Naraindas with (from left) son Thakurdas, grandson Gautam Jethwani, daughter-in-law Kiran Lachman (bending down), son Lachman, daughter Champa Khemlani, son Doulatram and grandson Sarvesh Khemlani.
ONE beautiful aspect of Malaysia is our forefathers who arrived with very little, worked their way up and contributed much to the country.
One such remarkable person is father-of-six Naraindas B Jethwani who turned 100 on Jan 31 this year.
He was born in a city called Sann in the Sindh province in Pakistan.
He was among the earliest people from the Sindh community to arrive in the country, and went on to serve as the general manager of Globe Silk Store from 1930 to 1980.
A photograph of Naraindas and Kamala at their wedding at the Indian Association Hall in Melaka in 1948.
The store was founded in 1930 in Segamat, Johor, where Naraindas and his family lived. They later moved to Kuala Lumpur together with the business.
Lachman Naraindas Jethwani, the eldest son, described his father as a people person.
“Among his clients were several prime ministers and their wives as well as ministers. They would come to shop for school uniforms for their children.
“My dad knew many clients well and he could converse with them in eight languages too,” said Lachman.
Among the languages that his father knows, besides Malay and English, are Tamil, Hindi, Sindhi, Hokkien and Japanese.
Thakurdas Naraindas Jethwani, the second son, added that his father would ensure that his clients were always served the Green Spot Orange drink.
“My dad is a no-nonsense and law-abiding citizen who was also an honorary visitor to the Malaysian prison board in the past. He also sat on the inquiry board for citizenship in the 1960s.
“However, he would not simply say ‘no’ to anyone. He would rather reason things out if possible. He is pleasant and never uses hurtful words even when criticising people.
“As a father, he did not limit our dreams and would not stop us from making our own choices. In my case, I was in the science stream in secondary school but I later opted for arts. My dad did not stop me.
“He wanted all his children to focus on education even though he had little formal education. All my sisters studied until Form Six,” said Thakurdas.
The third son Doulatram Naraindas Jethwani said his father worked long hours but on Sundays, he would take a break to spend time with the family and also attend the numerous gatherings he was invited to by the community.
“He acted as patron to Sindh associations.”
Naraindas’s late wife S. Kamala was also a pillar of support for the family.
Doulatram said his father was never into making big money, preferring to live a simple life with integrity.
