Cutchi Memon Digest
Kerala
ﮐﮁﻲ ﻤﻴﻤﻦ ﮢ ﺍﯿﺠﺴﭧ - ﮐﻴﺮﻻ
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APRIL 2015
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SPECIAL EDITION KOCHI
EDITORIAL
Kochi is the largest Cutchi Memon settlemet in India after Mumbai. It has a well recorded history of stalwarts in the community exemplified by their successs in business and leadership in philantropy. This edition is dedicated to the memory of those who made us proud in the yester years and to recognize those who continue to carry the flag now. Most of the information on these pages have been culled from various published docume-nts, the principal source being the Jubllee Souvenir of the Cutchi Memon Jamat and Cutchi Memon Association of Kochi. The information will be updated as and when more information is obtained.
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CUTCHI MEMON ASSOCIATION, KOCHI
The Cutchi Memon Association was established in 1948. The Cutchi Memon Jamath had become dysfunctional and the prospects of the Cutchi Memon community in Kochi gone bleak. In the absence of proper leadership and owing to lack of unity the community was in doldrums. As far as education was concerned the community was backward. Very few boys completed school education while girls seldom saw the gates of schools; they were content with Madrassa education.
The condition of the poor was even more pitiable. One of the gravest problems confronting the underprivileged section of the community was the burial of the dead. Whenever death struck the house of a poor brother, he had to approach a number of his more privileged brethren to raise the amount required for a decent burial. With the objectives of overcoming these and several other proble-ms and to raise the community from its long slumber and decay a band of youngsters under the leadership of Azeez Zackaria Sait formed the ‘Cutchi Memon Association’
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KOCHI MEMONS AND
KERALA CULTURAL SCENARIO
The earliest cultural interaction had been on a family level. Some of the forefathers married from the local Muslim communities as they did not consider it fair or Islamic to discriminate between different section of Muslims, although they refrained from giving their girls in marriage to local men, possibly fearing peer reaction. As time passed, more inter-marriages took place thus accelerating local assimilation, still partial though. This, was augmented by the greater access to educational facilities thereby opening up larger avenues of local culture, art and literature. In addition to direct contribution made by individuals many artists and sports persons were patronised by Cutchi Memons of Kochi.
N.K.A. Latheef, a renowned artist and close associate of the Cutchi Memon Community in Kochi relates the story of many artists who were patronised by Cutchi Memons. Here are a few of his illustrations:
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IQBAL LIBRARY AND READING ROOM, MATTANCHERRY
Iqbal Library and Reading Room in Mattancherry was established in 1936 by the Cutchi Memon community, first as a school and then appended with a reading room. It was started on 14th June 1936 as independent Musl-im Reading Room and rechriste-ned as Iqbal Library and Reading Room on January 11, 1938 at a
function presided over by Mahakavi G. Sankarakurup. Abdul Rahman Haji Kassam Sait was the President and Essa Ahmed Sait Secretary of the Library management committee. A Manuscript magazine “Vignanalatha” (Knowlege-plant) published by Ahmed Usman Sait, under the auspices of the Library was highly appreci-ated by readers. It is still housed in the Cutchi Memon Association building. In the picture above, Khan Sahib Ismail Hajee Essa Sait (second from left) the library’s president, stands with the Diwan of Cochin from 1943-44, Sir George Townsend Boag (centre), who visited the library often.
GLIMPSES OF INDIAN LAW
This column derives its interest in the context of Kochi because there are many Cutchi Memon trusts and waqfs in Kochi. Many waqfs in India, particularly the larger ones among them, have had a series of litigations against them both by the Income and Wealth Tax authorities as well as by the beneficiaries and tenanats or other occupants of waqf properties. Though it is not the intention here to reiterate the various cases an attempt is made to submit the salient points coming out of them, particularly the principles which should have been followed by the drafters of trust deeds and which the future bequeathers would better keep in mind.
QAYDO CUTCHI JO
Cutchi Memon Marriages Then and Now
Grand mothers used to take pleasure in narrating marriages in their days. The girls used to be married away when they were too young to understand their rights and liabilities in the homes they were consigned to live. The range used to be 7 to 14 years, occasi-onally going beyond for reasons of poverty or bad connections. The marriage ceremony used to be a long process running upto a month of celebration. Every day there would be some function or other ...
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KOCHI MEMONS AND RELIGION
Cutchi Memons had always been a synonym for philanthropy. When their commerce flouris-hed and they made money, they recognized the rights of the poorer of Allah's creation to share in the blessings bestowed on them. The discharge of the emanating duty found the form of short term charity of zakat and sadqah and the long term charity of auqaf - establishment of mosques, burial
grounds and funds for the maintenance of the assets thus created and to provide for uninterrupted flow of resources.
Kochi Memons have been extremely religious both in belief and obser-vance, without being fanatic about it. A number of masjids were erec-ted by them and many others received their support. Many Auqaf were established for various purposes. Taking the divine call to propagate education many schools and madrasas were also begun and are being successfully maintained. More ...............
THE SAGA OF ABAD
KOCHI MEMON LEADERS
In this column we give brief life-sketches of our community leaders among Kochi Memons. Currently available information relates to and limited mainly to the contents of the CMJ &CMA Jubilee Souvenirs of 1998-99; and scanty updates from other sources. we have already presented the brief on Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait in the February issue. Click here to visit that page.
Abdul Azeez Zackeria Sait
Born in 1913 in Mattancherry as son of Zakria Sait and Ammi Bai (Moonnam Maliga). Married in 1938. He had his education at the Santa Cruz High School at Fort Kochi.
Though the Cutchi Memons represented an elite and prosperous community with affluent men at the crest, by 1947 the plight of the common Memons had deteriorated to a pitiable trough where living had become so difficult ********************
Abdulla Adam Sait
A name Kochi Memons cannot recall but with pious regards. Though much of his biographical data is not readily available he is well remembered for the charitable Trust established by him, though formalised by his children, posthumous. He was a leading textile merchant of Cochin. He was a co-founder of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and its President for 12 years during 1905-1917. ****************
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Abdulla Haji Ahmed Sait
Abdul Sathar Haji Moosa Sait
Aboobaker Ahmed Patel
Adam Aboobacker Sait
Ahmed Usman Sait
Dawood Mohamed Sait
Esmail Haji Essa Sait
Essa Ahmed Sait
Haji Essa Haji Abdul Sathar Sait
Haji Joonus Ommar SaIt
Haji Usman Mohamed Hasham Sait
H.E. Abdul Kareem Sait
H.E. Mohamed Babu Sait
J.M. Usman Sait
Mahmood Ebrahim Sait
Mohamed Usman Haji Hussain Sait
M.J.Zackria Sait
Saley Mohamed Ebrahim Sait
Yusuf Ismail Sait
Adam Ayub Sait
and
Nasser Latif Sait
MUSLIM LADIES ASSOCIATION
Muslim Ladies Association was established in 1975 by a group of dedicated and service minded Cutchi Memon ladies to bring together the womenfolk of their community on a common platform so that they can often
meet each other and solve their problems collectively, The enthusiasm and dedication of ladies behind this organization was so inspiri-ng that more than a hundred women registered themselves as its members from the very beginning. The Association has been registerd under the Charitable Societies Act. and has rendered various services for the benefit and betterment of the women and chilren of the community as a whole.
PANJO CUTCHI RASODO
Kochi specialities
Cutchi cuisine resembles in many ways the Gujarati, Sindhi, Punjabi and Rajasthani food yet maintains its own special qualities. While these others use compli-cated methods or elaborate inputs, Cutchi items use limited number of ingredients and less extensive processes, at the same time excelling in quality. The same items made in Kochi are further simplified with the use of locally available materials and to suit the local tastes, significantly different from the others which have lost the original simplicity and acquired the processes modified by external influences. Kochi still keeps the tradition.
In this issue we will see four traditional items made in Kochi, and in other centres in Kerala to a lesser extent, and which you cannot find in today's Cutch!
1. Roat 2. Gud papdi 3. Nankhattai and 4. Gond ja laddu.
There are many other items like Soniyenji Biryani, Sheero, Mutthiya etc. which are shared by cutchi and other memons in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and elsewhere. They will be carried in the future issues of the Digest.
UMMIJAN
The Cutchi Memon Digest, Special Kochi Edition will be incomplete without a note on the legendary photographer Halima Bai. Her photographic marvels were exhibited at Aasia Bai Trust Hall, Mattancherry, Kochi from 24th December 2014 to 29th March 2015 as part of the Musiris Biennial Kochi. The following is an excerpt from the Hindu, December 18, 2014, reproduced with immense thanks to the Hindu for projecting the personality which would have otherwise gone behind curtains as has happened with many a similar talent over the past.
Memon Youth Forum
Constituted in 1967 under the presidentship of Iqbal Zackaria Sait, the Memon Youth Forum celebrated its silver Jubilee in 1999. Iqbal Zackaria Sait was succeeded by Anwar Sait, Mansoor Sait, Riyaz Ahmed Sait, Gaffar Essa Sait, and Sadiq Essa Sait. The MYF originally acted as a wing of the Cutchi Memon Association charged withe duty of helping the poor with cash and kind during Ramadhan. It was inactive for a long time and was revived in 1996 with Rasheed Usman Sait as President and Salim Shakoor Sait as Secretary. In their term, besides ............................ More..................
The World Cutchi Memon Conference April 1993