Farrokh Jijina, Parsiana’s senior editor, fashioned himself as the "Lord of Colaba.” With his estates purportedly lying in Upper, Middle and Lower Colaba and his dwelling-house in Lower Colaba, Lord was uneasy taking a buggy to Prabhadevi. Nor was he happy typing long messages on the telephone. He preferred to leave a voice-note. So much so that Lord’s peers at Khaki Tours received several extended voice-notes from his trouser pocket. They could hear him greeting the shopkeepers on Colaba Causeway: "Hullo Alibhoy.” "Cut down on the alcohol Ervin.” Lord had also instructed this correspondent — if you are typing messages on the telephone, make sure the skin color of the hand emoticon reflects your own!
Farrokh Jijina and the conference room
at Khaki Tours dedicated in his memory
To celebrate his memory after his passing away on March 20, 2025, Khaki Tours has named the conference room in its new office "Lord’s: In loving memory of Farrokh Jijina.” It is situated on the same floor as their first office premises (at Hari Chambers, Apollo Street, Fort), that is devoted to the Khaki Heritage Foundation, its philanthropic arm. Their second office focuses on walking tours. Bharat Gothoskar, founder of Khaki Tours, notes: "Farrokh was associated with Khaki Tours in several capacities — as a tour ambassador, a trainer, an advisor, a heritage evangelist — and was affectionately known among his colleagues as the ‘Lord of Colaba,’ not least because of his penchant for colonial history and the English language.”
At the best of times at Khaki Tours, there was one Lord and another Master. Master’s fiefdom was a smaller area on another island, a road called Master Vinayak Road in Bandra. Vinayak Talwar, another Khaki stalwart, was elected Master to Farrokh’s Lord. Talwar paid a moving tribute to Jijina on Jamshedi Navroz, the day of Jijina’s funeral and the tercentenary celebrations of the Bhikha Behram Well, of which Talwar was a part. "The day has now ended; a pair of roses that I received at the event reminded me that for the next muktad I must pay my respects to the Lord of Colaba. But till then, Master misses you dearly.” Dr Simin Patel