Navsari must be the world record holder for the maximum number of cousin marriages. That too, first cousins. Unlike some other communities, where it is permissible to marry only maternal cousins, the Parsis of Navsari preferred paternal cousins. Genetic inbreeding was a fine art. To marry a cousin once or twice removed was an affront to the unmarried first cousins who felt snubbed and humiliated. The moment Thrity’s umbilical cord was cut by a midwife with an unsterilized kitchen knife (a little rust was ignored) she would be betrothed to five-year-old Palan. Woe betide Thrity if subsequently her hormones were......