By FPJ Web Desk

It’s been 25 years, but maestro Zubin Mehta is all set to pass on the baton as the conduct of the Israel Philharmonic.

It’s been 25 years, but maestro Zubin Mehta is all set to pass on the baton as the conduct of the Israel Philharmonic. Born in a Parsi family in Mumbai in 1936, his father was as self-taught violinist who founded the Bombay Symphony Orchestra.

The 83-year-old is passing on the baton to a fast-rising Israeli maestro who’s 53 years younger. He capped off thousands of performances as music director in a series of concerts in Tel Aviv this week and will make way for Lahav Shani.

For over a decade, he has enthralled audiences across Europe, both as a pianist and conductor. His successor Shani began piano studies in Tel Aviv and later trained for orchestral conducting at Berlin’s Academy of Music Hanns Eisler.

Shani told Reuters: “I (listened) to the orchestra with the maestro (Mehta) many times as a child. When I was a student, I learned from the musicians in the orchestra. They were my teachers for chamber music (and) double bass.”

Shani first performed with the 100-member orchestra when he was 18. Mehta lives a rich legacy which also saw him lead orchestras of New York, Los Angeles, Munich and Florence. Mehta recalled how the show went on during times of conflict as well, with audiences sitting through breaks of rocket sirens. He said: “Twenty minutes later, we continue. Audience never left. In times of crisis, the audience never stays home.”

Adi Pherozeshah Marzban, also known as Adi Marzban (1914–1987) was a doyen of Parsi theatre in the post-independent period. Though he has directed and stage plays in English and Gujarati languages in the early 1950s, he later fully switched over to Parsi theatre, and played a magnificent role in revolutionizing, modernizing and popularising it. Padma Shri in 1964 and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1970 are the major honours received by him. He had experience in journalism, and most of his plays were socially relevant. He gave preference to comedy in his plays.

Article by Sandy | My Words and Thoughts

Adi Marzban’s early days and his career as a journalist and editor

Adi Marzban was born into a Gujarati Parsi family in Mumbai of intellectuals and artists. His father Pherozeshah Jehangir Marzban was a playwright and theatre personality, and Adi also got interested in the same field. It was during his graduation days at Elphinstone College when he started seriously thinking about a career in the field of theatre. His meeting with Pesi Khandavala in those days proved to be a major turning point of his career, and later the duo collaborated for many works together. Pesi Khandavala later served as his manager during his active years in Parsi theatre.

He was introduced to active theatre in the early 1950s

Initially he worked as a publicity officer for Western India Theatres, followed by a journalism job and he left that one too. He was associated with his family newspaper – Jam-e-Jamshed, where he played the role of an editor. In the early 1950s, he started writing plays in Gujarati and English. Then he moved to US and studied theatre at Pasadena Playhouse. Soon after he returned, he joined Kala Kendra at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan after which he turned busy with his plays.

He wrote and directed Parsi play – Piroja Bhavan in 1954 for Kala Kendra at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and its success prompted him to concentrate on Parsi theatre. It was his first collaboration with Pesi Khandavala, whom he met during his college days. Breaking stereotypes of historic and family melodramas, he concentrated on comedy plays based on socially relevant subjects, which gave him immense popularity and success. Ardhi Raate Aafat – a thriller was one of his early successful works, followed by a series of notable plays. He took Parsi theatre to new heights in the 1950s and 1960s.

Most of his plays were farces based on socially relevant subjects

Within a short span he gave a new look to Parsi theatre, and he has been credited to modernizing it. He has been active in many theatre organizations of Bombay circle including Indian People’s Theatre Association, Theatre Group, Amateur Dramatic Circle and many more. Katariyun Gap, Ardhi Rate Ahat, Kaka Thaya Vanka, Mota Dil na Bava etc are some of his most successful plays. He successfully adapted a few foreign plays also.

Adi Marzban – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. He was a trained musician who was an expert in keyboards, guitar, ukulele, clarinet and piano. He was also an expert of magic, ventriloquism and Western dance.

2. He was a successor of Fardunjee Marzban, the founder of prominent Gujarati magazines – Jam-e-Jamshed and Bombay Samachar – the oldest continuously published newspaper in India, now known as Mumbai Samachar.

3. His wife Silla, a TV personality and a writer.

4. This talented artist used to improvise the dialogues in plays during rehearsals, and his plays were known for the scene and light design as well as music.

5. He had sense of humour and was known for his comic timing. During his younger days, he wrote comic columns for Gupsup magazine in the 1930s.

6. He was the guru of some of the famous Parsi theatre personalities like Homi Tawadia, Phiroz Antia, Burjor Patel and Ruby Patel.

7. He has scripted two less-known feature films – On Wings of Fire and Carnival Queen.

The BPP president had earlier sent a mail to the Bhikha Behram well trustees to not invite Dadrawala for a prayer meet, as he was a reformist

Noshir Dadrawala speaks during the 10th anniversary celebrations of Ava Roj

Article by Gaurav Sarkar | Mid-Day

The rift between BPP trustee Noshir Dadrawala and BPP president Yazdi Desai seems to be widening, all thanks to a so-called “cautionary” email sent out by the latter, asking the Bhikha Behram well trustees to not invite Dadrawala as the chief guest and speaker at their 10th anniversary celebrations of Ava Roj, which takes place once every month. However, the BPP trustee was invited at the event and he was very much present, while Desai stayed away.

Ava Roj or the ‘pray together and stay together’ event takes place once a month at the Bhikha Behram well in SoBo, when Parsis get together to pray. Confirming that he had sent a mail to the trustees, Desai explained why he was against Dadrawala giving a speech at the event. “He is projecting himself to be an orthodox, which he is not. He is a reformist,” said Desai, speaking with mid-day. “I was trying to draw the attention of the trustees (of the well) towards the fact that he is not on our side when it comes to religious matters.”

Friday’s prayer meet went off smoothly and Dadrawala did give his speech, which was based on the “importance of enlightening the mind by dispelling the darkness of ignorance”. Funnily enough, Burjor Antia, chairman of the Bhikha Behram well trust, to whom Desai had written the “cautionary” email to, was present at the event along with BPP trustee Viraf Mehta. Speaking to mid-day, Dadrawala said, “I had attended the first ever prayer gathering 10 years back and am glad that I was there today as well. I am also happy that my fellow BPP trustee Mehta was present at the function.” Commenting on Desai’s absence, he said, “I don’t know why he did this, but to each their own. It is very unfortunate.”

A fantastic event is being planned by our dear friend and mentor Dr. Mickey Mehta on November 2, 2019.

“From A Mobed’s Heart To Mobeds’ Hearts” will feature the amazing Shihan Ervad Zarrir Bhandara. Readers of Parsi Khabar are familiar with Ervad Bhandara’s regular updates of Zarathushti activities from Southern California. He is a dear friend and mentor of Parsi Khabar over the years and this is a fantastic opportunity for mobeds in Mumbai to interact with him.

This inspirational religious Seminar is organized by our global leading holistic health guru and corporate life coach Dr. Mickey Mehta for transforming the spirit of our revered mobeds within the fabric of our Zarathushti community.

In this featured presentation, Ervad Zarrir Bhandara

– an amazing human and a dedicated priest will be unravelling the secrets and tapping on the science behind the epic philosophy of our religion.

Mr. Viraf Mehta, a BPP Trustee, has graciously consented tobe thechief guest for this event.

Venue: Rippon Club, Fort, Mumbai Date: Saturday, November 2, 2019

Time: 11:00 am

Discourse to be fo/lowed by Lunch

All Mobeds are cordially invited to participate in this hands-on and interactive life changing event.

Vision. . . prayers with awareness of its manifestation

Mission. . . get more mobeds gravitated to prayers with a purpose of connecting Religiosity To Spirituality With Humanity

Life Spiritualized .. Get Mickeymized

About Shihan Ervad Zarrir Bhandara

Shihan Mobed Zarrir Bhandara, a Vegetarian by choice, has saved more than 1200 lives by donating his own blood, plasma, and platelets over 400 times. He is a rare humanitarian priest who also happens to be a 5th-degree Karate Black Belt of an international repute.

Zarrir has quenched the religious thirst of thousands of Zoroastrians by voluntarily serving our Zarathushti community of North America and India for the past 47 years. He promotes the message of prophet Zarathushtra through his prayer services, religious classes, as well as, by saving lives of humans and animals among the Southern California community for the past 27-years.

Mobed Bhandara has dedicated his life to human welfare and social issues by giving selfless service to the causes he truly believes in. He firmly believes that a priest should be a living witness, reflecting a life of an exemplary human being and taking care of all living beings, as our prophet Zarathustra did. Their lives need to attract and inspire everybody they meet. Mobed Bhandara lives what he believes.

He also exemplifies prophet Zarathustra’s idea of a good priest, which is one who nurtures the soul under his care with good thinking. Zarrir served as a member of the Executive Committee of the 1993 1st World Zoroastrian Youth Congress in California, USA.

It is really hard to imagine Israel Philharmonic concerts without Zubin Mehta’s figure on the podium at the opening of the season. Love of music, Israel and the Jewish people came together in one genius.

Article by Jack Engelhard | Israel National News

Fifty years — the times zipped by so fast.

What’s the rush? For certain nobody asked Zubin Mehta to go.

For some 50 years, the Mumbai-born conductor was among the most popular cultural figures in Israel. Under one title or another, he served as maestro for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.  

As he arrived in 1969 in his early 20s, so he departs now in his early 80s, a beloved national treasure.

Nobody wants this beautiful friendship to end. Israelis would prefer an encore of many more years and symphonies from this maestro.

But age does have a way of catching up, even though we thought conductors are ageless and never retire.

The orchestra will miss him. Israel will miss him. Beethoven will miss him. Brahms wants him to stay, and certainly Mahler had no better friend.

For Israelis, classical music is the glory that offers a chance to get swept into the sublime and away from the problems of the mundane world.

Beethoven lived even in Auschwitz, and during the Cold War Thaw, scores of refuseniks arrived at Ben Gurion Airport clutching their violins.

As source, please do read this from Inna Rogatchi, an accomplished artist herself, who knows more about Mehta, and the orchestra, and can trace her lineage back to Gustav Mahler.

Mehta’s baton has been passed along to 30-year-old Lahav Shani. This means, we are assured, that the orchestra remains in good hands. We wish him Mehta’s good fortune.

Sometimes the perfect man arrives at the perfect moment, and so it was when Mehta joined the ensemble when Israel, only a few decades after the Holocaust, and only a few years after the Six Day War, was struggling to find a measure of respite through classical music. Mehta presented a solid fixture. Those were emotional times.

Everything about Israel is emotional.

At the outbreak of the Six Day War, Mehta, who was then conducting elsewhere, rushed to Israel for concerts of solidarity.

At a concert in Berlin, 1971, on impulse, Mehta led the orchestra to Hatikvah, performed, throughout the ensemble, with tears. The audience also wept.

People don’t forget this. 

Some in the orchestra were Holocaust survivors, and now – this is important—now, since 1948, they were performing as members of the ISRAEL Philharmonic.

Before that, it was the Palestine Orchestra. It was formed as such in 1936. Arturo Toscanini was first to conduct. “You ain’t heard nothin’ yet,” some might say in tribute to Zubin Mehta.

Those Palestinians, there at the start, were Jews, Jewish musicians, proof, if you needed it, that that’s what Jews were called then and there, Palestinians – and not the Arabs.

At a concert in Berlin, 1971, on impulse, Mehta led the orchestra to Hatikvah, performed, throughout the ensemble, with tears. The audience also wept.

Mehta calls that his most memorable moment.

As noted, everything about Israel is emotional, and so it is with the orchestra, which puts ineffable feelings into music. 

A trace through Mehta’s 50-year career offers a timeline of Israel’s history throughout those bitter-sweet years.

Through good times and bad, through laughter and tears, through war and peace, Mehta was there, baton firmly in hand.

Yes, he will be missed.

New York-based bestselling American novelist Jack Engelhard writes regularly for Arutz Sheva.

A tribute on his 110^th birth anniversary by Marzban Jamshedji Giara

He was born on 30^th October 1909 at Bombay in a Parsi family. He studied at Elphinstone College,, Bombay and at Cambridge University, U.K. He had the Isaac Newton Studentship. He studied in Copnhagen, Zurich and Rome. He lectured at Cambridge for four years as a mathematical physicist. He obtained a doctorate in1933 for his research paper on “The Absorption of Cosmic Radiation.” In 1939 he became a Reader at the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore. In 1941 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, London at the young age of 32. In 1942 he was awarded the prestigious Adams Prize of Cambridge University.

His efforts led to the establishment of Cosmic Ray Research Unit at Bangalore. He played a major role in the founding of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1945. Atomic Energy Commission was set up in 1948 of which he became the first Chairman. In appreciation of his services to the nation he was conferred Padma Bhushan in 1954 and elected Honorary Fellow at Cambridge. He was also a gifted painter. He left a large number of beautiful drawings, sketches and paintings.

The scientists of the world who met at the Atoms For Peace Conference convened by the United Nations and held in 1955 at Geneva honoured him by voting him as its President. He was one of the most creative Indians born in this century. He directed the launching of the first two rockets fired from Thumba in Kerala in 1963 and 1965.

Till his untimely death he held three distinguished posts simultaneously – Director, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Atomic Energy Department. In January 1966 he was to attend the meeting of International Atomic Energy Agency when he died in an air crash on 24^th January 1966. With a sense of purpose, hard work and humanitarian spirit Dr. Bhabha left behind him two legacies – the T.I. F.R. and the B.A.R. C.

Dr. Bhabha always deprecated the practice of stopping work when somebody passed away and he considered that the best token of homage was not to stop work but to work all the harder. Respecting the wishes of their past Chief, the offices of the Department of Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay and the TIFR worked as usual on 25^th January 1966. This was the first time in India normal work continued as a mark of respect to the memory of a departed leader.

The Gazette of India, February 1, 1966 noted: “He was the prime architect of Indian Atomic and Space Research Programme. He was a versatile genius, an accomplished artist, and a

musician, a dynamic leader of the scientific community … And above all, an ardent patriot.” The Guardian, London, wrote, “India has lost a Prophet and a Guide in Dr. Bhabha who single handedly …. set the nation’s sights on the highest peaks of technology.”

A special commemorative stamp of 15 Paise and First Day Cover was issued on 4-8-1966 in his honour by the Government of India. The Atomic Energy Establishment (A.E.E.) was renamed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre on 12^th January 1967.

Inaugurating the Homi Bhabha Auditorium at the Tata institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay on 9^th November 1968 Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, paid a tribute to him: “Indian science owed much to him and, indeed, the whole of India owed him much because he brought the nuclear age to India. Dr. Bhabha was a rare being and a many sided personality, artist and musician. He was a complete man. His humanism was as deep and luminous as his stature as a scientist.”

A commemorative postage stamp of Rs.2/- was issued on 9-2-1996 commemorating fifty years of T.I.F.R. (1945-1995). The stamp depicts a picture of T.I.F.R. with Dr. Homi Bhabha in the inset.

A bronze bust of Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha sculpted by Shri B. Vithal is installed at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai 400005.

May India produce world class leaders like Homi Bhabha in the service of humanity.

(The First Day Covers and stamps are from the book Parsi Statues by Marzban J. Giara published in 2000 A.C.)

We are happy to start a new regular column on health, skin care, personal care and wellness by our dear friend Vispi Kanga. This is his first column for Parsi Khabar

Healthy aging was defined as including an absence of disability, depressive symptoms, cognitive impairment, respiratory symptoms and chronic diseases including cancer, coronary artery disease and stroke.

To determine what factors contribute the most to “healthy aging”, researchers examined a person’s total carbohydrate intake, total fiber intake, glycemic index and sugar intake. It was then determined that FIBER made the biggest difference. If you want to eat something for better health, make it fiber.

There are several types of fiber such as “soluble fiber” and “insoluble fiber” and within each of those labels are many different kinds of nutrient. Each works differently in your body and gives you distinct health benefits.

Soluble fiber is found in oat bran, barley, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, peas, and some fruits and vegetables. Soluble fiber is also found in psyllium, a common fiber supplement sold as “Metamucil”. Suluble fiber attract water and turn to gel during digestion. They help lower risk of heart disease, stroke, colon cancer by binding with fatty acids, flushing them out of the body and helping to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. Oatmeal is an excellent source of fiber on its own, but you can further boost the fiber content by adding strawberries, blueberries, sliced bananas, diced apples, oranges or another type of fruit.

Insoluble fiber has proven to help relieve constipation by restoring and maintaining regularity, and it’s the only fiber that won’t ferment to cause excess gas. They help hydrate and move waste through your intestines and helps prevent constipation and keeps you regular.

Good sources of insoluble fiber include beans, whole wheat or bran products, green beans, potatoes, cauliflowers, and nuts.

Whole grains have more fiber and there is a link between reduced inflammation and whole grain consumption. Whole grains you may want to try include brown rice, steel cut oats, buckwheat and bulgur wheat. Almonds and walnuts are full of fiber, vitamin E and calcium. Walnuts are full of omega-3s. Avoid Refined grains (white bread and white rice) which on the other hand increase inflammation.

Inflammation is a naturally occurring process that happens when the human body incurs injury or damage. As we age the internal “systems” become damaged and chronic inflammation become an issue. This leads to a host of diseases including those of the central nervous system such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease. Chronic inflammation cripples the body due to series of inflammatory enzymatic reactions. Chronic inflammation is something people can control through diet and the inclusion of functional foods that reduce the processes that cause these diseases. Average mainstream diets lack important nutrients beyond basic vitamins and minerals.

Turmeric is a rising star of functional foods ingredients even in North America. The active ingredient in turmeric, curcumin, is a potent anti-inflammatory agent. Curcumin appears to inhibit inflammation through several mechanisms, including the COX-2 pathway blocked by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Documented benefits of turmeric include significant reduction in the pain and limitations of age-related arthritis.

Ginger has the anti-inflammatory compound gingerol, which provides free radical protection. The active components of Ginger such as gingerols, zingerone, give ginger it’s distinct aroma and flavor as well as it’s anti-inflammatory properties.

Broccoli, spinach, kale, collard greens and swiss chard are full of vitamin E, which could protect the body from pro-inflammatory cytokines. Dark green and cruciferous vegetables have very high concentrations of minerals and phytochemicals.

Bell peppers have capsaicin in them, which is a chemical that can reduce pain and inflammation. It is best to eat a mix of bell peppers in different shades.

Beetroot juice can reduce inflammation and is a popular drink for athletes. In fact, Olympic athletes were guzzling beetroot juice at the Summer London Olympics in 2012 for a performance boost. Beets are high in antioxidants, fiber and vitamin C. There is a long list of functional anti-inflammatories and antioxidant food ingredients such as dark chocolate, kidney beans, barley, cloves, dark raisins, pomegranate, rosemary and others.

According to 10-Jan.-2019 issue of “The Lancet”, people who eat higher levels of dietary fiber and whole grains have lower rates of non-communicable diseases compared with people who eat lesser amounts. Readers can also download the soft copy of the updated version of “Dietary Guidelines for Indians” from India’s premier “National Institute of Nutrition”, Indian Council of Medical Research.

In summary, lifestyle changes like drinking more fluids, consuming more soluble and insoluble fiber, regularly eating foods rich in functional anti-inflammatory / antioxidant properties can make a significant difference in healthy aging.

About Vispi Kanga

Vispi Kanga was the principal scientist in global technology at Unilever and has more than 35 years experience in product development in dermatology and skin care formulations, working for multi-national companies in health and personal care industry. He has followed the evolution of the Health & Personal Care industry since the 70’s to it’s current stature as a $146 billion business in the United States.

His expertise has resulted in several patents in the development of new innovative products. He received his BS in Pharmacy from Ahmedabad India and did his postgraduation from Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences (formerly known as Brooklyn College of Pharmacy).

Vispi has given numerous presentations in the area of skin care delivery systems and use of natural ingredients to the Personal Care Ingredients & Technology division of Health & Beauty America as well as other scientific organizations including Panacea, natural products expo India. He was the contributing editor of HAPPI magazine and also contributed articles and editorials in SpecialChem-The material selection platform. He was also an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Natural Sciences at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

After five remarkable decades, Zubin Mehta is retiring from music directorship of the IPO and says a touching and moving farewell to his orchestra and audience

JERUSALEM, MEHTA, MAHLER AND HATIKVA

Beneath the Music

Those are quite difficult moments, the moments of farewell. Especially if people are tight on in a family-like motto for the span of  two generations. No wonder that the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, brilliant and one of a kind, to me, took three months to depart with Maestro Mehta who led it for half of the century. Over the summer 2019, we saw the international farewell tour of the outstanding musicians with their outstanding conductor – and much more to that, and every time somebody in the vast orchestra had tears running down. No wonder.

But on October 20th, 2019, during the very last concert of that so very apt and emotional, so millisecond-meaningful  The Mehta Farewell Festival in Jerusalem, everyone in the audience, in the orchestra, next to the screens of the live world-wide broadcast of the concert by Medici TV, struggled tears back.

Conductor Zubin Mehta appears with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during the traditional New Year’s concert at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria,January 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File)

It was so much more special details and nuances in all the process of that emotional farewell. The great Maestro’s illness two years back, his absence from his orchestra which he always calls his family, and means it; his 8-month treatment in Los-Angeles; his return to his family in Jerusalem in October 2018, just a year ago – the short video on that moment is priceless.

The tissue of human relations  the barometer of human intentions has made this story unique. It is also a special lesson of  dignity and professionalism to so many of us. Just have a look on the conduct of the Maestro Mehta’s successor, talented , modest and respectful Lahav Shani. It is absolutely right and great that a young Israeli conductor will work and raise with this unique orchestra, the best decision possible, indeed.

***

So, staged for three months, and coming to its crowning end with the brilliant three last concerts, Mehta’s farewell was coming to its last mile.

And what a concert it was!  We all knew that it was a historical event, the musicians knew, both Maestro Mehta and his wife did, and all this very high-voltage emotionally super-charge could make it difficult and somewhat stiff. But not in Jerusalem. And not with this orchestra.

Every bit of it was deeply meaningful. Great Yefim Bronfman was not by chance chosen as the soloist for the evening, to play Liszt’s Piano Concert No 2 . It was Zubin Mehta forty four years ago, back in 1975, when young talented Soviet , now American, pianist Yefim Bronfman has made his notable debut.

Neither Lahav Shani happened to be next to Bronfman by chance in added in the last minute Dvozak’s Slavonic Dance to be played fantastically with Bronfman in four hands. It was wonderful, fine, extremely tactful way of passing the button to the new leader of the orchestra, in the nicest and most subtle way possible.

New leader of The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Lahav Shani. (C) Musicfest Bremen.

In his very short address to the public in the overpacked Bronfman Auditorium in Jerusalem before the second part of that concert, dignified Maestro, fully in control over ocean of emotions all around him – and inside, too – gracefully mentioned about all generations of the orchestra that he had worked with in Jerusalem for the past fifty years. And, he said, especially the first one which he nicely named as ‘that incredible orchestra of Austro-Hungarian empire’. Indeed, it was. And what an orchestra it was!  So many legendary musicians were still there when young Zubin Mehta , the same young, as Lahav Shani now, started to work with his family, as he calls it, in the third decade of the IPO history.

More than Music

In his profound, warm and so genuine conversation with Oren Nahari that is a part of this ever-to-be remembered Zubin Mehta Ceremony on October 20, 2019, Maestro did mention several important things.  That conversation was recorded at midnight of October 20th, literally in between two rehearsals, the late night one the previous night of October 19th, and early morning one on the day of the concert. Musicians knows that it is not an easy thing to do. 83-year old Maestro Mehta did it disarmingly, as if he was talking to everyone of us personally.

He was talking, simply and trustfully, on his love to his orchestra. “What can I tell you? It is my family.”

He was explaining on his choice for the second part of this last concert,  Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony No 2: “We have played this symphony of Mahler ( and Mehta is loving and justly famous interpreter of Mahler) at Masada, in a great, fantastic concert” – and his face was beaming with a special light. 

Maestro Zubin Mehta in interview. (C) Digital Concert Hall.

He was also  recalling the most memorable moment for him in his 50-year work with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: the concert in Berlin when all of the sudden, prompted by igniting impulse he decided to play Hatikvah. “I saw my musicians crying. But I also saw people in the Berlin hall crying. And that was important”. 

Maestro was referring to the crucially important episode in 1971 when the very idea to play or not in Berlin was debated within the orchestra and with the Israeli authorities at the time hotly. It was decided to play. And after the triumph of Mahler’s Symphony No.1 at the moment of encore, it was Zubin Mehta who commanded loudly: “Hatikvah!”. Who could forget the formatting moment like that?

It is due to his real modesty that Zubin Mehta remembering the most memorable moments during a half of a century of his life and work with The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra did not mention another episode when at the Six Day War  in 1967 he did come to Israel to perform on a plane full of ammunition. That’s what I call a family-connection.

The great maestro was also mentioning on his unfulfilled desire to play Wagner with this orchestra. To me personally, he is wrong. And it is not defined by still existing number of the Holocaust survivors among us, but by the decisive, deep, and vile Wagner’s hatred towards Jewish people and Jewish culture. But this is not the right moment to bring the issue in, I believe.

Reminiscences

When Maestro Mehta was speaking to Oren Nahari on his ‘sudden decision to play Hatikvah’ for the encore in Berlin just 26 years after the end of WWII, I was thinking on another great orchestra leader who also led his orchestra for half of a century, the person whose life is the part of our family.

Famous Arnold Rose, the founder of the legendary Rose Quartet and concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, attested as ‘the best orchestra leader of our time’ was leading the best in the world at the time ensemble for over 50 years when he was kicked off his job in a blink of an eye, with his house confiscated and his family put in all-encompassing ostracism.

Three months after the Anschluss to the day, Arnold’s wife Justine, sister of Gustav Mahler, dies of heart-attack. A few weeks after, British admirers of great Arnold helped him to relocate to London where he entered into completely different life, every day of  which was a struggle in all and every sense, with constant under-nutrition, bare surviving, and defragmenting dignity. My great-grand uncle lived to see the defeat of the Nazis – and also, tragically, the death of his beloved daughter Alma in Auschwitz.

Rose family: Justine, Alma and Arnold. Vienna, 1933. From the Inna Rogatchi’s Shining Souls project (C).

He also lived to witness the first after the Second World War international tour of his Vienna orchestra. As it happened, it was to London, in 1946. Maestro Rose was even invited to join his orchestra on the stage during those significant London concerts. I was always thinking: ‘What on earth those people were thinking , over that hypocritical and so utterly insensitive invitation?”

Maestro Rose refused the invitation, saying: “There are still too many Nazis on the stage”.

I was thinking on him, his wife Justine, the Mahler’s beloved sister, on their daughter Alma perished in Auschwitz being just 44, on my other uncle Alexander Bujanover ( it is my maiden name), a young doctor of 28 who died in the DCP camp treating scores of shadows of men there and having contracting typhoid which killed him in no time, on my grand aunt Eleanore Rose, Alexander’s mother who never overcame the death of her beloved son, exactly as her uncle Arnold did over the death of Alma.

Concerting violinist in London, Eleanor was the only member of the Rose-Mahler family who was there with elderly Arnold during his so devastating last six years in the Nazi shadows, even outside and after the Reich.

I am thinking: forty eight years ago, Zubin Mehta deciding to play Hatikvah on that stage in Berlin just 500 metres from Reichstag and at the time of the Frankfurt Trials, did it for so many of the victims of the Nazis and their families, including the family of great musicians, Arnold Rose and his and mine destroyed family.

I would be grateful for Maestro Mehta for that for ever. But the fact that this stellar musician himself is thinking, almost fifty years on, that this very moment is the most important for him in his over 50 years’ career with IPO, makes the impulse of a musician a great deed of a rare man.

Mahler Forever

The Hatikvah encore in Berlin in 1971 did come after triumphal performing by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Mahler’s Symphony No.1 .

On the night before his last concert with the IPO, Maestro Mehta with inner light coming out of him was remembering just one more episode in his very long and incredibly eventful career, the famous IPO concert at Masada.

“We were playing Mahler’s Second ( Symphony) there, Resurrection!” – Maestro was enlightened by his own memories now, 31 years after that unbelievable concert that was a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and which was attended by four thousand people at the time when nobody ever thought on any kind of festival at Masada, and that historical concert was heavily guarded due to the First Intifada – which did not discourage that incredible man, Zubin Mehta.

Inna Rogatchi (C). MAHLER. The Second. MAHLER series. Original art panel. 80 x 100 cm. 2018-2019.

During all his long, brilliant, and very productive career, Mehta had a special dialogue with Mahler. He is known – and will be remembered – as one of the most profound of the Mahler’s interpreters. In my view, it is because of two things: his intellectual capacity to perceive the Mahler Space and to be in-tuned in it naturally; and because he is reading the music of the genius very honestly, intimately, with love. Mehta reads Mahler by heart – and thus understands and feels him as one of the best. 

And it is because of this warm, intimate, organic understanding that Maestro Mehta did chose to perform Mahler at all his most important concerts  and events of his and his family orchestra, the IPO, during the last fifty years.

To feel Mahler like that, in the family motion, is truly a rare phenomenon. Everybody, almost, plays Mahler as it is a sign of a high-brow art. Very few understand and feel Mahler – not because he is difficult. But because he is different. Organically different. As a rainbow at the moment of rain.

Mehta and IPO are playing Mahler as if Mahler himself sings his scores to them. And those are scores of universal and timeless genius who is first and foremost  a Jewish genius, with a special code of soul, and a special crypt of message, to be unveiled in a special way. 

Mahler’s genius is unique because it does not start from any certain point. Mozart does – and creates a new universe of its own. Bach does  – and establishes a kingdom of innermost reflections.

Mahler and his space always has been there. It just needed that man, Gustav Mahler, to reveal it. The thought that he is my third grand great-uncle makes me dizzy every day of my life.  And what makes me endlessly intrigued is that since I was a small child, his difficult and not always melodic music had grabbed my inner-self in the way a strong magnet does.  

Zubin Mehta happened to know the way to read Mahler authentically. The Maestro’s favourite word when he is speaking on the profession is honesty. Sounding simple, as many things said by Mehta, his honesty term includes highest professionalism, hardest work, intellectual integrity, performing sincerity, and most and foremost – love. As simple, and as crucial, as that.

And his admirable devotion to Israel and its people.

At the moment when Maestro Mehta was remembering the Hatikvah played in Berlin in 1971, I knew what encore would be now, 48 years later, at the moment of his farewell to IPO.

Inna Rogatchi (C). HATIKVAH. Original art panel. 80 x 60 cm. 2014. Private collection. Israel.

There were two Hatikvah played that evening, October 20, 2019, one opening the concert, and that just unbelievable though expected encore. During that second Hatikvah, Maestro Mehta turned to the public and conduct the hall full of people all singing our anthem in unison. Who could ever forget that moment.

“That’s No Way to Say GoodBye” – knew ever-wise Leonard Cohen. In this case, it is so very true.

“Run the Race Again” – A Brand New Instrumental Single by Nenshad Bardoliwalla Available NOW! ALL proceeds will go to charity!

Apple Music / iTunes: https://music.apple.com/us/album/run-the-race-again/1484762319

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5CIiGqQVOKBFZaoldPZVdy

The Quick Story Behind “Run The Race Again”

My parents relented and bought me my first guitar at a garage sale in 1984, after I begged them to get it for me and promised that I would take lessons. Since then, it was always my dream to have something I wrote and recorded actually be played on the radio for anyone who wanted to listen. 35 years later, I’ve taken a big step towards accomplishing that dream, and I’m so excited to be able to share it with all of you.

My new single, “Run The Race Again”, is available NOW on every major streaming audio service! All proceeds will go directly to charity, specifically the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, so supporting this work directly contributes to a great cause in perfect time for holiday season giving. If you enjoy the song, PLEASE like, comment, and share broadly and widely within your own networks so we can build some awareness. Here are some other the links where you can get the single:

The Full Story Behind “Run The Race Again”

In the apartment that my wife and I lived in from 2001-2005, I had built a recording studio in the second bedroom and recorded a CD called “Some Other Time” containing a number of jazz standards. The huge challenge I gave myself was to play all the instruments: guitars, basses, synthesizers, and drum set. It was a really fun project, and many of you were kind enough to pick up a copy of the CD and hopefully enjoyed it too. But when we moved to our first house in 2005 in anticipation of the birth of our first daughter, all the instruments got packed up and very rarely made their way out. After two decades of always having multiple guitars and other instruments lying around, I rarely played more than once a month from 2006-2017.

In 2017, our now complete family with three active daughters outgrew that house and we moved to a new one, where I was fortunate enough to have an entire room to myself, a room that many folks now refer to as a “man cave”. Since January 2019, I’ve brought all the instruments out of storage, modernized my setup with many new toys, and rebuilt my recording studio. As a result, I started playing again quite a bit, and even composing my own material! It’s been a blast to be able to pursue my musical passion again amidst all that is required in trying to be a husband, father, son, friend, and co-founder of a start-up company.

“Run the Race Again” is a composition that explores the imagery and feelings of the perpetual cycle of exhilaration and exhaustion running all the races in our lives: From the joy of our races with our friends in the neighborhood in our childhoods, to the angst of the popularity race in our teen years, to the race to independence and then married dependence in our 20’s, to starting to find steady footing in our 30’s in the rat race, to wanting to quit all the races that spawn our mid-life crises in our 40’s, to the jubilation of finishing those races, finding our true selves, and making peace with who we are as we enter our 50’s, and then beginning the cycle all over in the second half of our lives.

This composition was written from July to October 2019 and recorded on October 13, 2019 at my home studio. I really wanted to create sounds on a single guitar that could be as quiet as the softest pluck of a string the ear could hear to as grand and expansive as an orchestra at full volume. You’ll have to let me me know how close I’ve come to succeeding! This was created with a single guitar, an audio interface, some recording software on my Mac, and my two hands in a single take. I think it’s the most amazing thing that you can go to Apple Music or Spotify and type the name of someone you personally know and actually have something I wrote and recorded show up! It would be even more amazing if you like the music too.

I would really appreciate it if you’d take the time to listen, to upvote, to comment, to share with others, or participate in any way you can to get the word out to make my dream come true. As this is one of my childhood dreams, I want to pay it forward to a new generation of children, so any money I make out of this effort will go straight to The Boys and Girls Clubs of America. So you’ll be supporting a good cause that’s far more important than me and my musical aspirations. I really just wanted to be able to say that I had done this because I always wanted to, not to create a new income stream. I really hope that you enjoy it and that it can inspire you to pursue your own dreams that you’ve put off for too long! Let me know what you think.

Further meets Persian-French opera singer Ariana Vafadari, who takes enigmatic Zoroastrian prayers from 3700 BC and transforms them into haunting operatic pieces that speak to 21st-century festival goers.

As a young girl, growing up in Iran, Ariana Vafadari would listen to her father singing the ancient philosophical poems, or “Gathas,” that lie at the center of one of the world’s oldest religions, Zoroastrianism. Years later, as a mezzo soprano opera singer in Paris, she sang these same Gathas to herself as she went through a personal crisis. Their transformative, healing effect convinced her to try singing these ancient mantras during the encores after her classical performances. Buoyed by the enthusiastic reception of her audience, Vafadari collaborated with traditional Occidental musicians to record and release her 2016 album, “Gathas, Songs My Father Taught Me.” Since then she has toured the world, performing her haunting renditions of the Gathas for audiences at the Sacred Music Festival in Fez, Burning Man, and the Bombay Beach Biennale—helping bridge the divide between classical concert halls, the new nomadic festival culture, and traditional Eastern musical traditions. Here, Vafadari speaks with Further about the potential of festival culture to fuse musical lineages and spark fruitful collaborations, and about the experience of singing alongside her ancestors.

How would you classify the music that you compose and perform?

I studied opera, I went to the conservatoire, and I have the skills for opera and occidental classical music. But I’m a half Iranian and half French, so after a few years I needed to express my Iranian side and I composed a program between Oriental music and Occidental music. It’s quite a selfish project, because I just had the musicians I love around me and the instruments—I love the oud, double bass, sometimes we have the piano and percussion. So it’s really something that helped me connect these two parts of myself, to express myself fully.
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Would you describe what you do as musical fusion?

Yes, exactly. Classical music inspired me when I wrote the music for the Gathas of course. I love it and I can’t deny it. And my voice is an opera voice. It’s something I have tried to change sometimes, but it doesn’t work. It’s always there. And then I wrote the music using the Macam, the Oriental scale. And so we have these two worlds gathering and being able to express and speak with one another.
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Can you tell me about the Gathas, and how they became important to your work?

The Gathas mean the chants, the singing. They were the songs of Zarathusthra, which is the community I belong to in Iran. We are Zoroastrian, and Zarathusthra is a Mantran, the man who says the mantra. These Gathas are the eldest poems of the Zoroastrians that we believe come from the mouth of Zarathusthra. At first when I sang them, I realized that I would feel so good, it cured me totally. So I would sing them a little bit in my programs and people would say, “Oh, this is strange, but we like it.” And then they became more and more important and I realized these are mantras—that’s why they cure me and make people feel good. So I started this program, performing with musicians from different backgrounds. I try to bring Iranian music and opera together and improvise. And I’m also writing my second program, which is called, “Anahita,” after the deity of femininity and water. We will have a big tour in 2020, throughout the States, India, and France. And we had a previous avant-première, where we sang it in Oslo and at the Bombay Beach Biennale, the festival in California. It was on this lake that is dying. And so it’s about finding your routes and going back to this strong spirituality, femininity, and finding water again.

“As a musician, the world that you don’t see is more powerful than what we see.”

Are you trying to preserve classical music traditions?

Yes, I hope so. I’m working with a very good musician, Issa Murad, an oud player. He learned classical oriental music at a very high level. He’s a master in oud. So he can feel free to do other things within the music. But then he has this knowledge and he comes back to the classical music all the time, the same as me. It’s not easy. I don’t know if I’m doing it right, but we’re trying to preserve the tradition of classical music and open it and make it new. And I imagine the boundary is not easy to find, and one needs to be careful not to go too far, but that’s what we are trying.
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Why is it important to bring different musical traditions together?

I think the danger is that it’s the same public going to these very nice halls and dressing up very nicely, and you have to be quiet and concentrate. And that scares many people and that’s normal. So bringing this music out of these places, letting people talk, dance, get out, get in, is very important because it brings a new audience to this music. And that’s very important to me.
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How receptive is the current audience?

Well, as an opera singer, I was always sure that everybody loves opera—they just don’t realize it. I don’t know if I’m right, but the way to make people like it is to take it to a new audience and not to have a three-hour opera. Sometimes people in places like this will listen a little bit and then get used to it, and then the next time they like it more and ask for more. It’s just like I’m sure that everybody loves electronic music. When music is good and emotional, it touches you. So it can be Oriental, Occidental, it depends on your own story. But I think that inside, everybody loves traditional music and they love dancing. So by putting them together, we bring a new audience to these different categories of music.

“We’re trying to preserve the tradition of classical music and open it and make it new.”

How has playing the festival circuit effected your work as an artist?

I meet new people, encounter new music that I’ve had never had the chance to work with, I work with DJs. It’s not the conditions and work that we know—with that same concentration—but once you just let yourself go and trust the situation, then it’s really fantastic living in this new world of music. For example, in Occidental classical music we work on “Partition”—sheet music you say. And we’re skilled at being very precise. And while we learn a lot—being able to then work with someone that has totally different skill and improvising is new for me. It’s been totally new. And I think it’s another way of being an artist and we should do this more this. Each genre of musicians learns music in their own way and then working together opens a new world for everyone.
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Do you see music as a catalyst?

For me it’s a question of living music. I used to study math and I wanted to be mathematician. And then at that point I thought that half of my body and emotion are dying, that I need music. As a musician, the world that you don’t see is more powerful than what we see. When I sing, I’m with my ancestors. It’s my story, I’m speaking with something that I don’t even understand myself, but I feel the vibrations. When I have all these emotions onstage, it’s totally true—and I can see in the eyes of the public, that this emotion is there too. So for me, it’s something really powerful to share. We all have the same stories. We have fear, we have anger, we have joy—and music can be a fantastic way to share this.

Shivaum Punjabi at DriveTribe India does a wonderful interview with our dear friend and leading Parsi petrolhead Rayomand J. Patell a.k.a Rayo.

Indians are obsessed with Mercedes Benz. For the longest time, it has been the go-to luxury car brand for anyone in India who wants to let the world know they have arrived. This Dhanteras Mercedes Benz India delivered 600 cars to customers across the country. I sit down with Rayomand J. Patell better known as Rayo, who runs one of Mumbai’s most passionate and knowledgeable car clubs known as All Stars.

1. There are many Merc clubs in the country and abroad what would you describe as the essence of All Stars?

Passion. It would have to be our passion for Mercedes. All Stars has just a little over a hundred members, and we are not about how big we are, we are not about how much we care for each other, there is none of that male bonding nonsense that other clubs enjoin upon you. It is just about a bunch of people ranging from very early Mercs to the very latest AMGs. People who do not get along even are members of this group, and I think that’s the strength of this Club. It’s best of breed when it comes to passion, and we only reward true passion. Every guy with a Benz doesn’t get invited or accepted. Having said that, we’re not snooty, we’re just careful about everyone being at the same passionate level, whether they drive a W124 or an SL.

2. How old is the group, and how many members does it have?

We’re just about a year old and a little over a hundred members. Most of us are from Mumbai, but we do have some known car guys from all over the country too.

3. Which city are you guys based out of?

Mainly Mumbai.

4. Name some of the special Stars in the group?

We’re blessed to have the entire spectrum of cars. From Adanauers to Pontons, SLCs to SLs and even the mighty SLS, from the big bad 80s SEC coupes (four at last count) to people like the Hede family who have every S class, we’re simply blessed with people who love the Star and have loved it for decades.

And it’s not always the fancy Stars either. We do have a fair amount of Youngtimer Stars as well. Some are daily driven like the W124 and so on. Each one is special to their owner, and that, to me, is what our guiding philosophy has always been. Celebrate ‘All’ Stars. Save some that are in danger of dying out. For example, the W220 is a personal favorite of mine, ditto for the W201. I try to get people to resurrect those rather than a W124, for example, which are available in plenty in our country as they were made here.

5. What Stars are a part of your collection?

I have a pathological obsession with saving old wrecks that are at the near-death stage. My dream car is my 560 SEC affectionately called ‘Vader,’ and I bought it, and I’m still making it faster and stronger nearly five years later. I had to rebuild literally every inch of that car, but that’s what I do, I guess. When I can’t do it myself, I get my friends to pick up projects.

The coupe is a favorite, along the way a friend gave me one of my favorite S class designs, also by Bruno Sacco, the legendary W220 for free, which I spent eight months on fixing up and now that’s going to be a family car for road trips. I am still waiting for a few small things like the sunroof to be sorted out before we head out road-tripping in it. In keeping with my Star Wars obsession, this one is called Rey, from The Last Jedi because well, it’s the youngest Benz I have.

I also have a donor W126 500 SEL, which I’m making into an Art Car project for the Cathedral School to raise funds for their new school building. It’s my little way of giving back to something that’s been a massive part of my family’s life, and we’re hoping to do a Paul Smith sort of equivalent Mini with it. This one is christened Leia, also from Star Wars.

Rumors swirl about my possessing other Stars. I can neither confirm nor deny them. Watch this space, teehee!

6. What is your favorite Mercedes of all time?

I’m incredibly biased about the SEC. To me, it’s the best car Mercedes made. So maybe you shouldn’t be asking me this question, because I have only one answer. I can look at my 560 AMG tribute literally all day long. As I always say, Vader and I fixed each other up. It has brought me so many friends in the car world, who have been so generous with their time and spirit. I must mention LS Ravi and Aijaz Rashid; without these two gents, my car would not have been what it is. I’m blessed by God to have sent his angels in when needed most.

Ls Ravi’s SEC

7. What is the best Mercedes you have experienced?

I must go down my memory lane for this. In the 90s, there was this guy whom all of us looked up to, Karl Gandhi. He had the best cars, the flashiest of them all. There was no competition. He was a legend.

I met him once at the air-conditioning shop when he had brought his R107. It was the early 90s, and he had just been featured on a magazine cover exemplifying the good-life. Very timidly, I asked him if maybe someday, if he was free, I could get a spin in that. He took my landline number down (cell phones did not exist at that point!) and said he would call.

I thought he was just being polite. Eventually, he did actually call and said he would be there. So on that day and precisely like a Swiss watch, I went down to the gate and waited. I heard him coming up the road before I saw him, it was a sunny day, the top was down, he pulled up alongside, I just had the widest smile on my face. I have never seen my city as fast as he drove me around that beautiful morning, the engine was singing, and the exhaust note was to die for. It was quite my Hollywood moment, frankly.

We went whizzing around South Mumbai at the speed of light and then went to where all car guys back then used to: Worli Sea Face. This was before there were dividers there, and the entire road was like one giant deserted track.

He took off, and it was then that I fell in love with the R107 at a soul level. I’ve always had a massive soft corner in my heart for it ever since that drive. That car is now in a museum up North, by the way. Which is kind of a pity, I am all for driving cars not stashing them away.

When you have a beautiful car as someone on Petrolicious once said, it’s a responsibility to share it with the public, because it’s like Art. But, I digress. To me, the R107, in that era itself… yeah, that was pretty much everything.

8. Name the most perfect car in the group collection?

It’s impossible to bring it down to one car. But I’d have to say Jagdish Thackersey’s SLS, LS Ravi’s SEC, Aijaz’s W201 Evo 2 Tribute, Amol Nayak’s Ponton among so many others are the beautiful jewels. We are fortunate to have a lovely collection.

9. What is your take on a modern Mercedes?

It might not be a popular opinion, but if only they would keep the grill proportions sensible. I enjoyed the C63s tremendously the one time I had a bit of a spin in it, to me that’s the right size, the right engine, and the right kind of mental. It’s discreet but can really scream when needed. I do wish Mercedes hadn’t diluted the brand with the whole Renault platform CLAs. However, accounting departments force passionate engineers to do horrible things.

10. What is the difference between a classic Mercedes and a Youngtimer Mercedes?

They are a family! Like Father and Son. The DNA is so strong in them. In Samit Hede’s lineup of S classes, the DNA bloodline is so visible! The W111, for example, isn’t designated an S Class formally, that didn’t happen till the W116, but right from there, you see how familiar everything is. The handbrake, the key position, the instrument cluster, even the sense of the aroma from the MB Tex, it’s all just fine wines of different vintages.

The classic Stars have what people call the authentic analog feel of a ‘real’ Mercedes Benz. Driving a W111 makes you feel you’re sitting in an old Rolex upon four wheels. It’s gorgeous, and there is even this tale of an Indian man who drove one after University from Munich to Mumbai in the late 60s with his German girlfriend. Both car and lady stayed with him for the next fifty years, would you believe? They’re indestructible.

A Youngtimer Mercedes needs a little more love and attention, because of electronics! It’s the early crossover years, and it’s harder to fix. But give me a W116 in Byzantine Gold, and I would be delighted, all the same, they were built in a pre-oil crisis era, and the feel of that exhaust note warbling through a Malabar Hill slope can make your chest hair grow!

11. Which as per you, is the best era of Mercedes?

I’m hugely biased. I think there’s this behavioral science theory of how the cars you see as kids, are the cars you believe are the best era. Maybe it’s true because I’m Gen X, and I’m practically bound to say the period of the 80s, the Sacco years. The W126 era, the C126 era, the big ballin’ 80s, when drug dealers, Heads of State, and every industrialist in between had a big land barge from MB. That’s my favorite era frankly because I gravitate to that time, it is when we were kids and growing up with wide-eyed wonder at the Concorde in posters and so on. But subjective personal opinion aside, look at the way these cars have been around for nearly 40 years now, and they’re just the best of the best built when Mercedes had engineers at the helm, not bean counters.

As a side note, my contempt for the W140 is more than well known for anyone who chooses to ask. I genuinely think it was a massive let down from the magnificent W126, and the pre-facelift ones are what I call Bankruptcy Inducing Machines. No matter how many times you fix them up, they tend to trouble you eventually. I’m sure there are exceptions, but to me, that’s one era best left alone. In my humble opinion, the true spiritual heir to the W126 is the W220. It has the same pleasing vertical and horizontal affinity. The bloodline returns to being visible, unlike in the mutant W140, which was purpose-built to be needlessly as big as a Rolls Royce. Bruno Sacco, in fact, admitted years later that was a mistake and said they’d made the original roof four inches too high after the initial design perhaps. No matter, he bowed out gracefully with the W220 as a makeup.

Rayo with Vader

12. If someone wants to start collecting or enter the Classic or Youngtimer Mercedes scene, which is the least daunting Mercedes, they should begin with?

The Youngtimer scene in India tends to center around the W124. We have a few of those in our group, some of which were bought for very little money relatively, then fixed up over time and are now good examples like the Dhondy W124. Personally, though I push people to save the W201s, those are far fewer and far more fun too, to drive. Both of these have a large support forum, and parts tend to be available also. Even the W123s, I love how some of our members, like Nathan and Dheep, who are half my age, are besotted with their W123 sedan and wagon, respectively.

The Classic scene seems to center around the W110 version of the Fintail, there are many around and nearly every month, someone or the other finds and gets one to restore, due to their relative simplicity. Another favorite seems to be the humble W115, which has recently shot through the roof in terms of asking price and popularity.

13. Last but not least. If someone wants to join All-Stars, how do they get in touch with you?

You can’t miss a fat man with curls at Horniman Circle on Sunday mornings. But we’re on Instagram and Facebook too for those who can’t make it in person. Also if you want to see almost every era of Mercedes on display attend the Mercedes Classic Car Rally happening on the 10th of November in Mumbai at the Sofitel Hotel in BKC.

All photographs have been used with permission from their respective owners. You can follow them on their Instagram accounts.

www.instagram.com/nickwagle_0603/

www.instagram.com/revminister/

www.instagram.com/mahir.javeri/

www.instagram.com/aniketdeshpandephotography/

The following speech was delivered by Ervad Zarrir Bhandara at the Ripon Club Mumbai on Saturday November 2^nd, 2019.  “Mobed’s Heart to Mobeds’ Hearts” event. This event was organized by the Global Health Guru and the Holistic Health Coach Dr. Mickey Mehta. The young and dynamic BPP trustee Mr. Viraf Mehta was the chief guest and Dr. Ervad Ramiyar Karanjia principal of Dadar Athornan Madressa was the guest of honor. This event was attended by about 20 mobeds which included the ex principal of Cama Athornan Madressa Ervad Kersi Karanjia.

Dr. Mickey Mehta thanked everyone and requested Mr. Viraf Mehta to introduce the speaker Mobed Zarrir.

Zarrir started his presentation by asking all present to hold each other’s hands and requested Ramiyar to lead the Hum bandagi of 2 Yatha and 1 Ashem Vohu.

Zarrir thanked everyone present and asked the audience how are you feeling? Then asked them to shake hands with the person on their right and left saying “I am a great Mobed and so are you”

He asked who are we. -Mobed which comes from the word Magu- Paiti, the word magic comes from the word the Magis- our ancestors who were able to perform super natural things due to the power of prayers combined with the knowledge of Astrology, Astronomy and Alchemy, we were  the teachers, leaders and role models of our Society what happened? What went wrong? How come the people who were once looked up to are looked down upon? How can we bring the faith of our community back into our own religion? We the priests are the back bone of our community.

How do we shape the will of the community without shaking the spirit which will bring about the life time of transformation?

What is our role and responsibility? Before we examine our role, we need to start FEELING GOOD because when we feel good, we can do good. How do we feel good? He emphasized on the importance of mindfulness and the mental faculty as taught by our prophet Zarathushtra in the Gathas by quoting”For the uncontrolled, there is no wisdom, nor is the power of concentration without concentration there is no peace of mind and without peace of mind how can there be happiness.”- Zen in the Martial Arts, Bhadwad Geeta and Gathas

We have to realize that we are very privileged to be in this profession as this is the most noble profession “Mobedi Pesho, A ek dam uttam pesho che”. Provided it is practiced correctly. He asked many questions and fortunately or unfortunately it was only Dr. Ervad Ramiyar Karanjia was able to answer his questions. He asked which is the outer ritual in which, we enact the role of Ahura Mazda Himself, bringing about the blessings from the spirit world to the physical world. Namely, the Jashan/Afringan, what could be of more significance than this. (Thus boosting the self esteem of mobeds).

It is also a great responsibility as we are the mediator between the worlds by means of rituals.

Talking about ethics, he quoted “If you are true to the art the art will be true to you” Hanshi Vispy Bahadur Kapadia- my Karate teacher. Here instead of art I would say profession. Instead of chasing money, be a true service provider and the money will chase you. It is necessary to pray with proper pronunciation to create desire effect and initiate communication with the spirit world by means of vibrations.

We priests need to be steadfastly dedicated to proper performance and pronunciation, show that we care about what we are doing by being caring and loving by investing our feelings in our prayers  and performing rituals, rather than just performing mechanically and yes, there are no shortcuts to it. Do it right or don’t do it at all.

Also it is important to acquire correct knowledge of performing rituals, especially the higher inner liturgies- PavMahal ni kriya  and here in India you are blessed to have stalwarts likes Dasturji Dr.Firoze Kotwal a living legend, a reservoir of knowledge, Dr. Ervad Ramiyar Karanjia, Dr. Ervad Roointon Pir, Dr. Ervad Parvez Bajan, Mobed Aspandiar Dadachanji more.

Further equip yourself with scholarly and Esoteric knowledge by reading Kangajis/ Taraporewalla’s, Daboo’s, JamaspAsa’s, Kotwal’s and also books on Kshnoom which will make the rituals more meaningful  to yourself and you can explain the significance of the same to others. Take the example of performing a Kusti which you know it’s a purification ritual, you can compare it with running a Virus scan before downloading any program in the hard drive. Essentially, you are cleaning your astral body- aura- removing impurities thus making room and becoming receptive to receive blessings from the spirit world by first reciting the 101 names of Ahura Mazda, which are His qualities which we download in ourselves thus becoming like Him as we all are made in His image. Further, when we make two loops reciting Manashni, Gavashni and Kunashni, which signifies the two worlds namely the physical and spiritual with a bridge in between signifying that when we traverse through this bridge of separator, we take with and leave in this world only the thoughts, words and deeds that we performed. Hence, it is so important to lead an ethical life.

Think priestly duties as divine privilege, even if charging money, put your best effort into it, be disciplined, be dedicated, be devoted. Do it from your heart (etekad sathe) thus breaking this vicious cycle of carefree priests which influences the community to be careless about their religion.

Also if you are in any other profession apply the good things from those professions into your priestly duties to compliment your priestly duties to make you a better priest. For example I being in the field of Martial Arts, every time we block or punch has to be a better than the previous one similarly, every time I perform ritual it has to be better than my previous one. Also, being an ex model I know how important it is to look good. Hence, as a mobed you should look presentable and pleasant, so that you can be willingly and easily approached. Also, having a background in alternative medicine- helps me to do spiritual healing- combining Mathra and Mithra. Being an electrician, I know how important the connection is, which helped me to make sure that I am connected with the ground – Earthing and with the implements to be consecrated and at the same time also forming a connection between the laity-the physical world and their dear departed ones-the spirit world thus completing a circuit.

When you include ethics as the most important component in your priestly duties and in life, and live your prayers then you are the one more than anyone else, who is going to benefit the most by progressing in both worlds physical and spiritual.

He shared his success story and how his life was saved through power of prayers after a traumatic road accident and also his Journey as a priest giving credit to Athravan Education Trust.

Start educating people with simple yet important things like Sudreh and Kusti the golden tools as mentioned in Khorshed and Meher Niyaesh “Zarvanem Surem Yazamaide”

The key principle to follow is the principal of Asha- righteousness in all your endeavors to be full of Asha HOPE.
When you follow Asha for the sake of Asha Righteousness, you experience Ushta Happiness the Ashem Vohu prayer.

The physical entity or the creation that comes under Asha Vahishta is Fire son of Ahura Mazda. Fire is the manifestation of that energy which is present in all living beings, in other words God’s spark/ energy is present  in all living beings,  which gives us the notion of oneness  in the universe, which is unity in diversity in our community and in the world. Hence we celebrate our different calendars, sects beliefs even religions, as paths are many spirit is one. 

I am not saying it’s going to be a rosy path, you have to strive as you will still come across a lot of criticism and controversies, talking about criticism and controversies, the people who are often most criticized are the trustees who are performing a thankless job whether in US or in India, look at BPP trustees Noshir Dadrewalla, Kersi Randeria, Viraf Mehta Xerxes Dastur who are the most honest people yet they are challenged and criticized every day.  In such situation, you diffuse the issue with love and light rather than shove and light.

He asked what is common between past highly evolved souls like dasturji Kookadaru and many others of that status, Dasturji Daboo and our Mickey Mehta. It is the Ethical, responsible and compassionate eating which is very important for spiritual development, it is also good for you, the environment and animals.

We are the role models we have to practice extreme devotion and piety then we can expect at least a few, if not all, community members to be inspired by this.

He concluded the talk by expressing his gratitude to Xerxes Dastur, Viraf Mehta, Fr. Mickey Mehta, Dr. Ervad Ramiyar Karanjia and also his mentor and friend Dr. Huzan Kharas/Daver, his son Zerkxis Bhandara and his friend Meher Amalsad for helping him with this presentation.

Caption from left to right:

Ervad Kersi Karanjia ex principal of Cama Athornan Madressa, BPP Trustee Viraf Mehta, Ervad Dr. Ramiyar Karanjia principal Dadar Athornan Madressa, Dr. Mickey Mehta, Ervad Zarrir Bhandara

An average adult’s skin spans 21 square feet, weighs nine pounds, and contains more than 11 miles of blood vessels.

The skin releases as much as three gallons of sweat a day in hot weather. The areas that don’t sweat are the nail bed, the margins of the lips, the tip of the penis, and the eardrums.

Globally, dead skin accounts for about a billion tons of dust in the atmosphere. Your skin sheds 30,000 to 50,000 skin cells every minute.

White skin appeared just 20,000 to 50,000 years ago, as dark-skinned humans migrated to colder climates and lost much of their melanin pigment.

As we age, the lips of both sexes begin the slow and inexorable process of thinning throughout the rest of the lifespan.

When the skin loses its elasticity, gravity causes drooping of the eyebrows and eyelids, looseness and fullness under the cheeks, causes “double chin” and longer ear lobes

Smokers tend to have more wrinkles than nonsmokers of the same age, complexion and history of sun exposure.

Sleep creases result from the way the head is positioned on the pillow and becomes more visible in aging skin which loses elasticity. These creases are commonly located on the side of the forehead, starting above the eyebrows to the hairline near the temples, as well as on the middle of the cheeks. Sleeping on your back improves these sleep creases or prevents them from becoming worse.

Hair is made up mostly of keratin. It is the same protein animals’ horns, hooves, claws, feathers, and beaks are made of. A single hair has a lifespan of about five years.

Hair contains information about everything that has been in your bloodstream, such as medicine, drugs, minerals, and vitamins. The only thing that CAN’T be identified by hair is gender.

All hair is dead, except for the hair that’s still inside the epidermis of your scalp.

Most people normally shed 50 to 100 hairs a day. This usually doesn’t cause noticeable thinning of scalp hair because new hair is growing in at the same time. Hair loss occurs when this cycle of hair growth and shedding is disrupted or when the hair follicle is destroyed and replaced with scar tissue.

It’s perfectly normal to lose about 100 hairs per day, no matter your age.

A physical or emotional shock can cause hair to loosen. Handfuls of hair may come out when combing or washing your hair or even after gentle tugging. This type of hair loss usually causes overall hair thinning and not bald patches.

Approximately a third of post-menopausal individuals may develop hair loss, usually at the front and on the top of the frontal scalp.

Abnormal Facial hair growth (facial hirsutism) is very common in post-menopausal women.

Hair goes gray when cells stop producing pigment, which happens naturally with age. The average person notices their first gray hair in their 30s and most people by their 40s. By age 50, almost 50 percent of people have gray hair.

About Vispi Kanga

Vispi Kanga was the principal scientist in global technology at Unilever and has more than 35 years experience in product development in dermatology and skin care formulations, working for multi-national companies in health and personal care industry. He has followed the evolution of the Health & Personal Care industry since the 70’s to it’s current stature as a $146 billion business in the United States.

His expertise has resulted in several patents in the development of new innovative products. He received his BS in Pharmacy from Ahmedabad India and did his postgraduation from Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences (formerly known as Brooklyn College of Pharmacy).

Vispi has given numerous presentations in the area of skin care delivery systems and use of natural ingredients to the Personal Care Ingredients & Technology division of Health & Beauty America as well as other scientific organizations including Panacea, natural products expo India. He was the contributing editor of HAPPI magazine and also contributed articles and editorials in SpecialChem-The material selection platform. He was also an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Natural Sciences at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

26-year old Zarir Marfatia has always been driven by both creative and analytical interests. Struggling to choose between the two, he finally decided to pursue a parallel career path doing both. Qualified as a lawyer, working at a FinTech startup (FinTech is a portmanteau of two of the hottest industries currently, Finance and Technology) – Zarir’s latest foray has been into the world of music composition.

Two months ago, Zarir released his first original single, Parallel Lines, which is available for streaming on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Prime Music and many other platforms. According to Zarir, the song is inspired by a feeling faced by most of his peers – the dreaded ‘quarter-life crisis’. “The song is essentially about being a bit confused about where you are and what your purpose in life is. But that’s not necessarily a negative sentiment. It also comes from a place of quiet confidence, knowing that you have all the tools to succeed. I’m a firm believer in life taking you exactly where you need to be, as long as you help yourself along the way.”

Although written on a particularly frustrating day at a legal internship three years ago, Zarir finally got down to recording it very recently. While performing with some of his friends at restaurants for Friday night gigs and Sunday brunches, he tested the waters with his original compositions, and was amazed at the positive responses. “People were telling me for the next few days that they couldn’t get the song out of their heads and were humming it at work and in the shower. That’s what really pushed me to get it professionally recorded and distributed.”

With its simple melodies, beautiful harmonies and relatable lyrics, the song has the kind of on-loop quality that has seen it picked up by Spotify’s curated playlists, featuring alongside some Indian greats including Blackstratblues, Nikhil D’Souza and Ankur Tewari.

What’s next in the pipeline? Zarir has a few more compositions that he’s been working on, which he hopes to record before pursuing an MBA from a top-tier international business school. He is also featuring in a forthcoming Netflix original movie, Yeh Ballet. The ultimate goal is to make a career in a field that combines both his right and left brain passions. For the time being, he continues to enjoy the best of both worlds.

The song can be listened to at hyperurl.co/4rzlkl

Alternately, you can search for “Parallel Lines” by Zarir Marfatia on Apple music, Spotify or Amazon Prime Music.

20-year-old racing driver Jehan Daruvala’s cheat meal, once a month, is a greasy burger. He is a rare Indian motor-racing champ, and in 2017 became the first Indian to take pole position in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.

The Daruvalas used to watch F1 races together on their TV every weekend. They couldn’t have imagined then that their little Jehan would one day be on the other side of the screen. The 20-year-old is a rare Indian motor-racing champ, and in 2017 became the first Indian to take pole position in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.
Here’s how he keeps his body and mind race-ready.

Article by Pooja Bhula | Hindustan Times

Growing up, I was a big boy. But Force 1, which propelled me from Indian and Asian circuits to European ones, transformed me as the tracks, competition, everything was of a different level.

In London, my base, I cook myself something simple – pasta, chicken, fish, grilled veggies and mashed potatoes. When I’m here, my UK and Indian trainers coordinate my diet. I eat a lot more Parsi food – I like my pulao and dhanshak. My body can take it.

People underestimate how much athletes should eat – you need 4000 calories and lots of carbs for energy because on race days, just driving, you can lose up to 2.5 kg.

That said, I avoid extra oil, fizzy drinks and fast food. Fortunately, I have no sweet tooth and don’t like alcohol. Cheat meals, once a month, are usually a greasy burger.

Optimal weight is key. Extra kilos can cost you lap-time — you don’t want that in a sport where every millisecond counts. Likewise, if you’re very light, ballast has to be added to stabilise the car. But that’s preferred more as you can distribute its weight, as per your needs. The best is steady bodyweight, so I’ve maintained 70kg for the past four years.

Neck-muscle strength is crucial for me, because of the G forces we endure. Other than that my regime depends on where I am. In London, I exercise twice a day, five times a week. In Mumbai, I follow a two-day workout and one-day rest routine. Workouts are a mix of cardio (running or cycling), strength-training, crossfit and six-minute circuit repetitions till I’m fatigued.

In my free time too, I love sports. In Mumbai, I pick a different one each day – swimming, cricket, table-tennis, football.

Doing anything at a competitive level, stress is inescapable. I remind myself that you’ve got to believe in yourself more than anyone else does. Never take frustrations to the track. Once the helmet’s on, I snap out of everything and tell myself I’m better than everyone. You can’t win without a winning attitude.

Before a race, I spend just about 30 minutes with the engineer, not two to three hours as many other do – I believe in being prepared to adapt. If things don’t go as planned, I leave them on the track and move on.

It is difficult to Zip-line religious facts from 1500 BCE to the present times but this is exactly what Khojeste Mistree did in his four hour session with teenagers and adults in London. At the request of parents, keen on exposing their children to the faith, Khojeste was invited to return to ZTFE, to brief teenagers, on what it means to be a Zoroastrian, beyond the commonly held dictum of Good Thoughts Words and Deeds. “Surely our religion has more to offer” he said to them, singling out and decoding the idea of Happiness, held in the Ashem Vohu prayer, as perhaps the most important part of Zarathushtra’s revelation. He spoke at length on the idea of cosmic dualism in a religion that has traversed time and survived. He discussed the making of the universe, answered on the finiteness of evil and the infiniteness of Zarathushtra’s message. He spoke of the existential relevance of evil, both as a force to confront in life and as an irrational and non-redemptive being, that attacks all that is good in the world.

Article by Bapsy F. Dastur

Khojeste was his measured best, in opening the doors of the faith to young minds and inviting them to walk through and grasp the incandescent beauty and relevance of Zoroastrianism in our times. His power-point presentation made it easy for the viewer to get to grips with a religion that has survived all times. Despite his years of giving talks on Zoroastrianism, Khojeste was overheard saying that, “ it is the questions asked by bright young minds that often make him pause, and think on his feet for an answer” and this young group was no exception.

Mothers they say, have an important role and Marzbeen Jilla the mother of two very bright youngsters, was instrumental in getting Khojeste back to ZTFE to talk with teenagers.

Parsi predilection for Chinese food is well known and may perhaps stem from the time our ancestors were traders and merchants in China – and so not surprisingly, the lunch was Chinese cuisine enjoyed by all.

The after-lunch session open to all, was a power-point titled –

“ Civilizing the World and Safeguarding the Faith – The Legacy of Nine Zoroastrian Kings”

Using a collage of images, some never seen before by the community, Khojeste swept through the corridors of history, unravelling for the audience the stories of some of our great kings and the measures they took to make the faith a unified and strong presence in the ancient world.

He asked who doesn’t know of Cyrus the Great and his Bill of Human Rights, or the postal service instituted by Darius the Great, but how many are aware, that successive Zoroastrian Kings, in order to protect the Iranian homelands, fought the Romans and the Byzantines for nearly 700 years. Khojeste informed, that the Persians under Orodes the Parthian King, captured the famous Eagle-headed, standard bearers of Rome at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE. This was a devastating blow to Roman pride and honour. Even fewer remember, according to Khojeste, that the Parthian King Phraates IV, defeated the famous Roman general Mark Antony, of Cleopatra fame, in battle. He illustrated, through the well known bas-relief, the Sasanian King Shapur, capturing the Eastern Roman Emperor Valerian, and this sent shock waves in the Roman world.

Khojeste’s narration of history with a “Zing” to it, made one’s hair stand, to think that these were our kings, and our people.

Not one to ignore the religious aspect, Khojeste talked of the many attempts by Zoroastrian kings to safeguard the Avesta. From Volgasses I to Ardeshir and Shapur, they collected the sacred Avesta from fire temples across the empire and commanded that a “fair copy” be deposited in the royal treasury . The Sasanian Kings established and funded hundreds of fire temples; and during their time, the invention in the 6th century CE, of the Avestan alphabet, by an unknown Zoroastrian priest, helped to preserve the Avesta in written form.

The most moving story he narrated, was of the death of Yazdegird Shahriyar the last Zoroastrian King. With pathos in his voice, Khojeste said of Yazdegird “Crowned when he was 8 years and killed at 28 years, his story is an unsung tragedy, a trauma which has not been explored by the community’s consciousness. Did you know that he was buried in the garden of a Nestorian monastery in Merv, described in the Shaname as a garden filled with “musk and silk”. Did you know, that a headless statue of Yazdegird still fronts the Gao-zong Mauoleum in China for all to see. For this information he said he was indebted to Touraj Daryaee, a community friend and scholar.

Amongst many of us there is a misunderstanding that once Yazdegird was defeated, all was lost and Iran collapsed like domino tiles at the hands of the Arab invaders. “This is far from the truth, and it should do our collective conscience some good to know”, said Khojeste, “that Yazdegird’s sons and many princes of the realm, continued to fight the Arabs for over 300 years after the fall of Ctesiphon”.

But the essence conveyed in Khojeste’s talk, was not just a lesson in history, but that we should never forget, that our kings have left us a legacy of heroic deeds and of safe guarding the religion, which must be recalled, remembered and narrated by each generation and never forgotten, for this is our inheritance and our enduring legacy.

He thanked President, Malcom Deboo and the Trustees and Managing Committee of ZTFE, as well as the Dastur and Jilla families for their support and interest.

This occasion was in the pious memory of marhoom Framroze Naoroji Darukhanawalla, a man for whom piety and devotion to the faith was important.

On another morning, Khojeste also addressed Dr. Sarah Stewart’s group of graduate students at SOAS, on how an ‘insider’ immersed in the faith, views the religion and its practices.

The 3rd Salgreh of the Zoroastrian Association of California‘s Atash Kadeh was celebrated with great religious fervor on November 13, 2019

A maachi was offered at all five gehs. Two of which were Hama Anjuman Machis, of one kg each of pure Sandalwood, offered to the holy fire in Havan and Aiwishruthem gehs. Followed by a Hama Anjuman Jashan performed by Ervads Zarrir Bhandara and Jal Birdy.

After the Jashan a very informative and interactive talk on fire was delivered by Ervad Zarrir Bhandara, in which he briefly gave the history of the enthronement of the fire. Stating that 3 days and nights before the opening of the Atash Kadeh, under the guidance of Dasturji Dr. Kotwal, the Vendidad Sadeh and 6 Bajs were performed on the fire that was burning in our house for the last ten years and from that same fire this Padshah was enthroned.

He then explained the significance of offering the Machi to the Padshah.  Machi comes from a word Manch, which means a throne. The first two pieces are the base of the throne, the next two are seat, then the arm rest and finally the backrest. Furthermore, he asked the gathering “are we fire-worshippers or do we worship God through fire? We worship the ceremoniously enthroned fires namely the Atashbehram, Attash Adran and Atash Dadgah as son of Ahura Mazda. On the other hand if you say we worship God through fire, that is true too as we revere all God’s creations and that God’s spark/energy is present in all living beings and the manifestation of that energy is fire.” At the conclusion he thanked all the attendees, the ZAC committee for providing dinner.

After that birthday cake was cut by Ervads Jal Birdy and Zarrir Bhandara.

We are very happy to report that our dear friend Yasmin Pavri was awarded the 2019 Susan Galligan Volunteer of the Year award by the New York City Hemophilia Chapter (NYCHC).Yasmin is a resident of Allendale, New Jersey, USA along with her husband Cyrus and kids Farah and Porus. The Pavri family are active members of the Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York and Yasmin also contributes her time towards volunteering at the NYCHC.

The Susan Galligan Volunteer of the Year Award is given to the Chapter volunteer who has made the greatest impact on both the Chapter and the community.

Yasmin’s Story:

Yasmin came to the United States in 2006 when her son Porus was only 2 years old. He had severe Hemophilia A and he soon after developed inhibitors. Yasmin got involved with NYCHC to better understand her son’s medical condition and to get advice about providing the best possible care for her son.

After receiving helpful tips and tools from NYCHC, Yasmin decided that she wanted to volunteer with the chapter in order to help other families who were in situations similar to hers. Yasmin says that she volunteers for NYCHC because, “the chapter did good for us, and we wanted to return the good back to the chapter.” This is exactly what she has done!

Yasmin has volunteered for NYCHC for the past eight years! She has been an active member of the Walk Committee, the Inhibitor Committee, and the Gala Committee. On being a Volunteer, Yasmin said, “I learned how to volunteer from my mother, who would go out of her way to help the elderly and needy in our community.” Yasmin’s goal is to continue volunteering as long as she can, just like her mother.

Los Angeles in the 1880s was a town reinventing itself. The Gold Rush was subsiding but the air was filled with promise and there were new opportunities for those who knew how to seize them. Among these was an enterprising and ingenuous Parsi gentleman from Bombay, who “with a little money and a little mystery” was able to wrangle American citizenship and make a comfortable life for himself there. His name was Eduljee Sorabjee, a ‘rarity’ whose creative mind helped him work his way through the system!

Article by Anu Kumar | Live History India

Sorabjee became a naturalized American in 1890. In the absence of early records, it is difficult to say with certainty whether he was indeed the first Indian to acquire American citizenship but he was definitely among the earliest.

Driven by personal circumstance, Sorabjee journeyed to Los Angeles, via Bombay, Lancashire and then New York. He lived there till his death in 1913. We have details of his life from newspapers of the time, such as the Los Angeles Times, compilations detailing the early history of South California, and digital repositories like ancestry.com. The story of Sorabjee’s life unfolds against the backdrop of early Los Angeles, and runs parallel to the city’s evolution into one of America’s largest metros.

Those who came were charmed by its climate and location. Besides the promise of gold, there were fruit orchards, and fortunes to be made from industry and real estate. It was the last that Sorabjee found immensely profitable, and over the years, he became quite wealthy.

The Mills of Lancashire

Sorabjee was born in Bombay on 6th March 1849 (1852, according to some sources). He was a favoured godson of Bombay’s ‘cotton-spinning king’, Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, who made a fortune speculating on cotton yarn during the American Civil War (1861-1865), when the demand for Indian cotton increased manifold in England.

Sorabjee travelled to Lancashire, the heart of Britain’s cotton industry as a technical apprentice and to study engineering, especially the machines indispensable to Bombay’s cotton mills. He stayed in England for nine years and became proficient in five languages: English, Persian, Urdu, Gujarati and Marathi. He even wrote a book in Gujarati on the cotton textile industry and won an award that was the equivalent of Rs 3,000 from the British government.

The young entrepreneur made a total of three trips to India, returning with much-needed machinery for the cotton mills, including the heavy-duty Corliss engines manufactured by the Ingliss and Spencer Company. However, tragedy soon struck in Lancashire. In the space of a few months, between August 1882 and January, 1883, Sorabjee lost his 32-year-old English wife Louisa Talbot, year-old daughter Sherin and month-old son Rustum.

A year later, he married Mary Norris but realized that the damp climate of Lancashire wasn’t sanguine enough. Rather than return to Bombay, he decided to travel West, to the US. He arrived in New York in July 1885 and by November, he had already moved to Los Angeles.

Although Sorabjee was the lone South Asian in Los Angeles, that too with an English wife and a year-old daughter, there were several others who had made a similar journey from Britain to Southern California. Many Englishmen set up large-scale orange orchards there while some also brought along their love for cricket.

Fellow Immigrants

As far as Indians go, the Sikhs from Punjab moved to the West Coast of America in large numbers in the end-1890s. Lascars and Bengali-speaking peddlers were often seen on the East Coast and in New Orleans during this time, and there was the occasional presence of other South Asians as well.

South Asians were commonly referred to as ‘Hindus’ but, regardless of the misnomer, merchants from India always stood out, probably for their very distinct demeanour and accoutrements. Two Bombay-based merchants, Tulsidas Javadiji and Mooljie Thackersey, also travelled to the US in the wake of the cotton boom. And there is the fascinating case of the ‘Lahore-born Parsi,’ Conjee Rustumjee Cohoujee Bey, who took on the name ‘Anthony Frank Gomez’ and served in the US Navy during the Civil War (1861-1865). A missionary-cum-teacher, Ishuree Dass, travelled to the East Coast in the late 1850s and left behind a detailed travel account.

Trade relations also existed between the US and British India, despite the domination of the East India Company and the British Government. The Karachi based businessman and philanthropist, Jehangir Kothari, who visited the US and met Sorabjee there, was assisted in his travels by his friend, Dossabhoy Merwanjee, US Vice-Consul for Trade in Bombay.

A ‘Royal’ Past

Sorabjee was described as “slender, dark-eyed, muscular and sinuous, full of life and activity”. He was seen as well-read, elegant in his manner and well-travelled. Later reports said he came to prefer Los Angeles and the US, in general, because of the American respect for liberty and equality, aspects he greatly valued over India’s many constraints, including those imposed by caste.

The curiosity Sorabjee aroused was amplified partly by his frequent allusions to his Persian ‘royal lineage’, for he claimed descent from Persia’s ancient kings, Cyrus, Darius, Artaxerxes and Cambyses. He often cited the story of how the Parsis moved to India following persecution in their original homeland, Persia, in the 1st millennium CE. His West Asian origin story also drew him to Los Angeles’s small Armenian community, which had fled Ottoman Turkey around the same time.

Sorabjee’s story may have aided his naturalization as an American citizen in 1890. The Naturalization Act of 1790 granted citizenship to immigrants who were ‘free and white’. African-Americans were granted citizenship rights only in 1870; Native Americans in 1924; and Asians continued to be excluded till the 1940s. Sorabjee was thus among the first South Asians to acquire citizenship by naturalization.

That this was a complex and ambiguous legal ruling became apparent barely 25 years later when, in 1909, the courts granted Bhicaji Balsara, a Parsi like Sorabjee, citizenship, at a time when xenophobia against Asians was rampant. In the legal reasoning of the times, Parsis considered themselves ‘Aryan,’ the same ancestry claimed by Caucasian populations, i.e., those of largely European origin, in the US.

The American courts and immigration authorities insisted that such a distinction was based on cultural commonalities, historical similarities and theories of a common origin, regardless of how obscure these were and impossible to define. Around the same time, the new ‘science’ of eugenics, with its false emphasis on physical markers as an indicator of racial superiority, was becoming popular. The Alien Exclusion Act of 1882 had already debarred the Chinese, and South Asians had seen discrimination, especially in the Bellingham Riots in Washington in 1907.

On occasion, Sorabjee faced an identity crisis and his ‘royal Aryan’ lineage didn’t always give him a free pass. For instance, in 1910, the Los Angeles Times reported an instance where Sorabjee was appointed as a juror in a case involving two Hispanic men. The judge asked him to define himself as he felt Sorabjee looked much like the defendants themselves! Sorabjee, once again, detailed his Persian antecedents and the history he always recounted when asked questions like this. Clearly, the judge wasn’t convinced for he ruled that Sorabjee was unsuitable as a juror!

Sorabjee was often mentioned when people of the same ethnic origin gathered in Los Angeles. This wasn’t only when Kothari stopped over in Los Angeles during his world travels, but also when Maneckji Bhumgara set up his art dealership in the city. The tendency of the press to ‘exoticize’ Asians amused Sorabjee. The Los Angeles Times once quoted him as saying, ‘How simple a thing it is to become somebody in this country – a little money, a little mystery, and presto, a beggar rides, a nobody is king until his money is gone.”

A Generous Man

Sorabjee was noted for his fine collection of jewellery and antiques. He donated some medallions dating from the Revolt of 1857 and ancient copper and bronze coins to the British Benevolent Society in 1887. His house was called ‘Bombay House’ and known for its flowers and shrubbery.

He was also known for his generosity. He offered rent-free accommodation to a destitute family in Los Angeles, and canvassed for aid when one of America’s first industrial disasters wiped out over 2,000 lives in Johnstown in Pennsylvania in 1889.

Sadly, his marriage did not last long, and there are records of a divorce in 1894, after which his wife, Mary, returned to England. His daughters, Louisa (named after his first wife) and Gulnar, followed her a decade later, where they were baptized as Catholics soon after they arrived.

How He Made His Fortune

But what was Sorabjee doing in Los Angeles all this while? A versatile entrepreneur, most of his early fortunes came from wise investments in real estate in eastern Los Angeles. After the real estate boom collapsed in the late 1880s, Sorabjee saw great potential in waterworks—a system of pipes and drains to supply water from streams further uphill to dry south Pasadena. Now a distinct part of Los Angeles, Pasadena at the time was away to the north-east of the city.

Around 1898, Sorabjee became associated with the Marengo Water Works as its ‘zanjero,’ or water distributor or manager. These waterworks speeded up Pasadena’s development—and Los Angeles’s too—for alongside the water pipes, the company offered residential housing lots at competitive prices; the area was also close to the South Pacific railroad track.

When he died in July 1913, Sorabjee left behind an estate of $15,000 for his family. His wife and daughters returned to California in 1918, soon after the end of World War I. Sorabjee was described as an “untiring and unselfish friend” in the obituaries that appeared about him. These also mentioned how he had jumped into a Los Angeles reservoir two years before his death, to save a woman who had intended to commit suicide. As a result, he contracted tuberculosis of the larynx, causing his somewhat untimely death at the age of 64. His plans to visit Europe and then India for a last visit remained unfulfilled.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Anu Kumar has studied history and management and, more recently, done a Master’s in Fine Arts (Writing Fiction) from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, USA. She writes for readers of all ages and is a published author.