Malbari Hotel....An Old Man's Day dreams

Stuck in a Traffic Jam...!!!

by Abdul Sattar Lakhana

We were sitting at the malbari hotel as usual wasting time but our quartet was not yet complete .Siddiq master had not arrived.We were a little bit worried about master’s being late but we just killed the time any way.

At last master came almost an hour late. He was tired and perspiring in this cold weather. He settled down and sat breathlessly for a few minutes. At last he was composed enough to tell us his story. I asked him why he was so late. This question worked as a fuse of a bomb.

Master told us that Pakistan should not have a President or Prime Minister or for that matter any VIPS in Pakistan. Ghaffar Kapadia asked him, “why so cross with our beloved president and PM. Did you fail to get Vatan card or income support scheme membership?”

Master was so furious that he hit the table with his fist and told that he was held up in traffic jam with two ambulances on either side with their hooters blowing at full volume .The jam was created due to some VIP movement perhaps PM was moving towards Clifton and our over efficient police had stopped half the city’s traffic.

“We the non important citizens had to suffer without any complain. I don’t mind waiting in a traffic jam but ambulances on my both sides, sirens wailing at full volume. You can imagine my plight. As this was not enough, driver of my van kept blowing his pressure horn. Although no vehicle moved an inch. All this humdrum drew all nuts. At last the convoy of the VIP person passed and the flow of traffic began.” Siddiq Master said.

People loudly cheered and clapped as Master’s van reached Saddar. There a problem already waiting for Siddiq Master. The bus he wanted to take to reach tower was not available, as due to  the traffic jam the busses were not coming towards Saddar and were taking some side routes.

After standing on the bus stop for a long while,Master checked his pockets and he found that he had just enough money for a samosa and a cup of tea .So he went into a café and had a samosa and a cup of tea which refreshed him somewhat. After a long wait his bus came but it was too full for Master so he let it go.

Thus after letting 2 or 3 busses go he was able to get a ride in a bus, not a seat but only standing space. So he was able to get to tower and to malbari hotel.

During the bus ride he stepped on the foot of same old man.This led to much abusive language and near-fight situation. So the Master’s mood was shattered that’s why he hated VIPS. If there were no VIPS people would be much better off.

We all four sat there enjoying Matka cola (drinking water),which was the only thing that we could afford that day. We all agreed with Siddiq master that stoppage of traffic for any VIP was cruelity towards humanity.

The persons stopped by the traffic jam may be ill or injured or going for an important personal work and those who are not sick get sick by the smoke and noise of vehicles .Moreover we loose many millions of rupees by way of wasted fuel. 

Legends--Hussain Ebrahim Jamal

Hussain Ebrahim Jamal Research Institute of Chemistry (H.E.J.R.I.C)

When we start naming the famous and prominent personalities of memon community one can not forget the names of Hussain Ebrahim Jamal and his brother Abdul Latif Ebrahim Jamal.Both brothers have contributed extensively for the education in Pakistan and of the community in particular.

At the tender age of 14 he was sent to Africa where he joined his uncle's business in 1928.There he started his business of cashew nuts and very quickly gained expertise in it.After some years he returned to Bombay where his business flourished to such an extent that in a very short span of time he acquired the status of one of the leading exporter and importer.His fame as the dealer of cashew nuts spread far and wide and people started calling him King Of Cashew nuts .He was only 30 years old then. He also entered business of jute bags and became very close to Sir Adamjee haji Dawood. 

At a very young age he had earned fame and credibility  in public.His social activities were now spreading in Bombay, Baroda, Okha and Calcutta. He was a member of the Provincial Muslim League Working Committee in Bombay, a member of the Managing Committee of Memon Chamber of Commerce, Bombay. He was also made Justice of Peace by the Governor of Bombay in recognition of his extraordinary services.Justices of the peace were appointed or elected from the citizens who were respected and had a say in the society, and did not usually required to have a formal legal education in order to qualify for the office.

Hussain Ebrahim Jamal always wanted to have higher education but was unable to fulfill the dream and he always felt sad about not completing his education and for that reason he took keen interest in educational activities throughout his life.

He was an active member of All Pakistan Memon Educational and Welfare Society and took keen interest in Dwarka Boarding House and Baroda Boarding House. He extended financial aid to many institutions including religious institutions.After his migration to Pakistan he continued working for the spread of education and donated open heartedly to many institutions.He also started schools in Nayababad and Khadda with large donations.He also served as President of All Pakistan Memon Educational and Welfare Society.

During the influx of refugees from Okha Port to Karachi, his services and donations were notable. He migrated to Pakistan and started his relief activities with the establishment of Memon Relief Committee for providing assistance to the refugees reaching Khokhrapar and other points from India.In all rehabilitation and welfare services he donated generously. To mark his generous donations a portion of Memon Colony in Federal 'B'Area is named as Hussainabad.


 He played active part in the establishment of All Pakistan Memon Federation. During his life time he desired to donate an amount of Rs.5 million to start a polytechnic for which a lot of spade work was done but the same amount perhaps was diverted, after his death, for financing HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry at the University of Karachi.

He was a kind-hearted gentleman of upright character. A foundation, named Hussain Foundation, was established by his family members in his memory. He served as President of All Pakistan Memon Educational and Welfare Society. He died in London in 1972.

History-Vanthali

Vanthali is small town in Junagadh district in the Indian State of Gujrat.There are traces that this places was inhabitted many many centuries back.It was called ‘Vamanasthali’ in ancient days.

One incident during the reign of King Siddharaja is very famous and it shows how old and important this small town had been in history.Sajjan Shreshthi, a minister of King Siddharaja, repaired and renovated the Girnar tirtha( a place of worship for Jains).Siddharaja the emperor of Gujrat was told that the money used for this repair was actually the  income earned from Sorath.He was enraged and headed towards Vanthali to punish him.On the way he was offered back the amount that was used during construction which was not accepted but when he came to know that the temple of Girnar was named as ‘Karnavihar’ after his father King Karnaraj and immortalized him; he was immensely delighted towards his minister Sajjana. He was delighted to write off the entire expense of renovation. He also did not accept the amount of money kept ready by the minister.

Shri Vanthali Tirtha

It is said that with the money that was to be given to the emperor a faboulous Jain Temple was built. But to-day this temple is not visible anywhere. Only a view of the architecture of the mosque over there creates a guess that this mosque must have been the Jain temple once.

It is not known when and how Memon Community settled in this small town but it is assumed that as Memons migrated and settled in other cities and tows of Junagadh state some families must have chosen this small farming area.

At the time of partition most of the Memons living in Vanthali and its suburbs migrated mainly to Karachi Pakistan.Haji Ali Muhammad Abdur Rehman Wakil, Haji Habib Wali Muhammad Lania, Ahmed Suleman Essani, Abdul Ghani Qasim Batavia, Haji Muhammad /Usman Darwaish, Muhammad Tayyab Tukdi, Muhammad Haroon Tayyab Monda are some of the notable names of this Community.

"Vantheli" by Abdur Razzak Thaplawala

Jamia Talimul Quran Vanthali

(Visited in March 2005)
I spent the night in Hotel Paramount of Junagadh. Next morning, we started for visit to Bantva - my birth place. The road leading to Bantva was good and passed through Vanthali. There were farms on both the sides of the road. Within an hour, we reached Vanthali, our first stop in the journey to Bantva. On he main road of Vanthali, there is a JamiaTaaleem-ul-Quran which is run by Jamia Taaleemul-Quran Charitable Trust, Vanthali. The Jamia was established in September, 1996. Almost all the trustees are non-Memons but funds were coming from the Memon philanthropists from all over the Gujrat. It has a magnificent & beautiful building. More than 1000 students are studying at this Jamia and the Jamia is spending Rs. 42 lacs per year. The students are tought Arabic, Farsi, Hifz Quran, Nazira Quran and computer science. They have a very well stocked library, Masjid and residential quarters. I visited a class room where lessons in Hadees were being taught to the students. I also visited their computer room which contained 10 modern computers. The following are the statistics of the students studying at the Jamia.

1	Aalim	21
2	Qaari	41
3	Hifz	35
4	Naazra	426
5	Computer studies	21
6	Tailoring	19
7	Education upto 7th standard	168

The Jamia is also running Markatib or schools at the following places other than the main Jamia in Vanthali:

   

1	Vanthali	350 students
2	Nawalakhi	150 students
3	Lilwa	100 students
4	Sattalpur	50 students
5	Koab	100 students

Memon Colony Vanthali

A Memon colony is situated very near the Jamia. I went to the Memon Colony. The colony has been built by World Memon Foundation with the help of Vanthali Memon Jamat. The buildings in the Memon colony were apparently in good condition but the ladies at the colony complained that they have the houses but their manfolk have no jobs. They were doing different labour work and hardly earning enough to meet both ends. They requested that the community elders should do something to provide some sort of jobs for their manfolk.

The population of Vanthali is about 20,000 people. This includes 4,000 Muslims and about 1,500 people belong into Memon community.

After Vanthali, we proceed to Manavadar which was only 22 KM from Vanthali. I did not see any place of interest at Manavadar. The distance between Bantva and Manavadar is only 8 KM.

Mr Abdur Razzak Thaplawala in Vanthali

MEMON RHYMES-KaariKaari Bakri...!!!!

Beacon Of Light ----------Iqbal Qasim

Cricket has been a love of the youth for many decades in south asia,Memon youth is not an exception.From night matches in Ramazan on the streets of memon areas to inter community  recent wave of T-20 tournaments cricket has been in the blood of the memon boys.


In the late 70's one memon boy was choosen in the National team and whole community was in state of jubiliation. "A memon boy flying to Australia and that too in the test Squad of Paksitan Cricket team....!!!!" every memon family felt pride in the news.

Memons were keenly listening to the commentary as that boy bowled his first ball,he took his wicket far away from Pakistan but Memons were so overwhelmed as he has done it just in front of them.....that young handsome smart boy was none other than Iqbal Qasim.

Iqbal Qasim was a stylish left arm spin bowler from Pakistan who was a part of the national team from 1976-1988.
Born in Karachi in 1953,  Iqbal Qasim was a brilliant spinner who often puzzled the batsmen with variations in pace and flight of the ball. Iqbal Qasim was a penetrative bowler who was more concerned about the accuracy of the ball.

In his test career of 50 test matches, Qasim took 171 wickets at an average of 28.11. He took 5 wickets in an innings on 8 occasions and 10 wickets in a match twice. His career best performance remains 7 wickets for 49 runs. His ODI record shows 15 matches to his credit with 12 wickets at an average of 41.66.

He is most notable for spinning Pakistan to victory in the 5th Test at Bangalore of the 1987India-Pakistan series, and thus securing Pakistan's first series win on Indian soil. He took 9/121, including the key scalp of Sunil Gavaskar for 96 in the last innings of the game.

Iqbal Qasim remained in the shadows of his team-mate, leg spinner Abdul Qadir, although his career returns are superior by average and very similar by strike rate.
Iqbal Qasim was not that good with the bat but was a pretty decent fielder. Iqbal Qasim recently served the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) as the Chief Selector.

Pakistan pose for a team group prior to the start of the fifth day of the 3rd Test Match played at the National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan on the 22nd December 1987. Left to right, back row, unnamed team official, Asif Mujtaba, Shoaib Mohmmed, Aamir Malik, Ashraf Ali, Wasim Akram, Saleem Jaffer, Ijaz Ahmed and Ramiz Raja. Front Row, Tauseef Ahmed, Fahim Uddin (pakistan official), Mudassar Nazar, Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir, Salim Malik and Iqbal Qasim. The match was drawn. (Photo by Bob Thomas/Getty Images)

Pakistan pose for a team group prior to the start of the fifth day of the 3rd Test Match played at the National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan on the 22nd December 1987. Left to right, back row, unnamed team official, Asif Mujtaba, Shoaib Mohmmed, Aamir Malik, Ashraf Ali, Wasim Akram, Saleem Jaffer, Ijaz Ahmed and Ramiz Raja. Front Row, Tauseef Ahmed, Fahim Uddin (pakistan official), Mudassar Nazar, Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir, Salim Malik and Iqbal Qasim. The match was drawn. (Photo by Bob Thomas/Getty Images)

Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Innings	Opposition	Ground	Date
28.5	14	40	6	3	India	Mumbai	16 Dec 1979
42.0	22	49	7	3	Australia	Karachi	27 Feb 1980
32.2	5	89	6	3	West Indies	Faisalabad	8 Dec 1980
65.0	18	141	6	1	Sri Lanka	Faisalabad	14 Mar 1982
24.1	7	78	5	3	New Zealand	Hyderabad (Sind)	25 Nov 1984
30.0	15	48	5	2	India	Bangalore	13 Mar 1987
35.2	7	83	5	1	England	Faisalabad	7 Dec 1987
39.0	24	35	5	2	Australia	Karachi	15 Sep 1988

Batting Performance Analysis
Class	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
ODI	15	7	1	39	13	6.5	43.33			3	0	3	-
Tests	50	57	14	549	56	12.77	37.42		1	46	0	42	-
First class	246	231	63	2432	61	14.47			3			173

Bowling Performance Analysis
Class	Match	Balls	Runs	Wickets	Best	Average	Economy	5s	10s
ODI	15	664	500	12	3-13	41.67	0.23	0	0
Tests	50	13008	4807	171	7-49	28.11	2.2	12	2
First Class	246	54439	20465	999	9-80	20.48	2.25	68	14

Career Statistics
ODI debut	Vs England   at   Sialkot,Pakistan
Last ODI	Vs Bangladesh   at  Chittagong Stadium,Bangladesh
Test debut	Vs Australia   at  Adelaide Oval,Australia
Last Test	Vs Australia   at   Lahore,Pakistan

Back row left-right, Mudassar Nazar, Arshad Pervaiz, Haroon Rashid, Sarfraz Nawaz, Aemer Hamid, Iqbal Qasim, Naeem Ahmad, Front row, left-right, Sadiq Mohammad, Wasim Raja, Wasim Bari, Talaat Ali, Javed Miandad (Photo by Bob Thomas/Getty Images

Courtesy For Images:Bob Thoman/Getti images

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