Dubai: A Dubai-based Indian couple has hit the headlines after all their three daughters received the country’s top award for academic performance.
And if that wasn’t enough, the family also took home the Hamdan Distinguished Family Award.
Diabetologist Dr Shabana Muzzamil, who recently received the Hamdan Distinguished Family Award with her neo-natologist husband Dr Muzzamil Hafeez and their daughters Irfaanah, 17, Maryam, 12 and Hurairah, 9, from Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, said: “We feel blessed to be the first Indian family to receive the prestigious honour.”
The 16th cycle of the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Distinguished Academic Performance was presented at a gala event in Dubai on April 22.
Best decision
Dr Shabana, who hails from Bengaluru, said her three girls, all studying in GEMS’ Our Own English High School in Al Warqa, have done the family proud. “While Irfaanah and Hurairah won the award in 2013 (15th cycle), Maryam bagged it this year for distinguished academic performance. Hurairah, who studies in Grade 5, has also won this year’s Award for Excellence in the Sharjah Education Zone.”
The distinctions are perhaps no coincidence.
The Muzzamils, who were practicing medicine in Saudi Arabia earlier, said they made a conscious decision to move to Dubai in 2008 to give their daughters a better education.
“This was the best decision we have ever taken. The UAE provides great opportunities to develop talent and pursue dreams,” said Dr Hafeez.
He said his daughters are not just consistent toppers in academics, a pre-requisite for the Hamdan award, but also excel in extra-curricular activities like public speaking, debating, dancing, singing and art and craft.
As a mother, Dr Shabana said parents have a huge role to play in helping kids realise their potential. “It is for us to identify our children’s talents, their likes and dislikes and instil the right values in them.”
But as working parents, do she and her husband get enough time with their daughters?
“A family that eats and prays together stays together. We make it a point to spend quality time with our girls, exchange views and guide them in the right direction,” said Dr Shabana.
While winning may seem like a habit for the family, they have had their share of troughs.
Hurairah recalled how her resolve to be a winner firmed up when she lost the final round of an elocution contest in Grade 1. “I cried because I did not lift the trophy, but I also knew I had to work that much harder.”
Similarly, Irfanaah, a keen dancer and Grade 12 student, said she was shattered when she was not selected in auditions for the Indian TV reality show Dance India Dance. “That was the day I told myself practice makes one perfect. So I began to give it my best and was able to come first in the show two years ago.”
Dr Shabana said parents must teach children to accept victory and defeat with the same spirit and keep moving ahead. “It’s important that we don’t talk down to them, but listen carefully and teach them to take these things in their stride.”
Family support
Thomas Mathew, Principal of Our Own English High School, Dubai, said: “These super achieving children are undoubtedly being reared in a very nourishing family environment. They are guided and inspired by their father who is a respected paediatrician and mother who is currently involved in research work on diabetes. Dr Shabana’s passion and zest for life is palpable and infectious and it inspires her children to ever greater heights of excellence.
The Muzzamils are fully involved in the school activities and are active members of the parent focus group of the school - Our Own Voice. The family truly deserves the Shaikh Hamdan Distinguished Family Award conferred on them in April 2014. They are a successful family model we will all do well to emulate.”
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