The lovely mellow yellow building beckons you with just the huge nameplate facing Cunningham Road — The Hatworks Boulevard. The vast expanse is almost hidden away behind a regular commercial complex, making the space all the more enticing with a promise of being an oasis of peace.
If you’ve been here, you would definitely be tempted to peep into their garden store, tucked away in one corner.
The building used to house The Imperial Hat Works factory that manufactured made-to-order headgear for the British and Indian armed forces, and ‘pre-tied’ Mysore petas (turbans) for the Mysore Maharajah (there’s even a framed letter on display sent on behalf of the Maharajah, placing orders for a particular green one!).
“The building was part of our family home…It was actually my grandfather’s factory,” says owner and noted Bengaluru hospitality industry consultant Rishad Minocher.
“According to records, the building is about 200 years old. It’s really in the colonial style, though my grandfather (Nadir Maneckjee) later added a few Parsi touches to it.” The building was restored between 2003 and 2004 with help from restoration consultant and architect Renu Mistry.
“The red oxide flooring was replaced with Italian-style tiles — the original ones made by Bharath Tiles in Mumbai.” What you also can’t miss are the Burma teak false ceilings under the 30-foot-high Mangalore-tile roofs.
Rishad explains why the family decided to turn it into a lifestyle store: “My siblings were away from India, and the house was too big for my family. Old houses need to be lived in…I treat it as a living object. So we hit upon this idea.”
The Hatworks Boulevard houses, among others, the multi-designer store The Bombay Attic, the Footworks Spa, Bengaluru’s premier art resource ‘Crimson’, Bas Studio – bespoke men’s wear, Eeshanya – classical Teak wood Furniture, Hybiscus – the garden store, YLG, and Lakiruu – The Wedding Lounge.
When Parsis made a mass exodus from their native land Faras, they moved to different settlements in areas of Gujarat and Bombay. But the question is how some of these Parsis came to make Hyderabad also their home? Well, it was Sir Salar Jung, the prime minister of the Nizam’s army who wanted a battery of men who could read and write English and Persian really well as English was used to communicate with the British while Persian was the official state language. Hence, the he invited many of these Parsis to make Hyderabad their home. Many Parsis like Rustamji Chenoy, Pestonji Meherji among others held respectable positions in the administration department of Hyderabad. Now, after two centuries the Parsis are a warm and close-knit community known for their foundations, club, temples and school.
The food
Parsi food is an amalgamation of Iranian and Gujarati culinary items. The Parsi platter has varieties enough to make even a calorie-conscious person fly into a sinful food guilt trip. Now, since the fab restaurant SodaBottleOpenerWala serving authentic Parsi food opened at Jubilee Hills this summer people have been queuing to the restaurant for sampling the gastronomic delights. “But even then for a taste of authentic Dhansak, Salli Marghi and custard for lunch in a cozy Parsi home is the best thing to do. You take rest, talk, drink your glass of chilled mango drink and relish the platter,” says Zubin Vakil, fashion designer, who lives in Secunderabad.
Exodus again?
There are 1,161 Parsis in Hyderabad. Many feel that the number of Parsis is declining in the city. Some of them are leaving or have left the city for better opportunities. For example Dinaz Parbatwala who had her business of fitness equipment. She finds Hyderabad a city with peaceful environment and availability of amenities. She lived in the city for 27 years at Banjara Hills MLA Colony along with her family. But almost a year ago she shifted base to a place as far as Durgapur in Bengal. She says why she left the city, “Hyderabad is close to my heart. But my husband got better opportunities in Durgapur and we shifted over there. I find in this place people have more warmth for you. I had an inner calling to move on, so I moved. There are other Parsis also in Hyderabad who moved to countries like Canada or Australia for better opportunities.”
So, can this be considered as exodus from the people of the community? “I won’t call it exodus. The number of Parsis in Hyderabad is approx 1200 and those who move out are part of the floating population. Their moving out and coming back does not count much,” says Jehangir Bisney who has been living in the city for the past three decades. He is a chartered accountant and senior treasurer of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman, Secunderabad. Another reason why it can’t be called an exodus as Enobia Daruwala of Secunderabad says, “When a Parsi woman marries outside the community the children are usually not brought up the Parsi way. This is a slight factor in the overall community population data.”
The 111 year old fire temple
The Fire Temple at Tilak Road turned 111 this September. This number is unique and is considered auspicious in biblical studies. But this number is just another unique number for Parsi community. “It does not have a religious significance,” says Russi Doctor secretary of the temple. It is one of the oldest structures in the city as it was erected in the year 1904. “It was awarded the HUDA Heritage Building award in 2001. To mark the occasion of its 111th year, Parsis in the city had a prayer which was followed by ‘Humbandagi’ a homage to the founder of the temple Bai Maneckbai Nusserwanji Chenoy,” informs Beyniaz Edulji a food connoisseur and history enthusiast. The Holy Fire in the temple is called ‘Padshah Saheb’. Reminisces Dinaz, “On Parsi New Year – Navroz I’d go to the temple and stand in front of the Holy Fire absorbing the eternal energy. The inside of the hall is very serene and quiet with high ceiling. The fire burns round the clock.”
Parsi New Year
Come August and it’s celebration time for the Parsis. Navroz is celebrated in this month across the country. At the Fire Temple in Hyderabad special thanksgiving prayers are held known as Jashan. The people of the community offer sandalwood to the Holy Fire. Says Jehangir Bisney, “Zoroastrian is the oldest religion in the world. Purity being the main principle of the religion. But we have two Navroz festivals in one year. Our months comprise only 30 days. We add extra five days to make it 365. March 21 is celebrated as the onset of Spring according to Persian calender. A Navroz table is set on this day, dry fruits are the special food items on this day.” The New Year in August is also called Navroz, but the date changes as the Parsi calender changes to Leap Year. “For breakfast a sweet dish of sev or sevvaiyan are served. During daytime people usually visit each other’s houses. In the evning they visit Zoroastrian Club.Dinner is a grand affair comprising mostly non-veg dishes.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on a state visit to Singapore on November 24, 2015 addressed the Indian community there.
He begins the speech with the Qissa-I-Sanjan story about Sugar In The Milk as a a metaphor for how Parsis, and Indians enrich the lives of the communities, societies and nations they become part of.
A sculpture dedicated to the Mighty VIKRANT made from the original parts of the Legend itself. Inaugurated by Vice Admiral SPS Cheema, PVSM, AVSM , NM, ADC, Flag Officer Command-In -Chief, Western Naval Command & Mr. Ajoy Mehta, Municipal Commisioner MCGM on 25th January 2016.
Nearly 15 months after it was scrapped and faded into history, India’s first aircraft carrier INS Vikrant came alive on Monday in the form of a permanent memorial here on the eve of India’s 67th Republic Day.
The memorial was unveiled by Vice Admiral S.P.S. Cheema, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command, and Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta, at a traffic island opposite the Lion Gate near the Naval Dockyard in south Mumbai.
Commodore (retd) Medioma Bhada, who once piloted the ship, said the memorial was a sculpture created with pieces of metal recovered from the shipbreaking yard, designed and fracted by eminent metal sculptor Arzan Khambatta.
The memorial would a living testimony of the deep gratitude to the majestic ship which created a legacy as the pioneer of the Indian Navy’s aviation arm.
“The country’s first aircraft carrier laid a sound foundation of air operations for the Indian Navy. The valuable lessons learnt on her decks are enshrined in the organisation of Indian Navy, enabling it to fluently integrating the recently-inducted aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya,” Vice Admiral Cheema said.
INS Vikrant was commissioned in 1961 and after 36 years of action-packed service displaying India’s sea power, was decommissioned in 1997.
Originally built for the British Royal Navy as HMS Hercules in 1943 and which saw action during the India-Pakistan war in 1971, the ship was finally broken up in November 2014, ending a glorious history of 71 years.
The HMS Hercules, a Majestic-class light fleet aircraft carrier, was built on October 14, 1943, commissioned in the British Royal Navy in 1945 and bought by India in 1957.
At that time, it earned the distinction of being Asia’s first aircraft carrier.
The gigantic vessel with a displacement of 20,000 tonnes, was commissioned in the Indian Navy on February 16, 1959. It saw action during the 1971 India-Pakistan war and was finally decommissioned on January 31, 1997.
It served as a maritime museum till 2004 and since then, bitter legal battles were fought for saving INS Vikrant in the past decade, right up to the Supreme Court.
Many proposals, including converting it into a permanent museum for future generations, failed to materialise due to varied reasons, chiefly due to financial constraints.
Commodore Bhada of the Vikrant Memorial Forum and Mumbai Citizens Group expressed gratitude to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, the Western Naval Command and Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. for their support which finally helped the memorial to come up.
Vadodara: When the Parsi agiyari in Sayajigunj recently celebrated its 90 years of existence, the entire building was cleaned and lit up by the community members.
While many admired the spic and span agiyari, few knew that the fire temple management is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain and clean the huge building.
The trustees have even begun looking for young Parsi volunteers to clean up and maintain the agiyari every weekend.
“Only Parsi community members are allowed in the agiyari premises. So we cannot hire non-Parsis to maintain and clean the building.
Keeping the premises clean is now a major challenge for us as we don’t have enough young Parsi volunteers,” said Nikitin Contractor, one of the trustees in the agiyari.
Established in 1923, the agiyari was built by Nikitin’s great grandfather Pastonji Contractor at a cost of Rs one lakh and it is spread over nearly 3,000 sq feet. Pastonji’s father Faramji was the main contractor of the erstwhile state of Baroda and he had decided that the agiyari should be managed and financed only by the family members.
“The agiyari has big rooms, tall ceilings, antique furniture, paintings and statues. It is a tiring job to clean up entire premises. We do have a team of 20 volunteers who do the cleaning every weekend but most of them are ageing. The city is home to nearly 250 Parsi families but we are not able to get more youngsters as many of them have left the city for better opportunities,” Nikitin told TOI.
The trustees are now trying to motivate the youngsters to join the as volunteers. “There is a team of Parsi volunteers in Mumbai that cleans up agiyari across the country but we haven’t invited them yet,” Nikitin added.
The 2016 Zoroastrian Return To Roots Trip started today in Mumbai. 15 Fellows from six countries will spend the next 13 days experiencing Parsi Zoroastrian India. Participants from USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Pakistan, Iran and India will spend the first three days in Mumbai. Highlights include visits to the Atashbehrams, an open deck bus tour, visits to the Esplanade House, Doongerwadi, Parsi General Hospital and the true highlight….a one hour meeting with Ratan N. Tata.
From Mumbai they will make their way to Nargol, Sanjan, Udvada, Navsari and Surat. Highlights include visiting the archeological digs of the oldest known Dakhma in the Indian Sub-continent, dating back to the 1400’s; Varoli River bank, meeting the Vada Dasturji of Udvada, a Machi at the Iranshah, visits to Meherjirana Library, Kusti Weaving Demonstrations in Navsari, and visits to the Surat Parsi Orphanages and the Dotiwala Bakery.
The RTR2016 Group at Britannia & Co. Restaurant
From there the group heads to New Delhi to be special invitees of the Ministry of Minority Affairs of India, for the opening of the Everlasting Flame Exhibition and two other mega exhibitions about Zoroastrians. Navroze celebrations will be with the Delhi Parsi Anjuman on the lawns of the National Gallery with an Astad Deboo dance performance.
The Fellows at the Esplanade House with Farrokh Rustomji of the RD Sethna Trust and Vikas Dilawari, the restoration Architect of the building.
I have been very fortunate to have been associated with the Return To Roots program since inception. On this my third trip with a new group of Zarathushti youth from around the world, there is a deep sense of knowing that what started as an idea in 2012 has over the years become a fascinating program. Alumni from previous trips have returned to help organize and participate in this one, and the true essence of what the program wants to do is alive and kicking. To empower the Zarathushti youth of tomorrow with the knowledge and experiences of their rich and varied religion and culture is what the Return To Roots set out to do, and in the third trip it is bearing fruition.
If you know youth between the ages of 22 and 35, ask them to join us the next time. We promise a life-transformative experience.
June 8, 1998 marked the 50th anniversary of Air India’s maiden international flight – a milestone in the history of Indian civil aviation.
His Highness, the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, Rajpramukh of Saurashtra, looked at his watch. The golden dial caught the light and the bejewelled hands indicated the hour. The time has finally come! Jam Saheb rang the bell and asked for his luggage to be brought down. Europe would be wonderful at this time of the year he thought as his liveried servants loaded his heavily monogrammed, leather luggage into the boot of the gleaming limousine parked outside.
Soon the car was speeding towards the airport; its crested flag fluttering in the night air.
In front of the Jam Saheb’s car, another vehicle was also on its way to Santa Cruz airport, Mumbai. The car’s occupants, the Jetha family, were excited. Mr Hasambhoy Jetha had explained, perhaps for the hundredth time, to his children that the flight would not leave without them. Nevertheless, the children persisted with their questions. “What kind of plane were they going to fly in? Where would they halt? What was the pilot’s name?”
The cars finally reached the airport coming to a halt alongside a throng of journalists and photographers. Both drivers leapt out simultaneously to open the car’s doors.
There was a palpable excitement in the air. Tonight Indian Civil Aviation history would be created. The time had finally come!
The date was Tuesday, June 8, 1948 and Air India’s aircraft – Malabar Princess, a 40-seater Lockheed L-749 Constellation, registration number, VT-CQS, with Captain K.R. Guzdar in command – was in the final stages of preparation for its 5,000 mile journey from Mumbai to London via Cairo and Geneva. The flight’s time of departure was late in the evening and of the 35 passengers that were to board the flight, 29 were bound for London and six for Geneva.
Meticulous planning
Months of meticulous planning had finally paid off. General preparations for the flight had been under way for a long time. Air India had the requisite experience of flying on domestic routes. However, some extra effort had to be put in order to fly on an international sector. Carefully selected staff members were allotted to the new operation, new staff were recruited and Air India offices were opened in Cairo, Geneva and London. The Cairo office was set up by Mr F. Nariman; Mr G. Bertoli took charge of the Geneva operations and London was headed by Mr M.A.S. Dalal where Air India had a very small set-up at London airport with the Operations and Engineering Departments housed in temporary hutments and the Traffic Department in a caravan which was parked somewhere behind the old control tower. Mr Dalal and Mr S.K. Kooka had physically tramped the streets of London for many miles looking at possible premises and hoping to secure the right ones. Ultimately they decided on 56 Haymarket for the Booking Office and 35 Curzon Street for Air India’s Administrative Office.
A two column x 15 centimetre, non-graphic advertisement in The Times of India June 3, 1948 had the airlines’ mascot, the Maharajah, bowing to welcome passengers. It read, “Fly with me to London via Cairo and Geneva every Tuesday in a beautiful Constellation for Rs.1,720.”
Outside on the tarmac, Captain Guzdar was inspecting the aircraft. It was a summer night and the moon seemed suspended in the sky by a string of sparkling stars. Ideal conditions for a historic moment, thought Captain Guzdar as he looked up at the silver state-of-the-art Constellation. The aircraft was the finest money could buy and the operating crew which included the navigator and the radio officer, would soon be in the familiar self-contained environment where they could function with the skill and independence for which they had been trained. The camaraderie of the air – intangible, yet real to those who shared it – would be theirs once more.
The food was coming on board now. Given the nature of the flight – Air India’s maiden international venture – and the list of distinguished passengers, it had been chosen with great care. Hors d’oeuvres, a succulent main course, a delectable dessert and of course, a savoury.
The food was coming on board now. Given the nature of the flight – Air India’s maiden international venture – and the list of distinguished passengers, it had been chosen with great care. Hors d’oeuvres, a succulent main course, a delectable dessert and of course, a savoury.
Capt KR Guzdar being interviewed by late Hamid Sayani of All India Radio prior to departure from Santa Cruz Airport, on June 8, 1948
In the distance Captain Guzdar could see the flight crew walking down the tarmac towards the aircraft. They were talking excitedly. And why not? It was, after all, a once-in-a-lifetime event.
The air hostesses and the lone Flight Purser, greeted Captain Guzdar before they ascended the stairs leading into the plane. Dressed in midnight-blue coats and skirts complemented by light blue, short-sleeved blouses, the girls looked smartly efficient. The hostesses had been trained not just as mere stewardesses but as personnel whose duty it was to ensure that every person in the aircraft felt that he or she was a special guest of the airline as opposed to just being a passenger on board. The air hostesses were given intensive training in the art of service on board. Air India’s distinguishing mark in the intensely competitive world of international air transport. Western apparel was to remain the uniform for Air India air hostesses till 1960 when sarees were introduced giving the uniform its first ethnic touch.
Inside the small terminal building the atmosphere was electric. Passengers and visitors rubbed shoulders with the press and airport officials. Never before had Santa Cruz seen so many excited faces. Tonight it was a bustling, jam-packed, noisy conglomeration of people, many of whom, despite the late hour, had come to witness this historic event.
At one end of the hall the Air India contingent comprising Mr J.R.D. Tata, the then Chairman; Mr S.K. Kooka, then Traffic Manager who later became Commercial Director of the airline and Mr B.W. Figgins, then General Manager, watched the bustling crowd with affection. They knew just how much hard work, how many late nights and months of preparation it had taken to make this dream come true.
Distinguished passengers
Passengers were being checked in. Other distinguished persons who were to be on board the Malabar Princess that night were:
Maharaja Shri Duleepsinhji who was looking forward to seeking the England-Australia Test match; Mr and Mrs Keki Mody; Lt. Colonel W. Grey, formerly of the Government of India Political Department; Mr Bhatti Gulam Mohamed; Mr Narottam and Mrs Sulochana Lalbhai; Mr H.R. Stimson; Dr Eric Streiff; Mr Hans Balthasar Reinhard; Mr Dhunjibhoy Noshir; Mr and Mrs Fazel A Fazelbhoy; Mr Salim Gulamally Bhimanee; Mr Sinha Govindjee; Mr Venkatachalam Iyer; Mr Neville Wadia; Mr L.V. Malkani; Mrs G.S. Patell; Mr N.K. Patel; Mr P.S. Jayasinge; Mr Charles C.M. Broughton; Mr C.R.K. Rao; Mr C.R. Rao; Mrs Rosemary Southorn; Mr J.I. Williams and Mr Sardar Singh. Also on board were Mr H.B. Malcolm and Mr R.R. Noble, Indian cyclists, who were to represent India at the Olympic Games at Wembley.
“What a lot of luggage there is,” thought Gulshan Jetha wondering whether it would all fit into the aircraft. Little did she realise that apart from luggage, the Malabar Princess was carrying on board, 164 bags containing 1700 pounds of mail, the greater part from Indians to their friends and relatives in Egypt, Switzerland and the UK.
Akbarali Jetha was getting impatient. Tapping his father’s hand he asked, “When will we board the flight?” Just then came the flight departure announcement. Akbarali cheered and to his surprise found that he was not alone. The entire building seemed to comprise one applauding mass of people.
This is what the many visitors had come to witness. The lateness of the hour had not dampened their spirits. This was one moment they were not going to miss.
“Drink a toast to me when you’re up in the air,” said Mr Neville Wadia’s mother as he headed towards the doors leading out onto the tarmac.
Outside near the gleaming, silver Constellation, bearing the Tricolour, a quiet calm prevailed. Passengers were beginning to board and the hostesses stood with folded hands welcoming them aboard.
On the flight deck, Captain Guzdar had already begun the pre-flight check. The clock in the cockpit displayed the time – 11.15 pm. “Almost time to go,” Captain Guzdar smiled excitedly to himself. Inside the aircraft the girls had begun their pre-takeoff rituals.
Ready for takeoff
Cairo 1948: Fali R.Nariman – District Manager Air-India International Cairo and Mr A.A.Fyzec- the Indian Ambassador to Egypt
Akbarali Jetha peered out of the window. Further down the aisle Mr and Mrs Fazel A. Fazelbhoy were engaged in an animated conversation which came to a standstill when they heard the announcement. “On behalf of Captain Guzdar and your crew we welcome you aboard our maiden flight to London via Cairo and Geneva…”
The cabin lights were dimmed for takeoff and a few minutes later Malabar Princess began moving, taxiing down to reach the takeoff runway.
In position now, Captain Guzdar revved the engines while he waited for permission from the control tower to takeoff. It soon came: “Air India Malabar Princess, cleared for takeoff….” Hearing these words, Captain Guzdar did not wait. His outspread fingers slid the main throttles forward to their full extent. The engines’ sound deepened from a steady whine to a thunderous roar. Then as Captain Guzdar released the brakes, Malabar Princess leaped forward down the runway.
Lights flashed past as the aircraft gathered speed. The nose wheel left the tarmac and Malabar Princess was now in lift-off mode, ready to leave the ground. A moment later with speed still increasing, they were in the air – bound for Cairo!
In 1948 only a few airlines existed and not many countries had their own international operations. India had achieved a notable milestone, ahead of others, that night. The civil aviation industry was still in its nascent stages so aircraft were small – while the Lockheed L-749 Constellation a state-of-the-art aircraft in its time, had a seating capacity of 40 people, the state-of-the-art Boeing 747-400, operated on this route today, is a 417-seater.
Aircraft also did not have the capability of flying long distances non-stop as they do today. Constellations could do 4,800 kilometres as opposed to 13,340 kilometres non-stop today. Flights, therefore had to make technical halts en route for fuelling. For Malabar Princess, Cairo and Geneva were to be such halts.
Arrival of the inaugural flight at London Airport. Mr B.W Figgins, then General Manager; Mr & Mrs J.R.D. Tata; Mr V.K. Krishna Menon, then High Commissioner for India in the UK; and Sir Fredrick James, then Managing Director Tata Ltd London.
Malabar Princess arrived in London in the early hours of June 10 taking a little more than 24 hours as compared to flights of today which take under 10.
For the second leg of the journey from Cairo Captain D.K. Jatar was in command. He was assisted by Captain B.B. Dhuru; Radio Officer, N.R. Sule; Flight Engineer, Freddie D’Souza; Navigator R.S. Mani; air hostesses Thelma McCoy and Ray Salway and Flight Purser, Ganesh.
After a halt in Geneva, Malabar Princess cruised towards London. A few hours in the night the voice from the control tower cut abruptly through Captain Jatar’s thoughts: “Air India Malabar Princess, this is London. Begin your descent now.”
Holding the aircraft in a steady descent, on course, Captain Jatar ran through the pre-landing check list. There was the familiar sound of the landing gear going down and he saw the runway lights strung ahead of him like strands of converging gold. Diminishing speed, Captain Jatar applied the brakes and soon Malabar Princess was taxiing down the runway coming to a halt at London airport.
Among the several people waiting to receive passengers was Mr Krishna Menon, then Indian High Commissioner to the UK. A broad smile spread across his face as he extended his hand in welcome to the then Chairman of Air India, Mr J.R.D. Tata, aptly described as the Father of Indian Civil Aviation.
Flash bulbs popped as Mr Tata stepped down from the aircraft followed by other passengers. With sparkling eyes and a broad smile he affirmed, “Set your watches boys, we are right on schedule!” He was clearly delighted at this great achievement.
Mr Tata carried with him messages of greeting and goodwill from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India to the Prime Ministers of Great Britain and Egypt and the President of the Swiss Republic. He also took with him similar messages from Mr Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, the then Communications Minister of India to his counterparts in these countries.
Considering its great significance, the event received extensive coverage in the Indian media. The Times of India dated June 9, 1948 wrote, “The inauguration of India’s external air service…marks the attainment by this country of its majority in their realm of aerial development….this is the first stage in India’s march to international status…”
Celebrations continued the following day when an enormous party was held at the Dorchester Hotel, London where Mr Tata made his first speech in his capacity as Chairman of Air India International. The event was a great success and the national carrier of India was launched as an international airline.
History had been made and one man’s vision had finally taken shape. A dream had been translated into reality.
Known for his love for Queen Elizabeth and the royal family, owner of Mumbai’s Britannia restaurant Boman Kohinoor is excited about the #WillKat visit to the city this month.
This is Boman Kohinoor, the 93-year-old owner of Britannia Restaurant in Mumbai.
The 93-year-old told us it would be an honour to host them at his iconic restaurant and serve them his famous berry pulav. Will this royal couple drop by to meet their biggest fan? Spread the word. Make it happen. #WillKatMeetMe
Through a gateway leading off Cunningham Road stands the Hatworks Boulevard, one of the few colonial era mansions that have survived the turn of the century.
The structure, now home to about 12 businesses, is named after the Imperial Hatworks, a hat-and-headgear-making factory started by England-trained master hat-cutter Nadir Maneckjee.
“He broke away from his father’s business to start this,” says Rishad Minocher, Maneckjee’s grandson and one of the current owners of the mansion.
Minocher says his grandfather first rented the house in the 1920s, when he started the business in the outhouse that collapsed last January, “all thanks to our neighbours”, says Minocher.
(At the same time the foundation of an apartment block of Queen’s Corner, around the corner, gave way, and the residents vacated in a rush. The residents alleged that the damage was caused due to the negligence of a builder constructing an apartment next door.)
Though Maneckjee moved in to his Cunningham Road home in the early 20th century, the mansion dates back about 100 years further, says Minocher. “Our records go back by that much, but we don’t know who built it,” he told City Express.
Among the rumours floating around, one has it that it was an outhouse to the Cubbon Hotel.
A couple of decades after moving in, Maneckjee bought the house from a ‘Mr Bhat’, who owned it then, and made a few changes.
“It was the Bengaluru-style red and white – like the High Court – which he changed to cream and white,” says Minocher. “He also added a few ‘Parsi’ ornamental touches – the fire near the roof in the front.”
On the premise that most other surviving colonial houses don’t have the wooden false ceiling, and his ancestral home does, Minocher believes this is likely his grandfather’s doing as well.
“The walls are all 23 inches thick, and made with mud bricks and lime plaster,” he says. “It’s usually very cool inside.”
However, with the temperature in the city hitting a record high, the airconditioners in all the stores are whirring.
Some rooms have wood-panel flooring, characteristic of structures from the British colonial period. In some others though, red-oxide flooring was replaced by tiles manufactured by a company in earstwhile Bombay, Bharat Tiles.
“Such guard tiles were usually manufactured in Italy, but a company in Bombay had just started making them,” says Minocher. “My grandfather was a supporter of the swadeshi movement.”
Refurbishment
So when Minocher and his wife decided to refurbish it decades later to open it up for boutiques, they had tiles shipped from the same manufacturers.
“We realised the company still operated in Mumbai,” he says. “And we needed a few extra tiles, which we got from there.”
Apart from moving the porch and the gate, Minocher tried to retain the architectural features as they were.
“Some of the wood structures had been painted over. We scraped it off, so that the teak finishing would show,” he says. “Some of the bathrooms too had to be redone so that they would be suitable for public use.
Minocher, who lived in the heritage building till he started going to college, recalls a time when the road wasn’t the congested stretch, it is today. A mere six houses lined the stretch between Queen’s Road and Ali Askar Road, he says.
“We didn’t have to because we had a huge garden, but once in a way, we would play cricket on Cunningham Road,” he says. Once in every three to four overs he, his siblings and friends would have to move the stumps to let a car pass. And rains didn’t dampen their spirit, for their game could continue indoors – ‘in the huge corridor that runs through the house’.
Architect Mansoor Ali, of Bengaluru by Foot, says this was once a neighbourhood for the British and rich Indians. “The Maharaja of Travancore also lived here,” he says. “Of all the old bungalows, about three still exist.”
Human Presence
Little surprise that maintenace is hardly easy. And old houses are better preserved when lived in, Minocher believes.
“Houses are creatures of temperament; they need the warmth of human presence,” he says.
After Minocher’s mother, who took over running the factory after her father, passed away in the 1980s, her widower moved to a smaller house at the back.
After that the mansion remained largely vacant. So when Minocher and his wife toured Singapore, they found that such structures were often used by boutiques, and decided to implement the idea.
Initially, conservation architect Renu Mistry guided the couple, after which they took it forward themselves.
“I am in the restaurant business, but I had just sold a restaurant, so I had some time on my hands,” says Minocher. “So I stood here and got the work done.”
The restoration began in 2003 and went on for a couple of years.
The Hatworks
When Nadir Maneckjee started The Imperial Hatworks in the 1920s, it mainly made headgear for the British armed forces – the British Indian Army, the Navy and Air Force.
“At one point, they made hats for many in the Iraqi army, when they were here,” says Maneckjee’s grandson Rishad Minocher.
Over the next few decades, the firm’s clientele expanded to include sportspersons, royalty and the commoner, ‘for everyone wore the sola topi’. “They came up with the pre-tied Mysore petha, even for the rulers,” says Minocher.
“People of Wadiyar household would select six-yard sarees – the kind the maharajas preferred – to make turbans out of. Some would even ask that the leftover pieces be sent back,” he recalls, with a chuckle.
Framed photographs – one of a member of the royal family wearing the turban and another featuring various turban designs – hang on the walls of Hatworks Boulevard.
The first polo helmets the company manufactured were a laminated modification of the sola topi, he says. But production was hit after the import of reed was banned in the 1960s, he adds.
“And the hats were of very good quality, in fact more than was good for business,” he says. “They lasted forever, and people who bought them would return occasionally to have them done up, but not to buy new ones.”
Over the years, skilled workers became scarce too, and the factory was kept running more for passion than for profit. Finally, after Minocher’s paternal grandfather, who was last overseeing operations, passed away in the 1990s, its shutters came down permanently.
Adi Godrej first to speak out: Beef ban, prohibition are hurting economy
Clever democratic leaders make sure disadvantages are minimised, advantages maximised, says Godrej chairman.
INDUSTRIALIST Adi Godrej, chairman of the $4.1-billion Godrej Group, with diverse interests in fast moving consumer goods, real estate, consumer durables and furniture, Wednesday said the beef ban and liquor prohibition in certain states were hurting the economy.
Godrej is the first leading voice from India Inc to speak out against beef ban and prohibition and point out its adverse impact on the economy. His warning comes at a time when the government at the Centre is set to complete two years in office, and several states seek to strictly implement beef ban and push for prohibition close to assembly elections.
Godrej told The Indian Express that government polices over the last two years have, by and large, been good. “Ease of doing business really helps. We have also benefited from low commodity prices,” he said. He believes “India will remain the fastest growing economy in the world… India will gradually emerge as a strong developed country”.
– See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/adi-godrej-first-to-speak-out-beef-ban-prohibition-are-hurting-economy-2796052/#sthash.oH2C9khS.dpuf
For about a century, since dropping anchor in Chennai, the Clubwala family has been credited with founding several institutions in the city. “Hugging,” says 87-year-old Mani Clubwalla, is one she would like to take credit for.
Article by Kamini Mathai | Times of India
When Mani and her husband first moved to the city in 1970, the Parsi community threw a dinner to welcome the new family in town, inviting members of other communities as well. “There were several Chettiar families who had come for the party and I decided to give everybody hearty kotis (hugs). The Chettiar women shrank back in what I think was a mix of fear and shock. That’s when I was told that in Chennai people were particular about their personal space,” laughs Mani, who stays on Santhome High Road.
At the next party, a few weeks later, the Chettiar women walked up to her with open arms and hugged her. “I joked that I had taught the Chettiars to hug,” says Mani, who is originally from Karachi, but moved to India in 1948 after her marriage to Jehangir Clubwala, who later became a director at sugar manufacturing giant EID Parry.
While Mani chose to stay on in Santhome after her husband’s demise in 2002, her sons left for the US. “This is home. I can’t imagine being elsewhere,” she says. Jehangir was one of the several members of the Clubwala family who made a mark in Chennai.
Jehangir’s uncle Phiroj M Clubwala donated the Royapuram Fire Temple to the community in memory of his son, while Mani’s sister-in-law Mary Clubwala Jadhav founded the Madras School of Social Work in 1952. Mani, who was president of the National Association for the Blind, Tamil Nadu branch, is also credited with reviving the Parsi Club in 1980.
Mani and her husband decided to make Santhome their home 40 years ago because the area was far removed from the bustle of Royapuram where most of the Parsis stayed. “Land rates here were quite low and the area was quiet,” she says. After a moment’s pause, she adds, “In fact, most of the Parsis who came to Chennai on work never really left. The city had a lot of space unlike Mumbai, which was cramped even back then.” Her bungalow was the second one of its kind to come up on Karpagam Avenue, and the last few still standing in the area.
When they bought the property, Mani recalls empty plots around them till the sea. “We could see the sea from here. There was little between the sea and us. Now, there is an ocean of shops and buildings,” she says. Residents of the area say that in the olden days, most bungalows in the Santhome area did not need fans because of the sea breeze. The area also had a sizeable Anglo-Indian population living in European-style houses.
Around the same time the Clubwalas moved to south Chennai, several Parsi families seemed to have had the same idea as they moved out of Royapuram, settling down in areas such as Harrington Road, Royapettah, and Anna Nagar where real estate came cheap and neighbourhoods were quiet. The community, scattered by real estate investment, used the third Saturday of every month for a get-together that almost always involved feasting.
“We also have five gumbals or meets every year, hosted by one Parsi family. This is our way of making sure the community stays in touch. We are, after all, down to around 250 or so in the city,” says Mani. Describing Chennai as a `city of opportunity,’ Mani says it has been kind to every Parsi who has called it home. “I joke and say the city also turned every Parsi who lived here into a millionaire.”
Come Sunday and the 500-odd Parsis in Kolkata will get together for a special workshop on problems faced by the community, one of the smallest in the country.
This is an initiative by Jiyo Parsi, an effort by the ministry of minority affairs to arrest the decline in the population of Parsis in India. The workshop will be on ‘Family Life in Modern Times’, followed by a presentation by Jiyo Parsi. Such workshops are being held at all locations across the country with sizable Parsi populations. A report will then be prepared and submitted to the ministry for further action.
“After the 2001 census, it was realized that the Parsi population has come down drastically in India over the last 50 years. We felt that something needed to be done to get community members to have more children. A lot of research was carried out to ascertain the causes. Much of this was done at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). Studies were conducted on subjects like community elders, family structures, what the Parsi youth does for a living and disease. The findings and recommendations were handed over to the Bombay Parsi Panchayat, an apex body of the community, and certain measures were taken. For the next few years, financial encouragement was given to those going in for a second or third child. In five years, a few hundred babies were born. This isn’t a mean feat for such a small community. We then went to the ministry and a five year project was granted,” said Dr Katy Gandevia of TISS and project co-ordinator, Jiyo Parsi.
During research, it had been found that the age of marriage is a major factor in declining population. According to Gandevia, women in the 100% literate community are allowed the same opportunities as men and lead independent lives. By the time they decide to settle down, they have few reproductive years left. Some women don’t even marry because of this. Jiyo Parsi first launched a campaign to urge women to settle down earlier and go for children.
“Another problem is that Parsis live longer. In many families, a member remains unmarried to look after the elders. Then, there was the belief that more children will lead to expenses. Parsis are used to the best in life and hope to give their children the same. We tried to resolve these issues,” she added. This was only part of the job. The most important step taken was to financially assist older couples to have children.
“There are many who say they don’t need financial support. We then urge them to help other couples. The Parsis are a very self-respecting community that has never sought anything like reservation from the government. While providing financial support, we also attempt to allay fears that such couples have about whether they would be able to give their children proper educational opportunities. In a little over two years now, we have seen nearly 60 babies born through this project. Some twins were also born,” Gandevia, who will be in Kolkata on Sunday said. She will be accompanied by Pearl Mistry, another counselor for Jiyo Parsi.
According to Viroo Medhora from the Parsi Zoroastrian Association in Kolkata: “The highlights of the workshop are understanding our loved ones, fitness and work life balance, education and career for the youth, scholarships, education loans, childcare, birth rate and infertility among other things. All this will be in form of games, worksheets, role plays involving entire community regardless of age, for a lot of fun and learning. A powerpoint presentation will also be made to encourage participants to think out of the box for solutions and ideas to be used as feedback to the ministry for issues dealt by them.”
From a time when all the prominent institutions in Agra were run by Parsis in the early 20th century — right from manning the Central Bank to starting city’s iconic hotel Cecil Mansion and entirely controlling the liquor trade here, the number of Parsis in the city has come to just six today.
“Most of the members of the Parsi community have left the city for better living standards”, says Porus Debara (54), President of the Agra Parsi Anjuman and member of the executive body of Federation of Zoroastrian Anjumans of India.
Talking about the consistent fall in their number, Porus says, “The Parsi community in India is deteriorating because most Parsis do not marry and those who do marry do so in their thirties or forties and rarely have more than one child. Intermarriage is another problem amongst us. If a girl marries outside the Parsi community, her children are not welcomed into the community.” The Parsi community has a long history in Agra and its zenith was in the early 20th century when several families arrived in the city as employees of the railways. Over the next few decades, they left their mark on various aspects of the city.
“Parsis first came to Agra more than a century ago as employees of the railways. Some of us also started off with menial jobs such as drivers and guards, but slowly established businesses in the city. The liquor trade was entirely owned by us. Almost all employees of the Central Bank were Parsis. The first hotel in Agra, Cecil Mansion, was started by us. Most prominent lawyers of the city were also Parsis,” says Debara.
In the 1960s, there were still 25 families left, but the numbers have been plummeting in the past few years, and at present there are just six members living in the city.
“In 1969 when we moved to the city, there were almost 25 families in the city. With time, the number has now reduced to just two families. However, there has never been any bias against us in the people of Agra. We have always seen as a peace loving community,” says Daulat Debara, mother of Porus.
“Many of them were engineers in John’s Mill, Jeoni Mandi, were Parsis. The community produced some of the best ginning engineers in the country. Since the factory closed down, almost all of them have left the city,” says Dr Rati Khambatta, the treasurer of the community and doctor at S N Medical College. To keep the spirit of the Parsi community alive in the city, the community keeps meeting on a regular basis. They meet regularly at their dharamshala located in Pratapura. They even have functions at Aaram Garh, their graveyard located in front of the GIC ground.
“We meet as a congregation regularly and even celebrate together during the festivals,” Khambatta says. “The Parsi community has many festivals. Jamshed-i Nouroz is celebrated in March. Pateti, the last day of the year, and Nouruz, the first day of the year, is celebrated in August. Khordad Sal, which celebrates the birth anniversary of the Prophet Zoroaster, is celebrated on March 26,” she says.
Porus says, “Agra has no fire temple. We are only 6 people and it’s not possible to maintain a fire temple amongst us. The running cost of a fire temple is around Rs 70,000-80,000 a month. A priest has to stay at the temple at all time to ensure that the fire never gets extinguished.”
“We usually go to the temples in Delhi. When we’re at home, we pray among ourselves,” adds Daulat.
Raghav Mandava takes the disappearance of the vultures in India head on. In a hard hitting video he lays the problems out head on.
Written & Performed by – Raghav Mandava
Director – Xulfee
edit – Xulfee & Mohit Bhardwaj
Animation – Anish Kumar Daolagupu & Ankur Dobriyal
DOP – Ahmed Kamal Saifi
Production – Chahat Arora
Sound – Om Prakash
An alarming 18% decline in Parsi population since 2001 census has community worried. Below are two articles. The first is by dear friend and the Director of the UNESCO PARZOR Project Dr. Shernaz Cama.
Dr. Cama writes
Dear Friends,
I have just received the Census results of 2011 and while we expected the 10 percent decline , it is sad to see a 20 percent decline . From 69,401 we are now 57,000 only.
It is for this reason that Parzor had approached the Ministry of Minority Affairs ,many years ago ,for a Scheme to help the Parsi Zoroastrian community from demographic extinction . The Planning Commission had been briefed by us, but it was only in 2013 that MOMA kindly supported the Jiyo Parsi programme.
We have had , as predicted by ICMR, two thirds of the births of this Programme through Advocacy by efforts ,both of our dedicated team at TISS , Dr Katy Gandevia , Pearl Mistry and Binaifer Sahukar ,as well as the great pro bono ad campaign of Madison BMB which went viral across the world.
To this we add the medical component , led by the totally dedicated Dr Anahita Pandole of Jaslok hospital , the interventions of other caring doctors at the B.D Sarvajainik hospital in Navsari , others in Surat , as well as Hyderabad and several cities . With the help of surrogacy , supported over the limit fixed by MOMA , we have 2 healthy children .The total today is 71 births , with 3 happening recently on a single day in July 2016 .
We , as a country and community , need to help this team and take the Parzor MOMA message to every couple as well as young Zoroastrians . Wherever we have had Workshops , on parenting, child management , grand-parenting , marriage counselling , we have had so many questions and anxieties raised and then resolved , to the best of our teams abilities . This shows that there is a deep psychological change needed in mind sets.
We now have 2 films on Jiyo Parsi , one short for general viewing, and one which touches on delicate and detailed medical issues . We need Anjumans to invite us for longer sessions where we can work with for several days , in depth with the community .
We have good things happening : couples and only children declaring on video , after seeing the Ads and hearing our Counsellors , that they are determined to break this mindset and have a second child. We have celebrated the first birthdays of our JP children and even a few second birthdays .
But with the Census results out we all have to work much harder and encourage as well as support and help our young to find partners , encourage a balance between personal life fulfilment and successful professional work . Most importantly we must collectively and consciously realise the urgency of taking responsibility to save a precious world heritage from disappearing .
Let us all re commit ourselves to this task so that at the next Census we can look forward to better news and higher numbers.
With best wishes ,
Dr Shernaz Cama
Director, UNESCO Parzor
Parzor Foundation
Alarming 18% decline in Parsi population since 2001 census has community worried
Veteran cartoonist Hemant Morparia once depicted a grumpy panda in a cage whining to his mate, “So much pressure on us to breed – what do they take us for, Parsis?” Based on the recently-released 2011 census figures, the pressure on Parsis to procreate pronto is only likely to increase.
Since 2001, the Parsi population has declined to 57,264, an approximate 18% drop from 69,601. While Parsis expected the number to dwindle, the drop is even more drastic than most predicted. “I was expecting 60,000,” says Parsiana editor Jehangir Patel, whose magazine keeps track of births and deaths in the community. “I think the reason for the discrepancy is the lack of reliable data from small towns and places like Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai.”
While the population in Maharashtra has fallen by 9,885, Gujarat has seen a relatively smaller decline of 1,867. Delhi and Haryana, however, have seen a tiny increase of 19 people and 59 people respectively. The difference between men and women is almost insignificant. The number of Parsi men declined by 17% and women by 18%.
In 2014, a series of provocative print ads were released under the government funded ‘Jiyo Parsi’ scheme to stem the population decline. “Isn’t it time you broke up with your mom?” asked one, poking fun at 40-year-old Parsi men, who are unable to cut the “umbilical cord”. Another one read, tongue-firmly-in-cheek, “We’re superior. We’re cultured. We’re educated. We’re about to be extinct. Get married early, have babies early.” The scheme also counsels Parsi couples to start families quickly and urges them to diagnose and treat infertility. It also offers free treatments like in-vitro fertilization and intrauterine insemination to couples with annual income below Rs10 lakh.
Shernaz Cama, director of the UNESCO Parzor Foundation, which is implementing the scheme, admitted the census numbers were disheartening but was upbeat about the fact that Jiyo Parsi was responsible for three new births this month alone. “Since the scheme was implemented, there have been 71 births through Jiyo Parsi,” said Cama, adding two-thirds were through the advocacy programme. “After seeing our films and hearing our counselors, couples approach us determined to have a second child,” she says.
Many young Parsis – though alarmed by the figures – are wary of committing to having large families or “carom foursomes” as the Jiyo Parsi ads suggest. “I’ve done my bit by marrying a Parsi,” says Murad Currawalla. “But I would plan my family based on how many kids I can afford to have in terms of education and personal attention.”
Hoshang Gotla, the founder of youth organization Xtremely Young Zoroastrians (XYZ), agrees stemming the decline is improbable at this stage. Instead of obsessing over numbers, he tries to channel positivity into the 5-15 age group. “We just want to keep these children within the community, give them a chance to meet each other and feel pride and belonging in being Parsi,” he says.
There’s also the feeling among liberals that Parsis have brought this upon themselves with rigid rules keeping children of Parsi mothers and non-Parsi fathers outside the faith. But even such alarming statistics aren’t enough for orthodox sections to agree to “tinker” with customs.
“We need to uphold our traditions else we will perish,” says former Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustee Jimmy Mistry, adding these figures need to be seen in the context of where we started. “When we came to India we were not more than 2,500, but we grew to 69,000.” BPP chairman Yazdi Desai adds these figures also don’t take into account migration to foreign countries.
While some insist on seeing the silver lining, others like Patel feel Parsis need to start thinking about how their institutions can outlast them. “If there is nobody there, we can consider converting our fire temples into schools and libraries. I don’t want them torn down. People should remember us as a community that made a huge contribution even as they died out.”
In 1892, when he became the first Indian elected to the British House of Commons, Dadabhai Naoroji expressed rosy optimism about how India’s various political demands could be achieved through Parliament. By 1895, however – when he lost his reelection bid – he was no longer so sanguine.
This was well reflected in his more radicalised political discourse. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Naoroji was openly calling for Indian self- government, placing all other components of the nationalist programme behind this single demand. Only self-government, he declared, could stop the drain of wealth through the elimination of a European-dominated civil service and the creation of a representative and accountable administration that would serve Indian interests rather than those of the British.
In June 1903, for example, he upbraided Romesh Chunder Dutt for dwelling on comparatively minor issues instead, such as land revenue reform. Such issues, Naoroji argued, drew “a red herring across the real evil at the bottom”. Moreover, Naoroji repudiated his earlier views that major public works investment would alleviate the country’s woes.
Once India rallied behind self-government and realised that the drain was the ultimate cause of its miseries, “the British will have either to leave precipitately, or be destroyed in India, or if they see the danger of the disaster in good time and apply the remedy, to save the Empire by putting an end to the Drain”.
Such language disturbed the moderate standard-bearers in the Indian National Congress, who also saw self-government as something possible only in the distant future. At the same time, Naoroji became the object of criticism from a new wing of so-called extremist nationalists, men who took issue with moderate political techniques – techniques that Naoroji still advocated – as well as Naoroji’s insistence on qualifying Indian self-government as being “under British Paramountcy” (his reluctance to talk about a future for India outside of the British Empire similarly caused a stir at the 1904 Socialist Congress).
As Bengal reeled from Lord Curzon’s partition of the province in 1905, Bal Gangadhar Tilak pleaded with Naoroji to see the futility of petitioning and resolution drafting and instead throw support behind the Swadeshi boycott movement and “national education’; furthermore, he questioned the Congress’ focus on work in Great Britain, pointing out the limited concessions that India had won in the past from Westminster.
Other radicals issued much sharper denunciations. In the pages of the Indian Sociologist, Shyamji Krishnavarma charged Naoroji with gross inconsistency – condemning British rule, on the one hand, while maintaining a belief in British justice and fair-mindedness, on the other – and pronounced his political career “a sad failure”. As Naoroji entered the eighth decade of his life, he increasingly found himself somewhere in between the moderate and radical streams of Indian nationalism.
In many ways, the year 1906 was a culmination of Naoroji’s political career. He waged a final parliamentary campaign in North Lambeth in London – standing as an independent candidate in favour of a Labour programme – and lost. He cheered the appointment of John Morley as secretary of state for India – echoing moderate nationalist hopes of a new enlightened era at the India Office – and then recoiled as Morley announced in Parliament that he saw no prospect for Indian self-government in the foreseeable future.
Finally, as divisions in the Congress between the moderates and the extremists widened and threatened to cause an irreparable split, Naoroji, as the only leader amenable to both camps, received frantic requests to preside over the organisation’s Calcutta session in December 1906.
That November, just days after accompanying Mohandas K Gandhi and other representatives of the Transvaal Indians to meetings at the India Office and Colonial Office, the 81-year-old political veteran sailed eastward in order to take up the Congress presidency for the third time.
It was here that Naoroji – although too frail to read out his own speech – publicly established self-government or Swaraj, as he deliberately termed it, as the Congress’s central and ultimate goal. “Self-government is the only and chief remedy,” he declared. “In self-government lies our hope, strength and greatness.” Responding to the prevarications of both Morley and the Congress moderates, Naoroji dismissed the idea that India still had to undergo a significant degree of political maturation before Great Britain could endow it with the privilege of responsible institutions.
Instead, he framed self-government as a question of rights – affirming that Indians were “British citizens” entitled to “claim all British citizens’ rights”. He also declared self-government to be an appropriate form of reparation for the injustice and economic depredation that India had suffered under the Raj.
But how could such rights be achieved? Here, Naoroji confronted the thorny issue of nationalist methods. While praising the swadeshi movement in Bengal, Naoroji nevertheless urged delegates to persist in petitioning and other forms of constitutional agitation. These methods, he acknowledged, had reaped India many failures and frustrations.
“Since my early efforts,” Naoroji stated, “I must say that I have felt so many disappointments as would be sufficient to break any heart and lead one to despair and, I am afraid, to rebel.”
Yet, he urged the Congress to retain faith in the new Liberal ministry in London and resist temptations to adopt extralegal tactics. Naoroji’s address was unique in the sense that it elicited praise and criticism from both moderates and radicals: the Jam-e-Jamshed of Bombay, for example, shuddered at the thought of Indian self-government, while the Bengali daily Sandhya found Naoroji’s definition of Swaraj too timid. Tilak and his allies, meanwhile, expressed measured satisfaction with Naoroji’s performance. The Kesari only took issue with his continued faith in British justice, asserting that “if he had spent the last few years in India, he would have come to a different conclusion altogether”.
The Calcutta Congress was Naoroji’s last major political undertaking. Returning to London in early 1907, after a hectic few weeks in India, Naoroji’s health collapsed and he spent the next several months in convalescence. By August, he had resolved to retire from public life and return to India for good. George Birdwood, a Conservative hand at the India Office who was nevertheless one of Naoroji’s oldest and warmest friends, approved of the decision, declaring that “it is in India you should die. That will give the necessary dramatic unity to your life”.
Naoroji sailed into Bombay harbour one last time on 7 November 1907, too sick and enfeebled to comply with the requests for a public welcome. Instead, he retreated to a seaside bungalow in the then-faraway village of Versova where he commenced a quiet retired life interspersed with fits of activity.
After years of speaking on Indian economic matters, Naoroji was faced with the dire state of his own finances, something that caused him great distress and occasional bouts of worsened health. While refusing to comment on Congress politics, Naoroji occasionally issued public statements that continued to put moderates and radicals on edge.
In January 1912, he expressed gratification to King George V and Queen Mary for visiting India, but implored Indians to respond to the visit by pushing more strongly for self-government. In September 1915, shortly after his 90th birthday, Naoroji caused consternation among Bombay moderates by accepting the presidency of Annie Besant’s new Home Rule League.
After a full life of nearly 92 years, Dadabhai Naoroji passed away on 30 June 1917. He left behind a maturing political organisation with machinery on two continents, a nationalist ideology that centred on India’s impoverishment and emphasised self-government as the only means of resolution, and a generation of Indians drawn into nationalist activity.
Writing in Hind Swaraj, Gandhi declared Naoroji to be both “the author of nationalism” and “the Father of the Nation”. “Had not the Grand Old Man of India prepared the soil,” concluded Gandhi, “our young men could not have even spoken about Home Rule.”
Excerpted with permission from the Introduction to Dadabhai Naoroji: Selected Private Papers, edited by SR Mehrotra and Dinyar Patel, Oxford University Press. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
Even as the debate of rights of children from Parsi mother to non-Parsi father and Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is being debated in the community, a case of a Navjote ceremony on a boy born to Parsi mother from a non-Parsi father has come up and some members of the community are opposing it. Such demand has also angered others in the community.
The Navjote ceremony of the grandson of former chairman of Delhi Parsi Anjuman (DPA) and member of the National Commission for Minorities, Dadi Mistry is being opposed by some because Mistry’s daughter is married to a non-Parsi. Navjote ceremony was done on his Dad’s grandson Chaitanya Kersi Jaikaria.
All Parsi children go through Navjote ceremony as it is considered as formal initiation into the religion. The ceremony was performed in Delhi by priests, Ervad Khusroo Madon and Noshir Dastoor as per a news report ‘A Navjote in Delhi’ in Parsiana magazine, a community magazine in Mumbai.
Based on that news item, a member of the community has written to Yazdi Desai, chairman of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India, an umbrella body of almost all Anjumans statin that it be declared “null and void”. Nariman Mody, community member who is said to have distributed his letter wrote to Desai, “Please treat this matter seriously as it is for the survival of the Parsi Community and Zoroastrian religion.”
When asked why he had raised the issue, Mody said, “This is our custom and it is being practiced since so many years. Someday, they will bring someone else too, which is wrong. They (Desai) should take up the matter in the federation.”
When asked about the arguments that Prophet Zarathustra too converted, Mody claimed, “There was no other religion that time. This will haunt them even in court of law. They cannot allow just anyone in fire temple. People who donated money for fire temples did not want that.”
Viraf Kapadia, another community member who supported Mody’s views said that the issue for Parsis has been settled before independence when inducting into religion cases had come up and it was banned.
When contacted, Dadi Mistry and his family refused to comment. Desai said, “As per our tradition, Navjote ceremony of a child who belongs to a Parsi mother and non-Parsi father cannot happen. If a priest does it, what can we do? It is a personal choice of the person. We cannot interfere besides publicly condemning it. We will be raising the issue in the next meeting. But beyond a point nothing much can happen because it was a personal thing.”
Vispy Wadia, trustee of Association of Revival of Zoroastrianism, a reformist group in the community, said, “Such Navjote’s happen everywhere including Surat, and Ahmedabad. Women are getting their children into the community and in the fire temples. It is the mother who gives culture and not the father who goes out to work. It is not new and who are these people to decide illegal. Some four or five people cannot decide what is null and void. The matter as such is settled in the court when the court said that they cannot ban more priests who conducted Navjote.”
“There are many people who get initiated into Zoroastrianism. No one can become a Parsi by Navjote ceremony. Parsi is born of a Parsi father. And this is not the first one I have done. Every year I do eight to 10 such Navjotes and no one says anything,” said Khushro Madon, the priest who was part of Navjote ceremony.
Shireen Mistree a very dear friend points us to a new media initiative by Tata Trusts where she currently works in Strategy and Partnerships.
Shireen writes
We are pleased to share our philanthropic work through a new media to reach a wider audience.
A digital campaign under the existing banner of #TransformingLives will spread a set of videos covering all our areas of focus across social media.
We are setting things in motion with a specially created whiteboard animation video which showcases the rich history of the Trusts since our inception.
Please feel free to share this further on your social media handles.
Here is the first video: Evolution of the Tata Trusts
Lesser known in the city than in Mumbai, the community arrived here from Surat in the late 18th century Their rise here parallelled the consolidation of British power in eastern India and the rise of the city as the capital of British India
Feb 5 Kolkata’s once flourishing Parsi community, which is now aging and down to just 500 in number, is facing a further decline as the youngsters leave the city for greener pastures.
“This is a far cry from the 1930s, when our population was growing. During the 1960s and 70s, many of our people started leaving Kolkata and now the population is just 500 odd of whom less than 50 per cent are young,” said the community’s senior trustee and community member Bahadur Postwala.
“In the city’s present job scenario there is not much to be hopeful about. Many youngsters have migrated to Canada, australia and New Zealand and many others shifted to different Indian cities. This started in the 1960s and continues unabated. But still we are keeping our regular meets as vibrant as we can,” he said.
The youngsters, he said, have fond memories of the city and visit it during festive occasions.
“It is a close-knit community. We meet 50 times in a year. Even in these hard times we are a vibrant community but the sad part is our number is declining,” he said.
Lesser known in the city than in Mumbai, the community arrived here from surat in the late 18th century. Their rise here parallelled the consolidation of British power in eastern India and the rise of the city as the capital of British India.
“Not many are aware of the Parsi community here. We need people to be aware about us in the country,” Postwala said.
To bring back the focus on the Zoroastrian community, whose number has dwindled from 3,000 to 500 in just a couple of years, we will organise a four-day exhibition at the community’s favourite Olpadvala Hall in the city this October, he said. (MORE)
Roda Bulsara, a senior community member, said the element of heritage at Parsi Fire Temple and Parsi Tower of Silence and other buildings in the city were being retained with great effort, principally with donations from its members.
She said the situation in Mumbai was “far better” as far as the community was concerned despite the fall in numbers there as well.
Customised robes for religious Parsi ceremonies are brought from Mumbai because there are no women who can do the stitching here. People who can cook typical Parsi dishes on a large scale are also declining sharply.
A meet ‘Qissa I Calcutta’ under the series ‘Future of the Past’ was held by Instagram community of Kolkata yesterday to focus on this fast shrinking community.
It allowed participants – both Parsis and non-Parsis– savour the community’s unique delicacies like mutton dhansak, patra ni machhi, chingri no patio, kheema patttice, alet paleti (chicken liver) and ravo, a sweet dish.
An Instagaram-style photo exhibition had glimpses of Parsi landmarks in the city and important people of the community, including 107-year-old Hilla Sorab Billimoria.
The exhibits include the photo of the flames at Parsee Fire Temple which is fed five times a day.
