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-- Mombasa Citizens
Club 1958 - Sitting, from left: Najmu Mamujee, Dr.
Miller Somji, Sadiq Ghalia (President), Hakim Adamjee (Hon.Sec.),
Ameer Janmohamed and Malik Wahidna. Standing, from left:
Mansur Satchu, Hamza Anjarwalla, Yusuf Datoo, Taher Anjarwalla,
Haider Datoo, Sadrudin Kanji, BT Parkar, Saifu Anjarwalla,
Kamru Kasmani, Kurban Karimbhai, Amin Dhala and Amir Cassam. |
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Sadiq
Ghalia Had This Unerring Eye
For Things Of Beauty And Antiquity
He
was uniquely placed to indulge his hobby ... and His
Nyali museum bears eloquent testimony to his
success!
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Coastweek
-- My wife Zeenat and I were on holiday
in India during February when we learnt from a
friend that Sadiq Ghalia had passed away.
Such information is of special
poignancy to those of us who are now in what some
describe as life's Departure Lounges, waiting for
our flights to be called.
We got back to London at the end of
the month and my first impulse was to go to my
albums and look up photos of some lovely memories we
have shared.
For many years now Sadiq and I have
shared a common interest in recording and
preservation of aspects of the past.
He expressed his interest through
his collection of antiques, artifacts and objets
d'art.
He was uniquely placed to indulge
his hobby.
He had an unerring eye for things
of beauty and antiquity, and he had both the means
and the ability to go looking for them in remote
corners of the world.
His museum in Nyali bears eloquent
testimony to his success.
I would urge those who have access
to the book 'A Regal Romance' to look up page
32 in which there is a description of Sadiq's museum
and how he managed to save some of the original
Regal Cinema tiles which now form permanent part of
his museum floor.
My quest for preservation of the
past manifests itself in a more modest manner.
For years I have sought to preserve
memorabilia, documents, manuscripts, photos and the
like.
It was a given that Rosemarie and
Sadiq would visit us every time they passed through
London.
He knew London well and would insist
on taking a District Line Wimbledon train from
Kensington.
They would get off at Putney Bridge
Station and would walk the length of Putney Bridge
to arrive at our apartment.
We were frequently able to get other
visiting Mombasans to join in when the Ghalias
visited us.
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Coastweek
-- Rosemarie
and Sadiq seen during one of their London
visits together with Bosco Cardozo, Dhiru and
Damu Shah. This picture, taken by Imran, shows
one happy occasion in our little patio Garden. |
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We last met in Mombasa in December 2008 when Rosemarie
and Sadiq had us over for our traditional Swahili menu lunch.
This time Imran was with us too.
Sadiq said he was tidying up his collection and had
saved two framed old group photos for me.
He acquired them as part of a job lot of stuff he had
been obliged to purchase from Datoo's Sale Rooms on one occasion many
years ago.
I brought them back to London, and had them digitally
tidied up.
One was a 1929 group photo of an Ismaili family,
with no other narration.
I emailed the photo to my usual correspondents in
the hope that somebody would identify the people in the photo.
In a matter of hours I heard from a delighted Shiraz
Alibhai of Mombasa.
(Shiraz is the Managing Director of Coastweek).
He said the photo was obviously taken in Mombasa on
the occasion of his uncle Habib Alibhai's marriage in 1929 and
present were all the male members of the Alibhai family.
I have since heard from other equally delighted
members of the family, from Canada and the US and they all say they
hand no idea such a photo even existed.
I hope members of the Alibhai family and friends will
spare a thought for dear departed Sadiq Ghalia without whose
involvement this photo might have been lost to posterity.
I have forwarded the other photo to Ismaili
historians, for it turned out to be a 1936 group photo of Sultan
Mohamed Shah in India, surrounded by his Missionaries of the time.
Once again I hope that Sadiq will be remembered when
anybody enquires into the provenance of this historical Ismaili
archive.
The final photo [at top of
page] was taken in Mombasa in 1958 when the Citizens'
Club was formed.
Sadiq Ghalia was elected the Founding President.
Zeenat and I stopped over in Dubai on our way back
from India and met up with Prem and Amala Prinja.
As we reminisced the talk inevitably turned to our
mutual friend and colleague Sadiq, and our thoughts went out to
Rosemarie and Salim Ghalia.
I was gratified to learn from Prem that Salim has
stepped into his father's shoes.
He has a reputable law practice in his own right and
has now taken over the mantle as the Honourary German Consul in
Mombasa.
Ameer Janmohamed ,
London, U.K.
akj85@btinternet.com
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From Coastweek
issue 3405: February 04 - 10, 2011
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From Coastweek issue 3406:
February 11 - 17, 2011
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'He
was a very distinguished personality'
Coastweek
-- Demise of a legend: The sad demise of
Sidik Ghalia a prominent Advocate in Mombasa has robbed Mombasa of a
very distinguished personality.
'Sidik Uncle' as I always used to call him was a
very kind and humble person with a smile on his face whenever I met
him.
He always used to share his vast knowledge on
Antiques and on the many occasions that he invited me to his house
to view his beautiful collection of antiques and artefacts which in
my opinion must be one of the finest collections by an individual
person.
In his younger days he was a good sportsman and used
to play soccer for the Mombasa sports club and squash.
My heartfelt and sincere condolences to his dear wife,
his son Salim and the grandchildren.
'Sidik Uncle' you will always remain in our hearts and
the fond memories will always linger in our minds.
May The Almighty Allah rest your soul in Eternal Peace
Ameen!
Alihusein Namajee,
Mombasa.
hardwaresales@fairdealgroup.biz
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