He would never know what wanderlust or YOLO meant, but Nariman Karkaria lived and sought adventure in a way that would turn Instagrammers green with envy. Murali Ranganathan’s translation of Karkaria’s Gujarati diaries, titled The First World War Adventures of Nariman Karkaria, is a revealing read. From training as a young ‘andhiyaru’ (Parsi priest) in Navsari and stowing away to Hong Kong, and then to London via Turkey, Scandinavia and Russia, is a journey that staggers belief.

Author Murali Ranganathan