Nineteen-year-old Naorojee Fardunjee, handpicked in 1837 to be secretary and translator to British explorer and political officer Alexander Burnes, was perhaps saved from an early demise in Afghanistan by news of the passing away of his father in India. The young man’s stint with a mission to Kabul was cut short when he learned of the death of his parent in Bharuch and had to return to India. The event "probably saved (his) life,” writes historian Dinyar Patel on www.scroll.in on March 10, 2017. That day marked the 200th birth anniversary of Fardunjee. Diplomatic tensions between the British administration in......