Talat Awais
Judge, Urdu Speech

Talat Awais is the Language Program Director for Indus Arts Council’s Urdu program. Her passion for the Urdu language was evoked by her Urdu teacher while studying Urdu literature in O’Level. Her 7 years of experience with teaching Urdu in Houston range from ages K-12 to adults. Outside the Indus Arts Council, she has also taught Urdu to middle and high school students at Awty International School and other private schools in Houston.

Talat has continuously attended StarTalk’s teacher training workshops since 2014, deepening her knowledge and understanding of methodologies involved in language teaching. She has also conducted professional development workshops Indus Arts Council’s teaching staff. She was the lead presenter at ACTFL 2018, on Effective Use of Resources for Language Learners. She is well versed in student assessment and has been ACTFL OPI certified since 2019. She also attended training on Performance Assessment at the Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington DC, in 2016. She completed New York University teacher training in 2021. She is well informed and skilled in the knowledge of StarTalk principles and ACTFL learning standards.

Working as the lead instructor, she has applied this knowledge in designing the curricula for Indus Arts Council StarTalk summer programs since 2016. She successfully leads her team throughout the year for the Urdu Program, Pervaaz, run by Indus Arts Council in Houston TX. She has incorporated strategies using music, theater, storytelling and online games to make language learning through all the five sense. She has also brought her IT knowledge into designing innovative ways to teach Urdu both in class and online.

Nargis Zaidi
Judge, Urdu Speech

Nargis Zaidi is a Pakistani American who lives in Houston, Texas. She has a passion for photography and the arts and is continuing her journey in today’s digital media world. With a bachelor's in Advanced Urdu and child psychology from Karachi University, she has been a teacher for Indus Arts Council for the past year and will continue with the program and share her love for teaching Urdu. She has been an Urdu and culture teacher for many years and loves to work with children.

She loves to spread knowledge of languages and culture to children and connect them to their roots.

Safia Hashim
Judge, Urdu Speech

Safia Hashim is a native Urdu speaker born in Pakistan. She has been involved with teaching and educational programs surrounding Urdu for 25 years both in Pakistan and the United States. Her work has been in both non-profit and private institutions. In Pakistan, she received a Masters's degree in Economy from the University of Karachi. In Pakistan Safia spent several years teaching Math, Urdu, and Social studies. In the United States Safia has taught Urdu related training with organizations such as Startalk(An NYU Program), and Indus arts. Safia has received OPI training and short courses with Urdu as well.

Currently, she is teaching with Indus Arts as well as hosting Private lessons.Safia has a passion for the Urdu language and uses this to help encourage and teach students to better understand the language.Safia has attended many Startalk Teacher training workshops such as the ACTFL in 2018 and 2021.

Safia’s goal is to help students K-12 get a better understanding of the Urdu language and the culture and she hopes to one day see Urdu be an accessible language in public schools

Zahra Ali
Curator, Art Contest

Zahra Ali serves as the Program Director of IAC Naksh, promoting the visual art and artists of Pakistan.

Zahra has developed the ART Contest for Mukabla and will be curating the art work for final judgment.

She is an artist who is a painter, an art educator and an art advocate for art to be an essential part of life. Bridging communities through art has been her focus in paintings for the past few years be it Murals or Art Classes. She Has been a working artist since getting BFA in painting from Texas State Univ. Currently represented by Bisong Art Gallery.

Instagram: @zahraaliart

Amin Chughtai
Judge, Art Contest

Amin Chughtai comes from the Chughtai family lineage known for their contribution to art in the sub continent and Pakistan. Born in 1943 in the old city of Lahore, he studied Fine Arts from the University of Punjab and currently resides in Germany. His passion for drawing and painting with watercolors began at a very early age. While he retired as a Director of Resource Management in 2008, he has never stopped painting or exhibiting his art. He has developed his own technique to produce watercolor paintings in the Chughtai Art style, influenced by Mughal art, miniature painting, Art Nouveau and Islamic art traditions. He strives to capture the gesture and sensitivity of the subjects in his paintings and aims to narrate a visual story through a flattened perspective painted in soft golds and pastels.

His mission is to promote Pakistani culture through his paintings, most of which depict the traditions and scenes from daily lives of Pakistani people. In 1986 he represented Pakistan at the International Academy of Art, Munich, Germany and his paintings were shown together with famed artists Henry Moore, Marc Chagall, Kaethe Kollwitz, and Joan Miro.

His paintings have also been exhibited in galleries in Lahore, Pakistan, Stuttgart, Germany, Bruxelles, Belgium, and Berlin, Germany. His book, “A New Approach To Miniature Paintings in Water Colour” is available on amazon.

Instagram: @amin.chughtai

Shaheen J Rahman
Judge, Art Contest

Shaheen J Rahman is a Pakistani American and now a resident of Houston, Texas. Shaheen’s journey towards the Arts began with water colors and botanicals at first, but she soon discovered the Silk Road Art of Marbling, known today in Turkey as Ebru.

This fascinating technique involves painting on the surface of water using a stylus, as well as combs and rakes. Exquisite patterns can be made with these tools which can include stylized flora and fauna. The painting can then be transferred onto various surfaces. She went on to learn this new medium and presents her work at galleries and venues around Houston including libraries, colleges, companies, and festivals.

Her Ebru art work has been on display at various venues around Houston including Cloisters Gallery, Houston City Hall, Harambee Art Gallery, Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Public Library, Harris County Public Library Branches including Kingwood, Clear Lake City-County Freeman Branch, Barbara Bush, and Octavia Fields, and Watercolor Society of Houston.

She likes to share her love for the art of Ebru and has presented her Ebru at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Asia Society, Pearl Fincher Museum, Islamic Art Society’s Annual Art Festivals, Boeing, Orrick Law Firm, Raindrop House Turkish Cultural Center in Houston, and The Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In 2017, Shaheen co-curated the first Islamic Arts exhibit hosted at Houston City Hall. With art works of local artists, the exhibit was recognized by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and several other city officials.

Shaheen currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Islamic Arts Society, a non- profit that promotes the beauty of Islamic Arts. She believes strongly in the ability of the arts to bring people together and to reach new audiences in the many communities and cultures who have made Houston their home. In 2019, Shaheen was appointed by Houston Mayor, Sylvester Turner, to the Board of Directors of Houston Arts Alliance, for a three-year term, to help manage and enhance Houston’s community involvement in the city’s Arts and Culture programs. She is also the Executive Producer and host of The Sacred Palette, a podcast which aims to connect artists who are creating Islamic art in the United States.

Instagram & Facebook: @studioartbyshaheen

Sara Sharif Iqbal
Judge, Art Contest

Sara is a Graphic Designer who specializes in branding and digital marketing and provides these services through her business, Graphic Matters. She has a BFA in Graphic Communications from the University of Houston.

A Pakistani Texan from Lahore, Sara is the founder and Communications Director of Indus Arts Council. She’s also the Design Advocacy Director for AIGA, the professional association for design.

She strongly believes in the power of art and design to impact lives positively, incite curiosity and inquisition that leads to discovery and knowledge. Her art and photography has been juried and exhibited at the Blaffer Gallery and the late Bicycle Museum.

Instagram: @mine.refine
Facebook: @mygraphicatters

Amir Mirza
Judge, Music Contest

Amir Mirza has been performing with professional musicians and music directors from all over the world for over 20 years, such as artists from Indian Idol, Saregamapa, and Coke studio.

Few big names I have a pleasure to work with and share stage such as:

• Sabri brothers (The Legend)

• Amjad Sabri (The Legend)

• Pandit Lalit Ji (Jatin Lalit music director)

• Abhijit Bhattacharya (Bollywood playback singer)

• Abrarul Haque (Coke studio)

• Sajjad Ali (Coke studio)

• Naeem Abbas Rufi (Coke studio)

• Alamgir (The Legend)

• Amanat Ali (Saregamapa)

• Ali Mehdi (Coke studio)

• Imran Mehdi ( Mehdi Hassan's son)

• Krishna Beura (Bollywood playback singer)

• Kamalika Chakraborty (saregamapa 2014 finalist)

• Humera Channa (Coke Studio)

• Raheem Shah (Coke studio)