Reminiscing about his school days, Wipro chief Azim Premji on Saturday said he spent a lot of time outside the classroom kneeling for being naughty.
“Yes, I was very naughty when I was a kid and those days, we got rapped on the knuckles and hit on the head and you had to be kneeling outside the class for a long time. Some of these practices are no longer there, but I spent a lot of time outside the class kneeling,” he said.
He was replying to a query in an interaction with students at the celebrations of Wipro’s 2016 Earthian Awards here.
Asked why he left college early in his life, Premji said he did it for taking up responsibilities of his father who died very young, but completed masters in electrical engineering many years later.
“I left the college in between, primarily because I had to take responsibilities from my father who died at a very young age, but eventually many years later I did get a masters degree in electrical engineering,” he said.
Asked about the future of children, especially girls, Premji said girls are more serious than boys about their career, provided they are getting support from parents.
“Girls take their careers much more seriously, and girls particularly in villages take their careers even more seriously, once the parents give them the latitudinal support,” he said.
“Unfortunately, many parents put young girls to take care of the younger child, because the mother goes out to earn in addition to husband’s earning,” he said.
Premji further said girls fare better than boys in getting academic awards and are street-smart.
“I have travelled enough to schools in villages and colleges too, the girls always turn out to be street-smart, consistently. Just look at the quality of questions you get from the ladies in the audience. In my opinion, girls ask far more intelligent questions than boys,” he said.
“I also find, wherever the schools are following ranking system, 50% of the awards go to girls in a class,” Premji added.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City / DHNS – February 05th, 2017
The sixth Nizam Mahboob Ali Pasha is remembered for combining tradition with modernity
Among the rulers of all the native states in British India, Mahboob Ali Pasha, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad is reputed to have had the most lavish court. Born in August, 1866, Mahboob came to the throne at the age of three after the death of his father, Afzal ud Daulah. Mahboob Ali, thus knew no day when he was not the King.
A Regency under Sir Salar Jung I was set up for the young Nizam till he came of age. The Viceroy, Lord Ripon came to Hyderabad for the investiture ceremony held on February 5, 1884 and presented the Nizam a diamond-studded gold sword on the occasion.
Mahboob Ali was a perfect example of a Victorian Prince. He had a great taste for western culture and modern ways of life.
His English tutor, Major John Clark (who had earlier tutored the Duke of Edinburgh) had instilled in young Mahboob the customs and manners of high English society. As a result he imbibed great taste for all that was western. His western etiquette was so perfect that there was a rumour among the courtiers that the Nizam visited European countries incognito without the knowledge of any one!
His obsession for clothes and cars was legendary. His collection of garments was one of the most extensive in the world of his time.
The best English tailors were brought to Hyderabad to stitch the Royal robes combining tradition with modernity. There was a new dress for every day and he never wore the same dress for the second time.
It is no wonder that Mahboob Ali had a huge wardrobe in his palace that ran for more than hundred feet in length, considered to be the longest in the world. As his wardrobe was on the first floor of the palace, a lift was fitted for the Nizam to access his wardrobe every day with ease.
It is interesting to note that this hand-operated wooden lift at the Purani Haveli palace, in its shining best is still in perfect working condition.
His passion for cars was unparalleled and owned a good fleet of them. A Rolls Royce Silver Ghost that was made to order but delivered after he died in 1911, is now on display in the Chowmahalla palace fully restored, due to the efforts of Princess Esra Jah wife of the present Mukharam Jah.
The resources of the Nizam as well as the spirit of the times to which he belonged never discouraged lavish spending of money. Hyderabad came to be known for Mahboob Ali’s extravagant entertainments and lavish hunting expeditions.
Interest in medicine
It was under Mahboob Ali’s patronage, that Hyderabad Chloroform Commission was set up in 1889 and Chloroform as a safe anesthesia agent in surgeries was proved by Dr. Edward Lawrie, Principal of Hyderabad Medical School. The Nizam was personally interested in the work of the Commission. Two Hyderabadi doctors, Dr. M.G. Naidu (husband of Sarojini Naidu) and Dr. S. Mallanna (father of the future Gen. S.M. Srinagesh) were sent to England with funds provided by the Nizam to prove the efficacy of Chloroform in surgeries.
The British Medical Association journal, Lancet, hailed the work of this Commission. Mahaboob Ali, personally being interested in healing was famously known to administer a herb-based medicine to cure snake bite. During his reign, the first Hyderabad- Nagpur Railway line was laid in 1874. The advent of telegraph, telephone and electricity opened up Hyderabad towards economic growth.
Chirag Ali, a well known educationalist from Aligarh was invited by Mahboob Ali to spread English education in the Nizam’s dominions. Mahboob College in Secunderabad and Nizam College in Hyderabad stand testimony to the development of higher education initiated by Mahaboob Ali Khan. Aghornath Chattoadhyay, the father of Sarojini Naidu, the first Indian to have obtained Ph.D in Biology from Edinburgh University, was the first principal of the Nizam College.
Mahboob Ali Khan was a good polo player and an excellent marksman. He was probably the first Indian prince to have a court photographer, Deen Dayal. With his wonderful skills in photography, Deen Dayal, on whom the Nizam conferred the title, Raja, immortalised the Nizam and his times. Raja Deen Dayal employed in his studio an English lady to help him in taking the photos of the women members in the Nizam’s Palace.
Mahaboob Ali passed away on August 29, 1911 when he was hardly 45 years and was succeeded by his son, Mir Osman Ali Khan, regarded as the world’s richest man but the most frugal of all the Nizams, an antithesis to his flamboyant father.
Among the numerous expensive jewels that Mahboob possessed during his reign was the famous Jacob Diamond weighing 162 Carats, bought from the reputed London jeweller, Jacob.
Years later, Osman Ali Khan used this fabulous diamond, said to be next only to Kohinoor, as paper weight, the purpose for which Mahaboob Ali bought it.
Mahboob Ali also ever lives in the minds of the gastronomists, be the natives or visitors to this city for the aroma and the taste of the distinct Hyderabadi dhum biryani, the perfection for which the Nizam, Mahboob Ali Pasha justifiably took pride.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / by K.S.S.Seshan / February 02nd, 2017
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) national president and former Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed, who suffered a cardiac arrest in Parliament on Tuesday, passed away at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi.
His death was confirmed at 2.30 a.m. on Wednesday. He was 78. His body will be kept at his official residence for public homage till noon and will be flown to Kozhikode airport at 2 p.m. Thereafter, it will be taken to Haj House at Karipur and then to the League House in Kozhikode. The burial will be held in Kannur on Thursday.
President Pranab Mukherjee took to Twitter to express his grief, saying, “E. Ahamed was a friend and colleague of long years.”
Mr. Ahamed was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1967, 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1987. From 1982 to 1987, he served as Cabinet Minister for Industries, Government of Kerala.
From 1971 to 1977, he was the founding chairman of the Kerala State Rural Development Board. From 1979 to 1980, he was the executive chairman of the Kerala State Small Scale Industries Development Corporation. From 1981 to 1983, he was the chairman of the Municipal Council of Kannur.
Mr. Ahamed was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009. During May 2004 – May 2009, he served as the Minister of State for External Affairs. During May 2009 – January 2011, he was the Minister of State for Railways. He assumed charge again as Minister of State of External Affairs on January 24, 2011. Mr. Ahamed assumed the additional charge as Minister of State for Human Resource Development on 12 July, 2011.
During his tenure in Parliament, he was a member of several parliamentary committees, including External Affairs, Railways, Civil Aviation and Tourism, Public Undertakings, Science and Technology, Environment and Forests. He was also the chairman of the Government Assurance Committee.
Mr. Ahamed graduated from Govt. Brennen College in Thalassery and later obtained a Law Degree from the Government Law College in Thiruvanathapuram.
Mr. Ahamed is widely travelled and has represented India in the United Nations six times between 1991 and 2009. In 1984, he was sent to GCC countries as an Emissary of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Born on 29 April, 1938, Mr. Ahamed has performed Hajj seven times – five times as a Member of Government of India Haj Goodwill Delegation. He has also authored 3 books in English and Malayalam.
He was married to Late Mrs. Zuhara Ahamed. Mr. Ahamed has two sons and a daughter.
His hobbies include reading, writing and watching sports.
On his sixth daughter’s wedding, this Mangaluru businessman will finance the wedding of six other girls
Ibrahim Haji, a fish vendor, has 10 children, of whom seven are girls and three are boys
Extravagant weddings have become the norm for the rich in recent years, where tycoons don’t hesitate to spend crores of rupees on celebrations that last almost a week.
Then we have seen other wealthy people who lead by example. Recently, a businessman from Aurangabad celebrated his daughter’s wedding by gifting 90 houses to the homeless poor.
Now it is the turn of G Ibrahim Haji, a fish vendor from Gundyadka in Sullia, about 86 kilometers from Mangaluru .
On the occasion of the marriage of his sixth daughter on Feb 5, he has decided to get six other poor girls married. Ibrahim Haji has 10 children, of whom seven are girls and three boys. Five of his daughters are married and he decided to celebrate the wedding of his sixth daughter Aasma B in a special way. She will be marrying Shahul, a businessman.
Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Nasiruddin, also a businessman who is married to Ibrahim’s second daughter Fauzia, said, “This is not the first time that my father-in-law has decided to help the poor. He came up in life the most difficult way and now he feels that he should help those who are in need.”
Ibrahim Haji started out in life as an ice candy vendor. After working for some time, he bought a secondhand Ambassador car for Rs 3,500 and was running service trips for some time. He then went to Dubai hoping for better prospects, but returned within months. On his return to Sullia, he ventured into the fish business. He would buy fish from Mangaluru and sell in Sullia. Gradually, his business grew and today he has about 20 mobile vehicles that sell fish on the Sullia-Madikeri and Puttur route and nearly 30 employees, said Nasiruddin.
He said Ibrahim Haji has undertaken lot of charity. “When he was the president of the Mogarpane Jumma Masjid, he built a 20-room building, so that the masjid earns revenue. Even in the past, he has helped poor girls in their marriage. To make his daughter’s wedding special, he has decided to conduct the marriage of six other poor girls. He will be offering about 10 sovereigns gold, wedding dress and lunch and look after other wedding expenses. The Nikah will take place in turns and is expected to begin at around 11.30 and go on till 2 pm. Food for nearly 6,000 people will be arranged. The wedding will take place at a ground near his house. The beneficiaries have been identified after we personally visited them. They belong to Belthangady, Puttur and Sullia area. Each of their families has a sad story to narrate. When a few among them are orphans and looked after by their relatives, a girl’s father is bedridden and another girl’s marriage was getting postponed repeatedly because the family had no money,” he said.
Ibrahim has helped poor in other ways too, like in getting a house constructed in time. “Even today, he works at his stall in the market and is very down-to-earth and hopes to continue his charity work in the future too,” said Nasiruddin.
Ibrahim Haji said, “God has blessed me and I want to continue helping people in need. I started my business from zero and today would like spend a part of my income on the needy.”
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> News> State / by Bangalore Mirror Bureau / February 01st, 2017
A number of graduates who received gold medal at the 12th convocation of King George’s Medical University on Sunday would prefer to work in government sector-academics or practice to help the under privileged.
“Millions die every year for lack of proper treatment of neurological disorders, so I look forward to help those in need,” said Imran Rizvi, who bagged the Dr A M Kar centenary Gold Medal for best performance in DM (Neurology).
Recipient of the highest honour, Mohammad Tabish too wants to work in his home district comprising villages of Muzaffarnagar. Resident of Basti, BDS topper Abhishek Kumar Gupta said he ultimately wanted to open a clinic in Basti and serve in his home town. Similarly, Chancellor’s gold and university honours medal winner Avinash D Gautam too wants to serve the poor.
Sharing the dream of going abroad, Harsha A H and Shiva Rajan wish to work for the welfare of the society. “I wish to make discoveries and invent technologies that would help treat patients,” said Harsha, who received the ‘Sursari Dayal Memorial Gold Medal’.
The gold medal in the name of Vice Chancellor Prof Ravi Kant was conferred on Himanshu Yadav who believes in healing patients, rather than treating them. “I want to put in whatever I have learnt till date in serving impecunious,” added Yadav.
One of the gold medallists said she took up medical studies only to relieve the poverty-stricken. Vikram Holla, who will soon be joining as an assistant professor in a government medical college, said, “I am ready to work with any organisation that works ethically, and prioritises needs of the under- privileged.”
There was a good number of passouts who wanted to work in the government sector but Madhusudan Patodia, recipient of Prof T C Goel Gold medal said he would like to work in a private hospital since they are technologically more advanced. Patodia’s field of specialisation is kidney transplant.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / TNN / January 30th, 2017
Makki has rare collection of stones: Makki owns over 1,000 exhibits worth several crores
Huge claws of a T-Rex dinosaur that would take you to the world of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, massive amethyst crystals and a meteorite that fell in Siberia in Russia that remind of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos are part of his collection. Besides them, he owns hundreds of small precious stones, which would hold visitors in awe and expose them to a new world of stones.
Interestingly, all these are held by one man and he answers to the name of Makki. He is virtually a mobile museum. Whether it is something extra-terrestrial or buried in mounds or deep inside the earth, he has almost everything. He has ruby, agate, amethyst and many more.
“You need to touch them, feel them and experience them,” says 68-year-old Muhammad Fasihuddin Makki about his exhibits. He is not touchy about anyone touching specimens and insists that students need to be brought closer to them to change their perspective about stones.
Collecting and selling stones are his hobby as well as profession. “It’s my passion and I love it… my bread and butter are minerals,” he said. “I am taking stones to the doorstep of people for them to develop love for them,” said Makki, who has no formal training in geology. In fact, Makki is a Master’s in English and calls himself a “pujari of Laxmi and Saraswati”.
The Pune-based Makki is the founder of Matrix India and also runs a touring museum. His personal collection is displayed in exhibitions across India. He has participated in several exhibitions, conferences and auctions abroad. He has been supplying rocks and minerals to schools and colleges. He also runs one of the biggest agencies in the world involved in exporting and importing rocks and minerals.
“We offer a variety of minerals from spectacular specimens for collectors to large stock of supplies to wholesale buyers. We have a ready stock of different rough materials from India and we regularly add to our inventory freshly mined new specimens from the Deccan Traps,” said Makki. They also supply boulders and large colourful rocks for landscaping and interior decoration.
Makki is a member of various associations, including Minerological Society of India, Minerological Society of America, Collectors Society of India, Volcanological Society of India, Euromineral France and Mineralientage Germany.
The family of Makki hails from Karnataka and his father was into collecting minerals. “I picked it up from him,” he said. It has been close to five decades into this profession and hobby. “I love this and it keeps me going,” he said. He takes over 1,000 specimens for exhibitions and their value will be several crores.
“I do not charge any money or take remuneration.The institutions where I arrange these mineral and fossil exhibitions arrange for my accommodation and for my two or three assistants. The organisers bear the cost of transporting exhibits like stones from Pune. Some of the exhibits are quite heavy and many of them weigh more than 100 kg,” he said.
His son Sami has started helping him in the business and in arranging these educational earth science exhibitions.
The most precious among the specimens in his collection is a meteorite. It looks small but it is over 8 kg, he smiles. “It fell in 1947 in Sikhote-Alin in Siberia. In 1994, I visited an exhibition in the United States, where this was auctioned…. I did not hesitate, bid for it and bought it… it was quite a sum, but it is a rare collection,” he says.
He recently held “Exhibition of Rocks, Minerals & Archaeological Antiques” and it was hosted by the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies (CEMS) of the University of Mumbai in collaboration with the INSTUCEN (India Study Centre) Trust, and the Deccan College of Pune. “I want people to touch them, photograph them… it is a kind of a bond…it is a rock. Minerals do not have life, but once you touch and feel it, you are in a totally different world,” he says passionately.
He said, “The trilobites are over 400 million years old. These are the oldest fossils with me. Dinosaurs became extinct 60 million years ago. I have dinosaur fossils with me and in fact children love to see them. They often want to touch and see and I do not object. Today one can see dinosaurs in films or on television. When children see a live claw or egg or remains they get excited,” points out Makki.
Explaining how he goes about his collection, he said: “I do mining and collection from all parts of India. I have set aside a lot of large exotic colourful mineral specimens as my personal collection and in addition to that I also acquire many different kinds of colourful and interesting mineral specimens found in other countries. I buy from other dealers or exchange with my specimens and in this way over the years I have accumulated a huge collection of colourful crystalline mineral specimens from all over the world.”
India, he says, is a treasure house of minerals and the Geological Society of India and Geological Survey of India have been doing a great job. “Collection and exhibition of rocks and minerals offer good careers,” he claims.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Special Features / by Mrityunjay Bose in Mumbai / DHNS – January 29th, 2017
Abdul Hossain of Siliguri crossed the finish line in two hours, 34 minutes and two seconds to win the inaugural IDBI Federal Life Insurance Kolkata Marathon here on Sunday.
Biswnath Pal, who was five minutes slower than Hossain, took the second place, while Paritosh Roy (2:52:48) ended up third in the race which began at 5 a.m.
In half-marathon, Subhankar Ghosh (1:09:07) and Mangali Tamang (1:31:13) emerged the winners among men and women respectively.
In a close finish, Pramod Kumar (32.38) beat Shynsharlang Wahlang by 0.01 second to claim the 10,000m men’s crown. Puja Mandal (38:59) recorded a comfortable victory for the women’s title.
Sachin Tendulkar, who was the face of the event, was a major attraction at the marathon in which more than 8,000 runners took part in different races.
The results:
Marathon, men: 1. Abul Hossain 2:34:02s; 2. Biswanath Pal 2:39:16; 3. Paritosh Roy 2:52:48.
The winds of change started blowing when Sabbah Haji decided to do something for her homeland and subsequently opened the family-run Haji Public School.
At some 8000 feet above sea level, this school on picturesque hills in Chenab valley is setting new standards of education in Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from securing excellent grades in academics, the students here enjoy watching movies, learn activities like rock-climbing, and speak fluent English from kindergarten, something otherwise unusual for this “traditionally-conservative” Doda district.
The winds of change started blowing a decade ago, when Sabbah Haji a young woman, born and brought up in Dubai, decided to do something for her homeland and subsequently opened the family-run Haji Public School in Breswana village, some seven hours drive from the winter capital of Jammu.
After spending her childhood in UAE where her parents worked back then, Sabbah had shifted to Bengaluru for further studies. While her parents returned to Doda in 2000, Sabbah, after completing her studies, stayed back in the metropolitan, working with the multi-national companies.
But it in 2008 when Sabbah went visited Doda to meet her parents that things changed. Incidentally Sabah’s Singapore-based uncle, Nasir Haji was also in the town then. During a get-together, the family discussed their charity trust providing assistance to the needy. This was when Nasir bounced off the idea to do something big for the homeland by opening a school and proposed that he would also fund the project.
The idea was well taken. Sabbah’s mother Tasneem, who worked as a teacher in the Middle-East, was already an experienced hand. Her father Saleem Haji was equally willing. But “aged minds” needed “support of young energetic hands.”
Sabbah Haji
And this was where Sabbah’s need was felt. A post graduate in English, she willingly agreed. Giving up her lucrative career in the MNCs, she started working on the new dream in this remote hamlet.
As the school started, Sabbah was appointed as its Director and her mother its principal. But irrespective of designations, both mother-daughter duo work as teachers as well. Saleem Haji, a former manager in a shipment company abroad, is the now the village Sarpanch and ensures inspecting the school officially.
The Haji Public School had started with just one student in the kindergarten, who qualified her class 8th board exams last year with over 90% marks. Over the years the school has over 350 students and counting. “We didn’t start all the classes at one time as we wanted to groom our kids from the very beginning,” Sabbah told InUth.
Interestingly, while the co-educational institution bears a Muslim name, it has a big number of students from other communities as well. Sabbah takes classes on religious and moral teachings too.
The school has a variety of specialised facilities including a movie projector where kids love watching movies in the company of their favourite “Sabbah Mam”. Blockbuster Dangal is scheduled to be screened when the school reopens in spring after ongoing winter vacations.
But then is this 34-year-old woman, who gave up her promising career abroad happy to work in the remote Valley? “Yes of course. It’s our home,” she says adding that internet keeps her connected to the entire world.
Having been recently awarded by the state government for her contribution in “Social reforms and empowerment”, Sabah gives credit to her family. “We are in love with this place because even when we were abroad, my father always kept us connected to our roots. He is a very grounded person for that matter.”
She says the Haji family is happy and satisfied to see the kids improve. But then Sabbah takes a deep breath: “A lot more needs to be done!”
source: http://www.inuth.com / InUth.com / Home> India / by Majid Hyderi / January 27th, 2017
Actor Milla Jovovich and her husband, filmmaker Paul W.S Anderson say Salman Khan has more fans in Germany than them.(Rich Fury/Invision/AP)
A Bollywood A-lister’s stardom can leave even Hollywood celebrities behind. That’s exactly what filmmaker Paul WS Anderson and his wife, actor Milla Jovovich witnessed when they ran into Salman Khan in Germany in 2011.
“We were staying at the same hotel and I was shocked because there was this huge crowd of fans inside the hotel. First immediately I thought they were my fans and I walked out all ah… No one is paying attention to me at all and what’s going on,” says Milla who will soon be seen in the sixth instalment of the Resident Evil film franchise.
She adds, “Suddenly this guy (Salman Khan) walks by and everyone is like Oh My God!! I see all of this happen and ask myself ‘Jesus Christ who is this guy?’ And then we get to know he’s the biggest Indian Bollywood star and he’s a huge deal.”
The 41-year-old actor says she was quite embarrassed with the incident. “That incident was quite interesting yet humiliating. We were all prepared to sign autographs and no one was interested and it was funny. We would turn up, pull-up at the hotel and literally more than 100 fans gathered outside the hotel. When we pulled up and got out of the car, no one was interested in us and it was so funny,” she adds.
Her husband, Paul Anderson feels Indian films are big in other countries. “Bollywood movies aren’t considered harmful in anyway. They are not pushing any western values. So Indian stars are huge in Germany,” says Anderson.
Actor Salman Khan’s stardom in Germany floored actor Milla Jovovich and her husband, filmmaker Paul W.S Anderson. (PTI)
Following the incident, Milla now wants to work with Salman and says, “I would love that. I don’t know about the singing and the dancing bit. Though I’d have to …it will be my next training.”
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Bollywood / by Samarth Goyal, HT / January 26th, 2017
Roshni Misbah is pursuing an MA in Arabic & Culture Studies at Jamia. Photo Piyal Bhattacharjee
New Delhi :
She oozes attitude in her black leather jacket, jeans and high-heeled boots, her head covered in a hijab. But that is not why Roshni Misbah makes heads turn in Jamia Millia Islamia. What does is the way she moves — on a mean orange-red-and-black motorbike that leaves behind a trail of throaty retorts when she zooms by.
People unaccustomed to such derring-do on a tradition-bound campus are slowly coming to terms with the phenomenon of Misbah, a 22-year-old who is pursuing an MA degree in Arabic and Culture Studies at the university. She is also an online sensation. For those who think a woman should, at most, aspire to a scooter, she is a slap in the face.
“I am a member of groups like the Windchasers and Delhi Royal Enfield Riders, and was part of the Bajaj Avengers Club at the time I owned an Avenger bike,” said the girl from Ghaziabad. She also believes that she is one of the youngest members of Bikerni, an all-woman biker group in Delhi that aims at gender empowerment through female motorcyclists.
These days, she flashes by on a Rs 2-lakh, 250 cc Honda CBR Repsol. It has been a longish journey since the time her father, himself a lover of motorcycles and owner of, among others, a monstrous Suzuki Intruder 1800, said he would get her a Vespa when she declared pillion rides with him had whetted her keenness to become a biker.
She was in Class IX at Cambridge School when her wish was fulfilled. She learnt to ride a bike by herself and later managed to buy the Avenger, on which she perfected her skills. Her embracing of an unusual pursuit made her an immediate heroine for her two younger siblings and their friends.
Misbah knew she was doing something different, especially for a girl from a conservative community. But everyone around her — from family to friends and teachers — rallied around her. “My teachers even gave me a special parking slot near the Indo-Arab Centre on the campus,” she said. Her teacher, Jawed Khan, director, Centre for West Asian Studies, described her as a sincere student who remained attached to her culture despite being passionate about bikes. A friend, Fareed Farooqui, who too is a superbike rider, felt that “other girls should do whatever they wish to, like Roshni”.
Thankful to the vast majority who have endorsed her passion, Misbah also recalled that there were a few who criticised her for not conforming to the accepted image of a woman. The confident super biker believes that she is doing her bit to break down such stereotypes and hopes instead “to inspire more and more girls to follow their desires”.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Delhi News / by Mohammad Ibrar, TNN / January 28th, 2017
