For seventy-six years now, on 1^st January, every New Year’s day, the villagers of Kutru village, in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, commemorate a memorial dedicated to Bombay-based Parsi businessman – Pestonji Nowroji Kharas, who was tragically killed by a wild buffalo in 1948, as part of an unfortunate tale of love and vengeance. The village comes alive with a poignant ritual reliving the tragic love story of a Parsi couple and the vengeance of a wild buffalo, as villagers gather around Kharas’ grave.

The memorial at the site of Kharas’ death, symbolizes the enduring love between him and his wife, Rozi, and the wild vengeance of the buffalo that killed him. On 1^st January, 1948, Kharas and his friends ventured into a forest near Kutru on a hunting trip, where a wild buffalo was shot. Assuming it was dead, Kharas approached it but the buffalo suddenly rose, charging at Kharas and mauling him to death. Rozi travelled to Bastar to perform the last rites and constructed a grave, which she visited every New Year’s day, for 24 years, honoring his memory and even arranging for a local doctor to light an earthen lamp at the site.

All these years, this ritual has been observed by villagers, who view the grave with respect and awe, recalling the tragic story of love and vengeance that shaped their local history. A buffalo head, symbolising the wild animal’s fury, still hangs on the wall of the local landlord’s palace as a reminder of the events that unfolded on that fateful day.

The grave is inscribed with a marble plaque that reads: “In the sad and loving memory of Pestonji Nawaroji Kharas of Bombay, who lost his life accidentally while hunting in the wilderness of this forest on 1^st January, 1948. Aged 45 years. Erected by his devoted wife and son.”