At 80, Noshir Homawalla Rides 10 km Horseback Daily!

Tourists visiting Vadva village in Bharuch district (20kms east of Bharuch city) can see a horsefarm… 80-year-old Noshir Homawalla has a hobby of keeping horses, maintaining this eye-catching horsefarm spreading over two and a half acres. A bachelor, Noshir inherited the hobby of rearing horses from his ancestors. According to him, his family has been rearing horses for 137 years now! He has developed a vast horsefarm and kept the family tradition alive. His entire life has been devoted to caring for horses. He has 43 horses of good pedigree at his horsefarm currently. According to him Sindhi and Marwad pedigree horses are considered the best and he has horses of both these pedigrees. He spends daily Rs.200 to Rs.250 on each horse. This amounts to a daily expense of Rs.8000 to Rs.10,000 every day for 43 horses! Monthly expenses amount to Rs.2.5 lakhs, which comes to Rs.30 lakhs annually! Even at the age of eighty, Noshir Homawalla rides daily on horseback ten kilometers!

[Courtesy: Gujarat Mitra (Asspas Chopas), translated by Marzban Jamshedji Giara]