Adventurist Nariman Karkaria was described as a "mastikhor (mischievous),” by historian Dr Simin Patel while moderating a discussion with author Murali Ranganathan who translated from Gujarati to English The First World War Adventures of Nariman Karkaria published by Harper Collins last year (see "Life in the trenches,” Parsiana, November 21-December 6, 2022). "He (Karkaria) would slip out of his house and make his plans along the way,” stated Patel of the wayward youth. A priest in training from Navsari, "a restless person like Karkaria could not have stayed at home,”opined Ranganathan who has authored four books, two of them translations.
Above: Murali Ranganathan with Dr Simin Patel
The 15-year-old did not inform his parents that he was leaving home and assumed a pseudonym so they could not trace him, noted Ranganathan. He checked into the Panday Sanatorium and at the age of 17 left on a ship headed for China and eventually served in the British Army on three fronts during World War II. He managed a free passage, using a tenuous network of Parsi contacts. But Navsari was a "constant refrain in his book,” said Patel on March 31 this year at the Kitab Khana bookshop. "He thought always to travel back to Navsari.”
Karkaria managed to underwrite the book so buyers were offered a copy at a lower price, noted Ranganathan. His book is one of the few firsthand accounts of the "Great War.”