August 2018 39 www.bahrainthismonth.com Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI),” remembers the octogenarian. Following in the late Haridas’s footsteps, Baboo has held a top post in the Asian wing of the BCCI. He was instrumental in founding the Indian Community Relief Fund, a body formed under the aegis of Bahrain’s Indian Embassy for the benefit of blue-collared Indians, and has been its vice chairman. For 35 years he has held the post of chairman of the committee in charge of the 200-year-old Shri Krishna Hindu temple in Manama. Speaking of their relations with Bahrain’s Royal Family, Baboo says: “If Sunder and I would be absent from the Amir of Bahrain, Shaikh Isa’s majlis every Sunday, he’d ask about us. In 1975, when my father was ill, Shaikh Mohammed, the Amir’s younger brother, happened to be visiting someone in the same hospital in India. He would come to see my father every day, and, when he [the father] passed on, he came all the way to our family home to give us his condolences. Which royal does that? When we lost Sunder to a plane crash in 1988, Shaikh Isa called us in Bombay to express his condolences. My nephew, Kishore, and I were asked to see him on our return. He told Kishore to consider him a father figure, and to reach out to him whenever in need. We were most touched by his gesture. Bahrain and its people have made us immensely happy.” We cherish our close ties with the benevolent rulers of the country. The Crown Prince of Bahrain ensures he visits our home on the festive occasion of Diwali. The Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa has popped into the office when in the vicinity only to see my uncle. That is the beauty of the nation’s leaders. Nowhere else will we find such acceptance as we do here. - Kishore Kewalram (nephew) managing director The foundation laid by the pioneering generation gives us the platform to innovate, expand and grow the business to an enterprise we could never have imagined 40 years ago. We aspire to be one of the best organisations in Bahrain, providing premium products, services and value to people here, with the aim of representing Bahrain globally. We have a very strong emotional connection to this land and we believe our strength comes from investing in people and the bonds that we have developed. The lasting goodwill that we have earned is what we value the most. - Raj Kewalram (grandson), director The store in Bab Al Bahrain that still stands today - Sunder with uncle Kumbandas Kewalram
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