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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.

The Enchanting Fest

From commandos to judges and actors to athletes—voices united to spark a revolution in the youth.

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One of Asia's biggest festivals, conducted annually by St Xavier’s College, the Malhar Fest, concluded on a high note on 16th August. Musician Chaar Diwari’s concert was the perfect finale act to conclude the power-packed fest. This was the 46th edition of the fest and was held on 14, 15, and 16 of August, 2025. It was a perfect three-day fest, with rain pouring down heavily almost every day, but it did not hold the crowd back from attending the fest. The crowd's energy was in tandem with the rain, making the fest more zestful.


The Malhar Fest is the flagship fest of St Xavier's College and is the much-awaited fest of the year. This year, the theme was ‘The World Within’. When people focus on the outside world, the Malhar Fest, through its theme, reminds us that the world within is what makes the world outside us. With a workforce of around 700–800 students from various courses across the college, they came together to execute the Malhar Fest, setting yet another benchmark in the inter-collegiate festivals. The fest consisted of engaging events, inspiring conclave sessions, interactive workshops, and a high-powered concert. Performing arts and literary arts were the two main domains under which various events were conducted.


The Conclave Session

The theme, ‘Leher: Ripple Today, A Revolution Tomorrow’, of the Conclave session invites us to focus on one of the main aspects of youth’s personality, which is to innovate and create a ripple, empowering a change in society. The conclave session was held on the 15th and 16th of August. The speakers’ list was a perfect blend of personalities, from backgrounds like acting, law, sports, business, and authorship.


On the first day, the keynote address was delivered by Dr. Seema Rao, a revolutionary, the first and only woman commando trainer, “The Wonder Woman of India”. While sharing her life experiences, she instilled the traits of fearlessness, discipline, endurance, etc., into the youth present there. She focused on the hardships of life and delivered a thoughtfully curated speech aligning with the theme.


This session was followed by the session of the glamorous star cast of ‘Saare Jahan se Accha’, Pratik Gandhi, Anup Soni, Kritika Kamra, and Sunny Hinduja; their presence elated the atmosphere of the session.

The actors discussed college life and the struggles faced while pursuing their careers. Next to this session was SaiyamiKher’s session. Known for her extravagant roles in films, the St. Xavier’s College alumna talked about her journey and how college life at St. Xavier’s helped her navigate her work life.

Then came the entrepreneurial session with the founders of Benne Dosa, Akhil Iyer and Shriya Narayan. They conversed about taking risks in life and failure being a part of everyone’s life.


The concluding session of Day 1 was ironically the first sports session in Malhar’s history, with the panel consisting of Anmol Mazumdar (Head Coach of the Indian Women's Cricket Team), Bhagyashree Jadhav (a para-athlete and Paralympian), and Suma Shirur, a shooter (2004 Olympic finalist). They exchanged views on the woman’s role in the sports field. They mentioned the role of sports in their lives and how it taught them the hardest lessons of life.


Adding more energy to the atmosphere, the fest also witnessed the stellar performance of the star cast of the upcoming film, ‘Param Sundari’, Janhvi Kapoor and Siddharth Malhotra. The stars were present there to promote their film.


Day 2 started with the keynote address by Honourable Justice Revati Mohite Dere. Her words of wisdom left an everlasting impact on the youth. Speaking under the theme, she explicitly talked about the role of the judiciary in shaping society. Furthermore, she added that ‘impact’ is a critical part of revolution.


The main session of the day was with the politician, SupriyaSule, who spoke extensively on the topic of policy-making and also interacted with the youth in the audience. She highlighted that “policy making is an opportunity to change people's lives”. She encouraged the young leaders to consider politics as a career field and lead a revolution themselves if needed. The last two sessions were with the author Ashwin Sanghi and Aditya Roy Kapur, a Bollywood actor. Author Ashwin Sanghi, also an alumnus, spoke about the power of writing and storytelling. Aditya Roy Kapur, while offering insights into the world of cinema, also interacted with the audience by answering their questions.


The conclave team did an excellent job in curating and selecting the perfect speakers for the session that not only influenced the youth but also deeply resonated with this year’s theme. The fest was orchestrated and presented beautifully by the Malhar team. The exuberant crowd made this fest more engaging and youthful, raising the expectations for next year.


(The writer is a student in a college in Mumbai.)

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