We are thrilled to learn that the the third edition of the Iranshah Udvada Utsav shall be held in December 2019. Readers of Parsi Khabar will remember our reports from IUU 2015 and IUU 2017 and we look forward to being present and covering the 2019 edition.

Bookings should open soon. Stay tuned.

It was a momentous day for Officer Rooshad Irani — the day he knew he’d finally made it. He’d recently picked up his degree in criminal justice from Wichita State and was finally starting his career. On October 3, 2014, his dream of becoming a police officer became a reality.

Article by Audrey Korte | The Sunflower

Now that date brings him nothing but heartbreak. Two years after being offered a position by the Derby Police Department, Irani got a call that no amount of police training or experience could prepare him for.

On Oct. 3, 2016, his younger sister Rowena was attacked in their family home.

Around 1 p.m. that afternoon, Dane Ownes parked around the corner and then entered the Irani house.

“After he saw that she was home, he walked in through the front door and as she came around the corner, when she came into his sight, he raised the gun and shot her in the head.”

Owens then grabbed her phone and walked out the back door. Irani was left without care for at least three hours. She died the next day.

Owens was convicted in November of first-degree felony murder and aggravated burglary in the 2016 shooting.

Now Rooshad Irani and his parents are raising money for a scholarship in her name.

Finding a fitting tribute

Not long after the trial ended Rowena’s mother Toranj, a primary teacher at the Wichita Montessori School was approached by the parent of one of her students.

“My mom had a chat with the parent about, you know, finding things to look forward to now that the trial was over,” he said.

The parent, Melesa Johnston (Coffey) talked with her about doing things to help keep Rowena’s memory alive. Johnston suggested starting a scholarship in her name.

“My mom said I really don’t know how to get one started,” Rooshad said.

Johnston reached out to a friend who works for the WSU Foundation. Amy Tully is the Associate Director of Development for the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and University Libraries at the Wichita State Foundation. Johnston called Tully at the Foundation and the two brainstormed different fundraising ideas for the Irani’s.

“Melesa was kind of like, ‘I don’t even know what’s possible but this girl needs something to make sure that her legacy lives on.’ I was like, ‘Great. Let’s do it.’”

It was one mother to another, trying to give some comfort and focus her attention on doing something positive despite her grief.

“There was something in Melesa that was like, ‘She helped my babies so much and here she is,” Tully said. “She’s the one that found Rowena. It’s just heartbreaking.

Coincidentally, Tully represents Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the Foundation and psychology is under that umbrella, so it made sense for her to be involved in raising funds for the psychology scholarship from there forward.

Tully met with Johnston and the Irani family.

“They wanted the story to end on a positive note,” Tully said. “A life-giving kind of outcome.”

The way the idea was formed, shared, and put into action stands out to Tully. It’s a community effort — people rallying around the Irani family in an effort to give something back to them.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” Tully said.

“It would just mean the world to this family if they could relax in the knowledge that their daughter would be honored and that students would be benefiting for the betterment of this community.”

The Rowena Irani Scholarship

The Irani’s, Johnston and Tully met in January and got the ball rolling from there.

“When we first started out, the goal was set for $10,000 just to see if we could get this crowdfunding campaign going,” Rooshad said. “We got the word to enough people to raise 10 grand in about 30 days.”

They weren’t sure they’d even hit the $10,000 mark, let alone do so that fast.

“That blew our minds,” Rooshad said.

The family is originally from Pakistan and moved to Wichita in 2004. Connections to their Pakistani community members made a difference.

“People from Pakistan, from within our community, have moved to the States or to Canada,” he said. “It’s why we were able to raise the ten grand.”

According to Aaron Winters, Director of Development for the WSU Foundation, The Rowena Irani Psychology Scholarship fundraising campaign began on April 23. The campaign initially had an end date of May 31.

“Thanks to some incredible work by the Irani family, the dollar goal for the campaign was achieved on May 12 (just under three weeks from the start of the campaign),” Winters said in an email.

Shortly after surpassing the original goal, The Rowena Irani Psychology Scholarship became the most successful campaign, both in terms of donors and dollars raised, on the GiveCampus crowdfunding platform since the WSU Foundation began using it.

As a result of this early success, the family decided to extend the deadline to June 30. They increased the goal from $10,000 to $35,000 so the scholarship could be endowed.

The Wichita State University Foundation Scholarships

The current scholarship is like a checking account — money in, money out. Once the money is raised it gets used for a scholarship(s) as specified, but when the money runs out, the scholarship is done. It won’t be available again next year.

“There’s basically two types of scholarships that flow through the WSU Foundation,” Vice President of the Wichita State University Foundation, Keith Pickus said. “One is called current, and the other is called endowed.”

The alternative is an endowed scholarship that does repeat annually. If a family or entity wants to create an endowed scholarship at WSU, they must first raise at least $35,000. Once the $35,000 is raised then the Foundation will pay out annually a percentage of the proceeds from that fund — roughly 4%, Pickus said. That amounts to $1,200 a year if the amount raised is $35,000. If it’s more than that then the annual scholarship will pay out more as well.

Pickus said the Foundation will typically do pledges for up to five years but there is no firm deadline for raising money to endow a scholarship.

“There’s no end to fundraising for this scholarship or any other one. There’s no deadline for it.”

The campaign webpage won’t come down on June 30 either. Even after the campaign ends, it will remain viewable on the GiveCampus platform and donations can still be accepted, Winters said.

Tully said the Irani’s don’t want Rowena’s legacy to be finite. They want to see it go on and on through this scholarship

“The $35,000 just gets us to the level that we can assure the family that she’ll live on,” she said.

Rowena’s work at the Wichita Children’s Home

Rowena worked at the Wichita Children’s home for about a year and a half before she died. In that time she made a lasting impression on the lives of many young people with her efforts and enthusiasm.

“She was very involved on campus and decided that she wanted to give back to the community so she started working at the Children’s Home,” Rooshad said.

Rooshad said he and his sister were bullied all through middle school and high school because of their Pakistani heritage. People also assumed incorrectly that they were Muslim and gave them grief for that. Rooshad said that was difficult for all of them.

He was 14 and just starting high school. Rowena was 10. He said he and Rowena leaned on each other a lot. They were very close.

“We came here three years after 9/11 so you can imagine the kind of mentality that most people had,” he said. “Instead of letting that get to us, the both of us – her more than me – we turned that into a positive and used those experiences to help not only others but to educate those who were bullying.”

One way Rowena did this was through her work at the Wichita Children’s Home (WCH).

WCH CEO, Debbie Kennedy speaks passionately about Rowena, highlighting the many strengths Rowena demonstrated when working with children.

Kennedy gave the eulogy at Rowena’s funeral.

The things children at the home said about Rowena still bring tears to her eyes.

When children were admitted to the home “she greeted them like they were the important guests she was waiting for,” Kennedy said. “They instantly knew they were someplace that cared about them.”

Children adored Rowena there, Kennedy said. They loved it when Rowena woke them up in the morning because she’d quietly enter, call them by name and gently wake them.

Kennedy described the act, “like a very tender mother would do with a child they adored.”

They said when they were in school, they couldn’t wait to get back to see Rowena and share their day with her, big events and small that brought joys and sorrows.

“She listened, attentively listened, letting them know that they were worthy of someone’s attention and kindness,” she said.

During their academic hour, she studied right along with them, modeling the importance of academic success, according to Kennedy

“She talked to them about the importance of setting goals and figuring out how to achieve them,” she said.

As she listened to the children talk about “Ms. Ro” she noted the words used to describe her, saying that Rowena was, “amazing, upbeat, memorable and cool.” They also said, “she never got mad at us. She loved us.”

As the children were talking about Rowena, they promised to always remember the lessons she taught them, Kennedy said.

“They wanted to be just like her — to never be afraid, be adventurous, and always be courageous,” she said.

They vowed to become someone she would be proud of. One vowed to finish high school, one vowed to go to cosmetology school, one vowed to go to college.

Kennedy made a vow too.

“I vowed to seek out more employees like Ro. To do less would mean I did not learn the lessons she taught me.”

Donations to the Rowena Irani Psychology scholarship can be made through the GiveCampus campaign site at http://bit.ly/GiveRowena, by sending a check to the WSU Foundation and denoting the name of the scholarship in the memo section, or by visiting the WSU Foundation giving page and designating the gift to the scholarship. 

For Zoroastrian heritage, the shadows may be lengthening, but at least the flame continues to flicker.

Article by Meher Mirza CN Traveller

An old Parsi house in Navsari. Photo: Dinodia Photos/Alamy Stock Photo

I draw into Surat’s railway station on a claggy sort of evening; the sky is quiet, lidded with grey clouds, and the windows of our train fling soft squares of light onto the station platform. Surat itself though is chaotic, fizzing and vibrating with the energy of industry and the future. But we are not here for that.

Why are we here? I come to people the empty map I have drawn of my dwindling community, the Parsis. My parents have come to unearth the half-remembered archaeology of their past. We are here to grapple with the protean shapes of our faith.

The barest bones of our history can be summarised thus. The Zoroastrians lived circa 1,200 BC, spawning three great Persian empires—Achaemenians, Parthians and Sassanians. Upheaval came with the Arab invasion in the 7^th Century, scattering the Zoroastrians as far away as India. A small, determined bunch brought with them the holy flame from the temples of Iran, settling first in Sanjan (where a commemorative pillar still stands), then seeping across Gujarat, finally onwards to Bombay and Calcutta.

The ‘stambh’ that marks the arrival of the first Parsis in Sanjan. Photo: Dinodia Photos/Alamy

But back to Surat. Not much remains of the city of my parents’ memories. Huge glass-fronted buildings have muscled out the tiny cottages that peopled Amroli, my mother’s native village on the outskirts of Surat. An aunt’s bungalow, collapsed into rubble, has now been exchanged with an office building. And yet there is Shahpore, with its leafy capillaried lanes, home to most of the city’s Parsis. An agiari in Amroli, tiny, windowless, locked; it sputters to life only when we enter. Larger, beautifully-kept fire temples in Surat. One is painted a sprightly yellow, a cautionary notice pasted to its door ‘Please keep door closed to avoid cat entry. Thank you.’ And, of course, there is Dotivala Bakery, purveyors of my father’s favourite ginger biscuits and Sosyo. (When the Dutch arrived in Gujarat in the 16th century, they brought with them art of baking bread, a tradition that was then passed on to the Parsi bakers they hired to work under them. The English eventually ousted the Dutch, but one of the bakers, Faramji Dotivala, continued baking.)

Then onwards to Udwada. Named for being a resting area for peripatetic camels (uth-vada), it is where the holy fire was moved to Udwada’s fire temple in 1742; perhaps our last physical link to the august glories of Persia’s dynasties. Splayed around the holy temple are low bungalows, recently restored, hung about with Portuguese elements like elaborate cornices and intricately-carved grilles (one even has the face of Queen Victoria worked into it).

The Modi Atash Behram in Udwada, Gujarat is the oldest Parsi Fire Temple in India. Photo: Dinodia Photos/Alamy Stock Photo

It isn’t a place for frenetic activity. There’s a pebbly beach girdling the village, with a fruiting of palm trees. There’s a sleepy museum. Around the village are a wash of chikoo and mango orchards. And there are its fusty dharamsalas, famed for their superb cooking—the offal-rich aleti paleti and khurchan, pulao dar, fried fish.

There is plenty to buy—papads beaded with garlic from the old lady hanging about the temple gates, batasa and nankhatai biscuits from the Udwada Irani cafe, beaded torans (garlands), homemade chikoo ice-cream from the vendor down the lane from the temple.

Being here feels like a peaceful excursion into the pages of history, rich with the sense of an alternative rural history unlike, say, the grand, leisured estates of Parsi merchants in Mumbai. Except in December when it shatters to life with the Udwada Utsav, with its heritage walks, skits, religious lectures and such, designed to tug the past into the vibrant present.

In Navsari the next day, where Parsis first settled in the 12th Century, we make our way to the oldest existing fire temple and seminary outside Iran; the vadi dar-e-mehr, consecrated between 1140-60. The grand atash behram nearby used to be the gloried repository of the holy fire for 200 years; today it is empty, populated only with antique clocks, beautiful ancient furniture, paintings fogged by the passage of time.

Aatash Behram at Navsari. Photo: Dinodia Photos/Alamy Stock Photo

We walk to Tarota Bazaar to peer at the beautifully-restored Dasturji Meherjirana Library (1872), hopscotching around the pylons and electric wires cross-hatching the footpaths. Outside, there is the familiar city clatter of wayward traffic. But within, there is only numinous silence. Photographs of venerable Parsi ancestors gaze upon weary old wooden chairs and antique bookshelves. One of the library’s great treasures is a firman, issued by Emperor Akbar to the great Parsi priest Meherjirana, and signed by the Mughal chronicler himself, Abu’l Fazl.

The Dasturji Meherjirana Library. Photo: Meher Mirza

Navsari is home to further monuments to memory—the houses of two of its favourite sons, Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy and Sir Jamshedjee Tata. Born in the same neighbourhood, in very similar houses, both are now maintained as museums.

Close by is Yazdan Cold Drink House, and EF Kolah & Sons, purveyors of the cane vinegar and fish roe pickle that Navsari is famed for. But it is pooh-poohed roundly by my picky parents, who grumble about the fading away of the original Kolah store-owner, aapro Kersasp Kolah who sold, among other glories, ice-cream served in a special ice-cream glass. Instead, we make our way to Sorab Baug, where dad used to eat lunch every day, in the company of a chattering of young Parsis. Now there is only us, eating crisp-fried boi fish, curry chawal and kachumber.

We drive to Bharuch on our last day in Gujarat; now a throbbing modern city, but with faint remnants of its Parsi past. The pink and white Bai Motlabai Wadia School for girls. The bungalow of businessman Shapoorji Jambusarwala (converted to a school). Four imposing agiaris. The ancestral home of the illustrious Godrej clan.

A lane in Parsivad. Photo: Meher Mirza

Alas, its Parsivad, the once-magnificent Parsi neighbourhood has now receded into ghostly oblivion. Less than 100 Parsis now live here. We walk through its main street, a rutted cart-track that runs through dusty, unkempt mansions standing in empty silence. Thick with shadows, it is the loneliest, most poignant place I have ever seen.

But history, no matter how beguiling, is no panacea for the living. We walk on slowly, back to the thrum of modernity, back to life.

This Madras Day, members from one of the oldest communities in the city speak through their traditions, roots, cuisines and culture.

Amid the clamour of a bustling Royapuram lies the Parsi fire temple, offering a moment of tranquillity from the chaos outside. The porch is dotted with simple chalk images of fish and flowers. The doorway is adorned with intricately woven and beaded torans.

Article by Vaishali Vijaykumar | Express News Service

As we enter the building, which shelters an undying fire, we are told that the priest alone can tend to the fire. He is the only person permitted inside the sanctum sanctorum. Entry into the prayer hall is restricted to Zoroastrians who offer sandal sticks to the priest, who throws it into the fire on their behalf.

On a warm Sunday morning, some senior members from the Parsi community hosted an engaging talk on their cultural practices inside the 110-year-old Jal Phiroj Clubwala Dar-e-meher, and a breakfast comprising heirloom delicacies, as part of Madras Week celebrations on Sunday.

Generations of style

Dressed in their fineries, the women are draped in their gara (saris) in the native Parsi style. They tells us that earlier, Parsi women would cover their head with one end of their sari during rituals. Hence, only one earring was made, usually with gold or silver.

“The community’s elaborate embroidery work has its influence from China. Blouses either match the sari or are left plain. The garments are difficult to maintain and are expensive. We send them to Mumbai for dry cleaning. These are passed on to us by our mothers and grandmothers,” says Tehnaz Bahadurji.

The men are dressed in their traditional dagli made of thin cotton cloth paired with white trousers and a white cap. “Sapat is our traditional footwear made of velvet or leather. The demand has gone down because of dwindling numbers in the artisan community. People continue to order it from Mumbai,” says Tehnaz.

Quaint customs

The men and women also wear sadra, a white muslin vest that stands for innocence and purity, and kasti, a holy thread wrapped around the waist thrice. It consists of 72 threads, for each chapter in the holy prayers, and is mandatory to wear after Navjote, a holy communion performed for children between seven and 13.

“We are hardly a 250-member community in the city. We seldom have marriages. Two priests pray primarily over the bride and groom in an archaic language called Avestan. That apart, we celebrate new year’s day, which is after the spring equinox on March 21, in the memory of King Jamshedji Nowruz who started the festival,” shares Tehnaz.

She explains that it’s not the fire they worship but their prophet Zarathustra, who brought the message of the creator Ahura Mazda. As fire is said to be the most powerful and incorruptible of the five elements, it is symbolic of their creator on Earth.

Early years

We move to our next location — Parsi Anjuman Baug Dharamshala — a few buildings before the fire temple. Zarine Mistry, the community’s historian, was ready with her facts to take us through their early settlement in Madras and stories of prominent contributors.

“The first Parsi came to Madras in 1795 from Coorg. A Parsi man, Heerjibhai Maneckji Kharas, bought the first plot and kept adding to it. By 1822, we had 32 grounds taken on lease. When the Crown assumed sovereignty in 1858, all the property became our own,” she says.

The Madras Parsi Zarthosti Anjuman was formed in 1900. When the son of the philanthropist Phiroj M Clubwala died, he donated the fire temple in his son’s memory, which was consecrated in 1910. The Parsi club was formed in 1930, where the community meets once a month.

Community outreach

Despite dwindling numbers around the globe, the community has maintained a stable count in the city, making their presence felt through their philanthropy. “Hormusji Nowroji was a civil engineer who was said to have built the Kilapuk waterworks and introduced piped waterlines to the city. Philanthropist-trader Phiroj M Clubwala built the Anjuman Bagh for guests from other cities to stay,” says Zarine.

Minoo K Belgamwala was a well-known figure in motorsports and horse racing. Adi Merwan Irani was a popular cinematographer and Dinshaw Tehrani, a reputed sound engineer started Newtone Studios in Kilpauk.

“Mary Clubwala Jadhav was the daughter-in-law of PM Clubwala. After her husband’s death, she joined the Guild of Service in 1935 and went on to introduce social service to well-to-do ladies. In 1940, she set up the Indian Hospitality Committee to help soldiers in the world war. She started the first school of social service in 1952, Madras School of Social Work, and was the first lady sheriff of Madras,” says Zarine.

For the love of food

As the talk concludes, Mahiar Shroff and his wife Zavera Shroff set the table with elegant crockery and a sumptuous spread of copiously buttered buns, scrambled eggs and paneer, minced meat, roasted potatoes and a dessert made of semolina.

“We try to include meat in some way in our food. For instance, broad beans are used in kebabs, cluster bean is cooked with shrimp and all vegetables have egg added to them. We have a month dedicated to the angel of animals when we avoid meat,” says Tehnaz as we down cups of piping hot Parsi chai.
The walk was curated by Rajith Nair from Travelling Gecko.

(Extraordinary lovers of the game called cricket are all geared up and excited to be a part of the tournament “The 1886 Trophy” and are saying it aloud that they are proud of the heritage where it all began. CricFit author and Sports Media Specialist Binaisha M. Surti brings you a pre- view of all the exciting action to come.)

Article by Cricfit

The Parsees were the earliest local community in India to take up cricket. They are known to have played the game since about 1840 and the first Parsee Club “The Oriental Cricket Club” was founded in 1848. In February 1885, a group of eminent Parsees met at the Ripon Club in Bombay to discuss the setting up of a Gymkhana to meet the needs of Parsee youngsters for physical recreation and outdoor sports. This eventually led to the establishment of the Parsee Gymkhana in 1885, with Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy being its first President. The Gymkhana came to be regarded as the world headquarters of Parsee Cricket.
The Parsee tour of England in 1886 was the first cricket tour of England by a team from India. It was made up of enthusiasts who had the means to pay. The position changed in 1888 on the second tour, when players were selected on merits. The Parsees back then genuinely enjoyed this sport and continue to do so even today.

Thus to recreate such golden moments and enjoy the game of cricket “The 1886 Trophy 2016” came into being. The 2 teams that will face each other in a thrilling contest on 12th November 2016 are Parsee Gymkhana and British Business X1 at the Parsee Gymkhana Grounds from 8:30 am onwards. Six balls will be bowled per over with each innings being of 30 overs each. The post-match presentation ceremony will be held after the game. The umpires will not be using a ball counter, they will be using marbles instead. The main sponsors of the tournament are Spenta, HSBC and Glenfiddich. This grand cricketing event will be attended by personalities across the Parsee community, renowned ex-cricketers and ex- Parsee Cricketers.

Speaking to CricFit, Khodadad Yazdegardi (Vice President and Cricket Secretary of Parsee Gymkhana) shared with us “I believed that whatever we do, we should do it extremely well and make it big… I thus had a meeting with Matt Greenwell and as everything fell into place…the cricket tournament called “The 1886 Trophy 2016” was born. In 1886 an all Parsee team reached the shores of England to play the most loved game called cricket. It is a nostalgic feeling to try and re- create the whole scenario of the golden days of the sport. We want this generation to come and thus remember this occasion for a long time.”

Adding to this Matt Greenwell (Managing Committee member of the British Business Group in India) said “I have been living in India for some years now and have been a fan of Indian history. I read many books on cricket too. Parsees were the first community who took interest in cricket and the Parsee team toured England in the year 1886. I am extremely passionate about the sport and I too will be playing on 12th November. I have a special bat made for the occasion. We are a team of British businessmen…I even play for the Malabar Pirates Cricket Club. Though I come from a rugby background I picked up the sport when I was in my 20’s. Talking about getting sponsor HSBC on board… Since this is such a massive event and an opportunity to celebrate the great days of the golden era we had a meeting with the CEO of HSBC in India and they were more than happy to come on board.”

Aspan Cooper (Chairman of Spenta Group of Companies) concluded by telling us “Firstly cricket is very close to my heart and so is my community. It is something exceptionally great that the first team touring England were an all Parsees unit. I readily agreed to sponsor such a big tournament and support any cause which helps our community. I would love to sponsor many more such events in the future too and it is always a pleasure to be associated with the Parsee Gymkhana. I have been an avid cricket lover and played for Parsee Gymkhana too.”

Udvada Railway Station recently got a massive facelift. Below is an article on the history of the Udvada Station by eminent historian and our dear friend Marzban Giara.

Marzban writes…

There was no separate railway station for Udwada on Bombay Baroda B. B. & C .I. Railway. One had to alight at Pardi station and travel eight miles to reach Udwada. Seth Behramji Nusserwanji Seervai (1824-1914) started his business as a railway contractor and carting agent in 1864 for B. B. & C.I. Railway.

Seth Behramji Nusserwanji Seervai wrote a letter to Mr. J. K. Duxbari, the railway company’s agent on 16^th October 1868 and stressed the need for building a small station at Udwada where Parsis go on a pilgrimage to the ancient Atash Behram and if the railway company wants he offered to pay the expenses for constructing the station.

On 11^th June 1869 Mr. C. Curry, the railway company’s agent replied to Seth Behramji Seervai that a small station will be constructed at Udwada by the railway company but if he or his friends could improve the road from the station to Udwada village.

Seth Behramji on 20^th October 1869 wrote a letter to Mr. T. C. Hope, Collector of Surat and offered to pay half the expenses for repairing the road. Mr. Hope accepted the offer by his letter of 8^th January 1870 to Seth Behramji and stated “… the Local Fund Committee will undertake hereafter to improve it as far as the means at their disposal will allow.”

Thereafter Seth Behramji on 8^th April 1870 deposited Rs.2,000/- in Surat’s Government Treasury for the road to Udwada village. The railway company constructed a small temporary station at Udwada and inaugurated it on 23^rd December 1869. The road to the Udwada village was built on 25^th May 1870.

Bai Motlabai Jehangirji Wadia contributed Rs.68,000/- ( Rs.38,000/- for constructing the permanent road and Rs, 30,000/- for its repairs)from Udwada station to the Atash Behram. The railway company demolished the 25 year old temporary station and built a permanent station 3/4^th mile away and inaugurated it on 1^st January 1896.

(Source: Parsee Prakash Vol. Ii Translated from Gujarati into English by Marzban Jamshedji Giara)

Two years after tragedy, a new dawn for Udvada station

Article by Rajendra B Aklekar Mid-Day

The new look of Udvada station

Even as Aspi Sepoy, 46, who lost his legs to a railway accident at Udvada, has got on with his new life, the station has a spanking new face after renovation was completed. mid-day’s reports on the reasons for Sepoy’s accident got the revamp rolling. The town’s railway station has been in the spotlight ever since Sepoy, a resident of Ava Baug in Navsari, lost both his legs in an accident at the station on September 15, 2017.

He told mid-day on Friday, “I am doing very well and am once again independent. For a year now my new assignment has been caretaker of Zoroastrian Information Centre at Udvada.” Sepoy now zips around on his modified three-wheeler that was given to him from funds collected after his accident.

“An indomitable spirit, he travels from Udvada to Navsari and back all alone on his three-wheeler,” said Dinshaw Tamboly, chairman of the World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust (WZOT), who helped garner funds.

The waiting halls are air-conditioned a comfortable with separate ones for men and women

Western Railway chief spokesperson Ravinder Bhakar said the 123-year-old station has been upgraded to a ‘Pilgrimage Destination Station’ at a cost of R3.2 crore in addition to the complete rebuilding. Built in 1895, the station has retained its original glory and the entire project was being monitored by a reputable architect Prashant Chokhawala from Valsad.

“The daily footfall is approximately 2,500. It now has a new AC waiting hall, VIP Room and ladies and gents waiting halls with all basic facilities. Platform number one has been extended to accommodate 24-coach trains for easy entraining and detraining in addition to building a boundary wall along platform 1 and along circulating area for security purposes,” he said.

The station also has a new reservation-cum-booking office, new toilet blocks for men and women and the differently-abled in addition to renovation of old seating arrangements and water booths. The concourse hall has been done up with murals on one wall and cornice flowers on the ceiling,” he added. He said work was carried out keeping in mind Railway ministry’s directives to develop stations with facilities suitable for pilgrimage destinations.

Holy city for Parsis

Located around 182 km from Mumbai, the small town of Udvada is one of the holiest cities for Parsis and is a global pilgrimage centre. It is one of the oldest and most important spiritual centres for Zoroastrians in the world. At the Iranshah, the holy fire that was consecrated in 1742 when the Zoroastrians came to India to escape religious persecution in Persia is still burning.

Boman Irani takes us inside his ‘noisy, full and loving’ house, reveals Anil Kapoor’s advice behind his purchase.

Boman Irani shows a glimpse of his ‘noisy, full and loving’ house which has been jointly done by him and his wife.

Article in the Hindustan Times

Boman Irani takes us on a video tour of his house.

Actor Boman Irani is a family man behind the camera and proudly boasts of being a resident of a noisy house. In an episode of Where the Heart is, a YouTube series produced by a paint brand, the actor gives a tour of his 3-BHK house which exudes warmth and love from each corner.

In the video, Boman shows around his house which is a new construction but has an old school charm. The actor proudly calls it a Parsi house in true sense with walls washed in dull powder blue and a pastel couch and several chairs in printed tapestry placed around for the close-knit family. The house is well lit with natural light and has several paintings and artifacts collected with the joint agreement of Boman and his wife Zenobia. A piano is also placed in the room which is the usual hanging out place of his entire family.

Boman also takes the viewers to his favourite spot in the house, the couch near the window in the DVD room where he loves to read, write, jot down ideas or plan his future. The actor shows his huge collection of Blue Ray DVDs, both of Hollywood and Bollywood films. He calls it his only collection as he is not much of a collector.

Boman reveals that unless both, he and his wife, like an artifact or a piece of furniture, they do not buy it. The actor recalled the time when he bought the house during the shooting of 2003 film Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. and was thinking too hard to stretch his budget to get the place. He was advised by Anil Kapoor to get it anyhow even if he has to sleep on the floor or is unable to buy the furniture.

At the end of the episode, Boman also answers the questions asked by the viewers. Talking about the three traits he has as a Parsi, he says that he is punctual, can’t afford to miss his morning tea and listens to his wife. “I listen to everything that she says,” he adds.

Asked to describe his house in three words, he replies, “noisy, full and loving.”

Boman was seen in Total Dhamaal and PM Narendra Modi film this year. He has three more films lined up for release in 2019 including Housefull 4, Drive, Made In China and Tamil film, Kaappaan.

During 1857- 1930 big theatre companies which were largely owned by Parsi business community flourished which used to showcase plays in Gujarati, Hindi and Urdu languages.

In the early 1900s, some Parsi theatre producer switched off to new media called by bioscope and ultimately became film producers.

Parsi communities life has theatre as its integral part as Parsis Navroze, their New Year is not completed without a visit to you agiary(fire temple) in the morning, grand festive lunch with the family during noon and watching a Parsi Gujarati Natak in the evening.

Article by IWM Buzz

Many well-known personalities like Mumbai-based journalist Mehar Marfatia have expertly documented the history of Parsi theatre dating from 19 30 – 2000 in her coffee- table book, titled ‘Laughter in the house!’. It is around 285 pages hardbound book in which Meher has clubbed colourful photographs of senior Parsi actors.

Besides the book, there is an audio cassette in which Parsi qawwalis have been featured along with several other songs that give the book a treasured status for those who love to explore Parsi theatre.

The book has been designed in such a chronological order that it’s like walking through the history of Parsi cinema. It begins with an introduction to the Elphinstone College in Mumbai where the dramatic Club of the college performed Shakespeare.

The first Parsi theatre company was called as Parsi Natak Mandali which performed its first play name Roostom Zabooli and Sohrab in 1853. Urdu was the most widely used language in Parsi theatre.

In early days Parsi theatre presented Indianised version of Shakespeare’s play and travelled across North India showcasing them in Hindustani language.

According to the book, the period of 1853- 1969 itself witnessed as many as 20 Parsi theatre groups which performed in the city of Mumbai alone.

These theatre groups performed prominent plays like Raja Harishchandra. Around 4000 shows of this play were showcased in various theatres from the period 1892- 1922.

The popularity of Parsi theatre can be judged from the fact that Bomanji kabraji, ‘Baap Na Shraap’ play ran for 500 nights with the front row seat tickets being sold for Rs 4 in those days and was black marketed for around Rs22 which was certainly a very big amount during that era.

Adi Marzban was one of the most dynamic and ideal Parsi theatre personalities during the 20th century. His play Piroja Bhavan in 1954 is responsible for the birth of modern Parsi theatre. This play was based on contemporary topics added with the flavour of humour.

Other famous theatre personalities who were famous during that era like Marzban were Sam Kerawalla, Ruby and Burjor Patel, Scheherazade and Rohinton Mody, Dolly and Bhumi Dotiwala, Dadi Sarkari, etc.

Parsi theatre was the blend of realism, humour, stagecraft, music, dance, songs, fantasy, narrations and spectacles. It was also popular in parts of Southeast Asia where it was called Wyang Parsi.

In 1981, Mumbai based theatre director, Nadira Babbar started her theatre venture ‘Ekjute’ with the production of the play ‘ Yahudi ki Ladki’ which is responsible for reviving the Parsi theatre style and is still considered as one of the best.

Burzin Bulsara is a young Zoroastrian youth living in Plano, a suburb of Dallas, Texas in the United States.

in 2020 Burzin will be participating in the Texas 4000 challenge where he will cycle from Texas to Alaska to raise money to fight cancer.

Burzin writes…

Hi there! I am a second year Mechanical Engineering student from Plano, Texas. I am absolutely captivated by engineering and its calling for solving problems, small and large. Outside of Texas 4000 and classes, you can find me working in the Longhorn Racing SAE Garage, doing research in the Human Centered Robotics Lab, or playing ultimate frisbee with friends. I hope one day to become an astronaut and journey to space, but for now I’ll settle to replace a rocket with a bike and fight cancer on my way to Alaska!

Why I Ride

Fulfilling my dreams began a long time ago with my childhood experiences in my family. Today, it continues to grow as I start this journey riding for my high school science teacher and science fair sponsor, who suffers from an advanced form of lung cancer that has spread to other organs. My passion for science began in my childhood with simple robotics, but now I know one day I want to push the boundaries of human capabilities by integrating robots into the lives of those who have suffered great losses through cancer and many other immobilizing diseases. I can only strive for these goals with the support of family, friends, and most importantly, my teachers along the way.

My science teacher’s battle with cancer began in 2017 with her diagnosis of Stage IV Leiomyosarcoma right around Thanksgiving. After one round of failed chemo, she had surgery and was free of the tumor in February 2018. Unfortunately, with the reoccurring fight against cancer, the tumor returned in May 2018 along with more failed chemo regimen. After a second major surgery in August, she has been placed in a clinical trial for a new drug. Her battle continues as you read this today.

I owe it to her and each cancer victim, past and present, to ride.

So first and foremost, I ride for CHARITY that funds cutting-edge cancer research to give individuals a fighting chance against this debilitating disease. Second, I ride for HOPE because I love meeting new people and ensuring those affected by cancer that I will ride for a cancer-free world. Lastly, I ride for KNOWLEDGE by advocating for the dissemination of life-saving cancer prevention information to communities along the way from Austin to Alaska.

To Alaska and Back,

-Burzin

To donate towards this cause visit Burzin’s page on Texas4000.org

Born in 1924, Dorab Patel was a Pakistani lawyer of Parsi descent. After completing his education in England, he returned to Karachi in early 1950s to practice law. Throughout his illustrious career, he never compromised on the principles he believed in. In 1974, for example, Sindh government banned a newspaper of Jamat e Islami. The liberal, secular values Patel upheld stood in a stark contrast with the paper’s content. Nonetheless, he judged the ban unlawful since it breached the party, paper’s freedom of expression. Similarly, he was set to become Chief Justice of Pakistan during General Zia’s regime but refused to take oath of allegiance under an unlawful Provisional Constitutional Order and resigned. After resignation, he started working for the human rights in the country and helped set up the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in 1987. In 1990, he became the second Pakistani to be elected in the prestigious, exclusive International Commission of Jurists. He died in 1997.

“He was one of the finest people I have known, a man of great integrity and principle.” …. Asma Jahangir on Dorab Patel

The way fundamental rights are being violated today, from the forced disappearances since General Musharraf’s time to the increased censorships on media, we miss the brave, righteous voice of Dorab Patel in our courts more than ever.

RTI response says BMC will shift it back after work is done, but Parsis are worried about its condition

Apart from marine life, the proposed Coastal Road will see another casualty: Parsi Gate, which comprises two century-old stone pillars at Marine Drive, will be temporarily removed to make way for the road.

The Parsi community has been concerned about the fate of the heritage structure, but the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in a reply to a Right to Information (RTI) query on August 28, confirmed the plan to move it.

The community members are now concerned about the damage that may be caused to the structure during relocation, and whether the BMC will bring it back to its original place.

The RTI response said, “MCGM is well aware that Parsi Gate has significant religious importance to the Parsi community and hence, must be protected. Parsi Gate will be temporarily removed and after completion of the Coastal Road work, permanent rehabilitation will be carried out on the newly-constructed promenade.”

The removal and restoration of the monument, it said further, will be done “in a systematic manner” under the guidance and with permission from the heritage cell and Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee, so it can be reinstated and shifted “in the form in which it is present today, without diminishing its historical importance.”

Community member Rayomand Zaiwala, who filed the RTI, said his biggest concern is whether the BMC will protect the structure and bring it back to the same spot. “It has been there for the past 100 years. Our ancestors have prayed there during the holy month of Ava in March,” Mr. Zaiwala said.

He said the Goddess Ava presides over all the water bodies and is known as the giver of good health and wealth. “Parsis offer their prayers to the water from the gate,” he said.

Another community member, Viraf Kapadia said, once the structure is moved, the community can hardly do anything about it.

“They keep saying it is being done in the larger public interest. The community faced a similar response when it protested against the Metro tunnels passing under two fire temples,” Mr. Kapadia said. Any old structure like the Parsi Gate cannot be removed without causing damage, he said.

A BMC official said they are open to suggestions from the community on removing the structure without causing damage.

“We will assist the community in any way possible. Once the coastal road work is completed, restoring the structure back to its original location will not be a problem,” he said.

The work on the coastal road is currently at a halt. On July 17, the Bombay High Court asked the civic body to stop work till fresh environmental clearances are obtained. The Supreme Court on July 26 refused to stay the High Court’s decision.

Miss Contractor’s chalk screeched on the blackboard as she conjugated a French verb in a series of appropriate sentences. Fais, fait, faisons, faites… she wrote with her right hand before launching into lave, lavons, lavez, lavent with her left. Finally, to the delight of Class 9A, she launched into conjugating two entirely different verbs at once with both hands, rapidly covering the board with her elegant cursive writing.

Every afternoon, with Mithoo, the favourite of her 10 parrots on her shoulder, Mrs Mani Dastur would plough through 10 Silhouette romances. She departed from this routine on festivals when she supervised the mistry (cook) in the kitchen and carried sumptuous salli boti and rose falooda in cut glass bowls covered with exquisitely crocheted and beaded doilies to the appreciative Malayali family next door.

Miss Contractor and Mrs Dastur are just two of the fantastic Parsis who rose out of the vaults of your memory while reading Oh! Those Parsis; A To Z of the Parsi Way of Life, a collection of Berjis Desai’s columns that appeared in Parsiana magazine between April 2014 and August 2017. Arranged in alphabetical order, the book’s chapters touch on everything from Abuse, Alcohol, Alpha females and Attire to Insanity (Being Cutely Cuckoo) and Xenophobia, Yesterdays, and Zoroaster.

“Parsis are from a different planet,” Desai’s introduction begins, “They confuse other Earthlings. Imagine a human being who is at once genial, high strung, funny, rude, crude, kind, brilliant and barmy. Most of the time Parsis are loveable; sometimes they are annoying. They are in a hopeless demographic decline – barely 85,000 in the world. This decline makes people sad. Rather soon, Parsis will be sorely missed. They are an anthropological rarity worthy of being preserved. However, they themselves are merrily oblivious to their imminent extinction and continue to make others glad and mad.”

Desai is a keen observer of his community, of its endearing eccentricities, its distinct culture shared by the masoor paav Parsis and the NCPA ones (his labels!), of its rare famous murderers Cdr Kawas Nanavati and Phiroze Daruwalla (“Totally, the assailant stabbed 147 times. Daruwala left no fingerprint and no clues… The murderer then filed his candidature for Bombay North LokSabha seat, to ward off suspicion… Daruwala was hanged at the Yerawada jail in Poona… When the Lok Sabha election results were declared, Daruwala’s election symbol, ironically, ‘scales of justice’, received 896 votes.”) and its raucous sense of humour that exults in imaginative cuss words (“Parsi swearing sounds sweet. Very often, it is used to express love and affection: “Madar… I missed you!”), double entendre and outrageous lines pronounced in the most deadpan fashion in the manner of Pope’s “Puffs, patches, bibles, billets-doux”. Desai himself is a master of comic delivery. Here he is on Parsis who display “deviationist behaviour”:

“The genteel, docile proper bawaji is now a rare commodity. There is an increase in the number of lahuvaas, haandaas, fituris, kaklaats and pallonjis. These are highly technical terms which are difficult at times to distinguish even for a seasoned community watcher like your writer… A kaklaat is a garrulous, incessant talker of nonsense which is jarring on the nerves. The listener feels physically exhausted after a kaklaaat departs. Kaklaats steal your energy. A well versed kaklaat will not let you interrupt his diatribe and he never listens to you… A pallonji is more than a show-off. A plain vanilla puffer goes by the little known but endearing term of foortaji. A pallonji is a compulsive attention seeker who spins yarns, exaggerates, pretends to be what he is not. If he is at Allbless Baug, he wants to be the bridegroom and if he is at Doongerwadi, he wants to be the corpse.”

At this point, you throw down the book and actually Laugh Out Loud.

The chosen excerpt notwithstanding, this is not a comic collection. Desai writes with seriousness on Parsi cuisine, furniture, jewellery and sartorial sense, on Parsi plays, on why Udvada scores over Navsari and the once bustling Parsi neighbourhoods of the latter, on baugs and sanatoriums, on the priesthood and on the Zorastrian faith. He also tackles the community’s entrenched prejudices, the tussles on intermarriage and the ‘correct’ way to dispose the dead between the traditionalists and the liberals. The undercurrent of sadness at the community’s declining numbers never degenerates into sentimentalism and while the writer is generally liberal, he admits to being attached to tradition, leading him to conduct his mother’s funeral at the Doongerwadi or Towers of Silence instead of at the new crematorium and Prayer Hall in Worli.

In a moving paragraph, Desai evokes the comfort of ritual and the need, in times of grief, to feel one with those who have gone before:

Author Berjis Desai ( Courtesy Zero Degree Publishing )

“Parsipanu can be seen and felt in the environs of the bunglis. Time, literally stands still. The collective vibrations of the thousands of geh sarnas, uthamnas and Sarosh, intoned during the last few centuries, can still be felt by the sensitive. An aura of protection exists from the occult circuits in the ground, created throughout Doongerwadi. As soon as the Doongerwadi hearse winds its way uphill to the bunglis, within seconds one is transported from the cosmopolitan traffic jams of Kemps Corner into an exclusive oasis of silence.”

This isn’t to say the crisis around Parsi death rituals, now hampered by the dwindling population of vultures, is out of bounds for comedy:

“While the community boasts of many dog and horse lovers, some of its members are also fond of the odd and the exotic… In Gujarat towns and villages, Parsis reared poultry for eggs and meat. However each home had a pet hen or two, who would live to a ripe old age instead of suffering the usual fate of their less fortunate kind, that of ending up on a plate alongside potato chunks… Of course , the ultimate exotic pets were the ones aspired to by the then trustees of the BPP (Bombay Parsi Punchayet), who made extensive plans to bred vultures in captivity and wanted well-off Parsis to sponsor a vulture baby. One paid for its feed and upkeep, including medicines. The BPP said it would forward a quarterly progress report with a photograph of one’s adopted pet (“Silla’s baby is cuter and more cherubic than Piloo’s, isn’t it?) Unfortunately, there were no takers.”

Even if the late great Farrokh Bulsara aka Freddie Mercury is the only Parsi you’ve known *eye roll emoji*, this book is packed with enough detail to help you win a specialised round of Mastermind: the Ilm-e-Khshnoomists are an occult group, who are ardent believers in reincarnation, vegetarianism and astrology; sadhana, popatji, karkaryu, varadhvaroo, malido, mehsoor and koprapaak are all traditional Parsi sweetmeats; the Mad Dog Riots involving Parsis broke out in Bombay on June 6, 1832 because the English decided to cull stray dogs… You have to love a people willing to wreak violence in defence of our canine friends.

This is a wonderful book about a wonderful community that might, despite the doomsayers, still dodge extinction.

Feted around the world, Jini Dinshaw has trained generations of young musicians gratis, entirely for the love of Western classical music.

It is 1962. Jawaharlal Nehru is prime minister, the Sino-Indian war is waging, and a film called Bees Saal Baad is on its way to topping the year’s box office. In this milieu, a young woman called Jini Dinshaw founds the Bombay Chamber Orchestra. It will become Mumbai’s oldest and longest running orchestra.

Article by Genesia Alves | Scroll

Over the next 57 years, this delicately-built, soft-spoken music teacher will train young musicians gratis to play in the orchestra, entirely for the love of Western classical music. She will achieved this despite a lack of funds, daunting politics within the Indian classical music fraternity, taxation on performances and the buying of instruments. Perhaps her most significant challenge will be the question of relevance: why does Mumbai need the Bombay Chamber Orchestra?

Now 90 years old, Jini Dinshaw (Ms Jini to her adoring students) has been feted around the world. Celebrated conductors and composers, international orchestras, industrialists, prime ministers, royalty members have paid their respects. (After a collaboration between the Bombay Chamber Orchestra and the London Ballet, she was conferred the title Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Elizabeth II, making her India’s first MBE.)

Unburdened by claims of being the country’s “first and only professional orchestra” – as the Symphony Orchestra of India does – there are many reasons the Bombay Chamber Orchestra has made a name for itself around the Western classical music world. To begin with, it is made up entirely of musicians of Indian origin. Ms Jini says, “The Korean Orchestra is made up entirely of Koreans. The Chinese orchestra? Chinese musicians. If world over, the national orchestra has its own nationality why can’t the Indian orchestras?”

The ensemble ranging from age 15 to, well, 90, has the reputation of being a band of talented, devoted musicians, who travel long distances to arrive for rehearsals at Alexandra School from 7 am until 8.30 am, when school starts. Ms Jini beams as she says, “We invite guest conductors from Germany, England, Israel, Italy, Japan, Russia… They don’t charge to conduct the orchestra. They say, ‘This is something that doesn’t happen in any part of the world. How can young people be so interested?’”

Photo credit: Ayush Prasad.

How can they be so interested? Earning a living can be challenging enough for a working musician who, like his predecessors, must play studio sessions, creating film or advertising scores. And it would be forgivable to imagine that our current cultural context has no room for Western classical music. Not only are most* Western classical music performances crippled by a local government tax of 25% (meant to counter the potential of Western classical undermining Indian music), the sparsely filled calendar must also contend with the popular belief that Western classical music is an elite pursuit. Associated traditionally with small, culturally exclusive communities like the Parsis and the Catholics, its reputation of having alien, often perplexing etiquette seems to carry the threat of audience members being outed as some sort of gauche bumpkin who clapped at the wrong moment.

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But both musicians and attitudes have evolved keeping the legacy of Mumbai’s pluriculturalism steadfast. The orchestra is flexible and welcoming. Ms Jini says, “Our orchestra has played concertos with Indian instruments, played with sarod players, there is fusion, a dialogue between cultures.” Today, the BCO’s members mirror the city’s growing tribe of young musicians from diverse social, religious and economic backgrounds training in western classical music. Ms Jini taps out a list of music schools that have cropped up. Her only issue is that these schools are expensive and there is always the risk that once these young musicians grow up and get jobs, the music will be lost. Which is why the BCO trains musicians to play in an orchestra for free, for the love of music. No other school does that.

Another challenge to accusations of being elite are BCO ticket prices. She says, “The NCPA [National Centre for the Performing Arts] charges in thousands. But I believe the love is in the middle class and so tickets to a BCO concert are affordable. Not just for people who go to ‘be seen’.”

Ms Jini adopts a slightly terse tone when mentioning the NCPA, a cultural centre in South Mumbai. Predating the centre, the BCO played there often, including at the inauguration of its Jamshed Bhabha Theatre and Tata Theatre. Today, dismissed as an amateur orchestra, they say they are no longer welcome to play there.

It isn’t easy running a city orchestra. There have been times when BCO’s future has been clouded with uncertainty. Each time, Ms Jini has made sure it survived. Each time, a friend, a well-wisher, a patron, a secret benefactor has come forward – sending donations, musicians or a conductor. She has suffered a personal setback too. A stroke two years ago left Ms Jini with constant pain. Instead of leading the orchestra as she used to, she now plays the viola in the back.

Photo credit: Ayush Prasad.

It is 2019. Narendra Modi is the Indian prime minister. The top grossing Bollywood films this year are Kabir Singh and Uri. So does Mumbai need the Bombay Chamber Orchestra?

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In answer, Ms Jini reads from the concert programme introduction she has written, “I believe that with the knowledge and love of music which is expressed by amateurs who get together to make music as orchestral groups, there will spring in the future, an existence between nations of peace and understanding. Which is unfortunately so lacking. After all god gave us music that we may pray without words. What is so evident is the lack of spiritual values in this world. This revulsion amongst different religions, communities, that exists, can be overcome with love of the arts. Let us dedicate ourselves to the true spirit of music. In this sad world let us music makers, renew faith and understanding that we can all live in peace and harmony irrespective of faith.”

The Bombay Chamber Orchestra endures. It invites you to one of its concerts. (And it doesn’t mind if you clap at the wrong moment.)

* In 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi flew to the Tata Theatre inauguration where the BCO performed. Presented to her, Ms Jini didn’t waste a moment and told her the 25% tax was strangling her orchestra. Mrs Gandhi exempted the orchestra from the tax in perpetuum.

Come August 17 and the Parsi community in the city will gather at the 170-year-old Fire Temple in Secunderabad to celebrate New Year. The majestic structure standing tall on MG Road was built in 1847 and is spread over 11,000 square yards.

Recognised as a heritage structure by the erstwhile Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda), the Fire Temple has a unique architecture resembling the Indo-European style with huge columns in the facade.

Article by Sunil Mungara | Times of India

A mega winged symbol, Faravahar, welcomes the devout at the entrance of the temple. This symbol of Zoroastrianism is more than 4,000 years old and is also found in Egypt and what was ancient Mesopotamia. The symbol is commonly associated with the sun and the deities connected with it.

There is a sacred well on the premises of the temple, where a priest offers prayers. The 70-feet well brims with water all round the year. The devout also place burning candles at the mouth of the well.

“Fire occupies a prominent place in Zoroastrian eschatology. Zoroastrian priests take precautions to keep the fire alive throughout the year. Earlier, our community used sandalwood to keep the fire burning. But now we are using dry logs of babool as sandalwood has become expensive. Moreover, there is also restriction on the movement of sandalwood,” Capt KF Pestonji, president of Old Parsi Fire Temple Trust, told TOI.

They also take great pains to keep the consecrated holy fire immune from contamination. When tending to the fire, a cloth known as Padan is worn over the mouth and nose so that breath and saliva do not pollute the fire.

The community also takes good care of the temple structure, which was built was the brothers Pestonji Meherji and Viccaji Meherji. They were bankers and cotton traders who had been invited to Hyderabad by the Nizam and the temple is named after them.

The brothers, who made huge profits in their business, also built their residence beside the British Residency on Bank Street and their office at King Koti in the vicinity of the Nizam’s palace. Their residence today serves as the Government ENT Hospital.

Incidentally, Hyderabad has the second largest Parsi population in India after Mumbai and has two more fire temples apart from the one in Secunderabad. But on August 17, as many as 1,100 members of the community will gather at the Secunderabad temple at 7am to offer prayers. They will end the day with festivities at the Zoroastrian Club on SP Road.

Vispi Balaporia wants to ensure ongoing projects are completed – most crucial being the digitisation drive.

For the first time in its 215-year-old history, a woman has been appointed as the president of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai.

The announcement of 77-year-old Vispi Balaporia’s appointment was made on Saturday after she reportedly won 107 of 163 votes.

Elections for the head post of the historical institution are held every three years and a person can serve only two terms.

The daughter of Shavax Lal, who worked as secretary to Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, Balaporia retired as the Head of the Department of English, and vice-principal of Jai Hind College. Currently, she is a visiting faculty at the BMM Department of Jai Hind College.

Talking to Mirror, the acclaimed academician stressed on the importance of ensuring the completion of ongoing projects and generating funds.

“Several projects depend on the generosity of donors; such as the conservation of old and rare books, as well as a large collection of old maps that require restoration. Experts who undertake such specialised work need to be paid. Then, there are infrastructural improvements as well, for which plans are ready, but permissions have to be obtained and funding sought.”

One such project that she hopes to finish is the digitisation drive initiated by her predecessor Sharad Kale, who just finished a six-year tenure as president.

The drive was launched with a Rs 5 crore aid granted by the state government in 2015.

“The first phase of this massive project has been completed, but much remains to be achieved,” she said.

The literary institution’s web portal ‘Granth Sanjeevani’ has made it possible for scholars and researchers worldwide to access the ‘wealth of information and academic resources’ available at the institution.

“Digital is the buzzword these days, and we must keep up with the times, even though we are 215 years old.”

Balaporia, who is a trustee at Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy Parsee Benevolent Institution, also holds the position of an advisor at the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Parsi Charitable Institution, apart from being a member of the ‘Association of British Council Scholars’.

Her MPhil dissertation was on ‘designing a writing course for undergraduate students with a low level of proficiency in English.’

The recipient of the best teacher (University of Mumbai) award in 1999, she also emphasised the need to attract young members who will carry the ‘legacy of this society forward’.

Balaporia has done her schooling from the Convent of Jesus & Mary in Delhi and La Châtelainie in Neuchatel, Switzerland. She also holds a General Certificate of Education from Oxford University (1956) along with graduate and post-graduate degrees.

Along with Balaporia, the society also elected Meenal Kshirsagar, Yogesh Kamdar, Shehernaz Nalwalla and Vithal C Nadkarni as vice-presidents. Surendra Kulkarni is the new secretary. Additionally, five members have been elected for the vacant seats on the managing committee. They include Mangala Sirdeshpande and Sanjeevani Kher.

Mumbai’s Asiatic society’s first woman president to focus on going digital, connecting with youth

Originally the Literary Society of Bombay, it was set up by the British colonial government to gather, systematise and disseminate knowledge of India and ‘the Orient’. Today, the focus is on connecting with a new generation, and taking their collection digital — initiatives that Balaporia will now oversee.

Article by Madhushree Ghosh | Hindustan Times

For the first time ever, the Asiatic Society of Mumbai has a woman president. Vispi Balaporia, 78, a life-long educator, former head of the English department and former vice-principal of the city’s Jai Hind College, will now head the iconic 215-year-old institution.

Originally the Literary Society of Bombay, it was set up by the British colonial government to gather, systematise and disseminate knowledge of India and ‘the Orient’. Today, the focus is on connecting with a new generation, and taking their collection digital — initiatives that Balaporia will now oversee.

In that collection are rare and precious books, manuscripts, maps, journals, government publications and exhaustive reports going back centuries — to the early years of modern India.

While elated about her appointment — “I got so much support from the members as they voted me in by a big majority” — Balaporia says the elation subsided somewhat when she began to think of the huge responsibility, and the negligible funding at hand.

Electing a woman president is something that should have happened sooner, she says. “I don’t know why it didn’t, given that we have had so many women vice-presidents over the years.”

In the immediate future, the Society plans to make its social media presence more prominent, especially on Facebook and Instagram. Along with digitisation, Balaporia wants to focus on the conservation and restoration of the rare books and maps in their original form too. But what they need in order for any of this to happen, she says, is a lot more money. “We get a grant from the Ministry of Culture in Delhi but we desperately need more funding,” she says.

The Asiatic Society’s digitisation project was started with ₹5 crore from the state government, in 2015. “Our web portal Granth Sanjeevani has made it possible for scholars and researchers worldwide to access the wealth of information and academic resources available at the institution. This project took off well and we’re all set to start the second phase,” Balaporia says. “We have run into a bit of a legal tangle over tenders. I hope that will clear up soon.”

About four years ago, former vice-president of India Hamid Ansari visited the library and was so impressed that he formed a review committee that recommended that if the society was to progress, there should be a grant of ₹50 crore, Balaporia adds. “Nothing has come of that so far.”

Ashdeen’s floral bouquet takes its cue from Japan this season, as seen on Gara saris, blouses and kimonos

There is a quality of depth to Ashdeen Lilaowala’s blooms that is only getting better with age. At 39, the textile designer has spent the last 15 years researching the legacy of the Parsi Gara, ancient techniques like the French knot and the Forbidden stitch, and key motifs with quirky names like Cheena Cheeni (Chinese man and woman) and Chakla Chakli (male and female sparrow). His travels have taken him to Surat, Iran and Hong Kong to trace the journey of this intangible heritage from China. And now the chrysanthemums on his saris and lehengas are 3D-like, with every petal shaded in two colours, while the birds, animals and butterflies are precise yet charged with movement.

Article by Rosella Stephen | The Hindu

While the Parsi Gara has become a trousseau essential, Lilaowala notes that young brides have also begun insisting on silk lehengas embroidered with birds and small fish for Goa and other destination weddings. You’ll find roosters and birds of paradise, though elephants and wild cats are a no-no. The bat, an old motif, is not welcome either, even if he could pass it off as a butterfly. As for colours, red and purple are the bestsellers, but pastels are back in a big way. As is ombre. One shade that continues to remain a challenge? Yellow. Lilaowala aims to settle this once and for all with another collection.

Ashdeen Lilaowala  

For now, the Delhi-based designer is taking his contemporary Japan-themed collection of saris, lehengas, tunics and stoles to other cities, a nod to Parsi merchants who settled in Kobe and Yokohoma in the 1890s. Launched in April, these garments are studded with pansies, tiger lilies and crown daisies, and another Lilaowala constant, the Japanese red-crowned crane. On Instagram, his model sports a sumo top knot and attempts dancer-like poses, her saris styled with obi belts and pearls. Wait for the spectacular black kimonos, he promises, ideal for an evening out with trousers or as a sari blouse. With each garment taking about eight weeks to complete (he has a workforce of over 150), these are all heirlooms in the making.

I know Parsi women who have inherited the ‘kor’ or narrow borders with flora, from their grandmothers, and put them on new saris. It adds a lovely ‘sustainable’ angle to the Ashdeen story, also furthered by his crane, a symbol of longevity. Lilaowala is partial to the heavy bird and the visual of it taking flight. “Like the Chinese, I put it on fabric as a reminder of a dream that one day, you too can fly,” he confides.

Saris from ₹70,000 onwards and blouses, ₹18,000 upwards. In Chennai at Amethyst, from September 13-23 and at the Ashdeen store in Delhi

1886 Trophy Cricket Match Kia Oval Friday 23^rd August 2019

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Shahenshai Khordad Sal Zoroastrian Centre Thursday 22^nd August 2019

ZTFE Report

Not many outside the Zoroastrian community are aware that the first international cricket team from India to tour the United Kingdom was in 1886. The 15 man squad captained by Dr Dhunjishah Patel was entirely made of Parsees, 12 from Bombay and 3 from Karachi. They won one game, lost 19 and drew 8. The second tour was in 1888, which also was entirely made up of Parsees.

Having read the relatively unknown story of the first Indian cricket team to visit UK in 1886 comprising of all Parsees inspired Matt Greenwell, a former Captain in the British Army who served his country in Afghanistan and Iraq. Matt was living in Mumbai at the time and came up with the idea of creating the ‘1886 Trophy’ to commemorate the Parsee pioneers of 1886. He proposed the annual fixture in 2016 to the Parsee Gymkhana in Mumbai, which was met with enthusiasm by the committee and the fixture is played annually ever since, between the Parsee Gymkhana and the Surrey County Cricket Club’s Charles Alcock XI. This year is the first time the match for the coveted 1886 Trophy was played at the Kia Oval in Kennington, London, home of the Surrey County Cricket Club.

The Charles Alcock XI are named after the then Surrey County Cricket Club Secretary who organised the original tour of the Parsee pioneers to the UK in 1886. Alcock was an all rounder sporting personality who also played international football for England and was instrumental in establishing a number of sporting traditions including Football’s FA Cup and the Ashes.

It should be noted that in 1986, the then ZTFE – YZ President Rumi Y Jasavala of Wimbledon organised a Zoroastrian cricket team from Canada to visit the UK to play a series of matches against the Zoroastrians of UK, which they then reciprocated by visiting Canada. However, this year was the first time since the Parsee’s second tour of 1888 that an all Parsee cricket team from India toured the UK.

The Parsee Gymkhana 26 strong squad spearheaded by Khodadad Yazdegardi Vice President and Cricket Secretary of Parsee Gymkhana and captained by Kaizaad Wadia, visited UK and played 3 matches between 19^th and 23^rd August 2019.

The senior most member of the Parsee Gymkhana squad was Freddy Sidhwa of Dubai, a keep fit septuagenarian who plays for the Dubai Indian Cricket League. The youngest member was Binaisha M Surti, grand niece of the legendary Indian cricketer Rusi Framroze Surti and a budding journalist for Parsi Times.

Accompanying the Parsee Gymkhana squad was our very own Boman Irani, the well known A listed Bollywood Actor, theatre personality, actor extraordinaire, photographer and singer, who is their most avid supporter.

The touring Parsees played warm up fixtures at Chiswick CC, founded in 1853, on Monday 19^th, which they lost and Lurgashall CC in Sussex, founded before 1863, on Wednesday 21^st, which they won, before the big clash at the Kia Oval on Friday 23^rd for the 1886 Trophy.

Friday 23^rd August 2019 was a perfect English sunny day for the historic 1886 Trophy T20 cricket match played at the Kia Oval between the Parsee Gymkhana and Surrey County Cricket Club’s Charles Alcock XI. It commenced after 12 noon and concluded around 4.30pm. Attended by Boman Irani and over 250 Zoroastrians members and well-wishers, including Ron M Kalifa OBE of the England & Wales Cricket Board and Vice Chairman of WorldPay.

Prior to the match commencing, the Parsee Gymkhana squad was given a tour of the Kia Oval.

The Parsee Gymkhana batted first and set the target of 203 for 2 wickets in the T20 format. It was clear the tourers had prepared well for English conditions. Their openers were Shahen Mistry and Captain Kaizaad Wadia. Shahen retired after playing for 28 minutes and scoring 36 runs, including five 4s and two 6s, over 18 balls. Captain Kaizad retired after scoring 37 runs in 38 minutes, including five 4s and one 6, over 26 balls. Followed by:

· Reshad Dotivala retired after scoring 38 runs in 25 minutes, including five 4s and one 6, over 26 balls.

· Kersi Pavri was bowled out by Jim Lane after scoring 23 runs in 21 minutes, including two 4s and one 6 over, 12 balls.

· Rustom Sethna retired after scoring 36 runs in 29 minutes, including two 4s and three 6s, over 29 balls.

· Khushru Irani was caught by Jim Lane after scoring 2 runs in 6 minutes over, 4 balls.

· Soli Karanjia was not out after scoring 16 runs in 20 minutes, including one 4 and one 6, over 13 balls.

· Farshid Cooper was not out after scoring 2 runs in 4 minutes over 4 balls.

There were 13 extra runs added their score of 190, thus making a total of 203 for 2 wickets.

The following did not bat:

Eric Billimoria, Mehernosh Chhor, Maneck Daruwala, Fredun De Vitre, Vafadar Irani, Rony Iranpour, Ervad Behram F Kotwal, Vispi Mehta and Freddy Sidhwa.

The bowlers for the Charles Alcock XI were:

Lindsey Armstrong, Quinton Keeble, Jim Lane took 2 wickets, Andy Murphy, Barney McCauley, and Jim Owen.

Despite the best efforts of the home side’s batsmen, who managed to score only 135 for 7 wickets, the Parsees were victorious on the day by 68 runs, laying down the gauntlet for next year’s 1886 Trophy fixture in Mumbai which will see the Charles Alcock XI visit Mumbai.

Charles Alcock XI batsmen were:

· Josh Taylor retired after scoring 38 runs in 42 minutes, including six 4s and one 6, over 22 balls.

· Andy Murphy was run out by Captain Kaizaad Wadia for zero after 2 minutes over 2 bowls.

· Phil Walker, editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly UK, was bowled out over 2 balls by septuagenarian Freddy Sidhwa within 5 minutes after scoring one 4.

· Lindsey Armstrong was bowled out after 12 balls by Reshad Dotivala within 12 minutes after scoring 8 runs.

· Charlie Inglefield was caught by Shahen Mistry after scoring 14 runs in 40 minutes, including one 4, over 21 balls.

· Barney McCauley was bowled out by Shahen Mistry after scoring 18 runs in 44 minutes, including one 4, over 25 balls.

· Quinton Keeble was bowled out for zero after 2 balls by Shahen Mistry within 1 minute.

· Crispin Simon was LBW by Soli Karanjia after scoring 20 runs in 31 minutes, including two 4s, over 21 balls.

· Jim Lane was not out after scoring 18 runs in 12 minutes, including two 6s, over 8 balls.

· Jim Owen was not out after scoring 3 runs in 4 minutes over 4 balls.

There were 12 extra runs added their score of 123, thus making a total of 135 for 7 wickets.

Captain Matt Greenwell and Joe Holliday were the 2 remaining who did not bat.

The bowlers for the Parsee Gymkhana were:

Farshid Cooper, Reshad Dotivala, Khushru Irani, Soli Karanjia took 1 wicket, Shahen Mistry took 3 wickets, Kersi Pavri, Rustom Sethna and septuagenarian Freddy Sidhwa took 1wicket.

After the match, everybody gathered to hear the speeches and witness the awards ceremony. Awards were presented by the Parsee Gymkhana to all the players of both teams, the umpires, Kia Oval personnel and the sponsors. Captain Kaizaad Wadia lifted the 1886 Trophy which was presented by Boman Irani and Ron Kalifa OBE. Khodadad Yazdegardi thanked all, especially those who sponsored the Parsi Gymkhana squad to tour UK, Matt Greenwell and Charles Alcock XI, Boman Irani Ron M Kalifa, Farokh Engineer and Lord Bilimoria who were both abroad and the ZTFE for organising their parliamentary tour on 20^th August and their warm hospitality on Khordad Sal, 22^nd August.

Captain Matt Greenwell in his speech, thanked Khodadad and the Parsee Gymkhana for visiting UK, congratulating them on their victory and laying down the gauntlet for next year’s 1886 Trophy fixture in Mumbai which will see the Charles Alcock XI visit Mumbai. He thanked the sponsors, for their generosity as it enabled the entire Parsee Gymkhana Team to visit the UK, including for their flights and hotel accommodation. He also thanked Lord Bilimoria CBE, Ron M Kalifa OBE, RED Tours, ZTFE, SPF Private Finance for their assistance in the UK.

Ron M Kalifa spoke on behalf of the ZTFE and the UK Zoroastrians, highlighting that in 1886 the Parsees had sadly lost virtually all their matches in the UK, but in 2019 they were victorious. ZTFE President Malcolm M Deboo read out a congratulatory message from patron Lord Bilimoria who was abroad (see below). This was followed by a post match reception for both teams and invited guests, sponsored by SPF Private Finance, members of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe, while Cobra supplied the chilled beer.

During the rest days the Parsee Gymkhana Team were taken sightseeing by RED Tours who had also assisted them in obtaining their UK visas. The ZTFE had requested their patron Lord Karan F Bilimoria CBE DL to organise a tour of the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday 20^th August, where he himself led the tour. There was also opportunity for the team to ask questions to Lord Bilmoria in the House of Lords Committee Room 1, after the tour, some questions were inevitably about the uncertainty of Brexit. The Parsee Gymkhana Team thanked Lord Bilimoria and presented him with a beautiful golden Fravashi trophy together with the Parsee gymkhana cap, tie and banner.

The Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe hosted a delightful pre-match dinner at their art deco grade II* heritage listed Zoroastrian Centre celebrating Khordad Sal, Thursday 22^nd August. Over 310 Zoroastrians and inter faith guests, including The Worshipful The Mayor of Harrow Cllr Nitin Parekh, former Mayors Mrinal Choudary and Cllr Rekha Shah, Navin Shah AM for Brent & Harrow, father of Asian Journalism in the UK C B Patel Editor of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, Sonoo Malkani Chair of Harrow Inter Faith, members of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, Ron M Kalifa OBE of the ECB and the celebrated and well known A Listed Zoroastrian Bollywood star Boman Irani. Faroukh Engineer and Lord Bilimoria send their apologies, as both had flown abroad that morning.

Our Ervad Sahebs remembered the late ZTFE Life Member Dr Homi Pithawala during the Jashan for his generous bequest, which enables the ZTFE to annually celebrate Khordad Sal for nearly 2 decades. Following the celebratory Khordad Sal jashan, everybody feasted on the celebratory meal prepared by Zoe Foods, comprising of keema cutlets, jeera chicken, lamb biryani with dal and phirni, while consuming Cobra Beer gifted by Lord Bilimoria. Kudos to the Parsee Gymkhana for their victory after the drinking Cobra Beer and the heavy meal they ate the previous night.

After the meal, the Charles Alcock XI and Parsee Gymkhana teams were invited onto the stage. The Worshipful The Mayor of Harrow was requested on behalf of the ZTFE, to present golden plaques with ZTFE logo to both teams celebrating their pre match visit to the Zoroastrian Centre. Ron M Kalifa OBE presented septuagenarian Freddy Sidhwa with the ZTFE Sesquicentennial Gold Medallion. The 3 Degrees; Vice President External Shenaz B Sadri JP, Special Projects Officer Jesmin Sorab and Iranian Community Engagement Officer Parivash F Kiani, presented the ZTFE Sesquicentennial Gold Medallion to the well known A Listed Zoroastrian Bollywood star Boman Irani.

In turn the Parsee Gymkhana requested Boman Irani on their behalf to present the beautiful Golden Fravashi Trophies to ZTFE, RED Tours, Ron M Kalifa OBE and Freddy Sidhwa.

Octogenarian Trustee Rusi K Dalal presented The Worshipful The Mayor of Harrow a ZTFE cheque to support ‘Akshaya Patra’, which is Cllr Nitin Parekh’s Special Appeal for his Mayoral Year. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is the world’s largest NGO run school meal programme and it is globally recognised as a benchmark organisation. Having served over 3 billion meals at an incredibly low cost, they have set remarkably new standard and serve nearly 1.8 million children daily. The Mayor Cllr Nitin Parekh was born in Aden and spent his formative years in Mumbai, before immigrating to the UK. Hence he is familiar with the Parsi community and cricket. In his speech, The Mayor welcomed the Parsee Gymkhana and the Charles Alcock Teams to Harrow, the most religious diverse borough in the UK, and wished them well for the 1886 Trophy march. He also thanked the ZTFE for their generous donation for the Mayoral Appeal and the Zoroastrian Centre for their support for community cohesion in Harrow.

The Mayor was then requested to draw the first winning raffle ticket, proceeds will be donated to the ZTFE Dadar Athornan Institute Appeal, which is very short of funds.

Similar to Shahenshai Navroze Saturday 17th August, ZTFE Social & House Secretary Gav D Buhariwala, together with the Staff Team, House Committee and numerous volunteers worked extremely hard to ensure the Khordad Sal function was successful and welcoming. The next day at the Kia Oval, many members of the Parsee Gymkhana Team were awed by the warm hospitality of the ZTFE and the UK Zoroastrians, because it boosted their moral, which contributed to them wining the 1886 Trophy. Also ZSCH-CZC volunteers for organising the return cab service, thus making it easier for senior Zoroastrians to visit the Zoroastrian Centre, thus enabling them to celebrate Navroze and Khordad Sal with their coreligionists.

Boman Irani is the first Bollywood actor to visit the Zoroastrian Centre. He readily mingled with all, graciously posed with everybody, young and old, to take their photographs with him. He had flown to London early that morning, and had not developed the appetite to consume the heavy celebratory meal. However, he very kindly agreed to entertain us. His opening line was that; “Not a single person came up to me and inquired why I was not eating, instead 38 persons came to persuade me to eat something.” The evening concluded, by Boman Irani bringing the house down by singing ‘I did it My Way’, song previously sung by Frank Sinatra. The ZTFE video link is https://www.ztfe.com/boman-irani-sings-at-zoroastrian-centre-august-2019.html. You may wish to forward link to friends and family.

Professional photographer Raj Bakrania and many others took 100s of photographs and videos during Khordad Sal 22^nd August and during the 1886 Trophy match on 23^rd August. Similar to previous occasions, our Communications Officer Darius J Karkaria will upload Raj’s high resolution photographs on Flicker, avail to download to all free of charge.

C B Patel of Asian Voice has summarily reported on Khordad Sal and 1886 Trophy events on Tuesday 27^th August 2019, under the heading ‘Touring Parsees meet in England for the ‘1886 Trophy’. https://parsikhabar.net/sports/touring-parsees-meet-in-england-for-the-1886-trophy/20638/

Parsi Khabar has also very kindly uploaded; ‘The Parsee pioneers of 1886’, printed in issue 16 of Wisden Cricket Monthly, February 2019. https://parsikhabar.net/sports/the-parsee-pioneers-of-1886/20621/

We in London had a wonderful sunny enjoyable August 2019. Metrological autumn will commence on Sunday 1^st September. Thanking all for you continued support to the ZTFE.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm M Deboo

President

Message by Lord Karan F Bilimoria CBE DL

It was an enormous privilege for me to host members of the Parsee Gymkhana Cricket team touring the UK, in the Houses of Parliament on 20^th August. I was so touched to have been presented by the team a beautiful Asho Faravahar trophy which I will proudly display in my House of Lords Office and which I will cherish as well as the Parsee Gymkhana cap, tie and banner. They are following in the footsteps in the Parsee Pioneers of 1886 who were the first Indian team ever to tour the UK. The Parsee Gymkhana was established in 1885. It is wonderful that the Surrey County Cricket Club Charles Alcock XI played the Parsee Gymkhana in India last year and today the Parsee Gymkhana team played against them for the 1886 Trophy here in the UK.

It is not surprising nor ironic that the Parsee Gymkhana were pioneers over 130 years ago. I have always said that per capita of achievement the Parsee’s are the most successful community in the world multi fold! Here is this tiny community with the population with less than 100,000 in the world a century ago and less than a 100,000 today which has, in spite of its tiny size, so many firsts to its name. And to think while I was showing the team members around Parliament I spoke to them of my maiden speech 13 years ago in 2006 and I told them how I had a photograph taken next to the portrait of Dadabhai Naoroji who was the first Indian to be elected to the House of Commons, a pioneer just 6 years after the Parsee pioneers in 1886.

The Parsee cricketing heroes continued down the decades including captains of India, over a dozen Parsees have played test cricket for India not least our very own Farokh Engineer who in his time was the very best wicket keeper batsman in the world – a childhood hero of mine and now not only a hero of mine but someone I am lucky to count as a friend. Then there were also the legends Polly Umrigar, Nari Contractor and Rusi Surti.

The Parsee community are true all-rounders excelling in every field imaginable from the time of the Parsee Pioneers a hundred and thirty year ago to today. Be it in sports, business, the law, accounts, the services in all 3 services – army, air force and navy and music both classical and rock, in science, politics… Pioneers all.

Most importantly the Parsees have achieved all this never with arrogance and always with humility. Magnanimous in victory and in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, in number beneath contempt, in contribution beyond compare.

I heartily congratulate the Parsee Gymkhana team for winning the 1886 Trophy today at the Kia Oval by 68 runs. My sincere commiserations to Charles Alcock XI. It seems the best team has won on the day.

The city collector has issued demand notices to the city’s largest private landlord, Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), for various properties, including prominent residential baugs built by industrialist Nusli Wadia’s family in the last century.

Article by Nauzer Bharucha | TNN

Land leases of three landmark Parsi enclaves- Rustom Baug and Jer Baug at Byculla, and Ness Baug at Nana Chowk-that came up in the early part of the 20th century have expired. To renew the leases, which expired seven years ago, collector Shivaji Jondhale has raised a demand in excess of Rs 35 crore.

These properties contain around 500 apartments for lower and middle-income Parsis. The BPP, which controls 5,500 flats in Mumbai, has challenged the notices.

The collector has slapped a lease rent of Rs 23 crore for Rustom Baug, Rs 11 crore for Jer Baug and over Rs 1 crore for Ness Baug. The major chunk comprises penalties for delaying renewal of leases. Some of these leases, for 99 years, were signed in 1917.

According to the state government’s lease renewal policy, new rents have been fixed for collector’s land. These leases are renewed for 30 years by taking 25% of the total land valuation.

The panchayat has challenged the demand, saying these are charity properties where tenants pay a few hundreds as monthly rent. “We are a charitable institution and these flats are meant for community housing. We have requested the collector to rework the lease rent,” said BPP trustee Kersi Randeria. Some of the trustees recently made a representation to the collector.

The BPP trustees have shot down any suggestion of redeveloping the baugs, it is learnt.

“Evicting anyone whose lease has come to an end and not renewed for want of a government policy for renewal by treating that person as a rank trespasser is completely illegal,” the BPP wrote to the collector on August 2. The panchayat said the lease for Rustom Baug had expired in 2012 and within a month it had applied for renewal. “Application for renewal was made even when the policy of the state government was not finalised,” it said.

The BPP said the land was leased to a charitable organisation to house people from low to middle income category at very nominal rents. In fact, rents collected by the trust are not even enough to pay the lease rentals charged by the government, property tax and minimum maintenance of the property. Trustees cannot exploit the commercial potential of the property for it is being used for social, cultural and religious purposes,” said the BPP.

The Punchayat further said the “arbitrary and unreasonable increase” in the ready reckoner rates applicable for trust properties has been challenged and not been adjudicated till date.

Over a century ago, Nusli Wadia’s great-grandmother Jerbai Wadia built the first of the Parsi baugs for middle-income and weaker sections of her community. Between 1908 and 1956, five baugs were built on over 35 acres housing 1,500 flats in 646 buildings for lower- and middle-class Parsis. These include Cusrow Baug (14 acres) at Colaba, Rustom Baug (9.5 acres) at Byculla, Ness Baug (2.7 acres) at Nana Chowk, Jerbai Baug (2.7 acres) at Byculla and Nowroz Baug (5.5 acres).

Our dear friend and mentor Dinshaw K. Tamboly informs…

Community members are aware that Global Working Group (GWG) – comprising the elected Parsi Irani Zoroastrian Federations, Associations in countries that do not have Federations and some prominent Zoroastrians – in keeping with the economic challenges faced by Mobeds (Priests) and widows of Mobeds, 60 years and above – had, due to the initiative and efforts of GWG President, Neville Shroff, received funds for disbursement during the year 2019, from a Charitable Trust registered overseas, administered by Philanthropy Services Division of a leading international bank.

From the funds received, 109 Mobeds and 30 Widows of Mobeds, 60 years and above, whose annual income is less than Rs.6,00,000/- (in the case of Mobeds) and Rs. 3,00,000/- in the case of widows of Mobeds, are being assisted to the tune of Rs. 19,500/- per quarter (for Mobeds) and Rs.13,500/- per quarter (for Widows of Elderly Mobeds).

The funds have been received by and are disbursed through WZO Trust Funds to the beneficiaries in India.

WZO Trust Funds are pleased to inform all the beneficiaries that once again, due to the efforts of GWG President, Neville Shroff, the same Charitable Trust registered overseas and administered by Philanthropy Services Division of a leading international bank, have agreed to continue extending the same level of support during the course of 2020.

Many elderly Mobeds and their widows, who having sacrificed gainful employment all their working days, and tended to the spiritual needs of the community, have at best been surviving on very nominal incomes, finding it economically challenging to pass the sunset phase of their lives. It is indeed very commendable, that the Charitable Trust registered overseas, administered by Philanthropy Services Division of a leading international bank, has made it possible to introduce some degree of comfort into the lives of these elderly Mobeds and Widows of Elderly Mobeds who have spent their lives being guardians of our faith.

WZO Trust Funds takes the opportunity to place on record the untiring efforts of GWG President, Neville Shroff, whose initiative and efforts have made it possible for the project to be renewed for the year 2020.

Friends in need: Parsis care for their elderly

A group of caregivers headed by Sam Medora has been looking after elderly Parsis in Calcutta for nearly two decades

When Ava Mehta flew down from England to visit her parents in the city during Navroz last month, her mother Tina Mehta hosted a tea party for her to meet the people who look after the octogenarian couple when she is away.

By Arundhati Bhattacharya | The Telegraph

Dara and Meher Hansotia who manage the dharamshala and its kitchen Pictures by Biswajit Kundu

A group of caregivers headed by Sam Medora, the former CEO of the Calcutta Zoroastrian Community’s Religious & Charity Fund, has been looking after elderly Parsis in Calcutta for nearly two decades. From helping them on their hospital visits and check-ups to taking care of salon appointments or even an occasional visit to the movies, the caregivers do everything for the senior citizens, most of who live alone.

The city at present has just over 400 Parsis, according to a survey conducted on March 31, 2019. “We conduct surveys twice a year and according to the latest one there are 405 Parsis in Calcutta, 150 of them over the age of 70 and 238 over the age of 60,” said Noshir S. Wadia, CEO of the Zoroastrian charity fund.

The trust has seven caregivers at present who look after 20 elderly members of the community, aged 60 to 96.

The caregivers are always on the alert, responding to every phone call and rushing to the aid of the elderly at all times. They pay monthly visits to the homes of the elderly to ensure that things are running smoothly in the household.

The corridor overlooking the rooms of Parsi Dharamshala, home to some elderly members of the community Pictures by Biswajit Kundu

Not just during emergencies, the caregivers also meet the elderly for lunch or to just spend time with them. It is a free service and a few of the elderly also receive financial assistance from the trust.

The Mehtas strongly recommend Calcutta as the perfect city for an ageing Parsi to live in. “Our children, settled outside the city, can live peacefully as they know we are looked after well,” Tina said .

The trust or members of the community also organise group outings and sponsored trips to clubs or restaurants for the elderly. “We celebrate Elders’ Day where we have pick-up and drop facilities for senior citizens. The trust has also lent us a car for hospital and other duties,” Medora said.

The elderly care service was initiated in 2001. “In 2004-05, we built a team to take care of the elderly and lonely,” Medora said. The caregivers receive a stipend from the trust.

The Manackjee Rustomjee Parsi Dharamshala on Bow Street is also involved in the endeavour, providing a home to some of the elderly. The building is more than a century old and over the years has been serving not just travellers but also doubled as a resting place for recuperating patients. It is now a home to a few from the community.

If needed, the community trust also bears the expenses of the elderly people living at the dharamshala.

Pilloo Sutaria and Shirin Bhattacharya have been living at the dharamshala for the past five years, while Zarine Katrak and Roshan Singh have moved in recently.

Sutaria, 78, was herself a caregiver for elderly Parsis after she retired as a stenographer at Tata Iron and Steel Company, where she had served for 41 years.

Now, Sutaria is looked after by caregivers like Navaz Gherda and Katy Sabawalla, among others. “We are glad to be able to pay back to her by taking care of her,” Gherda said.

In charge of the dharamshala are Dara and Meher Hansotia. “If somebody falls ill or there is an emergency, the first initiative comes from us, after which the caregivers are alerted,” Meher said.

The couple also look after the dharamshala kitchen. “Every day there is a change in the menu for the elderly residents,” said Dara, the manager of the dharamshala.

The kitchen offers a home delivery service as well. “We cater to around six to eight families from the community at present. We deliver lunch and dinner at their doorstep,” said Dara, who also runs Meher Caterers, that serves authentic Parsi delicacies at community dinners and kitty parties.