A passage to Poona

The three-storied structure is conveniently situated at the fringe of the Poona Camp (cantonment) area. The rebuilt Pudumjee Parsi Dharamshala at Bhawani Peth provides Zoroastrian travelers unostentatious yet comfortable accommodation with food, in rooms with attached bath and toilet. "Besides visitors to Poona, people on their way to Belgaum or Bangalore stop by; race goers come during the racing season, wedding or navjote parties seek accommodation here,” explains Col Soli K. Pudumjee who is a trustee of the Dharamshala along with his brother Nusly Pudumjee.

The 15 rooms provide a range of double, triple or quadruple occupancy. Neatly furnished with drapes, dressing table, wardrobe and beds, the Dharam­shala charges, in what is essentially a big city, a reasonable Rs 250 per head per day, inclusive of breakfast, non-vegetarian lunch and dinner and tea twice a day. These are the rates as of January 2002, elaborates manager Neville Vajifdar who has been looking after the Dharamshala for over 20 years, "If passengers do not wish to have a meal, charges are reduced to that extent.” While the holiday season and work compulsions do bring in passengers, Vajifdar says that in the last 10 years there has been a surge in Parsis buying their own apartments, with the resultant drop in occupancy at the Dharam­shala! If the economic status of the Parsis has improved and they have their own places to live in, it is a sign of progress, philosophizes Soli.

Speaking to Parsiana in his spacious, well-appointed bungalow at Kalyaninagar, walls studded with pictures of handsome horses and other memorabilia, a green carpet of turf and garden laid out in front, the trustee says he sees no hassles in running the Dharamshala "barring the fact that you can’t keep everybody happy!” The only member of the Pudumjee family to have joined the army, Soli retired prematurely in 1969 as colonel in the Armored Corps, after a two-decade stint in the service. Nusly’s long association with the Poona Turf Club spanned four decades, retiring as the Club’s secretary in the 1980s. Noting that he does not involve himself much in the running of the Dharamshala, Nusly says, "Soli is really the one who is managing it.”

The present structure reflects the changing face of Poona. The demolished dharamshala was over a century old — a sprawling retreat with big partitioned rooms, nestling within a restful compound. The present one stands within the complex of the cooperative housing society known as Pudumjee Paradise, but is a distinct entity from it. "When we developed the property, the builder constructed the new dharamshala as part of the arrangement,” notes Soli, adding that for an interim period there was no dharamshala as the charity commissioner’s approval and other bureaucratic procedures took quite a while. In deference to 21st century compulsions, an elevator has been installed, a solar heating system provides adequate hot water for bath, etc, car parking space is available, protecting passengers’ cars from the perils of kerbside parking on what is a fairly busy road.

Manager Neville Vajifdar

It was the present trustees’ great great grandfather Khan Bahadur Peston­ji Sorabji, originally from Adajan in Gujarat, who moved to Poona and ran a horse mail service from there to Nasik, Ahmednagar, Auran­gabad, etc, Soli paints a profile of his ancestor. Since he owned land in the Camp area, Pestonji toyed with the idea of building an agiary, but finally approached Sir Jam­setjee Jejee­bhoy, first baronet, to build the fire-temple and offered to run it. Pes­tonji’s son, Pu­­dum­jee Pestonji had varied business interests and the entire, extended Pu­­­dum­­jee family (which eventually adopted this surname) lived in houses around the main bungalow, eating meals in the common dining room. This joint family system existed up to grandfather Byramjee’s time, but subsequent generations spread their wings, going their separate ways. Father Kaikhushru looked after the Dharamshala and Ervad Khurshedji Vajifdar, Neville’s father, was the manager even at that time. "I have grown up here,” reminisces Neville. "It was like a gam (village) during my childhood.” The old well on the site still exists, he narrates. Khur­shedji who was also the panthaky of the Komra ni agiary expired in 1997, while his wife Meherbai died in 1979. Neville resides in the Dha­ramshala with wife Kashmira and daughters Zenia (13) and Ruksheen (10) who study in St Anne’s School.

Happy to work for the Pudumjees ("a noble family”), Ne­ville characterizes his as a "24-hour job,” requiring his presence on the premises. But when the Dharamshala is empty, it can get quite lonesome, he rues, wishing his coreligionists would make more use of the facilities community institutions offer.

Neville Vajifdar can be contacted at Pudumjee Parsi Dharamshala, Pudum-jee Paradise Building D, 383 Bhawani Peth, Next to Ajmera Society, Poona 411042. Tel: 6359483/6347908.