Title - Sohrab Modi’s father drove first train in East Africa

AHMEDABAD: Indians, and especially Gujaratis, have contributed greatly in the development of the East African economy. Much before the British started the Uganda-Kenya railway project in 1896, Gujaratis had started their businesses and to some extent dominated the economy.

The railway project, which ultimately changed the scenario of the region, saw many known Indian faces. The first engine driver that drove the train on the newly-laid track was Merwanji Modi, father of filmmaker Sohrab Modi.

The senior Modi was working with the Imperial British East Africa Company, which founded the railway line. Modi was also the first man to drive the train on Alvar-Ajmer line in 1900.

Like Modi, famous Gandhian and social worker Amrutlal Thakkar, who is known as Thakkarbapa, was also an employee of the railway company. He also started his career as an engineer in the railway project in East Africa.

Historian Makrand Mehta credits Gujaratis' contribution for the success of this project. He describes how A M Jeevanji, a Dawoodi Bohra from Kutch, got labour contract for the project. When the company was not satisfied with skills of native labourers, he hired 350 labourers from Mumbai, who were mainly from Saurashtra, Kutch and south Gujarat. But soon the great famine in India, also known here as Chhapaniyo Dukaal, forced many to join the labour force - 31,983 people migrated to this region and worked in the project. Jeevanji has also been credited with founding the first newspaper in this region-East Africa Standard.