People who make scrap into something useful
Mangaluru (PTI): Two people from Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka have figured out how to make unusable scrap items lying scattered in our premises into reusable materials.
While a man from the port city uses worn-out tyres and alcohol bottles to convert them into attractive furniture and glass vases, a scrap dealer in Bantwal has set up a small library at his house with the books he got while running his business.
Ujwal Albert D'Cunha from Urwa here has learnt the magic art of transforming waste objects into something useful for the people, like furniture from discarded tyres.
D'Cunha, a Dubai returnee, has found an avenue for earning through this now. He had to leave the middle east nation after losing his job during the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, with his art of using waste items into useful articles, he has found a way to move on in life.
D'Cunha says usually worn-out tyres are either thrown away, dumped or burnt, which harms the environment. With stagnant water accumulating in these tyres during rainy days, such dumped waste becomes a breeding place for mosquitoes, which in turn results in the spread of diseases also.
D'Cunha then came up with the idea to convert the scrap tyres into furniture.
After reading about recycling of used tyres into furniture on social media, he first made three tyre chairs with ropes that were delivered to Camp Alpha, the campground in Chikkamagaluru.
Encouraged by the positive response, he later made use of his own brand-new concepts to make the tyre chairs look more attractive by using cushions, sponge and clothing designs to beautify them. Besides the tyre furniture, he also turns abandoned alcohol bottles into ashtray, tumblers and flower vases. He also possesses the craft for making hanging light, night table lamp and paper light using yarn and wool, which can be used during festive occasions.
While people throw out alcohol bottles or sell them to scrap dealers, D'Cunha had different ideas. The waste bottles are converted into glass tumblers, ashtrays and flower vases through his hands. He minces the sharp edges of the bottles to give a smooth finish to the product.
He also collects pallets, normally used for storage and transportation, and recycles them into furniture.
D'Cunha uses his craft also to make night table lamps, hanging light fixtures and pendant lamps with the help of yarn and cotton threads which people use for decorative lighting during festivities.
For Ismail Kannathur, a 50-year-old scrap dealer from Bantwal taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, there is a different story to tell. He has set up a small library at his residence with the books he collected while running his business.
All these books were collected from the scrap while running his scrap shop at Hoovakuvakallu in Balepuni village in Bantwal. He has come to learn through experience that what is scrap for someone is useful for others, especially in the case of books.
Ismail had gone to school only up to the first standard. However, he knows the value of education and kept the books he got from scrap in the last 25 years for the use of those who come in search of them.
Ismail, who is also a social worker who helps people with his earnings, says he had collected several good books which he used to give to the people who come to him. More than 2,000 books had been given away like this.
Though he does not take any money from them, some of them pay him for the books they get from the shop. Many books have been given free of cost to teachers and students.
Ismail proudly says that he has educated his five children as he knows the value of knowledge in life, having stopped learning at an early age.
A man who had seen his collection motivated him to set up the library with the available books. The books have now been arranged in wooden shelves at his residence from where the public can borrow them.
Ismail, who is also active in cleanliness drives in the area, has also taken up many social causes to help the needy, according to the local people.
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Bhojshala complex registered as 'mosque' in old revenue records: Muslim side to MP HC
Indore (PTI): The disputed Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex has historically been registered as a 'mosque' in revenue records and available sources don't clearly mention any Saraswati temple established by then-king Raja Bhoj, the Muslim side has told the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The Hindu community considers Bhojshala a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, while the Muslim side calls the 11th-century monument Kamal Maula Mosque. The disputed complex located in Dhar district is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
During the hearing before the HC's Indore bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi on Wednesday, Qazi Moinuddin questioned two PILs filed as intervenors in the Bhojshala case by an organisation named Hindu Front for Justice, one Kuldeep Tiwari and another individual.
Moinuddin claims to be a descendant of Sufi saint Maulana Kamaluddin Chishti and the 'Sajjadanashin' (spiritual head, guru, or successor of a Sufi shrine, khanqah, or religious site).
The PILs state that Bhojshala is actually a Saraswati temple and only Hindus should be granted the right to worship at the disputed complex.
Moinuddin's lawyer, Noor Ahmed Sheikh, claimed in the court that his client's ancestors, who are descendants of Maulana Kamaluddin Chishti, have historically held titles to the complex, and the site was also recorded as a "mosque" in government revenue records.
He contended that those associated with the management of the Kamal Maula Mosque, located within the complex, have been in "continuous and peaceful occupation" of the site for a long time.
Citing Muslim law, Sheikh argued that in the case of religious property, particularly a mosque or its related properties, officials such as the Sajjadanashin and Mutawalli (person entrusted with management, maintenance, and administration of a Waqf), and their descendants, not only have the right to intervene, but also have the right to manage and use such a structure.
Citing provisions of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904, the Muslim side's lawyer said the term "in-charge of the property" is used in this law, which makes it clear that the person or party who has been in charge of a property for a long time has rights over it.
During the hearing, Touseef Warsi, the lawyer representing the Maulana Kamaluddin Welfare Society of Dhar, claimed that Hindu parties in both PILs had made "misleading representations" regarding historical facts before the high court.
He further claimed that available historical sources do not clearly mention the existence of a Saraswati temple established by Raja Bhoj, the legendary king of the Parmar dynasty who ruled Dhar from 1010 to 1055.
The ASI, a central government agency, has adopted three different positions in the lawsuits filed regarding the Bhojshala dispute, changing its answers from time to time, and this situation raises serious questions about judicial scrutiny of the complex, Warsi submitted.
He raised objections regarding the ASI's process of scientific survey of the Bhojshala complex, carried out on the HC order in 2024, and the method of videography and requested the court to examine these objections.
The hearing in the Bhojshala case will continue on Thursday.
The HC has been regularly hearing four petitions and one writ appeal since April 6, contesting the religious nature of the monument.
