Obaidullah Baig showered with praise

Jumbo Editorial Team  

Obaidullah Baig, one of the towering personalities of the country, was showered with praise by a panel of distinguished speakers from different walks of life in an evening organised in his honour by the Idara Qalam Dost at the Sindh Governor’s House in Karachi on April 17.  

The learned speakers, including chief guest Iftikhar Arif and Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan, who presided over the ceremony, recorded their appreciation for eminent scholar, researcher, journalist and documentary filmmaker Obaidullah Baig for having rendered monumental services to society.

Mohammad Ali Siddiqi, Prof Sahar Ansari, Ghayasuddin, Ghazi Salahuddin and Khushbakht Shujaat also spoke in the enlightening programme which was conducted by Ambreen Hasib Amber.

“God has blessed him a lot. Obaidullah Baig is one such blessing in the shape of a friend. He has written many a thing under different pseudonyms, including couplets, and has made hundreds of documentaries out of which 40 odd were on the Quaid-e-Azam and the Pakistan Movement,” Iftikhar Arif, himself a noted poet, remarked.  

“Ghalib has written in one his letters that if someone’s passion became his profession he should consider himself fortunate and Obaidullah Baig is one such person, who is also extremely compassionate having considerate nature,” he added.

Obaidullah Baig extended his gratitude to the organisers for holding the event in his honour. Modestly was reflected when he looked at the stage backdrop and said while it was true that he was a writer, a journalist and a documentary filmmaker but it was difficult to think of himself as an intellectual for he knew what it meant and had read people like Ghalib, Khusrau, Iqbal and Faiz.

He said he had been a television producer for more than 30 years and wanted to become a journalist from a very early age. He also talked about his novel Rajput which was published last year. v> 

Double century of posts on Jumbo Publishing’s Blog right up!

Jumbo Editorial Team

This is post number 200 on the blog of Jumbo Publishing which was uploaded in January 2011. After 21 posts in the first month and another 15 in the following month, there have been a dozen posts every month since then
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The first-ever post on Jumbo Publishing’s blog was ‘Book Review: Spotlight on World Cup 2003’ on January 16, 2011. The century of posts on the blog was completed with ‘Architect Arif Hassan’s Shirakti Taraqi launched’ on August 4, 2011 and now the double century is being raised with this write-up on the blog itself.  

With the phenomenal growth of social media all over the month, it has become all the more important to produce and publish crisp yet useful material on the web to further the interests of the company.

The blog of Jumbo Publishing has gone beyond sharing about the company’s own publications only. It offers much more than just ‘promotional’ contents.

It has continued to put together books related activities taking place in the various places of the world. The coverage of local, national and international publishing events has increased its popularity.

Jumbo Publishing’s blog, primarily because of its contents, has attracted readers from all over the world.  

Shobhaa De launches Soha Parekh's Sari: Splendour In Threads

Jumbo Editorial Team

 Soha Parekh's coffee-table book titled 'Sari: Splendour In Threads' was launched by the popular figure of Shobhaa De in what turned out be a colorful ceremony at the Gallery BMB in Mumbai on April 18.

Shobhaa De was the guest of the evening as Sangita Jindal and Pheroza Godrej also shared their views on sari and the book which pays tribute to the grandeur of the classic Indian sari and records the history of the drape from an ethnographic and cultural perspective.

The list of guests present on the occasion included Vita Dani, Mona Mehta, Deepika Gehani, Bindu Zaveri, Amrita Kilachand, Lata Patel, Malti Jain, Vidya Zaveri, Isha Mehra and Sheetal Vaidya amongst many others. Many women came to the event resplendant in their silk sarees, adding an aura of elegance to the evening.

The book covers the traditional as well as the contemporary manifestations of this timeless garment. It depicts the journey of this unstitched garment from the ancient times through the royalties to the modern India. The book dwells into the unparalleled skills of the master weavers and craftsmen and the unmatched beauty of various saris from the length and breadth of the country.

Adding an interesting perspective are interviews of key people including weavers, textile and craft specialists and designers from around the country.

The book features views of prominent women from the corporate world such as Dr Swati Piramal and Rama Bijapurkar as well as classical singer like ShobhaMudgal and designers including Ritu Kumar, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, TarunTahiliani, Manish Malhotra, Wendell Rodericks and Rahul Mishra.

The stories on Master Weavers like Goverdhan Gajam of Telia sari, Salvi of PatanPatola and efforts of craft specialist such as LailaTyabji, Martand Singh, Rajeev Sethi and others for promoting this craft, make this book a veritable guide on the sari and its diverse forms.

From the love for French Chiffons and Chanderis by the Indian Royalty to the views on the sari by modern day women who love the garment like Pheroza Godrej, Sangita Jindal, Shobhaa De, Alarmel Valli, Abha Narain Lambah, the book features a wide gamut of Indian crusaders who have been bravely championing the cause of the Sari.

"This book is my humble attempt to showcase the beauty of the Sariand to contribute towards the betterment of the weavers and craftsmenof our country," Soha Parekh remarked, adding that the proceeds of the book will begoing to the weavers of India.

 Shobhaa De described sari was one of the most beautiful Indian creations that stands out even in the West. Pheroza Godrej spoke about how important it is for the present young generation to respect the importance of the sari. Sangita Jindal narrated her love for saris from Gujarat which is where she met Soha.

Punjab University celebrates World Book Day in befitting manner

Jumbo Editorial Team

The University of the Punjab, also known as the Punjab University, celebrated the World Book and Copyright Day in befitting manner by holding a couple of high profile events to raise awareness about books.

The department of Library and Information Sciences (DLIS), with the collaboration of the PU Library and Information Sciences Alumni Association, organized a seminar, which was also attended by eminent columnist, Hassan Nisar.

Earlier in the day a walk was held from the DLIS to the Institute of Education and Research and the Undergraduate Study Centre. A large number of teachers, librarians and students, holding placards and banners, participated in the walk.

Such efforts are going a long way in motivating the students in particular and the community in general to read books. The success was reflected in the Punjab University’s three-day book fair last month in which a record number of 100,616 books were reported to have been sold.

The DLIS Chairperson, Prof Dr Kanwal Amin, revealed that according to statistics, increase in electronic and printed book trade had been witnessed as compared to the previous year in the United States. She pointed out that it rebutted a misconception that the invention of internet had reduced book reading habit.

She questioned that if books were not necessary, then why Google was digitizing hundreds of thousands of books? She reckoned that the only matter was promotion of reading habits.

Later ‘Book Lover Award’ was presented to the top ten book users of the Punjab University and Raza Hameed of University Law College, Rashid Ali of College of Engineering and Emerging Technologies and Faizan Ali of Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology stood 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively.

The PU Vice Chancellor, Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran, remarked that only those nations are powerful and rule the world that are knowledgeable and love books, adding it’s the law of nature and the United States became super power only because they followed the rule of the nature.

“Many good things were associated with books and it urged human beings to think. The books polished qualities of human beings and reading habits enhanced vocabulary,” he emphasized.

Hassan Nisar, whose presence was a source of inspiration to the hosts, observed that books were not all about the words printed on paper but they were from earth to the whole universe and we should not limit it to hand written words.  

Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2012 attracts 904 exhibitors

Jumbo Editorial Team

The 22nd edition of Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2012 was staged at the National Exhibition Centre in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), from March 28 to April 2.

It was reported to have brought together 904 exhibitors from 54 countries, two-thirds of them Arab, and featured a cultural programme that saw meetings with major figures such as Algerian novelist Rachid Boudjedra, Libyan writer Ibrahim al-Koni and Sudanese novelist Amir Tag El-Sir.

The Fair has positioned itself as a user-friendly entry point to Arab publishing for non-Arabic-speaking visitors. The organizers intend to make it a major bridge between the international and the regional publishing industries, and to have the Fair as a professional event on the Frankfurt or London models, rather than as an event designed to bring in a mass audience, as is the case at the Paris and Cairo fairs.

All the events took place in simultaneous English-Arabic translation, and, according to Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chair of the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, the intention behind the Fair was to make Abu Dhabi ‘a centre of culture and cosmopolitanism in the region and worldwide’ which was a part of the strategy that includes the building of major museums and other facilities on the city's Saadiyat Island.

These facilities, advertised to visitors as they entered the city by road and including the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a branch of the Louvre Museum in Paris designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, the Zayed National Museum, designed by British architect Norman Foster, and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, designed by Canadian architect Frank Gehry, are scheduled to open over the next few years.

The visitors to the Fair left with much to ponder, particularly the event's remarkable growth over its two-decade existence and the greater transparency such events encourage and represent for the contemporary Arab world, with the emphasis being on international partnerships and translation as much as on regional and solely Arabic-language publishing.

Brief Profile: Mukta Lall

Jumbo Editorial Team

Mukta Lall, who has recently transliterated her illustrious grandather Prof Tilok Chand Mehroom’s poetic collection Bachon Ki Duniya from Urdu to Hindi, was born at Rawalpindi, then a part of undivided India, now a famous city of Pakistan, on March 6, 1944. Her father Jagan Nath Azad was also an eminent Urdu poet.

She completed her higher secondary education from Queen Mary's Higher Secondary School, Delhi, in 1961 while she did a secretarial course from YWCA in 1962. She joined Siemens later the same year (1962) and retired as Senior Manager-HR in June 2004, having worked there for more than four decades.

Upon retirement from service, she took keen interest in learning Urdu, having taken correspondence courses from Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi. The purpose of learning the language was to read the works of her father and grandfather.

It was during her interaction with Dr Abdur Rasheed, Instructor at Jamia Milia, when the idea to transliterate the works of her father and grandfather was discussed and the dream started turning into reality. In order to retain the originality and beauty of the poems it was decided to transliterate and not translate them.

The assistance and guidance of Dr Abdur Rasheed, Instructor, Jamia Milia, and his elder brother Mr Abdul Mughni, Managing Director, Dilli Kitab Ghar, encouraged Mukta Lall to accomplish the most cherished goal of her life. After having transliterated her grandather Prof Tilok Chand Mehroom’s poetic collection Bachon Ki Duniya, she is currently working on her father Jagan Nath Azad’s poetry book Bachon Ki Nazmein, which consists of 16 poems. Then she has planned to transliterate Bahare Tifli, another literary masterpiece of her grandfather.

Mukta Lall revives golden memories by transliterating Prof Tilok Chand Mehroom’s Bachon Ki Duniya

Jumbo Editorial Team

Mukta Lall, hailing from an illustrious literary family, has done a commendable job by having transliterated children’s poems from Urdu to Hindi. The title of the book, Bachon Ki Dunya, orginally written by her illustrious grandfather, Prof Tilok Chand Mehroom, has been retained.

These poems were penned by Prof Tilok Chand Mehroom, an eminent Urdu poet, at a time when there was a dire need for good Urdu literature for children. His passion for teaching had provided him the opportunity to interact with children and such experiences encouraged him to create ‘Bacchon ki Duniya’ which was a monumental contribution.

“Urdu as a language personifies beauty and the art of poetry enhances it. This book has been transliterated and as the transliterator, I have added a few pages to throw some light on the life of the poet. The only difference lies in the script which is now Hindi, however the language remains Urdu and to ensure easier understanding, footnotes that contain meanings of unfamiliar words have been provided,” Mukta Lall, whose father Jagan Nath Azad was also a great Urdu poet, told Jumbo Editorial Team in a recent interview.

“Bachon Ki Duniya as a book is also very educative. The values relating to Almighty God, punctuality, nature, to be a good human being, high thinking are all instilling thoughts that these poems exuberate,” the New Delhi-based Mukta Lall pointed out.

“The poet was inspired from within and the mystical beauties that lie in the simplest form of life and nature, is what provoked the poet to create these poems. The poet also wishes that young children not only imbibe values that the poems want to convey but also put them in action,” she added.

Mukta Lall has indeed chosen a perfect way to pay a tribute to her grandfather and father, both of whom enriched Urdu literature with poetry of pedigree.

She has printed only 300 copies of the book and most of these have been presented to Jamia Milia, Urdu Academy, Ghalib Academy, Ghalib Institute, Urdu Ghar and to a few professors and intellectuals abroad as well.

The book, which is priceless for it’s not available for sale, has been very well received by these institutions and has been acknowleged as worthy contribution.