Eminent Amils

Amazing Amils: Lessons from the lives of Sindhi Achievers by Shernaaz Engineer. Published in 2009 by the Khudabadi Amil Panchayat of Bombay, Nanabhai Lane. Fort, Bombay 400001. Pp: 180. Price: Rs 500.

The Amils are Sindhi Hindus who played a significant role as administrators in the history of medieval Sind. They were largely administrators and educationists. Most of the Dewans who worked for the Muslim kings of Sind were Amils. The word Amil is said to have originated from the Arabic-Urdu word ‘Ilm’ which means education. They were called Khudabadi Amils after they were invited to settle down in Khudabad in Sind by the Kalohra rulers who wanted educated administrators to manage their realm. After an earthquake in Khudabad, the community moved to Hyderabad (Sind) and from there to Karachi and other cities.

After Partition, most of the Amils sailed from Karachi to Bombay where they set up hospitals and educational trusts. The Amils have traditionally placed great emphasis on education, and were among the foremost ICS (Indian Civil Service) officers in the British days. The community has given Bombay institutions like Jaslok Hospital, Inlaks Hospital and the Swami Vivekanand Education Trust.

Although displaced during 1947, there have been many legendary Amils post-Partition, and much can be learnt from their illustrious lives. Shernaaz Engineer’s Amazing Amils: Lessons from the lives of Sindhi Achievers is an interesting and illuminating account of the lives of eminent achievers from this community. This book is an attempt at chronicling the Amil ethos, values and strengths, as epitomized by some leading achievers within the community. These brief biographies cover the lives of lawyers, educationists, politicians, builders, hoteliers, industrialists, sportsmen, legal luminaries, authors, social workers, journalists, artists, doctors, actors, spiritual leaders and corporate personalities.

This book had its genesis in Dr Indu Shahani’s acceptance address when she was being felicitated on being appointed sheriff of Bombay. Shahani, principal of H. R. College and also president of the Khudabadi Amil Panchayat, expressed a desire to publish a book on eminent members of the Amil community and their contribution to society so that the younger generation could acquaint themselves with their heritage.

Through this book we are told how the well-known barrister Hotchand Advani got the idea of starting K. C. College in South Bombay when he was standing on Marine Drive and saw students loitering around aimlessly. They were children of displaced families and had nowhere to go. He collaborated with K. M. Kundnani to start the Hyderabad (Sind) National Collegiate Board which then went on to establish K. C. College and other colleges including H. R. and Jai Hind colleges. Kundnani, who grew up in Hyderabad (Sind), and was the first Sindhi to do his MSc in physics, became the first principal of K. C. College. Hotchand’s son, Ashok, also qualified as a lawyer but is better known as the founder of Business India magazine.

Other famous personalities who share the surname Advani are Ramchand Advani, a builder, hotelier and philanthropist who constructed buildings in Colaba and Nepean Sea Road, and Mohan T. Advani, founder of Blue Star, India’s largest centralized air-conditioning company which is now managed by his sons Ashok and Suneel. Billiards and snooker maestro Pankaj Advani’s achievements are a source of pride to not only his community but for all Indians.

Legal luminaries include H. K. Chai­na­ni who became Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and who was also acting governor of Ma­ha­rashtra and Fate­chand Jhangiani, former advocate general of Sind. The spiritual leaders Sadhu T. L. Vaswani, Ma Hari Devi and Dada J. P. Vaswani not only occupy a special place in the heart of all Amils but form the spiritual core of the entire Sindhi community.

Civil aviation expert Bhagwan S. Gidwani is famous for his best-selling novel The Sword of Tipu Sultan. He was once declared second among the best Indian novelists in the century in a literary poll. The community has also contributed a famous artist in Nalini Malani whose painting has provided an elegant cover for this book. A film actress of yesteryear, Sadhana (maiden name Shivdasani), was also an Amil who married the film director R. K. Nayyar. Indoo Shivdasani is famous for setting up the Inlaks Foundation whose scholarships have sent scores of Indian scholars to the finest universities abroad. These include familiar faces on TV today: Barkha Dutt and Vikram Chandra. Another recipient, lawyer Porus Kaka, went to Harvard and befriended Barack Obama, not yet president, there.

In the command generation, there are Man-jeet Kriplani, India Bu­reau chief of Busi­nessWeek, and Meera Hiranandani Sanyal, chairperson and country executive of ABN Amro Bank (now RBS). Meera Sanyal is the daughter of former Vice Admiral Gulab Hiranandani and stood for election as an independent candidate from South Bombay in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Another bright star in the Sindhi firmament is Ranjit Shahani, managing director of the Novartis Group, India, husband of Dr Indu Shahani. Then there are the political stalwarts: Acharya J. B. Kriplani, K. R. Malkani and the most regal gem in the Amil diadem: Lal Krishna Advani. The last named is in a separate section of the book called "Saluting the Stalwarts.”

This well produced and well researched book is a wonderful way of acquainting oneself with the leading lights of the Amil community and their contribution to society. The only deficiency is the lack of an index which the author would do well to supply in the next edition of the book.

Bakhtiar K. Dadabhoy