Quick Facts
Biography
Deeba Irfan (born 5 September 1969) is an Indian born United Arab Emirates author, poet and entrepreneur.
Personal life
Deeba was born in Aligarh but soon her father was sent on deputation to Iran. She spent her childhood in Iran, before the revolution devastated not only the country but her life too. Done early schooling in Kerman, Iran. Eldest of the three daughters of (Late) Dr. Syed Salim Hamid, ENT surgeon and beautician, Mohsena Salim, she had to go back to India when the English schools closed down after the Iranian revolution.
She studied for three years at Our Lady of Fatimain Aligarh and then completed schooling from Summer Fields School, New Delhi, India. After that she went to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) for graduation in Economics. After graduation she returned to Delhi and studied programming. She completed one-year course in COBOL programing and worked as a programmer when she realized that it was not challenging enough. She left that and went to Aligarh Muslim University to pursue MBA in Marketing.
She began her career in direct marketing with Tata Press Database Services and then got into Advertising and Event management. She worked with Percept Events and partook in large scale Bollywood events, number of fashion shows and product launches. After a short but enriching tête-à-tête with the Indian event management industry, she shifted to Dubai and worked at Communiqué Advertising managing leading brands. She runs a brand activation boutique outfit, Glu Brand Aktivation!
Almost a decade and a half after she was buried under client deadlines, she resurfaced realizing that her passion was writing. Now she pursues both with great passion.
She has two published books-Urma and Charcoal Blush.
And two completed manuscripts, where she is seeking representation:
‘WILL TIME FIND US,’ Genre - Women’s fiction, a story of a cancer survivor, Devika.
‘355 DAYS,’ Genre - General fiction, a story of a wrongly accused man in an Indian jail.
In 2016, she started a portal for writers, ‘THE WRITE SCENE’.
Marriage:
Deeba got married to Irfan Izhar in 1998 and came to Dubai. Her husband, Irfan Izhar is a businessman and a filmmaker. He owns a secondary packaging company, Visions Corporation and produced a documentary on women in UN peacekeeping forces. The movie – ‘A Journey of a Thousand Miles - Peacekeepers’ was premiered at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2015. It has since been showcased at more than 10 festivals and has won awards like Best Documentary and Humanitarian award.
Deeba and Irfan have three kids. Their Son, Fadi Irfan, was born in 2000. Their daughters, Manaal Irfan and Fatin Irfan were born in 2001 and 2007 respectively.
Published work
Deeba’s debut work of fiction is ‘URMA.’ Genre – Women Fiction, it is a novel with a backdrop of Iranian Revolution. It was released in 2012.
Her second book, ‘CHARCOAL BLUSH’ is a poetry book launched in 2016. It has a collection of 85 soulful poems.
Awards
Deeba’s debut novel, Urma was translated into Urdu and was nominated for an award by Urdu Press Club, India.
She was recognized for her work by AMU Alumni Forum, UAE on the founder’s day – Sir Syed Day celebration in 2012.