Tag Archives: Female Muslim Doctors of Kolkata

Inspiring tales of a bus driver’s daughter, panwala’s son and gatekeeper’s grandson becoming doctors

Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

Urooj, a Kolkata-based NGO has taken up the task of coaching underprivileged and average students to excel in NEET exam.

Kolkata’s renowned doctors with Urooj students who secured a seat through NEET

Kolkata:

Gosiya Azad stays in a small house on College Street. During the lockdowns, she found it difficult to study at her home, so she used to walk almost two kilometres to study in a library. Azad, daughter of a bus driver, has managed to secure a medical seat (BDS) at the Dr. R Ahmed Dental College.

Gosiya missed MBBS by one mark. If she would have OBC certificate then she would have got MBBS seat. She is an OBC candidate, but couldn’t get all the documentation done because her family is not literate.

“I had secured 62 per cent in senior secondary. And I was not very good at studies,” she recalls.

Like Gosiya, Shayaan Fahim, also says that he was an average student. And once believed he will never be able to crack the national level exam — National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). But, he too secured an MBBS seat at the Barasat Medical College.

Danyal Rizwan Ansari passed his secondary from a government school in Bihar. He is all set to become the first doctor from his village. Danyal has also secured an MBBS seat in Barasat Medical College.

Along with them, there are other students whose father runs a pan stall or whose mother is a teacher in a trust school earning a meagre salary and have beaten all odds to crack the NEET and secure a medical seat.

The Urooj students who secured a medical seat

These students have one thing in common, Urooj, a Kolkata-based Non-Government Organization (NGO) which helps underprivileged and average students to crack NEET at a nominal or almost no fees.

Some 151 students (classroom+test) enrolled last year but due to open enrollment system only 79 gave tests, out of which 22 got seats in different government medical colleges and hospitals through NEET 2022. Among them, 14 are girls who realized their dreams of becoming doctors.

On Sunday evening, all of them, along with 15 more students of Urooj’s 2021 batch were felicitated in Topsia.

And to felicitate them, 30 doctors, from renowned medical colleges and hospitals attended the event.

Aulad Hussain High School, center of Urooj’s classroom coaching had a jam-packed session, despite the unexpected delay caused by a phenomenal turnout of guests to attend the event.

Dr Salim Parvez, Dr Nahid Parvez and Dr Aadil Bashir felicitate an Urooj student Md. Shoaib Akhtar

It was an emotional moment not only for the students who realized their dreams but also for the parents who wanted to see their sons and daughters don the ‘white coat’.

Anwar Hussain, who secured an MBBS seat in Deben Mahata Medical College, when get felicitated, later called upon his father Md Mobarak Hussain and the son donned the father with white coat.

“We do not do the felicitations for donations or publicity. But by such functions, we want to encourage the students for higher studies. We believe that MBBS is just a beginning and they have to do MD and MS or other higher studies in future,” informed Umar Daraz Danish, a teacher, by profession and the center-in-charge of Urooj.

Urooj is the brainchild of Dr. Minhajuddin Khurram, Cardio-Thoracic and vascular Surgeon at NRS Medical College and his cousin Dr. Jaweria Mehreen (MBBS intern). Urooj also gets support from Helping Hand Trust.

Dr. Ahsan Kamal, Dr. Minhajuddin Khurram and Dr. Jaweria Mehreen felicitating another student of Urooj Sumaiya AK Sayeed

Umar added, “Last year, a student whose grandfather was a gatekeeper in Aulad Hussain School cleared NEET and secured a seat in a government college. But we did not publicize it. Urooj also has students who are from economically well-off backgrounds, like a parent who is a teacher in Pratt Memorial.”

Urooj conducts a one-year course for students who are in plus two or have passed senior secondary. Unlike other medical coaching centers, Urooj does not teach or guide 11th-standard students in order to prepare for NEET. It charges only Rs 20000 for a year, that too in installments. If some parents can’t afford that also then they can pay as little as Rs 8000. The Urooj students, who crack NEET, next year help guide ongoing aspirants.

“We do not compromise on the quality of teachers. All are paid as per industry-standard. But we also ensure that students do not start considering teachers as cult figures and rather believe in Urooj and the idea behind it,” said Dr. Khurram, the Academic Supervisor of Urooj.

All the budding doctors praise Dr. Khurram for his selfless mentoring and guidance, which helped them crack NEET.

Some of the doctors also addressed future doctors like gynaecologist Nahid Parvez and Plastic Surgeon Faria Shahab.

“The students should believe that they are not in the profession to earn money but to serve humanity. I also request support from those who are unable to clear this year,” said Dr. Nahid.

While Dr. Faria highlighted, “There is a need for female doctors in every area of specialization and there is nothing like male specialist area, so girls can opt for any specialization they want.”

The list of thirty doctors with their specializations and where they are practicing.

1- Dr. Sayeed Uddin(MBBS, Veteran General Practitioner)

2- Dr. Marya Tazeen (BDS, Dentist, Central Kolkata)

3– Dr. Arshad Ahmed (MS, Orthopedics, Asst. Prof CNMC)

4- Dr. Sufiyan Ahmed (MD, Anesthesia and intensive care specialist, in-charge of GDDI ICU)

5– Dr. Ayesha Farheen (BHMS, Homeopathic Practitioner)

6– Dr. Arsalan Raza (MBBS, DCH, Pediatrician) 

7– Dr. Salim Parvez (MD, Radiologist, Director of Radiology, Fortis)

8– Dr. Nahid Parvez (MS, Renowned Gynaecologist)

9– Dr. Aadil Bashir (DM, Cardiologist, NRS MCH)

10– Dr. Asif Ansari (MD, Internal Medicine, Asst. Prof CNMC)

11– Dr. Fatima Zinna (MD, Dermatologist)

12– Dr. Wasif Akhtar (Homeopathy practitioner)

13– Dr. Md. Sarim Ashfaque. (MS, Orthopaedics, Apollo)

14– Dr. Ishrat Parveen (BHMS, Homeopathic Practitioner)

15– Dr. Zoya Ayesha (MBBS, Social Activist)

16– Dr. Ismail Shahidullah (DNB, Neuro Anesthesia- INK)

17– Dr. Jaweria Mehreen (MBBS intern- founder member of Urooj)

18– Dr. Mubashshir Shamim (MRCP, Pediatrician)

19– Dr. Arif Faizan (MD, Senior Interventional Radiologist, NH, Medica and Kothari)

20- Dr. Haseeb Hassan (DM- Neurologist, Amri, Kolkata)

21– Dr. Abdul Majid (DMS, Veteran Homeopathic Practitioner)

22– Dr. Amber Obaid (MD, Senior Radiologist, Medica)

23– Dr. Ahsan Kamal (MS, General Surgery)

24– Dr. Talha Shahid (BDS, Dentist)

25– Dr. Subhan Reyaz (DNB Radiation Oncology, Chitranjan Cancer Hospital)

26– Dr. Saima Shahid (BHMS, Homeopathic Practitioner)

27– Dr. Minhajuddin Khurram (MCh, CTVS, resident at NRS)

28– Dr. Faria Shahab (MCh, Plastic Surgeon, Asst. Prof RG. Kar)

29- Dr. Nehal (DMS, Veteran Homeopathic Practitioner, Social Activist)

30– Dr. Samira Aslam (BDS, Dentist)

source: http://www.enewsroom.in / eNews Room India / Home> Let There Be Light / by Shahnawaz Akhtar / January 10th, 2023

NGO to felicitate three Muslim women who defied society’s frown

Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

Modelling professional, rugby player and dermatologist among role models.

(From left) Bilkes Perveen, Saba Ali Firoz and Suraiya Rahman.
Gautam Bose

A young woman set a condition to her would-be husband that she would marry only if she was allowed to pursue sports after wedding.

A girl whose neighbours once complained she wore jeans pursued her dream and became a fashion model, an entrepreneur and an anchor-presenter.

Several Muslim women who refused to tread the steps that many others wanted them to — get married, have children and live a domestic life — are now successful professionals. They came together at a gathering on Thursday afternoon.

The women will be feted by the NGO Friends of Alumni of Colleges Educational Institutes and Schools (FACES) and Mashriq Education Trust next week.

The Telegraph listened to some of their stories:

Bilkes Perveen

Anchor, model and entrepreneur

She was once frowned upon for wearing jeans. Bilkes, in her early 30s, who grew up on Convent Road in central Kolkata, said she was probably the only girl in her community in the neighbourhood who wore a pair of jeans.

“My neighbours were not happy with me wearing jeans. It was a very conservative space where I grew up,” she said. But she didn’t budge.

When she was 18, Bilkes took a night-shift job. She would go to her workplace wearing jeans or trousers. “I was 18. I wanted to be financially independent. Relatives and neighbours questioned why I took a night job. They wanted me to marry and have a kid instead of working. Fortunately, my parents stood by me,” Bilkes said on Thursday.

Life had better in store for her. At 19, she took up a job with a bank. It is while working there that she found her future husband, Tanmay Chatterjee. “Tanmay has always been very supportive. He wanted me to be a role model for others. After marriage I set up a company named Perveen and Chatterjee,” she said.

Bilkes wants to help women who have dreams but are afraid of defying the moral police. “My company trains Muslim women in personality development,” she said. 

Bilkes herself hosts events as anchor and is also a model for a sari brand. “I am today happy with what I am doing,” she said.

Saba Ali Firoz

Rugby player and stylist

Saba had set a condition to her husband before marriage — she would pursue sports, her passion.

“My husband was fine with it,” said the 39-year-old mother of two.

She continues to do it despite unsolicited comments meant to fetter her. “I had to wear short skirts for playing, for which I had to hear comments like ‘you are not Sania Mirza’. Wearing a short skirt is a taboo,” she said.

Daughter of a retired police officer, Saba, a resident of Metropolitan off EM Bypass, got inducted into sports from her early teens by her father. “I did sprints and long jumps. It was my father who inspired me to take up athletics.” 

Saba’s interest in sports spans disciplines. She has represented her club CCFC in rugby. She has played darts, badminton and tennis. She has also inculcated the passion for sports in her kids. Her 15-year-old son has represented the state in swimming and her 9-year-old daughter is training in swimming and basketball.

Imran Zaki, president of Faces, one of the organisers of Thursday’s get-together, said Muslim women were usually not encouraged by the society to take up sports and continue that after marriage. “It is to Saba’s credit and her will that she has managed to do what she loves. She is the one to emulate,” said Zaki.

As a professional, Saba runs her own studio at her home. She is a stylist and a make-up artist.

Suraiya Rahman

Gynaecologist and owner of a hospital 

Suraiya earned her MBBS degree from Bihar in 1967. She was the only Muslim woman in her batch. She later completed her MD from Kolkata in 1975. Again she was the only Muslim woman in her batch.

“There were objections from relatives and acquaintances. They thought it was disgraceful for a woman to go to a convent school and a medical college,” she said. “But my parents never let those objections reach me. My younger sister is a gynaecologist,” she said.

If Suraiya was a rare example in her student days, she is one even now. At 76, Suraiya is running a hospital on Dilkusha Street near bridge number 4 in Park Circus. She does procedures, looks after the daily administration and advises junior doctors. “I am only 76,” she said when applauded for being so active at her age.

Farah Khan, director, Mashriq Education Trust, said: “Suraiya Rahman is a role model for the entire community. So many young doctors from our community, both women and men, look up to her.”

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Kolkata / Home> My Kolkata / News> Women’s Empowerment / by Subhajoy Roy / June 10th, 2022