I enjoyed reading about the Parsi involvement in the girl guides movement ("Guiding for a century,” Parsiana, November 21-December 6, 2023). The article has prompted me to share information about Parsi girl guides in Hyderabad. I will not be able to mention all of them, but from my personal contacts here are two.
My sister Nasreen Patel (née Kaoosji) was a 16-year-old student at the Stanley School when she was conferred the highest honor a girl guide can achieve, being made a President’s Guide. I am sharing a photograph of her receiving the award from President S. Radhakrishnan in 1964.
I am also attaching another photograph from the 1953 national Scouts and Guides Jamboree in Hyderabad. On the right is Zenobia Ranji, who was a Girl Guides commissioner for the state. She is standing next to Kay Linnel, a teacher in Mahbubia School who was the Chief Girl Guide in Hyderabad State. Ranji and her husband, Dr Rustom, were social workers at heart. He was a prominent ophthalmologist, a Rotarian and trustee of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman of Secunderabad and Hyderabad. There were many Parsi ladies who were girl guide leaders in the twin cities. Prominent among other Parsi leaders of that time was Dina Lakdawalla.
YEZDYAR S. KAOOSJI
California, USA
yezdyk@gmail.com