The lockdown may have been raining woes for people all over but it brings good news to the Bhatia community.

Legendary voice artiste Harish Bhimani needs no introduction to our Bhatia samaaj. But for the sake of some inspiration for our youth, he is also a writer, anchor, an on-screen persona and documentary & corporate film maker. Harish bhai is a proud recipient of the coveted President’s Medal in the National Film Awards 2016, in the category of voice overs / narration, asalso the only anchor to have received a Gold Disc from HMV (The Gramophone Company of India). He is also a veteran with some 24,000 recordings under his belt and modestly considered as the most recognizable spoken voice in the country. Pheww! Now as you read further, you will understand why this introduction.

Harish Bhimani’s claim to fame, the magical voice of “Samay” from the epic television series Mahabharata has been immortalized in a rather creative and unusual manner. Yet, this is just another example of his creative genius and artistic expression, and ofcourse a matter of pride for bhatias!Following the wish expressed by Harish bhai who has his roots in Kutch Mandvi, the nagarpalika decided to rechristenMandvi’s vintagepride, the Bhimani Tower as ‘MainSamayHoon’.The tower was originally erected on the 1^st of June 1960 in the memory of Harish bhai’s late grandfather Shri. KarsandasJetha Bhimani at an expense of 35,000 rupees. This was the family’s gift to the city and its people.

60 years later, this towering piece of heritage has been restored by the nagarpalikawith the cooperation of some prominent benevolent bhatias along with the people of Mandvi. It has been gifted back to the city of Mandvi on the 19^th of February 2020 onoccasion of “MandviSthapna Divas”. The restored tower stands strong at 60 feet with a brand-new clock equipped with GPS technology. Even in case of power failure, the clock can work upto 12 hours without stopping. Every hour the clock gongs and the sound resonates to a radius of 3 kms, bringing back nostalgia of the olden days!

A restoration exercise for the clock was attempted in 2007 but the efforts went in vain. This time aroundit was possible with the effort of Shri Mahendra bhai Bhimani of Nizamabadwho pursued the authorities and got the restoration exercise completed successfully.

This Article has been Researched, Sourced (Divya Bhaskar) and Complied by Nirav Bhimani.