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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.

IPO Investment Strategy

Updated: Nov 12, 2024

IPO Investment Strategy

Investors have amassed significant wealth through investing in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in India. In 2024, 70 IPOs were launched, with 56 of them delivering positive gains on their initial listing. Among these, Vibhor Steel Tubes, which began accepting subscriptions in February 2024, achieved the highest listing gain at 195 per cent. BLS E-services and Bajaj Housing Finance were the next two IPOs to see substantial gains, with returns of 171 per cent and 135 per cent, respectively. Investors can approach IPOs from two angles: focusing on listing gains or on long-term investment. Let's explore the key factors that contribute to a successful IPO investment strategy.


For Listing Gains

1. Consider the size of the issue. Small IPOs with issues below 2000 crores tend to offer better listing gains.


2. Monitor the Grey Market Premium (GMP). GMP should consistently exceed 30% before the IPO.


3. GMP should either remain stable or increase, and it should not decrease leading up to the IPO's closing date.


4. Even if the goal is to focus on listing gains, it's important to review the company's financials. Financial indicators such as profit growth, Return on Equity, and Price to Earnings ratio are crucial to avoid investing in low-quality IPOs.


5. If the company shows long-term growth potential, it's advisable to hold off on selling shares.


For Long-Term Investment

1. Established companies like LIC, Zomato, Ola Electric, and Hyundai Motors have not met market expectations, often due to the size of their initial offerings. If the issue size exceeds $20 million, it's advisable to consider investing for long-term gains rather than just listing gains.


2. The valuation of the company is critical for long-term wealth creation through IPOs. The company should be profitable, and its price to earnings ratio should be below 25.


3. Occasionally, companies like Zomato, Swiggy, and Ola, which are currently unprofitable, but they have a potential for significant future growth. In such cases, it's important to be mentally prepared for a multi-year period of time correction. It's possible that returns may not be realized until the company becomes profitable.


4. Shares in this category are susceptible to significant price drops, potentially by 50 per cent to 70 per cent from their initial offering price. However, it's beneficial to buy these shares during these price drops. For instance, Zomato, listed at 116 rupees in July 2021, fell to 41 rupees by July 2022. Following this decline, the stock began to rise, currently trading at 248 rupees.


5. If a company is fundamentally strong but its valuation is high, it may consolidate over several years, requiring patience. An example is CDSL, which was listed in 2017, didn't deliver any returns for the next three years. However, from 2020 to 2024, the stock appreciated by over 10 times.


(The author has spoken to experts in the field for writing this piece.)

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