Stories about Rivka and Gavriel,‘who did everything their own way’

That walk is one of several anecdotes that Marshall is putting together in a “book full of stories” about Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg,killed during the 26/11 attacks. Marshall,who shifted to India in 1959,is collecting the anecdotes from his memories,the couple’s family,friends and countless people from the Jewish faith.

The couple had moved to Mumbai in 2003. After five years in various places,they finally found the huge Nariman House for Sabbaths,and as a centre of the Chabad Lubavitch Movement.

“The Rabbi in Singapore had told me to keep an eye on them and see they didn’t get into trouble,” recalls Marshall. “Gavriel had his own approach to everything,believed there is always a right way to do things.”

Soon after arrival,Gavriel got a new bathroom built for the ritual Mikveh in one of the synagogues. “He felt it was not being done the right way,” says Marshall. “He had the chutzpah,by what we in Israel mean the guts.”

Early one morning,Gavriel called Marshall to say that he was going to Alibaug to buy chicken. “I asked,‘Why on earth Alibaug?’ He said the local abattoir did not slaughter the chicken the right way for koscher food. He went to Alibaug and had 250 chickens slaughtered the koscher way,frozen and sent to the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi and Jewish resthouses in Goa.”

During the tsunami,Gavriel called Marshall at an odd hour,asking him to lend $1000. “He wanted to go to Andaman and see if any Israelis had been affected,as many relatives had called from London,New York,and elsewhere.” The next thing Marshall knew,Gavriel had boarded a military aircraft,flown to Andaman,met Israelis and convinced them to tie the Jewish thread around their arms.

Another adventure had seen Gavriel taking Marshall to the oldest synagagoue in Alibaug. “We found the gates closed. He said,‘Let’s climb the wall and jump’. That is exactly what we did.”

The Rabbi loved taking his son Mendi for walks on the seafront,Marshall said. When Mendi died,the family found solace in Rivka’s words: “He was here for a purpose; he came to this world to complete his previous life.”

Marshall listed Gavriel’s loves,the crowded Juhu beach,the Hanging Garden and a good meal at the Taj poolside with Marshall and his wife. “The Holtzbergs were always there to give strength to those in distress. They would lend money without question if they felt a person needed it. Their story needs to be told,” Marshall said.

“Once he had convinced me Nariman House was the best place to shift,he asked me for a telescope he could place on the roof to look beyond the sea. I regret I never gifted him one.”