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| Road to Chail Khas |
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| The road goes on.. |
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| This goes to Ratgaha |
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| Turn towards Ratgaha |
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| FIelds |
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| Ek Ek Kar Rukhsat ho Jaogey Darwaze Per Ruke Baghair !!! |
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| Jo Ghar tha Apna hi Ghar tha Har Aangan Apna Aangan tha |
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| Uff ye guzre hue Lamhon ka Hujoom Dar -o-deewaar Qayamat__ thahrey ! |
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| Kitni Hangama Kheziyan Samete hue ek khamosh Ghar |
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Enclosed Graveyard of Ratgaha
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| Mosque from other angle....... |
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Gate of the mosque Zun-Nurain , Ratgaha
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Name
Ratgaha is a
relatively mid-sized village located in Pargana & Tehsil Chail of Kaushambi
District (formerly Allahabad ) UP (India) . It is located 25 km to the east of
the District Head quarters Manjhanpur and 3 km away from Chail town and about
200 Kilometers from the provincial capital Lucknow. It falls under the Chail
Block within Charwa Police station.
Nizampur Puraini , Muhiuddinpur
taluka Saiyid Sarawan , Chilla Shah Bazi, Chilauli, Paharpur Sudhwar, Chail are the nearby
Villages. It is located a bit deeper inside the heart of Pargana Chail and
hence you need to know the the correct way to reach the village. The easiest route
would be to go through the slip way off the main Manauri-Chail road.
Demography
It is among the
42 villages of Chail Block of Kaushambi district. According to the government
records, the village code of Rathgha is 160578. The village has 431 homes
The total population
of this village in 1951 was 655 while in the last census it is 2528. Out of
this, 1370 are males while the females count 1158 here.
The total
geographical area of village is 40.62 hectares.
Origin
It is relatively a
new village of Pargana Chail , an addition , the name of which is not found in
the old records because the village was
carved out, named and established few years after the uprising of 1857. The history
of the establishment of this village is closely associated with the disturbance
in 1857. In order to get to the history of the village, we need to go back to
history of the present city of Allahabad.
Before 1857 (Ghadar) there was
a large village in Allahabad named” Muhiuddinpur Kaharia” . The village was
located at the place where now stands High Court, Polo Groud, Railway Colony and some parts
of Cantonment. The entire village with its adjoining Purwa (hamlets ) were
owned by the descendants of Shaikh Muhiuddin Sahib who got this
village from the Lucknow Nawabi in the beginning of 18th
Century.
Kachpurwa (Allahabad
Railway Station )
The Allahabad railway
station as we know it today was initially known as Kachpurwa Station, even some
old timers still know or call it “Kachpurwa Tesan”. Till twenty-thirty years back there was an entire generation
that knew or called it Kachpurwa. The
present Allahabad station is established on the lands of two different villages.
The City side station was a purwa inhabited & owned by Kacchis ( A Cultivater
caste ) hence known as Kachpurwa. The majority land of the civil lines side was
bordered & owned by Shaikh Ghulam Muhammad Urf Bechu Miyan , the owner of
Muhiuddinpur Kaharia , a large village of Pargana Chail.
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| Old Photo graph of Kachpurwa Station |
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| Old Municipal Rates from Kachpurwa Staion |
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| Old Railway Record mentioning Kachpurwa Station |
Migration to Neewan
During the upheaval
& disturbance in 1857 when the law & order broke down and chaos
prevailed, the zamindar family of Kaharia which evidently did not take part in
the uprising left the village with whatever baggage they could carry on fearing
the backlash. Their nearest relatives were in the Village Niwan and hence they
pitched their tents in Neewan Village. Neewan was/is a large village on the
banks of river Ganges a part of which was taken over and included in the
Cantonment in the aftermath of 1857.The Kaharia family lived in Neewan for six
months. The Zamindars of Niwan too had suffered badly and were struggling to
hold on and with the sudden influx of refugees of many villages like Baghara,
Salori, Kaharia, their patience and capacity were on the test.
Moreover after the
British recapture, the apprehensions proved true as the British started the revenge game and ,when most of the trees on the GT road was filled with dead bodies and indiscriminate killing became the rage of the day.The news of
soldiers approaching Neewan became a daily routine then the family of Muhiuddinpur
Kahariya thought it wise to shift to other place.
Migration to Saiyid
Sarawan
This time they
shifted to Saiyid Sarawan with the other relatives. It was the beginning of 1858 when the family of Zamindars
of Kaharia landed in Saiyid sarawan, the railway line was being earmarked and
the residents were looking for the new dwelling spaces. The family lived in the
eastern part of the village with their relatives. It is noteworthy that they
lived in Saiyid Sarawan for almost 3 years and became a part of the the village
fraternity.
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| A Ginni ( Victorian Era ) 1862 |
During the course of time , the British government decided to compensate the loss of lands of the erstwhile landlords
and probably Shaikh Ghulam Muhammad Alias Bechu Miyan was the only Zamindar
from the city side who was compensated in 1862. It is reported that he got 14
loads of Gold Mohars ( Ginnis ) carried through donkeys in the compensation.
Immediately an large Guava
orchard was purchased near the village Muhiddunpur Taluka Saiyid Sarawan owned
by a a teli of Saiyid Sarawan and the foundation of four houses for four sons
of Bechu Miyan were laid in a night and the family shifted thereafter. Since
the village & the houses were founded in a night, they village was called
Rati+Gaha (went through the night) that became RAT-GAHA over the period of
time.
It becomes clear that are originally the landlords of Muhiuddinpur Kaharia with 16 Annas of share
along with the Mazras. This Kaharia village proudly carries the High Court, Polo
Ground and other building in the civil lines including a part of Cantonment and
the civil lines side of Allahabad railway station.
Origin of the family
The original
documents including the family tree of this esteemed family got lost during the
disturbance and the subsequent dislocations from one village to another. Though there has been a consensus that the family is of high origin but the ancestry could not be ascertained due to the lack
of complete Shajra ( Family tree ) . A
What we know today definitely is that Shaikh Muhiuddin Sahib was the originator and founder of Village
Muhiuddinpur Kaharia. He had a son named Shaikh Lutf Ulah and he had Shaikh
Noor Muhammad and he had Shaikh Ghulam Muhammad Alias BECHU MIYAN……This Bechu
Miyan was alive when the 1857 uprising took place , He along with his four sons
namely Ramzan Ali , Sadiq Ali , Hidayat Ali , Qaasim Ali left the village for
safety.
These four sons are
the founders & originators of village RATGAHA. There are four houses in
Ratgaha from where come all the shaikhs of Ratgaha. If someone is from Ratgaha
, his/her paternal line should reach one of these four brothers.
Shaikh Muhiuddin
& his sons are buried in the cemetery around the tomb of Chaudah Peer (14
Peer) complex near the Polo Ground , Civil Lines Allahabad as this was their ancestral burial grounds & part of their village. Even Shaikh Ramzan Ali is
buried in the village Muhiuddinpur (now 14 Peer dargah )complex whereas the later ones are buried in
Ratgaha.
Zamindari
There is no doubt
that they were one of the major landowners of Allahabad with a premium tract of land in their possession. But their fortunes took a very ugly turn
when the uprising of 1857 broke out and the debacle of Indian
forces brought severe hardship & misfortune for the entire lot of Zamindars
of Chail. The lands of Muhiuddinpur Kaharia was confiscated and later earmarked for Cannington ( as Civil
Lines was originally known), the old glory & comfort of the family could never be
restored although they did purchase ,inhabit and populate another village named Ratgaha . They had got satisfied with their lot and turned their attention towards modern education that helped save
their progeny from further fall. It was a wise move.
Marriages
Since the family is
reputed to be of a high origin. Their marriages have always taken place with
their counterparts in Chail. Mostly they married with the Shaikhs of Neewan
& Saiyid Sarawan ,Chail Khas , Audhan, Peepal Gaon, Shaikhpur, Bada Gaon etc. They
were known to be a bit choosy lot when it came to contracting marriages….As a
result they don’t have a very large kinship network but whatever relations and
marriages they have contracted , they are with the “selected few families and
hence they have maintained the sanctity of bloodline to a greater extent than
others.
Usmani or Siddiqi or
What ?
Here I would like to
comment on the surname “USMANI” that some of the family members have started
using for the past 50-60 years.
As stated above
that the original family tree was lost and could not be traced therefore today
it is almost impossible to ascertain which branch of Shaikhs they actually came
from? Now the questions
arises as to why the family is using USMANI with their names so frequently
?
It seems that
they picked up this Surname from Saiyid Sarawan. We know that they lived in Saiyid Sarawan for about 3 years and it is highly possible that they picked up their surname from there only. I say so because there is no shajra or documentary
evidence available to support that they are descended from Hadhrat Usman (RA) or
they are Usmanis. As a matter of fact none of the elders of this family had ever used
USMANI with their name.
I had consulted this
issue with Janab Zafeer Ahmad Marhoom of Audhan who was from the same family
who admitted that he had no document to show that they are Usmanis and he was of the view that they might
be Shaikh of Siddiqi origin. He further informed that Shaikh Muhiuddin’s
nanihal was also a siddiqi and his take was that the family is of Siddiqi
origin. He himself did never use “USMANI” with his name. The family at Rajkot
is using Siddiqi as the same surname and the Poet in Kanpur too used the same,
namely , Yazdani Siddiqi Marhoom who was from the same family.
This view should not
be taken as an objection in disapproval. It is just to say that there is no documentary evidence and if there is any documentary
evidence to prove otherwise, it should come out now and clarify things once for
all. May be after viewing this , someone comes up with an old documents that clears the confusion once for all.
And Allaah SWT knows
best.
Family
Ghulam Muhammad Alias
Bechu Miyan is the progenitor of Ratgaha, He had four sons , Ramzan Ali, Sadiq
Ali, Hidayat Ali and Qasim Ali. These four brothers and their descendents are
what we know as Ratgaha family today.
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Jb. Ghulam Muhiyudin Pyare miyan
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1. Ramzan Ali had Abdul
Sattar & Ghulam Yazdani, Abdul sattar had two daughters only without a son.
While Ghulam Yazdani had Saad-ud-din who had Ghulam Muhiyuddin Urf Pyare Miyan
(D.2010) , Now Pyare Miyan fathered three, Muhammad Muqbil (Aaley), Qamar-uddin
(Munney) and Shams-uddin (Samar). Muhammad Muqbil Aaley is the father of
Muhammad Parvez, Owais Usmani, Saif , Taahir & Asif Usmani & Khalid (Late).
Qamaruddin Munney has Faisal Qamar Alias Faiz ( known better as Aksar
Allahabadi) & Afzal (
Monis)___Shamsuddin Samar Miyan fathered Fazal, Fuzail Usmani, Shuaib and
Fazil & Fazeel Usmani.
2. Sadiq Ali had Siraj-ul-Haq Urf Jokhu Miyan who had two
sons, Nawab Husain and Imam Husain. Nawab Husain mostly shifted to & lived
in a village Kanthua ( in Pargana Kara ) where he got a job whereashis brother
Ghulam Imam Husain got a share in Audhan so he shifted to Audhan. While both
the brothers were away their paternal house fell down due to disrepair. It was
rebuilt and known as “Naya Ghar”
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| From R to L --Amir , Zahid , Waheed & Farhan Usmani ( Pak) Sons of Tauqeer Ahmad |
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| From R to L - Tauqeer , Taskheer & Safeer Sb. |
Now Ghulam Imam
Husain Urf Imam Miyan had shifted to Audhan. He had four sons, Zafeer Ahmad,
Safeer Ahmad, Taskheer Ahmad and Tauqeer Ahmad. Except Zafeer Ahmad Marhoom who
lived in Audhan, the rest of three went to Pakistan. Zafeer Ahmad Sahib at
Audhan had Muhammad Javaid, Muhammad Naved, Muhammad Junaid ( now mostly at
Mahgaon)_____Safeer Ahmad Sahib had only two daughters____Taskheer Ahmad Sahib
had Tahzir Ahmad , Aqeel Ahmad Urf Tariq, Arif, Asif and Hamid while
________Tauqeer Ahmad Sahib had Tauseef Ahmad ( Now Zahid Usmani, Doha) , Wahid
Ahmad , Farhan and Muhammad Aamir
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| Mr.Parvez ,Tanveer ( Rajkot ) with Janab Kaleemullah |
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| Jb. Kaleem Ullah ( Retd. Asstt. BSA ) |
4.The fourth son
Qasim Ali has six sons and a daughter. His sons were Ameer-uddin, Maulvi
Zia-uddin, Wahaj-uddin, Saeed uddin, Hameed-uddin, Nazeer-uddin.
Now three of his sons
namely Janab Ameeruddin Sahib, Nazeer-udin Sahib and Maulvi Zia ul haq had a
daughter with no son whereas Hameed-uddin had no issue. Only two Wahaj-ud-din
And Saeed-uddin had the family tree growing up through male members.
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| Jb. Haseenuddin with his Elder brother |
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| Jb Iftikhar Ahmad Iffan Sb. |
Now Sirajuddin sahib was employed in Chittagong and he later on shifted
to Karachi , he had two sons namely Qamar-ul-Islam Urf Shahzade and Saif ul
Islam Urf Swaleh in Karachi._____Haseenuddin Sahib Urf Assan MIyan had seven
sons, Fakhrul Islam Urf Banney , Badarul Islam urf Naushe (Pak), Riyazul Islam
Urf Dularey , Noor ul Islam Urf Chand, Rooh-ul-Islam Urf Shahid ,
Zahir-ul-Islam Urf Sajid(Kolkata) and Zahir-ul-islam Urf Munna.___________
Iftikhar Ahmad Urf Iffan Miyan was a teacher in Shervani Inter College,
Sallahpur and lived there, He fathered Anwar Ahmad, Irshad Ahmad , Absar Ahmad
and Tanweer Ahmad._____________Last one Imtiyaz Ahmad urf Imman MIyan migrated
to Pak in 1960 and further information about his sons could not be gathered.
Saeed-ud-Din Sahib
had two sons, Majeed-ud-din and Waheed-ud-din. Majeed-ud-din Marhoom was
married in Mahgaon but he got some shares in bharwari thereupon he settled in
Bharwari. His sons are Ladey Sahib, Haseen urf Dularey, Shameem and Waseeem
Ahmad .
Waheed-ud-din s/o
Saeed-ud-din went to Hyderabad Deccan and we do not have any information about
his pursuit and issues thereafter. He had a son Maqbool Ahmad.
Haji Hameed-uddin
Sahib a retired police officer ,was married in Seondha , his marriage had an
ominous memory as hundreds of attendees died due to food poisioing in the food.
He had a son who died at young age without any issue.Haji Hameeduddin expired
in 1962.
Migration
Since the village
itself was a new settlement, none of the others migrated to Ratgaha but a few
from Ratgaha did migrate to other places/villages for a better future.
The following have
shifted from Ratgaha upon getting shares from their maternal or in-laws.
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| Jb. Muhammad Ullah Siddiqi ( Rajkot ) |
(ii) His brother Janab Waheed-ud-Din
migrated to Hyderabad Deccan. Today we do not know the status & whereabouts
of this famiy as they have cut off the ties altogether.
(iii) Ghulam Imam Husain shifted to Audhan
after a share in nanihal. His son Zafeer Ahmad lived in Audhan while his
brothers Safeer Ahmad , Taskheer Ahmad and Tauqeer Ahmad migrated to Pakistan.
(iv) Mohammad Ullah Sahib s/o Inaam Ullah
aka Darogha Ji was employed with the Indian Railways who settled in Rajkot after
the retirement. His sons are doing very well there.
(v) Siraj-ud-din S/o Wahajuddin migrated
to Pakistan. His sons Qamrul Islam & Saiful Islam are there.
(vi) The sons of Ghulam Imam Husain , namely Safeer Ahmad, Taskheer Ahmad and Tauqeer Ahmad went to Pakistan.
(vi) The sons of Ghulam Imam Husain , namely Safeer Ahmad, Taskheer Ahmad and Tauqeer Ahmad went to Pakistan.
Famous persons
Janab Saaduddin
was a city kotwal of Mahmoodabad (
Sitapur) he died young while in service. His son Ghulam Muhyiuddin aka Pyare
Miyan too served the UP Police.
Maulvi Zia-ul-Haq was
a scholar of Arabic & Persian. he who served as a Persian teacher at CAV
College Allahabad too. He authored several books e.g Taiseerul Qawaid.
Janab Wahajuddin
Sahib was also a Kotwal in the British era. His grand-son Qamrul Islam is a
writer based at Karachi.
Janab Haseen-uddin
aka Assan Sahib was a police inspector, His son Fakhrul Islam aka Banney Sahib
has recently expired who was associated with Chail welfare Society in
Allahabad.
Janab Iftikhar Ahmad
aka Iffan Sahib was a teacher at Shervani College Sallahpur and settled there.
His 2nd son Irshad Ahmad aka Dr. Rashid runs a nursing home in Charwa.
Janab Ladey Sahib s/o
Majeed-ud-din Bharwari is running a successful business of Milk Dairy at
Bharwari. His sons have further expanded the Business.
Janab Haseen Ahmad
Sahib s/o Majeed-ud-din was in AG office , his son Asad is an I.E.S.
Maulvi Shabbir Ahmad
Sahib was a teacher whose efforts resulted in the shape of the mosque at
Ratgaha in 1960
Janab Ahmad Ullah
Sahib was the famed principal of Mahgaon Inter College, who ,after retirement had settled
at Saiyid Sarawan till his death.
Special mention must be made for Mr. Qamar-ul islam Usmani , a writer in pakistan who has made a mark in translating detective stories into Urdu , Born in his nanihal Kathgaon , After doing Matriculation in 1956 from Sallahpur, he joined his father at Chittagong where he was working with the Railways. Subsequently they migrated to Karachi in 1958. He started with translations from Persian to Urdu later from other languages and thus enriched the collection of Urdu detective story genre by penning around 300 short stories. His stories were regularly published in urdu digests like Sab Rang, Dosheeza etc. By profession he is a teacher , superannuated few years back as Principal in Karachi.
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| Qamar-ul-Islam Usmani ( Pak) |
Marhoom Ghulam
Yazdani aka Yazdani Siddiqi was a famous poet based at Kanpur.
Janab Muhammad Muqbil
aka Aaley was in AG Office, Janab Shamsuddin Samar sahib superannuated as Post Master in Allahabad while janab Qamaruddin Munney Sahib retired as a principal In Govt Collage .
Faisal Qamar Usmani
aka Aksar Allahabadi is busy into film script & lyrics writing trying his
luck firstly at Chennai and now in Mumbai.
Luminaries today !
Owais Usmani
Mention must be made
of those few who have revived Ratgaha’s name & fame in our times. The
foremost are the sons of Muhammad Muqbil aka Aaley , particularly Owais Usmani who
in a relatively short span of time has grown leaps & bounds and virtually
carved a convincing niche for himself in the business world by the grace of
Allaah SWT.
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| Owais Usmani |
Owais Usmani is an
exemplary entrepreneur who seems to have dreamt big and made that happen. He
began his career as an employee in a mining company at Muscat (Oman) and grew
up to become a partner of the same company. His hard work, dedication and
focused approach helped the company grow exponentially. Afterwards he expanded
as well as diversified his business in Oman by stepping into other diverse
business sectors. In fact, within a period of 10 years, he wrote a splendid
story of success and fame which is an inspiration for the aspiring
entrepreneurs.
Today he owns or has
majority shares (1) in & Arabian
Minerals Trading, which exports chrome ore and mineral products to United Arab
Emirates, China and India & (2) in National Gulf Minerals & Mining Co.
LLC, Muscat, which is the highest exporter of non-ferrous metal products in the
country (3) in Aalia Star Mining Materials (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. Shanghai China,
which imports chrome ore, iron ore,
manganese ore and marble in China.
Apart from success in different business verticals, he has forayed into real estate
development in India by launching his first flagship, 100% FDI-funded project
'Presidency Heights', slated to come up on Yamuna Expressway at Greater Noida.
The project is also committed to make sectored investment of Rs 2000 crore in
the region. His story of success has many lessons and may hard earned tips for
the young entrepreneurs to learn.
Business has to do more than make a profit; it also must drive social change. Keeping the principle in mind, the Usmanis have entrusted this noble task to younger brother Asif Usmani who has launched a Non-Governmental Organization named Glow Star Welfare Society in Allahabad that intends to make a positive contribution to the society with a focus on education, healthcare, livelihood as most of the villages in Chail are facing acute poverty with lack of basic facilities and rampant unemployment. I hope & pray that he continues his good work bringing about a real change in the lives of the countrymen.
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| Parvez Siddiqi (Leo Marketing) |
Mention may be made
of another gem of Ratgaha, Parwez Akhtar Siddiqui son of Janab Muhammad Ullah
Siddiqui, based at Rajkot (Gujarat ) who has made a mark in manufacturing
industrial products under the brand name Leo.His sole proprietorship Leo Marketing Company Rajkot is engaged in Tractor Trailer
Hydraulic Jacks & Accessories, Submersible Pumps and Agriculture Machine
Parts and doing a brisk business overall.
Conclusion
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| Fuzail Usmani |
When I visited Ratgaha , it was a clear day and the sun was bright, the graveyard was the first noticeable stop that I encountered and a slab told "Usmani" , the village is a middle sized one, and showed the signs of developing and growing economical condition. When we reached the heart of the village where the mosque stands in the midst of all the four major houses of the four progenitors of Ratgaha. There was silence all around , only a few guys were sitting on a charpoy asked me the purpose of visit . Upon getting the answer they pointed to the new beautiful house of Aaley Sahib and when i told them names one by one, their fingers roamed all around , assuring me that I am in the middle of everything here. We roamed a bit in & out of the lanes & by lanes without meeting anyone from the main family of landlords as most of them live in the city. Ratgaha was born in a haste after going through a lot of hardship. The young generation has not forgotten the sacrifice their ancestors had made an now they are trying their best to keep the bond with the village stronger though most of them did never live there yet if they are investing their time, money & energy to sustain , maintain and retain whatever their forefather had created "Overnight"....that is commendable......
Mauj badhe ya Aandhi aaye____diya jalaye rakhna hai
Ghar ki khatir sau dukh jhele__Ghar to akhir apna hai !!!
I am highly grateful and feel indebted to Mr. Shams-ud-din Samar Miyan for his invaluable contribution, help & guidance in creating this piece and Br. Fuzail was a big help ! Thanks a lot
Was'salam
Khalid Bin Umar
Write to me
@ Khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com
