One of UAE’s oldest Indian women dies
KALABAI, WIFE OF TYCOON PANCHOLIA, DIES AGED 91 AFTER ILLNESS
Kalabai Maghanmal, one of the oldest Indian women in the UAE and wife of business tycoon Maghanmal Jethanand Pancholia, died in Dubai at 91.
The great-grandmother died on Sunday in Dubai Hospital where she was admitted a day before due to old age-related illness, the Pancholia family said yesterday.
Kalabai was born on September 24, 1927, in Rohri in undivided India, which is now in Pakistan. She was brought up in Karachi where she got married in 1943 and migrated to Bombay (now Mumbai) after India’s partition in 1947.
She became one of the first Indian women to settle down in the erstwhile Trucial States when her husband, fondly known as Maghaba, brought her here in 1957.
While most of the Indian expats who came over during those years preferred to leave their wives and children back home, the 94-year-old chairman of Arabian Trading Agency, chose to bring his family over to join him in Dubai.
Known as the man who brought electricity to Dubai, Maghaba remembered his wife as a woman who held a vast family together.
“We are five brothers. Our family members here number in a couple of hundreds. She had a very positive relationship with everyone,” he said.
She was witness to the exponential growth of Dubai and UAE over six decades.
The Pancholia couple has four children —Dr Lalchand, Rajkumar, Jaswanti (Jyothi) and Kusum — 11 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Their son Dr L.M. Pancholia said his mother had taken care of umpteen relatives who came over to the UAE to look for jobs and run businesses.
He said she used to love living
A condolence meeting will be held at Grand Excelsior Hotel in Bur Dubai from 5 to 5.30pm today.
in Dubai due to the comforts here and was also fond of shopping here.
The Pancholias have been receiving condolences from various parts of the world after Kalabai passed away.
Prominent Indian community members Vasu Shroff, Ram Buxani, Bharatbhai Shah, Narain Sawlani, G.B. Choithram Jethwani, Sunil Singh and Ashok Kumar were among the first to offer condolences to the Pancholia family.
“I have known her since the time I came over here in 1959. She was very hospitable and very caring. She was quite active in her own community till she became ill due to old age,” said Ram Buxani.
The family has organised a condolence meeting at Grand Excelsior Hotel in Bur Dubai from 5 to 5.30pm today.