Journey to prominence

The Thatta Bhatias are well-known as businessmen and philanthropists. Their contribution to the Indian community in the UAE is unparalleled but unknown to many. At one time, Bur Dubai was more famous as the abode of the Bhatias or the Sindhis, as they were commonly referred to. Before the advent of the mall culture, shoppers flocked to the area.

Most people from the subcontinent shopped there before setting off on vacation. Some of them could have visited the Hindu temple there and the children of others might have even studied in the Indian High School. But it would never have dawned on them that there was a common thread running through them.

The minuscule community from the Thatta region in the Sindh province of Pakistan was behind the building of a strong base for meeting the socio-economic, religious and educational needs of Indians in the UAE. They laid this foundation much before the establishment of the UAE federation and when Dubai was known as a tiny pearling village off the Arabian Gulf.

There may have been other sponsors and supporters, few and far between, but the prominent benefactor and a pillar of strength to the cause was Maghanmal J. Pancholia.

Pancholia who? Never heard of him. This was my first reaction when I saw the book Footprints: Memoirs of an Indian Patriarch. And I am sure it would be a common refrain among the thousands of expatriates from more than 150 countries who work and live in the UAE. It is not that I am ignorant of the contribution made by the enterprising Indian community, for I can even rattle off the names of a few high-profile Indian entrepreneurs.

The subtle difference between them and Pancholia is that the latter is unpretentious and modest.

In his memoirs as narrated to Vasanti Sundaram, he explains the reasons for writing his autobiography — "to escape my family's long nagging to record my life within the pages of a book. Besides my own people, I have also been persistently told to document a memoir by my [Emirati] friends, especially the younger generation".

However, by documenting his memoirs, Pancholia is also doing historians a favour. His work can be used as an important source in the history of the region and more so for the trade links between the Arab world and British India. And what better source than one whose father set foot in Sharjah in 1895 as a pearl merchant, and who himself arrived in the emirate in 1942?

Pancholia rightly does not dwell much on the transportation of water on donkeys or other hardships of life in those days. We all know it, as many others have written about the formative years of the UAE. What is revealing is that he was one of the businessmen involved in supplying electricity to Bur Dubai before DEWA was established.

When the need arose for the construction of a school for the growing Indian community, he appealed to Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum to grant land for the project. Shaikh Rashid obliged him not once but thrice.

Twice the offer lapsed as the Indian community could not gather sufficient funds to construct the building within the timeframe. The third time it could. And today hundreds of pupils from the subcontinent are benefiting from the perseverance and determination of Pancholia to fulfil his goal.

One of the few Indians who regularly attended the majlis of Shaikh Rashid, whom he considered his role model because of his statesmanship and visionary zeal, Pancholia enjoyed the trust of the ruling family and other officials.

He has the rare honour of being the only Indian to be named by the British Political Agent to the Maktoum Hospital Board in Dubai from 1961 to 1980. He was also elected director of Dubai Electricity Company from 1961 to 1980. He also holds the distinction of being the sole Indian expatriate to be appointed by the Ruler of Dubai to the board of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 1965 to 1980.

It is quite an achievement for a boy from Thatta who left Karachi on a Chinese vessel on an eight-day journey to Sharjah at the age of 22. All these positions signified the symbols of approval and distinction which the 68-year-old Pancholia enjoys even today.

Honesty is the hallmark of this Indian patriarch, a virtue which has been extolled by many Emiratis who know him as the "unofficial banker" of Dubai. Indeed, his family members were the pioneers of money exchange in the country before banks and official money exchange houses made their appearance in the UAE.

Written in a simple and lucid style with comments from some prominent Emiratis who were his neighbours in the early 1950s, Footprints: Memoirs of an Indian Patriarch will help the reader trace the origins of the Thatta Bhatia and follow the journey of one of their cherished sons to the Gulf.

The historic adventure is exciting and thrilling, for it is only extraordinary people who leave a permanent footprint. Pancholia is one of them.