Down memory lane with Kutchi Memons

It has been two centuries since this trading community from Kutch region of Gujarat left their homeland and begun rebuilding their lives in Kochi

A.S. Abdul Latheef Sait, vice president, Cutchi Memon Jamath, takes a look at an old photograph of his family. Photo : Thulasi Kakkat

In 1867, Yakub Sait was awarded a project by the erstwhile Travancore State to construct a tunnel to connect two river channels to facilitate the traffic of cargo barges between Kollam and Thiruvavanthapuram.

The Kutchi Memon contractor, settled in Calcutta, who came down and undertook the work finished it in 14 years with the support of Ibrahim Sait, his younger brother.

But the brothers did not return thereafter. Lured by the business prospects here, they settled down here.

Almost 80 years later, A.S. Abdul Sathar Sait, Yakub Sait’s grandson and a former British soldier, shifted to Fort Kochi and launched a sea-food export firm.

The evolution and growth of this family, now headed by 66-year-old Abdul Latheef Sait, also charts the history of the Kutchi-Memon community in one of the farthest corners of the world.

2 centuries on

It has now been two centuries since this trading community from the Kutch region of Gujarat left their homeland and begun rebuilding their lives in Kochi, a migration hub since time immemorial.

It was in 1815 that our community first settled down in Mattancherry though we had trade relations with this place many years before it. They have now spread out into other parts as the city grew over the decades.

Currently, there are about 650 families of Kutchi Memons in Kochi,” explained Abdul Sathar Sait, the serving vice-president of ‘Cutchi Memon Jamat’.

According to him, the language is a big factor that has kept the identity of the community intact over the two century period.

“We all speak Kutchi, a language close to Sindhi, at homes though we have to switch either to English or Malayalam to interact with the persons outside,” Mr.Sait pointed out.

Religious festivals like Eid and social occasions like marriages are times when the community cements its unity.

On days of religious festivals, there are family get-togethers at places that are fixed by the community in each locality. Though they embraced Islam in AD 1421, many of their celebrations like marriages still draw similarities with the Hindu culture.

The tradition, however, has been on the wane with the changing times as youngsters are increasingly taking to professional jobs, sparing little time for such celebrations.

K.N. Latheef, a local historian of West Kochi, said the Kutchi Memons were instrumental in launching the Indian Chamber of Commerce and mechanising the seafood business — a main stay of the West Kochi region since ages. Business apart, the contributions of Kutchi Memons to Kerala society extends across the fields of charity, education and cinema, among others.

“The Kutchi Memons have made their mark also in the political fronts.

Ebrahim Suleiman Sait, former Parliament member and chairman of the erstwhile Mattancherry municipality, is an example of a great innings in politics.