Mumbai: The Terror Hit Financial Capital Of India

By: Pallavi Mishra

Once gain Mumbai witnessed serial blasts that killed at least 22 innocents and injured many more. The city is again amid fear, panic and explanations of the same old people saying “we condemn the act of cowardice, Mumbai will show its character again, we will find the culprits" etc etc. But does the Aam Aadmi has any choice but to die, suffer and live in a fearful environment?

One thing that shakes me every time a terror activity occurs, is why such attacks are so frequent in our country? Are our intelligence agencies not focused or they are busy collecting more of political intelligence? What inference one should draw from this, a country that claims to become a superpower has such a pathetic technology and intelligence that a group of people strike its financial capital so badly below their nose and they are moving clueless about it? The insensitivity of our authorities towards the losses of lives is even more surprising. The government should at least be accountable to people for their lives and security. We can not afford to delay the process of building a ground level security system for public.

Does this terror attack serve as an alarm or government needs some Anna Hazare or Baba Ramdev to wake them up even for this issue? Why we need to popularize a person to demand safety and security for us? and why our government always leaves a scope for a why and a why not?

Darul Uloom Deoband

By Pallavi Mishra

“The whole of Asia is redolent with the aroma of this Prophetic garden”, are the highlighted words in the official website of Darul Uloom Deoband, school propagating Islamic teachings, but in my opinion the fragrance is not limited to Asia only but has reached far beyond the continent because of continuous upgrading. The Islamic institution carrying the ideology to spread Islamic teaching came into existence in the year 1866, right after the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was disposed from power by Britishers, to preserve the gist of Islam for posterity. Established by a group of scholars, the institution still maintains the decorum required to carry forward the theology.

Deoband in the district of Saharanpur of Uttar Pradesh is one of the biggest center for Islamic education in the country. The graduates from hear played a major role in spreading the theology world wide. After 145 years of the establishment, the learned` from hear have taken the learning's from Deoband to Durban, Boltan and many other places including Holcombe.

The education system has changed a lot in Darul Uloom Deoband with changing times and to the surprise of many including me, the institute has a well equipped computer lab and gives a special two year diploma in English language so that the pass outs could pursue higher education from any University.

The Institution was in news a few months back because of a statement by the seminary's vice-chancellor Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi. Elected on the position on January 10 2011. Vastanvi praised the Modi government in Gujarat saying that the Muslim community should forget the 2002 communal riots and look forward, he added that the community did not face any discrimination in the state. The statement divided the community in two groups where almost half are in support of Vastanvi others disagree and want him to be removed from the position. The top decision-making body of Darul Uloom meet a few days back to turn down the resignation offered by the VC following the controversy. The body asked Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi to continue as the vice- chancellor for the time being as a committee is looking into the matter.

My Mehrauli

My Mehrauli

By Pallavi Mishra

Visiting Qutub Minar is like a ritual to every tourist who visits New Delhi but only a few notice what this tall monument is surrounded by, a village that has all kinds of experimental architectural work since the Mughal era and even before. Though Mehrauli village is famous for its jaggery but that's not all about it, this village shows life through changing times in the national capital.

The smell of jaggery is irresistibly strong in a particular part of Mehrauli. As you wander through congested streets avoiding stray cattle walking around leisurely and errant humans speeding on bikes and scooters, the fragrance abruptly strikes you, making you cogitate if this has been a trademark of the place ever since it was settled centuries ago.

I have been living at this place for last 22 years and always wonder with the kind of ethnic aura it still carries. Crossing the tangled streets of Mehrauli sometimes gives you a feel of roaming in famous Paranthe Wali Gali of Chandni Chowk with an exception of it being without parathas, the other times you feel like getting out of the messy monsoon streets as soon as you can. The charm of Mehrauli is such that no one wants to leave it once he is here. This charming place has definitely attracted too many to finally become overcrowded but this over-constructed Mehrauli also has a trance of its own. The village turned city depicts all ages and eras at one platform.

Bhool bhulaiyan, the huge tomb, literally meaning maze but with no similarity, welcomes every one with open arms. People say that it is the Makbara of Adam Khan, the stepbrother of Akbar. I do not know how true is that but the structure is king size undoubtedly. There are other such monuments too, many of them known and famous but most of them seeking some conservation policy to be saved.