Musoma

This message was received by Jashwant C Rao via email and MusomaBlog is taking the liberty to share it with fellow Musomians for their information and to allow the opportunity to share any additional information, news, stories that they may care to share in response.

Y A M

My name is Yasmin < alibhai jamal> born in Musoma in 1957, left Musoma in 1962.

My dads family lived in Musoma – Uncles; Amershi, Esmail, Alibhai, Abdulmalek Jamal were in Musoma until 1975;  Cousins are Sadru, Nizar, Amin, Norallah, Nizar;  My brothers Firoz, Zulfikar, sister Nasim were in Musoma since 1947 but I don’t remember many people from there. My cousin is in New Jersey – his name is Moez, I could not make it to the reunion but will try next time.

Please email me if you have info about Musoma

Please respond in comments below.

Dear Musoma-ites,

It was a delightful surprise to find this site and others who shared my love for Musoma.

My family lived there from 1957 to 1962, with my father working at the South Mara District Council garage, to one side of the air strip, and at the foot of what was then called Lucy’s Folly. This was the hilltop where apparently a prison warden – Lucy – had made a cement dancing floor for night-time revels: his folly!

Dad’s name was Aldo Pellizzon, and our house was next to the old baraza, also at the foot of the hill, from which hyenas descended at night to upset our rubbish bins and to get at our dog, while in the daytime the old tumbilis, cheeky black faces and all, came to steal karanga inside the house!

I remember Doctor Singh, a dear friend of ours, and his son Goulam (his name correct? Memory fades!), Nanak Chand and Chopra, Musoma Hotel, the old German Boma, the Italian doctor, Ugo Fornari with his three children Paola, Silvia and Enrico, and the crowd of children we used to go hunting rock rabbits with, armed with catapults.

Read more…

This may not be directly related to Musoma, but Tarime being a neighbouring town to Musoma, hope someone can come forward with some information. Please reply in the comments section below. To protect privacy, please do not share telephone numbers or email IDs in the comment. If such information needs to be shared, please submit it via the [Contact] page referring to this post.

Can you please help to locate Surjeet Kuldeep Vij of Tarime who migrated to Florida USA in 1970 (appx), and are now probably in the UK.

Thank you.

Lata

On lethargic afternoons, when everybody was at siesta or sat murmuring in their cool verandas, there were always kids on the prowl. It was hunt time for me too, looking for tasty chows. I walked the lanes like a hunter on a trail, smelling for the scent of food
 and action. Most of the ladies and massis were busy making tasty momthars, ladoos, chewda, coconut barfis, papad etc. I was sure of the offerings wherever I would hang around.

As my shadow fell on the
 Popat household, it was nailed. I entered without waiting for an invitation, not that anybody would have objected. There I partook all the goodies to my belly’s satisfaction, played or fought with Kulsum-massi’s children and was out of the house to the next whiff, only a 
tireless 6 year old could scent.

Kulsum-massi was a hardworking lady, larger than life, making every effort to keep her big family in good spirits. Of and on, I met her over
 the years. She was always enthusiastic to meet me and remind me of
 the days when I hung around the doorways.

Next as a high-schooler 
on holiday at home, I encountered a much sadder person having lost 
her beloved son Mehendi, while fate waited in wraps to snatch away
 her daughter Yasmin. She spoke of her loss and pain in watching her young son die.

My last meeting with her was at the Calgary Reunion some years back.
 Then she was a much happier and relaxed person though the shadows 
lurked. She met me with the same fervour and insisted on, wearing my
 hat and posed for me while I took a picture.

Thank you Massi for the warmth you gave me. Your memory is evergreen 
in my heart and all the Musoma people.

My condolences to Naseem, Ramju Rais, Roshanara, Anis, Karima and rest of the family.

Yours,

Baljit

Kundan Gohil nee Chudasama (Daughter of  Late Mohanlal Dayalji Chudasama and Mrs Shardaben Mohanlal Chudasama) visited Musoma with her family during July 2008. She has shared her experience during her Musoma visit via a comment left on the ‘Let’s Talk’ section on MusomaBlog.

The description of the Musoma visit should have a place in the main section, where it can be shared with all Musomians effectively. Musomians will surely enjoy reading about today’s Musoma. Photos will be added to this entry once MusomaBlog receives them.

Hi!  This is Kundan Gohil.

I visited Musoma with my family in July 2008, this was the most memorable trip I have ever had.

It brought some wonderful memories of my childhood, although Musoma has changed a lot. Everything seemed so small and the houses closer than I had imagined. I was only able to spend an afternoon to look around the whole town. I visited my school Nanak Chand as it was known and took photos. I also went to the house where I grew up in and asked the owners if I could take photos and video of the place. They were kind enough to allow me to take the pictures and video. I also visited my father’s shop, but could not exactly remember which one it was. I also took photos of my grand-father’s house (Dayalji Ramji Chudasama), his brother’s house (Popatlal Ramji Chudasama).

We walked around the market and bought some vegetables. The locals were a little bit uneasy for me to take a video of the market and said that I have to pay to take the video. Luckily I had someone who lived locally to walk around with me and also my husband Mukesh spoke fluently in Swahilli even after 30 years, so they left us alone.

I also took photos of the Jamat Khana and finally went to the Mandir in the evening with my daughters. It was very humbling to note that the same tradition is still kept since I left Musoma. All the locals gather in the evening at around 7.30pm to do satsang and aarti. The wonderful memories flooded back when we, as children, used to play outside on the slides and swings. We used to climb the wall between the Mandir and the Gurudwara to pick fruits. The older men used to sit at a table playing cards and the young male adults used to play volleyball.

I will try and post the photos soon.

Unfortunately, there was no one who we knew living in Musoma. The day that I left the UK, I heard that Kasimasi had passed away. Her son came to visit us late in the evening when he found out from someone that I was coming to Musoma, he thought that it was one of my aunt who had come.

My whole experience of Musoma was quite emotional, but wished that I could have spent more time there.

The only disappointing thing was that when we stayed at the Afrilux Hotel, the food had bugs in it, lunch and breakast. The rooms were clean and comfortable.

A note of ‘Thanks’ to Kundan Gohil for making the effort to share her experiences with Musomians.