji at home, so I had to make do with an appetising description of it in a story called A Brief History of the Carrot by Rosie Dastgir, included in the Claire Chambers-edited anthology, Desi Delicacies: Food Writing from Muslim South Asia. “He poured out two glasses that glowed in the afternoon light. Room temperature, as the aunt’s recipe specified. The taste of it was sour and pungent and strangely restorative, though not exactly as he remembered,” it goes. “Was some vital ingredient missing?”

Where’s the story?

Chambers writes that South Asian kitchens are the “engines of an entire culture”. The volume seeks to capture this essence through essays and short stories. “The picture that we get of Muslim South Asian food is extremely eclectic, taking in everything from taco parties to lotus root slow-cooked in yoghurt, and from khichri to barfi,” the York University professor says in a recent interview.

The collection is quite mouth-watering, especially since each chapter ends with a recipe. The works of fiction, however, left me a bit puzzled. These are nice food pieces, no doubt, but are they stories?

Take, for instance, Jackfruit with Tamarind by Mahruba T. Mowtushi and Mafruha Mohua. The short story is peppered with aunty this and uncle that — interesting characters, all, but each of them making only brief appearances. I would have liked to know more about them, especially about Manwara aunty, for I enjoyed the comparison between her fish curry and Amma’s.

“Amma is fussy when it comes to preparing a fish. It has to be cleaned numerous times… She then smears the pieces with turmeric and salt and lightly fries them — for a minute or two — in mustard oil. Amma has a fervid dislike of people who skip this process. Macher jhol should have a light, refreshing taste and so spices are added sparingly,” the authors write, adding, “Amma always complained of Manwara aunty’s macher jhol, which contained such inordinate quantities of vegetables and an odd assortment of greens that eating it was like walking through a virgin jungle with a machete in hand!”

It is always fun to read about food, but the problem is that this isn’t really a story. It works well as an essay, and is eminently readable, with little descriptions of dishes after every paragraph or two. But a story needs a beginning, middle and end, and this had none.

Stomach rumbling

The Hairy Curry by Asiya Zahoor does have a twist in the end. The story is about young Gulla, a Kashmiri boy who has moved to Srinagar and is working in Bibiji’s kitchen. The description of a lotus-stem dish is invigorating. “The velvety white curry was first to touch his palate. The softness and tangy taste was a delight. Each of the spices had given their essence fully to the curry. Its starchy texture, carrying the spices that complemented each other, was delectable. The lotus stems were cooked properly yet retained a certain crunchiness.”

But Gulla is troubled: there’s hair in the curry — a lot of it!

I was drawn more to the non-fiction part, and particularly enjoyed Rana Safvi’s piece (‘Qissa Qorma aur Qalia’), in which she recounts food memories and practices of Lucknow.

I relished the conversation between two uncles-in-law where they complain (in chaste Urdu) about digestive problems, which persist although they have been following their doctors’ advice and eating “vegetarian khichri”. It transpires that the cook has been adding large amounts of dried fruit and meat to the dish.

The problem with a book like this is that it sends you straight to the kitchen. I certainly felt like cooking khichri after reading Farah Yameen’s well-written story about a child and her troubled phua.

“One does not serve khichri without mash and chutney to someone who is loved,” Yameen writes. Or without papad or pickle, in my neck of the woods. Shows that food, really, has no religion.

Desi Delicacies: Food Writing from Muslim South Asia; Edited by Claire Chambers, Pan Macmillan, ₹450

The reviewer is a food columnist.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books / by Rahul Verma / January 16th, 2021

Furfura Sharif cleric launches party: ‘Want to be kingmaker’

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

Furfura (Hoogly District), WEST BENGAL :

Open to form alliance with Left & Cong; planning to contest all 294 seats, says Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui, the 34-year-old cleric of Furfura Sharif.

Ahead of the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui, the 34-year-old cleric of Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district, on Thursday launched a new political party — Indian Secular Front – and said that his party plans to contest all the 294 seats in the state with alliance partners.

His 26-year-old brother Nausad Siddiqui has been named chairman of the new party and Simul Soren the president of the party’s working committee.

“We announced our party today. Now, we will sit for talks with other parties, including AIMIM (of Asaduddin Owaisi), and then we will make clear on how many seats we will contest in this election. For now, we are considering to contest all the 294 seats,” Abbas Siddiqui told mediapersons at a press conference in Kolkata.

Stating that his “doors are open” for an alliance with the Left Front and the Congress, Siddiqui said: “CPI(M) and Congress leaders have sent feelers to us. Both the parties suggested that we first launch our political platform. Let us wait and see.”

“The party will start working from Republic Day. Thereafter, we will announce further programmes. We also plan to hold rallies including one in brigade parade ground,” he added.

He, however, ruled out contesting the elections, saying that he would like to be the “kingmaker”.

“I want to be the kingmaker. I will not contest the election but will do everything possible for the party. We will work for the betterment of Muslims, Dalits, tribals, and the poor. Our party is for all,” said Siddiqui, one of the descendants of Pir Abu Baqar Siddiqui.

Rejecting the charge that his party would enable the division of Muslim votes in the state, Siddiqui said, “So many political parties are there. Many like AAP are coming to Bengal. Some of them will get Hindu or Muslim votes. Why do you say that our party will divide Muslim votes.”

Accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of failing to deliver, Siddiqui blamed the Trinamool Congress for “allowing BJP to get into Bengal”

“We supported her and she came to power in Bengal. But then her government failed to deliver. So many unemployed youths are in Bengal. It was TMC which facilitated communal discord and allowed BJP to come here. BJP is enemy of the country,” Siddiqui added.

Furfura Sharif is the second most prominent Sufi mazar or shrine in the country after Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kolkata / by Express News Service / Kolkata – January 22nd, 2021

Building a future from rubble: Jharkhand IAS officer transforms abandoned govt buildings into libraries

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, , ,

Jamtara , JHARKHAND :

These libraries are then handed over to local villagers for day-to-day management by forming a committee.

The renovated buildings – libraries — are provided a general set of books, chairs, tables and other amenities through crowd-funding and under the Corporate Social Responsibility funds.

Jharkhand : 

IAS officer Faiz Aq Ahmed Mumtaz has a unique task at hand — that of setting up rural libraries in remote villages of Jamtara so that the poor are motivated to read and write. For that he has made use of abandoned government buildings which have been transformed into 30 libraries under different panchayats of the district. Ahmed says the idea is to provide a better environment to develop reading habits and space at the doorstep of rural youths so that they can clear competitive exams without moving out to cities and towns.

The renovated buildings – libraries — are provided a general set of books, chairs, tables and other amenities through crowd-funding and under the Corporate Social Responsibility funds. These libraries are then handed over to local villagers for day-to-day management by forming a committee. Ahmed says his initiative serves two purposes: the dilapidated buildings are put to use after renovation and, secondly, it develops a community feeling among the villagers.

It has especially benefited girls whose parents are reluctant to send them to a city for education. The deputy commissioner hit upon the idea while holding a ‘janta darbar’ in Chengadih panchayat. A villager while pointing at the lack of education facilities said a library could be a great help for youths who have no means to travel to nearby towns for preparing competitive exams. “I thought in every gram panchayat, there is at least one government building which remains unused. I started renovating these buildings into community libraries.

A first such library was set up at Chengaidih panchayat on November 13 last year,” said Ahmed. The availability of books in these libraries is being ensured under public participation which requires only a modest expenditure, he said. Ahmed said resources are being mobilised with the help of different departments in terms of providing water and electricity to these libraries for which the committee, formed for the purpose, pays. Resources like tables and cupboards are being raised from CSR funds and books are being collected through donations and crowdfunding, he said.

“One bank account has been opened for each library which will help the local committee to raise funds through donations and other means,” said the Deputy Commissioner. The enthusiasm of local villagers has prompted him to expand the initiative to all 118 panchayat in Jamtara. “Reading and education should be given more importance and a library culture should be developed and promoted with community participation. Once this model is successful and a culture of reading develops among rural youths, inter-library competitions could be organized in order to provide a better learning environment to the people, he said. Ahmed believes that libraries can play an important role in the development of any community. “Jamtara is notorious for cyber crimes.

My initiative can help in removing the tag of ‘hub of cyber-crimes’ for Jamtara. Cyber-crimes possibly spread due to the lack of education in the region,” said the Deputy Commissioner. Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto, who has inaugurated several such libraries in his Assembly constituency Nala, appreciates Ahmed’s initiative. “Libraries are the temple of knowledge. They ignite our thirst for knowledge and raise one’s mental level,” said the Speaker.

“This is a commendable step taken by the Deputy Commissioner”, he said. Youths are excited about such libraries. “We must thank the deputy commissioner for the precious gift to Chengadih panchayat. We had to travel long distances to get a book,” said Nasiruddin Ansari, a student. “The library is helping us a lot for preparing for various competitive exams”, he said. Ashraf Ali, another student, said the library has given a new hope to the youths in his village. “The library in Chengadih has brought about a positive change among the youths; they are now more serious about books and their studies,” Ali said. Dipankar Mondal, a student, said many youths like him will make him proud one day.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Express News Service / January 24th, 2021