Chandruban Ghanshandas Advani / Chandrban G. Advani / Chandru G. Advani
By Hoda NassefAll the same person!
READ ALL ABOUT HIM; just a brief biography!
An Indian’s History in Yokohama, Japan.
“The family I come from believes in the Hindu faith, and has its roots in the Sindh province, in what is now part of Pakistan…. Under British rule, the people of Sindh were encouraged to travel … and act as … go-betweens between various cultures, in particular in areas of trade and finance.Under these circumstances, my father was sent to Yokohama in 1917. He worked for my grandfather’s company Tarachand Parsram, and was sent to run the Japan branch which was located in Yokohama.”
G. A. Chandru relates the circumstances which led to the beginning of his family’s long history in Japan. An Indian resident whose personal history in Yokohama spans over 50 years, Chandru, the President of Nephews International, energetically details his family’s history as Indians in Yokohama.Chandru’s father had moved to Yokohama in 1917 to manage a branch of his father’s business.
However, after only three years he returned to India to aid in its struggle for independence from Britain. Thus, Chandru, who was born in 1924 in Sindh, never once laid eyes on Yokohama during his youth. Even so, during his childhood he held a great interest in Japan. “I recall how [my father] talked about the very high social and cultural standards of Japan. Whenever someone came back from Japan we received ‘Tombow’ pencils, fancy toys, and were shown the Japanese cameras.
This created in our mind a very special admiration of Japan, of the beautiful designs and perfect performance in the products we saw.”Chandru’s father came to and left Japan during a period when Indian trade of silk, cotton, and yarn was thriving; Indian traders had been active in Japan since the late 1800s.Memorial fountain in Yamashita Park for the Indians who perished in the Great Kanto Earthquake.
However, the prospering Yokohama silk and textile trade would soon be thrown into crisis by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923. The earthquake, of magnitude 7.9, left Yokohama in ruins, and in the earthquake’s aftermath, large numbers of Indians relocated to Kobe with the aid of the Kobe city and national governments. However, a number of Indians later returned to Yokohama, and it is said that just before WWII, India was Japan’s third-largest trading partner, after the U.S. and China.
Merchants traded on slim profit-margins, turning profits only by moving large quantities of goods. They sold silk at-cost, earning money only on the sale of the wooden packing cases (petti) holding the silk, constructed from high-quality kiri wood.
However, the unfolding of WWII shook the Indian community and many left Japan, preferring that to the alternative of being interned in Japanese camps as British subjects.After the end of the war in 1947, India’s newly-won independence from British rule triggered a religious conflict which tore the country into two: Pakistan, an Islamic state, and India, a secular state.
Chandru’s family became subject to intense religious persecution in Pakistani Sindh, and was forced to abandon everything and take refuge in India. There, Chandru became responsible for supporting his parents and siblings, and he remembers this period as the saddest in his life.
The images of Japan were engraved in Chandru’s imagination, and in 1953 he sprang on an opportunity to try his luck in business in Japan.
“I sensed a bright future [in Japan], a chance to work hard and have my hard work rewarded."
When Chandru arrived in 1953, though Yokohama was still rebuilding, Indian businesses had already planted firm roots. Chandru, who initially worked as the manager of an Indian trading firm located in Yamashita-cho, recalls his early years in Yokohama.
“I worked hard day and night for 6 years…. in my 7th year, I started my own firm…. I called the company Nephew’s International, taking the name from the company which my Uncle has started with his nephews (myself included) in India during the British rule.
”Textiles and fabrics, mainly silk, remained significant exports through the 1950s; however, they were later surpassed in popularity by synthetic textiles such as nylon.
By the 1960s textiles had become less profitable, and the trade of electronics, technology goods and sundries became more common. In general, as Japanese industries expanded their global networks, the need for the middleman was eliminated, and slowly Indian businesses either moved abroad or west to Kobe and Osaka.
Thus by the 1980s, trading in Yokohama had slowed, and many Indians sold their properties in Yamashita-cho or converted them to apartment buildings and parking lots. Some moved to Kobe or Osaka, and others returned to India. Currently there are only a small number of “old-comer” Indian residents in Yokohama remaining; however, there has been a recent influx of Indians coming from the IT hubs of India (Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai) to work in software companies in Yokohama, as well as those who come through their work in multinational finance or engineering companies.
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Chivukula receives GOPIO community service award
Friday, 01.09.2009, 12:20am (GMT-7)
NEW YORK: New Jersey Assemblyman Upendra J. Chivukula was one of the five recipients of the 2009 global service award from GOPIO (Global Organization of People of Indian Origin) awarded at a convention that ended in Chennai, India Jan 7.
Upon receiving the award, Chivukula said he was honored to be counted among GOPIO’s five exceptional award recipients. He said that community service is even more relevant in these challenging times when the world is experiencing one of the most severe economic crises in recent history.
Chivukula (D-Somerset) received the award from India’s Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi at GOPIO’s two-day convention in Chennai held on the sidelines of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. Other award recipients include Baroness Sheela Flather of the House of the Lords in the U.K.; Ambassador Albert R. Ramdin of Suriname; Chandru G. Advani, a community activist from Yokohama, Japan and Loganathan Naidoo, Deputy Mayor of Durban, South Africa.
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GOPIO International Community Service Awards
Global Organization of People of Indian Origin at its Convention in Chennai on January 6, recognized five individuals at its Annual Awards Banquet, with Minister Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs as the chief guest. The awards were established to recognize and honor non resident Indians that have provided significant community and public service or done philanthropic work for the Indian Diaspora and/or to India will be presented and honored at the banquet.
“We at GOPIO feel privileged to recognize some NRIs/PIOs who have contributed significantly to the countries of their adoption as well as to India, and have added a special glitter to the resurgence of India,” said Inder Singh, President of GOPIO. GOPIO Chairman Dr.
Thomas Abraham said, “By honoring those who have worked selflessly for Indian Diaspora causes and India, we are providing exposure of such role models to the next generation.” “This will motivate more NRIs and PIOs to volunteer their time for community causes,” Dr. Abraham added.
The awardees for this year are Baroness Shreela Flather of UK’s House of the Lords. Born Shreela Rai in Lahore, India, she was educated at University College London, and went to the bench in 1971. In 1976 she was elected the first ethnic minority woman councilor in the UK. She was the first ethnic minority Deputy Lieutenant for the Royal County of Berkshire in 1994 and voted Asian of the Year by Asian Who’s Who in 1996. She received an honorary doctorate from the Open University in 1994 and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Leeds University in 2008. She has spoken on a variety of subjects and is office holder of several Parliamentary groups. Baroness Flather championed the construction of a magnificent memorial in London at Hyde Park Corner to commemorate the contribution of nearly 5 million forgotten volunteers from the Indian subcontinent, Africa and the Caribbean in the two World Wars.
Amb. Albert Ramdin was born in Suriname and received his education in Paramaribo and The Netherlands at the University of Amsterdam and the Free University where he studied geography of developing countries with a specialization in social and economic problems of smaller economies in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Suriname, Ramdin is active in several civic and community organizations including many social and cultural organizations with objectives to foster Indian heritage, language and religion. Ramdin has served as Senior Adviser to the Minister of Trade and Industry, where he was intensively involved in restructuring the ministry and implementing an industrial development program. On June 7, 2005 he was named Asst Secretary General of the Organization of American States.
Chandru G. Advani has served as a pillar of the Indian community throughout his 55 years in Japan. He has led both grass-roots and policy level exchanges for the benefit of the Indian community in Japan. He orchestrated the Yokohama-Mumbai sister city relationship in 1965 and has served as President of the Indian Merchant’s Association of Yokohama as Joint Secretary of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Japan, and in many other roles critical to the India-Japan relationship. In 2005 he co-founded the Yokohama India Center and is a member of its Board of Directors. He was actively involved in the Japan India Friendship Year 2007. He is a recipient of the Key to the City of Yokohama and the Mumbai Medal of Appreciation, and in November 2008 he was awarded the Yokohama Culture Award, the first Indian to receive this distinction.
Upendra Chivukula is currently Deputy Speaker, New Jersey General Assembly and also a former Mayor of Franklin Township. As an Assemblyman, he serves as the Chairman of the Telecommunications and Utilities Committee in New Jersey, and Member of the Executive Committee at the National Conference of State Legislatures. He authored the Diwali Month Resolution and legislation to create the Asian American Study Foundation to study various issues affecting the Asian American Community. He serves on many community organizations, such as Franklin Township Lions Club and working with various organizations, he raised funds to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina, Tsunami, Gujarat Earthquake and Floods and others. Chivukula is a Leadership New Jersey Fellow, Flemming Institute Fellow and is also Fannie Mae Fellow. He received leadership training at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and Darden School of Management, University of Virginia.
Loganathan (Logie) Naidoo was born in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. He is presently an Executive Councillor and Deputy Mayor of eThekwini Municipality (formerly Durban Metropolitan Unicity), and Chairperson of the Economic Development and Planning Committee. Vice-Chair of Executive Committee and served in this capacity from Dec 2000 to Mar 2006 and reelected for another term. He served as Executive Chair of North Local Council from 1996 to 2000. Membership in many organizations including Natal Indian Congress (Founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1894) and the African National Congress. Recipient of several commendations including Bronze Medal from the ANC underground ‑ Military Wing Umkhonto WeSizwe where he served from 1979 to 1989. Logie community activities include Durban Arts Association and Tongaat Child Welfare Society. Speaker at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas PBD 2008 in New Delhi. Received the International Friendship Award from the India Festival Committee 2005, for promoting Economic links with the Indian Sub‑Continent.
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Chandru G. Advani
By VIVIENNE KENRICK
This is the India Year in Japan 2007 and the Japan Year in India 2007. It is a significant time for every enterprise interested in the flow of information, goods and people between the two countries.
This is also the 54th year of Chandru G. Advani's living in Japan. Now nearly 83 years of age, Advani is one of the few old-time Indian residents still in Yokohama. He is the third generation of his family that began putting down roots here when his grandfather arrived in 1910.
"My father followed my grandfather to Yokohama in 1917," Advani said. "He managed a branch of his father's business. At that time there were about 100 Indian firms represented in Yokohama. Japan was exporting silk to India, and Indian traders had been active here for many years. My father returned to the family home in Sindh that was then still in India. After partition, that region became part of Pakistan."
Advani was born in Sindh, and grew up there. After regular schooling, Advani joined the business in Sindh led by his father and uncle. "The great earthquake of 1923 greatly damaged Yokohama. Many Indians died, and there is a memorial to them in Yamashita Park.
"Many surviving Indians left, some moving to Kobe. Later, as Indians returned to Yokohama, they helped make India an important trading partner of Japan. Then at the outbreak of World War II, again many Indians left Japan. They were still British subjects who didn't want interment in Japanese camps."
After the war, Advani's parents and his brothers and sisters moved to south India. Advani remembers that time as a period of such suffering he doesn't like to speak of it. "That was the saddest time of my life," he said.
As a religious man during an era of changing attitudes and high tension, he felt targeted. As soon as he could, he followed his family. "All our property in Sindh was taken over. We lost everything."
In south India, Advani hunted for employment. A friend gave him a job in the district of Pondicherry. "That was then a French-dominated seaside district, where Indo-French traders were prominent. I could earn money, and feed my parents," he said. "Then came a chance to come to Japan. I applied, and got the job to be manager of an Indian trading company in Yokohama."
In the early 1950s, Yokohama was already looking up. "I thought I could work hard, and have my hard work rewarded," Advani said. "After a few years I opened my own company. I called it Nephews International in a tribute to my uncle who used this name years earlier in India."
Advani had proved his reliability as an employee and demonstrated he was a true Sindhi known for business skills. Now, as president of a young company in a rapidly-changing world, he had to show his flexibility.
Silk and cotton fabrics faced a new challenge from rayon and nylon and other synthetic materials.
Japanese industry stabilized, producing and marketing electronic goods. Indian businesses felt the pinch.
"Many Indians sold or converted their Yamashita-cho properties, and moved away," Advani said. "Silk was sold at cost, money being made on the wooden cases that carried it.
"By the 1980s, even Yokohama silk scarves were no longer wanted. Only a few old-time Indian residents still stay in Yokohama."
Advani and his company moved with the times, basing their policies on friendship and trust. He set up liaison between Yokohama and Bombay clubs and hotels and promoted the visit to Bombay of the Yokohama mayor.
He initiated a sister-city relationship between the two cities, which resulted in the donation of a Japanese garden to Bombay and the gift of two elephants to Yokohama. He supported setting up the Yokohama-Mumbai Friendship Committee. Among the rewards for this public spirit, he received the key to Yokohama.
Advani's son and daughter are now the family's fourth generation here. He said, "I was the second son in a family of four sisters and seven brothers. The surviving ones live in the USA, India, and me in Japan. Indian families are very close, and we are planning a big party soon in (Bombay). My family will come back to our home in Yokohama where we are surrounded by nice people. We very much appreciate this country."
The Japan Times: Saturday, March 24, 2007
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Mr. G. A. Chandru is a family friend since 40 years.
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