Distinction for Desai

On the verdant lawns of the University of Poona on the morning of February 10, 2008, the prestigious Jivan Sadhana Gaurav Award (Lifetime Achievement Award) was bestowed on Dr Bejon Noshirwan Desai in recognition of his "immense contribution to the field of Gujarati literature and (his) thirst for spreading knowledge through education and books,” as intimated in a letter to the noted educationist by Dr Narendra Jadhav, vice chancellor of the University of Poona.

Desai, best known as principal emeritus and trustee of Boys’ Town Public School in Nasik, has garnered many honors in his long and meritorious career. B. T. Dastur, former CEO of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet informs in Eminent Parsis-II 1964-2007 that Desai had to face many trials and tribulations at the tender age of 11 when his father passed away. His constant striving for academic excellence took the Navsari born Desai to Bombay where he graduated from St Xavier’s College, earning his MA in 1947. To sustain his young family Desai took on a number of jobs, but his fortunes changed dramatically after he met the son of Sir Pherozeshah Mehta who offered him the post of principal of Boy’s Town of which he still remains a trustee.

Many prizes and honors have been conferred on Desai whose Curriculum Vitae (CV) runs into four foolscap pages. His work in social service organizations, including Rotary International, Lions Club and the Red Cross Society is meritorious. Associated with the State Institute of Education of Maharashtra state, Bureau of Examinations of M. S. University, Poona and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), government of India, Desai has also been faculty member and visiting lecturer of many institutions. He has to his credit 15 books and pamphlets ranging in subject matter from biographies of eminent personalities to religious subjects. Desai has also been contributing articles, research papers and columns to several newspapers and magazines since 1941, an activity which the 84-year-old educationist continues to this day, as per his CV.