DT Page 01 Jan 26.Indd

THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017 CAMPUS | 3 HEALTH | 8 BOLLYWOOD | 1111 ISLI Qatar’s roof A weight-loss expert Jackie Chan garden project changes tune: Focus on meets Salman gets award enjoyment, not perfection Khan Email: [email protected] THIS FARM HAS IT ALL From tomatoes to kale, pumpkins to bitter gourd, lettuce to spinach, 80 different varieties of vegetables are all grown under a single roof at a villa in Mamoura. P | 4-5 03 THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017 CAMPUS PISQ awarded with ECO-Star Trophy The Peninsula akistan International School Qatar (PISQ) awarded with the ECO- Star Trophy in “E-waste management category” Pon January 21 for successfully completing ‘Waste Management Project’ that sought to create awareness among the students about the “recycling of the e-waste specifically of computers and cellphones”. The ECO-Schools Programme Awards are handed out annually by Doha Bank to recognise schools that play an active role in propagating eco-consciousness among students and which demonstrates a high Wajeeha Hayat, Sana Saleem and among the students and how to dis- The main objective of the work degree of innovation and creativ- Samaya Saleem took part in this pose of the old computers and was to clean up the electronic waste ity in successfully completing their project. Nishat Wajid and Reema cellphones. The students shared the from the school. green projects as part of the ECO- Rashid coordinated and supervised information with others about the Project coordinators Reema Schools Programme. them. This project was based upon potential environmental hazard of Rashid and Nishat Wajid received Students Rabia Ali, Areej Aqdas, the presentations, debates and dis- e-waste and its impact on human the trophy. Principal Nargis Raza Mumtaz Riaz, Rubab Fatima, Saba cussions by the students. This life. Students also learnt the meth- Otho felicitated and appreciated the Ahmed, Fatima Gulzeb, Iqra Tahir, project helped to create awareness ods of recycling the e-waste. whole team for their effort. ISL Qatar’s roof garden project gets award The Peninsula project won a top prize in the Sus- tainability in Qatar Competition SL Qatar’s roof garden initia- organised by the Ministry of Deliv- tive was honoured with ery and Legacy. With the prize IECO-Schools Programme money and a further donation Awards from Doha Bank for the from the Hyatt Hotel group, the second year in a row. rooftop garden was built and has Now in its second year, the ISL been a pilot in pioneering ‘Green’ Qatar roof garden has endured a projects in other schools. full year’s cycle and further expan- ISL Qatar promotes global cit- sion is under way. Initially created izenship and ecology awareness school has an outstanding reputa- Baccalaureate (IB) programmes and by four ISL Qatar students in through a growing number of stu- tion for high academic standards, an impressive record of admission grades 9, 10 and 11, the garden dent-led ‘Green’ initiatives. The prestigious International to the best universities worldwide. 04 COVER STORY THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017 Farm produce under single roof as a gardener is to save water wher- ever possible. “My garden is next to my kitchen and everything from the kitchen goes into my garden so in the end there is a very little need for extra water,” she says. Right next to her villa, there are some huge trees that provide shade to her garden, which protects them from the extreme heat that the city has to bear during summer. These lessons are learnt after committing her share of mistakes as she says, “I have two people who help me set the soil when I start out at the beginning of the season in September and also to tie the frames required for climbers. Ini- tially a gardener came to help me and he used some chemicals in my mud. I couldn’t bear its smell and became allergic to it. Ever since I stopped using that.” All extra vegetables that she pro- Anisha Bijukumar She says, “Both the gardens her garden is goat manure, dried duces are distributed among her The Peninsula have almost four to five varieties of leaves and all the waste from her friends, as they are the ones who get each plant and most of these veg- kitchen. “I learnt a lesson very early seeds whenever they visit India. rom tomatoes to kale, etables have various health benefits. that it is important that you care for “Most of these seeds are brought from pumpkins to bitter gourd, And they taste so much better than the soil as much as or more than Kerala. Every friend who returns to lettuce to spinach, 80 dif- what is available in the markets. your plants. There are various nutri- Doha gets seeds for me,” Jisha says. ferent varieties of Also they can be cooked faster.” ents in the soil and we need to She adds that she doesn’t understand vegetables are all grown Jisha never uses any chemicals nurture it for our plants,” adds Jisha. the science of gardening and oper- Funder a single roof in this Mamoura and the only fertiliser that goes into One of the challenges she faced ates through her own knowledge. villa. Jisha Krishna is among the few residents here, who have a kitchen garden to produce all the vegetables her house needs almost year around. Jisha grows them in the small space behind her house and terrace. Born and brought up in Kerala, India, Jisha shifted to Doha 14 years back and lived in a small flat for two years before shifting to her cur- rent villa at Mamoura. Jisha grows various types of gourd, drumsticks, chillies, pumpkins, beans, lady’s fingers, brinjal, beetroot, corn, turnip, radish, car- rot, onion, cellary, capsicum, tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, aloe vera and leafy vegetables such as spinach, coriander, curry leaves, parsley, etc. Apart from having a garden behind her house, she also has a terrace garden where she has about 115 bags that grow 40 types of vegetables. 05 THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017 COVER STORY Pics by Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula “Initially I read books by Deepak Sach- deva and viewed YouTube channels. I also stay in touch with an organic farmer in UAE, Vijayan Pillai, who guides me in my efforts.” Jisha is also one of the founder mem- bers of the Facebook group Adukkalathottam-Doha (Malayalam phrase meaning Kitchen Garden Doha), who was given a plot of land for farming in Al Dosari Park. She writes frequently for the Facebook page. Jisha’s husband is an employee with a private company while her twin sons, Arjun and Sidharth, are studying at Birla Public School. She says, “My children feel that I love my garden more than I care for them but what they don’t realise is that I am strict even with my plants. Also all my efforts are for their betterment so that they have good healthy food to eat.” Gardening for Jisha serves like a med- itation, “Seeing the fruits of my labour makes me so happy. I have been told many times that my kitchen garden is similar to small farms that can be seen in my native place.” She grows vegetables in various phases from September to April and then when the heat is extreme, she takes a break. Even for that short period, she freezes and stores some of her vegetables and does minimal shopping when required. Kitchen garden takes lot of patience and perseverance but it can be therapeu- tic too. And as Jisha adds there is always the benefit of eating home grown organic vegetables that tastes, smells and looks better. 06 CAMPUS/MARKETPLACE THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017 PISQ organises annual sports meet The Peninsula Embassy of Pakistan, and Guest of Honour Syed Mussaid Nasir Al akistan International Muhannadi from the Ministry of School Qatar (PISQ) Labour along with Principal Nargis organised the annual Raza Otho, Vice Principals of all the sports meet on January four sections & Head of ACD of the 19 at the school’s football School. Pground. The event was marked by The best athletes of all four oath. The main attractions of the demonstrated by the Girls Wing. a string of spectacular perform- wings: Muqarab Yousaf (Junior day were aerobics showcased by Shahida Zaidi, Physical Education ances presented by the young Wing), Muhammad Asim (Boys the students of the Junior Wing. Teacher (GW) accompanied by athletes of all the four wings. The Wing) Farah Ramzan (Girls Wing) Teachers Adila, Sadia and Zeenat Shagufta, Sabah Majeed and Zubia opening ceremony was graced by took part in the opening function. mentored the students for this guided and trained the participants Chief Guest, Hafiz Junaid Amir Sial, It was followed by a Walk Past. event. by engaging them in various drills. Community Welfare Attaché’, Sarim (Boys Wing) took the formal It was followed by PT display The Gymnastic Display and Dumbbell drill was performed by the athletes under the guidance of Muhammad Majid Khan and Adnan Ashraf Physical Education Teach- ers (BW). The events also included ath- letic games like Ball Balancing, Spider Race, Sprint Race, Obstacle Race, Chain and wheel Barrow Race. Tariq Hameed, Physical Education Teacher(JW)managed the track events. A large number of parents also attended the event. They were thrilled to see their children show- ing such passion for sports. Al Zaman Exchange in tie-up with Naseem Al Rabeeh The Peninsula Gold Card, an exclusive value-laden card from Al Zaman Exchange that n a move extending more value to offers a number of benefits including Gold Card customers, Al Zaman faster transactions and discounts on IExchange entered into a tie-up with selected services.

Load more