Friday Special-DUA by Muhammad Anis Saba

Friday Special:Allah Aik Hai By Muhammad Iqbal A Khanani

 

History -Porbander

Porbandar  is one of the smaller districts of Gujarat, and spans over an area of 2,286 sq km. Porbandar has Jamnagar in the north, Junagadh in the east, Rajkot District in the west, and the Arabian Sea in the south. In the 10th century it was known as 'Pauravelakul' and then 'Sudamapuri'.

Many memon merchants lived here before partition and some still continue living there.The port here was a great atraction for merchants in older days.

Porbandar has a climate that is ideal for cultivation for Cotton, groundnut, bajra, gram, wheat, and jowar . the rivers Ozat, Meghal and Bhadar further enhanced the cultivation of these major crops over the years.In modern times Cement industry and Soda-ash industry have become two major industries in Porbandar.

the Hindu  mythological story about the  friendship between Lord Krishna and Sudama is related to this place,which shows how ancient this area had been.It is also known as the birthplace of Gandhiji .

The most impressive feature of Porbandar is the city planning and the stone buildings with ashlar masonry and rich carving. The facades of the houses on either side of the streets, with series of windows, carved gateways are the beauty of the city. It is also known as "White City" because of its white stone construction.
The beautiful historical buildings overlooking the sea on Marine Drive puts Porbandar on the list of coastal heritage towns of Gujarat. 

Porbandar was originally a fortified town, with high walls, bastions and five gates, lost its fortification by the order of Colonel Lally in 1888 AD.

During Mughal reign Porbandar served as a thriving port .It was attacked by the Portuguese to achieve supremacy over sea trade in 1531 AD. The Walker Treaty of 1807 AD between the ruling clans of Saurashtra and the British put an end to the feuds and it resulted in a favorable environment for the civic development of the Porbandar State.

Batakh Jo Bacho-Memoni Rhyme

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Thapla And Kodvav BY: ABDUR RAZZAQ THAPLAWALA

My surname is THAPLAWALA but my parents or elders had not told me the meaning of this surname. After coming to Pakistan, I looked at the maps of Gujrat and saw that Bantva was surrounded by many small villages and many families had their surname linked with these villages including Balagam, Kodvav, Pajod etc. These villages included a village named THAPLA. I had a keen desire to visit & see THAPLA. We left Bantva and started our journey towards these villages. On our way to THAPLA, we passed through Aiklaria and then the Kodvav. I was told that the population of Kodvav was 1500 persons  belonging to Patel community. After seeing Kodvav, We proceeded towards THAPLA. It is a small town with a population of 600 people. At the outside of THAPLA, there was a Mazaar or Chilla of Peer Geban Shah. It was being looked after by a Muslim couple Mr. & Mrs. Fakeer Allah Rakha Qasim. Both  the THAPLA & KODVAV have small schools. The school in THAPLA is known as Study Centre and the school in KODVAV is known as school. I have photographed both schools of THAPLA & KODVAV which may appear in this article.

 

After seeing THAPLA, we decided to start our return journey. We decided that instead of going back to Junagadh, we should dreictly proceed to Rajkot through Sardargadh & Dhoraji.

An education centre in thapla Taluka Manavadr	Dargah of Gebon shah pir in Thapla
Pir Gabon Shah's Dargah from inside at Thapla	A school in Kodvav

Beacon Of Light-Amin Lakhani

Does Any one remember a young and promising Cricketer who had double hat trick in a side test  against India at Multan???
Yes that was a memon who at the age of 18 years rocked and shocked the cricket lovers by his outclass bowling.
Amin Lakhani was born  on  1st october 1959 at Karachi.he was a legspinner.He was remarkable at his first class career and at the tender age of 18 he recieved a call for Pakistan test playing eleven.A dream come true for any cricket of that age.He amazed all cricket lovers by y taking three wickets on three consecutive deliveries in both the innings of a match against arch rivals India at Multan. For establishing a unique record, he received a handsome gift from Fateh Singh Gaekwad, the manager of the Indian cricket team and ex-ruler of Baroda State.

All eyes were upon him that he would do wonders for Pakistan but unfortunately during net practice he broke his finger.Hence losing the golden chance.Many say that the news of his broken finger was just a rumor but  the inside story remains untold till the day.

He continued playing first class cricket and Allied Bank, Karachi, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, Pakistan Universities, United Bank Limited were the major teams he played for.

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50	Ct	St
First-class	136	179	43	1409	54*	10.36	0	1	113	0
List A	72	36	12	188	35	7.83	0	0	16	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
First-class	136	28172	12363	466	8/60		26.53	2.63	60.4		21	4
List A	72	3555	2238	86	4/10	4/10	26.02	3.77	41.3	2	0	0

Kida se Kida-From where to where.?5

Sehnaaj Bai k Hyderabad me shadi me gami wion kein cheejon ne Ghaphar Bhaa bi deral le Raji thi wiya boyein  tower wate se thena II Chundrigarh se Marriat Road Juni Gali me wia ne ghanri cheejon deraya Ghaphar bha Shehnaaj Bai k:)

Shehnaaz Bai Liked somethings in the shadi she visited last week and Ghaffar Bhai is convinced to buy her the same.they went pass II Chundrigarh Road and to JUNI GALI .

THIS WEEK

Ghappar Bha Sehnaaj Bai k gini ne koi Rishtedar k mubarak baad deel le wina riya ayein kida bataro??

Ghaffar Bhai and Shehnaaz Bai are going to congratulate some of their Relative guess where?

Anmol Moti -by Muhammad Iqbal A Khanani

Legends-SIR HAJI ABDULLAH HAROON

Sir Haji Abdullah Ramon was born in 1872 at Karachi. He lost his father at an early age. He was brought-up and educated under the most trying circumstances by his great mother who was a pious and deeply religious lady. He deeply believed in the dignity of labour and himself started his career in business in 1896 on a very small scale and soon was to outshine all his contemporaries in the world of trade and commerce and came to be known as 'Sugar King'.

He entered politics in 1913 and was elected a Member of the Karachi Municipal Corporation. In 1917, he joined the Indian National Congress, and began taking part in the Independence Movement. In 1919, he became President. Khilafat Committee of Sindh.

Sir Haroon was an elected Member of the Bombay Legislative Council from 1924 to 1926. He was also a Member Central Legislative Assembly and was re-elected twice in 1930 and 1934. He was a member of various Committees of the House.

Sir Haroon was disenchanted with the policies of the Congress and joined the Muslim League and remained its staunchest ally till his death. He was asked by the All India Muslim League body to revive and reorganise the provincial branch of the League in Sindh in April lQ14

In 1938 Sir Abdullah Haroon was elected President, Sindh Provincial Muslim League. He was among those personalities who spoke and endorsed the 'Pakistan Resolution' at the historic 27th Session of the Muslim League at Lahore on March 23, 1940.

At the Madras Session of the All India Muslim League, held in April 1941, Sir Abdullah Haroon was appointed Member of the Committee to workout on a five years plan for the educational, economic, social and political advancement of the Muslims.

Sir Abdullah Haroon was not only a great statesman but also one of the leading philanthropist of his time. He contributed to many charitable institutions. Sindh Provincial Muslim League was entirely dependent upon his contributions. He founded the 'Islamiya Orphanage for Boys', which incorporated a school in 1923 and made endowments for its maintenance and established the 'Cutchi Memon Madrasa-e-Binat for Girls' in memory of his great mother. He built 'Muslim Gymkhana' and playground at personal expense in Karachi and also built numerous mosques at various places in Karachi and Sindh. He contributed immensely toward the improvement of the Muslim lot in economic, educational, social and political fields.

Sir Abdullah Ramon died on April 27, 1942 at Karachi.

Memon Rhymes.... PYASO KANgro

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World Cup Khapey Khapey Khapey

Results photography competition...Yeh Mera Pakistan hai

Category Ghar Galian aur Raste 
winner Pic 1a by

RIZWAN

Category: Historical places of Pakistan  
winnwe Picture # 2b

by 

Sara Zafar

 Category Landscapes of Pakistan
Winner (Pic 4C)

by

RIZWAN

Results Writing Competition Dadi Maa Chuni wi...!!

All the stories sent were very heart touching and inspiring,Magnificent Memons is thankful to all participants and readers who have appreciated our efforts.It was real hard tp decide among the stories so we announce the first place jointly to Mr Muhammad Iqbal Ahmed Khanani for his very very informative writing and Miss Jameela for her sisterly love shown in a very cute way.

Mr Muhammad Iqbal Ahmed Khanani's writing stands first 

along with

Miss Jameela's Writing

Malbari Hotel- An Old Man's Day Dreams.... Sad yet True!!!

  We all four old friends were sitting at the malbari hotel talking meaninglessly and passing the time aimlessly.It was a very gloomy evening because at least 20 people had died in what the media people call  "Target killing".Kharadar where our malbari hotel gets shut down every second day.
Suddenly Yaqoob Kiria asked "Brothers!who are these people died in target killing.Are they members of particular sect,group or a political party? "I replied " They have nothing to do with any sect or politics.Our police and other law enforcing agencies are just about useless.They have not been able to catch one murderer out of hundreds of people killed in recent weeks.
        Do you see our streets are deserted after the sunset like curfew was imposed on our streets.Master Siddiq said that we must discuss who is killed not who killed him.To catch the killers is the job of our law enforcing agencies,but about half of those killed are never identified.There is a law of post martum and identification procedures.But mostly the dead bodies are handed over to social workers like Abdul Sattar Edhi for burial.These bodies are burried in nameless graves without any name or number.only prominent social workers like Abdul Sattar Edhi keep records by alloting a number to each dead body.
        Isn't it tragic,a person gets out to buy bread or vegetables but he never returns.A laborer spending his nights on foot paths is dead by a bullet coming from no where and sleeps permanently on that spot.The blame game is on and everybody blames to the other groups for this killing.No one thinks about the laborer who died has come from his village thousands of kilometers away from Karachi to earn his bread.
        Ghaffar Kapadia said that this is true,the persons so mercilessly killed by those hidden killers are footpath dwellers or persons sitting like us at some small hotels.Only Allah is protecting us.I say " should we change our meeting place to somewhere else? "
         Master Siddiq said we get to our homes before the night is set we are safe InshAllah.Once we sit at night at this place or any other place a bullet may come for any of us.That is for sure.Government announces awards for the dead men's relatives (if any) but it is never paid.These announcements are to get clapping of the people present where the announcement is made.
        I have visited Edhi foundation's graveyard at Maach Goth and have personally seen grave markings with identification numbers only.Edhi foundation maintains a register of information about these bodies with photographs for any body wishing to see them.Thus if any claimant comes he show  the photograph of the dead body and identification marks found on the body to the claimant.But this happens with very small percentage of unidentified bodies buried by Edhi foundation.
      We can not imagine when a person dies so suddenly, what happens to surviving relatives.Besides a widow,there are usually 3 or 4 small children who are left without anything to eat or to pay school fees.Any of 1001 things left unattended.Why don't our philanthropist establish a trust or foundation to help such surviving families of persons suddenly killed by the bullet,so that they can adjust to their lives again.But unfortunately,most of our wealthy men are interested in clapping and photographs,not in actual welfare work.