The healing touch

September 11, 2002 was a very sad day for the minuscule Zoroastrian community, especially in Bombay. This could be seen and felt by the throngs assembled at the Towers of Silence on that day, hearing of the sudden and untimely demise of a wonderful person and a true torchbearer of our religion, Dr Jeannie B. Bharucha.

My family’s association with Jeannie, as she was fondly known, dates back to the late sixties when she was assisting Capt (Dr) Faredoon Guzdar at his clinic at Dalal Estate, Bombay Central. Our children were small and whenever they fell sick, her effective medicines and healing touch would cure them in no time. As years passed, our relations with her grew and our ties became stronger. She was not only our family doctor but one of the family.

In 1976, when, under difficult circumstances I lost my job, and was facing insurmountable personal problems, her husband, the late Burjorji Bharucha, played a very important role, as a senior partner with Mulla and Mulla, in offering me an opening in this prestigious firm. His personal intervention is an invaluable contribution that I can never forget. Soon after her husband’s demise, Jeannie got involved with various religious activities of Zoroastrian Studies and in the dissemination of our religious teachings and knowledge to Parsis, young and old, a cause which she held very dear to her heart and carried out with untiring zeal, till she breathed her last. Her cheerful and helpful nature, and endearing disposition, has found a permanent place in many hearts.

DINSHAW D. NATERWALLA