Mayor Anklesaria

Bombay born Rattan Anklesaria was elected mayor of Dunstable on May 19, 2003. Apprehensive about future growth, Anklesaria, with a diploma in mechanical engineering and £ 3.10 shillings in hand and wife Sheroo (née Shernavaz Jhabvala) and their two children Heroise and Meera in tow, had migrated to England in 1956 to start again from scratch, "working his way up with British Rail to become an electrical engineer,” notes The Dunstable Gazette (May 21, 2003). One of his jobs with British Rail was as an instructor on diesel engines, ere he retired from the company as a manager, his younger brother Noshir Anklesaria, a consultant in excise and customs law in Bombay, informs Parsiana.

Anklesaria: upgrading infrastructure

In the process the eldest son of Rustomji and Putlamai became better known as Jim. "They couldn’t pronounce Rattan and because I never worked on New Year’s Eve, my railway colleagues said ‘you’re a Scotsman!’ So they called me Jimmy,” Anklesaria explained the choice of nickname to The Gazette reporter Sam Hird.

Among Anklesaria’s priorities as mayor is to upgrade the town’s rail and road connections to the national grid. The Pasque Hospice, the Keech Cottage children’s hospice and the 5th Dunsta­ble Scout and Guide groups are three charities he has identified for particular fundraising attention in The Gazette.

Sheroo is an excellent seamstress and dressmaker. Celebrat­ing their father’s investiture were Heroise (now better known as Roy), a solicitor, and Meera Terebil­lini, a linguist settled in Switzerland along with two of the four Anklesaria grandchildren, notes Noshir Anklesaria.