The Habib Samji Shamshudin's Story

Habib and Rehmat's first son was Shamshudin. He came to be known as Shamshu Kamadia. He was a very quiet and reserved man. His day revolved around the business and Jamatkhana. He was very active in serving in the welfare committee and this was evident in the number of people who turned out at his funeral and the content of his obituary printed in the Ismaili newsletter. Two descriptions that people applied to him were "bhagat" and "silent worker'. As convenor of the "Gharib" (Poor People) fund, he went out of his way to ensure that his reports were not boastful. He was Kamadia of Baytul Khyal and of One-fourth, and never missed Jamatkhana during his term. He never sought recognition. He kept his feelings to himself and, in his younger days when physical punishment was the norm, he never needed to be punished. In 1932, Shamshudin married Sherbanu, the daughter of Hidi Jetha, a neighbour. The marriage of the first son required great pomp and ceremony, and the wedding celebrations lasted a whole week. Shamshudin died very young. Although he was generally fit and was hardly ever sick, he died in 1948 at the age of 35 of a heart attack. His son, Ashak, was working in the shop in Mwanza when he had to return to Dares salaam to help cover for his sick father. As Shamshudin was getting better, Ashak was contemplating returning to Mwanza, but was asked to stay on for a couple more days. Shamshudin did not live through those two days. His death came as a big shock to everybody, and in particular to his young wife and eight children.

His wife Sherbanu was very similar in character - quiet, shy and unassuming. She never asked anything for herself, but lived for her family's well being. All the family loved her cooking. Rehmatbai, when she was training Akber's wife, Daulatkhanu, would comment that although Dolu followed the same recipe, Sheru's food had something special. She loved children and when we visited her, we could be sure of a warmth in her welcome that we could not find elsewhere. Her greatest achievement was to keep her family together after Shamshudin died so early. She would have been proud to see her children settled so well. She emigrated with the rest of the family to Toronto where she died.