A100 years ago there was no high school in Bilimora. After completing their primary education students had to walk seven to eight miles each day to attend the Sir Cowasji Jehangir High School in Gandevi and return to Bilimora after school hours, informs writer Marzban Giara in an email sent to Parsiana.
Concerned at the daily hardship faced by the children, brothers Muncherji and Ratanji Tata felt there should be a high school in their town. The Muncherji and Ratanji Tata High School was constructed at a total cost of Rs 42,000, for which they defrayed half the amount while the rest was provided by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad within whose realm the towns of Bilimora, Gandevi and Navsari were located. An espouser of education, the Maharaja provided the land free for construction of the school.
The school building was inaugurated on March 19, 1916 by the Maharaja whose education minister was a Parsi, Aderji Mernosji Masani as inscribed on a marble plaque on the School building. The Tata brothers subsequently upgraded the School into a high school, donating Rs 25,000 for its maintenance and Rs 2,000 for furniture. In those days these were large sums indeed.
A white marble bust of Muncherji, who was born on August 7, 1842 and died on March 21, 1916, has been installed atop the School building. Giara shares that "in those days half of Bilimora belonged to the Tata family and the other half belonged to Shah Kesrichand Bhanabhai.” A large bungalow, Munsata, adjoined the School. Many notables were former students of the Tata School, including Dr Sorabji Billimoria, notes the email.
The Muncherji and Ratanji Tata High School, Bilimora; inset, bust of Muncherji
Giara adds that Parsis established schools and colleges in the towns and villages where they settled, dug wells for drinking water, founded dispensaries and hospitals, libraries such as the J. B. Petit Library at Bilimora in 1882 and Guzder Library at Gandevi in 1866.
When Parsiana asked Giara whether these Tatas were related to Jamsetji Tata, he clarified: "Muncherji and Ratanji Shapurji Tata were close relatives of Lim Baman, Merji Baman and Kanju Baman, as mentioned in the genealogy of Tata family in Tavarikhe Bilimora. There is no mention that they were from a priestly family. The first letter T in the word Tata is written as tattoo no ta. Jamsetji Tata and his family were Bhagaria priests from Navsari. In all records the first letter in the word Tata in Gujarati is written as talwar no ta. It is therefore unlikely that the Tatas of Billimora were related to the Tatas of Navsari.”