WRITTEN BY AMRIT MEHTA

Toronto Canada

Son of Pushpa and Kishore Mehta

Dubai's Hangover

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Friday, November 27, 2009 at 8:39am

Global markets are overreacting to Dubai World's 'delay' in debt repayment

There is nothing understated about Dubai as I learned during a recent visit. It is hard not to be impressed by the ambition and audacity of this growing city. During the last decade or so, Dubai has embarked on large scale real estate development projects that led to the construction of some of the tallest skyscrapers and largest projects in the world such as the Emirates Towers, the Burj Dubai, the Palm Islands and the world's second tallest, and most expensive hotel, the Burj Al Arab. So how did a city of 1.4 million people with a GDP of roughly $40 billion manage to fund these ambitious projects?

To understand how, one has to think about Dubai as a highly leveraged private equity firm. Dubai has very little oil resources of its own, and under the tutelage of its ruler cum CEO, Sheikh Mohamed, it pursued a bold investment-fueled growth strategy focused on tourism, real estate and financial services. During a four-year construction boom, Dubai borrowed $80 billion, or almost 200% of GDP, to fund outlandish projects that transformed the sheikhdom into a regional tourism and financial hub. At one time it was rumored that Dubai had 25% of the world's cranes, quite a feat for a city that was home to 0.02% of the world's population. Dubai's motto was simple: 'Build, and they will come'. Global capital markets were awash with credit pre-Lehman, and Dubai borrowed heavily on generous terms to fund its expansion. Debt service costs were low, and the high growth/high debt, leveraged private equity model worked perfectly.

Post-Lehman, this house of cards built primarily on investor sentiment came crashing down. It is estimated that property prices have fallen almost 50% in Dubai since then. Quite simply, buyers turned into sellers as panic spread through the financial system, exposing Dubai's glut of over-supply. People who bought several properties as investments with the hope of flipping homes at a profit, suddenly found that their mortgages/liabilities far exceeded the value of the homes they owned (sound familiar?). The cycle of borrow-build-sell-build was thwarted, and a sharp drop in revenues resulted in Dubai's high debt levels becoming an albatross.

Clearly, global markets have overreacted to Dubai's inability to make a debt repayment of $3.5 billion due December 14th. Some believe this could be the largest government default since the Argentine debt restructuring in 2001, while others point to contagion given the exposure of global banks to Dubai's debts. There are also fears of similar 'surprises' emanating from different parts of the world.

The facts would suggest that these fears are unfounded. To begin with, Dubai's problems are unique and its scale of potential defaults very small compared to the $1.7 trillion of global write-downs absorbed by banks due to the global financial crisis. To be sure, Dubai has several prized assets and can sell them to fund debt repayments but it is loth to do so. Besides, Abu Dhabi, the capital city of UAE and Dubai's nemesis, has one of the world's richest sovereign wealth funds with over $600 billion in assets and will not risk a Dubai default. It is most likely going to end up being Dubai's savior, but is currently engaged in a high stakes game of chicken with Dubai's ruler. It will ultimately lend Dubai the money to repay creditors but on its own terms. It will either take large ownership stakes in key Dubai assets & corporations and/or demand a much higher say in running Dubai's affairs. Either way, debts will be repaid and global traders will regain their sanity.

Drunken stupors often lead to prolonged hangovers. This is no different!

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Meet Dr. Sheetal Kanar Kumar, Life-Giver Extraordinaire!

The First Bhagnari Surrogate Mother
A young Bhagnari lady created history, with an extraordinary act of courageous magnanimity.



Dr. Sheetal Kanar Kumar, the doctor-wife of a doctor-husband, Dr. Amitabh Kumar, gave birth to twins, 2 boys on Sept. 16th, 2009 in the USA.



The twins are the children of Shubra (her husband's sister) and Richard . The boys, in a manner of speaking, are not hers. But Sheetal is very much janani, a life giver.

Sheetal acted as a surrogate mother, also known as a gestational carrier, for her husband’s sister who had been unable to carry a pregnancy despite multiple attempts. Sheetal and Amitabh have three small children of their own.

For nine months, from the time she began the process of surrogacy, to the time she delivered the twins, Sheetal nurtured the twin lives in her own womb. This act of giving birth, of bringing new life into the world, is an extraordinary saga that has been exalted by Prophets and Seers. Only in this instance, it is one of the most unselfish act of giving, an act that celebrates life and kinship.

Dr. Sheetal Kanar Kumar is an Obstretician and Gynaecologist, practicing in Stuart, Florida, USA. Her husband, Dr. Amitabh Kumar is a Gasteroenterologist.

Sheetal herself is a vivacious young lady, who is also a high achiever. She has certainly inherited the best from her loving parents Sujata (Saroj) and Gulab Kanar. Naturally, the entire Kanar family, her husband, Dr. Amitabh Kumar and Richard and Shubra, the Surrogate twins’ parents, are delighted with the happy outcome of Sheetal’s surrogacy.

On behalf of the Panchayat, the President of Shree Bhagnari Panchayat has extended his “heartiest congratulations to you, Sheetal and your family for your magnanimity. We Bhagnaris are proud of you.”

Congratulations to the Mother(s), Pere Richard, and Best Wishes to the boys. With such an eventful beginning and a distinguished lineage, one can be sure they will be the cynosure of all eyes.

Anita Ashok Gehi walks 60 km for a cause

Anita Ashok Gehi, living in Toronto, Canada was one of the courageous participants of The Weekend to End Breast Cancer to support and raise funds for The Campbell Family Institute at The Princess Margaret, Canada.

The Weekend to End Breast Cancer took place on September 12th and 13th.
The 60 km walk was no easy feat, but generous donations and continued support, along with the dedicated effort of the Walkers, Crew Members, and Volunteers, enabled to raise $11.6 million to support innovative cancer research, patient care and survivorship programs at The Princess Margaret. Not only will these funds benefit the lives of those suffering from breast cancer, but the 2009 Weekend to End Breast Cancer® has expanded its impact to help those affected by all women’s cancers.

Anita set a target to raise funds and was able to achieve her target. To all who supported Anita with their kind donations, she had this to say:

“The 'Weekend to End Breast Cancer Walk' was on September 12 - 13 and I could not have done it without your support. I felt that all those who supported me, in a way walked with me. All proceeds raised go towards research of women's cancers. Today, one in every nine women hear the dreadful words "You have cancer", in the doctor's office. The good news is that survival rate is going higher every year due to early detection and better treatment. This is only possible with research and the goal is to conquer cancer in our life time so that we can save the mothers, daughters and sisters of the world.

The question I have been asked is, if it was easy, the answer would be 'It was not a cake walk, but neither is Cancer'. Would I do it again? God willing, health permitting and with your continued support, the answer is "Yes".

Below is an excerpt from the Princess Margaret site and THANK YOU once again for being a Champion.”

The Campbell Family Institute at The Princess Margaret announced that 4616 participants raised over $11 million in Toronto’s 7th annual Weekend to End Breast Cancer event, a 60 km walk to raise funds for breast cancer research and care at The Campbell Family Institute at The Princess Margaret.

Participants started training 4 months in advance. Anita used to walk three evenings every weekday starting with 3 km walks and progressed to 7 km a day. On weekends it was a longer distance.

A great walk for a great cause, Anita. Bhagnari community is proud of you.

Nitin Javeri Bhagnari - Our young achiever

It is indeed a moment of pride for the parents and community in general, whenever we get an opportunity to highlight our young achievers. Nitin Javeri Bhagnari at a young age of 27 can be truly termed an achiever.

Nitin has to his credit, an Engineering degree in IT from Thadomal Shahani College, Mumbai, MBA in Finance from Asian Institute of Management and very recently he obtained PMP (Project Management Professional) certification from PMI, USA.

During MBA he was in the top 10% of his batch (Dean's lister) and was awarded scholarship to complete his last semester in IIM, Bangalore.

Nitin has not only been an achiever in academics, but also in career. He is currently working as a Project Manager with Ericsson, Mumbai, in charge of handling a project worth USD 1.4 mil.

Nitin's mother Jyoti said, 'I as a mother congratulate Nitin (Dimpy) on his achievements and wish him loads of success in his career and life.' Jyoti has all the reasons to be proud of Nitin, as she has brought up her two children single-handedly from the ages of 10 and 11 years. It has not been an easy journey for her, but 'where there is a will, there is a way' and her determination and trust in God have finally paid off.

Please use the comments section to appreciate Nitin's efforts and encourage other Bhagnari youngsters too - aren't we really proud of them?

BHAGNARI VOLUNTEERS

First Row:L to R:Jyoti Jham, Manju Dudeja,Saroj Sitlani,Vaso Divan,Gobind Mehta,Shraddha Gehi.
Second Row:L to R: Aunty Sita Talreja, Dolly Nasta.
Bottom Row:L to R Hema Nasta,Anoushka Bijlani,Jaya Kataria,Minal Gehi.
Bhagnaris are thanking the Volunteers for managing the functions in the Colony Hall

Community website eBhagnaris.com has 500 members now

Kanchan Bhagnari from Dubai, UAE became the 500th member of the community website. This is an occasion to be proud of for the whole community whose members are spread across several countries.

The website was started almost two years ago and ever since it has kept its members informed of the latest community news. Earlier this year a blog site was started to highlight the achievement of the youngsters and provide avenue to creative writers to express their views.

500 members may seem a lot, but in a community of almost 2000, even accounting for the fact that small children and elderly Bhagnaris may not be able to register, we should have at least 1000 members. I must confess that getting 500 members to register has not been easy. It has required all possible innovative ways to influence the community members to register to the website. A country-wise breakdown reveals that maximum members are from UAE, where I live presently. Honestly, I am a bit disappointed with the membership from India, where more effort is required. I feel the community members have to realise that the future of communications is through internet and we must utilise its full potential to stay connected.

Country-wise breakdown of members:
- Australia – 5
- Bahrain – 3
- Barbados – 1
- Brazil – 1
- Canada – 12
- Hongkong – 2
- India – 117
- Jamaica – 1
- Kuwait – 5
- Oman – 2
- Sri Lanka – 1
- Uganda – 1
- UAE – 285
- UK – 3
- USA - 61

I would like to seek the support of Bhagnaris living in the above countries to spread a word about the community website and emphasise that it is a great avenue to remain updated with the latest community news.

This is also an appropriate occasion to thank all the members for their support in keeping both the websites humming. A word of special thanks to the following who have supported the website financially:

Through advertisements:
- Al Anwaar Golden Jewelers, Dubai (Rajesh Popley)
- Al Darweesh Electronics LLC, Dubai (Ashish Gind)
- Saidham Restaurant, Dubai (Lalit Nagpal)

Through contributions:
- Bhagnari Panchayat
- A well-wisher from Dubai

As compared to a static website, running a dynamic websites is expensive. Although I incur the costs initially, financial support from the above named has helped to cover the cost of developing the website and the maintenance and hosting costs for the first two years. As the third year’s maintenance/hosting costs of Rs. 20,000 have already been incurred in advance by me, I look forward to continued support from the members to cover this shortfall. My original plan was to garner enough funds through advertisements to pay for the website costs and use the surplus funds for charity. With your support, I hope to achieve this objective also.

Please feel free to express your views to improve our means of communication and help us in achieving our mission – Uniting the emerging Bhagnaris under one roof.

Ramesh Poplay

Dipesh Mehta is awarded Chartered Financial Analyst charter

Dipesh Mehta, son of Mala and Vinod Mehta, has passed Level 3 of the Chartered Financial Analyst exam of the U.S. based Chartered Financial Institute. He was awarded the coveted CFA Charter this month. Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charter is well known as the gold standard of professional credentials within the global investment community. CFA designation is recognized worldwide as the definitive standard for measuring competence and integrity in the fields of portfolio management and investment analysis. At the point of writing this article there are only approximately 78,000 people from 126 different countries who have been awarded the right to use the CFA designation.

Dipesh has also previously completed his MBA and MS (Finance). He is currently working with Barclays in Dubai as Senior Relationship Manager in charge of Financial Instituitions in GCC / Levant countries.

He is probably the first CFA Charter holder among Bhagnaris. The community is pleased to welcome their very own CFA in Dubai.

Priyanka Nasta gradutes as Electronics and Electrical Engineer with 87% marks

Priyanka Nasta possibly became the first Bhagnari girl to become an Engineer, when she graduated from BITS Pilani, Dubai, securing 87% marks.

Daughter of Niranjan and Nandini Nasta, she narrates her feelings in the write-up below, which has been reproduced un-edited. Bhagnari community salutes Priyanka and hopes that her achievement will inspire many more Bhagnari girls to take the lead.

3 September 2005 – I feel almost certain that this date is of little consequence to any of the readers. But for me, it was one date which would stay in my mind for a long time to come. After all, it was my first day at BITS Pilani, Dubai. From the very start of the day, the weirdest thoughts began flashing in my head ranging from what I would wear, to how would I locate my classroom, to how the people would be and even to what I would eat through the day (yeah…I do think about food quite a lot!).

As expected, the first day of college was not rocking, rather it was…on the rocks. Some of the reasons for this were the over-powering seniors, snobbish boys, scary professors and lack of girls in the campus (only 8 students out of 60 were girls!). My thought at the end of the day was, how will I get through four years in this place?

The first year seemed a little difficult, both in terms of studies and adjusting with the people. In the study area, the difficulty was that most of the courses were self study, and unlike in India, there are no private coaching classes in Dubai universities. Hence the challenge lied in trusting my ability and guiding myself towards a good score. As far as the people were concerned, many of them came from India and just like me, they were discovering new people…and a new place!

However, by the beginning of the second year, things became more comfortable. I got used to the study pattern and also became quite attached to my classmates. In addition to compulsory courses like Math and Physics, I also read courses in Technical Report Writing, Marketing and Management, which I feel are very important and useful in the corporate world. In addition to this I also did an internship for two months with an electrical based company, which gave me a clear insight on how office life would be.

The third year was when I had to study hardcore Electrical courses (my major being Electronics and Electricals). It was by far the toughest year in college as I had many lab sessions to complete and many assignments to turn in. But the mall outings and shopping sprees with friends acted as major stress busters (in fact, I think I know Mall of the Emirates inside out because of this!).

The fourth year was when I enjoyed college the most. Practice School II with Zio Technologies LLC was on the agenda for the first semester and a study oriented project was up in the second. I also attended two farewell parties hosted by our juniors and the University staff. Also, knowing that it was the last year of college made me do things I wouldn’t have done otherwise, like participating in debate, elocution and even a salad dressing competition (came first in it…by the way!).

17 August 2009 – I feel certain that this date too is of little consequence to any of the readers. But it has been etched in my mind forever. After all, it was my Graduation day. I met all my friends and faculty after a long time and it was the best feeling to see all the students in graduation robes and hats. It would be wrong not to mention the love, support and encouragement provided by my parents and my brother Mohit. I’m told that I am probably the first Bhagnari girl to become an engineer, and if this is true, I owe it all to my family.

So watch out people, there is a new Electronics and Electrical Engineer around. Brace yourselves, because in these days of Unique Identification Numbers, 2005A3PS218U (my college ID) has finally arrived – and thank God for that – WHAT A THOUGHT SIR JI…

Mice, Men and the Moon

The following article has been written by Gobind Kataria, who lives in London. He was a lecturer in English at K.C. College, Bombay, from 1962 to 1966 and then finally, before retiring, an Education Adviser in the UK, after a series of teaching jobs. He has been living there since 1966.

A couple years back, on my walk through the streets of Mahim, I saw a huge rat, the size of a kitten; pass by me nonchalantly, unafraid, almost like my fellow humans. No one attempted to kill it nor even kick it or harm it. It was a specimen of life, a form of creation, blessed by gods. It had as much right to live as I have. This was despite the fact that rats can cause plagues, diseases, etc. But, do we have any right to kill them? We are probably a superior creation, so we think, we are the creatures made in the image of god whoever that god be. And this reminded me of an old history lesson. When the invaders came from Arabia or Mongolia, all they had to do was to push cows in front of the army. We would not touch a cow, and the brave Rajput warriors stood silent while the nation was plundered. The gods on the moon looked on.

The moon landing shook my grandmother's faith. She would say, so, there are no gods on the moon. These godless Americans and Soviets, meat-eaters, beer swilling westerners have landed on the celestial part of the universe of ours. Bollywood films would be without those ceremonies by females in their half-exposed dresses worshipping the moon for the longevity of their husbands, who would always turn up late after a session at the club. Never seen a man praying for his wife's long life unless of course he is old and dependent on his partner. And now comes a little bit of the past, those golden days of Karachi – a paradise lost.

And you will ask me what is this old blogger talking about. I will of course take you back to Karachi. Memories haunt me, so I must unload them somewhere. Imagine a narrow street, our Bhagnari temple on one side, and the girls' pathshala (school) on the other side. It was believed that Kabir or some saint had left his footprint in that building and it was well preserved, and we would quietly go up the stairs on our way to the Night School. If I remember right, most of our Bhagnari young girls were educated in that Hindi school. That was the height of education. Our roles were all fixed. The society was orderly and the rules were simple. Men were the bread-winners and women were, of course, homemakers. Nothing could go wrong in that world. But then it was all reversed. Outside the temple, I stood there one day arguing with my dear friend, Issar Popley, an intellectual influenced by the Soviet system. He was one of those rare Bhagnari intellectuals who dedicated his life for a cause. Ramesh Poplay is his son, as you all know. I believed in God and gods passionately, and he was not convinced. We argued for hours. I said and still do, that God and religion are two different things. God lives through our heart and faith and love. Religion is created by men, whose business is to create a system. The rituals take over the gods, who are eventually forgotten.

God cannot be argued, proved or disproved intellectually. God can only be experienced through our heart; we can sense him, intuit him but can't prove him. A poet once wrote: we men are hollow, we men are lonely, we men are alone. Our future is uncertain, our fate predestined and our release can be through the final exit. Deep in our hearts we know we are on our own. What goes through our minds cannot be confided to our wives or husbands or friends. It is the deep-seated insecurity. Just talk to gods - they would not charge you a penny.

We can't stand our own company. So we turn to drink or flesh. It doesn't matter; he may not listen to all the rubbish we ask for. He works as a psychiatrist. You won't have to go to a therapist. God just is a great therapist. As I sit in my old sofa, meditating on the unknown gods, I say to myself: I would not see a true God, but how does it matter. We have this beautiful creation, colourful, with birds singing through the windows. Well, that is what is wrong with the western world. It is godless, too intellectual, too rational. At every street corner there is a therapist or a pub. Drink your way to eliminate your loneliness. It is fast happening in India, we are losing our gods. But then, my friend, you would ask me: Do you think God exists. Well, of course, he does, in our minds, in our fellow beings and through our love and hearts. Do not ask many questions - just see how our universe is finely balanced. Remove that force of mysterious gravity and we float in the air. It couldn't all be an accident as some scientists would make us believe.

I am in my ripe old age and when I get up there (heaven and hell are poetic creations made by the religious bigots to frighten us) I would just ask God one question. Is this world real? Well, He would say, perhaps: illusion, my son, we need the illusion, this mess, this chaos. Reality is hard to bear. Without illusion earth would be a dull place.

Mahesh Nasta runs Seattle Marathon

Mahesh Nasta possibly became the first Bhagnari to complete a full Marathon over a distance of 26.2 miles. He participated in the Rock N Roll Seattle Marathon on 27th June and completed the gruelling race in 5 hrs 16 min. Basically running at a steady pace of 5 miles an hour for a llittle over 5 hours.

20,000 runners from 14 countries ran the full and 1/2 marathons. 5,618 of them completed the full marathon, which was won by Kenyan Peter Omae. Mahesh was placed a creditable 386th in the 40-44 age category.

Mahesh underwent an intensive 16 week training program, averaging 20 miles every week, during which time he lost a lot of weight. He felt a little sore for a day after the race, but is feeling fine now. Fortunately the weather was good through the course of the run and the huge crowd, which was almost 4 levels deep, kept cheering the runners. There were 18 live bands (in keeping with the name of this marathon) performing at every mile. All this was for a good cause, as the event raised USD 3.7 millions for 5 different charities. There was also indirect fund raising by many participants.

Mahesh is settled in Dallas with his wife Sherry and two daughters Nikita and Sanaya. He has been working for Microsoft for the past 15 years.

Keep running, Mahesh.....we hope that your feat inspires other Bhagnaris to run in marathons, especially for charities!!!

Ravjiv sings his way to Arabian Center Radio Star 2009 award

Last night Rajiv Sapru was declared Arabian Center Radio Star 2009. The UAE-wide competition was organised by 89.1 FM radio and its finals were held in front of live audience at Arabian Center, Mirdiff. After warming-up with 'Sawariya', he sang 'Mitwa' to clinch the top honours. There was a tie between Rajiv and another participant for the final place, which was decided through a tie-breaker. Rajiv kept his cool in the tie-breaker, while singing another power-packed song ‘Main Jahan Rahoon’ and came out on tops.

Rajiv would like to thank all the Bhagnaris from UAE who voted for him during semi-finals and final.

Asked as to why he chose a difficult song like 'Mitwa', which has classical under-currents, Rajiv said "Once you know that the competition is top notch, you have to prove yourself to be better than the best and the selection of song plays a very important role". Rajiv entered the competition with the name of Rajiv Kusum - Kusum is his mother's name whom he considers as his lucky charm. He had earlier dedicated his semi-final song to his mother. The song for the final was dedicated to his Guru, Ustaad Ajmal Ali Khan Sahab of the Patiala Gharana, who is the first cousin of Shafqat Amanat Ali, the singer of Mitwa.

For those who don't know Rajiv, he is Soni and Kusum (Papo) Sapru's son. Most of us have heard his father Soni singing during get-togethers and now its Rajiv's turn to enthrall us with his singing. Rajiv says that his father is his best critic as on several occasions when he feels that he has sung well, Soni still manages to improve him.

Rajiv has also formed a rock band by the name of Dreamz. Many of us had the pleasure of dancing to its tunes during the Bhagnari Holi party this year.

Keep it up Rajiv; the community is proud of your achievement.

Aashna Nasta's Graduation Ceremony at Dhirubhai Ambani International School

In our series of young Bhagnari achievers we bring to you the proud moments of Aashna Nasta, who has narrated them in her own words.

20 months of projects, essays, presentations, portfolios, reports and exams ended at one glorious occasion – The Graduation Ceremony of the students of the batch of 2009 at Dhirubhai Ambani International School. It was a day marked to end each of our school lives, a day when our parents and grandparents could look upon us with proud smiles and overjoyed expressions, moreover, for us it was the day we graduated with our IB Diplomas.

The IB i.e. the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a 2 year programme where we learn to think beyond our text books. We question the existence of everything – right from Does God really exist? To How was the world formed? What is knowledge? Etc. Most of these questions don’t have hard core answers, which makes the discussion more exciting. The best part about the IB is that we don’t choose a specific stream of science, commerce or arts but choose a group of subjects from various field – 1)Language 1; 2) Language 2; 3)Social Studies; 4)Sciences; 5)Math; and 6)Visual Arts. Each of these subjects have 2 levels – higher and standard. We choose 3 higher level subjects and 3 standard level ones. Each subject has 7 points, thus, 42 is the maximum number of points we attain.

The IB Graduation Day on 29^th May 2009 was a power packed occasion with our chairperson Mrs. Nita Ambani and our chief guest Dr. Shashi Tharoor (ex under secretary general of the UN and current external affairs minister of India). His speech was ecstatic; never in my entire school life did I hear a speech where the entire audience was focused at the speaker. Supporting every claim of his with a short story, Dr. Tharoor made sure that we could relate to each phrase of his speech.

Receiving my diploma from Mrs.Ambani and Dr. Tharoor

As we threw our graduation hats in the air that day, we realised what we had accomplished – we had completed school and transformed into adults, ready to face the world, ready to take up every challenge, moreover we had our school motto imbibed within us – DARE TO DREAM; LEARN TO EXCEL!

With my mother and Mr and Mrs. Ambani

With my overjoyed grandmother, Mrs. Dhuru Nasta

Gobind Kataria recalls memories from Karachi

The Karachi Tramway of Yester-year
There was a time when citizens of Karachi were accustomed to seeing Trams running all over the City center. It was one of the most popular means of conveyance in the city. Today, only a handful of photos, a few landmarks and memories of Trams remain. Our elders will remember the following scenes from the city which was their abode before migrating to Mumbai.

In the following picture, notice Takandas H Kataria's advertisement on the tram:

The history of Karachi tramway spans 90 years (1885-1975). It owes it origin to the Municipal Secretary and Engineer, James Strachan who first conceived the idea for a Karachi Tramway. In 1881, Mr. Edward Mathews of London submitted the tender for building this tramway network. It took until 1883 to complete all the formalities and to get Government permission to use Steam as the locomotive power for the trams. Actual construction work started in October 1884. Track Gauge of Karachi Tramway was 4 feet.
On April 10, 1885 the first tram line in Karachi was opened for public traffic. The track extended from the present day Jinnah (then Napier Mole) bridge to Keamari.

The following picture shows a tram on Saddar route:























The Map below shows Karachi of 1893. The Red rectangle towards left shows the first tramway track that was inaugurated. Also note how Karachi landscape has changed since then. Keamari is now part of the mainland as sea has receded a lot as well as land reclamation that has happened in the last 100 years.























The following picture is circa 1900 and it shows a tram near Max Denso Hall on then Bandar (now M.A.Jinnah) Road:

















Following photo is circa 1900 and shows a glimpse of Karachi trams near Max Denso Hall:















The following photo shows a tram on Bandar Road (now M.A.Jinnah Road) in 1933:














Following photo shows Saddar area circa 1950s. Towards left, one can see atleast two trams. The signboard towards top right corner of the photo reads Nishat Hotel:

Kunal Jham develops application for iPhone

Kunal Jham, one of the promising Bhagnari youngsters has developed an application for iPhone and he and his family are very excited that it has been accepted by iPhone. Its a matter of great pride for the community that its youngsters are coming to the forefront of IT technology. Are we about to witness a Bhagnari Sabeer Bhatia, who created Hotmail.

The application is named DoGood. For more details and to download it on iPhones visit http://mobil33t.com/dogood/. 

We asked Kunal about the background and the inspiration for developing this application. His response was "Our story so far has been a pretty interesting one. It began with an experimental “Mobile Development for iPhone and Android” course at the University of Michigan. The class was a hit, producing many great apps and quickly acclimatising many students to Objective C. From this experience, we decided to try our hand at entrepreneurship. We formed an LLC and got invited into the TechArb, a business incubator for University of Michigan students.

That was only three weeks ago. And now we’re at Apple’s World Wide Developers’ Conference (WWDC) to launch our app and make it grow.

So, why did we choose DoGood? Well, while popular, the app store is quite saturated. Thus, we wanted to make something unique. An iPhone application that screams altruism; one that we hope stands out for its simplicity and ability to positively impact society."

A "DoGood" is a simple act of kindness - one that requires minimal amount of time for an individual who owns iPhone and is intended to become part of a bigger movement. Your decision to do something good today, reaches millions of iPhone users.

Here are some examples of DoGoods:

a) Show gratitude today - "Thank someone that works hard to make your day possible."
b) Save paper today - "Use your computer instead of paper. Together, we'll save a lot of trees."
c) Be positive today - "Think positive, speak positive. Show someone the brighter side of life!"


Let's DoGood together and encourage Kunal to bring more glory to Bhagnaris.

Sonam is holding Art and Dance classes for Bhagnaris in Dubai

...........these are some of our initiatives to bring Dubai Bhagnaris together.

Click Here for a peak into Sonam's work.

A Close Look at a Sensitive Issue by Ashok Lulla

A Bhagnari father, to whom I addressed the question of how so many Bhagnari girls are marrying outside the community, responded that Bhagnari girls don't seem to like Bhagnari boys, because they smoke, drink, gamble, stay out late nights, and are fairly boisterous in their behaviour.

The daughter of this gentleman is married outside the community, and is settled abroad.

Bhagnari girls, he mentioned are well-behaved, conscious about acquiring a good education and qualifications, and are respectful to elders.

I honestly don't know if this friend was making too sweeping a generalisation, laying so many charges of delinquency on young Bhagnari males. But I am seriously concerned about the fact that a fair percentage of girls from our community appear to be marrying outside the community. This is my individual perception. At the same time, there is a trend of Bhagnari boys getting linked and tying the knot with non-Bhagnari girls.

Social mores and attitudes change, and today's parents are happy if their children, girls or boys, are able to find suitable matches either on their own, or with their parents' help, within or outside the community.

"We are happy if they are happy", is the oft-heard refrain one gets from parents. And there's no question about stepping in and stopping children from settling down with a partner of their choice. "It is a question of their life, we think they know best, we would not like to become spoilers" is the sentiment I hear from people.

But we, as a community, perhaps, within a generation, could possibly end up losing our identity. We don't really have the numbers to sustain ourselves. Communities across India are trying to hold on to their identities, and the politics of identity (caste, language, religion and region) plays a big role in social, economic relations and elections.

Bhagnaris who have settled abroad in places like Canada, USA and Australia have an aching need to connect with news about Bhagnari community. But one doubts their children have any such attachment to Bhagnaris or Bhagnariyat. Because they are largely cutoff from the community, and besides close relatives, do not seem to have any strong linkages with Bhagnari youngsters of their own age. For that matter, we as a community have given up our strongest bond of Bhagnariyat, our mother tongue.

What do you feel about this issue? This post is an attempt to get Bhagnaris to debate this issue. Write in your views to this blog.

Kaushik Mehta scores 88.2% in 10th std Board exams

I am today a proud Mother of my son Kaushik Mehta who scored 88.2% in 10^th std ICSE Board exams from Dubai's Modern High School.

I would like to share my happiness with the community.

Caring for our elders

In this blog, I will be touching upon a very sensitive topic, i.e. about the care and attention provided to our parents, especially when they reach an age when an enhanced medical attention is required. I feel that most of you will be able to associate yourself with this article in one way or other.

If the elderly parents stay with their grown up children, or are in their close proximity, then they tend to get better medical attention and personal care and supervision. I have known of examples where their grown up children and spouses have put aside their family and social lives and provided whole-heated support - even physical support, to their parents. Hats off to such persons for their selfless devotion.

On the other hand there are those who are not fortunate enough to have their children in the close vicinity, especially when they need them the most. This situation is initially brought about by the financial situation, where the children relocate to other places to earn their bread and butter. It is very rare that when their financial situation improves they come back to join their elderly parents, as most children nowadays prefer to stay separately - the days of joint families are almost over. This by and large results in our parents being left to stay on their own.

I will be addressing this particular issue in today's blog.

We can keep discussing endlessly the merits and the possibilities that whenever the situation demands, the children should return to be near their parents. However, this is one's personal choice and could also depend on their relations within the family and their financial condition. A corner of our heart does, however, yearn to join the parents and give them wholehearted physical and medical attention, but we usually decide to stay put in the cool comfort of the life that we have built for ourselves in our ivory towers.

We commonly hear that our colony resembles a home for the old-aged persons. While the elders have stayed put in their abode, majority of the youngsters have migrated oversees to live their own independent lives. To an extent we are fortunate that our elders had the vision to build this colony. I have generally considered our colony as a fortress, although many of us take its benefits for granted. We all know the incidents that take place all over Mumbai, where several senior citizens have faced attacks from strangers and not-so-strangers inside their houses.

Fortunately, in our case the situation has not reached such proportions that parents are sent to old-age homes, as is the norm in western countries. Although there have been some cases where elderly persons have gone over to old-age homes, hearts of hearts we know that in this regard, the colony has been our saviour so far.

So what shall we do? We cannot ask the children to return back to their parents, neither would the parents be willing to leave their abodes and join the children abroad. Children generally prefer their parents to visit for short durations. Sometimes the children visit their parents when they are not well and need medical attention. However, their one eye is always on the return flight. With the communication channels improving, most of them keep in touch with the elders back home, arrange medical assistance for them and also secure them financially. Arrangements of a maid or a full time nursing attention come as a huge relief. But all this is only a ‘remote' control.

Recently I had an opportunity to discuss arrangements of a personalised medical attention for our elders with a medic. I understand that this arrangement was discussed with the members of Panchayat or perhaps Society some time ago, however, it could not be implemented due to reasons which I am not aware of. I have received positive feelers from several of my friends in Dubai that they would love to have an arrangement whereby their parents are regularly looked after medically.

The proposal being discussed with the medic, is that he and his team will undertake regular check-up of the elders and convey early warning signs, if any, to the children. Whenever any medication is required the same would be prescribed and arranged. If any medical tests are required, these too would be arranged. Hospitalisation would be arranged whenever necessary. The medic's visits can be arranged, either on a regular basis or on per call basis. The arrangement could be finalised for a one-off case or on an annual basis. I will be receiving a detailed proposal in this regard, which I intend forwarding to my friends in Dubai. It could also be shared with Bhagnaris living in other places.

While I don't consider this suggestion as a solution to the problems cited in the earlier paras, I feel it would be quite helpful and ease the situation to some extent. It will not provide our elders an opportunity of enjoying a personal support of the children, but it would at least ensure that they are medically looked after and lead healthy lives.

I would like to invite your thoughts and comments on this subject which I feel is very close to the heart of most Bhagnari families. Through this forum, we hope to generate ideas to help and care for our elders. The next stage would be the implementation of these ideas.