Saturday, March 19, 2011

Malbari Hotel- An Old Man's Day Dreams.... VISIT TO SEA VIEW


We the four old men were sitting at the malbari hotel and passing the time aimlessly.We were boared by this routine so were looking for some adventure to escape from this monotonous life.Yakoob kiria proposed that we should go somewhere away from Kharadar.Where to go?.. that was the question  than Siddique master came up with an idea.There was a common friend of ours who owned a car and would be more than happy to take us anywhere as long as we paid for the fuel.So the program was set for next Sunday  and we were all set for this exiting adventure.
Sunday came and we waited for abdul kabadi at the malbari hotel.At last  we heard some noise as if earthquake comming  and Siddique master predicted that Abdul kabadi was comming as this was the sound of his car.
Soon abdul kabadi came and parked his car near our table and came to us and after greetings and hand shakes he offered us to get into his car so we can  begin our journey. I was stunned by the look of kabadi"s car I had never seen such special car it was a topless car when it started rolling the noise was so tremendous that even dead would raise their heads to see what was happening.
As we sat in the car I asked abdul what model the car was  Abdul replied that it was a 1950 chevrolet and some time back a person who needed the roof of his car had offered reasonable price for it so Abdul cut off the roof of his car that made his car topeless and later on he replaced the engine of the car with a diesel one that made his car only one in the whole wide world.
As we settled and car started rolling  there was so much noise that we could hardly talk.I asked where he would take us?Abdul simply told to sit calmly and he would take us to Sea View.I asked abdul how he was so calmly driving  in such a noise. Gaffar kapadia commented that every part of this junk was making noise.Abdul replied that every thing but the horn makes noise the horn is not working at all.
Abdul kabadi was driving his junk like a general of invading army in enemy country abdul called his car "buggy".
He was taking us to the sea view so he took the vehicle towards Netive jetty and from there to Mai kolachi road to get to the Karachi beach called Sea View.
Abdul considered himself an expert of Karachi roads and streets so he kept narrating information regarding various parts as we passed through different roads

As we got near boat basin abdul pointed towards a park and told us that it was called Shaheed Benazir Bhutto park.I knew it as boat basin park but it was renovated and Neher e zubaida ( a sewrage drain ) was enclosed in the park.
Soon we reached Abdullah Shah Ghazi mazar where few days back a bomb blast left many people dead and injured.Now we were very near the sea view and one large international restaurart was within sight this part of beach is in administrative control of defence housing authority.
Our happiness was diminished because we were greeted by a foul smell rising from the garbage collected on the beach.
Abdul parked his buggy at a vaccant parking spot and we jumped out.The authorities had erected flood lights on this part of the beach and had erected little kiosks as canteens at every little distance and even many eatables were being sold on push carts.
Thing that hit me like a ton of bricks was the unhigenic condition of the beach there were many horses and camels for children to ride but the animals droppings were presenting a very ugly scene and air was full of foul smell.
Abdul was happy with his importance and ordered cold drinks and chat etc as we sat on benches.We walked on the beach for a while when siddique master pointed out that it was getting late so we returned towards our one in the world car to return to our malbari hotel thus ended our very happy journey of the sea view beach

Go Get The Cup

Thursday, March 17, 2011

History Of Rajkot

Rajkot was originally founded in the central part of Saurashtra in the year 1610 AD on the 6th of July, by Thakur saheb Vibhaji Ajoji Jadeja of the Jadeja clan and a Sunni Muslim person called Raju Sandhi. Vibhahi Ajoji was the grandson of Jam Sataji of Nawanagar, the present day Jamnagar. The name Rajkot was given in the honour of its co-founder Raju Sandhi.
 Rajkot was the former capital of the princely state of Saurashtra. Rajkot was once a base for the Western States British government office and rapidly expanded into a prosperous, lively business centre, with an old city. This city is also associated with Mr Gandhi, who lived here for several years. Rajkot was the capital of the Saurashtra state from 15 April 1948 to 31 October 1956 before merging in bilingual Bombay State on 1 November 1956.Rajkot was merged into Gujarat State from bilingual Bombay state on May 1, 1960.

Rajkot has seen many rulers.In 1720 AD Masum Khan conquered Rajkot and changed its name to  Masumabad.He also fortified the town.that frtress had eight gates which were studded with iron spikes on its outer side for defence purposes.Later on Masumabad was conquered by Jadeja clan and its name was restored to Rajkot.

British East India Company founded saurashtra agency in Rajkot to moderate all princely states. The British constructed many impressive colonial buildings and educational institutions, few of them are Connaught Hall and the Rajkumar College.
Rajkot is inhabitted by people from many different cultures that is why one can find many languages, like Gujarati, Memoni, Hindi, Urdu, English, Sindhi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi. However, only Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, and English are well understood. Rajkot is the part of Kathiyawad. Because of this people of Rajkot are famous as Kathiawadi.
Rajkot is frequently referred to as "Rangilu Rajkot" (રંગીલુ રાજકોટ) meaning colorful Rajkot. The people of Rajkot like to enjoy themselves to the fullest no matter which season or time of the day. You can find them eating out at 1 am. people mostly close their business between 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm and sleep at home. There is often a saying "સુરત તો સુરત છે પણ રાજકોટ ખુબસુરત છે" (Surat may be beautiful, but cannot stand against the beauty of Rajkot)
Rajkot is famous for its jewellery market(સોની બજાર), silk embroidery and watch parts.Many of the memons are also engaged in these business.Rajkot also gives an opportunity to buy Gujarati handlooms and handicrafts, which are famous all over the world. The Gujarati and memon dishes, which are known for their sweet and sour tinge, areone of the speciality of Rajkot.


 


RAJKOT by Abdur Razzaq Thaplawala

Khanji zanana school Rajkot
I left my luggage  in the office of  The Memon Educational & Welfare Society and took a small trolly bag with me which contained clothing for 3 days. The Jet Airways flight took me from Mumbai to to Rajkot. The flight time was 45 minutes and the return fair was Rs. 7,800/=. At Rajkot Airport, I was received by a friend Mr. Farooq who was requested by Mr. Adam Noor to receive me. Mr. Farooq was there at the airport to receive me. He had booked a room in Hotel Kavery, Rajkot. It took me one hour to reach my Hotel. We had arranged a Suzuki Hiroof   for our tour. Before living Rajkot next morning, I was shown the Adamjee Boarding House at Rajkot. The plaque at the Adamjee Boarding House read following in Gujrati :
 
 
          “Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood constructed this Boarding House at a cost of Rs. 14,050 on the occasion of the wedding ceremony of his son. The foundation stone was laid on 2nd February, 1941 by the State Resident Major G.B. Williams. The Boarding House was completed and declared open on 19th Janaury, 1942 by Janab Haji Abdul Shakoor Baig Muhammad Subasha.”  



 
 A street of Rajkot


The Boarding House is a beautiful building constructed on a plot measuring 12,500 sq.yards. When I visited the Boarding House, the building was in good shape but it was rented out to a Government department and two private firms. There were 15 boarders who were living in kitchen and dining room of the Boarding House. Out of these 15 students only 5 students were from Memon community. The Boarding House is located at the prime locality of Rajkot. Unfortunately, the Memon community of Rajkot does not appear to have taken care of  the Boarding House and thus the wishes of Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood to accommodate Memon students did not materialize. This was a very sorry state of affairs. I explained this state of affairs to the community elders at one of the meeting of Board of Management of World Memon Organization held at Mumbai on 27th March, 2005. I was told by some Indian dignitories that they are trying to revive the Boarding House. According to a conservative estimate, the present value of land and building of Boarding House is about Rs. 25 crores.

Rajkot & Junagadh road showing Gondal & Jetpur mile stone Return journey to Rajkot road through Dhoraji - mile stone


Rajkot has a population of about 1.1 Million people out of  which 100,000 people belong to Muslim community and there are about 5000 persons who belong to Memon community.

Participate in Competitions And Segments For 23rd March

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION For 23rd MARCH:
title YEH MERA PAKISTAN HAI ,pictures submitted must be yours and not copied from somewhere,It must be submitted by 20th March.Best pictures would be selected by our Judges
you can submit your pictures in these three categories
1.Ghar Galian aur raste
2.Historical Places of Pakistan
3.Landscapes of Pakistan
maximum three pics (one in each category) can be submitted.
 
 Share poetry,songs,quotable quotes anything on this day,send your entries till 20th March 2011

Beacon Of Light- Professor Dr mrs Zubaida Qasim













Kida se Kida-From Where to Where.....Ghapar bha , Sehnaaj bai k Kein Deral le haliya ayein.Bataro Kida se Kida?


 LAST WEEK:
Correct guess:Mr Muhammad Iqbal A Khanani
 
Gaphaar Bhaa bhagi bhagi ne bagoon gadi me rakhia ne  Hajianri k jaldi jaldi barkia.Ine boyein poteji rishtedar ji shadi me shareek thil laye Hyderabad wini riya wa.Islamia College wate se thina thina Cant Station te pujhiya


Ghafaar Bhai was Quickly adjusting some luggage into his cars and calling Sehnaaj Bai to hurry up or else they will be late as they were going to attend some relatives' wedding in hyderabad they passed from Islamia College and reached Cant Station 
THIS WEEK 
 
Sehnaaj Bai k Hyderabad me shadi me gami wion kein cheejon ne Ghaphar Bhaa bi deral le Raji thi wiya hanre bataro kida se kida haliya ayein boyein aj 


Shehnaaz Bai Liked somethings in the shadi she visited last week and Ghaffar Bhai is convinced to buy her the same guess where are they going

IMAGES of Dhoraji Association,Dhoraji Colony Karachi Contributed by Hamza Motiwala and Noman Motiwala (Paanjo Dhoraji)