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Part IV. Rise and Glory
president of the Oshwal Association of Nairobi in 1916 A.D.
Keshavji Ramji of the village of Kansumara did not like working on a farm back in his village. He wanted to be a businessman. He ran away from home and went to Mumbai. He did not like it there so he boarded a ship going to Madagascar. The ship stopped at Mombasa and there he met Hirji Kara who persuaded him to stay in Mombasa. After a short while he went to Nairobi where he worked as a clerk in the firm of Ismaili Jivanji's Nairobi branch for wages of twenty-five shillings a month. In 1905 AD he opened his own business firm and named it Meghji Ladha & Co. Keshavji Ramji was a very kind person and a leader of not only of the Halari Oshwal community but also of the whole Gujarati community.
He was the first person to provide Oshwals living in East Africa a community status. In 1910 A.D. he laid the foundation of the Cutchhi Gujarati Hindu Union. In 1916 A.D. he was the President of the Mombasa Oshwal Rest House Fund. Kanji Meghji Shah, Keshavji Parbat and other leaders were involved in setting up the Rest House Fund. In 1905 A.D., Keshavji Parbat was probably the first person to travel on foot from Nairobi to Fort Hall (Muranga) in two and half days as there were no transport facilities such as a railway, motorcar or oxcarts.
Both the firms of Hirji Kara and Meghji Ladha & Co. flourished and expanded very fast, opening branches in other parts of Kenya. Both of these firms gained an international reputation as being honest and reliable.
