Farooque Sayyed, the founder of the children’s magazine Gul Bootey was in the city for a seminar on children’s literature. His Urdu magazine which recently completed 22 years is the product of his painstaking hard work despite financial hardships.

Who doesn’t want to get lost in the world of fantasy? A world of dwarfs, dragons, fairies and mermaids. Generations of children have gone to bed listening to the fascinating tales of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood and Alibaba Chalis Chor. But not anymore. The iGeneration would now rather curl up in bed with a Smartphone, iPod or other geek gadgets.

Can electronic inventions replace books and toys? A gadget reading out story is not the same as a mother reading a fairy tale to her kid. The parental warmth and manifestation of love that comes with live communication can’t be had with a modern device. But, bringing out children’s literature is easier said than done. While the publishing scene is very bright in English, the same is not the case with regional languages. This genre is facing tough challenges, particularly in Urdu language.

Riddles written by Amir Khusro in Urdu involving fun and double entendre are considered earliest forms of popular literature. Publishers of children’s literature today are struggling to keep the genre alive. There are just 13 Urdu children’s magazines in India and all of them are facing financial crisis, not to speak of poor patronage from the government and the Urduwallas themselves.

In these trying times, Gul Bootey, the monthly journal published from Mumbai, has completed 22 years. The magazine brought out by Farooque Sayyed has a modest circulation of 25,000 copies. But, this is considered a big number for an Urdu journal as most such periodicals do not even touch the four-digit figure. Recently, Sayyed was in Hyderabad to take part in the seminar on ‘Bacchon ka Adab’ (children’s literature). The Carvan-e-Adab and Urdu Writers and Journalist Association felicitated him for his achievement.

There is a story of grit and determination behind the 67-page colour journal being published by Sayyed since he is doing so at a great personal loss. Every month, he is in the red by Rs. 1.5 lakh. If you think he is either stinking rich or plain mad — forget it. He is neither. He is just fanatical to the cause of children’s literature.

Motivation is what got him started and commitment is what keeps him going. A journalist with the Urdu Times, Mumbai, he was incharge of children’s page ‘Gul Bootey’. One fine morning the management decided to replace the page with ‘Ghar Aangan’ to focus on women’s issues. Sayyed lobbied for continuation of the children’s pages and when this was not agreed to, he quit the job. He launched his own magazine, Gul Bootey, in October 1995, and turned it out into the leading children’s journal in the country.

From fairy tales to quizes, riddles, cartoons, tales of courage, morality, patriotism — Gul Bootey covers a wide gamut of subjects in simple, easy-to-read Urdu. “The idea is to inculcate moral and social values for the educational development of children in an entertaining way,” says Sayyed.

Today, Gul Bootey has become a brand and is loved as much as it is read. School children eagerly wait for the new issue every month. In Maharashtra, where the journal enjoys maximum sale, Urdu medium schools subscribe to the magazine and distribute it to children. In fact, the entire family laps up the journal as it has nuggets of wisdom for the young and the old alike.

Sayyed feels there is a huge potential for children’s magazines if only parents get motivated. “When parents buy costly mobiles for their kids, why can’t they spend Rs 30 for a journal which helps in all-round development of their child,” he argues.

There is a woeful lack of children’s books in Urdu. Prof SA Shukoor, who heads the Urdu Academies of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, says very few children’s books make it to the award list. Many writers shy away from juvenile literature as they are not given the same status as authors of grown-up fiction. There is a feeling that children’s literature is a lesser form of literature.


But, writing for children is no child’s play.

J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Article published in Telangana Today

Dated February 26,2018

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Food for thought SBM and Glowtide join hands to to feed the needy by arrangement 

Rashida is both relieved and happy. The very thought that tonight her children can eat to their heart’s content lights up her face. As Rashida dons her burqa and sets out to the Safa centre nearby, she is joined by other women; they are all on a common mission — to collect food being supplied by the Safa Baitul Mal (SBM), an NGO.

Nearly 60 poor families in the Kishanbagh area get quality food, enough to feed the entire household. “I don’t know where the food comes from, but it is very nice,” says Kavita as she picks up a meal packet. She is among scores of poor households in this locality who have been receiving meals thrice a week, by turns, for close to a year.

Many marginalised families and orphanages in different parts of the city have been getting meals regularly for the last few years. Little do they know that they are partaking the same healthy food which employees in elite companies eat.

So who is the benefactor for these poor people? They are corporate offices and IT companies in the upscale Madhapur area. Everyday a variety of food gets leftover in these companies which is usually carted off to dustbins. That is where a few engineering students stepped in, to join hands and stop the wastage. These good Samaritans, who later formed GlowTide organisation, are taking the trouble to see that the leftover food reaches the poor and needy.

“We first started distributing food packets to homeless persons sleeping on the roadsides near KBR park, LV Prasad Eye Institute , Indo-American Cancer Hospital”, says Murtuza Hashmi of GlowTide.

"We repack the food and handover to the needy in time. It is our responsibility as a society and also as an individual to do our bit"

--Moulana Gayas Ahmed Rashadi,president of SBM

The trigger

The trigger for the social enterprise was an unpleasant scene his elder brother, Mustafa, saw in 2013 when he emerged from a fast food joint. An emaciated man was drinking water from a drain and when asked the reason, he said he had not eaten for last 14 days. “I felt so guilty at the plight of the man and decided to do something,” says Hashmi.

Next morning he discussed it with his close friends and convinced them about the need to help out the hungry to the best of their ability. They approached restaurants, wedding halls and later corporate offices with a request to handover their leftover food. Soon everyone agreed and after some initial hiccups they are now sourcing food from two IT companies, two caterers, a bakery and a school with four branches. “We are able to feed 650 persons as well as inmates of four orphanages and a madrasa. It feels great to serve the needy and uncared for,” says Hashmi.

To streamline its service, GlowTide has tied up with SBM which has good manpower. Whiel Glowtide collects food from the corporate offices, SBM supplies it to the needy in Kishanbagh area. “We repack the food and handover to the needy in time. It is our responsibility as a society and also as an individual to do our bit”, says Moulana Gayas Ahmed Rashadi, president of SBM.

Surfeit of food at one place and shortage at another - GlowTide and SBM are trying to address this imbalance in their own way. Taking where it is excess and giving where it is needed.


No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Article published in The Hindu

Dated February 26,2018

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Selfie Obsession

But first, let me take a selfie.This is what one says before the start and end of every affair.No marriage,conference or picnic is complete without a selfie. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi is bitten by the selfie bug. He prefers to wind up his high­ profile meetings with a selfie picture.

  Nothing wrong in recording a memorable event. But the selfie addiction has taken a dangerous turn of late. In a bid to freeze a moment, people are throwing caution to the winds. The other day a youngster almost lost his life while taking a selfie with a train steaming behind. He was so absorbed in his crazy thing that he ignored repeated warnings of passengers on the railway platform in Hyderabad. Call it guts or bravado, he stood his ground holding the mobile at arm's length even as the train thundered into the station. "Just a moment", he is heard saying before the train hit him.

  This is not a solitary incident. Sometime back there was this news of a woman tourist taking a selfie with her kids standing precariously on a rock only to go down in a flash into the swirling waters of the Nagavali river in Odhisha's Rayagada district.Precious lives lost just for a picture. How sad ... and foolish. Looking for unique and unusual angles while taking self-portraits in scenic locations is claiming lives almost every day. This mania has turned into a global phenomenon. And an end to the selfie syndrome doesn't appear to be in sight

  Perhaps it is the sign of the times.Superficiality, selfishness, selfies and self-destruction are the guiding principles in this age. And the crazier you get the better it seems to be.Thanks to the growing celebrity culture everyone wants to show off and indulge in self-gratification. This is the age of brevity where a tweet receives more attention than a considered piece of prose. Everything is programmed for WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram with download, upload and sharing becoming the buzzwords. Most of our time is consumed in tweeting and updating our status. In such a scenario if selfies go horribly wrong, no wonder.

  The main culprit appears to be the front camera on the mobile device. While the rear ones show you warts and all it is the front camera which gives you the option to showcase yourself in the best way possible. Taking risks is okay, but one must be realistic.The problem is that most of us are crazy and don't pretend to be anything else.

 J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Article published in The New Indian Express

Dated February 22,2018

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The initiative by Wakf Board to streamline Muslim marriages looks promising

For the third time he checked the wedding card. He had made no mistake — the venue, date and time was correct. But there was no sign of the bridegroom yet although it was getting past 10 pm. Riyaz had come to the shadikhana soon after the maghrib prayer only to find it nearly empty.

A diabetic patient, he need to eat on time. But now he didn’t know when food would be served as the nikah itself had not taken place.

Riaz is not alone to face this predicament. Muslim marriages in Hyderabad are known for two things — lavish, delicious spread and the late hour it is served. Such are the timings that many families are forced to think twice before they attend these weddings as it entails children missing school the next day and patients suffering health hazards.

The recent decision of the state Wakf Board to streamline the marriages has come not a day too soon. An internal churning has already been going on in the community for quite sometime with many openly voicing their dissent at the unearthly hour food is served and celebrations continuing late into the night. Yet nobody dared to bell the cat, until now.

Ostentatious, late night ceremonies

Marriages in the Muslim community, particularly in Hyderabad, are no longer the simple affair they used to be. The practice begun by a few NRIs of turning marriages into elaborate affairs with several rounds of eating and merry making, to reflect their affluence, has had a domino effect. Everyone else has gradually jumped on to the bandwagon, even those who can’t afford it. Result, austerity has gone for a toss. Leave alone the affluent, even the middle class and low income group families do not consider any expense too high when it comes to marriage. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s campaign for making ‘ shadi saadi ’ (simple) has no takers, more so in the city of Nawabs.

This is one of the reasons why poor families from the Old city are forced to marry off their girls to oil rich Sheikhs from Middle East, says a Wakf Board official. Truth is Muslim marriages are becoming expensive and tedious although ulemas do regularly address this issue. Be it a nikah or valima, serving of food past midnight has become a norm while the rituals spill over into the wee hours. Imagine the plight of the elderly and unhealthy. As for children, many fall asleep without eating.

In this scenario the Wakf Board’s decision to curb wedding extravagance and late hour ceremonies has come as a welcome relief. But some feel marriage is a personal matter and authorities shouldn’t interfere in it.

People stay at different places in the city and it takes time to reach the function halls, they argue. At least the police shouldn’t be roped in to ensure that marriage halls are shut down by midnight.

“But when the community is not able to discipline itself we have to step in,” argues Board’s chairman, Mohd Saleem. He took the initiative recently to convene a meeting of qazis, ulemas and police to deliberate on the matter. “There is nothing wrong in enforcing discipline when things have gone out of hand”, says a Board official, echoing the views of many others.

“Both from a scientific and an Islamic point of view it is not advisable to delay dinner. Eating heavy and spicy food late at night is ruining one’s health,” says Moulana Obaidur Rahman, Khateeb of Teenposh Masjid, Red Hills. He has been vociferously preaching against extravagance and late hour marriages in his Friday sermons.

Other problems

The late night functions have another angle to them – the nuisance they cause, especially when firecrackers are burst and loud music played on roads. Recently there was also this shocking incident of a youth succumbing to wounds sustained while brandishing swords during a marriage baraat . Celebratory firing is also gaining traction, triggering an outcry to put an end to such practices. “There is no room for such practices in Islam; we must get rid of them in the interest of the community,” says Mufti Khaleel Ahmed, Rector, Jamia Nizamia, south India’s biggest seminary.

Hamed Mohammed Khan, President, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Telangana and Odisha, also concurs with this view. “You can’t keep the guest waiting for dinner. It amounts to an insult, besides causing hardships to them,” he remarks.

The Wakf Board has set a deadline of 9 pm for solemnizing the nikah at function halls. Qazis who cross this limit will face action.

“Government has no stand against the trend of late night celebrations. We can’t force people to change their eating habits. But it is proper that one should eat at proper time”, says Deputy Chief Minister, Mohammed Mehmood Ali.

“I welcome the step taken by the Wakf Board to instil discipline,” says Moulana Obaidur Rahman Athar.

The new guidelines were supposed to come into effect from February 1. But so far there has been no implementation. “The whole thing is impractical. Change has to come from within the community”, says MBT leader, Amjadullah Khan.


Life is too short not to celebrate nice moments. But it shouldn’t be at the cost of others.

 J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Article published in The Hindu

Dated February 8,2018

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Kadir, who passed away recently, was a critic, playwright, 

short story writer, translator, essayist and activist

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. Every wound leaves a scar and every scar has an untold story of survival behind it. And Kadir Zaman loved to tell it the way he alone could. He dared to look at the world straight in the eye and called a spade a spade.

One of the greatest of the post-Progressive era writers, Kadir carved a niche for himself in the jadeed (modern) genre of writing. Instead of following the beaten track of romantic fiction he shifted the focus to gnawing hunger, abject poverty and inhuman bondage. In story after story he portrayed the social exploitation, political excesses and people’s sufferings. As Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, noted Urdu critic and theorist, says he has an objectivity which is rare among the younger writers of fiction today.

Kadir, who passed away recently at the age of 84, was an eminent short story writer, playwright, essayist, translator, advocate and civil activist all rolled into one. Born at Vemulwada in Karimnagar district in 1934, he was named Mohd Abdul Kadir. But later in tune with his literary proclivity, he added ‘Zaman’ to his name and became popular as Kadir Zaman. Friendly and down to earth he delved into the complexities of human psyche and looked at life and human beings in a critical way. He had no preconceived notions but possessed a rare insight and understanding of human condition, evident from his focus on the contemporary themes in his stories and plays. The storyteller in Kadir let symbols wax eloquent, a technique appreciated by connoisseurs of art.

For a man who started his career as a typist and then became a registrar in the Cooperative Department, Kadir displayed an amazing grasp of knowledge and sensitivity of the Urdu language. He had a natural flair for writing and it was not long before he found his own style. His first story, Jahan-e-Guzran , was published in 1963 in the monthly magazine, Saba . Thereafter there was no looking back. His first collection of short stories under the title Raat ka Safar was published in 1970, followed by Adhura Safar (1993) and Khilone Wala (2005).

A founder-member of the Hyderabad-based Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation , he translated into Urdu its globally acclaimed plays ‘ Quli: Dilon ka Shahzaada ’ and ‘ Savaan-e-Hayat ’ which were staged at prestigious venues across the world. His play Langda Ghoda and Chera Bigad Gaya became runaway hits .

“Over the years his narrative style and the power of expression improved a lot. All of his stories are pragmatic and reflect the realities of life,” says Baig Ehsas, a close friend and this year’s Sahitya Akademi awardee.

Kadir translated classics of Dostoyevsky, Sophocles's Oedipus Rex besides Amitav Ghosh’s award winning novel Shadow Lines ’, apart from the autobiographies of Asghar Ali Engineer and Vemanna. He also abridged Shamsur Rahman Faruqi’s Kai Chaand thay Sare Asmaan. ’

Kadir has not written much and yet his writings have drawn critical acclaim for holding mirror to life. One can see real life situations in his writings. Be it Pursa, Rahgir or Heere Ka Zakm , there is a poignant touch to his tales. His stories touch upon the rural life in the erstwhile Hyderabad state and also depict the plight of NRIs searching their roots back home. He experimented successfully with magical realism dealing superbly with a range of subtly different concepts.

Kadir also had a brief fling at English writing. In the story Bribery , he presents the experiences of a government employee while in Judiciary - The Last Hope he makes a case study pertaining to legal issues. Here he talks about the need to face ‘judicial corruption’ rather than sweeping it under the carpet.

As founder of the Forum for Modern Thought, Kadir was close to many intellectuals. As his writer-friend, Mujtaba Hussain, says , with his characteristic humor:

Wo bure hoon ke bhale jo bhi, hamain payre hain

Ab naya dost koi hum to banane se rahe

(Whether good or bad, he is dear to us


Can’t think of forging a new friendship now)

 J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Article published in The Hindu

Dated February 2,2018

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