Mahatma Gandhi or Bapu as he was endearingly called by millions of Indians, was arrested several times in his lifetime. In the history of British India and free India, one family had its tryst with Bapu the Bilimorias. When India was still under British rule, it was sometimes the task of senior police officer Dhanjisha Bilimoria, great grandfather of Hyderabad-born Cobra Beer founder, Lord Karan Bilimoria, to arrest ‘Bapu’ and escort him to jail.

“My great grandfather had to experience some awkward moments in his career as a police officer. He had to arrest Mahatma Gandhi three times. It was an unpleasant job. They all took place in Gujarat where he was posted. He eventually retired in a place called Balsar,” says Lord Bilimoria. In one such arrest in 1930, it was the duty of Dhanjisha to escort Bapu to Sabarmati jail. On the way to the jail, Gandhiji wanted to visit his friend Dr Kanuga at Ellis Bridge in Ahmedabad for a few minutes and sought the consent of Dhanjisha for the same. When Dhanjisha relented, Gandhiji turned around and asked him jokingly, “But, if I escape?” Dhanjisha replied that it was a matter of trust.

“Since then, my great grandfather Dhanjisha Bilimoria and Gandhiji developed a great sense of mutual trust and respect,” Lord Karan Bilimoria told TOI. While Dhanjisha, the ‘Khan Bahadur’, had to arrest Bapu thrice in his career as a police officer in British India, his son Colonel Noshir Faridoon Bilimoria (grandfather of Lord Karan Bilimoria), was posted to protect Gandhiji in post-independence India when Noshir was in command of his battalion in Calcutta (now Kolkata). “This was difficult because Gandhiji never wanted to be protected from his own people,” Lord Bilimoria recalls his grandfather’s anecdote.

But Noshir would insist that it was part of his duty to protect him. The story goes that Bapu remarked to Noshir Bilimoria, “Is it not strange that your father arrested me in 1930 and the son comes back to look after me in 1947!” “There’s a photo of my grandfather next to Gandhiji at the time of India’s independence,” says Lord Bilimoria. Noshir Bilimoria later retired as Brigadier.

“My grandmother Rati Bilimoria was, in fact, at a tea party in the house next to Birla House in Delhi when Mahatma Gandhi was tragically assassinated and heard the gun shots and then saw people jumping over the wall to where she was,” recalls Lord Bilimoria. In fact, Lord Karan Bilimoria was part of a seven-member Gandhi Statue Special Advisory Panel chaired by UK’s culture secretary Sajid Javid. The nine-feet bronze statue of Bapu was only the 11th statue in Parliament Square, the 10th one being of Nelson Mandela. “To this day, Bapu’s statue in Parliament Square is the best among the 11 in the Square. Mahatma Gandhi was not just for India he was for the world,” says Lord Bilimoria with pride.

“I have known Gopal Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, from the time I started Cobra Beer in the early 1990s, when he was the director of The Nehru Centre, the cultural centre of the Indian high commission, based in London. I kept in touch with Gopal over the years and he made the most brilliant, touching and moving speech at the unveiling of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square on March 14, 2015, actually looking up to the sky and addressing his grandfather in his speech. It is something I will never forget,” Lord Bilimoria adds.

NORTH AMERICAN ZOROASTRIAN RELIGIOUS, COMMUNITY LEADERS TO REPRESENT ANCIENT FAITH AT 7TH PARLIAMENT OF WORLD’S RELIGIONS, NOV. 1-7, IN TORONTO

Burr Ridge, Illinois, Oct. 18, 2018 – FEZANA, the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America, today announced a contingent of North American Zoroastrian religious and community leaders will represent the faith at the 7^th Parliament of the World’s Religions, Nov. 1-7, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Zoroastrians have been represented at all Parliament events, including the inaugural in 1893, where a paper by Sir J.J. Modi was read aloud in absentia.

Featuring the theme: The Promise of Inclusion, the Power of Love: Pursuing Global Understanding, Reconciliation, and Change, the 7^th Parliament of the World’s Religions is the oldest, largest, most diverse and inclusive global interfaith event and will feature a total of 1000 sessions and 1600 speakers across six major tracks.

Zoroastrians will participate in a total of 16 presentations as individuals or panelists. Following are highlights. For a complete rundown visit: http://fezana.org/pwr

· Opening plenary evening presentation by keynote speaker, strategic adviser and multi-award-winning veteran journalist and news executive, Parisa Khosravi.

· Two exhibit booths will spotlight the Zoroastrian religion:

o the FEZANA booth will feature its acclaimed FIRES information research and education system, background information on the religion and its presence in North America;

o and another booth will be located at the Parliament’s Family Festival Fair, where participating religious groups will showcase fun activities to expose children to the beauty of the world’s religions.

· Fire (Boi) and water purification ceremony at Olympic Park with the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation by Ervad Tehemton Mirza.

· Jashan ceremony by Ervad Jehan Bagli and Mobedyar Guloo Austin.

· Women’s Task Force featuring a major presentation by Armene Modi.

· Visit to the Zoroastrian Society of Ontario’s Rustom Guiv Dar e Mehr as part of the Sacred Spaces excursion to local places of worship.

· Monajats sung by a Zoroastrian choir, and an On the Wings of Fire film viewing.

· Unveiling a model of the new Atash kadeh Zoroastrian center in Houston.

Zoroastrians are followers of one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions founded by the prophet Zarathushtra more than 3,000 years ago in ancient Iran. Zoroastrians have long-served as bridge builders in interfaith dialogue, believing in truth, righteousness, charity, beneficence, respect for the environment and the ultimate triumph of good over evil.

QUOTES:

Parisa Khosravi, opening plenary keynote speaker, strategic advisor, and multi-award-winning veteran journalist and news executive:

“I believe regardless of where we come from, our varied backgrounds and traditions are what we offer, and our differences add to the richness of our great human civilization. I will expand on the theme of inclusion and love and talk about how we’ll never know what is inside someone until we give them a chance.”

Dolly Dastoor Ph.D, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees, Parliament of World Religions; past President, FEZANA:

“We have an amazing community in North America comprised of leaders who rally to put their best foot forward to project a positive image of the Zoroastrians. Parliament organizers have worked hard to make this milestone event an interfaith celebration that celebrates religious diversity, inclusivity, love and tolerance.”

Homi D. Gandhi, President, FEZANA

“We are proud and excited to represent our storied faith at the 7^th Parliament of World’s Religions, where our goals are to spotlight and educate on our faith, build bridges with fellow attendees, and work hard to advance — The Promise of Inclusion, The Power of Love — a theme that couldn’t be more relevant and appropriate for our times.”

Zoroastrianism flourished as the imperial religion of three Persian empires, those of the Achaemenians, Parthians and Sassanians, and was the dominant religion from Turkey, and eastward to China during those times. North America’s Zoroastrian community includes those who arrived from the Indian subcontinent, known as Parsis, and those who came directly from Iran seeking religious freedom.

About the Parliament of the World’s Religions

The Parliament of the World’s Religions (PoWR) is the oldest, largest, most diverse and inclusive convening organization of the global interfaith movement.  PoWR’s mission is to cultivate harmony among the world’s religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with the world and its guiding institutions in order to achieve a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world. As a global convening organization PoWR has previously held Parliaments in Chicago, Illinois, (1893 and 1993); Cape Town, South Africa (1999); Barcelona, Spain (2004); Melbourne, Australia (2009); and Salt Lake City, Utah (2015).

About FEZANA

Founded in 1987, FEZANA serves as the coordinating body for 26 Zoroastrian member associations and 14 corresponding groups throughout the United States and Canada. FEZANA promotes the study, understanding and practice of the Zoroastrian faith in North America. FEZANA represents the interests of its member associations, and carries out philanthropic and charitable activities worldwide. FEZANA Journal, FEZANA’s publication of record, circulates to Zoroastrian households in more than 22 countries, as well as to scholars, academicians and religious organizations worldwide. www.fezana.org

###

Media contact: Jim Engineer | FEZANA Media Relations | jim @ fezana <dot> org

Representatives of the Jain and Zoroastrian will now join 15 other faiths, including Hinduism, Sikhism, at Britain’s annual war memorial service to make it more reflective of modern Britain, Faith Minister Lord Bourne announced on Wednesday.

Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity and Judaism are among the faiths already represented at the National Remembrance Service held at the Cenotaph in central London on November 11 every year, to commemorate British and Commonwealth soldiers who died in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

“For a tiny faith community, the Zoroastrians have punched well above their weight and contributed immensely to Britain in both World Wars,” said Malcolm M Deboo, President of Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe, welcoming the move.

“At the outbreak of the First World War, thousands volunteered from Britain and India to serve as soldiers and doctors and many were decorated for their bravery and sacrifice. Sadly, many also lost their lives and a Zoroastrian War Memorial was erected in their memory in South Bombay in 1926 where they are remembered annually,” he said.

Among the well-known Zoroastrians in the war efforts was Colonel Phirozshah Byramji Bharucha of the 14th Ferozepore Sikhs Regiment, who was also the first Indian to be awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

“The loss of the lives of Zoroastrian servicemen in World War I also came at great cost to the faith, which relies on the male line to continue the faith, from which it never fully recovered,” notes the UK’s Communities Ministry.

In reference to the Jain faith, it adds: “Although the Jain faith focuses on non-violence, the Jain community has a long history of serving in the military, including Britain’s armed forces.

“For Jains, it is their duty to stand up to tyranny and violence to bring peace. Jains have been an active force in both World Wars.”
The National Remembrance Ceremony is led by Queen Elizabeth II and involves official wreaths being laid on the steps of the Cenotaph by political and religious leaders on November 11 – Armistice Day that marked the end of World War I in 1918.

The list of faith representatives who will join the service from this year was expanded following an open nomination process, run by Faiths Forum for London.

“One hundred years ago, men and women of all faiths and beliefs made huge sacrifices for our freedom in the First World War,” said Lord Bourne.

“It’s absolutely right as a modern, multi-faith society that we step up our efforts to honour those people of other faiths for their contribution. It’s because of their bravery and selflessness that we are afforded the privileges and luxuries we enjoy today. Their sacrifices should be honoured through the ages,” he said.

The UK government said the addition of several smaller faith communities, also including Coptic Christians, Mormons, Baha’is, Spiritualists and Humanists, will reflect the significant but little-known contribution made by minority ethnic communities to Britain’s war efforts.

“It also sends a strong signal throughout Britain and the world that this country values the contribution of its diverse communities,” a government statement said.

The faiths and beliefs selected have a link to Britain’s Armed Forces and their inclusion is aimed at ensuring that the UK’s National Remembrance Service is “truly reflective” of the diverse faiths and beliefs in the country.

The service has changed little since it was first introduced in 1921, and involves hymns, prayers and a two-minute silence. The ceremony ends with a march past of war veterans as a gesture of respect for their fallen comrades.

More faith and belief groups to join the National Service of Remembrance

Seven more faith and belief groups are to be permanently represented during the National Remembrance Service at the Cenotaph from this year.

Published 17 October 2018

Seven more faith and belief groups are to be permanently represented during the National Remembrance Service at the Cenotaph from this year Faith Minister Lord Bourne announced today (17 October 2018).

Jains, Zoroastrians and Copts are among those faiths and beliefs that will now take part in this country’s greatest service to remember and honour the heroes of our past – making the National Service of Remembrance more reflective of modern Britain.

The addition of several smaller faith communities like Mormons, Baha’ís and Spiritualists, will reflect the significant but little-known contribution made by minority ethnic communities to Britain’s war efforts.

It also sends a strong signal throughout Britain and the world that this country values the contribution of its diverse communities.

Minister for Faith Lord Bourne said:

One hundred years ago, men and women of all faiths and beliefs made huge sacrifices for our freedom in the First World War.

It’s absolutely right as a modern, multi-faith society that we step up our efforts to honour those people of other faiths for their contribution. It’s because of their bravery and selflessness that we are afforded the privileges and luxuries we enjoy today. Their sacrifices should be honoured through the ages.

Currently, the list of 15 faiths represented at the service does not reflect the diversity of those who gave their lives so that others could live in peace. Those faiths and beliefs selected have a long and proud link to Britain’s Armed Forces. Their inclusion will ensure that the National Remembrance Service is now truly reflective of the diverse faiths and beliefs who help to make Britain the great country we are today.

His Eminence Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London said:

While Christianity focuses on peace and reconciliation, war has been a regrettable part of the reality of our world, as a result of which many have paid the ultimate price to keep us safe. It is for this reason that we honour their memory and pray for their families and colleagues who still mourn their loss, while also praying for those who follow their selfless example today.

While we remember our fallen heroes who have paid the ultimate price to keep us safe, we give thanks that this year’s Centenary anniversary, marking the end of the First World War, is a reassuring reminder that even the ugliness and destruction of war has an end.

Malcolm M Deboo, President of Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe said:

For a tiny faith community, the Zoroastrians have punched well above their weight and contributed immensely to Britain in both World Wars.

At the outbreak of the First World War, thousands volunteered from Britain and India to serve as soldiers and doctors and many were decorated for their bravery and sacrifice. Sadly, many also lost their lives and a Zoroastrian War Memorial was erected in their memory in South Bombay in 1926 where they are remembered annually.

The Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe is extremely delighted to be invited to the National Remembrance Ceremony for Armistice 100 and is honoured to be a part of remembering those that sacrificed so much 100 years ago.

Following an open nomination process, run by Faiths Forum for London on MHCLG’s behalf, the following list of faiths and beliefs have been selected to be included in the annual National Remembrance Service both for this and future years:

The Zoroastrians

The contribution of the Zoroastrian community to Britain’s war effort greatly exceeds their small size. There have been notable Zoroastrian servicemen in both World Wars and the Falklands conflict, including Col Phirozshah Byramji Bharucha of the 14th Ferozepore Sikhs who was the first Indian to be awarded the Distinguished Service Order. The loss of the lives of Zoroastrian servicemen in World War one also came at great cost to the faith, which relies on the male line to continue the faith, from which it never fully recovered.

The Coptic Christians

The Coptic Christians are the most persecuted Christian community in the world and if any community is a symbol of extending the hand of peace despite facing regular violent attacks, it is this one. The Coptic Christians have also played their part in supporting Britain in the two World Wars, especially in the Egyptian campaigns.

The Jains

Although the Jain faith focuses on non-violence, the Jain community has a long history of serving in the military, including Britain’s armed forces. For Jains, it is their duty to stand up to tyranny and violence to bring peace. Jains have been an active force in both World Wars.

The Baha’ís

The Baha’í faith owes its very existence to the Indian cavalrymen, fighting for Britain, who rescued the Baha’í spiritual leader from Ottoman captivity in September 1918, in the last major cavalry campaign in military history. Without this action, the fledgling Bahá’í faith may not have survived. To that end, the Baha’ís honour the sacrifices made for their faith by these servicemen both through remembrance and through military service in Britain and abroad.

The Humanists

A significant number of people serving in Britain’s military do not ascribe to a particular faith, but many of these will associate with Humanist beliefs. It is important that in our quest to create a National Remembrance Service which is reflective of modern Britain, that major belief systems are recognised as well as faiths, including the Humanists.

The Spiritualists

The number of Spiritualists grew dramatically over the course of the First World War. In 1914, there were 145 societies affiliated to the Spiritualists National Union. By the end of the War, it had more than doubled to 309. Spiritualism provided an important source of faith and comfort for many soldiers dealing with the effects of war.

The Mormons

The First World War was hugely influential on the Mormon faith and its followers. For many, it was an opportunity to change the way that others viewed the Church and the valiant actions of these men often caused other soldiers to rethink the way they felt about the Saints. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a long history and tradition of military service and continue to support the military.

Case study: Abdul Baha’

Immediately prior to the outbreak of the First World War, Abdul Baha’, son of the Founder-Prophet of the Baha’i faith and steward of the nascent Baha’i community, was nearly 70 and being held as a prisoner of conscience in Haifa, Israel – the spiritual centre of the Baha’i faith. With his life under threat from the Ottoman authorities, the War Office hatched a plan to rescue him following lobbying from the British Baha’i community.

In September of 1918, men of the Jodhpur Lancers and the Mysore Lancers supported by the Sherwood Forester Yeomanry, rode to Haifa to secure the life of the figure known to Baha’is as “the Centre of the Covenant”.

In dramatic scenes, troops of the Jodhpur Lancers took Turkish forces by surprise, launching an audacious charge up the slopes of Mount Carmel. Despite early setbacks, the Indian cavalry charged in the face of artillery and heavy machine-gun fire, capturing two machine gun positions, 1,350 prisoners and opening the route to Haifa.

A detachment of Mysore Lancers rode immediately to secure the house of Abdul Baha and Baha’i shrines were protected from destruction – today they remain the primary site of pilgrimage for the Baha’i community across the world.

Overseeing the operation, General Allenby sent a cable to London: “Notify the world that Abdul Baha is safe.” The legacy of the courage and sacrifice witnessed that day has been the flowering of a worldwide Baha’i community, including perhaps close to 2 million Baha’is in India today.

About the National Remembrance Service

The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London has played host to the Remembrance Service for the past nine decades. On the Sunday nearest to 11 November at 11am each year, a Remembrance Service is held at the Cenotaph to commemorate British and Commonwealth servicemen and women who died in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

The monarch, religious leaders, politicians, representatives of state and the armed and auxiliary forces, gather to pay respect to those who gave their lives defending others. The service has changed little since it was first introduced in 1921, hymns are sung, prayers are said and a two-minute silence is observed. Official wreaths are laid on the steps of The Cenotaph. The ceremony ends with a march past of war veterans as a gesture of respect for their fallen comrades.

Faiths currently invited to the National Remembrance Service

At present, 15 faith and belief denominations are represented at the Remembrance Service. These are:

• The Roman Catholic Church
• Churches in Communities International representing Free Churches
• Methodist Conference
• United Reform Church
• Baptist Union
• Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
• Salvation Army
• Chief Rabbi
• Reform Judaism
• Muslim Representative
• Hindu Representative
• Buddhist Representative
• Director of the Sikh Network UK
• Greek Orthodox Church Representative
• Church of Scotland

On Monday October 15, 2018 I had an opportunity to attend a fantastic panel discussion titled “She’s the Boss: Growing into Success”.

The panel was moderated by my very dear friend Narges Kakalia, a brilliant lawyer at Mintz, and had four accomplished ladies discussing their stories of success, work, life and everything in between. One of the panelist happened to be the moderator’s namesake and a world renowned astrophysicist Nergis Mavalwala. In a truly classic “only in New York” moment do you get to attend a panel with two Parsi ladies….both with the same names, who also happened to grow up in close proximity in Karachi Pakistan, and didnt know about it till a few days ago.

Bellow are some highlights of the overall panel, as shared in an email by the organizers Mintz.

Highlights from Mintz’s “She’s the Boss— An Event to Inspire Future Female Leaders” featuring a panel discussion about successes and failures, staying true to yourself amid others’ expectations, focusing on process instead of results, and the importance of finding a champion.

By Sheri Qualters

Monday, October 15, 2018, 6:30 pm | New York City

Panelists:

Yen Chu, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Equinox Holdings

Annie J. Howell, Screenwriter & Director

Nergis Mavalvala, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Zuzanna Szadkowski, Actor

Moderator:

Narges Kakalia, Member, Mintz

For several decades, women in the United States have had the freedom to pursue any career they choose. Yet despite women’s educational achievements, they continue to lag behind men in leadership positions and pay. Research indicates that girls are steered away from certain activities and careers as early as age six, and cultural attitudes about women’s abilities have been resistant to change.

To help girls — and boys — from grade school and beyond gain insight into how women can build thriving careers, Mintz convened a panel of four women accomplished in the arts, science, and the law for “She’s the Boss — An Event to Inspire Future Female Leaders.” Mintz Member Narges Kakalia moderated and actively participated in a candid conversation that touched on many topics: the panelists’ successes and failures, how they stay true to themselves amid others’ expectations, the importance of focusing on process instead of results, and the value of finding a champion. Over 150 participants, including a number of mothers, fathers, and their children, enjoyed the panel discussion, reception, and photo opps.

While introducing herself, panelist Nergis Mavalvala, an astrophysicist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, opened up about the often-rocky road to success. She recounted starting in a lab where she accidentally broke a very expensive laser. She then talked about marshalling the resources (and the nerve) to work through the debacle to find a way to replace the laser. She acknowledged that stumbling blocks and failures are all part of the process of improving and, ultimately, succeeding. “If you set yourself the goal that every waking moment all you will do is learning something new, you will always succeed,” said Mavalvala, who is now Associate Head of MIT’s Department of Physics.

Screenwriter and Director Annie J. Howell also touched on early career struggles. After several years of trying to find backers for a feature film, she switched gears and teamed up with a colleague to make a film without a wealthy financier. The film ultimately premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival, an important venue for independent movies.

“To be able to do that on our own was extremely satisfying. That really launched us both,” Howell said.

Noting that she would have loved to have learned in her younger years that careers have peaks and valleys, Kakalia asked the panelists about how they have experienced failure.

Yen Chu, Senior Vice President & General Counsel of global luxury lifestyle and fitness company Equinox Holdings, said she has the type A personality frequently associated with attorneys, but she’s learned two vital lessons: she’s going to fail every day and get back up again, and she’s not always going to be the smartest person in the room.

“You don’t have to know it all. It’s not going to help you much anyway. It’s about doing and applying what you’ve learned,” Chen said.

Focusing on doing excellent work and seizing all opportunities, instead of focusing on how others will view you, emerged as one of the themes of the evening. Actor Zuzanna Szadkowski’s best-known role as Dorota Kishlovsky on Gossip Girl, began that way. When she auditioned for the role, she knew it was a small, non-speaking one. She nevertheless gave her all to it. Soon enough, her performance had impressed the writers so much that they significantly developed her character, and it became an integral and permanent part of the show.

Szadkowski traces her success as Dorota back to an audition most others would have ignored in pursuit of something bigger and better. “It grew organically because I embraced the opportunity. If I didn’t, I would still be waiting for the big old fancy [role] I never got,” Szadkowski said.

In the question and answer session, Isabella Venturini, 13, described the Dream Gap Project started by Barbie maker Mattel Inc. to combat the self-limiting beliefs that many girls develop around the age of five. She then asked the panelists what they would say to a girl who was experiencing a dream gap.

Several panelists talked about the importance of finding at least one “rooter” who wholeheartedly believes in their success. Kakalia said although her late mother hadn’t graduated from high school herself, she believed her daughter could do anything, and that provided Kakalia with significant motivation to strive and succeed.

“You have to find your one champion, and it takes only one,” Kakalia said.

After the panel, Venturini said she liked hearing from “actual, strong women” who have had

amazing experiences that “inspire students like me to dream big and fight and persist for what you believe in and what you want your end goal to be.”

Leena Khandwala, an immigration attorney with the Legal Aid Society who attended the event with her 12-year-old daughter Nawal Irfani, said the event reinforced the conversations they’ve been having about focusing on learning — not just getting good grades. She said it’s valuable for Nawal to hear about the quandaries and failures powerful women face and how you overcome them.

Feedback from the event included comments like, “the young people in the room were pretty amazing. Gives me hope for the future.” One mother said her daughter learned that “it’s important to dive into new opportunities even if they might seem easy, to try to learn something new.” Another attendee called the panel “totally inspiring” and said that she could have listened for hours.

Kakalia said she spoke with participants after the event, all of whom had different takeaways from the discussion. This reinforced the idea that a systemic problem can be addressed in many different ways.

“There are so many angles from which to shatter that persistent glass ceiling,” she said.

We recently hosted our “She’s The Boss” event aimed at inspiring the next generation of female leaders. The evening was filled with thought-provoking conversation, insightful Q&A, and the opportunity to introduce our children to a wonderful network of people. This video recaps the event.

After suffering a stroke in her 20s, Dina Pestonji, who grew up in Willowdale, had a long road to recovery ahead.

That road included penning a book, Surviving Myself: How an Eating Disorder, a Car Accident and a Stroke Taught Me to Love My Life and Start Living It. It helped her deal with long-standing personal issues she hadn’t tackled.

Article by Justin Skinner | Toronto.com

“We all have challenges — I had a stroke, someone else may have cancer or any struggle,” she said. “(The book) is really there to hopefully help people not to feel so down, to feel like they can overcome their challenges.”

As much as Surviving Myself aims to help others, writing it was therapeutic for Pestonji. She had never really dealt with the fact that she struggled with anorexia throughout her teens, due in part to the fact that such matters are often viewed as taboo.

“I didn’t realize how important it was to talk about it,” she said. “There’s a lot of stigma around eating disorders and, until around two years ago, I blamed myself.”

Her editor keyed her in to the fact that she had a problem, and that she wasn’t alone in struggling with an eating disorder.

Pestonji had gotten her life on track when she was in a car accident on a narrow highway in the Napa Valley region of California. The accident left her with two hairline fractures in her back, which left her feeling helpless.

“I’ve always been a big runner, and I thought, ‘If I can’t run, I can’t live.’”

While she recovered from that injury, life threw her another curveball in 2012. She had settled into a new condo and had a new career when she started experiencing severe headaches. Doctors soon discovered a two-centimetre mass in her brain, a precursor to her stroke.

“I was always super healthy — I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs — so to have a stroke at my age was so rare,” she said.

Pestonji’s recovery from the stroke was a long, arduous process. Her family feared she was in a vegetative state. Even once she showed signs of consciousness, she was essentially paralyzed on the right side of her body. As hopeless as it may have seemed, she was determined to get back on her feet.

“The rehab team (at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute) was great,” she said. “We went from me having trouble wiggling a toe and them having to lift me up, to running the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 10 months.

“I started at ground zero. I had to learn to talk, to move, to do everything again, but I’ve never had a problem with determination.”

These days, Pestonji still can’t fully open her right hand but, apart from that, her struggles are all but invisible to observers — not that she feels she has any reason to hide what she’s been through. While having physical limitations embarrassed her at first, she is now more than eager to share her story, with the publication of Surviving Myself and her presentations as a motivational speaker.

“For the first three years (after the stroke) I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb,” she said. “Then for a while, I would only talk about my stroke.”

Writing the book let her know there was more to her story and the challenges she faced to overcome than the stroke, however. Now, Pestonji is open about her eating disorder, as well, and has discovered that she can provide inspiration and help to others by discussing it.

“I wrote an article about it and a mother wrote to me saying, ‘Now I understand what my daughter’s going through,’” she said.

“My entire goal in writing the book is to help people embrace exactly who they are.

“We all have so many expectations on ourselves and from society. I hope when people read my book, they can tune out a little bit of that noise.”

Cyrus has spent the past 20 years helping people and business be more efficient. Through his work at Google, he has developed​ a simple process for optimizing all the areas of our personal lives – from health to wealth to relationships – without feeling that we’re not enough. Cyrus is the Group Product Manager at Google responsible for Education and SMB Platforms & Ecosystems and holds four degrees from Johns Hopkins with post-graduate work in Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Our regular reader and friend Rusi Sorabji sent us this write up about A young Parsi Lady Chef at the UN week 2018

Last week of September, World leaders, Queens, Presidents, Vice Presidents, Prime Ministers and the like, were dashing to be at the week long, United Nations 2018 General Assembly Meeting in New York, but unknown to the Zoroastrian community in India or elsewhere, a young Parsi lady was also headed there.

Unlike the others, this young Parsi lady from the National Capital Region was invited to the UN week in connection  with  the Social Good Summit program  # 2030NOW.

The Summit is produced in partnership with United Nations Foundation besides others.

In our fast changing world, the Social Good Summit focuses on where we are headed.  It is held annually during the United Nations General Assembly week.  The Summit unites a lively community of global citizens and progressive thought leaders around a common theme: #2030NOW. A dynamic exploration of the world we want to live in by 2030, the Social Good Summit focus on how we can unlock technology’s  potential to make the world a better place.

I was introduced to this young lady-chef, one cold winter January evening in 2014, that was a few days or maybe a week since she had been employed at the first of the newly opened SodaBottleOpenerWala restaurant at the DLF Cyber City Mall in Gurgaon.

On my second visit, a year later, my sister’s family and I enjoyed five different delicious Parsi sounding dishes and Lagan-nu-custard.  We came out of the SBOW amazed at  the culinary  proficiency of someone so young.

Two years later 2017, she is proclaimed “Delhi’s Best Chef” in his article by Vir Sanghvi. He further adds, “ Anahita Dhondy has dragged Parsi cuisine out of the Museum and into the 21^st Century.”  The success and rapid spread of SodaBottleOpenerWala all over India and the Far East  further  demonstrates.

Earlier  this year Chef Anahita Dhondy was invited to participate, demonstrate and speak about Parsi cooking  at 3 food festivals and events in London, Paris and Stockholm.

Today 5 years later, this young lady, Anahita Dhondy, is a Chef–Partner at the SodaBottleWala Restaurant, in the DLF  Cyber Hub, Gurgaon, National Capital Region. A place where amazing, the lay people have no clue who the Parsis are, nonetheless many of them  know what the Parsi food is and  tastes like.

Rusi.Sorabji

The UN week Events

23rd Sept.- Social Good summit

For interesting further details please go to: https://mashable.com/sgs/

24th Sept. – Sustainable seafood dinner at Freemans restaurant where Chef Anahita cooked with many chefs in New York and from all over the world. can (read more about the technology at https://fishcoin.co/)

25th Sept. – Chef Anahita Dhondy was a speaker at  the Transforming Food Systems to Drive Impact on SDG2 (Sustainable Development Goals 2 which is Zero Hunger) Session, where the programme looked at a NextGen focus, bringing together innovative leaders into the conversation, such as a chef, farmer, a climate scientist, to showcase new voices in the SDG2 space and stretch the fabric of SDG2.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kellogg-company-hosts-food-security-event-during-un-general-assemblyclimate-week-in-nyc-300719807.html

26^th Sept  – Visited a St. John Bread and Life, a community centre and food pantry in Brooklyn which serves 3000 people meals every day. https://www.breadandlife.org/

27^th & 28^th Sept.  – Our Chef  had the honour to be speaking at the UN HQ at the Ministerial breakfast on the implementations the decade of Family farming by @ifadnews @fao #costarica. She remarked, “it was amazing to speak about the work we do with regional Indian food (Parsi food) at @sbowindia and being a part of the chefs community @youngchefsassociation discussing #millets and the focus on how chefs are connectors to farmers and consumers in India.”

Saturday 29^th Sept – Global Citizen Festival.

As a concerned Global Citizen aimed at feeding the ever growing population in the year 2030 and beyond, Chef Anahita cooked a dish made with Millets.

To read more about millets and sustainability please do read: https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/celebrity-nbsp-chef-anahita-dhondy-rsquo-s-nbsp-focus-is-on-sustainability-and-zero-waste-in-the-kitchen/cid/1665188

Mitra Sharafi a legal historian of colonial South Asia, and a regular reader of this site writes about Jamshedji Behramji Kanga

During a recent visit to the basement of Columbia Law Library, I came across an obituary for J. B. Kanga. Kanga was a remarkable figure whose significance only became clear to me several years into working on my book on Parsi legal culture. He was a major legal player in mid-20th-c. Bombay. But what made him really stand out was the fact that he mentored several generations of brilliant Parsi advocates, some of whom are still alive. Kanga passed away almost 50 years ago, in 1969.

Here is what I say about him in my book, Law and Identity in Colonial South Asia: Parsi Legal Culture, 1772-1947 (Cambridge University Press/Permanent Black) at p.111:

“Young advocates typically began their careers through an informal English system of mentoring known as ‘devilling,’ whereby juniors appeared with or in the place of senior advocates in court, often preparing the case together beforehand. Jamshedji B. Kanga, ‘the grand old man of the Bombay bar,’ was a leading advocate, additional judge of the High Court (1919-22), and the first South Asian Advocate-General of Bombay (between 1922 and 1935, although not continuously). He mentored several generations of young advocates who served as his ‘devils.’ These juniors included Parsi lawyers like H. M. Seervai, Nani Palkhivala, Soli Sorabji, and Fali Nariman, who would go on to become some of independent India’s top litigators on constitutional matters especially.”

(For more, see the footnotes in my book and a portrait of JBK in his advocate’s gown and priestly turban.)

Here is the obituary from the 1969 Criminal Law Journal (formerly the Criminal Law Journal of India) at p.56:

“A GREAT LAWYER

We wish to pay in this issue, our homage to the memory of a great lawyer and jurist–the late Mr. J. B. Kanga, who died recently in Bombay, full of years and honours. The late Mr. Kanga was one of the greatest lawyers and jurists that India has produced in recent times. He lived up to a ripe old age and was 96 years of age at the time of his death. He was a Judge of the Bombay High Court in the twenties of this century and after he retired from the Bench, he accepted the Advocate Generalship of Bombay. He was the first Indian Advocate General of Bombay during the British regime–a unique distinction and honour in those days. His knowledge of law was phenomenal. He was an authority on the law of Income Tax and was a co-author, along with Mr. N. A. Palkhivala, of the leading Commentary on the Income Tax Act. He was also a great scholar and litterateur and had a marvellous command of the English language. Of the galaxy and talent and scholarship that the Indian Bar has produced the late Mr. Kanga’s name can justly be placed in the front rank.”

Kanga ran a legal atelier in mid-century Bombay. He created a vibrant mini-culture that launched many of independent India’s grand advocates. Even today, people talk about the experience of being in JBK’s orbit with special enthusiasm and respect.

An FIR was registered by the Gamdevi police on Tuesday after a community member made repeated complaints

Parsis have been most displeased and unhappy the last couple of months. Reason: certain videos, uploaded in February-March and circulated among community members in September-October, have hurt their religious sentiments. An FIR was registered by the Gamdevi police on Tuesday after a community member made repeated complaints.

Article by Arita Sarkar | Mid-Day

‘Sentiments hurt’
Rumy Zarir, the complainant, said the discussion about the objectionable content of the five videos, uploaded by different channels, first started on WhatsApp and Facebook. While two videos state that in Zoroastrianism, siblings marry each other, another describes the Tower of Silence as a haunted place and later narrates tales involving ghosts seen near the structure. Zarir wants legal action to be taken against the people involved. “These videos are spreading lies about our religion and beliefs. I don’t understand why such videos are made. We are a peace-loving community, and these videos have deeply hurt our sentiments,” he said.

Zarir first approached the Gamdevi police last month. On Tuesday, the police finally registered a complaint. A few Parsis have commented on Facebook that the videos are depicting their religion in a poor light by referring to someone’s Navjote (initiation ceremony) as child marriage. Many of them have even called up trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayat (BPP) and asked them to take up the issue.

Trustee speak
While Armaity Tirandaz, a trustee, agreed that action should be taken against those who make such videos, another trustee, Xerxes Dastur, echoed that they have hurt the community’s sentiments. “We respect freedom of expression, but the content of these videos is vicious and slanderous. We’re all disturbed by it. People have gotten in touch with me to voice their concerns,” he said, adding that the BPP will get involved if needed.

Viraf Mehta, another trustee, said he, too, has received several phone calls from members asking the BPP to take a stand on the issue. “The content of the videos is making an outright mockery of the community. There is uproar about the community being defamed and demeaned like this,” he added. The FIR has been registered against unknown people under section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings or beliefs). “We received a complaint about the videos. We have registered an FIR and are investigating,” said DCP Dnyaneshwar Chavan.

Indian American Software Engineer Makes Bid for Campbell City Council Seat, Campaigning on Platform of Curbing Rampant Development

Indian American software engineer Daraius Sorabji, a newcomer to politics, is making a bid for one of three seats on the Campbell, Calif., city council, campaigning on a platform of curbing rampant development.

Campbell sits on the edge of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Silicon Valley, which has witnessed a population explosion over the past decade. Scaffolding and construction sites dot the landscape of the region once known for its fruit orchards and canneries. Campbell has grown from a population of 11,000 in the 1960s to about 42,000 currently, and has added 300 to 500 new residents each year since 2010, according to census data.

Article by Sunita Sohrabji | India West

High-density units are being built at a rapid pace in Campbell, with limited oversight from the current city council, Sorabji – a Parsi, who is not related to this reporter – told India-West. “I want to make sure that developers are not riding rough-shod over residents,” he said.

In June, Google revealed its plans for a transit village in downtown San Jose which would link local neighborhoods. Sorabji noted there is an opportunity for developers to create high-density housing all along the light rail corridor from San Jose to Campbell, but said it must be done responsibly.

New structures do not take into account the diversity of the community, which increasingly has multi-generational households under one roof, he said. Most high-density units have space for one and a third cars, which is not feasible for families, said Sorabji, noting that both husband and wife need cars to commute, and – as adult children increasingly begin to live with their parents because of the region’s lack of affordable housing options – space for at least three cars are needed per household.

Moreover, high-density units are being built without requisite infrastructure support,” said the candidate. “We’re seeing first-hand how rampant development is affecting our quality of life. We can’t do it without building infrastructure,” he told India-West, noting that an increased number of cars on the town’s small roads have turned 20-minute commutes into hour-long endeavors.

The expansion of public transportation is a must, said the candidate, noting his support for extending Santa Clara County’s light rail system further into Campbell. He also supports express buses along the Highway 85 median, reducing congestion on the town’s roadways.

Sorabji alleged that his four competitors for the three available city council seats were beholden to developers, who are funding their campaigns.

“Candidates are accepting campaign donations from businesses, developers, water and garbage companies, all of whom will come before the City Council at some point with issues.”

“I’m not trying to be the wrecking ball; I want to be a voice for the residents of this community who are not being heard,” he told India-West.

Sorabji is self-funding his first bid for office, and has pledged to take no campaign contributions. Unlike his opponents, who – he said – are using the city council seat to begin their political careers, Sorabji has no aspirations for higher office. “I hope I win a first term, maybe a second one, then term limits will kick me out. But I hope I will have made a difference for the people of Campbell.”

The Mercury News noted that the candidate is running a green campaign, eschewing flyers for wasting paper and resources and using recyclable yard signs.

The New Delhi native has lived in Campbell since 1994, and currently lives there in a multi-generational household with his wife Lori, his dad Rusi, and his two grown sons Shiraz and Bijan. Sorabji credits his dad Rusi as being one of his most active campaign volunteers, finding new sites for yard signs at Indian restaurants and corner shops, which are largely owned by Indian Americans.

Sorabji is the founder of AhuraSoft, which creates software for medical device companies. One of his clients, Neuropace, has created an implantable stimulator to treat epilepsy.

The candidate noted his long career of community service, which includes serving as the Scout Master for his children’s Boy Scout troops. As he campaigns around town, Sorabji said people often recognize him because of his community service work.

As he knocked on doors Oct. 18, Sorabji said he encountered a Parsi gentleman from Mumbai who had seen his signs. The man told Sorabji: “I was just talking to my brother and told him there are so few Parsis left in the world and one of them is running for my city council.”

Election Day is Nov. 6. Registered voters in California can vote early via mail-in ballots.

The court of Additional Sessions and District Judge Mohammad Gulzar today acquitted CPI (Maoist) ideologue Kobad Ghandy of all charges. He was booked by the Patiala police under Sections 10,13,18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Sections 419 and 120-B of the IPC for “anti-national” speeches at two meetings on the premises of Punjabi University in April and May 2009.

Ghandy’s defence counsel Brijinder Singh Sodhi brought to the fore the ‘shoddy’ credentials of one of the prosecution witnesses, who he claimed was facing multiple cases and had been awarded life sentence in one case. In order to get ‘concessions’ from the police, this witness may have given a statement against his client, Sodhi argued.

Pointing out that another witness had refused to identify Ghandy as the person who had delivered the “anti-national” speech at Punjabi University, he said the prosecution had failed to produce a single employee of the university to testify against him.

Ghandy was brought here from Cherlapally Central Jail, Telangana, on September 27 this year. Earlier in May, one of his associates Bacha Yadav, was discharged by the court for want of government sanction for his prosecution.

Ghandy, arrested by the Delhi Police in September 2009, had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, pleading that he had been booked for making speeches (in April and May of 2009) much before the CPI (Maoist) was banned on June 22, 2009. His plea was turned down. In June this year a Delhi court too had acquitted Ghandy of charges under Sections 20 and 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

On the Left track

Kobad Ghandy (65) belongs to a prominent Parsi family of Mumbai. He studied at The Doon School, Dehradun, and St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and was a classmate of Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi. Later, he enrolled for a course in London but left it midway under the influence of the Left movement. On returning to India, he became part of the democratic rights movement in the 1970s. He came into contact with the People’s War Group (now CPI-Maoist) of Naxalites in the early 1980s. He has written on economic and political issues in mainstream newspapers and Left publications. 

Based on the criminal complaint filed in Sewri court, Desai has alleged that Mehta has been spreading false and derogatory information

The tussle between the current chairman of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, Yazdi Desai, and former board member Dinshaw Mehta, which has been in the public forum for the last couple of years, has now taken a legal turn.

Article by Arita Sarkar | Mid-Day

On October 19, the Metropolitan Magistrate gave an order to issue summons to Mehta and the management of a publication after Desai filed a criminal defamation suit against them in August for publishing a series of ‘defamatory’ articles.

Based on the criminal complaint filed in Sewri court, Desai has alleged that Mehta has been spreading false and derogatory information about him after he accused Mehta of misappropriating trust funds. Desai had filed a complaint against him, and an FIR for cheating was registered by the MRA Marg police on February 14, 2014.

Chairman sees red

Since January 2017, Desai said Mehta had made unsubstantiated allegations in the columns he wrote for the paper. “Due to such defamatory statements made, my reputation in the eyes of family, colleagues, well-wishers and the Parsi community has been lowered and suffered tremendously,” said Desai.

He added that even though the columns were published as advertorials, they had been designed to look like independent news stories. “Mehta has spread fake news and false information to the community at large, and published false allegations against me and defamed me,” said Desai. One of the articles mentions Desai’s wife, Anahita Desai, who had contested in the BPP election this July.

The article states, ‘If you are seen endorsing a candidate who isn’t the chairman’s wife, you get calls to show cause why you should not be evicted from your BPP home.’

Desai’s wife said legal action was the only option left for them. “Initially, we tried to ignore it. But it became a continuous problem with defamatory accusations being made week after week,” she said.

The other side

When contacted, Mehta denied any knowledge of the case or the summons served by the Byculla police. “I have not heard about this defamation case, and I cannot comment until I have been served,” he said.

Behramji Malabari (1853-1912) was a social reformer, journalist, poet, travel writer/ethnographer and vital catalyst of change, who did much to shape the national reform discourse in late-19th century Western India. Born in Baroda and raised in Surat, Malabari moved to Bombay at age 15 and the metropolis became the central site of his myriad investigations into identity and reform, including questions on what it meant to be a Parsi in this city, at the heart of Empire, as opposed to in rural Gujarat.

Article by Harmony Siganporia | The Wire

Malabari had two biographies written about him before he was 40; another shortly after his death in 1912, and then disappeared almost completely from the pages of both Parsi and national reform histories, reduced at best to a mere footnote. I am the Widow: An Intellectual Biography of Behramji Malabari (Orient Blackswan, 2018) attempts to examine the reasons for this erasure. The following excerpt is drawn from its analysis of Malabari’s scathing indictment of some sections of the Bombay (and wider) Parsi community at the turn of the 19th-century.

§

I am the Widow: An Intellectual Biography of Behramji Malabari
Harmony Siganporia,
Orient Blackswan, 2018.

We now turn to Malabari’s reading of the Parsi community in his chapter on them in Gujarat and the Gujaratis (1882) which marks the beginning of a career-spanning musing about the writer’s community, its place in India, and his place within it as a social reformer. The chapter essentially deals with the condition of the rural, more conservative Parsi community settled in Gujarat, and not their peers in ‘reformed’ Bombay. Sounding a note of ominous doom at the outset, Malabari starts by saying that the Parsis of Surat – long the “head-quarters” of the community –“have fallen upon evil days”. This is largely because the “Shettia” or aristocratic class has become “by training, lazy, listless, gregarious… grovelling for generations in one and the same groove”. To his mind, this class cannot understand patriotism, by which he means more than mere loyalty to the British crown: patriotism here seems to be invested with that spirit of public service which marks – to one such as him – the entire colonial enterprise. Neither do they remember the virtue of “charity…the very basis of their grand old faith”. His choice of the distancing ‘their’ can be read as follows: he does not, by virtue of habit and present circumstance, number himself in the list of Parsi ‘Gujaratis’. This can be read as a further bid to place or project himself as Parsi, but simultaneously and importantly, more than Parsi; to stake a claim for himself as a national reformer.

Malabari explains his grievances by elaborating, “No doubt our Shetts are loyal to the British Crown; but to what ruling power have they ever been disloyal? Loyalty is their policy, their interest”, and not a matter of ethical or philosophical consent. Tongue firmly in cheek, he adds that he has no further quarrel with these ‘Shetts’, who are largely “honest, peace-loving citizens” who seldom beat their wives, and have only a few “old-gentlemanly vices” to counterbalance their many “old-gentlemanly virtues”. The Sheths in Bombay, he holds, come out a little better than the ones in the countryside, but even they are not spared from the problems that are attendant to ‘priestly influence’. Malabari then proceeds to discuss the relative merits (or lack thereof) of the Parsi Panchayat as an institution. It is, he says, “a highly respectable body” before qualifying the statement by adding, “but it seems to be a body without a soul”. Making clear the disdain in which he holds the orthodox faction which controls this institution, his description of the Panchayat Sheth is as hilarious as it is acutely sarcastic. He writes that this Sheth is, as a rule:

A prim old man, well shaven, well washed, and well scented. This faultlessly white being walks as if he were a basket of newly-laid eggs…(and) seems to be in dread of progress, of the very motion of life…he hates action of any kind (and) hugs indolence, rejoices in its company and revels in its seductive bosom. When, once in six months, he is required to attend to a little public business, he helplessly turns to his steward and asks broken-hearted, “Oh! What’s to do again?” as if only an hour ago he had done some tremendous deed of heroism for his country. The Shett sits down with a grimace, stands up with a yawn, salutes with an ogle or with a rather original parting of the lips, which process he flatters himself is a smile. He is sensitively nervous about his health. He will not get out of his carriage till a few minutes after it has stopped; this is to avoid any internal agitation which might follow a hasty descent…Except in these respects, the Shett is a very worthy citizen, and a thoroughly loyal subject of her Majesty. But he has no strength, no stamina. He can look no man in the face.

Towards the end of crafting out of India a “mighty, puissant nation” Malabari says that a “glorious middle class” which is educated and “goes on educating itself” is the only way forward, and besides keeping abreast of the latest advances in the arts and sciences, people (here, the Parsis) have to learn “patriotism and to abjure priestcraft,” replacing in the process, the current system with a “new national church, founded on the simple tradition of good thought, good word, and good deed, bequeathed by Zoroaster. Let them weed their scriptures of its verbiage”. His translation of humata, hukata, hurvashta (‘good thoughts’, ‘good words’ and ‘good deeds’ respectively) as the foundational creed of the ‘new’, ‘purged’ Zoroastrian ‘church’, without the Dastur as intermediary, while echoing Dadabhai Naoroji and other reformers, goes some way towards explaining the discomfort Malabari clearly caused in some quarters of the Bombay Parsi orthodoxy. These views clearly contributed to his ‘omission’ from any major role when the history of the community was variously narrated in and after the twentieth century. The ‘ideal’ community, Malabari says, cannot come about until there is “sincerity in all we do” and a “rational scheme for life”, neither of which the Parsis could then lay claim to…

Next, the reader is provided with a note on the ‘Reformed Parsi’ of the period. In the interest of objectivity, this sketch is as critical as the ones preceding it. Malabari says he doubts whether young or ‘Reformed’ Parsis are Zoroastrians at all. Were these youth to live outside the ambit of organised religion altogether, but live lives of purity and honesty, Malabari says he would mind it a lot less than their present behaviour. However, he is quick to attribute this to the fact that there is currently underway a “transition period” in national existence which has led to “wavering” and indecision “at every stage of thought and action”.

Apart from this, the bane of the Parsi youth’s existence remains, as ever, the Dastur (priest). On this note, the keen ethnographer launches into a full frontal attack on the lowest kind of priest, tracing en route “his origin; rise; decline; his fall unfathomable; his ways of life; his sympathies, antipathies, and miseries; (and) what to do with him”. This title fairly sums up not just the content, but also the tone of the text which follows it: sarcastic in the extreme, resorting to devices of over and understatement to establish the non-credentials of the priestly community or, as Malabari puts it, “the ignis fatuus (literally translated, ‘foolish fire’) of the dark ages of religion”, a line clearly illustrating why the Parsi orthodoxy – then or since – have no love lost for Malabari…In addition, the dastur is an immensely hypocritical creature who will “never eat or drink with the Hindu or Mussalman, though he may take a cup of tea or a glass of ice-cream with a European official”, an attitude indicative of the axis along which the Parsis would have themselves aligned. It was convenient even for then-contemporary histories of the Parsi community (from those by D.F. Karaka to Darukhanawala, and European scholars like C.A. Kincaid writing about the community as ‘the lost Greeks’ in East & West) to focus on the ‘alien-ness’ of the Parsis despite their lengthy stay – and obvious assimilation – in India, because it suited their purposes to be seen/placed or acknowledged, alongside the English, as fellow ‘outsiders’ to the Indian ethos. This rendered the community both useful to the English as well as ‘different’ enough from ‘Indians’ to allow for different rules of engagement with the rulers to apply to them.

Excerpted from I am the Widow: An Intellectual Biography of Behramji Malabari by Harmony Siganporia (Orient Blackswan, 2018).

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday honoured senior advocate Fali Sam Nariman with Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration and said Nariman was one of the best eminent jurists in India.

Addressing the event, Naidu applauded Nariman’s significant contributions in the field of jurisprudence. “Nariman is truly an example to be emulated by practitioners of law around the world… He is one of India’s most distinguished constitutional lawyers.”

On Shastri, Naidu said, “Lal Bahadur Shastri was an exemplary leader. His humility, courage, determination, integrity and moral uprightness were legendary….”

Delivering the introductory speech, Anil Shastri, son of the former Prime Minister, recalled an incident at his school. “In October 1964, when he was the Prime Minister, my father, like always, came to St Columba’s School (in Delhi) to collect my marksheet. He stood outside XI-D classroom. When the teacher noticed the PM waiting outside, he said that the school would have sent the marksheet to the PM’s residence. To this, Shastri-ji told the teacher, ‘It seems after I have become the PM you have changed. I have not (changed)’.”

In his acceptance speech, Nariman referred to this incident and said, “This is such a touching incident. I remember that the Pakistan Prime Minister was taller than Shastri-ji. But looking at his legacy, I always thought he (Shastri) was such a tall leader.”

——-

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday honoured senior advocate Fali Sam Nariman with Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration and said Nariman was one of the best eminent jurists in India.

“We are all seeing the turbulence in the legal fraternity including the judiciary. We have seen what happened in recent days. Keeping all these in mind I call upon the young law practitioners to stand for justice,” Naidu said after felicitating Nariman at his official residence.

“He is was one of the best eminent jurists in India and this felicitation doesn’t add any glory to him. Instead, this honour makes the younger generation to take him as an inspiration” he added.

Naidu said that Nariman had always displayed an impeccable sense of justice, a deep sense of duty and profound concern for his fellow human beings.

Nariman is a distinguished Indian Constitutional jurist and senior advocate to the Supreme Court of India. Over the years, he has been the recipient of several honours and awards, both at national and international levels.

Remembering former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Naidu said that his integrity, wartime leadership and role in the shaping of the Green and White Revolutions remain an inspiration for the entire country.

The Vice President also asked the youth to follow the values of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.

“Your ideologies may be different but one should follow the values of Gandhi and Nehru whose ideas were to serve the poorest of the poor” he added.

Mistry Ventures LLP to invest in and nurture start-ups across the world

Making his comeback into the corporate world, Tata Sons’ former Chairman Cyrus Mistry has started a firm Mistry Ventures LLP that will invest in and nurture start-ups in India and across the world.

The venture capital firm will provide strategic insights and advice to businesses, incubate new ventures, and provide seed, early stage and growth capital to start-ups.

Incidentally, the announcement coincides with the second year of Mistry’s ouster from Tata Sons, following a boardroom coup on October 24, 2016.

“The intent to deliver profit with positive social impact will be embedded in each of the ventures we promote or partner with,” Cyrus Mistry said in a statement.

“Mistry Ventures will do more than just invest in companies. By interpreting some of the major global and local trends and understanding their impact on industries and companies, we will incubate new businesses, forge partnerships and make investments across sectors. Mistry Ventures will focus on providing mentorship and infusing unique capability sets to help start-ups craft the appropriate business experiments needed to validate, scale and bring products and services faster to market,” he said.

The VC firm is jointly promoted by Cyrus Mistry and his elder brother Shapoor Mistry, both promoters of Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group), a conglomerate operating in the engineering and construction, infrastructure, real estate among others. The group also has presence in energy and financial services sectors across 60 countries.

The new firm has roped in Ashish Iyer, Senior Partner and previously Global Leader, Strategy Practice at the Boston Consulting Group, to lead the firm. “Iyer has worked with companies across sectors globally and brings deep expertise across domains and capabilities such as strategy, go-to-market, digital and innovation among others and I am very excited to have him on board,” Mistry added.

Mistry, who was the sixth chairman of the Tata Group between 2012 and 2016, was ousted following a board room coup on October 24, 2016. On December 20, 2016, through family-run firm Cyrus Investments he moved the Mumbai Bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against Tata Sons and others for oppression and mismanagement.

In July this year, NCLT dismissed Mistry’s petition, ruling in favour of Tata Sons, following which the former chairman moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in New Delhi.

From Auckland to Mumbai to Tehran, textile artist and aesthete Areez Katki is retracing his family’s great odyssey, for inspiration for his next collection

Instead of using a tapestry frame, textile artist Areez Katki is using pre-woven fabric and embroidering it by hand for his new exhibition. Pics/Suresh Karkera

A Parsi house is a living museum. It is a space so well-preserved in time that every household object is an objet d’art. Ceramics, wall cabinets, diwans, curios, photo frames, barnis: each item has gathered dust and been feather-dusted for decades. We’re in one such house in a baug in Tardeo, originally belonging to Minoo Lakdawala, a faded nameplate tells us. Today, his great-grandson, Auckland-based textile artist Areez Katki, is lodging here, while looking for inspiration. In a striped shirt with bell-bottom sleeves and high-waisted, tapered pants, similar to the kind his grandfather used to wear, and stitched by the same tailor, Katki, we can tell, was born in the right house and in the wrong decade.

Article by Ekta Mohta |Mid-Day

Twenty-nine-year-old Katki, and his parents (both Parsis, both accountants) abandoned Mumbai when he was 10 months old. They moved to Muscat, and then to Auckland a decade later. Katki graduated from the University of Auckland in art history, English literature and philosophy in 2012, and began knitting cardigans and scarves, and hand-embroidering shirts and silk wraps, on the side. He made only 30 pieces a year, some of which for $600 each, because he ran a workshop of one.

One of Katki’s ideas has been to depict objects found in a Parsi house on washcloths, such as ceramics and a ceiling fan

“Everything was made by me: every piece, every garment, every jumper or sweater or scarf that I embroidered or hand-knitted was made by me,” he says. “But, slowly I moved away from fashion [because] I thought about where I wanted to see my work and it wasn’t necessarily on people’s bodies. I thought that it belonged in a more permanent state on the wall, or to be looked at as a historic object. So, I’m here on an artist’s residency, to finish my first significant body of work that will go towards my debut solo exhibition.”

The exhibition will open on February 2, 2019, at Malcolm Smith Gallery, in Auckland, an ocean away. But, it will carry Mumbai in its threads, as Katki carries his heritage in his heart. “I have always attached this great romance to this house and this colony and this community,” he says. “I have more admiration and more curiosity about the Parsis of Mumbai and the Zoroastrians of Iran than I do for the very, very closely knit and introverted [Parsi] community in New Zealand.”

A stylistic depiction of the elements in an agiary: water, flowers (earth) and the eternal flame

His research took him to Iran recently, where he studied tapestry-making and Zoroastrian iconography. Locals would greet him with three kisses and “welcome back home.” Katki is looking at the collection from “a matriarchal perspective” because he learned how to quilt from his maternal grandmother during summer hols, and her best friend, Dolly auntie, who lives below and taught him beading and needlework. “Since I was a child, I’ve had a very close relationship with my grandmother. I am who I am because of the women in my life. They helped a lot in nurturing my love for handmade textiles.”

When he arrived in the city in March this year, he was looking at traditional Parsi embroidery such as gara and zardozi. “I did a beautiful workshop with Zenobia Davar, where I was the only guy. Everyone else was over the age of 40 and a woman. I had a wonderful time interacting with them and doing research on what is it about gara-making that was so appealing and so important to maintain as part of our heritage. But, essentially, I took the skills and used it on a different kind of cloth. Because, to me, the story is more domestic, private and intimate.

And it’s not to do with the opulence of Parsi life and society; it’s to do with the retention of memory since you’re a child and the textiles that surround you. So, I started collecting fragments of cloth from my grandmother’s wardrobe, and from this house, and from Dolly auntie’s house. And I arrived at cloths like khatkas [rags] and tea towels and doilies and tablecloths. Very humble domestic fibres, mostly cotton. I found a few rare fragments of Bombay Dyeing cloth, and some handkerchiefs that belonged to my grandfather. I was really fascinated with khatkas. I know this is something that people don’t even think about when they sweep the floors or wipe their tables, but when you look at them, there’s such an interesting texture.”

After making preliminary drawings, Katki started embroidering on these lost-and-found fabrics. He shows us a piece that features the inside of an agiary: water, flowers, a pair of tongs, a bell, the eternal flame. Another piece has embroidered ceramics and a ceiling fan. About this piece, he says, “Compositionally, I’ve picked up domestic objects from Parsi households, and implemented them on another domestic object from a Parsi household. I tried to break down the hierarchies, because this object would have wiped the subject once upon a time. And, now, I’ve put them together.” For our money, Katki is digging in the right place: within the four walls of his ancestral home. Because in a Parsi house, even the mundane is aesthetic.

A nearly decade-long battle to remove a two-level hoarding within the premises of the Parsi Tower of Silence (Doongerwadi) at Malabar Hill ended after it was pulled down over the weekend.

It was removed not by the civic authorities, but by the Bombay Parsi Punchayat (BPP), which controls the 55-acre forest property, which is the final resting place for the Parsi community.

Community activists like gynaecologist Dr Anahita Pundole had protested against the hoarding, stating it was unauthorised and within a heritage precinct. Since then several letters have been sent to both the BMC and the BPP to remove it.

“Doongerwadi is a sacred place and falls in the heritage list and this kind of commercial exploitation is not acceptable. Despite several letters, the civic body chose to do little about it. Finally, the BPP has moved to dismantle the hoarding,” she said.

Pundole had filed a PIL in 2002 in HC to stop proliferation of hoardings that violated the BMC’s own policy guidelines.

Pundole said her attorneys had sent another letter to the BPP and the BMC last month pointing how the hoardings were in violation of many court orders. “This hoarding was erected without permission and I am delighted to see it come down. I am not in town, but I have got photographs of the same,” she said.

Firoza Punthakey Mistree, a researcher who writes on Zoroastrianism and the Parsis said, “Doongerwadi is our sacred ground. The hoardings were like a blot on the landscape and should have never have been put up. We are pleased the present lot of trustees has dismantled it.”

When contacted, Bombay Parsi Panchayat chairman Yezdi Desai said this should have been done many years ago. “We just got a letter from Dr. Pundole asking why it was still there. Hence, we decided to remove the installation,” he said.

Officials from BMC’s superintendent of licence department remained unavailable for comment.

Fabric trading in 1800s Bombay was a complex affair, with towels, hand-signals and secret bids. See how one british newspaper described it

Would you have recognised the Bombay of 150 years ago? No suburbs. No traffic jams. No concrete jungle. No malls. Could you have done business there? This image, taken from an engraving reproduced in the illustrated weekly newspaper, Graphic, in 1870 depicts an interesting moment in the brokers’ rooms of an English merchant.

Article by Rachel Lopez | Hindustan Times

What’s going on? The two gentlemen are conducting a secret deal. The man on the right is a Parsi, typically on the staff of a European cotton firm as a broker or clerk. His job would have been to show the goods, high-quality cotton fabric, to Hindu buyers like the man on the right, accept bids from each of them and submit it all in a book to his bosses.

Of course, no Hindu merchant wanted to be outbid or seen to make a ridiculous offer. So, in the absence of sealed tenders and bidding apps, a special signaling system had been devised. “The native way of making and receiving offers is very peculiar,” The Graphic notes. “The offer is never made in words but always by squeezes of the fingers and strokes of the finger across the palm, the hands being covered with a towel or scarf so bystanders may not know the offer made.”

The offer is never made in words but always by squeezes of the fingers and strokes of the finger across the palm, the hands being covered with a towel or scarf so bystanders may not know the offer made. (The Graphic)

The covert communication served two purposes. “The seller, if beaten down in his price in one particular instance, does not find his goods generally depreciated. And the purchaser may charge any profit he likes without being found out.”

Take a good look at the two men. The Graphic describes the Parsis, as a Persian community that had settled in the province of “Juzerat”, and says its people were entrusted with being intermediaries for British businessmen, to make bargains and settle disputes in Bombay. Parsis, the report says, “by their energy, industry and intelligence have become the leading commercial class in Western India”. The community “combines some of the polish of the West with the courteous gravity of the educated Eastern.”

It also describes the Hindu dealers, who flock to Bombay in winter and re-sell to traders in central and northern India, Persia, Afghanistan, Arabian regions and Africa, in slightly unsavoury terms. “Hindoos … in their loud talk, coloured turbans, and legs and feet innocent of stockings, offer a striking contrast to the spruce Parsee, in his spotless white dress peeping from beneath a good brocade coat on cold days, with China silk trousers, white stockings and dainty shoes.”

Are Parsi men Mama’s boys? Are Parsi women really fussy?’ This was the topic of debate at a matrimonial meet for 108 eligible Parsi men and women on Sunday. Of course, the men and women refused to accept these stereotypes and argued against them.

Article by Linah Baliga | Mumbai Mirror

The initiative was part of the Jiyo Parsi scheme, a government initiative launched in 2013 to stem the decline of India’s Parsi population. The number of single women who participated in the Special Parsi Matrimonial Meet was 30 as against 78 single Parsi men.

They had come from all corners of the country – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Surat, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Pune and Navsari. Demographically speaking, 31 per cent of Parsis are aged above 60 and 30 per cent are unmarried.

Anahita, 28, (name changed) from Mumbai said that the girls dismissed their ‘fussy’ image during the debate by saying that while they were not ‘fussy’, they had a right to have high standards. “The boys refused to admit they were Mama’s boys, as they respect their mothers and would in turn respect their wives.

The number of Parsis are dwindling like ‘bhonu’ during lagan (food at a wedding). We want to arrest this decline,” she said.

Feroze Sukhadwala (28) (name changed) from Mumbai, who participated in the debate, admitted that Parsi men are close to their mothers. “We are attached to our mothers and we follow their instructions. They take decisions for us but that doesn’t mean we are Mama’s boys,” he said.

There were 27 participants from Mumbai and nine people formed a group to debate this topic. While the men tried to defend themselves, Parsi women laughed off their ‘fussy’ image. “Being choosy about our careers, our way of life and our life partner doesn’t necessarily make us fussy,” said Mahafreed Sonawala (32) (name changed).

Explaining the rationale behind the meet, Kety Daruwalla, co-convenor of the matrimony event, said, “Parsi women are highly educated. They do not wish to marry till they are engrossed in their careers. Their expectations are high. This platform was to bring eligible Parsi men and women together, so that they know there are choices. Hopefully, there will be wedding bells soon.”

The meet turned out to be fortuitous for Arize Katpitia (30) and Dilshad Chiniwala (25), both residents of Surat, who were happy to have found each other. “I have been lucky. I met Dilshad at 12.30 pm today and we had a long conversation till 2 pm. We have both decided to go forward,” said Arize.

Dilshad added, “This is the best thing to happen to the community. It isn’t an easy job to find a suitable match. At least, we know about eligible Parsi bachelors through this meet.”

According to a Tata Institue of Social Sciences study conducted four years ago, 40 per cent of Parsi men and 30 per cent of Parsi women remain unmarried. Responsibility towards old and ailing members of the family, lack of opportunity to finding a suitable match, aversion to the joint family system and low motivation to marry are cited as reasons for this.

Parsi women

Aspy Bharucha, convenor of the event, said, “Through this meet, Parsis from different walks of life were brought together to decide about their future. They can keep in touch now.

At the end of the meet, seven boys and girls have confirmed that they will start their married life. Seven out of 30 girls is a good ratio.”

The latest 2011 Census put the number of Indian Parsis at 57,264, a fall from 114,000 in 1941. By 2021, when the population of India will be 1.2 billion, the number of Parsis is expected to be 58,000. In about 20 years, there will be no more than 20,000 Zoroastrians in India.

With Bohemian Rhapsody, the film about Queen’s eccentric frontman Freddie Mercury, just around the corner, discourse about Mercury’s sexuality has rocked the internet. Some folks say that Mercury was gay, some say he was bisexual, some say he was queer and some say that he didn’t like being defined by labels so we shouldn’t be trying to label him now. (Even the film’s star, Rami Malek, got a little flummoxed when discussing Mercury’s status as a queer icon in an interview with INTO.) In a lot of ways, it makes sense that LGBTQ folks try to claim Mercury and place him into different categories. It makes conversations easier if we can point to a famous person in history and say “This person is one of us!”

Article by Ryan Khosravi | IntoMore

Interestingly, this isn’t the only debate surrounding Mercury’s identity — in addition to LGBTQ groups wanting to claim him, so do different racial groups. In fact, I don’t think many folks even know what to guess in terms of Freddie Mercury’s race (most probably assume he’s just white).

When I was a little gay Persian kid running around California, one of the things my dad would sometimes mention is how “the guy from Queen is Persian.” I feel like this is common among immigrant dads: they can point to every celebrity with a shared ethnicity. So after my dad ingrained this in my head, I took it as fact — Freddie Mercury was Persian.

It wasn’t until I got to college that this was challenged. I was getting boba with a close friend who is Indian and somehow we got on the subject of Freddie Mercury. When I said “You know he’s Persian, right?” she responded with “What? No, he’s Indian.” My world was turned upside down. When I looked into it, the answer was pretty clear: he’s both.

Freddie Mercury, whose birth name was Farrokh Bulsara, was born in the then British-controlled Stone Town in Zanzibar. His family was ethnically Parsi, which is an ethnic group that might need a little explaining. Although in our mainstream American race discourse — because of indigenous genocide and erasure — we don’t often talk about ethnicity, it’s an ever prominent aspect of life in other countries. For example, in South Asia, there are dozens of different ethnicities: Gujarati, Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil, etc. who each have their own language and culture.

Parsi is another ethnic group in South Asia, but they have a specific migration history. The Parsi people are part of the Zoroastrian religion from Persia (modern day Iran) but started to migrate to India because of persecution they faced during the Muslim conquest of Iran. According to a 2011 study, there are about 60,000 Parsi people still in India today.

It’s not surprising to me that queer western folks wouldn’t know or pay attention to this part of Freddie Mercury’s life, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important. The first songs he learned to play on the piano as a child were Indian songs. In an interview with The Telegraph, Mercury’s mom said that “Freddie was a [Parsi] and he was proud of that, but he wasn’t particularly religious.”

Though Mercury didn’t make South Asian or Middle Eastern music, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t influenced by his culture. Not everything I do will be explicitly gay or Persian, but it doesn’t mean those things aren’t influencing my work. In the same way that we now examine Mercury’s life and career through a queer lens, we should examine his life and career in relation to his culture; both Persian and Indian.

For me, it feels really frustrating to imagine a future where my writing, because I write mostly for an LGBTQ publication, would be viewed only as queer. When someone lives in intersectional systems of marginalization, it’s important to understand that they can’t be separated — my queerness is Persian and my race is gay — and I think it’s unfair to think otherwise. Folks are understandably protective of Mercury’s fluidity in terms of gender expression and sexuality (which is one of the main critiques of the new film). Just as important, though, is that we protect Mercury’s ethnicity.