An in-depth visit to Navsari 

 3 years ago 3 kids from Parsi Times hopped into a car and chased the sun to Udvada to see the Religious Mecca for the Parsis through our own eyes. What resulted was a Special Issue that stands out as one of my most intense labours’ of love.

We had been since planning to return to Gujarat and finally, in the 3rd week of January 2015, we made it. This time it was Navsari. Over five very packed and exhausting days we met people, felt legends and legacies and experienced the Parsi-panu of the town of Naysari.

Walking from place to place we put ourselves into different shoes… the shoes of an old time Navsari-ite who comes only to vacation now, the shoes of a child who grew up on Kolah’s icecream, the weary shoes of the aged who come here to enjoy their old days with fresh air and familiar neighbours and the shoes of those who have with multiple institutions turned what looks curiously like an old forgotten town into a place that buzzes with the Educational and Medical Institutes worthy of the most forward metropolitan cities. Truly we discovered, that Navsari with its small old roads and large institutions is a contradiction that can leave you spell bound.

What stood out for us was the large hearts of Navsari. For their unparalleled hospitality, I thank first the amazing folks at the WZO Trust Funds Old Age Centre. Mr Dinshaw and Mrs. Bachi Tamboly, the staff and the residents of the Home housed us, fed us and satisfied our every curiosity, helping set up meetings and talking passionately about everything Navsari means to each of them. My team cannot thank you enough.

Dara Deboo, Yazdi Kassad, Faredoon Bajan, Behzad Suraiwala, Ketayun Karkaria, Mrs Gandhi of the Library and so many more people…we send our hugs and thanks. You helped us cover so much in so little time that we are spilling content into a Second Parsi Times Naysari Special Issue as well!

The rest of Navsari was just as welcoming. We stormed into people’s homes, Orphanages and Libraries with unabashed curiosity and we were met by warmth and hospitality. Thank you Navsari!

My team for those five days… Thanks for the company and the excellent work ethic. I know I kept you all up for our daily briefings each evening when all you wanted to do was catch a well-deserved rest. But l know each of you is as proud as I am of the sweat and toil. The next trip there is going to be only for fun, I promise! My team here at the PT office bore with us and I thank them for helping to turn our wild Navsari escapade into these precise and clean easy to read 80 pages.

Our advertisers make it possible each year to create a glossy and sexy Parsi Times Jamshedi Navroze Issue. Thank you all very much. Dear Readers, take this trip with us… Feel through our words the work and lives of those who drive.

……………Freyan Bhathena

Click Here for the special issue available online on TheParsiFamily.com – scroll to the right and find it.