Our History

OUR HISTORY:

The 1995 (Silver Jubilee Year of the Mathur Association Bombay - MAB) Directory had contained a detailed account of Mathurs in Mumbai (then Bombay) from the early Thirties onwards, a portion of which was included for information in our next (1999) Edition of the Directory. For those who have not seen our two said Directories and for the information of those who have joined us later, a portion of it is repeated below:

“ In the early Thirties and for almost three decades after, the house of Shri Moti Lal (the well known film star of those days) used to be a meeting place for most of the local Mathurs as well as for those coming to visit Bombay from outstations. Another popular place used to be the premises of J.N. Singh & Co. (then Delhi based renowned Mathur paper merchants) where doors were always open to any visiting Mathur. In those days Mathurs residing in Bombay were few, perhaps countable on fingers. Occasional get-togethers (like the Janam Ashtmi function at Shri Moti Lal’s place and later, the January Katha-cum Lunch at Shri Shiva Shankara’s place) used to provide regular opportunities for Bombay Mathurs to meet. These two occasions were held with religious regularity and enthusiasm by the two aforesaid respective hosts year after year and were attended each year in ever increasing numbers by Bombay Mathur families. The number had gone above 350 families by 1984 when Shri Shiva Shankara breathed his last. Perhaps nowhere else in the history of Mathur community in any city of India or abroad would there be a parallel example of an individual Mathur like Late Shri Shankara hosting all by himself Katha, and sumptuous lunch to the entire community of the town once each year for more than 25 years without break. In a city like Bombay where distance and time constraints prevent people from meeting each other, these and other get-togethers in the initial days went a long way in bringing the community members closer and in getting to know each other better.

It was actually from around 1960 onwards that Mathurs from various parts of India (notably from Delhi, U.P. and Rajasthan) started coming and settling down in Bombay in number, either on transfer or for availing of the good job and business opportunities provided by the developing metropolis. Over a period, a good number of them had their own houses and became permanent settlers. It was then that Shri Shiva Shankara and few other prominent community members thought of giving the semi-formed community togetherness a definite shape, mainly to develop cultural activities and feelings of brotherhood. Finally, in the year 1970 the MAB came into a formal existence with Shri Shiva Shankara as the founder President and a band of dedicated community members forming the Managing Committee. The ball was set rolling for organizing a couple of MAB get togethers per year, publishing MAB Directories etc. There has been, by grace of God, no looking back since then.”

The Association has since come a long way, managed all these years by Managing Committees of dedicated members under the able leadership of the following Presidents, as given below:

(a) Shri Shiva Shankara ---- ---- ---- 1970–mid 1979

(b) Shri ShivRajBahadur ---- ---- ---- mid1979–August1991

(d) Shri O.P.Mathur ---- ---- ---- March1992 – March 1999

(e) Shri Krishna Murari ---- ---- ---- April1999 –

The Association owes much to its aforesaid past Presidents and to its past Secretaries, Late Dr. J.S. Galgotia and Late S/Shri K.B. Lall and Kailash B. Mathur, as also to all the past members of its Managing Committee for its growth, organizational development and the well groomed position it is in today.

Composition of the present Management and its Advisors since June, 2005 is given in this Directory.