Jewels of Modern

Jewels of Modern

D r. Ra m S. J a w h r a n i

Worldwide Publishing Company

 Jewels of Modern

Edited, Layout & Designing by:

Dr. Ram S. Jawhrani Ph.D
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Mumbai-400 052. India.
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First Edition - Nov.,2018

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“A true devotee has glow on his face,
his mind is illuminated
as he has the strength of the Lord.
”
- Pujya Baba Sadhuram Sahib
Sri Mahant Darbar Sahib Halani, Ajmer

Halani Darbar Sahib

in Halani (Sindh, Pakistan)
Pujya Baba Sadhuram Sahib
Sri Mahant Darbar Sahib Halani, Ajmer
achievers
Three Generations of Jewellers Lalchand Totaram Nagpal
Lachmandas Sunderdas Pherwani Lila C. Jhangiani
Suresh LachmandasPherwani Manohar Karna
Kiran Suresh Pherwani
Metharam Kripalani
Three Generations of Doctors
Dr. Sadhuram Jessaram Ahuja Neelam Mansharamani
Dr. Arjun Sadhuram Ahuja Neha Jhurani
Dr. Ashish Arjun Ahuja Prakash Khemchandani
Three Generations of Legal Rajan Jhangiani
D. M. Harish Rajan Nagpal
Anil Harish Dada Ratanchand Chawla
Adhiraj Harish
Siddhi Idnani
Ram Jawhrani
Sindhu Bhagia Mishra
Bhagwan Ramchandani
Soni Kirpalani
Chander Manghnani
Srichand T. Rajpal
Mahesh Tejwani
Swimmer Brothers
D.T. Khilnani
Uma Lalla
Capt. Sahil Wadhva
Anjali Tulsiani
Shoba Kalro
Poonam Bhatia
Shankar Mulwani
Kailash Balani
Dr. Sunil Keswani
Kiahra Punjabi
Kishu Mansukhani
Amit Punjabi
Aruna Jethwani
Jagdish Bhurani
Dinesh Mirchandani
Bharat Rajpal
Divya Jhurani
Bhagwan Adlani
Dr. Hari Vachhani
Manik Karnani
Dr. J. C. Ajawani
Soni Kirpalani
Dr. Manjula Nichani
Ishwar Jhumani
Dr. Motiprakash
Hyderabad (Sind) National-
Dr. Neha Jagtiani Collegiate Board
Dr. Romesh & Sunil Wadhwani
Girish Mangnani
Rajesh Manghnani
Hiro Thakur
Kamal R. Bulchandani
 editorial
From Editor's Desk

M My dear friend and school mate,

Chander Manghnani approached me saying
that, Prakash Bhardwaj's colleague
Bhagwan Ramchandani wants to publish a
book about Sindhis. You have been editing At the time I had planned a holiday with
magazines like 'Sahyog Times English and my family to Hong Kong but I agreed and
Sindhi' for more than a decade and said that I would certainly do it but after
'Murk',Sindhi literary magazine for many returning from my holiday.
years. You have also written internationally
My friends, so here is this book – 'Sindhi
acclaimed books on Sindhis like 'Global
Jewels of Modern India' in your hands. It
Sindhi part I and part II'. This rich
was quite difficult to re-write the matter
experience of yours will be very beneficial to
provided to me, but was nonetheless edited.
us and taking advantage of this we desire
I changed a few sentences here and there
you edit this book proposed to be published
which were necessary and also designed its
by Bhagwan Ramchandani. Thereafter I
layout as per my visualization. I have added
was also requested to design its layout and
just a few personalities. I hope you will like
as I can never say no to this dear friend of
this book.
mine, inspite of being busy with my
personal engagements I couldn't refuse him. - Dr. Ram S. Jawhrani
 W
W e are grateful to
Shri Suresh L. Pherwani,
(L. Sunderdas Zaveri)
for his all out support/contribution
for this book, which is being hereby
dedicated to his illustrious father
Late Shri Lachmandas Sunderdas Zaveri
3 generations
JEWELS

Lachmandas Sunderdas Pherwani

Suresh Lachmandas Pherwani
Kiran Suresh Pherwani

“
Lachmandas and Sons
first started LSZ in Zaveri Bazar
and then went on to be the
first jewellery shop at Hughes Road
in Mumbai, which is now iconic.

”
 T he Life of Lachmandas
Sunderdas Pherwani
can be reflected in radiant
light as one of the worlds'
most unique and
e n t e r p r i s i n g
entrepreneurs. His
purpose in life was
preaching the aesthetics
of dharma to his family
and mankind alike, by
instilling the values of
honesty, humility and
love. He is remembered as
the one who set up a
pioneering jewellery
industry in India.
Lachmandas Pherwani
was born on December
10,1925, at Karachi -
Pakistan. His father was a
goldsmith. After
partition, the family left
all their wealth and
belongings and had to
migrate to India with
Lachmandas Sunderdas nothing. Lachmandas and
sons accepted this
Pherwani challenge with great
enthusiasm, thus putting
goals and plans into
motion with one mission:
creating the jewellery
brand ‘L. Sunderdas
Zaveri’ (LSZ). His life
story is an example of
L. SUNDERDAS ZAVERI courage, grit and
Where Faith Is Forever resilience.

010
Lachmandas and sons
first started LSZ in
Zaveri Bazar and then
went on to be the first
jewellery shop at
Hughes Road in
Mumbai, which is now
iconic. His sons Murli,
Satish, Suresh and
Ramesh took on the
responsibility gracefully
and then there was no
looking back. They were
the hands of time
revolution moving into
the future of timeless
masterpieces, adorned
in the fire and brilliance
of diamonds and gold.
The jewellery of LSZ is
inspired from the
elements of nature,
fountain of elegance,
sheer class and
m e s m e r i z i n g
adornments. It also
draws inspiration from
the elements of the earth
as well as the astral realm
which finds them a place
in the hearts of their
“
Took on the responsibility
gracefully and then there was no
most valued and looking back.
treasured customers.
With the grace of God, They were the hands of time
their hard work and revolution moving into the future
perseverance have made of timeless masterpieces, adorned
LSZ a temple for
in the fire and brilliance of
connoisseurs of
delightful jewellery. Diamonds and Gold.

” 011
Suraj & Kiran (sons
o f S u r e s h ) “ We
seldom saw our father
in childhood as he was
a workaholic and
along with uncles
busy taking the
business to another
level. However, a
family trip a year and
the best of family
bonding was always a
treat by him. He has
always been our
backbone, liberal and
encouraged us to do
the best in life.
Patience and Honesty
are the strong virtues
embedded in us by
our father.”
Into the fourth
generation, carrying
on the legacy of
dharma and self-
righteousness, Suraj
went on to do his
diamond grading and
g e m s t o n e s
identification course
“
“My mother Urvashi has always been
very passionate about luxury in
at the Gemological
Institute of America, lifestyle, fine living and fine gifting.
Carlsbad, San Diego Fuelling her passion, I thought what
and was certified could be a better diversification;
' G r a d u a t e
Gemologist' in 2004. complementing our jewellery
At t h a t t i m e , h i s business.” So they setup a unique
younger brother gifting and home décor brand called
Kiran was persuing a
‘USP Collection’ in 2014.
multimedia and
animation diploma

012
”
course from Arena Multimedia institute in
Mumbai alongside an Advertising Degree
at H.R. College of Commerce and
Economics.
After a few years of experience in the
family business, Kiran completed business
management course at Welingkar's
Institute of Management, Mumbai in
2010. He now saw businesses taking up a
technology driven approach in a corporate
manner. The inquisitiveness of the
corporate world and to bring new
innovations to the existing family business
got him qualified for a job at Infosys,
Hinjewadi, Pune. This gave birth to the
idea of diversification, the key to success
in the modern world.
Kiran says, “My mother Urvashi has
always been very passionate about luxury
in lifestyle, fine living and fine gifting.
Fuelling her passion, I thought what could
be a better diversification; complementing
our jewellery business.” So they setup a Hughes Road above L. Sunderdas Zaveri,
unique gifting and home décor brand Kiran started a branch at the J.W. Marriott
called ‘USP Collection’ in 2014. Creative in Pune to build a truly global exposure.
genius that Kiran is after being gifted with Lone visionaries pursuing impossible
so many talents and degrees, he thought of dreams at the time of partition are now an
the name USP as it is his mothers' initials inter-generational multi-functional family
as well as it stands for Unique Silver Plated business. The Power of the Family lies in
- gift articles, artifacts and idols; crafted by their unity and desire to realize dreams.
world famous artists and the finest global They promise to continue delivering the
brands. After a few trade fairs and shows in best quality, service and variety through L.
Europe, they were privileged and Sunderdas Zaveri and USP Collection -
honoured to get Authorized Dealership of Creating Moments that Lasts
Versace Rosenthal Luxury Tableware, Forever...Where Faith is Forever!
Glassware and Gifts. With the passage of The Legacy of Lachmandas Sunderdas
time, they now have dealership for more Pherwani lives on!!
premium brands such as Roberto Cavalli, •••
Wedgwood and most recently Noritake
under their roof. With signature store at

013
3 generations
JEWELS

Three Generations of Doctors

Dr. Sadhuram Jessaram Ahuja
Dr. Arjun Sadhuram Ahuja
Dr. Ashish Arjun Ahuja

“ Sadhuram Kamal
Eye Hospital,
Mumbai.
”
Dr. Sadhuram Jessaram Ahuja
Dr. Arjun Sadhuram Ahuja
Dr. Ashish Arjun Ahuja

D r. Sadhuram Jessaram
Ahuja was born on 12/11/1918
and got his degrees of Av MBBS & MS
from Grant Medical College & Sir J. J.
Hospital, Mumbai (Bombay) during 1935
to 1945. Later on he was appointed as the
personal Physician of Governor of Sindh
(a British doctor). After partition, in 1947,
he settled in Mumbai (Bombay) and
carried his profession in the department of
Anatomy at Sir J. J. Hospital as a
demonstrator of anatomy with a salary of
Rs. 300/- per month. Going through
difficulties of partition, he realized that
knowledge is more important than money
because during partition he left all his
property & wealth in Shikarpur, Sindh and
came to India with his wife and kids and
carried with himself only the knowledge.
He has made his five sons doctors and one
an engineer. After retirement, he
translated the Sukhmani Sahib from
Gurumukhi (Punjabi) to English, so that
younger generation can reap the benefits
of the holy book.

015
D r. Arjun Sadhuram Ahuja
born on 11/07/1955 and did
MBBS & post-graduation in
Ophthalmology and joined Nair Hospital
as a lecturer of Ophthalmology and later
on became head of Ophthalmology
department at KEM Hospital. During his
career, he has trained more than five
thousand MBBS & two hundred post
graduate students. In the year 2010, he was
appointed as an Expert of Drug Advisory
Board by FDA. He was the secretary and
president of Bombay Ophthalmology
Association. He has written many articles
on Ophthalmology for Indian & Global
Journals. He has also conducted several
eye camps for the needy people of
society.He got the Lifetime Achievement
Award “K.C. Kirplani” for doing
memorable work. He has set up a hospital
in fond memory of his father Sadhuram &
aunt Kamala - “Sadhuram Kamal Eye
Hospital” at Lamington Road, Mumbai
and is the director of the same.
016
D r. Ashish Arjun Ahuja is 29
years old and practicing as an
Ophthalmologist, particularly Vitreo-
Retina specialist at Sadhuram Kamal Eye
Hospital, Mumbai. Here it is important to
mention that very few young Vitreo-
Retina specialists are practicing in
Mumbai and Dr. Ashish Arjun Ahuja is
one among them. He has presented
various papers, posters, talks and videos in
his professional field, besides he is also a
member of various societies and forums.
His articles on Ophthalmology have been
published in various journals. He is very
enthusiastic about dance and has
performed in many national level dance
competitions.
3 generations
JEWELS

D. M. Harish
Anil Harish
Adhiraj Harish

“
Illustrious legal
tradition of Family,
from both grandfathers -
D. M. Harish & Nari Gursahani,
as well as father, Anil Harish;

”
 A dhiraj Harish is a third-generation
lawyer in a family of eminent legal
l u m i n a r i e s . Af t e r c o m p l e t i n g h i s
schooling at Cathedral & John Connon
School, Mumbai, Adhiraj went on to
successfully obtain his Bachelors Degree
in Management Studies from HR College,
Mumbai. He also completed various
courses including one at the University of
California, Berkely, where he studied
International Business and Marketing.
Following in the illustrious legal tradition
o f h i s f a m i l y, i n c l u d i n g b o t h h i s
grandfathers -D. M. Harish and Nari
Gursahani, as well as his father, Anil
Harish; Adhiraj acquired his Bachelors
and Masters Degree in Law from the
University of Mumbai and lives in
Mumbai with his wife Mitali, who is
herself a solicitor practicing in the field of
litigation.
Adhiraj was enrolled with the Bar Council
Adhiraj Harish of Maharashtra and Goa and has been
practicing as an associate at D. M. Harish
& Co. since 2011. His primary areas of
focus are real estate and corporate laws and
he has been instrumental in the successful
completion of numerous real estate
transactions.
Practicing Solicitor; With his sound and comprehensive
D. M. Harish & Co. academic and professional background,
Adhiraj very ably leads the team of bright
young lawyers at D.M. Harish & Co. In

018
the short period of six years he has, by dint
of his dedication acquired in-depth
experience and expertise, and has gained
complete confidence and trust of clients,
old and new. He has co-authored paper on
Human Rights and Environment Law
violations by Companies which was
presented at the National Seminar on
Corporate Justice organized by the Indian
Institute of Corporate Affairs.
It is evident, that he has taken over a
significant part of the load from the
partners of the firm, his father and aunt,
who are extremely gratified that the firm
has a bright future under his outstanding
leadership.
Adhiraj serves as an Independent Director
on the Board of two reputed Listed
Companies and is also on the Board of
Governors of the premier Educational
Trust, Hyderabad (Sind) National
Collegiate Board and takes a keen interest
in encouraging students in their education
and career.
•••
019
 M a h e s h
Vijaykumar
Tejwani is a qualified
Chartered Accountant
and the President of
Vivekanand Education
Society (VES) since
2014. Always
academically inclined,
he scored the highest
marks in Accountancy
i n C A f i n a l
examination. He has
been a practicing
Chartered Accountant
since 1985 and has
specialized in
providing professional
consultancy in the field
of Finance, Taxation,
Mahesh Tejwani Auditing, Cooperative
Societies, Company
L a w, P o r t f o l i o
Management and
Investment Guidance.
Mahesh Tejwani has
A dedicated Professional,
always believed that
a committed Educationist knowledge multiplies
& a sincere Social Worker and grows through
sharing. He has been
vociferously active in
imparting his

020
professional experience and academic
knowledge to accountancy professionals
through diligent participation in seminars
and conferences conducted by study
circles of Professional Bodies in Mumbai.
He is a member of several prestigious
professional bodies like Institute of
C h a r t e r e d Ac c o u n t a n t s o f I n d i a ,
Bombay Chartered Accountants Society,
Chamber of Income Tax Consultants, All
India Federation of Tax Practitioners
Association and Tax Friends.
Displaying an unflinching commitment to
student progress and implementing higher
learning standards through innovative
educational tools, he has been actively
associated with VES since 1996. Tejwani
has been instrumental in consolidating the
reputation of VES as a holistic institution
of academic excellence and has served in
varied professional capacities. He was a
member of the Trust from 1999 to 2002, a
managing committee member from 2002
to 2005,a Trustee and Treasurer of VES for
9 years from 2005 to 2014 before assuming
as its Presidency in 2014.
Committed to upliftment of the society
and dedicated to maintaining the vibrant
ethos of Sindhi, Tejwani is the Hon'ble
Secretary of Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha
Mumbai, a social organization committed
to preserving and promoting Sindhyat and
Sindhi language and culture. Committed
to nurturing the ideals and the uniqueness
of the Sindhi spirit and to promote its
usage among the younger generation, he
regularly writes on various subjects in
Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha's monthly
newsletter which has a circulation of more
than 5000. An accomplished orator, he is
regularly invited to share his views and
expertise at various seminars and
conferences.
Tejwani is an active participant in several
community development initiatives and
has been associated with numerous social
021
groups and institutions. Presently, he is
the Chairman of Bandra Hindu
Association, an institution engaged in
undertaking multifarious social and
educational activities in western suburbs
of Mumbai. He is also associated with
Friends of Tribal Society, a social
organization committed to elevating the
economic and societal status of the tribal
community.
A dedicated member of the Rashtriya
Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), Mahesh
Tejwani has been associated with several
top-ranking personalities across the
political spectrum. An ardent advocate of
reforms in the educational sector, he was
invited for interaction with Shri Amit
Shah, BJP President to present his views
on the present problems ailing the
education system and how it could be
streamlined and made more effective.
An educationist par excellence and a
dedicated social worker who has
022
contributed to various causes of social and
economic development, Tejwani has been
bestowed with several distinguished
awards and has been the recipient of
prestigious honors. He has been conferred
with the Global Award for Outstanding
Contribution to Education at the World
Education Congress summit held at Taj
Lands End, Mumbai in June 2016. He has
also been honoured with the “Sahyog-
Sahyadri-Sindhu Award” by Doordarshan
Kendra, Mumbai in association with
Sahyog Foundation in December 2016 by
Shri Pahlaj Nihalani, then-Chairman
Central Board of Film Certification
(CBFC).
•••
“
Committed to upliftment
of the society and
dedicated to
maintaining the
vibrant ethos of Sindhi.
”

Dwarko T. Khilnani
NRI/FEMA CONSULTANT
Author of
Foreign Exchange Management Manual
“ Khilnani’s book titled
“Foreign Exchange Management Manual”
is considered a ‘Reference Book’ by
almost all Chartered Accountants,
Advocates practicing FEMA,
Builders & Developers and Students from
business schools. Only Indian author
”
who has released 33 editions.
D warko T. Khilnani has received
B.A.(Hons.) degree in
economics and LL.B from Bombay
University. Right from his college
days, he has been keenly involved in
social activities. He was the Best
Student and Outstanding All-rounder
of K. C. Law College, Mumbai during
1967-69.He was Social Secretary,
Sports Secretary as well General
Secretary of the Students Council of
K. C. College and K. C. Law College
during 1963-1969.
He has served Reserve Bank of India
for 33 years, having inspected more
than 300 branches of nationalized
banks, commercial banks, foreign
banks and cooperative banks all over
India. He has inspected 54 currency
chests in Andhra Pradesh as a
Currency Manager of Reserve Bank of
India, Hyderabad.
Khilanani is an independent non-
executive director of four Indian
companies i.e.
i) Blossom Industries Ltd., Daman
ii) SIDMAK (India) Labs. Ltd.
Valsad ,
iii) Privy Organics Ltd.,
Navi Mumbai and
iv) Gharda Chemicals Ltd. Mumbai
He is a Visiting Faculty Member at
various training institutes all over
India. He has also conducted
workshops on “NRI Investments”
and ‘FEMA’ at Glance' at Mumbai,
Goa, Silvassa, Daman, Belapur,
Panvel, Pune, Vashi, Delhi, Gaziabad,
Karnal and at many other places. He
023
has also conducted workshops on FEMA
for Chartered Accountants at Andheri,
Goregaon, Thane and many other places in
Maharashtra.
He has written many articles on “NRI
investments” which are regularly
appearing in Weeklies and Monthly
magazines.
He is the author of following books on
foreign exchange :
i) Foreign Exchange Management
Manual - Vols. I & II with CD
(33 editions)
ii) FEMA Ready Reckoner (2 editions)
iii) NRI Ready Reckoner (11 editions)
v) Foreign Exchange Handbook for
Residents and Non-Residents,
vii) ECM & NRI facilities in India, and
vii) Exchange Control Manual
(5 editions)
His book titled “Foreign Exchange
Management Manual” is considered as a
'Reference Book' by almost all the
024
Chartered Accountants, Advocates
practicing on FEMA, Builders and
Developers and students from business
schools.
Khilnani is a social worker who has helped
many depositors of erstwhile Jai Hind
Cooperative Bank Limited, Mumbai to get
the insurance amount and frequently
visited the office of the DICGC of
Reserve Bank for this purpose.
He is the President of Reserve Bank Sindhi
Sabha which consists of Sindhis working
in Reserve Bank, Unit Trust of India, IDBI
Bank, SIDBI and NABARD. He is Hon.
Secretary General of Sahiti Panchayat
Mumbai.
He has been honoured by many
Organizations for his social work and
personal achievements in the field of
foreign exchange. Recently a Sindhi
Weekly 'Hindvasi' had portrayed him as
“Suhana Sindhi” and devoted one full page
covering all his achievements.
•••
About the Author of the book
(Published in Sindhian of Raaj Lalchandani)
The Cultural Crusader
one of the most eminent and
influential leaders of our time.
Dr. Ram Jawhrani
D r. Ram Jawhrani is a stellar example, as
well as an inspiration, to all Sindhis for
his achievements in the post independence
era. Chairman of the Global Sindhi
Council and founder of the Sahyog
Foundation, his work spans across social,
educational and cultural spheres. He has
earned global recognition for this from the
Sindhi community and the country and
has been the recipient of awards like the
Mother Teresa Award, Jal VayuVihar
(Defence) Award, Hemu Kalani Award,
Sindhu Ratan Award and many more.
Born in newly independent India, Dr.
Jawhrani grew up in Ulhasnagar, Mumbai,
where he completed his schooling and
graduation. Those were modest times for
Sindhis, including his grandparents and
parents, who had left behind their roots
and were attempting to start life from
scratch in mainstream India. A large aspect
of Dr. Jawhrani's persona today stems
from the huge influence his grandfather
had on him. “He believed in charity and
always tried to keep aside a part of his
income to give back to those less
fortunate. He instilled in me the qualities
of hard work and honesty which are my
driving force even today,” he shares.
With an affinity for social causes already
ingrained in him, Dr. Jawhrani turned to
creative mediums like dramas, movies and
writing, especially those that conveyed an
intrinsic social message, during his
adolescent years.
025

Book presented to Narendra Modi, Hon'ble Prime Minister
Sabha’s coveted Award by Sindhi Stalwart
L. K. Advani & Ram Jethmalani
Sahyog Foundation felicitates Sunil Dutt
at the hands of Dilip Kumar
026
In the years that
followed, Dr.
Jawhrani had many
memorable firsts. He
set up his first social
organization called
'Friends Circle' with
his friends, with the
objective of giving
something back to
s o c i e t y. “ T h e o n e
thing we believed in
was that we should
support and help the
needy, and that charity
should begin at home.
This philosophy
continues till date,” he explains. Soon after, in
1973, he received his first award from eminent
'Rajnigandha' organization at the hands of
industrial tycoon S P Mandalia.
The man's most passionate project, Sahyog
Foundation was founded 35 years ago. This
organization helps to serve the needy, provides
encouragement, promotes arts and culture
including national integration, and elevates the
poor. Dr. Jawhrani fondly remembers, “We
started out by distributing sewing machines to
underprivileged families, to guarantee them an
income. These were distributed by the cast of the
TV show Mahabharat which was extremely
popular at the time.”
His noble work began to get noticed, and over the
years, Dr. Jawhrani became a prominent feature
in several renowned circles, the most popular of
these being the Indian film fraternity. This helped
him immensely with the Sahyog Foundation.
With aid from the influential, Dr. Jawhrani
worked tirelessly for the betterment of not just
Sindhis, but local
communities at large.
The funds for these
initiatives were rooted
from cultural events as
well. He organized
programs like a
Mahabharata live
show, a Durga ballet
by Hema Malini and
even a musical show
with Anu Malik. He
took immense pride in
local languages and
also organized Sindhi
Dr. Ram Jawhrani, receiving Rs.50,000/- and Award of HRD Ministry,
singing shows with Govt. of India, at the holy hands of Rev. Dada J. P. Vaswani.
Kavita Krishnamurthi
and Asha Bhosle among others.
From being a small foundation doing impactful
work, Sahyog Foundation has evolved into an
authority and forerunner in the social sphere. A
popular mainstream initiative of Sahyog, the
Annual Sahyog Awards celebrate and recognize
achievements in the social domain across 18
different fields. Prominent personalities like
Sunil Gavaskar and Dev Anand have headed their
respective fields in the past, taking the value of the ‘Jal Vayu Vihar’ (Indian Airforce) presented by
Amitabh Bachhan
awards up by several notches. “In the first year we
had over 10,000 applications, and this number
soon grew to 20,000. It's been great to award these
real heroes. One such example is that of a
handicapped man who established a school, and I
managed to fulfill his dream of receiving the
award from Dilip Kumar,” he remembers fondly.
With its motto to 'Support the Helping Hand',
Sahyog Foundation has been steadily and
steadfastly achieving its goals. It has received
innumerable felicitations for its work over the Dharmendra at a Global Sindhi Council function
years, including a cover story in the Times of

027
 Dr. Ram Jawhrani India, and an honorary mention by the
M.A., Ph.D (Sindhi)
BMC. To create awareness of social
Chairman:
topics and appreciation of the arts, Dr.
Sahyog Foundation
Global Sindhi Council Jawhrani also regularly edits his own
Malhi Cultural Academy publication, the Sahyog Times.
President: Broadcast mediums aren't too far
Sindhu Ratna English School (Maha.) behind. He has directed a documentary
Vice President: called 'Ulhasnagar – success story of
Helping Hands Charitable Trust Sindhis', documenting the
Hosted: accomplishments of Sindhi refugees
‘Sindhi Sarvech’ programme and settled in Ulhasnagar, and has written a
completed 100 episodes Mumbai fictional drama called Daanveer as well.
Doordarshan’s ‘Sahyadri’ satellite channel. Both of these were picked up by
Direction: Doordarshan (DD). Subsequently, DD
Director of Documentry approached him to be part of a show
•‘Ulhasnagar- Success Story of Sindhis’, that recognized the contribution of
• ‘Marriage - Hik Nayeen Shurooat’ Sindhis to mainstream India and the
telecast on National Doordarshan;
world. “I still remember, it was a Sunday
Writer:
afternoon, Javed Akhtar was there, and
‘Daanveer’ a telefilm
they interviewed me on live TV. They
Member:
were extremely happy with this, and
Central Board of Film Certification,
soon my own interview-based talk show
Govt. of India.
began in the name of 'Sindhi Sarvech,”
Co-Convenor:
he reminisces. Dr. Jawhrani has
Sindhi Section, Maharashtra State
Board of Secondary & Higher interviewed the likes of Ram
Secondary Education. Jethmalani, L K Advani, Dr. Indira
Author: Hinduja, and Govind Nihalani on this
• ‘Global Sindhis’ (English) Part I & Part II show, which is now moving towards its
• ‘Sindhi Sarvech’ (Sindhi) 104th episode. These interviews have
• ‘Sindhi Sarvech’ (Second Edition) been penned into two successful books;
Published by Roshni Publication, Sindh one titled 'Global Sindhis' and the other,
• ‘Ram Panjwani - Adib ain Funkar’ its Sindhi version named after the talk
Editor: show.
Sahyog Times International (Magazine) With no dearth of achievements, Dr.
Murk (Sindhi Literally Magazine) Jawhrani's contribution to social work
Awards: is immense. He worked with UNESCO
Jal Vayu Vihar Award (Indian Air-Force) for a few years, where he took up the
Mother Teressa Award
cause of drug abuse awareness and also
Friend in Need Award (Rotary Int.)
organized events for national
Ram Punjwani Memorial Award
Hemu Kalani Award
integration during the 90s which were trying
times in Mumbai.
Through his work and the Global Sindhi Council
of which he is the chairman, he has taken up the
cause of preserving and encouraging the Sindhi
language. “Our culture, our music, our poets and
even our contribution to the freedom struggle is
commendable and should be appreciated by all.
That is what I have been striving for,” he says, Lata Mangeshkar receiving “Maa Saraswati Award”
from Manoj Kumar, Ram Jethmalani & Ram Jawhrani
championing the preservation of our heritage.
On the personal front, Dr. Jawhrani was in a
textile business that was established in 1970. Later,
he experimented with editing studios, until he
retired in 2000. Since then, he has been
concentrating on social work. He believes in the
virtues of education even today. In fact, he
completed his MA in 2001, and his doctorate in
Sindhi literature in 2015 after the age of 68.
We ask him for some guidance of the youngsters Madhuri Dixit & Jackie Shroff seen releasing
Audio Cassettes ‘Ganpati Vandana’ & ‘Sai Bhajan’
of today and he has a heartfelt request, “I would
produced by Sahyog Foundation
like to tell all our youngsters across the world to
honour their culture and heritage known as
Sindhiyat – something that has been handed down
for generations – and to take pride and
responsibility in passing on the torch to future
generations.”
He ends the interview with an insight on how
much the Sindhi community has managed to
achieve, “It was said during the British Raaj that
Member of Parliament Priya Dutt honouring Dr. Ram
the sun never sets on the British Empire. The fact Jawhrani for his services to the Cancer Patients
is that Sindhis have made a place for themselves
across the globe. So the sun actually doesn't ever
set as far as Sindhis are concerned.” We can only
agree with him and feel gratitude for everything he
has done for the community!
•••

Sindhi Sarvech book, published by Roshni

Publication (Sindh), released by Film Icon Amir Khan
 has famous Sindhi songs like "Sindhi abani
boli, mithri abani boli"
He has many awards to his credit like
Sindhu Ratan by Delhi group, Sindhi
actor, director by Akhil Bhartiya Sindhi
Boli Ain Sahiya Sabha, Best Sindhi
Director by Delhi Pradesh Sindhi Samaj,
Delhi, Versatile Sindhi Artist by Jyoti Kala
Mandir, Mumbai.
He has done Sindhi Dramas with Delhi TV
and Doordarshan. He is also a Sindhi
Announcer on All India Radio.
His famous Sindhi plays are
• Zaal Karethi Taal
• Mavali Mulkja Vaali
• Khapai Dil ta Achi Mil
• Ammi Ya Mummy
• Dis Naane Jan Rang
• Aashiq Zahar Piyak
• Jetho ain Metho…. and many more
His famous plays were performed at
Mumbai every year during seventies and
eighties mostly by Ramesh Janjani group.
Shankar Mulwani He used to be favourite actor of Prof. Ram
Punjwani.
He is treated as a celebrity in Sindhi

S hankar Mulwani is one of the eminent community specially in Delhi

Sindhi personalities of Delhi, India. and few other parts of India.
His involvement in Sindhi dramas and He has acted and directed
Sindhi films has helped keep Sindhi Sindhi telly plays Kian
culture alive since 1973. He has acted, Kayoon Shadi” “Paare
directed, written and staged Sindhi dramas khan Pareshan" and
all over India and internationally at Dubai “Muhinji Shadi
and Canada also. Karayo” etc. which
In fact his contribution towards Sindhi can be viewed on
culture is tremendous. He is a person who YouTube under his
has acted in the first Sindhi coloured film name.
“Ammi Ya Mummy” in a lead role which •••

030
 Chander Manghnani
B orn in 1949 in the holy cradle of
Pushkar (Ajmer), Chander spent his
early years and schooling in Ulhasnagar
where the family migrated in 1950. And
though the family again shifted to Mumbai
in 1965, Chander's roots and foundation
years formed an attachment with
Ulhasnagar, which is evident even today
given his association as President of
Balkan-ji-Bari and the Sindhu Youth
Circle there.
Though a Mechanical Engineer by
education, destiny had other plans for this
young entrepreneur as he forayed into the
hotel industry and carved a niche for
himself through his Hotel Rosewood,
located in the heart of the business district
in Mumbai. Over the years, this landmark
of the Sindhi cultural scene has earned
itself the nickname of ‘Otaque’, where
Chander has sponsored and hosted
musical geniuses, poets, book launches
and other cultural programmes.
He was introduced to the Mumbai social
world in 1980, when he followed in his
father – Murij Manghnani's – illustrious
031
 footsteps, who is a well-known
business magnate, philanthropist and
a legendary figure in the Sindhi
community based in Dubai. With the
blessings and guidance of his father,
Chander soon made his mark on the
Sindhi social scene and today is
known to be a generous patron and
philanthropist in his own right.
Over the years he has associated
himself with numerous
humanitarian, cultural and charitable
causes and is better known for his

“ Chander’s journey over the years

can aptly be summed up in
Satya Sai Baba’s motto –
affiliations and associations with
organisations like the Priyadarshini
Academy, Friends of International
Sindhis, Sahyog Foundation, We
LOVE ALL, SERVE ALL.

Business Interest
” Care Trust, Jyoti Kala Mandir and
Manghnani Charitable Trust among
others. Chander Manghnani has been
Director: blessed with a heart of solid gold : it is
Hotel Rosewood, Mumbai. a pure 24 carat heart that sees, helps
Director: and empathizes with all sections of
Kaycee Exports, Mumbai. society, particularly the Sindhi Samaj.
In recent years he has built the
Community Specific
Manghnani Elders Home in
Chairman : Lonavala, which is a haven for senior
Murij Manghnani Hospital, Adipur citizens and retired people. The
President : family has another long standing
Sindhi Youth Circle, Ulhasnagar project in Adipur (Kutch), the
Freinds of International Sindhis, Mumbai Jiwatram Manghnani Hospital,
Balkan-ji-Bari Trust, Ulhasnagar which has been providing sterling
Sindhi Prem Mandal Trust, Mumbai medical facilities since 25 years. Work
Managing Trustee : on another multi-specialty Hospital,
Manghnani’s Elders Home, Lonavala namely the Murij Manghnani
Trustee : Hospital, is currently on in full
Priyadarshini Academy swing. This growth from a
Sahyog Foundation businessman to a social worker to a
Global Sindhi Council philanthropist has also witnessed an
We Care Trust immense spiritual growth as a human
Seeta Sindhu Bhawan
 With Wife; Rajkumari   With Son & Daughter in law; Vikas & Noori
being with the blessings of his Guru, Satya
Sai Baba. Chander first visited Puttaparthi
in 1968 at the behest of his maternal uncle
Khialdas Bahirwani from Hyderabad.
There has been no looking back since then,
thanks to Khialdas Bahirwani's guidance
and inspiration, Chander's spiritual bond
has strengthened over the years and he is a
regular visitor to the Ashram.
It is observed that if you want to know a
person, look at the way he relates with
people far and near to him. Chander is
true, sincere and committed to every
relationship. To his parents Chander has
been an able and devoted son. Late Shri
Gobind Malhi called him “the able son of
an able father”.The love and devotion for
his parents has blessed him throughout his
life and he says that he is what he is because
of his father Mr. Murij Manghnani. He has
been a good brother and an excellent
husband too. All this is evident from their
joint and well knit family in which
everyone related to Chander Manghnani
has love, respect and a soft corner for him.
As a father to his daughter and son
Chander has been a great success, and both
his children are doing well and well settled
in life. As the MD of Hotel Rosewood, he
has built trust and confidence in his staff as
well as among his business clientele. He
once observed that the last time he hired a
staff member was over twenty years back;
once a person joins his establishment they
never look any further. About his
philanthropic and social work in the
Sindhi community it is a well-known fact
that Mr. Manghnani helps many social
causes related to Sindhi Art, Culture and
Language, and has been awarded for his
tireless efforts on several occasions. Sindhi
Sapoot Award from Akhil Bharat Sindhi
Boli Ain Sahitya Sabha.
As a true friend Mr. Manghnani has been
033
 Over the years he has
associated himself
with numerous
the proverbial friend in
need all his life.
humanitarian, cultural
Chander ’s journey and charitable causes
over the years can aptly and is better known
be summed up in Satya
for his affiliations and
Sai Baba’s motto –
LOVE ALL, SERVE associations with
ALL. organisations like the
••• Priyadarshini
Academy, Friends of
International Sindhis,
Sahyog Foundation,
We Care Trust, Sindhi 003
Sew Samiti Trust –
Adipur, Jyoti Kala
Mandir and
Manghnani Charitable
Trust
034

Bhagwan Ramchandani
“ His devotion has been centered around
the publication of Sindhi Jewel of
Modern India, It records the
achievements of several Sindhis.
He has been very successful in
generating response from the world
Sindhis before the release of the
publication. This he solely attributes to
the blessings of his Guru
Pujya Baba Sadhuram Sahib,
Sri Mahant Darbar Sahib Halani, Ajmer.
” of Sindhi Stage – Padam Shree Prof.
Publisher with his Guru,
Pujya Baba Sadhuram Sahib.
B hagwan R amchandani has a
chequered record in the field of
Publication and Distribution of
Books and Magazines.
After Graduating from Jai Hind
College, he had a stint initially as an oil
technician with Stan-Vac (now H. P.)
and later on as an outstanding
salesperson with internationally
renowned office, machines and
systems company – Remington Rand.
This provided him an opportunity to
visit Europe, Africa and Australia,
holding a world record for winning
number of sales competitions.
His passion for dramatics, cultural and
social activities drove him to arrange
and organize various stage shows such
as variety entertainment, Qawalis and
Ghazals. He also acted in various
Sindhi and Hindi Dramas on stage -
sometimes with well-known doyens
Ram Panjwani.
035

Lately his devotion has been centered around
the publication of Sindhi Jewels of Modern
India, edited by Dr. Ram Jawhrani, the book
which is now in your hands. It records the
achievements of several Sindhis. He has been
very successful in generating response from
the Indian Sindhis before the release of the
publication. This he solely attributes to the
blessings of his Guru Pujya Baba Sadhuram
Sahib, Sri Mahant Darbar Sahib Halani,
Ajmer.
Bhagwan is also confident that - the Book
will be available with Library of each and
every School, College and University as well
as with every book-lover the world over.
•••
036
Bhagwan Ramchandani
has been arranging stage shows like
variety programs, qawalis, ghazals,
full–length drams for the several
decads, himself being very successful
stage actor. But for the last 20-25
years he has switched over his
priorities to marketing and publishing
Sindhi cultural reference books;
”Sindhis” through the Ages”
in the year 1990 by
Shri Nana Chudasma,
the then Sheriff of Bombay.
“Sindhis International Year”
book released by Hinduja Brothers
(Ashok & Gope), in the year 1992
after presenting the copy of the book
to L.K. Advani, Former Deputy Prime
Minister of India.
“Sindhis over the Centuries”
released in year 2015 by
Shri Ram Jethmalani,
Former Union Law Minister.
And now
“Sindhi Jewels of Modern India”
which is in your hands
 Murli Adnani
N . D. Golani would always address
Murli Adnani as MLA, where MLA
stands for Murli Lachmandas Adnani.
Being the eldest son he was quite active
with his father in business. His father was
bestowed with the title of J P by the
government for being very active in the
social field. Whenever any needy persons
required monetary assistance for their
daughters' marriage, letters would be sent
to the businessmen at Silk Bazar who
would always lend a helping hand. First
Lachmandas himself helped such persons
and then he would write letters for seeking
assistance on behalf of the needy people.
He was also very active in establishing the
International Sindhi Panchayat.
by Dr. Ram Jawhrani
Since childhood Murli saw his father very
closely being active in philanthropist and
social activities, individually as well as with
various organizations. This influenced
Murli's young mind to a great extent.
When he grew up, Murli along with
Narsingh Golani established 'Friends of
International Sindhis'. The main objective
of this organization was to bring the
Sindhis together on one platform so that
our Sindhi community is strengthened.
Sindhis who had left Sindh were from
different parts of Sindh like Larakana,
Sukkur, Manjhand, Karachi, Shikarpur etc.
They didn't know each other. Hence this
organization thought of introducing all of
037

them to each other and bringing them
together. Along with this they also
thought of inviting all those Sindhis who
were settled outside India in various
countries of the world. Whenever these
Sindhis visited India, meetings were
arranged with them where views and ideas
were exchanged. This led to know about
the problems faced by Sindhis in India as
well as in foreign countries.
He along with Nanik Rupani established
the Priyadarshini Academy. On the advice
of Ram Kishan Advani Rahi it was decided
to encourage the Sindhi artists. The very
first show of Anila Sunder was organized
by Priyadarshini Academy. Soon they
realized that if the government is not
honouring the deserving persons of our
community then we should do so by
conferring awards and titles on them. This
organization decided to honour the
artists, litterateurs and scholars of the
Sindhi community by organizing cultural
Sindhi programmes. This started as a small
step which in future grew into a giant
awards function where even International
Sindhis were honoured. This has been
038
continuing till date. Murli chaired the
committee for awards to Sindhis.
Another organization by the name of
World Sindhi Congress came up to fight
for the political rights of Sindhis. Even in
that organization Murli was a very active
member. He along with Rochiram
Thawani and many prominent Sindhis met
Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of
India and kept their problems before him.
Another organization which began its
activities all over India was the Sindhi
Council of India. Initially he actively took
part in all the activities of this organization
and even today he is the chairman of the
NRI committee of this organization.
In this manner Murli has been associated
with many Sindhi organizations and
institutions. It can also be said that in
Mumbai he joined all those organizations
without any hesitation, which had the
clear mandate of serving the Sindhi
community and promoting Sindhyat.
Inspite of being actively involved with so
many organizations he never came
upfront but always worked in the
background. All the Sindhi organizations
with whom he was associated, he was
always at the second position. And
although he took active part in all
activities, the recognition always went to
the chairman. After N D Golani retired,
Murli Adnani was elected the Chairman of
Friends of International Sindhis and later
its President. Only after that in true terms
he started getting more recognition. Many
awards, prizes were conferred on him and
a seminar was also organized on his
contribution towards promotion of
Sindhyat.
•••
Dr. Neha Jagtiani

D r. NehaJagtiani is the
Vice Principal of R.D.
and S. H. National College,
Mumbai. She is a recipient of
two gold medals from
University of Mumbai for
standing first at M. Com
level. She pursued her
Honors degree in ‘Masters
in Subject Communication’
from YCMOU University
and was among the only
seven candidates in India
and only two from Mumbai
to clear the NET
Examination. She has been
awarded the PhD degree
from Bajaj Institute of
Management, SNDT
University on study of
'Advertising Strategies of
the Telecom Industry'. To
complete her PhD, she was

039
given 2 years of study leave by University
Grants Commission. She received a
felicitation for her Ph.D degree from the
Governor, Union Minister for Railways
and the Education Minister.
Dr. Jagtiani started her career at the
prestigious Sydenham College of
commerce and economics, where she
taught for two years before moving on to
R. D. National College, the pioneering
college of the Hyderabad Sind Board
(HSNCB). She has been teaching at R. D.
National College for over two decades
now. On 10th January 2015, she took over
as the Vice - Principal of the college. She
has won several prizes for Elocution,
Debates including 'Best speaker' from
Nazareth Speakers Academy and 'Best
Actress' from the University Of Mumbai.
She holds the special post of Member of
Indian Merchant Chamber in Educational
Committee. She is also on the board of
studies in the subject of Commerce of
Mithibai College and has been appointed
as the advisor of Lions Club, Mumbai
Island. She was a part of the Educators
Delegation to UK Universities which
040
included leading educationists from all
over India. She has organized several
seminars and workshops in Advertising,
Banking and Management which have
been covered by leading newspapers. She
has been a key note speaker and has
chaired various sessions at numerous
national and international conferences and
has also presented papers at such
conferences and written for global
publications. Her research paper on
“Europe-China Relations" and their
impact on the Chinese economy has been
selected to be presented at the prestigious
conference to be held at the University Of
Rouen, France. Her book 'Advertising
Strategies of the Telecom Industry and its
significance' published by German
Publisher Lap Lambert Academic
Publishing was launched by noted Ad
Guru, Piyush Pandey. She is also one
among the three Vice-Principals of the
HSNCB who have been appointed as
campus In-charge as part of the Editorial
team of “Razzmatazz”, E-magazine of the
HSNCB, to create synergy among
colleges of the HSNCB.
Dr. Jagtiani believes in academia-industry
interaction, where teaching should be
beyond the textbook, to bridge the gap
between what is taught in the classroom
and the employability skills that the
industry requires. She has organized
several seminars and workshops by
inviting industry experts to enlighten
students about the industry perspective.
She also believes in sensitizing students
towards the disabled and underprivileged.
She has organized several programmes
where spastic children are invited as a part
of the college festivities. The objectives of
the programmes are for integration of the
disabled children to feel that they are part
of mainstream society and for students to
realize how blessed they are. She has been a
pioneering force in introducing the 'MA –
Media, Entertainment and Advertising', a
post graduate degree programme affiliated
to the University of Mumbai. It was
launched in R. D. & S. H. National
College by well-known Ad-man ‘Prahlad
Kakkar’. She also initiated a 'Language Lab'
for Functional Proficiency in English to
students who can improve their
employability quotient with improved
soft skills.
For all her initiatives, she has been awarded
the ‘Best Citizen of India’ award by
International Publishing House.
•••
 M odel and theatre artist Siddhi Idnani is
allset to debut as the female lead in the
upcoming Telugu film Jamba Lakidi
Pamba starring Srinivas Reddy in the lead
role. The film written and directed by J. B.
Murali Krishna, is set to hit theatres in
May this year. “Since it is a rom-com with
so many humorous moments, the script
demanded a talented and performing artist
as the heroine. After multiple rounds of
auditions conducted, Siddhi was roped to
play the female lead,” says the director.
“I auditioned for Jamba Lakidi Pamba and
within a few days, they did the test shoot
and signed me up for the role. I am
extremely grateful to have gotten the
opportunity to debut in the Telugu
industry,” says the actress, who was part of
a theatre group that did plays in many
parts of country. Siddhi Idnani
•••

042

Shoba Kalro
“ Publishing of books, namely
‘Flavours of Sind’
- on Sindhi traditional and fusion recipes
and ‘Glimpses of Sindhiyat - Rituals &
Way of Life’ - a documentation of
rituals during festivals and various
”
occasions from life to death;
S hoba R. Kalro needs no
introduction among Sindhis of
Bangalore where she was born and
brought up. A renowned
personality, she has managed to
carve a niche for herself and
establish her own identity.
She is the president of the Ladies
Wing of the Sindhi Madhur
Sangam known for the 'Maata Ka
Jagran' that is organized during
Navratri for the past 15 years. She
is President of National Ladies
Wing and the Bangalore Ladies
Chapter both under the Sindhi
Council of India and also heads the
Cultural and Theosophical
Committee of the Sindhi
Federation of Bangalore. She is also
the President of the Saheli group
that promotes charity. She is the
chairperson of the WOW group
that works for the welfare of
women and has been celebrating
International Women's Day to
raise medical aid for women and
cancer patients. The group also
contributes towards girls'
education and supports the cause
of the girl child.
Mrs. Shoba R. Kalro has personally
extended moral and financial
support to many talented Sindhi
girls and women. She spearheads
the social activities of the famous
Cubbon Park group of Sindhis. She
had an inclination towards
spirituality from a very young age
043
and has been conducting ‘Shivji's Sagra’
pooja on a grand scale annually since 1989.
She has organised Metro Train Ride for the
Poor Slum Children. She has been active in
donating clothes, food for the orphanage.
Noted, loved and appreciated for her eye
for detail and perfection in everything she
does, Shoba says that she feels blessed to
be married into the renowned Kalro
family. Behind this successful woman is
definitely her husband Mr. R adha
Kishindas Kalro who supports and
encourages her wholeheartedly.
Recipient of the prestigious Sindhu Ratan
Lifetime Achievers Award for the year
2009 conferred by the Sindhi Federation
of South India, she gives full credit to her
supportive husband and family for success
in all her endeavours.
Shoba R. Kalrois the Founder President of
BLC - NayiSoch, which is a group of
youth who are very active in social works
like Blood Donation, Swach Bharat and
Donating for Orphanage.Under her aegis,
the BLC has done a lot of work in the
promotion of Sindhi language and culture
through numerous activities and events.
The highlights of which are as follows:
044
· A Sindhi Food Festival which also had a
quiz on Sindhi cuisine;
· A Sindhi conversational and Devnagari
script workshop;
· Opening of Ladies Chapters in many
cities across the nation;
· Publishing of 2 books, namely
‘Flavours of Sind’ - on Sindhi
traditional and fusion recipes and
‘Glimpses of Sindhiyat - Rituals & Way
of Life’ - a documentation of rituals
during festivals and various occasions
from life to death;
· A National level Seminar and
Convention and many other events.
Both, the Seminar and official launch of
the 2nd book had as chief guest - none
other than His Excellency the Governor
of Karnataka Sri. H. R. Bhardwaj. Under
her presidency, Ladies Chapters of various
places in India and abroad have shown
solidarity by celebrating Teejri and Shivji’s
Sagra pooja on the same dates every year.
Jhoolelal-ji-Pheri has also been conducted
all over the country on the same day. Her
contributions to uphold Sindhi culture
and heritage through this post are truly
remarkable.
•••

D r. Sunil M Keswani completed MS in
General Surgery and M.Ch in Plastic
Surgery from Mumbai in 1988 & 1991
respectively.
Dr. Sunil has lectured extensively in India
and abroad on various aspects of Cosmetic
Surgery and Burns and presented Papers at
both National and International
Conferences.
He has written a chapter on BURNS
MANAGEMENT in a book on
CRITICAL CARE MANAGEMENT by
Dr. F. E. Udwadia - both 1st and 2nd edition
2014.
He is a member of a number of
Associations like Association of Surgeons
of India, International Society for Burns
Injuries, Vascular Society and Critical
Care Medicine. He has held many
Dr Sunil Keswani
“
Lectured extensively in
India and abroad
on various aspects of
Cosmetic Surgery and Burns
and presented Papers
at both National and
International Conferences.
”
appointments, some of the notable
appointments are Research Fellow in
Plastic Surgery at Tata Memorial Hospital,
Senior Resident in Plastic Surgery and
Chief Resident in Plastic Surgery at G. S.
Medical College and KEM Hospital
between July 1989 to February 1991.
He is the Central Executive Member & the
Regional Representative for South Asia
for “The International Society for Burn
Injuries” (ISBI). He is the Editor of
'CHIMAG' a quarterly medical magazine
of IMA Chembur, Mumbai. He has been
the 'QUIZ Master for the last 3 years of
“MEDIQUIZ” an annual Medical Quiz
Programme for Doctors in Mumbai
conducted by IMA Chembur. As an active
045
Rotarian, he was the Chairman of
Polio Plus Program & Director of
Club Service of RC Worli Chapter
in 1996 and 1997 respectively. He is
currently the President of the
Indian Medical Association
Chembur Chapter.
Dr. Sunil Keswani has received
the following Awards and
Scholarships :
1 Bombay University College
Merit Scholarships for F.Y.
Science in 1976.
2 Bombay University College
Merit Scholarships for Inter
Science in1977.
3 Best Resident Doctor Rotating
Trophy from Sir
HarkisondasNurrotamdas
Hospital in 1982.
4 Best Incoming Rotarian Award
in 1996 from Rotatory Club of
Bombay Worli.
5 Best Rotary Services Director
Award for 1997 from Rotatory
Club of Bombay Worli.
•••

046
 Sindhu Bhagia Mishra
“ Deputy Secretary,
Sahitya Kala Parishad
(an academy of Music, Dance
and Theatre and Fine Arts)
Government of NCT of Delhi
B orn on 27th September 1959, Sindhu Bhagia
Mishra made a great name in the field of
Classical Dance-Bharatanatyam. She has a post
Secretary, Sindhi Academy graduate Degree in Hindi Literature and
(an academy for promotion of Russian Literature.
Sindhi Language, Literature Professional Qualifications
and Culture), She has learnt Bharatnatyam since 1966, under
Government of NCT of Delhi.
” renowned Gurus: Guru K. J. Govindarajan,
Guru K.N. Dakshinamoorthy, Guru Smt.
Kamalini Dutt and Guru Shishya Parampara.

047
She is a recipient of senior scholarship for
Bharatnatyam from Sahitya Kala Parishad
for two years and also a recipient of
fellowship for creative work in
Bharatnatyam from the Ministry of
Culture, Government of India for two
years. She is an accomplished and known
theatre actress who has worked under
eminent directors such as Shiela Bhatia,
Bhanu Bharti and Bansi Kaul. She is strong
in communication skills and has vast
experience in management and
coordination, which were further honed
during her 23 years of service in Sahitya
Kala Parishad, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
w.e.f. 1994.
Present Positions in the Government of
NCT of Delhi
Sindhu Bhagia is Deputy Secretary, Sahitya
Kala Parishad (an academy of Music,
Dance and Theatre and Fine Arts)
Government of NCT of Delhi and also its
Head of Office. She also has additional
charge of Secretary, Sindhi Academy (an
academy for promotion of Sindhi
Language, Literature and Culture),
Government of NCT of Delhi.
Work Details:
She has been responsible for conceiving
and organizing major festivals of music
and dance with internationally reputed
artists, like Bhakti Sangeet Utsav, Thumri
Festival, Youth Festival. She has been
organizing workshops in the field of
performing arts.
She has been organizing “State Functions”
on behalf of Government of India.
048
1. The closing ceremony of Golden
Jubilee of Indian Independence in
1998 on behalf of Government of India
at Vijay Chowk, New Delhi.
2. The Annual Qutub Festival at Delhi.
3. Half Marathon in 2004-05.
4. Asian Torch Relay in the National
Stadium in 2006.
7. ‘ Yu v a M a h o t s a v ’ , i n w h i c h
approximately 250 young artists
participated in the fields of Music,
Dance, Theatre and Fine Arts.
8. ‘Bharat Utsav’ celebrating 60 years of
Indian Independence organised on
behalf of Government of India in
August 2007 where approximately 700
artists from all over the country
performed in their own regional
languages.
9. In Central Park (Rajiv Chowk) – live
concerts by famous artists such as
Daler Mehendi, Kailash Kher, 100
Beans Player, An Ode to Non-
Violence etc. with an audience of
approximately 20,000 in attendance.
10. Organised Andha Yug and Tughlaq at a
mega level at Ferozshah Kotla
Monument which can only be
c o m p a r e d w i t h Pe t e r B r o o k ’ s
‘Mahabharat’ in France.
11. Was in a responsible position while
planning the “Delhi Celebrates 2010”
which had more than 12 festivals
organized from 7thSeptember to 31st
October 2010. Among which, she was
personally responsible for the
003
execution and implementation of the
following events:-
Youth Festival- showcasing brightest
young achievers in all genres of art to an
overwhelming crowd of 20,000 every day..
· Raag-Rang - an eclectic mix of various
genres of music and dance and creative
fusions of western and eastern
instruments
· Ramayana- A dramatic presentation
of the great Indian epic.
· National leaders at Raj Ghat.
She has been organizing seminars related
to the field of arts. She has been
responsible for creating collaborations in
the fields of education and arts. Her work
also entails scouting and selection of
upcoming talent in the field of Performing
Arts for scholarships every year, providing
an opportunity to many young and
talented artists, who have gone on to
achieve national recognition.
Achievements
In the field of Art and Culture of India as a
whole Sindhu has been the Nodal Officer
in the Government of Delhi for the
following important events:-
· Days of Moscow in Delhi' in 1999
organised in Delhi.
· Days of Delhi in Moscow a cultural
exchange held at Moscow in the year
2000.
· International Jazz Festival, which
included Jazz Groups from European
countries in collaboration with the
British Council in 2000.
049
 004
· Asian Performing Arts Festival in 2003
hosted by the Government of Delhi.
· Asian Performing Arts Festival in
Tokyo in 2002,Hanoi in 2004 and
Taipei in 2007.
· Days of Moscow in Delhi' in 2006
organised in Delhi, which was a
thumping success.
· Representative of Govt. of NCT of
Delhi in Asian Network of Major
‘Samakaleen Bhartiya Sahitya’, bi-
Cities-21 (ANMC) in Manila in 2007.
monthly journal of Sahitya Akademi.
· Delhi leg of Beijing Olympic Torch
4. Translation of Sindhu Joti (Quarterly
Relay held in New Delhi in April 2008.
journal of Sindhi Academy) Vol. 25-26
· The Golden Jubilee of Indian in Arabic and Devanagari scripts.
Independence organized by the
5. Translation of Sindhu Joti (Quarterly
Government of Delhi on
journal of Sindhi Academy) Vol. 27 in
· Festival of India – Featuring artists Arabic and Devanagari scripts.
and performances from all states and
6. Translation of “Sindhi Bhasha Aur
union territories of the country.
Sahitya” by Padmashree Dr. Motilal
· Shera Mera Dost – A special Jotwani.
programme involving 4000 schools of
7. Translation of “Shri JhuleLal” by Sh.
Delhi through various on-lineand off-
Subhash Sachdev “Harsh”.
line competitions about sports.
Awards
Publications
1. She has received Natya Ratna Award
1. She has translated a Full Length play
conferred by Sh. R. Venkatraman, Ex-
Naachni in Sindhi and has played the
President of India.
monumental role of ‘Naachni’ in this
Solo play. 2. She has also received a State Award
f r o m t h e S i n d h i Ac a d e m y f o r
2. “A Tale Told by The Scorched Tree” -
contribution in the field of Dance.
Translation of a modern Hindi play –
‘Katha Kahi Ek Jale Ped Ne’ in English 3. She has also received the International
in the 3rd Volume of Great Indian Women's Day Award from the Nehru
Plays published by National School of Bal Samiti.
Drama. 4. She has also received Sindhu Ratna
3. Tr a n s l a t i o n o f a K a n n a d a p l a y Award from Sindhi Cultural Society.
‘Mahamayi’ in Hindi published in •••

050
 B ohemian… A person, as an
artist or a writer, who lives
and acts free, of regard for
conventional rules and practices,
a free spirited, open minded
thinker, that's who, Bharath
Rajpal is ! And giving his
Bohemian Dreams wings is his
passion. A Gypsy soul, who is
always in need of Change, or
Adventure! Passionate and often
inspired by different ideas,
attitudes and experiences,
determined to find out what he
wants in life.
He has always had the urge to be
different, and has taken creative
risks, in terms of form and
Bharath Rajpal shape, to pave the path for
something new, on the Art
platter, by taking the road less
travelled, being unconventional
and shattering mind-sets, with
his Abstract paintings.
At an age, when children play
around with toys, he kept
drawing, scribbling, and
doodling, that persisted through
schooling. Fortunately, his
i n t e r e s t i n Fi n e A r t w a s
recognized, by his mother, who
has always believed in him and

051
got him so far. She always told him “an idea can change
your life” He did his foundation course in Fine Art, at
Shrishti School of Art, Design and Technology. Being
an Ideator, Visualizer and a Copywriter, it was an
added advantage, that gave him leverage, helping him,
on his lateral journey, to ideate, create, and invent.
Being an Alumni of Bishop Cotton Boys School and
Wigan and Leigh College, too, did him a World of
good.
He has always been on a quest, always searching for A
Discovery, An Invention, his Archimedes Moment!
He has always had the penchant to, creatively break on
through, to the other side, and come up with
something new, novel and jaw dropping, and
unorthodox.
He wants to change the Landscape of Art and bring
Bangalore onto the International Map!
He wants to carve a niche for himself, in terms of
Creating New Art Styles, Signature Art Styles,
different from Pablo Picasso, yet reminiscent of the
Spanish Cubist Master!
He has a Vision which is uglier, wilder and stronger
than Pablo Picasso the 19th Century, Spanish Cubist,
Fine Artist. He wants to create a Creative Diversion,
and a Creative breakthrough in Art, by Introducing
and Combining the Concepts of Science in His
Abstract works, like:
His Inventions:
1) IntroducingConvex and Concave Mirrors into
Picasso's Cubism
2) Introducing Architectural Perspectives into
Picasso's Cubism
3) Introducing Glitch (Analog and Digital Errors)
into Picasso's Cubism
4) Introduction of Cubicle Parabolas into Abstract
Art- Mathematical Formulae
5) Abstractions using Pincushion Lenses
6) I n t r o d u c i n g S i n u s o i d a l M a p is offering, on the Art Platter. And bring
Distortions into Abstractions Bangalore on the International Map.
7) Abstractions using Panoramic Failures
8) Anamorphic Abstractions
9) Introducing Darcy Thompson's
THEORY OF EVOLUTION into
Abstract Art
This is his Art Phenomenon.
PERSPECTIVE IN CUBISM
He discovered during his research, that
Picasso had removed Perspective from his
Artworks, thus leading to his Flat
Abstractions.. He thought, why not add,
Architectural Perspective back into
Abstractions. He started experimenting,
and with each Artwork, he started
developing a New Art Style called
“Perspective in Cubism”.
But the search to create something new
was INSATIABLE... The creative craving
started getting the better of him, and it
happened yet again.
CURVED MIRROR CUBISM
A chance observation of outdoor Convex
Mirrors, gave him an IDEA…
The IDEA of using or combining Picasso's
works with Convex and Concave Mirrors,
to create a whole new Bizarre Style, that is
different from Picasso, calling it his own,
yet reminiscent of the Master! It is the
creative thrill, that he got and searching
for the Big Ideas, that keeps his artistic
instinct alive.
There was no Concept of Concave and
Convex Mirrors, combined with Cubism,
he has introduced the phenomenon, now.
A First! It is something different, that he

053

Srichand T. Rajpal
S richand Rajpal had his education at
Bangalore and is a sportsman with
special interest in cricket during his
younger days. The family was in finance
business. Srichand branched out into
domestic electrical appliances and soon
made Johnson a house hold name in
domestic appliances. About 20 years ago
he handed over the business to his two
sons - Sunil and Sanjay. The children have
added another brand “Blumac”. Both have
made a mark for themselves.
Since last 20 years Srichand has dedicated
his life to the service of “Shirdi Sai Baba”.
He has had the good fortune to make 6
temples of “Shirdi Sai Baba” - spread over
th
Karnataka. The 7 temple is under
construction in Trichy– Tamil Nadu. He
spreads Sai baba’s teachings through free
054
distribution of extraordinary calenders
and dairies every year. As chairman of “Sri
Sai Spiritual Centre Trust” he is devoted to
the service of mankind. The activities of
the Trust are as under :
· Serving midday meals, prepared by
estate kitchens for about 10,000
children around Bangalore on daily
basis.
· Manages outdoor patients medical
centre with free medicine,
physiotherapy, dental clinic and
homeopathy.
· Getting 10,000 school going children
medically examined annually
· Providing textbooks and notebooks to
the needy children.
He along with a friend has been
responsible for putting up a pediatric
special ward at Kidwai Cancer Hospital.
He is a member of Rotary club of
Bangalore for over 40 years and was on the
board of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Bangalore for 5 years. He is the member of
various social clubs.
For his service to the society he was
awarded “Outstanding citizen award
2012”, by the Sindhi Chamber of
Commerce. In 2015, he was conferred
“Sanman Patra”, by Sindhi Federation of
South India, in recognition of selfless and
meritorious services rendered by him to
the society.
Now in his spare time he plays golf to stay
physically fit.
•••
K eeping family
traditions alive
Kishu Hashmatrai
hundred countries
and established Tata
dealer networks and
Mansukhani was branch offices. In
invited to join the this process, he
HSNCB board in developed close
1974. A graduate in w o r k i n g
M e c h a n i c a l relationships with
Engineering from the heads of state of
USA, he worked for Uganda, Tanzania,
thirty years in senior M a u r i t i u s ,
positions for the Tata Mozambique, Egypt
Group with nine and Iraq. He also
years as CEO of VIL Kishu pioneered the
Trading Company of
Tata Inc., New York.
Hashmatrai e x p o r t s o f
sophisticated heavy-
M a r k e t i n g Ta t a
vehicles and
Mansukhani duty engineering
products and
e n g i n e e r i n g projects from India,
products, Kishu i n c l u d i n g Ta t a
travelled to nearly a commercial vehicles.
055
He has been honoured by the President of
Uganda and Government of Kuwait for
improving their transport systems.
Kishu has been dedicated to the HSNCB and
motivated his family members to maintain his
grandmother Chandibai's legacy by
continuing to contribute towards the
furthering of education. His immediate family
members established seven libraries, three
auditoriums and one hall in HSNCB colleges,
and a children's nursery and a school in Pune.
They give continuous financial aid and
scholarships to needy students. He has also
been active in supporting the Sadhu Vaswani
Mission, contributing towards the Cancer
OPD Section of Inlaks Hospital and founding
the KK Eye Institute, Pune. In 2017, Kishu
was awarded an honorary DLitt degree by
University of South America at Montevideo.
Besides philanthropy in education, Kishu has
also been active in creating social and cultural
bridges. In New York he was one of the
founders of the Asian-American Lions Club
and served three terms as president. His
contribution to Lion's Journey for Sight, an
annual campaign to raise funds for sight-
related activities, earned him the Governor's
appreciation award. Kishu also played an
important role in the New York Indian
Association, creating awareness about Indian
culture and cuisine through its Diwali festival
and cultural programme at South Sea Port,
attended by more than a lakh of visitors. In
India he took the initiative of establishing the
International Sindhu Chamber of Commerce
with blessings from Dada Jashan Vaswani, and
served twice as president. The Chamber is a
platform to connect Sindhi businessmen
around the world, and it gives an annual
Sindhu Gourav Award at a celebratory event
in Pune.
•••

Bhagwan Atlani
Writer and Journalist
“ 13 Hindi Books, 8 in Sndhi, 9
translations total 30 books.
These include 8 novels,
9 collections of stories, 4 plays,
4 collections of one-act-plays,
”
3 collections of essays, one story book....
B
th
orn on 10 March, 1945,
Larkana (Sindh, now
Pakistan)
Former Officer, State Bank of
India
Presently free lancer writer
and journalist 13 in Hindi, 8 in
Sndhi, 9 translations total 30
books. These include 8 novels,
9 collections of stories, 4
plays, 4 collections of one-act-
plays, 3 collections of essays,
one story book for neo
literates and one collection of
representative works. More
than 1400 contributions
published in various
periodicals/magazines/
newspapers. More than
2 7 5 p r o g r a m m e s
broadcast/telecast from All
India Radio/Doordarshan.
Number of plays staged.
Contributions include in 28
collections. Accredited
journalist of Government of
Rajasthan. Column in
Rajasthan Patrika, Jaipur on
dramatic activities for two
years. Ex coloumnist of Sindhi
Weekly Mehraan, Ulhasnagar.
Founder editor of bimonthly
057
Hindi magazine Setu. Editor/chief editor
of Sindhi annual magazine Rihaan and
Sindhi quarterly magazine Sindhudoot
for six/three years. Ex consultant of
quarterly GhareebonkaSetu.
Aw a r d e d s t o r i e s / p l a y s / o n e - a c t -
plays/novels five times by Department of
Languages Haryana, six times by
Rajasthan Sindhi Akadamy, once by
Mukta, Ashirwad, Indradhanush, Central
Hindi Directorate, State Bank of Bikaner
& Jaipur, Universal Savac, etc. Total 35
prizes received. In 1995-96 highest
Meeran Puraskar awarded by Rajasthan
Sahitya Akademy and by Rajasthan Sindhi
Akademy Sami Puraskar in 2003-2004.
Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan, Lucknow
awarded Sauhard Samman 2005 of Rs. one
lac one thousand in 2007. Received merit
award in Akashwani Annual Awards 2005
for feature writing.
058
Member of Rajasthan Sindhi Akademy
general council for nine years and
executive council for three years.
Chairman of Rajasthan Sindhi
Akademy (1997-2000). Member of jury
for Central SahityaAkademy awards in
Sindhi (2000-2001). Member of National
Council for Promotion of Sindhi
Language constituted by Government of
India (1997-2001). After membership of
Sindhi Advisory Committee for Jnanpith
Award (1997-2001) its convener (2002-
2006). Convener of Sindhi Advisory
Committee of Vatsalya (2000-till date).
Member of Sindhi Advisory Board of
Central Sahitya Akademy (2013-2017)
M e m b er of N at i o n al C ou nci l f or
Promtion of Sindhi Language, New Delhi
(2014-2017)
•••
 Manik N. Karnani

W orking at M/s Larsen & Toubro

Limited, an Indian multi-national
conglomerate as Head Estimation and is
responsible for cost estimation of
Offshore Oil & Gas Projects.
Has 25+ years of Cross-Functional
experience including Marketing,
Proposals, Cost Estimation, Procurement
and Project Execution of Domestic and
International Offshore Oil & Gas
Projects. • Understanding regulatory, tax & legal
framework and its impact
Worked on various types of Offshore Oil
• Finalisation of Price to Customer
& Gas Projects– Process Platforms, Well-
Head Platforms andPipeline Projects, • Negotiation of terms and conditions of
FPSO Modules, SPM Systems etc. Contract with Customers and Sub-
Contractors
Experience involves working on more
• Preparation of Standard Operating
than 40 projects
Procedures
In early days of the career has worked in • Team management & delegation of
Onshore Oil & Gas Projects and Cement work
projects
• Ensure confidentiality
Key Responsibilities • Finalisation of Transfer Price to Project
• Liaison with Customer / Business Execution team
Development team
Skills
• Aid in Bid No Bid review upon receipt
• Functional Knowledge
of Tender Documents
• Communication - oral & written
• Participation in deciding Bidding
• Adaptive to changing environment
Strategy
• Analytical and Problem Solving ability
• Ensuring holistic estimation & cost
• Interpersonal skills
optimisation
• Customer Focus
• Overall risk assessment of the project
• Ethical behaviour
and its mitigation measures
•••
059
 S oni Kirpalani, known as Soni
Mirchandani, is a name to be
reckoned with among Sindhis. She
trained under Mohinderjit Singh and
Pandit Govind Prasad Jaipurwale for
years.
Soni is a well-known Radio and TV
artist and has given radio concerts in
cities like Ahmadabad, Bhuj (Kutch),
Delhi and many more. She has
recorded Hindi songs, Sindhi Bhajans
and Kalams. She sings Bhajans, Geet,
and Ghazals in different languages
such as Hindi, Urdu, Sindhi and
Punjabi. She has given unlimited
performances on stage and mehfils in
Mumbai, Jaipur, Poona, Amravati,
Ahmadabad, Anand, Hongkong,
New Jersey and Los Angeles, USA.
Soni Kirpalani is now settled in New
Jersey, USA since 29 years and still
Soni Kirpalani continuous with her passion of
singing and teaching music to Indian
people living in New Jersey.
Her two brothers, Nirmal and
Kishore Mirchandani always
accompanied her on Tabla and
Harmonium and since Soni settled in
the US, her brother Nirmal started his
own musical group called Nirmal
Swar Sangeet. Soni says she is very
fortunate to be born in a music loving
family where she was always
encouraged to learn and sing.
•••
 Kamal R. Bulchandani
K amal R. Bulchandani, born on
18.07.1946 in Karachi, Pakistan, is a
Solicitor, Senior Advocate practising in
Supreme Court of India and Bombay
High Court since last 47 years. He is
founder of M/s. Kamal & Co. -solicitors,
advocates, certified mediator, notary
public and Trade Mark attorneys.
After graduating with B.A. (Hons.), he
went on to do his law graduation from the
Government Law College at Bombay and
passed his LLB being 3rd on the merit list.
He then passed his Solicitor's examination
where again he was 3rd on the merit list. He
received his Sanad on 18.07.1970. He
represented Government of India as
061
Senior Counsel in High Court litigation
from 1978 to 1998 handling Customs,
Excise, Land Acquisition and other
Government Litigation. From 1976 to
1988 he was also a part-time Professor in
Government Law College, teaching
Property Law, Jurisprudence and Indirect
Taxation. In 1994, he was designated
Advocate, Supreme Court of India. He has
been a visiting Lecturer in Lecture Series
organised by Bar Council of Maharashtra
& Goa and other educational and
management institutions including the
Chamber of Tax Consultants.
His further pursuits are that he is the
th
author of Business Law (25 Edition) and
th
Business Law for Management (8
Edition) with forewords by Justice S. P.
Bharucha – former Chief Justice of India,
Justice Swatantra Kumar – former Chief
Justice of Bombay High Court and former
Judge, Supreme Court of India, Justice
C.K. Thakkar – former Chief Justice of
Bombay High Court and former Judge,
Supreme Court of India, Justice Y.K.
Sabharwal – former Chief Justice of
Bombay High Court and former Judge,
Supreme Court of India, Justice B. Lentin
– former Judge of Bombay High Court.
Mr. Bulchandani was Director of Rotary
Club of Bombay for the period from 2004
to 2006. He is the Founder of Karita
B e n e v o l e n t Fo u n d a t i o n ( K B F ) , a
registered Foundation mainly aiding the
cause of education and health to
economically backward classes. He is also
a Certified Mediator under the aegis of
062
Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of
India.
As a Senior Advocate and a Counsel in
Supreme Court of India and Bombay
High Court, Mr. Bulchandani handles
varied litigations in corporate and civil law,
p r o p e r t y l a w, c o n v e y a n c i n g ,
securitisation, commercial law, customs,
excise, GST, arbitration, mediation and
conciliation, testamentary, family/
matrimonial disputes before several other
legal forums. Several of his judgements
have been reported in law journals. He is
ably assisted by his Senior Associates with
full-fledged network to cater to all
sections of the society and extend
professional services to the requirements
of the clientele both in contentious and
non-contentious arenas.
Kamal Bulchandani had quit the lucrative
posting of sales officer in Air India and
plunged into the legal profession at the age
of 25, without any Godfather or any
person in his past generations as an
Advocate. The name of Bulchandani, was
one and only in the profession till his
monopoly was breached by his daughter,
Ms. Loshika K. Bulchandani, Advocate
and Solicitor, England & South Wales.
The going was indeed tough to set his foot
in the crowded legal profession. With the
iron will, patience and the desire to go up,
he got a lifetime opportunity to oppose
none other than Ram Jethmalani, a well-
known Senior Advocate and his role
model. For a change, Jethmalani was
holding brief on an issue under Imports
and Exports Policy. As a newly appointed who later were clients of Bulchandani,
Junior Counsel on Union of India panel, introduced Bulchandani to others by
Bulchandani was opposing battery of
Advocates, both Seniors and Juniors
assisting Ram Jethmalani.
Genius that Jethmalani has been always, he
twisted and interpreted the provisions of
Import and Export Policy to the advantage
of his clients. Luckily, the Court
adjourned for the day. With assistance of
Law Officer and Officers of the
department Bulchandani burnt his night
lamp as intuition was that next sunrise
would decide his career.
With hard work and knowledge, lots of
luck was to be with him that day as he was
destined to make his mark in the
profession. In the pin drop silenced court
room, he made his submissions before the
Division Bench of the Hon'ble High
Court. The instructing Law Officer was
asked, who is this Counsel? The querist
was answered “my Rs.90/- Counsel
against Rs.90,000/- Counsel”. Not only,
Jethmalani's clients lost the battle but
prosecutions were ordered to be expedited
by High Court against his clients. The real
reward followed. In all humility and his
greatness R am Jethmalani made a
statement before the Learned Judges,
before departing from the court premises:
“My Lords, I will be failing in my duties, if
I do not acknowledge the authority of my
learned friend on Import Export Policy”.
This statement made Bulchandani resolve
to be always rooted and humble in the
hour of one's success. Jethmalani's clients,

063
 M etharam Kripalani is a
Prominent Sindhi social
worker. He is president of
Prachin JhuleLal Mandir of old
Sabzimandi, which organizes
biggest ChalihaMela and
procession in Delhi. Thousands
of Delhites participate in this
Mela, which carries tableaus on
JhulelalJi and Sindhi Life. A
number of Prime Ministers and
Presidents of India have also
graced these Melas.
Born on 14th June 1945,
Metharam is M.Com from
University of Delhi. He is a big
fruit merchant. Delhi
Government has nominated
him as member of Delhi
Metharam Kripalani Agricultural Marketing Board.
He is the Chartered President of
Chamber of Lions Club of
Delhi, Metropolitan; President
of Chamber of Azadpur fruit
and vegetable traders and also
President of Kashmir Apple
Merchants' Association. Metha
Ram participates in every social
and religious cause of Sindhis of
Delhi.
•••
Principal of K.C. College
for 17 glorious years.
Director of K.C. College of
Management Studies.
Former Secretary of the
Hyderabad & (Sind)
National Collegiate Board.
Member of the Academic
Council of the
University of Mumbai.....
Dr. Manju Nichani
D r. Manju, an educationist and a feminist,
was former principal of K. C. College.
Currently she is the Director of Hiranandani
Institute for Learning and the Rector of
Sadhu Vaswani Mission. She believes in
hardwork. Besides being the Principal of K.C.
College for 17 glorious years, she has also
been the Director of K.C. College of
Management Studies, former Secretary of the
Hyderabad & (Sind) National Collegiate
Board, H(S)NC Board, she is a Member of
the Academic Council of the University of
Mumbai, an elected Member of the Senate of
065
t h e U n i v e r s i t y, t h e
Chairperson of the Board
of Studies for Sociology
at the University.
During her career as an
educationalist she has
travelled globally and
gained vast experience
professionally. During
this period she met
known personalities from
diverse fields like
Bollywood super star
Amitabh Bachan, Ranbir
K a p o o r, Pr i y a n k a
Chopra, KareenaKapoor
and the famous
industrialist Anil
Ambani, from the revered
spiritual guru Dada J. P.
Vaswani to Hon. Prime
Minister Shri Narendra
Modi, from iconic banker
Chanda Kochhar to ex-
President Pranab
Mukherjee and many
others. Her contributions
to the field of education
have been lauded widely
and won her prestigious
awards like the Giants
International Award for
Contribution to
Education etc.
•••

D r. Moti Prakash and his wife Kala
Prakash are the first Sindhi couple to
receive Sahitya Academy Award for their
literary creations in Sindhi language in
1988 and in 1994 respectively. This is hard
to digest, but unfortunately true that in
India Sindhis don't have a separate state or
even any specific way of participating in
the political process or making economic
decisions like most other communities
inspite of Sindhis contributing a major
Dr. Motiprakash
Famous Sindhi Writer-
Poet- Educationist –
Academy Award.
share towards G. D. P. of the country.
Migrant Sindhis became stable and well
settled in India only on the basis of hard
work, very strong will and a never say 'give
up' attitude. Sindhi community has a song
which can be treated as the anthem of
Sindhi community and recognized as the
must sung song at any social gathering of
Sindhis. The song goes like “Aandhi mein
Jot Jagain Wara Sindhi, Ain Khak Khe Sonu
Banain Wara Sindhi” [Sindhi are the ones
067

“
Dr. Moti Prakash
and his wife
Kala Prakash
are the first
Sindhi couple to receive
Sahitya Academy Award
for their literary creations in
Sindhi language in 1988 and
in 1994 respectively.
” affiliated to the Central
068
who dare to initiate a flame
even in storms and have
skills and abilities to turn
dust into Gold].
The economic struggle
inspired and generated a
fire in him for doing
something significant
towards the education of
Sindhi community. In
1951, he passed S. S. C
Examination from Pune
Board and immediately
thereafter he started his
professional career as the
teacher with Sindh
Cosmopolitan High
School, Chembur, Mumbai
and kept continuing his
studies.
He was such a dedicated
person that within short
span of just three years he
was offered a job at K. J.
Khilnani Group of
Schools, where he worked
till February 1977. After
working for 14 years as the
teacher, Dr. Moti Prakash
was appointed as the
Principal of K. J. Khilnani
H i g h S c h o o l , D a d a r,
Mumbai, in 1968.
Sindhis in the Gulf
countries established
Indian High School,
Board of Secondary Education, New
Delhi, and were looking for safe hands to
nurture the institution. Their search ended
with Dr. Moti Prakash, who joined the
institution in February 1977 as the
principal and was promoted to the post of
Rector of the Institution in the year 2000.
Dr. Moti Prakash has held many reputed
posts which are mentioned here :
· Founder Secretary of Sindhu Kala
Mandir, Mumbai
· Founder Secretary of Sindhu Kala
Niketan, Mumbai
· Secretary & Vice Chairman of Sindhi
Sahit Mandal, Mumbai
· Secretary of Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli
and SahityaSabha
· Member, Advisory Committee for
Promotion of Standard Literature in
Sindhi. (Ministry of Education,
Government of India, 1975)
· Member, Maharashtra State Bureau of
Text Book Production and Curriculum
Research, Pune. (Production of Text
Books - Class I to IX)
· Founder, Council of CBSE Affiliated
Schools in the Gulf: (Secretary 1990-
92), Chairman (1992-93)
· Convener, Sindhi Advisory Board,
Sahitya Akademi (2003-07)
Dr. Moti Prakash was a writer as well as
poet. His literary works include the
following :
· 'Aau Ta Choryoon Chung' (Let us play
the fiddle), Poems, 1959.'
· Anja Ta Maan Nandhri Ahyan' (I am
still a small kid), Sindhi Drama, 1962.
· 'Andhero Ujalo' (Light & darkness),
Novel, 1963.
· 'Gulran Ja Geet' (Songs for budding
kids), Children's literature, 1963.
· Raat Hik ToofanJi' (Stormy night)
Sindhi Drama, 1971.
· Chininga Vich Choley' (Sparks in my
lap), Poems 1983.
· 'Dithe Deenhan Thyam' (Have not seen
you for a long), Character Sketches'
1986.
· ‘Se Sabh Sandhyum Saah Seen’ (All are
hidden in my heart), Travelogue, 1987.
Dr. Moti Prakash was also associated with
All India Radio (from 1956 to 1977) and
had produced more than 200 plays.
AWARDS
Dr. Moti Prakash,was awarded for
children literature in 1975 by NCERT,
Ministry of Education, Government of
India for his book "Gulran Ja Geet". In the
year 1989 by Sahitya Akademi, Ministry of
HRD, Government of India for his book
"Se Sabh Sandhyum Saah Seen". These two
awards were quite close to his heart.
Dr. Moti Prakash is also recipient of Prof.
Ram Panjwani Literary Award (1989)
Priyadarshni Literary Award (2004),
Sahyog Foundation Award (2000), Uttam
Award (2008) and Gaurav Puraskar
awarded by the Government of
Maharashtra.
•••
069
 R ajan Nagpal is a
youngest Sindhi
social worker in Delhi,
who is always active in
Sindhi social, religious
and charity causes. He is
actively connected with
gracious JhuleLal Mandir
and the fully air
conditioned Sindhi
Guest House of Ashok
Vihar, New Delhi.
Born in 1988 in New
Delhi, Rajan is a diamond
expert, Jeweller and
Restaurant owner
Rajan Nagpal professionally but he
always takes out time
from his busy schedule,
to cater the social needs
of Sindhi Community of
Delhi.
•••

070
B orn on 2 n d March 1943 in
Hyderbad, Sindh, Hiro Thakur
is a poet, writer and research scholar
of eminence. Poetry, critical essays
and research articles are his main
field of literary activity. He is also a
broadcaster and journalist of repute.
He served as a parliamentary
correspondent of leading Sindhi
Paper Hindustan Daily of Mumbai
and was Editor of Koonj, a literary
magazine.
Hiro Thakur worked with All India
Randio(AIR) as a newscaster and
retired from AIR as the Incharge of
Sindhi news unit, after serving for 37
years. He is still serving as a
commentary writer and reader and
has celebrated 50 Golden Jubilee
years as a broadcaster with AIR on
nd
2 October 2016. He has been
writing in Sindhi since 1958 and has
contributed 18 scholarly books in
Sindhi language and on two
occasions has been felicitated by the
Presidents of India.
Thakur’s monumental contribution
to Sindh language is his research
work on classical poet Qazi Qadan
for which he has received well Hiro akur
deserved accolades from scholarly
circles both in India and Pakistan
and has earned many awards and
honors. This book was released by
the then President of India. Hon’ble
Shri Neelam Sanjiv Reddy at
R ashtrapati Bhawan. Another

071
President of India Gyani Zial Singh,
presented him a memento at the World
Sindhi Conference in 1983.
Sahitya Akademi conferred on Shri Hiro
Thakur its coveted award twice – once on
his essay book ‘TahiqiqainTanqid’ in 2003
and second time on his translated book
‘Krishin Chandra Joon Choond
Kahaniyaoon’ in 2012.
The Sindh Graduated Association of
Pakistan honored him with Dastarbandi
(Pagdi), which is a rare honor for a Hindu
Sindhi. The Governor of Sindh, Pakistan
Shri Ibad presented him with the Shah
Latif Excellency Award in Karachi in 2005.
Sindh Akademi, Delhi honored him with
the Special Merit Award. He has also
received three awards from CHD and
NCPSL of Human Resource
Development Ministry on his three books,
Qazi Qadam Jo Kalam, Bheromal
Meherchand and Tashqiq aim Tanqid.
Union Culture Ministry granted Thakur a
Senior Fellowhsip on his research work on
072
Sindhi Literature prescribed by the
Britishers during the Freedom Struggle.
Sindhi Social and Cultural Council, New
Delhi felicitated him with Sindhi Ratna
Award and Best Sindhi Sabha, Sarangga
Publications and Dil-e-Sindh
organizations have also honored him.
From time to time Hiro Thakur has
attended more than 300 National and
International Conferences, Seminars,
Workshops and Mushairas in Various
cities of India, U.K. Canada, USA,
Emirates (UAE) and Sindh (Pakistan) and
contributed more than 200 research
papers at such conferences.
Thakur's book 'Behatreen Sindhi
Mazmoon' is a prescribed book on JAS
Course and some of his other books are
prescribed on MA, BA and other courses
of various universities.
Presently he is the member of Executive
Board of NCPSL (Govt. of India.)
•••
B orn In a family of
Fr e e d o m Fi g h t e r
Late Shri Hotaldas
Harsumalji Jhamnani
( Vi c e - Pr e s i d e n t - A l l
India Sindhi Freedom
Fighters Organisation,
Mumbai) Ishwar got an
atmosphere of
patriotism, social service
and community
upliftment in the family
from childhood. Right
from early age he was
actively involved in
organizing social and
extra curricular activities
at school and college
level. Creating an identity
Ishwar Jhamnani
of Sindhi Community
post partition was his
motto. He got involved
with his father in business
and gave a Midas touch to
it. At a very early age
involved with lots of
073
social and industrial activities. He got the
endorsements from commercial body of
Government from Malwa Chamber of
Commerce and was its Joint Secretary
from 1978 to 1985. During 1980-86, hewas
General Secretary of MP Oil Millers'
Association and played Instrumental role
in promoting oil trade in the region
through conventions and conferences
organized regularly.
He was actively involved in Council for
World Trade and Industrial Development,
New Delhi and was a charter member of
Rotary Club of Indore (Central) from
1980 to 86. For his achievements in
construction industry, he was honored for
cooperative movement of housing sector,
and was asked to represent the National
Cooperative Housing Federation, New
Delhi in 1985. He was also the Founder
President of Madhya Pradesh Multi
System Operators Association and
spearheaded efforts for streamlining the
cable industry in 2001.
Since 1970, he got actively involved with
various prestigious social Sindhi bodies,
public, charity and welfare organizations.
With a whole hearted dedication to
Sindhyat he was involved with 'Serva
Bharat Sindhi Boli Sahitya Kala
Vi k a s S a b h a ' , M u m b a i , ( a p r e m i e r
association for the promotion of
Sindhism) as General Secretary for MP
State in 1975.
With a great passion for Indian sports; he
promoted wrestling and basketball. He
074
became Patron for Shri Chandan Guru
Vyayamshala Trust which is a renowned
training centre and gymnasium for Indian
and Greek-o-Roman wrestling and has
given India many national players. He was
member of the organizing committee for
All India Sardar Bahclur Memorial Basket
Ball Tournament in 1968.
In 1986 he established “Sindhu Sanskriti
Kendra [Trust] to preserve, nurture and
save Sindhi language and culture and also
to promote education and cultural
activities among Sindhis.
He was appointed as Member of Madhya
Pradesh Sindhi Sahitya Academy(Govt. of
Madhya Pradesh) in 1986, Member of
Sindhi Vikas Board(HRD Ministry, Govt.
of India); in 1994 Member of Sindhi
Kalyan Samiti (G.A.D, Govt. of Madhya
Pradesh); in 2002, Member of Zonal
Railway Users Consultative Committee
(ZRUCC) & District Telecom Advisory
Committee.
To keep alive the glory of the 5000 years
old Indus Valley civilization, Hinduja
Group formed Induslnd Enterprises &
Finance Ltd., and IndusInd Foundation
(A Charitable Trust), Ishwar was
appointed its Zonal Convenor for Madhya
Pradesh in 1995.
•••
 His dossier is truly inspiring and
exceptional:
· Former VC, Barkatullah
University, Bhopal,
· Former Director of Technical
Education, Govt, of Madhya
Pradesh,
· Founder Director, Bhilai Institute
of Technology, Durg,
· Founder Director, TRUBA
Institute of Engineering and
Information Technology, Bhopal,
· Former Principal, Govt
Engineering College, Jabalpur,
· Former Principal, Govt
Engineering College, Raipur,
· Former Principal, Govt
Engineering College, Jagdalpur,
· Former Member, AICTE, New
Delhi,
· Former Member, Board of
Governors, IIT- Mumbai,
Dr. Hari Vachhani · Former Member, Board of
Governors, MANIT, Bhopal,
· Former Member, Board of

A t e a c h e r, a m e n t o r a n d a n a r d e n t
educationist, do not do full justice in
describing Dr H. A. Vachhani. As an eminent
Governors, NITT TR, Bhopal,
· Former Dean, Faculty of
Engineering, Ravi Shankar
teacher, he has gained a prominent position in University, Raipur,
educational realm on account of his exemplary · Former Dean, Faculty of
achievements. His rise to distinction can be Engineering, Rani Durgavati
attributed to his strong will power, calibre, Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur,
conviction, dedication and leadership quality · Advisor, Trinity Institute of
besides a strong passion for technical Technology, Bhopal.
education. He was awarded the “Outstanding
Born on 21st February 1937, Dr Vachhani Concrete Technologist for the year
completed his BE (Hons) in Civil Engineering 2010” for Madhya Pradesh by Indian
in 1958 and ME in Structural Engineering Concrete Institute.
(including Concrete Technology) from IIT When the achievements of this great
Roorkee in 1962 and went on to obtain his educationist are listed it is easy to
Doctorate from Canada in 1967. believe that there is nobody else to
075
match such a profile. His academic aura
fills us with awe. Not only has
Dr.Vachhani brought many academic
reforms in technical education but he has
also been progressive in his vision for
technical education and that is the reason
he introducd some totally new courses in
his tenure. As a Director/ Principal at
Govt. Engineering College Raipur
(presently NIT, Raipur), following
courses were added during his 7 year term:
· Bachelor of Architecture:
· B.Tech in Electronics & Telecom
Engineering
· M.E. (Civil) in Water Resources and
Irrigation Engineering
· M.E. (Mechanical) in Energy System
and Pollution
· Masters in Computer Applications
It would be difficult to find another with
such an illustrous career graph, and what is
even more remarkable is the amount of
respect he draws from his students,
colleagues and subordinates. He has
touched everyone with his gentility,
humility and affection. Dr. Vachhani has
always been at the vanguard of strong
technical fundamentals and that is the
reason he strongly advocates early years
being taught by senior teachers for a more
productive and deep rooted learning. And
076
driven by this philosophy he has always
offered to teach the formative engineering
classes.
He strongly believes that in order to
educate the young generation in the
present scenario, the teachers should be
regularly updated, trained and motivated.
It is then that the young generations can
be converted into responsible, confident
and self-reliant youth of the country. He
also has the distinction of establishing the
Government's Women's Polytechnic in
the tribal area of Jagdalpur [CG]. In
addition to discharging his duties as a
Principal of Government Engineering
College at Jagdalpur, Bastar for 2 years, he
prepared the project report for this
polytechnic, got it sanctioned and
established. This area would always be
indebted to Dr. Vachhani for this
dedicated task.
Dr. Vachhani has keen interest in music
and has maintained his passion for the
same. He has also kept alive his spirit to
read more in accordance to his philosophy
of continuous evolution. His huge
collection of books is a testimony for the
same. It is this inexhaustible treasure of
knowledge in engineering that makes him
a harmonious blend of technology and
tradition in education.
•••
D r. J. C. Ajawani, completed
his graduation in Science in
1973,post graduation in
Psychology in 1975 and was
awarded his Ph. D. in 1979 on
the topic “Problem-Solving
B e h a v i o u r i n r e l a t i o n To
Personality, Intelligence, Age,
& Sex”. He also received his
D.Lit degree from U.S.A. in
2014. He is life member of
various, academic organizations
including International
Affiliate of American
Psychological Association
(USA).
He is editor of Journal of
Psychology Applied to Life and
Work. He is Vice-President of Dr. J. C. Ajawani
Chhattisgarh Academy of
Applied Psychology. He has 75
research papers published/
accepted in national and
international journals. He has
“ Completed 4 research projected funded by
U.G.C. and CCOST. He has contributed an article
in 4 books one of which is published by
conducted 9 national seminars
and presented 112 research
papers in various international
and national seminars. He has
Roudedge International Handbook, U.K.
”
also participated in 19
workshops on different topics.
So far, 28 doctoral research
scholars have been awarded
degree of Ph.D. under his

077
guidance, 2 scholars are
working under his guidance (as
co-guide). He has developed 4
training programs and
developed 40 psychological
tests. He has also completed 4
research projected funded by
U.G.C. and CCOST. He has
contributed an article in 4
books one of which is
published by Roudedge
International Handbook, U.K.
He has a teaching career of 34
years and is presently working
as HOD., Psychology, Arts
and Commerce Girls' College,
Devendra Nagar, Raipur
(C.G.).
He is also visiting faculty at
Govt. Medical College, Raipur
(C.G.), Chhattisgarh
Pr a k a s h a n A c a d e m y a n d
Academic Staff College, Pt.
Ravishankar Shukla University,
Raipur.
He has the expertise in
Emotional Intelligence and has
developed an El Training
Programme. He has his
counselling clinic wherein he
renders his services to only one
client a day. He has a very
successful clinical experience
of several years.
•••

078

Dr. Romesh
& views about Indian businessmen's
Brother
Sunil Wadhwani
“
The Wadhwanis’ thrust on AI
also has the blessings of the government.
Both, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant
are reportedly big fans of AI.
” 079
R th
omesh Wadhwani's manner of speaking
is as crisp as his style of dressing. At his
24 floor suite in a Worli, Five Star,
Wadhwani, who is wearing corduroy
trousers and Chelsea boots, feels that unlike
to their counterparts in the US, the wealthy
in India prefer donating to Gods rather than
to men.
“My definition of philanthropy is giving to
people that you don't know and you may not
even like. If you knew them you might not
have liked them. But that is not a reason to
not help them,” says the CEO of the
California based $3 billion Symphony
Technology Group and one of the richest
Indian-Americans in the US. His brother
Sunil, less sartorially flamboyant than his
elder brother, echoes his views, though he
believes that men like Azim Premji and
Nandan Nilekani are now setting remarkable
examples.
The Wadhwani brothers, who grew up on
Warden Road and after over four decades of
leaving the city, still miss Mumbai viscerally
("Oh ho-ho, vadapav, chaat and missal-pav, I
eat everything as soon as I land here," says
Sunil) are allowed to hold less than flattering
miserliness, because they have both
committed about 80 per cent of their wealth
to philanthropy. Romesh, whose National
Entrepreneurship Network has been giving a
boost to young entrepreneurs in the country
for the last several years, signed The Giving
Pledge promoted by former US President
Barack Obama and investing legend Warren
Buffet. While Sunil, the co-founder and
former CEO of I Gate Corporation - the
company was sold in 2015 to a French firm
for over $4 billion - set up the Wadhwani
Institute for Sustainable Healthcare in India
in 2014. Their latest venture, though, is the
first time the IIT and Carnegie Mellon
alumni are actually working together, and is
focused on harnessing the power of
Artificial Intelligence to accelerate social
development. The brothers have
committed some 200 crores to set up
Wadhwani Artificial Intelligence (AI). The
institute, which will come up in BKC and is
a global first, will partner with several
institutions across the globe, including
Mumbai University, to create a talent
ecosystem in AI.
The AI institute was born when the two
met at Sunil's home in Pittsburgh —
Romesh is based in Los Altos, the heart of
Silicon Valley — nine months ago. "We had a
brief chat, and figured that after all these
years of setting up our own companies and
being successful in our own little ways, it
was time to work together. We were both
interested in applying AI for social good,
not for profit. And we said, 'Let's do this
with $15 million each and take it from
there'," says Romesh.
The Wadhwanis are among those who do
not take a dark view of AI, which is already
shaping our lives and is as inevitable as
tomorrow. "There is this perception that it
will hurt people and displace jobs. All of
that is true if you are an accountant or, say, a
doctor. However, they represent a small
fraction of the workforce. But what about
farmers, or primary school teachers in
remote areas? Their lives are going to be
positively impacted," says Romesh.
Here's how AI can be transformative, says
Sunil: farmers could use AI to improve crop
yield by using it to better predict the right
time to sow seeds; or to predict crop
disease, or floods. "We have a shortage of
healthcare workers both in rural and urban
areas. But AI can be used to augment the
080
power of these men and women with tools
that can help them analyse issues. Then,
there's education. AI can be used to predict,
say, student dropouts. And that's important
because dropping out will eventually affect
a child's lifetime income."
The Wadhwanis' thrust on AI also has the
blessings of the government. Both, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and NITI Aayog
CEO Amitabh Kant are reportedly big fans
of AI. In about a year from now, says
Romesh, the institute should have defined
three or four specific target areas and begun
work on pilot programmes for them.
"There's a second track which is building
the best AI talent – people who are not just
talented in it, but also passionate about
applying it for social good," says Sunil. The
third track, he says, is to utilize domain
knowledge of agriculture, health and
education with the technological
knowledge to generate ideas about how it
can be applied on a large scale in India. "AI
could even help with urban planning,
infrastructure and in reducing traffic
congestion."
There's also the novelty of working with
each other after years of charting their
professional and now philanthropic paths.
"Of course, there won't be daily
discussions, because we've hired the right
leadership team. But I've always admired his
vision and the way he goes about things. He
still works about 70 hours a week!" says
Sunil.
"Essentially, we both view the world the
same way. Out here, you can see people
right on the footpath, in slums etc. For us,
for anyone with a conscience, especially if
you have done well, you have to ask
yourself: how do I help?”
•••
 Lalchand Totaram Nagpal
L alchand Nagpal, born in Bangalore on
18th June 1949 in a value based family is
a man with total faith and complete belief
in himself. A True Samaritan, he was
brought up with high ethical values and is
totally against hypocrisy and believes in
the motto, “Truth Always Prevails.”
From a very young age, he was dedicated
to his family business. Along with
successfully running the family business,
he established several other businesses
which are presently headed by other
family members.
A Man with immense talent, he was a
renowned sportsman and won many
accolades in Lawn-Tennis and Billiards at
the local clubs. Currently he is an
Executive Member of the Club House –
Karnataka State Cricket Association.
In 1992, Puj Sindhi Panchayat, decided to
construct some flats and provide a decent
shelter to some of the needy Sindhis of
081
Bangalore. A special committee was
formed and Nagpal was one of the main
person responsible to give shape to this
project. In a short period the funds were
raised and construction work was
completed. Several applications were
received and selection of deserving
families was a major problem. Finally, with
great efforts, 28 flats were allotted, free of
cost, to needy and homeless Sindhi
families.
In 2001, on behalf of Bangalore Sindhis, he
voluntarily accepted a very difficult and
gigantic task for Gujarat Earthquake
Relief Operation. He personally visited His Prime service of donating monthly
medicines to chronic patients irrespective
Gandhidham twice. With the help of a few
of caste and creed is praiseworthy. Patients
social workers there, land was purchased
and their families cannot thank him
and the construction work was finalised.
enough, as he provides them with much
Within a year 48 row houses were
needed relief to meet their never ending
constructed and the same were allotted to
expenses.
the Sindhi Earthquake victims. This
project was a Feather in a cap for His love for nature and wanderlust takes
Bangalore Sindhis. him to various destinations – India and
Abroad. He travels extensively and on
In the following year, Lalchand Nagpal
several occasions has grabbed the
was specially recognized for the same and
opportunity of participating in many
many other services rendered towards the
social, cultural and theosophical events.
welfare of Society. He was conferred with
As a God fearing person, he feels proud
the highest award, the “SINDHU
that he has visited most of the holy places
RATNA” by The Sindhi Federation of
throughout India. This led him to sponsor
South India, Chennai. Truly, it was a great
religious and holy travels for people who
honour.
desire to visit but cannot afford the
At present, he is living a relaxed and expenses. So far he has sponsored several
comfortable life by devoting his time and such trips for hundreds of people bringing
earnings towards the welfare of the him immense contentment and happiness.
society. Being a philanthropist, his passion
Last but not the least he always prays to
is to help the needy and society at large.
the Almighty and seeks His blessings to
Being a motivational speaker has earned
continue with such endeavours till his last
him great fame everywhere.
breath.
•••
082

M usic is what she breathed and lived
f o r, L i l a C h a n d e r J h a n g i a n i
worshiped music like one worships a deity.
Her husband Chander H. Jhangiani and
her son Rajan Jhangiani today are singers
and drama artists because of her
inspirational vibes for Sindhi art and
culture . Since childhood, she had been
actively singing in Sindhi tikanas and
Sindhi Panchayat programmes and famous
auditoriums throughout India. She even
rendered a programme in Leh.
She had passed her audition in music and
drama from All India Radio(A.I.R), Delhi
in the year1966 and was graded as a B high
Lila C. Jhangiani
“ The film
Ammi Yaan Mummy
begins with her playback song
‘Doolah tuhinji mehar
maya saan’
”
grade artist. She had been singing on
A.I.R. and Doordarshan TV, Delhi,
Ahmedabad, Bombay, Jaipur, Kutch, Bhuj
and Bhopal etc. and also performed in
many dramas on A.I.R. with co artists like
the living legend Lachman Bhatia (Komal)
and the famous sisters Veena and Shalini
Shringi. She had been invited to perform in
many concerts in Bhopal, Bombay,
Ahmedabad several times.
Lila Jhangiani has been honoured and
felicitated with innumerable awards from
renowned Sindhi organizations like
Sindhu Bhawan, Sindhi Gurudwaras, and
Sindhi Panchayats throughout Delhi. Her
083
main awards were 'CHAMAN' and 'Ratan
Award' from Sindhu Bhavan Sindhi
Society.
She has arranged many stage Dramas for
Mehran Group, NavJeevan, Sindhu Kala
Sangam. Some of the names being :
1. JhethoMetho
2. Zaal Kare Thi Tal
3. Mawali Mulk Ja Wali
4. Sindhi Minister
5. Khapai Dil Tan Achi Mil
6. Ammi Yaa Mummy.
She was honoured by Late Prof. Ram
Punjwani for her famous drama 'Zaal Kare
Thi Taal' and 'Mavaali Mulk Jaa Wali' in
Bombay. She has received many mementos
and awards for other dramas, also.
She has also provided play back singing in
films namely :
1. Ammi Yaa Mummy
2. Ker Kehinjo
The film Ammi Yaan Mummy begins with
her playback song 'Doolah tuhinji mehar
maya saan' Music for the video film 'Zaal
kare thi taal' is also ready for release.
She had given playback and recorded
songs for many cassettes with her Sangeet
Maestro and Guru, Dada Kan Mothihar.
With God's grace, she herself had released
two of her own music albums in Sindhi
Language viz:-
1. Collection of 10 Sindhi songs
released by the revered Dada Suresh
Keswani- Chairman of Sindhi
Academy.
084
2. Baksh Medi Taqseer- Collection of
10 Nuri Bhajans and geets released
at the auspicious hands of our world
revered Dada J P Vaswani on the
136th Birth anniversary of Dada
Vaswani at Sadhu Vaswani Mission,
Moti Bagh, New Delhi.
Apart from these two, her third album a
collection of Sindhi Kalams and gazals
could not be completed because of her
untimely death on 13th April 2016.Her
songs can be heard on Internet at the
website: sindhimusic.com
Music was in her veins and heart till she
breathed her last. She retired as a Class I
officer from M/o Communications and
despite her busy job profile did regular
riyaaz and her husband C.H. Jhangiani, a
Class I officer himself lent her his full
unconditional support. C.H. Jhangiani
himself is a great singer, percussionist and
a stage artist. He is of course another
unsung hero of Sindh who till date is
rendering his services and support to
Sindhi Culture by attending and
performing at many Sindhi functions and
programmes all over India.
Recently, she was felicitated with a cash
reward, a memento and a pakkhar by
Sindhi Academy, Delhi in recognition of
her contribution to promote Sindhi art
and culture. She was nominated as Chief
Guest a number of times on various
occasions by the same Academy. She was
conferred with the 'Shere-Sind' award by
the Delhi Pradesh Sindhi Sabha in 2006.
•••

A runa Jethwani is a writer, translator,
poet, an award winning author and an
educationist. She is the Ex-Principal of
Sadhu Vaswani Mission's St. MIRA'S
COLLEGE for girls, Pune.
She has to her credit three novels, two
books of poetry, two self-help books, one
compilation of Short stories titled The
Bridge; and a biography of Dada J. P.
Vaswani titled “LOVE UNLIMITED”.
Her translation work from Sindhi to
English includes: Sadhu T. L. Vaswani's
autobiography titled “ECSTASY and
EXPERIENCES: A mystical journey”;
and a selection of Shah Abdul Latif's
poetry, titled: “THE SUFI: SHAH
Aruna Jethwani
ABDUL LATIF”. She has also translated
poetry and prose from Sindhi into English
for Sahitya Akademi Western Region,
Mumbai. She also received consolation
prize in the national translation
competition conducted by Sahitya
Akademi.
Aruna Jethwani's debut novel
“ANOTHER LOVE, ANOTHER SKY”
was awarded the first prize in 2005, in the
English category by the Authors' Guild of
India. Her Short Story 'BRIDGE ON
RIVER KRISHNA' won the first prize in
Rajaji Award Competition held in 1991.
This short story has been translated in
many languages. Her 16 short stories are
085

“ Aruna Jethwani’s
debut novel
“ANOTHER LOVE, ANOTHER SKY”
was awarded the first prize in
2005, in the English category
by the Authors' Guild of India.
Her Short Story
“BRIDGE ON RIVER KRISHNA”
won the first prize in
Rajaji Award Competition
held in 1991
” Sindhi Language.
086
translated into Marathi and titled,
'SUNERI GURTE, CHANDERI
AKASH'. The book has been well
received. The book titled 'THE
BRIDGE' was released at the
National Book Fair – Kochi, Kerala
in December, 2016.
Her novel: “At the wedding”- a tale
of Roots… Romance… Prophecy is
of significance to the Sindhi
community and has been well
received all over the world. Her
latest book titled “MIRACLES DO
HAPPEN” was recently released at
the World Book Fair 2017 New
Delhi, by Hon'ble Minister of State,
Ministry of HRD (Higher
Education) Dr. Mahendra Nath
Pandey.
A freelance writer, writing on social
and gender based issues; she has
contributed and published more
than 500 articles in national
newspapers. Aruna Jethwani
currently writes on spirituality in a
blog -“Sunday Speaking Tree”.
Associated with a number of
educational institutions, Aruna
Jethwani is also a Sunday painter,
and a community worker. Currently
she is the Vice-Chairperson of
National Council for Promotion of
Sindhi Language, Education
Department, HRD Ministry, New
Delhi. In this sphere, she has
introduced a number of innovations
such as digitalisation of learning of
•••
 D inesh Mirchandani
comes from a family
of gifted singers. He
started singing at the age
of 6, performing on stage
and at private music
shows. Born and brought
up in Mumbai, Dinesh has
won several music awards
in India and USA.
His first TV performance
in Bombay was at the age
of 15, when he sang
traditional Sindhi Indian
folk song. At that young
age, he also rendered
Sindhi Kalaams in front of
a very large audience at the
Bhaidas Auditorium in
Mumbai. Since then, he
has rendered several times
on Bombay Doordarshan
and National Network
Television in India. He has
performed on stage
Dinesh Mirchandani alongside great playback
singers like Mahendra
Kapoor, Sudha Malhotra
and Rajkumari.

087

Dinesh acquired his initial training in
Hindustani Classical music from Pandit
Govindprasad Jaipurwale in Bombay. With
Panditji, he trained in ragas and taals and
vocal enhancements. Under the guidance
of C. Laxmichand, Dinesh learned
traditional folk Sufi Kalaams, Sindhi
Ladas, Ghazals and Bhajans.
Dinesh moved to the United States in
1990, where he has continued to pursue his
passion for music. He has enthralled his
audiences by singing pop songs, ghazals,
film songs, bhajans and folk songs in
Hindi and Sindhi. Over the last decade, he
has performed at several shows in the US.
Some of his memorable events have
included the International Sindhi
Sammellan in Las Vegas, Diwali Function
at the State House in Rhode Island and the
Tsunami Concert in New Jersey, where the
audience could not resist joining him on
the stage and dancing to his foot-tapping
numbers. Some of his recognitions have
been the Logixzone USA Bollywood
Talent King Award, EBC Radio Music
King Award and the Sangeet Patdeep
088
“ Performed on stage alongside
great playback singers like
Mahendra Kapoor, Sudha Malhotra
and Rajkumari.
”
Puruskar from Sangeet Martand Pandit
Jasraj.
Dinesh truly believes that the art of
singing can be acquired, but the thirst for
learning music must come from the soul.
It was at the Sindhi Sammellan in Las
Vegas where he got inspiration for his
debut Sindhi album. His audience wanted
to hear more Ladas and Sufi Kalaams from
him, and he promised them that he would
o b l i g e s o m e w a y, s o m e d a y. T h e
album“Damadum Mast Qalandar” was a
fulfilment of that promise.
Today, Dinesh is a highly acclaimed Sindhi
Artist in the New York/New Jersey area of
the United States. He runs an Indian
Music Institute in New Jersey called
“Sargam Sangeet Vidyalaya”, where he
teaches Indian Classical as well as
Bollywood Music. His mission is to bring
the cultural values of India and Indian
Music to the new generation of Indian
Americans.
•••
 Divya Jhurani
D ivya Jhurani, daughter of Bannalal
Jhurani, has shown that girls can
achieve success in the world of
Engineering and Science and take a stand
for their hard work and problem solving
skills. She scored 94.5 % in her 12th board
exams and then there was no stopping her
achievements. She pursued her career in
the field of computers and joined
Engineering in Information Technology.
She was the topper in her batch for all 4
years of Engineering and also for some
semesters in entire university. Her college
also felicitated her with a Gold Medal for
her achievements. While in college, she got
selected for Mission R&D program which
is conducted by former founders of
Microsoft in India. After going through
intensive training under them, she landed a
job in Kony, a product based company,
with a very good starting package for a
fresher. Divya is very much passionate
about coding and she won her first
“Individual Excellence Award” at Kony
within 5 months of joining the company.
She took the company way ahead with the
amount of productive work she put in and
received exceptional performance hikes
and added one more "Individual
Excellence Award" to her laurels. She is a
good team player and an all-rounder
between intermittent teams. Her team as
well won "Best Team" award.
089
Along with studies, Divya also takes
interest in Arts& Crafts and won a prize in
Ganesha idol making competition at her
work place. She is full of joy and her family
has always supported her to pursue and
achieve her dreams. Divya says she
achieved all this just because her family
trusted her and there was never any
pressure from them to do anything that
didn't interest her. They just trusted their
daughter and motivated her at every step.
So having all the freedom, she knew where
her boundaries were and made her way to
success. She got married to Himanshu
Ramchandani and is currently doing her
Masters from the well renowned
University of Southern California, United
States.
•••

“
Married to
Himanshu Ramchandani
and is currently doing her
Masters from the well
renowned University of
Southern California,
United States.

” With Husband Himanshu

With friends & family members

090
H er journey of skating started in the
year of 2001. Her elder sister, Divya
Jhurani used to skate and Neha used to
watch her. Neha started skating at Shivaji
Park, Mumbai under the guidance of her
coaches and mentors P. Satyanarayana and
Chittibabu. They treated her like their
daughter and helped her reach the level
where she is today. Neha's first medal was a
silver medal in a club competition in 2002.
From there she went on to win medals in
different levels of skating. Her first
national level competition was in 2006 at
Ahmedabad. She got one silver medal in
freestyle. Her last national championship
in skating was in 2014 where she won
three Gold medals in the events -
Figure, Freestyle and Combine and
one Silver medal in Pair Skating and an
Individual Championship.
Neha is also a fashion enthusiast. In
2003, 2004 and 2005 she participated in
fashion shows, winning many of them.
She has done a fashion show with actor
Smitha, in the year 2004.
Her dad, Bannalal Jhurani is a business Neha Jhurani
man. He supported her in all her activities.
Her mom, Henna Jhurani is a housewife.
She was the main moral support of Neha.
She accompanied Neha to all the
championship whether- District, State,
“ Neha Jhurani is pursuing
B.Tech in Information Technology at
NIT Kurukshetra.
Nationals or International and stood
beside her at all times. She has won 166 medals in which
Along with her sports achievements she 93 are gold 58 are silver and
has equally balanced her studies too. She 15 are bronze in various levels of
did her schooling in Siva Sivani Public skating (nationals included), she
School and High School at Ascent Classes. has to her credit 13 Individual
She received immense support from her
teachers who trusted her. She scored
Championships as well.
” 091
93.8% in ICSE 10th board
and 98.4% in 12th, Andhra
Board. Her JEE Main rank
was 8521 due to which she
got admission in NIT
Kurukshetra in Information
Technology.
She has even participated in
figure skating in 56th World
Artistic Roller Skating
Championship in 2011
which was held in Brasilia,
Brazil. She stood 5th in
figure skating in 16th Asian
Artistic Roller Skating
Championship held at
Haining, China.
She gives credit for all her
achievements to her parents,
siblings, grandparents, Dada Ratanchand Chawla
coaches and her relatives.
She was even felicitated by
Sindhi Federation twice in
the years 2008 and 2016. She
L ate Sri Dada Ratanchand born in Shikarpur,
migrated to Bombay after partition. Later he
shifted to Bangalore. He became very active in social
got an "Ugadipurushkar" in life. He was connected to various associations
the year 2009. which came up gradually in several years. He was the
Neha attained the title of most popular President for over 17 years of
Miss Fresher in her college prestigious association called Puj Sindhi Panchayat.
and was appreciated for her His attitude towards selfless service won him laurels
outstanding achievements and high respect in the society. He took active part
too. She is now in a dance in helping the needy in areas of ration distribution,
crew of her college and has shelter and education. He played a very important
won a group dance role in matrimonial and reconciliations. Even today
competition in her college his name is mentioned at various platforms and the
fest “Confluence” in 2017. society at large remembers him. Bangalore is proud
to have such a personality who worked sincerely
Neha Jhurani was a judge in
towards the up-liftment of the society.
the 54th National Artistic
Skating in 2017 February. Acknowledging his services the Sindhi Federation
of South India honoured him with the prestigious
•••
Sindhu Ratna Award.

092
 N eelam Mansharamani, a
well read and a well-bred
young girl started her career in a
reputed advertising agency and
topped it up with a few
assignments in a couple of
embassies/diplomatic missions.
As a normal dreaming young
girl, she ventured into
histrionics, walked on fashion
ramps and had a dig into some
social projects, before landing
up in a blissful marriage with an
aptly educated management
professional. She was blessed
with a lovely son. As they say, “A
woman's life is completed on
attaining motherhood”, but her
life began after being a mother.
Her husband soon ceased to be,

Neelam Mansharamani leaving her and their infant son

alone in the world. Her son
Chirag, who was born as a lovely
and brilliant child, turned to be a
challenged special child. A
young, vibrant and promising
girl was left alone to face the
brunt of bringing up an
abnormal child. It was and is a
challenge for her and she is
taking this challenge heroically.
She took up a job in her
husband's organization, the
International Airport Authority
of India. She learnt the science
of bringing up Special Children,

093
  
Her Model Artwork
from USA, a subject in which she delivers
lectures and does counseling.
She portrays children in various forms,
women in various moods and the Gods
who created them all. Her hues are affable
and the style is lucid. As it is believed that
art is a visual poetry, a poet expresses
his/her feelings by way of choicest words,
Neelam conveys her message by playing
upon her colours, brushes and canvass –
her canvass is this life, her colours are the
human beings and her brushes are her
thoughts. The medium used by her is
acrylic / oil on canvas and water colours on
paper. Her works have been well
acclaimed, during her exhibitions all over.
She has about 100 exhibitions to her
credit.
According to Neelam motherhood is a
tough 24 hour job, no pays, no days off,
most often unappreciated and yet
resignation is impossible. She smiles in
troubles and also has gathered strength
094
Her Exhibition at the Hungarian Cultural Centre at Delhi,
with Mr. Tibor Kavacs, Director & Cultural Counsellor.
from stress and has grown brave by
reflection and prayer regularly and
religiously and keeps going with a smile. In
her series titled 'Carving the Legacy of
Woman', Neelam had rightly portrayed
her thoughts, evolved out of her own life
of being a painter, a creator, a fender, an
actor, a director, a character and above all a
Mother. With due apologies to the fans of
Shakespeare, Neelam has falsified the
infamous comment of Hamlet, who said,
“Frailty thy name is woman.” Neelam has
been singing Sindhi, Hindi and at times
English songs. For her, singing is
meditation.
Neelam has been awarded with a Bronze
Medal at the Asiad 82, Mother Teresa
Ratna Award, Best Mothers Award,
Special Award from Airports Authority of
India, Best Woman Award and more than
25 other awards for all that has been done
by her for society and Special Children.
•••
 Capt.
Sahil Wadhva
H is life as a sailor began in 2007, when
he joined the merchant navy as a cadet
on a bulk carrier ship after obtaining his
degree in Nautical Science from Glasgow,
Scotland. He was then 20 years of age.
On his first voyage he was made to do a
variety of sundry jobs like painting,
chipping and cleaning of the deck. Feeling
sea sick and intimidated by the environs,
he started wondering if he had made the
right career choice. It was then that he
learnt from his seniors, that the way to
fight sea sickness was to continue
breathing in a bit of the sea spray all the
time and continue to work. After fifteen
months of cadetship, and an exam in
Scotland, he got back to sea, as third
officer this time.
A typical day at sea in the rank of third
officer would commence with a bridge
watch and piloting the ship from 0800 hrs.
to 1200 hrs. After this, he would carry out
095
regular maintenance on life boats, life
buoys, fire extinguishers and the like. A
game of table tennis with his fellow mates
would precede dinner which would be
served sharp at 1800 hrs. Well the day
would be over, but not the night. So it was
voila-back to the bridge for another 4 hour
shift of bridge watch keeping.
nd
He worked his way up the ranks of 2
officer and then Chief Officer, going back
to Scotland for a grueling written and oral
exam. The rank of Chief Officer came
with its set of challenges as officials and
inspectors ashore often thought he was
too young and immature for the post and
would give him the cold shoulder. This led
him to grow a beard for the first couple of
years as Chief Officer in an attempt to
look older and wiser.
During his journeys around the world, he
had many adventures - some interesting
and the others scary, which underlines his
belief that a career at sea is not for the faint
hearted. On his second day as cadet the
crew members were attacked by pirates
096
but they chased them away with some
spirited shouting and waving of hands.
They were lucky that these chaps were not
armed with guns. The biggest threat came
from the dangerous Somali pirates as they
often crossed the gulf of Aden to go
through the Suez canal.
Life at sea comes with its set of
emergencies, when they ran into rough
weather, they would be required to work
continuously without a break. They
realized that this was to be done
unflinchingly because on that depended
the safety of the ship and along with it,
their own. As a cadet though, he would
hope for a storm as the rolling and pitching
of the vessel meant that no one on board
would be able to rest and this would give
sleep-deprived cadets some joy at settling
scores. The other challenge he faced on the
ship during a long voyage, was the short
supply of fresh food and had to resort to
canned foods and strict rationing till they
reached port.
•••
Rajan Jhangiani

R ajan Jhangiani has a versatile

personality. He is a gazette
officer, serving with Indian
Government since 1987. He has
not only been working for the
government but also is a
renowned and prominent figure
in the Sindhi Community
because of his outstanding
contribution towards the Sindhi
Art and Culture by way of his
exceptional singing, music
composing and acting. He
received his initial sangeet
training from his mother late
Smt. Lila Chander Jhangiani, a
celebrated and esteemed Sindhi
Sufi and folk singer, actor, music
director. Later on he completed
his Sangeet Prabhakar Degree in
Hindustani Vocal Music from
Prayag Sangeet Samiti,
Allahabad. He has been
performing and enthralling his
audiences by his Sindhi Sufi
Kalams, Sindhi folk and Gazals
time and again. He has been
conferred with many honours
and awards by umpteen Sindhi
Organisations. Presently he is a
member of the prestigious
Sindhi Academy.
•••

097
 P rakash Khemchandani has been a
Radio Jockey, presenting three and
half hours program in Sindhi language
for the listeners of Sindh, Pakistan. He
has also been translating commentaries
on current affairs, politics,
environment, science, technology etc.
besides translating speeches delivered
by Hon. President and Prime Minister
of India on the eve of Republic Day,
Independence Day from English to
Sindhi Arabic script. He is also a Voice
over artist, Radio Programmer and
Editor. He is an achiever and not many
can match him in his varied
professional activities.
Pr a k a s h h a s w o r k e d a s S i n d h i
Language Expert in the formation of
Hindi-Sindhi Dialogue CD prepared
Prakash by Central Hindi Directorate, New
Delhi. He has attended seminars in
Khemchandani electronic media of External Services
Division of All India Radio along with
presenting literal articles at seminars
and symposiums. He has written
English-Sindhi pocket dictionary with
typical Sindhi words, being used in
Sindh province of Pakistan (collection
of these words in not available in any
printed dictionary).He has also written
articles and short stories for literary
magazines.
Prakash has been made the member of
governing body of Sindhi Academy,
Delhi.
Lightning lamp at Rashtriya Kavi Samellan, New Delhi •••
098
 Poonam Bhatia
G one are the days when women were
considered no match for powerful men
in this world. The new generation of
women across the world have overcome all
negative notions and have proven
themselves beyond doubt in all spheres of
life including the most intricate and
cumbersome world of entrepreneurship.
Nothing could be truer than for the
women entrepreneurs of today who are
chartering unknown territories fearlessly.
Each of them is scripting her own success
story in today’s new age world.
Poonam Bhatia is one such fine example of
a successful entrepreneur. Born in
“
Co-Founder at
TRAINATHON
(A Successful Learning &
Development Organization)
”
Mumbai, she has worked her way up the
corporate ladder with hard work,
dedication and never-say-die attitude!
She has aggressively been working in the
Learning & Development Industry for the
last 15 years into Solution Selling &
Business Development. During her career
099
she has handled various industries like
BFSI, Retail, Auto, Oil, Manufacturing,
IT / ITES, Media & Entertainment,
Pharma and many more. A highly
professional woman who never felt like
she has been working all these years
because she loves what she does each day –
every minute! She has passionately
networked across sectors and countries.
Poonam has a strong business acumen,
which proved to be her biggest strength
once she decided to venture out and start
her own company Trainathon in 2012.
Since then, there has been no looking back
for this dynamic young leader.
She has been the recipient of several
awards such as -
• “Women Leadership Achievement"
(Feb 2014)
• "Leading Women CEO" (June 2014)
• “Women Learning & Development
Leader Of The Year” (Feb 2017)
These awards are conferred to
Outstanding Women Professionals who
have the vision, flair, acumen and
professionalism to demonstrate excellent
leadership and management skills in an
organization, making changes and
achieving results.
Poonam thoroughly enjoys Business
Development and Networking every
day..She believes that marketing is a driver,
not an enabler and walks the talk. Poonam
is a highly successful woman entrepreneur
working towards achieving her dreams
and making a difference. She has the
curiosity of a small child, fueling her desire
to constant learning.
She strongly believes in the importance of
staying focused on what you are building
and learning to cut out the noise around
you. “Everything is do-able. I try to
motivate my team to be problem-solvers
too, to take up tougher problems and
bigger challenges,” she says.
Focused Strategies for her Organization:
• Pan India & Global Clients - Solution
Selling
• Client interaction for requirement
gathering and understanding of the
business needs.
• Conceptualize and execute strategies
to drive sales.
• Ensuring excellent Customer
Relationship Management
• Exploring new avenues/opportunities
of business
• Building a High Performance Culture!
Strong Attributes:
• Ability to develop strong and trusting
relationships at all levels in an
organization
• Ability to think strategically in viewing
sales issues and opportunities
• Outstanding listening and consulting
skills
• Intellectually curious about what's the
latest news in the market
• Determined and self-motivated at all
times
• Outstanding oral communication skills
and an ability to write impactful
proposals
• Evidence of strong success in
networking and sales
Poonam believes that “what you say no to
is more important than what you say yes
to”. Always go with the choice that scares
you the most, because that's the one that is
going to help you grow.
Her favourite quote is - “If you keep doing
what you've always been doing, you'll keep
getting what you've always been getting”.
Sweet spot: Despite her busy schedule,
she finds time to do some cooking which
makes her very happy. Being a true foodie
at heart, she loves to cook and treat family
and friends too.
Work-life balance: People often told her
about the difficulties of managing both a
home and career. "But if I had stepped
away, listening to that, it would have
reflected on all women. My whole
experience was to show how to do it," she
says.
Successful Living: "Never let success or
the impressions of it go to one's head. Find
solutions to the challenges that life throws
your way and always strive to be your
yourself," she says.
•••
101
 K ailash Balani is the Chairman of Balani Group
of Companies comprising of Aditya Books
Pvt. Ltd., Balani Infotech Pvt. Ltd., iGroup
Kailash Infotech India Pvt. Ltd., A to Z Teaching and
Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Lawman India Pvt.
Balani Ltd., and Global Music Institute having head office
at Noida and branches at Bengaluru, Kolkata and
New Delhi.
Kailash started working at an early age of 15 to make
both ends meet. He could not continue his
education and left school after 10th class. Kailash
worked for government of India for three years and
left his job as he saw no future in it. He worked in
private sector publishing houses from 1974 to 1986
and enjoyed his work. Finally he thought of having
his own business and established Aditya Books in
1987 with his meagre savings of just Rs.35,000.
This group now has six companies and has over 100
employees across India. His companies distribute

102
all kinds of educational books in print and
electronic format and cater to K-12 to
higher education and to research
institutions and serve over 5,000
institutions in India and the sub-
continent.
Kailash loves travelling and has travelled to
over 40 countries around the world and
has attended many international book
fairs and has participated in many national
and international publishing conferences
and seminars. He has visited USA, UK,
Thailand and Germany over 30 time. He
has been the President of the Federation of
Publishers' and Booksellers' Associations
in India, for two years, Vice-President of
Delhi State Booksellers' and Publishers'
Association for two years and is also a
member of the publishing committee of
the Federation of Indian Chamber of
Commerce and Industry.
He is also associated with the Sindhi
Education Society, New Delhi and is
currently its Vice-President. This society
runs two schools, namely, Baba Nebhraj
Higher Secondary School and Hemnani
Public School. Kailash is also the
Associate member of Swami Dharamdas
Darbar Trust (Regd), New Delhi and is
involved in social work. Kailash has
instituted Best Artist Award in memory of
his father Khialdas S Balani which is given
away to deserving Sindhi Artist annually
during 'Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli Ain Sahit
Sabha' samelan and carries a cash prize of
Rs.50,000/-. Kailash also loves doing
social work.
•••
103

S he is the editor and publisher of Sindhi
Gulistan fortnightly newspaper, which
she has been publishing since 1994.
Moreover, she is the only Sindhi lady
publishing Sindhi newspaper in India.
Besides this she has been afreelance
journalist in various magazines and
newspapers for a long time. She has been
associated with All India Radio,worked as
a Talker and Casual Announcer from 1989
to 2014. She has translated various books
from Hindi to Sindhi. She has
transliterated and composed the Sindhi
Arabic books into Sindhi Devnagiri script
by Sindhi Academy, Delhi and for various
other organizations too. Not only is she
the executive member of governing body
of Sindhi Academy, Delhi but is also
104
Anjali Tulsiani
member, president and secretary of
various Sindhi promoting organizations
like president of Delhi Pradesh Sindhi
Samaj (Regd), general secretary of Kalkaji
Sindhi Panchayat, member of Akhil
Bharat Sindhi Sahitya & Prachar Sabha.
She is a versatile person; her talent is not
only limited to Sindhi language but she has
mastery over Jyotish, Vastu, Numerology,
Yoga etc.
She is a Jyotish Aacharya, which is highest
position in Astrology field. She is also
actively working with NGO's for the
betterment for Girl's Education, better
health facilities for women and for
uplifting their socio-economic status in
society.
•••
 Jagdish R Bhurani

Author;
Natural Benefits of Urine Therapy

Promote URINE THERAPY

“SHIVAMBU”
It can SAVE Millions of Life
URINE THERAPY can Control / Cure
CANCER, HIV
And All Kinds of Chronic Diseases
The Healing Power is within us.
People throughout the World can
maintain a Healthy Life and relief from
their Sufferings
Millions of people are suffering from
chronic diseases. Today mankind has been
surrounded by innumerable incurable
diseases and man is feeling utterly helpless
and dejected. Urine Therapy also called
“SHIVAMBU” The Powerful healing
practice of “SELF URINE THERAPY”

105
It is the ancient method of treatment
which has been handed down from
generation to generation.
Reference to Urine Therapy is found in
almost all the volumes of AYURVEDA. It
is an entirely drugless system of healing all
kinds of Chronic Diseases and
maintaining Good Health.
I n Ta n t r i c Yo g a t h e y t e r m e d
“SHIVAMBU” as Holy liquid and it is
considered more nutritious than milk.
“URINE THERAPY” is the Most
Effective Natural Remedy and the safest
method of treatment
I am the Author of the Book “NATURAL
BENEFITS OF URINE THERAPY”
published in English, Hindi, Kannada and
Tamil. It contains about 75 case histories
and testimonial of people who have
achieved benefits with “Urine Therapy”
suffering from CANCER, HIV, Gall
Bladder stones, Cerebral Palsy and various
other diseases. Everyone can read my
book, follow the proper instructions and
get relief from all kinds of disease.
Urine Therapy provides hope and cure for
patients who have given up on all other
types of treatments. I have uploaded
recorded videos of patients who have
achieved benefits and relief from their
suffering with “URINE THERAPY” on
Website: www.urinetherapy.in
Thousands of people have achieved
benefits with “URINE THERAPY”
Watch Video on
106
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search
_query=jagdish+bhurani
I have proven it with my practical
experience that Urine Therapy can
control/cure various kinds of diseases and
save many lives. It is FREE of cost and can
be practiced at home.
The Government is promoting YOGA to
help people to maintain Healthy Life.
Similarly they should also promote
“URINE THERAPY” which can SAVE
Millions of Lifes.
I have forwarded letters to the President,
Vice President, Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi, and Various Govt. Health
Department for last 10 Years to promote
“URINE THERAPY”
Please JOIN YOUR HANDS and
Promote “URINE THERAPY”.
Your moral Support to Create
Awareness can SAVE Millions of LIFE
•••
 Hydro Power Canals and Irrigation
Canals at Dehradun and at Kanpur
respectively. Apart from above he has been
associated with design of Hydro Power
Projects at Design & Research Institute,
Roorkee. He has been doing Liaison work
for the Government of U.P. for three
years, stationed at Delhi till his retirement
in 2000.
After his retirement, he joined as a
consultant in Cauvery Water Dispute
Tribunal, Ministry of Water Resources,
Government of India, and worked for
eight years. He is associated with
Institution of Engineers as member and a
Chartered Engineer.

Manohar Karna After serving in various organizations he

started working for a charitable institute,
Sindhu Samaj, Delhi from 2012 as Gen.
Secretary. During his tenure of five years,

A fter Schooling from Delhi, Manohar

Karna joined Engineering College,
Jodhpur and Graduated in Civil
he has undertaken works of maintenance
and renovation of Shri JhuleLal Mandir,
Sant Kanwar Ram Dharamshalla's 29
Engineering in 1965. He joined Uttar rooms, Swami Lila Shah Auditorium and
Pradesh State Irrigation Department and Basement, Shri Krishna Mandir, Sant
was associated with the construction of Kanwar Ram Creche and organized
Asia's highest Earthen Dam called Ram various religious and Sindhi Cultural
Ganga Dam on the river Ram Ganga in functions.
Dist. Pori, Gharwal.
He was also associated with the
construction of Medium Earthen Dam
and its Canal System for eight years.
During this period, he was given the
challenging job of acquiring large chunks
of land for the reservoir and canal system
of the Dam. The Dam was on River Adwa
in drought prone area of Dist. Mirzapur.
He has been on deputation in the Center's
Water Commission, Government of India,
for five years, for scrutiny of projects. He
has been associated with construction of

K iahra A Punjabi is a Bangalore based
learning strategist, who cofounded
Sankalp Academy with her husband Amit
Punjabi in 2008. With her ability to observe
and innovate, she has designed experiential
programs for individuals and families to
utilize the true power of their leadership
and also generate support and value from
the people and other resources around
them to grow the intent and effectiveness
of their leadership.
She is a certified NLP Master Practitioner,
Life strategist & a Post Graduate in
Creative Teaching and has also been listed
among the Top 25 most influential women
of India by CEO magazine.
Kiahra got acquainted to the world of
facilitation, training and coaching in 2006
while she was pursuing her education.
There she observed how bleak and
confused people feel about their ambitions
and how they work towards the
achievement. She tried and started
analyzing various attitudes that aided them
in self actualization.
For Sankalp Academy, while her husband
decided to be the face of the organization
to potential clients, Kiahra chose to be the
pillar behind to set a strong foundation for
108
Kiahra A. Punjabi
it. Her pure focus has been on generating
and adding value to her work and providing
the right kind of support.
Her willingness to create an environment
in the organization that is conducive to
effortless and natural achievement of
success motivates her to learn, add more
value to her work and generate ideas for
development.
On her pursuit to adding value and helping
organisations grow successfully, Kiahra
designed one of her best programs, ‘Build
the Home Team.’ the success of which she
credits to her decision of embracing
motherhood.
While most people spend a lot of time
money and effort in building great teams at
work, they forget that there is a team at
home which actually helps in generating
maximum results in life. Build the home
team focuses on how to nurture and
generate breakthrough results for your
home teams.
Her upcoming book, Co-authored by Dr.
Amit Punjabi will be a guide to generating
maximum results and breakthroughs from
home teams.
Sankalp Academy, established in 2008, is a
training & coaching organisaton commited
to empower people to live a life driven by
choice than circumstances. Since 2008, he
ha s been conductng training programs on
NLP Skills, Communicaton, Leadership, Life
Strategizing & have trained & coached
people from different walks of life in
producing extraordinary results both in their
personal and professional life.
Dr. Amit Punjabi Phd (hc)
H e has facilitated workshops in various
entrepreneurship events including the
IIT E-Summit (2013) along with training
programs for organisations like K Bace
Technologies, Bosch, Oracle, Direct
Dialog & Mind labs on team building, time
management, entrepreneurial thinking,
powerful communication & Leadership.
Not only this, he has also extended his
passion for training to the under privileged
Trainer from the IPANLP and a certified
homes and trusts like Good Shepherd
Life & Business Strategist that enables him
Home, New Hope Children Home and so
to ensure certainty of growth; He has
on. Dr. Amit Punjabi has conducted
worked with individuals, students,
sessions in more than 10 cities across India
professions to help them produce
and has also conducted an International
extraordinary results in their lives since
training at Bali, Indonesia.
2006. Versed in the realm of Philosophy,
He runs a successful live show on Martial Arts, Adventure Sports,
Facebook called “The Ocean of Psychology & Concept Innovation which
Observations” which continues to work as in turn blends into his programs to
a dose of awareness to fellow create an experience that
leaders/entrepreneurs who are lasts. His versatility has
challenging themselves and the society to led him to feature in
carve an extraordinary life. some of the top
Dr. Amit Punjabi is the pioneer of Sankalp journals, magazines,
Academy; igniting the drive to achieve has newspapers and news
been a focus since 13+ years, creating a media forums like CEO
federation of 200,000+ people furnished Magazine, Entrepreneur
with the concept of growth and personal M a g a z i n e , Yo u r S t o r y,
development. A s i a B i z To d a y,
He is a Business/Life Coach, Influential Deccan Chronicle,
speaker, behavioural expert, strategic Door Darshan
consultant, author, consultant and the and many
author of the bestseller, “Pursuit: The others.
Journey of an Entrepreneur”. •••
A certified NLP Master practitioner from
the NFNLP USA, A certified NLP

109
U ma Lalla is a versatile and talented
singer in Sindhi.
Besides singing Sindhi Sufi songs, she also
sings Sindhi folk songs and has been
keeping alive the rich traditions and
culture of the Sindhi Community.
She was born in Lodhi colony, Delhi and
was introduced to music at the young age
of 7 years by her father Udharam Thadani
who himself was an exponent of Sindhi
Sufi Kalams. Thereafter she learnt classical
music under Dewan Motihar, a well-
known Sindhi Musician. She completed
her post-graduation (M.A.) in classical
music from Allahabad University.
She started giving solo performances more
than a decade ago and her first solo
performance was during a
special program on Uma Lalla
S i n d h i D a y
Celebrations which
was presided over by Academy (Delhi Govt.), she got an
honorable Shri L. K. opportunity to be a part of the delegation,
Advani. on a cultural visit to Pakistan, where she
She has given live rendered live performances in several
concerts in India cities like Karachi, Larkana, Hyderabad,
and overseas Rohiri-Sukkur. During her visit to
including Pakistan she had the great opportunity to
Singapore, meet renowned Sufi singer Abida Parveen.
Dubai, Further more her songs are still being
U.S.A., played on T.V. (on K.T.N. channel) and she
Pakistan is also accessible on Youtube.
and Hong Besides the above she is the proud
K o n g . recipient of Sindhu Ratan Award and was
Being a bestowed with several prestigious awards
member of by various organizations and institutions.
the Sindhi •••

110

Harish Kakwani
Date of Birth- 23-1-1951 (Ajmer)
Address- F-204, Sarjan Tower, Gurukul
Bharath Rajpal
Road, Memnagar, Ahmedabad-380052
Contact M-097129 59955 / 09228130001
email -- vision.academy@rediffmail.com
Education
M. Sc.(Chemistry), Diploma in Drama
Media
1. Served All India Radio for 17 years as
Programme Officer and as Head at
E d u c a t i o n a l R a d i o , G y a n Va n i
(IGNOU) for 5 years
2. Served Television- Doordarshan- for 7
years as Deputy Director Prog. and as
Head- Edu Television (SIET,Gujarat) for
3 years
Theatre
Acted, Directed Sindhi, Hindi, Gujarati
Stage Plays for 40 years
Visiting faculty
Po s t G r a d u a t e c o u r s e s i n M a s s
communication at different Universities
for 35 years
Trainer
For Acting, Anchoring, Direction for
Stage, Television, Radio
Awards
National Award of Govt. of India for
Innovative Radio programme
International Events coverage as Media
Person
• Asian Games in 1982
• Non-Aligned Summit in 1983
• Asia Pacific Union Meet in 1984
Conducting
Vision Sindhu Children Academy since
2003
Vision Sindhu Children Academy
Public Trust
It has remained Prime issue for our Sindhi
Community, at all our State, National and
International Seminars, to attend the
subject of Identity Crisis.
Vision Sindhu Children Academy ( V S C
A ) is active since 2003 to associate our
Sindhi Children/Youngsters with own
Community and to create Love, Respect
and feeling of Pride among them for our
own Language and Culture.
We provide training to them and then
perform stage shows in whole India and
abroad. Till today we have trained more
111

than 300 plus Artists though Professionals
and performed more than 210 shows in
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, M P,
Chhattisgarh,U P, Delhi, Leh Ladakh at
Sindhu River, Dubai and Hong kong.
VSCA believes in Quality, Novelty and
Utility through Professional approach in
their performances and that is why some
Media Professionals are engaged for the
work of Academy. So we conduct Theatre
with Purpose and Mission. We do not
believe in surrendering to the taste of
Audience but we put our efforts to
cultivate their taste for the noble cause of
our Community.
We a g r e e t h a t M u s i c a n d D a n c e
performances have their own
entertainment value but Drama is a
different format, it not only entertains all,
but leaves a long term effect on our
112
minds. So the desired message is injected
in the minds of people more effectively.
Functions-
Since Sindhi children get no atmosphere
to understand or speak own Language and
gain information on our own Culture,
either at home or elsewhere, our Academy
creates a platform for the same.
• To provide short term training to Sindhi
children through
Professionals in the Art of Drama, Dance,
and Anchoring and to perform stage
shows
• To provide atmosphere to speak and
understand Sindhi Language
• To provide them information on Sindhi
Art and Culture
Outstanding shows being performed by
VSCA --
A. “Gaurav Gaan”
It's a dance drama show in Sindhi based on
the lives of our great Sindhi Personalities
of the last century, like Sadhu T L Vaswani,
Bhagat Kanwar Ram, Master Chandur,
Prof. Ram Panjwani, Hemu Kalani, Dada
Dukhayal, Jairamdas Daulatram, Swami
Lila Shah, Bhai Pratap, Narayan Shyam,
Bhagwanti Nawani.
The prog. creates a feeling of pride in the
minds of Sindhis for their community.
B. Dramatisation of a book 'Sindhi Boli
aji Atamkatha' by Dr Satish Rohra.
It not only provides the history of Sindhi
Language, which attracts intellectuals,
but also appeals the common man,
trapping their emotions, not to forget
their mother tongue. It creates Love and
Respect in the minds of Sindhis for their
own Language.
C . Quiz contest-
VSCA has also conducted State Level
Quiz on Sindhi Jagat at Gujarat and
Chhattisgarh state level and then at
Hyderabad and Jaipur, informing our new
generation the success stories of Sindhi
world and some hardcore information on
Sindhi Celebrities, Art , Culture, Festivals,
Traditions, Sindhi dishes, etc
This Quiz format has proved
tremendous possibility of creating a
f e e l i n g o f Pr i d e a m o n g o u r n e w
generation and that too in an interesting
and artistic manner by Audio Visual
format
D. Sindhu River-
It is dance drama show on the History,
Geography, Mythology and Present Status
of our Holy and Great Sindhu River. The
prog is in Hindi Sindhi language to create
respect in the minds of non Sindhis for our
Sindhu River and hence for Sindhis
Poets covered -- Late Shri Goverdhan
Bharati, Shri Vasdev Mohi, Shri Dholan
Rahi and Shri Khiman Mulani.
Produced-Shri Murlidhar Makhija(with
financial support of three different
organizations)
E. Maan Sindhi Ahiyan ( I am Sindhi)-
It's a dance drama show revealing the
Qualities and Greatness of Sindhis settled
in whole world. The success stories and
milestone achievements of Sindhis are
covered in this show.
F. Gaurav Gaan II-
A dance Drama Show based on (Sindhi
Living Legends) Sindhi celebrities, who
are alive, like Dada J P Vaswani(Spiritual
Guru, exception, as recently expired), Dr
Suresh Advani(Cancer specialist, Padma
Bhushan), Pankaj Advani(World Billiard
champion, Padma Bhushan), Chanda
Kochhar(ICICI, Padma Bhushan),
Dr Kamlesh Lulla(Scientist, NASA,
America), Rani Karnaa(Dance, Padma
Shri, recently expired), Dr Indira
Hinduja(First Test tube Maker in India,
Pa d m a S h r i ) , Po p a t i H i r a n a n d a n i
(Literateur, not alive, an exception), Dadi
Janki(Brahmakumari), Murijmal
Manghnani(Philanthropist), Govind
Nihalani(Film Maker, Padma Shri).
Shri Ghansham Vaswani, Pavankumar
and Ms Anila Sunder have contributed
through their Art for the items
mentioned at A D E F.
Thus Vision Sindhu Children Academy is
always prepared to offer Professional
Training and Quality shows to Preserve
and Promote our own Sindhi Language
and Culture and also to motivate Sindhi
children and youth to create a Feeling of
Pride among them for own Community.
This is the only Sindhi Children Academy,
of Performing Art, in the World, which
functions round the year for the cause.
•••
113
 Arun Babani
Writer, Poet, Journalist.
A run Babani, son of Kirat Babani,
Freedom fighter and pioneer of the
Sindhiat Movement in India after
Partition.
Arun graduated from Jai Hind College for
his BA and then did LLB from Siddharth
College followed by Masters in eastern
Philosophy from University of Mumbai.
He has been writing poems, magazine
114
articles since last 35 years, mainly in Sindhi
English. He has got four collections of
Poetry in Sindhi, Hindi and English
languages. He is also deeply interested in
Eastern spirituality and has brought out
two books on this subject.
In 2016 he was honored with an award on
his collection of poetry by NCPSL.
•••

H oney Khilwani the talented daughter
of Mahesh Khilwani, was born to be
an artist and showed a glimpse of her talent
at an early age of 3, when she took part in a
Fancy Dress Competition. By the grace
of God she has been winning awards/
prizes in all such competitions since
childhood.
To begin with, she has been taking part in
Sindhi children's plays produced by Indian
Institute of Sindhology, Adipur. She
grabbed the hearts of Hindi audiences by
enacting many Hindi Plays and bagged
Best Child Actress Award for a lead role in
a Hindi Play “Varchaswa” (Dominance) at
a National level drama competition.
She twinkled as a little star by making her
debut on small screen i.e. Zee TV's reality
show Indias' Best Dramebaaz (Season-I)
at just ten, after clearing 6 tough rounds of
competition amongst 1,50,000 children to
Honey Khilwani
Wonder Child Artist
make to group of Super-18. She acted in
22 episodes before the judges – famous
Bollywood celebrities Vivek Oberoi,
Anurag Basu and Sonali Bendre. Thus, she
went on enthralling the audiences across
the country by her performances in Zee
R i s h t e y Aw a r d s a n d D r a m e b a a z
Company on the same channel. Not only
she received great response from the
audiences but also got offers from other
TV Channels such as: Life Okay / Star
Bharat, Colours TV, & TV, Sony TV, Big
Magic etc.
Apart from cultural activities, she is
completely devoted to her studies and she
has always been among the top scorers in
the school. She stood 1st in Kachchh
District in her SSC examination.
Her talent has also got recognized in the
field of Anchoring and Hosting live events
throughout the country. She has earned
115
laurels from the audiences while
anchoring before celebrities like Remo
D'souza and Master Terrence.
Her talent attracted the attention of Smt.
Asha Chand who invited her to Dubai for
an event performance on behalf of Sindhi
Sangat Organization, Dubai in 2014. She
performed along with her father Mahesh
Khilwani in two Sindhi Skits -- “Maa”and
“Sindh Thi Yaad Ache”at Dubai. She also
anchored the whole programme and won
the hearts of the audience, who were of the
view that this gifted child has the ability to
become Ambassador of Sindhi language in
the years to come.
116
In addition, she has played a role of young
Sant Kanwarramin a Sindhi Movie Sant
Kanwarram which was released in theatres
throughout the country.
The journey of Honey Khilwani through
Art and Culture has become a pride for
Sindhi Community and residents of Kutch
District as she has acquired fame and
success at an early age. She owes it to her
mentors, teachers and parents, whose
blessing are always with her.
In her ongoing journey, Dada Chander
Mangnani, a renowed Sindhi social activist
has always supported Honey to move
ahead.
•••

Reputed Actor, Director & Playwright
M ahesh M. Khilwani born and
brought up in Gandhidham
(Kachchh) is a theatre artist. After
completing his schooling from Maitry
Maha Vidayalaya, in Adipur, he did
Diploma in Electrical Engineering. His
training in theatre started by watching and
reading about plays. His first appearance
as a theatre artist was at the age of 12 years
under the direction of Harish Kakwani
and invaluable guidance of Lakhmi
Khilani. Since then, he has been in this
journey till date. He has acted in 47 Sindhi
plays throughout India. In addition, he
made his active appearance in 23 Hindi
plays with a theatre group Rachna. He has
Mahesh Khilwani
on Sindhi & Hindi Stage
played character roles in 4 Sindhi films.
All through his years of stage and film
performances, he had developed keen
interest in direction and his active
association with Local Sindhi Kachchhi
Television which had a viewership
amongst Asian countries. He has
directed/acted in as many as 50 innovative,
socially relevant, contemporary and
thought-provoking video plays for Sindhi
community residing all over Asia. Besides
this, he was associated with Zee TV and
appeared in an episode ('MAA') of the
most popular Serial 'India's Best
Dramebaaz Season-I' with his daughter
Honey Khilwani in a Parent Special
117
Episode. He has also appeared in serials
like 'Saavdhan India' on Life Ok channel
and Code Red on Colors channel. He was
invited by Sindhi Sangat (Smt. Asha
Chand) to visit Dubai with his daughter
Honey Khilwani for performing two
Sindhi Skits. He is actively involved with
Indian Institute of Sindhology, a non-
profit organization responsible for
spreading Sindhi literature and culture.
Throughout his theatre journey, he was
awarded 25 trophies/ prizes at State level
performances and 10 trophies/ prizes at
National level performances. He has
received the 'Drama Award (2016)'from
Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli Ain Sahit Sabha
for his contribution to Sindhi theatre.
118
In addition, He has also made a
commendable contribution in Sindhi
literature with his two publications i.e. a
collection of plays 'Havelia Jo Matko” and
a collection of short stories “Rakh”. He
has received Gujarat Sahitya Academy
Puruskar 2016 on his book “Havelia Jo
Matko”.
He is nominated as a Member of Sahitya
Akademy's Advisory Board in Sindhi
(Delhi).
He gives all his credit to Dada Saheb Bijani
for Sindhi Plays and Naresh Chandra
Pandey for Hindi theatre.
•••
 Suresh Hemnani
S uresh Hemnani has a huge name
in Real Estate Market and Sindhi
Community. He is one of the gems
who wasn’t born with a silver spoon.
Even after touching the sky, he never
forgot his roots and serving for the
noble cause with a vision. He is the
man who devoted half of his age for
social services and for the
conservation of Sindhi rituals and
tradition.
Born in a Sindhi family on April 10,
1964, he completed his schooling
from Pimpri and graduated from
N e s s Wa d i a C o l l e g e . S u r e s h
Hemnani wanted to pursue a Law
Degree and he took admission at
Symbiosis Law College.
But destiny had decided something
totally different from the desired
carrier he wanted to get into. Having 7
siblings and only his father as the source of
income, it was difficult for his father to take
care single handed. He dropped his law
studies in between and migrated to Caribbean
Island in search of surviving options to help
his family where he started working at a
private firm. He in took good skills of
Construction Business while his service
there.
After 7 long years, when his father suffered a
heart stroke, he returned India with a vision
of starting something of his own. He had a
vision, execution was needed. With the help
of his understanding into Real Estate
Business, he started with the construction of
7 apartments and till date, he has given a shape
to 14 commercial and residential buildings.
Once he settled in business, he stepped
towards fulfilling his dream of helping the
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less fortunes and he is also working for the
conservation of Sindhi traditions and
rituals which is gradually losing its charm.
He dived into social services. As it is said,
charity starts from home, Mr Suresh
became the member of Bhartiya Sindhu
Sabha to serve the people of Sindhi
Community. Bhartiya Sindhu Sabha is the
National Social and Cultural
Organization.
After two years, he joined the Lions Club
of Pune, Kirkee not restricting himself
only to serve his community. He helped
the people in need by arranging blood
donation camps, adopting handicapped
children, tree plantation, installing water
purifiers at remotely located areas and
many more.
His service was notable and it was
appreciated. Mr Suresh became the
President at Bhartiya Sindhu Sabha in
2013. Considering his unconditional
efforts to serve his community, he was
elected Maharashtra President of Bhartiya
Sindhu Sabha in 2018. He handled the role
of the President at Lions Club Pune
Kirkee in 2015-’16. He is the MJF Lion &
Former President at present.
Sports have always been given second
priority in India, common people have
talent but they can’t afford the training
120
cost of sports they want to pursue. At
present, Mr Suresh is serving as the
Chairman of Maharashtra at Sports
Development Board. He is using his
position to promote sports for the
underprivileged young sports talents.
It has been 22 years since he started his
Real Estate Business. He has his major
projects in Wanowrie and Kondhwa areas.
Mr Suresh and his wife Juhi Hemnani have
two children. His daughter Kamya is
pursuing her schooling. His son Rahul is
studying architecture and he has inherited
his father ’s values of social work,
following his father’s steps, Rahul has
been the active member of a group named
“Eco Friends” since he was nine years old
and working with this group to bring
awareness towards Environmental issues.
Mr Suresh believes, to carry a positive
action, we must develop a positive vision.
He also believes that Karma stands tall
above anything in this world. Parent’s
blessing is a key to everything you want to
achieve. Society has given you a place to
stand tall, recognition to value your
existence and tradition to become a good
human-being; you must return the debt by
doing good for society in one or another
way.
•••
S under Dangwani was born in
1946 in Sindh. He has a Diploma
in Mechanical Engineering from the
Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research and then he joined TIFR
and retired from there after forty
years. From childhood he was
interested in social, educational and
cultural activities. He has a
distinction of being one of the
Founder members of Sindhu Youth
Circle at Ulhasnagar and he
continues to be their Chief since the
last forty three years.
Sunder Dangwani has won around
fifty awards in his illustrious career
as a social activist. Notable among
these awards are:-
Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli Ain Sahitya Sunder. T. Dangwani
Sabha Award
Mayor of Ulhasnagar Award
Friends of International Sindhi
Award.
Rotary Club Award
S a t y a S a i B a b a Aw a r d a n d
felicitation.
The most important aspect of his life
is his contribution to Sindhu Youth
Circle which is his life line and
passion.

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SINDHU YOUTH CIRCLE
Sindhu Youth Circle is a premier social,
cultural and educational organization of
repute. It has completed over sixty years
of existence and has won accolade and
blessings from all over. It began in 1962 in
a small hut built by a group of friend with
their own hands. They were all in their
early twenties with a great passion for
doing something for society. They
collected meager amount of money from
their pocket money and began their
journey of doing sincere and honest social
work. Today Sindhu Youth Circle is spread
over 20,000 sq. feet space and runs a dozen
activities in their premises. ShriDangwani
122
is the helm of affairsand is as strong in his
passion as he was in the year 1962.He gives
the whole credit for his dream coming true
to Shri Murij Manghnani and to the
present President of the Circle Shri
Chander Manghnani.
The activities at the Sindhu Youth Circle in
brief are as follows:-
*Organizing Cultural programs and
Drama competitions.
*Running the biggest Sindhi books library
with over 33000 books where people come
to do research. It runs a book bank from
where needy students borrow books.
*Organizing Sindhi Drama Workshops.
*Organizing Literary meets.
*Organizing Music meets.
*Running Judo Karate classes.
* Established a Yoga center.
*Giving free monthly ration to widows.
*Built a Wall Of happiness where people
donate unwanted goods.
*Running a Guest House with self
contained rooms.
*Built an Art Gallery and AC Conference
Hall
*Running IAS classes.
*Running Ladies related activities with
SYC Women's Wing.
*A Gymkhana for ladies and Gents and a
Ladies Fitness Centre.
The future dreams include Sindhiyat
Museum and an Indoor AC Auditorium.
•••
 R eetu Asrani has done her
graduation in commerce
from Mumbai University
and also Diploma in media
studies. She is a freelance
Journalist with Times of
India, Mid-day and a
columnist with many
newspapers, magazines and
websites. She has also authored
2 Books on Kashmir Culture &
Tourism. Along with this Reetu
has written short plays / scripts for
TV and Radio.
She has acted in TV serials on Zee,
Sony and Door Darshan and
anchored Shows on TV and Radio
in Sindhi. Reetu has produced
and directed over 20
documentaries/short films
(Mostly for Ministry of Tourism
in Jammu and Kashmir). Currently
she is producing Sindhi Web Series and
Short films for the web Channel Planet
Sindhi.
As an environment activist she worked for
10 years in Jammu and Kashmir where she
Reetu Asrani undertook the following activities :
1. Organised over 45 seminars/ Global
campaigns/ awareness camps in schools,
colleges and universities.
2. Organised the first ever international
summit on environment in Kashmir
“Green Solutions”

123
3. Organised First ever International
Youth Fest and Rock Concert on theme of
environment in Jammu and Kashmir.
4. Provided Recommendations to Jammu
and Kashmir Government on
Environment Policy for the state
5. Conducted Environment Programs
mainly for various governmental
departments of Jammu and Kashmir
Department of Environment and Ecology,
Department of Science & Technology,
Department of State Pollution control
Board, Ministry of Human Affairs, and
a l s o f o r B o r d e r S e c u r i t y Fo r c e
(BSF)andCentral Reserve Police Force
(CRPF).
6. Conducted survey on the impact of
Amarnath Yatra on the ecology of the
region and submitted the report along
with recommendations to preserve the
124
ecology, to the Supreme Court of India
and the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
7. Implemented various eco-friendly
measures during Amarnath Yatra every
year since 2012, including installation of
large capacity Water Purification units on
the route of Amarnath Yatra to provide
free pure drinking water to lakhs of Yatris
and also minimise the use of plastic water
bottles.
Reetu has received many awards and
accolades, mentioned here are a few of
them :
1. A w a r d f r o m M i n i s t e r y o f
Environment, Govt. of Jammu and
Kashmir for Environment campaigns.
2. Awards from State Pollution Control
Board, Jammu and Kashmir
3. Won an Award for “The Great Power
Race”, an international Competition for
Sustainability Projects in Campuses at
Cancun, Mexico in December 2010.

125
 Founding Fathers
of HSNCB

Barrister H. G. Advani
Barrister Hotchand Gopaldas Advani was a brilliant
Barrister and an accomplished professional. He
worked tirelessly for various social causes. After the
partition of the country, he helped his friends and
colleagues relocate themselves for their safety in India
specially in Mumbai.
He himself after settling in Mumbai worked
assiduously to rebuild his professional career and also
took keen interest in the field of education for the sake
of displaced persons. He was not only the Founder
President of HSNCB but a friend, a guide and a
philosopher, ever ready to help.
Hyderabad (Sind)
National
Collegiate
Board

126
 Founding Fathers
of HSNCB

Principal K. M. Kundnani
Late Vidyasagar Principal Khushiram Motiram Kundnani
was the first Sindhi to be awarded M.Sc. Degree in
Physics. He started his career in Hyderabad Sindh as a
Lecturer at Rishi Dayaram Gidumal College, initially
known as National Institution. After working for 17
years he became the Principal of the College in 1947 and
subsequently its Secretary.
He was a man of infinite vision. The partition of the
subcontinent in India and Pakistan was a cruel blow for
Sindhis and much so for Principal Kundnani who got
concerned about his fellow colleagues, who lost
everything overnight. But due to his convictions and
courage he thought of establishing a college in Mumbai
to give solace to his brethren and the deprived Sindhi
Hyderabad (Sind)
Community who were now refugees in India. National
He along with Barrister Hotchand Advani established
the first college in 1949 against all odds. Soon one after Collegiate
the other institutes were established and today the Board
has 26 institutes under its flagship.
Board

127
Trustee & President

Anil Harish
Anil Harish, Trustee and President of the Board, is a very
soft spoken and unassuming personality. He obtained
his LL.M. from the University of Miami and is one of the
leading legal experts on the matters relating to Joint
Ventures and Collaborations, Property, Mergers and
Acquisitions, LLPs, Exchange Control, Foreign
Investments, Trusts, Wills and Indian and International
Taxation.He is office bearer of several institutions in the
field of Law, Real Estate, Trusts etc. As a Trustee and
President of HSNCB, he steers the activities of the
Board with great vision and foresight. He is also a much
Hyderabad (Sind) sought after speaker in India and abroad.
National
Collegiate
Board

128
 Trustee and Immediate
Past President.

Niranjan Hiranandani
Niranjan Hiranandani is the son of eminent ENT
Surgeon and Padmabushan recipient Dr. L. H.
Hiranandani – an icon in the field of medicine. From his
early beginnings of teaching Chartered Accountancy,
Niranjan began his initial business by venturing into
textiles with a weaving unit at Charkop in Kandivali in
1981. His first spark of recognition in the construction
line came with his work in Versova, Andheri, in the mid
eighties.
Mr. Hiranandani is the Managing Director of the
Hiranandani Group of Companies. The Group is today
considered as a producer of best quality housing and
commercial premises in the country. Apart from
Hyderabad (Sind)
construction, the group had diversified into education, National
horticulture, hospitality, entertainment and retail. Mr.
Hiranandani is known as Builder Extra ordinaire and the Collegiate
man responsible for changing the skyline of Mumbai. Board

129
 Trustee &
Past President

Kishu H. Mansukhani
Mr. Kishu H. Mansukhani, Trustee & Past President,
graduated in Mechanical Engineering and Management
Studies from USA. He worked with Tata Motors in
Senior Managerial capacity and later as General Manager
in Export Department in-charge of the international
marketing. He was posted in New York for seven years.
After nearly three decades with the Tata Group, Mr.
Mansukhani started his own retail marketing and
consultancy business which he manages with his son. Mr.
Mansukhani's family has been associated with HSNCB
from its inception in India. He has been member of
HSNCB since 1973 and has served six years as Vice
President and three years as President of the HSNCB.
Currently, he is one of the Trustees of the Board. In
honour of immense contribution made by the
Mansukhani family, three colleges, one campus and two
schools along with number of libraries, auditoriums and
Hyderabad (Sind) other facilities of the Board's institutes have been named
after his family members.
National
He is recipient of Lions District Award for Sight for
Collegiate Sightless program and Appreciation Award from
President of Uganda and Seychelles Island. He has also
Board received The Sindhu Bhushan Award from Ministry of
Human Resources for dedicated services towards
Sindhyat.
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 For the sake of World Peace
Let This Light and Energy
flow in and around us, destroying
all forms of Negative Energy
on this Planet.