Navsari na Padshah ne Naman!

In the increasingly messy melee of the oncoming BPP elections, with anonymous messages circulating on Whatsapp and the Net, and rivalries at fever pitch, not enough note has been taken of a truly auspicious, momentous and historic occasion – the 250^th Salgreh of the Navsari Atash Behram on October 3, 2015!

To our mind, this Atash Behram is perhaps the only edifice we have that comes close to a cathedral – so majestic and resplendent is its makaan that houses the Holy Fire, and so mystical and magical are the images of our revered saints that have appeared on its marbled walls!

The Atash Behram has put out an appeal (carried in our Jame this week on Page 17), which fervently pleads for funds. In our humble opinion, it is the duty of every Parsi to send whatever sum they can afford to. Such occasions come but rarely and if we don’t help maintain our own religious places of worship then who will?

After all, what did we come to India for but to uphold and preserve our religion and race? Generations of our ancestors put the faith first and this is what has sustained the community.

The BPP was set up to protect the Doongerwadi lands in perpetuity and ensure that Dokhmenashini is not threatened. Our Agiaries and religious institutions are on covenanted lands meant exclusively for the use of Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians and all this was done by our forefathers to ensure that the faith and community stay secure.

Today, it has become fashionable to shrug off religious responsibility. Many aspiring BPP Trustees are glibly saying religion is a “personal” issue to justify their ‘sitting-on-the-fence’ attitude towards ensuring the sanctity of our time-honoured practices and faith.

Yes, religion is a deeply personal quest– but as co-religionists our responsibility towards both religious observance and adherence is collective.

As the Navsari Atash Behram's Padshah Saheb celebrates 250 years of enthronement and efficacious glory, may the flame of faith be reignited in us – especially those who aspire to lead our flock. 

Will Iranshah's Grace Be Wasted Upon Us?

Iranshah, refurbished recently...

Iranshah, the way it was...

April 24.
A supremely sanctified day has dawned upon us! Today, the ninth day of the ninth month of the Parsi calendar, Roj Adar Mah Adar, is the perfect occasion to humbly venerate the beneficent glory of our Atash Padshah Sahebs. Generations of devout Parsis have invested their faith in the Holy Fires.
Today, we also celebrate the 1290th Salgreh of our Iranshah Saheb. Can one even fathom the sheer span of this sweeping time frame, extending over close to 13 centuries? Rare is the Parsi who in all these 1290 years would not have bowed his or her head before this King of Holy Fires.
While Iranshah has undoubtedly bestowed untold blessings upon us, perhaps it’s pertinent to reflect upon our present-day worthiness for His grace. Are we acting in a manner that does justice to the benedictions being showered upon us by our ancient and efficacious fires?
Well over 1000 years ago, our journey of faith commenced with one objective: to preserve the religion and the race. All those who left Iran for unknown shores, our noble and fore-sighted ancestors, put the preservation of our Parsi legacy above personal comfort and convenience. They willingly staked everything – their homes, their fortunes, their friends and all things familiar – and set sail to keep the faith.
Once here, with much dedication and discipline, they stuck to time-tested principles that guaranteed our survival. Pioneering and forward thinking in their approach, they also reinforced the foundation of the faith. Realising that we would always be a small and stand-alone sect within the Indian mainstream, they endowed us with enough Trusts to take care of all of our worldly needs, so we’d never be wanting for anything: housing, medicine, education and so much more.
They integrated seamlessly into the cosmopolitan framework of society, contributing in many ways that enriched public life, earning the sort of glittering goodwill that still holds us in good stead. Yet, they took care to assiduously safeguard the Parsi identity. They saw no shame in preserving and perpetuating our Parsipanu, as it’s something that is uniquely our own. You can discard your destiny only at your own peril.
So, is it that our generation has suddenly stumbled upon insurmountable challenges? Is it that we have miraculously come upon the wisdom to debunk the spiritual sagacity of generations of seers and scholars? Obsessed as we are with the here and now, are we forgetting to look at the larger picture? Should we focus on long term survival or short term expediency?
An occasion like the 1290th Salgreh of Iranshah raises these questions. What if our forefathers hadn’t been steadfast and single-minded when it came to sticking to the straight path? What if they had veered away, for one reason or another – and there are so many reasons one can find when it comes to wanting to do one’s own thing!
Iranshah has bountifully blessed us over 1290 years. How can we ensure that 1290 years hence, Iranshah will still be able to bless our flock?
Many noble Fravashis, over 1000 years ago, sacrificed a lot to give us this day. Gentle reader, wont Iranshah’s grace be wasted if we don’t promise to do as much?
editorjamejamshed@gmail.com

Why the New Tata CEO Matters So Much to Parsis

Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Indian Hotels Ltd. at the Company's 109th AGM on Aug 5 in Mumbai

Understandably, everybody is all agog. The countdown to Ratan Tata’s retirement has officially begun with the appointment of a committee to select his successor. Like all good things, his winning inning at the helm of the Tata Group must inevitably come to an end. While admiring his grace in letting go by meticulously adhering to his own guideline of stepping off at 75, there’s the inevitable twinge that comes with the end of an era.
Under his leadership, the Tata Group has prospered. He has, with understated sagacity and admirable work ethic, exalted not just Brand Tata but Brand India in business circles around the world.
But, above all, and perhaps without his realizing it, he has reinforced Brand Parsi better than anyone in recent times. Ratan Tata, for all his low profile modesty, is the best known Parsi on the planet.
For a community that is so small in numbers, such an illustrious Brand Ambassador is an irreplaceable asset. One is not being parochial by basking in the Parsiness of his personality! That sense of fair play, that adherence to ethics, that gumption in venturing into realms just a little out of reach (Jaguar, Corus), that determination to excel, that humility… all of this and more is just, well, deeply embedded in the DNA.
These are values that have been instilled in us by our forefathers and we gratefully acknowledge the debt and depth of this lineage by living up to it as best as we can. Many Parsis do this in their own simple sphere of activity; Ratan Tata has epitomized and exemplified it on a global panoramic platform to justifiable acclaim.
He is as aapro as they come – perhaps, a wee bit more than most other celebrated Sons of the Sudreh.
The heads of the House of Tatas have been admired and adored by the community down the ages. For JRD Tata, this realization dawned in the dusk of his years. He then confessed that he never quite understood why the Parsis had consistently showered so much love upon him when he had never done anything tangible for the community.
However, for most Parsis, our ethos and identity is in many ways synonymous with the House of Tatas. All the way from Jamsetji, who remains a hero even amongst GenNext, to the reigning Ratan, Parsis feel incredibly proprietary about the House of Tatas. Most of us have personal histories that are intertwined with the Tata empire – may the sun never set upon it.
And this goes way beyond the multi-billion valuation of the Group. It’s not about wealth but about a shared vision and values, generation after generation. While the new heir will (and must) be picked on merit, many in the community (and beyond) are rooting for both a Parsi and a Tata.
For well over a century, ‘Tata’ and ‘Parsi’ have been two sides of the same coin – it’s the currency millions across the world have faith in. We are willing to bank on it yet again!
editorjamejamshed@gmail.com

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Banish those Botas!

What, for most Parsis, is the worst word in the English language? It begins with the letter ‘V’… ‘Vegetarian’!
No affront or insult could possibly be worse than the blood-curdling indignation, alarm and aversion that ‘V for Vegetarian’ induces. Parents almost always never teach it to their children, preferring A for Aleti-Paleti, B for Boomla, C for Chhamna… instead.
When it comes to tucking in, bawajis just cannot do without their botas – reformists and traditionalists alike. Food is the great leveler for every Parsi reveller!
Suggesting vegetarianism is akin to asking Warren Anderson to return to India and take some accountability for the Bhopal gas tragedy – it’s pointless and a perfect waste of time. So why are we bothering to bring it up?
Well, it’s Bahman mahino – that time of year when we’re supposed to spare poor little animals the tragic plight of being butchered, basted, broiled, baked and barbecued for our meals – at the very least on some days of the month.
Ouch!
Should you decide to continue reading ahead, a few unresolved questions: Are animals meant to be eaten? We have heard of the food chain and how vegetables are intended to be eaten by animals and, conversely, animals are supposed to be eaten by human beings. This is theoretical the ‘cycle of life’, but is it really so?
Do animals hurt as much as we do? In their final moments, as the fish is hooked and writhing for that last breath before being forever stilled for saas-ni-machhi, or the goat is hacked and bled to death for Sunday’s dhansak-kawab, or the chicken is slaughtered and de-feathered for those deep fried faarchas, in their final moments, do animals feel the pang of separation from the little families they have nurtured… or been nurtured by? Do they wish they could spend a few more moments on God’s great earth, unfettered under a blue sky (or a starlit one), instead of having their lives snuffed out for voracious human palates?
Parsis have been indomitably feasting on animals for the longest time. We even seem to delight in all their bits and parts with grisly zeal – puchri, doki, pag, bheja, kalejee, paya, khariya, jeebh… go on, feed your greed!
Our lagans and navjotes are occasions for mass animal slaughter. Of course, we don’t feel guilty since we don’t actually kill the animals ourselves – we just pay the butchers to do so and enjoy our meal. Which is how it should be, isnt it? Our social conditioning ensures we don’t get unduly bothered.
Vegetarians are often asked, aren’t you killing plants when you eat them? Perhaps. Or perhaps not – most fruits and vegetables are the offerings of plants and trees. You seldom eat the whole plant or tree itself.
Animals on the other hand are, well, animate. They run, they yelp, they see, they react, they bleed. Ironically, as a community, we love animals and care for them with the sort of deep devotion you don’t often find.
Bahman mahino, then, ordains a little more respect and a little more restraint when it comes to making a meal out of innocent animals. They have a right to life too.
editorjamejamshed@gmail.com

Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla Bereaved

Late Villoo Poonawalla with Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla at the Mahalakshmi Race Course in Mumbai earlier this year

Villoo Poonawalla, wife of Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla and mother of Adar, passed away on June 8, leaving an irreplaceable void in the Poonawalla family. She is also mourned by daughter-in-law Natasha and grandson Cyrus, as well as other family members and friends.
Villoo Poonawalla was a low profile and graceful lady, preferring to live out of the spotlight. However, she was the backbone of her family and lived up to the proverb: Behind every successful man, there is a woman.
Gracious and graceful, she was often spotted at the Race Course, sharing her husband’s passion for racing. At the Poonawalla Breeders’ Multimillion, held this year at the Mahalakshmi Race Course on February 28, she was, as every year, the hostess with the mostess!
However, her life was not merely all glitz and glamour. Deeply religious, she was a proud and practicing Parsi till the very end. In a recent (albeit rare) interview, Dr. Poonawalla had confessed, “My wife, Villoo, comes from a priestly Athornan family (nee Panthaky) and is a devout Parsi – very religious. She prays for several hours every day.”

Perhaps, Dr. Poonawalla’s stupendous success was wrought, in some measure, by the power of her prayers.
At the all-Parsi youth meet held in Pune last month, it is said that it was at her insistence that her son, Adar, came forward with a generous sponsorship to enable the event organisors meet the expenses.
One wishes eternal behesht for her soul. May her love for our community and our religion be a legacy that forever guides the Poonawalla family, so that the virtues of philanthropy, compassion and community service continue to perpetuate her memory. R.I.P.

* This article appeared in the Jam-e-Jamshed dated Sunday, June 13, 2010. To subscribe to the Jame email: jame1832@gmail.com

An ‘Independent’ Point of View

As the BPP election winds down, with the grand finale this weekend at the Dadar Parsi Colony (the bastion of the community), an interminable journey over a very bumpy road will come to a welcome halt.

But before we bound out in relief and block the bizarre shenanigans out, there are many lessons to be learnt – and it will be to our peril if we ignore them. To make some sense of the nonsense that has consumed us, will be an important exercise in self-examination. And one that will have to be undertaken, if the unique Universal Adult Franchise scheme is to evolve into a more mature exercise.

Right now, perhaps, it would be interesting to look at the elections through the eyes of a few of the independent candidates, who decided to brave the ballot brouhaha solo, for reasons best known to them, having neither the backing nor the big bucks that some of the lead players do.

The two rival groups are actually quite insulated. Despite their combative positions, and whether you or I agree with their ideology or not, the hurly burly of the election makes little or no difference to them as they have powerful, mega money-bag backers, and a well-cultivated constituency they are catering to, whose support they can count upon.

A few (very few) of the independent candidates are persons of affluent means and they, too, are well ensconced in their wealth, having the infrastructure in place to conduct a campaign that costs a lot – in terms of time, energy and money.

But what of those who are attempting to paint on a very large canvas, with a very small easel? The majority of candidates (18 according to our estimate), who are doing this more as a solitary endeavour, with rationed resources, hoping to be the dark horses who will bolt past the finishing line and find themselves favoured with victory? Well, their surprise will be as great as ours!

And while we wish each of the candidates, irrespective of affiliation or intention, the very best in this last phase of the polls, because a democratic process is so much larger than our own preferences and perceptions, we focus on a few independents, to see how the election has been treating them…

Phiroze Amroliwalla
“This isn’t my first election. I contested in 1993, when there were two vacancies and 1600 voters. I was an Independent candidate even then. I believe in being independent as I don’t like to get influenced by anybody on issues – the good of the community matters above all else. Trusteeship means not violating the trust of the community. I was among the first to pioneer Universal Adult Franchise – it was on my 1993 manifesto. It hasn’t quite worked out the way I would’ve wanted it to. I had asked for a fresh voter register, based on proof of address and identity. The BPP has merely taken the existing register, with many people who have passed away or migrated still on it, and there’s no authentic data bank available within the community regarding the electorate – their age group, professions and so on. We also don’t have a Code of Conduct.

“The liberty to spend crores affects the chances of independent candidates. My time and integrity is worth more that the crores many others have spent. I’m not a consumer product to be marketed – the way some candidates are being pitched to the public. I have 25 yrs of social work behind me. I would like to join the community in asking certain candidates, ‘What is there in the BPP board room that you are spending crores to get in?’ I have hardly spent a lakh, and feel I have overspent! It’s my own money, no donor, group or company is subsidising me. My cost per vote is hardly 10 rupees – for others it’s thousands of rupees. I’m disappointed candidates feel the need to spend so much. You must earn your votes – not buy them.”

Rustom Tirandaz
“For me, as an independent candidate, the single biggest disappointment is that a ‘dirty tricks department’ has been working overtime through the Parsi press, and they have ganged up against one man – Dinshaw Mehta. This has made me sad. But Adult Franchise is a great phenomenon. On the first day, 500 people went back without voting. I could never have imagined this happening in the past! The enthusiasm has galvanised and unified the community.

“After 41 years in public life, and after having been a BPP Trustee in the past, I need to just let people know I am in the fray today. I don’t have to give dinner, lunch and breakfast to anybody. I’d much rather not become a Trustee, if this is how it has to be done. My ball game is different. I don’t have to prove my bonafides.

“But all things said and done, Parsis have high personal integrity. The BPP employees may not be very well paid, but they have the highest integrity. Some candidates fear rigging, duplication of votes and so on, but I think our people have a conscience. Parsis don’t cheat.

“Lastly, look at how people are coming out to vote in such large numbers! This proves without doubt that the BPP is the real world body of Zoroastrians. Now, nobody can ever claim to be representing a world body because all those world bodies put together will not have 27,000 Zoroastrian members, like the BPP does!”

Urvax Dhanda
“Because there is no Code of Conduct, independent candidates like myself are facing lots problems. Since the bigger players are spending so much money, we too are being compelled to stretch our resources and are getting dragged into making exorbitant expenses over these elections. In earlier elections, this was never there.

“I am also upset with the manner in which they are conducting the elections. Pre-marked or ‘crossed’ ballot papers are surfacing. Once it can be a mistake, or even twice or thrice, but more than that and we are beginning to suspect foul play. When we bring this to the notice of the Election President, it is just dismissed.

“At Bharucha Baug, last Sunday, the box with fresh ballots papers, that should come sealed, came with the seal broken. The Election President did not allow us to do even a random check to see if the ballot papers inside were not tampered with. The attitude of the Election President is very disheartening. Right in the beginning many of us had complained about this, but no notice was taken. Independent candidates are just ignored and taken for granted. As a result, most of us have lost faith in this election – although we are fighting to the finish. Even many voters are keeping away because they wonder what is the use of coming to out vote if there could be rigging and people who haven’t been voted for end up in the Punchayet? But the good thing of being an Independent is the support one gets from the community – they seem quite fed up of the ‘groups’. ”

Dr. Kuresh Zorabi
“Having contested political elections before, since I am from the Nationalist Congress Party, I find this BPP election rather amusing. There are many malpractices. When we try to point them out, as independents, our voice is not heard. As it is, many of us find the Election President rather biased towards one group. Firstly, all campaigning should have ceased 48 hours prior to the elections. Here you have candidates almost following voters into the booths, trying to influence them, induce them, offer them food and goodies. It is like a mela!

“There was no need to take so many weeks over it, either. They should have had it over one weekend, and declared the results within a week. We have become a joke. In political circles I keep getting asked, ‘Parsi log ka election kabhi finish hoga!’ We are a small community, and our election process cannot take four weeks. People are just getting fed up – both the voters and the candidates. Whenever the elections are held next, there needs to be a proper Code of Conduct so that in the future we do a better job of the elections.”

To the Polls, the Parsis go…

And so it has come to pass that the Parsis are in the throes of the polls. America shall follow some weeks later, and the barrage of candidates, still landing up at our doorsteps, almost has us wondering whether Barack Obama might come campaigning into our baugs – loudspeaker and food packets in hand! With elections in the air, just about anything can happen. And we Parsis are quite a constituency – small in numbers, but certainly not insignificant.

The tremendous Parsi zeal to overcome the odds was in full evidence on both weekends, especially as on the first day at Khareghat Colony people stood in queues for up to three hours to validate their votes. The teething trouble miraculously vanished overnight, and thereafter all has been calm on the bawa front… Are you kidding! Not a day goes by without some squeamish skirmish.

But despite the glitches, the good thing is we’re getting closer to the light at the end of the tunnel. This election has really been crucial for the community, and it’s heartening to see such strong numbers coming out to give their vote and participate in a democratic exercise that will enable us to chart the course ahead.

Of course, we’re reminded of that fateful flight from Persia, over a thousand years ago, so starkly and strikingly shown on stage recently by Mallika Sarabhai in the dance drama, ‘And Then They Came to India’, courtesy Dr. Villoo Morawala Patel’s Avesthagen.

And, we wonder, as we negotiate through turbulent waters today, what would those few shiploads of our ancestors be thinking and feeling about these elections – if they could? Would they wonder whether all their hardship, their travels and travails through hell and high water, had been worth the while? After all, they too could have inter-married, converted, and adopted alternate methods of disposal then and there in Persia, and spared themselves the trouble of charting an unknown course to India. And we wouldn’t even be fighting today, divided into our contentious and combative camps, because we would have become a footnote in history as the race that committed genetic hara-kiri.

Are we on the verge of committing heretic hara-kiri, a thousand-odd years later? That would be a shame. But with the community out to vote in such large numbers, one is hopeful. What has kept us going all along, through the best and worst of times, is our unflinching faith. If we can hold on to it, as we have in the past, and make a wise choice, even as we head into the last of our ‘voting weekends’, the huge effort and expense of holding these elections will be vindicated.

Calling GenNext
The average voter profile appears to be tilting in favour of the older segment within the community. Not too many young faces are seen. What could be the reason? Is it apathy? We know of several friends and contemporaries who just never got round to getting themselves registered. Reason – too busy, not interested, plain lethargy.

Another explanation could be the miserable manner in which community elders are conducting themselves, with hate campaigns circulating relentlessly. Many young people just don’t see the point of partaking in a process that has struck such a discordant, dismal note. To enthuse the youth, the focus will have to shift from antagonism to idealism, from bitter to better agendas.

Vote for me…
Campaigning appears to be continuing almost all the way into the balloting booth. It’s amusing to see some candidates rushing to greet voters and hissing numbers at them – hoping this last ditch effort will enable a ‘cross’ to be cast in their favour.

Surely most people who’re coming in to vote have already decided who to pick, and such blatant attempts at self-promotion would be in vain? At any rate, some code of conduct should be put in place at the election venue at least.

What’s on the menu?
Trust the Parsis to turn almost anything into a party. While there are differences of opinion on everything under the sun within the community, there’s utter unanimity when it comes to eating.

Food packets are virtually being passed around along with the ballot papers. At every venue, there’s a new menu! On Sunday, at Andheri’s Bharucha Baug, there was falooda and fortune cookies, in addition to other heavy snacks. Do Parsis think better on a full stomach? You bet!

Sinners v/s Saints
In the ultimate analysis, nobody’s perfect. Yesterday’s heroes are today’s villains – and tomorrow’s heroes again – depending upon which paper you’re reading. Virtues are exaggerated and shortcomings amplified, to the point where minute molehills start resembling entire mountains ranges.

One keeps having to sift the chaff from the grain and, frankly, it’s getting exhausting. It will be a good thing when the elections conclude this Sunday. At least some overworked imaginations will get some rest – and the community a break from all the bilious bickering.

Just in jest
Apropos of a hoarding Mumbai woke up to last week – it seems it was a bit disconcerting and disappointed quite a few Parsis, who don’t particularly enjoy community matters being put out into the public domain.

To quickly paraphrase, we’re told the hoarding went – ‘Vote for AFP: Na na…’

Oops! Are we mistaken? Perhaps it was – ‘Vote for AFP: Na na… Chudasama!’

Whatever it may have been, poor Mr. Chudasama, the genial do-gooder, misguidedly got embroiled in the pot-boiler of Parsi politics. He should, at the very outset, have said Na na…

JIMMY MISTRY: “I’m not eyeing the BPP with ambition”

Jimmy Mistry should have had an identity crisis by now, because he’s so many different things to so many people. To some he is the flashy guy who flaunts his fancy cars and goes over-the-top with his extravagance! To others he is a bawa Barack, the youthful agent of change, who organises friendship rallies and Gary Lawyer dinner-and-dance nights at the Dadar Gymkhana (like he has this Sunday).

Still others see him as a spendthrift and allege he is sometimes in financial straits. Yet, for many, he is a philanthropist who has dug into his pockets time and again, to support a slew of causes adopted under the umbrella of his Parsi Resource Group (PRG), where many volunteers come forward to work with him for the uplift of the community.

Will the real Jimmy Mistry please stand up! Well, the only way, is to let him have his say…

Why do you want to become a BPP Trustee?
I desperately want to bring change into the community. Let us understand one thing. I don’t need the BPP to get anything going for me. I have too much going for me already, whether it is on the work front or with PRG. But given my ability to drive things to a logical conclusion, I can shake, rattle, roll, push and even kick people into action, in order to make things happen. It doesn’t make sense for me to put my time into it otherwise. I intend to take over certain things and make them happen, and move in with my infrastructure if necessary to ensure that this gets done.

Any specific plans?
A cashless medical scheme across the community would be the first. According to my research, there are 50,000 plus Parsis in Mumbai. Let us assume 1000 or even 2000 of them need housing, this means barely 10 per cent of the community has a housing problem. Then why is it that housing takes up 90 per cent of our energy! My focus would be to improve the living conditions of those who have been housed.

How do you intend doing it?
As I see it, the community has three big challenges. Ninety per cent have a roof over their heads. But medical expenses are a big issue. As parents grow older, their life’s savings get spent on hospitalisation and often their children also have to dip into their savings. For the past three years, I have been paying out of my own pocket for cashless medical insurance for mobeds, their wives and children. Countless mobeds have benefited from this. It is well known that in a group policy the premium comes down by 40 per cent. So the whole community can come under this umbrella. Those who can afford will pay their own premium, and for those who cannot we’ll pitch in. I wish to bring out a certified list of poor Parsis in Mumbai, where the collective family income is less than Rs. 15,000, which will be verified by the baug committees for authenticity. Once we have that data, we will look out for donors to subsidise these families.

The next challenge is education and jobs for our youth. I am very serious about getting Minority Status for the community and Dr. Mehroo Bengalee has recommended my name to the Maharashtra Chief Minister for appointment to the State Minorities Commission. I want to hold a referendum on our Minority Status issue, so that when we take our petition to Delhi some Parsis don’t stand up and say we don’t need this. It is my intention to go in for Minority Status within a year’s time.

The third challenge is retaining Parsi property within the community. I opposed the proposal to turn the Cama Athornan Madressa into an international school because I believe community property has to be used for community purposes.

There’s a great fear of letting a builder into the BPP…
I know. But you require a builder if you want to solve the massive housing issues that keep arising. Who better than a builder to help with municipal laws, government permissions, repairs, and so on? I am developing a township in Indore right now that is the size of Dadar Parsi Colony and Matunga put together. Let me bring that expertise in. And I repeat, no Parsi property will ever go into the hands of a non-Parsi as far as I am around. Besides, I will be with six other Trustees, so it is not as though I can do what I like at the BPP.

Your own building in Dadar, Della Tower, is mired in controversy.
Yes, there was litigation, protests and petitions, but the courts dismissed them. Let someone come forward and prove there is one thing wrong with what I have done. I have re-housed all the old tenants, ensured that the ‘Parsi-only’ covenant status has been kept, when I could have had it annulled and sold the flats at far higher rates to non-Parsis, if my intentions were not on track. And I am creating a 9000-square feet Zoroastrian exhibition centre that will tell our story to the younger generation. I have also spent Rs. six crore on the Persian elevation of the building to assert our pride in our roots and culture. I want this building to be a symbolic masterpiece for the Parsi community. I have recently acquired an old Kutchi building at Wadala, where the covenant status had lapsed. I have restored the covenant to ‘Parsi-only’.

Why are you spending so much on your campaign?
I am grateful to God for blessing me with abundance and am only doing my best to reach out to the community that is spread all over Mumbai. How else do I connect with them, unless I organise election meetings? Please also realise that such a lot of ill has been spoken about me that I need a fair chance to counter it. Also, it’s a fact that I pull in large crowds, so I have to ensure people can hear and see – hence the lights, the projection screens, the stage. When I do something, it has to be up to a certain standard. Do I have a choice about not spending? But it’s true that because of me the others have ended up spending more than they would have. My brochures and hoardings are slick – I like doing things well!

Are you in alliance with any group?
Not at all – my campaign is going so well it speaks for itself. I see myself as the bridge that will connect everyone. Let’s face it, we’re going to get WAPIZ, AFP and independents into the BPP. I can talk straight and won’t be cowed down, and can be the connecting point between the others.

Will you be able to get along well within the BPP?
When you are on the job, you do it and move on. If you cannot do it, you shouldn’t be there. It’s time we had a professional work culture within the BPP, starting with the Trustees.

Where do you stand on religious issues?
I am completely orthodox and do not support any change within the religion. We have no right to change anything that has been part of our religion and rituals for hundreds of years. I am totally opposed to a ‘Cremate Ni Bunglee’ at Doongerwadi. Those who want to opt for alternate systems of disposal should buy their own piece of land and construct their own ‘bunglees’ or prayers halls. This cannot happen inside Doogerwadi or any of our agiaries. They must also arrange for their own priests, and not expect any of our priests to oblige.

Whatever anybody may say, through PRG I head the largest mobed’s association in the world today, and I have not tried to change a thing because I claim no understanding of our religion, only a great love for it. Whether it is conversion or anything else, things must continue as they are. Because one small change results in a string of changes – and the repercussions come much later.

Are you all set for Trusteeship?
I’m not eyeing the BPP with ambition. I believe I am destined to bring change into the community. Just give me one year – and see the difference I make. Despite all my professional achievements, what brings me real pride and joy is when I see myself doing something for my community.

Who Wants to Be a Parsi Punchayet Trustee!

This is a historic moment for the Parsi community. For the first time ever, through the newly formalised Universal Adult Franchise scheme, community members will be able to vote for the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) elections commencing October 4 onwards.

What is also unique is that all seven trustees will be elected simultaneously. Previously, every time a seat or two fell vacant upon expiry of a term (or a Trustee), elections for just that seat (or two) would be held via a closed system that did permit the participation of the entire community.

This time its all seven seats at one go and the entire community (or at least those adult voters who have registered) can step out and stamp their favourites on the ballot sheets. While various luminaries, and some not quite so luminous folk, have offered their services for the top tickets in the community’s apex organisation, much mayhem ensues.

Apart from a lot of independent candidates, two dominant groups, the traditionalists and the reformists, are fighting each other in a bloody war of words, values, and vituperation. The valour is missing, or at least misplaced. While some guys have some growing up to do, the community has important issues at hand. Although all the candidates are promising to resolve them almost effortlessly, it’s pertinent to point the predominant ones out:

1. FLAME OF FAITH: Why did the Parsis come to India? A sense of history is crucial in these times of instant self-gratification. We fled Persia because of the threat to our religion and undertook an arduous journey with only one intention – to preserve the faith, with which our identity is inextricably linked. Once in India, previous generations, full of illustrious achievers, stuck steadfast to religious principles, without cutting corners for convenience or political connivance. Today, we need Trustees who genuinely appreciate and abide by the doctrines of the faith and, in matters of dispute, do not discount the counsel of our learned High Priests. The Catholics don’t pooh-pooh the Pope, the Hindus don’t slight their Shankaracharyas, nor do the Muslims marginalise their mullahs. But some haughty Parsis heckle the High Priests and, surely, our Trustees shouldn't be from their ranks?

2. IT’S MONEY, HONEY: This seems to be an election based on money power. Pages are being bought in publications and, in some cases, publications are being bought over entirely (although surreptitiously) to advertise not so much the ideology of the controlling group, but to malign rivals. This is certainly a first. So are flashy campaign meetings with refreshment boxes, glib power point presentations, huge billboards, glossy pamphlets and video shows, being held all over with staggering frequency. While this may be a casualty of contemporary commercialisation, it’s interesting to see who is financing whom, and why. Let us scratch the surface and uncover who the key financiers are, because they could control the candidates they are fielding, like the infamous remote control! And in cases where individuals are self-funding to the extent of spending crores on their campaign, the community is wondering why?

3. WHAT’S ON THE AGENDA: On the face of it everybody, no matter what their persuasion, reformist or traditional, is claiming the same manifesto. They all want to preserve the religion, resolve the housing crisis, look after the aged, and generally wave their magic wands and turn the Punchayet pumpkin into a fantasy carriage that can fly us to the moon! But before we go over it in ecstasy, let us put promises aside and check the track record of each candidate. What have they done for the community in the past, how well have they served the faith, and have they kept the faith at all? There’s a lot of big talk. How many can walk the talk?

4. MORAL OF THE STORY: Ethics are a clincher. Being a small community, it’s not difficult to discover the ethical core of each candidate. Whether its financial dealings, spiritual and religious leanings, or behavioural gleanings, we need to create an ethical scorecard for each and segregate those who top from those who flop.

5. CO-OPERATIVE EFFORT: The Punchayet cannot be the exclusive preserve of any one group, much as they may want it. Those who are excessively groupie and cannot collaborate for the larger interest of the community will be a liability. If there’s one thing our current BPP Trustees were unanimous about, it was that there was nothing they were ever unanimous about! The ability to rise above infighting is essential.

As we get into the coming weeks more ideas will emerge, more insights accrue. But there are certain fundamentals we cannot compromise upon in our quest for the Super Seven. Is the Parsi community up to the challenge? You bet! Surviving and thriving despite the odds is, like longevity, in our bawa genes.

India’s Parsis: What Makes Them Special?

What is it that keeps the Parsis of India going, so many years after they migrated to the country? Quite simply: Faith and Values, which are the twin cornerstones of their survival down the years.

As most would know, Zoroastrianism is the world’s oldest revealed religion. Exactly how far back it dates is open to speculation. But it certainly goes back thousands of years. Through all these years, the Zoroastrians have kept the flame of faith burning with admirable devotion, although without any unnecessary aggression.

The Parsis who came to India as migrant from Persia, gave a covenant to the Rana of Gujarat when they landed at Sanjan over a thousand years ago, promising they would never permit conversion. The Rana was concerned that the ‘foreigners’ from Persia would convert his flock to another faith.

That promise has been kept to this day and the Parsis have more or less kept to themselves in matters religious, but when it comes to contributing to Indian society they have not shied away in any which way.

From establishing schools, hospitals, and institutions of all kinds, to bequeathing their wealth to a host of cosmopolitan, charitable causes, as well as community projects, they have kept adding to the rich lustre of Indian public life, like the proverbial sugar-in-the-milk.

Some of the country’s most illustrious sons and daughters have been Parsis. Be it in politics, medicine, law, the media, business and enterprise, entertainment, or social work, there has been a legion of legendary Parsis who have performed, and continue to, brilliantly and to the best of their ability.

Inborn in the Parsi ethos is a sense of goodwill for others, and this has stood the community in good stead. Never anti-national, disruptive or divisive, the Parsis have only sought to enrich India, the country they came to and today unequivocally consider home, having left Persia with absolutely nothing centuries ago.

And it is to India’s eternal credit that she has assimilated the Parsis, who have heaped their gratitude and talents upon her in double measure with their sparkling contribution.