This piece I pick out here is about one Mukhi Mangharam. Given his age, I think this is the Mukhi Mangharam who was the leader of the Bhaibund Committee, aka the "Anti Party". We were all brought up to listen how ignorant, impure, corrupt, undeveloped the Bhaibunds were according to the Brahma Kumaris. Perhaps this provides some balance to the impression. Can any one add or confirm this?
You can see one root of the division between the various parties and the government re the appointment given to a Muslim over Mukhi. Mukhi, derived from mukhia which means "foremost", is the headman. Each community was administered by its headman (mukhi), who was an executive head, an title which was not by this time hereditary, as he was periodically selected. A mukhi's powers and duties were explicitly defined in Ginans. In small villages the executive powers were vested in the mukhi, and it was only on important matters that he summoned a meeting of the elders) Panchayat.
And from somewhere else;Mukhi Mangharam Gurdinomal
Mukhi Mangharam, the second son of Mukhi Gurdinomal was born in the year 1886. He passed Matric in the year 1903. In 1904 he went to Elphinstone College at Bombay and in 1905 Karachi's D. J. College. In the year 1906, he moved to Poona's College of Science for six months and thereafter on 15th Sept. 1905 he, along with his cousin Mukhi Choithram went abroad for higher studies. Mukhi Mangharam was the first Sindhi to attend Cambridge University and obtain Diploma in Agriculture Science.
Mukhi Mangharam learnt of his Father's death at London and immediately returned home. In 1909, he again left for London to do his Barristership (Law). In 1910, after obtaining his second Diploma at Leeds, he returned home. Poona Agricultural College offered Mukhi Mangharam Professorship, but he declined.
Mukhi Mangharam was recommended for the post of Deputy Collector, but Sind Government had reserved that seat for a Muslim and instead offered him post of First Grade Mukhtiarkar (District Administrator). Mukhi Mangharam declined that offer as well.
Mukhi Mangharam then joined Mr. Mackenzie, an Irish Barrister, as a partner at Karachi and was with him for two years. In 1913, Mukhi Mangharam left for Port Said Egypt to look after his business. In 1918 he opened an office at Japan and in the year 1920 he opened another office in Syria.
Mukhi Mangharam stayed in Hyderabad from the year 1920 to 1923. During that time he, together with his brother Mukhi Harkishindas, he established Hyderabad Electric Company and made it into a successful venture.
Mukhi Mangharam was the Managing Director of the Hyderabad Electric Company and in his absence his cousin Mukhi Choithram took charge as an Acting Managing Director. In the year 1940, M/s. Mukhi Hiranand Tarachand & Sons' term of Managing Agents of Hyderabad Electric Company expired. The agency was again renewed for another term of twenty years to expire in 1960. The Hyderabad Electric Company was one of the few Electric Companies that was managed by the Indians.
By 1946, Mukhi Mangharam had completed seventeen year of his stay at Hyderabad and had assisted his brother Mukhi Harkishindas in the Panchayat's and other civic work. In 1940 riots took place at Sakhar. Mukhi Mangharam was appointed mediator to look into and resolve the grievances of the rioters.
In 1947, due to the partition of India and creation of Pakistan many Muslim migrants/refugees who had come from Ajmer created unrest and tension in the city. Mukhi Mangharam, who was also Justice of Peace, was amidst those who went to the rescue of the Hindus and saved their lives. Hindus who wanted to leave Sind and go to India were not being provided with requisite help. Mukhi Mangharam saw to it that the local officials provided the same.
Mukhi Mangharam was well educated and saw to it that his children received similar education as well. In 1923 he along with his wife and children went to Europe and returned to Sind in 1929. While abroad, his children studied in English and French schools. He had six children, three boys and three girls.
Mukhi Mangharam's eldest Daughter was Saraswatibai. She had passed her B.A. & B.T. and was married to Mr. Parmanand Chhablani (Engineer) who was a Squadron Leader in the Air Force.
The Second daughter was Shrimati Vidya. She had in 1939, passed her M. A. in English and French from Bombay and was for a while Honorary Lecturer of French at Hyderabad College. She married Mr. Mohanlal Sujjan (Judge). Shrimati Vidya was a good singer as well and awarded many trophies and gold medals.
Mukhi Mangharam’s third daughter Shrimati Gopibai was also a graduate and like her Father she was Justice of Peace. Shrimati Gopibai married Mr. Mohan Ghaba, son of Lala Harkishinlal, former minister of Lahore. Mr. Mohan Ghaba was, in the year 1947, Managing Director of M/s Radio Lamps at Karachi. This was the first Sindhi Panjabi wedding amongst two important families.
The three daughters of Mukhi Mangharam mentioned above, were amongst the first Bhaibund girls to receive higher education. It was with the initiative of these three daughters that Bhaibund Nari Sabha came into being. The first secretary of the Sabha was Shrimati Gopibai and followed by Shrimati Vidyabai. Mukhi Parsram Mangharam, Mukhi Mangharam’s first son, was born in the year 1918. At the time of his birth, his Father was in Japan.
In 1923, Mukhi Mangharam along with his wife and children left Hyderabad for abroad. Mukhi Parsram was admitted to Victoria College at Alexandria in Egypt. After doing his M.A. & LL.B. he practiced Law with Mr. Santdas Mangharam Advocate. In the year 1947, he was a Judge at Shahdadpur. Mukhi Parsram also married into the Panjabis. He married Shrimati Sarlabai B.A. & B.T., daughter of Mr. Issardas Mallick who was then the Managing Director of Sind Purchase Board. Mukhi Mangharam’s second son Mukhi Jio was born in London in the year 1928. At the age of thirteen he passed his Matric. In 1947, he was doing his M.A. & LL.B. Mukhi Lajpat Mangharam, his third son, was born in the year 1934 and in 1947 he was doing his sixth grade.
Vidi Mukhi was born in 1913 in Hyderabad Sind (now Pakistan). She was one of 6 brothers and sisters. Her Father, Mukhi Mangharam, was a well-known businessman who ran shops in Port Said (Egypt) and owned and managed an electric supply corporation in Sind. She acquired great talent in music, singing light classical songs in Sindi and Hindi, and was fluent in French.
Mr Jai Mukhi recalls Vidi: "Darling Vidi was a dashing beauty. She went to French Lycees and played the piano from age 15 and sang marvelously. For years she topped in Music Competitions in Hyderabad Sind, bagging the First Prize for 4 consecutive years. While her forte was Sufi songs of the Sindi mystic poet Shah Abdul Latif, she was equally at home with Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. Having obtained an M.A. in French from St. Xavier's College, University of Bombay, it was her ambition to be a Lecturer in French in her home College in Hyderabad Sind. Alas, vested interests came in the way and that was not to be. But she got a job in her Father's office.
Her Father, Mukhi Mangharam Gurdinomal, a Cambridge University man and Barrister of the Middle Temple, was a merchant prince with businesses in Egypt and the Levant, and an electricity supply undertaking in Sind, and a multiplicity of interests as a philanthropist and social worker. It was when working in her Father's office that she met and fell in love with Mohan Sujan, a rising lawyer. They were in love, and deeply in love, with each other till the end."
Father, Mohan Sujan was also born in 1913 and in Hyderabad Sind. He was a diligent student who grew up to be an excellent lawyer. He wrote over 20 books after his retirement from the Law Ministry, most on contract law and arbitration. His first book, though, was on smuggling, and has an element of a thriller in its writing style.
Mohan and Vidi Sujan were married in 1943. Following partition, they came to Delhi with their first son, Raj, born two years earlier. Harish was born in 1949. Vidi died in 2002 at the age of 88 and Mohan in 2003, just short of his 90th birthday. Through their 59 years of marriage they were devoted to one another and to their two sons. Mohan passion for arbitration, expressed through his books that his brother-in-law Jai Mukhi continues to edit and revise, inspired many, as did his sharp intellect and pragmatic ways. Vidi's passion for music and youthful laughter, even in her 80s, her warmth and openness were a deep source of love and comfort for her husband, sons and for her brothers and sisters.
As Mohan and Vidi aged they often discussed the sense of community and belonging that could be created amongst the elderly by sharing interests and activities. We hope their sense of adventure and joy will be felt by the many whose lives Dignity will touch with their gift.
JAI MANGHARAM MUKHI (MR.) (son of MR.MANGHARAM MUKHI) Age 79. BARRISTER, LONDON
Son Mr. Jai Mangharam Mukhi received his education from the Universities of Bombay and Cambridge and the London School of Economics. He is a Barrister of Lincoln's Inn and the Middle Temple and Advocate in the Supreme Court of India. He was at one time Legal Adviser to the Minstry of External Affairs in charge of India's case against Portugal in the World Court at The Hague, Chairman of the Legal Committee of the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Vietnam and Sr. Counsel to the Monopolies Commission. He has advised on the Sino-Indian Boundary Question, the Kutch Arbitration, Consitution-making in Ghana and international commercial arbitrations. He is a Chairman of the Audit Committee of RPG Transmission Ltd.