TUESDAY-8th DECEMBER 10.30 AM Pak.Standard**
Channel 'PTV-HOME'**
** LIVE APPEARANCE WITH
AYESHA SANA FROM PTV-LAHORE CENTRE
DO WATCH--IF YOU FIND TIME!
WILL TALK ABOUT 'GS' ALSO**
(Raju Jamil)
ATV-Islamabad
Live appearance on
'MORNING WITH FARAH'
at 9 AM from Islamabad
Do watch on
WEDNESDAY-9th DECEMBER
In case you find time....
(Raju Jamil)
SIKANDER-e-AZAM
*Best Places to Live: List of Countries for 2009 compiled by the United Nations 5th October 2009
*
**Norway tops the study, which ranks countries on their education, infrastructure, wealth, social facilities and life expectancy, using figures compiled by the United Nations Development Programme. Australia moved up to No. 2 and Canada remain at no. 4. For the first time the USA slipped out of the top 10 and the United Kingdom out of the top 20! China moved up seven places on the list to rank as the 92nd most developed country due to improvements in education as well as income levels and life expectancy. **
***Niger is the worst country to live in.
Afghanistan, which returns to the list for the first time since 1996, is the only Asian country among the bottom ten.
**
The complete list of the best countries to live for the year 2009:**
***Norway
Australia
Iceland
Canada
Ireland
Netherlands
Sweden
France
Switzerland
Japan
Luxembourg
Finland
United States
Austria
Spain
Denmark
Belgium
Italy
Liechtenstein
New Zealand
United Kingdom
Germany
Singapore
Hong Kong, China (SAR)
Greece
Korea (Republic of)
Israel
Andorra
Slovenia
Brunei Darussalam
Kuwait
Cyprus
Qatar
Portugal
United Arab Emirates
Czech Republic
Barbados
Malta
Bahrain
Estonia
Poland
Slovakia
Hungary
Chile
Croatia
Lithuania
Antigua and Barbuda
Latvia
Argentina
Uruguay
Cuba
Bahamas
Mexico
Costa Rica
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Oman
Seychelles
Venezuela (Bolivarian Rupublic of)
Saudi Arabia
Panama
Bulgaria
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Romania
Trinidad and Tobago
Montenegro
Malaysia
Serbia
Belarus
Saint Lucia
Albania
Russian Federation
Macedonia (the former Yugoslav Republic of)
Dominica
Grenada
Brazil
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Colombia
Peru
Turkey
Ecuador
Mauritius
Kazakhstan
Lebanon
**Armenia
Ukraine
Azerbaijan
Thailand
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Georgia
Dominican Republic
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
China
Belize
Samoa
Maldives
Jordan
Suriname
Tunisia
Tonga
Jamaica
Paraguay
Sri Lanka
Gabon
Algeria
Philippines
El Salvador
Syrian Arab Republic
Fiji
Turkmenistan
Occupied Palestinian Territories
Indonesia
Honduras
Bolivia
Guyana
Mongolia
Viet Nam
Moldova
Equatorial Guinea
Uzbekistan
Kyrgyzstan
Cape Verde
Guatemala
Egypt
Nicaragua
Botswana
Vanuatu
Tajikistan
Namibia
South Africa
Morocco
São Tomé and Principe
Bhutan
Lao, People's Dem. Rep.
India
Solomon Islands
Congo
Cambodia
Myanmar
Comoros
Yemen
Pakistan
Swaziland
Angola
Nepal
Madagascar
Bangladesh
Kenya
Papua New Guinea
Haiti
Sudan
Tanzania, U. Rep. of
Ghana
Cameroon
Mauritania
Djibouti
Lesotho
Uganda
**Nigeria
Togo
Malawi
Benin
Timor-Leste
Côte d'Ivoire
Zambia
Eritrea
Senegal
Rwanda
Gambia
Liberia
Guinea
Ethiopia
Mozambique
Guinea-Bissau
Burundi
Chad
Congo (Democratic Republic of the)
Burkina Faso
Mali
Central African Republic
Sierra Leone
Afghanistan
Niger
MAYO GARDENS
(The Railway Colony of senior officials in Lahore–that WAS!)
The grandeur of Lahore (of yesteryears!).
Taking a trip down the memory lane—MAYO GARDEN revisited;
4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download Mayo Gardens Lahore Entry.mp4
4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download Mayo Gardens Lahore Tour.mp4
4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download Mayo Gardens Lahore Tour1.mp4
Re: INTERESTING LIVES and INTERESTING FACTS
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Noor Jehan
.............was the adopted stage name for Allah Wasai (September 21, 1926 – December 23, 2000) who was a singer and actress in British India and Pakistan. She is renowned as one of the greatest and most influential singers of her time in South Asia and was given the honorific title of Mallika-e-Tarranum (the queen of melody).
Noor Jahan born in a family of musicians, Wasai was pushed by her parents to follow in their musical footsteps and become a singer but she was more interested in acting in films and graced the earliest Pakistani films with her performances. She holds a remarkable record of 10,000 songs to her singing credits in various languages of Pakistan including Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi languages, she is also considered to be the first female Pakistani film director.
In 1957, Jehan was awarded the President's Award for her acting and singing capabilities. Noor Jehan was born in Kasur, British India and was one of the eleven children of professional musicians Madad Ali and Fateh Bibi. The family would often perform at theaters, although only Wasai's eldest sisters would go on to pursue a career in acting. Two of her sisters, Eidan Bai and Haider Bandi, were successful actors at the rural Taka Theatre in Lahore.
Career
Allah Wasai began to sing at the age of five or six years old and showed a keen interest in a range of styles, including traditional folk and popular theatre. Realising her potential for singing, her mother sent her to receive early training in classical singing under Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan who was also a native of Kasur. He instructed her in the traditions of the Patiala Gharana of Hindustani classical music and the classical forms of thumri, dhrupad, and khyal. At the age of nine, Wasai drew the attention of Punjabi musician Ghulam Ahmed Chishti, who would later introduce her to stage in Lahore. He composed some ghazals, naats and folk songs for her to perform, although she was more keen in breaking into acting or playback singing. Once her vocational training finished, Wasai pursued a career in singing alongside her sisters in Lahore and would usually take part in the live song and dance performances prior to screenings of films in film theatres.
The family moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in hope of developing the movie careers of Wasai and her sisters. During their stay in Calcutta, the renowned singer Mukhtar Begum, encouraged Wasai and her two older sisters to join film companies and recommended them to various producers. She also recommended them to her husband, Agha Hashar Kashmiri, who owned a maidan theatre (a tented theatre to accommodate large audiences). It was here that Wasai received the stage name Baby Noor Jehan. Her older sisters were offered jobs with one of the Seth Sukh Karnani companies, Indira Movietone and they went on to be known as the Punjab Mail. Wasai would later adopt Mukhtar Begum's way of performance and sari attire.
In 1935, K.D. Mehra directed Pind di Kudhi in which Jehan acted along with her sisters.She next acted in a film called Missar Ka Sitara (1936) by the same company and sang in it for music composer, Damodar Sharma.Baby Noor Jehan also played the child role of Heer in the film Heer-Sayyal (1937). After a few years in Calcutta, Noor Jehan returned to Lahore in 1938. In 1939, Ghulam Hairder composed songs for Jehan which led to her early popularity. She then recorded her first song Shala Jawaniyan Mane for Dalsukh M. Pancholi's movie Gul Bakavli.
Prior to Khandaan Jehan was cast as a child artist. It was in 1942 that she played the main lead opposite Pran. Khandaan's success saw her shifting to Bombay (now Mumbai), where she shared melodies with Shanta Apte in Duhai (1943). It was in this film that Noor Jehan lent her voice for the second time, to another actress named Husn Bano. In 1945 Jehan player the lead role, alongside Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, in the movie Badi Maa.
In 1945, she achieved a milestone, when she sung a Qawwali with Zohrabai Ambalewali and Amirbai Karnataki which was "Aahen Na Bhareen Shikave Na Kiye". This was the first ever Qawwali recorded in female voices in South Asian films.
Noor Jehan's last film in India was Mirza Sahibaan (1947) which starred Prithviraj Kapoor's brother Trilok Kapoor. Noor Jehan sang 127 songs in Indian films and the number of talking films she made from 1932 to 1947 was 69. The number of silents was 12. Fifty-five of her films were made in Bombay, eight in Calcutta, five in Lahore and one in Rangoon (now Yangon), Burma.
Acting career in Pakistan
After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Jehan decided to move to Pakistan along with her husband Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. She left Bombay and settled in Karachi with her family.
Three years after settling in Pakistan, Noor Jehan starred in her first film in Pakistan, Chanwey (1951), opposite Santosh Kumar, which was also her first Punjabi film as a heroine. Shaukat and Noor Jehan directed this film together making Noor Jehan Pakistan's first female director. Noor Jehan's second film in Pakistan was Dopatta (1952) which turned out to be an even bigger success than Chanwey (1951).
Her penultimate film as an actress/singer was Mirza Ghalib (1961).This contributed to the strengthening of her iconic stature. She gained another audience for herself. Her rendition of Faiz Ahmed Faiz's Mujshe pehli si mohabbat mere mehboob na maang is a unique example of tarranum, reciting poetry as a song. Noor Jehan last starred in Baaji in 1963, though not in a leading role. Noor Jehan bade farewell to acting in 1963 after a career of 33 years (1930 to 1963). The pressure of being a mother of six children and the demanding wife of a hero (Ejaz Durrani) forced her to give up her career. Noor Jehan made 14 films in Pakistan, ten in Urdu, four in Punjabi.
Noor Jehan as a playback singer
*After quitting acting she took up playback singing. She made her debut as a playback singer in 1960 with the film Salma. Her first initial playback for a Pakistani film was for Jan-e-Bahar (1958), in which she sung the song Kaisa Naseeb Layi Thi, picturised on Musarrat Nazir. She received many awards, including with the highest Pakistani honour in entertainment, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (The Pride of Performance) in 1966, Pakistan's top civil award.
In the 1990s Jehan also sang for then débutante actresses Neeli and Reema. For this very reason, Sabiha Khanum affectionately called her Sadabahar (evergreen). Her popularity was further boosted with her patriotic songs during the 1965 war between Pakistan and India.*
Jehan visited India in 1982 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Indian talkie where she met Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in New Delhi and was received by Dilip Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar in Mumbai.
Last years and death
In 1986, on a tour of North America, Jehan suffered from chest pains and was dignosed with angina after which she underwent a surgery to install a pacemaker. In 2000, Jehan was hospitalised in Karachi and suffered a heart attack. On Saturday afternoon, December 23, 2000, Noor Jehan died from heart failure. Her funeral took place at Jamia Masjid Sultan, Karachi and she was buried at the Gizri Graveyard near the Saudi Consulate in Karachi.
Filmography
Year Film **
**1939 Gul Bakavli
Imandaar
Pyam-e-Haq
1940 Sajni
Yamla Jat
1941 Chaudhry
Red Signal
Umeed
Susral
1942 Chandani
Dheeraj
Faryad
Khaandan
1943 Nadaan
Duhai
Naukar
1944 Lal Haveli
Dost
1945 Zeenat
Gaon ki Gori
Badi Maa
Bhai Jaan
1946 Anmol Ghadi
Dil
Humjoli
Sofia
Jadoogar
Maharana Pratab
1947 Mirza Sahibaan
Jugnu
Abida
Mirabai
1951 Chanwey
1952 Dopatta
1953 Gulnar
Anarkali
1955 Patey Khan
1956 Lakt-e-Jigar
Intezar
1957 Nooran
1958 Choomantar
Anarkali
1959 Neend
Pardaisan
Koel
1961 Mirza Ghalib
NEW YEAR PARTIES ( OF YESTER-YEARS ) 50’s, 60’s & 70’s:
Raju Jamil
(Published in IMAGES @ DAWN - Dec-1996)
***A very young Pakistan was under a heavy dose of ‘Rock-n-Roll’ and ‘Jive’, ‘Ramba Samba’ and ‘Foxtrot’ during early 50’s and remained so till 60’s and late 70’s. ***
***I have in my collection some pictures of the New Year Parties of 1956-57-58 attended by my parents with their friends at the Beach Luxury, Palace and Metropole Hotel(s). ***
I remember my first ever new year party at the Karachi Gymkhana on 31st Dec-1968 as a guest of my father…where a group named “DEFENDERS” led by Tony Braganza, played the great numbers and at midnight----the hooters as well as whistles created a deafening sound in that quietest area of Club Road, Karachi.
***New Year parties at the select hotels were galore. ***
***Rawalpindi’s ‘Flashman’, Lahore’s ‘Flettis’ and Karachi’s ‘Metropole’, ‘Palace’ (exactly where stands Sheraton now!), ‘The Beach Luxury’, ‘Excelsior’, ‘Taj’, ‘Palm Grove’, Airport’s ‘Cabana’ and the ‘KLM-Midway House’ (now Ramada), ‘Sind Club’, ‘Karachi Gymkhana’ and ‘Karachi Club’ and finally from mid-sixties. ..‘Hotel Intercontinental’ (now PC) ; were the main venues of the veterans of today for new year dinner-n-dance parties organized on high scale with live (overseas and local) bands / groups / shows in attendance. At ‘Excelsior’ Princess Amina and Amy Minwalla…enthralled through their classic dances. ***
Tickets per person inclusive of dinner and fun caps, whistles, blowers, hooters and party graffiti started at Rs.100 in 50’s and rose to Rs.200 in 60’s and Rs.500-800 in 70’s till late. Slow dancing was the ‘in’ thing then… yet some healthy ones preferred ‘jive’ and ‘rock-n-roll’ on Elves, Paul Anka, Connie Francis, Neil Sedaka and Buddy Holly numbers ( my favorite..then. .being ‘Lipstick on your collar’ by Connie Francis )
***The slow dance number which ruled the floors then was ‘Je’teime’. There was no concept of BHANGRA or pop-shop then. It was all a highly sophisticated affair and met the eyes of press as new year party photos were published on front pages of key newspapers next morning. ***
***I have had the wonderful experiences and opportunities of attending new year parties at ALL the above-mentioned venues from 1968. The shortest I ever attended was at Flashman-Pindi which ended at 12:20 AM. The one at Flettis-Lahore superceded the former by 55 minutes…next year. The general trend after 12 midnight was that people use to visit each venue just for fun by virtue of which there were cogent chances of bumping into friends … NOW,its all a history that even private parties are unable to create such impact. ***
Slow dancing ( not necessarily arms-in-arms ) is a far cry ( I remember that new year bash of 1968 when a couple at Intercontinental. ..now PC…enacted that CLASSY moonglow dance scene from the movie PICNIC where Kim Novak and William Holden performed that memorable dance at the picnic night…alongside MADGE’s (Kim Novak) sister ).
New Year celebration in Pakistan, now-----is a highly restricted affair…limited to a select number of guests…!
Last year (2008) I had the opportunity to attend the HOGMANNY (New Year) at Edinburgh (Scotland) where–at the Princess Street in that freezing cold—stood over a hundred thousand party crazy people from almost entire Europe and Edinburgh known for its New Year Fireworks, had a demo of almost 20 minutes of fireworks without not an iota of any unpleasant situation anywhere with police as much in mood of celebration as those who paid 20 Pd.Stg to get a hand band and enter the party area which had everything we see at some theme park.
Checkout the video I made;
**HOGMANAY in Edinburgh-Scotland
**
More……….
***How is New Year’s Day celebrated around the world?
Celebrating New Year’s Day is one of the oldest and most-exciting customs around the world. ***
***Ringing church bells, tooting horns and ear-piercing shrieks echo
throughout the world on this festive day. Whether visiting relatives or
watching New Year’s Day parades at home on the TV, welcoming the New
Year is always a time of entertainment, celebration and resolution. ***
***Since this festival marks the beginning of the year, New Year’s Day is
thought of as a perfect time for a “clean start” or New Year’s
resolutions. People worldwide resolve to act better in the year just
beginning than in the year just ended. ***
***No day has ever been observed on so many different dates or in so many
different ways. All over the world, countries have their own special
beliefs about what the New Year means to them. While many people in the
United States observe New Year’s Day on January 1st by throwing parties
late into the night on the eve of December 31st, people in China
celebrate this holiday for several days between January 17th and
February 19th, at the time of the new moon. The Chinese called this time
of feasting and celebrations Yuan Tan. Lanterns illuminate the streets
as the Chinese use thousands of lanterns “to light the way” for the New
Year. The Chinese believe that evil spirits roam the earth at the New
Year, so they let off firecrackers to scare off the spirits and seal
their windows and doors with paper to keep the evil demons out. In
Scotland, the New Year is called Hogmanay. In the villages of Scotland,
barrels of tar are set afire and then rolled down the streets. This
ritual symbolizes that the old year is burned up and the new one is
allowed to enter. ***
***New Year’s Day is also the Festival of Saint Basil in Greece. Children
leave their shoes by the fireside on New Year’s Day with the hope that
Saint Basil, who was famous for his kindness, will come and fill their
shoes with gifts. ***
***The Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. It is a holy time when Jews
recall the things they have done wrong in the past, and then promise to
do better in the future. Special services are held in the synagogues,
children are given new clothes and New Year loaves are baked to remind
people of harvest time. ***
***Iran’s New Year’s Day, which is in March, celebrates not only the
beginning of the new year according to the solar calendar, but also
bahar, “the beginning of spring.” ***
***On New Year’s Day in Japan, everyone gets dressed in their new clothes
and homes are decorated with pine branches and bamboo–symbols of long life. ***
In European countries such as Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands,
families start the New Year by first attending church services.
Afterwards, they visit friends and relatives. In Italy, boys and girls
receive gifts of money on New Years day.
This is the GULF
**** Local calls are free***
**** Petrol is cheaper than water, Payment for drainage too***
**** Any building construction finishes in 3 months***
**** Unqualified get more salary than Qualified***
**** Show-off matters more than real quality & performance***
**** Labourers are paid less than what they can earn back in their own country ***
**** Companies can kick out their employees without any reason***
**** Wastas (recommendation) are more powerful than money***
**** Cleaners have more Wasta than officers***
**** Watchman has more Rights than the Building Owner***
**** Office boy & Drivers� have more influence on Boss than Manager ***
**** Gulf climate changes so fast, in one hour u can see raining, dust storm, hot / humid / chilling weather***
**** Gulf is located in desert, still u find greenery everywhere***
**** If u can't earn money in the Gulf, u can't earn anywhere in the world *
In Gulf, time goes very fast, Friday to Friday comes u never know, ***
its sooo fast
**** Every bachelor has a dream of getting married and buying a house back home.***
**** U love your parents, friends, relatives 100 times more than when you were together***
**** Being at home is more painful than being at work***
**** Theatres are full of Arab nationals whenever there is a movie of Salman / Sharukh / Aishwarya***
**** Gulf girls sing Hindi songs but don't understand anything***
**** Dance Bars and Pubs more than that in B'lore or Hamburg***
**** A ladies hair saloon every 5 meters***
**** Food/Grocery delivery to the car***
**** A Starbucks every 10 meters***
**** Hard Rock Cafe with no alcohol***
**** In one single flate sharing with 5 families***
**** A Shopping Mall located every 2 km***
**** Highway lanes differentiated for slow & fast drivers***
**** Getting a license is more difficult than buying a car***
**** Smashed cars are more than bugs***
**** Parking charge: 2 Dirham for 1 hour - 5 Dirham for 2 hours & so on***
**** No Queues for women***
TRAFFIC SIGNAL IN GULF:
*** GREEN : Signal to go for Indians**
*** YELLOW : Signal to go for Egyptians and Pakistanis, Americans, Europeans**
*** RED : Signal to go for Kuwaitis, Saudis , Palestinians & Lebanese**
The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk
=========================
A Mouse who always lived on the land, by an unlucky chance, formed an intimate acquaintance with a Frog, who lived, for the most part, in the water. One day, the Frog was intent on mischief. He tied the foot of the Mouse tightly to his own. Thus joined together, the Frog led his friend the Mouse to the meadow where they usually searched for food.
After this, he gradually led him towards the pond in which he lived, until reaching the banks of the water, he suddenly jumped in, dragging the Mouse with him. The Frog enjoyed the water amazingly, and swam croaking about, as if he had done a good deed.
The unhappy Mouse was soon sputtered and drowned in the water, and his poor dead body floating about on the surface. A Hawk observed the foating Mouse from the sky, and dove down and grabbed it with his talons, carrying it back to his nest.
The Frog, being still fastened to the leg of the Mouse, was also carried off a prisoner, and was eaten by the Hawk.
MORAL : “Choose your allies carefully”
Re: INTERESTING LIVES and INTERESTING FACTS
**The most interesting, informative, brilliant and the most important thread in the history of GS :k:
**
Thank you—for your kind comments. It also re-assures my faith in my readers here on GS/threads and my blogs on Facebook and other sites.
Best,
Raju Jamil,
Karachi
NO KOMMENTS
(with apologies to those who cant read URDU)
Behavior by signature
(Your behavior By Signing Style)
SINGLE UNDERLINE BELOW THE SIGN
These persons are very confident and are good personalities. They are a little bit selfish but believe in "Happiness of human life".
TWO DOTS BELOW THE SIGN
These persons are considered to be Romantic, can easily change their fianc�es as if they change their clothes. They prefer beauty in other persons & they themselves try to look beautiful. They easily attract others.
SINGLE DOT BELOW THE SIGN
These persons are more inclined towards classical arts, simple & are very cool. If you loose faith with them, then these persons will never look back at you. Hence its always better to be careful with these people.
NO UNDERLINES OR DOTS BELOW THE SIGN
These persons enjoy their life in their own way, never pay attention to others views. These are considered to be good natured but are selfish too.
RANDOM SIGN, NO SIMILARITY BETWEEN NAME & SIGN
These persons try to be very smart, hide each & every matter, never say anything in straight forward manner, never pay attention to the other person of what he is talking of.
RANDOM SIGN, SIMILARITY BETWEEN NAME & SIGN
These persons are considered to be intelligent but never think. These people change their ideas & views as fast as the wind changes its direction of flow. They never think whether that particular thing is right or wrong. You can win them just by flattering them.
SIGN IN PRINTED LETTERS
These persons are very kind to us, have a good heart, selfless, are ready to sacrifice their life for the sake of their near & dear. But these seems to think a lot and may get angry very soon.
WRITING COMPLETE NAME AS THEIR SIGN
These persons are very kind hearted, can adjust themselves to any environment & to the person they are talking. These persons are very firm on their views & posses a lot of will power.
-Unknown
**
***(Might be true, Just sharing coz' i found true in my case :)*
MODEL TOWN-LAHORE
who would be cruel enough not to visit this
beautiful town when in Lahore.
Dates back to mid-1800 but alas!
most of the grand houses have been
replaced by maadeerunn ones!
Enjoy this clip…I made this noon in Lahore;
We all are intrigued by Parsi names.
While most surnames in India reflect caste and lineage, the Parsis had a delightfully modern streak — having landed without caste, history and context, they created identities through professions and urban streets.
**Our family moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) from Rawalpindi in 1947. **
We came as refugees but the family soon settled and by 1953 my father had restarted playing golf at the Willingdon Club. I was eight years old and would walk 18 holes with him every Saturday and Sunday. The three Parsi gentlemen who made up his regular four-ball were “uncles” Poonawala, Coorlawala and Colabawala. Very soon they had rechristened my father Pindiwala.
Uncle Colabawala did not live in Colaba but in a penthouse on Malabar Hill. May be his ancestors had lived in Colaba. I used to spend hours searching the telephone directory to find Parsi surnames and building up stories around their families.
There was prohibition in Bombay those days. So to get liquor you had to find Mr Dalal, who would introduce you to Mr Daruwala, who in turn would get bottles delivered to your home by Mr Batliwala who would be accompanied by Mr Sodawaterbottleopen erwalla (the longest Parsi surname I have come across).
Other surnames whose ancestors were in the beverages trade were Mr Fountainwala, Mr Ginwala, Mr Rumwala, Mr Sodawala and Mr Jhunjhunwala.
We used to have two delightful Siamese kittens in our flat and these were gifted to my mother by her friend Mrs Billimoria. My mother spent hours knitting cardigans for them, with wool she bought from the Unwala family.
**My uncle ran the air force canteen in Cotton Green and his partner, yes you guessed it, was Mr Canteenwala. They had this fantastic cook, Mr Bhajiwala. Their mild and meek manager, Mr Jeejeebhoy, nodded his head and agreed with everything everybody said. **
My grandfather was the Sheriff of Bombay. I think the first and only Sikh to hold this position. Being Sheriff it was only natural that he had Mr Bandookwala and Mr Golimarwala as his constant companions.
Grandfather had many Parsi friends who were in politics. There was this squeaky clean khadi-clad Mr Ghandy, and the not so clean Mr Kalaghandy — who was invariably being hounded by Mr Kotwal. But he never left home without his “friends” Mr Barrister, Mr Vakil, Mr Lawyer and their munshi Mr Mehnty.
My grandfather built Hotel Waldorf on Arthur Bunder Road in Colaba. So for this he naturally used the services of Mr. Contactor and Mr Mistry.
He never went to the “native” moneylenders when short of money, but borrowed it from his Parsi friend Mr Readymoney.
Our neighbour and family physician was Dr Adi Doctor — he was only half a doctor. He lived with his in laws Mr and Mrs Pochkhanawala. My sister swears they ate only poached eggs for breakfast.
I remember going to Dr Doctor’s sister’s wedding. She married Mr Screwala. What he did for a living, I do not know to this day. If you are in Mumbai maybe you can track him down in the yellow or pink pages.
Jokes apart, there is a lesson for all of us here: imagine if we could christen our politicians through democratic vote: Jinnahwalla, Nikarwalla, Icequeen, Motawalla! It would really be able to keep everyone in check, where individuals and media didn’t only control your public profile but also your public identity.
**The Parsis have taught us that if you take serious interest in satire, you can change the world! **
My name today is Comedymanifestowalla!