Firdous Khan
A writer is passionate; he pursues his passion and protects it with all his power. Here we are discussing litterateur Abid Surti. He is a storyteller, novelist, painter, cartoonist, satirist, and also an environmentalist. His campaign on water conservation is being appreciated not only in India but all over the world. His work on the environment has also been noticed by the United Nations. Erik Solheim, former executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has praised him many times.
Abid Surti was born in Gujarat and later his family moved to Mumbai. As a child he saw tension over water; often the water points in the city saw fighting among the women who came to collect it for daily use.
He also saw the homeless people living on the footpaths struggling for every drop of water. Even though Mumbai is situated on the seashore, the residents face a huge shortage of water. He felt all the more sad to notice that even in this scarcity, people did not conserve water and rather had no qualms about wasting it.
Abid Surti wearing a T-Shirt with campaign slogan
He narrated an incident of the year 2007. He was at a friend's house when he could hear the sound of a dripping tap. He told his friend that a tap somewhere in his house was leaking and he had to get it fixed. His friend did not pay much attention to this.
Each time he visited his friend’s house; he noticed the sound and again suggested repairing the tap. One day, his friend showed his annoyance with his repeated suggestions. He said, “It’s only a few drops that are getting wasted; why are you worried?
He knew that one drop of water leaked every second, it would lead to approximately 1,000 liters of water flowing into the gutter every month.
This triggered the idea of starting a campaign to save water in his mind. During the same time, he received an award of Rs one lakh from the Hindi Sahitya Sansthan of Uttar Pradesh. He used it for his campaign’ to set up a voluntary organization that he named as 'Drop Dead Foundation. Its tagline is- Save every drop or drop dead.
Abid Surti with a foreigner
He continued spending all his prize money on his NGO. His work got people's attention.
Abid Surti, 88, said that every Sunday he takes a plumber with him and goes door to door in his Mira Road area of Mumbai and gets the leaking taps in their houses repaired for free. Members of his organization are going door-to-door to make people aware of water conservation. They say that water conservation is very important. Therefore do not waste water.
He says that in March 2008, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur was making a film on water conservation. He praised his work on his website. Bollywood Superstar Shahrukh Khan also appreciated his work. Shahrukh Khan has been fond of him since childhood because he used to read his Bahadur comics in his childhood.
A news channel also honored him with the 'Be the Change' award for his water conservation campaign. He was invited to Sony Channel's popular program 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' and Amitabh Bachchan praised his water conservation campaign and said that on Sundays when people relax in their homes and sleep in the afternoon, Abid Surti goes around repairing the leaking taps in people's homes. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is also very impressed by him. He invited Abid Surti to Delhi and decided to implement his water model in his state.
In today's era, when religion is being used negatively for selfish ends across the world, Abid has shown a way to use it for results. He got posters of Islamic hadiths on water conservation and put them in the ablution chambers of mosques.
Initially, he had to face many difficulties, but he did not give up. As a result, his work started getting appreciated. The clerics of the mosques told them that earlier the water tank used to be emptied almost 80 percent every day, but now very little water is being used. Along with water, electricity is also being saved.
Abid Surti got posters of Ganesha printed on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. He also got Shivshankar's posters printed. They are getting posters related to religions like Christianity, Buddhism, Jain, and Sikh, etc to make people realize the importance of water conservation.
His NGO is planning to take the water conservation campaign to every corner of the world through posters.
Abid Surti was born on 5 May 1935 in Rajula, Gujarat. His father Ghulam Hasan was associated with Sufism. His mother Sakina Begum was also a very kind-hearted woman. At home, he was taught to help others and do good deeds.
It impacted even his art and writings. Abid Surti did not write stories or novels just for entertainment, he tried to create awareness of issues through these. At a stage of life when people tend to retire from active life, he continues to work as an artist, creative writer, and above all a water conservationist.
Abid Surti is a diploma holder in fine arts. He created the cartoon character 'Dhabbu Ji'. He says the character is a caricature of his father. He was a cartoonist for the famous and popular Hindi magazine Dharamyug and presented 'Cartoon Kona Dhabbuji' for 30 years.
This cartoon became very popular. His paintings are also amazing and rated high. The first exhibition of his paintings was held at Nainital, Uttarakhand. After this, many exhibitions of his paintings were displayed in the country and abroad. He also earned a good name in painting.
He wrote stories, novels, plays, narratives, satire, and children's literature. He wrote in Hindi, Gujarati and English. His major Hindi books include Kalae gulab (Black Roses), Kathavachak (Storyteller)Kali Kitab (Black Book) Behta Pani (Flowing Water) Bahatar saal ka baccha (72 year old child), Aadamkhor (Man Eater), Aswad (Tasteless), Chamatkari Ladki (Girl of miracles), etc. In fact, it is a long list. So is the list of Abid Surti’s books in Gujarati, his native language.
His novels have been translated into many regional languages including English, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, and Kannada. He has written stories, scripts, and dialogues for Doordarshan, Zee TV, and other channels. He has been writing for various Hindi and Gujarati newspapers and magazines for the last several decades. He has also been the editor of the Gujarati annual magazine Dhayaro.
Some of Abid Surti's books
National Book Trust has published his 15 books including books of educational stories and cartoons etc. He has received many awards for his public welfare and writings. These include the National Award, Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sahitya Sansthan Award, Gujarat Gaurav Samman, Legend of Indian Animation Award, Shri Pankaj Kapadia Award, prestigious Maharana Mewar Award, Taru Lalwani Award, Baba Amte Award, Mumbai Hero Award, Green Champion Award, Wipro-Nature, The prominent ones are the Forever Society Sparrow Award, Rotary Club Award, and Amazing Mumbaikar Award.
In the year 2010, on his 75th birthday, the Abid Surti-centric issue of June 2010 of the literary magazine 'Shabdyog' was launched in the auditorium of Hindustani Prachar Sabha and a seminar was also organized on him.
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He is also a member of the Film Certification Board, Film Writers Association, Delhi's Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children, and Mumbai Press Club.
(The author is a poet, storyteller, and journalist)
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