20-yr-old Islamic calligrapher and medical student Aabida Rashid hails from the Zainakote HMT area in Jammu & Kashmir’s central Kashmir’s Srinagar district.
Growing up in an area where some professions are prized while others are sent to the trash. Well, she started to write a narrative under the name Aabida Rashid. She is a self-taught calligrapher from the Kashmir valley, near Srinagar. She never attended any formal education; instead, she learned it all on her own.
While speaking with The Chenab Times, Aabida Rashid revealed that although she has always been fascinated by Islamic calligraphy, she hasn’t had the time to practise it because she’s a medical student. However, the pandemic has been both a blessing and a curse, she said.
Lockdown gave me numerous opportunity to make good use of my free time, and I now realise how fortunate I am to have this talent for calligraphy, she said.
“I began my journey as a calligrapher during lockdown, when there was slackness everywhere, lockdown helped me with more time to Improve my skills, I began to devote most of my time towards this art, from school days I used to participate in all local competitions and won many of them, No doubt it is a beginning but I want to do it for my life now,” the calligrapher said.
“I’m studying hard to become proficient in this profession because I have an intrinsic propensity towards it; it’s more than just a hobby for me.”
I don’t feel alone in the shadow of this art, it is the medication for all my bad moods, I find serenity in this, for me it is an efficient way to communicate and deliver a message in a beautiful way, it is the music not for the ears but for the eyes, a best approach to deal with stress, she said.
Additionally, she continued, “I think that an artist should be given the chance to demonstrate his or her talent; everyone is brilliant, and society should value this kind of creativity.”
“I want the audience to simultaneously admire and critique every artist; art or a vocation shouldn’t be despised; when it brings pleasure, it becomes reverence.”
Additionally, she added, “Now that people have started to notice my work, my family, friends, and anyone else who sees it, Alhumdulilah, everyone appreciates me and is responding positively, which motivates me to keep working.”
“In addition to calligraphy, I occasionally paint and doodle, which makes me happy and at ease. Calligraphy, in my opinion, is a therapeutic art because when we practise it, our minds are completely focused on it, and we begin to forget about everything else, including our difficulties.
When asked if she had any advice for beginners, she responded. “Just do whatever makes you happy and whatever brings you peace; for me, it’s like therapy. If you’re thinking about success and all that, just stop thinking about it because Allah alone is responsible for your success; instead, focus on working hard and staying motivated to achieve your goals; don’t let your circumstances define you; come forward and prove to the world that you are capable of anything.”
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Burhan Nazir is a Photo Journalist with The Chenab Times, also writes for Citizen Journalism section.
