CR Manek & Family

So Motiben is younger than Baubhai but in the olden days girls were preferably married off before their older brothers. There is no specific explanation for this age-old tradition but I suspect it was more to avoid conflict and to create space for a new couple. Motiben married her best friend’s brother but it was an arranged match by the families. In the coming years Motiben had two children son Harshad and daughter Rupa and in decades to follow, Harshad had a daughter Giya, a rather compact family tree.

#FarewellKarachi can be ordered on https://amzn.in/d/e0qlfop and  for more stories visit my blog —————-

To be continued

DMSomaya & Family

My mother was 18 when she got married and 20 when she became a mother. Bablo/ Baubhai/ Dalsukh was the first born of the Somaya family. My mother says he was always an obedient child but hyper active and difficult to hold back.

He needed to be occupied all the time and it was a task for my parents to keep him engaged. He mellowed down considerably once he started attending school and was his own person when he started working.

Baubhai got married in 1954 and is the only Somaya sibling to have four children- Jeevan, Rekha, Atul and Jogi and together the DM Somaya family has expanded to eight, have a look….

#FarewellKarachi can be ordered on https://amzn.in/d/e0qlfop and  for more stories visit my blog

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To be continued

The more I thought of writing the book, the more overwhelmed I became. My parents have a
rich legacy, both came from extremely large families and together, they created another large
family.
While I was acquainted with the immediate family tree and also the extended relatives on
both sides of my parents there were too many layers and the sub plots were shrouded in
mystery. 
There were too many characters, locations, vocations and too many
jigsaw puzzle pieces missing before I could embark on my creative journey.
And then my sibling number five Sarla, a long-time resident of Berlin, Germany died!  
Within a year, Sarla’s husband, my brother-in-law, expired too and the responsibility of
folding up the house and all belongings fell on my young nephew Rityesh Rajani.
That is the time Ritesh discovered handwritten exercise sheets beneath his mother’s mattress.
I had asked Sarla to write descriptions of our Karachi and Bhuj home and she had promised
to share the same when she was ready.
My nephew remembered our conversations and on his next trip to India carried these precious
sheets for me. 
I wept reading those passages and that was the beginning of Farewell Karachi for me.

I cannot remember when I started working on this book, perhaps the idea was always brewing within me and it was merely a matter of time when I punched the words on to the keyboard.
I want to believe that I was forever writing the chapters in my head subconsciously but I needed time to navigate through my memories accumulated over the years.
For a long time, I believed that unless I visited our neighboring country, unless I touched, saw and felt my parents’ homeland, walked the path they did and inhaled the same fragrance, I would not be able to do justice to their story.
In the meantime, years rolled into decades…
A few years ago, my oldest sister, Motiben, on my sibling number three Rajabhai’s request, penned some facts of the family on paper.
Rajabhai, who lives in Toronto, was going through a phase where he needed clarity on chronology.
Motiben did that. She asked me if I would like a copy of her handwritten sheets and I said ‘yes’.
That night I read her pearl-like hand-written notes in Gujarati again and again. She had drawn up a list of our ancestors, our various homes and locations.
Perhaps this was the road map I had been waiting for….
I was excited, yes but the way forward was still hazy…
To be continued….

The 23rd edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) unveils the 2025 lineup,
reaffirming its role as the leading platform for South Asian cinema in the U.S. Over two
decades, IFFLA has championed bold storytelling and emerging talent and underscores the
same commitment in 2025 with a lineup that includes the best of South Asian cinema. The
festival will open with Varsha Bharath’s directorial debut, Bad Girl, and close with Lawrence
Valin’s debut, Little Jaffna

This year’s lineup includes an eclectic mix of South Asian films from countries like India,
Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the U.S., the U.K., and Canada, along with international co-
productions from France, Singapore, and Norway. IFFLA 2025 will feature 27 films,
including seven narrative features, one documentary, 18 shorts, and a special two-episode
screening of an anthology series. The festival includes two world premieres, six North
American premieres, three U.S. premieres, and 14 Los Angeles premieres, highlighting a
diverse and exciting slate of new voices and perspectives.
Beyond individual highlights, this year’s lineup celebrates the rich diversity of South Asian
cinema with a strong emphasis on female-driven narratives both in front and behind the
camera
IFFLA was founded in 2002 as a non-profit organization with the aim to offer the Los
Angeles community a unique opportunity to learn about India’s multifaceted culture and long
history of filmmaking. Since then, IFFLA has grown into the premiere U.S. venue for
discovering the best of South Asian cinema, as well as a vital hub that fosters an important
dialogue among the most original independent storytellers from India and its diaspora, the
greater South Asian diasporic community, and the international film
industry at large.

Some films attract us by the title. Yashasvi Juyal’s short documentary, set in Himalyan
village, Rains Don’t Make Us Happy Anymore will be hosting its World Premiere at the
prestigious 56th Visions du Réel International Film Festival, 2025. It is an unusual film
because the film comments on the mindless development of hydroelectric projects and dams
in the Himalayas.
Another debut feature worth mentioning is Juyal’s debut feature Ink-Stained Hand & The
Missing Thumb the story of a migrant worker selected in Hong Kong International Film
Festival’s Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) 2025. Juyal won the Gender Sensitivity Award
for his first short The Last Rhododendron at Dharamshala International Film Festival

Considering the recent box-office faring of superstar awaited films during festival PR
departments have to learn a few lessons. They have to stop tomtoming and prove it in action
instead. They have to stop addressing their clients with superlative epithets and stop
describing their forthcoming releases as superhits in advance. Don’t do it, you are harming
your client and embarrassing his fans.
Granted that Sunny Deol surprised everyone with Gaddar sequel but one swallow does not
make summer so can we wait for 10 April 2025 before announcing the film as a super hit.
The marketing department over amplifies in order to upgrade their client little realising that
you are down scaling the brand by promising too much.