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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.

‘Ten pc people have shifted to eco-friendly Ganesh idols’

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Mana Shah, a Mumbaikar, began her professional journey at the age of 16 working alongside her father in their family business. In 2006, she came across a documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, presented by former US Vice President Al Gore. The film opened her eyes to the pressing issue of climate change and highlighted just how little action people were taking. Shah changed her path from there. As a mother of two, she felt a strong urge to step up in the issue of climate change. This led her to develop ideas for ‘Green Practices’, a venture where she could channel her entrepreneurial acumen to promote a sustainable future for upcoming generations. Today, her company is also making big profit apart from working for the environment protection. In a conversation with ‘The Perfect Voice’, Shah shares her ideas behind eco-friendly Ganesh idols and the business around it. Excerpts…


Why did you choose to start making eco-friendly Ganpati idols? What inspired you?

When I started, nearly two lakh households in Mumbai were bringing home Ganesh idols made from PoP and painted with harmful, lead-based colours. Every year, during visarjan, we would see the devastating impact in the form of dead fish, polluted waters, and broken idols scattered across the shore. It was heartbreaking. I felt compelled to ask: if Ganpati is returning to his mother, why are we sending him back in a way that harms Mother Earth? We pray to him with so much devotion, but then let his remains pollute the very waters he came from. So I thought, why not offer a more respectful, meaningful way to bring Bappa home and send him off without causing damage? That’s how the idea of eco-friendly Ganpati idols was born. It was an attempt to make sustainability an integral part of how we celebrate without losing the essence of tradition.


How are your customers reacting to eco-friendly Ganesh idols?

People love them! In the beginning, there was hesitation. Many were concerned about the fragility of clay idols or whether they would break easily. There are strong beliefs tied to idol-breaking, so PoP seemed like the safer choice to them. But once they saw how beautiful, sturdy, and detailed the eco-friendly idols could be, and that they dissolve without harming the environment, they were convinced. And once they switch, they rarely go back. Some of our customers have been coming to us every single year for the last 10–12 years. They also love the fact that visarjan can be done at home in a clean, respectful way.


What is the demand like for eco-friendly Ganesh idols today?

The demand has grown significantly. When we started, we made just 50 idols. Today, we’re crossing the 3,000 mark. That tells you how much the mindset is changing. Ganeshotsav is an emotional, deeply personal festival, especially in Mumbai. More and more people are looking for ways to celebrate that are kinder to the planet. Once they discover that eco-friendly options don’t mean compromising on beauty or tradition, they’re eager to make the switch.

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Do you have any idea of the current market size of eco-friendly Ganesh idols specifically in Mumbai?

Currently, around 2 lakh families in Mumbai bring Ganesh idols home each year. Of these, I’d say about 10 per cent have made the shift to eco-friendly idols. That’s a start, but we still have a long way to go. There’s a growing awareness, and we’re optimistic.


Where do you source your idols from? Do you make the idols yourself or collaborate with others?

Most of the idols are handcrafted in our own workshops. But we also work closely with artisans across Maharashtra, for example, those who specialise in paper mache Ganpati idols. Our goal is to offer a variety of eco-friendly options that suit different households and preferences. The paper mache idols are especially popular among families living abroad, as they’re lightweight, durable, and easy to ship. This way, even those far from home can celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi with the same emotion and reverence.

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