Enter any bustling wholesale bazaar or shopping area, any street or lane in Madurai -- but for South Avani Moola Street where jewellery shops are located -- you are sure to find more than one shop owned by a north Indian.
Though Marwaris form the bulk, followed by Gujaratis (a distant second) among the 20,000-plus north Indian populace in the city, there are a handful of other communities as well.
According to C.R. Patel, vice-president of Madurai North Indians’ Welfare Association (MANIWA), Madurai is home to Sindhis (Rachna’s beauty salon, money lenders), Punjabis (Popli Bros, Punjabi Dhaba) from undivided Punjab, Agrawals (Arya Bhavan group of restaurants, grain and steel merchants) and Maheswaris (Sri Krishna Cut-Piece Junction etc) from Haryana, totalling about 1,000 people.
Besides, there are 400 Marathi goldsmiths, who are experts in melting gold and settled down in Madurai more than 50 years ago, and nearly 400 Bengalis, recent migrants and proficient in making intricate designs on jewels, These two communities do not come under MANIWA, a federation of 15 north Indian associations in the city, formed two years back.
A recent phenomenon is the migration of labourers from Bihar. They are engaged in construction work such as roads, bridges, and stone quarries. Mr.Patil says unassuming Madurai and the rest of Tamil Nadu offer a lot by way of business and employment opportunities to those from other States.
Mahesh Chhabria, whose forebears are from Shikarpur in Sindh in undivided Punjab (now in Pakistan), says the Sindhis started settling down in ‘peaceful south’ in the wake of partition turmoil in the Indo-Pak border regions.
His father Bhojraj Karamchand Chhabria came to Madurai in 1947. Mr. Chhabria says the 125-odd staunch Hindus have their own temple on Pappankinathu Street off South Masi Street to cater to the Rahejas, Hindujas, Bajaj and Bathijas! (yes, these celebrated surnames form the tail to the names of some of the Sindhis in Madurai).
Though the affluent Sindhis as well as the early migrants from north Indian States have totally assimilated to the local culture and become a part of Madurai, they have not lost touch with their own culture and traditions either.
The Sindhis in Madurrai congregate at their temple to celebrate Chetti Chand during March-April to celebrate their new year and birth anniversary of their river-deity, Jhulelal.
They also have a fetish for sev poori, kadi chaaval, malpua and make them especially during the festival season and wedding ceremony, which is usually an elaborate three-day affair.
Dearth of ‘chaat’ corners
However, Mr. Chhabria rues the dearth of north Indian joints serving ‘chaat’ and other typical tangy snack items though Remuki at K.K.Nagar brings in the ‘dhoklas and kachoris’.
There are provision stores like the Vohra Traders in Simmakkal and another in a lane adjacent to Arasamaram Pilliyar Koil on Kamarajar Salai exclusively catering to the needs of people from northern States. “Still very few north Indian restaurants in Madurai serve the ‘khana with asli swaad’, he laments.
The North Indians, otherwise, collectively celebrate the holi, the festival of colours wuith much fun and gaiety. If the boisterousness of holi or dandiya during navaratri is the same as seen in our native places, it is with equal passion we also join in all the major south Indian festivities like Deepavali and Pongal,” he adds..
As a gesture of serving the city that gave them a living, all the migrant communities have also been helping the needy by way of charitable activities through their respective associations.
Social service
Being an umbrella organisation, the MANIWA on its part has donated calipers, wheelchairs and tricycles to the physically challenged people from southern districts through two health camps.
Its general secretary P. Mohanlal Choudhry says they’ve drawn up a plan to establish a goshala for stray cows and are scouting for 5-10 acres of land within a radius of 20 km from the centre of city.
“All successfully running goshalas in the State are maintained by north Indians only. On the lines of the one in Coimbatore with 900 cows, and in Erode with 450 animals and five goshalas in Chennai, we want to establish one in Madurai,” he says.
“Though we have the money and wherewithal to go ahead with our plan, we welcome philanthropists to give free land with good water facility and scope for vegetation and the money thus saved could be ploughed back for the operational expenses of the goshala,” says Mr. Choudhry
Source - The Hindu MetroPlus
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