The other day Monica mentioned that she has been seeing a fair number of Sindhi patients coming in for consultation and treatment at the eye clinic she works at. She shared that most of these patients seemed to be financially well off and wondered if the nearby areas had a substantial Sindhi population. I mentioned that Delhi does indeed have a sizable Sindhi population. At the time of the partition , whilst most refugees settled in/around Lajpat Nagar, Ramesh Nagar and Rajendra Nagar, the affluent ones ( mainly Amils and Bhaibandhs from Karachi) subsequently settled in South Delhi as well in /around Safdarjung Enclave, Greater Kailash and Haus Khas areas. In fact, one of the lesser known affluent Sindhi colonies in Delhi is the exclusive Mayfair Gardens in Hauz Khas. I first heard about Mayfair Gardens a few years ago when my aunt mentioned about the wonderful Guru Purab celebrations that take place at the gurudwara there. Dada K. R. Malkani's "Sindh Story" also makes a mention about a lunch hosted by Mr. Nari Thadani at his Mayfair home in honor of G.M. Syed during the latter's visit to Delhi in 1987. It is an exclusive residential colony in the heart of Delhi with majority Sindhi population. In-fact it is amongst the costliest residential places in Delhi where a 3 bedroom apartment can easily cost upwards of USD 1 Million. Monica was surprised to hear all this.
Talking about Sindhi identity, Monica's also mentioned that her ophthalmological training took place at institutions where Sindhi families have been the major benefactors. She completed her ophthalmological training from Mithu Tulsi Chanrai Campus, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneshwar which is funded by Chanrai family. She also spent considerable time at Arjun Waney Eye Centre , a satellite centre located in the small city of Berhampur in Orissa.
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| Shri Mithu Tulsi Chanrai Campus at LVPEI, Bhubaneshwar Photo Courtesy: Internet |
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| Arjun Waney Eye Centre in Berhampur, Orissa Photo Courtesy : Monica Budhwani / WhatsApp Group |
Chanrai family with their origins in Sindh are one of the wealthiest families operating trading business(es) across India, Singapore and Africa. The business was originally set up as a textile trading corporation by Late Jhamatmal and Late Thakurdas Chanrai in 1860. The business has flourished since then and today the family is well known across the world. This centre for excellence was established by Dada Jagdish Mithu Chanrai in loving memory of his father to help eradicate blindness and transformational change of people with visual impairment.
Dada Arjun is also a prominent businessman based in London. Regular readers of the blog will remember my earlier post about him and the famous Zuma restaurant in London which he owns. Sindhi Chokro : Dada Arjun Waney (sindhi-chokro.blogspot.com). He also runs a philanthropic trust which has a major focus on treating preventable blindness. The trust is named after his mother, Smt. Savitri Waney.
I was happy to hear from Monica about these two prominent benefactors who are investing considerable time and resources to help eradicate preventable blindness from rural India. Both the founders and their trusts deserve an applause from all of us for their selfless service which is so very embedded in our Sindhi DNA. My best wishes to both of them.
I end with this link to a brand new version of Sindhi folk song " Jiye Sindh Jiye" recreated and sung by dear Mohit Lalwani along with Jatin Vaswani. As he mentions in the footnote "Jiye Sindh Jiye' is a song wishing well for the people of Sindh, all around the world. It talks about the timeless glory of Sindh and the people of Sindh." I like "Ada" Mohit's singing and hope you enjoy this version too.
I also take this opportunity to wish all of you a happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2022. I pray to Lal Saeen to shower his mercy and blessings on all of us.
Jai Jhulelal
