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Chapter 21. Migration Across the Ocean
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Hirji Kara's mother Panchi Sethani was a very strong woman. Even men were afraid of her. She preferred men's company rather then women. She would keep a handful of hand made cigarettes (bidis), smoke and share them with the men. Even bandits use to come to her house for dinner and pay her for the food. Panchi Sethani was very smart. She would extract information about the place and time they were planning to raid. She would then pass that information on to that particular village and foil their attack. That is the kind of courage Hirji inherited.
Hirji Kara decided to stay in Mombasa. In the beginning he worked as a hired person in a shop owned by a Lohana. In 1900 A.D. his wife Kankuben joined him in Mombasa. She was the first Halari Visa Oshwal woman to go to Kenya. After saving enough money he opened his own business firm of Hirji Kara & Co. in 1901 in Mombasa. Same year later he was instrumental in forming the Mombasa Indian Association. In 1902 Ratilal their son was born the first Halari Visa Oshwal baby boy to be born in East Africa.
Devji Hirji and Popat Vershi, the other two, decided to go to Nairobi. Nairobi is around three hundred miles in the interior, the British Government wanted to make it the capital of the colony. At that time, even though there were railroad tracks, there were no regular trains going to Nairobi. They decided to hitch hike to Nairobi. They would hitch a ride on a railroad trolley during daylight and at dusk spend the night in the tents or in the trolley in the company of railroad workers. In this way they reached Nairobi after about a month. Popatlal Vershi passed away six months latter of an unknown illness.
Devji Hirji took a job in a provision shop run by a Hindu Punjabi Mr. Lala Prasad. He worked there for six months. As soon as he had saved enough money he opened his own provision shop. This was the first private business started by a Halari Oshwal in Nairobi. He was very actively involved in the community. He was elected as the first
