Musoma

Submitted by: Rahim (RD) Dhanji
Submitted on: October 23, 2007 (initially via a comment)

Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim

Hello,

My name is Rahim (R.D.) Dhanji. I am Nizar (N.D.) Dhanji Mohamed’s son.

I want to firstly thank all of you who called and e-mailed our family to give your condolences for my father passing away. I also want to thank all of you for your kind thoughts and prayers.

It seems that my father passed away due to a massive heart attack. We had his body brought to Calgary, Canada. Myself, Shiraz (Dad’s brother), Salma, Shamim, and Gulzar (Dad’s sisters) were all here to pay our last respects to my father. Myself, Shiraz, and Gulzar live in Calgary. Salma lives in Edmonton and Shamim lives in Toronto.

The funeral (thanks be to god), went very well. A lot of family and friends came from out of town to attend. I want to thank these individuals for their support and for taking the time to come to Calgary to pay their last respects to my father. It means a lot to me and the family.

I would also like to recognize 3 people without whom it would have been next to impossible to get my father’s body from Tanzania to Calgary. They are Nadir, Riaz, and Gulu. These true gentlemen played an integral part equally in making sure that my father reached Calgary as quick as possible. I personally want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.

Last but not least, I would like to thank all those people here in Calgary who made this difficult time a little easier by supporting us and being there for us whenever we needed them. My family and I thank you.

My contact information is enclosed at the bottom if any of you wish to reply to this e-mail, talk to me, or would like to stay in touch. I hope to be able to attend the next Musoma get together so that I can meet all of you and get to know you and hear stories about my father and our family “in the good old days.”

May Allah keep you and your families in the best of health & happiness,
May he always take care of you at all times,
And may he fulfill all your wishes, Ameen.

Rahim (R.D.) Dhanji

Cell: (403) 837-8789
E-mail: dhanjirh [at] shaw [dot] ca
Website: www.dhanji.ca

 

 

Wishing you and your family

 

Eid Mubarak.

 

May Allah grant you and your family

good health, happiness, peace, prosperity, barakat and

fulfillment of all your good wishes

on this joyous occasion.

 

Best Wishes,

Fatima & Nizar Nanji and Family

 

Submitted by: Jashwant CM Rao
Submitted on: Oct 10, 2007 via |Submit| page

In my last comment I mentioned a poem that I learnt in school called Bruce and the Spider by Bernard Barton. Rakesh emailed me asking me to share the poem with all Musomians, so that we may have something else to ‘talk’ about and other Musomians may also start contributing similar poems or stories they have learnt. Also Musomians can write about things they learnt when coming to a new country from the little town Musoma. So here is the poem I mentioned.

The poem is about ‘Bruce’ – Robert I, a King of Scotland during the 1300s who was having a tough time winning a battle which was important for Scotland and also to keep his crown. After six attempts Bruce had to go into hiding in a small hut. There he saw a spider try for 6 times to make a thread for the web from one side to another. He saw the spider keep trying and after the seventh try, the spider was successful. Seeing this, Bruce was encouraged and decided to keep trying to win the battle. After the seventh try, he won the battle. The poem teaches us that Patience and Perseverance does pay off. We must not give up.

I did not remember the whole poem, just a few lines – I am now in my 60s!! So I looked on the internet and found the whole poem. It is a bit long.

BRUCE AND THE SPIDER
by: Bernard Barton

For Scotland’s and for freedom’s right
The Bruce his part has played;–
In five successive fields of fight
Been conquered and dismayed:
Once more against the English host
His band he led, and once more lost
The meed for which he fought;
And now from battle, faint and worn,
The homeless fugitive, forlorn,
A hut’s lone shelter sought.

Read more…

Dear All Musomians

We have all heard the sad news of Five Musomians passing away within 2 weeks ! This must be a record and our sympathy and condolences go to all the bereaved families.

With the advent of web-sites and emailing facilities, communication has become easier. In the past we did not get the news at all or even if we did it was months or years later. Sometimes, when you meet an old friend after many years you ask about their family and many times they give the sad news of someone in their family passing away long time ago.

Now, the news is almost instant or received within 24 hours ! You may notice that since the Musoma Blog was created we have had more than 5000 hits (visitors) ! This shows that many people are looking at it. However, we have still not covered a large population of ex-Musomians as we do not have their email ID’s.

Credit for creating and maintaining this important News Forum for us should go to Rakesh Rao, who is the son of Mr. Jashwant CM Rao (Musoma Emporium) and is based in California. Maintaining this Blog is not easy and is time consuming.

I hope that those of who find it useful and informative will join me in showing our appreciation to Rakesh !

To ensure that this Forum is more effective and carries on for a long time, I urge all those who are registered to pass on messages to other Musomians and ask them or help them to register.

If you have any comments, please do forward them to us directly by email or using the |Contact| page on this site.

- Harshad Kothari

OBITUARY

NURDIN JIWANI
aka
NURDIN CHAND

Nurdin Ismail Jiwani, aka as Nurdin Chand passed away peacefully on September 25, 2007 in Victoria, B.C. Canada. He is survived by his wife, Fatma, and sons Shiraz and Riyaz and daughter Gulrose; and 3 granchildren, Salina, Sameer and Zaneen, and daughter -in-laws, Sultana and Sujittra.

Nurdinbhai lived a passionate life marked by kindness and generosity to others, by life-long commitment to and support of his family and community. He was born in India and spent his life in Musoma, Tanzania and the last 20 years in Canada.

Nurdinbhai was an accomplished tax lawyer and accountant who started work at Nanak Chand Limited, hence the nickname Nurdin Chand, where he was groomed by the late K.K. Vasant who inspired him to study hard and obtain qualifications. Nurdinbhai later joined Musoma Bus Services Limited as their accountant and general manager and managed their day-to-day operations. He continued his education by staying up late nights and continued obtaining his qualifications.

Nurdinbhai later took over the offices of K.K. Vasant and continued its legacy after Neeru migrated to UK. It was ironic that he should continue Late Mr. Vasant’s work as it was Mr. Vasant who had groomed him. He was also fondly called Mzee Vasant by Africans as he helped them with their tax fillings without any monetary payments from these poor Africans.

Many tributes have been flowing in, some of which include:

“I am very glad of having had the opportunity to meet him not too long ago , here in Calgary as well as in Toronto. The one thing that we can all appreciate is that he lived a full life.”
-Pritpal Sandhu, 2007

“He was always kind, unselfish, respectful gentleman, never asking or expecting too much for himself, but always willing to to do his best to help others. It was an honour and a pleasure to be his neighbour”
- Dr. Steven Arshinoff, 2007

“When I wanted to migrate from Musoma to Canada and did not have any tax clearances, it was Nurdinbhai who got me my IT and clearances, and I came to Canada. I will forever be grateful for what he did for me and my family.
- Anon, 2004

“He was always immaculately dressed when coming to Jamatkhana and we spent many hours discussing various issues. He was an unbelievably knowledgeable person about both, religious and world affairs, and I will miss him dearly as a friend”
- Sadrubhai, Victoria, 2007

Nurdinbhai loved to read and recently had developed a passion for doing Sudoku. He always kept himself physically and mentally active.

He did everything he could for his family, though he never thought he had done enough. His strong legacy will endure in the warmth, creativity, courage, and kindness, passed through him to his children, grandchildren and theirs.

He dared, and lived.

The funeral service was held in Victoria, B.C. on September 26, 2007 and religoius services were held the same day in the evening at Victoria Jamatkahana.

[Obituary submitted by Harshad Kothari]