Kulsum Merali Rawji

When Ma, Bapa and the younger children first arrived in Karachi they lived with Banoobai (Ma's sister) for a month in the house at Shahid-e-Millat Road before moving into a rented house off Tariq Road in thePECHSarea, in those homes, and heating facilities were primitive and time consuming.

Also Ma never liked her kids to ever eat 'outside stuff', nor did she want them to crave for this. So she perfected all the recipes of their favourite restaurant foods and made these even tastier in her own kitchen! In Dar es Salaam, the seven children and Ma and Bapa stayed in a small apartment block in Market Street which was a predominantly Ismaili area.

They lived on the 2nd floor and the home consisted of 3-4 rooms in a tunnel-like arrangement, one following the other, with a balconyatthe end. The owner was an Ismaili and the neighbours were all very good. The youngest 3 children, Shameem, Hussain and Parveen were born here—in '48, '50 and '52 respectively. In 1955 when Hussain was 5 years old he accidently saw the mentally disturbed daughter of one of the neighbours on the stairs and got the fright of his life! He remained so disturbed by the encounter that the family thought it best to move away.

So in 1955 the family moved again. The second apartment was much better planned than the first one and several other Ishna Ashari families including the Hajis lived close by. Some Hindu families also lived in this area. The building was owned by Pyarali Merali Devji, a very good Ishna Ashari neighbour who took care of the Alibhais during Bapa's frequent absences.

Between 1946 and 1952, Mohamedali (probably) still had a partnership in a textile business with his older brother Mussa in Albertville and his cousin Fazal Pirbhai in Kindu. In 1952 Fatma, (Babybai) got married to her second cousin Sherali Fazal, the eldest son of Fazal Pirbhai. As the Alibhai children increased in number the 2 older brothers also needed to work to support expenses.

which was then a newly expanding suburb of the city. Some Haji families had already moved here from the city. Meanwhile, the 3 Alibhai sons in the Congo were earning well and the family was quite comfortable.

She too, like her mother, was present for all weddings and funerals, taking charge, seing thatall formalities were duly fulfilledandeverythingwent smoothly. In lateryearsshewasfondlycalled 'The Flying Nani'. But though they had many servants, Ma still supervised everything meticulously and continued to cook the family favourites, still waiting on everyone before sitting down herself.

Her heart was now set on the new house nearby, 'Kashan-e-Kulsum' that her sons were having built for her. But before the house was complieted she passed away in July 1969, very likely from a broken heart. She was still grieving at the sudden loss of her 21 year old daughter Naseem who passed away 15 months earlier during a visit to the Congo.

Naseem succumbed to a violent asthma attack, a condition that had compromised her life since childhood. In December 1968, Ma and Bapa and the children had been to Bombay for ten days for the marriage of Anver and myself. Ma seemed so well then. Fortunately Anver and I spent the next 3 months in Karachi with the family where I basked in her quiet kindness.

The essence of simplicity herself, she reminded me discreetly that matching dupattas and daily visits to the hairdresser were quite a necessity, especially for a new bride!

Six months later, she faded away; Nurjahan came from Kinshasa and stayed on to look after the young family, inheriting her mother Banoobai's mantle of caring for the needs of this Alibhai family; she even found a new bride Mumtaz, for Azad, so she could leave and go back to her home in the Congo.