Cutchi Memon Digest
Kerala
ﮐﮁﻲ ﻤﻴﻤﻦ ﮢ ﺍﯿﺠﺴﭧ - ﮐﻴﺮﻻ
EDITORIAL
ﺒﺴﻢ ﷲ ﺍﻠﺮﺤﻣݧ ﺍﻠﺮﺤﻴﻢ
Dear Brethren,
ﺁﻠﺴﻶﻡ ﻋﻠﻳﻜﻡ ﺮﺤﻣﺔ ﷲ ﻭ ﺒﺮﮐﺁﺗﮥ
The Cutchi Memon Community has a unique cultural background and historical relevance. The community is widely spread in various cities and towns in the country. Though much influenced by the cultures of the places of their abode, a strong thread of their especial cutchi culture remains unbroken. When the Cutchi Memon Federation was constituted four decades ago we had hoped to see a national level organization of all Cutchi Memons that would enable a dialogue and mutual understanding among the members of the Cutchi Memon Community and establish a platform for a cultural reunion. Sadly, this expectation was not realized for various reasons. The more disappointing factor was the lack of interaction among the various organizations of our community even within Kerala, in spite of the fact that it has a well knit fabric of filial and matrimonial relationships. The need for a common forum and a mode of deeper cooperation to undertake meaningful developmental activities among brethren by pooling their skills and resources was strongly felt by a number of brethren. This CUTCHI MEMON DIGEST is the result of this longing. To begin with it will provide vital information about the community and its members. You as readers of the bulletin shall decide what its contents should be for the future benefit of the members.
Two important columns proposed for the Digest are the Regional News and Community Profile. The former one is meant to carry the news of important events occurring at various places where the community members live. This may include events like marriages, death, educational and other achievements as well as the leadership changes. The latter will provide a profile of the community and its members in terms of their professions, occupations etc. An added feature will be a tutorial for learning the Cutchi Language. Brethren will agree with me that many of our brethren did not have the opportunity to learn the language properly. The words and intonations are highly influenced by the local languages to such an extent that the very use of the language has been declining to the extent of extinction. It has already happened in some states where Cutchi language is totally out of use and forgotten. A modest effort is made to revive the language. Information regarding various Jamats in India and abroad are collected from the reports published in the Souvenir of the All India Cutchi Memon Federation’s World Conference, 1993 and updates by Jb. Arif G. Kadwani (2009, 2013), Cutchi Memon Jamath of North America, which is gratefully acknowledged.
Brethren, the success and usefulness of this venture depends on your interest and cooperation. I, therefore, request you to assist me with your comments, data, articles and news items to enrich its pages and for assuring a viable platform for information and dialogue and eventually to serve as inputs for the history of Cutchi Memon Community..
ﻭ ﺁﻠﺴﻶﻡ
J.M.I. Sait
Editor