It was a moment of great pride for Deputy Inspector General of Police (Jammu-Kathua Range) Ashkoor Wani as his daughter was the only woman in the passing-out parade of the 11th batch of Deputy Superintendent of Police here today.
Dr Sunniya Wani was the only woman among the 17 officers in the passing-out parade at the Sher-i-Kashmir Police Academy.
Wani also became the first woman Kashmir Police Service (KPS) officer to get the best all-round award for her performance during her over-a-year-long training. She was awarded the trophy and citation by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who is also the first woman to hold the post in the state.
Lauding Wani, the chief minister said she was proud of her achievement.
“I am proud of your achievement and I wish more and more girls follow your footsteps.
I am also happy to see girls competing in every field and in many fields outnumbering boys,” she said. Ashkoor Wani said: “I am really proud of my daughter for her achievements. It is really a matter of pride and honour for me and my family that my daughter became the first female KPS officer to get the all-round award that too from the hands of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.”
He said that his daughter always enjoyed the freedom to follow her dream and that he always encouraged her for that. “She is a medical doctor by profession and then she decided to wear the uniform. From childhood, she always wanted to contribute to the society and I hope and pray that she will become a good and dedicated police officer and would serve the nation, state and the community,” Wani said.
Sunniya Wani said that her father has always been an inspiration for her and she would follow the footsteps of her father to become a dedicated police officer.
“My father has always been an inspiration for me. I grew up watching him in uniform and I always wanted to follow his footsteps and wear the same uniform. I am happy that I made my father proud today,” she said.
Dr Wani said the sky was the limit for today’s women. “I want to tell girls to follow their dreams as nothing is impossible and the sky is the limit for them,” she said. (PTI)
source: http://www.news.statetimes.in / State Times / Home> News> Jammu & Kashmir > Jammu / by Tejinder Singh Sodhi / October 29th, 2016
Students welcome Al Ameen at Rajagiri Public School.
Al Ameen is on a Kashmir-to-Kanyakumari bicycle campaign against child abuse
Kochi :
Heavy rain accompanied by strong wind was what received 19-year-old Al Ameen in the city on Monday long before he could pedal his way to Rajagiri Public School for his formal reception.
The two receptions, the other being at Al-Ameen Public School, were among the five stopovers in the city over two days for the second-year sociology student from the Jamia Millia Central University, who is on a Kashmir-to-Kanyakumari bicycle campaign against child abuse.
Having popped antibiotics after getting beset with stomach upset and vomiting, the lashing rain further took its toll on the weakened body of the youngster who is originally from Kazhakkoottam in Thiruvananthapuram.
In fact, he was admitted at a hospital in Karnataka for a day before entering Kerala.
However, that didn’t douse the spirit of Al Ameen who mounted the cycle from Srinagar on June 2 with the noble intention of creating awareness among students about the need to stand up against abuse of varied hues against them.
“I also wanted to encourage students to actively participate in finding solutions to the problems faced by the community around them,” said Al Ameen who had been clocking around 80 kilometres a day.
He was briefly joined by his college mate Shigraf Zahbi in the Delhi-Rajasthan stretch before giving it up owing to hostile climatic conditions.
Asked why he opted for cycling to propagate his cause, the youngster said that the nobility of the cause alone would not win the attention it deserves unless combined with some extraordinary act. “For me, cycle is just the tool to attract attention to my larger goal,” he said.
Before his stopovers at five schools in the city, he had been accorded receptions at schools in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha.
The receptions were organised by district child protection officers of the Women and Child Development Department.
He will now meet students of more schools in Malappuram, Kozhikode, Vadakara, Kasaragod and Manjeshwaram before wrapping up his campaign in Kanyakumari on July 23. by which time he would have covered around 4,250 kilometres.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by M.P. Praveen / Kochi – July 10th, 2018
The series will capture the dark side of the story of the Mughal empire and had emperors like Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.
Mumbai :
“Taj – A Monument of Blood”, a period drama series on the rise and fall of the the Mughal empire, is set to be produced by Applause Entertainment in partnership with Contiloe Pictures, who are confident of presenting a story with a mix of blood, betrayal, power, beauty, deceit and heartbreak.
The series will capture the dark side of the story of the Mughal empire, which ruled India for just over 3 centuries and had emperors like Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. Writing is currently underway.
The tale will be told over 5 seasons of twelve episodes each, using the birth and death of Shah Jahan as bookends. It will delve deep into the Mongol origins, bloodlines mixing with Persian and Rajput royalty, the court and palace intrigues, the repeated purging of aspirants to the throne, and the arrival of the British and Portuguese.
Sameer Nair of Applause Entertainment calls himself a big fan of revisionist narratives of history.
“Our history books have been written by victors and often paint very two-dimensional pictures about past empires. When Abhimanyu Singh (Contiloe Pictures) and I first discussed this idea, we immediately moved away from a typical historical to a darker and edgier version of the Mughal empire, a version in which symbolically the Taj is more a monument of blood, than a monument of love,” Mr Nair said in a statement.
Mr Singh, who has produced a slew of historicals for the small screen, says the new series will show viewers the historic journey through a fresh lens.
“It will take viewers on a historic journey showing them an unseen perspective of this illustrious dynasty which lead to their rise as the greatest empire in medieval times and the quest for power, within it, that finally lead to its downfall.”
source: http://www.ndtv.com / NDTV / Home> All India / by Indo-Asian News Service / July 12th, 2018
A still from the documentary Sarah, Thaha, Thoufeek
Documentary Sarah, Thaha, Thoufeek shows a moving relationship
A few years ago, a researcher from Belgium, who was scouring the Jewish sites in Kochi to learn more about the vintage Belgian glasses and ceramic material used in the city’s ancient synagogues, was surprised by a local’s understanding about them.
“Are you Jewish?” she asked him.
Thaha Ibrahim, a Muslim from Fort Kochi, smiled, shaking his head. Thaha and his friend Thoufeek Zakriya, a professional chef in Dubai and a master in Hebrew calligraphy, have a deeper connect with Jewish life in Mattancherry, courtesy their bonding with the senior most Kochi Jew, Sarah Cohen, in her late 90s.
The moving relation is portrayed in Sarah, Thaha, Thoufeek canned by Sarath Koottikkal, who followed the trio for a few years. The teaser of the hour-long documentary was released by Kochi Biennale Foundation secretary Riyas Komu at an event at Mocha Art Café, Mattancherry, on Tuesday.
“It’s an emotional work for me as well and nothing in this has been staged. It has candid shots capturing the touching relationship, which cannot be described in words or etched in a film in its entirety,” says Sarath.
He had known Thaha for sometime when one day Thaha causally told him about taking Sarah ‘aunty’, then 93 years and with no kin around, to a swanky new mall at the far end of the city. Ms. Cohen, who runs an embroidery shop in Mattancherry’s Jew Town, found news about the mall fascinating. On cue, Thaha, who has been close to the Cohen household for nearly two decades and taking care of the nonagenarian after her husband Jacob Cohen died, made a trip to the mall with ‘aunty’ and his family.
“The gesture moved me. We live in an age when aged parents are treated like an appendage, but this chap had the heart to heed to a wish by someone who’s 90-plus and not even a relative,” says Sarath, adding that the relation is thicker than blood.
“Thaha is like a son to Sarah aunty,” says Thoufeek, whose Hebrew calligraphic skills and knowledge of the religion, brought him close to Ms. Cohen in 2009. “She’s like my grandma, showering me with love and care. She happily relates things to me and reserves special dishes for me,” says Thoufeek.
Thaha’s cheerfulness and ability to inspire happiness and care won him a close pal in Thoufeek, someone less than half his age. “He’s like my brother and stays in close touch wherever I’m. We pursue our research on the Jews and Muslims of Kochi in right earnest,” maintains Thoufeek.
‘References coincidental’
As Sarath reveals, the film’s sharp focus is on bond binds the trio and not their religions. “If at all there are references to it, it’s all been coincidental.”
Candid shots, some of which were canned by Thaha himself — who took to photography inspired by Ellen Goldberg, co-author of The Last Jews of Cochin – form a remarkable feature of the film.
More than technical brilliance, accidental meetings, serendipitous moments and spontaneous conversations characterise the film, says Sarath. A point underscored by Thaha, who got to film Ms. Goldberg and her husband Nathan Katz, 30 years after he first met them at the Cohen household, and several such visitors and remarkable occurrences.
In the final stages of production, the film is set to be ready in the first week of August.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by S. Anandan / Kochi – July 10th, 2018
Armeen Shahneela, Flying Officer, Indian Air Force; Salma Hussain, human rights worker; and Anjim Sabiha, research scholar, Jamia Millia Islamia University Delhi at the “Star Talk Seven” event held at Burnihat on Saturday
Guwahati:
Three young achievers -all girls and path breakers were felicitated at the “Star Talk Seven” event organised at the Goat Research Station Auditorium at Burnihat on Saturday. Anjim and Armeen received the “Star Role Model Award” given by the Unity Education Foundation, Guwahati. They were also presented gifts by the University of Science & Technology Meghalaya (USTM). Fauzia Khan, MD of Ascentials, presented diamond jewellery to the achievers.
Along with the girls their proud parents were also facilitated.
Anjim Sabiha and Armeen Shahneela sisters from Puronigudam Assam are both top achievers in their respective fields.
Anjim Sabiha, research scholar, Jamia Millia Islamia University Delhi and Armeen Shahneela, Flying Officer, Indian Air Force, who received “Star Role Model Award” at a function held at Burnihat on Saturday are seen together
Anjim Sabiha is pursuing her PhD from Jamia Millia Islamia University New Delhi and has been selected for presentation of a research paper titled “Women Empowerment through Microfinance in Assam” at the forthcoming International Conference on “Empowering Women: Fostering Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainability” to be held in Delhi on 16-17 July.
Her sister Armeen Shahneela, an alumnus of Jorhat Engineering College Assam, was commissioned as a Flying Officer of Indian Air Force at the Investiture programme at Hyderabad Air Force Academy where she was commissioned by Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, Chief of the Naval Staff on Dec 6, 2017. On Sunday, Armeen is reporting for duty at one of the Indian Air Force bases in the North East.
Armeen Shahneela, Flying Officer, Indian Air Force receiving the “Star Role Model Award” from Abu Zakaria, IT & software entrepreneur, at the “Star Talk Seven” event held at Burnihat on Saturday.
And the third star Salma Hussain, a youngster from Sontoli Village in Kamrup Rural District of Assam, has been selected for the Andi Leadership Institute Programme 2018 for Young Women Peace Builders. One among only eight young women selected from all over the world and only one from India, Salma will undergo training from August 5 to18, 2018 in Washington, D.C.
Salma plans to visit a few other places and meet important human rights workers to gather ideas for implementing her dream project of adopting a village in Assam and make it a model abode of peace.
Members of Stars of North East, guests and students from Shaheen Academy Guwahati are seen together with Anjim Sabiha, research scholar, Jamia Millia Islamia University Delhi and Armeen Shahneela, Flying Officer, Indian Air Force at an event held at Burnihat on Saturday.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Education> Event> Indian Muslim / Guwahati – July 08th, 2018
Site of awakening: The Vellore fort today. Photo: Curator, Government Museum, Vellore
Though it preceded the First War of Independence by almost 50 years, not much is known of this brief act of valour by the sepoys of the Vellore fort.
In the late-18th Century, the fakeers played a key role in spreading the message of unity amongst Indians and the need to throw out the British.
AT three, in the stealth of the dawn, on July 10, 1806, when it was still very quiet and the calm enveloped the Vellore fort, the doors of the native barracks suddenly flung open. Five hundred brave Indian sepoys were on the threshold of a mutiny they had so carefully plotted. Armed with muskets, they tiptoed out, dragging in their midst two heavily muffled six-pounder guns. They reached the European barracks, briefly halted, lifted the muskets to their shoulders and waited expectantly. The signal they anticipated was issued presently. It was at once fire works that shattered the still and the quiet. Windows and glass crashed while the English inmates woke up to their peril. Either they were killed in their beds whilst in deep slumber or were put down while running out in night robes trying to make sense of the pandemonium that had broken out so suddenly.
Losing direction
The Vellore War of Independence against the East India Company occupation was now well on its bloody course with all the trappings of romance associated with mutinies manifesting itself on that fateful morning. Underdogs defying authority, secretive planning, courage against intimidating authority, bravery and fearlessness towards death – all moved by a deep sense of right being on their side. By the time the smoke cleared and the guns became quiet by 5 a.m., about 15 British officers and about 100 English soldiers had been killed.
Col. Fancourt, the Commander of the Fort and Garrison was the first to be shot. Jamaidar Shaik Cossim, one of the principal leaders of the rebellion, had arranged to hoist Tipu’s Mysore flag over the fort signalling that the fort had been taken over. As the flag was fluttering proudly, the course of the mutiny floundered and lost its sense of direction and purpose.
Some of the sepoys started looting the houses of the Europeans, whilst others were busy abusing sepoys who did not take part in the mutiny. Yet others were conducting inconclusive discussions with Tipu’s sons, who were held captive within the fort, to come out openly and lead. Tipu’s princes hesitated and vacillated.
Though this rebellion preceded the First War of Independence (Sepoy Mutiny of 1857) by over 50 years, it has not been given the importance and significance it deserves as a determined early attempt to throw out imperialism and alien rule from Indian soil. We will take a brief pause from the fast-paced events of that fiery morning and analyse the causes for and significance of this rebellion before coming back to July 10, 1806 once again to complete our story.
Key influence
At the time of the Mutiny, the Vellore fort was station to the following Infantry Military units.
Battalions of the 69th Regiment and 23rd Regiment with 1,500 native troops and about 370 white officers and men present inside.
And great dissatisfaction was brewing amongst the Indian troops on various counts. And this had a good deal to do with the Fakeer Movement of the late 18th Century.
These fakeers were mystic mendicants (at times doubling up as mercenaries!) commanding the respect and affection of both Hindus and Muslims. In large numbers, they went from town to town conducting discourses, prayers and even puppet shows. They played a key role in spreading the message of unity amongst Indians and the need to throw out the British. They often got in touch with sepoys and native officers and instigated them to rebel. Their methods were secretive and the appeal powerful. These fakeers fanned all over the South and hence one can see that in the early 19th Century, there were several rebellions in the South.
The Chittoor polygors fighting the British between 1804 and 1805, the Travancore Mutiny in the same period and the Madurai outbreak of 1804 are examples to cite.
The famous valiant Wayanad hero, Pazhassi Raja gave the English anxious times till his capture and death in 1805. There was a ground swell of nationalism and a strong undercurrent of hope. And the fakeers sure had a significant role to play. Cantonments from Wallajahbad to Palayamkottai had been caught up in this freedom fervour.
The fakeers had a simple and enduring message: “we are many and they are few”.Like the gunpowder in the cartridge that needs a spark to ignite, the spark for the Vellore uprising came in the form of new uniform regulation announced by John Cradock in March 1806.
Cradock was the Commander-in-Chief the Madras Army. A new cap was prescribed in place of the turban and caste markings on the face were prohibited. The beard was to go. The hair over the upper lip was to be regulated and the wearing of earrings abolished. The troops saw this as the first step to Europeanisation and conversion to Christianity. Hindu and Muslim soldiers resented the regulations. Muslim soldiers expressed solidarity with Hindu sepoys who despised the use of cow leather in the new cap prescribed in the revised uniform regulation issued by the office of Cradock. Hindus and Muslims together rose as one in the name of religion and liberty.
Yet another factor that helped shape events in Vellore was the presence of Tipu’s family in the fort. They were confined and housed in the palaces and mahals formerly of the Nawabs of Arcot which lay within the precincts of the fort. After his heroic death on May 4, 1799, Tipu’s 12 sons and six of his eight daughters were brought to Vellore along with a retinue of servants and the party totalled 1,378.
In Vellore town itself a number of people had settled down following Tipu’s heirs. A certain Lt. Col. Marriott (pay master of Stipends) and his brother Capt. Marriott (the assistant paymaster) were in charge of the privileged prisoners.
Ironic twist
The presence of Tipu’s princes undoubtedly inspired the sepoys. Ironically, the princes perhaps did not provide decisive and inspiring leadership to the uprising.
Prince Moiz-ud-Deen is reported to have conducted some parleys with the leader of the uprising and Prince Fettah Hyder offered support in the early phase of the planning, albeit not too openly. Prince Moiz is said to have met key leaders like Subedar Noor Mohamed, Subedar Shaik Hossain and Jamaidar Shaik Cossim prior to July 10.
After assuming control of the fort, when Sheik Cossim and the others asked the princes to come out and openly lead them, the princes were insisting that they see the body of Lt. Col. Marriott first. This response did not help the course of the uprising which was already beginning to lack organisation.At that point and at about 9.30 am on July 10, 1806, Col. Gillespie of the 19th Dragoons, commanding the Cavalry Cantonment 16 miles away at Arcot, reached Vellore to put down the Mutiny. One Major Coates of the 23rd Regiment had earlier dispatched a letter through an officer at around 6 a.m. to the Arcot Cavalry unit seeking help. Gillespie arrived with an advance force. Lt. Col. Kennedy from the same cavalry reached a little later with heavy guns.
Swift end
The dislocated mutineers did not regroup in proper defence. The gates were blasted open by the 19th Dragoons and they stormed in. The rebelling native sepoys were mercilessly hounded and killed. It is reported that around 800 of them were found dead at the fort alone. More lives were evidently lost. By 2 p.m. in the afternoon the rebellion had not only been completely silenced but had come to be a brief pale memory of heroism – a flicker that was sadly extinguished.
As was expected, the British ordered a Court of inquiry into the events. It was also considered risky to keep the Tipu’s family in Vellore, so close to the seat of their former glory. They were taken and resettled in faraway Calcutta. The news of the Vellore War of Independence had sent shockwaves in England. The Governor, William Bentinck and Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army, Sir John Cradock both were recalled on this count.
Historians should do more to research this not so well documented act of heroism, to inquire into questions like the impact of this event on the 1857 great rebellion.
Commemorating this unique rebellion, the State Government on the Bicentennial Anniversary held a function on July 10, 2006 with the Chief Minister participating and releasing a special volume on the Vellore uprising.
Voluntary groups and students are planning cycle rallies to Vellore to take home to the people of India the message of sacrifice behind these sepoys who dared to rebel so that we may live in a free country.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Sunday Magazine / by A. Rangarajan / August 06th, 2006
The world saw its worst refugee crisis between 1988 and 1994, coinciding with the end of the so-called Cold War, increasing globalisation and civil wars along ethnic lines.
After two decades of relative ease, 2015 and 2016 again witnessed an upsurge in refugee population, starting with the Syrian crisis and the latest, the Rohingya exodus from Myanmar.India is home to nearly 2 million refugees, with a large percentage coming from China (including a large number of Tibetan refugees) and Sri Lanka (which was torn by civil war from 2006-09).
A book called “Dui Hazar Ekush”for the Refugees worlwide is published today at Kolktata Press Club. Renown Poet & Journalist Mokter Hossain Mondal has written this book for the Refugees people in Mynanmar and Syria. He dedicated this book to the refugees people across the globe.
The cover of this book has been unveiled by Ayesha Noor, three time gold winner in karate championship who dwelt in a slum area in Kolkata.
The life story of the footpath dwellers and the life story of the Refugees of Syria, Somalia & Rohingya people were narrated in this book. Here the poet tried to make the way to solve their problems.
This book has been published by Disha Prakashani.
source: http://www.financialsamachar.com / F Samachar / Home> Metrolife / July 05th, 2018
Mohammed distributed hand-decorated reusable ‘World Cup’ bags to a number of groceries.
A 10-year-old Dubai student who turned his love for the World Cup into an innovative way to reduce plastic bag waste, has been honoured by the Dubai Municipality (DM).
Following the Khaleej Times article on June 25, ‘Boy uses football frenzy to send a message against plastic waste’, Abdulmajeed Abdulaziz Saifaie, director of waste management department, was keen to meet the boy behind the story , Faiz Mohammed. And during a meeting between the two on Tuesday, he named the youngster one of the municipality’s ‘Sustainability Ambassadors’.
Using his own Eid money, Mohammed distributed hand-decorated reusable bags to a number of groceries near his home in Karama, after he grew tired of seeing so many plastic bags being wasted on home deliveries.
His own investigations revealed that on average, each small grocery was using about 1,200 bags a month to deliver goods. To combat the excess wastage, he distributed the free tote bags in replace of plastic ones. And it was that smart and sustainable thinking that caught the attention of Saifaie.
“I was so proud and happy to see the story. If you keep doing what you’re doing, we will see big change. Going forward I want you to keep in close contact with my team and give more ideas to help tackle waste here in the UAE,” Saifaie told Mohammed.
The municipality’s Ambassador for Sustainability initiative was launched in 2013 with the aim to train students on how to carry out lectures and workshops on various environmental topics.
“The fact that this boy didn’t use that Eid money to buy a ball, toy, something for himself, is commendable. He has a good hobby. If his family and community keep encouraging that, he will have a good future and so will the environment.”
Discussing different ideas to work on together in the future, Mohammed said his plan is to scale up his reusable bags initiative to groceries across Dubai. Only this time, Saifaie told him that the DM will help fund his move.
“We will visit you at your school and speak to your fellow students to spread awareness about what you are doing. We spend millions per year to bring this idea of sustainable practice into students’ minds, but you are doing it on your own. We will support you. You do not need to take money from your own pocket anymore.”
Thanking the municipality for the opportunity, Mohammed said he felt honoured to be named a Sustainability Ambassador.
“I feel so glad to be here. It gives me much encouragement to meet the director of waste management. He has been telling me to continue in my path to help curb waste so I will keep urging friends, family and shop workers about the importance of using reusable bags in place of plastic ones.”
kelly@khaleejtimes.com
source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home / by Kelly Clarke , Dubai / July 04th, 2018
Mir Qasim Ali Khan Bahadur was the Nawab of Bengal between 1760 and 1763. He is most famous for his dealings with the British: he was put on the throne through the intervention of the East India Company, but a few years later was defeated by their forces at the Battle of Buxar. This defeat marked the decline of the political power of the Nawabs of Bengal and was an important moment in East India Company imperial consolidation in Bengal.
All of this is important, of course, but I’m here to discuss a far more pressing question: what did the Nawab and his contemporaries eat?
I encountered this manuscript, titled Khwan-e Nimat, “The Beneficent Table,” at the library of Jamia Millia Islamia here in Delhi. Composed in Persian, the text promises its readers a description of “the art of cooking from the private kitchen of the chef of Nawab Qasim Ali Khan Bahadur.”
The text describes how the Nawab’s chef prepared fish kabab with rice, several types of meat kababs, fried eggs, sweets made with almonds, a few different types of pickles, pulao, khichri, qorma, various dals, mango jam, sheermal (a sweet bread), and on and on.
Although I originally encountered this work in manuscript form at Jamia, after some hunting I discovered that a lithographed version was printed in 1871 in Lucknow.
The printing was done by a small press, but it means that there was at least some awareness of and interest in the text in the late nineteenth century, a century after the political power of the Nawabs of Bengal had waned. As such, it offers us insight into not only the culinary preferences of Mir Qasim and his court, but also the culinary interests and understanding of food history among North Indians in the high colonial era.
Over the course of my research I’ve stumbled on several cookbooks written in Persian and Urdu over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, but I’ve found there is very little written on colonial-era traditions of writing about food in these languages. Many of the Indian food histories written on this period focus on the British adaptations of Indian cuisine, and exchanges between British and Indian cooks and palates. This text and its later publication tell an alternative (and I’d argue more interesting!) story: that of Indian interest in various local cuisines, and the desire of members of broader literate classes to know and perhaps try to prepare cuisines cooked by regional elites and leaders.
I’m craving fish today, so here’s a rough translation of how the Nawab’s chef prepared his fish kabab. Following these recipes is a bit of a challenge because most of the units of measurement appear to be regionally or temporally specific, and have changed significantly; many are not in any of the Urdu or Persian dictionaries I’ve consulted. I’ve therefore taken educated guesses based in large part on what I know about cooking, and the limited information I could find on the units used.
Ingredients:
Fish (type not specified, perhaps about 650 grams)
Butter (possibly referring to ghee; approximately 80 grams)
Onion (perhaps two-three)
Curd (approximately 15 grams)
Malai (approximately 20 grams)
Coriander (approximately 20 grams)
Black pepper (approximately 15 grams)
Gram (Chickpea) Flour (approximately 60 grams)
Pepper (mirch, presumably red?) (approximately 20 grams)
Cloves
ٓA pinch of lemon juice
A pinch of cardamom
Several pinches of salt
Cut the fish into chunks in the size of kababs and place them aside. Prepare the gram flour well (toast it?). After that, mix it together with the salt, pepper, crushed coriander, and some of the butter. Mix this into each kabab. Then finely chop up the onions, and fry them in some butter and then also mix the onions with some butter into the kababs. Then mix the lemon juice, cloves, and cardamom together. Drain the curd of water and strain the malai, and coat the kababs with these things. Then place these kababs in pot with the (cooked?) rice, and take the remaining spices and sprinkle them into with the rice and kababs. Roast/fry (prepare over a hot surface) and enjoy!
source: http://www.archivaldistractions.wordpress.com / Archival Distraction / by Amanda Lanzillo / July 07th, 2018
A devout follower of Mahatma Gandhi, he had actively taken part in the freedom struggle, and post-Independence lived only to realise the leader’s principles of serving humanity.
Now in his late 90’s, Mohammed Baji of Nabarangpur district is too frail to work. But, he still holds the Gandhian principles close to the heart. Influenced by Gandhi’s approach of non-violence in his schooldays, he had made up his mind to meet him. And his dream was fulfilled when he met Gandhi at the age of 21 in 1941 at Wardha Ashram. “We had no money. But, I had to meet Gandhi ji. So, I and one of my friends, Lakshman Sahu, cycled around 350km amid forests and hilly terrain to reach Raipur in Chhattisgarh. From there, we boarded a train for Wardha where I met Gandhiji,” said the 98-year-old freedom fighter.
“Gandhi ji asked me if I was a Satyagrahi. When I said I had pledged to be one, he asked me to face the British lathis and sacrifice my life for the nation,” he added.
Seven days later Baji returned to Nabarangpur with a changed mindset. He had performed individual Satyagraha in an anti-war protest outside the Nabarangpur masjid. He was sent to jail for six months in Koraput and fined Rs 50.
“Gandhi ji had asked me to take the slogan of non-violence among the masses. I, along with a group of about 30 people, walked to villages to spread Satyagraha and non-violence among the masses,” Baji said.
On August 25, 1942 during the Quit India movement, he was again jailed for 30 months. In 1945, he had been attacked and arrested at Soraguda during a peace march. Baji’s shoulder was badly damaged in the violence and he was shifted to Cuttack jail, where he was housed, along with Biju Patnaik. He was set free on August 12, 1947.
However, partition pained Baji. “I was against the partition of the country. We had fought for the Independence of a united India,” he said.
During the 1952 general elections, many of his colleagues, including the then chief minister, Sadashiv Tripathy, became MLAs. But, Baji believed in helping people in a different way. “Gandhi’s code was to serve the mankind and I don’t think we always need power and position for that,” said Baji, who remained a bachelor throughout the life.
Post-Independence, from 1955-67, he had been the adviser to the Koraput District Bhudan Board. He played a leading role to collect about four lakh acres and distribute among the landless. Though being a Muslim he had launched a movement against cow slaughtering. “I donated my 14 acres during the bhoodan movement,” Baji said. In 1968 he established an ashram at Bijapur to house the students of adivasi and harijan communities. It is now a high school for the tribal students, and each month Baji donates a certain percentage of his freedom fighter’s pension for school management.
“What hurts me is that people have forgotten Gandhi ji‘s principle. But, I still believe that the India that Gandhi had dreamt of will be realised one day,” he said.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Odisha / by Priyadarshini Pattnaik / January 21st, 2018
