Ishrat Shahbuddin Shaikh is now planning a chain of Shalimar restaurants in Mumbai, the dream project of her son. "Insha Allah jab bhi sahi jagah milegi, woh bhi pura hoga."

Portrait of a housewife transformed

Sunita Aron
Mumbai, October 25

Ishrat Shahbuddin Shaikh loves the hijab (veil). It prevents people from approaching her needlessly, it forces them to show her respect and, lastly, it protects her. The veil is neither an obligation nor a burden.

Shannoo -- as Ishrat is widely known -- needs the veil. She runs a hugely successful Shalimar restaurant and finds the veil very useful in dealing with her employees and customers -- mostly men.

She says, "I take pride in wearing hijab. It solves and stalls many problems instead of adding to them. Even my daughters, who now want to shoulder some of my responsibilities, are always in hijab."

There is no doubt in Shannoo's mind that this work -- running the restaurant -- is meant for men. She found herself thrust into it when her husband died in a car accident some years ago. Now, she wants to hand over the business to her son.

Ab yeh mardo wala kaam hai (this is a job for men)," she says, adding, "I will hand over the restaurant business to my son and take full charge of the school started by my husband." Omar Sheikh, the eldest son, is 19.

Omar was 16 when Shannoo, a committed housewife, took over the business. She has been to school, but not beyond. And she came here on marriage from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. She was only 18 then.

Clearly, nothing in her resume prepared her for this: a sprawling multi-crore, multi-cuisine restaurant that employs 300 people and serves on an average 1,000 diners every day -- mangur fish bred in own pond is an absolute must.

Her quiet life of a housewife ended on December 7, 2004. "There was a wedding in the family. We decided to take some of her guests from Bahrain to Khandala. There were two-three cars.

"Though quite rare, that day we took separate cars. My husband Shahbuddin Sheikh went with daughters and I with our sons. The accident took place near Panvel. We were completely shattered."

Her husband and one of their four daughters died. Two other daughters were in hospital in critical condition. Shannoo and her sons were, of course, safe. "I remained in a state of shock for four months."

Omar was still in school, younger one barely two years old and there was no one in the family to run the business. "My husband was the only son while I am the youngest among ten of us -- seven brothers and three sisters."

Shannoo's mother-in-law asked her to take over the restaurant, as she did not want a relative or anyone else to run it for them. "Initial days were difficult. Not only was I suffering from the trauma of losing my husband and daughter, but two of my daughters were in hospital while my youngest son was barely two."

"Forget the business," she says, "even running home was difficult." But she believes that because of her husband's religiosity -- when he was alive -- "Allah bailed me out of this crisis."

"I knew nothing -- the management, the accounts. Perhaps, a little knowledge of English helped me also besides a very supportive staff and sincere teachers."

She prayed every day before her daily meeting. That gave her the strength she needed to push dark thoughts and feelings out of her mind and prepared her to face the daily challenges, crises and, in short, the grind.

"My son Omar always accompanied me. But he was too small." And soon she found herself picking up the tricks of the trade.

Shannoo is at work till quite late in the night, supervising her staff and interacting with the customers. But never without the hijab and it is mandatory for people to knock before entering her room -- she doesn't want to be caught without the veil.

As she leans back in her executive chair in a dimly lit plush chamber on the first floor of her 27-year-old restaurant spread over 4000 sq ft area, face carefully covered by a veil (hijab), she talks about her restaurant, life and everything else.

Shalimar has come a long way: the small things first, the flowers are always fresh, the waiting room is air-conditioned and there is the dastarkhan where women or families can comfortably enjoy their meal in total privacy and a fast food centre.

"Dastarkhan was my husband's idea which I implemented. The waiter would enter the room only if called in or else he would leave the trolley outside the door."

She is now planning a chain of Shalimar restaurants in the city, the dream project of her son. "Insha Allah jab bhi sahi jagah milegi, woh bhi pura hoga."

All she wants to do now is to hand over the restaurant to Omar and focus on the school run by her family. "I simply love the Islamic environment of my school. It is an English-medium school with 600 students from nursery to class seven."
"We also impart Islamic education. Students wear Islamic dress and celebrate the Islamic days. We are adding one class every year besides trying for government recognition. Our dream is to take it to the college level," Shannoo added.

That's her dream, and there is no doubt in anyone's mind she will make it comes true. Shannoo is only 35.

saron@hindustantimes.com