Apr 1991

1 L*' r & .i>f S' April 1991 Volume 13 Number 10 EDITOR Jehangir R. Patel MANAGING EDITOR Arnavaz S. Mama EXECUTIVE EDITOR Parinaz M. Gandhi ASSISTANT EDITOR Roxana H. Kaka 3 Readers* Forum 17 Events and Personalities DESIGN Kranti Shilotri, Varghese Fernandez, Deborah D'sousa 21 Matheran’s Pars! Hoteliers by Gustasp Irani MARKETING DIRECTOR Veera Patel ADVERTISING MANAGER Zarin Mistry ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE Cheryl D’Penha CHIEF EXECUTIVE Rustom Thanavala FINANCE B. L. Arora EDP Rohinton E. Daroga CIRCULATION Behram Umrigar MANAGEMENT Minoo Patel, Jasmine Driver OFFICE Rajendra P. Nayak, Khurshid Panthaki, Patricia Lewis, Rajalakshmi Krishnan, Bakhtavar Batliwalla, Nowzer Batliwala, Bindu Pillai 29 Women in the Gathas and the later >1 vesta by Dr Ali Jafarey 35 Books 38 Milestones ( 41 In Memoriam Cover: ‘Toy* train enroute to Matheran Transparency by Pramod Mistry Parsiana is published by Jehangir R. Patel for Parsiana Publications Pvt Ltd, at C/o H.L. Rochat, Navsari Chambers, ground floor, 39 A.K.Nayak Marg, Fort, Eiombay 400001 and printed by him at Parsiana Publications Pvt Ltd, C/0 Kaiser-E-Hind Pvt Ltd, 300 Perin Nariman Street, Bombay 400001. Color processing. Comart Lithographers; and black and white processing, Samir Process. All rights reserved. Phone: 2048730 Fax; 2042922 For editorial enquiries: 2048183 Telex 11-85710 RABO IN Annual inland subscription Rs 80 for one year (12 issues); Rs 140 for two years (24 issues). Foreign subscription rates; Seamail Rs 200/US $ 12/UK £ 7 for one year, Rs 350/US $ 21/UK £ 12 for two years (please allow six months or more from the time of publication); Air mail Rs 320ZUS $ 20/UK £ 11 for one year, Rs 600/US $ 38/UK £ 20 for two years. For Indian upcountry cheques add Rs 5 for bank charges; for US cheques add $ 5; for UK cheques add £ 3. Cheques and drafts are to be drawn in favor of Parsiana and posted to GPO Box 892, Bombay 400001 or C/0 H.L.Rochat, Navsari Chambers, ground floor, 39 A.K.Nayak Marg, Fort, Bombay 400001! I I I READERS’ FORUM >14 I » »>1 ... > 1 » » f I i ibitis" •»I tiH'll* > • M • |< ........................ .. i . t t *»»**!» . ............ ..... •»»• • < I> iL f11>I• I..., > ».»»o • »»< J ., ,. .5 I «IT > » ( > t > M > > • ¦ I >»»•>>>' Ht I ..................................... >»Mr, ' ................ »»!?»»»•»»?»•.»»• ><»»«»» I tfsifl ? «»» > .............c M * ‘ I » ; » IM n f i••t. * s sill lit' **] •5 » »» »! '»» fl* It »¦» »• lt> ** !:s r •« cient and sacred ritual of nirangdin and its Besides, the Malcolm Bang Zoroas ­ trian Association, which looks after the purpose. welfare of the residents, holds jashans, communal dinners and other functions Ahu Vairyo) prayer correspond with the which are well attended by the residents 21 Nasks of the Avesta — of which the and outsiders. 19th word Dregubyo corresponds with The hall is spacious, and the lawns and Vendidad. the hall can cater for a function with a guest list of about 450 to 500 invitees. The 21 words of the Ahunavar (Yatha Vendidad is the only original Nask in our possession which has survived in its All other infrastructure such as lighting, entirety because the priests had no other catering and music is easily available at very reasonable rates. The hall is looked after by the N. M. Wadia Charities who charge a nominal Rs 250 for booking and collect a deposit time when the Vendidad was written — it of Rs 1,000 which is refunded a few days might have been committed to paper in after the function is over. In all honesty, the Malcolm Hall is alternative but to learn it by heart for the purposes of basic rituals and stringent laws of purification. There is no concrete proof about the later times but oral traditions had been carried out for thousands of years before truly a great boon to the residents of the Vendidad was written — and there- Jogeshwari because of its overall con- fore negative evidence to the origin of venience and relatively easy availability Vendidad given by Jafarey is without any and as such eliminates the tiresome jour ­ ney to the south of the city. ADI M. TARMASTER foundation. The Avesta word gaomez has been used for bull’s urine in the Vendidad at several places. In chapter 19 Ahura Mazda asks Asho Zarathushtra to prepare a lawfully consecrated uncastrated bull and take his urine for ablutions. This siana, November 1990) in which'jafarey shows that holy Zarathushtra himself has tried to review, criticize and disprove performed the consecration of varasyaji the schoUirly book of Mr Jamsheed K. Choksy, titled Purity and Pollution in Zoroastrianism, Triumph over Evil. Those of us who are aware of as its title suggests, is primarily con- Jafarey ’s work consider him as perhaps cerned with the laws against devilish the only non-Zoroastrian critic of the creatures. Hence, it prescribes remedies Zoroastrian religion and a protagonist of for annulling the fiendish influence of “Blessings at the Bang” conversion. Inadvertently, his interpreta- The article “Blessings at the Baug ” by tions of our holy scriptures are always Mr Noshir Dadrawala (Parsiana, January 1991) is interesting and informative. However, he has made a reference to Malcolm Baug only in passing and that too to the Motlibai Wadia Adran and not to Malcolm Hall. I would like to appraise your readers that no functions are held in the Agiary. However, Malcolm Baug boasts of a urine): “Moreover, a deeper study of very fine hall called ‘Malcolm Hall, ’ where for almost 150 days in the year variou.s functions are held. Beauti ­ fully set amidst a lot of greenery, the quaint Malcolm Hall is used, particu ­ larly by the residents of Malcolm Baug who number about 1,500, for weddings, navjotes, first birthdays, en ­ gagements and anniversaries for a major part of the year. » “The Purifying... 1 wish to refer to “The Purifying Pre­ scriptions ” by Dr Ali A. Jafarey (Par- Readers* views are welcome on any subject of interest to the community and should be sent to the Editor, Readers' Forum, Parsiana, G.P.O. Box 892, Bombay 400001. Letters are subject to editing for reasons of space and clarity. Unsigned letters or those without an address will not be published. (pure, consecrated bull) and the nirang ­ din ceremony. It should be noted that the Vendidad, the ahrimanic hordes. No wonder, Jafarey complains that contradictory and adverse to those of there is no evidence of gaomez in any of other renowned scholars, learned dasturs and generally of Zoroastrian beliefs, prac ­ tices, customsor traditions. Jafarey states (amongst many insult ­ ing and derogatory things against our sacred purifying ritual of nirangdin with the use of gaoinez — consecrated bull’s our other Zoroastrian scriptures. It stands to reason, one cannot read philosophy from a book of geography. However, let it be known that the Avesta phrase geush- maesmana (urine of the bull) is used as a means of purification in Vishtasp Yasht, paragraph 31. In his epistles in Pahlavi, the High Muslim purification laws, particularly Priest of Iran, Dasturan Dastur the doctrinal treatises of the Shiite Muj Manushcheher Goshnayam suites that he tahids, would have shown that the Vendi­ dad, enlarged and simplified, and freed from bull’s urine and depending on ‘unt- inted, odor-free, tasteless ’ pure water, is a very living law of purification and pol ­ lution, particularly in Iran. ” Obviously, this shows the extent of Jafarey ’s knowl ­ edge and understanding of the most an- of had himself performed the nirangdin ceremony in the 9th century AC. What more proof from ancient history does one want? The consecrated bull’s urine prepared in the nirangdin ceremony is the founda ­ tion of all holy institutions of the Zoroas- trian religion. All holy places like the 3 Parsiana April 1991 iatash dadgah, atash adarian, atash bah- As I thought about the program, I came be this revival evangelical in nature, and ram and dokhmas are established with to realize that these gentlemen had been therefore sometimes exuberant in its ex- the help of full-fledged Zoroastrian set a rather difficult assignment for, as pression, or be it a deep and quiet revival priests who have undergone the sacred complete outsiders, they were confronted of one ’s childhood faith. There are also barashnum ceremony after ritually drink- with different versions of Zoroastrianism Britons who are being drawn to other re- ing the consecrated gaomez for the purifi- '' ” ” . cation of their bodies and souls. All initiation ceremonies like the navjote, navar and marriage, are based on consecrated gaomez itself, without which the ceremony is considered im­ proper. It is stated in the Persian Rivayats sent community or religion, for whatever rea ­ son? When the orthodox priests and laity refuse to see, or seeing, will not acknowl ­ edge the real cause for our diminishing numbers? When they think that strict ad ­ herence to old customs, traditions and rituals will remedy the ills that beset us? These gentlemen had to make sense of a disintegrating religious community, of friends felt as I did. We seemed to have which the fast disappearing priesthood is missed many of the points Mr Harris a part. A priesthood which calls itself mentioned in his letter, while others made a vague impression. Concerning the Zoroastrian priests: Mr Harris asks if I would rather that he had kept silent, and not included them in the program; and whether the Parsis were As I thought about the program, I came to realize that these gentlemen had been set a rather difficult assignment for, as with different versions of Zoroastrianism Britons who are being drawn to other re- within so small a community. How could ligions in a serious way; in a scholarly they begin to understand the complex ,and/or spiritual sense. They are being drawn to Buddhism, Islam, even to Ba ­ haism. The very fact that a million people ' tuned in to Channel 4 to watch The Par sees: The Zrrroaslrians of Bombay, indicates that there are people around Britain who are interested and want to know. The Parsis and Zoroastrian Iranis number about six to seven thousand in the U.K. Therefore, who were the others who watched? Were they disappointed? Did they feel let down? The Parsis and my non-Zoroastrian situation which exists today, when many Parsis themselves must be confused or are quite ignorant of what it means to be a Zoroastrian? When many Parsis are in ­ different to, or have no time for their by the learned dasturs of Iran, “If a man ’s body is as black as coal, it will shine like the sun if he undergoes the ba ­ rashnum ceremony, drinks the conse ­ crated gaomez and observes steadfastly the rules of purity. ” Unfortunately, we cannot purify Jafarey with gaomez — he being a Mus ­ lim — but I would strongly recommend that he first study his own religion, espe ­ cially Islamic scripture called The Ahad Zoroastrian, yet whose high priests are Nameh in which the most holy prophet adamant that the only words — the Muhammad graciously proclaims — Gathas — we have of the founder of our “and it was said in the revelation re­ ceived by me that Paradise more impa ­ tiently desires the presence of ‘Salman ’ (Dusturan Dastur Dinyar, Muhammad ’s significant documentary in such a situ ­ ation? Unless — unless they had some previous knowledge of what the religion vecha) advocating that we should have was about. Therefore I ask: Did Mr Har ­ ris have any ideas at all about the com- was going to interview? Did he have any faith are nothing more than the utter ­ ances of a mystic poet. How could they produce a clear and prepared to let “this precious, irreplace ­ able resource wither away for lack of funds. ” He goes on to ask: “Is (Ms Di- preceptor) than ‘Salman ’ wishes to go there. Really he is my intimate friend and adviser to the Prophet of God (may God bless him and assoil him) as well as to (all) Muslims. Salman is one of our munity, the members of which he family — No one shall oppose this my t _ - will, regarding what I have ordered as to knowledge, however scanty, of Zoroas- protection and freedom of the coreligion- ists of Salman and their posterity, irre­ spective of the fact whether they embrace Islam or remain in their ancient (Zoroas ­ trian) creed. Whoever obeys my com ­ mand will gain the pleasure of God, but civilization, through its direct or indirect from that of which they would really want those who may disobey God and his influence on other major religions? ” to be a part — a truly Zoroastrian commu- Prophet, will be accursed to the day of How could these “ethical and religious nity, a community which was snirituallv kept quiet about it? Surely not! ” No, Mr Harris! Certainly not. He says he read my letter a number of times, yet, somehow, he seems to have missed my own criticism of the priests. Maybe my criticism of Hilla was a bit too harsh and I apologize. I should not blame her as she is the product of the re- trianism? In short, had he done tiis “homework ” on the religion which, in his own words, “has been so important in the _ _ ____________ formation of ethical and religious ideas ligious climate which exists in Bombay that ^e now identified as part of western today; a climate which turns Parsis away those who may disobey God and his influence on other major religions? Prophet, will be accursed to the day of How could these “ethical and religious nity, a community which was spiritually resurrection. ” i • - .............................. • ¦ _ - My compliments and congratulation seemed to be used more as punctuations life, which brought happinesT'^'d*"h^- to Mr Jamsheed K. Choksy for his schol- in a program of 52 minutes, a program mony to themselves and to those who arly work which enables us to understand which also set out to entertain? came into contact with them. our laws of purification and discount any I would like Mr Harris to know that 1 ms perin divecha doubts and disbelief created by persons am very much aware of the attitude of Kent uk such as Dr Ali A. Jafarey. Ervad DARIUS N. SETHNA ideas ” be conveyed clearly, when they rich and confident in its faith and way of ^*‘The Parsees^ ’’ If the sole or main object of my letter empty. That most individuals are embar- apropos "‘The Parsees” (Readers ’ Fo- rassed even to mention the word “God, ” rum, Parsiana, October 1990) had been except when swearing. But I also know t ’ --- - - ’ " ¦ • " would have been addressed to British Television Channel 4, and not to the Par­ siana. in a program of 52 minutes, a program which also set out to entertain? I would like Mr Harris to know that 1 am very much aware of the attitude of the secular British society towards reli­ gion. I am very much aware that This is further to the correspondence on most churches in Britain - except for the the BBC Channel 4 presentation. The Catholic churches — are empty, or almost Parsees: The Zoroastrians of Bombay nPL . .... . (Readers ’ Forum, Parsiana, October 1990). My own criticism of the film is that the editor or editors so botched up the three-hour version of Richard Harris and Jan Pester that the result was dis- to criticize Messrs Hams and Pester, it families of grandparents, parents and children who are regular church-goers. And I am very much aware of a definite tinctly unsympathetic and biased, trend towards a revival of Christianity: The film opened with a elose-up of 4 Parsiana April 1991the plainest of plain women who did not look a Parsi, nor dressed like one, nor spoke like one. She had no idea of gram ­ matical English and ended her speech in confusion and with a giggle! Next fol ­ lowed the distorted and swollen features of a man who we eventually realized was Jamshed Guzder, well-known trustee of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet and consid ­ ered handsome in real life. Malicious again? What pained me further was to see that gentlest and most courteous of journalists, Gustasp Irani, made to look ludicrous standing like a maypole and repeating a long catalog of “firsts. ” “The first Indian to bring gaslight to Bombay was a Parsi... the first woman to... was a Parsi. ” Instead of this dreary repetition, it would have been far more lively to have had a glimpse of what some of these people actually achieved, as, for example, a scene inside a Godrej factory at work; a functional aspect of the B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital or the Tata Memorial (Cancer) Hospital; or to watch Dr (Ms) Armaity Desai, the first woman and a Parsi to be appointed director of the Indian Institute of Social Sciences, working out a problem with her colleagues and students. It was the same unimaginative han ­ dling of the young priest, Ervad Ramiyar Karanjia, who was shown standing shyly and murmuring something about “purity laws. ” Yet this same young priest should have been seen in action, explain ­ ing with animation the symbolism of the floral arrangements and the ritual imple ­ ments laid out, as in a jashan, at the India International Centre during the Parsi Fes ­ tival held in Delhi a couple of years ago. There was a beautiful shot of a hand ­ some staircase sweeping up three floors of an old tenement building. But the ef ­ fect was spoilt when a good friend of mine was shown, in shorts and singlet at one moment, and in shorts and sudreh the next, running up and down the staircase like a nimble monkey. What was the point? The crowning insult was to associ ­ ate Dr Mary Boyce with such a negative, and at one stage a deliberately mislead ­ ing, presentation. Just because we are a tiny community, difficult to patronize as we successfully establish ourselves any ­ where in the world, does that mean we should be held up to ridicule before the public? Yet Harris paid a very handsome tribute to the community when he is re­ ported to have said: “I don ’t think it is the role of a couple of ill-informed Euro ­ peans to tell the Parsis how to solve their problems. If the most talented commu ­ nity in the world can ’t find a solution to its own problems, who are a couple of filmmakers to tell them what the solu ­ tions are (“The Visitor ’s Vision, ” Par­ siana, June 1990)?” If the intention of the filmmakers was to depict the problems facing the com ­ munity, then all such problems should have been brought to the fore and dis ­ cussed by competent Parsis themselves. Problems of dwindling numbers, housing shortage, lack of educational facilities for our priests, mixed marriages, adop ­ tion of children from outside the commu ­ nity, religious reform, could have formed the basis for lively discussion, and in the process, hopefully, educated a public which knows little about the Parsis ex­ cept the name. What grieved many of us most was the fact that the BBC is perfectly capable of producing first-class documentaries, provided they set their minds to it. Every moment of the following series was a de­ light to watch: The Ascent of Man by J. Bronowski; Kenneth Clark ’s Civilisa­ tion', the illuminating conversation of MATCH YOUR AMBITION TO A CAREER To do so we offer you: Diploma Course in Business Management (Postal) (IMC) # Banking CAIIB Course (Postal) ? Executive Secretarial Course 5^ Private Secretarial Course Personal Assistant’s Programme (Working Stenographers) ? Shorthand & Typewriting (English/Hindi/Marathi) 55s Telephone Operating & Receptionist Techniques Electronic Telex Operating ? Electronic Typewriting & Word Processing English Conversation & Writing Skills w Enquire at: Sir J. J. College of Commerce 14, Nanabhoy Lane, Hutatma Chowk Bombay 400001 Tel: 2871185 6 Parsiana April 1991the American anthropologist, Joseph count in recurring deposit scheme in the Campbell (d.l987), in the series Joseph name of a student willing to work as a Campbell and the Power of Myth. Why full-time mobed for 15 years so that he idly, without raising our collective was not such sympathetic understanding gels a tidy sum al the end of that period, applied to the final edition of The Parsees: The Zoroastrians of Bombay? Ms PILOO JUNGALWALLA have sorely missed the religion. We are partly to blame for standing by voice. May I congratulate you on your well thought out and well-reasoned Some three to four years back the Athra- well thought out and well-reasoned ar- van Educational Trust had launched a tide (“Whither good thoughts, words, training program for about a dozen stu- New Delhi d^nts pickcd up from the Dadar and And- heri Madressas with a view to provide to the community well-trained mobeds not only capable of performing ceremonies of dccds? ” Parsiana, September 1990) condemning such a travesty. J. R. PAYMASTER Scarborogh, Ont, Canada This has reference to the portrayal of the plight of the priests in the TV documen ­ tary The Parsees: the Zoroastrian.s of a higher liturgical order but equipped to I have read the article “An injustice at Bombay as narrated by the producer guide the laity. In the absence of suit- doongerwadi, ” (Parsiana, August 1990) Richard Harris (Readers ’ Forum, Par- able candidates, the program was con- regarding the shameful treatment meted siana, October 1990). According to the Vendidad, Fargard 18 para 6, an athravan is one who throughout the night inquires about the of aihornan families do not like to marry a holy wisdom, which is deliverance from distress, producing joy at the Chinvat Bridge, causing one to attain the blessed life, Asha, and the best of best existence. Thus the Zoroastrian priest has to lead a hard disciplined life: emphasis is laid on performing ceremonies of higher li­ turgical order such as yazashna and vendidad ceremony at night, particularly day. Unwillingness on the part of young to counter the effect of evil forces which mobeds to lead a hard disciplined life, are more powerful at that time. Sons of and not the lack of funds, is responsible mobeds shun this hard life and instead prefer to accept easy-going jobs in an of ­ fice so that their evenings remain free and they are not called upon to keep awake at night. At the same lime they gust at the TV documenkiry on Parsis serve as part-time mobeds in the morn ­ ings so that they get an additional income. Today we have very very few mobeds capable of performing yazashna and such tripe or been so ashamed of being a vendidad which form the core ceremo ­ nies for four days after death, with the result that the laity, though, willing to pay any remuneration, have to do without these ceremonies on this and other im­ portant occasions. Members of the com ­ munity, though themselves lax in the ob ­ servance of the religion, throng agiaric.s and atash bahrams for getting perfonned ceremonies for their near and dear de­ parted relatives. They also give liberal ashodad (lip) to these priests to supple ­ ment the remuneration paid by the pan- thaky which may not be substantial. Thus, on the whole, even after perform ­ ing ordinary ceremonies like afringan, froxi and stum, the average mobed ’s earnings are not meager and if he works as a full-time mobed and performs cere ­ monies of higher liturgical order, he has heart married a non-mazdayasni — not to look back. The Cama Athoman Madressa has introduced a scheme for opening an ac- able candidates, the program was con ­ ducted with practising mobeds. These out to the late Roxan and her family. As efforts have failed to provide yozdathre- gar mobeds to the community. Daughters a born Zoroastrian, from a very staunch orthodox Zoroastrian family of Karachi, I found the entire episode disgraceful and full-time mobed and instead prefer a deplorable. behdin, making things all the more diffi ­ cult for a yozdalhrcgar priest to get a suitable life partner. Under the circumstances, the presen ­ tation of the plight of the priests as nar ­ rated by Richard Harris is a gross misrep ­ resentation of the position as it exists to- for the present pathetic situation. SOIIRAH NAVAI.SIIAW PAI WA L wish to air my disappoinimcni and dis ­ shown in England. Not knowing its con ­ tent, we got a group of English friends to view the show with us. I’ve never seen Sir, this is the time to establish the fundamental right of the individuals in our advanced community (for the benefit of our future generation) by taking very firm action in the courts, including the Supreme Court of India, so that no one can take away the birthright of Zoroastri- ans by their irrational and racist “fat ­ was. ” Due to Court action, children bom to Zoroastrian fathers married to non- Zoroastrians are accepted as Zoroastri- ans. In the same way, children born to Zoroastrian mothers married to non- Zoroastrians, if the parents so desire it, should be accepted as Zoroastrians. A Zoroastrian lady in such a situation should kike the issue to the courts, right up to Supreme Court of India, and every effort should be made to assist her in this. I am confident that the courts ’ Parsi. My ire was at boiling point. Do we have to use vulgar phrases, dreadful pronunciation and ‘loud ’ commentators judgement will be in her favor and bind- to show off our ease in the use of the English language? My friends and I felt that the film did more harm than good to the community in general. I’ESI J. VIRJEE Panchgani ing on the community. In the case of Roxan, the dokhma is more sacred to hypocrites than the agiar- ies and atash bahrams that Roxan visited as a born Zoroastrian, even after her mar ­ riage to a non-Zoroastrian. Il is also well known that some non- Zoroastrians have visited agiaries and Will Dr Kotwal and the trustees of the agiaries and aiash behrams re-consecrate all of them and stop going there till they are re- .\OS1 IIRWAN F. COWASJEE London, UK “An injustice at...” I am disgusted and shocked to think that we (as a well-educated and enlightened aiash behrams in Bombay, community) should be party to despi ­ cable behavior (“An injustice at doongerwadi, ’’ Parsiana, August 1990). The interpretation and actions of our consecrated? Punchayei, giving in to the Khome- niesque priesthood trampling on rights of ........“Conflicting Convictions” Under the heading “Conflicting Convic ­ tions ” (Parsiana, August 1990) you an innocent lady — who with love in her should be condemned as demonic rather than praised as divine. The priesthood have printed matters concerning the may have mastered repetitive rituals but Zoroasirians of London based on a letter 8 Parsiana April 1991(22 percent of the total). In addition, on one petition, two signatures were forged. Two of the signatures on another petition were not signatures at all. Therefore, ex- from the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Eu- them in Parsiana in 1986 and 1987. Simi- rope (ZTFE) president, Mr Zal Sethna, lar statements were made by Mr Darius dated July 19, 1990. Certain statements “................. ............. — - made in Mr Zal Sethna ’s letter need clari ­ fication: • That ‘resolution barring non-Zoroastrian presence in the muktad prayer-room was demanded in petitions signed by around 200 Zoroastrians and the majority deci ­ sion of the committee members was in response to those petitions. ’ • That ‘a referendum will divide and split London at the Farvardian ceremony in the community and even family. ’ • That according to the constitution of the ZTFE, ‘only fully paid up members of had regularly attended Farvardian prayers February 23, 1986, when I, the then the Association ’ can vote on any resolu ­ tion affecting the Association, and ‘a ref ­ erendum of the community will be inef ­ fective and will not constitutionally bind the Association. ’ • That ‘the democratically elected com ­ mittee is empowered to take all decisions affecting the Association on behalf of its members and are duty bound to safe ­ guard the religious beliefs of the Zoroas ­ trian community at large. ’ Such claims were made by Mr Zal Sethna and his brother, Mr Darius Sethna in interviews and letters published by of children signing the petition was 17 Sethna in his letter published in The Bom­ bay Samachar on March 25, 1990. At that time, I had clearly stated in my letters eluding these signatures the petitions to Parsiana and The Bombay Samachar (both of which were published) and I do so now, that these statements are totally population of 5,000 plus of the UK and untrue. Please allow me to rebut these 5.6 percent of the total claimed member­ untruths by facts. Mr D. N. Sethna lit the ship of ZTFE. spark of destroying the community in were signed by 56 Zoroastrians represent ­ ing 1.12 percent of the total Zoroastrian The infamous resolution, requesting non-Zoroastrians to refrain from attend- 1985 by insulting Ms M. Moos, widow of ing muktad and Farvardian prayers, was our ex-president Jehangirji Moos, who passed by the managing committee on for years on end. (Ms Moos ’ letter of president, was unable to attend the meet- September 15,1985 follows.) Then came - the instigation to write petitions to the ZTFE committee. These petitions were signed by the Sethna brothers, their fam ­ ily members and friends. The total num ­ ber of signatures on these petitions was 77. Even children between the ages of 10 the strength of instigated petitions signed and 17 were asked by a member of Mr D. by a meager 56 relatives and friends. N. Sethna ’s family to sign a petition of From this, your readers will observe, that their own, whilst on a charity walk in the the boastful claim made above, concern- Hyde Ptirk of London. The total number ing. The resolution was passed by seven members voting for the resolution out of a committee of 12. In other words, seven members of the committee decided to impose their bigotted views on a commu ­ nity of 5,000 plus Zoroastrians of the UK and roughly 1,000 members of ZTFE on ing a democratically elected committee ’s power to take all decisions, is a very hol- comp[imcnts from M.Pallonji & Co PRIVATE LIMITED Leading Contractors For Industrial Painting, Coatings, Anti-Corrosion, Waterproofing,Construction, Diving & Offshore Contractors 87, Abdul Rehman Street, Bombay 400003 Telephone: 336607/324150, Telex: M.P.E.L. 011-75871 Fax: 91-22-4952998 10 Parsiana April 1991low one. It is the ‘democracy ’ of a com ­ munist dictatorship. From the foregoing, it is obvious that Mr Z. N. Sethna and his followers dare not take a referendum of the community for the simple reason that they know in Sethna gave orders to the young woman their heart of hearts that they will lose who attends to the arrangements that I Prof John Hinnells of Manchester Uni ­ hands down. Indeed, the only way the should not be allowed in. I was naturally versity: “The Parsi community is not community in the United Kingdom can surprised and upset as I had made the just a racial group; it came into existence be reunited is through a referendum, but long journey. I went to Mr Kumana, Mr Z. N. Sethna and his followers do not who was at that time the only older gen- have the courage to take that step. I would like to join issue with Mr Zal sit at the back. As soon as I went in I was Sethna on the claim that the ZTFE com ­ mittee has the right to decide matters concerning religion by a majority deci ­ sion. The committee is empowered to administer the affairs of the Association argue in the agiary saying I was an “em- and that in my opinion excludes religion. 1 The Zoroastrian religion is not a matter cere Zoroastrians ” who objected to my Therefore, it is not only imperative that can be decided upon by a majority of being there and that these prayers were far but incumbent upon all the noble Zoroas- seven in the committee, or even the en- too sacred to be attended by non-Zoroas- trians in positions of authority and trust tire committee. Till 1985, the religious trians. I quietly stayed where I was as I to primarily preserve and protect the ceremonies were held for the community feel that all prayers are sacred and sacred- priesthood with the dignity and honor it at large and no bar was placed upon non- ness lies in the heart. deserves, for the survival of our Zoroas- Zoroastrian spouses from attending the Is this what the Zoroastrian religion in trian religion and race, ceremonies. This tolerance, which was England is coming to? A rule of We all accept the fact that it is ex­ practiced by our Dasturji Saheb, the late Khomeini sowing more hatred in this ceedingly difficult to preserve and main- Sohrabji Hormusji Kutar, kept the com- troubled world? Where are the “pure” tain the high moral standards, ethics, val- munity united. The folly of the Sethna- principles gone if this is what your ues, and practices in the present degener- led committee majority, which tried to priests are teaching in front of a congre- ating phase of time; but it is certainly not impose its bigotted religious views on gation. impossible to try and establish some con- the community, has resulted in destroy- On top of it all I was told that my hus- trol and order which may provide the ing harmony in the community. Ever since that episode in 1985, the Zoroastrian. Who is this young upstart to Sethna brothers and their supporters have tell a very devoted and sincere Zoroas- been trying very hard but unsuccessfully trian what to do? He is a hundred years to rewrite history. It would be a very behind in his ideas and should leave this good thing if these “reborn ” Zoroastrians country that has given him asylum in the were to study the teachings of Zarathush- tra and learn the true meaning and signifi ­ cance of the concepts of “Asha ” and “Aimaiti. ” Finally, I am happy to inform you that sure that if your prophet Zoroaster would have been there, he at least would not even our dear High Priest, Dasturji Kutar, has ever objected to my being there — as a matter of fact he even encouraged me to use the agiary at Zoroastrian House. This last Thursday your bigoted priest our properties and funds, against all our Zoroastrian beliefs, precepts and tenets, have put the very survival of our commu ­ nity in great danger. We must bear in mind the famous words of the great scholar of our religion. for religious reasons. Your ancestors did not come to India to save their lives — tieman there and he arranged that I should they could have easily done that by be­ coming Muslims. They came to save again asked to remove myself by another ‘their religion. ’ The Zoroastrian religion young fellow. I stayed in as I did not want is the very reason for the existence of to argue. Only then Mr Sethna himself your community. It is your religious came out and to my amazement started to heritage that has made you Parsis what you are. Lose your religion and you lose your community ’s existence. ” barrassment to the very devout and sin ­ cere Zoroastrians ” who objected to my too sacred to be attended by non-Zoroas- trians. I quietly stayed where I was as 1 feel that all prayers are sacred and sacred ­ ness lies in the heart. Is this what the Zoroastrian religion in England is coming to? A rule of priests are teaching in front of a congre- On top of it all I was told that my hus ­ band should not have married a non- badly needed discipline to strengthen the very spirit and attitude of our noble Parsi-Zoroastrian community. In order to bring back due respect and dignity to our honorable priesthood we will need to honestly scrutinize and first place and go back where he comes eradicate malpractices and corruption from. which have unfortunately crept into cer- Fortunately my belief in the ultimate tain areas of our priesthood and the ad- good of all religions stands fast and I feel ministration of trust funds. The religiously unacceptable predica- the ZTFE computer was transferred from have been there, he at least would not ment of intermarriage which contami- Mr Rusi Dalal ’s residence for permanent have refused me or any sincere devotee nates our Zoroastrian community today stay at Zoroastrian House after you made (the right) to attend prayers for those that with evil opportunities for malpractices statements concerning it in “Conflicting have passed on. and corruption should be discouraged and Convictions. ” sf.caitain In this Mr President I would appreci- condemn^. Hens, UK ate your and your Committee ’s comment Regrettably, some of our trustees, panthaky sahebs, ervad sahebs, mobeds and anjumans fall prey to the evil oppor ­ tunities created by mixed marriages for the sake of money or some pervert intel ­ lectual satisfaction — exploiting this ad ­ verse situation by performing illegal reli­ gious ceremonies against all Zoroastrian precepts, tenets, religious beliefs and In this Mr President I would appreci ­ ate your and your Committee ’s comment and I will abide by their decision. September 15, 1985 Ms M. I MOOS your attention: On Thursday last I went An SppCdl to attend the prayers at Brookwood for All are aware of the recent crisis in our those who have passed on. This I have done for the last 35 years — first with my husband even before he became presi ­ dent and now as he too is buried there. In all those years I have never given access into our religious framework, con- vad ceremony, geh sarna ceremony and any offence to anybody and nobody, secrated places of worship and eventually other after-death ceremonies of ex- The President, ZTFE I would like to bring the following to community brought on by those involved in the unfortunate predicament of inter ­ marriage. Their persistent efforts to gain illicit practice such as, juddin navjotes, ashir- access into our religious framework, con- 12 Parsiana April 1991Zoroastrians (Zoroastrians married to non-Zoroastrians) or non-Zoroastrians. Performance of such unauthorised and blasphemous religious malpractices and the abuse of our entrusted Parsi-Zoroas- trian funds and properties, which is abso ­ lutely detrimental to the entire Parsi Zoroastrian race of people, should be in ­ stantly curtailed and eliminated. We plead with all those concerned to kindly unite together to fight and remove these evil tendencies before it harms us and our very Zoroastrian identity. B. H. MINOCIIEHK-HOMJI Gen Secy, The Bombay Zoroastrian Jashan Committee r Madressa (circa 1975) long as one is a true ZoroasUian, and above all merits the universal title of man as homo spiritus, spiritual being. Prof PAUL DUBREUIL Paris, France loved absent ones and in front of the ‘kebla ’ in the small room recited the prayers in a loud and ringing voice, full of emotion, with such clarity of words that we were absolutely thrilled. Then came the lunch, washed their hands, cleansed themselves and again after a short prayer loudly and beautifully recited by that same little boy, they ate their lunch. We have nothing but praise for this wonderful institution and its intense de­ sire to serve our community. We found the principal, Ervad Panthaki, a very de­ voted and affectionate human being who had nothing but praise for the benefactors of this institution, and to Ahura Mazda for time and again helping them out of many a sticky situation. One could see the twinkle in his eyes as he spoke of his boys as if they were his own flesh and blood. God bless them all. 1 would say that we gave little and re­ ceived much in return — much more than we could ever imagine. MsGOOLOOR. MEHTA The boys Readers could provide their own favor ­ ites. For the sake of posterity, we should Subscriber blues Your publication of Parsiana is very ir­ regular. If this is the trend, you will lose your present readership and I am one who will not renew later on. If you can ­ not issue a monthly, make it bimonthly. You cannot, for example, bring out the Navroze issue in the month of May or June. That is ridiculous. Your magazine is not educative, nor religious. You them on a separate page, those who wish should have an editorial in every issue to collect them can just tear the page out discussing the community ’s problems. The Zoroastrian veneration of and keep. There should be a page on Zoroastrian We should also start a strong cam- history and teachings for the youth. So Of labels and contents The ethic of the Gathas is the least ritual ­ istic. The only sacrifice required is that of good deeds. Besides it is only through Prospective priests of the our thoughts, words and deeds that we community trained at the Athornan prepare our post-mortem (after life) des ­ tiny. Indeed our daena or spiritual double becomes ugly or beautiful ac ­ cording to our life ’s deeds. Who is the better Zoroastian? He who practices the most rites, nirang, kusti, ceremonies, etc, or he who tries to prac ­ tice daily better thoughts, words and deeds? Who was the better Christian, Collecting expressions Emperor Charlemagne who forced the Parsiana should start collecting colorful Saxons to receive baptism or death, or a Parsi sayings like Shafam na koovama humble man full of charity and love like pari geeo or dhadree ne tap avich, etc. Francis of Assisi who followed Christ ’s teaching? I would not like readers to believe that I am against rituals. No, I feel that rituals collect these and keep them. If you print may have a part in many people ’s lives, such as in daily prayers and important events, the sacred fire remains, in the whole world, the last living evidence of the paign for a common calendar for the many pages about federation meetings is original victory of Paleolithic man over nature in learning how to keep natural fire and afterwards how to light it. It re- adopted, mains too the last evidence of the prehis ­ toric veneration of man for the first uni- __ versal cosmic element. Ritual must always be the means and On the first death anniversary of our be- not the end to reach a better spiritual life, loved father Pestonji Belgaumvalla, my Let us take care that, in considering the sister and I were informed of the Athor- label greater than the spiritual content of nan Boarding Madressa at Dadar where ’ a religion, we do not fall into complete young boys learn to be the future priests nonsense. If we consider as Zoroastrians of our community. We were told that we only those who have received the navjoie, could pay for a lunch for the school chil- we must also face the fact that there is not dren as an act of charity, one historical evidence that the Achaeme- nid emperors had ever been introduced the principal Ervad Rustom Nosherwan into the Zoroastrian faith by navjote. I’d say that it does not matter whether one is Protestant or Catholic so long as he/shc is ders, a little boy mobed, maybe 12 years a true Christian, a Parsi or a Zarthoshti so old, asked us for the names of our be- Faslis, Shehenshahis and Kadmis. Of not necessary. You can reduce it to half, course, the Fasli calendar should be Articles on babaism and superstitions should be discouraged. y. a. h on si i ahi Ms BI 1I«X) \L\M K.SI lAW New Delhi Edited by Amavaz S. Mama 15 Parsiana April 1991 The Athornan Madressa On oXir arrival, we were received by Panihaki who showed us around lhe school premises. And wonder of won- REQUIRED Licenced electrical supervisors (Parsi), age above 45 years, preferably retired. Please write to: The Advertiser (Placement) Parsiana, GPO Box 892 Bombay 400001j Events and Personalities I I Exit JRD, enter Ratan “Ratan is young, others are old. He is also very intelligent and experienced. He has also been working with the Tata group for nearly 30 years now. He is a great believer in modem technology and strategic planning... Ratan has done a very good job at TELCO (Tata Engineer ­ ing and Locomotive Company) of mod ­ ernizing production facilities and diversi ­ fying the product range... He has also been responsible for reactivating Tata Industries which has set up a number of interesting companies in high-tech areas. ” These were the reasons cited by J.R.D. Tata who stepped aside from the chairmanship of Tata Sons Limited, the group ’s holding company in favor of his successor Ratan Navd Tata, as quoted in The Illustrated Weekly of India (April 20-21, 1991). Several business maga ­ zines in India did a cover story on the Tatas when the leadership changed. Eighty-six-year-old JRD who had been treated at Bombay ’s Breach Candy Hospital for angina pains early this year, will, however, continue as chairman emeritus of Tata Sons so that the com ­ pany can benefit from his “guidance and counsel, ” according to a communique from the Tatas. Under JRD’s leadership the Tata companies not only made rapid strides in the fields of production, sales and'profitability but also in the field of human welfare, the Indian Express of March 26 reports. To JRD goes the credit for starting the country ’s first airline — Tata Airlines — which after nationaliza ­ tion was renamed Air India. “The trust of the investor in the Tatas is total, ” notes Daksesh Parikh in The II- ' lustrated Weekly. “Any project with the Tata name invariably finds the requisite funds. Even if the Tatas were to float a company for the construction of a five- star hotel on the moon, one suspects that the project would not fall apart merely for the want of sufficient funds, ” Parikh continues. With such a reputation to live up to, in addition to contending with dynamic professionals within the Tata empire — Russi Modi, chairman of Tata Iron and Steel Company, Darbari Seth, chairman of Tata Chemicals and Tata Tea, Nani Palkhivala chairing Associated Cement Companies — Ratan faces a formidable challenge. His plans to “refound and re­ structure the Tatas into groups of indus ­ tries or into one large entity ” in the interest of optimum coordination, as quoted by The Business and Political Observer (March 26, 1991) has report ­ edly evoked resentment from some of the senior Tata personnel. Ratan ’s past fumbles with NELCO, TELCO and Em­ press Mills is believed to have taught him that business “must move with op ­ portunity and not just with fancy plan ­ ning. ” Under Ratan, Tata Industries has being managing several new companies — Tata Telcom, Tata Keltron, Tata Hon ­ eywell, Hi-tech Drilling, Tata Finance, Tata Industrial Finance Company, Tata Elxsi (India) and Matrix Materials. Rely ­ ing on high technology, these companies will deal with computers, process sys ­ tems, biotech and advanced materials. Referring to Ratan ’s stewardship, Sha- rokh Sabavala, senior director of Tata In ­ dustries, commented: “He not only visu ­ alized what we should get into, but also implemented his vision. ” The publicity-shy Ratan has intro ­ duced a new style at Tata House — he “doesn ’t have a retinue of men carrying his bags and khana dabbas (lunch boxes) around for him... When a car door needs to be opened, he opens it without waiting for others to create a fuss, ” The Weekly further reports. As reiterated JRD in an interview with Mukarram Bhagat, resident editor of The Economic Times, “The Tata group of companies are run by professionals at the highest levels of management who firmly believe in the trusteeship concept laid down by Jamshedji Tata, as also by Mahatma Gandhi. We all believe that we are trustees, not owners, of very im­ portant national assets and we work for social objectives... This is an unbreak ­ able binding force. ” National honors for three Excellence in their chosen careers won three Parsis — Khusro Faramurz Rus- tamji, Fall Sam Nariman and Dr Rustom Phiroze Soonawala — recongition from the Government of India. They were in ­ cluded in the list of national award win ­ ners announced on the eve of India ’s Republic Day on January 26,1991. Rustamji, in the civil service cate ­ gory, was awarded the Padma Vibhu- shan. Seventy-five-year-old Rustamji who had served as director general of the Border Security Force (BSF) for nine years has been presently appointed member of the National Integration Council. In the past he had served as member of the National Police Commis ­ sion, reads his bio data. During his asso- Raton Tata il^t): rttiw^ofthcTtita ids T and 23 rooms. In all, the hotel can ac ­ commodate up to 60 people. The rates range from Rs 300 to Rs 500 per head spiralling price of land which can cost, can ’t sell a hotel here; you ’ve got to sell per day with off-season and mid-week according to Bharucha, between Rs 10 to the place, sell Matheran. ” discounts up to 20 percent. 20 lakhs a plot depending on its proximity In the changing scenario at Matheran, The history of the Lord family is to the market. These prices rule even the four surviving Parsi-run hotels repre­ interwoven with the history of Matheran. “My family has been here ever since land has expired and no transfer can be the grand old man of Matheran; Bhar- Matheran was discovered, ” says Lord, officially registered till the government ucha, the young enthusiastic entrepre- “My grandfather was a pioneer. He set up tents when hotels did not exist. Later, he ran a number of places, none of which belonged to him. My father was a profes- rates will be between 50 to 100 times "People came because of you, not because of your hotel" < Marzban family. How well the star hotels sold out. will fare is open to speculation. As one Today the boom is reflected in the catering college student observed: “You spiralling price of land which can cost. 20 lakhs a plot depending on its proximity to the market. These prices rule even though the lease on almost every plot of sent the spirit of the community: Lord, land has expired and no transfer can be resolves the issue of new lease rates. Residents expect the matter to be set ­ tled soon, but also expect that the new ncur; Irani, a remarkable lady with a re­ markable ability to adapt; and Davier ­ walla who, with sheer tenacity and power, holds on. ( S^IFLSTAY 26 Parsiana April 1991 0$.I TRADITION Women venerated and victimized While men and women were considered on par in the Gathic period, since the Avestan times the woman's position has been declining Dr All A. Jafarey erts. It lies between the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and the plain to the north, the Much has been said and written about Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea to the ¦ ¦ south, the Indus Valley and the Pamirs to Others are empty claims. While enough the east, and the Mesopotamian Valley to the west. It has had three major religious The Gathic doctrine places man and eousness {Aiwisruthrem Gah 9 and Vis- woman on a fully equal status in all reli- pa rad 3.4).” gious and social affairs, more than what I----- ----------- ----------- ----------------- is observed and practiced in modem man and woman. Some tell the truth, “advanced ” societies. But in the post- C ‘ tire indigenous population of the plateau much more through might than right, changes: Pre-Zarathushtrian, Zarathush- was completely governed by age-old woman ’s role has not been depicted the trian, and Islamic. Our subject covers the hard-to-die customs, things took a turn, wav it should be. The reason is obvious: first two. Gathic period, particularly when the en- has been stated about man ’s ascendancy. completely governed by age-old woman ’s role has not been depicted the _____ ¦ . ' ’ „ ' • way it should be. The reason is obvious: Women were not regarded as equals by man is the author of most of the state ­ certain factions of the very late Avestan ments! Tl— ------------- -—1 people. Chronologically the Avesta woman has been from the lady para ­ speaks about a woman ’s decline in favor mount of society to a mere chattel at phases: Pre-Aryan cults and Aryan be- of an egocentric man of authority, but home. While “mother ” has been ac- liefs. Archaeological evidence shows never to a revolting degree. Taboos claimed by some to be the highest source could not rob her of her position. There of love and the best training for progress, is not a single sentence in the Avesta that would belittle woman. Even the Vendi- dad does not make any derogatory re­ marks about her. She continued to be 21st century when women are said to venerated in all the daily prayers on par have won complete equality with men in with man. And she continued her normal advanced countries, comparative statis- life as nmdno-pathni, the mistress of the tics of women holding high positions in house. “We venerate the righteous woman who is good in thoughts, words and of publicity stunts still depict her as no deeds, who is well-educated, is an i ‘ authority on religious affairs, is prog- commercial profits, ressively serene, and is like the women who belong to the Wise God. . “We venerate the righteous man who look at the topographical position of the vadasis in India. This meant going to is good in thoughts," words and deeds, land where the Zarathushtrian religion temples only during the period they who knows well the religion he has rose, spread, met other religions, and had * " ' chosen, and who does not know blind its worst setback. It is the Iranian Pla- following. teau. It is a vast highland averaging “It is these people who, with their ac ­ tions, promote the world through right- mountains, green valleys and bleak des- These statements show that Pre-Zarathushtrian The pre-Zarathushtrian period has two liefs. that the pre-Aryan or the indigenous civi ­ lization was mostly confined to proto- “woman ” has been accused by others of town settlements looted at distances all being the cause of downfall and the ori ­ gin of pollution. Even on the eve of the over the plateau. The people of these settlements were generally self-suffi ­ cient, yet they maintained trade links with each other. The trade network be­ tween Mesopotamia and the Indus civili ­ zation interlaced them all together in cult and culture. Women dominated religion administrative and other key posts is sadly low. On the other hand, a glimpse and society in central and eastern parts of ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ .... . . J plateau, but were dominated by the more than a showy object exploited for patriarchal cult of male priests in western "¦ parts. Here they were reduced to serve To fully comprehend the position of the male priests and pilgrims as temple woman in the Avesta, we should first prostitutes, equal to the so-called de- “We venerate the righteous man who look at the topographical position of the 29 Parsiana April 1991 could sexually serve men. Menstruation kept them away from the temples, an act teau. It is a vast highland averaging which is the source of the menstrual ta- 1,220 meters above sea level, ringed by boos still observed by many tradition ­ bound communities.The Aryan mass migration changed emerged clear. The Gathas and supple- the husband, the settlers and the fainily. . , . . rnentary texts in the Gathic dialect are “*<••>""»•*«»««««««•«»«•»••»"<»•«• explicit on lhe subject. ~ ; “As a righteous woman among the right- The famous eous people, ” she committed herself to wisely serve the Good Religion more than ever, Pouruchista moved her father to leave an ever-fresh word for all newly­ weds: “These words I speak to the charming brides and to you, bride­ grooms. the entire plateau. Pastoral and agricul ­ tural in profession, and superior in num ­ ber, strength and speed, these people stanza of “the choice of religion ” gives soon spread over all the available virgin ’ ' ' ' *- lands. They seem to have bypassed and , generally circumvented old settlements Then each man and woman, for his or because we have no stories preserved by her self, select either of the two (the bet- _ . . _ the Aryans of their conquest, occupation ter and bad mentalities). Awaken to this grooms. Do bear them in mind. Com- and subjugation of non-Aryans. The doctrine of ours before the Great Event prehend them with your conscience, change brought in a gradual Aryaniza- , . . tion of the entire population through those who make the right choice andjoin mind, assimilation. It is obvious that they were 1 “ ~ influenced by the natives too. Many cus- whoever, man or woman shall give me tells them to toms, especially those brought in by the women married to the newcomers, were adopted without any evident opposition. The Avesta has no creation myth to tell how the first man and woman were Mazda created, among other things, the other stanza he lauds: “The Wise God his divine jask: _ May the fdlowsmp living world of mankind and other ani- 1 mals. Therefore, the earliest mention of her veneration done in accordance with woman is made when Yima Khshaeta righteousness. I shall, on my part, vener- (King Jamshid of the Persian epics) was divinely warned of the coming ice age ---- . .zv ex n.. and was directed to lead a group of 1,900 circle them (Yasna 51.22).” It is this gardedbyiheWiseGod(ya.vrt<254.1). “men and women ” of “the greatest, best stanza which is later paraphrased in the The Haptanghditi of seven short and finest ” species along with cattle, famous Yenghe Hdtdm formula, also in a yasnas, next in importance to the Garmu, sheep, dogs, birds and blazing fires in ­ side a spacious cave complex and save themselves (Vendidad 2.1-43) Archae ­ ology has shown that human beings sur ­ vived the cold spell, which covered parts of Eurasia between 8,0(X) to 12,000 years ago, by taking shelter in caves and the fire kept them warm. But a casual mention cannot give us a true picture of woman in the ancient Aryan society. 11___ . ' „ regard in which the female deities were held, and other Avestan and Vedic evi­ dences show that women enjoyed a fairly mind, and united with righteousness and high position in the moderately pateiar- chal society. equal rights, to both: “Hear the best with your ears and ponder with a bright mind. (of Choice) ushers in (Yasna 30.2).” To Master the life which belongs to good I', , ’ “ **-- the Good Religion, he"says: “Wise God, through righteousness. ” whoever, man or woman shall give me tells them to remain what You know to be the best in life — strengthen and promote the universal rewards for righteousness, power through fellowship of the Good Religion (Yasna The last blessing given by Zarathush ­ tra near the end of his successful mission of 47 years put the finishing touches to good mind — 1 shall accompany him and 53.3-7). her in glorifying such as You are, and shall, with them all, cross over the sort- It simply says that Ahura ing bridge (Yasna 46.10).” Yet in an- knows best any person of mine for his or ate such persons, passed away or living, by their names, and shall lovingly en- May you each win the other Zarathushtra united and come for the support of the men and women of Zarathushtra, for the support of good mind, so that the conscience of every person earns the choice reward — the reward of righteousness — a wish re- stanza which is later paraphrased in the famous Yenghe Hatam formula, also in a , late Gathic dialect: “The Wise God further clarifies woman ’s position in knows better every man and woman Gathic society. Advocating learning, among the living for his or her venera ­ tion done in accordance with righteous ­ ness. We, on our part, venerate such men and women. ” Furthermore, lhe Gaihas present an inspiring message for couples about to be married. Of his three sons and three daughters, Zaralhushira selected his righteousness (Yasna 38.1).”^ Indeed^it eous people, “bom in whatever land. Gathic society. practicing and preaching, it says: “The more a man or a woman knows the truth, the better. He or she should zealously practice it and preach it to others so that they practice itaccordingly (Yasna35.3). It venerates the “womenfolk... who be­ long to You, God, on account of their However, the high youngest daughter Pouruchista to give venerates the helpful, law-abiding, right- his advice and blessing. He wanted her to < . / have a person “who is steadfast in good r Zarathushtrian It is with the advent of Asho Zaraihush- tra that the position of woman in society with the Wise One ” and advised her to “consult him with your wisdom, ” be progressively serene and munificent. She assured her father that she would “emu­ late and choose ” him in such a way that her act would be an honor for the father. MATRIMONIAL ¦"*“*** to OBES LTD- Matrimonial alliance invited for boy, 27, 5’5", Computer Professional, from Zoroastrian girls (divorcee no bar) only. Greencard Holders of USA, with good nature and good family background, may send detailed reply to: The Advertiser Matrimonial (April/11-91) Parsiana GPO Box 892 Bombay 400(X)l 30 Parsiana April 1991I both men and women, whose good con ­ sciences are growing, have grown, or shall grow... good men and women (who we venerate women... of Aryan coun- are) incremental, eternal, ever-gaining, I “ ’ ’ . every land and states in separate para- but fortunately has the part dealing with graphs: “We venerate ’ righteous men... women officiants at rituals. It belongs to the time when every person was engaged ° , tries... Turanian countries... Sairimyan in his or her living profession, generally ever-growing... who live a life of good countries... Saini countries... Dahi coun- agriculture. One could only leave the job mind (Yasna 39.2-3).” tries... and of all countries... the right- Zarathushtra prayed: “May good rul- eous men and women, who (were) forc ­ ers, and not bad rulers, rule over us with actions of good understanding and seren ­ ity {Yasna 48.5)” and his immediate suc ­ cessors rightly added: “May good ruler, man or woman, rule over us in both the (mental and physical) existences {Yasna 41.2).” It was this extraordinary love and re­ spect shown by Asho Zarathushtra to his men and women that created the tradi ­ tion of commemorating outstanding men and women on the Memorial Day, the Farvardegdn, or Muktdd, at the end of the year. The Farvardin Yasht and an ­ cient texts of Avesta venerate the names of 261 persons, 16 of whom are married women and 11 are maidens. This gives us a much higher proportion of women in the front lines of a religious order than in any other religion in its early stage, or even today. Keeping in mind the univer ­ sality of the Zaralhushtrian message, the Yasht then turns to human beings of priestly class. It has not reached us in full shows that eight officiants, each respon- if another person was available to take it over without a possible loss in proparty, most in accepting the divine doctrine and Man and woman both officiated, when- first to listen to the divine teachings, who ever invited, as priests in a ritual. If in ­ vited to officiate at a function, husband and wife had to consider who was more needed to attend to the profession so that Woman has been Qr‘r'1 icorl hoinn tho the other was spared to proceed to the dUUUbeU UI Utfl I ly u le women were at liberty to go cause of downfall and the origin of pollution to officiate at a ritual without the prior permission of their husbands. The offici ­ ant, more needed to attend to his daily profession, could only be absent for a total of six nights in traveling and officiat ­ ing at the ceremony. It may be noted that those willing to become priests had to won for the cause of righteousness, who have been successful in establishing undergo a three-year rigorous course of homes, districts, settlements, countries, learning, memorizing, comprehending who have been successful in learning the and expounding the Gathas and the thought-provoking message, who have Haptanghaiti, till then the only guiding been successful in improving their souls, ...................... and who have been successful in obtain ­ ing all that is good (Yasht 13.149-151).” The Erpatistan is a book for the the seasonal festivals of ghambars. It “principles of life ” and the only prayers used in rituals. The Visparad is a booklet devoted to FIRDOS & S. CAMBATTA CO. 'Cambatta Central', Bharat Bobins Ltd Premises Rakhial Road, Ahmedabad 380023 Agents in Gujarat for: M/s ION EXCHANGE (INDIA) LTD For INDION Water Softening Plants, Demineralisers, Cation & Anion Resins, Filters, Chemical Dosers etc ? ? ?'. Sole concessionaires in Gujarat for: Ft^ M/s INGERSOLL-RAND (INDIA) LTD For Air Compressors and Vacuum Pumps 31 Parsiana April 1991 JWith best wishes from Farah & Tanya sible for a specific function, took part in ing in accordance with the religion the ritual. In addition to the eight priests (Jasht 16.15).” It shows that she wanted surrounding the holy fire, there are the to marry Zarathushtra to serve the reli- representatives of all the religious and gion, an act her daughter Pouruchista fol ­ social units of the locality standing “pre- lowed later on. In the Art Yasht, it is pared ” to participate. The Zoatar, the Zarathushtra who prays to Ashi Vanguhi chief officiant, summons each of his or her seven colleagues as well as the repre­ sentatives of the priestly, warrior and prospering professions, and the represen ­ tatives of the house, district, settlement, Mazdayasni Religion and brings good the youth devoted to further the religion, fame to my community (Yasht 17.46).” the teaching priest in the district, the rov ­ ing preacher outside the district, and the Yasht in her honor. She is, in her yazata house mistress. It is then that the woman and man of extraordinary talents, men ­ tioned in the stanzas quoted at the begin ­ ning of this essay, are summoned to par ­ ticipate. We may note that a woman is but is simply praised to grant boons by called hush-hdm-sdsta (literally, well-in- pre-Zarathushtrian and Zarathushtrian structed in religious lore) and ratu-khsh- kings and heroes. She is highly ag- tahra (rite-authority). The latter title is grieved to see three women — a woman used for Ahura Mazda as the supreme who delivers her husband a child con- authority (Visparad 11.1) and the Gathas ceived from a stranger, a maiden seduced as the foremost authority of all scriptures on ratu, rightful rituals (Yasna 54.2, 55.1, 71.11, Visparad 11.1, Gatha 2-3, Vendidad 19.38). As a principle, the Gathas are ad ­ dressed as prayers to God and as guid ­ ance to mankind, Yet, as we have ob ­ served, the Gaihic texts go a little further to mention both men and women so that it is fully understood that both the sexes enjoy equal rights in every spiritual and physical phase of human life. No prior ­ ity or supremacy is given to any of the two. The two are free to emulate each other in union, to win each other in right ­ eous service. ing in accordance with the religion to grant him the boon that “the good, independent Hutiiosa think, talk, and act in accordance with the religion so that she believes in and comprehends my Ashi Vanguhi has the Art or 17th role, what Lakshmi is tO Hindus, deity of wealth and prosperity. Contrary to Anahita, of which we will speak later, she is not offered any animal sacrifices 32 Parsiana April 1991 Visparad Afarin-e to bear a child without marriage and a barren jahika. Jahi or jahika is generally rendered as “whore. ” But contexts in which the term is used show that ordinar ­ ily it should mean a male or female va ­ grant. Other instances show that when applied to a woman, in addition to being a vagrant, she is said to be barren, “past- her-menopause, ” and engaged in witch ­ craft (Yasht 3.9, 12, 16; 8.59; 14.51; 17.57-58). Ashi Vanguhi bars “impotent men, past-menopause women, children, and virgins, ” from partaking her liba ­ tions (Yasht 17.54). It means that the par ­ ticipants are told that she accepts only able-bodied men and women of mature and reproductive age in the rituals per­ formed in her honor. Although composed posthumously, the two yashts not only echo two impor ­ tant events in the promotion of the reli­ gion, but also reveal the importance of women in the mission. They show that women still enjoyed high status although the martial phase of the Good Religion Later Avestan period We have left the pristine Gathic era and the immediate post-Gathic period be­ hind. Centuries have passed. Changes have set in. Certain Gathic concepts have been personified under a new term yazata, meaning the venerated, the re­ vered. Daend, conscience, religion, Chisid, perception and Ashi Vanguhi, had begun with the ascendancy of the good reward, all feminine, are among them. epical yashts. The epical yashts are The Din Yasht in honor of Chisid and mostly dedicated to pre-Zarathushtrian the Art Yasht in hcsior of Ashi, provide deities {Aredvi Sura, Tishtrya, M it hr a, us with the names of two stalwarts of the Verethraghna and Drvaspa) and al- Good Religion. They are Hvovi, wife of though edited and augmented to suit the Zarathushtra, and Hutaosa, wife of Kavi Zarathushtrian environment, they have Vishtaspa. In the Din Yasht, Chistd is - - - - approached by Hvovi. She, “the right ­ eous, the knowledge-seeking, wished (to dominating figure of Aredvi Sura join) in good share with the righteous Anahita. Originally a female river god- Zarathushtra in thinking, talking and act- dess with a probable name of Harahvaiti/ conquering warriors and the advent of epical yashts. pre-Zarathushtrian material in them. Here, the first thing one sees is the I ISarasvati, she is known in the later healer; promoter of herd, home, country and daughters, given in the Drvaspa Avesta by her titles as Aredvi Surd and the world; purifier-of male seed and Anahitd, freely rendered as the “Unpol ­ luted Heroine Humidity. ” She is de­ picted as a beautifully attired lady whom kings and heroes of pre-Zarathushtrian days approached with ritual sacrifices of yazata who prohibits women from par ­ hundreds of animals for helping them in accomplishing certain tasks. The de­ scription runs: '"Aredvi Sura (is) maiden, independent, tall, upright, well-shaped and beautiful. Her beautiful white arms resemble the forelegs of a mare. She wears a crown of gold with hundred stars, octagonal in shape, a shining circle, with ribbons flowing and flying. She has square-shaped golden earrings. lovely neck is adorned by a gold neck ­ lace. Her breasts (are) made prominent taking the offerings made in her honor, by her tight belt glittering with orna ­ ments. She wears a costly gold-embroi ­ dered gown with many folds. Her fur among male mighties reveals the femi- coat of one hundred female beavers i ’ shines like gold and silver woven to- Drvaspd (literally Mare-health) is an- some of the rites go well beyond the gether. Thus attired, she rides a chariot other female deity. Although she is the Zarathushtrian era. with reins in her hands. Her chariot is guardian of the animal world, she too stillbirth are among the major pollutants, drawn by four white horses of the same accepts sacrifices of hundreds of animals and .they concern women only who have breed. They are the wind, the rain, the cloud and the hail. ” She is called the Yasht, reveals how the upper-class wonjen lived. The wives reclined on Her the female womb; facilitator of child ­ birth; increaser of milk in breasts, and beautiful coaches with beautiful cush- above the Guardian of Waters (Yasht 5.1- ions. They were well-attired, with 132). Strangely enough, it is this female square-built earrings and gold necklaces. Their daughters had thin waists and were beautiful in body. Their shape was wish ­ fully pleasing to those who look at them (Yasht 9.1-32). The male yazatas, Tishtrya and Vere- thraghna bar “the robber, the jahi, the person who does not chant the Gathas, and the antagonist to this religion which is divine and Zarathushtrian ” from par ­ taking their libations. Finally, the last phase of our essay. The Vendidad or better Vidaevaddta, literary “the Law against the Daevas, ’ and all those who pray to her for boons is mostly devoted to pollution and purifi- are male. However, her high popularity cation rules. Although its composition is ascribed to the Parthian period (250 BCE to 224 CE), its contents show that some The Avesta has no creation myth to tell how the first man and woman were created nine position. Drvaspa (literally Mare-health) is an- ions. Menstruation and guardian of the animal world, she too accepts sacrifices of hundreds of animals from the kings and heroes approaching to experience menstruation more than 50 her for boons. A description of the wives times a year. Otherwise, man and times a year. With the compliments of P. S. KUKA Chairman GOODWILL THEATRES PVT LTD OWNERS NOVELTY CINEMA (THEATRE MAGNIFICENT) Rendezvous of the Elite 33 Parsiana April 1991MATRIMONIAL Matrimonial alliance invited from a young, good-looking Zoroastrian girl with a good family background for a well-settled boy, 30 years old, having own business and own accommodation in posh locality and earning handsomely. woman are only defiled by coming into thushtrian kings, chiefs, and following contact with a corpse. A woman, pol- them, other notables did marry outside, luted and polluting as she was considered Another answer is that the outsider joined during her menstruation, was placed un- the community. It does not seem to have der quarantine and segregated from other posed a problem. members of the family. She was given rationed food. At the end of her period, texts use ndiri, gena, ghnd for she had to wash herself ritually with “woman, ” the Vendidad is fond of bull’s urine and water to regain a purified ndirika, a diminutive form of ndiri, obvi- status in order to resume her normal do- ously in a contemptible sense. mestic and social contacts and works. A woman with a stillborn child had to un ­ dergo a much more rigorous purification nous crime. However, the Vendidadic rite over a longer period (Vendidad 5.45- society was broadminded enough to de- 62,15.1-7). dare that “if a young woman, belonging It may as well be added here that the to a family or independent, married or way in which menstruation is not men- While the Gathic and other Avestan use Seducing and impregnating a maiden outside marriage was considered a hei- Apply with photograph (returnable) to: The Advertiser Matrimonial (ApriI/10-91) Parsiana GPO Box 892 Bombay 400001 not, conceives by a man, ” she should not feel ashamed and should not resort to abortion because “it is murder commit ­ ted by both the man and the woman. ” The man was commanded to support her until the child was bom and then support the two for seven years. If he, for obvi ­ ous reasons did not, then the community took care of the mother and the child Generally, old women helped in abortion by means of drugs “which kills in the womb... or produces miscarriage. ” The tioned in other parts of the Avesta, even scripture also prohibits the use of drugs by the yashts which specify those who to stop the issue or shorten the menstrua- should be barred from participation in the libations offered in their honor, one has to accept that it was taken as a natural phenomenon and did not pose a problem (Vendidad 15.9-19,45). to the purely Aryan society. It is the Vendidad which states a jahika mixes in her the seeds of the faith ­ ful and the unfaithful, the worshippers of chose her husband through sound consul- Mazda and the worshippers of Daevas, rations, the Vendidad reveals that it was the wicked and the righteous (Vendidad the father or the brother who gave the girl 18.62). The Erpatistan quotes the pas- away to a righteous man seeking a wife {Vendidad 14.15). Whatever the past, time has come to Man and woman both officiated, whenever invited, as priests in a ritual tion period. A lengthy period of issue was considered a sickness and the woman advised to be treated and cured WANTE D The marriageable age for both the sexes was 15 years all along. However, while the Gathas show that a woman A young consultant in Anaesthesiology for a prestigious, large, well-equipped mission hospital in Trichur, South India. Minimum qualification D.A. or M.D. in Anaesthesia. Apply to Dr. Gool Mistry, Head of Dept. of Anaesthesiology, Jubilee Mission Hospital, Trichur 680005, Kerala. 18.62). The Erpatistan quotes the pas ­ sage in a varied form in its Pahlavi com ­ mentary. It shows her mixing the seeds of a “a Mazdayasna and Daevayasna turn to the Gathic doctrine to compre- (1.5.9).” In other words, a jahika is a hend the woman ’s true and rightful prostitute who sleeps with men of oppo- status. It is direly needed in order to re­ site classes and creeds. She is a vicious establish the “fellowship of the men and person whose look “dries up one-third of women of Zarathushtra... highly re­ waters, plants, and a righteous man ’s garded by Ahura Mazda ” in a progress ­ good thoughts, words, deeds and ing world. It will place Zarathushtrian strength. ” But while the Vendidad pre­ scribes a summary death for jahika, noth ­ ing is mentioned about any punishment for those who sleep with her. Furthermore, there is nothing in the Avestan texts that would prohibit and discredit a marriage between a Zara ­ thushtrian and a non-Zarathushtrian. Does it mean that no mixed marriages took place? Iranian history, particularly from the Achaemenian down to the Sassanian times, shows otherwise. Zara- women ahead of others and that too with ­ out resorting lo any “liberation ” move ­ ment. The Gathas are the resort. Let us all, men and women, turn to them. I i 34 Parsiana April 1991 Dr AH A. Jafarey, author of 11 books in Persian and English on the Zoroastrian religion, had studied Avesta and Pahlavi under Dr Manek Pithawalla and Dastur (Dr) M. N. Dhalla. He obtained his doctorate in Persian literature from Karachi. Since 1963 he has served as trustee of the Ancient Iranian Cultural Society, first in Tehran and now in Los Angeles.BOOKS Pherozeshah Mehta: the lofty liberal B. K. Karanjia ¦H Sir Pherozeshah Mehta Memorial Volume edited Bhavnagar after making the necessary and compiled by Godrej N. Dotivala. Published in 1990 on behalf of the Mayor's Fund Committee by Suresh J. Chube, Municipal secretary, Bombay Mu­ nicipal Corporation Building, Mahapalika Marg, Bombay 400001. Pp; 339. application and was told to wait. He waited for some time but, having to return to Bombay the same evening, he sent his apologies to the dewan and said he would come some other time. But the dewan would have none of it and insisted that Pherozeshah dine with him. This is how Jehan Daruwala, editor of o J ¦ The picture that emerges from Homi Mody ’s Sir Pherozeshah Mehta -- A Po­ litical Biography is of a multi-faceted ____ and talented personality who left his The Bombay Samachar, describes what mark not only on the city of his birth, happened next: “The dinner over, Phe- Bombay, but on the whole of India as rozeshah fidgeted nervously and asked, well, and for all time to come. The Sir ‘Sir, what about my problem? ’ Haridas . > r:- Pherozeshah Mehta Memorial Volume, asked, ‘What problem? ’ ‘My application bellowed to his valet to pack the bags lovingly edited and scrupulously com- for financial aid, ’ said Pherozeshah. again, saying he would return to Bombay piled by Godrej N. Dotivala, and re- ‘Oh, ’ said Haridas, ‘that, young man, is by the night mail. Promptly, the fright- leased (Ml the occasion of Pherozeshah ’s 75th death anniversary, is in a sense a valuable complement to Mody ’s biogra- Flabbergasted, Pherozeshah mumbled: phy. In it several hon ’ble judges elabo ­ rate on the qualities that made Pheroz ­ eshah an outstanding adv(x:ate; a veteran municipal councillor and a mayor dwell tion. In future, when the State of war Lentin, “Pherozeshah never lost the on his immense contribution to make Bhavnagar needs your services and if common touch. He was intensely human. Bombay India ’s first city; noted educa ­ tionists and social reformers deal knowl ­ edgeably and sympathetically with his ¦ already taken care of. You will get the ened clients exerted themselves, and se- funds for your journey and studies. ’ cured for him luxurious and appropriate quarters. ” Pherozeshah was therefore Bombay ’s uncrowned king in more senses than one. ‘But Sir, I have no security to offer. ’ ‘Security! ’ said Haridas, ‘Your face is your security. There is only one stipula- “Yet for all this, ’’ writes Justice Bakhta* you feel like giving it, that will be the He cared. He never donned the garb of time to repay your debt ’” ' hypocritical asceticism. He dressed ele- As luck would have it, many years gantly. He liked his creative comforts. He rather unorthodox views on education later, Pherozeshah got the opportunity to enjoyed civilized refreshment before din- and social reform that were way ahead of repay the debt. The State was involved ner and a good cigar after. ” his time; and the ubiquitous tribe of poll- in litigation with the Government of In- >•» his time; and the ubiquitous tribe of poll- in litigation with the Government of In- Pherozeshah would brook no non- ticians give their seal of belated approval dia which marshalled a battery of British sense. He always stood on his rights. An that, in opposition to the emerging ex- 1 tremist trends, Pherozeshah continued to single-handed — and won! be a liberal, and applaud the fact that, bom and bred a Parsi, Pherozeshah was also had extravagant tastes and liked to the Government of Bombay announced an Indian first and last. live in style. Justice Sohrab D. Vimadalal the names of dignitaries to meet the Royal But it is the personal and recollected describes how once he had got into a Highnesses, omitting the names of the ' anecdotes with which this commemora- roaring practice, whenever he went out of president and the commissioner of the five Volume is replete that not only make Bombay he travelled in style with his own Bombay Municipal Corporation. An out- for fascinating reading, but make Pheroz- __ ' ’ ' ' eshah come alive as a most redoubtable Recalling an incident told him by Sir Jam- and yet lovable personality. As a young man, ambitious to become a barrister in . London but lacking the means to do so, he knowing his extravagant tastes and style mayor B. K. Boman-Behram describes it: applied to the dewan of the Maharaja of of living, took him on a case to a distant tho /.huf Mysore to loan him part of the money for mofussil town by train, and lodged him in the purpose. He called on the dewan at what he found to be poor surroundings, he barristers. Pherozeshah fought the case example of this occurred in 1905 when the Prince and Princess of Wales were to A man of lofty ideals, Pherozeshah visit India. On the eve of the royal visit. valet and sometimes even his own barber, raged Pherozeshah threatened a total boy ­ cott of the royal visit. The Government got cold feet and there was an interesting shed Kanga, Vimadalal writes: “I under ­ stand that when some Indian clients, not sequel. This is how former Bombay ¦‘The Government sent the chief secretary to Pherozeshah ’s residence. Pherozeshah told him coldly: ‘I shall be in my office 35 Parsiana April 1991nicipality office. scribes Pherozeshah ’s reaction: Gandhi, is that the man was greater than anything he did. His concern was con­ stant for his community and sister com­ munities, for the city of his birth and the country. He was an educationist who was far ahead of his time, a great liberal who was also a true pauiot, in an era when pa ­ triotism had not yet begun to look askance at liberalism. His -writings and speeches He travelled in style with his own valet room at 12 o ’clock. Come and see me George V in front of the Bombay Mu- politics. But the overriding impression there. ’ This was perhaps meant as a de- nicipality office. Baburao Shete de- one forms after reading the many and var- liberate slight to (the) Government in re- scribes Pherozeshah ’s reaction: ‘“What ied tributes of his admirers and followers, turn for the affront to the Corporation, business has he to be placed in front of the not the least of whom was Mahatma The chief secretary went and waited in Corporation building? ’ roared Pheroz- Pherozeshah ’s office. On arriving, Phe ­ rozeshah asked: ‘What is your business? ’ The chief secretary replied: ‘The Govern ­ ment wishes me to tell you that they will ^ter all the anangements and give gp J SOmetlmeS OVen the place of honor. If that be so, you bet- , ter go back. I will ask the Corporation to his own barber meet me in an hour, ’ said Pherozeshah. --------------------------------------------------- The chief secretary requested Pheroz- eshah Mehta. ‘He had done nothing for — his gift of words that was the most eshah to send word, ‘yes or no. ’ He this city. ’ And naturally, the resolution preeminent of his gifts — reflect the man added: ‘Only one of these two. ’ Pheroz- was defeated by the Corporation. ‘Do he was: aggressive but eminently fair, eshah went down to the Corporation you want your own statue to be erected hard-headed and great-hearted, jovial meeting at which the councillors were as- there? ’ taunted someone. ‘Why not? ’ with an almost irreverent sense of humor, sembled in an angry mood. He pacified asked Pherozeshah. ‘It may happen. I boisterous but withal serene, a man who them and they agre^ with him, and the have served this city for 30 years. ’ Ulti- word ‘yes ’was sent to the Government, i . .. The visit duly took place and Pherozeshah Mehta ’s statue was placed by unanimous read the address to the Royal Highnesses vote on the spot where King George ’s with the Governor and officials standing was to be.” in the wings. Their Highnesses were so pleased that they invited Pherozeshah to the great things Pherozeshah did in the torical and personal interest, a collection come and see them in private. ” spheres of law, municipal government, of Pherozeshah ’s speeches and writings, A similar incident occurred when it education, journalism (he founded the and a bibliography. All in all, a worthy was proposed to erect a statue of King Bombay Chronicle), social reform and memorial and a most readable book. ......... ¦ asked for and gave no quarter, who did mately it did happen. Sir Pherozeshah not sutler fools gladly but at the same time was most generous when praise was deserved. Dotivala ’s Memorial Volume is further The commemorative Vo/u/zie recounts enriched by several photographs of his- WITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROM SOFT-HEARTED ‘WIBS’BREAD WESTERN INDIA BAKERS' PRIVATE LIMITED KHODADAD BUILDING, 100 D'LIMA STREET DOCKYARD ROAD, BOMBAY 400010 36 Parsiana April 1991BOOKS I "Wi Primer for Parsis Dara Kadva have been avoided. It dwells at length on Parsis Ancient and Modern and their Religion by Fare- _ dun I^vasji Dartechanir ^biished by the author 4 Dadabhoy Naoroji or Sir Pheroz- Katrak Para Colony, M. A. Jinnah Road, Karachi 3. Third edition, Pp: 200. em times. I am sure the author meant some other area in the Mediterranean but eshah Mehta were and their grand contri- has wrongly mentioned Eritrea. bution to the freedom struggle, on how I would have preferred if the author An average Parsi these days has only a J.R.D. Tata guided the House of Tatas to had discussed how and why the Parsis general idea about his religion, including number one position in Indian industry, left Iran, how they preserved the atash our ancient history in Iran. This very same average Parsi is going to feel sur ­ prised if he is told that some of our illus ­ trious padshahs — like Jamsheed, Faridun, Kaikobad, Kaykaus and Kay ethics, etc, but occupying barely 20 even in passing. Khushru — lived in the period before the pages, it does not satisfy one ’s curiosity birth of Prophet Zarathushtra. Thelegen- about the religion, dary Rustam-Sohrab episode also pre- I am intrigued therefore ceded the advent of the Prophet. The Dadachanji ’s assertion in his preface to only common denominator in our entire the first edition that the book is “primar- ancient history is that it is enshrined in the ily meant for Parsis — particularly the with Iran and retained their knowledge of Shah Namah of Firdausi Tusi. Not many Karachi Parsis and its student community the Persian language, they would have know that His divine message was fust — and may be found interesting and in- certainly realized that the Persian cul- accepted by King Vishtasp mid-way dur- formative by non-Parsis too. tural tradition in its spirit remained es ­ ing the Kayanian dynasty; that the first Ader Meher (fire-temple) of our religion to discuss an ancient religion, much of and Islamic influences. ” Obviously, Dr was consecrated by Vishtasp at Burjin. These and many other basic facts or are untraceable, it could still have been nasty was in power, which took pride in about our reJigion and community are possible for Dadachanji to be particular the ancient history of Iran and celebrated mentioned in the book. Parsis Ancient about details and avoid various inconsis- historic events like a 10-day holiday on and Modern and their Religion by F. K. tencies. The book mentions the period of Jamshedi Navroze. The late Shah had or- Dadachanji. It is not a new book, having rule of only Achaemenian and Sassanian ganized an international extravaganza in been first published in Karachi in 1980. dynasties while offering no dates for the 1976 to mark the 2,500th year anniver- This is its 200-page third edition which other three dynasties. The tenure of indi- sary of Cyrus the Great. But, after the ar- incorporates an update about modem vidual padshahs is also mentioned for rival of the Islamic Revolution, the an- Parsis. Strangely, it mentions no price. If an ill-informed Parsi decides to ac ­ quire a detailed knowledge of our reli­ gion and history, this book is not recom- researcher/writer like Dadachanji. mended because its elucidation is too - brief and does not provide all the an ­ swers. The five royal dynasties of an ­ cient Iran — Peshdadian, Kayanian, 500 BC.” The first three are in Greece quented by drug addicts. Achaemenian, Parthian and Sassanian — while Eritrea is in the Hom of Africa and have been completed in just 50 pages in Part I of the book entitled “History of could not be reached without first cross ­ Iran, ” while Part II on “Modem times ” takes up more than 100 pages. This could a difficult task for any army even in mod- on the community ’s contribution to the padshah during the sea voyage and how various other social, business and literary from Diu to Sanjan and then to Udwada fields... Part III on “Religion ” deals with the holy fire was consecrated at the Iran- the concept of God. forms of worship, shah. But these points are not discussed I The only other point I would like to discuss is the foreword by Justice Dr by Javid Iqbal wherein he quotes his father, the late Allama Iqbal, as saying that “had the Parsis maintained their contact Given the difficulty faced by writers sentially Zoroastrian despite Hellenic whose history books have been destroyed Iqbal wrote this when the Pahlavi Dy- some and not for the rest. Historical data cient history and traditions have been in this regard is definitely available and sidetracked. Now March 21 each year is could not have been beyond the reach of a known only as Navroze, not Jamshedi Navroze as before, and is only a one-day Further in one chapter, Dadachanji holiday. The regime has also banned says Darius the Great ’s army “entered cafes from holding Shah Namah dis- Thrace, Macedonia, Athens and Eritrea in courses by claiming that they are fre- There is a great need for books on our is presently a part of Ethiopia. By land, it ancient history and I do hope that, taking a leaf from Dadachanji, Parsi authors in ing Egypt and Sudan, which logistically is India will also come out with detailed ac ­ counts. 37 Parsiana April 1991MILESTONES This month’s list of those mar­ ried in Bombay includes civil brain), marriages betweoi Zoroastrians. Also featured are intercommu- fatty substances in Ae arteries), Nariman Balsara; October 4 nity marriages registered at the Alzheimer’s disease (a degen- Poorwa Ramesh Dave and Old Customs House between eradve disease of the coitral Kurush Phiroze Sarkari; August 1990 and January 1991. nervous system characterised by Octobers This month, for the Grst time, premature senile mental deterio- Jasmine MehB Wadia and Parsiana has also tapped the ration), brain disease, gastroin- Milur Gangadhar Kulkami; registration center for intercom­ munity marriages at the MHADA office in Bandra (East). However, names which reported case of drowning. One could not be satisfactorily identi­ fied as Zoroastrian have been omitted. The age of Zoroastrian brides (as listed in this issue) ranged from 20 years to 36 years, the arithmetic mean (the total num­ ber of individual ages divided by the total number of brides) being 26 years. The corresponding fig­ ures for the grooms were 21 yeais and 41 years, averaging at 29 years. From among the 75 Zoroas­ trians who died in Bombay in March, 22 succumbed to the ma­ jor killer: heart disease. Pneu­ monia md lung disease followed marriages/deaths they would like claiming 13 lives while old age published, some proof to ensure and general debility took 11 vic­ tims. Five fell prey to cancer, three each to anemia and diabe­ tes and two each to septicemia, liver disease, kidney failure and marriages BOMBAY Bom A girl to Nergish and Vispy Katila on January 31,1991 A boy to Aban and Firoze Andhyarujina-, March 2 A girl to Havovi and Yezdi Cobla-, March 2 A girl to Rati and Darius Billimoria; March 3 A boy to Tushnamaiti and Percy Sasuri', March S A boy to Havovee and Sheriar Iraitii-Match 8 A girl to Shirin and Behram Dotivala; March 15 A girl to Anupam and Shahrook Munsiff', March 16 A boy to Shernaz and Farokh Wadia\ March 16 A boy to Firuza and Rumy Patel', March 17 A girl to Jolly and Sarosh Doctor, March 19 A girl to Aban and Jamshed Bapasola', March 20 aicephalitis(inflammation of the Zarangiz A. Aftabi and Asthma, tuberculosis. Arulkumar Misran September 30 atherosclerosis (deposition of Winnie D'Costa and Mehli fatty substances in the arteriesj, Alzheimer’s disease (a degen­ erative disease of the coitral testinal bleeding and diarrhoea were the isolated cases regis­ tered last month. There was one youth aged 27 and two aged 35 years were also lost to the com- Lina Josqth Pinto and Keraj munity. — death: 98 years. The dau on births, marriages and deaths has been compiled November 11 from information supplied by Sonal Vasantkumar Parikh and various newsletters arri anju- mans in India and abroad, courts and hospitals. This information I^ergish F. Kanga and Balgopal is not always complete or consis­ tent. In the breakup of deaths, ac­ cording to illnesses, especially of Jimmy Balsara', November 16 the elderly, death is often due to a combination of several dis­ eases. If readers have any births/ The highest age at Dara Mody; November 9 LBy Framroie Bhagat and Patrick Leslie Seeney; Derineh Homee Cooper and Mandhir Daljeet Rai-, November 27 Veera J. Bhaisa and Ashish S. Sawkar, December 2 Maharukh K. Daruwalla and the veracity of the report would Kamlesh K. Sheth-, December 2 be required. We are sure our readers would appreciate this requironent and cooperate with us. A boy to Kamal and Zubin Mistry, March 20 A boy to Havovi and Hoshedar Vachha; March 21 A boy to Gooleshtan and Dinyar Elavia; March 22 A boy, Burzen, to Yasmin and Tehmtan Engineer, March 22 A boy, Kayzad, to Zarin and Rohinton Mistry, March 24 A boy to Benaifer and Neville Taraporewalla-, March 25 A girl to Roshan and Kaizad Bhathena', March 28 A boy to Dilbar and Lohrasp Kalyaniwalla', March 28 Married Delnavaz Mazdayasna and Afshin Kohinoor, August 30, 1990 Farida Gustad Divecha and Kishor Jaywant Salunke-, September 1 Farida Ma'iter and S. Jayaswal-, September 4 October 14 Pearl Meherji Mistry and Shaslukant Tiwari', October 19 Pallavi StuUuAar Kasar and Zarsis Soli Driver-, November 5 Vispy Rustomji Medhora-, November 12 T; November 12 Tanvir Shaikh and Sharookh Rashna Hosang Dhabhar and Ravikumar Ramakrishna Iyer, December 8 Sonia ViJ and Percy Bomi Vasunia-, December 10 Pooruim Tickoo and Mehrnosh P. Master, December 12 Maria Elaine Nazareth and Peshotan Nadir Modi ; December 20 Daisy Joshi and Rahul Jail Cowasji-, December 27 Zia Jamshedji and Thomas Laat Kainer, December 27 Tina Balsara and Vikrant A. Vaswani-, December 29 Nergish Adi Patva and SuraJ Hariram Dulani; December 31 Pushpalata Rama Krishnan and Gev Kersasp Khambata', December 31 Katy Rotan Karanjia and Rusi Jehangir Kermani-, January 1, 1991 Shireen Narinder Nayar and Kaikobad Behram Mistry, January 4 Virgirua Winnie Fernandes and Neville Murzban Unwala, January 5 Rashne N. Rustomji and Carl A. Athay de', January 6 Shernas Jehangir Mistry and Kaizad Bonu Heerjee-, January 7 Bernadette Devraj Dabhade and Shahpur Pheroz Ratnagar-, January 9 Birut^er A. Doctor and Bomi V. Patel-, January 11 Katy Shapoor Lakdawalla and Sudhir Premchand Gyanchandani-, January 18 Z^ina M. Daruwalla and Hosi Retianshaw Mistry-, January 19 Meher Honu Guard and Christopher Francis De Souza-, January 21 Binaifer Edul Havaldar and Jawaharlal Girish Gala; January 22 Dinaz Hormazjee Udhanawala of Udhna, Surat and Kersi Dinshaw Shroff; February 3 Kashnura Freddy Buhariwala and Aspi Faramroj Pardiwala-, February 16 Veera Honu Panthaki and Mahiyar Soli Moos; February 18 Daisy Pervez Daruwalla and Eric Kaikhushroo Marfatia-, February 22 Pervin Befaam Bharda and Daraius Jehangir Dadachanji; February 23 Ava Dara 2^walla and Jamshed Adi Lalkaka-, February 26 Maharukh Rotan Bhesania and Khushru Tehmurasp Manekshaw of Kadunandu; February 26 Mahbanoo Minoo Mirza and Sohrab Jamshed Faroodi; March 1 Sanober Keki Randeria and Rolunton Adi Katrak of Horsham. USA; March 1 Kashmira Pirojshaw Diunasia of Ahmedabad and Percy Gustad Patel-, March 2 Ruzbeh Hoshang Amrolia and Daraius Baji Mehta-, March 3 Meher Honu Sethna and Kavas Rotan Dadabhoy-, March 4 Beluoze Minoo Pithawalla of Solapur and Adi Homi Gara-, March 4 Amy Naval Sluoff and Zarir Dinshaw Darbari of Bulsar; March 5 Hutokhshi Pesi Shaw and Kurush Firoz Elavia of Houston; March 7 Maharukh Percy Dadrewala and Hoshang Homi Katki-, March 7 38 Parsiana April 1991 j LAvaan Rustom Dadacharyi and Aspi Dara Marolia of Poona; March 7 Dinaz Lovji Porbunderwala and Cyrus Sovak Sarbhanwalla; March 8 Kamal Minoo Mogrelia and Rustom Framroze Titina; March 9 Hutoxi Rusi Cooper and Zubin Shahrukh Contractor; March 10 Pervin Pesi Jaorewala and Rdhinton Dadi Vesuna; March 10 Roshan Kaikhushru Bulsara and Parvez Rusi Bharucha; March 11 Aban Hoshang Mistry and Nari Dickey Chothia; March 11 Shahnaz Aflatoon Irani and Farzad Sheriar Jehani; March 11 Roshni Rustom Nargohvala and Phiroze Parvez Panthaki; March 11 Nilufer Mehli Wadia and Kaiyomerz Cawas Palia; March 12 Nilufer Jal Langdana and Cyrus Homi Siganporia; March 14 Parinaz Feradoon Kohiyar and Jamshed Purvez Chinoy; March 16 Gulshan Dadi Mistry and Adi Bomanji Rustomji; March 17 Persis Dinshasv Patel and Behram Jal Vania; March 18 Maharukh Behram KharrAata and Adi Dorabji Sadri; March 19 Shireen Adi Hormasji and Dinshaw Russy Kavarana; March 21 Rukshana Jimmy Banker and Marzban Keki Elavia; March 22 Meher Honu Dastoor and Noshir Adi Marfatia; March 23 Pervin Sam Vasania and Kersasp Hoshang Karanjia; March 30 Shiraz Kersi Master and Kerman Hormuzdiar Rana; March 31 Died Tehmi Edulji Billimoria (81), residing at Oceana, Netaji Subhash Rd, Marine Drive, 400020; February 28 Khorshed Cawasji Calagopi (81), F, Bhiwandiwalla Ter, Dhobitalao, 400002; February 28 Khorshed Sorab Doctor (94), Sudama Kutir, Cumballa Hill, 400036; March 1 Shirin Edulji Kaka (82), 3/7, A. H. Wadia Baug, Parel Tank Rd, 400033; March 1 Dina Dinshaw Patel (82), B/402, Sea-Shell Apts, Seven Bglws, Andheri (W), 400061; March 1 Hilla Bejonji Workingboxwalla (81), F. S. Parukh Dharam- shalla, 34, Hughes Rd, 400007; March 1 Bachubai Jeejeebhoy Fitter (87), Readymoney Block, 781, Pars! Clny, Dadar, 400014; March 2 Pilamai Rustom Major (90), New Kanga Bldg, A. K. Marg, 400036; March 2 Fredoon Framroze Pastakia (19), 62/B, Diamond Court, 40, Nepean Sea Rd, 400006; March 2 Behram Berjorji Unwala (68), Gazdar Hse, B. Desai Rd, 400026; March 2 Erach Navroji Dastur (80), Tehmi Ter, 805, Dr Ambedkar Rd, Parsi Clny, Dadar, 400014; March 3 Kolan Naval Manjra (65), 723, Dinshaw Master Rd, Parsi Clny, Dadar, 400014; March 3 Savaksha Cursetji Pardiwalla (98), 281, Sidhwa Bldg, Princess St, 400002; March 3 Pestonji Naoroji Sukeshwalla (85), Room no 14, Malegam- walla Bldg, Mahim, 400016; March 3. Maneck Pestonji Cooper (90), 16/3, Wadia Bldg, Malcolm Baug, Jogeshwari (W), 400102; March 4 Banoo Homi Munshi (14), 18, Mehta Bldg, Panthaki Baug, Andheri (E), 400069; March 4 Banoo Dhunjisha Ratnagar (68), CI2Q, Cmstov ! Baug, S. B. Rd, 400039; March 4 Aloo Eruch Vevai (68), 17/A, Rustom Baug, Victoria Rd, Byculla, 400027; March 4 Dossabhoy Framroze Avari (81), 162, Mistry Bldg, Khetwadi Back Rd, 400004; March 7 Phiroze Rustom Bhandara (68J, Shanti Ville, Malcolm Baug, Jogeshwari (W), 400102; March 7 Daulat binshajee Kavarana (64), Keravala Bldg, 789, Jame Jamshed Rd, Parsi Clny, Dadar, 4(M)014; March 7 Shirin Nariman Rabadi (71), 21, Dubash Block, Khareghat Clny, 34, Hughes Rd, 400007; March 7 Nariman Jehangirji Confectioner (71), 595, J. S. S. Rd, 400002; March 8 Homai Pestonji Gazdar (71), 130, M. Karve Rd, 400020; March 8 Piroja Manecksha Master (74), 127, Shiraz Ter, Tardeo, 400034; March 8 Cyrus Sarosh Shastri (27), IA/11, Tata Mills Co-op Hsg Soc, Elphinstone Rd, Parel, 400012; March 8 Putltdtai Nadirsha Kcy>adia (89), Dhun Bldg, 312, Lamington Rd, Grant Rd, 400007; March 9 Neville Keki Haevae (35), Room no 29, Haji Habib Bldg, 30, Naigam Cross Rd, Dadar, 400014; March 10 Keki Sorabji Masalawala (72), Mahimwalla Bldg, 12, Khetwadi Main Rd, 400004; March 10 Jaiji Byramji Mody (78), 15/4, Rustom Baug, Victoria Rd, Byculla, 400027; March 10 Homi Jal Aga (35), Gaum Elav, Dtet Surat, 395001; March 11 Fall Jahangir Cooper (61), 15/ 7, Rustom Baug, Victoria Rd, Byculla, 400027; March 11 Piroja Ar deshir Mistry (85), M/6, Cusrow Baug, S. B. Rd, 400039; March 11 Sorabji Hormusji Pochkhana- walla (86), 683, Khareghat Rd, Parsi Clny, Dadar, 400014; March 11 Nadirshaw Bhikhaji Patel (90), 4/23, Tata Mills Co-op Hsg Soc, Parel, 400012; March 12 Dara Nariman Sarkari (52), Room no 3, Mani Bhuvan, Khetwadi Back Rd, 400004; March 12 Byram Sorabjee Irani (86), A, Shantivan U, 604, Raheja Township, Malad (E), 400097; March 13 Shapur Gustasp Irani (75), C, Bhiwandiwalla Ter, Dhobitalao, 400002; March 13 Hiranbai Framroz Bhagat (76), Dhanbai Villa, Dhanbai Wadi, Irla Lane, Vile Parle (W), 400056; March 14 Homi Maneck Dadachanji (79), 35, Sanchesy Hse, 4th Khetwadi Lane, 400004; March 14 Behram Nariman Daruwalla (78), D/2, Chitrapur Hsg Soc, Rd No 27, Bandra (W), 400050; March 15 Coomi Piroshaw Jamooji (88), Dosal Mans, 795, Jame Jdmshed Rd, Parsi Clny, Dadar, 400014; March 15 Nadir Bapuji M 'lstry (88), 610, Rajni Mhl, 9/95, Tardeo Rd, 400034; March 15 Manekshaw Sorabji Pooruwala (76), Dosabhoy Mans, 796, Jame Jamshed Rd, Parsi Clny, Dadar, 400014; March 15 Dadi Darabshah Batliwalla (68), 9, Patel Chmbs, Gunbow St, Fort, 400001; March 17 Gool Dara Doctor (8^), Raj Mhl, Altamount Rd, 400026; March 17 Bommy Darabsha Batiwala (54), Orient Hse, 666, Parsi Clny, Dadar, 400014; March 18 Katty Noshir Hathiram (68), 8/A, Gilder Lane, Marzban Clny, Tardeo, 400008; March 18 Sohrabji Jamshedji Kotwal (91), P/36, Cusrow Baug, S. B. Rd, 400039; March 18 Perin Cooverji Patel (80), 13, Sleater Rd, 400007; March 18 Rusi Burjorji Dover (68), Silverett, 122, Rd No 27, Sion (E), 400022; March 19 Pirojshaw Maneckji Dhalla (93), 1, Lady Meherbai Tata Bldg, S. V. Rd, Bandra, 400050; March 19 Aaloo Adi-Edulji Mistry IfTi), Dadachanji Bldg, Murzban Clny, Dr Nair Rd, 400011; March 19 Meherwanji Kaikhushroo Dalal (82), Meher-Muncher Mans, 512, R. P. Masani Rd, Matunga, 400019; March 20 Aranavaz Ardeshir IcMiaporia (40), Room no 71, Kashinath Bldg, Cadel Rd, Mahim, 400016; March 21 Dhun Shiavax Kotwal (78), Jaiphal Ter, 29, Forjett St, 400036; March 21 Tehmurasp Pestonji ParUhakey (72), 12, Sorab Bharucha Rd, Colaba, 400005; March 21 Aloo Firoze Batliwala (60), 26, Sohnag, Kattak Rd, Wadala, 400031; March 22 Gul Bili^ria (60), Shanti Sadan, French Bridge, 400007; March 22 Khorshed Kaikhushroo Mistry (70), 22/F, Bomanji Dhunjibhoy Bldg, Nawab Tank Rd, Mazgaon, 400010; March 22 Eddie Eruch Padder (58), Dorab Tata Bldg No 2, Tata Blocks, Bandra, 400050;* March 22 HomaiShavakTata (80), 29, Jaiphal Ter, Forjett St, 400036; March 22 Minoo Jalega Driver (60), F/20, Cusrow Baug, S. B. Rd, 39 Parsiana April 1991400039; March 24 Jal Jehangirji Pacca {15), 2, School Bldg, Cusrow Baug, S. B. Rd, 400039; March 24 Piloo Mancheshaw Charna (76), 14/A, Surya Kiran, Cumballa Hill, 400026; March 25 Nergish Maneckji Antia (70), C/31, Meherzin, N. Parel± Rd, 400005; March 26 Khorshed Jamshedji Katrak (87), 601, Rendezvous, 120/ 121, Master Vinayak Marg, Bandra, 400050; March 26 Villamai Dara Mehta (80), 303/A, Silver Sands, Yari Rd, Versova, Andheri, 4(X)061: March 26 Sovak Sorabji Bhesania (60), 1/12, A. H. Wadia Baug, Parel Tank Rd, 400033; March 27 Sorab Jamshedji Coachmen (86), 22/C. Nawab Tank Rd, Sakanvadi, Mazgaon, 400010; March 28 Coomi Kaikhusroo Driver (95), Santosh Bldg, 100, Dadasaheb Phalke Rd, Dadar, 400014; March 28 Faramroze Rustomji Karai (83), Room no 2, Maneckji Petit Bldg, Gilder Lane, Laming ton Rd, 400008; March 28 Sherbanoo Framroze Billimoria (97), Sylmoyne, 3, Carmichael Rd, 400026; March 30 Fardoonji Khursetji Irani (98), 19, Malegamwalla Bldg, Khareghat Clny, 34, Hughes Rd, 400007; March 30 Homi Jeejibhoy Patel (60), Karani Mans, 780, Joslii Rd, Parsi Clny, Dadar, 400014; March 30 Homai Barjor Dastur (75), 16, Abbas Bldg, Jalbhai St, Chami Rd, 400004; March 31 Phiroze Savaksa Oomrigar (76), 18, Clinic Bldg, Gamadia Clny, Tardeo Rd, 400007; March 31 BURNPUR, WEST BENGAL Married Homai Sabavala and Marzban Cavas Bilimoria; March 24 CALCUTTA Born A girl, Tashan, to Shirin and Cyrus Mehta; March 21 Died Keki Faramroze Medhora-, February 5 Katy Homi Engineer, sister of Cawas, Freny, Nargis and Khorshed Nariman; February 23 JAMSHEDPUR Married Meena Monga of Bombay and Faramroze Cavas Bugli; Novembers, 1990 Bakhtavar Mistry of Bombay and Rumi Burjor Battiwala; November 8 Zarine F. Kalwachwala and Soli P. Baria of Surat; December 7 Died Sheroo F. Todiwala (65), Room no 9, Parsi Hostel, Straight Mile Rd, 831001; October 10 Perin C. Mehta fTi), 20, Circuit HseArea (E), 831001; December 26 POONA Married Meher Aga, daughter of Amavaz and Rohinton and Pheroze Pudamjee, son of Amy and Nusly; March 18, 1991 Died Tehmina Edulji Thanewala (84), 1/17, Gita Soc, Synagogue St, 411001; March 7 Jehangir Kaikhashru Adranvala (85), father of Shireen and Rustum and brother of Tehmina; March 9 (body donated for educational use) Jehangir Faredoon Irani (80), 676, Taboot St, 411001; March 17 Dhunjishaw Eduljee Mithaiwalla (69), Central Apts, Convent St, 411001; March 17 Soona Aspandiar Irani (85), 486, Rasta Peth, 411001; March 19 SheriyarA. Irani (60), 2067, Jan Mohmed St, 411001; March 28 SURAT Died Tehmina Bomansha Contractor (70), Popat Mohallo, Nanpura, 395001; February 15 Hutokshi Nadirsha Patel (24), Gam Suwali, Taluka Charpasi, 395003; March 1 Goolbai Hormusji Patel (89), Gam Elav, Taluka Hasoi, Dist Bharuch, 392001; March 4 Dinamai Sorabji Cooper (73), Nariman Home and Infirmary, Shahpore, 395003; March 6 Minocher Dosabhai Rao (77), 67, Sugam Sasapatti, Adajan, 395009; March 13 Mehra Minocher Khambatt a (74), Vanki Bordi, 395003; March 26 Nariman Gustadji Pajnigara (70); March 30 AUSTIN, TEXAS Married Supriya Sarma and Firoz Dara Antia; December 29, 1990 AUSTRALIA Died Perin Minocher Wadia; February 3,1991 CHICAGO Born A boy, Kayan, to Farhiz and Farahad Sidha; November 4, 1990 A girl, Tanaz, to Kashmira and Rumi Jamsetjee, sister to Roshni; February 12, 1991 HONG KONG Married Tehnaz Homi Gotla and Michael John Crook, November 17, 1990 KARACHI Born A girl, Tama, to Mailing and Farhad Mavalwala; November 20 Died Mi two J. Dubash (68); January 4,1991 Lovji K. Spencer (90); January 11 Pirosha Byrtvnji Daruwala {61); January 13 Jamshed Cowasjee Karanjia (68); January 16 Pilamai Maneckji Mirza (8C); THE PARSIANA BOOK OF IRANIAN NAMES The Iranian names of boys and girls along with their meanings which originally appeared In Parsiana have now been reprinted in an attractive 24-page booklet. The book, which is priced at Rs 15, is available on sale at Kaiser-B-Hind 300 Perin Nariman Street, Behind Reserve Bank of India, Fort, Bombay 400001 Faredoon and Burjor Sandalwood Shop Princess Street Union Press 13, Homji Street, Bombay 400001 January 16 Keki Jehangirji Tampal (76); January 20 Thrity Byramji Divecha (62); January 21 Cooverbai K. Medora (74); February 1 Mucca Darab Sachinwala (79); February 1 Freny Framroze Karanjia (55); February 5 Jeroo Pirozsha Nicolwalla (56); February 9 Farida Feroze Mehta (jil); February 11 Lalokh Jamshed Iram (86); February 16 Mehramai Cyrus Minwalla (85); February 19 Mani Framroze Nadodwala (70); February 23 Mithamai Framroze Jimvala (87); February 28 SYRACUSE, USA Born A boy, Phiroze, to Farida and Neville Divecha, brother to Ashraf; February 2 TORONTO Died Tehmina Shroff, mother of Najoo and Keki; February 12 VANCOUVER Died Sam Confectioner; January 1 TOTALS (for this Issue) Births: Boys 14, Girls 11 Marriages: Parsi 50 Intercommunal 51 Deaths: 113 Compiled by Roxana H. Kaka 40 Parsiana April 1991IN M EMORI AM 3 1 DINSHAW PETIT IS the genial gentleman Arnavaz S. Mama ties surrounding the family ’s textile mills, a lawyer in the family was re­ quired. As luck would have it, the year Dinshaw graduated as a solicitor, the Petit mills went into liquidation. Beginning his legal career at the Ex­ aminer Press Building, Dinshaw acquired He was “never ambitious, never one to push struggle. The resolutions of the board of himself, ” says his wife Mitha Petit. Re- contact. He visited the Hospital as a pa ­ tient more than once in recent years and he won the affection of the staff by his sense of humor and unfailing courtesy. ” A resolution of the board of trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet records a reputation for quiet work. At 87, he jested about being the longest characterized by gentle guidance, win- who had suggested that with the legali- surviving Petit: “The record so far is 82. ning manners with the donors and true I’ve bettered it by five years! ” He jested courtesy with all with whom he came in about his legal profession, relating an epithet on a lawyer ’s grave: “He lies still. ” Even the final months of pain could not efface the smile from the pallid face nor the gentle humor that had been Dinshaw Hormusji Petit ’s hallmark. President of the board of management Petit ’s participation in India ’s frealom of the B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospi ­ tal (PGH) for the past eight years. Petit directors of the Zoroastrian Cooperative luctantly, in consonance with family had served the Hospital in various ca ­ pacities for nearly half a century. As Committee, the executive committee of unexpected treasurer during the World War II years the Western India Automobile Associa- he had negotiated the military requisi ­ tioning of the Hospital for a compensa ­ tion of over Rs 21,000 per month and, when it was derequisitioned in 1946, suc ­ cessfully rented it to the Aga Khan Dia ­ mond Jubilee Committee, obtaining over Rs 1,20,000 for use of the Hospital prem­ ises for about a month plus die cost of honorary secretary (of the PGH) in repair and rectification required before which capacity both these able men the premises could revert for use by the PGH once again. In 1948, as honorary secretary, he convinced the managing who had worked together for (40 years) committee to build Extension A on the passed away within a short period second floor of the Hospital building — (19 days of each other), ” noted The loosely known as the ‘nursing home. ’ Bombay Samachar. ’ Thereafter, for over 20 years. Petit func ­ tioned as the PGH’s vice president. The resolution »passed at the condolence meeting held at the Hospital described Dinshaw Petit ’s many “little deeds of him as “a man of gentle manners and mild disposition (who) exemplified in his person old-world courtesy and gentle ­ manliness. Ever considerate of others, personal integrity, controversy never touched his person... His association with- the Hospital was to his uncle Manockjee Kavasji Petit Bank, the Khareghat Colony Welfare pressures, Dinshaw Petit accepted the invitation of Ardeshir Soonawalla, senior parmer of the prestig ­ ious firm of solicitors Smytham Byrne tion, the Kasturba Sevashram at Maroli and the Iranian Zoroastrian Anjuman Lambert, to join as a partner, relates record Petit ’s services and mourn his passing. The Jam-e-Jamshed compli ­ mented Petit ’s “foresight and keen sense for spotting talent that made him invite Dr Homi Mehta to join him as joint worked for 10 years. ” “It is significant... that Dr H. S. Mehta and Dinshawji (Petit), “Simple...caring...humble...helpful... ” the flood of letters from prominent as well as little-known people refer to Mitha. Any kind of nastiness or un ­ healthy competition were alien to Din ­ shaw ’s nature and when Ardeshir Soonawalla passed away, Dinshaw re­ mained only long enough for Soonawalla ’s son to graduate as a solici ­ tor before handing over the reins and re­ turning to his peaceable office at the Ex­ aminer Press! (It was Petit who with gentle persua ­ sion and quiet humor oversaw the agree ­ ment between Dr Pestonji Warden and the new publisher of Parsiana in 1973. He never charged any fees for the trans ­ action though it took considerable amount of time.) Dinshaw Petit ’s grandfather was Kavasji, the eldest of the first Sir Din ­ shaw Petit ’s six sons (plus eight daugh- only kindness and of love. ” Several benefici ­ aries and fellow professionals attested to his skill as a solicitor, buttressed by his ters). Sir Dinshaw ’s youngest son was Bomanji, the man after whom the Dinshaw had taken law in deference Bomanji D. Petit Parsee General Hospital is named. 41 Parsiana April 1991Proud of his Petit heritage, Dinshawji, as he was generally known, did not approve of the Hospital being referred palatial bungalows in both places. A to Animals (SPCA) from which he re- to only as the Parsee General Hospital. It did not however prevent him from relating with a substantial dose of PGH and at the Sakarbai Petit Hospital humor how — and why — the First Bar- for Animals and Dinshaw ’s recollection onet, in appointing his successor, bypas- of Jehangir verged on filial devotion, sed Kavasji in favor of his second son Framji: Kavasji had 11 children, too many to be able to maintain the baronetcy in style! (Incidentally, both Kavasji became converted to the Gandhian way and Framji predeceased their father and of life and service. The influence in- the baronetcy devolved on Framji ’s son Jijibhoy who became the second Sir Dinshaw Petit. The Bomanji Petit branch is now extinct.) Dinshaw Petit ’s official connection Dinshaw ’s own favorite libation with the Hospital began in 1938, as notes the Hospital ’s Diamond Jubilee Souvenir and ended with his death on November 21,1990. However, some of his earliest participate in the “no-tax campaign, ” memories related to the Hospital — nota- speaking out against the Government ’s bly the crowds when The Governor of tax policy. He was duly locked up but his Bombay Lord Sydenham inaugurated the active involvement with the freedom jokes was invariably himself. No genera- institution in 1912. While the Hospital is struggle ended on the fourth day when, named after Bomanji Petit who donated the land worth over five lakh rupees at the time plus an additional Rs 50,000, thought I would be troublesome, ” he had his wife Mitha, son Homa, daughter- the project had been the brainchild of chuckled at the recollection. All along in-law Aban and granddaughter Sherina Bomanji ’s son Jehangir, a first cousin to Dinshaw maintained proud memories of seemed an oasis of charm in the rat race and cantankerousness of the society of our times. Dinshaw Petit is survived by his wife Mitha, his son Homa and daughter Freny Weiss. in Mahableshwar in May and in Math- P’ eran in December —‘as Jehangir owned at the Society for Prevention of Cruelty Dinshaw had an equally long innings dedicated philanthropist, Jehangir in ­ ducted Dinshaw on his team, both at the It was again at Jehangir Petit ’s house that Dinshaw ’s sister Mithu, then- 21 years old, first met Mahatma Gandhi and vaded their branch of the Petit family and the household stock of wines and liq ­ uors was poured down the drain in line with Gandhi ’s teetotalitarian concepts, re- >» tired as president a few years ago and was elevated to the status of president emeritus. Feeding crows and sparrows, dogs and cats was a daily activity. His daughter-in- law Aban recounts how every morning there were two lunch boxes packed — with sandwiches for Dinshaw, crumbs for the birds and scraps for the cats. Once when a favorite cat was missing, Dinshaw went up and down his office block mak ­ ing tender enquiries about her until she was located, unharmed, in a filing cabinet in Dinshaw ’s office, Mitha and Aban laugh at the memories. Despite the hurly-burly of professional life, the vagaries endemic to the Petit mained “doodh nu puff. Under Mithuben ’s persuasion, Din ­ shaw remembered going to Maroli to family — which he could recount with tender humor and a flair for detail — and his own involvement with several prestig- iou.s institutions, the butt of Dinshaw ’s tion gap seemed to come in the way of his instead of being sentenced, he was put on rapport with people of all ages and walks a Bombay bound train. “Perhaps they of life and his genial companionship with thought I would be troublesome, ” he had Dinshaw maintained proud memories of Jehangir his sister who stuck to her Gandhian ide- Dinshaw ’s father Hormusji. displayed great fondness for Dinshaw, als, using her personal wealth to build an treating him as a part of his own family, ashram at Maroli, teaching and tending Indeed, Dinshaw had said that he used to adivasis until the end and final burial join Jehangir for a holiday twice a year — there. HOMI MEHTA will to serve emment position with an official car, outrider and motorcycle escort and the traffic police standing to attention. The himself. Hospital resolution records how “his services endured over a period of 40 years without a break. The Hospital, in- at the condolence Kapadia remembers the pomp of his gov- meeting convened at the Hospital. Almost an stitution Mehta (90) had been a very successful police surgeon of which had passed through vicissitudes, Bombay (a civil acquired a measure of steadiness when service appoint- he took the helm of affairs in his hands. ” There was no alternative to Mehta ’s appoint ­ ment) and professor of forensic medi­ cine at the Grant Medical College who policy of seeking donations from the joined the PGH in its darkest hours in community. It was to his credit that the 1950. Funds were disasU ’ously low, one apathy and hostility he encountered dur­ ing his initial forays were to turn into a steady stream of goodwill. Indeed, the latest production of the Parsi Medical Amateur Association, Manchoo Mac­ beth, in memory of the late Mehta, is said to have netted the Hospital nearly five kikh rupees — such was the power of his name over the pursestrings of the It had been business as usual on Novem ­ ber 6, 1990. Dr Homi Mehta, joint hon- wing of the Hospital had been closed and orary secretary of the B. D. Petit Parsee faced the threat of government requisi- General Hospital (PGH) and its medical tioning and there were very few patients superintendent, had finished his day in the Hospital: The general consensus at work, including the institutional round was to wind up the Hospital as noted an of the Hospital in his wheelchair. “He article in the Hospital ’s Diamond Jubilee was in the Hospital until about 2 p.m... and expired suddenly at about 4 p.m. at home. It was a fitting end to a life of special permission to take on the task at community. strenuous exertion extending over four the PGH concurrently with his other po- As notes the tribute in the Jam-e-Jam- decades, ” notes the resolution carried sitions. Current PGH administrator Erach shed of November 11, 1990, “From Souvenir. The Government had granted him the PGH concurrently with his other po ­ sitions. Current PGH administrator Erach 42 Parsiana April 19911954 to 1964, Dr Mehta and his dedi- ¦ done “a lot of work, but such as he cated team gave hours upon hours of serv- thought what had to be done 'and how it ice to raise this Hospital ’s stature. To should be done... ” augment the finances of this Hospital he staged shows and fairs and with utmost Mehta was willing to oblige donors by humility, approached his beloved Parsi accepting people they recommended until single person could handle. And yet, he community with a ‘begging bowl. ’ Par ­ sis, having immense faith in the man, doled out generously whenever he sought 300 patients, informs Kapadia. their help. ” His domineering presence helped to The Hospital was his life — “he was get things done but it resulted in the wedded to it, ” noted Homa Petit, then weakening of the collective decision- vice president of the PGH, at the condo ­ lence meeting. “Nothing could deter him from doing things for the Hospital, ” added Kapadia. “If his legs refused to carry him, he used the wheelchair. If ordinary transport people who mattered to him. He consid- was not sufficient for bringing him from ered himself a disciplinarian and, per­ home to the Hospital, he would use the sonally, would take no advantage of his ambulance, ” The Bombay Samachar at ­ tested to his dauntless spirit. Though Mehta ’s “unimpeachable in ­ tegrity ” was duly appreciated, since some time there had been a feeling that the nonagenarian was out of step with the times. Phiroze Jhabvala, joint honorary secretary of the PGH for the past 24 years, noted pointedly that Mehta had sway over the vote bank. “During the last decade, it was evi­ dent that the ever-increasing burden of In the old days labor was cheap and administration of such a large Hospital, its manifold problems, were more than a the Hospital had reached the appalling wanted to go on and on, ” The Samachar figure of 270 non-medical ward staff for commented on “the spirit (that) was in ­ domitable and unconquerable. ” Be that as it may, the community saw Mehta as the most potent force behind the august institution. Thus, the Jame tribute pointedly notes, “Even though, with the passing of age, his detractors wanted him out, his community, espe- making process. As a result, some serv ­ ices deteriorated and labor relations suf ­ fered, noted a fellow committee member. A man of deep loyalties, Mehta often cially the poor, would just not hear of it. went out of his way to do things for The reason? Simple. To Dr Homi Mehta, rich or poof made no difference at all. His daily visits to the wards were not restricted to rich patients ’ rooms position, but he could not enforce the only. The health of the poor and free same level of conduct on those he took a patients was also of great concern to him fancy to. A conflict in the late 1960s between Mehta, then in his heyday, and a majority of the members of the executive commit- grateful community... ” tee including those who had inducted him into the Hospital, had led to Mehta ’s dis ­ senters being voted out because of his and if he made enemies in the bargain, then the loss was never his. Today he stands like a colossus in the eyes of a Mehta is survived by his sisters Mani and Tehmina, and brother Eruchshah. Amavaz S. Mama Rotary Screw Air Compressors Crawlairs and Blasthole Drills h- -I US Process Gas Compressors '8 Portable Compressors Water Well Drills WSeRSOtl-MNO 89 ? Air and Gas Compressors • Construction & Mining Equipment INGERSOLL-RAND Ingersoll-Rand (India) Ltd., Maybaker House, S.K. Ahire Marg, Bombay 400 025 IR.191.88 43 Parsiana April 1991Devoted to the disabled on issues like women ’s welfare. Her writings in Gujarati were looked forward to by the readers of Jam-e-Jamshed, Kaiser-E-Hind, Sahaj Vartaman — publi­ cations to which she contributed not only in her real name but using pseudonyms too like Roshqn, Perviz and Dinsoo, notes a tribute in the Jam-e-Jamshed of September 30,1990. Very popular were her serials Amar asha and Amiri no andhkar which were subsequently published as books. There were several other serials that Vajifdar had written — Adil, Toranj, Tutela tar, Khedut ni beti. Jungle na gulab... As a She tried to ensure that the blind were playwright, her dramas Kalankit, given wages on par with the sighted Dhakhara and Yasmin were most appreci- I ft number of blind and the visually impaired in congenial and remunerative Died: Piloo Dorab Khambatta, 68, social worker committed to blind welfare on January 4, 1991 in Bombay following employment, ” informs her associate, cardiorespiratory failure. Raising funds for the industrial homes for the blind and finding jobs for those workers and in return their production ated by the Bombay theatergoers. Her with visual impairment were the main , • — • • ............................. . _ _ areas to which Khambatta applied herself said that she would have no compunction during her decades of association as hon­ orary secretary of the National Associa ­ tion for the Blind (NAB). Khambatta ’s involvement with relief measures for the blind dates even prior to the formation of NAB in 1952. She had played a leading role in the organizing of the First Provincial Confer- for their and their family ’s education, bari was the great granddaughter of ence for the Blind in 1948 and the First employment, medical, housing and other Murzbanjee). All India Conference on Work for the Blind in 1952. It is as a result of these meets that the Maharashtra state and the national government decided to focus on champion, ” the education, vocational training, reha ­ bilitation, employment and welfare, of but also those with mental, emotional the blind, remembers her colleague Capt domestic problems. Till the end she con- Hormazdiar Desai in his tribute to her. When the famous handicapped per­ sonality of remarkable grit Ms Hellen Keller visited Bombay in 1956, it was once again Khambatta who assisted in day coincided with her wedding anniver- the organizing of her program in the city such that maximurn attention could be directed to the socioeconomic integration of the disabled in the country, Desai re­ marked. First it was the National Association for the Blind that conferred on her the prestigious Rustom Merwanji Alpaiwalla Award for outstanding voluntary work. Then followed the N. D. Diwan Memo ­ rial Award as outstanding voluntary worker for the disabled from the National Society for Equal Opportunities for the Handicapped. Towards increasing the self-depend ­ ency of the handicapped did Khambatta endeavor while she served as honorary secretary of NAB in charge of different Bombay, portfolios like finance, public relations, and employment and placement. “She sionally Vajifdar would choose to write was instrumental in placing a very large on subjects of everyday importance and her and efficiency was also comparable. It is play Jadav Ranana darbarma Parsiono aagmaan was staged for the audience at the Second World Zoroastrian Congress, adds the write-up. In addition to her writing connections with Jame, she also had family loyalities about calling on busy industrialists and impressing on them their civic and social Actually responsibilities to employ the disabled. Many a blind person from the Zoroas ­ trian community acknowledge her help being a sixth generation descendant of and her willingness to go out of the way Jame's founder Furdoonjee Murzbanjee to get funds from public charitable trusts (her maternal grandmother Shirinbai Dar- for their and their family ’s education, needs. Known to do “the fullest justice to any cause which she had undertaken to Khambatta ’s assistance reached not only the physically disabled or Bhavnagar-bom Vajifdar ’s school education was at Jamnagar. Among the games that she most enjoyed was chess and is in fact credited with being the first Indian lady to participate in a world chess tournament in London in 1927. She was also interested in crafts like tinned to pursue her activities. In fact, knitting and embroidery and had pub- when the cardiorespiratory attack struck her on January 4, she was readying to go to the fire-temple for prayers since the report. Besides her writing work she involved herself in organizing talent search com ­ petitions under the joint auspices of Kai­ ser-E-Hind and the Mehcr Garba Man- dal, according to the information for ­ warded by Rusiom Mirza. Some other organizations with which she .was con ­ nected are the Parsi Lekhak Mandal and the Young Men ’s Parsi Association in addition to committees of many a local body. Even after the death of her husband Nadir, who was a director of the firm May and Baker, Vajifdar involved herself in different activities. Almost till the end. Died: Perin Nadir Vajifdar, 86, Gujarati the octogenarian ’s reading and writing newspaper serial writer, novelist and dramatist, on August 22, 1990 in sary as also the death anniversary of her husband Dorab. Parinaz Gandhi •A’ -A- ¦A’ Vajifdar’s penchant Most often it was fiction though occa- 44 Parsiana April 1991 lishcd two books on these subjects which ran into two editions, mentions the/ome continued. Actually, barely a couple of months before her death, a friend remem­ bers Vajifdar ’s request to forward one of her articles to a publication. She had felt too strongly on the subject to abstain from a written response! p. g.