By: Shailesh Prajapati & Meghdoot Sharon
AHMEDABAD: An Ahmedabad barber went abroad hoping to make the cut. The story is not exceptional because legions of Gujaratis settle overseas to unpack their entrepreneurial potential. But the memory of the barber’s itinerary had been cropped by time. Only when his family members recently discovered his
1919 passport
did they learn he had journeyed to Zanzibar.
The
passport was issued to Khoda Magan Lamachia on September 26, 101 years ago. It was “valid for the journey to Zanzibar on private business.”
Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the East African coast. The instances are rare of people preserving — perhaps as family heirlooms — passports that are more than 100 years old.
In this case, the family did not know that the passport existed until about seven years ago. A relative of the Lamachias, working with the police department, who was posted in the regional passport office in Ahmedabad noticed the passport. The passport was eventually handed over to the Lamachias.
Passport also mentions Magan’s willAll I remember is that my father had told me that my grandfather had visited a foreign country,” said Shiva Parekh, 56. “We realized that he had gone to Zanzibar only after receiving the passport.” Shiva’s father Bala (Magan’s son), who died in 2006 at the age of 85, did not have too many memories of his father.
Regional passport officer Sonia Yadav, said: “An original passport issued way back in 1919 is definitely a rarity. Occasionally, we have received photocopies of passports dating back to1950s and1960s.”
The family, originally from Kanbha on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, is now settled in Vastral in the eastern part of the city. It continues with the traditional hairdressing business. Magan’s grandsons own barber shops in the city.
A striking feature of the passport is that it was accompanied with Magan’s will. He had listed the names of family members who would be entitled to his possessions if he died.
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