MUMBAI: Yusuf Ayub just cannot imagine the amount of risk his grandfather Ayub Bachoo took when he boarded a dhow or sailing boat with a mast in 1913. From the coast of Cutch, the dhow took Ayub’s grandfather and others to Zanzibar, an archipelago of islands off the coast of Tanzania.
“It must have been a risky, turbulent journey. They depended a lot on winds which helped the boat to sail fast,” said Ayub at a Byculla hotel, even as some other family members looked on. “They undertook uncharted journeys to get a better life. It is fascinating to return to our forefathers’ land.”
Ayub, chairman of the Memon Jamat in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, is part of a group of Cutchi Memons who descended on the city to participate in the Cutchi Memon Jamat‘s centenary celebrations on December 12. Many hundreds packed the Birla Matoshree Hall near Bombay Hospital on Thursday evening to recall the sacrifices and entrepreneurship of many past and present members of the Jamat, which was founded in the city in 1922.
“We postponed our centenary celebrations because of the Covid which hampered the logistics. This is a great moment for us,” said the Jamat President Hafiz Mohammed Irfan Dadani.
Ashfaque Wahedna, President of the Jamat in Mauritius, said his grandfather Hassan Moosa left Bhuj for Mauritius in the early 19th century. “My grandfather was among a group of traders who left Bhuj. Some broke their journey at Karachi while the rest kept sailing till the dhow took them to Mauritius, a beautiful island country,” he said. He celebrated the milestone in the Jamat’s history by gifting a decorative wooden boat to Dadani and his deputy Mohammed Irshad Siddique Lakdawala. “This is a symbolic boat which has played a pivotal role in the life of the Memons. Our forefathers used these boats to reach strange lands and, through hard work and dedication, prospered,” recalled Wahedna, a CA. “I am learning Urdu and can speak it thoda, thoda,” he laughed.
Esmail Elias from Nairobi (Kenya) said his grandfather Haji Elias was 18 when he went to Kenya. Today, Elias heads a jamat there called Nasserpuria Memon Jamat, which runs several welfare activities in the field of education and health. “Returning to our roots in India is always joyful and nostalgic since it is the land from where our ancestors originated. The centenary celebrations have given opportunities to meet many other Memons and establish relations for future exchange of ideas,” said Elias. Many noted Cutchi Memons, including senior lawyer and former additional solicitor general Rafique Dada, businessmen Abdus Samad Motiwala, and construction tycoon Irfan Razack, were felicitated. “This is a glorious moment for the community. Now the community’s efforts are to get integrated and help other communities prosper. The entrepreneurial spirit of the Memons should be shared with other communities as well,” said Razack.
Three winners of a lucky draw were chosen for an Umrah visit to Mecca, while the Bengaluru Jamat got the commemorative souvenir for Rs 5 lakh in an auction. Before the December 12 event at Birla Matoshree Hall, some of the community members spent a few hours on a boat off the Gateway of India, dining, dancing, and singing. A qawwali mehfil and Quran’s recitation were also held as part of the centenary celebrations of the Jamat.
