INTERPRETER OF SURTI MALADIES
Now covered under the umbrella of health insurance policies, ancient medicinal recipes of Ayurveda and Unani no longer remain crushed and confined between pestles and mortars.
Known to be an extremely effective alternate option to allopathy, for treatment of chronic illnesses such as spondylitis, arthritis and epilepsy, along with other physical grievances big and small, these naturally derived cures claim to have no harmful side effects.
While Ayurveda is native to India, the term Unani (pronounced Yunani) is the Arabic spelling of Ionian, the islands of Greece.
A study by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon, traces how ‘Unani owes its origin to the Greek physician Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) Based on the original Greek concept of balancing the four body humors and resulting Unani systems involve the four elements: earth, air, water, and fire; along with four natures: cold, hot, wet, and dry; and four humors: blood (which is hot/wet), phlegm (cold/wet), yellow bile (hot/dry) and black bile (cold/dry).’
The Unani system is known as Hikmat or Unani-Tibb. Its medical practitioners are called Hakims. Here is the story of how a pioneer Hakeem of Surat went on to establish its ‘most effective pharmacy’ –Hakeem Chi Chi:
Once upon a time, there lived in Surat, a talented locksmith. Offering his services door to door, within the old walled city, he went about repairing and replicating keys, for a hard earned living. This gentleman named Sheikh Mohammad, was once asked to make a key for the ‘tijori’ (safe) of the then Nawab of Sachin .While on the job there, he chanced to meet a Hakeem from Junagadh who was on visit at the palace ,for ‘ilaaj’ (treatment) of an ailment that troubled the Nawab.
Sheikh Mohammad’s knowledge of ‘jadi booti’ (medicinal herbs) surprised the Hakeem who then offered to train him with a course in the medicinal field, at Junagadh.Since the Surti key maker was too poor to afford the travel fare to Junagadh, he set out on foot towards it, letting his profession as a key maker pay for his journey, as he trudged from one town to another, before finally reaching his destination, that opened doors to a new world.
He returned to Tapi town as Hakeem Sheikh Mohammed and set up a desi dawa khana (clinic) at Ranitalao. His knowledge teamed with knack benefited patients immensely and he quickly gained popularity as well as publicity by word of mouth. He had a nasal voice which squeaked a bit due to which, locals lovingly nicknamed him ‘Hakeem Chi Chi’, the clinic and name continued, ever since. His son educated at the Aligarh University for a degree in Unani; his grand son was appointed advisor at the Kasturba Memorial Trust.
The legend lives on, functioning in full form with hundreds of naturally derived in-house products. Since 79 years, the pharmacy has stood firm ground as the shop around the corner of Chakkapir street, at Rani Talao.“ We have been at this very place since 1932.We do not and will not have any other branches because we want to maintain the quality set up by our forefathers. We also cater to NRI customers via their relatives who reside in Surat and around the surrounding villages here. Our original surname was Navsariwala; our profession provided the present last name”, says Mohammad Qasim Hakeem, who represents the fifth generation of the lineage.
His father, Abdul. Hakim .Hakeem sits on the loft above, reading the trembling nerves of patients who have lined up to be cured. It is here that ageing men, pregnant women, insomniac professionals and colic children come for cures that are derived from exotic botanical ingredients such as Licorice roots, Peppermint, Malabar nuts, Rhubarb and other such herbs, sourced from all around India. Downstairs, a troop of educated young staff , hands out prescribed cures for allergies, asthma, eczema and caters to other demands such as beauty products, naturally extracted sherbets, top quality khajoor (red dates) etc.
Within the heart of city, one can catch the whiff of fresh gulabjal, sukhadd, amla, jojoba along with henna and sesame amongst other aromas from this treasure trove that is the sum of ancient herbal wisdom, which thrives and throbs steadily along with the pulse of Surat city.
Showing posts with label nawab of sachin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nawab of sachin. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sunday, January 31, 2010
SURTI BOLLYWOOD ME`LANGE
The ‘twitterati’ is wildly abuzz these days. Netizens tweeting about whether ‘phir miley sur’ is a note above or below the original and very popular patriotic number,’Miley sur mera tumhara, toh sur baney hamara.’
In case you have been wondering who on earth is the singer representing Gujarat, its our very own Parthiv Gohil who sprang to fame while singing ‘Yoon shabnami’ in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya.
Even as Indians love and hate and speculate the new version of miley sur, rightly pointing out the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Dr.Abdul Kalam Azaad; lots of people have noticed that it is full of Bollywood stars.
While Salman’s heart touching silent gesture speaks more than a million words, people are wondering what on earth is, Miss. long legs aka Deepika Padukone’s contribution and cause.
All in all, Surtis are left hoping they had someone to represent them on the Bollywood brigade.
Surti hottie, Miss.Namitha Vankawala, our Rander gal who makes men go weak in the knees and is the most widely searched southern siren online, along with a temple in her name is the Goddess down south and was not considered to represent either homeland or work abode.
Surti sweetie Prachi Desai who turned from small screen’s favourite biwi –Mrs.Bani Walia to big screen’s sophisticated Mumbai biwi-Mrs.Sakshi Aditya in Rock On, is still a new kid on the block and despite Rock On rocking the audiences; hence was not yet considered to qualify to the level of state representative.
Contrary to belief, Surat has made some great contributions to Bollywood-
The first-Fatima begum-Bollywood’s first lady director, was a Surti.The lady, an Urdu stage artist, entered film line with her debut in’ Veer Abhmanyu’ in 1922 and within four years went on to writing, producing, directing in Bollywood .She launched her company Fatima films and directed ‘Bulbul-e-Paristan.’Extremely fair skinned ,she shone on screen with dark make up and fancy wigs. Though her marriage to the then Nawab of Sachin stood disputed in court, she was independent and followed her dreams. Her daughters -Sultana, Shazadi and Zubeida too went on to rule silent age of silver screen.
The famous-Zubeida-Legendary actress and stunning beauty, debuted at the mere age of 12, at a time when cinema was considered the big bad line for girls. Zubeida, daughter of the Nawab of Sachin and Fatima Begum, was talented at singing and dancing along with the gift of impeccable speech. She went on to become the female lead in India’s first Talkie-Alam Ara.Box office bonanzas jingled cash counters with her strings of successive hits. Highest paid actress of her times, she set the screen on fire with her many characters, from courtesan dancer to mythological ones, from the lead in ‘Sacrifice’-a blockbuster base on Tagore’s ‘Balidaan’, to a circus girl in Zarina, where her steamy scenes sent the censors in a tizzy. Actress Karisma Kapoor acted in and as Zubeida on a movie based on her life. Interestingly, her great grand father, Prithvi Raj Kapoor, was a supporting actor, in Alam Ara. Zubeida later married Maharaj Narsinger Dhanrajgir of Hyderabad and was the mother of eminent corporate figure Humayun Dhanrajgir.
The finest-Sanjeev Kumar-aka Harihar Jethalal Jariwala.Who can ever imagine watching Khilona, Mausam, Aandhi, Anamika, Sholay, Naya din Nayi raat, without the subtle nuances of its sensitive lead hero. An actor par excellence, he was raised in Palsana’s Niyol village, at his maternal uncle’s home- being a child of an estranged home. This superstar who brought to life many brilliantly written characters from Gulzaarsaab and gifted writer Kamleshwar’s scripts along with innumerable other ones, was an unconventional stereotype, whose talent remains unsurpassed in his league. Handsome and a lover of Surti food like ras, rotli, karela, vaal ni daal and idla, Kumar was a down to earth, simpleton who was born to act. Unfortunately, he died much before his time, inspite of having played roles of characters much beyond his age.
The fine tuned-Ismail Durbar-Bold , brash and a complete brat as a child, too, this Surti has the lineage of four generations of musicians .His father owned the Darbar Band and Ismail was trained by his father and later sent to Mumbai, to learn the violin under the expertise of Pt.Ram Prasad Sharma and Shri Ganesh.Since his mother belonged to a family of chefs, few know that Ismail is a great cook himself too and is often handy around the house, giving Biryani and khichdi kadhi a twirl of his other talent . A session violinist for stalwarts like R.D.Burman, Laxmikant Pyaarelal and a host of others, this titan of talent came into his own with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Hum dil de chuke sanam.’ Darbar had played the violin for ‘Khamoshi’, Bhansali’s earlier musical. He surprised Sanjay with a couple of compositions when his name was recommended for ‘Hum dil….’the rest is history.Kisna, Devdaas, are other examples of this genius who refuses to leave the culture rich notes of melodious music in these times where instant rhythm rules the flavour of the week chartbusters .
Surti talent is hard to suppress. Whenever our own have entered Bollywood, they have definitely carved a niche `to be leaders in their league.
The ‘twitterati’ is wildly abuzz these days. Netizens tweeting about whether ‘phir miley sur’ is a note above or below the original and very popular patriotic number,’Miley sur mera tumhara, toh sur baney hamara.’
In case you have been wondering who on earth is the singer representing Gujarat, its our very own Parthiv Gohil who sprang to fame while singing ‘Yoon shabnami’ in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya.
Even as Indians love and hate and speculate the new version of miley sur, rightly pointing out the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Dr.Abdul Kalam Azaad; lots of people have noticed that it is full of Bollywood stars.
While Salman’s heart touching silent gesture speaks more than a million words, people are wondering what on earth is, Miss. long legs aka Deepika Padukone’s contribution and cause.
All in all, Surtis are left hoping they had someone to represent them on the Bollywood brigade.
Surti hottie, Miss.Namitha Vankawala, our Rander gal who makes men go weak in the knees and is the most widely searched southern siren online, along with a temple in her name is the Goddess down south and was not considered to represent either homeland or work abode.
Surti sweetie Prachi Desai who turned from small screen’s favourite biwi –Mrs.Bani Walia to big screen’s sophisticated Mumbai biwi-Mrs.Sakshi Aditya in Rock On, is still a new kid on the block and despite Rock On rocking the audiences; hence was not yet considered to qualify to the level of state representative.
Contrary to belief, Surat has made some great contributions to Bollywood-
The first-Fatima begum-Bollywood’s first lady director, was a Surti.The lady, an Urdu stage artist, entered film line with her debut in’ Veer Abhmanyu’ in 1922 and within four years went on to writing, producing, directing in Bollywood .She launched her company Fatima films and directed ‘Bulbul-e-Paristan.’Extremely fair skinned ,she shone on screen with dark make up and fancy wigs. Though her marriage to the then Nawab of Sachin stood disputed in court, she was independent and followed her dreams. Her daughters -Sultana, Shazadi and Zubeida too went on to rule silent age of silver screen.
The famous-Zubeida-Legendary actress and stunning beauty, debuted at the mere age of 12, at a time when cinema was considered the big bad line for girls. Zubeida, daughter of the Nawab of Sachin and Fatima Begum, was talented at singing and dancing along with the gift of impeccable speech. She went on to become the female lead in India’s first Talkie-Alam Ara.Box office bonanzas jingled cash counters with her strings of successive hits. Highest paid actress of her times, she set the screen on fire with her many characters, from courtesan dancer to mythological ones, from the lead in ‘Sacrifice’-a blockbuster base on Tagore’s ‘Balidaan’, to a circus girl in Zarina, where her steamy scenes sent the censors in a tizzy. Actress Karisma Kapoor acted in and as Zubeida on a movie based on her life. Interestingly, her great grand father, Prithvi Raj Kapoor, was a supporting actor, in Alam Ara. Zubeida later married Maharaj Narsinger Dhanrajgir of Hyderabad and was the mother of eminent corporate figure Humayun Dhanrajgir.
The finest-Sanjeev Kumar-aka Harihar Jethalal Jariwala.Who can ever imagine watching Khilona, Mausam, Aandhi, Anamika, Sholay, Naya din Nayi raat, without the subtle nuances of its sensitive lead hero. An actor par excellence, he was raised in Palsana’s Niyol village, at his maternal uncle’s home- being a child of an estranged home. This superstar who brought to life many brilliantly written characters from Gulzaarsaab and gifted writer Kamleshwar’s scripts along with innumerable other ones, was an unconventional stereotype, whose talent remains unsurpassed in his league. Handsome and a lover of Surti food like ras, rotli, karela, vaal ni daal and idla, Kumar was a down to earth, simpleton who was born to act. Unfortunately, he died much before his time, inspite of having played roles of characters much beyond his age.
The fine tuned-Ismail Durbar-Bold , brash and a complete brat as a child, too, this Surti has the lineage of four generations of musicians .His father owned the Darbar Band and Ismail was trained by his father and later sent to Mumbai, to learn the violin under the expertise of Pt.Ram Prasad Sharma and Shri Ganesh.Since his mother belonged to a family of chefs, few know that Ismail is a great cook himself too and is often handy around the house, giving Biryani and khichdi kadhi a twirl of his other talent . A session violinist for stalwarts like R.D.Burman, Laxmikant Pyaarelal and a host of others, this titan of talent came into his own with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Hum dil de chuke sanam.’ Darbar had played the violin for ‘Khamoshi’, Bhansali’s earlier musical. He surprised Sanjay with a couple of compositions when his name was recommended for ‘Hum dil….’the rest is history.Kisna, Devdaas, are other examples of this genius who refuses to leave the culture rich notes of melodious music in these times where instant rhythm rules the flavour of the week chartbusters .
Surti talent is hard to suppress. Whenever our own have entered Bollywood, they have definitely carved a niche `to be leaders in their league.
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