Of late Memon community's contribution to education, health and other social sectors has grown pretty loud. Not confined to South East Asia, the community is predominantly present in South Africa, Middle East and some of the Western countries.
Before 1947 Memon concentration was in Kathiawar, part of present Gujrat state in India. After partition, almost half of the community's population migrated to Pakistan. In Pakistan, it is mostly settled in Karachi and Hyderabad, so tells the book.
The book is divided into four parts. The first has 'history of the community'. Indicated under this heading are also the author's views regarding Indian occupation of Junagadh, Bantva and Kutiyana. To this support is claimed by inclusion copies of exchange of communication between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan, and the Instrument of Accession between Ruler of Junagadh and the Governor General of Pakistan.
The next part is 'Bantva Present and Past'. Here, the author shows fervent remembrance of his birth place left in 1947, which he revisited in 2005. He talks about Rajkot, Junagadh, Bantva and other places where Memon community was in high concentration in India.
But the author does not tell us much about his ancestral village, Thapla - which gave him and others the surname 'Thaplawala'. Probably because it was too small a place to have a reckoning beyond. His profound love is for Bantva in which fold his ancestral village is located. The third part of the book, titled 'Memon Language' is really educative. This part describes the language, prose and Memon poetry. Most interesting here are the guidelines for use of Roman script for Memon expressions.
The author is concerned about the Memon Language he said, "I have tried to be impartial and objective without letting my association with the community affect the facts and figures presented here. In most of the cases, I have picked up the facts and figures from authentic books and articles written by non-Memon scholars".
"....... migration and shifting has resulted in close contacts and intermingling of the community with other larger communities. In this process, they are gradually adopting the life style common to other communities including adoption of the language generally spoken in their new areas of settlement and their culture and tradition".
To imbibe Memon heritage, traditions and culture in the community's younger generation the author has written six other books, the book under review tells us. The book goes as a valuable edition to the literature on the Memon community.
The book attempts to provide insight into 'Memons World-wide', giving account of various Memon Jamats and their contributions to the community. Brief accounts of Memon Jamats working in India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Canada are provided. Forming part of the book are tributes to Memon community by world leaders, Quaid-e-Azam, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Prince Charles, Tony Blair and others.
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Book : The Memon Community - Heritage and Identity
Author : Abdur Razzak Thaplawala
Publisher : Memon Book Foundation
Pages : 241
Price : NA
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