On a pleasant winter evening last year, several dozen men and women gathered at the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of a family business that has grown from a one-stop shop in Basra to a wholesale and retail venture that spans the Middle East.
Founded by the late Rao Sahib Jashanmal -- who came from India and launched his general store selling household goods, men's clothing, stationery, books and newspapers in Iraq in 1919 -- the Jashanmal Group is now run by the fourth generation.
The group, which is a big name in retail and wholesale business in consumer goods in the region, is steeped in history beginning when the British controlled most parts of an underdeveloped Arabian Gulf, and there were more sand dunes than people. It was also a time when camels and bandits roamed freely and oil, which later brought immense riches to the land, had not yet been discovered.
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