Worthy of his salt

"In the whole of India salt works are owned by the State and Central governments, except in Bombay and Salsette (Bombay Presidency extended up to Cambay, while Salsette included Penn, Panvel, Uran, Trombay, Chembur, Thane district and Bassein) where a large number of salt works are privately owned. The Governments of India and Maharashtra were trying to take away these salt works and lands from the owners who could not produce original records of land grants that had been granted over 200 years ago,” observed Kekobad Dossabhoy Doongriwalla, a 64-year-old solicitor residing in Bombay’s Dadar Parsi Colony, who earned his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Bombay in November 2006. Doongriwalla worked for his doctorate under the guidance of Dr Varsha S. Shirgaonkar, head, Department of History, Ramnarain Ruia College. His thesis was titled "History of Salt Works in Bombay and Salsette1750-1950,” states writer-author Marzban Giara.

Doongriwalla: researching land records

When asked what motivated him to do his PhD at an age when most people have retired, he replied: His research helped Doongriwalla to save the lands of Agri and Shilotri families who otherwise would have lost their livelihood and lands without compensation, states the write-up.

For nearly a decade Doongriwalla slogged for five hours a day, twice or thrice a week at the Department of Archives, Government of Maharashtra obtaining numerous extracts from the records. Origins of lands granted to Parsis for dakhmas in Bombay and Surat were also sourced by him. Generous in sharing the results of his research, Doongriwalla has helped many Parsi families to obtain their old land revenue records in places like Surat, Vyara, Ukai, Bharuch, Buhari, Navsari, Diu, Vansda and Thana. In Bombay he assisted the B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital and Colaba’s Seth Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy Agiary in recovering their land records from the archives, the researcher informed Parsiana.

Born in Bombay on December 23, 1942, Doongriwalla attended Bishops School at Poona, did his BA Honors from Bombay’s Khalsa College in 1964 and LLB from the Government Law College in 1966. He did his articles with Crawford and Company and passed the solicitor’s exam conducted by the Incorporated Law Society at his first attempt, standing first in 1972. He worked as a solicitor in Grindlays Bank until his father’s demise but quit his job in 1976 to look after his family’s business of salt manufacture at Doongri village in Thana district. His wife and daughter encouraged him to pursue his studies.

With varied hobbies like traveling by motorcycle, philately, numismatics and photography, Doongriwalla also excels in chess, billiards and snooker, informs the write-up. He is a trustee of the Thana Zoroastrian Charity Fund as also president and trustee of Dadar Parsi Colony Gymkhana.

Optimistic about the community’s future, he says confidently, "We are a very resilient community and will continue to flourish.” Youths should venture into business and enterprise, not pursue jobs, he recommends.