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As described by James Campbell in his Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency 1880:
Somewhere, in early 18th Century, Natha Juma (Moton) ended up in Jetpur, where he did much of the work earlier as part of the Jetpur Memon Anjuman. The surname of Mian Moton was started from his son Ghani. Practically, every Moton today, will be able to reach Ghani Moton in his ancestry. So, for example in my case here is the Ancestry:
Anwar Mohammad Abdulkarim Kassim Ayub Ghani Natha Vera Juma Adam (Sunderji) Ahmad (Raoji) Maneckji. Just to bring clarity Ahmad (Raoji) had 3 sons, Adam (Sunderji), Tajmohammed (Hansraj) and we don’t have the name of 3rd son who probably stayed as Hindu.
It was Friday, May 1st, 2020, 8th of Ramadan, 1441. This was the first day when the lockdown all over the world was starting to reduce and all of us started thinking to adjust our lives with the new Virus COVID-19, 6th in the family of CORONA. Unfortunately, same day of May 1st, 2017, my mom passed away in Karachi and it was her Death Anniversary too. After the Suhur, Fajr Prayer and reading of the Holy Quran, both my wife and I went for a walk as per our schedule. It was a beautiful cold morning with the nice breeze around the Lake. It has been 8 weeks since USA has been under lock down, meaning quarantine at home. The epidemic started in Wuhan, China in November 2019, yet our Leadership did not get serious until April 2020. Today, May 1st, 2020, we have 3,278,546 cases globally and 234,021 deaths while in US the number of cases is 1,070,620 and 63,023 deaths. There have been the highest number of unemployment claims, around 30 million in US. US Government has already spent Trillions in stimulus package or rather a relief package bringing the total deficit to over 30 trillion Dollars.
My WhatsApp was indicating that I had several messages. When I checked, there was an unusual message from area code 91 indicating someone was trying to reach me from India. Earlier, I had received a message from Harshvardhan Dhandha (Harsh) on my YouTube Channel where I had uploaded some movies from my Parents hometown of Jetpur. He had written in the message that he was from Jetpur. This was several weeks ago and in reply I left my cell number and I also told Harsh that my parents were also from Jetpur, but I had never been to the place. I had forgotten about it until I saw his message on my WhatsApp. I asked him if he would be willing to locate my Nana and Dada homes in Jetpur if I gave him some indication of the whereabouts as I did not have their correct residential addresses. He agreed and I first started with my Nana’s place as I had some pictures that were given to me by my cousin for my 2nd book, “Travel to the Final Destiny”. I send those pictures to Harsh and wrote to him that the House was in Phulwadi street or Neighborhood (Muhallah) and there is a name inscribed outside the house in Gujarati, “Tarmohammad Haji Ahmad Ishaq Mianoor – 1947”. Reply message came back so quickly and Harsh asked, “Is this your Nana’s house”? I replied and said yes. His response was that “The House belongs to us, and it is few feet away from our residence. They must have given the House for rent while they lived just near to this house. The response from him shook me up and I had goose bumps on my arms. Here I have been trying so hard to visit Jetpur for last 35 years and I am unable to get the visa. I tried in 1986 and only received visa to visit Bombay. My Dad’s best friend in 2009 Bashir Chara, while I was visiting Karachi, promised me to take me to Jetpur with him and I had no time for that. After 35 years, sitting at home, someone is sending me a message saying he is from Jetpur and not only that my Nana’s home belongs to them. I told Harsh that one of my uncle (Mamu) Arif Tar went to Jetpur in late 80s and had told us that the house belonged to a rich Sindhi family. He said yes, we are Sindhi Hindus and probably, it must be his Dada during that time. Luckily, his Dada is in late 80s and still alive.
I will never forget each day when I started receiving pictures of Jetpur. I am documenting each one here for our next generation to see where we came from.
My Nana’s home in Jetpur. Pictures were taken in 1951 before he and the family left Jetpur for Karachi Pakistan via Ship from Bombay. This house he built in Phulwadi area of Jetpur in 1947.
Existing Nana Home in Phulwadi 2020:
After looking at many houses and comparing the design and architecture, both of us think that this is the same house that my Nana started building in 1947 and completed in 1949 and left Jetpur in 1951. Someone must have bought the same house in 1999 and renovated, removing my Nana’s name. It shows as Junagadhwala Building 1999. This house now belongs to Harsh family, and it is rented to a Sindhi Hindu family.
Now, it was time for Harsh to locate my Dada’s place and only thing I knew was that it was in Moton locality (Seri) near Chaprat ni Bhari. To link the area, he started sending some picture which had the name of the locality written in Gujrati. This is some clinic in the area.
