"I don’t just collect puzzles, I also assemble them and store them permanently. I have been making puzzles since my childhood but started making large puzzles as a serious hobby around eight years ago and have made more than 150 puzzles totalling 85,000 pieces,” 38- year-old Ariz Bokdawala of Ahmedabad informed Parsiana on March 14, 2018. Bokdawala has found himself a place in the Limca Book of Records. The volume states that he "has 140 Indian and foreign (jigsaw) puzzles, a collection started in 2010.” The book records that the banking professional owns 31 puzzles made by Indian brands and 109 of foreign brands. In response to Parsiana’s follow-up questions, Bokdawala revealed that the countries of origin of the puzzles include Germany with 73 puzzles and India with over 30, with the remaining from six countries.
Left: one of over 150 jigsaw puzzles owned and assembled by Ariz Bokdawala (above)
President of the Parsi Youth League of Ahmedabad since the last four years and the Federation of Zoroastrian Youth Associations for a year-and-a-half, Bokdawala is also a managing committee member of Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat. "I have been spearheading participation of the youth of Ahmedabad at youth seminars since the last 20 years and have also been taking Ahmedabad children to the Zochild Day (held annually in Bombay) for the last three years,” he added. Married to Jasmine, the Bokdawalas are parents to Yazdan and Vahishta. The Navsari-born Ariz has worked in Unjha and Dahod in Gujarat. Father Kersi is a retired businessman and mother Vira, a homemaker.