Eid in Jeddah

Over three million Pakistani-Indian Muslim expatriates in Saudi Arabia celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr with zeal and fervour on Thursday 8^th August 2013. After four weeks of a soul-enriching Ramadan, the Eid festivities starting from Chand Raat (the night before eid) to the three days of Eid are packed with age-old customs, cultural rituals, and social events.

For Pakistani and Indian expats, each and every aspect of Eid in Jeddah is strikingly similar to how Eid is celebrated back home. There is no need to be home-sick. We have everything right here in Jeddah to cure your nostalgia.

Our guest contributor Rohail Khan relays a personal and detailed account of the festivities and celebrations of Eid in Jeddah, written exclusively for Jeddah Blog.

Pakistan Kidney Centre: A social welfare project by PWS, Jeddah

A great number of social welfare projects are being carried out in Jeddah, and especially with Ramadan coming up, Jeddah Blog would like to highlight the excellent work being done by the Pakistan Welfare Society in Jeddah. Rohail Khan, senior banker and philanthropist sends us this report on the free medical camps conducted by the PWS not only in Jeddah and its surrounding areas, but also its tireless efforts in building a free Kidney Centre in Pakistan.

The October 2005 earthquake in North Pakistan shook everybody in the region. Huge loss of lives and properties across 200 towns was simply irreparable and still haunts many of us.

Urdu Academy International Launched in Jeddah

Urdu is the fourth most commonly spoken language in the world, and to secure the language, build bridges between the East and the West, and serve future generations, the Urdu Academy International has been launched with its head office in Jeddah.

Rohail Khan, founder of the UAI asserts that the organization will be a global think tank “to incubate new ideas and develop new projects to promote the Urdu language, literature and culture.” Activities will be held in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and GCC countries. Rohail tells Jeddah Blog that an office will be established next year in Washington, DC to manage operations across North America and Europe.

Urdu lovers are invited to join and contribute towards the growth of this newly-founded think tank. Click on their Facebook page  for further details.

Some projects in planning are the launching of a quarterly Urdu Digest, publishing an Urdu-to-Urdu dictionary for the comprehension of difficult Urdu words, publishing a Grand Urdu Encyclopedia, and an Urdu thesaurus. They will also petition Facebook to adopt Urdu as one of its official languages. An international directory of Urdu writers, poets and scientists will be compiled and develop computer operating systems in Urdu, making Urdu accessible to the average smart phone, computer and laptop users.

If you think you may be interested in participating in this project, or would simply like to follow their progress, check out the UAI’s Facebook page.

Dinner in Honour of Shahid Afridi

Since our last blog post on Pakistani cricket icon Shahid Afridi’s visit to Jeddah, we have had numerous comments and emails from readers asking for more information. We can now share further details with you, thanks to our friend and SCC advisor Rohail Khan.

Le Meridien Hotel in Jeddah was the venue for a dinner in honour of former captain Shahid Afridi, and hosted by the Saudi Cricket Centre (SCC) on Thursday 17th January 2012. Shahid Afridi disclosed that he was impressed by the seniors’ trials and said that the SCC “is breaking new grounds for the development of cricket in the Kingdom”. He went on to add, “I am impressed by the senior players here. As for the under-19 group, it needs more attention, coaching and training”.

L to R: Tahseem Haqqi (Vice Consul (Welfare) Pakistan Consulate Jeddah), Rohail Khan, Shahid Afridi and Junaid Khan (Pakistan Consulate Jeddah).

Rohail Khan presented ajrak shawls, bouquets and souvenir gifts to Shahid Afridi, Iqbal Sikander, Tahseem Haqqi, Hasan Kabir, and Nadeem Nadwi in acknowledgement of their services to promote cricket in Saudi Arabia.

Rohail Khan presenting gifts to Shahid Afridi amidst the gathering of VIPs.

 

Shahid Afridi in Jeddah!

Sporting fans will be excited to learn that cricket star Shahid Afridi is currently on a visit to Saudi Arabia to spot talent for the Saudi Cricket Center (SCC). We can reveal that the talent selection will be held in four cities across Saudi Arabia from 15th – 21st January 2013 (Jeddah, Yanbu, Riyadh and Dammam) and the talent hunt in Jeddah will be held on the 16th and 17th of January.

Rohail standing next to cricket superstar Shahid Afridi on his current visit to the Kingdom.

Enthuses Shahid Afridi: “I am very glad I will be able to perform an instrumental role in finding out the best cricket talent from all over the Kingdom”.

Rohail Khan, a senior banker with a keen interest in culture and philanthropy, is supporting the cricket talent promotion in consultation with Shahid Afridi as SCC Advisor. Rohail discloses to Jeddah Blog that other cricketing heroes and socialites will be engaged in the future to promote and develop cricket in Saudi Arabia.

“Developing a strong well-trained “Saudi National Cricket Team” will enhance the Kingdom’s international image and would be beneficial for Saudi and expatriate cricket players and cricket lovers,” asserts Rohail.

How To Register

All cricket players (residents of Saudi Arabia), regardless of age or nationality, from all cricket clubs and leagues (whether affiliated with SCC or not) are equally entitled to participate and compete for the selection. If you are interested in participating in the try-outs then register on this dedicated site.

Jeddah Blog wishes all the best to Rohail and the SCC on this excellent initiative, and will continue to keep you all informed on the progress made by the SCC. Be sure to check back with us regularly for updates.

A Tribute to the Father of Urdu

Rohail A. Khan – Event Sponsor

Rohail A. Khan, senior banker and finance director, has been living in Saudi Arabia since 1993 and is developing communities through literature, culture and philanthropy. As chief guest of the memorial service of the Father of Urdu, Rohail Khan reports the success and conclusions of the event for Jeddah Blog.

For the first time in Saudi Arabia, a grand event was organized in the memory of Baba-e-Urdu (Father of Urdu), Dr. Moulvi Abdul Haq, to commemorate his 140th birthday and to propagate his message. Jeddah has rarely witnessed such extraordinary enthusiasm and exemplary love for Urdu.

Who was Baba-e-Urdu?

Baba-e-Urdu (1872-1961) was an acclaimed Urdu educator, writer, critic, linguist, lexicographer, editor, compiler, translator, etymologist, biographer and grammarian. He authored more than 20 books on these areas. Having realized the slow demise of the Persian language, Moulvi Abdul Haq devoted his entire life to making Urdu the primary language of the sub-continent and to placing it head-to-head with English and Arabic. He founded and managed Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu, an organization dedicated to the promotion of Urdu language and literature, for 50 years pre-partition. During his migration in 1947, he carried 15,000 rare Urdu books from Delhi to Karachi. He was the moving spirit behind the establishment of the Osmania University in Hyderabad, Deccan, where Urdu is still one of the mediums of instruction. The world’s largest Urdu Translation Centre was established where rare Urdu books and Deccani manuscripts were translated and published. He was also instrumental in setting up the world’s first Islamia College for Women, Lahore in 1939, and Pakistan’s first Urdu College in Karachi (1949). He was the creator of the world’s largest Urdu-English Dictionary (1930) and in 1959 initiated the grand project of compiling a Modern Urdu Dictionary in 22 volumes. This project was completed three years ago under the Urdu Dictionary Board, Pakistan.

The Memorial Event

The memorial event was held at Lasani Restaurant on the evening of 21st November, 2012. The successful event had been organized by the Aalmi Urdu Markaz and welcomed more than 275 guests from all walks of life. Men, women and especially youngsters hailing from assorted nationalities all gathered together to commemorate Baba-e-Urdu’s 140th birthday. Multi-cultural community leaders, social workers, businessmen and literary figures added to the light of the event. The audience were treated to a four-hour literary discussions and poetic recitations and warmly applauded the proceedings.

A very diverse audience commemorating the 140th birthday of the Father of Urdu.

The event took off with a short video containing a speech by Baba-e-Urdu and his life story with rare pictures, before the poetry recitals and literary discussions.

On stage from left: V.P. of Aalmi Urdu Markaz, Rohail A. Khan, Hon. Tahseem ul-Haq, President of Aalmi Urdu Markaz and poet Anwar Ansari with the Executive Team from Aalmi Urdu Markaz.

Chief Guest, Rohail Khan, shared his thoughts on Baba-e-Urdu with the organizers and participants, and offered practical suggestions to promote and protect Urdu.

“Architect and saviour of Urdu language and literature, Baba-e-Urdu, Dr. Moulvi Abdul Haq’s lifetime services to protect and promote Urdu are spread over 75 years. He proved a Prophet of Urdu and his message must be adequately propagated for the benefit of current and future generations. Le us not forget that Urdu, 4th largest language, is spoken by over 100 million people across 5 continents.”

7 Steps to Promote Urdu

Rohail A. Khan suggested seven projects to promote Urdu:

1. Renew the Anjuman-e-Taraqqi-e-Urdu and propagate its mission across the globe by supporting tertiary local and international Urdu-serving institutions.
2. Promote the importance of Urdu as a means to enhance our knowledge about Islam.
3. Build the brand of Urdu world-wide through the proactive use of social media.
4. Studying Baba-e-Urdu’s works and achievements and spreading his message by establishing Urdu faculties and research chairs at Ivy League Universities for the award of doctorate degrees on Urdu.
5. Launch new Urdu periodicals, Urdu dictionaries and encyclopaedia.
6. Identify and promote upcoming Urdu writers and poets.
7. Launch “Urdu Academy International” as a global think-tank to incubate new ideas and projects to promote and protect Urdu.

The first goal is to launch the cause of making Urdu one of the official languages of Facebook. Rohail Khan can be reached at rohailkhan00@gmail.com and on Facebook.

– compiled by Anousha Vakani