Safia Shah
Encyclopedia
Safia Shah now Safia Thomas (born 16 November 1966 in London) is a British
writer
, editor
and television news
producer
, following in the footsteps of her distinguished Anglo
-Afghan Indian
family.
She and her husband Ian also founded and run a respected traditional delicatessen
A. Gold in London, specializing in entirely British fare, painstakingly renovating the historic building in the process.
mystical tradition, Idries Shah
; the twin sister of writer, journalist and documentary maker, Tahir Shah
, and the younger sister of the writer, reporter and documentary filmmaker, Saira Shah
. Her mother is of Indian Parsi
ethnicity.
Educated at Bryanston School
in Dorset, England, Shah went on to study at the Sorbonne
and University of Grenoble
in France. She has worked for the London-based Institute for Cultural Research
as a research assistant and editor and worked with Afghan refugees in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, as well as reporting on social issues there. She is also a freelance writer and has edited for the Institute of Health Sciences.
Safia Shah's sister, Saira Shah
, worked with Safia's future husband, Ian Thomas, and the couple met through her and eventually married at Marylebone Road register office in London. Safia Shah and Ian Thomas have both worked for the American news agency, Associated Press Television
, as journalists and producers.
Safia Shah's most notable work is Afghan Caravan, a miscellany which was collected by Idries Shah and edited by her. In his Introduction to the book, Idries Shah writes:
as the Daily Telegraph "Book of the Year" where it was described as "a cornucopia a mix of magical tales, nuggets from history... an Aladdin's cave of a book" and in Literary Review
as "a great deal of fascinating material... It is a book to be dipped into, excellent bedside reading."
Talking about both Afghan Caravan and Tahir Shah's The Middle East Bedside Book
, Lessing writes in The Sufis and Idries Shah: "Both are full of delights; there is a great deal that is surprising; and, as with all books from that source, we are reminded of a generosity and largeness of mind in a culture that once, long ago, gave us the concept of chivalry."
and grocer A. Gold selling traditional British fare, in Brushfield Street, opposite Spitalfields Market
, not far from Brick Lane
, famous for its curries, in London E1. Selling the likes of Banbury cakes
, Campbell's Perfect Tea and elderflower wine, it was their desire to prove that British food was something we should be proud of. The business has received local, specialist and national press coverage.
According to London food writer and critic Sejal Sukhadwala, the shop is located inside what used to be Henry VIII
's artillery ground, where soldiers once practised archery and musketry, and is close to Nicholas Hawksmoor
's impressive 18th-century Christ Church, Spitalfields. The area is infamous for Jack the Ripper
's serial murders, and the Great Fire of London
.
Built in 1780, the four-storey Grade II-listed house has been home in the past to diamond-cutters, furriers, boot makers, drapers and by an Amelia Gold, a Hungarian who ran a French millinery (hat making) business. Her 1880's shop sign is still emblazoned across the frontage and Safia and Ian Thomas have kept the name and painstakingly restored the historic building. As a result, A. Gold is handsome and old-fashioned looking, while keeping the modern efficiencies of a deli.
A. Gold, which is described as "the village shop in the heart of London", has a lengthy feature in 'The Good Old Days' section of Jane Payton's book, Fabulous Food Shops (2006). The shop was among The Independents "50 Best Food Shops" with Lulu Grimes, food director of olive
magazine and Good Food magazine recommending its sausages, cheeses, sweets and Somerset brandy.
In an article picturing Safia Thomas standing outside her shop, and written a few months prior to the Economic crisis of 2008, the London Evening Standard stated that it was championing the capital's independent shops. With the world increasingly dominated by vast supermarkets and chain stores, London had lost over 7,000 individual or family-owned shops between 2002 and 2008 and small businesses were struggling to survive.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
and television news
News broadcasting
News broadcasting is the broadcasting of various news events and other information via television, radio or internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or television studio newsroom, or by a broadcast network...
producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, following in the footsteps of her distinguished Anglo
Anglo
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...
-Afghan Indian
Afghans in India
Afghans in India are a large community numbering up to 10,000. Most are recent Hindu and Sikh refugees who fled the Taliban regime and political instability back in Afghanistan; they are concentrated in and around Delhi...
family.
She and her husband Ian also founded and run a respected traditional delicatessen
Delicatessen
Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus....
A. Gold in London, specializing in entirely British fare, painstakingly renovating the historic building in the process.
Life and work
Safia Nafisa Shah is the daughter of the well known author and teacher in the SufiSufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
mystical tradition, Idries Shah
Idries Shah
Idries Shah , also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi , was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen critically acclaimed books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies.Born in India, the descendant of a...
; the twin sister of writer, journalist and documentary maker, Tahir Shah
Tahir Shah
Tahir Shah , né Sayyid Tahir al-Hashimi is an Anglo-Afghan Indian author, journalist and documentary maker. He lives in Casablanca, Morocco.-Family origins and life:...
, and the younger sister of the writer, reporter and documentary filmmaker, Saira Shah
Saira Shah
Saira Shah is an author, reporter and documentary filmmaker. She produces, writes and narrates current affairs films.- Life and work :...
. Her mother is of Indian Parsi
Parsi
Parsi or Parsee refers to a member of the larger of the two Zoroastrian communities in South Asia, the other being the Irani community....
ethnicity.
Educated at Bryanston School
Bryanston School
Bryanston School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Blandford, north Dorset, England, near the village of Bryanston. It was founded in 1928...
in Dorset, England, Shah went on to study at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
and University of Grenoble
University of Grenoble
University of Grenoble or Grenoble University was a university in Grenoble, France until 1970, when it was split into several different institutions:...
in France. She has worked for the London-based Institute for Cultural Research
The Institute for Cultural Research
The Institute for Cultural Research is a London-based, UK-registered educational charity, events organizer and publisher which aims to stimulate study, debate, education and research into all aspects of human thought, behaviour and culture...
as a research assistant and editor and worked with Afghan refugees in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, as well as reporting on social issues there. She is also a freelance writer and has edited for the Institute of Health Sciences.
Safia Shah's sister, Saira Shah
Saira Shah
Saira Shah is an author, reporter and documentary filmmaker. She produces, writes and narrates current affairs films.- Life and work :...
, worked with Safia's future husband, Ian Thomas, and the couple met through her and eventually married at Marylebone Road register office in London. Safia Shah and Ian Thomas have both worked for the American news agency, Associated Press Television
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, as journalists and producers.
Safia Shah's most notable work is Afghan Caravan, a miscellany which was collected by Idries Shah and edited by her. In his Introduction to the book, Idries Shah writes:
Reception
Afghan Caravan was chosen by Nobel prize-winning writer Doris LessingDoris Lessing
Doris May Lessing CH is a British writer. Her novels include The Grass is Singing, The Golden Notebook, and five novels collectively known as Canopus in Argos....
as the Daily Telegraph "Book of the Year" where it was described as "a cornucopia a mix of magical tales, nuggets from history... an Aladdin's cave of a book" and in Literary Review
Literary Review
Literary Review is a British literary magazine founded in 1979 by Anne Smith, then head of the Department of English at Edinburgh University. Its offices are currently on Lexington Street in Soho, London, and it has a circulation of 44,750. Britain's principal literary monthly, the magazine was...
as "a great deal of fascinating material... It is a book to be dipped into, excellent bedside reading."
Talking about both Afghan Caravan and Tahir Shah's The Middle East Bedside Book
The Middle East Bedside Book
The Middle East Bedside Book is a collection of stories and information about the Middle East, edited by Anglo-Afghan author, Tahir Shah.The Middle East Bedside Book contains a treasury of proverbs, etiquette, information and ideas to have come out of the Middle East, and Arab culture...
, Lessing writes in The Sufis and Idries Shah: "Both are full of delights; there is a great deal that is surprising; and, as with all books from that source, we are reminded of a generosity and largeness of mind in a culture that once, long ago, gave us the concept of chivalry."
A. Gold
Safia Shah (now Safia Thomas) and her husband Ian Thomas left the world of television journalism in April 2000 to found and run the traditional delicatessenDelicatessen
Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus....
and grocer A. Gold selling traditional British fare, in Brushfield Street, opposite Spitalfields Market
Old Spitalfields market
Old Spitalfields Market is a covered market in Spitalfields, just outside the City of London. It is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets....
, not far from Brick Lane
Brick Lane
Brick Lane is a street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It runs from Swanfield Street in the northern part of Bethnal Green, crosses Bethnal Green Road, passes through Spitalfields and is linked to Whitechapel High Street to the south by the short stretch of...
, famous for its curries, in London E1. Selling the likes of Banbury cakes
Banbury cakes
A Banbury cake is a spiced, currant-filled, flat pastry cake similar to an Eccles cake, although it is more oval in shape. Once made and sold exclusively in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, Banbury cakes have been made in the region to secret recipes since 1586 or earlier and there they are still...
, Campbell's Perfect Tea and elderflower wine, it was their desire to prove that British food was something we should be proud of. The business has received local, specialist and national press coverage.
According to London food writer and critic Sejal Sukhadwala, the shop is located inside what used to be Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
's artillery ground, where soldiers once practised archery and musketry, and is close to Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor was a British architect born in Nottinghamshire, probably in East Drayton.-Life:Hawksmoor was born in Nottinghamshire in 1661, into a yeoman farming family, almost certainly in East Drayton, Nottinghamshire. On his death he was to leave property at nearby Ragnall, Dunham and a...
's impressive 18th-century Christ Church, Spitalfields. The area is infamous for Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
's serial murders, and the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
.
Built in 1780, the four-storey Grade II-listed house has been home in the past to diamond-cutters, furriers, boot makers, drapers and by an Amelia Gold, a Hungarian who ran a French millinery (hat making) business. Her 1880's shop sign is still emblazoned across the frontage and Safia and Ian Thomas have kept the name and painstakingly restored the historic building. As a result, A. Gold is handsome and old-fashioned looking, while keeping the modern efficiencies of a deli.
A. Gold, which is described as "the village shop in the heart of London", has a lengthy feature in 'The Good Old Days' section of Jane Payton's book, Fabulous Food Shops (2006). The shop was among The Independents "50 Best Food Shops" with Lulu Grimes, food director of olive
Olive (magazine)
olive is a modern food magazine published by Immediate Media Co. It was launched in 2003 and is an upmarket, monthly magazine in the stable that also includes BBC Good Food, bbcgoodfood.com, Easy Cook and Vegetarian Good Food.-Content:...
magazine and Good Food magazine recommending its sausages, cheeses, sweets and Somerset brandy.
In an article picturing Safia Thomas standing outside her shop, and written a few months prior to the Economic crisis of 2008, the London Evening Standard stated that it was championing the capital's independent shops. With the world increasingly dominated by vast supermarkets and chain stores, London had lost over 7,000 individual or family-owned shops between 2002 and 2008 and small businesses were struggling to survive.
External links
- Octagon Press
- Institute for Cultural Research
- Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge
- What's On at VisitSpitalfields.com