Readers' Forum
“Pursuing Parsi portraits”
The picture titled "Unknown couple” by artist Jehangir A. Lalkaka in "Pursuing Parsi portraits” (Parsiana, May 7, 2014) is that of our grandparents, Noshirwan and Meherbai Dubash.
Noshirwan decided to set up his own law practice in Bombay. The couple had a happy marriage and he was an affectionate and doting father. He died in the mid-1930s, in Lonavla, of a sudden heart attack. Grandma Meherbai then went to live with aunt Mani Dubash in Ooty where she died in the late 1950s and was buried in the Ooty cemetery.
The portrait was probably painted in the late 1920s or early 1930s. It was probably displayed in the house of either aunt Mani or aunt Khorshed who lived alone in Ooty and Bangalore respectively. When they died some family members may have sold off their belongings while clearing their houses.
Dinoo, the eldest daughter, later opened a pre-school called Casa Montessori which is today located on Marine Drive and will celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2014. NAZNEEN DUBASH
(On behalf of Niloufer Ichaporia King and myself, their two grand-daughters)
pinazmin@gmail.com
Noshirwan was born in Karachi. He was sent to England by his older brothers when their father died. He continued his education there as a lawyer, returning to Karachi via Bombay where someone did a kaaj (arranged marriage) for him with Mehera Khan, the daughter of a family of gemstone merchants who had outposts in Ceylon and the far east. They married in 1899 and had five daughters, Dinoo, Mani and Perviz Dubash (my mother) and the twins Shireen Ichaporia (mother of my cousin Niloufer Ichaporia King, a chef in the USA) and Khorshed Contractor. Alongside are some photos of the family.
(Above): Noshirwan and Meherbai Dubash with their five daughters;
Cousins Rustom and Nazneen Dubash with portrait of their grandpatents
Noshirwan decided to set up his own law practice in Bombay. The couple had a happy marriage and he was an affectionate and doting father. He died in the mid-1930s, in Lonavla, of a sudden heart attack. Grandma Meherbai then went to live with aunt Mani Dubash in Ooty where she died in the late 1950s and was buried in the Ooty cemetery.
The portrait was probably painted in the late 1920s or early 1930s. It was probably displayed in the house of either aunt Mani or aunt Khorshed who lived alone in Ooty and Bangalore respectively. When they died some family members may have sold off their belongings while clearing their houses.
Dinoo, the eldest daughter, later opened a pre-school called Casa Montessori which is today located on Marine Drive and will celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2014. NAZNEEN DUBASH
(On behalf of Niloufer Ichaporia King and myself, their two grand-daughters)
pinazmin@gmail.com
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From the archive