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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Maulana’s 'gullak' initiative touches 60K students

Read & Lead Foundation President Maulana Abdul Qayyum Mirza with daughter Mariyam Mirza. Mumbai/Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: In the new age controlled by smart-gadgets and social media, an academic from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has sparked a small, head-turning and successful - ‘savings and reading’ revolution among middle-school children. Launched in 2006, by Maulana Abdul Qayyum Mirza, the humble initiative turns 20 this year and witnessed over 60,000 free savings boxes (gullaks)...

Maulana’s 'gullak' initiative touches 60K students

Read & Lead Foundation President Maulana Abdul Qayyum Mirza with daughter Mariyam Mirza. Mumbai/Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: In the new age controlled by smart-gadgets and social media, an academic from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has sparked a small, head-turning and successful - ‘savings and reading’ revolution among middle-school children. Launched in 2006, by Maulana Abdul Qayyum Mirza, the humble initiative turns 20 this year and witnessed over 60,000 free savings boxes (gullaks) distributed to Class V-VIII students in 52 government and private schools. “The aim was to inculcate a love for ‘saving and reading’ among young children. We started by presenting small plastic ‘gullaks’ (savings boxes) at the Iqra Boys & Girls High School, and later to many other schools,” Mirza said with a tinge of satisfaction. Scoffed by sceptics, it soon caught the eyes of the schools and parents who loved the idea that kept the kids off mischief, but gave them the joy of quietly slipping Re. 1 or even Rs. 5 save from their daily pocket money into the ‘gullak’. “That tiny ‘gullak’ costing barely Rs 3-Rs 5, becomes almost like their personal tiny bank which they guard fiercely and nobody dares touch it. At the right time they spend the accumulated savings to buy books of their choice – with no questions asked. Isn’t it better than wasting it on toys or sweets or amusement,” chuckled Mirza. A childhood bookworm himself, Mirza, now 50, remembers how he dipped into his school’s ‘Book Box’ to avail books of his choice and read them along with the regular syllabus. “Reading became my passion, not shared by many then or even now… Sadly, in the current era, reading and saving are dying habits. I am trying to revive them for the good of the people and country,” Maulana Mirza told The Perfect Voice. After graduation, Mirza was jobless for sometime, and decided to make his passion as a profession – he took books in a barter deal from the renowned Nagpur philanthropist, Padma Bhushan Maulana Abdul Karim Parekh, lugged them on a bicycle to hawk outside mosques and dargahs. He not only sold the entire stock worth Rs 3000 quickly, but asked astonished Parekh for more – and that set the ball rolling in a big way, ultimately emboldening him to launch the NGO, ‘Read & Lead Foundation’ (2018). “However, despite severe resources and manpower crunch, we try to cater to the maximum number of students, even outside the district,” smiled Mirza. The RLF is also supported by his daughter Mariyam Mirza’s Covid-19 pandemic scheme, ‘Mohalla Library Movement’ that catapulted to global fame, and yesterday (Oct. 20), the BBC telecast a program featuring her. The father-daughter duo urged children to shun mobiles, video-games, television or social media and make ‘books as their best friends’, which would always help in life, as they aim to gift 1-lakh students with ‘gullaks’ in the next couple of years. At varied intervals Mirza organizes small school book fairs where the excited kids troop in, their pockets bulging with their own savings, and they proudly purchase books of their choice in Marathi, English, Hindi or Urdu to satiate their intellectual hunger. Fortunately, the teachers and parents support the kids’ ‘responsible spending’, for they no longer waste hours before screens but attentively flip pages of their favourite books, as Mirza and others solicit support for the cause from UNICEF, UNESCO, and global NGOs/Foundations. RLF’s real-life savers: Readers UNICEF’s Jharkhand District Coordinator and ex-TISS alumnus Abul Hasan Ali is full of gratitude for the ‘gullak’ habit he inculcated years ago, while Naregaon Municipal High School students Lakhan Devdas (Class 6) and Sania Youssef (Class 8) say they happily saved most of their pocket or festival money to splurge on their favourite books...! Zilla Parishad Girls Primary School (Aurangpura) teacher Jyoti Pawar said the RLF has proved to be a “simple, heartwarming yet effective way” to habituate kids to both reading and savings at a tender age, while a parent Krishna Shinde said it has “changed the whole attitude of children”. “We encourage books of general interest only, including inspiring stories of youth icons like Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai (28) and environmentalist Greta Thunberg (23) which fascinates our students, and other popular children’s literature,” smiled Mirza. The Maulana’s RLF, which has opened three dozen libraries in 7 years, acknowledges that every coin dropped into the small savings boxes begins a new chapter – and turns into an investment in knowledge that keeps growing.

A Spiritual Sojourn

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Each year, as monsoon clouds gather over Maharashtra, lakhs of devotees set out on foot, singing and swaying in rhythm, bound for the temple town of Pandharpur. Their destination: a glimpse of Lord Vitthal on Ashadhi Ekadashi—a day that marks not only the peak of the Warkari pilgrimage but the beginning of Chaturmas, a four-month spiritual retreat in the Hindu calendar. Also known as Devshayani or Maha Ekadashi, the festival is a vibrant expression of the Warkari Sampradaya’s core values: devotion over ritual, unity over hierarchy, and simplicity over splendour.


Warkaris observe a strict fast, sing abhangs and hymns, and journey on foot to Pandharpur in acts of collective devotion and surrender. The pilgrimage and the fast are believed to purify the soul and pave the path to moksha, or liberation. Weddings and other auspicious events are paused during this period, echoing the belief that the divine, too, is in retreat. In an age marked by haste and distraction, Ashadhi offers a moment of unity, simplicity, and introspection.


The day falls on Shukla Paksha in the Ashadha month. This auspicious occasion holds profound religious and spiritual significance for devotees. A legend underpins the observance of Ashadhi Ekadashi. Mandata, a righteous king from the Raghuwanshi dynasty, once faced a crippling drought in his realm. Seeking divine counsel, he turned to the sage Angiras, who advised him to observe Ekadashi in devotion to Lord Vishnu. The king complied, and the heavens soon opened. Rain returned, and the parched land was revived. This tale gave rise to the tradition of Shayani Ekadashi


The Ashadhi Ekadashi is a timeless march of faith. It falls during the same time which invite the monsoon season in the country. On this day the devotees keep fast the whole day and they go on long walk (Payi Dindi) in huge processions to Pandharpur. It is a model of sustainable living where all warkaris walk long distances without harming the environment, carry minimal belongings, and share community meals. It demonstrates the ideology of equality and inclusiveness in religion and society which inculcate the values of devotion, simplicity, brotherhood and discipline. It also promotes and creates awareness of selfless service, community harmony and inner purity. This ritual helps to cultivate a compassionate, ethical life rooted in values. The fast is renews our spiritual path and it is a very apt and perfect thesis and syntheses of Marathi culture.


The Warkari tradition draws deeply from the teachings of Bhakti saints such as Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Namdev and Eknath - spiritual reformers who championed heartfelt devotion over ritual formalism. Their verses, sung as abhangs and bhajans, echo through the Wari pilgrimage, which begins in Alandi and Dehu and culminates at Pandharpur on Guru Purnima.


Devotees refer to Lord Vitthal as Mauli (mother), reflecting a bond of deep affection and surrender. Clad in traditional dhotis and kurtas, Warkaris walk, sing and dance their way to Pandharpur in a moving spectacle of colour and faith. Ashadhi Ekadashi, which marks the onset of Lord Vishnu’s divine slumber, is also observed at home with rituals, prayers, and the placement of idols, invoking harmony and blessings. The day unites people across castes, classes and geographies in a vibrant affirmation of devotion.


Ashadhi Ekadashi is a spiritual and cultural pause in a fast-paced world. It is a day of fasting, devotion and introspection. Marked by holy dips in the Chandrabhaga river, chanting and prayers to Lord Vitthal and Rukmini, it holds deep significance for the Warkari sect. But well beyond religious ritual, what it embodies in a deeper sense is surrender, simplicity and spiritual discipline. In an age of distraction and disconnection, its timeless message of unity, devotion and inner peace offers us a much-needed anchor.


(The writer is an assistant professor of English literature. Views personal)

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