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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.

Trophy Turmoil

India’s victory over Pakistan in the T20 Asia Cup 2025 final was a masterclass in composure under pressure and a vivid reminder of why cricket is more than a sport on the subcontinent. Chasing a modest 147, India’s innings seemed destined for collapse when they slumped to 20 for 3. At that moment, the narrative could have swung entirely in Pakistan’s favour. Yet, against the odds, Tilak Varma delivered a sterling, unbeaten innings that rewrote the script, blending aggression with a calm hand rarely seen in such tense encounters. Verma’s performance was a reminder that cricketing genius often emerges in pressure-cooker recovery situations.


Earlier, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy tore through the Pakistan lineup by destroying their seeming invincibility at 107 for 1 to trigger a comprehensive collapse of the Pakistan lineup at 146 all out.


But the denouement of the contest off the field was even more telling than the drama on it. In the shadow of the April 22 Pahalgam terror strike, India had made it clear that they would not accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council president and Pakistan interior minister Mohsin Naqvi. The ACC attempted to offer an alternative, but Naqvi, in an extraordinary display of obstinacy, ordered the trophy withdrawn. For nearly an hour, Pakistan’s team remained locked in their dressing room while Indian players celebrated their victory on the field without the customary honours.


India’s refusal to shake hands with Pakistan throughout the tournament entirely correct. After the Pahalgam massacre, any semblance of camaraderie with a side representing a country actively indulging in hostile actions would have been inappropriate. Indian cricketers maintained their dignity throughout their games with Pakistan, never rising to their petty provocations on field and soundly trashing them 3-0 in the tournament. Small wonder that after the match, Prime Minister Modi, whilst congratulating the Indian team, said that the outcome was an ‘Operation Sindoor’ (India’s stunning military response to the Pahalgam strike) on the cricketing field as well.


Importantly, the conduct of the Indian team firmly signalled that they would not normalise relations with a team representing a country that continues to challenge India’s security and peace. Leading from the front on this count was Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav who announced he would donate his Asia Cup match fees to the Indian Army and victims of the Pahalgam strike.


This brings to fore the wisdom of staging an India-Pakistan match at all given Pahalgam still remains a raw wound in the collective Indian consciousness. Yet, the BCCI, in its pursuit of commercial spectacle and television ratings, pressed ahead with the fixture, exposing players to unnecessary emotional and reputational risk.


The decision to host India-Pakistan matches amidst ongoing regional volatility undermines the sanctity of sport. Yet, India’s cricketers emerged as true ambassadors of the sport. They combined technical brilliance with poise, navigating both the scoreboard and the shadow of geopolitics with finesse.


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