Story of Balasinor

The Story Of Balasinor - Growing Up in a Small Town in India By Dilip Shah (Vasanji)

"The Story of Balasinor" is story of a small town called Balasinor in Gujurat, India. Its a journey into the past as seen and lived by Dilip Shah.

Click here for Cover Page.  Click here for Book.

Kirit Shah, Fremont, CA - "Kudos must go to Dilip for creating such a prolific and painstaking narration of a relatively obscure small town in Gujarat, India. This is the story of passion and affection. It is the spiritual and passionate journey into the past. Many of us living in USA from ages of 60s to 80s are retired now. When we came to USA, we had a goal of settling here, focusing on work, and raising a family. There was hardly any time or inclination to think about anything else. Now, we are at such a stage and age of our life when most of us have accomplished our coveted goals including acquiring economic affluence. Some of us think in retrospect and may want to relive or reconnect with our roots, the soil of our birth, and our place of upbringing. We think about it a lot and desire to do something sometime someday. Unfortunately, other priorities of life constantly come up and we never translate our thoughts into any action whatsoever. Notwithstanding this, here is a man who truly reconnected himself with his roots and relatives. He has vividly discussed and described places and people, occasions and occurrences, which can take us, back to the era of lack of affluence but full of affection. The description of life in those days is sweet and savory. To have flair for writing makes stories easy and expressive to read, however, to recreate a factual account of life events with chronology and compassion, with references, documentation and bibliography, without any writing experience is extremely difficult if not impossible. Dilip has accomplished this herculean task through ardent desire, discipline and determination virtually following Swami Vivekanand’s mantra of “Awake, Arise And Stop Not Till Goal Is Reached”. This saga makes an interesting reading for many who grew up in this period in and around Gujarat, in a small town or a big city. In addition, this is a must read for those who hail from Balasinor with or without the background of living or growing up there. For the children, grandchildren, and future generations of Balasinor, this is the great document to connect with the bygone generations of our forefathers. Lastly, this is the story of heart and body separated by geography but connected in reality and spirituality with no boundary. There is always a gap between yesterday and today. Such work is a great attempt to narrow down if not eliminates the same. I sincerely thank Dilip for sharing his personal project with all of us. Wishing widespread reading of this truly nice and honest work of likes and loves."

Harin Bhayani, Fremont, CA - "This is a splendid effort on Dilip’s part to bring back all of the possible memories of his yesteryears and to recreate them in sequential events within the story form in an understandable way for the younger generations born and brought up in USA. It is welldone in the form of ancestral history with the family tree going back to the 1800's both on the father’s and mother's side. Good readings on how the streets were laid out, layout details of the house and all of the family connections with their names. Above all, the values taught by Dilip’s father in Gandhian philosophy and the upbringing of the Harijans. Morale is that all souls are created equal and should be treated with the utmost respects. I can go on and on...I am sure all will enjoy reading it depicting the morale of the life."

Rupesh Shah, Mountain View, CA - "The Story of Balasinor by Dilip Shah, my father, is truly a wonderful gift to all of us who have been bornfrom Balasinor to the Bay Area and what an immense leap he took for himself, his family, and for all future generations. Of course every journey has a beginning. It's the beginning that forms the person and sets the stage for what’s to come. The book brings out deep insights into my Dad's early years, what he did, what he saw, early influences, and the best part for me, the lessons he learned from his father. I can see the person he is now in those detailed memories and stories from his childhood. For all of us who will never get to experience childhood in a simple, yet charming Indian village, The Story Of Balasinor is our best opportunity to get a first-hand glimpse into the everyday happenings, the joys, the disappoints, and the challenges of growing up in an Indian village in the 1940s and 50s. Not only have I benefited from reading my Dad's memories, but my children will also benefit by being transported from the Bay Area back to Balasinor."

Natwarlal O. Kadakia Latkari, Mumbai - "I was very excited to read this book about Balasinor. It brought back a lot of old memories about life in Balasinor and I was very happy to find it all written in English which would be a great opportunity for the younger generation to connect and look up to. I am very proud that Dilip from Balasinor had taken the trouble and made a conscious effort to document this whole journey."

Devang Rajendra Mody (Paperwala), Mumbai - [Review]