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Living in Gujarat pleasant, special for us: Serena Jacob

A 66-year-old woman, Serena Jacob, reminisces unforgettable incidents of her having lived in Gujarat

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Sentiments of the Jews are sky high just ahead of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Ahmedabad on Wednesday. A 66-year-old woman, Serena Jacob, reminisces unforgettable incidents of her having lived in Gujarat. Jacob, who is also the Vice- President of the Magen Abraham synagogue, is highly indebted to the local community in Gujarat. Reminiscing one of her most memorable incidents, she says, "We used to live near Bhadra temple, which was a sensitive area.

My daughter's wedding was planned when the 1992 riots broke out and we were extremely apprehensive to carry out the rituals. My husband was commanding a regiment in Arunachal Pradesh then. The local Muslims, Hindus and Parsis came to our rescue and assured that nothing would happen. Amidst the tense situation, the wedding was held at the synagogue and hence I can never ever forget the help that the community offered us. Our stay in Gujarat has been very pleasant and special."

Jacob has an interesting story to share of the connection with Gujarat and Israel. While her husband worked for the Indian army, her son works for the Israeli army.

Being the only daughter of her parents, she was married at an age of 19. She did her schooling in Gujarati medium from Shreyas school and, thereafter, BA in Gujarati and Sanskrit from St. Xaviers college. She said, "Whenever my husband went for field posting, I would come to Ahmedabad and later got an opportunity to work in different schools. In 1999, we settled in Ahmedabad as my husband's last posting was in Dhangadhra.

She said, "While my daughter lives in America and elder son in Mumbai, my younger son migrated to Israel and joined the army as joining the army is mandatory in Israel. My elder son works for the Jewish Community Centre community in Mumbai. Till date, I have visited Israel only five times. While I do visit Israel but I am very happy in Gujarat, especially Ahmedabad."

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